406 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



TO MRS. G. R. AGASSIZ 



Paris, Feb. 2, 1903. 



Max and I have been here since the first days of 

 January, most comfortably settled in our old quarters 

 at the Hotel de l'Athenee. It looks very much as if we 

 should stick here. The weather has been superb, with 

 the exception of a short cold snap lasting only a couple 

 of days. There can't be much more cold here, and as I 

 am getting on well with my new work here I '11 stay and 

 do all I can to it here so as to get rid of it next summer. 

 For though I 've got out — or it 's getting out — my 

 Pacific Report, I always keep something of the kind on 

 tap. What I am at is the Maldive Report, which will not 

 stagger my friends with its bulk, as will undoubtedly 

 the Pacific book ; and besides that there are quite a lot 

 waiting. With good care, husbanding my resources, 

 there is enough material to last long enough for me to 

 know that I had better stop and say no more. 



I don't know if you have seen the Louvre since they 

 have rearranged it. It 's a very great improvement and 

 one can see well all the good things there are in it. The 

 great objection to going on rainy days, as I do, is that 

 all the loafers of Paris do the same to keep warm, and it 

 makes it pretty uncomfortable for ladies. All the settees 

 are occupied by the dubious crowd and they cover the 

 floors with mud. 



The other day when at the Francais, one of my friends 

 who knew the Director took me all over the artists' 

 foyer to see the relics and pictures, etc., of the theatre 

 from the days of Moliere to the present time. It is queer 

 that for a man who wrote as much as Moliere there 

 should only be left a single letter, but then they have his 



