Lord Lilford's Cruise in the Mediterranean. 3 



obtained a visa of the French Consul at Port Mahon, for the 

 good reason that after diligent researches he had been unable 

 to find, or hear of, any such functionary at that port. The 

 yacht had lost some copper ; and I was obliged to put her into 

 dry dock for repairs, having to go through innumerable 

 useless ceremonies, and visit innumerable bureaux before I 

 could get any thing done. It appears incredible, but I had 

 no less than sixteen official documents to sign and deliver at 

 some twelve different bureaux before the dockyard autho- 

 rities would oblige me by accepting the money due for hire 

 of dry dock and work upon the vessel. 



I need hardly say that on our way through France, and at 

 Toulon, I had seen hardly any thing worthy of remark, ornitho- 

 logically speaking — an Eagle Owl hanging up in a poulterer's 

 shop at Marseilles (which I was informed was not " ime piece 

 de gibier, mais pour les amateurs ") , some young Blue Rock- 

 Thrushes alive, and various species of Ducks, some Woodcocks, 

 Snipes, and Godwits in the market. A locality more entirely 

 destitute of birds than the environs of Toulon I never saw. 

 With the exception of a considerable number of Gulls {Larus 

 leticophceus , L. melanocephalus , L. ridibundus, and L. canus), 

 I literally hardly saw any bird but a few Sparrows, all here P. 

 domesticus, a solitary Kingfisher, and a pair of Wall-creepers 

 {Tichodroma muraria), in the gorge of Ollioule, some miles 

 from the town. Notwithstanding this absence of feathered 

 fowl, I, wishing to be entirely '' en regle,'^ spent three days 

 in procuring a " permis de chasse,^^ being sent from Consul 

 to Mayor, from Mayor to Prefet, and from Prefet — I was 

 going to say, about my business ; but my business was a 

 " permis,^' and Monsieur le Prefet, or Sous-Prefet, sent me 

 away, and said the official forms could not be officially ready 

 before to-morrow. We talk of Spanish procrastination ; but 

 with good temper and courtesy, and an occasional cigar, a 

 Spanish official will be ready (he is too much of an Arab to 

 be anxious) to oblige a stranger. In Spain there is no 

 system ; and in unhappy France system is the curse of the 

 country, and tlie result is, an amount of petty official swagger, 

 and a swarm of bureaux, especially provoking to an English- 



B 2 



