Chapter 7
The Mediterranean in Forty–Eight HoursTHE MEDITERRANEAN, your ideal blue sea: to Greeks simply "the
sea," to Hebrews "the great sea," to Romans mare nostrum.[15] Bordered by orange trees, aloes,
cactus, and maritime pine trees, perfumed with the scent of myrtle,
framed by rugged mountains, saturated with clean, transparent air
but continuously under construction by fires in the earth, this sea
is a genuine battlefield where Neptune and Pluto still struggle for
world domination. Here on these beaches and waters, says the French
historian Michelet, a man is revived by one of the most
invigorating climates in the world. But as beautiful as it was, I
could get only a quick look at this basin whose surface area
comprises 2,000,000 square kilometers. Even Captain Nemo's pers
