THE OASIS OF CHENINI, TUNIS

Photo by Lehnert and Landrock This oasis, near Gabes, is extremely fertile and contains hundreds of thousands of palm trees, which bear a rather poor quality of dates. The oasis is irrigated by the small stream in the foreground

killed by themselves,

but refrain if their death has been caused by cold or the hand of an infidel, as they are then considered impure. Locusts are eaten after the legs, wings, and heads have been picked off.

They are either grilled or boiled and prepared with native. wheat. If dried in the sun they are ground to powder and mixed with goats' or camels' milk and cooked in fat or butter and salt. Almost every animal devours locusts; even camels appear to like them as food. Mohammed,

the

Prophet, said: "Allah permits the Arabs to eat only two kinds of animals without cutting their throatsfishes and grasshoppers," and when asked by a friend if he liked locusts, Mohammed replied: "I wish that I had a large basketful to eat immediately." Arab friends told me the following legend: "The Virgin Mary, Meriem Beut Omran (Mary, the daughter of Omran), as she is called in Arabic, prayed Allah to give her flesh that contained no blood; so Allah sent locusts." A French officer in Tunisia told me the following story that illustrates the Arab character:

An Arab Caid sowed one of his large fields with wheat. When it was ripe and ready for harvesting,

A QUIET CORNER IN A GARDEN OF EDEN

Photo by Lehnert and Landrock

"A Frenchman has a trial garden where one-half is planted by the old Arab method, the other half according to the latest American and
French agricultural methods. He also uses chemical fertilizers, for this particular garden has been cultivated since the Roman occupation, and the
ground probably has never been fertilized. The result of his work appears like magic. Palm trees planted four years ago and fertilized have
grown as large as Arab palm trees ten years old" (see text, page 132).

THE LIFE OF A PALM

"A palm begins to bear a few dates between the age of ten and twelve years. At fifteen it bears a good crop, and at thirty it is considered
to be in its perfection. At forty it is still strong and vigorous. At the age of fifty the palm has grown so tall that it is weakened and its
annual crop of dates is not abundant" (see text, page 129).