[59] Virgil, _Georg._, I, 35.--ED.

[60] Colonel Gwyllym Lloyd Wardle was the celebrated exposer of the scandal in 1808-9, when the mistress of the Duke of York was found to be trafficking in Commissions. He had retired from active service in 1802, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Financial reasons obliged him, after 1815, to live on the Continent; he died in Florence, 1833.--ED.

[61] Sir Robert Thomas Wilson (1779-1849), author of _The History of the British Expedition to Egypt_, 1802; a French translation of that work elicited a protest from Napoleon.--ED.

[62] Vanderberg had made a fortune as a contractor to the French army; he is mentioned in Ida Saint Elme's _Memoires d'une contemporaine_ and elsewhere.--ED.

[63] Abbe Sicard (Rooh Ambroise) was director of the Inst.i.tution of Sourds-Muets from 1790 to 1797 and from 1800 to 1822.--ED.

[64] Paul Didier (1758-1816) took part in a Bonapartist conspiracy at Lyons in 1816, raised an insurrection in the Isere and fled to Piedmont, whence he was surrendered to the French authorities, condemned to death and executed at Gren.o.ble.--ED.

[65] The King's brother, afterwards Charles X.--ED.

[66] The N.E. pavilion of the Tuileries.--ED.

CHAPTER VII

Journey from Paris to Lausanne--Besancon--French refugees in Lausanne--Francois Lamarque--General Espina.s.sy--Bordas--Gautier--Michau-- M. de Laharpe--Mlle Michaud--Levade, a Protestant minister--Chambery--Aix-- Details about M. de Boigne's career in India--English Toryism and intolerance--Valley of Maurienne--Pa.s.sage across Mont Cenis and arrival at Suza--Turin.

LAUSANNE, July 8th.

Departing from Paris on the 24th June, 1816, I varied my journey into Switzerland this time, for instead of travelling thro' Lyons or Dole, I took the route of Besangon, Pontarlier, Jougne and Orbe. The country between Dijon and Besancon is a rich and fertile plain. At Besancon the mountainous country begins; it is a strong fortress, and the last considerable town of the French frontier. It lies in a very picturesque situation, being nearly environed by the Doubs, which meanders under its walls, and by very lofty mountains; on the other side of the Doubs stands the citadel, its chief strength. The town of Besangon is exceedingly handsome and well built, and there are several agreeable promenades, two of which I must particularize, viz., the promenade de Chamarre and the garden of the Palace of Granvelle. There are besides several Roman antiquities and the remains of a large amphitheatre. I amused myself very well for a couple of days at Besancon, and met with some agreeable society at the _Hotel de France_ where I lodged. I left Besancon at eight in the morning of the 30th June, and arrived at Pontarlier at six the same evening. Pontarlier is a dreary, melancholy looking place, consisting of a very long street and several offsets of streets, situated in the midst of mountains, eternally covered with snow. Winter reigns here during nine months of the year. At Pontarlier the whole garrison were under arms, when I arrived, to pay the last duties to a most respectable and respected officer, whose death was occasioned by falling into the river, while at the _necessary_, by the under board giving way. This officer had served in almost all the campaigns of Napoleon and had greatly distinguished himself. What a cruel death for a warrior who had been in fifty battles! That death should have shunned him in the field of battle, to make him fall in a manner at once inglorious and ridiculous! yet such is destiny. Pyrrhus fell by a tile flung from a house by an old woman, and I am acquainted with a gallant captain in the British Navy who lost his leg by amputation, having broken it (oh horror!) by a fall from the top of a stage coach.

I left Pontarlier on the 2d July, and arrived at Lausanne the same evening at five o'clock. On my return to Lausanne I had the pleasure to form an acquaintance with several eminent Frenchmen proscribed and banished from France, on account of having voted the death of Louis XVI, as members of the National Convention, which tried him, and for having voted, after the return of Napoleon from Elba, the _Acte additionnel_, which excluded the Bourbons for ever from the throne of France, Among them are, 1st, Monsieur Lamarque, who was one of the commissioners sent by the Convention to arrest Dumouriez, but being seized by him, and delivered over to the Austrians, he pa.s.sed some time in captivity and was at length released, by being exchanged with some others against the d.u.c.h.ess d'Angouleme.[67] He is a very able man and seems to have far more political talent than any of the other _Conventionnels_ who are here. On Napoleon's return from Elba he voted for him, but made strong objections against the formation of a peerage, which he said was perfectly useless in France, and pregnant with mischief to boot, as it would only serve as an _appui_ to despotism. He wrote a pamphlet with some excellent remarks on this, subject. He therein points out the evils of an hereditary Chamber, and of a priviledged aristocracy, who have nothing to expect from the people, but all from the Prince; and in its stead he proposes an additional elective Chamber, something on the plan of the Senate in America, but he decidedly reprobates an hereditary peerage.

