Samuel Bevan

“ Every one knows the peculiar appearance of the Piazza di San Marco, with its oriental-looking church and lofty bell-tower, and its rows of glittering arcades. Under one of these porticoes, whose massive columns support the building called the Procuratie Nuove, is the Caffé Florian, a house which has been but once closed for the night, during the last hundred years. It has indeed no doors, unless a few glass frames, to keep out the cold winds of winter, can be so denominated. ”

“ A gloomy stillness, however, seems to reign everywhere, for the rumble of wheels is seldom heard save when the Pasha returns from his evening drive, or when the carriages belonging to the rival hotels are brought out of the dusty remises, on the arrival of some steamer. There is but one solitary Cafè in the town, and that by no means an excellent one. It possesses nevertheless a sort of casino or subscription-room, where for twelve dollars a year, one may see the principal papers of France and Italy, and get a chance rubber of billiards with some passing traveller. ”

“ We gazed and wondered, but feeling that this was indeed the pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, inasmuch as we all lay gasping on our backs, half-buried in sand, and almost choked with smoke, we made as hasty a retreat as the mode of egress would allow, bestowing a few paras on the old Arab, and cheering him with the assurance that he might eventually arrive at something valuable, if he should escape burying himself alive in the attempt, a consummation which a trifling sand-slip might at any time effect. ”

“ This gentleman informed us where we should at once find apartments, and introduced us to his landlord, the Signor Raffaelli, living in a commodious house, at the Campo San Vio, about a stone’s-throw from the Accademia, on the Grand Canal. We rowed thither the next day, and taking possession of our rooms, had time to look about us. Not only is Venice unlike any other city in the world, in respect of its peculiar position; but every thing Venetian seems to possess a distinct and particular charm, that indefinable non so che, belonging to it only, even to the most ordinary common-places of life. ”

“ I had no time to view the antiquities of the ancient city of Arles, so was fain to satisfy myself with a sufficiently lucid description of them, to be found in Murray’s hand-book. We had a delightful steam to Marseilles, though the change from the sweetness of the sea-breeze and blue water, to the stinks and exhalations of its closed harbour, was any thing but refreshing. From its very narrow outlet, the port of Marseilles is perhaps as bad in this respect as any in the Mediterranean. ”

“ Here also is the open barca, with its striped canopy of red and white, contrasting pleasantly with the sable hue of the old regime, whose colour no one has yet been sufficiently bold to depart from. All the boats are rowed by two men, as none would appear at the passeggiata with a single gondolier. Speed is a great desideratum, and all is rushing and gliding—the barcaruoli seem in their own [Pg 296] proper element, and vie with each other in parading their skill, cutting and cleaving with their sharp prows, or dashing along in one mass, like a vast floating raft of gondolas. ”

“ Camels, donkeys, merchandize of every description, shrieking women, boys, and greasy Arabs, were jumbled together in indescribable confusion; the men fighting and cuffing one another, with the most violent gesticulations, in their anxiety to appropriate the luggage of the newly arrived passengers, in order to convey it to the city. Furner, armed with a huge whip, which I learnt to call by the name of “Korbash,” dealt his blows right and left on the heads and shoulders of the natives, and speedily cleared a way for us to where a group of donkeys were standing, all saddled and bridled. ”

“ We were besieged by a legion of fleas and musquitoes, whilst bats came wheeling in at the open windows, scraping our faces as they skimmed over us.
We were up with the daylight, and mounting our donkeys, trotted merrily through the palm-groves on to the desert. The Pyramids of Sakhara stand among a sea of ruins; the ground is cut up and excavated in every direction, and the discovery of hitherto unopened tombs is of constant occurrence. ”

“ Whilst the mail barge was making its slow way round to the Mahmoudieh, I had time to reach the shore, and join the passengers at Rey’s Hotel, as they were starting for Moharrem Bey, which is the point of departure of the passage-boats. The pushing and scrambling for donkeys, on such occasions, is sometimes highly amusing, and it is long ere the cavalcade is in motion. When there is no moon, the scene is lighted up by crackling pots of burning charcoal, raised aloft on poles, shedding a lurid light. ”

