2IO BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Jan., 



to the top of the tree and securing this fruit. The Httle boys 

 are sent up. They have a way of clasping the trunk of the 

 tree, of throwing their body away from the trunk and ahnost 

 walking right up the trunk of the palm. They are very expert 

 at it sometimes. This boy was in the top of the tree, and I 

 thought I would get a picture of him, and just as I turned my 

 camera upon him he shifted around to the side, and when I 

 walked around to the other side he changed his position to get 

 away from me. In other words, he went around the tree. 

 From that experience, and others, I learned that it was some- 

 times impossible to collect pictures of them. I tried it many 

 times. The Arabs are terribly afraid of anything that sug- 

 gests any interference with anything that Allah has made. 

 That is the reason that we never could get some of them to 

 help us in the work of preparing for the eclipse. They con- 

 sidered it was against the laws of Allah, and although they 

 would not occupy the building, and some of them would not 

 assist us, yet they helped us set up the instruments. We had 

 at different times quite a number of different nationalities in 

 our employ. My husband, in Tripoli, had at least a dozen 

 nationalities among the men who were helping him set up the 

 telescopes. I asked him one day how he got on with so many 

 different ones speaking different languages. He does not 

 speak but a few words of Arabic, and a little Italian. He 

 said that he did not understand it. He said that he could not 

 say exactly how it was, but there were always some who 

 seemed to understand what he said. If they could not under- 

 stand either his Italian, or the few words of Arabic which 

 he was able to speak, then he immediately launched some 

 Japanese at them. Nobody knows, but they seemed to under- 

 stand the Japanese so that he got along very well. There were 

 certain words which they seemed to grasp, and, when ac- 

 companied with gestures or motions expressive of the idea, 

 were easily able to comprehend. But these different men were 

 very faithful. They were as faithful as they could be. The 

 only trouble which arose was on account of the difference in 

 religion among them. Some of them were Jews, and the Jews, 

 of course, would not touch a single thing on Saturday. Of 

 course, the Maltese and Italians or descendants of Italians 

 were Catholics, and would not labor upon the Sabbath. And 



