85 



had been three years dead ; she always kept it in repair, and, 

 with the exception of the great mosque, it was one of the 

 grandest in Tripoh. From the time of the young lady's 

 death, the tomb had always been supplied with the most ex- 

 pensive flowers, placed in beautiful vases ; and, in addition 

 to these, a great quantity of fresh Arabian Jessamines, 

 threaded on thin shps of the palm leaf, were hung in festoons 

 and tassels about this revered sepulchre. The mausoleum of 

 the royal family, which is called the Turbar, is of the purest 

 white marble, and is filled with an immense quantity of fresh 

 flowers ; most of the tombs being dressed with festoons of 

 Arabian Jessamine and large bunches of variegated flowers, 

 consisting of Orange, Myrtle, Red and White Roses, &c. 

 They afford a perfume which those who are not habituated 

 to such choice flowers can scarcely conceive. The tombs 

 are mostly of white, a few inlaid v/ith colored marble. A 

 manuscript Bible, which was presented by a Jew to the Syn- 

 agogue, was adorned with flowers ; and silver vases filled 

 with flowers were placed upon the ark which contained the 

 sacred MS.* 



The ancients used wreaths of flowers in their entertain- 

 ments, not only for pleasure, but also from a notion that their 

 odor prevented the wine from intoxicating them ; they used 

 other perfumes on the same account. Beds of flowers are 

 not merely fictitious. The Highlanders of Scotland com- 

 monly sleep on heath, which is said to make a delicious bed ; 

 and beds are, in Italy, often filled with the leaves of trees, 

 instead of down or feathers. It is an old joke against the ef- 

 feminate Sybarites, that one of them complaining he had not 

 slept all night, and being asked the reason why, said that a 

 rose-leaf had got folded under him. 



In Naples, and in the vale of Cachemere (I have been told 

 also that it sometimes occurs in Chester,) gardens are form- 



* See Tully's Narrative of a Residence in Tripoli. 



