SUKKOT DATES merchants declared this rate to be prohibitive. The captain of the boat who had taken us to Sulb entreated the Inspector on behalf of his friends to take a few bags of dates with him to Haifa, as personal luggage, but this was, of course, impossible. It seemed a pity to see the dates lying on the sand spoiling, but no one who knew the circumstances of the case could pity their owners, for they had been warned for months beforehand that after such and such a day goods trains would cease to run. In spite of this warning, however, they continued to pile their dates at the station, even after the day mentioned had expired, believing that they would by this means force the railway authorities to run special trains to carry their wares to Haifa.

It is almost impossible for an outsider to arrive at a right conclusion about any business or trade with which he is not familiar, but it has always seemed to me that if the date trade of Sukkot were in experienced and capable hands, it might be made a very profitable undertaking. The dates of this district are large, sweet, fleshy, and of a good flavour, especially those which are known by the names of Gundila, Barakawi, Bintemoda, Kilma, and Shurwa,' and they are highly appreciated wherever they are known. Unfortunately they are almost unknown in many parts of Egypt, i.e., they are not obtainable, and they are rarely seen in Europe ; no dates in Egypt are to be compared, in my opinion, with those of Sukkot, and the fruit-merchants in the market at Cairo told me that they could sell large quantities of them if they could get them, packed neatly in small cardboard boxes, like the dates of Kena. What is wanted in Sukkot is a central establishment, which should be conducted on the lines followed by the date-merchants at Al-Basra (Bussorah) on the Persian Gulf, where the dates would be sorted, selected, and packed under European supervision. The choicest fruit, packed in attractive, paper-lined boxes, would command a ready sale, and a competent authority assures me that they could be retailed in Egypt at a highly remunerative price. The less fine varieties packed in wooden boxes, or sacking, might be exported, and they would find at least as good a market as the inferior kinds of ' Shekh Idris gave me specimens of all five varieties, saying that they were among the best dates he had ever seen.

471