Monte Carlo, 28 May 1882 
Hotel de Russie 

Dear Tussychen, 

There was nothing from Bebel either in Engels’ letter 3?! or your 
letter which I got yesterday evening. It must have remained in Lon- 
don by mistake. Ar aut events, I wash MY HANDS OF IT, 

a LD’ Egalité 

Today 24 degrees in the shade, and summer temperatures have 
generally prevailed here ever since the date of my last postcard to 
you* (although the sky isn’t as completely cloudless as the cognoscenti 
of this place demand). In such circumstances, my lengthy report has 
come to nothing for all my ‘good intentions’; not that anything of 
much value is lost thereby. 

As regards the sea-crossing from Algiers, nothing need be said save 
that it was made in unfavourable weather conditions; during the 
night of 4 to 5 May, in particular, there was a violent storm that 
turned my cabin (which, for good measure, I had to share with a phi- 
listine businessman from Lyons) into a veritable wind tunnel. It was 
cold and pouring with rain when we arrived off Marseilles in the 
early morning (5 May). The steamer didn’t actually go right in, so the 
passengers and baggage had to be taken off by boat and, for their 
further delectation, spend several hours in a cold, draughty douane- 
purgatorio’ until the time came for them to depart for Nice. Those 
chilling ‘moments’ défraquatent plus ou moins de nouveau ma machine‘ 
and, in Monte Carlo, once more precipitated me entre les mains d’un 
Esculape*; for I have no need of such when it’s merely a question of 
treating the ‘bronchial trouble’ since all I have to do is follow 
Dr Stephann’s instructions. In a few days’ time (next Tuesday, 
30 May, perhaps) I expect to be given a clean bill of health by 
Dr Kunemann. So whatever happens I shan’t be leaving this den of 
thieves before the beginning of June. Whether I stay on or not is for 
Dr Kunemann to decide. The sensitivity of people suffering from 
disorders of the respiratory organs (who by the same token are also 
more liable to a relapse) is greater in what is normally a favourable 
climate. In the North, for instance, a sudden draught would not 
instantly evoke the spectre of pleurisy, bronchitis and the like, 
whereas in Algiers your French philistine must always [be] on his 
guard against them. A Madame Fleury, here in the Hotel de Russie, 
was sent to Cannes from Paris because of her bronchitis. She recove- 
red completely during March and April, enjoyed climbing the hills, 
etc. By way of an after-cure and distraction, she then left Cannes for 
Monte Carlo, a quite short 2-hour journey during which she caught 
cold while in Antibes station—and is now in worse case than 
previously in Paris. One hears of visitors to this place who haven't 

@ See this volume, pp. 264-65.-° customs purgatory -° again more or less threw my 

machine out of gear-¢ into the hands of an Aesculapius 

come simply to gamble and enjoy themselves, and of whom 9 out of 
every 10 undoubtedly fall victim to ‘rechutes’.* 

Goethe, when he applauds a man for ‘sloughing’ his old snake’s 
skin,” does not in all likelihood see the sloughing of artificially 
produced ‘fausses peaux’* as part of the rejuvenation process. 

Another time, when it isn’t as ‘sweltering’ as it is today, ] must 
really tell you something about this Principality of Gerolstein (not even 
Offenbach’s music is wanting, or Mademoiselle Schneider,*?? or, in- 
deed, the spruce and dapper carabiniers‘— not 100 all told). Nature 
here magnificent and art has actually improved on it,— I refer to the 
gardens, conjured out of the barren rock, which cover the steep in- 
cline from top to bottom, often going right down to the exquisitely 
blue sea, like the terraces of the hanging gardens of Babylon. But the 
economic basis of Monaco-Gerolstein is the casino; if it were to close 
tomorrow it would be all up with Monaco-Gerolstein— the whole of 
it. I dislike visiting the gaming room; it reminds me that at the table 
@héte, in the cafés, etc., almost the only topic that is talked or whis- 
pered about is the tables de roulette et de trente et quarante.' Every now and 
again something is won, as for instance 100 frs by a young Russian 
lady (wife of a Russian diplomat-cum-agent) (she is one of the guests 
at the Hotel de Russie) who, in return, loses 6,000 frs, while someone 
else can’t keep enough for the journey home; others gamble away the 
whole of large family fortunes; very few take away a share of the plun- 
der — few of the gamblers, I mean, and those that do are almost with- 
out exception rich. There can be no question of intelligence or calcu- 
lation here; no one can count with any probability on being favoured 
by ‘chance’ unless he can venture a considerable sum. But I can 
understand the attraction it holds out, particularly for le beau sexe; 
les mondaines" not less than the demt-mondaines, school-ciris and bour- 
geolses alike aL push on, a fact to which this place can supply eye- 
witnesses and to spare. Apart from Monaco-Gerolstein, which would 
founder along with the casino, I don’t believe that Nice-—— the ren- 
dez-vous in the winter months of the quality and of fortune-hunters 
alike — could continue to subsist as a fashionable centre without the 
casino at Monte Carlo. And withal, how childish is the casino by 
comparison with the Bourse! 

* relapses-> From Goethe’s Zahme Xenien, V.-° artificial skins-4 carabineers - 

* Here: in the hotel dining-room.-' roulette and trente-et-quarante tables- the 
fair sex-' society women 

(This pen and this ink need replacing; they elicit from me the out- 
burst that it requires real artistry to write with them!) 

To the right of the casino (where the gambling goes on), almost 
cheek by jowl with it, is the Café de Paris and next to that a kiosk. 
This is daily adorned with a placard, not printed, but handwritten 
and signed with the initials of the quill-pusher; for 600 frs he will pro- 
vide, in black and white, the secret of the science of winning a million 
francs with a 1,000 at the tables de roulette et de trente-et-quarante. Nor, or 
so it is said, is it by any means rare for people to fall victim to this 
confidence trick. Indeed, most of the gamblers, both male and fe- 
male, believe there is a science in what are pure games of chance; the 
ladies and gentlemen sit outside the said Café de Paris, inrront of, or 
on the seats in, the wonderful garden that belongs to the casino, heads 
bent over little (printed) tables, scribbling and doing sums, while one 
of them may earnestly expound to another ‘what system’ he prefers, 
whether one should play in ‘series’, etc., etc. It’s like watching 
a bunch of lunatics. However, Grimaldi of Monaco* and his Princi- 
pality of Gerolstein and the lessees of his casino are thriving and are, 
AFTER ALL, More ‘interesting’ in the Offenbachian sense than those 
whom they fleece. 

Should I change my address, J shall send it to you by telegraph. At all 
events the return journey, initially to Paris, will be made in stages 
and ‘with caution’. 

Love to all, 

Oxp Nick