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THE ACADEMY SQUADRON OFF BARCELONA. Page 12.]
DECORATED FRONT PAGE:
YOUNG AMERICA ABROADBYOLIVER OPTIC.
_VINE&OLIVE_
BOSTONLEE & SHEPARD.]
_YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD—SECOND SERIES._
VINE AND OLIVE;
OR,
YOUNG AMERICA IN SPAIN AND PORTUGAL.
A STORY OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE.
BY
~WILLIAM T. ADAMS~ (_OLIVER OPTIC_),
AUTHOR OF “OUTWARD BOUND,” “SHAMROCK AND THISTLE,” “RED CROSS,” “DIKES AND DITCHES,” “PALACE AND COTTAGE,” “DOWN THE RHINE,” “UP THE BALTIC,” “NORTHERN LANDS,” “CROSS AND CRESCENT,” “SUNNY SHORES,” ETC.
BOSTON: ~LEE AND SHEPARD, PUBLISHERS.~
NEW YORK: CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM.
COPYRIGHT: BY WILLIAM T. ADAMS. 1876.
TO MY FRIEND, ~HENRY RUGGLES, ESQ.,~
“CONSULADO DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, EN BARCELONA, EN TIEMPOS PASADOS,”
WHEN WE “ASSISTED” TOGETHER AT A BULL–FIGHT IN MADRID, VISITED EL ESCORIAL AND TOLEDO, AND WITH WHOM THE AUTHOR RELUCTANTLY PARTED AT CASTILLEJO,
~THIS VOLUME~
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED.
PREFACE.
VINE AND OLIVE, the fifth volume of the second series of“YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD,” contains the history of the AcademySquadron during the cruise along the shores of Spain andPortugal, and the travels of the students in the peninsula. As inthe preceding volumes, the professor of geography and historydiscourses on these subjects to the pupils, conveying to them agreat deal of useful information concerning the countries theyvisit. The surgeon of the ship is a sort of encyclopædia of travel;and, while he is on shore with a couple of the juvenile officers,he enlightens them by his talk on a great variety of topics; andthe description of “sights” is given in these conversations, or inthe “waits” between the speeches. In addition to the cities of thepeninsula on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, the young travellerscross the country from Barcelona to Lisbon, visiting on theway Saragossa, Burgos, the Escurial, Madrid, Toledo, Aranjuez,Badajos, and Elvas. In another excursion by land, they start fromMalaga, and take in Granada and the Alhambra, Cordova, Seville,and Cadiz. Besides the ports mentioned, the party vessels visitValencia, Alicante,—from which they make an excursion to Elcheto see its palms—Carthagena, and Gibraltar.
The author has visited every country included in the titles ofthe eleven volumes of the two series of which the present volumeis the last published. He has been abroad twice for the sole purposeof obtaining the materials for these books; his object beingto produce books that would instruct as well as amuse.
The story of the incendiaries and of the young Spanish officer ofthe Tritonia, interwoven with the incidents of travel, is in accordancewith the plan adopted in the first, and followed out in everysubsequent volume of the two series. Doubtless the book willhave some readers who will skip the lectures of the professor andthe travel–talk of the surgeon, and others who will turn unread thepages on which the story is related; but we fancy the former willbe larger than the latter class. If both are suited, the authorneed not complain; though he especially advises his youngfriends to read the historical portions of the volume, because hethinks that the maritime history of Portugal, for instance, oughtto interest them more than any story he can invent.
The titles of all the books of this series were published tenyears ago. The boys and girls who read the first volume are menand women now; and the task the author undertook then will befinished in one more volume.
With the hope that he will live to complete the work begunso many years ago, the author once more returns his gratefulacknowledgments to his friends, old and young, for the favorthey have extended to this series.
TOWERHOUSE, BOSTON, Oct. 19, 1876.