Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: Tobias Smollett
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Sounded Very Harsh In The Ears Of A Frenchman. We Stopped For A
Refreshment At A Little Town Called Joigne-Ville, Where (By The
Bye) I Was Scandalously Imposed Upon, And Even Abused By A Virago
Of A Landlady; Then Proceeding To The Next Stage, I Was Given To
Understand We Could Not Be Supplied With Fresh Horses. Here I
Perceived At The Door Of The Inn, The Same Person Whom I Had
Reproached At Sens. He Came Up To The Coach, And Told Me, That
Notwithstanding What The Guides Had Said, I Should Have Fresh
Horses In A Few Minutes. I Imagined He Was Master Both Of This
House And The Auberge At Sens, Between Which He Passed And
Repassed Occasionally; And That He Was Now Desirous Of Making Me
Amends For The Affront He Had Put Upon Me At The Other Place.
Observing That One Of The Trunks Behind Was A Little Displaced,
He Assisted My Servant In Adjusting It: Then He Entered Into
Conversation With Me, And Gave Me To Understand, That In A Post-Chaise,
Which We Had Passed, Was An English Gentleman On His
Return From Italy. I Wanted To Know Who He Was, And When He Said
He Could Not Tell, I Asked Him, In A Very Abrupt Manner, Why He
Had Not Enquired Of His Servant. He Shrugged
Up His Shoulders, And Retired To The Inn Door. Having Waited
About Half An Hour, I Beckoned To Him, And When He Approached,
Upbraided Him With Having Told Me That I Should Be Supplied With
Fresh Horses In A Few Minutes: He Seemed Shocked, And Answered,
That He Thought He Had Reason For What He Said, Observing, That
It Was As Disagreeable To Him As To Me To Wait For A Relay. As It
Began To Rain, I Pulled Up The Glass In His Face, And He Withdrew
Again To The Door, Seemingly Ruffled At My Deportment. In A
Little Time The Horses Arrived, And Three Of Them Were
Immediately Put To A Very Handsome Post-Chaise, Into Which He
Stepped, And Set Out, Accompanied By A Man In A Rich Livery On
Horseback. Astonished At This Circumstance, I Asked The Hostler
Who He Was, And He Replied, That He Was A Man Of Fashion (Un
Seigneur) Who Lived In The Neighbourhood Of Auxerre. I Was Much
Mortified To Find That I Had Treated A Nobleman So Scurvily, And
Scolded My Own People For Not Having More Penetration Than
Myself. I Dare Say He Did Not Fail To Descant Upon The Brutal
Behaviour Of The Englishman; And That My Mistake Served With Him
To Confirm The National Reproach Of Bluntness, And Ill Breeding,
Under Which We Lie In This Country. The Truth Is, I Was That Day
More Than Usually Peevish, From The Bad Weather, As Well As From
The Dread Of A Fit Of The Asthma, With Which I Was Threatened:
And I Dare Say My Appearance Seemed As Uncouth To Him, As His
Travelling Dress Appeared To Me. I Had A Grey Mourning Frock
Under A Wide Great Coat, A Bob Wig Without Powder, A Very Large
Laced Hat, And A Meagre, Wrinkled, Discontented Countenance.
The Fourth Night Of Our Journey We Lay At Macon, And The Next Day
Passed Through The Lyonnois, Which Is A Fine Country, Full Of
Towns, Villages, And Gentlemen's Houses. In Passing Through The
Maconnois, We Saw A Great Many Fields Of Indian Corn, Which Grows
To The Height Of Six Or Seven Feet: It Is Made Into Flour For The
Use Of The Common People, And Goes By The Name Of Turkey Wheat.
Part 7 Letter 8 ( To Mr. M-- Lyons, October 19, 1763.) Pg 102Here Likewise, As Well As In Dauphine, They Raise A Vast Quantity
Of Very Large Pompions, With The Contents Of Which They Thicken
Their Soup And Ragouts.
As We Travelled Only While The Sun Was Up, On Account Of My Ill
Health, And The Post Horses In France Are In Bad Order, We Seldom
Exceeded Twenty Leagues A Day.
I Was Directed To A Lodging-House At Lyons, Which Being Full They
Shewed Us To A Tavern, Where I Was Led Up Three Pair Of Stairs,
To An Apartment Consisting Of Three Paltry Chambers, For Which
The People Demanded Twelve Livres A Day: For Dinner And Supper
They Asked Thirty-Two, Besides Three Livres For My Servant; So
That My Daily Expence Would Have Amounted To About Forty-Seven
Livres, Exclusive Of Breakfast And Coffee In The Afternoon. I Was
So Provoked At This Extortion, That, Without Answering One Word,
I Drove To Another Auberge, Where I Now Am, And Pay At The Rate
Of Two-And-Thirty Livres A Day, For Which I Am Very Badly Lodged,
And But Very Indifferently Entertained. I Mention These
Circumstances To Give You An Idea Of The Imposition To Which
Strangers Are Subject In This Country. It Must Be Owned, However,
That In The Article Of Eating, I Might Save Half The Money By
Going To The Public Ordinary; But This Is A Scheme Of Oeconomy,
Which (Exclusive Of Other Disagreeable Circumstances) Neither My
Own Health, Nor That Of My Wife Permits Me To Embrace. My Journey
From Paris To Lyons, Including The Hire Of The Coach, And All
Expences On The Road, Has Cost Me, Within A Few Shillings, Forty
Loui'dores. From Paris Our Baggage (Though Not Plombe) Was Not
Once Examined Till We Arrived In This City, At The Gate Of Which
We Were Questioned By One Of The Searchers, Who, Being Tipt With
Half A Crown, Allowed Us To Proceed Without Further Enquiry,
I Purposed To Stay In Lyons Until I Should Receive Some Letters I
Expected From London, To Be Forwarded By My Banker At Paris: But
The Enormous Expence Of Living In This Manner Has Determined Me
To Set Out In A Day Or Two For Montpellier, Although That Place
Is A Good Way Out Of The Road To Nice. My Reasons For Taking That
Route I Shall Communicate In My Next. Mean-While, I Am Ever,--
Dear Sir, Your Affectionate And Obliged Humble Servant.
