not unlike that of a train of railway-cars,--
or, it might be more appropriate to say, of
emigrant-wagons. There was a series of
rooms, ranged in a line, access to them being
had from a narrow corridor, which opened
on the rear veranda. Several of the rooms
also communicated directly with each other,
and, through low windows, gave on the
veranda in front; for the house was merely
a comparatively narrow array of apartments
between two broad verandas, where most of
the living, including much of the sleeping,
was done.

Logically, there can be nothing uglier
than a Spanish-American dwelling of this
type. But, as a matter of fact, they appear
seductively beautiful. The thick white walls
acquire a certain softness of tone; the surface
scales off here and there, and cracks and
crevices appear. In a damp country, like
England, they would soon become covered
with moss; but moss is not to be had in this
region, though one were to offer for it the
price of the silk velvet, triple ply, which so
much resembles it. Nevertheless, there are
compensations. The soil is inexhaustibly
fertile, and its fertility expresses itself in the
most inveterate beauty. Such colors and
varieties of flowers exist nowhere else, and