“Nothing can be more charming than the windings of the little river among banks hanging with gardens and orchards of all kinds of delicate southern fruits, and tufted with flowers and aromatic plants.  The nightingales throng this lovely little valley as numerously as they do the gardens of Aranjuez.  Every bend of the river presents a new landscape, for it is beset by old Moorish mills of the most picturesque forms, each mill having an embattled tower,—­a memento of the valiant tenure by which those gallant fellows, the Moors, held this earthly paradise, having to be ready at all times for war, and as it were to work with one hand and fight with the other.  It is impossible to travel about Andalusia and not imbibe a kind feeling for those Moors.  They deserved this beautiful country.  They won it bravely; they enjoyed it generously and kindly.  No lover ever delighted more to cherish and adorn a mistress, to heighten and illustrate her charms, and to vindicate and defend her against all the world than did the Moors to embellish, enrich, elevate, and defend their beloved Spain.  Everywhere I meet traces of their sagacity, courage, urbanity, high poetical feeling, and elegant taste.  The noblest institutions in this part of Spain, the best inventions for comfortable and agreeable living, and all those habitudes and customs which throw a peculiar and Oriental charm over the Andalusian mode of living may be traced to the Moors.  Whenever I enter these beautiful marble patios, set out with shrubs and flowers, refreshed by fountains, sheltered with awnings from the sun; where the air is cool at noonday, the ear delighted in sultry summer by the sound of falling water; where, in a word, a little paradise is shut up within the walls of home, I think on the poor Moors, the inventors of all these delights.  I am at times almost ready to join in sentiment with a worthy friend and countryman of mine whom I met in Malaga, who swears the Moors are the only people that ever deserved the country, and prays to Heaven that they may come over from Africa and conquer it again.”

In a following paragraph we get a glimpse of a world, however, that the author loves still more:—­

“Tell me everything about the children.  I suppose the discreet princess will soon consider it an indignity to be ranked among the number.  I am told she is growing with might and main, and is determined not to stop until she is a woman outright.  I would give all the money in my pocket to be with those dear little women at the round table in the saloon, or on the grass-plot in the garden, to tell them some marvelous tales.”

And again:—­