PREFACE xi 
to carry out his plan. He was first inclined to buy Cap 
Martin, near Mentone, but gave up the idea as soon as he 
became acquainted with the little cape of La Mortola. As 
he first approached it by sea, he was struck by the marvellous 
beauty of this spot. A house, once the mansion of a noble 
Genoese family, and at that time, though almost a ruin, 
known as the Palazzo Orengo, stood on a high commanding 
position. Above it was the little village,and beyond all rose the 
mountains. To the east of the Palazzo were vineyards and 
olive terraces; to the west a ravine whose declivities were 
here and there scantily clothed by Aleppo pines; while on 
the rocky point, washed by the sea-waves, grew the myrtle, 
to which La Punta della Murtola probably owed its name.* 
The purchase was concluded on May 2nd, 1867 (which 
may be considered to be the date of the foundation of the 
garden), and the work of restoring the house and adapting 
it to modern requirements was at once put in hand. © Addi- 
tions were gradually made to the property, and it now 
extends over an area of 45 hectares (= 112 acres), a great 
part of which, however, consists of a picturesque wooded 
ravine. 
In July, 1867, Thomas Hanbury returned to La Mortola, 
accompanied by his brother, who at once appreciated the 
charms and possibilities of the place. Almost his first 
thought was to use means to increase the natural vegetation 
on the wild parts of the property, then almost denuded by 
the unchecked depredations of the neighbouring peasants, 
who had freely cut the trees and brushwood, and pastured 
their goats on the scanty herbage. Many indigenous 
shrubs, such as Rhamnus Alaternus, Quercus Ilex, Ivy, 
&c., now so abundant, were then scarce or non-existent. 
He sowed seeds of them in the valley, or among the 
rocks, and from these is derived the present abundant 
evergreen undergrowth. He also introduced various kinds 
of Cistus which grew in the neighbourhood, but not on the 
property. The first three dozen rose-plants of different 
varieties were at this period brought from his father’s garden 
at Clapham. 
In the autumn of 1867 Thomas Hanbury was again 
busy at work. Among the plants mentioned in his notes 
of September and October are Passion flowers, Geraniums, 
Peonies, Cedars of Lebanon, Roses, &c. Several interesting 
gardens and horticultural establishments already existed on 
* Myrtle = mirto or mortelia in Italian. (Murta = local dialect.) 
