After Waterloo: Reminiscences of European Travel 1815-1819 Part 23

--ED.

[111] She was no more than sixty-two at that time.--ED.

[112] To present the calumet is an offer of peace and amity among the aborigines of North America and to refuse it is regarded as the greatest insult.

[113] Frye gives only the initial of the name, which I have completed from the _Almanach de Gotha_, 1818.--ED.

[114] The Interior of the Convent of the Capucini was first painted by Granet in the year 1811. None of the numerous replicas are in the Louvre, but there is one in London (Buckingham Palace) and one at Chatsworth.--ED.

[115] The author may have meant "old Herodotus."--ED.

[116] Virgil, _Georg._, II, 146.--ED.

CHAPTER XV

APRIL-JULY, 1818

Journey from Florence to Pisa and from thence by the Appennines to Genoa--Ma.s.sa-Carrara--Genoa--Monuments and works of art--The Genoese--Return to Florence--Journey from Florence through Bologna and Ferrara to Venice--Monument to Ariosto in Ferrara--A description of Venice--Padua--Vicenza--Verona--Cremona--Return to Milan--The Scala theatre--Verona again--From Verona to Innspruck.

It is the custom for most travellers going to Genoa to embark on board of a _felucca_ at Spezia, which lies on the sea coast, not far from Sarzana: but I preferred to go by land, and I cannot conceive why anyone should expose himself to the risks, inconveniences and delays of a sea pa.s.sage, when it is so easy to go by land thro' the Appennines. I started accordingly the following morning, mounted on a mule, and attended by a muleteer with another mule to convey my portmanteau. I found this journey neither dangerous nor difficult, but on the contrary agreeable and romantic. The road is only a bridle road. I paid forty-eight franks for my two mules and driver, and started at seven in the morning from Sarzana. The wild appearance of the Appennines, the aweful solitudes and the highly picturesque points of view that present themselves at the various sinuosities of the mountains and valleys; the view of the sea from the heights that tower above the towns of Oneglia and Sestri Levante, rendered this journey one of the most interesting I have ever made. I stopped to dine at Borghetto and brought to the night at Sestri Levante, breakfasted the next morning at Rapallo, and arrived the same evening at four o'clock in Genoa. Borghetto is a little insignificant town situate in a narrow valley surrounded on all sides by the lofty crags of the Appennines. Sestri Levante is a long and very straggling town, part of it being situated on the sea sh.o.r.e, and the other part on the gorge of the mountain descending towards the sea beach; so that the former part of the town lies nearly at right angles with the latter, with a considerable s.p.a.ce intervening. The road for the last four miles between Borghetto and Sestri Levante is a continual descent. The inn was very comfortable and good at Sestri Levante.

The beginning of the road between Sestri and Rapallo is on the beach till near Rapallo, when it strikes again into the mountains and is of considerable ascent. Rapallo is a very neat pretty place, situate on an eminence commanding a fine view of the sea. The greater part of the road between Rapallo and Genoa is on the sea-coast, but cut along the mountains which here form a bluff with the sea. Villas, gardens and vineyards line the whole of this route and nothing can be more beautiful. The neatness of the villas and the abundance of the population form a striking contrast to the wild solitudes between Sarzana and Sesto, where (except at Borghetto) there is not a house to be seen and scarce a human creature to be met, and where the eagle seems to reign alone the uncontrolled lord of the creation.

GENOA, 23rd April.

The view of Genoa from the sea is indisputably the best; for on entering by land from the eastern side, the ramparts are so lofty as to intercept the fine view the city would otherwise afford. From the sea side it rises in the shape of an amphitheatre; a view therefore taken from the sea gives the best idea of its grandeur and of the magnificence of its buildings, for everybody on beholding this grand spectacle must allow that this city well deserves its epithet of _Superba_.

I observe in my daily walks on the _Esplanade_ a number of beautiful women.

The Genoese women are remarkable for their beauty and fine complexions.

