One hundred years ago
THOSE WHO know Cannes will hear with regret of the forest-fire which has swept bare the beautiful hill-side which rises above the Californie quarter. The whole of the ridge up to and beyond the canal stands bare and blackened, and no less than five miles of forest have been reduced to ashes. It is a very great pity, as the forest was in many ways the most beautiful thing at Cannes, — a relief from the somewhat chocolate-box splendours of the wider landscape. Even though the villas had of late eaten terri- bly into the woodland, the Californie quarter still yielded very charming walks. The Cannes fire was, however, nothing compared with the awful devas- tation wrought in Algeria. There the great forests have been burning for days. A band of smoke 7 miles broad by 70 miles long overhangs the country round Bona, and produces a veritable eclipse of the sun. The smoke-clouds are even visible at Tunis.
The Spectator 15 September 1894
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