Palm trees are the life support the desert oasis.
It used to be that a family needed a minimum of sixteen palm trees to
survive. In the Empty Quarter of Saudi Arabia, there are still oases at
which the traveler aims, and the palm trees there determine whether he will go
on or not.
The palm tree is so much a part of Arab cultural
imperative that, to this day, you will often receive a courtesy round of dates
and camel's milk upon arrival in the home of desert Arabs of any wealth or
class.
This graphic appears at the end of every chapter in the
printed book which ends on a left hand page.
