78 
Ora nge-bl ossoms. 
ought-to-be-forgotten benefactor of his kind ! Mickle, in the 
prefatory matter to his translation of Camoens’ “ Luciad,” re¬ 
marks that the famous John de Castro, the Portuguese con¬ 
queror in Asia, was said to have been the first who brought 
the orange-tree to Europe, and to have esteemed this gift to 
his country as the greatest of his actions. He adds that orange- 
trees are still preserved at Cintra as memorials of the place 
where he first planted that valuable fruitage. Evelyn’s account 
of the introduction of the first China orange-tree which ap¬ 
peared in Europe is that it was sent as a present to the old 
Count Mellor, then Prime Minister to the King of Portugal. 
In her pretty address to the humming-bird, the feathered 
fairy of the New World, Charlotte Smith alludes to this bril¬ 
liant member of the floral court, thus : 
‘ ‘ There, lovely bee-bird! may’st thou rove 
Through spicy vale and citron grove, 
And woo and win thy fluttering love 
With plume so bright; 
There rapid fly, more heard than seen, 
’Mid orange-boughs of polished green, 
With glowing fruit, and flowers between 
Of purest white.” 
