The first dates are eaten in the begining of June, and
at that period of their growth are called Rotab; but the general date-
harvest is at the end of that month. In Egypt it is a month later. Dates
are dressed in many different ways by the Arabs; boiled in milk, broiled
with butter; or reduced to a thick pulp
[p.358] by boiling in water, over which honey is poured; and the Arabs
say that a good housewife will daily furnish her lord, for a month, a
dish of dates differently dressed.
In these gardens a very common tree is the Ithel, a species of tamarisk,
cultivated for its hard wood, of which the Arabs make their camels'
saddles, and every utensil that requires strong handles.
In the gardens we seldom find the ground perfectly level, and the
cultivation is often interrupted by heaps of rocks. On the N.W. and W.
sides of the town, the whole plain is so rocky as to defeat all attempts
at improvement. The cultivable soil is clay, mixed with a good deal of
chalk and sand, and is of a grayish white colour:
