THE DATE. 359 



bear the dates. The cordag'e of the ships navip^ating 

 the Red Sea is ahnost exchisively of the inner fibrous 

 bark of the date-tree. The trunk answers very well 

 for post«!, railings, and other coarse purposes ; but it 

 is not fit for being worked into planks, as the fibrous 

 nature of it makes it easily split lengthwise into 

 threads. The medullary part is much more abun- 

 dant and soft toward the centre of the tree than 

 toward the circumference ; and, therefore, when it 

 is to be used as timber, the trunk is generally cleft 

 in two down the middle, for the purpose of allowing 

 the heart to dry and harden. 



The medullary part of the date-tree is partly fari- 

 naceous, and soluble in water ; and a nutritious 

 substance may be obtained from it, resembling in 

 consistency the sago which is obtained from another 

 kind of palm. In the proper date-tree, however, it 

 is small in quantity, and by no means good in quality. 

 From another, and a much smaller species, {Phoenix 

 farinifera,) which is a native of the East Indies, the 

 supply is much more abundant. This farinaceous 

 date-tree grows upon the dry and sandy parts of the 

 east or Coromandel coast of the peninsula of Hin- 

 dostan. It is a very low tree, or rather a great leafy 

 bush ; for the trunk is never above a foot and a half or 

 two feet in height, and the leaves completely conceal 

 it. This palm is of a much deeper green, and has 

 the leaves much narrower, than those of the date. 

 It fruits and flowers nearly in the same manner. 

 The berries are about the size of kidney beans, and 

 of a shining black ; they have not much pulp, but 

 what they have is sweet and mealy. In times of 

 scarcity the natives of Hindostan have recourse to 

 the wood of this palm for food. When the stem is 

 divested of the leaves, and of the brown fibrous 

 matter with which their roots are enveloped, it is 

 about eighteen inches long, and six in diameter 



2 I 2 



