2-982-620 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Sketches from Madagascar - the Traveller's-tree (Urania speciosa), 1858. 'The tree rises from the ground with a thick succulent stem...It sends out...long, broad leaves...rising...in lines on opposite sides, so that as the leaves increase, and the lower ones droop...or extend horizontally, the tree presents the appearance of a large open fan...[It is] celebrated for containing, even during the most arid season, a large quantity of pure fresh water, supplying to the traveller the place of wells in the desert...One of my bearers struck a spear four or five inches deep into the thick, firm end of the stalk of the leaf...and on drawing it back a stream of pure, clear water gushed out, about a quart of which we caught in a pitcher, and drank of it on the spot...Its leaves form the thatch of all the houses on the eastern side of the island. The stems of its leaves form the partitions...and the hard outside bark is stripped from the inner and soft part, and...is laid for flooring...The leaf, when green, is used as a wrapper for packages, and keeps out the rain. Large quantities are also sold every morning in the markets, as it serves the purpose of table-cloth, dishes, and plates at meals, and...is used instead of spoons and drinking vessels'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.