“ At every step, the evidences of volcanic movement meet the eye. The foundations of the houses are of lava, lying in huge masses by the road-side, just as they have been rolled down from the mountain, and the carriage-way itself is so beautifully hard, that it needs only an occasional shower to wash away the dust, to retain it in perfect order. ”

“ And what spot can furnish more beautiful and diversified subjects than Venice, where every turn reveals some fresh scene, and every canal abounds with palaces and churches, or picturesque masses of building. The chimney-pots alone are a study, and the genius of John of Bologna is apparent, even in the knockers and scrapers at the street doors. ”

“ The Piazza di San Marco, is the most agreeable of breakfast parlours: turn which way you will, something amusing is sure to present itself. Itinerant vendors of odd wares wait upon you every two or three minutes, and no sooner are you fairly seated, and commencing the perusal of some article in the day’s journal, than a dirty-looking fellow flings at your feet a large wooden box, and keeps a steady eye on your boots. This is your Venetian shoeblack. ”

“ A carriage with three stout black horses, unicorn-fashion, was at the door of the hotel by half-past seven, and providing ourselves with some cold fowl and Capri wine, we set off for Herculaneum, rattling over the hard stones at a pace which would have been alarming, had our horses been held in by any other than a Neapolitan coachman. A ride of an hour brought us to Resina, and we alighted at the stone steps which lead to an ancient theatre, freed only in part from the load of lava which buried it. The sinking of a well by a peasant is said to have led to its discovery, in the year 1713. ”

“ This proposal had met with the most vigorous and animated opposition from the other faction, headed by O’Neil, who had proved himself a most able champion, having set forth in an eloquent and elaborate speech, the consequences of such a measure,—the impropriety of introducing an Italian style of drawing to the annihilation of all originality,—the injustice of placing a master over men who never would submit to his criticism, and the unenviable position in which such a master would necessarily be placed,—the reflection, in fact, upon the state of English art, and other weighty considerations. ”

“ Sleep however, overcame me before I had finished, and I was dreaming most agreeably of far-off persons and scenes, when a sudden shock and instantaneous stoppage of the boat, upset my candle and empty beer-bottle, and caused a dire commotion among the cups and spode-ware in Antonio’s pantry. I ran on deck immediately, and found, as soon as I could collect my scattered senses, that our precious Maltese captain had run us into the bank, having quietly followed the example of those around him, by dropping to sleep at his tiller. ”

“ Four strong horses, mounted by as many Arab riders, were attached to the one long iron boat, which contained us all, and the word having been given to cast loose, we bid a hasty adieu to our friends on shore, and by a little after midnight, found ourselves in motion. Our crew consisted of a fat Maltese pilot, two or three Arabs, and a cook, named Antonio, and it was gratifying to remark, that the latter had not forgotten several well-stored cafasses, or provision-baskets, with apparatus for making tea and coffee, and a large brazier of ignited charcoal for heating his kettles. ”

“ We walked to the Caffé Pedrocchi, unquestionably the finest in Europe: no expense seems to have been spared in its decorations, which are of a style more suited to a regal dwelling than a place of public resort. It is one glare of mirrors, gilding, and polished marbles. Many are the stories current respecting the origin of the wealth which enabled the Signor Pedrocchi to raise so gorgeous a palace. ”

“ Turkish families, which gave our deck, for they were none of them cabin passengers, a very novel appearance. The men smoked away the time on their prayer carpets, watching the gambols of their children, and leaving unheeded and unnoticed the poor women, who sat huddled away in one mass as much out of view as possible, and veiled up to the eyes in black silk. At their mid-day meal, however, there was a general commotion, and a great scrambling round a large wooden bowl of mish-mish, into which all dipped their fingers most unceremoniously. ”

