100 ISLES OF SUMMER. 
so that oranges in our cities are nearly as cheap and plenty as 
apples, it is less necessary to visit the lands where they are indig- 
enous, or in which they have become naturalized, in order to 
enjoy their beauty of color, delicious fragrance, and exquisite 
flavor. But some fruits are too delicate and destitute of keeping 
qualities to admit of exportation to distant lands. Others are 
taken from the trees before they are fully ripe, and never acquire 
on shipboard or in northern markets the perfection which only 
the tropical sun and air can impart. Besides, a tropical orchard 
loaded with fruit, some in all stages of development from flower 
to fruit, isa most charming sight, and alone compensates for the 
discomforts and fatigues of along journey. Hach member of 
the whole-citrus family must be seen at its home to be fully ap- 
preciated. Boxes, barrels and baskets are a very poor substitute 
for the waxen and varnished leaves in which the golden balls 
nestle by thousands in the closely compacted tree tops. 
Im Nassau, as well as in Florida, oranges and bananas and 
other tropical fruits have a prominent place, in their season, in 
the breakfast and dinner bills of fare. Every morning at the 
Victoria Hotel, with some few exceptions, as soon as we had 
taken our seats at the breakfast table, there was placed before - 
us a large fruit dish filled with oranges and bananas, together 
with a bill of fare, a pencil and a slip of paper. After making 
out and giving to our neatly dressed, polite, and generally effi- 
cient table servant, our breakfast order, the fruit, regaled and con- 
soled us while our breakfast was being prepared. With the fruit 
dish before us, there was no limit to our indulgence except that 
which appetite and a wise discretion imposed. We found the 
Bahama oranges of good size, and excellent flavor, a trifle sweeter 
than those of Florida, owing, we conclude, to the fact that they 
matured and ripened in a warmer climate. The bananas were 
of a superior quality. After the long fast of the night, the rich, 
