On this page
-
Text (1)
-
Untitled Article
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Untitled Article
capitano of a trabacolo of Pola , La Madre di tutti gli Angeli , which fetched and carried between that port , Venice , and Fiume . It was an unlucky day for Pietro , when , seduced by the yellow smile and oratorical jingle of an additional zecchino , he bargained to navigate the Mother of all the Angels ' to the mouth of the Tagliamento , there to take in a cargo of bricks for Chiozza ; for within one hour of his
tripping his anchor , he , and his deeply laden trabacolo , were prize to certain boats of his majesty ' s ship A— , which picked up the Mother of all the Angels as she was yawing about in the fog . So Pietro and his trabacolo full of bricks did not go to Chiozza that time , but , altering course , followed in the frigate ' s wake , made fast to a hawser , with five other victimized small craft , like bosses on the tail of a boy ' s kite , and in this order entered Porto San Giorgio , at Lissa , where 4 the
Mother of all the Angels' was safely delivered of her bricks . But even now Pietro Camiso could turn his wits to account ; for being familiar with every nook in the Dalmatian Islands , and experienced in the depth of water in every inlet and bay along the coast from Spalatro to Trieste , he soon forgot his grief for the loss of his trabacolo , in the profits which accrued on his services as pilot , in our along-shore expeditions and boat-maraud ing excursions ; and many a countryman
and countryman ' s neighbour of Pietro ' s dropped into the open jaws of the foe , which lay , as per direction given by Pietro , to catch them . Pietro herein showed himself philosopher and philanthropist ; he was desirous of giving his friends the benefit of his experience ; though , I am sure , on many occasions of encounter and tussle , some of which were rather , rude , he wished himself snug under the lee of a stout maraschino butt at Zara .
Pietro , in addition to his services as pilot on the water , had oftentimes volunteered to be our guide on the land , and none of the party was merrier on the capture of woolly bearsy ( sheep , ) baby lowers , ( young oxen , ) and squealers , ( hogs , ) than was Pietro ; though , probably , the spoil was gathered from his own kith and kin , occasionally .
Sometimes our shore visits were made without a thought of depredation , and as the amphitheatre at Pola presented itself in all its attraction of curiosity , in our frequent glimpses of it from the water , some of usbut come , let me speak in the first person singular , or I shall entangle my narrative—I resolved , if possible , to have a nearer view of it ; but this was not to be obtained without considerable risk . The French
flag was flying every where along that shore : it flourished on the whole coast of the Adriatic , from the heel of the Italian boot , Cape St . Mary , upwards , and down on the opposite shore , to Ragusa : a warning to us to keep of , or come on at our peril . When curiosity is strong it laughs at little dangers , and cannot see great ones . My excited curiosity might be gratified during the night , and with cautious
treading there would be but little danger , especially as the wary Pietro was at hand , and the moon would increase the beauty and enrich the impressive grandeur of the scene . With these thoughts , after the night ' s duty of reconnoitring the harbour , to note the number , character , and position of the vessels which lay there very quietly ; but especially to ascertain the condition of a large Polacca ship , whose slim masts tapered prettily up to the aky : we had a notion of giving * her ' snug-
Untitled Article
624 Autobiography of Pel * Verjuice .
-
-
Citation
-
Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Sept. 2, 1833, page 624, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2622/page/40/
-