. Pictures in Tyrol and elsewhere . untered any great waggons on theroad, or other cart or carriage, there must have been ahorrible smash, and the big diligence would have fallenon top of us ! It was certainly a mad gallop, down hillon such a road, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, butit was a wonderful sight to see! The way our cockerturned the corners, thundering down the slopes, onewheel almost on its side as we edged round a sharp rock,the carriage swaying as though it must topple over, thewheels spinning over the stones and the great whipcracking and whistling to the echoes, the thud
. Pictures in Tyrol and elsewhere . untered any great waggons on theroad, or other cart or carriage, there must have been ahorrible smash, and the big diligence would have fallenon top of us ! It was certainly a mad gallop, down hillon such a road, at the rate of fifteen miles an hour, butit was a wonderful sight to see! The way our cockerturned the corners, thundering down the slopes, onewheel almost on its side as we edged round a sharp rock,the carriage swaying as though it must topple over, thewheels spinning over the stones and the great whipcracking and whistling to the echoes, the thud thud ofthe pursuing feet, the wind that blew against us, thedanger that gave an edge to our enjoyment, the terrorof what was coming, and the pleasure in our success,made that half-hour on the Corniche a bit of travel-ling experience not soon to be forgotten! It is an un-certain way of seeing the shores of the Mediterranean,but that race was to us a combination of delights onedoes not often secure in this matter-of-fact world, and I. / 0t> }U T0S(J a.«~.aln ; A TALE OF THE ROAD. 299 only hope the travellers in the diligence enjoyed it asheartily. Of the feelings of their driver we know nothing,as of course we won in a canter when we once reachedthe level, and dashing through the little town of Lanona,where his stage ended, we left our rivals far behind. I must not linger to describe one midday halt, and thequeer cookery that accompanied it, or our more steady-going progress during the afternoon, towards Savona withits pleasant hotel and flowery garden, and the broad quayswhere vessels are filling and unloading all day long, andpiles of lemons, bags of corn, and crates of bottles andearthenware crowd the pavement; of the moon, very faintand young as yet, that shone upon the sea; of our driveto Pegli through a southern land of rich cultivation,vines and chestnuts, lemon and orange orchards, and othergreen things pleasant to the eyes and good for food; ofthe blind beggars who a
Size: 1044px × 2394px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, bookpublisherlondonlongmansgree
