Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (beautiful books to read .txt) 📖

This Country, So As To

Bring It For Something Less Than Three-Pence A Quart. The Nice

Wine, When Mixed With Water, Makes An Agreeable Beverage. There

Is An Inferior Sort For Servants Drank By The Common People,

Which In The Cabaret Does Not Cost Above A Penny A Bottle. The

People Here Are Not So Nice As The English, In The Management Of

Their Wine. It Is Kept In Flacons, Or Large Flasks, Without

Corks, Having A Little Oil At Top. It Is Not Deemed The Worse For

Having Been Opened A Day Or Two Before; And They Expose It To The

Hot Sun, And All Kinds Of Weather, Without Hesitation. Certain It

Is, This Treatment Has Little Or No Effect Upon Its Taste,

Flavour, And Transparency.

 

 

 

The Brandy Of Nice Is Very Indifferent: And The Liqueurs Are So

Sweetened With Coarse Sugar, That They Scarce Retain The Taste Or

Flavour Of Any Other Ingredient.

 

 

 

The Last Article Of Domestic Oeconomy Which I Shall Mention Is

Fuel, Or Wood For Firing, Which I Buy For Eleven Sols (A Little

More Than Six-Pence Halfpenny) A Quintal, Consisting Of One

Hundred And Fifty Pound Nice Weight. The Best, Which Is Of Oak,

Comes From Sardinia. The Common Sort Is Olive, Which Being Cut

With The Sap In It, Ought To Be Laid In During The Summer;

Otherwise, It Will Make A Very Uncomfortable Fire. In My Kitchen

And Two Chambers, I Burned Fifteen Thousand Weight Of Wood In

Four Weeks, Exclusive Of Charcoal For The Kitchen Stoves, And Of

Pine-Tops For Lighting The Fires. These Last Are As Large As

Pineapples, Which They Greatly Resemble In Shape, And To Which,

Indeed, They Give Their Name; And Being Full Of Turpentine, Make

A Wonderful Blaze. For The Same Purpose, The People Of These

Countries Use The Sarments, Or Cuttings Of The Vines, Which They 

Part 7 Letter 19 (Nice, October 10, 1764..) Pg 177

Sell Made Up In Small Fascines. This Great Consumption Of Wood Is

Owing To The Large Fires Used In Roasting Pieces Of Beef, And

Joints, In The English Manner. The Roasts Of This Country Seldom

Exceed Two Or Three Pounds Of Meat; And Their Other Plats Are

Made Over Stove Holes. But It Is Now High Time To Conduct You

From The Kitchen, Where You Have Been Too Long Detained By--Your

Humble Servant.

 

 

 

P.S.--I Have Mentioned The Prices Of Almost All The Articles In

House-Keeping, As They Are Paid By The English: But Exclusive Of

Butcher's Meat, I Am Certain The Natives Do Not Pay So Much By

Thirty Per Cent. Their Imposition On Us, Is Not Only A Proof Of

Their Own Villany And Hatred, But A Scandal On Their Government;

Which Ought To Interfere In Favour Of The Subjects Of A Nation,

To Which They Are So Much Bound In Point Of Policy, As Well As

Gratitude.

 

 

Part 7 Letter 20 (Nice, October 22, 1764.) Pg 178

 

Sir,--As I Have Nothing Else To Do, But To Satisfy My Own

Curiosity, And That Of My Friends, I Obey Your Injunctions With

Pleasure; Though Not Without Some Apprehension That My Inquiries

Will Afford You Very Little Entertainment. The Place Where I Am

Is Of Very Little Importance Or Consequence As A State Or

Community; Neither Is There Any Thing Curious Or Interesting In

The Character Or Oeconomy Of Its Inhabitants.

 

 

 

There Are Some Few Merchants In Nice, Said To Be In Good

Circumstances. I Know One Of Them, Who Deals To A Considerable

Extent, And Goes Twice A Year To London To Attend The Sales Of

The East-India Company. He Buys Up A Very Large Quantity Of

Muslins, And Other Indian Goods, And Freights A Ship In The River

To Transport Them To Villa Franca. Some Of These Are Sent To

Swisserland; But, I Believe, The Greater Part Is Smuggled Into

France, By Virtue Of Counterfeit Stamps, Which Are Here Used

Without Any Ceremony. Indeed, The Chief Commerce Of This Place Is

A Contraband Traffick Carried On To The Disadvantage Of France;

And I Am Told, That The Farmers Of The Levant Company In That

Kingdom Find Their Account In Conniving At It. Certain It Is, A

Great Quantity Of Merchandize Is Brought Hither Every Week By

Mules From Turin And Other Parts In Piedmont, And Afterwards 

Part 7 Letter 20 (Nice, October 22, 1764.) Pg 179

Conveyed To The Other Side Of The Var, Either By Land Or Water.

