THE COASTS OF SICILY. 145 



Conca d'Oro.* Glancing upward along the mountain 

 slopes, which were beginning to exhibit the first ap- 

 pearance of spring vegetation, we descried Morreale | 



these informs us that its fruit was brought from Persia to Rome, 

 where it was employed as a medicine, and more especially as an 

 antidote against poison. Attempts seem to have been made at that 

 time, but unsuccessfully, to acclimatize it in Italy, and it was not 

 till two centuries later that it was introduced into Sicily and Naples. 

 In the tenth century it had extended over the whole of Liguria. 

 Towards the twelfth century it reached Menton and Hyeres, but it 

 was not until the fifteenth century that the Citron-tree reached the 

 colder countries of Europe. The Orange-tree ( C. aurantiurn) did 

 not reach Europe till long after the Citron. It seems to have 

 originated in India beyond the Ganges, and it did not reach Malta 

 till towards the end of the tenth century. During the Crusades in 

 the thirteenth century it was carried into Italy, from which it 

 spread as far as Hyeres. Before this time, however, the Arabs 

 had introduced it into Spain. In 1336, the Dauphin Humbert 

 bought at Nice twenty Orange plants, which he carried into 

 Dauphine. At the beginning of the sixteenth century there was 

 only a single tree of this kind in the north of France. It had been 

 planted at Pampeluna in 1412, and bought by the Constable de 

 Bourbon ; it was however confiscated with all other property 

 belonging to the Constable in 1523, and transported to Fontaine- 

 bleau. This tree which is consequently, now in 1854, 442 years 

 old. may still be seen at the orangery of Versailles, where it is shown 

 to visitors under the name of Francois I., the Grand Connttable, 

 or the Grand Bourbon. 



* The Carob (Ceratonia siliqua') is a fine tree, growing to a medium 

 height. The fruit is a large flattened pod, enclosing a sweet and 

 pleasantly flavoured pulp. In the south of Europe, and more 

 especially in the East, where the Carob grows spontaneously, this 

 pulp is used for preserves, essences, &c., while a species of syrup is 

 extracted from it in Egypt, in which different kinds of fruit are 

 preserved. 



f Montreal or Morreale is a town containing about 7000 or 8000 

 inhabitants, and has been gradually formed around the cathedral. 

 This edifice, which was founded in 1174, by William the Good, is 

 VOL. I. L 



