GOATS IN THE ARGAN TREES. 



97 



is greedily devoured by goats, sheep, camels, and cows, 

 but refused by horses and mules ; its hard kernel furnishes 

 the oil which replaces that of the olive in the cookery of 

 South Marocco, and is so unpleasant to the unaccustomed 

 palate of Europeans. The annexed cut, showing an aver- 

 age Argan, about twenty-five feet in height, and covering 

 a space of sixty or seventy feet in diameter, with another, 

 where goats are seen feeding on the fruit, exhibits a 



auG-u.' tiuies. 



scene which at first much amused us, as we had not been 

 accustomed to consider the goat as an arboreal quadruped.' 

 Owing to the spreading habit of the branches, which in 

 the older trees approach very near to the ground, no 

 young seedlings are seen where the trees are near together, 

 and but little vegetation, excepting small annuals ; but 



' For fuller particulars as to the Argan tree and its economic uses, 

 see Appendix D. 



