io6 THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 
brambles of the countiy.” Among the most striking or- 
naments of the garden of the Cape of Good Hope are 
the myrtle hedges, which grow to a great height around 
ever\^ enclosure ; “ their blooming beauties waving over 
the head of the passenger; they unite their fragrance 
with the odoriferous exhalations, from the orange and 
lemon trees, so abundant in that clime.” Sometimes 
these luxuriant hedges extend for one or two miles, sepa- 
rating gardens, orchards, and other cultivated grounds. 
In the Madiera isles the myrtle is very abundant, and 
grows to a considerable height. It is also found there at 
as great an elevation as 3000 feet above the level of the 
sea. It was seen formerly still more profusely covering 
the mountains of Madeira; but it has been cut down 
in large quantities by the Portuguese, to assist in adorn- 
ing the churches on the festivals of the saints, or to be 
borne in those processions so frequent in Catholic coun- 
tries. 
The profusion of this shrub contributes greatly to the 
picturesque beauty of these renowned isles, where (as 
Mrs. Bowdich tells us) the flowers and fruits are so 
varied that one may see the bright blue sky through 
the delicate pinnated leaves of the mimosa, while the 
wood strawberry at its feet recalls the still dearer recol- 
lections of home,” or partake either of the apple of 
Europe, or the tree of the Tropics— the grateful Banana. 
In Australia the myrtle rears its ponderous trunk a 
hundred feet high before it expands into its umbrageous 
canopy of foliage. 
It is among vallevs formed by the ridges of elevated 
mountains that the myrtle attains its greatest perfection ; 
and so often is it found shading the calm and peaceful 
vales which lie among the “eternal hills,” “that,” says 
a modern traveller, “ it naturally becomes associated in 
the mind with all that is lovely and peaceful. It offered 
a chosen emblem of peace and quietude, and gave a 
living freshness to the annunciation of the angel men- 
tioned by Zachariah, who said, as he stood among the 
myrtle-trees. ‘ we have walked too and fro through the 
earth, and behold all the earth sitteth still and is at 
rest.’ ” 
The Portuguese consider the wood of the myrtle the 
