HERE AND THERE IN NORTHERN AFRICA 



123 



emerald, then turns as yellow as gold, to 

 redden at last like a great ruby. This 

 fruit is said to have the sweetness of taste 

 of cake made of honey and butter and 

 can be dried and used as food by the in- 

 habitants of towns or by travelers on 

 their journeys. If this report is true, 

 surely this is a tree from Paradise !' " 



Caliph Amor Ben El Khattab wrote 

 back : 



"That which has been told you is true, 

 O King. Allah commanded Meriem beut 

 Omran (the Virgin Mary) to take shelter 

 under this tree when Aissa (Christ) was 

 born. Believe, therefore, in Allah and do 

 not acknowledge any other divinity! 



"God said to Meriem beut Omran 

 (the Virgin Mary), 'Go to the base of a 

 palm tree and thou shalt give birth to a 

 tender child, and nourish yourself with 

 the fresh dates.' 



"If God had known any better food, he 

 certainly would have given them to 

 Meriem when Christ was born. 



"Allah reserved for the city of Medina 

 the glory of being the refuge and dwell- 

 ing place of The Prophet from the time 

 of the Hegira throughout his life, and 

 after his death the resting place of his 

 blessed body, and has honor and glory as 

 the Cradle of Islamism, for Medina is 

 remarkable on account of its palm trees." 



THE DATE CROP AND HOW IT IS HARVESTED 



The dates are gathered during the 

 months of November and December, and 

 this is the busiest time of the year. It 

 seems as if all the male population, from 

 feeble, gray-bearded old men to tiny in- 

 fants, were gathered together in the oasis 

 and divided into companies in the vari- 

 ous great gardens. , 



A small boy with a primitive sickle 

 climbs the date palm ; others follow him. 

 Before the first cluster of dates is cut 

 every one on the tree and in the garden 

 join in chanting a song of thanks to 

 Allah for having given them the harvest. 



Then the top boy, deftly balancing 

 himself between the palm leaves, quickly 

 cuts the great bunches of transparent 

 golden dates and hands them down one 

 at a time to the boy under him, who 

 passes them on to the youth below, and so 

 on until thev reach the ground (see page 



8 9 ). 



Then two clusters arc carried at a time 

 to a group of natives squatting on the 

 ground, busily employed assorting the 

 dates into different grades (see page 90). 

 The best quality is then packed into 

 wooden boxes of 10, 20, and 30 kilo- 

 grams each (one kilogram equals two and 

 one-fifth pounds) (see page 91), loaded 

 upon small donkeys and taken to an ad- 

 jacent village. When there are sufficient 

 boxes ready to form a caravan, they are 

 laden upon camels and taken to the near- 

 est seaport or railroad station. 



Before the boys descend from the palm 

 tree that has just been denuded of its 

 fruit a second invocation is chanted, the 

 signification of which runs as follows : 

 "May Allah in his loving kindness pre- 

 serve this palm tree from, all harm and 

 permit it to bear a good harvest in the 

 season that is to come." 



HUNTING THE RATS 



While the palms are being stripped of 

 their fruit rat after rat is spied by the 

 boys, who immediately climb after them. 

 The rat takes refuge on the end of a 

 palm leaf, while scores of infants too 

 young to climb gather underneath. The 

 older boys who have climbed the tree 

 shake the leaves until the rat jumps or 

 falls off. In spite of the height, the rat 

 never seems to be hurt. 



There is a wild scrimmage among the 

 small children to catch it, and one of 

 them carries it in triumph to an Arab, 

 who immediately cuts off the rat's teeth 

 and fastens a string made of palm fiber 

 to its hind leg. It is then given to one 

 of the tiny girls or boys as a plaything. 



About three o'clock of an afternoon, 

 when the day's work is almost finished 

 and many palms have been stripped of 

 their fruit, there is not an infant to be 

 seen without at least one rat, frequently 

 two or three. They are fat and have 

 soft, silver-gray skins, with white bellies. 

 These unfortunate playthings are finally 

 killed, split open, broiled over coals, and 

 eaten. 



THE LIEE OF THE PALM 



A palm begins to bear a few dates be- 

 tween the age of 10 and 12 years. At 15 

 it bears a good crop and at 30 it is consid- 

 ered in its perfection; at 40 it is still 



