My Worthy Friend Dr. A - Earnestly Intreated Me To
Try The Effect Of A Sea-Voyage, Which You Know Has Been Found Of
Wonderful Efficacy In Consumptive Cases.
After some deliberation,
I resolved upon the scheme, which I have now happily executed.
I
had a most eager curiosity to see the antiquities of Florence and
Rome: I longed impatiently to view those wonderful edifices,
statues, and pictures, which I had so often admired in prints and
descriptions. I felt an enthusiastic ardor to tread that very
classical ground which had been the scene of so many great
atchievements; and I could not bear the thought of returning to
England from the very skirts of Italy, without having penetrated
to the capital of that renowned country. With regard to my
health, I knew I could manage matters so as to enjoy all the
benefits that could be expected from the united energy of a
voyage by sea, a journey by land, and a change of climate.
Rome is betwixt four and five hundred miles distant from Nice,
and one half of the way I was resolved to travel by water. Indeed
there is no other way of going from hence to Genoa, unless you
take a mule, and clamber along the mountains at the rate of two
miles an hour, and at the risque of breaking your neck every
minute. The Apennine mountains, which are no other than a
continuation of the maritime Alps, form an almost continued
precipice from Villefranche to Lerici, which is almost forty-five
miles on the other side of Genoa; and as they are generally
washed by the sea, there is no beach or shore, consequently the
road is carried along the face of the rocks, except at certain
small intervals, which are occupied by towns and villages.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 337 of 535
Words from 90296 to 90597
of 143308
