A DISCOURSE
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book iv. altitude of the stem, floridnefs of the leaves, and other accidents so asto use the words of Prudentius ,
Quos penes omne sacrum est, quicquid formido tremendumSuaserit horrificos quos prodigialia cogunt
Credere monstra Deos-— Lib. i. Coni. Sjm.
Here all religion paid; whose dark recefsA sacred awe does on their minds imprefs,
To their wild gods———
And this deification of their trees, amongst other things, besides their ageand perennial veridity, says Diodorus , might spring from the manifold usewhich they afforded, and which haply had been taught them by the gods,or rather by some godlike persons, whom for their worth, and the publicbenefit, they esteemed so; and it might be a motive to this reverence,that divers of them were voiced to have been metamorphosed from meninto trees, and again out of trees into men, as the Arcadians gloried intheir birth, when
Gensque virum, truncis, et rap to Robore nati.
Out of the teeming bark of Oaks men burst:
Which perhaps they fancied, by seeing men creep sometimes out of theircavities, in which they often lodged and secured themselves k .
Quippe aliter tunc orbe novo cosloque recenti
Vivebant homines, qui rupto Robore nati. juven. lib. ii.
For in the earth’s nonage under heav’n’s new frame,
They stricter liv’d, who from Oaks’ rupture came.
k It is highly probable that the inhabitants of all uncivilized woody countries take uptheir habitations in the trunks of trees. Captain Cook , in his description of NewHolland, say's, “ many of their largest trees were converted into comfortable habitations.These had their trunks hollowed out by fire, to the height of six or seven feet; and thatthey take up their abode in them sometimes, was evident from the hearths, made of clay,to contain the fire in the middle, leaving room for four or five persons to sit round it.At the same time these places of shelter are durable; for they take care to leave oneside of the tree sound, which is sufficient to keep it growing as luxuriantly as those whichjemain untouched."