Part 7 Letter 9 ( Montpellier, November 5, 1763.) Pg 103
Dear Sir,--The City Of Lyons Has Been So Often And So
Circumstantially Described, That I Cannot Pretend To Say Any
Thing New On The Subject. Indeed, I Know Very Little Of It, But
What I Have Read In Books; As I Had But One Day To Make A Tour Of
The Streets, Squares, And Other Remarkable Places. The Bridge
Over The Rhone Seems To Be So Slightly Built, That I Should
Imagine It Would Be One Day Carried Away By That Rapid River;
Especially As The Arches Are So Small, That, After Great Rains
They Are Sometimes Bouchees, Or Stopped Up; That Is, They Do Not
Admit A Sufficient Passage For The Encreased Body Of The Water.
In Order To Remedy This Dangerous Defect, In Some Measure, They
Found An Artist Some Years Ago, Who Has Removed A Middle Pier,
And Thrown Two Arches Into One. This Alteration They Looked Upon
As A Masterpiece In Architecture, Though There Is Many A Common
Mason In England, Who Would Have Undertaken And Performed The
Work, Without Valuing Himself Much Upon The Enterprize. This
Bridge, As Well As That Of St. Esprit, Is Built, Not In A Strait
Line Across The River, But With A Curve, Which Forms A Convexity
To Oppose The Current. Such A Bend Is Certainly Calculated For
The Better Resisting The General Impetuosity Of The Stream, And
Has No Bad Effect To The Eye.
Lyons Is A Great, Populous, And Flourishing City But I Am
Surprised To Find It Is Counted A Healthy Place, And That The Air
Of It Is Esteemed Favourable To Pulmonic Disorders. It Is
Situated On The Confluence Of Two Large Rivers, From Which There
Must Be A Great Evaporation, As Well As From The Low Marshy
Grounds, Which These Rivers Often Overflow. This Must Render The
Air Moist, Frouzy, And Even Putrid, If It Was Not Well Ventilated
By Winds From The Mountains Of Swisserland; And In The Latter End
Of Autumn, It Must Be Subject To Fogs. The Morning We Set Out
From Thence, The Whole City And Adjacent Plains Were Covered With
So Thick A Fog, That We Could Not Distinguish From The Coach The
Head Of The Foremost Mule That Drew It. Lyons Is Said To Be Very
Hot In Summer, And Very Cold In Winter; Therefore I Imagine Must
Abound With Inflammatory And Intermittent Disorders In The Spring
And Fall Of The Year.
My Reasons For Going To Montpellier, Which Is Out Of The Strait
Road To Nice, Were These. Having No Acquaintance Nor
Correspondents In The South Of France, I Had Desired My Credit
Might Be Sent To The Same House To Which My Heavy Baggage Was
Consigned. I Expected To Find My Baggage At Cette, Which Is The
Sea-Port Of Montpellier; And There I Also Hoped To Find A Vessel,
In Which I Might Be Transported By Sea To Nice, Without Further
Trouble. I Longed To Try What Effect The Boasted Air Of
Montpellier Would Have Upon My Constitution; And I Had A Great
Desire To See The Famous Monuments Of Antiquity In And About The
Part 7 Letter 9 ( Montpellier, November 5, 1763.) Pg 104Ancient City Of Nismes, Which Is About Eight Leagues Short Of
Montpellier.
At The Inn Where We Lodged, I Found A Return Berline, Belonging
To Avignon, With Three Mules, Which Are The Animals Commonly Used
For Carriages In This Country. This I Hired For Five Loui'dores.
The Coach Was Large, Commodious, And Well-Fitted; The Mules Were
Strong And In Good Order; And The Driver, Whose Name Was Joseph,
Appeared To Be A Sober, Sagacious, Intelligent Fellow, Perfectly
Well Acquainted With Every Place In The South Of France. He Told
Me He Was Owner Of The Coach, But I Afterwards Learned, He Was No
Other Than A Hired Servant. I Likewise Detected Him In Some
Knavery, In The Course Of Our Journey; And Plainly Perceived He
Had A Fellow-Feeling With The Inn-Keepers On The Road; But, In
Other Respects, He Was Very Obliging, Serviceable,
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