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

In The Whole County Of Nice. Wild-Ducks And Teal Are

Sometimes To Be Had In The Winter; And Now I Am Speaking Of Sea-Fowl,

It May Not Be Amiss To Tell You What I Know Of The Halcyon,

Or King's-Fisher. It Is A Bird, Though Very Rare In This Country

About The Size Of A Pigeon; The Body Brown, And The Belly White:

By A Wonderful Instinct It Makes Its Nest Upon The Surface Of The

Sea, And Lays Its Eggs In The Month Of November, When The

Mediterranean Is Always Calm And Smooth As A Mill-Pond. The

People About Here Call Them Martinets, Because They Begin To

Hatch About Martinmass. Their Nests Are Sometimes Seen Floating

Near The Shore, And Generally Become The Prize Of The Boys, Who

Are Very Alert In Catching Them.

 

 

 

You Know All Sea-Birds Are Allowed By The Church Of Rome To Be

Eaten On Meagre Days, As A Kind Of Fish; And The Monks Especially

Do Not Fail To Make Use Of This Permission. Sea Turtle, Or

Tortoises, Are Often Found At Sea By The Mariners, In These

Latitudes: But They Are Not The Green Sort, So Much In Request

Among The Aldermen Of London. All The Mediterranean Turtle Are Of

The Kind Called Loggerhead, Which In The West-Indies Are Eaten By

None But Hungry Seamen, Negroes, And The Lowest Class Of People.

One Of These, Weighing About Two Hundred Pounds, Was Lately

Brought On Shore By The Fishermen Of Nice, Who Found It Floating

Asleep On The Surface Of The Sea. The Whole Town Was Alarmed At

Sight Of Such A Monster, The Nature Of Which They Could Not

Comprehend. However, The Monks, Called Minims, Of St. Francesco

Di Paolo, Guided By A Sure Instinct, Marked It As Their Prey, And

Surrounded It Accordingly. The Friars Of Other Convents, Not

Quite So Hungry, Crowding Down To The Beach, Declared It Should

Not Be Eaten; Dropped Some Hints About The Possibility Of Its

Being Something Praeternatural And Diabolical, And Even Proposed

Exorcisms And Aspersions With Holy Water. The Populace Were

Divided According To Their Attachment To This, Or That Convent: A

Mighty Clamour Arose; And The Police, In Order To Remove The

Cause Of Their Contention, Ordered The Tortoise To Be Recommitted

To The Waves; A Sentence Which The Franciscans Saw Executed, Not

Without Sighs And Lamentation. The Land-Turtle, Or Terrapin, Is

Much Better Known At Nice, As Being A Native Of This Country; Yet

The Best Are Brought From The Island Of Sardinia. The Soup Or

Bouillon Of This Animal Is Always Prescribed Here As A Great

Restorative To Consumptive Patients. The Bread Of Nice Is Very 

Part 7 Letter 19 (Nice, October 10, 1764..) Pg 174

Indifferent, And I Am Persuaded Very Unwholesome. The Flour Is

Generally Musty, And Not Quite Free Of Sand. This Is Either Owing

To The Particles Of The Mill-Stone Rubbed Off In Grinding, Or To

What Adheres To The Corn Itself, In Being Threshed Upon The

Common Ground; For There Are No Threshing-Floors In This Country.

I Shall Now Take Notice Of The Vegetables Of Nice. In The Winter,

We Have Green Pease, Asparagus, Artichoaks, Cauliflower, Beans,

French Beans, Celery, And Endive; Cabbage, Coleworts, Radishes,

Turnips, Carrots, Betteraves, Sorrel Lettuce, Onions, Garlic, And

Chalot. We Have Potatoes From The Mountains, Mushrooms,

Champignons, And Truffles. Piedmont Affords White Truffles,

Counted The Most Delicious In The World: They Sell For About

Three Livres The Pound. The Fruits Of This Season Are Pickled

Olives, Oranges, Lemons, Citrons, Citronelles, Dried Figs,

Grapes, Apples, Pears, Almonds, Chestnuts, Walnuts, Filberts,

Medlars, Pomegranates, And A Fruit Called Azerolles, [The

Italians Call Them Lazerruoli.] About The Size Of A Nutmeg, Of An

Oblong Shape, Red Colour, And Agreeable Acid Taste. I Might

Likewise Add The Cherry Of The Laurus Cerasus, Which Is Sold In

The Market; Very Beautiful To The Eye, But Insipid To The Palate.

