[Footnote 120: These adhere to every thing which touches them, and seem to have been intended by nature, to prevent cattle from eating this caustic plant, which they always avoid on account of its prickles.] [Footnote 121: See page 118.] [Footnote 122: See the plate, where it is represented of the natural size.] [Footnote 123: The plantations of olive-trees in this province are very numerous: there is an extensive one in the neighbourhood of Messa, the trees of which are of great size and beauty, and are planted in a very whimsical and peculiar manner. When I visited Messa, I enquired the cause of their being so arranged, and learnt from the viceroy’s aide-de-camp, who attended me, that one of the kings of the dynasty of Saddia, being on his journey to Soudan, encamped here, with his army; that the pegs with which the cavalry picketed their horses, were cut from the olive-trees in the neighbourhood, and that these pegs being left in the ground on account of some sudden cause of departure of the army, the olive-trees in question sprung up from them. I confess, while I acknowledged the ingenuity of the idea, (for the disposition of the trees exactly resembled the arrangement of cavalry in an encampment), I treated it as fabulous; some time afterwards, however, the following circumstance occurred, which induced me to think the story was not only plausible, but very credible. Having occasion to send for some plants for a garden which I had at Agadeer, or Santa Cruz, the gardener brought, amongst other things, a few bits of wood without any root or leaf, about eighteen inches long, and three in circumference, which he with a large stone knocked into the ground. Seeing the fellow thus employed, I asked him what he meant by trifling in that way? “I am not trifling,” said he, “but planting your pomegranate trees.” I began to take them out of the ground; but some persons who were near assuring me that it was the mode in which they were always planted, and that they would (with the blessing of God) take root, and shoot forth leaves the next year, I was at length prevailed on to leave a few in the ground, merely for experiment, and they certainly did take root, and were in a fair way of becoming good trees when I left Santa Cruz!] [Footnote 124: _Zit_ is the Arabic for oil; _Zitune_ for olives.] [Footnote 125: When used for frying fish, a quart of it should be boiled with a large onion cut in quarters; and when it boils, a piece of the inside of a loaf, about the size of an orange, should be put in, after which it should be taken off the fire, and let stand to cool; and when quite cold, should be strained through a sieve; without this precaution, it is supposed to possess qualities which promote leprosy. DOCTOR BARRATA.] CHAPTER VII.