OF GARDENING. 



xi 



it was probably upon the same plan as is still adopted in 

 Canaan, which is principally directed to the cultivation of 

 cooling fruits, for the purpose of allaying thirst, and mode- 

 rating the heat of the climate ; aromatic herbs were also cul- 

 tivated to give a tone to the stomach, and wine was made to 

 refresh and invigorate the spirits. Their gardens, according 

 to the most authentic information, produced cucumbers, me- 

 lons, gourds, onions, leeks, garlick, anise, cummin, coriander, 

 mustard, and various spices. Cucumbers, melons, leeks, and 

 garlick were eaten in Egypt, and the cultivation of them was 

 probably continued as long as the Egyptians remained a 

 powerful people. 



In the 2d chap, of Numbers, ver. 5, we find them murmur- 

 ing to Moses at the want of these fruits and vegetables. 



The gardens of the Hesperides are the next in antiquity to 

 that of Eden, and were situated in Africa, near Mount Atlas, 

 or, according to others, near Cyrenaica. They are described 

 by a geographer of the sixth century before Christ, as being 

 situated in a place eighteen fathoms deep, with an acclivity on 

 all sides, and two stadia in diameter, covered with a variety 

 of trees planted closely and thickly interwoven. The most 

 noted fruits of this garden were the golden apples, supposed 

 to have been oranges, which Hercules carried off by stratagem, 

 although guarded by a dreadful dragon, which never slept. 

 Independently of these apple-trees, many other ornamental 

 trees and shrubs grew in this garden, such as olives, almonds, 

 mulberries, arbutus, ivy, and. myrtle. 



The promised garden of Mahomet is the next in notoriety, 

 of which we have any traditionary account, and it was the 

 heaven of his religion. The pleasures of temporal gardens, ( 

 which we so much covet and admire, are but of momentary 

 consideration, compared with their duration in the gardens of 

 Mahomet, which, to all true believers, were to last for one 

 thousand years. 



Having thus given a cursory detail of the gardens of the 

 primary ages of the world, we will now proceed to a short 

 review of those gardens of antiquity, of which an historical 

 account is handed down to us by the Greek and Latin his- 

 torians. 



