By Land I Apprehend Their March Would Be
Altogether Impracticable, If The King Of Sardinia Had Any
Interest To Oppose It.
He might either guard the passes, or break
up the road in twenty different places, so as to render it
altogether impassable.
Here it may not be amiss to observe, that
when Don Philip advanced from Nice with his army to Genoa, he was
obliged to march so close to the shore, that in above fifty
different places, the English ships might have rendered the road
altogether impassable. The path, which runs generally along the
face of a precipice washed by the sea, is so narrow that two men
on horseback can hardly pass each other; and the road itself so
rugged, slippery, and dangerous, that the troopers were obliged
to dismount, and lead their horses one by one. On the other hand,
baron de Leutrum, who was at the head of a large body of
Piedmontese troops, had it in his power to block up the passes of
the mountains, and even to destroy this road in such a manner,
that the enemy could not possibly advance. Why these precautions
were not taken, I do not pretend to explain: neither can I tell
you wherefore the prince of Monaco, who is a subject and partizan
of France, was indulged with a neutrality for his town, which
served as a refreshing-place, a safe port, and an intermediate
post for the French succours sent from Marseilles to Genoa. This
I will only venture to affirm, that the success and advantage of
great alliances are often sacrificed to low, partial, selfish,
and sordid considerations. The town of Monaco is commanded by
every heighth in its neighbourhood; and might be laid in ashes by
a bomb-ketch in four hours by sea.
I was fortunate enough to be recommended to a lady in Genoa, who
treated us with great politeness and hospitality. She introduced
me to an abbate, a man of letters, whose conversation was
extremely agreeable. He already knew me by reputation, and
offered to make me known to some of the first persons in the
republic, with whom he lived in intimacy. The lady is one of the
most intelligent and best-bred persons I have known in any
country. We assisted at her conversazione, which was numerous.
She pressed us to pass the winter at Genoa; and indeed I was
almost persuaded: but I had attachments at Nice, from which I
could not easily disengage myself.
The few days we staved at Genoa were employed in visiting the
most remarkable churches and palaces. In some of the churches,
particularly that of the Annunciata, I found a profusion of
ornaments, which had more magnificence than taste. There is a
great number of pictures; but very few of them are capital
pieces. I had heard much of the ponte Carignano, which did not at
all answer my expectation. It is a bridge that unites two
eminences which form the
higher part of the city, and the houses in the bottom below do
not rise so high as the springing of its arches. There is nothing
at all curious in its construction, nor any way remarkable,
except the heighth of the piers from which the arches are sprung.
Hard by the bridge there is an elegant church, from the top of
which you have a very rich and extensive prospect of the city,
the sea and the adjacent country, which looks like a continent of
groves and villas. The only remarkable circumstance about the
cathedral, which is Gothic and gloomy, is the chapel where the
pretended bones of John the Baptist are deposited, and in which
thirty silver lamps are continually burning. I had a curiosity to
see the palaces of Durazzo and Doria, but it required more
trouble to procure admission than I was willing to give myself:
as for the arsenal, and the rostrum of an ancient galley which
was found by accident in dragging the harbour, I postponed seeing
them till my return.
Having here provided myself with letters of credit for Florence
and Rome, I hired the same boat which had brought us hither, to
carry us forward to Lerici, which is a small town about half way
between Genoa and Leghorn, where travellers, who are tired of the
sea, take post-chaises to continue their route by land to Pisa
and Florence. I payed three loui'dores for this voyage of about
fifty miles; though I might have had a feluca for less money.
When you land on the wharf at Genoa, you are plied by the feluca
men just as you are plied by the watermen at Hungerford-stairs in
London. They are always ready to set off at a minute's warning
for Lerici, Leghorn, Nice, Antibes, Marseilles, and every part of
the Riviera.
The wind being still unfavourable, though the weather was
delightful, we rowed along shore, passing by several pretty
towns, villages, and a vast number of cassines, or little white
houses, scattered among woods of olive-trees, that cover the
hills; and these are the habitations of the velvet and damask
weavers. Turning Capo Fino we entered a bay, where stand the
towns of Porto Fino, Lavagna, and Sestri di Levante, at which
last we took up our night's lodging. The house was tolerable, and
we had no great reason to complain of the beds: but, the weather
being hot, there was a very offensive smell, which proceeded from
some skins of beasts new killed, that were spread to dry on an
outhouse in the yard. Our landlord was a butcher, and had very
much the looks of an assassin. His wife was a great masculine
virago, who had all the air of having frequented the slaughter-house.
Instead of being welcomed with looks of complaisance, we
were admitted with a sort of gloomy condescension, which seemed
to say, "We don't much like your company; but, however, you shall
have a night's lodging in favour of the patron of the gondola,
who is our acquaintance." In short, we had a very bad supper,
miserably dressed, passed a very disagreeable night, and payed a
very extravagant bill in the morning, without being thanked for
our custom.
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