NATURAL HISTORY OF THE RIVIERA. 



203 



THE OCTOPUS. 



clutched hold of the basket to which it was consigned. This bulldog- 

 youth, from whom my 

 daughter could hardly 

 take her horror-stricken 

 eyes, then turned his 

 attention to the remain- 

 ing occupants of the net, 

 which were not numer- 

 ous or large. There were 

 six grey mullet, a dozen 

 or so of sardines, and 

 four crayfish, represen- 

 tatives of a motley group 

 which, unseen by human 

 eye, must have many a 

 fierce struggle for exist- 

 ence beneath the blue waters of the sea. 



On leaving the sea shore, our road led up among the hills, until 

 we reached the limestone quarries, which supply the east end of the 

 town of Nice with stones and lime. Here we sat down to admire 

 one of the most beautiful views in the world. Below was the Villa- 

 franca harbour, large enough to hold all the fleets of the world. 

 The sea was smooth as glass, and where there was no seaweed on 

 the rocks below, the spots appeared like emeralds set in sapphire. 

 The town and neighbouring hills looked so still and lifeless that 

 persons accustomed to the crowded and smoky towns of England, 

 passing as we did, might think them uninhabited. The only sign 

 of life around us was a redstart, seeking among the crevices of the 

 rocks a suitable site for his nest in the coming Spring. Here we 

 found the creeping asparagus {A. acutifoliiis) , the Cineraria maritima, 

 and the Mediterranean harebell {Campanula niacrorhiza). Here and 

 there are stone-pines and cork trees, whose acorns are thickly 

 strewn around, and whose bark has been partially stripped off to 

 make floats for fishing nets. I cut an extra stopper for our water- 