“ In the bigliardo of the Fiano, I made the acquaintance among others of D——, a young Highlander, whose vagaries afterwards made him the terror of all the coffee-house and tavern-waiters in Rome. He was not an artist, but appeared to be travelling solely for his pleasure and amusement, lodging on the first floor of a house in the Condotti, and devoting himself entirely to the prosecution of practical jokes, and the study of German particles. ”

“ Although Venice is intersected with small canals, in every possible direction, it is extraordinary that but one is visible from the summit of the bell-tower, a fact only accounted for by the close proximity of the houses. Of the Grand Canal there are many glimpses, while the various islands of the Lagune are seen from hence to great advantage. All day and night there are watchmen at the top of the Campanile, whose duty it is to give the alarm, in case of fire, and from their great elevation, they are able at once to judge of its precise locality. ”

“ On another floor of the same house, in the Via Margutta, is the studio of the Italian artist V——, justly famed for his pictures of the chase, and more particularly that of the wild-boar, which he first hunts down for his amusement, and then transfers to canvas for his profit. V—— paints every hair with minute distinctness, and is never better pleased than when his productions are submitted to a microscopic test, which, to say truth, they will bear at any time. ”

“ The angle nearest to us presented a tapering line of fantastic shadows, as the broken masses of stone caught the bright moonlight, the northern face of the Pyramid appearing from the contrast to be thrown into darkness, looking cold and gloomy, whilst the shadow cast by the enormous mass, undulated over the uneven sand in the foreground, and was lost far away in the desert. ”

“ We quitted Ancona at five in the morning, passing no fewer than three distinct dogana, at each of which we were overhauled, though fortunately without paying any duty. I found a trifling bribe go farther than a boat-load of quiet civility or resignation, a papal custom-house officer being devoid of all feeling save the modicum existing in his palms, which when tickled with a small coin, generally expand to the traveller’s advantage. ”

“ With a fair wind, we dropped silently down the river, and the long evening was beguiled by a recital of some of the adventures of M—— M——, who was fresh from Upper Egypt, and boiling over with the latest news from Thebes and the cataracts. It would have been better for us had we thus continued to amuse ourselves during the entire night, for on retiring to our sleeping-places, we found them swarming with rats and cockroaches, not to speak of the myriads of fleas which hopped over us in all directions, nor the perpetual sting of the not less troublesome musquitoe. ”

“ Our rate of travelling was about five miles in the hour, for the track, which in some places, lay over a smooth and tolerably hard gravel, was at others exchanged for a loose sand, in which our wheels became buried to the depth of a foot or more, causing a deal of labour to our horses. At such times, our Seis, or running-footman, one of whom accompanies each carriage, would apply his shoulder to the wheel and help us over the soft spot, whilst on occasions we found it necessary altogether to alight, and unite our efforts. ”

“ At the turning point, all is confusion, as each gondolier is striving to tack as short as possible, and get the lead. The spray raised by the hundreds of busy oars, glistens in the rays of the declining sun, and splashes unceremoniously into the faces of the promeneurs. The strains of Mercadante and Verdi mingle with the salt breeze of the lagune, which may here be enjoyed in all its purity. It is untainted even by the presence of a solitary cigar. No one smokes at the passeggiata; it is not the thing. ”

“ The old man is a collector of these odd fish, which he preserves in spirits, to adorn his rooms.
No one would willingly leave his hotel to dine in a Venetian trattoria, saving for the sake of curiosity, as their appearance is, for the most part, anything but inviting. But with those that betake themselves to furnished apartments, and have neither kitchen nor cook, the case is different, and we on the far side of the Grand Canal, were necessitated either to get our meal at the cook-shop, or go without it. ”

“ In respect of music, the Arabs are still in the dark ages, and the performance of Mehemet Ali’s native band, is a grievous infliction upon the listener, as Furner and myself can testify. A kind old Arab, who had invited us one day to dinner, had prepared an agreeable surprise for us, by borrowing the five royal musicians from the “Nile” steam-frigate, and for three mortal hours or more, we were compelled to listen to and admire the same air (!) from a combination of three drums, two whistles, and a nondescript sort of guitar. ”