This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1835 edition. Excerpt: ... SECOND DAY. A Morning Walk.--Boundless Orchards of Orange and Apricot.--The River Trancao.--Magnificent Baytree.--A Fishing-party.--Happy Inclosure.--An Afternoon Ramble to the Palace of the Patriarch, and its immense Parterre.--Musical contest between Frogs and Nightingales. 4th June. The sunbeams entering my windows summoned me to enjoy the fresh morning breeze blowing over the uninterrupted mass of foliage which fills up the whole valley belonging to the convent. After breakfast we walked amongst wellcultivated vegetables, fields of Indian wheat as healthy and vigorous as any that ever flourished in the islands which float about like rafts on the Lake of Mexico, and the most extensive orchards of orange, apricots, and other fruit trees, perhaps in Portugal. Every inch of ground within this inclosure is turned to the most advantageous account: the oranges alone produce from seven to eight thousand cruzados a year. A very active lay-brother has the management of this fortunate spot, and is continually extending its limits over the bare hills in the neighbourhood, many of which are comprised within the domain of the fathers. The river Trancao, which runs through the garden, is diminished to a brook at this season; but that brook is clear, and flows rapidly. Its rocky edges, worn into irregular shapes by winter torrents, bloom with the rose-coloured flowers of the oleander. Their appearance was strikingly beautiful--many of these shrubs had attained the height of fifteen or sixteen feet. But one of the grandest objects of the vegetable world which ever met my sight is a baytree, situated in the thickest part of the orange orchards, above which it towers majestically, clothed with luxuriant boughs that glisten with health and vigour. It...
No posts about this book yet. Be the first in the app!
