Here
too hangs a portrait which has long passed for that of the unfortunate
Boabdil, but which is said to be that of Aben Hud, the Moorish king
from whom descended the princes of Almeria. From one of these princes,
who joined the standard of Ferdinand and Isabella towards the close of
the Conquest, and was christianized by the name of Don Pedro de
Granada Venegas, was descended the present proprietor of the palace,
the marquis of Campotejar. The proprietor, however, dwells in a
foreign land, and the palace has no longer a princely inhabitant.
Yet here is every thing to delight a southern voluptuary: fruits,
flowers, fragrance, green arbors and myrtle hedges, delicate air and
gushing waters. Here I had an opportunity of witnessing those scenes
which painters are fond of depicting about southern palaces and
gardens. It was the saint's day of the count's daughter, and she had
brought up several of her youthful companions from Granada, to sport
away a long summer's day among the breezy halls and bowers of the
Moorish palaces. A visit to the Generalife was the morning's
entertainment. Here some of the gay company dispersed itself in groups
about the green walks, the bright fountains, the flights of Italian
steps, the noble terraces and marble balustrades. Others, among whom I
was one, took their seats in an open gallery or colonnade commanding a
vast prospect, with the Alhambra, the city, and the Vega, far below,
and the distant horizon of mountains- a dreamy world, all glimmering
to the eye in summer sunshine.
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