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

 

Dear Sir,--It Was In Deference To Your Opinion, Reinforced By My

Own Inclination, And The Repeated Advice Of Other Friends, That I

Resolved Upon My Late Excursion To Italy. I Could Plainly

Perceive From The Anxious Solicitude, And Pressing Exhortations

Contained In All The Letters I Had Lately Received From My

Correspondents In Britain, That You Had All Despaired Of My

Recovery. You Advised Me To Make A Pilgrimage Among The Alps, And

The Advice Was Good. In Scrambling Among Those Mountains, I

Should Have Benefited By The Exercise, And At The Same Time Have

Breathed A Cool, Pure, Salubrious Air, Which, In All Probability,

Would Have Expelled The Slow Fever Arising In A Great Measure

From The Heat Of This Climate. But, I Wanted A Companion And

Fellow Traveller, Whose Conversation And Society Could Alleviate

The Horrors Of Solitude. Besides, I Was Not Strong Enough To

Encounter The Want Of Conveniences, And Even Of Necessaries To

Which I Must Have Been Exposed In The Course Of Such An

Expedition. My Worthy Friend Dr. A-- Earnestly Intreated Me To

Try The Effect Of A Sea-Voyage, Which You Know Has Been Found Of

Wonderful Efficacy In Consumptive Cases. After Some Deliberation,

I Resolved Upon The Scheme, Which I Have Now Happily Executed. I

Had A Most Eager Curiosity To See The Antiquities Of Florence And

Rome: I Longed Impatiently To View Those Wonderful Edifices,

Statues, And Pictures, Which I Had So Often Admired In Prints And

Descriptions. I Felt An Enthusiastic Ardor To Tread That Very

Classical Ground Which Had Been The Scene Of So Many Great

Atchievements; And I Could Not Bear The Thought Of Returning To

England From The Very Skirts Of Italy, Without Having Penetrated

To The Capital Of That Renowned Country. With Regard To My

Health, I Knew I Could Manage Matters So As To Enjoy All The

Benefits That Could Be Expected From The United Energy Of A

Voyage By Sea, A Journey By Land, And A Change Of Climate.

 

 

 

Rome Is Betwixt Four And Five Hundred Miles Distant From Nice,

And One Half Of The Way I Was Resolved To Travel By Water. Indeed

There Is No Other Way Of Going From Hence To Genoa, Unless You

Take A Mule, And Clamber Along The Mountains At The Rate Of Two

Miles An Hour, And At The Risque Of Breaking Your Neck Every

Minute. The Apennine Mountains, Which Are No Other Than A

Continuation Of The Maritime Alps, Form An Almost Continued

Precipice From Villefranche To Lerici, Which Is Almost Forty-Five

Miles On The Other Side Of Genoa; And As They Are Generally

Washed By The Sea, There Is No Beach Or Shore, Consequently The

Road Is Carried Along The Face Of The Rocks, Except At Certain

Small Intervals, Which Are Occupied By Towns And Villages. But,

As There Is A Road For Mules And Foot Passengers, It Might

Certainly Be Enlarged And Improved So As To Render It Practicable 

Part 7 Letter 25 ( Nice, January 1, 1765.) Pg 205

By Chaises And Other Wheel-Carriages, And A Toll Might Be

Exacted, Which In A Little Time Would Defray The Expence: For

Certainly No Person Who Travels To Italy, From England, Holland,

France, Or Spain, Would Make A Troublesome Circuit To Pass The

Alps By The Way Of Savoy And Piedmont, If He Could Have The

Convenience Of Going Post By The Way Of Aix, Antibes, And Nice,

Along The Side Of The Mediterranean, And Through The Riviera Of

Genoa, Which From The Sea Affords The Most Agreeable And Amazing

Prospect I Ever Beheld. What Pity It Is, They Cannot Restore The

Celebrated Via Aurelia, Mentioned In The Itinerarium Of

Antoninus, Which Extended From Rome By The Way Of Genoa, And

Through This Country As Far As Arles Upon The Rhone. It Was Said

To Have Been Made By The Emperor Marcus Aurelius; And Some Of The

Vestiges Of It Are Still To Be Seen In Provence. The Truth Is,

The Nobility Of Genoa, Who Are All Merchants, From A Low,

Selfish, And Absurd Policy, Take All Methods To Keep Their

Subjects Of The Riviera In Poverty And Dependence. With This

View, They Carefully Avoid All Steps Towards Rendering That

Country Accessible By Land; And At The Same Time Discourage Their

Trade By Sea, Lest It Should Interfere With The Commerce Of Their

Capital, In Which They Themselves Are Personally Concerned.

 

 

 

Those Who Either Will Not Or Cannot Bear The Sea, And Are Equally

Averse To Riding, May Be Carried In A Common Chair, Provided With

A Foot-Board, On Men's Shoulders: This Is The Way Of Travelling

Practised By The Ladies Of Nice, In Crossing The Mountains To

Turin; But It Is Very Tedious And Expensive, As The Men Must Be

Often Relieved.

