LETTER XIX. A Plaisance (Piacenza), Nov. 16th, 1770. FTER a most disagreeable journey, here are we at Piacenza. We left Genoa the 14th after dinner, and lay at Novi, where we were very Novi. ill ferved; the evening was raw and cold, and the chimneys smoked to fuch a degree, that the effect to me was a violent cold and fore throat. Our beds were wretched, the apartment extremely dirty; and our fupper confifted of three dishes of what they call roast-meat, that is, lumps of meat fried in stinking oil, with fome wretched bors d'œuvres of fallads, hard eggs, and choppedan chovies, all anointed with the fame oil. After paffing a fleepless night, we willingly quitted Novi at about eight o'clock yesterday morning. The day was fine and bright, which was extremely lucky; for had it rained, we should have suffered much more than we did from the badness of the road. From Novi to Tortona, and from thence to Voghera, is one continued flough of quaking clay and marle, through which we waded, the carriage finking into the mud up to the naves of the fore-wheels. At Voghera they gave us Voghera. wretched poft-horfes. We had all the difficulty imaginable to make half the poft with them; probably they had never been in harness before. The t poftilions, who are a cruel race in every country, did not spare the perfuafive eloquence of the whip, to make these beasts go forward; which they determined not to do, if to be avoided: fometimes they plunged in the flough, then run furiously for a little way, kicking on all fides, and floundering; to increase their ungovernable difpofition, there was a wild colt amongst them, which I fuppofe the post-mafter at Voghera chofe we should have the honour of breaking in. We were at last obliged to get out and halt at a wretched publichouse in the road, which our courier hinted to us had a bad reputation for fafety. However, we perceived nothing that had any appearance of that nature. Here we waited above half an hour, our poftilions affuring us, they every moment expected fome very good poft-horfes, who were returning to Voghera, that they could anfwer for. Our patience at length being exhaufted, we entered our carriage, and with great difficulty got on one mile further to a small village: after waiting there above an hour, three poft-horses only arrived; which were the excellent beafts our poftilions had promised us; fo we were at last obliged to mix fome of the steadiest of our wild beafts with these new arrivals. During the hour we waited at this village, M inquired whether there was not a governor, or commandant, in the neighbourhood; they told him there was a commandant, who lived not a great way from the village; Mimmediately walked to him, and finding him at home, demanded demanded redrefs for the treatment he had received from the post-mafter at Voghera, for not having fulfilled his engagement, as to the furnishing him with proper and able horses, and also the having been the occafion of a great loss of time, and much fatigue, &c. The commandant behaved with great politeness and civility, but informed him, he had no power over the poft-mafter at Voghera; affuring him, however, that he would write to the governor of that town, and have the post-mafter punished. (This part of the country belongs to the King of Sardinia.) In fhort, it appeared that the power of the commandant was bounded to the care of the customs. Finding there was no redress to be had, we once more set forward, and with much difficulty arrived at a wretched place, called Bron, where we were obliged to lie, though no more than four pofts from Piacenza. Upon our arrival at Bron, M expected to find there a Podefta (which perfonage in Italy, I think, anfwers to the judicial officer called Monfieur le Magiftra, you must remember in Anette and Lubin, and who I believe is the torment of every bourg in France), to whom he might apply for juftice against our rogues of poftilions, who had the conscience to charge us to the utmost that could be expected, had we been perfectly well ufed, and demanded most unreasonably for their trouble, as if they had merited a double reward for their infolence, lazinefs, and the time they had made us lofe. The podefta, who it seems has been formerly a serjeant, could Bron. river. could not be found; we were then neceffitated to comply with the tariffa, or regulation of the posts*, fuppofing the agreement to be kept up to, but not a farthing extraordinary to the poftilions for their trouble. Bron is the boundary between the dominions of the King of Sardinia and those of the Infant Duke of Parma. This morning we Serivia paffed the river Serivia; the water being low, it was not in the leaft dangerous. The river is by no means beautiful; great part of its bed lies bare, and a vast number of small streams (which compose the river) branch out various ways, fo that the effect produced is extremely disagreeable; heaps of ftones, like rubbish, lie fcattered about unequally, and the whole appears a desert waste, without trees, grafs, or even the smallest verdure upon its banks. Our inn is bad, our eatables worse; a dish of fish, which had been dreffed au bleu fome time ago, to prevent its stinking, but which had not fucceeded, was ferved up to us in a fauce of fetid oil burnt; a fmall lump of coarse veal fauced in the fame manner, by way of fricando; a pigeon, which had very much the air of a crow, and by its flying attitude in the dish, led me to think, that by fome accident it had been fhot when flying over the kitchen, and falling down the chimney into the fire, whence Cuoco had industriously raked The posts in the Genoefe territories, and the King of Sardinia's, are very dear; without reckoning any other expences on the road, the bare pofting for thirty miles costs five guineas. it out of the afhes, finding it well finged, and served it up to the forreftieri. This morning, upon calling for our bill, we found the hoft thought himself a gallant uomo*, in not charging more than seventeen French livres for our fupper, and that of M's valet de chambre; for we do not confift of more than three upon the road. In a letter I wrote you from Turin, which chiefly contained domestic affairs, I ought to have told you I had determined to fuffer the lighter inconvenience of two; preferring that of being without a woman-fervant on the road, to the being troubled with a chamber-maid to convey from one place to another, the neceffity of being her conftant interpreter, fubject to her ill-humour and impertinence, and, perhaps, to not a few reproaches, for having perfuaded her (though at a very great expence) to quit her dear country and friends. You recollect my Parifian, &c. therefore I refolved to take a maid in every town we mean to pass any time in, and to discharge her at the moment of our departure. Hitherto it has fucceeded to my wishes; and I affure you I can dress myself for my journey lefs awkwardly, and almost as foon, as when I had a maid with me. But I muft return to our hoft. I difputed his bill, only get three livres ten fols ftruck off. post we made this morning was almost the whole way through corn-fields and vineyards, the great but could The first * A phrafe that means an honourable, juft, and honest man. VOL. I. R road |
