Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗

Displeasure. They Must, Therefore, Endeavour To

Find Amusements At Home; And This, I Apprehend, Would Be No Easy

Task For People Of An Active Spirit Or Restless Disposition. True

It Is, The Religion Of The Country Supplies A Never-Failing Fund

Of Pastime To Those Who Have Any Relish For Devotion; And This Is

Here A Prevailing Taste. We Have Had Transient Visits Of A

Puppet-Shew, Strolling Musicians, And Rope-Dancers; But They Did

Not Like Their Quarters, And Decamped Without Beat Of Drum. In

The Summer, About Eight Or Nine At Night, Part Of The Noblesse

May Be Seen Assembled In A Place Called The Pare; Which Is,

Indeed, A Sort Of A Street Formed By A Row Of Very Paltry Houses

On One Side, And On The Other, By Part Of The Town-Wall, Which

Screens It From A Prospect Of The Sea, The Only Object That Could

Render It Agreeable. Here You May Perceive The Noblesse Stretched

In Pairs Upon Logs Of Wood, Like So Many Seals Upon The Rocks By

Moon-Light, Each Dame With Her Cicisbeo: For, You Must

Understand, This Italian Fashion Prevails At Nice Among All Ranks

Of People; And There Is Not Such A Passion As Jealousy Known. The

Husband And The Cicisbeo Live Together As Sworn Brothers; And The

Wife And The Mistress Embrace Each Other With Marks Of The

Warmest Affection. I Do Not Choose To Enter Into Particulars. I

Cannot Open The Scandalous Chronicle Of Nice, Without Hazard Of

Contamination. With Respect To Delicacy And Decorum, You May

Peruse Dean Swift's Description Of The Yahoos, And Then You Will

Have Some Idea Of The Porcheria, That Distinguishes The Gallantry

Of Nice. But The Pare Is Not The Only Place Of Public Resort For

Our Noblesse In A Summer's Evening. Just Without One Of Our

Gates, You Will Find Them Seated In Ditches On The Highway Side,

Serenaded With The Croaking Of Frogs, And The Bells And Braying

Of Mules And Asses Continually Passing In A Perpetual Cloud Of

Dust. Besides These Amusements, There Is A Public Conversazione

Every Evening At The Commandant's House Called The Government,

Where Those Noble Personages Play At Cards For Farthings. In

Carnival Time, There Is Also, At This Same Government, A Ball

Twice Or Thrice A Week, Carried On By Subscription. At This

Assembly Every Person, Without Distinction, Is Permitted To Dance

In Masquerade: But, After Dancing, They Are Obliged To Unmask,

And If Bourgeois, To Retire. No Individual Can Give A Ball,

Without Obtaining A Permission And Guard Of The Commandant; And

Then His House Is Open To All Masques, Without Distinction, Who

Are Provided With Tickets, Which Tickets Are Sold By The

Commandant's Secretary, At Five Sols A-Piece, And Delivered To

The Guard At The Door. If I Have A Mind To Entertain My

Particular Friends, I Cannot Have More Than A Couple Of Violins;

And, In That Case, It Is Called A Conversazione.

 

 

Part 7 Letter 17 ( Nice, July 2, 1764.) Pg 166

 

Though The King Of Sardinia Takes All Opportunities To

Distinguish The Subjects Of Great-Britain With Particular Marks

Of Respect, I Have Seen Enough To Be Convinced, That Our Nation

Is Looked Upon With An Evil Eye By The People Of Nice; And This

Arises Partly From Religious Prejudices, And Partly From Envy,

Occasioned By A Ridiculous Notion Of Our Superior Wealth. For My

Own Part, I Owe Them Nothing On The Score Of Civilities; And

Therefore, I Shall Say Nothing More On The Subject, Lest I Should

Be Tempted To Deviate From That Temperance And Impartiality Which

I Would Fain Hope Have Hitherto Characterised The Remarks Of,--

Dear Sir, Your Faithful, Humble Servant.

 

Part 7 Letter 18 ( Nice, September 2, 1764.) Pg 167

Dear Doctor,--I Wrote In May To Mr. B-- At Geneva, And Gave Him

What Information He Desired To Have, Touching The Conveniences Of

Nice. I Shall Now Enter Into The Same Detail, For The Benefit Of

Such Of Your Friends Or Patients, As May Have Occasion To Try

This Climate.

 

 

 

The Journey From Calais To Nice, Of Four Persons In A Coach, Or

Two Post-Chaises, With A Servant On Horseback, Travelling Post,

May Be Performed With Ease, For About One Hundred And Twenty

Pounds, Including Every Expence. Either At Calais Or At Paris,

You Will Always Find A Travelling Coach Or Berline, Which You May

Buy For Thirty Or Forty Guineas, And This Will Serve Very Well To

Reconvey You To Your Own Country.

