han 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 ho