o'clock breakfast, the heat would
not be oppressive. Abdallah despatched the chuliahs, each with a stout
load of provisions, table-ware and cooking-utensils, at dawn, and
when we arrived our _dejeuner_ was ready to be served. The viands were
tempting and the cookery faultless, but we could scarce do justice to
either, so eager were we to begin our explorations on the summit and
sides of this beautiful hill, or rather hills, for there are twin
peaks closely connected, and each presenting an enchanting view of
verdant fields and fertile valleys, of the neighboring city, the wide
expanse of blue waters beyond, and the shipping in the harbor. Having
satisfied ourselves with gazing at the distant prospect, we began to
descend in search of adventures, sending our ponies ahead to await
us at the base of the mountain, where we were to dine. Onward
we strolled, gradually descending, every step marked by
novelties--flowers, grasses, weeds and shrubs vieing with each other
in varied and glad-some beauty. At length we sat down to rest beneath
a huge bombax or cotton tree (_Bombax ceiba_), its widespread branches
and thick foliage shielding us effectually from the noonday sun, a
fragrant blossom falling occasionally into our laps or pelting us over
head and shoulders, while with every passing zephyr the fleecy down
from the ripe bolls floated hither and thither, looking for all the
world like a snow-storm, except that the sun was shining luminously
in the clear heavens. This tree must have been sixty feet in height,
a grand, noble type of a green old age after scores of years well
and usefully spent, still vigorous and productive. We met specimens
afterward even taller and larger than this, and they are said
sometimes to reach the height of a hundred feet. The timber is light
and porous, and is in great demand for boats. Lower down, the various
palms, especially the cocoa-nut and cabbage, were all about us. The
former is found in nearly every tropical clime, and is of all trees
the one most indispensable to the East Indian, furnishing him with
meat, drink, medicine, clothing, lodging and fuel. The ripe kernel of
the nut, besides being eaten, has expressed from it an excellent oil,
that feeds all the lamps in an Oriental house, supplies the table with
a most palatable substitute for butter, and the belle with a choice
article of perfumery; the green nut affords a delicious beverage
to the thirsty traveler; the fibrous covering of the