Notes of a Wanderer, in search of Health, through Italy, Egypt, Greece, Turkey, up the Danube, and down the Rhine

Front matter

NOTES OF A WANDERER VOL. I ft NOTES OF A WANDERER, IN SEARCH OF HEALTH, THROUGH ITALY, EGYPT, GREECE, TURKEY, UP THE DANUBE, AND DOWN THE RHINE. uv W. F. CUMMING, M.D. LATE BENGAL MEDICAL ESTABLISHMENT; MEMBER OP THE BOYAL PHYSICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH ; ASSOCIATE MEMBER OF THE EGYPTIAN SOCIETY OF CAIRO ; AND CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF ATHENS. " O beau Sanitas, te present! ainœnum Ver floret gratiis — absque te nemo bcatus IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON, SAUNDERS AND OTLEY, CONDUIT STREET . BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH. 1839. PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., OLD FISHMARKET, EDINBURGH ro Sir WILLIAM G. G. CUMMING, Bart., of Altyre and Gordonston, fye. My Dear Sir William, As the Chief of my Clan, — the guardian of my youth, and the staunch friend of my manhood, I dedicate to you this Volume of my Diary.

Accept it as a proof, however inadequate, of the sincere feelings of friendship and regard, with which I always am, My Dear Sir William, Your obliged and affectionate Cousin, W. F. CUMMING. Edinburgh, February 1839.

Preface

. In submitting the following pages to the public, I feel that ah apology is due for a work of so per sonal a character, and which contains more of the speculations of the Author than may consist with good taste, or the modesty of his pretensions ; but a Diary is essentially personal, and my only hope is, that the fidelity of the narrative may redeem its egotism. The importance of Egypt, as a new state growing up on the confines of Asia and Africa, and the influence it seems destined to exercise on the political relations of Europe, have been discussed by the abler pens of previous travellers ; but I am not aware that sufficient importance has heretofore been attached to Egypt as a resort for the Invalid. This deficiency I would now endeavour to supply.

PREFACE.

VIII and I trust a service may be rendered to many by pointing out a climate like that of Upper Egypt, where the atmosphere is eminently pure, and dry, and exhilarating. - From the circumstances under which these Notes were written, they are necessarily of a discursive and famdiar character, touching but slightly, and on the surface of things. Hence, although treating of Italy, and Egypt, and Greece, it is not to the Scholar, or the Antiquary, I address myself, — to them my pages will afford little instruction ; but I would hope they may not be altogether devoid of interest to the invalid, and to those general readers who prefer the traveller's own impressions, and sketches carelessly hit off amid the scenes de scribed, to elaborate disquisitions on politics, poetry, or pyramids. The tour, of which the following is a diary, was undertaken chiefly with a view to health. Having suffered severely from inflammatory attacks of the chest, during the winter 1835-45, in Paris, I was

PREFACE.

. IX induced, at the recommendation of my friend Sir R. Chermside (the most distinguished English Physi cian in Paris), to consult Mons. Andral, whose repu tation for a superior knowledge of thoraoic diseases is well known throughout Europe. After a minute inquiry into the history and symptoms of my case, and a careful examination of my chest with the stethoscope, he wrote the following opinion and advice. Monsieur chez lequel je me suis rendu en consultation fl y a peu de jours, presente les signes d'un emphyseme pulmonaire. II ne m'est pas de montre qu'il ait des tubercules ; plusieurs circon stances toutefois doivent faire craindre le developpe ment ulterieur de ceux-ci. Je conseille les moyens suivans : 1°. Frictions assez longtemps continuees au des sous des clavicules avec la pommade stibie. 2°.

Usage habituel du Datura Stramonium, dont Mons. fumera les feuilles comme celles du tabac. 3°. Vers la fin du mois du Mai, Mons. se rendra a Bonnes (dans les Pyrenees) dont il boira les eaux pendant six semaines. II se rendra ensuite a Cau- X

PREFACE.

. teret, dont il boira aussi les eaux ; il prendra spe cialement celles de la source de la Railliere, et il les coupera d'abord avec du lait. 4°. Vers la fin de l'ete, Mons. se dirigera dans l'ltalie, et y passera tout Thi ver. 5°. Mons. suivra constamment un regime doux, et il evitera avec le plus grand soin 1'influence du froid, de l'humidite, de toutes les variations brusques de temperature. Andral. 2 A ml 1836. In accordance with the above advice, I quitted Paris towards the end of May 1836 ; but instead of resorting to the Pyrenees, as recommended by An dral, I accepted the pressing and oft repeated invi tation of my old and intimate friend Mr Callander of Craigforth, to join him on a summer tour through Italy — believing that easy travelling and the society of an agreeable companion, would do more to recruit my health than the mineral waters of Bonnes. In this hope I was not disappointed. Various circumstances detailed in the text, de termined my course to Egypt for the succeeding

PREFACE.

