xviii 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF 



avail are your gorgeous palaces, your cookery and 

 fruits, whilst your temples to the goddess Cloacina 

 are worse than common pigstyes. 



At Kimini, now celebrated for its miraculous 

 picture of the blessed Virgin, we could see the 

 larger and the smaller species of bats, on wing as 

 the night set in. Here again, large turkeys and 

 common fowls were most numerous. The horses 

 are no great things : but there are potent mules 

 and asses. Some of the carts cut a droll appear- 

 ance, by having three beasts abreast, closely allied 

 to each other, but not forming one distinct family. 

 Thus, you would see a horse harnessed on one 

 side, and an ass on the other, whilst the middle 

 place was occupied by the mule, their strong and 

 stubborn half brother. The oxen are nearly all 

 one color. They are docile, large and beautiful. 

 Animals, "sine fraude dolisque." Huge fat red 

 pigs, some of them with white faces, might be seen, 

 well packed in curiously formed carts. Judging 

 by their plump appearance, and likewise by this 

 particular kind of conveyance, I suspected, that 

 this was their last journey, and the last day they 

 had to live. 



The weather was now remarkably fine. Fleas 

 were vigorously skipping about, but we neither 

 saw nor felt a bug. 



