382 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARABIA. 



berry. In Wady Mousa junipers grow in considerable num- 

 bers. The tamarisk and talh-tree abound in the same region. 

 The tree called asheyr by the Arabs is very common in Wady 

 Ghor. It bears a fruit of a reddish yellow colour, about three 

 inches in diameter, which contains a white substance resem- 

 bling the finest silk, and enveloping the seeds. The Bedouins 

 collect this stuff, and twist it into matches for their muskets, 

 preferring it to the common match, as it ignites more readily. 

 Burckhardt says that more than twenty camel-loads of this 

 substance could be annually procured, and perhaps might be 

 found useful in the silk and cotton manufactures of Europe. 

 .This tree, when incisions are made into the branches, yields 

 a white juice, which the natives collect, by putting a hollow 

 reed into the aperture, and sell to the druggists at Jerusalem, 

 who are said to use it in medicine as a strong cathartic. In 

 the gardens of Medina the ithcU a species of tamarisk, is 

 cultivated for its hard wood, of which the Arabs make camels' 

 saddles, and every utensil that requires strong handles. The 

 burial-grounds round Mecca are adorned with a low shrub of 

 the aloe genus called sahber (or patience), which is planted 

 at the extremity of almost every tomb opposite the epitaph. 

 It is an evergreen, requiring very little water ; and is chosen 

 for this purpose in allusion to the patience necessary in wait- 

 ing for the resurrection. Of the Mimosa genus there are 

 several species in Arabia. One of these {Mimosa selam) 

 produces splendid flowers of a beautiful red colour, with 

 which the natives crown their heads on festive occasions. 

 The flowers of another {Mimosa Lebheck ; Acacia Lebbeck, 

 Linn.) are no less remarkable for a fine silky tuft formed by 

 their pistils. There is another so sensitive that it droops its 

 branches whenever any person approaches it, appearing to 

 salute those who retire under its shade. This mute hos- 

 pitality has so endeared it to the Arabs, that the injuring or 

 cutting of it down is strictly prohibited. The pod of the 

 si/ale and the tender shoots of the branches serve as fodder 

 for cattle, while the bark is used in tanning leather. The 

 leaves of the Mimosa orfora {Acacia horrida, Linn.) preserve 

 camels' milk sweet for several days ; the smoke of the wood 

 is said to expel a worm, which fixes itself in the flesh of the 

 human neck and produces epileptic fits. The tamarisk is 

 cultivated as an object equally useful and agreeable ; its 

 shade is a protection from the scorching heat of the sun ; and 



