THE WILLOW. 



259 



water out of them very comfortable and corrobo- 

 rative to the heart." 



Hasselquist^ in reply to some questions asked by 

 a friend, says : 



Calaf is a little Willow which never grows to 

 a large tree ; it has a straight trunk with a 

 smooth, oval, lancet-shaped leaf, deeply sawed on 

 the edges. No tree in Egypt is more famous 

 amongst the inhabitants, on account of the water 

 that is distilled in the spring from its blossoms, 

 which is much more used as a family medicine by 

 the Egyptians than treacle by our peasants. 

 They are scarcely afflicted with any disease, but 

 they use the water of Calaf. There are apothe- 

 caries in Cairo, whose chief, almost only, employ- 

 ment is to sell Calaf, for thus they likewise call the 

 water. It is cooling, promotes perspiration, and 

 is somewhat cordial ; it therefore serves in the 

 continual fevers, which are so common in Egypt 

 during the summer seasons. I suppose it to 

 approach most in quality to the waters that are 

 in Europe distilled from the blossoms of Cherries, 

 Limes, and Acacias." 



And again, in a letter to a friend he says : 

 You were pleased to ask, how do the plants 

 subsist in Egypt without rain ? &c. 



A traveller coming to Egypt at this time, and 

 being unacquainted with the true reason for the 

 overflowing of the water, would immediately con- 

 sider it as a miracle in nature. He would 

 imagine he beheld a sea producing vegetables. 

 He would behold springing from the bottom of 

 the sea. Sycamores, Buckthorns, Acacias, Cassias, 

 Willows, and Tamarisks, which form small woods, 

 or groves, above the surface of the w^ater. This 



