The Argosy — page 146: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

134 Letters from Majorca. effective. We should be impressed by it ourselves, you and I, if we had not been born to happier influences. Yet, if they are sincere, and we all get to Heaven at last, what matter the road that has led us there? To whom little has been given, of them little will be required. We soon had to make the best of our way out again. The atmosphere was heavily charged. H. C. tured faint. We went straight off to the port of Soller. It is about two miles or so from the town, and the walk is a very lovely one. The whole way is lined on either side with orange and lemon groves. The trees are laden and bowed down with their beautiful fruit: golden balls nestling amidst richest verdure. Nothing is greener and fresher than the foliage of the orange trees. People were at work, looking, after their fruit harvest ; pruning and tending. They seem very glad to see us, and ask us to go into the groves and pluck the fruit. Nothing loth, wedo so. They pick us the ripest oranges, and we revel in the delicious scent and flavour. It is delightful to walk amongst these groves, under the trees, whilst the hot sun over-head warms the fruit and scatters its perfume upon the air, and flecks our path with dancing lights and shadows. We are in a new world, and what a world! The men, too, are so civil and polite that they win our hearts. They look their best, dressed in white shirts, with a scarf tied round their waist. If they have any curiosity about us, it is discreetly veiled. Unfortunately we cannot keep up any conversation. A word here and there is understood, and the rest goes by signs. Mallorquin is very different from Spanish. ‘The strange thing about the former is, that so many of its words resemble the French ; so much s0, that a Mallorquin going off into the Béarnais district of the Pyrenees will manage to get on very comfortably with his native language. At the end of a month I am quite sure that we should speak excellent Mallorquin, if we chose to apply ourselves to the task. Strolling into these orange groves, holding mute conversations with the workmen ; delighting and being delighted; seeing the best of life and thinking the best of mankind under these sunny skies ; it takes us a very long time to get through our two miles to the port. But we are there at last. Before us is the beautiful harbour, its entrance formed by green slopes wide enough to admit goodly-sized vessels. Each height is crowned with a lighthouse. The blue waters of the harbour are calm and beautiful as the Mediterranean can ever be. On the right reposes a small fishing village, ancient and very picturesque. The whole place is very quiet, the image of peace and serenity. Not a human being is anywhere visible. They are sleeping, or out at sea, or working in the fields. From this port many of the oranges and the produce of the island are shipped and sent out into the world. Amongst this produce I should make especial mention to you of the green almonds of Mallorca. They comicbooks.com