THE JOURNEY.
There are a great many curious things to be observed in travelling by
the public conveyances on the continent of Europe. One is the way of
driving the horses. It is a very common thing to have them driven, not
by coachmen, but by postilions. There is a postilion for each pair of
horses, and he sits upon the nigh horse of the pair. Thus he rides and
drives at the same time.
In these cases there is no driver's seat in front of the coach. Or if
there is a seat in front, it is occupied by the passengers. All the
driving is done by the postilions.
The postilions dress in a sort of livery, which is quite gay in its
appearance, being trimmed with red. The collars and the lapels of their
jackets, too, are ornamented here and there with figures of stage horns
and other emblems of their profession. They also wear enormously long
and stout boots. These boots come up above their knees. They carry only
a short whip, for they only have to whip the horse that they are upon,
and the one which is by the side of him, and so they do not have to
reach very far. When there are four horses, there are two postilions,
and when there are six, three.
A large diligence, with six horses, and a gayly dressed postilion
mounted on one of the horses of each pair, makes a very grand
appearance, you may depend, in coming, upon the gallop, into the streets
of a town--the postilions cracking their whips, and making as much noise
as they can, and all the boys and girls of the street coming to the
doors and windows to see.
"I am glad we are going to have postilions, uncle George," said Rollo,
as they were getting into the coach.
"Why?" asked Mr. George.
"Because I like the looks of them," said Rollo; "and then we always go
faster, too, when we have postilions. Besides, when there is a seat for
a driver on the coach, it blocks up our front windows; but now our
windows are all clear."
"Those are excellent reasons--all of them," said Mr. George.
The postilions did indeed drive very fast, when they once got upon the
road. There was a delay of half an hour, at the gate of the city, for
the examination of the passports; during which time the postilions,
having dismounted from their horses, stood talking together, and playing
off jokes upon each other. At length, when the passports were ready,
they sprang into their saddles, and set the horses off upon the run.
The road, on leaving the gates, entered a wide and beautiful avenue,
which was at this time filled with peasants coming into town, for that
day was market day in Naples. The people coming in were dressed in the
most curious costumes. Multitudes were on foot, others rode crowded
together in donkey carts. Some rode on the backs of donkeys, with a load
of farming produce before or behind them. The women, in such cases, sat
square upon the donkey's back, with both their feet hanging down on one
side; and they banged the donkey with their heels to make him get out of
the way so that the diligence could go by.
The country was very rich and beautiful, and it was cultivated every
where like a garden. Here and there were groves of mulberries,--the tree
on which the silk worm feeds,--and there were vineyards, with the vines
just bursting into leaf, and now and then a little garden of orange
trees. In the mean time the postilions kept cracking their whips, and
the horses galloped on at such a speed that Rollo had scarcely time to
see the objects by the road side, they glided so swiftly by.
"Won't the silk worms eat any kind of leaves but mulberry leaves?" he
asked.
"No," said Mr. George, "at least the mulberry silk worms will not. There
are a great many different kinds of silk worms in the world; that is,
there are a great many different kinds of caterpillars that spin a
thread and make a ball to wrap up their eggs in, and each one lives on a
different plant or tree. If you watch the caterpillars in a garden, you
will see that each kind lives on some particular leaf, and will not
touch any other."
"Yes," said Rollo, "we found a big caterpillar once on the caraway in
our garden, and we shut him up in a box, in order to see what sort of a
butterfly he would turn into, and we gave him different kinds of leaves
to eat, but he would not eat any but caraway leaves."
"And what became of him at last?" asked Mr. George.
"O, he turned into a butterfly," said Rollo. "First he turned into a
chrysalis, and then he turned into a butterfly."
"There are a great many different kinds of silk worms," said Mr. George;
"but in order to find one that can be made useful, there are several
conditions to be fulfilled."
"What do you mean by conditions to be fulfilled?" asked Rollo.
"Why, I mean that there are several things necessary, in order that the
silk worm should be a good one to make silk from. In the first place,
the fibre of the silk that he spins must be fine, and also strong. In
the next place, it must easily unwind from the cocoon. Then the animal
must be a tolerably hardy one, so as to be easily raised in great
numbers. Then the plant or tree that it feeds upon must be a thrifty and
hardy one, and easily cultivated. The mulberry silk worm has been found
to answer to these conditions better than any hitherto known; but there
are some others that I believe they are now trying, in order to see if
they will not be better still. They are looking about in all parts of
the world to see what they can find."
"Who are looking?" asked Rollo.
"The Society of Acclimatation," replied Mr. George. "That is a society
founded in Paris, and extending to all parts of the world, that is
employed in finding new plants and new animals that can be made useful
to man, or finding some that are useful to man in one country, and so
introducing them into other countries. They are trying specially to find
new silk worms."
