192 FIRST JOURNEY IN EUROPE. [1839, 



longed and repeated fainter and fainter for nearly a 

 minute. . . . 



The coast at Marseilles and that I saw yesterday 

 may be described in a few words: bare, jagged, sterile, 

 rocky mountains ; scarcely high enough to be pictur- 

 esque, perfectly destitute of verdure, barely support- 

 ing here and there a few stunted olive-trees. We 

 passed Toulon and had a distant view. We sailed 

 between the mainland and the islands of Hyeres, so 

 remarkable for their fine climate and healthfulness, 

 but they did not look very inviting to me. 



When I rose this morning the scenery had become 

 bolder and more interesting. We were where the 

 Alps first come down to the sea, and we have since 

 sailed along a coast so closely skirted by the Maritime 

 Alps, the chain which passing into Italy forms the 

 Apeninnes, that there is scarcely room to construct a 

 road between. The loftier peaks, the whole day, were 

 covered with snow, in fine contrast with the gray and 

 sterile cliffs below and the dark blue sea which seems 

 to lave their base, for the Mediterranean has the deep 

 azure tint of mid-ocean quite up to the shore. There 

 are many pretty villages also, which either seem hung 

 on the mountain's side or to rise out of the water. In 

 one place I counted twelve in a single view, by no 

 means a wide one. We passed Savona, the town 

 where the pope lived while Napoleon was master of 

 Italy. Here the hills are more fertile, and vines, 

 olives, and oranges are cultivated wherever room or 

 soil enough to plant them can be found. . . . 



IN THE HARBOR or LEGHORN, Monday evening, five o'clock. 

 I must tell you of the pretty view I had Saturday 

 night. My room, I think I mentioned, looked directly 



