press
resorted thither annually, and, laying aside the dignity of state, were
seen daily indulging in sea-bathing. The building of the Villa Eugenie
made the fortune of Biarritz. The climate is particularly dry and warm,
proving, if we may believe common report, excellent for invalids. The
hot days of summer are tempered by a sea-breeze, which blows with great
regularity inland during the day. The town is elevated, being seated
upon a bluff of the coast, and has two small bays strewn with curiously
honey-combed rocks, worn into the oddest of shapes by the fierce beating
of the surf for ages. Art has aided nature in the grotesque arrangement
of these rocks, so as to form arches and caves of all conceivable
shapes. It must present a splendid sight here in a stormy day, when the
surf breaks over the huge rocks and rushes wildly through these
cavernous passages. Such a battle between the sea and the shore would be
grand to witness. The beach shelves gently, and is firm and smooth, so
that it is particularly well adapted for bathing.

Biarritz being in nearly the same latitude as Nice and Mentone, one
looks for similar foliage and vegetation, but there are no palms, aloes,
oranges, or trees of that class here. The place lacks the shelter of the
Maritime Alps, which the two resorts just mentioned enjoy; but bright,
sunny Biarritz will long live in the memory of the little party whom the
Basque postilion drove thither and back. The late imperial residence,
the Villa Eugenie, is now improved as a fashionable summer hotel. The
drive from Bayonne to Biarritz can be made by one road, and the return
accomplished by another. On the way back we passed through two or three
miles of thick, sweet-scented pine forest, still and shady under the
afternoon sun, except for the drowsy hum of insects, and the pleasant
carol of birds. Here and there were open glades where the sun lay upon
little beds of blue flowers of unknown name, but very like the gentian;
and there were also the wild daphne and scarlet anemones. The lofty
trees located on both sides of the road had been tapped for their sap,
and little wooden spouts were conducting the glutinous deposit into
small earthen jars hung on the perpendicular trunks,--reminding one of
the mode of "milking" the toddy palms in India and Ceylon, by which
ingenious means the natives obtain, a liquor which, when fermented, is
as strong as the best Scotch or Irish whiskey.

Our journey through Spain pr