The Fields And Gardens Are Divided Into Small Oblongs,
Separated From One Another By Little Ridges Of Mould Which Form
Diminutive Water-Courses.
Of the cereals there are luxuriant maize,
wheat, and barley, but the latter two are in small quantities.
Here and
there patches of "Barsim," or Egyptian clover, glitter brightly in the
sunbeams. The principal vegetables are Badanjan (Egg-plant), the
Bamiyah (a kind of esculent hibiscus, called Bhendi in India), and
Mulukhiyah (Corchoris olitorius), a mucilaginous spinage common
throughout this part of the East. These three are eaten by citizens of
every rank; they are, in fact, the potatoes and the greens of Arabia. I
remarked also onions and leeks in fair quantities, a few beds of
carrots and beans; some Fijl (radishes), Lift (turnips), gourds,
cucumbers, and similar plants. Fruit trees abound. There are five
descriptions of vines, the best of which is Al-Sharifi, a long white
grape of a flavour somewhat resembling the produce of Tuscany.[FN#11]
Next to it, and very similar, is Al-Birni. The Hijazi is a round fruit,
sweet, but insipid, which is also the reproach of the Sawadi, or black
grape. And lastly, the Raziki is a small white fruit, with a diminutive
stone. The Nebek, Lote,
[p.405]or Jujube, is here a fine large tree with a dark green leaf,
roundish and polished like the olive; it is armed with a short, curved,
and sharp thorn,[FN#12] and bears a pale straw-coloured berry, about
the size of the gooseberry, with red streaks on the side next the sun.
Little can be said in favour of the fruit, which has been compared
successively by disappointed "Lotus eaters[FN#13]" to a bad plum, an
unripe cherry, and an insipid apple. It is, however, a favourite with
the people of Al-Madinah, who have reckoned many varieties of the
fruit: Hindi (Indian), Baladi ("native"), Tamri (date-like), and
others. There are a few peaches, hard like the Egyptian, and almost
tasteless, fit only for stewing, but greedily eaten in a half-ripe
state; large coarse bananas, lime trees, a few water-melons, figs, and
apples, but neither apricots nor pears.[FN#14] There are three kinds of
pomegranates: the best is the Shami (Syrian): it is red outside, very
sweet, and costs one piastre: the Turki is large, and of a white
colour: and the Misri has a greenish rind, and a somewhat sub-acid and
harsh flavour; the latter are sold at one-fourth the price of the best.
I never saw in the East, except at Meccah, finer fruits than the Shami:
almost stoneless like those of Maskat, they are delicately perfumed,
and as large as an infant's head. Al-Madinah is celebrated, like Taif,
for its "Rubb Rumman," a thick pomegranate syrup, drunk
[p.406]with water during the hot weather, and esteemed cooling and
wholesome.
After threading our way through the gardens, an operation requiring
less time than to describe them, we saw, peeping through the groves,
Kuba's simple minaret.
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