124 LIFE OF ELIE METCHNIKOFF 



country, and in the day-time we went for long rambles 

 in order to examine all that there was to see. The 

 history of the country, full of the sombre fanaticism 

 which is reflected in its art, the austere aridity of the 

 central plateau of the land, the reserved temper of 

 the population none of that found any echo in the 

 vibrating, sunlight-loving soul of Metchnikoff. 



Gentle Italy, her exuberant life and highly-cultured 

 past, charmed him much more. He was conse- 

 quently better pleased with Southern Spain, which 

 is more similar to Italy. He was greatly impressed 

 by the grandiose site and luminous atmosphere of 

 Granada and the Alhambra and by the superb gardens 

 of Malaga, with their tropical plants and avenues of 

 palm trees. 



At Gibraltar, he was greatly interested as a zoo- 

 logist in the only monkeys (Macaques or Barbary 

 apes) which have remained wild in Europe ; he never 

 tired of watching their habits whilst those amusing 

 creatures jumped from tree to tree above our heads. 



He had ample leisure to do so, for a frightful tempest 

 kept us at Gibraltar, preventing the crossing of the 

 Straits. As Metchnikoff was very anxious to set to 

 work, we took the first steamship which ventured out, 

 but the sea was still running so high that our ship 

 was damaged and we had to go back. A panic 

 took possession of the passengers, during which my 

 sisters and I were struck by the calmness of Elie, 

 who did not seem to realise the danger. After a delay 

 of a few days, we were at last able to cross. 



Our first impression of Tangiers, an Arab port of 

 a thoroughly Oriental type, was extremely vivid. 

 The city lay before us with its tall minarets and flat 

 roofs, shining white under the burning sun. The 