The next is General Espina.s.sy, a very good cla.s.sical scholar and a most upright and amiable man.[68] In his vote he was solely influenced by strong but conscienscious republican principles; he resides here with his wife and two sons; he was considered as one of the best engineer officers in France and he opposed the nomination of Napoleon to the Imperial dignity in 1804.

Another, M. Bordas,[69] opposed Napoleon's a.s.sumption of the Consulship on the 18th Brumaire, and was proscribed by him for a short time, but afterwards amnestied and received into favour. He gave his vote for Napoleon on the _Champ de Mai_ in 1815, but accompanied this vote by a bold speech towards Napoleon wherein he found fault with his former despotic practises, and reminded him of the solemnity of his promise to govern in future paternally and nationally, as became the sovereign of a free people.

M. Bordas is a very cheerful, lively, companionable man and tho' seventy years of age, he has an uncommon share of vivacity, with something of the _ci-devant jeune homme_ about him, and He is pleased to be considered still as a man _a bonnes fortunes_.

The next to him is M. Gauthier, who had been a lawyer, and held a considerable post as a magistrate in the time of the Republic and under the Empire.[70] He possesses a good deal of talent, close logical reasoning, and has determined public principle.

The next, M. Michaud, had been also an advocate, and is possessor of considerable property in the department of the Doubs;[71] he is a most rigid unbending republican, something in the style of Verrina in Schiller's _Fiesco_; he opposed the a.s.sumption of the supreme power by Buonaparte on the 18th Brumaire; he voted against the Consulship for life, as well as against the a.s.sumption of the Imperial dignity. He is a very good cla.s.sical scholar. He is a widower and has with him here Mlle Elisa, his only daughter, who follows her father's fortunes. She is a very amiable and accomplished young lady; she has a thorough knowledge of music and of painting in oils, and is cla.s.sically versed in the Italian language. I soon became acquainted with the whole of these ill.u.s.trious exiles, and I find great delight and instruction from their conversation; and this is a great relief to me, for the life one leads in a Swiss town is rather monotonous.

LAUSANNE.

I dine very often with my neighbour the Baron de Falkenskioeld, and at his house I became acquainted with M. de Laharpe, who was preceptor to the present Emperor of Russia. He is a native of this Canton, and has returned here to pa.s.s the remainder of his life. He is married to a very amiable Russian lady, and having acquired a pretty good fortune in Russia, he lives here very happily and comfortably; but notwithstanding this, he is often tempted to visit Paris, Milan and other great cities, and when there, sighs to return to his native mountains.

As the Ultras of France bear a great hatred towards the inhabitants of the Canton de Vaud, on account of the asylum given and sympathy shown to the _proscrits_, they have been at the pains of trumping up and printing a pretended pet.i.tion from the inhabitants of the department of the Doubs, praying that the French Government would endeavor to obtain the removal of these _proscrits_ from the Canton de Vaud, and stating that the said Canton was the _foyer_ of Jacobinical principles, and the place where Napoleon's return from Elba was planned and accelerated, and thro' which the conveyance of intelligence backwards and forwards was conducted. I have no doubt that in this pet.i.tion more is meant than meets the ear; that the Oligarchs of Bern, as well as the Ultras of France, have a share in it, and that it may be considered not so much as an attempt to compel the Canton to refuse asylum to these exiles, as to excite the Great Powers to enforce the abolition of the independence of Vaud, and to replace it under the dominion and authority of the Canton of Bern.

Everybody here, however, sees thro' the drift of this pet.i.tion, and many persons whose names are put down as having signed it, have written to their friends at Lausanne, to declare not only that they never signed such a pet.i.tion, but their entire ignorance even of the agitation of the question till they saw the pet.i.tion itself in print. The French government, however, has not ventured to act any further upon it, than to make a pompous display of the royalist zeal and _bon esprit_ that pervades the Department of the Doubs.

