It produces quantities of gum, which is conſidered by the natives as a peculiarly delicate ſpecies of food, the leaves and lower points of the branches ſeem to conſtitute the principal aliment of the camelopardalis; and from the extent of its boughs, and the ſmoothneſs of the trunk, it affords a ſafe ſhelter to the loxia, a ſpecies of gregarious bird, againſt the tribe of ſerpents and other reptiles, which would otherwiſe deſtroy its eggs.