Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: Tobias Smollett
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This Circumstance Martial Alludes In The Following Lines
Antipolitani, Fateor, Sum Filia Thynni.
Essem Si Scombri Non Tibi Missa Forem.
I'm Spawned From Tunny Of Antibes, 'Tis True.
Right Scomber Had I Been, I Ne'er Had Come To You.
The Famous Pickle Garum Was Made From The Thynnus Or Tunny As
Well As From The Scomber, But That From The Scomber Was Counted
The Most Delicate. Commentators, However, Are Not Agreed About
The Scomber Or Scombrus. Some Suppose It Was The Herring Or
Sprat; Others Believe It Was The Mackarel; After All, Perhaps It
Was The Anchovy, Which I Do Not Find Distinguished By Any Other
Latin Name: For The Encrasicolus Is A Greek Appellation
Altogether Generical. Those Who Would Be Further Informed About
The Garum And The Scomber May Consult Caelius Apicius De
Recogninaria, Cum Notis, Variorum.
At Present, Antibes Is The Frontier Of France Towards Italy,
Pretty Strongly Fortified, And Garrisoned By A Battalion Of
Soldiers. The Town Is Small And Inconsiderable: But The Basin Of
The Harbour Is Surrounded To Seaward By A Curious Bulwark Founded
Upon Piles Driven In The Water, Consisting Of A Wall, Ramparts,
Casemates, And Quay. Vessels Lie Very Safe In This Harbour; But
There Is Not Water At The Entrance Of It To Admit Of Ships Of Any
Burthen. The Shallows Run So Far Off From The Coast, That A Ship
Part 7 Letter 38 ( Aix En Provence, May 10, 1765.) Pg 298Of Force Cannot Lie Near Enough To Batter The Town; But It Was
Bombarded In The Late War. Its Chief Strength By Land Consists In
A Small Quadrangular Fort Detached From The Body Of The Place,
Which, In A Particular Manner, Commands The Entrance Of The
Harbour. The Wall Of The Town Built In The Sea Has Embrasures And
Salient Angles, On Which A Great Number Of Cannon May Be Mounted.
I Think The Adjacent Country Is Much More Pleasant Than That On
The Side Of Nice; And There Is Certainly No Essential Difference
In The Climate. The Ground Here Is Not So Encumbered; It Is Laid
Out In Agreeable Inclosures, With Intervals Of Open Fields, And
The Mountains Rise With An Easy Ascent At A Much Greater Distance
From The Sea, Than On The Other Side Of The Bay. Besides, Here
Are Charming Rides Along The Beach, Which Is Smooth And Firm.
When We Passed In The Last Week Of April, The Corn Was In The
Ear; The Cherries Were Almost Ripe; And The Figs Had Begun To
Blacken. I Had Embarked My Heavy Baggage On Board A London Ship,
Which Happened To Be At Nice, Ready To Sail: As For Our Small
Trunks Or Portmanteaus, Which We Carried Along With Us, They Were
Examined At Antibes; But The Ceremony Was Performed Very
Superficially, In Consequence Of Tipping The Searcher With Half-A-Crown,
Which Is A Wonderful Conciliator At All The Bureaus In
This Country.
We Lay At Cannes, A Neat Village, Charmingly Situated On The
Beach Of The Mediterranean, Exactly Opposite To The Isles
Marguerites, Where State-Prisoners Are Confined. As There Are
Some Good Houses In This Place, I Would Rather Live Here For The
Sake Of The Mild Climate, Than Either At Antibes Or Nice. Here
You Are Not Cooped Up Within Walls, Nor Crowded With Soldiers And
People: But Are Already In The Country, Enjoy A Fine Air, And Are
Well Supplied With All Sorts Of Fish.
The Mountains Of Esterelles, Which In One Of My Former Letters I
Described As A Most Romantic And Noble Plantation Of Ever-Greens,
Trees, Shrubs, And Aromatic Plants, Is At Present Quite Desolate.
Last Summer, Some Execrable Villains Set Fire To The Pines, When
The Wind Was High. It Continued Burning For Several Months, And
The Conflagration Extended Above Ten Leagues, Consuming An
Incredible Quantity Of Timber. The Ground Is Now Naked On Each
Side Of The Road, Or Occupied By The Black Trunks Of The Trees,
Which Have Been Scorched Without Falling. They Stand As So Many
Monuments Of The Judgment Of Heaven, Filling The Mind With Horror
And Compassion. I Could Hardly Refrain From Shedding Tears At
This Dismal Spectacle, When I Recalled The Idea Of What It Was
About Eighteen Months Ago.