They dress generally in white, and their style of dress is Spanish; they wear the _mezzara_ or veil, in the management of which they display much grace and not a little coquetry. Instead of the fan exercise recommended to women by the _Spectator_, the art of handling the _mezzara_ might be reduced to a manual and taught to the ladies by word of command.

I put up at the house of a Spanish lady on the _Piazza St Siro_, and here for four _livres_ a day I am sumptuously boarded and lodged. There are three princ.i.p.al streets in Genoa, viz., _Strada Nuova_, _Balbi_, and _Nuovissima_. Yet these three streets may be properly said to form but one, inasmuch as they lie very nearly in a right line. These streets are broad and aligned with the finest buildings in Genoa. This street or streets are the only ones that can be properly called so, according to the idea we usually attach to the word. The others deserve rather the names of lanes and alleys, tho' exceedingly well paved and aligned with excellent houses and shops. In fact the streets _Nuova_, _Nuovissima_ and _Balbi_ are the only ones thro' which carriages can pa.s.s. The others are far too narrow to admit of the pa.s.sage of carriages. The houses on each side of them are of immense height, being of six or seven stories, which form such a shade as effectually to protect those who walk thro' these alleys from the rays of the sun. The houses diminish in height in proportion as they are built on the slant of the mountain from the bottom to the top, those at the bottom being the loftiest. Carriages are scarcely of any use in the city of Genoa, except to drive from one end of the town to another thro' the streets _Nuova_, _Balbi_ and _Nuovissima_; and accordingly a carriage with four wheels, or even with two, is a rare conveyance in Genoa. The general mode of conveyance is on a sedan chair, carried by porters, or on the backs of mules or a.s.ses. Genoa is distinguished by the beauty of the Palaces of its patricians, which are more numerous and more magnificent than those of any other city, probably, in the world.

The Ducal Palace or Palace of Government, where the Doge used to reside, claimed my first attention; yet, tho' much larger, it is far less splendid than many of the Palaces of individual patricians. In fact, the Ducal Palace is built in the Gothic taste and resembles a Gothic fortress, having round towers at each angle. The Hall, where the Grand Council used to sit, is superb, and is adorned with columns of _jaune antique_. On the _plafond_ is a painting representing the discovery of America by Columbus; for the Genoese duly appreciate, and never can forget their ill.u.s.trious countryman.

The lines of Ta.s.so, "_Un uom della Liguria avra ardimento_," etc., and the following stanza, _Tu spiegherai Colombo a urn nuovo polo_, etc. are in the mouth of everyone.[117] The Hall of the Petty Council is neat, but it is the recollection of the history of this once famous Republic that renders the examination of this Palace so interesting. But now Genoa's glory is gone; she has been basely betrayed into the hands of a Government she most detested. The King of Sardinia is nowhere; and he is not a little proud of being the possessor of such a n.o.ble sea port, which enables him to rank as a maritime power.

The Genoese are laborious and make excellent sailors; but now there is nothing to animate them; and they will never exert themselves in the service of a domination which is so little congenial to them. They sigh for their ancient Government, of whose glories they had so often heard and whose brilliant exploits have been handed down to the present day not merely by historical writers and poets, but by _improvisatori_ from mouth to mouth. The Genoese n.o.bles, those merchant Kings, whose riches exceeded at one time those of the most powerful monarchs of Europe, who were the p.a.w.n-brokers to those Sovereigns, are now in a state of decay. Commerce can only flourish on the soil of liberty, and takes wing at the sight of military and sacerdotal chains; and tho' the present Sovereign affects to caress the Genoese _n.o.blesse_, they return his civilities with sullen indifference, and half concealed contempt and aversion. The commerce of Genoa is transferred to Leghorn, which increases in prosperity as the former decays.

