JULY 



A night journey — Dawn in the train — Passing Chambfiri— A water- 

 cure near Geneva — Amiel and his 'Journal Intime' — The New 

 Museum at Geneva — M. Correvon's garden — An afternoon at 

 BSle — Boecklin ' again — Cronberg and the ' Palmengarten' — 

 Planting shrubs to secure an esppcial effect — The cultivation of 

 Alpine Strawberries — Receipts. 



July 1st. — I left Florence on one of the last days of 

 June, with oh ! such a sad heart and a feeling I should 

 never see it again. I am so conscious, as I said before, 

 of the wisdom of spending the rest of my life at home 

 and foregoing the pleasures of travel, as with my nature 

 long absences unfortunately diminish the pleasure and 

 interest I take in my own concerns, and regret at what I 

 leave behind comes between me and my happiness when 

 I am away. The weather had been wet, and directly the 

 sun was obscured the temperature was, if anything, 

 rather too cool. I do love a night railway journey, be- 

 cause of the chance it gives one of seeing that most 

 wondrously lovely effect of nature which we so seldom 

 do see — this growth of the famous 'more light,' Goethe's 

 last words — the triumphal march of the coming on of 

 day. I determined to enjoy it in spite of the presence 

 of seven Italians, one more than the carriage was in- 

 tended to hold, who got in at Genoa at four o'clock in 

 the morning and never ceased talking amongst them- 

 selves. 



It is not only the beauty of the growing light, but 

 the mysterious human awakening, the early smoke that 

 coils from some cottage chimney, the opening window, 



(375) 



