The narrowness of the streets prevented our coach from setting me down at the hotel to which I had been recommended; this is not, however, to be regarded as any evidence of its want of respectability, for the same objection lies against almost every other hotel in Genoa: for there are but three streets in the whole city which will admit of carriages passing each other, and which are, the Strada balba, the Strada nuova, and the Strada novissima, consisting entirely of ranges of palaces. I was disappointed in not finding accommodation at the hotel in question, and therefore, on the solicitations of a man who had followed me all the way from the coach, went to the Piccolo Paregé, a large house near the port, with a tower on the top of it, from whence there is a fine view of the harbour and shipping. After enjoying the luxury of what was formerly directed by some of the ancients as a religious ceremony, ablution, I retired to a comfortable bed, for the first time since I left Nice.
In the morning, after calling at the post-office and at the British consul’s to ascertain the state of the Neapolitan war, I proceeded to explore the town; the weather was, however, wet, cold, and uncomfortable, and I was sensible of a very different climate from that of Nice; indeed, I was informed that, during some of our finest days at the latter place, it rained or snowed at Genoa.
The succeeding day was the last of the Carnival, and a great number of people were parading the streets masked, and in all the fantastic garb of the season; the business, however, appeared to be kept up with more spirit than at Toulouse on the preceding winter. In the course of the evening a person with whom I was walking addressed a female mask, who said she was cook in a gentleman’s family, and that she must hasten home to wash the dishes; on parting, we induced her to shake hands with us; and if I am a judge of the affair, I pronounce that her hand had never been in dish-water, for a prettier formed, or more delicate one, I never touched in my life. In the evening, the festival concluded with masked-balls at the theatres, and other amusements.
On the following day (Wednesday), the weather was still unfavourable. Several gentlemen, to whom I had forwarded letters from their friends at Nice, called upon me, two of whom conducted me to various parts of the city, and described its beauties. It is surrounded by two walls; an inner one, taking in a circumference of six or seven miles, and an outer one, making a boundary of not less than thirteen miles, and enclosing various rising grounds which command the city: there are two fine bridges over small rivers, one in the eastern, the other in the western part of the town.
Independent of the three streets which I have already named, Genoa consists of little better than lanes, so numerous and intricate, that a stranger is constantly losing his way; and even those who have been some time resident are not unfrequently at a loss. The cathedral, churches, Doge’s palace, and various other public as well as private buildings, are very fine, and well worth the attention of the traveller.
There is an Italian proverb relative to Genoa, which says, that it has “sea without fish; land without trees; and men without faith.” The first of these accusations I am satisfied is without foundation: for I was given to understand that fish, as well as all other provisions, were plentiful, and even cheaper than at Nice. The wine of the country is not considered good, but excellent Italian and French wines may be purchased at a reasonable rate; the best and cheapest way of procuring them is to go on board some vessel in the port, taste the different qualities, and select what pleases the palate; any quantity may then be ordered, but it is advisable to be provided with a porter or two to carry it away immediately, and to take care not to lose sight of it, until it reaches home in safety, or it will run great risk of being changed.
After spending two or three days longer at Genoa, I engaged for my passage in a felucca to Leghorn, and what is singular, it had the same name, the Divine Providence, as the one I had so lately sailed in from Nice. A great number of vessels of this kind are continually passing from hence to Leghorn, and the felucca men, if they have an idea of any one being about to undertake the voyage, are extremely troublesome in pestering him, as he passes along the streets, to sail with them, and will even fish the servants at his hotel, to gain intelligence of his intended proceedings. In arranging the point of fare with them, it is necessary to be very cautious, as they will ask four times the usual rate.
I agreed for twelve francs, the sum which the master of the felucca had found out, that I had paid for my passage from Nice; it cost me, however, half as much more in gratuities, and other expenses, and I had afterward the mortification to find, that other passengers had secured the same accommodations, for only five francs each.
About six o’clock on the evening of Saturday, March the 11th, the captain came to apprize me that the vessel was waiting. On getting on board there was very little wind, so that throughout the night, we were obliged to make use of our oars as well as sails; at day-break a breeze sprang up from the eastward, which obliged us to turn back for fifteen miles, towards Porto Fino, where we anchored at ten o’clock, and went on shore to a miserable auberge.
Among our passengers were two French gentlemen who were friends, but of very opposite characters; the one was volatile, and thoughtless, and talked of proceeding to Naples, and offering his services to the patriot army, the other who, we understood, had been a merchant, was sedate and thoughtful, so that, I dare say, pounds, shillings, and pence might have been read in his face. The lively one amused us, not a little, with his eccentricity; he spoke of having a mistress at Genoa, whom he had engaged to marry that very morning, but he stated that the present was not the first time of his having proved faithless to her, and seemed to exult in her disappointment; it, however, appeared in the sequel that he could not reconcile himself to give her up, for after we entered Porto Fino, he began to repent, and earnestly solicit his friend to return to Genoa with him, offering to pay all expenses; at length, the other acceded to his wishes, and they left us, which was to myself a source of considerable regret as I lost, at least, one amusing companion, whose language I could understand, and had no one left with whom I could converse. In order to get back to Genoa, these gentlemen had to pull five or six miles, in the midst of a heavy rain, and in an open boat, in a contrary direction, until they reached the new road making between Genoa and Spezzia.
