The Summer Holidays

"He is only a useful traveller who brings home something by which his country may be benefited ; who procures some supply of want, or some mitigation of evil which may enable his readers to compare their condition with that of others, to improve it whenever it is worst, and whenever it is letter to enjoy it."—Du. JOHNSON—The Idler.

GLANC114742 idly over the various illustrated circulars which portray the delights of cruises and excursions to all the most beautiful places in the world, I came across a phrase about dancing on deck which aroused a train of memories—" the pleasantly mobile floor, to the light of Chinese lanterns ... " Pleasantly mobile ! You may scoff at this description. But once seasickness is conquered there is no possible doubt in my mind that shipboard dancing has a charm of its own. And after all, seasickness is not the dread thing that some people believe it to be. It is compounded of only one part congenital Predisposition thereto, one part imagination, one part disordered liver and one part wrong breathing. That, at any rate, is my experience, and in the course of hundreds of thousands of miles of travel I have suffered as much as anyone.

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Now, however, I suffer no more. My immunity has been secured, firstly-because I have found that there is a simple and innocuous patent medicine which will cure mal-de-mer. This gives one confidence and robs travel of its terrors. And secondly, one finds that once confidence is gained, and a talisman against the worst that ships or trains can do is safely in one's suitcase, it is not necessary to take medicines at all. Even a bad sailor, such as I am, can face any ordinary crossing (but not, I own, the two Channels in a storm, or the Persian Gulf during the monsoon) without drugs. Here is the recipe : first as to phy- sical precautions : come on board rather hungry and empty, have a light meal and a cup of coffee. Stroll about in the fresh air and breathe deeply. As you breathe, take a firm hold of the imagination : take. in enjoyment with each breath you draw. This plan—childishly simple as it sounds—rarely fails ' with me and would never fail, I am sure, if my mind did not play me false, when! see people being sick in my neighbourhood.

* * * With my patent medicine as a last and certain line of defence I fear nothing, and I have enjoyed every minute of every sea journey I have _taken in recent years, especially the" pleasantly mobile" floor of after dinner dances. A good partner, a good band, the marvellous breath of the high seas in one's face, one's feet sliding over something that seems alive, and the lights swaying as one sways : all rhythms and sounds and delights seem blent into one ecstasy of motion. But I must not elaborate this theme, however, in these prosaic and practical notes. Take one of the fashionable summer cruises on the Mediterranean and you will see what I mean.

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The Royal Mail Line are running three cruises to the Mediterranean (why do all shipping- companies call them "Cruises de luxe" ?—they are,luxurious no doubt, but travel is something much better than a luxury these days) in the early autumn. The first leaves Southampton on September 3rd and you will see Tangier, the limpid an& lovely waters of Corfu, Venice (wheie if you are wise you will avoid the picture galleries—for what can you see of them in two days ?—and spend a day in a gondola or in St. Mark's Square and another at the Lido), Fiume, the Dalmatian coast, where Diocletian loved to dally, through the whirlpools of Scylla and Charybdis, Palermo, near which is the Villa fgeia, one of the most luxurious hotels in Europe, then to Algiers and so home by October 1st. The minimum fare is 42 guineas. Our forefathers would have spent at least a thousand guineas on a similar tour and as like as not contracted the plague or smallpox 'on the way : nowadays you may. have the comforts of home combined with the pleasures -of foreign travel.

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Another Royal Mail Cruise is by the Arcadian,' a comfort- able ship- of 12,500 tons, solely -devoted to pleasure cruising, with • wireless; -submarine signalling- and swimming bath. The 'Arcadian' leaves England on September 17th and the first stop is at Lisbon. then Cartagena with its memories of

old Spain and the Moorish occupation, then Monaco, where you may pass your days as in a Theocritean idyll and your nights, if you wish, as if you were in one of Mr. Oppenheim's romances. The next stops arc Leghorn, Naples, Ragusa, Venice, then Spalato and thence to Africa, to the Roman- Arab city of Constantine and back to Southampton on October 15th. The minimum fare is forty-two guineas and single cabins may be had for from fifty-three guineas upwards.

The P. and 0. are taking passengers to Gibraltar, Marseilles and Egypt for reduced summer fares. For 220, for instance, you may travel first class to Marseilles and back—a 14-day trip. Second class, the cost is only 114, and speaking from a good deal of personal experience of the P. and 0. I may say that second class is just as comfortable and in some ways pleasanter than first. In saying this I know I shall not deter millionairesses, motor salesmen, rich debutantes, and Governors-elect from paying the higher rates ; but for people who do not ask to stand in the anti-chambers of the great, or " near-great," second class P. and 0. is to be recom- mended; indeed it is second to none. The passengers are largely Indian Army officers and their wives.

