g there was a frost upon the ground, the sun was as warm as it is
in May in England. The sea was quite smooth, and the beach formed of
white polished pebbles; on the left-hand the country was covered with
green olives, and the side of the road planted with large trees of
sweet myrtle growing wild like the hawthorns in England. From Antibes
we had the first view of Nice, lying on the opposite side of the bay,
and making a very agreeable appearance. The author of the Grand Tour
says, that from Antibes to Nice the roads are very bad, through rugged
mountains bordered with precipices On the left, and by the sea to the
right; whereas, in fact, there is neither precipice nor mountain near
it.

The Var, which divides the county of Nice from Provence, is no other
than a torrent fed chiefly by the snow that melts on the maritime Alps,
from which it takes its origin. In the summer it is swelled to a
dangerous height, and this is also the case after heavy rains: but at
present the middle of it is quite dry, and the water divided into two
or three narrow streams, which, however, are both deep and rapid. This
river has been absurdly enough by some supposed the Rubicon, in all
probability from the description of that river in the Pharsalia of
Lucan, who makes it the boundary betwixt Gaul and Italy--

--et Gallica certus
Limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arva colonis.

A sure Frontier that parts the Gallic plains
From the rich meadows of th' Ansonian swains.

whereas, in fact, the Rubicon, now called Pisatello, runs between
Ravenna and Rimini.--But to return to the Var. At the village of St.
Laurent, famous for its Muscadine wines, there is a set of guides
always in attendance to conduct you in your passage over the river. Six
of those fellows, tucked up above the middle, with long poles in their
hands, took charge of our coach, and by many windings guided it safe to
the opposite shore. Indeed there was no occasion for any; but it is a
sort of a perquisite, and I did not choose to run any risque, how small
soever it might be, for the sake of saving half a crown, with which
they were satisfied. If you do not gratify the searchers at St. Laurent
with the same sum, they will rummage your trunks, and turn all your
cloaths topsy turvy. And here, once for all, I would advise every
traveller who consults his own case and convenience, to be liberal of
his money to all that sort of people; and even to wink at the