"God," Adds The Pious Mussulman, "Has Given Us The Palm;
Amongst The Christians, It Will Not Grow!" But The Poetry Of The Palm Is
An Inseparable Appendage In The North African Landscape, And Even Town
Scenery.
The Moor and the Arab, whose minds are naturally imbued with
the great images of nature, so glowingly represented
Also in the sacred
leaves of the Koran, cannot imagine a mosque or the dome-roof of a
hermitage, without the dark leaf of the palm overshadowing it; but the
serenest, loveliest object on the face of the landscape is _the lonely
palm_, either thrown by chance on the brow of some savage hill or
planted by design to adorn some sacred spot of mother-earth.
I must still give some other information which I have omitted respecting
this extraordinary tree. And, after this, I further refer the reader to
a Tour in the Jereed of which some details are given in succeeding
pages. A palm-grove is really a beautiful object, and requires scarcely
less attention than a vineyard. The trees are generally planted in a
_quincunx_, or at times without any regular order; but at distances from
each other of four or five yards. The situation selected is mostly on
the banks of some stream or rivulet, running from the neighbouring
hills, and the more abundant the supply of water, the healthier the
plants and the finer the fruit. For this tree, which loves a warm
climate, and a sandy soil, is yet wonderfully improved by frequent
irrigation, and, singularly, the _quality_ of the water appears of
little consequence, being salt or sweet, or impregnated with nitre, as
in the Jereed.
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