We Set Out So Early In The Morning In Order To Avoid The
Inconveniencies And Dangers That Attend The Passage Of This
Mountain.
The first of these arises from your meeting with long
strings of loaded mules in a slippery road, the breadth of which
does not exceed a foot and an half.
As it is altogether
impossible for two mules to pass each other in such a narrow
path, the muleteers have made doublings or elbows in different
parts, and when the troops of mules meet, the least numerous is
obliged to turn off into one of these doublings, and there halt
until the others are past. Travellers, in order to avoid this
disagreeable delay, which is the more vexatious, considering the
excessive cold, begin the ascent of the mountain early in the
morning before the mules quit their inns. But the great danger of
travelling here when the sun is up, proceeds from what they call
the Valanches. These are balls of snow detached from the
mountains which over-top the road, either by the heat of the sun,
or the humidity of the weather. A piece of snow thus loosened
from the rock, though perhaps not above three or four feet in
diameter, increases sometimes in its descent to such a degree, as
to become two hundred paces in length, and rolls down with such
rapidity, that the traveller is crushed to death before he can
make three steps on the road. These dreadful heaps drag every
thing along with them in their descent. They tear up huge trees
by the roots, and if they chance to fall upon a house, demolish
it to the foundation. Accidents of this nature seldom happen in
the winter while the weather is dry; and yet scarce a year passes
in which some mules and their drivers do not perish by the
valanches. At Coni we found the countess C - from Nice, who had
made the same journey in a chair, carried by porters. This is no
other than a common elbow-chair of wood, with a straw bottom,
covered above with waxed cloth, to protect the traveller from the
rain or snow, and provided with a foot-board upon which the feet
rest.
It is carried like a sedan-chair; and for this purpose six or
eight porters are employed at the rate of three or four livres a
head per day, according to the season, allowing three days for
their return. Of these six men, two are between the poles
carrying like common chairmen, and each of these is supported by
the other two, one at each hand: but as those in the middle
sustain the greatest burthen, they are relieved by the others in
a regular rotation. In descending the mountain, they carry the
poles on their shoulders, and in that case, four men are
employed, one at each end.
At Coni, you may have a chaise to go with the same horses to
Turin, for which you pay fifteen livres, and are a day and a half
on the way. You may post it, however, in one day, and then the
price is seven livres ten sols per post, and ten sols to the
postilion. The method we took was that of cambiatura. This is a
chaise with horses shifted at the same stages that are used in
posting: but as it is supposed to move slower, we pay but five
livres per post, and ten sols to the postilion. In order to
quicken its pace, we gave ten sols extraordinary to each
postilion, and for this gratification, he drove us even faster
than the post. The chaises are like those of Italy, and will take
on near two hundred weight of baggage.
Coni is situated between two small streams, and though neither
very large nor populous, is considerable for the strength of its
fortifications. It is honoured with the title of the Maiden-Fortress,
because though several times besieged, it was never
taken. The prince of Conti invested it in the war of 1744; but he
was obliged to raise the siege, after having given battle to the
king of Sardinia. The place was gallantly defended by the baron
Leutrum, a German protestant, the best general in the Sardinian
service: but what contributed most to the miscarriage of the
enemy, was a long tract of heavy rains, which destroyed all their
works, and rendered their advances impracticable.
I need not tell you that Piedmont is one of the most fertile and
agreeable countries in Europe, and this the most agreeable part
of all Piedmont, though it now appeared to disadvantage from the
rigorous season of the year: I shall only observe that we passed
through Sabellian, which is a considerable town, and arrived in
the evening at Turin. We entered this fine city by the gate of
Nice, and passing through the elegant Piazza di San Carlo, took
up our quarters at the Bona Fama, which stands at one corner of
the great square, called La Piazza Castel.
Were I even disposed to give a description of Turin, I should be
obliged to postpone it till another opportunity, having no room
at present to say any thing more, but that I am always - Yours.
LETTER XXXIX
AIX EN PROVENCE, May 10, 1765.
DEAR SIR, - I am thus far on my way to England. I had resolved to
leave Nice, without having the least dispute with any one native
of the place; but I found it impossible to keep this resolution.
My landlord, Mr. C - , a man of fashion, with whose family we had
always lived in friendship, was so reasonable as to expect I
should give him up the house and garden, though they were to be
paid for till Michaelmas, and peremptorily declared I should not
be permitted to sub-let them to any other person. He had of his
own accord assured me more than once that he would take my
furniture off my hands, and trusting to this assurance, I had
lost the opportunity, of disposing it to advantage:
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