 

 

 

In The Town Of Nice, You Will Find No Ready-Furnished Lodgings

For A Whole Family. Just Without One Of The Gates, There Are Two

Houses To Be Let, Ready-Furnished, For About Five Loui'dores Per

Month. As For The Country Houses In This Neighbourhood, They Are

Damp In Winter, And Generally Without Chimnies; And In Summer

They Are Rendered Uninhabitable By The Heat And The Vermin. If

You Hire A Tenement In Nice, You Must Take It For A Year Certain;

And This Will Cost You About Twenty Pounds Sterling. For This

Price, I Have A Ground Floor Paved With Brick, Consisting Of A

Kitchen, Two Large Halls, A Couple Of Good Rooms With Chimnies,

Three Large Closets That Serve For Bed-Chambers, And Dressing-Rooms,

A Butler's Room, And Three Apartments For Servants,

Lumber Or Stores, To Which We Ascend By Narrow Wooden Stairs. I 

Part 7 Letter 18 ( Nice, September 2, 1764.) Pg 168

Have Likewise Two Small Gardens, Well Stocked With Oranges,

Lemons, Peaches, Figs, Grapes, Corinths, Sallad, And Pot-Herbs.

It Is Supplied With A Draw-Well Of Good Water, And There Is

Another In The Vestibule Of The House, Which Is Cool, Large, And

Magnificent. You May Hire Furniture For Such A Tenement For About

Two Guineas A Month: But I Chose Rather To Buy What Was

Necessary; And This Cost Me About Sixty Pounds. I Suppose It Will

Fetch Me About Half The Money When I Leave The Place. It Is Very

Difficult To Find A Tolerable Cook At Nice. A Common Maid, Who

Serves The People Of The Country, For Three Or Four Livres A

Month, Will Not Live With An English Family Under Eight Or Ten.

They Are All Slovenly, Slothful, And Unconscionable Cheats. The

Markets At Nice Are Tolerably Well Supplied. Their Beef, Which

Comes From Piedmont, Is Pretty Good, And We Have It All The Year.

In The Winter We Have Likewise Excellent Pork, And Delicate Lamb;

But The Mutton Is Indifferent. Piedmont, Also, Affords Us

Delicious Capons, Fed With Maize; And This Country Produces

Excellent Turkeys, But Very Few Geese. Chickens And Pullets Are

Extremely Meagre. I Have Tried To Fatten Them, Without Success.

In Summer They Are Subject To The Pip, And Die In Great Numbers.

Autumn And Winter Are The Seasons For Game; Hares, Partridges,

Quails, Wild-Pigeons, Woodcocks, Snipes, Thrushes, Beccaficas,

And Ortolans. Wild-Boar Is Sometimes Found In The Mountains: It

Has A Delicious Taste, Not Unlike That Of The Wild Hog In

Jamaica; And Would Make An Excellent Barbecue, About The

Beginning Of Winter, When It Is In Good Case: But, When Meagre,

The Head Only Is Presented At Tables. Pheasants Are Very Scarce.

As For The Heath-Game, I Never Saw But One Cock, Which My Servant

Bought In The Market, And Brought Home; But The Commandant's Cook

Came Into My Kitchen, And Carried It Of, After It Was Half

Plucked, Saying, His Master Had Company To Dinner. The Hares Are

Large, Plump, And Juicy. The Partridges Are Generally Of The Red

Sort; Large As Pullets, And Of A Good Flavour: There Are Also

Some Grey Partridges In The Mountains; And Another Sort Of A

White Colour, That Weigh Four Or Five Pounds Each. Beccaficas Are

Smaller Than Sparrows, But Very Fat, And They Are Generally Eaten

Half Raw. The Best Way Of Dressing Them Is To Stuff Them Into A

Roll, Scooped Of It's Crum; To Baste Them Well With Butter, And

Roast Them, Until They Are Brown And Crisp. The Ortolans Are Kept

In Cages, And Crammed, Until They Die Of Fat, Then Eaten As

Dainties. The Thrush Is Presented With The Trail, Because The

Bird Feeds On Olives. They May As Well Eat The Trail Of A Sheep,

Because It Feeds On The Aromatic Herbs Of The Mountain. In The

Summer, We Have Beef, Veal, And Mutton, Chicken, And Ducks; Which

Last Are Very Fat, And Very Flabby. All The Meat Is Tough In This

Season, Because The Excessive Heat, And Great Number Of Flies,

Will Not Admit Of Its Being Kept Any Time After It Is Killed.

Butter And Milk, Though Not Very Delicate, We Have All The Year.

Our Tea And Fine Sugar Come From Marseilles, At A Very Reasonable

Price.

 

 

 

Nice Is Not Without Variety Of Fish; Though They Are Not Counted 

Part 7 Letter 18 ( Nice, September 2, 1764.) Pg 169

So Good In Their Kinds As Those Of The Ocean. Soals, And Flat-Fish

In General, Are Scarce. Here Are Some Mullets, Both Grey And

Red. We Sometimes See The Dory, Which Is Called St Pierre; With

Rock-Fish, Bonita, And Mackarel. The Gurnard Appears Pretty

Often; And There Is Plenty Of A Kind Of Large Whiting, Which Eats

Pretty Well; But Has Not The Delicacy Of That Which Is Caught On

Our Coast. One Of The Best Fish Of This Country, Is Called Le

Loup, About Two Or Three Pounds In Weight; White, Firm, And Well-Flavoured.

Another, No-Way Inferior To It, Is The Moustel, About

The Same Size; Of A Dark-Grey Colour, And Short, Blunt Snout;

Growing Thinner And Flatter From The Shoulders Downwards, So As

To Resemble A Soal At The Tail. This Cannot Be The Mustela Of The

Antients, Which Is Supposed To Be The Sea Lamprey. Here Too Are

Found The Vyvre, Or, As We Call It, Weaver; Remarkable For Its

Long, Sharp Spines, So Dangerous To The