Travels Through France And Italy by Tobias Smollett (fastest ebook reader .txt) 📕

Capacious Enough To Contain All The Navies In Christendom. The

Entrance On One Side Is Defended By A Small Fort Built Above The

Town Of Porto Venere, Which Is A Very Poor Place. Farther In

There Is A Battery Of About Twenty Guns; And On The Right Hand,

Opposite To Porto Venere, Is A Block-House, Founded On A Rock In

The Sea. At The Bottom Of The Bay Is The Town Of Spetia On The

Left, And On The Right That Of Lerici, Defended By A Castle Of

Very Little Strength Or Consequence. The Whole Bay Is Surrounded

With Plantations Of Olives And Oranges, And Makes A Very

Delightful Appearance. In Case Of A War, This Would Be An

Admirable Station For A British Squadron, As It Lies So Near

Genoa And Leghorn; And Has A Double Entrance, By Means Of Which

The Cruisers Could Sail In And Out Continually, Which Way Soever

The Wind Might Chance To Sit. I Am Sure The Fortifications Would

Give Very Little Disturbance.

At The Post-House In Lerici, The Accommodation Is Intolerable. We

Were Almost Poisoned At Supper. I Found The Place Where I Was To

Lie So Close And Confined, That I Could Not Breathe In It, And

Therefore Lay All Night In An Outward Room Upon Four Chairs, With

A Leather Portmanteau For My Pillow. For This Entertainment I

Payed Very Near A Loui'dore. Such Bad Accommodation Is The Less

Excusable, As The Fellow Has A Great Deal Of Business, This Being

A Great Thoroughfare For Travellers Going Into Italy, Or

Returning From Thence.

I Might Have Saved Some Money By Prosecuting My Voyage Directly

By Sea To Leghorn: But, By This Time, We Were All Heartily Tired

Of The Water, The Business Then Was To Travel By Land To

Florence, By The Way Of Pisa, Which Is Seven Posts Distant From

Lerici. Those Who Have Not Their Own Carriage Must Either Hire 

Chaises To Perform The Whole Journey, Or Travel By Way Of

Cambiatura, Which Is That Of Changing The Chaises Every Post, As

The Custom Is In England. In This Case The Great Inconvenience

Arises From Your Being Obliged To Shift Your Baggage Every Post.

The Chaise Or Calesse Of This Country, Is A Wretched Machine With

Two Wheels, As Uneasy As A Common Cart, Being Indeed No Other

Than What We Should Call In England A Very Ill-Contrived One-Horse

Chair, Narrow, Naked, Shattered And Shabby. For This

Vehicle And Two Horses You Pay At The Rate Of Eight Paoli A

Stage, Or Four Shillings Sterling; And The Postilion Expects Two

Paoli For His Gratification: So That Every Eight Miles Cost About

Five Shillings, And Four Only, If You Travel In Your Own

Carriage, As In That Case You Pay No More Than At The Rate Of

Three Paoli A Horse.

About Three Miles From Lerici, We Crossed The Magra, Which

Appeared As A Rivulet Almost Dry, And In Half A Mile Farther

Arrived At Sarzana, A Small Town At The Extremity Of The Genoese

Territories, Where We Changed Horses. Then Entering The

Principalities Of Massa And Carrara, Belonging To The Duke Of

Modena, We Passed Lavenza, Which Seems To Be A Decayed Fort With

A Small Garrison, And Dined At Massa, Which Is An Agreeable

Little Town, Where The Old Dutchess Of Modena Resides.

Notwithstanding All The Expedition We Could Make, It Was Dark

Before We Passed The Cerchio, Which Is An Inconsiderable Stream

In The Neighbourhood Of Pisa, Where We Arrived About Eight In The

Evening.

The Country From Sarzana To The Frontiers Of Tuscany Is A Narrow

Plain, Bounded On The Right By The Sea, And On The Left By The

Apennine Mountains. It Is Well Cultivated And Inclosed,

Consisting Of Meadow-Ground, Corn Fields, Plantations Of Olives;

And The Trees That Form The Hedge-Rows Serve As So Many Props To

The Vines, Which Are Twisted Round Them, And Continued From One

To Another. After Entering The Dominions Of Tuscany, We Travelled

Through A Noble Forest Of Oak-Trees Of A Considerable Extent,

Which Would Have Appeared Much More Agreeable, Had We Not Been

Benighted And Apprehensive Of Robbers. The Last Post But One In

This Days Journey, Is At The Little Town Of Viareggio, A Kind Of

Sea-Port On The Mediterranean, Belonging To Lucia. The Roads Are

Indifferent, And The Accommodation Is Execrable. I Was Glad To

Find Myself Housed In A Very Good Inn At Pisa, Where I Promised

Myself A Good Night's Rest, And Was Not Disappointed. I Heartily

Wish You The Same Pleasure, And Am Very Sincerely--Yours.

Dear Sir,--Pisa Is A Fine Old City That Strikes You With The Same

Veneration You Would Feel At Sight Of An Antient Temple Which

Bears The Marks Of Decay, Without Being Absolutely Dilapidated.