This road when completed, will be an incalculable advantage to the communications with the southern parts of Italy; the old road to Florence, over the mountains, being a very indirect one; although an expensive undertaking, there is little doubt but that this will be compensated, as many thousands, who in order to reach southern Italy, now go by sea to Lerici and Leghorn, will then prefer the journey by land; and in the event of an equally good communication being formed between Genoa and Nice, a strong inducement will be offered to the traveller, to enter this country by that route, particularly in the winter season. This has been partially effected under the auspices of Bonaparte; the present Sardinian government, however, are not disposed to carry it forward, as they are naturally jealous of affording their neighbours, the French, so easy an access into the heart of their country.
Throughout the remainder of this, and part of the next day, the weather continued unfavourable, and we made no attempt to leave Porto Fino; however, in the afternoon of the latter we sailed, but in the evening it fell calm, and we took to our oars throughout the night; about noon, on the following day, a light and favourable air sprang up, which soon increased to a moderate breeze; about three o’clock we arrived at the entrance of the Gulf of Spezzia, where to my great concern, notwithstanding I said every thing to induce him to push on as the wind was fair, the captain persisted in coming to an anchor, when every one went on shore, excepting two seamen and myself;—had we continued our course, we should probably have reached Leghorn before daylight on the following morning; whereas, from the neglect, our voyage was rendered a most tedious one. The fact was, that the captain and many of his crew, were at this place, in the midst of their friends.
In the middle of the Gulf of Spezzia there is a constant spring of fresh water, which is a matter of astonishment to most people, but the phenomenon is not difficult to account for; as the ancients who were well acquainted with this gulf, by them termed Porta Luna, do not name it, it is probably of subsequent occurrence and volcanic origin, and perhaps supplied from reservoirs contained within the adjacent Apennine mountains.
I was informed by the sailors, that a new light-house is nearly completed at the entrance of this gulf, which must be a most important security to vessels passing that way.
The town of Carrara, so celebrated for its quarries of beautiful marble, used for the purposes of sculpture, is situated in this neighbourhood.
We were tacking about all the following day, and at times assisted with the weather oars, at which I occasionally took my place, by way of exercise; in the forenoon we passed the mouth of one river, and in the evening arrived at the entrance of another, the Sier, distant about eight miles from the Arno, and twenty from Leghorn.
We entered the mouth of this river, and secured our vessel under a fort, with the object of procuring provisions, for our Genoa stores were now nearly exhausted. We had an additional view, to seek for protection and security, for the weather had become very cloudy, and the captain felt assured that the night would prove stormy, which in fact it did, a severe gale, with heavy rain, coming on at ten o’clock.
The whole of the next morning, we had high wind with heavy rain, and I began to meditate, in case the weather cleared up, walking to Pisa with the captain, which place was nine miles distant from the fort, and then taking coach for Leghorn. The captain had, this morning, to go a league and a half to procure provisions for his crew; these coasting vessels seldom carry more then three or four days store with them, and in case of necessity trust to getting into some port for supply, and which they appear particularly fond of doing. When on the contrary, I urged the captain to proceed, he would silence me by asking, why he should wish to go into port, when it would expedite the voyage, and save the extra expenses of maintaining his crew, to keep out of it?
About noon we had the pleasure of finding it become quite fair, and the wind favourable; we weighed anchor at two o’clock, and stood towards the Arno, for the purpose of discharging part of the cargo, consisting of goods for Pisa; this detained us about an hour; after which we made sail for Leghorn, with as fresh a breeze as our vessel could stagger under, and made the port in fine style, running a distance of twelve miles, in less than an hour and a half. I could hardly credit the circumstance, when they wanted to thrust me into the boat like a bale of goods; the fact was, that it was necessary, before we could be allowed to quit the vessel, to be examined at the health-office, and it wanted but a few minutes before this would be closed, in which case we should have been detained on board till morning. I left the vessel, without my baggage, which the captain promised should be taken on shore immediately after me; but here he deceived me, for after getting on shore, I was given to understand that it could not be sent before morning; he offered however, to accompany me wherever I might wish to go, and I lost no time in making my way to the Aquila Nira, where I proposed to take up my residence.
