BRITISH SETTLEMENT


tinent and different islands, is most abun-
dant.
 The Cabbage-tree, the Areca oloracea
of Linneus, and Palma of Browne, the
beauty of which has been before slightly
noticed, is justly entitled to more particu-
lar remark. It may be considered, as the
latter has denominated it, the queen of the
woods. In height it frequently rises to
upwards of an hundred feet, entirely erect,
and tapering with exquisite proportion to
its summit. The trunk iswithoutbranches
or leaves until within a few feet of the top;
and the cabbage, or substance from which
it has derived its familiar appellation, is
also found near the top, enclosed within
a thin, green, spongy bark. In trees that
have acquired full growth, the cabbage is
large, in form not unlike the thick part
of the tusk of the elephant, perfectly white,
and in long thin convolute flakes. When
boiled it is exceedingly pleasant to the