THE PALMS OF EUROPE AND AFRICA. 41 



its Lroad and beautiful liead where there is 

 nothing else to shelter man from the burning 

 raj's of the sun, the palm tree is hailed by the 

 wanderer in the desert with more pleasure than 

 he hails any other tree in any other situation. 

 Nor is it for its shade alone, or even for its 

 fruit, that the palm is so desirable in that 

 country, for Avherever a little clump of palms 

 contrast their bright green with the red wilder- 

 ness around, the traveller may in general be 

 sure that he shall find a fountain ready to afford 

 liim its cooling water. Its stem shoots up in 

 one cylindrical column, to the height of fifty or 

 sixty feet without branch or division, and is of 

 the same thickness, or nearly so, throughout its 

 full length. When it attains this height, its 

 diameter is from twelve to eighteen inches. 

 From the summit of this majestic trunk, it 

 throws out a magnificent crown of leaves, wdiich 

 are equally graceful in their form and arrange- 

 ment. The main stems of these leaves are from 

 eight to twelve feet long, firm, shining, and 

 tapering ; and each embraces as its base a con- 

 siderable part of the trunk. The trunk of the 

 palm is, in fact, made up of the remains of 

 leaves, the ends of which are prominent just 

 under the crown, but more obliterated towards 

 the root of the tree. The bottoms of the 



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