On this same day, twenty-one Turkish slaves escaped from the arsenal near my house and fled the place, having taken possession of a bark, with full equipment, which the Signor Alessandro di Piombini had left there while he went fishing. Except the Arno itself, and the navigable channel so admirably contrived, and the churches and ancient buildings and others of particular merit, there is little in Pisa that is distinguished or worth seeing. The place is like a desert, and in this respect, and in the fashion of the buildings, and in its size, and in the wideness of the streets, it strongly resembles Pistoia. Its chief disadvantage is its bad water, which has everywhere a marshy smell. These people are very poor, but at the same time very arrogant and unfriendly, and discourteous towards strangers, and towards the French especially since the death of their late bishop, Pietro Paulo Borbonio, who claimed kinship with our royal house.[89] Certain of his relations still reside here. This prelate was so liberal and so well disposed to our nation that he made it a rule to entertain in his palace at once any Frenchman who might arrive in Pisa. To the Pisans he has left an honoured memory of his righteous life and bounty. He died only five or six years ago. On July 17th, I joined with twenty-five others, at a crown each, in a raffle for some things belonging to Fargnocola, one of the aforenamed players. We began by drawing lots as to who should play first, second, and so on; and then made the rule that, as there were several lots of things to play for, they should be divided into two equal parts. One of these was to fall to the player who threw highest, the other to the lowest throw. It chanced that I threw second highest. On the 18th, at the church of S. Francesco, a grave tumult arose between the priests of the cathedral and the friars. On the previous day a Pisan gentleman was brought to be buried in the cathedral, whereupon the priests got ready all their paraphernalia for the funeral office, asserting their ancient right and privilege. But the friars on their part declared that they and no others had the right to say mass in their church. One of the priests attempted to get possession of the table, having gone up to the high altar, but a friar forced him away, whereupon the vicar, the head of the priests of this church, gave the friar a buffet. Then arose a hand-to-hand fight, fists, bludgeons, candlesticks, and tapers being used freely, and the upshot was that no mass was said by either party. This outbreak of rage and riot caused a great scandal. As soon as I heard the report thereof, I went to the cathedral, where I received true report of what had happened.