258 



]1IST0RY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOSI. 



grow ; that distiict is the margin of the mighty 

 desert which extends, with but few interruptions, 

 From the shores of the Atlantic to the confines of 

 Pei'sia, an extent of nearly four thousand miles. 

 The shores, the banks of the rivers, and every 

 part of this region in which there is humidity, 

 are exceedingly fertile ; and with but unskilful 

 culture, produce the most abundant crops and 

 the choicest fruits. But along the verge of the 

 desert, and in the smaller oases or isles, which 

 here and there spot that wilderness of sand, the 

 date palm is the only vegetable upon which man 

 can subsist. The lofty summits of the moun- 

 tains of Atlas form an effectual barrier to the 

 humid winds from the sea. Accordingly, the 

 richer vegetation extends only as far to the south 

 of them as the courses of the streams that are 

 fed by the mountain snows ; and these streams 

 are soon evaporated by the air, or absorbed by 

 the thirsty soil. The more lowly vegetables on 

 that soil are chiefly of a saline and succulent de- 

 scription, such as euphorbias, salsolas, and cac- 

 tuses, which retain their own humidity in con- 

 sequence of their smooth and close rinds, with- 

 out much aid from external moisture ; but their 

 juices are in general too acrid, or too much im- 

 pregnated with soda, for being of any use as 

 food. Over these, the date palm raises its trunk 

 and spreads its leaves, and is the sole vegetable 

 monarch of the thirsty land. It is so abundant, 

 and so unmixed with any thing else that can be 

 considered as a tree, in the country between the 

 states of Barbary and the desert, that this region 

 is designated as the Land of Dates (Biledulge- 

 rid) ; and upon the last plain, as the desert is 

 approached, the only objects that break the dull 

 outline of the landscape, are the date palm and 

 the tent of the Arab. The same tree accom- 

 panies the margin of the desert in all its sinuosi- 

 ties; in Tripoli, inBarca, along the valley .of the 

 Nile, in the north of Arabia, and in the south- 

 east of Turkey. * 



This region of the date has perhaps remained 

 for a longer period unchanged in its inhabitants 

 and its productions than any other portion of 

 the world. The Ishmaelites, as described in 

 scripture history, were but little different from 

 the Bedouins of the present time ; and the palm 

 tree (which in ancient history invariably means 

 the date) was of the same use, and held in the 

 same esteem, as it is now. When the sacred 

 writers wished to describe the majesty and the 

 beauty of rectitude, they appealed to the palm 

 as the fittest emblem which they could select. 

 " He shall grow up and flourish like the palm 

 tree," is the promise which the royal poet of Is- 

 rael makes for the just. 



Even among the followers of other faiths, the 

 palm has always been the symbol held in the 



* Library of Entertaining Knowledge. 



greatest veneration. It is recorded of Jlt^homet 

 that, like the psalmist, he was accustomed to 

 compare the virtuous and generous man to the 

 date tree : " He stands erect before his Lord ; in 

 every action he follows the impulse received from 

 above; and his whole life is devoted to the wel- 

 fare of his fellow-creatures." The inhabitants 

 of Medina, who possess the most extensive plan- 

 tations of date trees, sa,y that their prophet 

 caused a tree at once to spring from the kennd 

 at his command, and to stand before his admiring 

 followers in mature fruitfulness and beauty. 

 The Tamanaquas of South America have a tra- 

 dition that the human race sprung again from 

 the fruits of the palm, after the I\Iexican age of 

 water. The usefulness of the tree has thus caused 

 it to be the subject of universal veneration. In 

 ancient times, and in modem, the palm has been 

 the symbol of triumph. ' The Jews carry it on 

 a solemn festival in commemoration of their 

 fathers having gained possession of the promised 

 land ; f and the Christians in remembrance of 

 that more glorious victory, when the Saviour 

 rode into Jerusalem amid the jubilations and 

 hosannahs of the people. 



Indeed, the tree is not unwortlij' of those hon- 

 ours which mankind have in all ages bestowed 

 upon it; for the great utility of the tree must 

 have been the cause of those honours. Rearing 

 its stem, and expanding its broad and beautiful 

 shade where there is nothing else to shelter man 

 from the burning rays 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, wherever a little clump of palms 

 contrast their bright green with the red wilder- 

 ness ai'ound, the traveller may in general be sure 

 that he shall find a fountaiii ready to afford him 

 its cooling water. 



Nor is it only when standing alone in the 

 desert that the palm is a majestic tree. Palms 

 form the shade and the beauty of many of the 

 tropical forests. Some of them are among the 

 tallest of trees; and when the margin of a river 

 is spoken of as more than usually delightful, we 

 allude to its palmy side. 



The Daum Palm, (nudfera ihchaica.) This 

 tree is nauch esteemed in the countries where it 

 abounds. "A native of the desert," says M. 

 Delile, "its shelter renders many places that 

 would otherwise be totally waste, capable of cul- 

 tivation." Many species of thorny sensitive 

 plants, which rarely grow on the spots watered 

 by the Nile, find an asylum under its shadow. 

 They increase there, and spreading in the direc- 

 tion of the desert, limit its extent by augment- 



+ Judea was typified by tlie palm tree upon coins of 

 Vespasian and Titus. 