The Houses Are Well Built, The Streets Open, Straight, And Well

Paved; The Shops Well Furnished; And The Markets Well Supplied:

There Are Some Elegant Palaces, Designed By Great Masters. The

Churches Are Built With Taste, And Tolerably Ornamented. There Is

A Beautiful Wharf Of Freestone On Each Side Of The River Arno,

Which Runs Through The City, And Three Bridges Thrown Over It, Of

Which That In The Middle Is Of Marble, A Pretty Piece Of

Architecture: But The Number Of Inhabitants Is Very

Inconsiderable; And This Very Circumstance Gives It An Air Of

Majestic Solitude, Which Is Far From Being Unpleasant To A Man Of

A Contemplative Turn Of Mind. For My Part, I Cannot Bear The

Tumult Of A Populous Commercial City; And The Solitude That

Reigns In Pisa Would With Me Be A Strong Motive To Choose It As A

Place Of Residence. Not That This Would Be The Only Inducement

For Living At Pisa. Here Is Some Good Company, And Even A Few Men

Of Taste And Learning. The People In General Are Counted Sociable

And Polite; And There Is Great Plenty Of Provisions, At A Very

Reasonable Rate. At Some Distance From The More Frequented Parts

Of The City, A Man May Hire A Large House For Thirty Crowns A

Year: But Near The Center, You Cannot Have Good Lodgings, Ready

Furnished, For Less Than A Scudo (About Five Shillings) A Day.

The Air In Summer Is Reckoned Unwholesome By The Exhalations

Arising From Stagnant Water In The Neighbourhood Of The City,

Which Stands In The Midst Of A Fertile Plain, Low And Marshy: Yet

These Marshes Have Been Considerably Drained, And The Air Is Much

Meliorated. As For The Arno, It Is No Longer Navigated By Vessels

Of Any Burthen. The University Of Pisa Is Very Much Decayed; And

Except The Little Business Occasioned By The Emperor's Gallies,

Which Are Built In This Town, [This Is A Mistake. No Gallies Have

Been Built Here For A Great Many Years, And The Dock Is Now

Converted Into Stables For The Grand Duke's Horse Guards.] I Know

Of No Commerce It Carried On: Perhaps The Inhabitants Live On The

Produce Of The Country, Which Consists Of Corn, Wine, And Cattle.

They Are Supplied With Excellent Water For Drinking, By An

Aqueduct Consisting Of Above Five Thousand Arches, Begun By

Cosmo, And Finished By Ferdinand I. Grand-Dukes Of Tuscany; It

Conveys The Water From The Mountains At The Distance Of Five

Miles. This Noble City, Formerly The Capital Of A Flourishing And

Powerful Republic, Which Contained Above One Hundred And Fifty

Thousand Inhabitants, Within Its Walls, Is Now So Desolate That

Grass Grows In The Open Streets; And The Number Of Its People Do

Not Exceed Sixteen Thousand.

You Need Not Doubt But I Visited The Campanile, Or Hanging-Tower, 

Which Is A Beautiful Cylinder Of Eight Stories, Each Adorned With

A Round Of Columns, Rising One Above Another. It Stands By The

Cathedral, And Inclines So Far On One Side From The

Perpendicular, That In Dropping A Plummet From The Top, Which Is

One Hundred And Eighty-Eight Feet High, It Falls Sixteen Feet

From The Base. For My Part, I Should Never Have Dreamed That This

Inclination Proceeded From Any Other Cause, Than An Accidental

Subsidence Of The Foundation On This Side, If Some Connoisseurs

Had Not Taken Great Pains To Prove It Was Done On Purpose By The

Architect. Any Person Who Has Eyes May See That The Pillars On

That Side Are Considerably Sunk; And This Is The Case With The

Very Threshold Of The Door By Which You Enter. I Think It Would

Have Been A Very Preposterous Ambition In The Architects, To Show

How Far They Could Deviate From The Perpendicular In This

Construction; Because In That Particular Any Common Mason Could

Have Rivalled Them; [All The World Knows That A Building With

Such Inclination May Be Carried Up Till A Line Drawn From The

Centre Of Gravity Falls Without The Circumference Of The Base.]

And If They Really Intended It As A Specimen Of Their Art, They

Should Have Shortened The Pilasters On That Side, So As To

Exhibit Them Intire, Without The Appearance Of Sinking. These

Leaning Towers Are Not Unfrequent In Italy; There Is One At

Bologna, Another At Venice, A Third Betwixt Venice And Ferrara,

And A Fourth At Ravenna; And The Inclination In All Of Them Has

Been Supposed Owing To The Foundations Giving Way On One Side

Only.

In The Cathedral, Which Is A Large Gothic Pile, [This Edifice Is

Not Absolutely Gothic. It Was Built In The Twelfth Century After

The Design Of A Greek Architect From Constantinople, Where By

That Time The Art Was Much Degenerated. The Pillars Of Granite

Are Mostly From The Islands Of Ebba And Giglia On The Coast Of

Tuscany, Where Those Quarries Were Worked By The Antient Romans.

The Giullo, And The Verde Antico Are Very Beautiful Species Of

Marble, Yellow And Green; The First, Antiently Called Marmor

Numidicum, Came From Africa; The Other Was Found (According To

Strabo) On The Mons Taygetus In Lacedemonia: But, At Present,

Neither The One Nor The Other Is To Be Had Except Among The Ruins

Of Antiquity.] There Is A Great Number Of Massy Pillars Of

Porphyry, Granite, Jasper, Giullo, And Verde Antico, Together

With Some Good Pictures And Statues: But The Greatest Curiosity

Is That Of The Brass-Gates, Designed And Executed By John Of

Bologna, Representing, Embossed In Different Compartments, The

History Of The Old And New Testament. I Was So Charmed With This

Work, That I Could Have Stood A Whole Day To Examine And Admire

It. In The Baptisterium, Which Stands