The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-19 00:00:00

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TEE HEIR OF FRANCE AT BIARRITZ.

Bayonne.
in in g considerable
An interesting letter from Biarritz, published in.
Galignani, is devoted to a description of the amuse-
ments of the Prince Imperial at this fashionable
watering place.
The Imperial residence, it is stated, stands on an.
fero ine n
isolatedce, on the r
from
m t h tourist'se
bustleright
oafsthhee entersw a
er
itnhge. townp iace.
The villa is
croon a
from the buildings of Biarritz, so that they are en-
tirely
A deep hollow
accommodation, separates
agnrdo grounds
a large oblong building, apparently
sur-
rounded with lawns laid
out in the English fashion.
The lawn from the villa on the town side slopes
down somewhat abruptly to the beach, having,
however, at the bottom a wide ' piece of sward, which
is shut out from public access by a ha-ha, defended
1 by a strong wooden railing all round, to prevent
accidents. Outside is an extensive green, at present
somewhat injured in colour by dust and light sand,
on which the fashionable world of Biarritz congre-
gate each afternoon to listen to the band of the regi-
ment quartered close by, to show off a collection of
costumes unrivalled for expensive eccentricity and
extravagance of colour, and most of all to have the
satisfaction of often being very nearly in the com-
pany of the Empress and the Prince Imperial. la
fact, the piece of sward of which I spoke above is
the very spot on which the young Prince comes each
afternoon to take healthy exercise with young com-
panions of his own age, or rather somewhat older,
for the majority seem to be from about eight to
. _

playing,
thirteen. When I walked down yesterday after-
noon about five to the place where the band was
the ground outside was thronged with
fashionables walking about or seated, whilst inside
were to be seen a considerable number of children,
of both sexes, amusing themselves according to
their phantasy. In the midst of the boys was the
young Prince, and as I remained for some time
close to the scene, I was able to form a tolerably ac-
curate judgment of his health, strength, and general
bearing. I should mention that a bridge is thrown
over the water at one point, and there two guar-
dians were posted to admit every child without
exception, provided he or she seemed by dress and
appearance to belong to the more respectable classes
of society. In fact, the latitude thus given is a first
step toward imparting a popular character to the
young Prince's education, and admirably calculated
to give him self-reliance, and to accustom him to
form a judgment for himself. The girls were in-
finitely more numerous than the boys, and, like the
latter, ranged in age from eight to thirteen. The
ostensible motive of the aggregation in both cases
was youthful exercise, but the girls in almost every
case seemed more fitly attired for a matinee dan-
tle not
I wasdesignate
t h ere en them
ry
sante. Nothing could exceed the extravagance of
their dress, and as to play—in the frank, genial, and
honest meaning of that delightful word—it was
utterly out of the
question. And so, the young ladies
—I dare
i
apart, a little way up the grounds, but during the
whole
children—assembled
indulged
in a
single
run, so afraid they appeared to spoil or tumble their
fine clothes. With the boys, the case was different,
although they, too, were overdressed. The ne plus
ultra of a boy's habiliment I have always heard to
be such an attire as permits him the most complete
command of all his movements, without bearing too
much the mark of any casual tumble or accident, at
the same time that it sets off the youthful person in
the prevailing mode. Bat of all the gay and joyful
company there collected, no one's dress came up to
the definition just given so completely as that of the
youthful Prince. Ho wore a dark-coloured suit of
light material (alpaca, it struck me), short jacket
and barque trousers, something like what we call
in England knickerbockers, with dark stockings,
striped with violet crossways, and neat light ancle-
boots—a black and white straw hat with black

hand, the ends flying behind, completed his attire.

