New-York tribune., 1882-03-06
A WINTER JOURNEY.
THE RIVIERA.

There is something In the muslcai n"in0 %
lannon's shore which calls up the image % 'u-- ~
ana nsrpetual summer. In the fancy OF tno'o "-
have never wandered along the northern oOs'
the blue sea- here should lie the most ia'oi,U , -
of the citron and myrtle, where al '"e tst "a
VI " A.. ,lo sortb and all the landscape is soft ana
yerdant II should be garden ever III o'oU'i -
.horIa az oil day if he pleases, IN the souhoAn'
haa and scent a balmy air IN which the h.iu'
alt breeze wooes the perfume OF the rose anu heiO
trone Fxauiste villas should be powered ln oi''
Groves and in the choicest spots hKe Nioo "nu
Meptone and San Reno the happy mhaoi'ah'S Vi
white stone hotels should walk IN avenues u
palms where the green sward meets INC sirn.ls
sand and should eat oranges OIL the Tree anu hS'0"
10 harps and fddles and nghtingaies anu Sins'ne
fishermen This ia the scene that lahcS 'i'0A
naipts II is not bit like the reality.
Tho winter climate of the best parts of the
pi,;or. Is kindly but it cannot be called genial
parhans If we remember that Mentone Is TWO nun
dred miles further north than New-fork' Delhg Il,
Cot in the latitude of Portland, Maine, we shall
oaoso 20 evpect TOO much of il. There is chill LII
tha mornne and evening air. cruel wind some
tines blows from the Alps. Flowers bloom IN shet-
tered places but many of the trees ana shruoS %io
hare and Nature in general seems to he taxing 'n'
winter repose provided for her throughout inc to'
nerate zone. The soil Is not generous. veg
the tropical exuberance which one loohS
tor in a land of lasting sunshine. The tourist VIII
,hink nj first that the earth Is Dut
scantily covered. The country lacks that so1t ana
sensuous charm with which poetry has so otten ID
vested it, 1t is romantic, but 1t is rude In outline
and il is harsh in color In fact the geographical
features 10 which 1t owes the mldness OF ltS wlhVoI
temperature while fierce blasts are bowling down
the valley of the Rhone 10 the west ol IT, anu ene
snow. and storms tossing the Medter
rauean I'm front, are quite inconsistent with "a
suilinc and turf-carpeted landscape. The Riviera
ia eomparatively warm precisely because IL Is
ruoced and mountainous. We may call 1t great
natural amphitheatre, with semiclrcular range Oh
s,een and rocky hills for its walls, and the sea with
n narrow bit of coast for its floor. The Maritlne
Alps-a prolongation of the greater ridges OF owl'z
erland- come down close to the Mediterranean cast
of Marseilles, and thence describe bold sweep
around the head of the Gulf of Genoa. uniting
finally with the Apennines Of the Italian Peninsula
THE copcavity thus formed, with its open
inc toward the south, is sheltered
from all northerly winds by the screen OF
maintains: and the south winds, blowing from the
African desert, are tempered by the Mediterranean
over which they pass. There is seldom more than
strip of slopng shore often there is hardly foot
hold between the cliffs and the sea; clasped by
precipitous headands, many cosy little harbors oner
safe refuge from the disorderly sea, but the oca-
ties suitable even for humble fishing villages are
limited both by the difficulty of finding foothold
and the inaccessibilty of the coast from the land
side The mountain wall is close to the sea that
when the south wind does blow over 1t the water
for some miles out remains undisturbed. The Medi-
terranean as we know, is one of the worst behaved
of all seas; but here, In sight of these winter re-
sorts IT Is or at any rate 1t has been this season.
almost always placid. In month l have only
thrice seen moderate surf. Ordinarily the brink
is as quiet as that of river, and the pleasure boats
depend entirely upon oars. We have then in the
Riviera n region of curious contrasts: azure sky
with seldom a cloud, of brilliant blue with
neither wave nor tide, vegetation not luxurant
indeed but proper to peaceful tropic climes, and
with all this high rocky and fantastic coast which
seems to belong TO stormy northern ocean
Generally speaking, the shore rises abruptly hill
above hill the highest tier reaching an elevation OF
about 600 feet and these upper ridges are almost
everywhere bare. A dull leaden gray and an ugly
tawny yellow are the prevailing coors of tine rocks.
To the naked stone succeeds th,n growth of small
mines: aud the lower slopes well as the deep
eorges cut by the torrents are clad, but not COW
cred, with olive and lemon groves Rarely is the
vegetation dense enough to hide the raw-lookng
limestone soil and this popularity gives to the
whole region the appearance of having been badly
washed by the rains. The pale. dusty sage-green of
the olive tree far counterbaances the brightness
OF the lemon and the orange as TO become the char
acteristic tint of the foliage The hues of the land
scape therefore, are dull, and the beauty of the
Riviera is found in the bold and varied outlines of
the shore the picturesque severity of ravlnes and
precipces and the splendor of the sea-
1t is only within our own day that the difficulties
and dangers of this route between Italy and Gaul
have been overcome, and yet 1t has been high
road of much travel for 1000 years, and
nobody knows how much longer. The Greeks
and PhDnicans were here before the Romans
and of late many traces have been
found OF prehistoric people who piled
huge stones together TO build fortified camps on
commanding prominences, and left their skeletons
and flint implements in the limestone caverns. A
camp of this sort built in four stages terraces,
has been discovered within few weeks a pro-
jecting knob Of the hills near MentOne, six or seven
hundred feet above the sea. Far be it from me to
take part in the antiquarian debates Of which the
prehistoric Ligurians furnish the text but 1t is
quite agreed that the Phenicians-later coners
yet still remote enough one would THINK TO satisfy
the rustiest of schoars-bult a road here, some
mains Of which are still to be discerned. This was
the ancient Heraclean way tradition ascribed it to
Hercules and when the Romans built their great
road into Gaul, the Via Aurelana. they followed
10 great extent the footprints of their PhGnlcan
predecessors Napoleon l.. who began the famous
Cornjce could do no better than retrace for part
of the distance the route of the legons. The British
tourist I'm gray tweed who set out from Moe with
n travelling carriage, load of trunks. and white
sun-umbrella represents the topmost layer of four
or five distinct civilizations which havesuccessiyey
made this road their grand highway He is the
fne flower Of long ages of travel; and as
rule he seems to be perfectly well aware OF that