286 



THE DATE PALM. 



The betel pepper is cultivated at Zanzibar, where the use of the 

 betelnut prevails as it does in the Comoro Islands and at Bombay ; 

 but the custom is not in vogue in Arabia. The betel palm is also 

 grown on the island of Zanzibar. 



The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera, Lin.) flourishes in all the vast 

 regions of the tropic of Cancer, from the Atlantic Ocean to the valley 

 of the Indus, between 12° and 57° N. lat. Throughout this immense 

 space, it is, with the bamboo in Eastern Asia and the cocoanut in the 

 equatorial regions, the most precious gift of nature to man, for it 

 contributes to all his most essential wants, food, clothing, lodging, 

 cooking utensils, &c. 



The date is the special tree of the Saharan regions. Its con- 

 stitution, temperament, and habits particularly suit it to the African 

 climate, which is especially characterized by the deficiency of rain 

 and the digressions of temperatui-e. Its fruit is the soui-ce of 

 sustenance for the nomad or sedentary people scattered over its 

 immense countries. It is the most common tree in all the valley of 

 the Nile, and is found in greatly increasing numbers from the village 

 of Ibrim in Lower Nubia to the Mediterranean. The dates of Upper 

 Egypt and the Oasis are the most delicate. They are not left to 

 ripen on the tree. After being gathered and exposed several days 

 to the sun they get ripe, and are then a very fine and sweet fruit. 

 The date palm has from two or six to twelve or fourteen spadices. 

 When these are too numerous, it becomes requisite to remove some 

 in order that the tree may not be weakened or thrown down by the 

 weight of the bunches, and the fruit being too numerous would not 

 be of such good quality. Four hundredweight of dates have been 

 gathered from one tree in Egypt. 



Although the countries where the date flourishes best are charac- 

 terized by an absence of rain, it will not fruit without its roots are 

 well watered. Hence there is a native proverb that the date must 

 have its head in the fire and its roots in the water, proving the neces- 

 sity of frequent irrigation. 



The date palm, cultivated and attended to from time immemorial, 

 has produced in the hands of the natives as many varieties as our 

 most carefully cultivated fruit trees. There are reckoned not less 

 than ninety varieties of dates in the Ziban. Dr. Edward Yogel, who 

 paid considerable attention to this subject, writing from Murzuk, in 

 Feddan, gives a list of thirty-seven kinds, with full descriptions and 

 figui'es, in ' Bonplandia.' * The largest (and what appears to be the 

 best) is 21J lines long and 10 in diameter ; the smallest 7§ by 5. 

 The Arabs enumerate thirty distinct varieties. The different dates 

 are of almost every colour except pure white and black. There are 

 not, as is the case with our apples and pears, early and late sorts, but 

 all arrive at maturity pretty much about the same period (restricted 

 to within a fortnight), which falls in Fezzan about the latter part of 

 August, in other parts one or more months later. Besides those 

 destined for home consumption in the country, dates of a superior 

 quality are gathered, and, after being prepared with great care, fetch a 

 * Vol. ii. p. 74. 