 

 

 

The Most Agreeable Carriage From Here To Genoa, Is A Feluca, Or

Open Boat, Rowed By Ten Or Twelve Stout Mariners. Though None Of

These Boats Belong To Nice, They Are To Be Found Every Day In Our

Harbour, Waiting For A Fare To Genoa; And They Are Seen Passing

And Repassing Continually, With Merchandize Or Passengers,

Between Marseilles, Antibes, And The Genoese Territories. A

Feluca Is Large Enough To Take In A Post-Chaise; And There Is A

Tilt Over The Stern Sheets, Where The Passengers Sit, To Protect

Them From The Rain: Between The Seats One Person May Lie

Commodiously Upon A Mattress, Which Is Commonly Supplied By The

Patron. A Man In Good Health May Put Up With Any Thing; But I

Would Advise Every Valetudinarian Who Travels This Way, To

Provide His Own Chaise, Mattrass, And Bedlinnen, Otherwise He

Will Pass His Time Very Uncomfortably. If You Go As A Simple

Passenger In A Feluca, You Pay About A Loui'dore For Your Place,

And You Must Be Intirely Under The Direction Of The Patron, Who,

While He Can Bear The Sea, Will Prosecute His Voyage By Night As

Well As By Day, And Expose You To Many Other Inconveniencies: But

For Eight Zequines, Or Four Loui'dores, You Can Have A Whole

Feluca To Yourself, From Nice To Genoa, And The Master Shall Be

Obliged To Put A-Shore Every Evening. If You Would Have It Still 

Part 7 Letter 25 ( Nice, January 1, 1765.) Pg 206

More At Your Command, You May Hire It At So Much Per Day, And In

That Case, Go On Shore As Often, And Stay As Long As You Please.

This Is The Method I Should Take, Were I To Make The Voyage

Again; For I Am Persuaded I Should Find It Very Near As Cheap,

And Much More Agreeable Than Any Other.

 

 

 

The Distance Between This Place And Genoa, When Measured On The

Carte, Does Not Exceed Ninety Miles: But The People Of The

Felucas Insist Upon Its Being One Hundred And Twenty. If They

Creep Along Shore Round The Bottoms Of All The Bays, This

Computation May Be True: But, Except When The Sea Is Rough, They

Stretch Directly From One Head-Land To Another, And Even When The

Wind Is Contrary, Provided The Gale Is Not Fresh, They Perform

The Voyage In Two Days And A Half, By Dint Of Rowing: When The

Wind Is Favourable, They Will Sail It Easily In Fourteen Hours.

 

 

 

A Man Who Has Nothing But Expedition In View, May Go With The

Courier, Who Has Always A Light Boat Well Manned, And Will Be

Glad To Accommodate A Traveller For A Reasonable Gratification. I

Know An English Gentleman Who Always Travels With The Courier In

Italy, Both By Sea And Land. In Posting By Land, He Is Always

Sure Of Having Part Of A Good Calash, And The Best Horses That

Can Be Found; And As The Expence Of Both Is Defrayed By The

Public, It Costs Him Nothing But A Present To His Companion,

Which Does Not Amount To One Fourth Part Of The Expence He Would

Incur By Travelling Alone. These Opportunities May Be Had Every

Week In All The Towns Of Italy.

 

 

 

For My Own Part, I Hired A Gondola From Hence To Genoa. This Is A

Boat Smaller Than A Feluca, Rowed By Four Men, And Steered By The

Patron; But The Price Was Nine Zequines, Rather More Than I

Should Have Payed For A Feluca Of Ten Oars. I Was Assured That

Being Very Light, It Would Make Great Way; And The Master Was

Particularly Recommended To Me, As An Honest Man And An Able

Mariner. I Was Accompanied In This Voyage By My Wife And Miss C--,

Together With One Mr. R--, A Native Of Nice, Whom I Treated

With The Jaunt, In Hopes That As He Was Acquainted With The

Customs Of The Country, And The Different Ways Of Travelling In

It, He Would Save Us Much Trouble, And Some Expence: But I Was

Much Disappointed. Some Persons At Nice Offered To Lay Wagers

That He Would Return By Himself From Italy; But They Were Also

Disappointed.

 

 

 

We Embarked In The Beginning Of September, Attended By One

Servant. The Heats, Which Render Travelling Dangerous In Italy,

Begin To Abate At This Season. The Weather Was Extremely 

Part 7 Letter 25 ( Nice, January 1, 1765.) Pg 207

Agreeable; And If I Had Postponed My Voyage A Little Longer, I

Foresaw That I Should Not Be Able To Return Before Winter: In

Which Case I Might Have Found The Sea Too Rough, And The Weather

Too Cold For A Voyage Of One Hundred And Thirty-Five Miles In An

Open Boat.

 

 

 

Having Therefore Provided Myself With A Proper Pass, Signed And

Sealed By Our Consul, As Well As With Letters Of Recommendation

From Him To The English Consuls At Genoa And Leghorn, A

Precaution Which I Would Advise All Travellers To Take, In Case

Of Meeting With Accidents On The Road, We Went On Board About Ten

In The Morning, Stopped About Half An Hour At A Friend's Country-House

In The Bay Of St. Hospice, And About Noon Entered The

Harbour Of Monaco, Where The Patron Was Obliged To Pay Toll,

According To The Regulation Which I Have Explained In A Former

Letter. This Small Town, Containing About Eight Or Nine Hundred

Souls, Besides The Garrison, Is Built On A Rock Which Projects

Into The Sea, And Makes A Very Romantic Appearance. The Prince's

Palace Stands In The Most Conspicuous Part, With A Walk Of Trees

Before It. The Apartments Are Elegantly Furnished, And Adorned

With Some Good Pictures. The Fortifications Are In Good Repair,

And The Place Is Garrisoned By Two French Battalions. The Present

Prince Of Monaco Is A Frenchman, Son Of The