I Relieved His Necessities, And Gave Him A Letter
To A Gentleman Of His Own Country At Montpellier.
When I rose in the morning, and opened a window that looked into
the garden, I thought myself either in a dream, or bewitched.
All
the trees were cloathed with snow, and all the country covered at
least a foot thick. "This cannot be the south of France, (said I
to myself) it must be the Highlands of Scotland!" At a wretched
town called Muy, where we dined, I had a warm dispute with our
landlord, which, however, did not terminate to my satisfaction. I
sent on the mules before, to the next stage, resolving to take
post-horses, and bespoke them accordingly of the aubergiste, who
was, at the same time, inn-keeper and post-master. We were
ushered into the common eating-room, and had a very indifferent
dinner; after which, I sent a loui'dore to be changed, in order
to pay the reckoning. The landlord, instead of giving the full
change, deducted three livres a head for dinner, and sent in the
rest of the money by my servant. Provoked more at his ill
manners, than at his extortion, I ferreted him out of a bed-chamber,
where he had concealed himself, and obliged him to
restore the full change, from which I paid him at the rate of two
livres a head. He refused to take the money, which I threw down
on the table; and the horses being ready, stepped into the coach,
ordering the postillions to drive on. Here I had certainly
reckoned without my host. The fellows declared they would not
budge, until I should pay their master; and as I threatened them
with manual chastisement, they alighted, and disappeared in a
twinkling. I was now so incensed, that though I could hardly
breathe; though the afternoon was far advanced, and the street
covered with wet snow, I walked to the consul of the town, and
made my complaint in form. This magistrate, who seemed to be a
taylor, accompanied me to the inn, where by this time the whole
town was assembled, and endeavoured to persuade me to compromise
the affair. I said, as he was the magistrate, I would stand to
his award. He answered, "that he would not presume to determine
what I was to pay." I have already paid him a reasonable price
for his dinner, (said I) and now I demand post-horses according
to the king's ordonnance. The aubergiste said the horses were
ready, but the guides were run away; and he could not find others
to go in their place. I argued with great vehemence, offering to
leave a loui'dore for the poor of the parish, provided the consul
would oblige the rascal to do his duty. The consul shrugged up
his shoulders, and declared it was not in his power. This was a
lie, but I perceived he had no mind to disoblige the publican. If
the mules had not been sent away, I should certainly have not
only payed what I thought proper, but corrected the landlord into
the bargain, for his insolence and extortion; but now I was
entirely at his mercy, and as the consul continued to exhort me
in very humble terms, to comply with his demands, I thought
proper to acquiesce. Then the postillions immediately appeared:
the crowd seemed to exult in the triumph of the aubergiste; and I
was obliged to travel in the night, in very severe weather, after
all the fatigue and mortification I had undergone.
We lay at Frejus, which was the Forum Julianum of the antients,
and still boasts of some remains of antiquity; particularly the
ruins of an amphitheatre, and an aqueduct. The first we passed in
the dark, and next morning the weather was so cold that I could
not walk abroad to see it. The town is at present very
inconsiderable, and indeed in a ruinous condition. Nevertheless,
we were very well lodged at the post-house, and treated with more
politeness than we had met with in any other part of France.
As we had a very high mountain to ascend in the morning, I
ordered the mules on before to the next post, and hired six
horses for the coach. At the east end of Frejus, we saw close to
the road on our left-hand, the arcades of the antient aqueduct,
and the ruins of some Roman edifices, which seemed to have been
temples. There was nothing striking in the architecture of the
aqueduct. The arches are small and low, without either grace or
ornament, and seem to have been calculated for mere utility.
The mountain of Esterelles, which is eight miles over, was
formerly frequented by a gang of desperate banditti, who are now
happily exterminated: the road is very good, but in some places
very steep and bordered by precipices. The mountain is covered
with pines, and the laurus cerasus, the fruit of which being now
ripe, made a most romantic appearance through the snow that lay
upon the branches. The cherries were so large that I at first
mistook them for dwarf oranges. I think they are counted
poisonous in England, but here the people eat them without
hesitation. In the middle of the mountain is the post-house,
where we dined in a room so cold, that the bare remembrance of it
makes my teeth chatter. After dinner I chanced to look into
another chamber that fronted the south, where the sun shone; and
opening a window perceived, within a yard of my hand, a large
tree loaded with oranges, many of which were ripe. You may judge
what my astonishment was to find Winter in all his rigour
reigning on one side of the house, and Summer in all her glory
on the other. Certain it is, the middle of this mountain seemed
to be the boundary of the cold weather. As we proceeded slowly in
the afternoon we were quite enchanted.
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