"There are some kinds of caterpillars in America," said Rollo, "that
wind their silk up into balls. I mean to get some of the balls when I go
home, and see if I can unwind them."
"That will be an excellent plan," said Mr. George.
"If I can only find the end," said Rollo.
"There must be some art required to find the end," rejoined Mr. George,
"and then I believe there is some preparation which is necessary to make
the cocoons unwind."
"I wish I knew what it was," said Rollo.
"You can inquire of some of the people when we stop to dine," replied
Mr. George.
"But I don't know enough Italian for that," said Rollo.
"That's a pity," said Mr. George.
In the mean time the horses trotted and galloped on until they had gone
about ten miles, and then at length the postilions brought them up at
the door of an inn, in a village. Fresh horses were standing all ready
at the door, with new postilions. The postilions that had been driving
took out their horses and led them away, and then came themselves to the
window of the coupe and held out their caps for their _buono mano_, as
they call it; that is, for a small present.
Every body in Italy, who performs any service, expects, in addition to
being paid the price regularly agreed upon for the service, to receive
a present, greater or smaller according to the nature of the case. This
present is called the _buono mano_.[2]
[Footnote 2: Pronounced _bono mahno_.]
The postilions always expect a buono mano from the passengers in the
stage coach, especially from those who ride in the coupe.
Rollo gave them a few coppers each, for himself and for Mr. George, and
just as he had done so, a young man without any hat upon his head, but
with a white napkin under his arm, came out of the hotel, and advancing
to the window of the coupe asked Mr. George and Rollo, in French, if
they wished to take any thing.
"No," said Mr. George. "Not any thing."
"Yes, uncle George," said Rollo, "let us go and see what they have got."
He said this, of course, in English, but immediately changing his
language into French, he asked the waiter what they could have.
The waiter said that they could have some hot coffee. There would not be
time for any thing else.
"Let us have some hot coffee, uncle George," said Rollo, eagerly.
"Very well," said Mr. George.
So Rollo gave the order, and the waiter went into the house. In a moment
he returned with two cups of very nice coffee, which he brought on a
tray. By this time, however, the fresh horses were almost harnessed, so
that it was necessary to drink the coffee quick. But there was no
difficulty in doing this, for it was very nice, and not too hot. Rollo
had barely time to give back the cups and pay for the coffee before the
diligence began to move. The postilions started the horses with a
strange sort of a cry, that they uttered while standing beside them, and
then leaped into the saddles just as they were beginning to run.
The journey was continued much in this way during the whole day. The
country was delightful; the road was hard and smooth as a floor, and the
horses went very fast. In a word, Rollo had a capital ride.
After traversing a comparatively level country for some miles, the road
entered a mountainous region, where there was a long ascent. At the foot
of this ascent was a post house, and here they put on six horses instead
of four. Of course there were now three postilions. But although the
country was mountainous, the ascent was not steep, for the road was
carried up by means of long windings and zigzags, in such a manner that
the rise was very regular and gradual all the way. The consequence was,
that the six horses took the diligence on almost as fast up the
mountains as the four had done on the level ground.
About five o'clock in the afternoon the diligence made a good stop, in
order to allow the passengers to dine.
"We will go in and take dinner with the rest," said Mr. George, "and so
save the things that we have put up for a moonlight supper on the
Pontine Marshes."
"Yes," said Rollo, "I shall like that very much. Besides, I want to go
and take dinner with them here, for I want to see how they do it."
The place where the diligence stopped was a town called Mola di Gaeta.
It stood in a very picturesque situation, near the sea. For though the
road, in leaving Naples, had led at first into the interior of the
country, and had since been winding about among the mountains, it had
now come down again to the margin of the sea.
The entrance to the hotel was under a great archway. There were doors to
the right and left from this archway, leading to staircases and to
apartments. The passengers from the diligence were conducted through one
of these doors into a very ancient looking hall, where there was a table
set for dinner, with plates enough for twenty persons--that being about
the number of passengers contained in the various compartments of the
diligence.
On the opposite side of the arched way was a door leading to another
hall, where there was a table set for the conductor and the postilions.
After waiting a few minutes, the company of passengers took their seats
at the table. Besides the plates for the guests, there was a row of
dishes extending up and down the middle of the table, containing apples,
pears, oranges, nuts, raisins, little cakes, and bon-bons of various
kinds. There were also in this row two vases containing flowers.
Excepting these fruits and sweetmeats, there was nothing eatable upon
the table when the guests sat down. It is not customary in European
dinners to put any thing upon the table except the dessert.