The Orient Company, famous for its service to Australia, are running two magnificent 20,000 ton steamers, the Oronsay ' and the 'Otranto' on pleasure cruises to Norway. Norway, of course, is well known, but travellers sometimes forget the -double value they get by its twenty-four -hours of daylight. You don't need sleep in Norway to anything like the extent required in less bracing climates and have therefore double the time for recreation. And it is recreation, with all that it implies, either of strenuous exercise or of leisurely contempla- tion of Nature's beauties, which we need on our holidays. No more perfect change from the stresses of our working life can be found than in the great fjords and lovely lakes of Norway. * We may take the advantages of Norway as a summer resort for granted : of nearly every other place in the world some captious returned traveller has written to say that the people don't wash or that the mosquitoes are a plague or the hotels bad. But no one has ever had anything but praise for Norway. So the Orient trip is a "safe bet" for those uncertain where to go. There will be a sailing every Saturday from Grimsby, in connexion with special luncheon car expresses from London and the Midlands. A cruise to the Northern capitals of Europe at the modest price Of 30 guineas (considering the sumptuous ship and the distance covered) should also be mentioned. It leaves Immingham Dock (Grimsby) at 0 p.m. on August 14th and returns to Tilbury (London) on September 4th, after touching at Balholm, Gudvangcn, Bergen, Tysse, Norheimsund, Oslo, Stockholm, Wisby, Copenhagen, and Rotterdam.

These and other cruises of the same kind run by the chiet shipping companies are increasing their already great popularity, so that accommodation should be bespoken in good time. Their advantages are obvious. There are no tiresome arrangements to make, no language difficulties, catching of trains. You can see a maximum of places with a minimum of discomfort. The cost is comparatively low. Life on board ship is pleasant and restfuL Expenses can be accurately estimated beforehand. The wonder is that these cruises have only recently become the fashion with the travelling public. • * The note on tipping in the Spring Travel Supplement was apparently of service to our readers, so here is some further information, for which I am indebted to a reader : ' on the Mediterranean and other "Cruises de luxe" the average

Lip is ten shillings for each member of the party for each week of the cruise both to the cabin and to the dining-room steward and a smaller amount—say, half a crown a week— to the bath, deck and smoking-room stewards. Total tips should work out from 5 to 10 per cent. of the total passage money : the latter figure would be lavish.

But for those who adventure into "perilous seas and fairy lands" there will always be ten times the number who prefer to spend their" holidays at home. Partly it is a question of temperament. As Emerson so justly says, to travel merely in order to glut the eyes with new sights is only " to travel away from oneself." In the last analysis, the spectator in every man and woman lives within the body. We do not need to move a thousand miles in search of new adventure ; sometimes It is "closer than hands or breathing." Health for instance. Abounding physical fitness, the vitality that is a song of praise for living, is an experience that to many of us who live unnatural lives in cities would be new and welcome enough to warrant our eager attention, could we attain to it. Being well is the beginning of religion as it is of common sense. So we may look on a "cure," if we will, not only as a means of physical re- invigoration, but as a "retreat "—to misuse a Jesuitical term—whereby the soul looks back on the errors of its vehicle and forward to a smoother pathway for its self-expression.

Is this a high falutin' aspect of Buxton or Matlock Spa ? I hardly think so. There is some miracle about the Buxton air which will make you a new person. Mary Queen of Scots was fond of the place and so am I. The waters there taste less disgusting than in some other spas I know, and they do one as much good. There is probably as much auto-suggestion as actual healing virtue in the water. A belief in benefit to come, attention to diet and early hours, are responsible for the good we derive from the average " cure " is my belief. But whatever the reason, there is no doubt Buxton will brace the nerves, stir the blood and clear the eyes and mind. Its

keen, bracing air, its charming gardens, and the low cost of the treatments (they are now three guineas) have contributed to the health of thousands who owe to it if not their lives, at any rate their happiness. The new Cavendish Golf Course, presented to the Spa by the Duke Of Devonshire, will be opened this day week by four well-known professionals, and in August many of the lawn tennis champions are always attracted to the Annual Touinament ; this year will probably be a r.very brilliant lawn tennis season.

Leamington Spa I do not know so well, personally, but I have pleasant memories of passing through it on a visit to "Shakespeare's country." The two great assets of Leaming- ton are (a) its natural beauty, and (b) the delightful excursions that can be made in the neighbourhood to Stratford-on-Avon, Kenilworth Castle, and other beautiful places in the Midlands. As to the waters, although I have no personal experience of them, they are attested as excellent by .medical men of repu. tation, and like the waters of all respectable spas they will assuredly do good, provided they are drunk with imagination and bathed in in the right spirit.

