"There is the monastery
of Trooditissa!" exclaimed our guide. About 200 feet above our level,
snugly nested among splendid walnut-trees in the dark angle of the
mountains, were the grey and brown gables, half concealed by the rich
foliage of plane-trees, walnuts, mulberry, and other varieties.
About half a mile from this point of view the mules scrambled up one of
the worst portions of the route, and we arrived at a clear and cold
spring issuing suddenly from the rocks through a stone spout, protected
by an arch of masonry: this was received in a rude wooden trough formed
from the trunk of a hollowed pine, and overflowed across the path to
water some terraced gardens immediately below. A walnut and a fig-tree
intermingled their branches above the arch, and formed an agreeable
shade to shelter weary travellers, who might sit by the welcome spring
after toiling up the rough mountain side. About eighty yards beyond, by
a level path, we reached the widest-spreading walnut-tree that I have
ever seen; the new foliage was soft and uninjured by the wind, producing
a dense shade over an area sufficient for numerous tents. This
magnificent specimen of vegetation grew upon the edge of an abrupt
descent, perpendicular to a series of gardens, all terraced out to a
depth of about 150 feet, to the bottom of a narrow gorge; thus one-half
of the branches overhung the steep, while the other half shaded a
portion of the monastery courtyard.
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