I did not feel the heat more severe than in France, nevertheless, to moderate it as much as possible in the inn bed-chamber, I had my bed made up every night on the table in the large room. I could not find here a single lodging which suited me, for this city is not a good one for strangers to inhabit, and the vermin with which the beds are infested must always be reckoned with. There is a scarcity of fish, and trout and the like are never eaten except when salted and brought from a distance. I remarked that the Grand Duke sent to a certain Milanese, Giovanni Mariano, who was lodging in my inn, a present of wine, fruit, bread, and fish, the last-named being small and kept alive in cool earthen jars. All day long my mouth was parched and dry, with a feeling not of thirst but of internal heat, such as I have felt before during our hot seasons. I ate nothing but fruit, and some salad and sugar. I was indeed far from well. The outdoor diversions, which we in France take after supper, these people take before that meal, which in the longest days is not eaten till night, and in the morning they begin the day between seven and eight o’clock. After dinner the race of the Barbary horses took place, the prize being carried off by the horse belonging to the Cardinal de’ Medicis.[65] Its value was two hundred crowns. The spectacle is not one to give pleasure, as those on the road could see nothing but the rush of the horses. On Sunday I saw the Pitti Palace, where, amongst other things, I remarked the marble statue of a mule, modelled from one still alive, which was executed on account of the long service done by this beast in carrying material for the building of this palace. At least that is what the Latin verses say.[66] In the palace I saw the image of the Chimera, the head of which, with horns and ears; springs from between the shoulders, while the body is like that of a small lion.[67] On the Saturday the Grand Duke’s palace was open in every part to the country-folk, the great hall being filled with parties of dancers, some here and some there. I have a notion that this licence, which they enjoyed on the great feast day of the city, seemed to them a sort of shadow of their lost liberty.