Part 7 Letter 38 ( Aix En Provence, May 10, 1765.) Pg 299
As We Stayed All Night At Frejus, I Had An Opportunity Of Viewing
The Amphitheatre At Leisure. As Near As I Can Judge By The Eye,
It Is Of The Same Dimensions With That Of Nismes; But Shockingly
Dilapidated. The Stone Seats Rising From The Arena Are Still
Extant, And The Cells Under Them, Where The Wild Beasts Were
Kept. There Are Likewise The Remains Of Two Galleries One Over
Another; And Two Vomitoria Or Great Gateways At Opposite Sides Of
The Arena, Which Is Now A Fine Green, With A Road Through The
Middle Of It: But All The External Architecture And The Ornaments
Are Demolished. The Most Intire Part Of The Wall Now Constitutes
Part Of A Monastery, The Monks Of Which, I Am Told, Have Helped
To Destroy The Amphitheatre, By Removing The Stones For Their Own
Purposes Of Building. In The Neighbourhood Of This Amphitheatre,
Which Stands Without The Walls, Are The Vestiges Of An Old
Edifice, Said To Have Been The Palace Where The Imperator Or
President Resided: For It Was A Roman Colony, Much Favoured By
Julius Caesar, Who Gave It The Name Of Forum Julii, And Civitas
Forojuliensis. In All Probability, It Was He Who Built The
Amphitheatre, And Brought Hither The Water Ten Leagues From The
River Of Ciagne, By Means Of An Aqueduct, Some Arcades Of Which
Are Still Standing On The Other Side Of The Town. A Great Number
Of Statues Were Found In This Place, Together With Antient
Inscriptions, Which Have Been Published By Different Authors. I
Need Not Tell You That Julius Agricola, The Father-In-Law Of
Tacitus, The Historian, Was A Native Of Frejus, Which Is Now A
Very Poor Inconsiderable Place. From Hence The Country Opens To
The Left, Forming An Extensive Plain Between The Sea And The
Mountains, Which Are A Continuation Of The Alps, That Stretches
Through Provence And Dauphine. This Plain Watered With Pleasant
Streams, And Varied With Vineyards, Corn-Fields, And Meadow-Ground,
Afforded A Most Agreeable Prospect To Our Eyes, Which
Were Accustomed To The Sight Of Scorching Sands, Rugged Rocks,
And Abrupt Mountains In The Neighbourhood Of Nice. Although This
Has Much The Appearance Of A Corn-Country, I Am Told It Does Not
Produce Enough For The Consumption Of Its Inhabitants, Who Are
Obliged To Have Annual Supplies From Abroad, Imported At
Marseilles. A Frenchman, At An Average, Eats Three Times The
Quantity Of Bread That Satisfies A Native Of England, And Indeed
It Is Undoubtedly The Staff Of His Life. I Am Therefore Surprised
That The Provencaux Do Not Convert Part Of Their Vineyards Into
Corn-Fields: For They May Boast Of Their Wine As They Please; But
That Which Is Drank By The Common People, Not Only Here, But Also
In All The Wine Countries Of France, Is Neither So Strong,
Nourishing, Nor (In My Opinion) So Pleasant To The Taste As The
Small-Beer Of England. It Must Be Owned That All The Peasants Who
Have Wine For Their Ordinary Drink Are Of A Diminutive Size, In
Comparison Of Those Who Use Milk, Beer, Or Even Water; And It Is
A Constant Observation, That When There Is A Scarcity Of Wine,
The Common People Are Always More Healthy, Than In Those Seasons
When It Abounds. The Longer I Live, The More I Am Convinced That
Wine, And All Fermented Liquors, Are Pernicious To The Human
Constitution; And That For The Preservation Of Health, And
Exhilaration Of The Spirits, There Is No Beverage Comparable To
Part 7 Letter 38 ( Aix En Provence, May 10, 1765.) Pg 300Simple Water. Between Luc And Toulon, The Country Is Delightfully
Parcelled Out Into Inclosures. Here Is Plenty Of Rich Pasturage
For Black Cattle, And A Greater Number Of Pure Streams And
Rivulets Than I Have Observed In Any Other Parts Of France.
Toulon Is A Considerable Place, Even Exclusive Of The Basin,
Docks, And Arsenal, Which Indeed Are Such As Justify The Remark
Made By A Stranger When He Viewed Them. "The King Of France (Said
He) Is Greater At Toulon Than At Versailles." The Quay, The
Jetties, The Docks, And Magazines, Are Contrived And Executed
With Precision, Order, Solidity, And Magnificence. I Counted
Fourteen Ships Of The Line Lying Unrigged In The Basin, Besides
The Tonant Of Eighty Guns, Which Was In Dock Repairing, And A New
Frigate On The Stocks. I Was Credibly Informed That In The Last
War, The King Of France Was So Ill-Served With Cannon For His
Navy, That In Every Action There Was Scarce A Ship Which Had Not
Several Pieces Burst. These Accidents Did Great Damage, And
Discouraged The French Mariners To Such A Degree, That They
Became More Afraid Of Their Own Guns Than Of Those Of The
English. There Are Now At Toulon Above Two Thousand Pieces Of
Iron Cannon Unfit For Service. This Is An Undeniable Proof Of The
Weakness And Neglect Of The French Administration: But A More
Suprizing Proof Of Their Imbecility, Is The State Of The
Fortifications That Defend The Entrance Of This Very Harbour. I
Have Some Reason To Think That They Trusted For Its Security
Entirely To Our Opinion That It Must Be Inaccessible. Capt. E--,
Of One Of Our Frigates, Lately Entered The Harbour With A
Contrary Wind, Which By Obliging Him To Tack, Afforded An
Opportunity Of Sounding The Whole Breadth And Length Of The
Passage. He Came In Without A Pilot, And Made A Pretence Of
Buying Cordage, Or Some Other Stores; But The French Officers
Were Much Chagrined At The Boldness Of His Enterprize. They
Alleged That He Came For No Other Reason But To Sound The
Channel; And That He Had An Engineer Aboard, Who Made Drawings Of
The Land And The Forts, Their Bearings And Distances. In All
Probability, These Suspicions Were Communicated To The Ministry;
For An Order Immediately Arrived, That No Stranger Should Be
Admitted Into The Docks And Arsenal.
Part Of The Road From Hence To Marseilles Lies Through A Vast
Mountain, Which Resembles That Of Estrelles; But Is Not So Well
Covered With Wood, Though It Has The Advantage Of An Agreeable
Stream Running Through The Bottom.
I Was Much Pleased With Marseilles, Which Is Indeed A Noble City,
Large, Populous, And Flourishing. The Streets Of What Is Called
The New Town Are Open, Airy And Spacious; The Houses Well Built,
And Even Magnificent. The Harbour Is An Oval
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