In Summer We Have All Those Vegetables In Perfection. There Is

Also A Kind Of Small Courge, Or Gourd, Of Which The People Of The

Country Make A Very Savoury Ragout, With The Help Of Eggs,

Cheese, And Fresh Anchovies. Another Is Made Of The Badenjean,

Which The Spaniards Call Berengena: [This Fruit Is Called

Melanzana In Italy And Is Much Esteemed By The Jews In Leghorn.

Perhaps Melanzana Is A Corruption Of Malamsana.] It Is Much Eaten

In Spain And The Levant, As Well As By The Moors In Barbary. It

Is About The Size And Shape Of A Hen's Egg, Inclosed In A Cup

Like An Acorn; When Ripe, Of A Faint Purple Colour. It Grows On A

Stalk About A Foot High, With Long Spines Or Prickles. The People

Here Have Different Ways Of Slicing And Dressing It, By Broiling,

Boiling, And Stewing, With Other Ingredients: But It Is At Best

An Insipid Dish. There Are Some Caperbushes In This

Neighbourhood, Which Grow Wild In Holes Of Garden Walls, And

Require No Sort Of Cultivation: In One Or Two Gardens, There Are

Palm-Trees; But The Dates Never Ripen. In My Register Of The

Weather, I Have Marked The Seasons Of The Principal Fruits In

This Country. In May We Have Strawberries, Which Continue In

Season Two Or Three Months. These Are Of The Wood Kind; Very

Grateful, And Of A Good Flavour; But The Scarlets And Hautboys

Are Not Known At Nice. In The Beginning Of June, And Even Sooner,

The Cherries Begin To Be Ripe. They Are A Kind Of Bleeding

Hearts; Large, Fleshy, And High Flavoured, Though Rather Too

Luscious. I Have Likewise Seen A Few Of Those We Call Kentish

Cherries Which Are Much More Cool, Acid, And Agreeable,

Especially In This Hot Climate. The Cherries Are Succeeded By The

Apricots And Peaches, Which Are All Standards, And Of Consequence

Better Flavoured Than What We Call Wall-Fruit. The Trees, As Well

As Almonds, Grow And Bear Without Care And Cultivation, And May

Be Seen In The Open Fields About Nice. But Without Proper

Culture, The Fruit Degenerates. The Best Peaches I Have Seen At

Nice Are The Amberges, Of A Yellow Hue, And Oblong Shape, About

The Size Of A Small Lemon. Their Consistence Is Much More Solid 

Part 7 Letter 19 (Nice, October 10, 1764..) Pg 175

Than That Of Our English Peaches, And Their Taste More Delicious.

Several Trees Of This Kind I Have In My Own Garden. Here Is

Likewise Plenty Of Other Sorts; But No Nectarines. We Have Little

Choice Of Plumbs. Neither Do I Admire The Pears Or Apples Of This

Country: But The Most Agreeable Apples I Ever Tasted, Come From

Final, And Are Called Pomi Carli. The Greatest Fault I Find With

Most Fruits In This Climate, Is, That They Are Too Sweet And

Luscious, And Want That Agreeable Acid Which Is So Cooling And So

Grateful In A Hot Country. This, Too, Is The Case With Our

Grapes, Of Which There Is Great Plenty And Variety, Plump And

Juicy, And Large As Plumbs. Nature, However, Has Not Neglected To

Provide Other Agreeable Vegetable Juices To Cool The Human Body.

