The Argosy — page 64: what you’re looking at

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

The Cruise of the Reserve Squadron. 51 turn our steps and attention towards the Generalife, its halls and gar- dens. Yet the impression made by the Alhambra would return ; it could never fade. There it was in the memory, there it 1s still, there it will remain. Nothing I have ever seen has made the same roman- tic, dreamy, profound impression upon me; nothing, I am persuaded ever will again. There must be a point beyond which we cannot pass. It is hardly possible twice in a lifetime to receive so vivid an effect as that produced by this ancient palace of the Moors. It becomes a possession safe and sure, as long as memory and feeling and the love of the beautiful remain. Space admits of a very few words only to the Generalife. Perched on the hill side, still higher than the Alhambra, it was the summer resort of the Kings of Granada, and possesses little of the dreamy romance and refinement of the larger building. Its rooms are quickly seen and chiefly interesting for the portraits that line the walls. Boabdil looks down upon you with melancholy eyes, which seem to plead his cause so earnestly that you discard tradition and pass an unqualified verdict in his favour. The gardens are beautiful. Vines and fig trees abound, and por- tions of the sloping hill are cultivated. Here again, in the gardens are orange trees and the Japanese medlar; gorgeous blooms and rare flowers, of which, evidently, the gardeners are proud. You walk under trellis work, picturesque with green leaves, with vines and roses that intertwine ; and whilst you revel in the cool shade you feel the air heavy with fragrance. Lovely views, near and far off, surround you, and you might spend days and weeks, richly enjoying these beauties of nature and cultivation. For ourselves, our visit was measured by moments. Time passed only too rapidly; we had yet much to do before the day closed. There was to be a Bull-fight in Granada that afternoon, and we held a solemn consultation as to whether or not we should assist at this essentially Spanish spectacle and institution. Ought it not to be seen once in a life time, if only to be able to protest against it for ever after? An unusually splendid bull-fight, it was said, was being organised at Seville in honour of the Duke of Edinburgh, to take place after we had put into Vigo: but a thousand chances might happen to prevent our presence, whilst here was one to hand. We decided in its favour. , | Luncheon over, we presently started. On our way we were to visit the Carthusian Monastery and the cathedral, which would dispose of the interval of time at our command. We took the cathedral first. We had heard much about the cathedral of Granada, and were some- what disappointed. It is an immense building in the Greco-Roman style, possessing five naves, and a groined roof supported by massive Corinthian pillars. The choir is in the middle of the central aisle, and the dome above is painted in white and gold. The side chapels CORnNICOOOKS EO mn