auristinus
in bloom, and lavender grew in great profusion on the hill-sides. The
flowers of the oleander gave out a delicate, almond-like fragrance, and
grew in such dense clusters as frequently to hide the foliage. I amused
myself with finding a derivation of the name of this beautiful plant,
which may answer until somebody discovers a better one. Hero, when the
corpse of her lover was cast ashore by the waves, buried him under an
oleander bush, where she was accustomed to sit daily, and lament over his
untimely fate. Now, a foreign horticulturist, happening to pass by when
the shrub was in blossom, was much struck with its beauty, and asked Hero
what it was called. But she, absorbed in grief, and thinking only of her
lover, clasped her hands, and sighed out: "O Leander! O Leander!" which
the horticulturist immediately entered in his note-book as the name of the
shrub; and by that name it is known, to the present time.

For two or three hours, the scenery was rather tame, the higher summits
being obscured with a thunder-cloud. Towards noon, however, we passed the
first chain, and saw, across a strip of rolling land intervening, the
grand ramparts of the second, looming dark and large under the clouds. A
circular watch-tower of white stone, standing on the summit of a
promontory at the mouth of a gorge on our right, flashed out boldly
against the storm. We stopped under an oak-tree to take breakfast; but
there was no water; and two Turks, who were resting while their horses
grazed in the meadow, told us we should find a good spring half a mile
further. We ascended a long slope, covered with wheat-fields, where
numbers of Turcoman reapers were busy at work, passed their black tents,
surrounded with droves of sheep and goats, and reached a rude stone
fountain of good water, where two companies of these people had stopped
to rest, on their way to the mountains. It was the time of noon prayer,
and they went through their devotions with great solemnity. We nestled
deep in a bed of myrtles, while we breakfasted; for the sky was clouded,
and the wind blew cool and fresh from the region of rain above us. Some of
the Turcomans asked us for bread, and were very grateful when we gave it
to them.

In the afternoon, we came into a higher and wilder region, where the road
led through thickets of wild olive, holly, oak, and lauristinus, with
occasional groves of pine. What a joy I felt in hearing, once more, the
grand song of my favo