GARAVAN. 101 



the first century B. C. to a vast garden. Pliny complains 

 a hundred years later of the luxury, the effects of which 

 were felt even in horticulture. A^egetables had attained 

 such dimensions as to be quite beyond the reach of the 

 poor. He quotes as an instance the Asparagus, three 

 of which weighed a Roman pound (ca. .300 grammes). 

 Life in this land, which had become transformed into a 

 luxuriant garden and in which all sorts of Eastern plants 

 flourished, could not but have a demoralising effect upon 

 the people. And indeed the shadows gradually deepened 

 on this too luxurious civilisation which already bore within 

 it the germs of destruction. 



As I approached Mentone the Mistral began to 

 blow and raised great clouds of dust from the 

 road. In Garavan, under the shelter of the old 

 town, it was, however, quite calm, so that it was 

 possible to sit out in the pleasant gardens of the 

 Hotel D'ltalie till late into the evening. Garavan is 

 effectively sheltered from the west wind by the ridge 

 on which Old Mentone lies and b}' its close - built 

 houses; and for this reason it is frequented by invalids. 

 For some time past Garavan 

 has had a station of its 

 own which facilitates 

 traffic almost too much, 

 especially for those 

 winter visitors who risk 

 their already impaired health 

 by the injurious excitement 

 of gambling at Monte Carlo. ciaHothora laeicvireus. 



