8 CHAPTER 2. 



Contrast the loosely hanging sickle-shaped leaves 

 of the Eucalyptus, swayed by the gentlest breath of 

 wind, with the great palm fronds which remain 

 undisturbed until startled by a ruder shock ; for even 

 the storm-wind does not easily overcome the strength 

 of the firm woody petioles. 



No one has questioned the beauty of the Date 

 Palm ; but the following passage shows that this grace 

 does not lie merely in the outline, for there is in some 

 trees, as in some human characters, a subtle charm 

 not easily expressed in words. I quote from 

 Whateley's " Among the Huts in Egypt." The Palm 

 depends in a great measure on the atmosphere for its 

 beauty ; the leaf plucked off has no brilliance of colour 

 to boast ; it has not the rich green of the Oak or the 

 Beech, nor does it change to gorgeous hues in Autumn 

 like European forest trees. On a dull day it looks 

 dull, actually grey and sombre like the clouds above ; 

 and the peculiarity of the Palm is that it varies with 

 the colouring of the atmosphere. Now a deep purple 

 seems the hue of those fronds which scarcely move in 

 the calm evening air ; now again they are of a golden 

 green; a little later of a bluish tint; then rose or 

 crimson, as the setting sun casts its glow over the 

 distant grove. 



The little Fan Palm, Chamcerops humilis, is the 

 only European representative of the Palmacere. 



It is indigenous on the Riviera, but the wild 

 specimens have gradually disappeared, having been 

 dug up and carried away. Native botanists believe 

 that some of these dwarf palms still remain in their 

 original habitat, clinging to the inaccessible precipices 

 of Petite Afrique. The plant spreads by suckers. 



