86 THE PALMS OF ASIA. 



close under the sliadow of their lono; and 

 ribbou-like leaves, I could see how thickly 

 they were studded with golden green fruit in 

 every stage of growth. The sight was abso- 

 lutely marvellous. "Were such trees, so laden, 

 painted by an artist, his production would, 

 in all probability, be pronounced unnatural. 

 They appeared more like some fairy creations, 

 got lip for my especial amusement, resembling 

 nearly those gorgeous trees which, in my 

 yoiith, I delighted to read about in the 'Arabian 

 Nights,' growing in subterranean gardens, and 

 yielding precious stones. They hung in grape- 

 like clusters around the crest of the tree ; the 

 large golden ripe nuts below, smaller and 

 greener fruit just above them, followed by scores 

 of others in all stages, from the blossom seed to 

 the half-grown ; it was impossible to catch a 

 glimpse of the stem, so thickly did the fruit 

 hang on all sides. I made an attempt to count 

 them — 'thirty, fifty, eighty, a hundred,' — I 

 could go no further ; those little fellows near 

 the top, peeping up like so many tiny dolls' 

 heads, defied my most careful numerations ; 

 but I feel confident there must have been quite 

 two hundred nuts on that one palm. Above 

 the clusters of rich fruit, were two fealher-like 

 flowers, white as snow, aud smooth and glossy 