The climate of Genoa is said to be exceedingly mild during the winter, being protected on the north by the Appennines, which tower above it to an immense height. Beautiful villas and grounds tastefully laid out in plantations of orange trees, pomegranates, etc., abound in the environs of this city, and everything announces the extreme industry of the inhabitants, for the soil is proverbially barren. This shews what they have done and what they could still do were they free; but now they have nothing to animate their exertions. The public promenades are on the bastions and curtains of the fortifications, on the _Esplanade_ and in the streets _Balbi_, _Nuova_ and _Nuovissima_. There is also another very delightful promenade, tho' not much used by the ladies, viz., on the Mola or Pier enveloping the harbour.

One of the most remarkable constructions in Genoa is the bridge of Carignano, which is built over an immense ravine and unites the hills Fengano and Carignano. It is so high that houses of six stories stand under its arches in the valley below. No water except in times of flood runs under this bridge and it much resembles, tho' somewhat larger, the bridge at Edinburgh which unites the old and new towns. The princ.i.p.al churches are: first, the Cathedral, which is not far from the Ducal Palace; it is richly ornamented and incrusted with black marble; the church of the Annunziata and that of St Sire. They are all in the Gothic style of architecture and loaded with that variety of ornament and diversity of beautiful marbles which distinguish the churches of Italy from those of any other country. Near the bridge of Carignano is a church of the same name, wherein are four marble colossal statues.

On the west of the city and running two miles along the sea-beach is the _faubourg_ of St Pietro d'Arena, which presents a front of well built houses the whole way; these houses are princ.i.p.ally used as magazines and store houses.

FLORENCE, 5 May.

I left Genoa on the 30th April, returned on mule-back from Genoa to Sarzana, stopping the first night at Sestri. The second evening when near Sarzana, it being very dark, I somehow or other got out of the road and my mule fell with me into a very deep ditch; but I was only slightly bruised by the fall; my clothes however were covered with dirt and wet. The road from Genoa to Sarzana might with very little expense be made fit for carriages by widening it. At present it is only a bridle road, and on some parts of it, on the sides of ravines, it is I think a little ticklish to trust entirely to the discretion of one's _monture_; at least I thought so and dismounted twice to pa.s.s such places on foot. A winding stream is to be forded in two or three places, but it is not deep except after rains; and then I think it must be sometimes dangerous to pa.s.s, till the waters run off. Those, who are fond of mountain scenery will, like myself, be highly gratified in making this journey; for it is thro' the loftiest, wildest and most romantic part of the Appennines. From Sarzana I hired a cabriolet to return to Pisa and from thence I took the diligence to Florence.

FERRARA.

On the 9th of May I set out from Florence on my journey hither. Two days'

journey brought me to Bologna where I stopped one day; and the following day I reached this place (Ferrara), six miles distant from Bologna. The country between these two cities is a perfect plain and very fertile. At Malalbergo (half-way) We crossed the Reno in a boat. I put up at the _Tre Mori_ in Ferrara. Having remained two and half days here I have had time to inspect and examine almost everything of consequence that the city affords.

The city itself has an imposing, venerable appearance and can boast of some fine buildings; yet with all this there is an air of melancholy about it.

It is not peopled in proportion to its size and gra.s.s is seen growing in several of the streets. I believe the unhealthiness of the environing country is the cause of the decrease of population, for Ferrara lies on a marshy plain, very liable to inundation In the centre of the city stands the ancient Palace of the Dukes of Ferrara, a vast Gothic edifice, square, and flanked with round towers, and a large court-yard in the centre. It was in this court-yard that Hugo and Parisina were decapitated. From the top of this palace a n.o.ble view of the plain of the Po represents itself, and you see the meanderings of that King of Rivers, as the Italian poets term it.

