572 TRAVEL IN EUROPE AND AMERICA. [1869, 



where we slept, in order that tlie 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 houi's 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, 

 etc., 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 simimit. 

 The day was perfect, and, not to speak of anything 

 else, Etna was in full view aU 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 



