Onward from thence over the plain I went as far as the beach of the Tyrrhenian Sea, getting a sight of Lerici on the right, and on the left of Leghorn, a town with a castle close to the sea and nearer than Lerici. From here I could also see the island of Gorgona, beyond this Capraia,[86] and Corsica beyond all. I turned to the left and followed the shore as far as the mouth of the Arno, which is of ill-fame amongst sailors because the many small streams which fall into it bring down great quantities of earth and mud and form a bar at the mouth. Here I bought some fish, which I despatched as a present to the ladies of the theatre. Along the river are many thickets of tamarisk. On Saturday I bought, for six giulios, a small barrel made of this wood, which I caused to be hooped with silver, paying the silversmith three crowns for the work. Besides this, I spent six giulios on a walking-stick of Indian cane, and eight more on a small vessel and a cup made of Indian nut, which is quite as efficacious against spleen and the gravel as tamarisk. The man who made these wares, an artist of great talent and famous as a maker of fine mathematical instruments, informed me, that all trees, when cut through, show as many rings as they have years, and he gave me demonstration of this from all the different sorts of wood he had in his shop, he being a carpenter. The part of the tree which faces the north is always of closer grain and with circles nearer together than the other parts. Wherefore, he boasts that, whatever specimen of wood may be brought to him, he can always determine how old was the tree from which it was cut, and the aspect towards which it faced.[87] Only a short time ago this city bore an evil name for its unhealthy air, but this is vastly improved since Duke Cosimo has drained the marshes by which it is surrounded. Formerly the place was so unhealthy that when the government wanted to banish any one, and at the same time get rid of him, they always banished him to Pisa, where in a few months the job was done. There are no partridges here, though the Duke has taken great pains to foster them. I received several visits at my lodging from Girolamo Borro,[88] a physician and doctor of philosophy, and when I went to see him on July 14, he made me a present of his book on the flux and reflux of the sea, written in Italian. At the same time he showed me another book he had written in Latin on the diseases of the body.