410 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
Every morning may be seen the /abradores busy in collect- 
ing and loading their mules with the soil of the streets, which 
is valuable as manure ; the clothing of these men is highly 
picturesque, consisting of a loose blue jacket, without sleeves, 
and made of a coarse velvet; very wide linen pantaloons, 
which only come down to the knee, and are so full as to 
resemble a petticoat; and legs, that are bare, except short 
socks, and the ribbons which fasten their espartillos. Their 
` head-gear consists of a blue cap, or a plain kerchief. This 
light, and almost African costume, forms a remarkable con- 
trast to that of the grave citizen of Valencia, wrapped from 
head to foot in his sombre cloak: one would think they 
belonged to different races of men, created for opposite 
climates. 
South of the city, lies the great salt lake of Albufera ; 
and even from a distance, their peculiar tint displays the 
rice-fields which surround it. 'The system of irrigation pur- 
sued in this neighbourhood, is well known to have been the 
work of the Arabs; and so admirably is it contrived, that 
the waters of the river, though but scanty in summer, 
suffice to fertilize four or five square leagues of land. 
In the market-place, I was interested in observing the 
peculiar vegetable productions of the country; the chufos, 
which are the tubercles of Cyperus esculentus, possessing an 
agreeable nutty flavour, and sent all over the Peninsula, 
from hence, in order to make orgeat; the Cacahuetes, which 
consist of the subterranean pods of Arachis hypogea, and 
the young shoots of Palmitos or Chamerops humilis, here 
eaten raw, with oil and vinegar. There were also Dates in 
considerable quantities, but like the olives, so austere, as to 
require preparation; and I observed several kinds of snails, 
vended as food, Helix aspersa and Alonensis being the most 
plentiful. 
I did not fail to visit the Botanic Garden, an immense 
enclosure, situated outside the walls of the city ; but, though 
the aspect is excellent, the soil admirable, and the whole 
place well irrigated, possessing, too, the advantage of a cli- 
mate that would bring almost any production of tropical 