I see a good deal of Mlle Michaud. I find her conversation extremely agreeable. She had lent to me an Italian work by Verri ent.i.tled _Le notti Romane al sepolcro di Stipione_. She is a very rigid Catholic, having been educated by a priest of very strict ideas. Her devotion however does not render her less cheerful or less amiable. She having expressed a wish to hear the Protestant church service, I offered to accompany her and we went together one Sunday to the Cathedral Church at Lausanne. But it unfortunately happened that on that day a sermon was preached which must have given a great deal of pain to her filial feelings. Mr Levade, the minister, took it into his head to give a political sermon, in which, after a great deal of commonplace abuse of Voltaire, Rousseau and the French Revolution, and very fulsome adulation towards the English government (a subject which was brought in by the head and shoulders), of that _island_ (as he termed it) _surrounded by the Ocean_, he lavished a great deal of still more fulsome adulation on the Bourbons; and then most wantonly and unnecessarily began a furious declamation against the _regicides_ as he termed them, who had taken refuge in the Canton, and intimated pretty plainly how pleasing it would be to G.o.d Almighty that they should be expelled from it. This intolerant discourse, more worthy of a raving Jesuit than of a Protestant minister, was deservedly scouted by the inhabitants of Lausanne; but this did not hinder poor Mlle Michaud from being much affected at the opprobrious tirade directed against a set of men, among whom her father bore a conspicuous part, and who acted from patriotic motives. I must not omit to state that in this discourse M. Levade interwove some hyperbolical compliments towards the young Prince of Sweden, who attended the service that morning. He told him that the eyes of all Europe were fixed upon him, and that Providence had him under his especial care.

Now the following is the character of M. Levade.[72] He is a time-serving, meddling priest, and a most flagrant adulator of the powers that be. He thinks that by declaiming against the French Revolution, and against Voltaire and Rousseau, that he will get into favor with the great people who pa.s.s thro' Lausanne, with the French and English Government adherents, and with the great Tory families of England. No considerable personage ever pa.s.ses through Lausanne, but Mr Levade is the first to make him a visit; and no rich or n.o.ble English family arrives with whom he does not ingratiate himself, and he is not sparing of his adulations. This mode of procedure has been a very profitable concern to him, as he has received a vast number of presents, and several valuable legacies, besides securing a number of pupils among the English families, that come or that have been here. He is in short a thorough parasite and time server, in every sense of the word. This adulation of the Bourbon family in his sermon, besides the meanness of it, was highly misplaced, coming from the mouth of a Protestant minister, and somebody exclaimed on leaving the Church: "_Que doit-on penser d'un ministre protestant du Canton de Vaud, qui prodigue des louanges a une famille qui a ete l'ennemie acharnee de l'Elise reformee, et qui a persecute les protestants d'une maniere si atroce?_" But Mr Levade (tho' to the honor of the clergymen of the Canton de Vaud he is singular among _them_), yet he has many persons who perfectly resemble him among the members of the Church of England, and who are as eager to support despotism and to crush liberty as any disciple of Loyola or any Janissary of the Grand Signor. The other Protestant ministers of this Canton were highly indignant at this sermon; in fact, it was the first time in this city that the House of G.o.d had been profaned by the introduction of political subjects into a religious discourse. This sermon was the common topic of conversation for many days after.

CHAMBeRY, 2d August.

I left Lausanne for Geneva on 28 July. I stopped at Nyon to pay a visit to Mme Duthon, with whom I became acquainted at Paris. I dined with her and pa.s.sed a most agreeable day. Her talents are of the first order, and she is as great an enthusiast for the German language and litterature as myself, besides being well versed in Italian. She had a female relation with her.

We took a boat after dinner to navigate the lake, and we visited the Chateau and domains of Joseph Napoleon. The next day I proceeded to Geneva.

I determined on making the journey into Italy this time by Mont-Cenis, and to make it on foot as far as the foot of Mont-Cenis on the Italian side, intending to profit of the opportunity of the first conveyance I should meet with at Suza to proceed to Turin. I accordingly forwarded my portmanteau to Turin to the care of a banker there, and sallied forth from Geneva at six o'clock on the morning of 1st August.

I stopped to dine at Frangy and reached Romilly at seven in the evening.

