During this lapse of time the
progress of the season had wrought the usual change. On my arrival I
had found every thing in the freshness of May; the foliage of the
trees was still tender and transparent; the pomegranate had not yet
shed its brilliant crimson blossoms; the orchards of the Xenil and the
Darro were in full bloom; the rocks were hung with wild flowers, and
Granada seemed completely surrounded by a wilderness of roses; among
which innumerable nightingales sang, not merely in the night, but
all day long.
Now the advance of summer had withered the rose and silenced the
nightingale, and the distant country began to look parched and
sunburnt; though a perennial verdure reigned immediately round the
city and in the deep narrow valleys at the foot of the snow-capped
mountains.
The Alhambra possesses retreats graduated to the heat of the
weather, among which the most peculiar is the almost subterranean
apartment of the baths. This still retains its ancient Oriental
character, though stamped with the touching traces of decline. At
the entrance, opening into a small court formerly adorned with
flowers, is a hall, moderate in size, but light and graceful in
architecture. It is overlooked by a small gallery supported by
marble pillars and Morisco arches. An alabaster fountain in the centre
of the pavement still throws up a jet of water to cool the place. On
each side are deep alcoves with raised platforms, where the bathers,
after their ablutions, reclined on cushions, soothed to voluptuous
repose by the fragrance of the perfumed air and the notes of soft
music from the gallery.
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