A SINGULAR TOMB.
THERE is said to be a tree in the island of Madagascar that eats people up, and this is the way it does it: The trunk is very thick and scaly, looking something like a very high pineapple. At the top there are leaves six feet long, which hang down almost to the ground. Above the leaves are long white tendrils, which wave about in the
air. They surround a white plate, or dish, slightly hollowed out, and filled with a thick, sweet fluid,
somewhat resembling honey.
Now, when anybody wants to steal this honey, he climbs the tree, which he can easily do, as the scales serve as steps, and gets into the white plate, which is said to be large enough to hold several persons. But the tree takes good care of its honey. As soon as a foot touches the dish, the white fibers, which are eight feet long, begin to wave about and twist themselves around the intruder, till they strangle him; and then the great leaves rise slowly up into the air, and shut together, till the poor victim is not only killed, but buried, without a funeral, in a thick, green sepulcher.
In this way, some of the wonderful sea-urchins, medusa, etc., absorb the fish that venture within reach of their innocent-looking tentacles, which are nothing more nor less than arms to clasp around them, and draw them into their mouths.
And now we wonder if some bright young reader may not think of some other enticing-looking place, that, when tempted to go too near to indulge in its imaginary sweets, proves to have just such treacherous arms to draw one closer and closer, until the poor victim is absorbed in clutches that will not yield their hold.
Little Sower.