HOURS IN OTHER GARDENS 



lofty terraces, and the air is heavy with dust; for in 

 the narrow highway a long line of horses is tugging a 

 single cart up the steep grade under the encouraging 

 calls of the walking teamster. 



"Can this be La Mortola?" cries the Enthusiast, as 

 the motor stops. 



Indeed, neither entrance nor environment gives us any 

 hint that beyond the conventional gateway lies a para- 

 dise. But passing through we turn seaward down the 

 rock-hewn terrace and leave the dusty outer world be- 

 hind us. Before us lies the most wonderful feat of 

 landscape gardening to be found in Italy — possibly 

 even in Europe. Forty years ago this spot was a bleak 

 promontory rising abruptly from the sea, to a height of 

 three hundred feet; its hundred acres were bare of all 

 vegetation save a few olive trees scattered here and there. 

 Sir Thomas Hanbury must have possessed the imagina- 

 tion of a genius to choose so unpromising a site for his 

 horticultural experiments. 



Hither he has brought all manner of curious trees, 

 shrubs and plants from all known parts of the globe, 



303 