There is nothing worthy of remark at Romilly. The next morning I stopped at Aix to breakfast, and visited the bath establishment. The scenery is picturesque on this route, and the whole road from Aix to Chambery is aligned with remarkably fine large trees. At three in the afternoon I arrived at Chambery, the capital of Savoy. It is a large handsome city, situated in a fruitful valley, with a great many gardens and orchards surrounding it. There is a strong garrison here. Among the many _maisons de plaisance_ in the environs of this city, the most distinguishable is the villa of General De Boigne, who has pa.s.sed the greatest part of his life in India, in the service of Scindiah, one of the Mahratta chiefs;[73] and it was by De Boigne's a.s.sistance that Scindiah, from being a petty chief, with not more than three or four hundred horse, became the founder of a powerful kingdom, comprized chiefly of the provinces of the Ganges and Jumna, torn from the Mogol Empire, whose Sovereign fell into the hands of Scindiah.

Scindiah caused the Mogol Emperor's eyes to be put out, and kept him as a state prisoner in Delhi, till the year 1805, when on the Mahrattas engaging in war with the English, Scindiah was defeated by Lake and lost the greater part of his conquests. De Boigne had quitted India in 1796, long before this rupture took place, and at that time Scindiah had a fine regular army of thirty battalions of 1,000 men, each disciplined, armed and equipped in the European manner. He had likewise sixty squadrons of regular cavalry and a formidable train of artillery. At Chambery I met with two French _voyageurs de commerce_, who with that positiveness, which is often the national characteristic, insisted that De Boigne owed his riches and fortune to his treachery, in having betrayed and sold Tippoo Saib to the English, when he was in Tippoo's service; and I find this is the current report all over Savoy.

Now it is an accusation totally devoid of foundation, as I shall presently show; and I took this opportunity of vindicating the reputation of De Boigne, by simply stating that De Boigne could never have betrayd Tippoo, since he was never in his service; 2dly, that he had, when in the service of Scindiah, fought against Tippoo, when the Mahrattas coalesced with the English against that Prince in 1792; and that had it not been for the a.s.sistance given by the Mahrattas to the English (a most impolitic coalition on the part of the Mahrattas, as it turned out afterwards), Tippoo would not have been compelled to conclude so humiliating a treaty of peace; 3dly, that De Boigne had quitted India in 1796, three years before the second war and death of Tippoo in 1799. I stated, too, that I was perfectly well acquainted with these particulars of De Boigne's career, from having served six years in India, and from having been personally acquainted with a gentleman of the name of Lucius Ferdinand Smith, who was the ultimate friend of De Boigne and his lieutenant general in the service of Scindiah; I added that I could not conceive how so unjust and unfounded an aspersion on De Boigne's character could find currency.

I hope that what I said will be effectual towards doing away this injurious report; but very probably it will not, for when the vulgar once imbibe an opinion, it is difficult to eradicate it from their minds, and they are not at all obliged to the person who endeavors to undeceive them, so that General De Boigne's treachery and sale of Tippoo to the English will be handed down to posterity among the Savoyards, as a fact of which it will be as little permitted to doubt as of the treachery of Judas.

CHAMBeRY, August 3d.

At the _table d'hote_ this day I nearly lost all patience on hearing an elderly English gentleman extolling the English Ministry to the skies, and abusing the army of the Loire, calling them rebels and traitors. I stood up in defence of these gallant men, and stated that the French Army in the time of the Republic and of the Empire were the most const.i.tutional of all the European armies, since they were taken from and identified with the people; and that it was this brotherly feeling for their fellow citizens that induced them to join the standards of Napoleon, on his return from Elba; that they only followed the voice of the nation; that all France was indignant at the tergiversation and breach of faith on the part of the restored Government, in a variety of instances; and that, had Napoleon and the army been out of the question, the Bourbons would not have failed to be upset, from the indignation their measures had excited among the people. He then said that the Army of the Loire was a most dangerous body of men, and that that was the reason why the Allies insisted on their being disbanded.

