TALBOT1093

Nice
June 24. 1823

I have received your & Caroline’s letter ¹ describing the misadventures of Resina,² which were more serious than I had imagined, & I am glad it did not come till after the other telling me of your prosperous visit to Pæstum. As for me I have met with no misfortunes of any sort to tell you in return.

Angioj ³ told me he had been very ill when first he went to Genoa, and had been cheto come un frate ⁴ – I went on the top of the lighthouse of Genoa on a fine evening, & the view is truly magnificent; the land extends round threefourths of a circle, & the city is all spread out before you – I think there is considerable resemblance between Genoa & Naples; the palm of beauty must be given to the latter, on account of its accompaniments which Genoa wants, as Vesuvius & the point of Sorrento. I drove along the shore to Savona in the evening, & next morning early set off for Ceva in the interior – The country is hilly but not mountainous, which surprized me as I had always imagined that the chain of the Col de Tende extended without interruption behind the Genoese territory [illegible deletion] with a greater or less elevation – However that is not the case and a hilly uninteresting stage of ten hours brought me to Ceva – Three hours more took me to Mondovi, where I arrived some time after dark. In the morning I was surprized & delighted to find myself on the top of a hill, looking down on the plain, with the mountains of Tende on the left, in front the Monte Viso towering over all the rest, and to the right the interminable chain of the Alps as far as M^t Rosa which is near Varese. From Mondovi to Coni is a lovely drive of 3 hours & half, with every variety of rural beauty – At six o’clock in the Evening I was on the summit of the Col de Tende, which was covered with the richest profusion of Alpine flowers, different from those of Switzerland – I found one in particular that is very remarkable, the Fritillaria latifolia, something like a great yellow Tulip with drooping flowers; of which my books say the native country is unknown, which you see I have discovered to be the Col de Tende. I mean not to stay long at Turin but to make haste & join you at Milan – I suppose one of your first visits will be to the Cathedral. There is from the top a noble view of the Alps; among others M^t Viso is very distinct, you likewise see the M^t Blanc, the Jungfrau, and the Ortler in Tyrol – What a range.

Your aff^te Son
W.H.F. Talbot

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Miladi
Miladi Feilding
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Milan