i82 INSECT LIFE 



XIII 



My botanical colleagues scrutinised the vegetation 

 on either side of the road by the early light ; the 

 others talked. I followed the party, a barometer 

 slung over my shoulder, a note-book and pencil in 

 my hand. 



My barometer, intended for ascertaining the height 

 of the chief botanical stations, soon became a pretext 

 for attacks on the gourd of rum. " Quick, the 

 barometer ! " some one would exclaim every time 

 that a remarkable plant was pointed out, and we 

 would all press round the gourd, the barometer 

 coming later. The freshness of the morning and 

 our walk made us appreciate these references to the 

 barometer so much that the level of the tonic liquid 

 lowered even faster than that of the column of 

 mercury. For the future it would be wise to consult 

 Torricelli's tube less frequently. 



The temperature grew colder ; olive and ilex 

 disappear, next vine and almond, then mulberry, 

 walnut, and white oak ; box grows plentiful. We 

 enter on a monotonous region, stretching from the 

 limit of cultivation to the lower edge of the beech 

 woods, where the chief plant is Satureia montana, 

 known here as pebre cTase, — asses' pepper, — from 

 the acrid smell of its small leaves, impregnated with 

 essential oil. Certain little cheeses which form part 

 of our provisions are powdered with this strong 

 spice, and more than one of us casts a famishing 

 glance at the provision bags carried by the mule. 

 Our rough, early expedition had brought an appetite, 

 nay, better still, a devouring hunger, " latrantem 

 stomachum," as Horace wrote. I showed my com- 

 panions how to still this hunger until we came to 



