THE GARDENS OF VENICE 



"I see," he adds, "that this pilgrimage will be 

 pleasant to him, if only it enables him to discover new 

 plants and other rare things, and as he says himself, I 

 am sure that he will return laden with them." 1 



The letters which Navagero wrote to his son-in-law 

 during his absence, abound in descriptions of the 

 wonderful gardens which he saw in Spain, and which 

 he confesses are even more beautiful than those in 

 Italy. The Moorish Alcazar at Seville seemed to him 

 the most perfect of summer palaces, and its lovely 

 patio, planted with shady orange and lemon trees, and 

 watered with running streams from marble fountains, 

 was the most delicious place which he had ever seen. 

 In company with his noble friend, Count Baldassare, 

 he visited the gardens of the Certosa on the banks of 

 the Guadalquivir ; and as they lingered in the pillared 

 loggia among myrtle groves fragrant with the scent of 

 roses, he envied the fortunate Carthusian friars who 

 need only leave these enchanted regions to go to 

 Paradise. From Granada he wrote glowing descrip- 

 tions of the Alhambra halls and the Court of Lions, 

 with its marvellous tiles and myrtle trellis, " a place," 

 he remarked, " where it is always cool and fresh on the 

 hottest day." Leaving the Alhambra by a little door, 

 he and Castiglione climbed the heights of the 

 Generalife, and sat in a balcony cut out of the myrtle 



1 Cicogna, Iscrizioni^ vi. 305. 

 119 



