THE PALHEIRO 71 



into so dense a thicket that it provides welcome 

 shade and shelter, or wandering from one little 

 terrace to another, examining the endless treasures 

 the beds contain ; for, as the garden has a wealth 

 of flowers all the summer, there are many things 

 which, from being out of flower, might pass un- 

 noticed. 



Great beds of Azalea indica, and trees of different 

 varieties of mimosa, bending under the weight of 

 their golden blossoms, remind one that this is no 

 English garden, while glades and banks show long 

 vistas of white arum lilies, as Richardia or Calla 

 ^Ethiopia are commonly called. Here these 

 African lilies, which are also called lilies of the 

 Nile, are completely naturalized, and bloom con- 

 tinuously for at least five or six months of the year. 



A deep dell, shaded by mahogany and other 

 trees, has provided a home for the tree-ferns of 

 Australia, New Zealand, and Africa, and in some 

 twelve or fourteen years they have made such 

 astonishingly rapid growth that the little ravine is 

 suggestive of the celebrated fern-tree gullies of 

 Australia or Tasmania. The ivy, which hangs from 

 tree to tree in long ropes, replaces the lianes of a 

 tropical forest, and the banks are clothed with 

 woodwardias and other ferns, while a few of the 