As the Po runs thro' a perfectly flat country, and is encreased and swollen by the torrents from the Alps and Appennines that fall into the smaller rivers, which unite their tributary streams with the Po and accompany him as his _seguaci_ to the Adriatic, this country is liable to the most dreadful inundations: flocks and herds, farm-houses and sometimes whole villages are swept away. d.y.k.es, dams and ca.n.a.ls innumerable are in consequence constructed throughout this part of the country, to preserve it as much as possible from such calamities. Ariosto's description of an over-flowing of this river is very striking, and I here transcribe it:

Con quel furor che il Re de' fiumi altero, Quando rompe tal volta argine e sponda, E che ne' campi Ocnei si apre il sentiero, E i gra.s.si solchi e le biade feconde, E con le sue capanne il gregge intero, E co' cani i pastor porta neil' onde, etc.[118]

Even with that rage wherewith the stream that reigns, The king of rivers--when he breaks his mound.

And makes himself a way through Mantuan plains-- The greasy furrows and glad harvests, round, And, with the sheepcotes, nock, and dogs and swains Bears off, in his o'erwhelming waters drowned.

--Trans. W.S. ROSE.

The next place I went to see was the Lyceum or University, where there is a very fair cabinet of natural history in all its branches. The Library is very remarkable, and possesses a great number of valuable ma.n.u.scripts. But my princ.i.p.al object in visiting this Museum was to see the monument erected in honour of Ariosto, which has been transferred here from the Benedictine church. The inkstand and chair of this ill.u.s.trious bard are carefully preserved and exhibited. They exactly resemble the print of them that accompanies the first edition of Hoole's translation of the _Orlando Furioso_. Among the ma.n.u.scripts what gratified me most was the ma.n.u.script of the _Gerusalemme liberata_ of Ta.s.so. But few corrections appear in this ma.n.u.script; tho from the extreme polish and harmony of the versification one would expect a great many. It is written in an extremely legible hand.

I also inspected the original ma.n.u.scripts of the _Pastor Fido_ of Guarini and of the _Suppositi_ of Ariosto.

I then went to visit the Hospital of St Anna, for the sake of seeing the dungeon where poor Ta.s.so was confined and treated as mad for several years.

When one beholds this wretched place, where a man can scarce stand upright, one only wonders how he could survive such treatment; or how he could escape becoming insane altogether. The old wooden door of this cell will soon be entirely cut away by amateurs, as almost everyone who visits the dungeon chops off a piece of wood from the door to keep as a relic. The door is in consequence pieced and repaired with new wood, and in a short time will be in the state of Sir John Cutter's worsted stockings which were darned so often with silk that they became finally all silk.

Ferrara has a strong citadel which is still garrisoned by Austrian troops; and they will probably not easily be induced to evacuate it. The Austrian Eagle seldom looses his hold.

VENICE, 18th May.

On the 16th May at six o'clock in the morning I left Ferrara in a _cabriolet_ to go to the _Ponte di Lago oscuro_, which is a large village on the south bank of the Po, three miles distant from Ferrara. A flying bridge wafted me across the river, which is exceedingly broad and rapid to the north bank, where a barge was in waiting to receive pa.s.sengers for Venice. This barge is well fitted up and supplied with _comestibles_ of all sorts and couches to recline on. The price is twelve francs for the pa.s.sage, and you pay extra for refreshments. The bark got under weigh at seven o'clock and descended rapidly this majestic river, which however, from its great breadth, and from the country on each side of it being perfectly flat, did not offer any interesting points of view. Plains and cattle grazing thereon were the only objects, for they take care to build the farms and houses at a considerable distance from the banks, on account of the inundations. After having descended the Po for a considerable distance, we entered a ca.n.a.l which unites the Po with the Adige. We then descended the Adige for a short distance, and entered another ca.n.a.l which unites the Adige with the Brenta. Here we stopped to change barges, and it required an hour and half to unload and reload the baggage. We then entered the Brenta and from thence into the Lagoons, and pa.s.sing by the islands of Malamocco and Chiozzo entered Venice by the _Ca.n.a.le grande_ at three o'clock in the morning. The whole night was so dark as totally to deprive us of the view of the approach of Venice. The barge anch.o.r.ed near the Post office and I hired a gondola to convey me to the inn called _Le Regina d'Ungheria_.

VENICE, 26th May.

