OLIVT.S AT CAP MARTIN. 259 



onlv dormant, and revived again when a touch from 

 outside brouglit it back to consciousness. 



Tlie spot where Cap Zvlartin joins tlie coast is 

 covered \\'it]i beautiful old Olive trees. There the^' 

 stand with tlieir fantastically gnarled stems, of which 

 no two are alike. On this coast the fartlier you get 

 from the Ksterel the larger and finer thev become. 

 \Miat a difference between the miserable trees at the 

 moutli of the Rhone and these giants raising their 

 crowns proudh' aloft! W'c must see them thus to value 

 and love them; and the abundance of light in this 

 sunnv district is also necessar\' that their foliage ma^' 

 not appear gre^' and sad but silver^• and briglit. Tliiis 

 IS \\lr\ the (Mive gro\e lorms so characteristic an 

 element in this landscape. The lea^•es of the tree are 

 not large, and as its foliage never grows dense a soft 

 twilight of peculiar charm reigns in the Olive groves. 

 Ever\' breath of wind stirs their leaves, and the 

 lights tremble on the trees and Ihckei" like lirellies over 

 the ground, animating the solitude. 



In spite of its apparenth exposed silnation Lap ?vlartin 

 is well sheltered from tlie Mistral and from the north 

 wind and lies open onh' to the south and east. 

 The severit\' of last winter has pro\'ed that the liigh 

 mountains to the north and west of the Cap form a most 

 effective barrier against the cold. .Scarceh' an\- snow 

 la^' on the Cap when Mentone was covered, and neither 

 the Bougainvillias nor tire Heliotropes at the Hotel suffered. 

 T-'lants are the surest indicators of climate. In most places 

 on the Riviera last winter tlie Bougainvillias and Helio- 



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