3b VIEW ABOVE GORBIO. 



reach tlie spot, cross the Phice, which is shaded b^i- an 

 old Ehn, and turnino- to the lelt, strike into the patli 

 \-\'hicli passes b^' a sprinq- and follows the slope of the 

 hill. After half an hour's climb we reach the conspicu- 

 ous cross which bra\'es the weather high up on the 

 projecting shoulder of the mountain. AVhen the Mistral 

 blows strongh' it is liardh' possible to. linger in this spoot. 

 The shattered cross, which now stretches only one arm 

 heavenwards, bears ■\^■itness to the violence of the storms 

 that rage up there. The ^'iew from the cross is over- 

 whelmingh- grand. It embraces all the valle\s which 

 converge near Mentone. On the heights we still see 

 those wild villages, the strongholds of the Grimaldis and 

 the Lascaris ^aIio once ruled over the valle\s. ,\ semi- 

 circle of mountains rises forbiddingh- in the background 

 and forms an impenetrable barrier to the c\e, while to 

 the south the blue sea stretches awa\- into the distance. 

 To enhance this impression might seem impossible; and 

 \ el, when we have reluctanth ijintted this scene, the 

 panorama increases in sublime grandeur as soon as ^\•e 

 reach the ridge which runs south^^■ard towards Rocca- 

 bruna. The walls of rock which close the valleA's are 

 seen in perspecti\'e like vast decorations, and the outlines 

 of the picture become ever richer and more varied. In 

 the middle of tlie landscape, on the northern slojje of 

 one of the mightiest of these giants, St. Agnese stands 

 out, a village of some importance, hanging like a s\val- 

 low's nest over the gidd\- precijiice. Who could suspect 

 the existence of this \illage? It is comjileteh' concealed 

 from the sea b\- the rocks to which it clings. The high 



