144 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



a tinge of gloom over the brightest features of the 

 scene. 



At Palermo we have nothing of this kind. Every- 

 where around discordant contrasts are brought into 

 harmony with the general character of the landscape. 

 Man and nature meet here, not as antagonists, but 

 simply as rivals : and both everywhere present, have 

 combined to produce a scene which seems to have 

 been planned by some artist of consummate skill. 

 From the deck of our steamer we could trace the bay 

 as it penetrated inland, following a slightly easterly 

 direction, and bounded on either side by verdant banks 

 exposed to the cool north-east breeze, and sheltered 

 from the force of the rous^h sea winds. At the 

 extremity of this gulf, between the leafy heights 

 of Olivezza and La Flora, rose Palermo with its 

 crowded shipping, and those rounded domes, and 

 slender spires, which give it something of the cha- 

 racter of an eastern city. 



The sombre masses of green in the more distant 

 parts of the landscape, indicated the site of groves of 

 orange *, lemon, and carob trees which terminate the 



* The Orange and the Citron are two different species of the 

 genus Citrus, which also include the Lemon (C. Umonvm), the 

 Seville Orange (C vulgaris), &c. These two trees which in the 

 present day are so widely distributed over the southern parts of 

 Europe are natives of Asia, and it may not be unwelcome to our 

 readers if we extract from M. Duchartre a few historical details in 

 reference to their acclimatation. 



The Citron-tree ( C. medica) grows spontaneously in Media, from 

 whence it was no doubt originally introduced into Persia. It is 

 difficult to determine the period of its introduction into Europe. 

 Theophrastus, Virgil, and Pliny mention the tree, and the last of 



