Imágenes de página
PDF
ePub

ano

a great bridge, called Cornigliano, compofed of Cornigli nine arches, of fufficient ftrength and extent to bridge. refift the overflowings of the river. It appears well in profpect. Farther on, the fea and the palace Durazzo are clearly difcernible; but the post-road does not pafs over the bridge; it turns to the left, and leads to Genoa by the magnificent fuburb of St. Pietro d'Arena". You may fuppofe, I have feen nothing as yet of Genoa, but from the Genoa. windows of the inn. The town feems much alive, and thickly peopled, without noife or riot. The women's dress is fine, but fingular, I mean the Bourgeoife, for I have seen no noble ladies pass by: their heads are wrapped up in a piece of printed. cotton, which looks like a counterpane: reaches, down to their waftes, and rolling it round them, they fold their arms over the ends, bringing it fo close together before, that scarce any part of their faces can be seen. be feen. They have ftraight-bodied gowns, with very long trains of rich fattins, damasks, &c. these they do not give themselves the trouble to hold out of the dirt; fo their tails fweep up all the ordure of the ftreets. This cuftom is, I prefume, a pretence to magnificence. They generally wear long aprons of fine muslin, trimmed with lace. The poorer fort of women and païfannes are wretchedly clothed; they wear a

*The poft-mafters obliged us to take fix horfes for our carriage, when we had reached half-way from Novi to Genoa, for the remainder of the journey.

petticoat

petticoat of woollen, or striped linen, with a corfet; their heads are quite naked, the hair of the chignion rolled round and round at the top of the back of the head, and several pewter bodkins, as long as fkewers, stuck through it by way of ornament. Our hoft kindly advertises me, that the poft is going out. You fee I do not neglect to feize every opportunity of writing. Adieu. You shall hear from me again, as soon as I can collect fufficient materials to form (I hope) à more entertaining letter. I remain, as always, &c.

P. S. We have had no trouble with the customhoufe officers; for a small confideration they cheerfully let us pafs without any difficulty, on M-'s affuring them we had nothing feizable. Our name has been fent to the Doge. This cuftom is what all strangers must comply with.

LET

LETTER XV.

Genoa, Nov. 5th, 1770.

I

Have been confined to my bed two days, with

a rheumatic pain in my cheek, and a bad cold; M-- has had a blood-fhot eye, which has been extremely troublesome to him; but at present we are both pretty well recovered. I fo dreaded being confined by illness, and confequently detained here longer than agreeable to us, that I determined to apply an outward remedy to my cheek, of fpirit of guaiacum, and to take it inwardly at the fame time; that by giving the rheumatifin no quarter, I might have routed the enemy, fo that he fhould not be able to rally again. For this purpose, I fent to an apothecary for the above drug when it was brought to me, it ap peared fo unlike, in colour and confiftency, to the guaiacum I had seen in England, that I feared he had made fome mistake; fo I fent for him: he came prefently after; I was in bed, and my curtains drawn, and M-- had him into the room. Upon feeing a handkerchief tied over his eye, he concluded him to be the patient who had fent for guaiacum; and as I fuppofe he had been already informed by the fervants, that we had questioned the quality of his drug, he with great vehemence, and violent action, cried out, on entering the room, Buono, buono per, gli occhi, bifogna frottare frottare. Finding

Finding M did not inftantly comply with his prescription, he changed his note from frottare to avalare. I laughed fo much in my bed, that I could not speak; as for M—— he was too much charmed with the apothecary's error to attempt undeceiving him for fome moments; at last he asked him gravely, whether it was equally efficacious for a rheumatic pain, as for a blood-fhot eye. He replied in the affirmative, and had we added any other malady, he would, no doubt, have perfifted in the fame remedy. In fhort, with him, fpirit of guaiacum was the Grand elixir. But his wretchedness, poverty, or avarice, was fuch, that all his ardour proceeded from the fear of his not difpofing of his drug, as he demanded twentyfour fols for a small phial half full. This man, in appearance, was the counterpart of Shakespear's apothecary; and had he been of Mantua, I should have concluded him a lineal defcendant of that caitiff wretch, whofe tattered weeds and overwhelming brows, &c. However, upon inquiry, finding his drug to be really fome preparation of guaiacum, I fpread it over my cheek, and in half an hour it gave me ease; though it was at the fame time fo strong, that had it been applied to the eyes, I fuppofe M would never have feen more. He is perfectly recovered, by ufing plantain-water and tutty.

There is fomething very fhocking in being ferved entirely by men, till custom and neceffity, reconciles you in fome measure to it. Not a

female

female to be seen in an Italian inn. Our expences. here are a fequin a head per day*; for this they give us three or four dishes, confifting of a foup, the fowl that has been boiled in it, with or without rice, very indifferent indeed; a fry of liver and brains, or fome fuch thing: these are our standing dishes; befides which, they vary from one day to another, pigeons a la crapodine, and fometimes ragoued in oil; partridges in fricando, and with cabbage, &c.; but their conftant use of oil (which is feldom good), even fometimes in their foups, is extremely disgusting to us. We may have roaft meat if we choose it; but their manner of roasting is thus, after oiling the meat with a feather, they fufpend it over a charcoal fire, until it is become fo dry and brittle as to admit of pulverifation. Fifh is rarely to be had, except upon les jours maigre, when the galley flaves, chained two and two together, cry it about the streets; it generally confifts of oysters, shrimps, small flounders, and fprats. I have had these

J

*The valet de chambre, who is our courier, about fix livres per day; laquais de louage, 40 fols each, and they find themfelves. As the wine of the inn is not good, we have any fort we choofe, by the flak, from the noble families of Doria, Balbis, Spinola, Durazzo, Grimaldi, &c. &c.; for thefe nobles do not efteem themselves at all debafed by vending a flask of wine, or a halfpenny worth of oil and vinegar, and all forts of liquors by the glafs. This is what one may call trading in a great ftyle. There is nothing a noble Genoefe would not fell; yet they fancy themselves much fuperior in rank to what is called the mercantile part of Genoa,

VOL. I..

M

poor

« AnteriorContinuar »