THE DATE-TREE. 375 



else. Burckhardt was informed that upwards of a hundred 

 different sorts grew in the immediate neighbourhood of Me- 

 dina ; and a native historian in his description of that city 

 has enumerated one hundred and thirty. The cheapest and 

 most common kinds are the jebeli, the kcloua, the heleya, a 

 very small date not larger than a mulberry ; it has its name 

 from its extraordinary sweetness, in which it equals the 

 finest figs from Smyrna ; and, like them, when dried is cov- 

 ered with a saccharine crust. This was the date with which 

 Mohammed is alleged to have performed a very great mira- 

 cle, by planting a kernel in the earth, which instantly took 

 root, grew up, and in five minutes became a full-grown tree 

 loaded with fruit. Another miracle is related of the species 

 called d syhani, which hailed the Prophet as he passed under 

 it with a loud Salaam Aleikoom ! The birni is esteemed 

 the most wholesome and the easiest of digestion ; Moham- 

 med, with whom it was a favourite, recommended the Arabs 

 to eat seven of them every morning before breakfast. The 

 jebeli, which is scarce, is about one inch in breadth, three 

 m length, and has a very agreeable taste. The price of the 

 birni is twenty paras, or 2A)83d. per keile (a measure con- 

 taining about 120 dates), while the jebeli are sold at the rate 

 of eight for the same money. They are in great request 

 with the hajjis, who always carry some of them home as 

 presents to their friends : they are bought in small boxes 

 holding about a hundred. One species of the Medina date 

 remains perfectly green even when ripe and dried ; another 

 retains a bright saffron colour. These are threaded on 

 strings, and worn as ornaments by children, or sold under 

 the name of Kfilayd es Sham, or Necklaces of the North. 

 Dates are dressed in a variety of ways ; they are boiled, 

 stewed with butter, or reduced to a thick pulp by simmering 

 in water, over which honey is poured. It is a saying of the 

 Arabs, "that a good housewife may furnish her husband 

 every day for a month with a dish of dates differently pre- 

 pared." 



The many purposes to which almost every part of this tree 

 is applied have been mentioned by several travellers. The 

 timber serves for rafters or firewood, the fibres for cordage, 

 and the leaves for cages, boxes, bedsteads, baskets, cradles, 

 and other articles of the hurdle species. The Hejazees, like 

 the Eg}'ptians, make use of the leaves, the outer and inner 



