Itinerary of Provence and the Rhone: Made During the Year 1819Hughes, John
History
Itinerary of Provence and the Rhone: Made During the Year 1819
Hughes, John
Provence (France) -- Description and travel; Rhône River (Switzerland and France)
A detachment of the celebrated Thibet goats, who are to make the fortune
of the French shawl-manufacturers, is now in harbour, and others are
performing quarantine at Marseilles. The specimen of their fleece which
was shown us, resembles the coat of the musk ox. The wool of which the
shawls are made grows at the roots of the longer hair, and is of a warm
and delicately fine texture; a circumstance which should seem to prove
these animals natives of the cold and mountainous districts of Thibet,
and capable by dint of British skill and enterprise, of being
naturalized in our own country.
CHAP. XII.
FREJUS--CANNES--ISLE OF ST. MARGUERITE--ANTIBES.
MAY 27.--From Toulon to Puget les Crottes, 23 miles. On passing the
small town of La Valette, from which the road to Hieres diverges, the
mountain barrier under which Toulon is situated ends abruptly in a
precipice, fortified by a strong redoubt. From this spot a detachment of
the combined forces were driven by the republicans, who scaled the rock
during the night at the most imminent risk; and the evacuation of Toulon
was the ultimate consequence of this daring coup de main, in which
Buonaparte is said to have first distinguished himself. After passing
this point, and leaving on the right the distant hills of Hieres, no
remarkable feature presents itself. The country is chiefly an extensive
olive forest, varied by a few vineyards, and enlivened by hedges of
pomegranate, and Spanish broom. We found Puget les Crottes but a bad
exchange for the fountains, and clean airy streets of Toulon: and it
better deserves the name of Puget le Crotte, by which it is laid down by
some mistake in some maps. The inn was perfectly worthy of the place; a
frowzy kennel of bustling Yahoos, totally deficient in that readiness
and attention which can put a reasonable traveller in good humour with
the worst accommodations. Our servant fought his way to the kitchen fire
to execute our orders; finding them neither attended to by the old dame
who presided in the kitchen, of whom Gil Blas's Leonarda was a faint
type, nor by the maid who screamed rejoinders at the top of the stairs,
to the ravings of her mistress at the bottom, in a tone that deafened
us. The arrival of the Draguignan diligence, which we had passed on the
road, heavily laden with money and passengers, and travelling at a foot
pace, escorted like a condemned cart by two gens d'armes, accounted for
this mighty sensation. We were glad enough to escape from the din of
tongues and the steams of garlic, and resume our road, which did not
offer any variety, till we had nearly reached La Luc, 17 miles from
Puget, whose situation and red sandy soil reminded us of a Herefordshire
glen. The junction of two main roads has created a tolerable inn at this
small place, which may with safety be recommended to persons on an
abstemious regimen, and to none else.
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