572 TRAVEL IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. [1869, 
where we slept, in order that the next day might 
not be too fatiguing to Mrs.G. Friday, the railway, 
newly completed along the shore to Monaco, took us 
through Villa Franca to Nice, and to Antibes, where 
I had arranged to have some hours with M. Thuret (a 
charming man and excellent botanist) and his incom- 
parable garden. . . . The only thing lacking was the 
magnificent view of the snowy Maritime Alps (of 
which I saw a sketch made by young Moggridge) 
which the house commands in good weather, but which 
was hidden from us by clouds and mist. We reached 
Marseilles and our hotel in the evening ; had Satur- 
day for our preparations, and at evening went on 
board the Poonah, which was to start for Alexandria 
early Sunday morning. I need not say anything 
about the scenery of the region we traversed, nor of 
the pleasure of first seeing date-palms and eucalypti, 
ete., and orange and lemon trees in groves, laden with 
blossom and fruit, and long hedges of roses in full 
bloom in December. 
. . . Fine weather and smooth water from Sunday 
to Thursday evening, especially during the long and 
lovely day which opened with Stromboli and the other 
Lipari Islands directly before us, and the snowy 
summit of Etna in the distance, and closed with the 
sun setting behind the southern base of Etna, and an 
inverted pyramid of smoke resting on its summit. 
The day was perfect, and, not to speak of anything 
else, Etna was in full view all day long, except when 
hidden for an hour by the cliffs behind Messina. The 
latter end of the voyage was uncomfortable enough, 
the sea very heavy, and glad we were to land at Alex- 
andria, Saturday noon, December 12, a showery day, 
the streets deep with mud and filth. Early Sunday 
