The weekly Louisianian., 1874-05-23
ALHARA'S GRAVE:
CALLED "THE OLD DATE TREE"

SUGGESTED BY LEGEND OF LOUISIANA
CALLED "rHE OLD DATE TREE"
! (The legend Of ''the Old Date Tree,
at the corner Of Orleans and Dauphin,
streets, New Orleans, which sugRestet
"Alhara's Grave" is contained il
Gayarre's History of Louisiana "
French Dominion), PIP. 886-3366o
We give it entire. as follows:)-Nev
Orleans Monthly Review, for May:
"In lot sif6ated at the corne,
Of Orleans and Dauphine streets
in the city Of New Orleans, there is
a tree which nobody looks at without
curiosity and without wondering
how it came there. For q long
time, it was the only one Of it's kind
known in the State, and from its
isolated position, it has always been
cursed with sterility. It reminds
one of the warm climes of Africa or
Asia, and wears the aspect Of a
stranger of distinction driven from
his native country. Indeed, with
its sharp and thin foliage, sighing
mournfully under the blast Of one
of our November nothern winds, it
looks as sorrowful as an exile. Its
enormous trunk is nothing but an
agglomeration of knots and bumps,
which each passing year seems to
have deposited there as a mark Of
age, and as protection against the
blows of time and of the world.
Inquire for its origin, and every one
will tell you that it has stood there
from time immemorial. A sort of
vague but impressive mystery is
attached to it and it is as supersti-
tiously respected as one of the old
oaks of Dodona. Bold would be
the axe that should strike the first
blow at that foreign patriarch; and
of it were prostrated by a
profane hand, what native of the
city. would not mourn over it's fall,
and brand the act as an unnatural
and criminal deed? So long live the
date-tree of Orleans street-that
time-honored descendant of Asiatic
ancestors!
I'm the beginning Of 1927, al
French vessel of war landed at New
Orleans a nan Of naughty mien,
who wore the Turkish dress, and
whose whole attendance was al
single servant. He was received
by the governor with the highest
distinction, and was conducted by |
him to a small but comfortable
house with pretty garden, then
existing at the corner Orleans and
Dauphine streets, and which from
the circumstance of it's being so
distant from the other dwellings,
might have been called a rural re-
treat, although situated in the linn
its Of thee There, the stranger,
who was understood to be a prisoner
of state, lived in the. greatest seclu- |
sion; and although neither he nor
his attendant could be guilty Of
indiscretion, because none under
stood their language, and although
Governor Perier severely rebuked
the slightest inquiry, yet it seemed
to be the settled conviction ir
Louisiana, that the mysterious |
stranger was brother of the Sui
tan, or some great parsonage Of the
Ottoman empire, who fled from the
anger of the vicegerent Of Moham-
med, and who had taken refuge in |
France. The Sultan had per-
emptorily demanded the fugitive,
and the French government, think
ing it derogatory to its dignity to
comply with that request, but at
same time not wishing tn expose it's
friendly relations with the Moslem
monarch, and pehaps desiring, for
political purposes, to keep in hos
tage the important guest it had in
its hands, had recourse to the expe-
dent of answering, that he had fled
to Louiaians, which was SO distant
a country that it might be looked
upon as the grave, as it was sug-I
gested, the fugitive might be suf-
fered to wait in peace for actual |
death, without danger or offense to