Then there is Cheltenham Spa with its charming and boldly planned avenue, sweeping down from the Queen's Hotel. The Town Hall is one of the biggest in England, and the concerts given there among the best. There is every sort of sport, educational facilities without rival, and a particularly " live " social life. Comparisons are dangerous, I know, but in my view Cheltenham does seem more vital than the majority of towns in southern England—save Oxford and Tunbridge Wells perhaps. London is a great vampire, draining the life of county towns in the South, but Cheltenham has enough fresh young blood of its own to withstand the process.

Matlock is another cure place I have sometimes motored through and regretted I could not stop at. It is of picturesque, almost foreign, appearance nestling at the foot of great rock cliffs of the Derwent Valley. Of the waters here and at Cheltenham I need say nothing beyond what has already been said of waters in general. People drink them and are cured of their ills. But it is a curious thing that one can hardly ever carry out a" cure" at home. I have tried drinking the waters of a Continental Spa in London, taking also the prescribed diet, baths and exercise. But the effect is not the same, perhaps because what is rather a pleasure to do on the spot becomes a hideous bore elsewhere. At Matlock, with its charm and distinctive air, the outer and inner man seem to be at one, with the result that happiness and health are near. There is golf, tennis, dancing and an excellent hotel, whose charges are from 4 to 6 guineas a week.

Messrs. Burrows' excellent series of handbooks were mentioned in our last Supplement. A booklet showing the whole series of these valuable publications is obtainable from E. J. Burrows & Co., 43 Kingsway, W.C. 2. This firm's British Hotels, price 6d., with special articles by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and others, is certainly the best publication of its kind.

Many delightful places we have hardly room to mention. The Bath Rose Show takes place next week and the races the week after : you can reach Bath at sixty miles an hour from Paddington. Brighton the renowned was visited by more than eight million people last year. The bathing at St. Leonards is delightful. North Berwick has its two full-size golf courses on the spot and five others close by. At Oban a friend assures me that he has seen a moonlight rainbow, with ghosts of all colours in the prism, just like a real rainbow, but of wonderful silver radiance. I believe him, as he is not the sort of man who would mistake a sight like this for some phenomenon of highland dew.

* Leeds is celebrating its tercentenary anniversary on July 13th. The Leeds choir is famous, so are the Leeds markets, the two art theatres and the picture gallery. The city has half a million very " live " and active citizens whose prosperity is assured by their civic pride and business energy. * * * I was motoring in Ireland last week and found the roads in West Meath all that could be desired and far better than I expected. Kings County is not so well provided for. A very delightful trip is from Dublin through Mullingar to Achill, near which (at Mulranny) there is an excellent railway hotel by the sea. All the railway hotels in Ireland are good, especially those at Parlmasilla, Kenmare and Killarney, or at any rate fairly good. As to the other hotels, the less said the better, with the exception of one or two, like that at Rosapenna. Ireland will never become the great tourist playground that she should be until she provides better accommodation for travellers : this cannot be too often or too bluntly stated.

It might be as well also to suggest to the Dublin shipping companies and customs authorities to deal with motor cars imported for touring purposes in a more speedy manner. At present I am told that motors are not unloaded until all other cargo has been cleared and that there are a number of irksome custom formalities. Both the Southern and Northern routes have good arrangements for dealing with tourists with cars however : they should be shipped, therefore, either by Fishguard and Rosslare or by Belfast—according to the route planned in Ireland.

After these criticisms of Irish travel let me add that the Mail Service by Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire (otherwise Kingstown) is all that could be desired. There is some restriction in the sleeping accommodation available, owing to the coal strike, but officials are very helpful and courteous. " Sleepers " should be reserved well in advance.

The Alps and the Tyrol are the happy hunting ground of the adventurous motorist with a powerful car. A friend took his Rolls Royce over the Stelvio Pass recently from the Lake of Como. He tells me the roads were excellent and the

inns all that could be wished for. At the top of the pass are many of the battle grounds which have become famous in recent Italian history for the heroism of the brave Alpini. The descent on the Austrian side is exceedingly steep and the car had frequently to be stopped and reversed in order to negotiate the hair-pin turns.

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The Route des Alpes, running all the way from Geneva to Nice, is another beautiful road, all in French territory and too little known to Continental motorists. Only a powerful and well-braked car should be taken on this trip, for five or six passes are crossed at an altitude of over 8,000 feet. There is not space to write of the gorgeous Galibier pass, with its rich carpet of gentians and its views of the mighty peaks of the Meije. The road although well surfaced and skilfully engineered has naturally gradients that do not allow of liberties beinv taken. Charabanes run regularly from Geneva to Nice and occupy about a week in transit.