He played with evident zest, and I never saw a
child of his age have more command 'of his limbs.
He is a particularly swift runner, and from the ease
of his movements he gave me the idea of regular
discipline by dancing or gymnastics. He is a far
better•looking boy than anyone would suppose from
his portraits, which convey the idea of heaviness
in the upper part of the face, whereas the real cha-
racteristic of his look is open frankness and light-
heartedness. He certainly appears a particularly
happy child, full of life, and eager for a game. He

hes a fine blue eye and white regular teeth, gleam-
ing out brightly when he smiles, which was rather
frequently when any incident of the play struck
his fancy. The boys were engaged in some-
thing like prison-bars, and the young Prince took
his part fairly and readily with the rest. I saw no
favour from the others because of his elevated sta-
tion ; all passed as may be constantly seen among
the children of any educational establishment. A.
chair was placed a little apart for the Prince, in
case he might like to rest, and he repaired to it
occasionally, but so likewise did other boys ; and I
several times saw two of them on it together. Once
the chair tumbled over as the Prince laid hold of it,
and he very unconcernedly seated himself on the
back part as it rested on the ground, and after-
wards raised his body a little in the air by strength
of arm, the hands resting on the scat. There was,
in fact, a visible superabundance of animal spirits
which tried various devices to throw itself off. The
whole time I stood thare I saw no interference
whatever with the Prince—all was the happy and
unrestricted amusement of boyhood. I did not per-
ceive the Empress, but some lady of the Court was
seated in the grounds a little way distant, near a
rustic bridge, and seemed to be the point of attrac-
tion to the girls. There was no other grown per.
son inside the enclosure, and only one gentleman
passed through across the bridge dur::ng the time
I remained. My time being up, I withdrew, car-
rying with me the idea, when thinking of the young
Prince, of a fine healthy, frank, intelligent boy, of
whom any parent might be proud, whatever his
rank in life.

SUBTERRANEOUS RIVERS, like the one traversed
by Sinbad the Sailor in the "Arabian Nights' En-
tertainments."—Rivers, sometimes those of considerable
size, are often seen suddenly disappearing by plunging into
the bowels of the earth, then suddenly reappearing a little
further on, and filling anew their bed which they had left
dry. Frequent examples of these geological peculiarities are
met with in Spain, in Asiatic Turkey, in Northern Africa,
and in Greece. In these countries a considerable number
of rivers is found whose exterior flow exists only during the
rainy season, whilst they have a subterraneous flow which
is permanent. Hence that denomination of Rio Seco, or
dry river so common in the hydrography of Spain, and that
of Oued-Beba-El-Ma, which in Arab expresses the same
idea, These dry rivers, or rivers without water, present,
for the most part, the aspect of sandy paths ; but if we dig
into the sand to a greater or less depth we find water which
proceeds from the subterraneous flow that never ceases.
It is this permanence of the subterraneous flow which dis-
tinguishes thes3 rivers from ordinary torrents. The banks
of the 'tics Secos, or Oueds are for the most part indicated
by lines of verdure formed mainly by tamarisks and rose
laurels, agreeably contrasting with the aridity, sometimes
very great, of the countries which the rivers traverse. The
total absorption of rivers which the earth again dashes forth
after they have flowed for some time under its surface, offers
sometimes an imposing spectacle. The Perte du Rhone,
between Geneva and Lyons, is an example. In other in-
stances, on the contrary, the rivers skulk out of sight awk-
wardly and prosaically like a timid and clownish man try-
ing to find his way through a half-opened door. The Meuse,
in the upper part of its course, illustrates this. it
occasionally happens that the current, like a graceful young
girl playing at hide-and-seek, vanishes into the hollows of
a lovely landscape, then bounds forth again from the inidat
of thickets of verdure. This is what takes place with the
Guadiana near the village of Villa Robin in Andalusia,
called in the locality Los Ojos de Ciaacheza—the Eyes of
Guadiana.

FRIGHTFUL DEATIL—A very sboLking acC.clent
occurred at Selstou, Notts, on Thursday last. It ap-
pears that a man named Timothy Coleman and his wile
were walking down the gangway at Selston. Some waggons
were running along, and it is supposed that ha was jump-
ing into the last one, when ho slipped and fell down, some
of the wheels passing over his head, part of which was all
but cut off. Both his hands and arms were frightfully mnti-
',veil, and he was taken up quite dead. His wife was a
short distance off and did not see the accident occur. He
has left a family of aye children,