THIS is a species of palm, which produces the sweet fruit which is brought to us from Smyrna, and other ports in the Mediterranean, and which is well known under the name of date. In the regions between Barbary and the Great Desert, the soil, which is of a sandy nature, is so much parched by the intense heat of the sun's rays, that none of the corn plants will grow; and in the arid district, called the land of dates, the few vegetables that can be found are of the most dwarfish description. No plants arise to form the variety of food to which we are accustomed; and the natives of these districts live almost exclusively upon the fruit of the date tree. A paste is made of this fruit by pressing it in large baskets. This paste is not used for present supply, but is intended for a provision in case of a failure in the crops of dates, which sometimes occurs, owing to the ravages committed by locusts. The date in its natural state forms the usual food; and the juice yielded by it when fresh, contains so much nutriment as to render those who live upon it so extremely fat. As, by the Moors, corpulence is esteemed an indispensable requisite of beauty, the ladies belonging to the families of distinction among them, nourish themselves, during the season, solely with the fresh fruit, and by continuing this regimen during two or three months, they become of an enormous size. The date palm flourishes very generally on sandy soils in the hot countries of Asia and Africa. Not always, however, is the soil that supports it, barren as the one I have described. It is frequently found by streams, and as the tired traveller sees its foliage waving afar, he hastens towards it, hoping to find a stream of water. Sometimes its tall stem is surrounded by beautiful climbing plants, and the most brilliant flowers flourish beneath its shadow. This palm frequently attains the height of sixty feet, and stands perfectly upright, unlike, in this respect, some other species of palm, whose slight forms yield to the winds. It was to this tree that the Psalmist alluded when he said, "The righteous shall grow as the palm tree,"-firm and unmoved by the shocks of temptation and the storms of adversity. The clusters of dates are sometimes five feet in length, and, when ripe, are of a bright gold color, over which the summit of the tree is crowned with a beautiful foliage. almost exactly the same garments, of the same colors and the same forms, as a thousand years ago. The country people of Europe, generally, have a fixed costume, which continues, with little change, from generation to generation; but in the great cities, all is variety and vicissitude. In this country we copy European fashions, and there are some silly people whose greatest desire is to be dressed in the Parisian style. Now when we are told of the Chinese ladies, who have their feet bandaged in order to make them small, until they can hardly walk-thus rendering themselves miserable and useless, and all this to be thought genteel-we think them very absurd. But look at the picture, on the preceding page, and tell me if these ladies are not about as foolish. They are dressed in the fashion of Queen Elizabeth's time, and it has been much imitated by the ladies of modern days. But we must not laugh at the ladies only, for the other sex deserve a share of our notice. Foppery is not confined to any country. A young savage of the western woods, has often the ambition to figure as a gay fellow, as well as the New York or Boston dandy. He does not go to the tailor, to be made a man_of, but he relies upon his own skill. He paints himself over with clay, of various colors, mixed with bears' grease. One side of his face is made blue, and another yellow. On his breast a serpent is figured; on his back, a buffalo or a wolf. On his head he wears the feathers of an eagle; around his neck, the claws of the grisly bear; on his back is a bundle of scalps, and on his arms the skin of a skunk. Over his shoulder is a buffalo-robe decorated with a frill of quills, and ornamented with beads. Such is your dandy of savage life. And now for the dandy of our cities The great thing is to have abundance of hair; and the more it hangs over the eyes, and obtrudes itself around the nose and mouth and neck, and in every other place that may suggest the idea of discomfort or filthiness, so much the better, thinks the dandy. For my own part, lay it down as an invariable rule, that if a youth displays an unusual quantity of hair or beard, he is deficient, to the same extent, in brains. I believe this is a safe ground of judgment. But still, it is the fashion, just now, to run to hair, and thus it seems our young men have an ambition to excel in that, in which, after all their efforts, the bear, the buffalo, and indeed most beasts, will always surpass them. When I see one of these whiskered, soap-locked fellows, I always think of the description that an Irish girl gave of a skunk that was rude to her, upon a certain occasion. As she went home, she carried evidence of the fact, and when the people asked what it meant- "Faith!" said she, "and it was a little hairy beast that did it!" SPANISH NAMES.-The love of long Christian names by the Spaniards has frequently been a subject of ridicule. A Spaniard on his travel, arrived in the night at a little village in France, in which there was but one hotel. As it was almost midnight, he knocked at the door a long time without hearing any one stir. At length the host, putting his head out of the chamber window, asked who was there. The Spaniard replied, "Don Juan Pedro, Hernandez, Rodriguez, Alvarez de Villanova, Count de Malafra, Cavellero de Santiago d'Alcantara.” 'Mercy on me," said the host, as he shut the window, "I have but two spare beds, and you ask me lodging for a score." 