160 PRODUCTS OF THE PALM-TREE. 



their native soil^ are esteemed delicious eating. 

 Dates sold at our shops, are packed before 

 they are ripe ; and therefore we cannot judge 

 well of their merits. They often form the only 

 food of the traveller, during journeys of many 

 hundred miles. A rich syrup, a fine wine, and 

 a kind of spirituous liquor, are made from the 

 dates, or the sap of the tree. When it is in- 

 tended to obtain the sap, the head, or crown, 

 is cut off, and the top is scooped out like a 

 basin. As the sap rises, it of course fills the 

 cavity, at the rate of about a gallon a day, for 

 the first two weeks. After that, the tree lan- 

 guishes, and eventually dies ; therefore, for this 

 operation, they only select such trees as pro- 

 duce little or no fruit. The stalks of the dates, 

 together with the stones of the fruit, though 

 very hard, are used as fodder for cattle, after 

 they have been softened by boiling. Baskets, 



