Madame Sand to Madame Marliani; Palma, November 14, 1838:--

I am leaving the town, and shall establish myself in the
country: I have a pretty furnished house, with a garden and a
magnificent view, for fifty francs per month. Besides, two
leagues from there I have a cell, that is to say, three rooms
and a garden full of oranges and lemons, for thirty-five
francs PER YEAR, in the large monastery of Valdemosa.

The furniture of the villa was indeed of the most primitive kind,
and the walls were only whitewashed, but the house was otherwise
convenient, well ventilated--in fact, too well ventilated--and
above all beautifully situated at the foot of rounded, fertile
mountains, in the bosom of a rich valley which was terminated by
the yellow walls of Palma, the mass of the cathedral, and the
sparkling sea on the horizon.

Chopin to Fontana; Palma, November 15, 1838:--

[FOOTNOTE: Julius Fontana, born at Warsaw in 1810, studied music
(at the Warsaw Conservatoire under Elsner) as an amateur and law
for his profession; joined in 1830 the Polish insurrectionary
army; left his country after the failure of the insurrection;
taught the piano in London; played in 1835 several times with
success in Paris; resided there for some years; went in 1841 to
Havannah; on account of the climate, removed to New York; gave
there concerts with Sivori; and returned to Paris in 1850. This
at least is the account we get of him in Sowinski's "Les
Musiciens polonais et slaves." Mr. A. J. Hipkins, who became