252 RAINFALL. 



under the most Javimrable conditions, onh' a hundred 

 kilometres, here, strange to say, the jagged aummits 

 of Corsica, distant more tlian t\\-(i hundred kilometres, 

 ma\' frequenth" be seen. For this reason Mont Gros, 

 near Nice, was riglith' chosen as the site oi an astrono- 

 mical observator\ . hi Nice there are on an average 

 onh" sixt^'-se^■en rain^• da\-s in the coiu'se of the ^'ear. 

 The rain does not last long, but is freL[uenth' as hea^'^' 

 as in the tropics. This spring, during our fixe weeks' 

 sta\-. from the middle of March to the latter lialf 

 of April, we had onl\- three da^■s ot continuous rain 

 to record. In fact durinp- the whole time we were 

 bathed in light. 



The road led us past (jolfe Jonah to Jouan les Pins, 

 and now we followed the wide curve of the bai,' under 

 Pine trees. Our gaze rested either on the Esterel mountains 

 or on the lies de Lerins, or lost itself on the trackless sea. 

 These ^•iews were the same familiar ones that liad gro\vn 

 so dear, but ah\a\s in new settings. We reached tlie 

 Cap and walked into the gardens of the Hotel du Cap, 

 Little is altered here, the same luxuriant vegetation and 

 the same fragrant scent of the Mat|uis. I^>ut some curious 

 buildings on the extreme point of tlie tongue of land 

 appear strange to us. Can the Saracens again ha\'e 

 concjuered flie land and settled on the Cap, for those 

 are certainh- Moorish buildings that rise to view.' A 

 Moscjuc raises its slender minaret aloft. The point of 

 the Cap is separated from the ri(')tel b\' a waU, which 

 fortunately is broken through, and nothing hinders us 

 from proceeding further. 



