Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - III. Batum to Tiflis
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
58 ARMENIA AND THE NEAR EAST
Norway. The average temperature in August is 23-3°
Centigrade ; and the winter is comparatively mild, with an
average temperature in January of 6° Centigrade, or a couple
of degrees warmer than April in Oslo.
In this mild, damp climate sub-tropical vegetation flourishes
luxuriantly. There are rich woods of oak and beech, besides
taxus, laurel, edible chestnut, walnut, tamarisk, box, and
magnolia. The trunks are festooned with vines, ivy, and
honeysuckle, and the ground is thickly covered with rhododen
drons, a2aleas, various kinds of ilex, nuts, camellias, tall ferns
and much beside, while in the glades, where the sun has access,
there are the most glorious, brilliantly coloured flowers. In
the low-lying country there are tall poplars, mulberry-trees,
mimosas, acacias, plane-trees, and other foliaceous trees, richly
blended with cypresses, cedars and palms ; and in marshy
places one notices the shining yellow trunks of the eucalyptus.
It is easy to feel that one is near the land of the wondrous
Garden of Eden and the cradle of the human race. But there
is a serpent even here in the form of malaria, decidedly
prevalent in the marshy plain, which would be the better for
draining.
On either side of the boulevard leading from the open space
by the railway were rows oftall, fan-shaped palms, but they were
looking shabby, with only a few brown and decrepit leaves
left on them. The last winter, which had been unusually
mild in North-west Europe, had been the coldest in living
memory down here ; it had greatly damaged the palm-leaves,
and had also done much harm to other vegetation, especially
to the eucalyptus and pine trees, which had suffered very
badly, many håving turned quite brown. The snowfall had
been exceptionally heavy too, as already mentioned.
Apropos of these palms, I could not help wondering as I
walked past them whether such trees can be compared with
ordinary rich foliaceous trees as a means of beautifying a street.
Certainly not in their present condition ; with their battered
tufts on the tall poles they looked like nothing so much as
long-handled brooms. But even when the tops are at their
best, with the fan-like leaves open beneath the blue sky on
their tall, straight stems ? They remind one of oases in the
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
