April 13. Scarena.  Sospello.  There are no orange trees after we leave the environs of Nice.  We lose the olive after rising a little above the village of Scarena, on Mount Braus, and find it again on the other side, a little before we get down to Sospello.  But wherever there is soil enough it is terraced, and in corn.  The waste parts are either in two-leaved pine and thyme, or of absolutely naked rock.  Sospello is on a little torrent, called Bevera, which runs into the river Roia, at the mouth of which is Ventimiglia.  The olive trees on the mountain are now loaded with fruit; while some at Sospello are in blossom.  Fire-wood here and at Scarena costs fifteen sous the quintal.

April 14. Ciandola.  Tende.  In crossing Mount Brois we lose the olive tree after getting to a certain height, and find it again on the other side at the village of Breglio.  Here we come to the river Roia, which, after receiving the branch on which is Sospello, leads to the sea at Ventimiglia.  The Roia is about twelve yards wide, and abounds with speckled trout.  Were a road made from Breglio, along the side of the Roia to Ventimiglia, it might turn the commerce of Turin to this last place instead of Nice; because it would avoid the mountains of Braus and Brois, leaving only that of Tende; that is to say, it would avoid more than half the difficulties of the passage.  Further on, we come to the Chateau di Saorgio, where a scene is presented the most singular and picturesque I ever saw.  The castle and village seem hanging to a cloud in front.  On the right is a mountain cloven through, to let pass a gurgling stream; on the left, a river, over which is thrown a magnificent bridge.  The whole forms a basin, the sides of which are shagged with rocks, olive trees, vines, herds, &c.  Near here I saw a tub-wheel without a ream; the trunk descended from the top of the water-fall to the wheel in a direct line, but with the usual inclination.  The produce along this passage is most generally olives, except on the heights as before observed; also corn, vines, mulberries, figs, cherries, and walnuts.  They have cows, goats, and sheep.  In passing on towards Tende, olives fail us ultimately at the village of Fontan, and there the chestnut trees begin in good quantity.  Ciandola consists of only two houses, both taverns.  Tende is a very inconsiderable village, in which they have not yet the luxury of glass windows:  nor in any of the villages on this passage have they yet the fashion of powdering the hair.  Common stone and limestone are so abundant, that the apartments of every story are vaulted with stone to save wood.