G2 



magnificence. In the arrangement, of llie buildings, salubrit}', 

 seclusion, and horticultural ornament, were all studiously 

 and tastefully combined. The choicest fruits of a tropical 

 climate, the Orange, the Citron, the Ananas, with many 

 others imknown to us, solicited at once the sight, the smell, 

 and the taste ; w hile artificial fountains of water, preserving 

 the coolness of the air, and the verdure of the earth, ren- 

 dered it a spot of peculiar attraction. In laying out the 

 grounds also, such was the designer's skill, and the magni- 

 ficent scale of the plantations and grass-plots, that no fewer 

 than thirteen bastions and turrets flanked and defended the 

 gardens, and promoted alike seclusion and security. And 

 in order to complete at once, and give the Immediate Effect 

 of Wood to so great a change on the face of nature, he le- 

 moved to the spot no fewer than seven hundred cocoa trees 

 of various sizes, of w^iich some rose to thirty, some to forty, 

 and some to fifty feet high, to the lowermost branches. 



Of the success of the improvement last mentioned, no one 

 but the Prince himself entertained the slightest expectation. 

 Yet such, says Barlseus, was the ingenuity, as well as 

 persevering labour displayed in the work, that the whole 

 was accomplished with the most perfect success. Notwith- 

 standing the immense size of the trees, which were of seventy 

 and eighty years growth, they were skilfully taken up, under 

 the Prince's superintendence. They were then placed on 

 carriages provided with wheels, and conveyed over a space 

 of from three to four miles in extent, and ultimately trans- 

 ported on rafts, across both the rivers, to the shores of the 

 island. On being planted there, so favourable were both 

 soil and vegetation in that genial climate, that they imme- 

 diately struck root, and even bore fruit, during the first year 

 after their removal. Thus, adds Barlaeus, the truth of the 

 ancient adage was for once disproved, which says, that " It 

 is impossible to transplant an old tree with success."* 



*NoTE XI. 