From Dijon to Geneva there is a very fine road over La Faueille in the Juras, the trip taking only a couple of days. Another and very different road which may be recommended for summer touring is the Corniche, from St. Raphael to Genoa. In the winter this is too crowded with cosmopolitan gallants eager to show off the paces of their new Hispano Suizas to be altogether safe, but in summer the Corniche is free from the madder part of the madding crowd, which has betaken itself to Aix or Deauville, and is indeed the pathway of a terrestial paradise. * * Undoubtedly Continental Motorways have bit upon a new and delightful method of travel. The novelty of their service is not so much in the method as in the manner of its fulfilment. The arrangements work without a hitch, and the travellers who have used their services and whom I have been able to question report themselves more than satisfied.

I must deal with Switzerland in a paragraph, although a

volume would be indeed all too short to describe its many attractions. Sir Henry Lunn (5 Endsleigh Gardens, W.C. 1.) specializes in Swiss travel and has some excellent illustrated circulars on the subject. I am personally very fond of the Engadine and would I could go instantly to the new big hotel, the Maloja Palace, which has been opened above the Italian lakes. The circular before me says that this place is the finest motoring centre in Europe and the statement is no exaggera- tion. There are also magnificent walks, boating, bathing, fishing, golf and law tennis-pleasures for every taste. Accomodation in the Maloja Palace is from £6 6s. to £10 a week and Alpine Sports, Ltd." (a department of Sir Henry Lunn's), can make special arrangements for tickets and hotel accom- modation combined. Visitors to the Engadine who desire cheaper accommodation can find it in plenty. Switzerland always gives good value.

A medical correspondent sends me information which may interest sufferers from rheumatism in search of a good climate in South France. Sierre is a beautiful spot with a good hotel, the Château Bellevue. Champery is quiet and dry with lovely flowers in the neighbourhood : the Hotel Suisse, although not a "de luxe" hotel, is very comfortable, with really first-class cooking and personal attention. Vevey is recommended in the early autumn. La Croix, Var, twenty minutes from the sea, has bracing air and is sheltered from the mistral : it has an abundance of charming walks through pine woods. This is an excellent climate for rheumatism all the year round, and both the hotels are simple, clean and good, charges being from £3 to 15 a week. My correspondent adds that invalids should avoid high mountains and extremes of temperature, for the cold winds, coupled with the hot sun of the mountains, has often a very bad effect on rheumatics:

* * I wrote about Messrs. Cook's Travel Bureau in the last Supplement and of their new offices in Berkeley Street. I need not repeat what I said before : there is no better travel agency and certainly none with as many ramifications. A letter of credit on Cook's is like a passport, but much more useful. To "follow the man from Cook's" is a phrase that has rightly passed into the language. Most of us prefer private travel to conducted parties, and some of us can pay for the always rather costly privilege of privacy, but there is no reason why we should not use Cook, who will do almost anything connected with travel. This paragraph of praise is small return for all the attention and courtesy I—and millions of others—have received gratis from Cook.

With the world as one's field it would be impossible to cover in these notes a tithe of the journeys we could choose : only two of the more extended trips can be mentioned. South Africa is seventeen days from Southampton by Royal Mail steamer and the attractions of this wonderful country are great and unusual. It is a very wise man who enlarges his horizon as far as his means will allow him by getting off the beaten path. From Capetown one can go to Kimberley, thence to Mafeking and Bulawayo, where you will wish to drive to the outspan at the foot of the Matappos and then climb to World's View to the grave of Cecil Rhodes. Johan- nesburg with its champagne-like air, Port: Elizabeth with its quaint reminders of old Dutch days, the fine beach at Durban, all present something novel and utterly different, in racial problems, atmosphere and scenery from what is met in Europe. Railway accommodation is exceptionally comfortable in South Africa and the hotels are good.

New Zealand is a fur cry from England, yet the most English place in the world outside England. Christchurch is a centre of gaiety and lovely excursions can be made in the neighbourhood. Rotorua is famous, of course, not only for its volcanic features, but for the excellence of the rainbow trout in its lake. Pohutu, the big geyser at Whaka- rewarewa, gushes obligingly whenever it is soaped by the guides ; round about there are all sorts of constantly changing hot springs, making one of the strangest sights in the world :

one of the most fascinating also, for the Maori village of Ohinemutu is a sight no traveller will ever forget. On South Island there is some of the finest mountain scenery in the world in the Southern Alps, dominated by the huge bulk of Mount Cook.

Any further information on holiday travel will be gladly supplied by the Travel Editor, Spectator, 13 York Street, W.C. 2.

THE TRAVEL EDITOR.