PREFACE TO THE 

 FIRST EDITION. 





LJnder a grev 

 wintry skv in the 

 valley of the Rhine I am 

 writing these lines Avhich are to 

 serve as an introduction to mv "Rambles" on the 

 Mediterranean coast. How fortunate is it that even 



on the darlcest days imagination can raise 



us up above the clouds! Even when all 



around is dull, fancy pictures to me with 



magic touch the bright southern sunshine. 



I seem to look upon the blue Midland Sea with its steep, rocky 



shores, and in the far distance gleams the Alpine range with 



its diadem of snow. Mirrored in m\- mind are the bright 



Ligurian landscapes; I breathe, as it were, the aromatic 



perfume of the e\'ergreen thickets (Maquis). May similar 



sensations of retmming spring be a^\■akened in the soul of 



the reader, surrounded though he be bv frost and snow! 