The other dishes are brought round, and presented one by one to each
guest. First came the soup. When the soup had been eaten, and the soup
plates had been removed, then there was boiled beef. The beef was upon
two dishes, one for each side of the table. It was cut very nicely in
slices, and each dish had a fork and a spoon in it, for the guests to
help themselves with. The dishes were carried along the sides of the
table by the waiters, and offered to each guest, the guests helping
themselves in succession to such pieces as they liked.
After the beef had been eaten, the plates were all changed, and then
came a course of fried potatoes; then, after another change of plates, a
course of mutton chops; then green peas; then roast beef; then
cauliflower with drawn butter; then roast chicken with salad; and
lastly, some puddings. For each separate article of all this dinner
there was a fresh plate furnished to each guest.
After the pudding plates were removed, small plates for the dessert were
furnished; and then the fruit, and the nuts, and the bon-bons were
served; and the dinner was over.
For every two guests there was a decanter of wine. At least it was what
they called wine, though in taste it was more like sour cider. The
people generally used it by pouring a little of it into their water.
When the dinner was over, the passengers all paid the amount that was
charged for it, and each gave, besides, a buono mano to the waiter who
had waited upon his side of the table. By this time the diligence was
ready, and they all went and took their seats in it again.
The sun was now going down, and in the course of an hour the last of its
rays were seen gilding the summits of the mountains. Soon afterwards
the evening began to come on.
"Before a great while," said Mr. George, "we shall begin to draw near to
the frontier."
"Yes," said Rollo, "the frontier between the kingdom of Naples and the
dominions of the pope. They will examine the baggage there, I suppose."
"No," said Mr. George; "they will not examine the baggage till we get to
Rome."
"I thought they always examined the baggage at the frontier, when we
came into any new country," said Rollo.
"They do," said Mr. George, "unless the baggage is under the charge of
public functionaries; and then, to save time, they often take it into
the capital, and examine it there. I asked one of the passengers at the
dinner table, and he said that the trunks were not to be opened till we
get to Rome."
"They will examine the passports, I suppose," said Rollo.
"Yes," replied Mr. George, "they will, undoubtedly, examine the
passports at the frontier."
You cannot pass from one country in Europe to another, any where,
without stopping at the last military station of the country that you
leave, to have your passport examined and stamped, in token of
permission given you to go out, and also at the first military station
of the country which you are about to enter, to have them examined and
stamped again, in token of permission to come in. All this, as you may
suppose, is very troublesome. Besides that, there are fees to pay,
which, in the course of a long journey, amount to a considerable sum.
Besides the passport business which was to be attended to, there was a
grand change of the diligence establishment at the frontier. The coach
itself, which came from Naples, and also the conductor and postilions,
were all left at the border, and the passengers were transferred to a
new turnout which came from Rome. Indeed, there was a double change; for
the Roman diligence brought a load of passengers from Rome to meet the
Neapolitan one at the border, and thus each company of travellers had to
be transferred to the establishment belonging to the country which they
were entering.
This change was made in a post house, in a solitary place near the
frontier. It caused a detention of nearly an hour, there were so many
formalities to go through. It was late in the evening, and the work was
done by the light of torches and lanterns. The two diligences were
backed up against each other, and then all the trunks and baggage were
transferred from the top of one coach to the top of the other, without
being taken down at all. The baggage in these diligences is always
packed upon the top.
You would think that this would make the coach top heavy, and so it does
in some degree; but then the body of the coach below is so large and
heavy, that the extra weight above is well counterpoised; and then,
besides, the roads are so smooth and level, and withal so hard, that
there is no danger of an upset.
The work of shifting the baggage from one diligence to the other was
performed under an archway. There was a door leading from this archway
into a large office, where the two companies of passengers were
assembled, waiting for the coaches to be ready. All these passengers
were loaded with carpet bags, knapsacks, valises, bundles of umbrellas
and canes, and other such light baggage which they had had with them
inside the coaches. Many of them were sitting on chairs and benches
around the sides of the room, with their baggage near them. Others were
walking about the room, changing money with each other; that is, those
that were going from Rome to Naples were changing the Roman money, which
they had left, for Neapolitan money. The money of one of these countries
does not circulate well in the other country. In the middle of the room
was a great table, where the conductors and other officials were at work
with papers and accounts. Rollo could not understand what they were
doing.
Rollo walked about the office, looking at the different passengers, and
observing what was going on, while Mr. George remained near the coaches,
to watch the transfer of the baggage.
"I want to be sure," said Mr. George, "that our trunk is there, and that
they shift it over to the Roman coach."
"They are changing money inside," said Rollo. "Have you got any that you
want to have changed?"
"No," said Mr. George. "I did not know that we could change here; and I
calculated closely, and planned it so as not to have any of the Naples
money left."
"I have got only two or three pieces," said Rollo, "and those I am going
to carry home to America for coins."