I was much struck, as everyone must be who sees it for the first time, at the singular appearance of Venice. An immense city in the midst of the Ocean, five miles distant from any land; ca.n.a.ls instead of streets; gondolas in lieu of carriages and horses! Yet it must not be inferred from this that you are necessarily obliged to use a gondola in order to visit the various parts of the city; for its structure is as follows. It is built in compartments on piles on various mud banks, always covered indeed by water, but very shallow and separated from each other (the mud banks I mean) by deep water. On each of these compartments are built rows of houses, each row giving front to a ca.n.a.l. The s.p.a.ce between the backs of the rows of houses forms a narrow street or alley paved with flag stones, very like Cranborn Alley for instance; and these compartments are united to each other (at the crossings as we should say) by means of stone bridges; so that there is a series of alleys connected by a series of bridges which form the _tout ensemble_ of this city; and you may thus go on foot thro'

every part of it. To go on horseback would be dangerous and almost impracticable, for each bridge has a flight of steps for ascent and descent. All this forms such a perfect labyrinth from the multiplicity and similarity of the alleys and bridges, that it is impossible for any stranger to find his way without a guide. I lost my way regularly every time that I went from my inn to the _Piazza di San Marco_, which forms the general rendezvous of the promenaders and is the fashionable lounge of Venice; and every time I was obliged to hire a boy to reconduct me to my inn. On this account, in order to avoid this perplexity and the expence of hiring a gondola every time I wished to go to the _Piazza di San Marco_ I removed to another inn, close to it, called _L'Osteria della Luna_, which stands on the banks of the _Ca.n.a.le grande_ and is not twenty yards from the _Piazza_.

I then hired a gondola for four days successively and visited every ca.n.a.l and every part of the city. Almost every family of respectability keeps a gondola, which is anch.o.r.ed at the steps of the front door of the house.

After the _Piazza di San Marco_, of which I shall speak presently, the finest buildings and Palaces of the n.o.bility are on the banks of the _Ca.n.a.le grande_, which, from its winding in the shape of an S, has all the appearance of a river. The _Rialto_ is the only bridge which connects the opposite banks of the _Ca.n.a.le grande_; but there are four hundred smaller bridges in Venice to connect the other ca.n.a.ls.

The _Rialto_, the resort of the money changers and Jews, is a very singular and picturesque construction, being of one arch, a very bold one. On each side of this bridge is a range of jewellers' shops. A narrow Quai runs along the banks of the _Ca.n.a.le grande_.

I have visited several of the _Palazzi_, particularly those of the families Morosini, Cornaro, Pisani, Grimani, which are very rich in marbles of _vert_ and _jaune antique_; but they are now nearly stripped of all their furniture, uninhabited by their owners, or let to individuals, mostly shopkeepers; for since the extinction of the Venetian Republic almost all the n.o.bility have retired to their estates on the _terra firma_, or to their villas on the banks of the Brenta; so that Venice is now inhabited chiefly by merchants, shopkeepers, chiefly jewellers and silk mercers, seafaring people, the const.i.tuted authorities, and the garrison of the place.

Tho' Venice has fallen very much into decay, since the subversion of the Republic, as might naturally be expected, and still more so since it has been under the Austrian domination, yet it is still a place of great wealth, particularly in jewellery, silks and all articles of dress and luxury. In the _Merceria_ you may see as much wealth displayed as in Cheapside or in the Rue St Honore.

I have had the pleasure of witnessing a superb regatta or water _fete_, given in honour of the visit of the Archduke Rainier to this city, in his quality of Viceroy of the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom. There were about one hundred and fifty barges, each fitted up by some department of trade and commerce, with allegorical devices and statues richly ornamented, emblematical of the trade or professions to which the barge belonged. Each barge bore an appropriate ensign, and the dresses of the crew were all tasteful, and thoroughly a.n.a.logous to the profession they represented.

These barges are richly gilded, and from the variety of the costumes and streamers, I thought it one of the most beautiful sights I ever beheld.