390 CERIANA. — INTARSIATORE 



tlie ri\er. Tliis lillle place is much \-isiled b\- strangers. 

 Entlironecl in the mountains to the north-west is Ccriana, 

 very old and exceedinijh' picturesque. At the time of 

 the Saracen peril it found securit\' in its elevated situation 

 on the spur of Monte Bignone. To the right of Ceriana, 

 bexond the promontor\', a lew peaks are seen sprinkled 

 with snow. The valle^• of Taggia. too, is closed in to 

 the north by white-capped mountains, but the snow\' 

 range of the Maritime Alps is not \'isible from here, 

 although the Madonna della (ruardia projects far out 

 into the open sea. 



On returning to the to'wn I had an opportunit\' of 

 watching an "hitarsiatore" at work. The "bitarsia" 

 industry' still surx'ives at San Kemo, and I \va.s interested 

 to learn ^^'hat kinds of \\ood have been emplo^•ed for 

 long ages in this mosaic work. The ground-work of the 

 picture that I saw consisted of \'eined ^■ello\vish-brown 

 Olise \NOod, blolh supplied white, black was pre- 

 pared from the Fig tree, ZizypJms vulgaris furnislied 

 bright red, the Carob dark red shades, the .Vrbutus fiesh 

 colour, Lemon and Orange wood bright yellow, the 

 Evergreen Oak light bron-n, and, finalh', the Hazel gre^■. 

 I was struck Ita- the numbers of lemons ^^'hich, in 

 spite of the advanced season, still remained on tlie trees 

 round San Remo. In answer to m\ enciuh-ies, the people 

 complained bitterh' of the decline of the lemon trade 

 and the steadv falling off in prices. ^Fliis was due tirsth' 

 to the competition of the Balearics. and now the export 

 to America is ceasing as this countr\- is beginning to 

 supply its own lemons. 



