42 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
from two to three cents a dozen—or much cheaper by 
the quantity. 
The hills and valleys, for miles around this place, are 
covered with vineyards and orange groves—and most of 
my consular and diplomatic colleagues, have fine gar¬ 
dens, filled with all these delightful fruits. The Swedish, 
Dutch, Danish and Spanish gardens are most charming 
places of resort. There, also, are a great variety of 
flowers, and ornamental trees and shrubs; hundreds of 
yards of the different varieties of Geraniums, may be 
seen bordering the walks; and Oleanders, as large as 
good sized cherry trees, put forth most beautiful and 
fragrant flowers. The linden, the horse chestnut, the 
catalpa, the palm, the mountain laurel, the larch, and 
the varions firs also adorn the grounds. 
You will not be surprised, I presume, that amid such 
scenes, and under such tempting circumstances, my 
old horticultural mania should return. I have purchas¬ 
ed of a Moor, a little vineyard and garden, containing 
about an acre of ground, and which, although some¬ 
what run down for want of proper care and attention 
in cultivating it, has nevertheless, a large variety of 
grapes and figs, and a small assortment of oranges, 
pomegranates, &,c., with pears, peaches, apricots, 
cherries, and the like; these latter are much inferior to 
our fruits of those classes, and I have ordered an as¬ 
sortment of all the best varieties of our American 
fruits, from our friend Moulson, of Rochester, which I 
intend to plant in my little domain, as soon as they ar¬ 
rive; together with a small, choice assortment of flow¬ 
er, garden and field seeds, which I have ordered to be 
sent me with the trees; and I may hereafter advise you 
as to the success of my experiments. 
My little plantation is situated on the slope or ter¬ 
race of a hill, a few rods outside of the city walls, 
(enclosed with a hedge of the ever verdant cane, al¬ 
ready fifteen to twenty feet high,) and commands fine 
view's of the surrounding orange groves and vineyards, 
the mountain peaks of Morocco, and the time-renowned 
“ Pillars of Hercules ”—as well as of the castle and 
upper portion of the town, and a delightful water view, 
overlooking the Bay and the Straits, with the moun¬ 
tains of Andalusia, and the rocky fortress of Gibraltar, 
peering up in the gray distance; all vessels going 
in or out of the Straits, pass within range of our view r . 
Labor here is remarkably cheap. The usual price 
for gardeners and other laborers, per day, is but two 
and a-half ounces or doces, which is equal to only 14 
cents , our money. The usual hours of labor are from 
sunrise to 4 o’clock P. M., without stopping for a re¬ 
gular meal. But if these Moors and Arabs work 
cheap, they also live cheap; they will work all day on 
a small bit of bread and a handful of dates, or an 
onion. 
Most kinds of provisions are likewise cheap. Beef 
is usually about 4 cents per Moorish pound, which is 24 
ounces, or a pound and a-liaif, our weight. Eggs, one 
doce. or about cents per dozen; chickens, from three 
to four doces each. Potatoes are dear, from two to 
three cents per lb. There is no reason for this, that I 
know of, excepting that it is too laborious raising them; 
for I believe that nothing of the rot has yet appeared 
in the potatoe here. I do not find any of the sweet pota¬ 
to raised here; I intend to try them. Butter is not sold by 
the pound ; it is brought to market in small, earthen jars 
of various sizes, and sold by the lump. It is churned in 
goat skins, is as white as lard, and is generally dirty 
stuff, not fit to eat. We pay two and sixpence, 31^ 
cents, per pound for English or Irish butter, of a passa¬ 
ble quality, which wo obtain through Gibraltar. Why 
do not some of our Yankee dairymen send over a cargo 
of their fine butter for this market ? They might make 
a good speculation by it. Barley sells for three to four 
doces a mood—which weighs 27 lbs.—and wheat from 
Fee. 
four to six doces,—which is equal to about half a dol¬ 
lar a bushel;—aldora, or Egyptian corn, sells for about 
the same as barley—and also Indian corn, about the 
same. There are no oats of consequence raised. 
Wheat, barley and aldora are sown in January; the first 
two are harvested in June and July, and the aldora in 
October. Corn is planted in March, and gathered in 
September or October. 
The cattle of this country are of a medium size, 
quite small boned, and with compact forms, and almost 
universally of a dull dun color, occasioned, I suppose, 
by their constant exposure to the hot sun of these lati¬ 
tudes; and they all have immensely long, slim, branch 
ing horns; the bulls are no exception in this particular ; 
on the contrary, I should think they excelled the rest 
of the herd in this respect. The cattle all seem to be 
of a hardy nature, and keep in good condition on very 
slight feed; the cows, I believe, are about of a medium 
rate as milkers. The sheep are of a good size and 
fine form, but, judging from those that have come un¬ 
der my observation, they appear quite inferior as to 
wool:—they have very long, heavy fleeces, but they 
are much too coarse. The goats are the finest, I think, 
that I ever saw. Their long, fine, glossy fleeces, hang- 
in rich profusion from their sides, resembling the most 
beautiful silk—their color is generally black—a few are 
white, and some are black and white. 
This is the commencement of the sheep festival of 
the Moors, and thousands of sheep and goats have been 
thronging the markets for a week past. You could 
not go through the streets without meeting—here a 
Moor leading a buck or wether by the horns—there, 
one with a sheep’s hind legs in his hands, trundling 
him along on his fore feet, after the wheel-barrow fash¬ 
ion—and yonder a wild-looking Arab, with a live sheep 
across his shoulders and around his neck. 
In thinking of the dreadful slaughter to be made 
among these poor animals, I could not help repeating 
the words of the poet: 
l> The lamb thy riot dooms to bleed to-day 
Had he thy reason would he skip and play ?” 
But of all the domestic animals of this country, the 
Arabian horses , or barbs, as they are called, are the 
most noble and beautiful. They are, in fact, renowned 
the world over, for their noble qualities and superior 
points. I have had the good fortune to obtain one of 
these fine, pure blooded stallions. Although but four 
years old, he stands full sixteen hands high, is of a jet, 
glossy black color, with a beautiful mane, a long sweep¬ 
ing tail, a finely arched neck, and clean limbs; and his 
movement is as light and graceful as that of a gazelle. 
He was procured for me of a Kabyle chief, in one ot 
the interior provinces, through the exertions of a kind 
friend. Several of my consular colleagues have beau¬ 
tiful specimens of these noble barbs. The Moors and 
Arabs are strongly attached to their horses, and are 
very reluctant to part with them; they pet them, caress 
them, and even kiss them; and it is said they treat, 
them with more kindness and fondness than they do 
their wives; but that must of course, be a scandal ! 
The power of endurance which these horses possess, is 
truly surprising; they will travel day after day, over 
sandv plains or rocky mountains, on an amount ol feed 
that would scarcely suffice for a sheep. 
Horses are not allowed to be taken from this country 
without paying an export duty of one hundred dollars 
each; excepting that, as a matter of courtesy, the Em¬ 
peror cives to the various Consuls General residing 
here, the privilege of shipping one occasionally, to their 
several countries. Mares are not allowed to be taken 
away at any price, and an export duty of $10 per head 
has to be paid for shipping bullocks from here. 
No such thing as a wagon or wheeled carriage, was 
ever seen in this country. Horses, cornels, mules and 
