THE DATE PALM. 417 



by no means disposed to accept the latter part of this 

 theory, we may add that while no sun can be too 

 hot for the date palm, it flourishes only when its roots 

 have access to water; but, as may be seen along the 

 banks of the Nile, these will descend to very great 

 depths until they reach the water-bearing strata, and 

 where the banks have fallen a mass of fibrous roots 

 like cordage are often exposed to view all along this 

 river. Its presence in the landscape, therefore, is a 

 sure sign of water in the subsoil or else of adjacent 

 wells, from which it is regularly watered. 



On the other hand, this wonderful tree is quickly 

 injured by rain. " Like the dromedary, the date palm 

 seems to be but a child of the desert: the desert is 

 its natural abode: and it is there only, when under 

 the influence of its native soil, that it puts forth all 

 its strength and fecundity. " * 



In the land where rain seldom or never falls and 

 where an incandescent sun daily pours down its fiery 

 beams, out of a sky in which a cloud is rarely seen, 

 the date tree finds its most congenial home ; indeed, it 

 is in rainless countries only that the air is dry enough 

 to perfect the fruit in its finest quality. The best 

 dates, for instance, sold in the English market, are 

 known as " Tafilet Dates, " grown in an oasis in 

 Southern Morocco, where according to Gerrard Rohlfs, 

 rain seldom falls, f 



Among the Arabs the " country of the date tree " 

 is known as the " Belad-el-Djerid," and throughout 



* Exploration Scientifique de L'Algerie, publiee par ordre du gouverne- 

 ment par E. Carette, Capitaine de Genie, Paris, 1844, p. 222. 



f See Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel for Africa, 

 edited by Keith Johnston, 2nd Edit., 1889, p. 26. 



VOL. I. 27 



