Near to Palma is a fine old stone pile of Moorish fashion, built by Don Jayme I. (El Conquistador), to commemorate the conquest of Majorca; and, further on, occupying a fine position amongst orange-groves, and upon a gentle slope overlooking the Mediterranean, is Bendinat, the handsome palace of the Marqués de Romano; so called in Catalan, or old Provençal, from the fact of the Conquistador having _dined well_ on that spot after he gained his victory. The language of the island is Mallorquin, which is simply a slight corruption of Catalan. The Catalan language and the old Provençal were, at the period of the conquest of Barcelona from the Moors, nearly identical. It was introduced into the Baleares by the King of Aragon, Don Jayme, at the period of his conquest of Majorca. As, however, education has of late made great progress in these islands, no less than on the mainland, and is conducted upon excellent principles, the classical language of Spain, the pure Castilian, is now everywhere taught, and the teaching of provincial patois is prohibited. The connection of the crown of Aragon with that of Castile having formed the basis of the Spanish monarchy, it will be easily understood how the two languages, the Castilian and the Catalan, are, in a great measure, blended together. The Castilian, however, while still preserving its high finish, purity, and elegance, owes much of its force to the bold, nervous tongue of the old warlike race of Aragon. As one wanders through the narrow streets of Palma, he remarks frequent vestiges of the Saracenic period, besides many sombre mediæval palaces of Gothic architecture grafted on the Moorish style, in perfect preservation, forming of themselves cool, well-shaded streets. Their _façades_ are fretted with arabesque devices borrowed from the East, while the armorial bearings of their once knightly or merchant possessors still indicate by whom they were occupied. Their tall, arched windows are all supported by twisted pillarets, while the ornate sky-lines are generally battlemented. We peered beneath many low, broad archways in these narrow, silent streets, as we passed along, and discovered several elegant square _patios_ and marble courts, with carved fountains in the midst, the spray from which diffused a delightful coolness. Around the four walls of these courts are arcaded terraces, canopied with arches crossing and recrossing each other, and rising from light spiral columns of the most elegant appearance; while the whole is supported beneath by greater and nobler arches of rare device, resting on massive columns, with shaft and capital chased with rich and elaborate carving. The evidence of great former opulence is found throughout the city in the splendid relics of Saracenic architecture, or in those numerous palaces of vast size, with their marble staircases and traceried balustrades. The magnificent relics of the past tell plainly of the once flourishing condition of Majorca