At length the changes were completed, and Mr. George and Rollo, and also
all the other passengers who had come in the diligence from Naples,
began to take their places in the coach for Rome; while at the same time
the other company got into the Naples coach, which was now going to
return. The conductor came for his _buono mano_, the new horses were
harnessed in, the postilions leaped into the saddles, and thus both
parties set out upon their night ride. It was not far from nine o'clock.
[Illustration: THE PONTINE MARSHES.]
"And now," said Mr. George, "before a great while we shall come upon the
Pontine Marshes."
The Pontine Marshes form an immense tract of low and level land, which
have been known and celebrated in history for nearly two thousand years.
Though called marshes, they are so far drained by ancient canals that
the land is firm enough for grass to grow upon it, and for flocks of
sheep and herds of cattle to feed; but yet it is so low and so
unhealthy, that it is utterly uninhabitable by man. The extent of these
marshes is immense. The road traverses them in a direct line, and on a
perfect level, for twenty-five or thirty miles, without passing a single
habitation, except the post houses, and in the middle a solitary inn.
And yet there is nothing desolate or dreary in the aspect of the Pontine
Marshes. On the contrary the view on every side, in passing across them,
is extremely beautiful. The road is wide, and smooth, and level, and is
bordered on each side with a double row of very ancient and venerable
trees, which give to it, for the whole distance, the character of a
magnificent avenue. Think of a broad and handsome avenue, running
straight as an arrow for twenty-five miles!
Beyond the trees, on one side, there is a wide canal. This canal runs
parallel to the road, and you often meet boats coming or going upon it.
Beyond the canal, and beyond the trees on the other side, there extends,
as far as the eye can reach, one vast expanse of living green, as smooth
and beautiful as can be imagined. This immense tract of meadow is
divided here and there by hedges or palings, and now and then a pretty
grove appears to vary the scene. Immense flocks of sheep, and herds of
horses and cattle, are seen feeding every where, and sometimes herdsmen,
on horseback galloping to and fro, attending to their charge.
Mr. George and Rollo had had a fine opportunity to see the scenery of
the Pontine Marshes when they came to Naples, for then they crossed them
by day light. Now, however, it was night, and there was not much to be
seen except the gnarled and venerable trunks of the trees, on each side
of the road, as the light of the diligence lanterns flashed upon them.
The postilions drove exceedingly fast all the way over the marshes. The
stage stopped three times to change horses. Mr. George kept up a
continual conversation with Rollo all the way, in order to prevent him
from going to sleep; for, as I have said before, it is considered
dangerous to sleep while on the marshes.
About midnight Rollo proposed that they should eat their supper.
"No," said Mr. George, "we will keep our supper for the last thing. As
long as we can keep awake without it we will."
So they went on for two hours longer. About one o'clock the moon rose,
and the moonbeams shining in through the windows of the coupe, enlivened
the interior very much.
"The moonlight makes it a great deal pleasanter," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George, "and it will make it a great deal more
convenient for us to eat our supper."
The diligence stopped at a post house to change horses, a little before
two, and immediately after it set out again. Mr. George said that it was
time for them to take their supper. So Rollo opened the two bags, and
took out from one the chicken and the two rolls, and from the other the
bottle of coffee and the oranges. He placed the things, as he took them
out, in a large pocket before him, in the front of the coupe. Mr. George
took two newspapers out of his knapsack, one for Rollo and one for
himself, to spread in their laps while they were eating. Then, with a
sharp blade of his pocket knife, he began to carve the chicken.
The chicken was very tender, and the rolls were very nice; and as,
moreover, both the travellers were quite hungry, they found the supper
in all respects excellent. For drink, they had the juice of the oranges.
To drink this juice, they cut a round hole in one end of the orange, and
then run the blade of the knife in, in all directions, so as to break up
the pulp. They could then drink out the juice very conveniently.
At the close of the supper they drank the coffee. The coffee was cold,
it is true, but it was very good, and it made an excellent ending to the
meal.
They made the supper last as long as possible, in order to occupy the
time. It was three o'clock before it was finished and the papers cleared
away. At half past three, Rollo, in looking out at the window, saw a
sort of bank by the side of the road; and on observing attentively, he
perceived that there was a curve in the road itself, before them.
"Uncle George," said he, "we have got off the marshes!"
"I verily believe we have," said Mr. George.
"So now we may go to sleep," said Rollo.
"Yes," said Mr. George. "I'll lay my head over into the corner, and you
may lie against my shoulder."
So Mr. George and Rollo placed themselves in as comfortable a position
as possible, and composed themselves to sleep. They slept several hours;
waking up, or, rather, half waking up, once during the interval, while
the diligence stopped for the purpose of changing horses. When they
finally awoke, the sun was up high, and was shining in quite bright
through the coupe windows.