Floating Islands.
Tli Ulmvl f l.-los. in the Greek
Archipelago, ( traditionally said to
be floating on the surface of the water,
an object of sport for the winds, at the
merry of the wave. It was the power
of Neptune, the deity who presided
over the ocean, that rendered this f pot
stationary; and in order that it might
remain so, lie begirt it by two other is
lands Mycone and fiyaros, w hich, as it
were, hem in the place. Extraordinary
as this narrative may appear, we have
accounts in modern times somewhat
resembling it; we must except, how
ever, the intcrpoMtUn of Neptune.
Floating garder.s arc very common in
New Spain, of which there are two
kind. One glide upon the water,
wafted by the capricious winds; others
are attached to the lior. The princi
pal flowers and roots consumed tu the
city of Mexico are raised in these small
gardens. Karon lluinbcl.it stutes it to
be a highly interesting sp;-c:acle to ob
serve "early in the morning, at sun
rise, the provisions brought in by In-
dians, iu rafts, descending the canals
of Chaise and isucabo. In them are
cultivated beans, artichokes and cauli
flowers, while the edges are ornament
ed with rose-bushes." The promenade
In boats around thtse little islands is
represented as being the most agree'
able in the environs of Mexico. Should
the proprietor of one of these erratic
gardens finl he ha3 a disagreeable
neighbor, he unties the chain that
fastens his property to the shore, and
with h.s hot and his habitation floats
wherever lie idease. In China these
rafts or floating islands are formed on
the surface of their numerous canals
and rivers, the whole of which teem.
as it were, with life and vegetation.
