GRASSY PLACES. 281 



at this altitude does not last long enough for the 

 insect to go through its transformations in the 

 space of one season. 



Beyond these snowy crests lies Piedmont. 

 Around us are peaks unnumbered and unnamed as 

 yet. In front floats Corsica ; not as you see the 

 island from the hills near Nice, but standing high 

 above the sea, the mountains distinctly outlined with 

 their snowy tops. This is a " Grassy place " to be 

 remembered, not only for itself, but by reason of the 

 lovely spots we pass as we approach it from below. 

 After these Alpine pastures the sun-burnt coast looks 

 bare : " The grass faileth, there is no green thing " 

 (Isa. xv. 6). Yet we find fresh verdure here and 

 there. Even the desert has its " Grassy places " 

 (John vi. 10), where those who will may rest and be 

 refreshed. 



The enchanted region which I have thus rapidly 

 sketched from coast to crest may, for botanical pur- 

 poses, be divided into three zones or districts. First, 

 the Coast to a little over seven miles inland, but not 

 rising much above 2,500 feet ; next, the Mountain 

 country beyond and above these limits ; lastly, the 

 Alpine, from a little over 5,000 feet. Each has its 

 special Fauna and Flora and its peculiar charms. 

 Yet how few strangers have explored even the first 

 of these three zones ! How many leave the Riviera 

 unconscious of the wonderland that lies so near 

 them ! 



