of all kinds of
delicate southern fruits, and tufted with flowers and aromatic
plants. The nightingales throng this lovely little valley as
numerously as they do the gardens of Aranjuez. Every bend of the
river presents a new landscape, for it is beset by old Moorish
mills of the most picturesque forms, each mill having an embattled
tower,--a memento of the valiant tenure by which those gallant
fellows, the Moors, held this earthly paradise, having to be ready
at all times for war, and as it were to work with one hand and
fight with the other. It is impossible to travel about Andalusia
and not imbibe a kind feeling for those Moors. They deserved this
beautiful country. They won it bravely; they enjoyed it generously
and kindly. No lover ever delighted more to cherish and adorn a
mistress, to heighten and illustrate her charms, and to vindicate
and defend her against all the world than did the Moors to
embellish, enrich, elevate, and defend their beloved Spain.
Everywhere I meet traces of their sagacity, courage, urbanity, high
poetical feeling, and elegant taste. The noblest institutions in
this part of Spain, the best inventions for comfortable and
agreeable living, and all those habitudes and customs which throw a
peculiar and Oriental charm over the Andalusian mode of living may
be traced to the Moors. Whenever I enter these beautiful marble
_patios_, set out with shrubs and flowers, refreshed by fountains,
sheltered with awnings from the sun; where the air is cool at
noonday, the ear delighted in sultry summer by the sound of falling
water; where, in a word, a little paradise is shut up within the
walls of home, I think on the poor Moors, the inventors of all
these delights. I am at times almost ready to join in sentiment
with a worthy friend and countryman of mine whom I met in Malaga,
who swears the Moors are the only people that ever deserved the
country, and prays to Heaven that they may come over from Africa
and conquer it again."

In a following paragraph we get a glimpse of a world, however, that the
author loves still more:--

"Tell me everything about the children. I suppose the discreet
princess will soon consider it an indignity to be ranked among the
number. I am told she is growing with might and main, and is
determined not to st