wn as palm wine, is drawn from the
trunk by tapping; the trunks of the old trees make excellent timber;
the leaves are used for hats and baskets; and the fibrous part, when
stripped out, makes twine and ropes. Even the stones are of use--the
fresh ones for planting, and the dried are turned to account--in Egypt
for cattle-feed, in China for the manufacture of Indian ink, and in
Spain for making the tooth-powder known as "ivory black." The date is
indigenous to both Asia and Africa: it was introduced into Spain by
the Moors, and some few trees are still found even in the south
of France. But the most extensive forests are those of the Barbary
states, where they are sometimes miles in length. When growing thus in
groves the palms are very beautiful, their towering crests waving in
unison as they seem to form an immense natural temple, about which
vines and creepers wreath their graceful tendrils, while birds of
varied plumage sing their matin and vesper songs, plucking meanwhile
the golden fruit that grows in clusters at the very summit of the
tree. The Arabs' mode of gathering this fruit is odd enough. The
trunk, sixty feet high, has not, it must be remembered, a single
branch to hold on by or furnish a foothold; and, besides, the whole
stem is rough with thick scales or horny protuberances, not very
pleasant to the touch of fingers or palms. So a strong rope is passed
across the climber's back and under his armpits, and then, after being
passed around the tree, the two ends are knotted firmly together. The
rope is next placed over one of the notches left by the footstalk of
an old leaf, while the man slips the portion that is under his armpits
toward the middle of his back, so as to allow the lower part of the
shoulder-blades to rest upon it. Then with hands and knees he firmly
grasps the trunk, and raises himself a few inches higher; when, still
holding fast by knees and feet and one hand, he with the other slips
the rope a little higher up the tree, letting it rest on another of
these horny protuberances, and so on till the summit is gained. When
the fruit is reached it is easily plucked with one hand, while the
gatherer maintains his position with the other, and the clusters are
thrown down into a large cloth held at the corners by four persons.

The far-famed banian or Indian fig (_Ficus Indica_) is perhaps the
grandest of tropical trees--the most beautiful of Nature's products,
even in that fertile soil kissed ever