. XI winter. My own experience, and the observation of others, convinced me that Italy, in point of climate, was not the El Dorado which in England it is generally considered. Added to this conviction was a secret longing that had for years possessed me, to visit the land of the Pharaohs. To Egypt, then, I bent my steps ; and, with what happy re sults, the reader who has the patience to follow my wanderings will discover. My subsequent travels through Greece and Turkey, and voyage up the Danube, were undertaken less with a view to health, than to gratify a certain wandering propensity, which, as my readers will perceive from various allusions, has led me into many regions not men tioned in the title-page. Should the following pages induce the pulmonary Invalid to make trial of Egypt, I think he will not be disappointed : but there are two things I would strongly impress on him, viz. — to go in time, and never to forget, that in no climate can he safely dispense with prudence. CONTENTS.

PART I. FRANCE, ITALY, AND SWITZERLAND. May— October, 1836

Steam-boat from Paris to Meluu, (May 28. 1836) ; Diligence to Fontainebleau ; Coucu to Montereau, and to Aux crre. — Dijon, (June 1.) ; Chalons ; steamer on the Soane. — Lyons ; Hotel Dieu ; Sisters of Charity. — Voyage down the Rhone ; Avignon ; Fete Dieu. — Journey to Marseilles ; its harbour ; Hotel Beauveau, .... 1-21 Embark in the Pharamond Steamer for Naples (June 13.). — Touch at Genoa ; beauty of the city. — Leghorn ; excursion to Pisa ; its " leaning tower ;" Civita Vecchia. — Arrive at Naples, 22-29 Naples (June 17.). — Beauty of the Bay ; Hotel Crocelli ; Museum ; visit to Herculaneum, and to Pompeii ; ascent of Vesuvius ; Castel-a-Mare ; the Chiaja ; lazaroni, 30-48 Rome (June 29.). — The Pontine Marshes. — Hotel de l'Europe. — Macdonald the sculptor. — St Peter's ; high mass ; illuminations. — Castle of St Angelo. — Borghese Palace. — Thovwaldsen. — The Santa Scala. — The Coliseum. — Dean CONTENTS. of Killaloe and Cardinal Weld. — Campo doglio. — Capu chin Friars. — Church of St Augustine. — Fishing in the Tiber 49-72 Florence (July 12.). — Falls of Terni.— Vale of the Arno. — Venus de Medicis. — Pitti Palace. — Caoino. — Royal Mu seum. — Pietro Duro manufactory. — Corsini Gallery, 73-82 Journey to Bologna. — Ferrara. — Ferry-boat of the Po. — Padua. — Fusina. — Passage in a gondola to Venice, 83-87 Venice (July 23.). — The canals. — Piazzo of St Mark. — Armenian Monastery Hospital for the Sick. — Palace of the Doge ; its dungeons ; the Bridge of Sighs. — The Rialto, ..... 88-100 Journey by Trevisa, Bassano, and Botzen, to Munich. — Royal Palace. — The Glyptothec ; the English garden. — Fishing in the Iser, 101-110 Lake of Constance. — Schaffhausen; the Falls of the Rhine. — Zurich ; Arau ; Soleure. — Top of the Weissenstein Mountain (Aug. 24.); excellent Inn there. — Journey to In terlaken, ..... 111-119 Interlaken (Aug. 31.). — The Yungfrau. — Alpine Pass. — Grindelwald (Sep. 2.) ; Glaciers and Mer de Glace ; ascent of the Faulhorn ; Inn on the top Snow storm (Sep. 5.). — Valley of Rozeulaue. — Reichenbach. — Journey to Fribourg ; its vast suspension-bridge ; its cathedral. — Lausanne. — Meeting with M. Espinasse of Edinburgh ; steamer to Geneva, ..... 120-147 Geneva (Sep. 23.). — Voltaire's retreat of Ferney. — Hotel de Bergues. — The author mistaken for the writer of Cyril Thornton. — Chapel of M. Malan, . . . 148-165 CONTENTS.

XV Rapid Journey toward Marseilles. — Belgarde. — Lyons. (Sep. 30.). — Sail down the Rhone. — Avignon; visit to the Fountain of Vaucleuse, .... 156-166 Marseilles (Oct. 4.). — Cerde des Phoceens reading-room. — Deluge of rain. — Embark (Oct 16.) in the brig Eugenie et Amelie for Alexandria, .... 167-171 Voyage up the Mediterranean. — A calm at Sea (Oct. 20.). — Meeting with the American Squadron. — A gale (Oct. 26.). — Capture of a dolphin and pilot fish. — Arrival at the harbour of Alexandria (Oct. 30.), . . . 172-190