"--_Ibid_.
_The Tea Shrub_
Has been naturalized in Java with complete success; so that, sooner or
later, the Chinese monopoly will come to an end.
_Floating Island_.
From the earliest times, there are to be found in authors, notices of the
singular geological phenomena of floating islands. Pliny tells us of the
floating islands of the Lago de Bassanello, near Rome; in Loch Lomond, in
Scotland, there is or was a floating island; and in the Lake of Derwent
Water, in Cumberland, such islands appear and disappear at indefinite
periods. Mr. A. Pettingal, jun. has recently described a floating island,
about a mile southwards of Newbury port, 140 poles in length, and 120 in
breadth. It is covered with trees; and in summer, when dry weather is
long continued, it descends to the bottom of the lake.--_American,
Journal of Science_.
_An immense Medusa_.
A species of sea-serpent, was thrown on shore near Bombay, in 1819.
It was about 40 feet long, and must have weighed many tons. A violent
gale of wind threw it high above the reach of ordinary tides; in which
situation it took nine months to rot; during which process travellers
were obliged to change the direction of the road for nearly a quarter of
a mile, to avoid the offensive effluvia. It rotted so completely, that
not a vestige of bone remained.--(_C. Telfair, Esq. to R. Barclay, Esq.
of Bury Hill.
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