During The Whole Summer, We Have Plenty Of Musk Melons. I Can Buy

One As Large As My Head For The Value Of An English Penny: But

One Of The Best And Largest, Weighing Ten Or Twelve Pounds, I Can

Have For Twelve Sols, Or About Eight-Pence Sterling. From Antibes

And Sardinia, We Have Another Fruit Called A Watermelon, Which Is

Well Known In Jamaica, And Some Of Our Other Colonies. Those From

Antibes Are About The Size Of An Ordinary Bomb-Shell: But The

Sardinian And Jamaica Watermelons Are Four Times As Large. The

Skin Is Green, Smooth, And Thin. The Inside Is A Purple Pulp,

Studded With Broad, Flat, Black Seeds, And Impregnated With A

Juice The Most Cool, Delicate, And Refreshing, That Can Well Be

Conceived. One Would Imagine The Pulp Itself Dissolved In The

Stomach; For You May Eat Of It Until You Are Filled Up

To The Tongue, Without Feeling The Least Inconvenience. It Is So

Friendly To The Constitution, That In Ardent Inflammatory Fevers,

It Is Drank As The Best Emulsion. At Genoa, Florence, And Rome,

It Is Sold In The Streets, Ready Cut In Slices; And The Porters,

Sweating Under Their Burthens, Buy, And Eat Them As They Pass. A

Porter Of London Quenches His Thirst With A Draught Of Strong

Beer: A Porter Of Rome, Or Naples, Refreshes Himself With A Slice

Of Water-Melon, Or A Glass Of Iced-Water. The One Costs Three

Half-Pence; The Last, Half A Farthing--Which Of Them Is Most

Effectual? I Am Sure The Men Are Equally Pleased. It Is Commonly

Remarked, That Beer Strengthens As Well As Refreshes. But The

Porters Of Constantinople, Who Never Drink Any Thing Stronger

Than Water, And Eat Very Little Animal Food, Will Lift And Carry

Heavier Burthens Than Any Other Porters In The Known World. If We

May Believe The Most Respectable Travellers, A Turk Will Carry A

Load Of Seven Hundred Weight, Which Is More (I Believe) Than Any

English Porter Ever Attempted To Carry Any Length Of Way.

 

 

 

Among The Refreshments Of These Warm Countries, I Ought Not To

Forget Mentioning The Sorbettes, Which Are Sold In Coffee-Houses,

And Places Of Public Resort. They Are Iced Froth, Made With Juice

Of Oranges, Apricots, Or Peaches; Very Agreeable To The Palate,

And So Extremely Cold, That I Was Afraid To Swallow Them In This

Hot Country, Until I Found From Information And Experience, That

They May Be Taken In Moderation, Without Any Bad Consequence.

 

Part 7 Letter 19 (Nice, October 10, 1764..) Pg 176

 

Another Considerable Article In House-Keeping Is Wine, Which We

Have Here Good And Reasonable. The Wine Of Tavelle In Languedoc

Is Very Near As Good As Burgundy, And May Be Had At Nice, At The

Rate Of Six-Pence A Bottle. The Sweet Wine Of St. Laurent,

Counted Equal To That Of Frontignan, Costs About Eight Or Nine-Pence

A Quart: Pretty Good Malaga May Be Had For Half The Money.

Those Who Make Their Own Wine Choose The Grapes From Different

Vineyards, And Have Them Picked, Pressed, And Fermented At Home.

 

 

 

That Which Is Made By The Peasants, Both Red And White, Is

Generally Genuine: But The Wine-Merchants Of Nice Brew And

Balderdash, And Even Mix It With Pigeons Dung And Quick-Lime. It

Cannot Be Supposed, That A Stranger And Sojourner Should Buy His

Own Grapes, And Make His Own Provision Of Wine: But He May Buy It

By Recommendation From The Peasants, For About Eighteen Or Twenty

Livres The Charge, Consisting Of Eleven Rup Five Pounds; In Other

Words, Of Two Hundred And Eighty Pounds Of