I Had A Great
Desire To See Leghorn And Lucca; But The Dread Of A Winter's
Voyage By Sea In An Open Boat Effectually Restrained My
Curiosity.
To avoid the trouble of having our baggage shifted
every post, I hired two chaises to Pisa for a
Couple of zequines,
and there we arrived in safety about seven in the evening, though
not without fear of the consequence, as the calesses were quite
open, and it rained all the way. I must own I was so sick of the
wretched accommodation one meets with in every part of Italy,
except the great cities, so averse to the sea at this season, and
so fond of the city of Pisa, that I should certainly have stayed
here the winter, had not I been separated from my books and
papers, as well as from other conveniencies and connexions which
I had at Nice; and foreseen that the thoughts of performing the
same disagreeable voyage in the spring would imbitter my whole
winter's enjoyment. I again hired two calesses for Lerici,
proposing to lie at Sarzana, three miles short of that place,
where we were told we should find comfortable lodging, and to
embark next day without halting. When we departed in the morning,
it rained very hard, and the Cerchio, which the chaises had
formerly passed, almost without wetting the wheels, was now
swelled to a mighty river, broad and deep and rapid. It was with
great difficulty I could persuade my wife to enter the boat; for
it blew a storm, and she had seen it in coming over from the
other side hurried down a considerable way by the rapidity of the
current, notwithstanding all the efforts of the watermen. Near
two hours were spent in transporting us with our chaises. The
road between this and Pietra Santa was rendered almost
impassable. When we arrived at Massa, it began to grow dark, and
the post-master assured us that the road to Sarzana was
overflowed in such a manner as not to be passed even in the day-time,
without imminent danger. We therefore took up our lodging
for the night at this house, which was in all respects one of the
worst we had yet entered. Next day, we found the Magra as large
and violent as the Cerchio: however, we passed it without any
accident, and in the afternoon arrived at Lerici. There we were
immediately besieged by a number of patrons of feluccas, from
among whom I chose a Spaniard, partly because he looked like an
honest man, and produced an ample certificate, signed by an
English gentleman; and partly, because he was not an Italian;
for, by this time, I had imbibed a strong prejudice against the
common people of that country. We embarked in the morning before
day, with a gale that made us run the lee-gunwale in the water;
but, when we pretended to turn the point of Porto Venere, we
found the wind full in our teeth, and were obliged to return to
our quarters, where we had been shamefully fleeced by the
landlord, who, nevertheless, was not such an exorbitant knave as
the post-master, whose house I would advise all travellers to
avoid.
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