582 
Ml s s o Travels thtough the 
Book tl. 
As we twwlltd from Brefcia to Bergamo, We paffed Inftances of fuch great Cities built in the Midrll^ „f ,i. 
TOnftantly along the Ridge of the Alps on our right Land without the Conveniency of either tht^&a 
Hand at the D, (lance of two or three Miles. River, the DefeS of which is fupplied by many Spr”« 
At Palazzmh, a Place feated half Way between both and Rivulets that water the Country adioinin.. a^d t£ 
thefe Cmes fifteen Miles diftant from each) we Canal deriv’d from the River fills hrOiA tf 
paired the a fecond Time. Coming to Bergamo, the inward Enclofure of the City with runnL wL/ 
we found It both a trading and a ftrong Town, its Si* The Fortifications, or outward Enclofore wire mS 
nation being at the Foot of the Alps. The Fortifica- fince the Deftruaion of this City by Nea? 
t.ons are well faced and kept, and the Citadel, with the Gate of Pavia is to be feen of" 
feme Outworks, defend the rifing Grounds about the Canal, intended to be drawn from thence^ to the Citv 
City, ^wliich has no lefs than five good Suburbs. In of Pavia, by Galeazzo Vifconti, but the Execution there^ 
^e Cath^ral you fee the Tomb of the great Barth, of was ftopt by his Death, A certain T atin Aut-h 
General of tht Venetian Forces againft the Mi- (Werner Roolwink) derives the Etymology of Medioll 
lanefe ; and m pat of the Aujim Friers, the Tomb of lum, 'a Sue dimidia hnata, i. e. from a s£w half cover’d 
hefamopAfr./eC,s*^«, a Nativeofa/e/,«, aVil- with Wool, found in the fame pTace Xro thrStv 
Jage not far from Bergamo. In the Choir of the Cathe- was founded. ^ 
dral you fee fome inlaid Work on the Benches, done The firfi; Thing we thought worthy our Attention 
after the fame Manner, and by the fame Hand, as that was the famous Cabinet of the late Canon Manfredi Set* 
Dominicans at Bologna, tala, a Man equally learned and judicious, no/only iii 
The Jargon is very grofs, befides which, his Choice, but alfo in working many curious Thmwq 
Tumot‘‘oir!Lk Thro^ faw here various Machinel, 
c. . which appear very nau- invented for the Difcovery of the Motion - 
leous to Strangers, though to them it appears fo natu- 
rai, that they queftion whether it be a greater Perfec- 
to have or be without the fe Tumors, and are inclined 
to hold the former. 
The Grounds about Bergamo, and generally all over 
the M-ilanefe, being watered with many Rivulets arifing 
from the Alps, the Country People have from thence 
derived an infinite Number of Channels, whereby they 
prevent the Inconveniency of Drought, and render their 
Grounds fertile. The River Adda ( arifing out of the 
Lake of Como) having at this Time overflown its Banks, 
we were obliged to quit our Calafli at Canonica, a Vil- 
Looking-glafles of feveral Sorts, Dials, Mufical In- 
ftruments ancient and modern, and fome of his own 
inventing ; Books, Medals, curious Locks and Keys, 
Seals, Rings, Pidtures, Indian Works, Mummies 
Arms, ftrange Habits, Lamps, Urns, Idols, and a 
great Nurnber of all Sorts of Antiquities ; Fruits, 
Stones, Minerals, Animals, Variety of Shells, Curiofi- 
ties in Steel, Wood, Amber, and Ivory j a Piece of 
Cloth rPade of the Stone Amianthos, Monftefs, 
But the Difh of yellow Amber, two Foot in Diame- 
ter, is a molt exquifite Rarity ; There are divers other 
Pieces of rough Amber with Ants, Flies, Spiders, and 
lage about twelve Miles from and to ’pafs the other Infeas,"enci;^^^^^ thC"a con 
River m a Boat, not wthout fome Danger, by reafon vincing Proof, in my Opinion, that Amber is’a Kind 
of the Violence of the Current. Two Miles above C- of Gum or BitumiLus Matter hardened by the ^r 
nonica, on the oppofite Side of the River, lies Prezzo, the Sea, or fome other Caufe, fo that when ffor In* 
where we embark d on the Canal called Navilio della fiance) an Ant happens to light upon a- raw and clam- 
'I I Bituminous MattW, Ihe is entangled 
a Mile of Mian its Length being about twenty Miles, in this unduous Subftance, and it growing harder ^and 
