Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-05-06
ainnBIHR wiNrEs 8 GAEpE.

Iha orange gardens Of the Shereei
Of Waztn lie about mile or so oulsidd
the city OF Targier. II the wsnderer
who happens to stroll that way beguiled
by the delights of winter sunshine,
chances to be fresh from the huertas
of Valencia or the groves OF Seville,
his first Impression will be that it Is
the most de olate and eglected-looking
spot his eyes have over rested on. Yet
it is well worth his while to enter, if
only TO learn how not to do it-au art
fully understood in this country, which,
though blessed with a soil SO fertile
that few seeds thrust into the ground
and left to do their worst return a
thousandfold into the hand of the
sower, is as yet a terra iHcognita to
most of the world. But not long since
a too-curious tiller of the soil had his
syes put out for discovering the pres
ence of valuable mineral, and there
fore il may be inferred that the encour-
agement given to agriculturists in
Morocco is but small. Nobody, how
ever, appears to have been digging in
the Shereef's garden, for the tangle of
wild flowers looks as if it had not been
disturbed for many long year. Tall
scented jonqnils rear their beau
tiful heads in rare profusion, yellow
nasturtiums, lemon-colored oxalis,
great red mallows, all the spring
flowers which with us at home require
careful cultivation, are wild here, and
flourish well under the shade of the
orange trees, whose golden fruit keeps
dropping down at your feet in fashion
which constantly tempts you 20 break
the eighth Commandment on this lovely
hot winter afternoon. The Arab boy
who is silently following you down the
walks, which are hedged in outside by
prickly pear and climbing geraniums,
and who appears to be the only person
in charge of the domain, will give you
leave to eat the fruit if you offer him
copper; and, bearing in mind the great
ness of the temptation. perhaps the sin
of yielding to it may be forgiven. The
owner Of the place will not catch you,
for he is being driven along by the sea-
shore in the only carriage in the place,
with two black slaves and a saint" in
attendance 1t may be mentioned that
the Shereef's name is known in Europe
through his marriage with an English
woman, he being the head of the Ma
hommedan religion in Morocco, and
possessing an influence as great as that
of the Sultan of the country, whose
rival he is.
The remains of certain autumn fruits
and vegetables In one corner near a well
show that some faint attempt at culti-
Walton has been made in that particular
spot, and, after noting a pomegranate
hfIch or on1 90 nf h,ta
Cape jasmine, you wander back to the
sands once more, wishing, perchance
that it all belonged to you, SO that you
might turn in half dozen English
gardeners, and show these strange fam
atics what their country would produce
under more favorable conditions. If
you turn your face towards the town
and stroll along the sea-shore till you
come to steep lane leading up the
you can, however, see for
what has already been done in
this respect by those who have carried
out the idea which has entered your
mind.
The highways as well as the bye-ways
of Morocco are i'll lsme ling and unsavory.
As you climb up the steep lane alluded
to, you pass by habitations which can
only be described as the foulest of dens,
and side by side with these is pictu-
rescue newly built-Moorlsh house
belonging to some one of the Euro
peans inhabiting the city-ore soon
gets accustomed to such incongruities
here. When you reach the top, and,
passing by the Arab cemetery, walk
along much trodden, but uneven and
ar n all 70
gateway, you will find it Hospitality
open, and, as you enter, a notice in
large letters requests you to keep to
the paths, and not to touch either fruit
or flowers, Otherwise you are free to
wander where you will, and you soon
become lost in admiration of the beauty
and luxuriance of the scene before you.
Shady walks, walled in by box trees,
where no ray of sun can penetrate,
flower gardens, already gay with roses
and heliotrope, fairy-Hke masses of
maiden hair growing in pots of quaint
device, huge eucalyptus trees, Towering
shrubs of unfamiliar aspect, orange
and lemon trees laden with golden fruit
in truth an enchanted garden, even
IN mIdwinter, and the sight of it now
begets an intense longing to see it
some few months later, when the gentle
breath of spring shall have done its
perfect work, for it must then be
very Paradise.
As we retrace our steps through the
gateway, and follow the windings of the
ane little further, we light upon an
other green OASIS, of different charac-
.er from either of the preceding, but in
eresting from the number of large date
palms therein, and also from the copa or
house, at the end of 1t. In large
lge hard by are two little monkeys
taught, probably, in the interior, who !
,ush up with intense delight to the Arab |
gardener, who opens their door and
plays with them now and then. But
he shadows are growing long, and
here Is only Just time to accept the
INVITATION of one of the gardeners, who
wishes to show us his own little place
lose by. A look through his gateway
liscloses few olive trees, some cacti,
! tangle of weeds, two or three tall
Iloes; yet the owner evidently looks
lpon his estate as a valuable and much |
o-be-envied possession, living there
n his straw hut, in company with his |
mule, in complete content. The road
lomewards leads past the different
european Legations, over whole walls |
re glimpses of well-kept flower beds
nd overshadowing trees, whose outlines
re becoming somewhat ghostly in the
hort twilight; while the chill of sunset |
yarns the the pedestrian that at this
lour he had better hasten homewards.
SPAIN /