Garde7iing and Botany of Spain. Yl 



Most of the grandees in the city have sj^mmetrical plea- 

 sure-gardens ; other wealthy individuals, as Bringas the mer- 

 chant, and Martinez the silversmith, have theirs also. Of 

 those which I have seen, that which belonged to the Duchess 

 del Infantado, being formed on uneven ground, and laid 

 out without order or symmetry, is most to my taste, and 

 similar to that which the city of Madrid presented to the late 

 Queen Isabel of Braganza. Most of these gardens have 

 green-houses, for the purpose of keeping succulent and other 

 tender plants during winter, and which are cultivated in 

 groups of allied families, or natural orders. 



The open country round Madrid is extremely barren. The 

 banks of the shallow Manzaneres, where gardens might be 

 laid out conveniently and at little expense, is inapplicable for 

 such purpose from malaria, which is apt to cause ague in 

 the spring, summer, and autumn months ; the inhabitants of 

 Madrid being averse from fixing their villas on such a spot, 

 consequently these banks will remain unoccupied till improved 

 by sufficient drainage. 



Cadiz, a few years ago an opulent city, supported, at great 

 expense, many pleasure-gardens, on the small space of bad 

 land which lies outside the Puerta de Tierra ; but now they 

 have all disappeared, and in this unhappy city, once the 

 emporium of Spanish commerce, the only gardens left are 

 those of the convents, and some small but very beautiful ones 

 belonging to the Hospital. In this the Musa sapientum pro- 

 duces well ripened fruit ; there I also saw cultivated for orna- 

 ment, many varieties of Capsicum fruticosum, cerasiforme, 

 microcarpon, &c., and the Clarism volixbilis of Abat, which 

 Jussieu has called Arredera, a corruption of the Spanish word 

 enredadera, which is the general name used for all twining 

 plants. There is in Cadiz quite a passion for flowers, 

 which is gratified in some degree by buying all those 

 brought from the gardens of Puerto del Santa Maria, and 

 with which they convert the very roofs and balconies of their 

 houses into gardens. They cultivate in the open air various 

 species of Mesetnbryanthemum, Cactus, and Pelargonium, 

 with many bulbous roots from Peru, Chile, and the Cape of 

 Good Hope. 



There are, however, many pleasure-gardens still remaining 

 in the Puerto del Santa Maria, and Chiclana, chiefly belonging 

 to the merchants of Cadiz, which supply that city with abun- 

 dance of flowers, and where they cultivate many of the African 

 and American plants already mentioned. There I saw, covered 

 with blossoms and half-ripened fruit, two trees of Erythrina 

 poianthes of Brotero, which, they assured me, annually pro- 



F 4 



