BY THE MEDITERRANEAN. 185 



in finding my way up the hill, for I lost the right path several 

 times, and progress was then much impeded by the small 

 prickly oaks {Quercus cocci/era), interspersed here and there with 

 the equally prickly butcher's broom {Ruscus aculeatus). I saw 

 the leaves of Ophrys fiisca here and there, and some more 

 of the candytuft {Iberis linifolid) in flower. There were a good 

 many shells of Btilimns decollatus (all broken off at the point), 

 Zonites ceUarius^ and a kind of Cydostouia about here, and in a 

 few shady places the ground was white with hoar frost. 



A little further up a large fritillary butterfly was seen flying 

 about, but not caught. The top of the hill, about a thousand 

 feet high, was soon reached, and from among the arbutus trees 

 i^A. unedo) there was an extensive view comprising the islands of 

 Hyeres and the Salines, or salt marshes, on one side, and on 

 the other the range of hills behind Hyeres known as " Les 

 Maures," all standing out clear in the bright sunshine. From the 

 top I came down in the direction of Carqueiranne, finding on the 

 way some more shells of Zonites, Coronilla j'wicea, marigolds 

 {Calendula arvmsis), the white Rapha7iistrui7i Lafidra^ Alyssu7n 

 maritimum^ etc. After passing a small farmhouse, and traversing 

 a few olive plantations, I emerged on the road to Carqueiranne. 

 This skirts along near the shore, but the views are much impaired 

 bv several villas on either side. 



In a bank by the roadside I found fine plants of Erodiiun 

 romajium^ and in digging one up accidentally destroyed a small 

 trap-door spider's nest of the "cork" type — i.e.^ with tight-fitting 

 door. The return was through some olive plantations by Coste- 

 belle, where the Hotel d' Albion forms a hideous eyesore, here the 

 ground was carpeted with large daisies {Bellis sylvestris) \ further 

 on, a little before reaching the railway station, I noticed in a 

 bank several trap-door spiders' nests with thin " wafer '' doors, 

 constructed by Nemesia congener, a species peculiar to the neigh- 

 bourhood of Hyeres. 



In the afternoon I followed a path called the Chemin de St. 

 Bernard, leading round the rock on whose slopes Hyferes is built 

 and which is crowned by the remains of an old castle. On join- 

 ing the ridge behind the castle hill, I found a quantity of heads of 

 the grass, Lagurus ovatus, in a dried state. In a wall near here 