The Mules Of Piedmont Are Exceeding Strong And Hardy. One Of Them

Will Carry A Burthen Of Near Six Hundred Weight. They Are Easily

Nourished, And Require No Other Respite From Their Labour, But

The Night's Repose. They Are The Only Carriage That Can Be Used

In Crossing The Mountains, Being Very Sure-Footed: And It Is

Observed That In Choosing Their Steps, They Always March Upon The

Brink Of The Precipice. You Must Let Them Take Their Own Way,

Otherwise You Will Be In Danger Of Losing Your Life; For They Are

Obstinate, Even To Desperation. It Is Very Dangerous For A Person

On Horseback To Meet Those Animals: They Have Such An Aversion To

Horses, That They Will Attack Them With Incredible Fury, So As

Even To Tear Them And Their Riders In Pieces; And The Best Method

For Avoiding This Fate, Is To Clap Spurs To Your Beast, And Seek

Your Safety In Flight. I Have Been More Than Once Obliged To Fly

Before Them. They Always Give You Warning, By Raising A Hideous

Braying As Soon As They Perceive The Horse At A Distance. The

Mules Of Provence Are Not So Mischievous, Because They Are More

Used To The Sight And Society Of Horses: But Those Of Piedmont

Are By Far The Largest And The Strongest I Have Seen.

 

 

 

Some Very Feasible Schemes For Improving The Commerce Of Nice

Have Been Presented To The Ministry Of Turin; But Hitherto

Without Success. The English Import Annually Between Two And

Three Thousand Bales Of Raw Silk, The Growth Of Piedmont; And

This Declaration Would Be Held Legal Evidence. In Some Parts Of

France, The Cure Of The Parish, On All Souls' Day, Which Is

Called Le Jour Des Morts, Says A Libera Domine For Two Sols, At

Every Grave In The Burying-Ground, For The Release Of The Soul

Whose Body Is There Interred.

 

 

 

The Artisans Of Nice Are Very Lazy, Very Needy, Very Aukward, And

Void Of All Ingenuity. The Price Of Their Labour Is Very Near As

High As At London Or Paris. Rather Than Work For Moderate Profit,

Arising From Constant Employment, Which Would Comfortably

Maintain Them And Their Families, They Choose To Starve At Home,

To Lounge About The Ramparts, Bask Themselves In The Sun, Or Play

At Bowls In The Streets From Morning 'Till Night.

 

 

 

The Lowest Class Of People Consists Of Fishermen, Day Labourers,

Porters, And Peasants: These Last Are Distributed Chiefly In The

Small Cassines In The Neighbourhood Of The City, And Are Said To

Amount To Twelve Thousand. They Are Employed In Labouring The

Ground, And Have All The Outward Signs Of Extreme Misery. They

Are All Diminutive, Meagre, Withered, Dirty, And Half Naked; In

Their Complexions, Not Barely Swarthy, But As Black As Moors; And

I Believe Many Of Them Are Descendants Of That People. They Are

Very Hard Favoured; And Their Women In General Have The Coarsest 

Part 7 Letter 20 (Nice, October 22, 1764.) Pg 180

Features I Have Ever Seen: It Must Be Owned, However, They Have

The Finest Teeth In The World. The Nourishment Of Those Poor

Creatures Consists Of The Refuse Of The Garden, Very Coarse

Bread, A Kind Of Meal Called Polenta, Made Of Indian Corn, Which

Is Very Nourishing And Agreeable, And A Little Oil; But Even In

These Particulars, They Seem To Be Stinted To Very Scanty Meals.

I Have Known A Peasant Feed His Family With The Skins Of Boiled

Beans. Their Hogs Are Much Better Fed Than Their Children. 'Tis

Pity They Have No Cows, Which Would Yield Milk, Butter, And

Cheese, For The Sustenance Of Their Families. With All This

Wretchedness, One Of These Peasants Will Not Work In Your Garden

For Less Than Eighteen Sols, About Eleven Pence Sterling, Per

Diem; And Then He Does Not Half The Work Of An English Labourer.

If There Is Fruit In It, Or Any Thing He Can Convey, He Will

Infallibly Steal It, If You Do Not Keep A Very Watchful Eye Over

Him. All The Common People Are Thieves And Beggars; And I Believe

This Is Always The Case With People Who Are Extremely Indigent

And Miserable. In Other Respects, They Are Seldom Guilty Of

Excesses. They Are Remarkably Respectful And Submissive To Their

Superiors. The Populace Of Nice Are Very Quiet And Orderly. They

Are Little Addicted To Drunkenness. I Have Never Heard Of One

Riot Since I Lived Among Them; And Murder And Robbery Are

Altogether Unknown. A Man May Walk Alone Over The County Of Nice,

At Midnight, Without Danger Of Insult. The Police Is Very Well

Regulated. No Man Is Permitted To Wear A Pistol Or Dagger' On

Pain Of Being Sent To The Gallies. I Am Informed, That Both

Murder And Robbery Are Very Frequent In Some Parts Of Piedmont.

Even Here, When The Peasants Quarrel In Their Cups, (Which Very

Seldom Happens) They Draw Their Knives, And The One Infallibly

Stabs The Other. To Such Extremities, However, They Never

Proceed, Except When There Is A Woman In The Case; And Mutual

Jealousy Co-Operates With The Liquor They Have Drank, To Inflame

Their Passions. In Nice, The Common People Retire To Their

Lodgings At Eight O'clock In Winter, And Nine In Summer. Every

Person Found In The Streets After These Hours, Is Apprehended By

The Patrole; And, If He Cannot Give A Good Account Of Himself,

Sent To Prison. At Nine