into Italy, with Menton
and Bordighera as its most typical spots.

Villefranche comes close after Menton--and ahead of Beaulieu and Monte
Carlo and Condamine--in the claim to a perennial touch of the south.
From Montboron to the hills east of Oneglia the mountain wall protects
from the north wind and radiates the sun. But there is no deep harbor
like that of Villefranche: and no other place has a Cap Martin to form
a windshield from strong sea breezes.

Climate as much as the safe anchorage attracted pirates. From the
Caliph Omar to the last of the Deys of Algiers, Mohammedan corsairs
swept the Mediterranean. Because the Maritime Alps deprived the
inhabitants of the Riviera of retreat to or succor from the hinterland,
this coast was the joy of Saracens and Moors, Berbers and Turks. It is
hard to believe that up to a hundred years ago the Riverains--the
inhabitants of all the Mediterranean littoral, in fact, from Gibraltar
to Messina--were constantly in danger of corsair raids just as our
American pioneer ancestors were of Indian raids. The lay of the land
and the lack of a powerful suzerain state to defend them made the
Riverains facile prey. Villefranche afforded the easiest landing. Try
to climb up from Villefranche over crags and through stone-paved and
rock-lined ravines to the Moyenne Corniche, and then on to the higher
mountain-slopes, and you can imagine how difficult it was to get away
from raiders, and why the Barbary pirates took a full bag of luckless
Riverains on every raid. You comprehend the raison d'etre of the
fortified hill towns, and Eze, perched on her cliff, has a new meaning
as you look down on Villefranche. This fastness was held by the
Saracens long after the crescent yielded elsewhere to the cross--and
then became a frequent refuge for the descendants of the victors in the
medieval struggle.

From the moment the French entered Algiers at the beginning of the July
Monarchy, they felt that their claim to the gratitude of the Riverains
justified the annexation of a portion of the Riviera. The treaty that
extended French sovereignty to beyond Menton was signed at
Villefranche, and immediately the little harbor was transformed into a
French naval port. Until warships became floating fortresses
Villefranche was useful to France. Now it sees only torpedo-boats and
destroyers, and the lack of direct communication with the interior has
prevented its commercial development. Better an artif