Page 29 - Travels in Arabia (Vol 2)_Neat

12 TOR TO SUEZ. [cii.

square tower, erected in one corner of the
garden, inaccessible except by means of a
ladder, which, when retiring to his retreat in
less tranquil times, he drew up after him. A
hale and ruddy complexion, with a snow-
white beard, contributed to render the whole
appearance of this venerable man exceed-

ingly patriarchal; and, in describing to me
the various avocations to which, in order to
avert the tedium of his solitary situation, he
had had recourse, he observed that the con­
stant labour thus entailed on him had ren­
dered his long sojourn in the wilderness a
scene of tranquil retirement.
The date-trees growing in El Wadi exhibit
a luxuriance of vegetation I have seldom
observed elsewhere. It was interesting to

observe, that here the Arabs still retain the
ancient practice of impregnating the female
plant by means of fastening a bunch of the
male seed on a branch exposed to strong
winds, which disseminate it over the blos­
soms. Their adherence to this primitive
custom here is singular, since in other parts
of the East the same result has long been
discovered to be effected by planting a