THE FLOATING GARDENS OF MEXICO. AND THE 
GARDENS OF BRAZIL. 
Through all their Arab-like wanderings, wherever 
they abided for a time, the Aztecs were wont to culti¬ 
vate the soil; and when settled—frequently environed 
by barbarous enemies, as they were—in the midst of a 
great lake where fish were remarkably scarce, they de¬ 
vised the ingenious expedient of forming floating gar¬ 
dens and fields and orchards on the surface of the tran¬ 
quil waters. These they wrought skilfully of the roots 
of aquatic plants woven together, wreathed and inter¬ 
twined with branches and twigs, till they had secured a 
foundation of sufficient so lid it}' to support the soil, com¬ 
posed of earth substances from the bottom of the lake. 
Ordinarily these floating gardens were elevated about 
a foot above the surface of the water, and were of ob¬ 
long shape: and, in due time, were adorned with vege¬ 
tation, comprising countless varieties of flowers, vines 
and shrubs, presenting raft-like fields or gliding gardens 
of marvelous beauty and luxuriance. These famed 
chinapas, along the Viga Canal, finally became attached 
to the mainlands comprising the grounds situated be¬ 
tween the two great lakes of Chaleo and Tezenco. Little 
trenches filled with water seem to separate the gardens, 
and miniature bridges connect them with the main land. 
The Indian proprietor dwells in an humble hut, situated 
in the midst of his floating fields. From March to June 
the latter are one mass of floral beauty—a flowery sea, 
in which the many varieties of the Rose prevails, while 
other flowers add their varied tints and perfumes, 
prominent among which are variegated garlands of 
Carnations, Poppies, Sweet-peas, Jessamine and other 
gifts of the munificent flora of Mexico. 
When the City of Mexico was taken by the Spaniards 
under Cortes, in 1521, it occupied several islands in Lake 
Tetzenco. The water, from various influences, cliiefly 
volcanic, has since receded, and the city, although still 
retaining its ancient site, is now two miles and a half 
distant from the lake. At the tune of the Spanish con¬ 
quest, it presented, however, very much the appearance 
of Venice—“a city in the sea, throned on her hundred 
isles”—the margins of whose broad and narrow canal- 
streets were in many places lined with splendid mansions. 
According to ancient Spanish history, the native Mexi¬ 
can had at that time attained a high degree of perfection 
in various arts, for which they do not appear to have 
been in any degree indebted to the civilization of the 
Old 'World, and which must have been an outgrowth of 
indigenous talent. Especially in the cultivation of the 
soil, by which the fruits and flowers of this tropical re¬ 
gion were developed, were the native Mexicans highly 
skilled. 
The fertility of these floating gardens, owing to the 
abimdant advantages afforded for moisture, was very 
remarkable, and the early chroniclers describe them as 
literally covered with (lowers and fruit. The City of 
Mexico is still, to a great extent, supplied from floatiug 
gardens with fruit, vegetables and the choicest floral 
productions, constituting an industry from which is de¬ 
rived the sole support of the inhabitants of some of the 
villages situated on the shores of the lake, who are, in¬ 
deed, descendants of the aboriginal race who fell victims 
of the treachery of Cortes. Two of these villages. Santa 
Anita and Ixtaculeo, New Mexico, are noted for their 
beautiful flowers, and, at certain seasons, when their 
floating gardens are in full bloom, they are favorite re¬ 
sorts for pleasure parties of the citizens. 
The region of Eutre-Rios. in Brazil, has many noble 
gardens. The magnificent bay of Ganamara, along the 
shores of which the public Passeio stretches for a con¬ 
siderable distance, has been celebrated for its beauty 
ever since the first settlement of the Portuguese in the 
Brazils. At a time when, unadorned by art, or any 
handiwork except that of Nature, in a climate sublime 
and ethereal, this shore was called “The Walk of the 
Lovely Nights,” ViUeganon, as early as 1555. wrote 
enthusiastically of the bay of Ganamara, and declared 
that nothing but the Bosphorus could be compared to its 
beauty. He describes, as well, the beauties of the gar¬ 
dens of Rio, which, in their antiquity, were marvels of 
sublimity. During the government of the fourth vice¬ 
roy, Luis de Vasconcellos, in 1778, the present public 
promenade was created. A great part of the ground 
now occupied by the promenade when thus projected, 
as well as that now occupied by the public gardens, was 
a low arid unpromising waste.— Selected. 
SUBMARINE PLANTS. 
THEIR VARIETY AND VALUE—GIGANTIC FORMS AFFORDING ANCHORAGE FOR SHIPS—COLORING 
AND POISONOUS EFFECTS. 
Along the great sandy beaches of the New England 
coast at the present time, especially on the more north¬ 
ern portions, may be seen numbers of persons engaged 
in gathering or “accumulating’’ moss—or sea-weed—to 
be used, as we are informed, in the production of “ blue 
monge ” in the neighboring towns and cities. After an 
easterly gale the beaches are lined with various plants 
or their equivalents of the sea, all of more or less value 
to the fisherman and seaside farmer. Along York 
beach I have seen the Carrageen or Chondrus moss, 
used in the manufacture of various jellies, washed up 
by bushels, and its collection forms an important indus¬ 
try, giving employment to hundreds of persons who 
dry and ship it to all parts of the world. Even the ‘ 
kelps that come ashore on the Maine beaches are util¬ 
ized on the farms and valued for their nutritive proper¬ 
ties. The softer kinds are packed in great heaps around 
the cellar to keep out the Winter blasts, while the more 
