440 THE LIFE OF JAMES D. FORBES. [CHAP. 



totally different position, and has the advantage of 

 being farther from the sea/ 



At Hyeres, Forbes' health continued to improve till 

 towards the middle of January 1868. 



On the 13th of January, feeling stronger, he was 

 tempted to go out for a longer ride than usual. His 

 youngest daughter accompanied him on foot. They 

 went up one of the heights in the neighbourhood, 

 and feeling well, and enjoying lovely views, and 

 delicious air, instead of returning by the usual road, 

 he fixed to make a round. This road turned out to 

 be both very steep and very stony. The animal he 

 was riding had to jump from stone to stone. This 

 shaking was most fatiguing, and he came home about 

 five P.M. much exhausted. The second day after this, 

 the 15th January, a slight spitting of blood commenced. 

 From that day till he died, nearly twelve months later, 

 he never was again able to be dressed, or to be out of 

 bed beyond an hour or an hour and a half at a time. 

 Towards the end of March he had another severe attack, 

 and he never again sat up at Hyeres. He generally 

 wrote what he wished for in pencil, as he dared not raise 

 his voice ; but latterly at Hyeres he could hardly do even 

 that. At this time he was offered the Presidency of the 

 Royal Society of Edinburgh, which he refused. His cor- 

 respondence now almost ceased. Some letters on business 

 he dictated, and the few that there are to his family 

 and to Mr. Batten were written in pencil by himself. 



As May approached, it was felt that to remain at 

 Hyeres and meet the summer heats there must in his 

 weakened state prove fatal. To attempt a journey home 

 seemed hardly less perilous. Yet a choice had to be 

 made, and he determined calmly and deliberately, in full 

 view of the risk, to set out for Clifton. If he we're 

 allowed to reach that place, he would there be in a good 

 climate, and under the care of his true and tried physician 

 and friend Dr. Symonds. The journey, under all the 

 circumstances, was hazardous in the extreme, and must 