After the luxury of washing, and partaking of a good dinner, I retired to rest, in a bed large enough to contain at least four persons, and where I was for some hours, incapable of sleeping from excess of enjoyment. In the morning my baggage was brought according to promise, and the day being fine, I engaged a valet-de-place to deliver some letters of introduction, but had the misfortune to find all the gentlemen to whom they were addressed out of the way; after this I amused myself in exploring the town.
At the table d’hôte we had a party of twenty-five natives of various nations, many of whom like myself, had been enjoying the pleasures of felucca travelling, of which they gave woful accounts. Among them was a merchant from Saxony, who, hearing that I intended to set off by diligence for Florence on the following morning, recommended me to take a place in a voiture de voyage in preference, as both cheaper, and more expeditious, in consequence of its taking a shorter route, and at the same time offering to secure me a place in company with himself. This proposal was very agreeable to me, and after dinner we walked together to the voiture office, but the clerk was not within; the merchant, however, assured me, that I need feel no uneasiness respecting a place, and that all events he would, if necessary, give me up his own, and take the outside. I then left him, and proceeded with my valet to visit the English burial ground, where, amongst many other neat tombs, may be seen that of Smollet, who has here a small monument erected to his memory; I was not a little affected in tracing, under such circumstances, the character of this man as deduced from his writings, but I could not spare time for extending my reflections. A few of the tombs were surrounded by cypress-trees, others by neat railings of cane-work enclosing a variety of flowers; the ground is protected by a wall, and the entrance kept locked, the key being placed under the care of a person, who preserves every thing neat and clean, and of course expects a small gratuity for shewing it. I should have been glad to have spent more time in examining this interesting spot, but had an engagement to meet a gentleman at my hotel, the time for which was approaching.
Besides this burial ground, there are many objects, in Leghorn, worthy the notice of the stranger; as the cathedral, a number of churches, the Greek and Armenian chapels, the Jews’ synagogue, the coral manufactories, lazarettos, &c. &c.
In the course of this walk, I met two of the English gentlemen, who had sailed in company with me from Nice, and left us at Cerf; on comparing notes, I found they had very little the start of me, notwithstanding my protracted felucca voyage.
The harbour of Leghorn is divided into two ports, the outer one defended by a pier; large vessels, however, anchor in the roads, about two miles from this pier; there is a light-house built on a rock, called the Malora, situated in the open sea, a mile distant from the mole, and which is lighted every night by means of thirty-two lamps; there is also a smaller light on the outer pier, within which the merchant-ships lie, the inner harbour, from its shallowness, being only adapted for boats, and very small craft.
From the accounts which I received of this city, I should have been glad to have prolonged my stay in it a few days longer, had I not arranged to set out for Florence in the morning.
Before leaving Leghorn, I called upon Dr. P— a Scotch medical gentleman, practising at this place. While at his house, Dr. D— of Florence, for whom I had letters, came in, having just arrived in charge of the corpse of Captain Broughton of the royal navy, who had died in that city, and which he had brought for burial at Leghorn.
Early in the morning I got ready for the voiture, but had the mortification, notwithstanding the assurances of the Saxony merchant, to find myself left behind, as it was stated to be quite full; I had, however, a resource in the diligence, which fortunately was on the point of starting, with a vacant place, which I immediately secured, paying twenty-five pauls for my fare.
We stopped at the gates of the town to have our passports and baggage examined, and I may take this opportunity of remarking, that in both these respects, I suffered less inconvenience at Leghorn than usual in consequence of being un militaire. In this case, the passport has only to be signed by the commandant, who does it with much civility, and without any charge; my baggage was neither inspected on entering or leaving the town.
We had no conducteur to Florence, and changed the postillion at every post, who, as in England, expected a gratuity at the end of it; I had an instance here of the indisposition of native passengers, to give information to strangers, to prevent their being imposed upon; for one to whom I applied, on this occasion, evaded a direct answer for a length of time, before he could be brought to state, that it being a long stage, and equal to a double post, he should give a paul, being at the rate of half a paul for each post.
We were driven the first post from Pisa tolerably well, but afterwards, for a time, made very slow progress, contrary to what I had understood respecting the rapidity of Florentine travelling. On inquiry, it was stated, that we should get on faster by paying the postillion extra, which we then agreed to do, and I am not aware, that I was ever better driven in my life, than after this compromise.
In about nine hours we arrived at the gates of Florence, where we were detained some time in the examination of passports and baggage. I here attempted to take advantage of my experience, at Leghorn, of the value of a military character, but it would not do; after irritating the Italian officer, whose language I could not comprehend, but my pretending for some time not to understand his demand to inspect my baggage, I was obliged to descend, and lay open my portmanteau. This soon settled the business, and we shortly after arrived at the Swiss Pension, kept by Madame Hembert, to which I had been recommended by my slippery Saxony merchant, and for which at least, I afterwards found my acknowledgments were due to him.