200 
J. E. Smith to his Mother. 
Honoured Madam, Pisa, Jan. 22, 1787. 
We staid at Genoa till the 18th instant, being 
very highly entertained with the fine buildings, pic- 
tures, &c. of that superb city, and extremely pleased 
with the perfect ease and familiarity with which we 
were received by the Durazzo family, who all seemed 
to strive to amuse and make us welcome. We found 
their attention of great use to us in procuring us 
that of everybody else; for the Genoese are rather 
stately: but this family having undertaken to in- 
troduce science into the country, and particularly 
natural history, found some amusement themselves 
in our company. I must postpone my descriptions 
of Genoa to our future conversations, which I often 
think of. I rejoice that I have been there on many 
accounts, independent of the pleasure I received at 
the time. | 
The road towards Pisa being very mountainous, 
my companion preferred the sea; so he had a very 
pleasant voyage to Sestri, thirty miles, where he 
landed to sleep the first night, and where I met him 
the same evening after a rather perilous ride on 
horseback; however, I dared not ride down the hills, 
but got off to walk whenever I saw danger. The 
road beyond Sestri being so extremely mountainous 
and bad, that everybody told me I could not go 
without great danger, I was induced (notwithstand- 
ing my promise, which I hope you and my father 
will pardon) to go by sea. We could not leave 
