The Leaves Of The Dome
Supply Them With Excellent Material For Mats And Ropes, While The
Fruit Is Used Both For Man And Beast.
The dome palm resembles the
palmyra in the form and texture of its fan-shaped leaves, but
there is a distinguishing peculiarity in the growth:
Instead of
the straight single stem of the palmyra, the dome palm spreads
into branches, each of which invariably represents the letter Y.
The fruit grows in dense clusters, numbering several hundred, of
the size of a small orange, but of an irregular oval shape; these
are of a rich brown colour, and bear a natural polish as though
varnished. So hard is the fruit and uninviting to the teeth, that
a deal board would be equally practicable for mastication; the
Arabs pound them between stones, by which rough process they
detach the edible portion in the form of a resinous powder. The
rind of the nut which produces this powder is about a quarter of
an inch thick; this coating covers a strong shell which contains
a nut of vegetable ivory, a little larger than a full-sized
walnut. When the resinous powder is detached, it is either eaten
raw, or it is boiled into a delicious porridge, with milk; this
has a strong flavour of gingerbread.
The vegetable ivory nuts are then soaked in water for about
twenty-four hours, after which they are heaped in large piles
upon a fire until nearly dry, and thoroughly steamed; this
process renders them sufficiently tractable to be reduced by
pounding in a heavy mortar. Thus, broken into small pieces they
somewhat resemble half-roasted chestnuts, and in this state they
form excellent food for cattle. The useful dome palm is the chief
support of the desert Arabs when in times of drought and scarcity
the supply of corn has failed. At this season (June) there was
not a blade of even the withered grass of the desert oases. Our
donkeys lived exclusively upon the dhurra (Sorghum Egyptiaca)
that we carried with us, and the camels required a daily supply
of corn in addition to the dry twigs and bushes that formed their
dusty food. The margin of the river was miserable and uninviting;
the trees and bushes were entirely leafless from the intense
heat, as are the trees in England during winter. The only shade
was afforded by the evergreen dome palms; nevertheless, the Arabs
occupied the banks at intervals of three or four miles, wherever
a pool of water in some deep bend of the dried river's bed
offered an attraction; in such places were Arab villages or
camps, of the usual mat tents formed of the dome palm leaves.
Many pools were of considerable size and of great depth. In
flood-time a tremendous torrent sweeps down the course of the
Atbara, and the sudden bends of the river are hollowed out by the
force of the stream to a depth of twenty or thirty feet below the
level of the bed. Accordingly these holes become reservoirs of
water when the river is otherwise exhausted. In such asylums all
the usual inhabitants of this large river are crowded together in
a comparatively narrow space. Although these pools vary in size,
from only a few hundred yards to a mile in length, they are
positively full of life; huge fish, crocodiles of immense size,
turtles, and occasionally hippopotami, consort together in close
and unwished-for proximity.
The animals of the desert--gazelles, hyaenas, and wild asses--are
compelled to resort to these crowded drinking-places, occupied by
the flocks of the Arabs equally with the timid beasts of the
chase. The birds that during the cooler months would wander free
throughout the country, are now collected in vast numbers along
the margin of the exhausted river; innumerable doves, varying in
species, throng the trees and seek the shade of the dome palms;
thousands of desert grouse arrive morning and evening to drink
and to depart; while birds in multitudes, of lovely plumage,
escape from the burning desert, and colonize the poor but welcome
bushes that fringe the Atbara river.
The heat was intense. As we travelled along the margin of the
Atbara, and felt with the suffering animals the exhaustion of the
clinmate, I acknowledged the grandeur of the Nile that could
overcome the absorption of such thirsty sands, and the
evaporation caused by the burning atmosphere of Nubia. For nearly
1,200 miles from the junction of the Atbara with the parent
stream to the Mediterranean, not one streamlet joined the
mysterious river, neither one drop of rain ruffled its waters,
unless a rare thunder-shower, as a curious phenomenon, startled
the Arabs as they travelled along the desert. Nevertheless the
Nile overcame its enemies, while the Atbara shrank to a skeleton,
bare and exhausted, reduced to a few pools that lay like blotches
along the broad surface of glowing sand.
Notwithstanding the overpowering sun, there were certain
advantages to the traveller at this season; it was unnecessary to
carry a large supply of water, as it could be obtained at
intervals of a few miles. There was an indescribable delight in
the cool night, when, in the perfect certainty of fine weather,
we could rest in the open air with the clear bright starlit sky
above us. There were no mosquitoes, neither were there any of the
insect plagues of the tropics; the air was too dry for the gnat
tribe, and the moment of sunset was the signal for perfect
enjoyment, free from the usual drawbacks of African travel. As
the river pools were the only drinking-places for birds and game,
the gun supplied not only my own party, but I had much to give
away to the Arabs in exchange for goat's milk, the meal of the
dome nuts, &c. Gazelles were exceedingly numerous, but shy, and
so difficult to approach that they required most careful
stalking. At this season of intense heat they drank twice a
day--at about an hour after sunrise, and half an hour before
sunset.
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