66 Eagles, and some other Matters, THE eagle is considered the king of birds, as the lion is called the king of beasts. Now both the lion and eagle are strong, and they readily sacrifice all other creatures to their own gluttonous appetites. At the same time, they are both cowardly creatures. The lion is a skulking beast, and steals upon his prey like a thieving cat; and he readily flies from danger, except when hunger impels him to bold deeds. The eagle too, when his crop is well filled, is a lazy creature, and at any time a much smaller bird may drive him away. Now, the title of king was given to the lion and the eagle, in ancient days, and it shows what the people then thought of kings. It is obvious that they supposed a king to be a powerful, but selfish creature, sacrificing everybody to himself, as do the lion and the eagle. They did not suppose it necessary for the king to be noble, generous, and courageous, for they would not, in that case, have given the title of king, to sly, thieving, cowardly animals. The opinion of mankind, in early days, being that kings were like lions and eagles, feeding and feasting upon others whom they could master, was no doubt just; and, with few exceptions, this is a true view of the character of kings, in all ages. They have ever cared much for themselves, and very little for the people at large. But there is one thing more to be remarked in respect to the characters given to animals by the ancients. They called the lion noble, because he was powerful; and for the same reason they called the eagle the bird of Jove-thus making it the associate of one of their gods! At the same time that the ancients thus gave such sounding titles to rapacious and savage animals, they considered a dog as one of the meanest of quadrupeds, and to call a man a dog, was to insult with a very opprobrious epithet. The ancients also called the ass stupid, and a goose was the very emblem of folly. Now we should reflect a little upon these matters. The dog is a faithful creature, fond of his master, and choosing to live with him, whether in wealth or poverty, rather than to live anywhere else. He prefers remaining in the humble log-cabin, or poor cottage, with only a bone to eat, provided his master and his friend is there, rather than to live in the lordly mansion upon sausages and beef steak, among strangers. The characteristic of the dog, then, is attachment to his friend; and yet, in ancient days, the people called the butchering lion noble, and the faithful dog mean. And as to the ass, he is in fact one of the most sagacious of all quadrupeds. Old Esop, who made fables, seems to have done justice to this long-eared, fourlegged sage, for, he makes him say a vast many wise things. But not to insist upon the ass's gift of speech, he is not only an intelligent creature, but he is patient, enduring, hard-working, temperate, and unoffending; at the same time he is more free from vice than almost any other quadruped, even though he is often in the hands of persons who do not set good examples, and abuse him most shamefully. Now as this good beast was called stupid by the ancients, it is fair to infer, that they considered patience, temperance, diligence, and freedom from vice, as mean. And now a word as to the goose. My young readers may titter as much as they please for in spite of all their mirth, I am going to stand up for this poor, abused bird. The goose is not silly but, as compared with other birds, it is in fact wise. There is no creature so watchful as a goose. In a wild state, when in danger of being shot down by the huntsman, they set sentinels to keep guard while the flock is feeding; and on his giving notice of danger, they take wing and fly away. In a domestic state, they give notice by their cackle of every disturbance, and any noise that may happen about the house at night. Geese are also very courageous in defence of their young; and, beside this, they are capable of attachment, beyond any other bird. The celebrated writer, Buffon, tells a most interesting story of a goose, called Jacquot, that became fond of him because he helped the poor fellow when he was beaten almost to death by a rival gander. Every time Buffon came near, the grateful bird would sing out to him in the most cheerful manner, and would run to him, and put his head up to be patted. "One day," says Buffon, "having followed me as far as the ice-house at the top of the park, the spot where I must necessarily part with him in pursuing my path to a wood at half a league distance, I shut him in the park. He no sooner saw himself separated from me, than he vented strange cries. However, I went on my road; and had advanced about a third of the distance, when the noise of a heavy flight made me turn my head; I saw my Jacquot only four paces from me. He followed me all the way, partly on foot, partly on wing; getting before me and stopping at the cross-paths to see which way I should take. "Our journey lasted from ten o'clock in the morning till eight in the evening; and my companion followed me through all the windings of the wood, without seeming to be tired. After this he attended me everywhere, so as to become troublesome; for I was not able to go to any place without his tracing my steps, so that one day he came to find me in the church! Another time, as he was passing by the rector's window, he heard me talking in the room; and, as he found the door open, he entered, climbed up stairs, and, marching in, gave a loud exclamation of joy, to the no small affright of the family! "I am sorry in relating such traits of my interesting and faithful friend Jacquot, when I reflect that it was myself that first dissolved the pleasing connection; but it was necessary for me to separate him from me by force. Poor Jacquot found himself as free in the best apartments as in his own; and after several accidents of this kind, he was shut up and I saw him no more. His inquietude lasted about a year, and he died from vexation. He was become as dry as a bit of wood, I am told; for I would not see him; and his death was concealed from me for more than two months after the event. Were I to recount all the friendly incidents between me and poor Jacquot, I should not for several days have done writing. He died in the third year of our friendship, aged seven years and two months." This is a very pleasing story, and sets forth the goose as capable of attachment, and, also, as gifted with much more intelligence than most animals display. But I have another pleasant story for my readers. At East Barnet, in Hertfordshire, England, some years ago, a gentleman had a Canadian goose, which attached itself in the most affectionate manner to the house dog, but never attempted to enter his kennel, except in rainy weather. Whenever the dog barked, the goose set up a loud cackling, and ran at the person she supposed the dog barked at, and would bite at his heels. She was exceedingly anxious to be on the most familiar terms with her canine friend, and sometimes attempted to eat along with him, which, however, he would not suffer, nor indeed did he manifest the same friendship towards the goose, which it did towards him, treating it rather with indifference. This creature would never |