DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4669#0099
PALACE OF KUBEH 75
spot is reached, where extensive plantations of
oranges, lemons, limes, and groves of date-palms
surround the Palace of Kubeh, one of the numerous
beautiful residences erected by Ismail Pasha. The
air was fragrant with the scent of orange blossom,
which was so abundant that large quantities of
blooms were being brushed off by men with long
rods on to sheets spread upon the ground, then
packed in baskets and conveyed on donkeys to the
city for the manufacture of orange-flower water.
The crop of oranges is improved by this removal
of excess of blossom. All the hedges around the
estate and by the side of the road were of lemon-,
whose blossoms contrasted very beautifully with the
dec]) green of their foliage. All this luxuriance is
entirely due to irrigation. The soil is naturally the
same as that of the adjoining desert, hut water and
sunshine produce this result. On arriving at the
village of Matarieh we were driven up to the gate
of a garden through which a small stream of beauti-
fully clear water was running. The splashing,
gurgling sound was most pleasant and refreshing.
Its effect upon the vegetation was very evident; it
was indeed "a watered garden." blowers were
abundant, beautiful, and fragrant; shrubs and trees
were growing most vigorously. At the farther end
of this enclosure is the celebrated "Virgin's Tree,"
an old, very large, wide-spreading sycamore-fig tree.
Tradition states that the Holy Family, after crossing
the Desert, reposed under the shade of its branches.
1 he sycamore-fig tree has generally a short trunk
and large spreading branches, which afford much
welcome shade from the brilliant sunshine This
tree is therefore extensively cultivated throughout
spot is reached, where extensive plantations of
oranges, lemons, limes, and groves of date-palms
surround the Palace of Kubeh, one of the numerous
beautiful residences erected by Ismail Pasha. The
air was fragrant with the scent of orange blossom,
which was so abundant that large quantities of
blooms were being brushed off by men with long
rods on to sheets spread upon the ground, then
packed in baskets and conveyed on donkeys to the
city for the manufacture of orange-flower water.
The crop of oranges is improved by this removal
of excess of blossom. All the hedges around the
estate and by the side of the road were of lemon-,
whose blossoms contrasted very beautifully with the
dec]) green of their foliage. All this luxuriance is
entirely due to irrigation. The soil is naturally the
same as that of the adjoining desert, hut water and
sunshine produce this result. On arriving at the
village of Matarieh we were driven up to the gate
of a garden through which a small stream of beauti-
fully clear water was running. The splashing,
gurgling sound was most pleasant and refreshing.
Its effect upon the vegetation was very evident; it
was indeed "a watered garden." blowers were
abundant, beautiful, and fragrant; shrubs and trees
were growing most vigorously. At the farther end
of this enclosure is the celebrated "Virgin's Tree,"
an old, very large, wide-spreading sycamore-fig tree.
Tradition states that the Holy Family, after crossing
the Desert, reposed under the shade of its branches.
1 he sycamore-fig tree has generally a short trunk
and large spreading branches, which afford much
welcome shade from the brilliant sunshine This
tree is therefore extensively cultivated throughout