to it alone.  The tree rears its column-like stem to the height of ninety feet, and its crown consists of fifty leaves about twelve feet in length and fringed at the edges like a feather.  Between the leaf and the stem there issue several horny spathes, or sheaths, out of which spring clusters of panicles that bear small white flowers,’ These flowers are followed by the dates, which grow in a dense bunch that hangs down several feet.”

“But how do people manage to climb such a tree as that,” asked Malcolm, “to get the dates?  It goes straight up in the air without any branches, and looks as if it would snap in two if any one tried it.”

“It does not snap, though, for it is very strong; and the climbing is easier than you imagine, even when the tree is a hundred feet high, as it sometimes is.  The trunk, you see, is full of rugged knots.  These projections are the remains of decayed leaves which have dropped off when their work was done.  As the older leaves decay the stalk advances in height.  It has not true wood, like most trees, but the stem has bundles of fibres that are closely pressed together on the outer part.  Toward the root these are so entwined that they become as hard as iron and are very difficult to cut.  The tree grows very slowly, but it lives for centuries.  I have a Persian fable in rhyme for you, called

     “’THE GOURD AND THE PALM.

“’"How old art thou?” said the garrulous gourd As o’er the palm tree’s crest it poured Its spreading leaves and tendrils fine, And hung a-bloom in the morning shine.  “A hundred years,” the palm tree sighed.—­ “And I,” the saucy gourd replied, “Am at the most a hundred hours, And overtop thee in the bowers.”

     “’Through all the palm tree’s leaves there went
     A tremor as of self-content. 
     “I live my life,” it whispering said,
     “See what I see, and count the dead;
     And every year of all I’ve known
     A gourd above my head has grown
     And made a boast like thine to-day,
     Yet here I stand; but where are they?"’”

The children were very much pleased with the fable, and they began to feel quite an affection for the venerable and useful palm tree.

“The date tree,” continued their governess, “as this species of palm is often called, blossoms in April, and the fruit ripens in October.  Each tree produces from ten to twelve bunches, and the usual weight of a bunch is about fifteen pounds.  It is esteemed a crime to fell a date tree or to supply an axe intended for that purpose, even though the tree may belong to an enemy.  The date-harvest is expected with as much anxiety by the Arab in the oasis as the gathering in of the wheat and corn in temperate regions.  If it were to fail, the Arabs would be in danger of famine.  The blessings of the date-palm are without limit to the Arab.  Its leaves give a refreshing shade in a region where the beams of the sun are almost insupportable; men, and also camels, feed upon the fruit; the wood of the tree is used for fuel and for building the native huts; and ropes, mats, baskets, beds, and all kinds of articles, are manufactured from the fibres of the leaves.  The Arab cannot imagine how a nation can exist without date-palms, and he may well regard it as the greatest injury that he can inflict upon his enemy to cut down his trees.”