Thermometer, on the Centigrade and Fahrenheit scale
This map will be found very useful in the excursions by the small steamers sailing from the port.
[ THE RIVIERA.]
HOTELS, PRODUCTIONS, AND CLIMATE.
The Riviera is a strip of land extending 323 miles along the coast of the Mediterranean at the foot of the Maritime Alps and their off-shoots. It is usually divided into two portions—the Riviera from Hyères to Genoa, 203 miles long; and the Riviera from Genoa to Leghorn, 112 miles long. [ Temperature.] The milder and more frequented of the two is the former—the Western Riviera—which has been subjected to most careful and minute meteorological observations, and the various stations classified according to their supposed degree of temperature. Yet in the whole 203 miles the difference may be said to be imperceptible. No one station in all its parts is alike, the parts of each station differing more from each other than the stations themselves. Yet each station has some peculiarity which suits some people more than others; this peculiarity being more often accidental and social—such as the people met with, the lodgings, the general surroundings, and many other little things which exercise a more powerful influence upon the health and well-being of the mind and body than the mere fractional difference of temperature. None of the protecting mountains of any of the stations are sufficiently high, precipitous, and united to ward off the cold winds when the higher mountains behind are covered with snow. All the ridges have deep indentations through which the cold air, as well as the streams, descends to the plain. Hence no station is exempt from cold winds, and all delicate persons must ever be on their guard against them—the more
sunny and beautiful the day, especially in early spring, the greater is the danger. All the stations suffer also, more or less, from the famous Mistral, a north-west wind, which in winter on the Riviera feels like a north-west wind on a sunny summer day in Scotland. The mean winter temperature (November, December, and January) of Hyères, considered the coolest of the winter stations, is 47°.4 Fahr., and of San Remo, considered the mildest, 48°.89 Fahr. The coldest months are December and January. With February the temperature commences to rise progressively. Throughout the entire region bright and dusty weather is the rule, cloudy and wet weather the exception. [ Vegetation.] “In December wild flowers are rare till after Christmas, when the long-bracted orchid, the purple anemone, and the violet make their appearance. These by the end of January have become abundant, and are quickly followed in February by crocuses, primroses, and pretty blue hepaticas. Meanwhile the star-anemones are springing up in the olive-woods, with periwinkles and rich red anemones. In March the hillsides are fragrant with thyme, lavender, and the Mediterranean heath, to which April adds cistuses, helianthemums, convolvuli, serapiases, and gladioli.” —H. S. Roberton. There is a much less quantity of wild flowers now than formerly. The date-palm flourishes in the open air. Capital walking-sticks are made of the midrib of the leaf. Among the trees which fructify freely are the orange, lemon, and citron trees, the pepper tree (Schinus molle), the camphor tree (Ligustrum ovalifolium), the locust tree (Ceratona siliqua), the Tree Veronica, the magnolia, and different species of the Eucalyptus or gum tree and of the true Acacia. In marshy places the common bamboo (Arundo donax) attains a great height; while the Sedum dasyphyllum, the aloe, and the Opuntium or prickly-pear, clothe the dry rocky banks with verdure. The most important tree commercially is the olive, which occupies the lower part of the mountains and immense tracts in the valleys. The higher elevations are divided among the cork tree (Quercus suber), the Maritime, Aleppo, and umbrella pines, and the chestnut tree. The Japanese medlar (Eriobotrya japonica) is common in the orchards, flowers in December, and ripens its fruit in May. With the exception of the orange, lemon, and cherry, all the other orchard trees ripen their fruit too late for the winter resident.