upper floor, and having separate entrances. For the most part prettily furnished in the French style, the villas are not always well provided with water, nor is their system of drainage very perfect. The whole, I believe, like most of the hotels and pensions, depend on pump-wells, and with few exceptions the drainage is into cess-pools. Here we touch on two weak points in the character of Mentone. I cannot say that I experienced any inconvenience from either; but things are certainly not what we should expect in a community which depends, to a great extent, on its colony of strangers. Another class of dwellings for hire are floors ready furnished, reached by common stairs from the public thoroughfares. Houses so laid out in floors for separate families, are styled _Maisons_—as, for example, Maison Gastaldy, Maison Ribaud; being so called from the names of their respective proprietors. Some floors are divided into two dwellings; each dwelling is designated an _Appartement_, though consisting of several rooms with kitchen. Many of these floor dwellings are on a respectable scale; the rent for the season being from 800 to 2000 francs. Service is not given, and will require to be procured separately, as in the case of detached residences. An English family of my acquaintance hires a dwelling of this kind by the year, going and returning annually. Every year, at the proper season, the family arrives, bringing an English female domestic, to whom a native servant is added to complete the establishment. At the end of the season, the dwelling being locked up, is left to the care of the proprietor till it is again wanted. No plan of housekeeping can match this for independence and comfort. It is well suited for families who, for some special reason, require habitually to winter abroad. There is still one other class of houses offered for hire, furnished. These are _Châlets_, or cottages of moderate dimensions, situated amidst orange and olive groves on the sides of the hills, but to which access is obtained only by winding pathways fit for pedestrians, or for donkeys with panniers to bring all necessary provisions. Persons who have a fancy for ruralising amidst very charming scenery, could find nothing more suitable than a residence in these secluded spots. Water, I fear, will prove a difficulty, but that must be looked to.