I replied that this was the highest compliment he could pay them, and the greatest feather in their cap, since it went to prove, that as long as this Army was in existence, neither the crowned despots, nor the Ultras thought themselves safe; and that they could not venture to pursue their anti-national projects, which were all directed towards depriving the French people of all they had gained by the Revolution and bringing them back to the _blessings_ of the ancient _regime_. He could say nothing in reply, but that he feared I had Jacobin principles, to which I made rejoinder: "If these be Jacobin principles, I glory in them." Some Sardinian officers, who were present, seemed to enjoy my argument, tho'

they said nothing; and one took me aside, when we quitted the table, and said he rejoiced to see me take the old man in hand, as he disgusted them every day by his tirades against the liberal party, and by his fulsome adulations of the British Government. The old gentleman held forth likewise in a long speech respecting the finances of England, in praise of the sinking fund, and when it was suggested to him that England from the immense national debt must one day become bankrupt: "_Non, Monsieur_," (he said),"_la Caisse d'Amortiss.e.m.e.nt empechera cela_." In fine, the _Caisse d'Amortiss.e.m.e.nt_ was to work miracles. I replied that the principle of the _Caisse d'Amortiss.e.m.e.nt_ was good, provided a constant and consistent economy were practised; but that at present and during the whole time from its establishment, it had been a mockery on the understanding of the Nation, when we reflected on the profligate expenditure of public money, occasioned by the ruinous, unjust and liberticide wars, which were entered into and fomented by the British Government. Indeed, I said it was like the conduct of a man who possessing an income of 200 per annum, should set apart, in a box as a _Caisse d'epargne_, 20 annually, and at the same time continue a style of living, the annual expence of which would so far exceed his income, as to oblige him to borrow 7 or 800 every year. The old gentleman was all amort at this comparison, which must be obvious to every one. Nothing shows in a more glaring light the blind and superst.i.tious reverence paid to great names; for because this sinking fund was proposed by Pitt, all his adherents extol it to the skies, without a.n.a.lysing it, and give him besides the credit of an invention to which he had no right whatever.

ST JEAN DE MAURIENNE.

I started from Chambery on the morning of the fourth of August, and stopped at Montmelian to breakfast. Here begins the valley of Maurienne, and as this valley, along which the road is cut, is extremely narrow, being hemmed in on each side by the High Alps, Montmelian, which stands on an eminence in the centre of the valley (the road running thro' the town), must be a post of the utmost importance towards the defence of this pa.s.s. It was a fortified place of great consideration in the former wars, and if the fortifications were repaired and improved, it might be made almost impregnable, as it would enfilade the road on each side. From the above-mentioned features of the ground, the valley narrowing more and more as you proceed, from the high mountains that align it and from its sinuosities, it follows that at every angle or curve caused by these sinuosities, you appear as if you were shut out from all the rest of the world and could proceed no further. The river Isere runs thro' and parallel with this valley. It rises in the mountains of Savoy and falls into the Rhone in Dauphine. I pa.s.sed the night at Aiguebelle.

From Aiguebelle to St Jean de Maurienne is twelve leagues, and I found myself so tired with walking, and my legs from being swelled gave me so much pain, that I determined to give up the _gloriole_ of making the whole journey on foot as I intended and to remain here for two days to repose and then profit by the first conveyance that might pa.s.s to conduct me to Turin.

From Aiguebelle the valley becomes still more narrow, and there is a continual ascent, tho' it is so gentle as scarcely to be perceptible. Every spot of ground in this valley, which will admit of cultivation, is put to profit by the industry of the inhabitants. Here one sees beans, indian corn, and even wines; for the heat is very great indeed in summer and autumn, owing to the rays of the sun being concentrated, as it were, into a focus, in this narrow valley, and were the bed of the Isere to be deepened, or were it less liable to overflow, from the melting of the snow in spring and summer, much land, which is now a marsh, might be applied to agricultural purposes. The inhabitants of this valley regret very much the separation of Savoy from France, as during the time that Duchy was annexed to the French Empire, each peasant possessing an a.s.s could earn three franks per diem in transporting merchandise across Mont-Cenis. St Jean de Maurienne is a neat little town. I put up at the same inn, and slept in the same bedroom which was occupied by poor Didier who was put to death at Gren.o.ble for having raised the standard of liberty. He was surprized here in bed by the _Carabiniere Reali_ of the Sardinian government, those satellites of despotism; and according to the barbarous principles laid down by the crowned heads, delivered over to the French authorities. I observed a great many _cretins_ in this valley.

SUZA, 10th August.

On the morning of the 8th August two _vetturini_ pa.s.sed by the inn at St Jean de Maurienne, and I engaged a place in one of them, as far as Turin.

We arrived at the village of Modena in the evening. The landscape is much the same as what we have hitherto pa.s.sed, but the climate is considerably colder, from the land being more elevated. Hitherto I had suffered much inconvenience from the heat. The next morning we reached Lans-le-Bourg, the last town of Savoy lying at the foot of Mount Cenis.

