The road soon afterwards passes the beautiful gardens of La Mortola, where the late Sir Thomas Hanbury lived for many years. The extraordinary variety of tropical plants and trees he collected there is one of the best testimonials to the mild winters experienced in this sheltered part of the Riviera. VENTIMIGLIA is the first Italian town after passing the frontier. It stands at the mouth of the River Roya, and is a place of exceptional picturesqueness. The old town has retained its ramparts, and is built in the typical Ligurian fashion, with innumerable narrow tunnelled passages, in which the stranger easily loses his way. The Cathedral is Romanesque, with a very early baptistery, whose fabric is hidden under plaster. Considerable restoration took place after the earthquake of 1831. Another church which should be seen is that of San Michele. It is Romanesque, and the crypt has a Roman milestone supporting the vaulting. Ventimiglia was a place of importance in Roman times, and also throughout the Middle Ages, when it became a possession of Genoa, and was the scene of frequent fighting between the Guelph and Ghibelline factions. When one is crossing the bridge over the Roya there is a splendid view up the mountainous valley, with great snow-clad peaks wreathed in clouds closing up the northern end. Monte Bego, a conspicuous peak, is famous for the prehistoric rock-carving to be seen in midsummer when the snow has melted. Rubbings of these primitive carvings are on view in the museum at Bordighera. Less than halfway to Bordighera from Ventimiglia the valley of the Nervia opens out, and on the west side a good road leads through the old village of Camporosso to DOLCEACQUA The valley closes in a good deal at this point, and the old village clusters up a steep rocky ascent, crowned by the imposing ruins of the castle of the Dorias of Dolceacqua. A narrow old bridge of a single span, suitable only for mules and foot-passengers, connects the hoary little cluster of houses with the less ancient portion on the right bank of the river. The narrow passages in the old village are generally nearly dark and often blocked with a laden mule, while the paved steps are generally slippery with olive oil. Going farther up the valley in the midst of scenery which becomes wilder and more Alpine [Illustration: THE MOUTH OF THE ROYA. At Ventimiglia. The distant mountains are in France, and the foreground is in Italy.] every mile, one reaches Isolabona, where the road to the right across the river leads up the Merdanzo Valley to Apricale, one of the most romantically situated of all the rock villages of the Ligurian coast. Such extraordinary compactness and inaccessibility was the outcome of continual intercommunal fighting and fear of corsair raids. The Scourge of the Mediterranean also caused the building of the little stone watch-towers still standing on the hill-tops in convenient positions for giving warning to the surrounding villages.