It is fupphed with Water by the Adda, which River ha- bigger by Degrees, the Infed is enclofed in it This 
ving in many PJaces very fteep Catarads or Waterfals Opinion is exadly the fame Martial had of it • 
before it comes^ into the flat Country, is near Canonica * 
twenty five or thirty Foot lower than the Canal ; which 
is the Reafon that fb many Attempts were made in vain 
to bring the Waters of the Adda to Milan, till at laft 
that mofi celebrated Archited and Engineer Leonardo 
da Vinci undertook this Work, and brought it to Per- 
fedion. Mr. Felibien gives this great Florentine the fol- 
lowing Charader ; That he was of a very large Sta- 
ture, and of fuch Strength, as to be able to twift the Clap- 
per of a Bell with one Hand ; he was an excellent Horfe- 
man, a fine Dancer, and very dextrous in the Manage- 
ment of Arms, and all other Gentleman-like Exercifes ; 
he^ was one of the befi Painters of his Age 5 he and 
Michael Angelo having engaged Raphael to leave his 
firfi Way of Drawing ; befides which, he was a skilful 
Archited, a good Sculptor, and great Engineer 
Dum Phaetonted formica vagatur in umbra 
Implicuit tenuem fuccina Gutta feram : 
Sic mo do qua fuerat vita contempt a maneate 
Funeribus faSta eji nunc pretiofa fuis. 
There are three or four pretended Unicorns Horns in 
this Cabinet ; for though, beyond all Dilpute, they 
are properly no more than the Teeth of a certain Fifli 
found in the Northern Seas, yet here, as well as in 
the Venetian ^Ireafury, and other Places where they 
are preferv’d, they retain ftill the Opinion, that they 
grow on the Head of that imaginary Creature. There 
are alfo fome Foffil Horns exadly like thole that grow 
on Fillies, though of a very different Matter. The 
1 A/T ° ' " Remora, a Filh about the Bignefs of a Herring, fiiewn 
learned Mathematician, Mufician, Anatom ifi, Philo- in many Cabinets, is of the fame fabulous Kind ; I am 
fqpher. Poet, and Hiftorian ; all which, join’d with fore I have feen no lefs than twelve of them in feveral 
his courteous and generous Behaviour, certainly render’d Places, but never two of the fame Kind 
him one of the mofi accomplilh’d Perfons the World The Cathedral, founded by John Galeas Vifconti, firfi 
ever faw He died in the 75th Year o^is Age, in the Duke of Milan, 13 June 1386. and which Hands ia 
Arms of France, who giving him a the Center of the City, is a Strudure of a prodigious 
Vifit, and our illuicrious endeavouring to Ihew Bulk, though f according to my Computation) a fixth 
his Acknowledgment by raifing his Body in the Bed, Part lefs than St. Peter^s at Rome, but is infinitely be- 
t e King advanc d with his Arms to hinder him, and yond it in the Curiofity of the Ornaments and Sculp- 
fo he expir d. From this Canal we had a mofi delight- cures, wherewith it is cover’d both within and without 
M Pfofped of the adjacent Country, border’d in many there being not the Breadth of a Hand to be feen 
Places with Summer-houfes, Gardens, and Orchards, in the whole that is unwrought. It is built after 
like fcHTie of the Canals in Holland. the Gothick Manner, and to form a true Idea of this 
9. Scarce any City in Europe hath been fo^ entirely Edifice, you mufi reprefent to your felf a vafi Collefiion 
d^iftroyed by the two terrible Scourges of Mankind, W ar of Rofes, Frees, Animals, Grotefques, Pyramids, Niches 
and Peihlence, as Milan j notwithftanding which, it Statues, and a thoufand other Varieties, afibrding an 
may at this Day be rank’d among the fineft Cities in agreeable Confufion to the Eye : However, there are 
the World : It was quite defiroy’d by Frederic Barba- only fome Parts of this Church compleatly finifh’d, the 
rofa in 1 19^* E is almoft of a circular Figure, about Canons of the Chapter thinking it their Intereft not to 
ten Miles in Compafs, and is faid to contain no lefs proceed with too much Vigour in a Thing of this Na- 
than thirty thoufand Inhabicants. There are but few ture, which brings vafi Sums of Money by Donations, 
^ Legacies, 