After breakfast we began the ascent of Mont Cenis, and I made the whole way from Lans-le-Bourg to the _Hospice_ of Mont Cenis, that is, the whole ascent, a distance of twenty-five Italian miles, on foot. This _chaussee_ is another wonderful piece of work of Napoleon; a broad carriage road, wide enough for three carriages to go abreast, and cut zig-zag with so gentle a slope as to allow a heavy French diligence to pa.s.s, with the utmost ease, across a mountain where it was formerly thought impossible a wheel could ever run. This _chaussee_ is pa.s.sable at all seasons of the year; the mountain is not so high as that of the Simplon and is less liable to impediments from the snow; the obstacles from nature are less, and you can descend in a sledge from the _Hospice_ by gliding down the side of the cone, and thus descending in nine or ten minutes, whereas the ascent requires four hours' time. From Lans-le-Bourg to the _Hospice_ on Mont-Cenis the road is on the flank of an immense mountain and you have no ravines to cross; the road is cut zig-zag on the flank of the mountain and forms a considerable number of very acute angles, as it is made with so gentle a slope that you scarcely feel the difficulty of the ascent. These repeated zig-zags and acute angles formed by the road, and the very slight slope given to the ascent, make the different branches appear to be almost parallel to each other, and it is a very curious and novel sight when a number of carriages are travelling together on this road to see them with their horses' heads turned different ways, yet all following the same course, just like ships on different tacks beating against the wind to arrive at the same port, a comparison that could not fail immediately to occur to a sailor. There is scarcely ever any detention on this road from the fall of snow, as there are a considerable number of persons employed to _deblay_ it as soon as it falls; but here, as well as on the Simplon, there are _maisons de refuge_ at a short distance from each other. We stopped for two hours at the inn at Mont-Cenis, which is about one hundred yards from the _Hospice_. It was a remarkable fine day, and I enjoyed my walk very much. The mountain air was keen and bracing and particularly delightful after being shut up for some many days in the close valley. We had some excellent trout for dinner. At Mont-Cenis, near the _Hospice_, is a large lake which is frozen during eight months of the year. Here reigns eternal winter and the mountains are covered with snows that never melt. From Mont-Cenis to Suza the descent is very grand and striking, and the scenery resembles that of the Simplon; there are more obstacles of nature than on the former part of the road, and here ravines are connected by the means of bridges, and there are subterraneous galleries to pa.s.s thro. Several _chutes d'eau_ are here observable; one of them I cannot avoid mentioning, as being very magnificent. It is formed by the Cenischia[74] which divides Savoy from Piedmont and runs into the Dora at Suza. We were highly gratified at the sight of the sublime scenery on all sides, and at the magnificent _chaussee_, and we all (I mean the pa.s.sengers in the two coaches and myself) did hommage to the mighty genius who conceived and caused to be executed such a stupendous work. We arrived at Suza at six o'clock p.m.

TURIN, 18th August.

Suza is a tolerably large town and has a neat appearance. It is commanded and defended by the fort of Brunetti, now dismantled, but which is to be repaired according to the treaty of 1815. It will then be a very important post and completely barr the pa.s.s of Suza. The road from Suza to Rivoli is thro' a valley widening at every step; at Rivoli you _debouche_ at once from the gorge of the mountain into a boundless plain. The road is then on a magnificent _chaussee_ the whole way to Turin, and every vegetable production announces a change of climate to those coming from Savoy. Here are fields of wheat, indian corn, mulberry and elm trees and vines hung in festoons from tree to tree, which give a most picturesque appearance to the landscape, and, together with the country houses, serve as a relief to the boundless plain. The _chaussee_ is lined with trees on each side the whole way from Rivoli to Turin; I observed among carriages of all sorts small cars, like those used by children, drawn by dogs. These cars contain one person each. They are frequent in this part of the country, and such a conveyance is called a _cagnolino_. The Convent of St Michael, situated on an immense height to the right of the road between Suza and Rivoli, is a very striking object. The mountain forms a single cone and it appears impossible to reach the summit except on the back of a Hippogriff:

E ben appar che d'animal ch'abbia ale Sia questa stanza nido o tana propria.[75]

The castle seemed the very neat and lair Of animal, supplied with plume and quill.