CHAPTER XV 



THE HERMIT OF SERIGNAN (CONTINUED) 



'IXT'HILE the domain of the landowner 

 ^^ and manufacturer ended at the walls 

 of his field of pebbles and botanical garden, 

 that of the entomologist extended far be- 

 yond them, as far as his eyes could see and 

 his steps lead him. 



For this reason a panoramic view of the 

 surrounding country is desirable. 



With its peaceful plains, its gracious hills, 

 overgrown with strawberry-tree and ilex, and 

 the sublime mountain of Provence rising upon 

 the horizon, with its varied outlines and its 

 sun-illumined flanks, the Serignan landscape 

 gently forces itself upon the spectator's at- 

 tention. And if the spirit moved him, Fabre 

 had only to raise his head from his appa- 

 ratus to find all about him something to 

 soothe the eye and refresh the mind. 



But however keen his feeling for the beau- 

 ties of Nature, it is not so much as artist or 

 dilettante but as the insect historiographer 

 that he appreciates the value of the land- 

 223 



