246 SOME FAMOUS GARDENS 



THEOPHRASTUS IN HIS GARDEN 



(From " Gleanings on Gardens") 



THEOPHRASTUS, who died at the age of eighty-five 

 (though some historians say he wrote his Characters 

 when eighty-nine), and whose name was so cele- 

 brated throughout Greece, that he had at one time 

 two thousand pupils, lived entirely in his gardens 

 at Athens, to which he was so devoted that, in his 

 will, he left it to some particular friends to study 

 in, and for the repose of his bones; giving orders 

 therein for embellishing the walks, and for the 

 continuation of his old faithful gardener, for whom 

 he had before made a good provision. 



S. FELTON. 



THE GARDENS OF DAMASCUS 



THE gardens and orchards, which have been so long 

 and so justly celebrated, encompass the city, and 

 extend on both sides of the Barada some miles east- 

 ward. They cover an area at least twenty-five 

 miles in circuit, and make the environs an earthly 

 paradise. The varied tints of the foliage, and of 

 the blossoms and fruit in their season, greatly 

 enhance the beauty of the picture. The sombre 

 hue of the olive and the deep green of the walnut 

 are finely relieved by the lighter shade of the 

 apricot, the silvery sheen of the poplar, and the 

 purple tint of the pomegranate ; while lofty, cone- 

 like cypresses appear at intervals, and a few 



