around as if ready for any emergency. She no longer felt any fears for
him. His curiosity, too, seemed to be awakened, for he said: "You are
a great botanist, my lady, and know every kind of plant. Pray, what
were those two tall trees near the farmer's house, with bare trunks
and feathery tops?"

"They are date palms," said Lady Mabel. "You see more and more of them
the nearer you get to Africa."

"Indeed!" said Moodie, with more astonishment than the information
seemed to warrant.

"Yes," she continued; "and they bear a luscious and nourishing fruit,
which, in the deserts of Africa, is the chief food of the people. It
is to them what oatmeal is to the Scot."

"And how far are we from Africa?" said Moodie, dreading the answer,
but striving to put the question in an indifferent tone.

"Why some people say that Africa begins at the Pyrenees, but Colonel
L'Isle, who knows the country thoroughly, says that the Sierra de
Monchique is the true boundary. The kingdom of Algarve, lying beyond
those mountains, is, in climate, soil, and vegetation, truly African;
and it is only the strip of salt water that separates it from Morocco,
that prevents its forming part of that country."

"I never heard of the kingdom of Algarve before," said Moodie,
pondering the information he had received. "How far are we from it?"

"We will not find it a long day's journey to one of the chief towns,"