In fact the streets _Nuova_, _Nuovissima_ and _Balbi_ are the
only ones thro' which carriages can pass. The others are far too narrow to
admit of the passage of carriages. The houses on each side of them are of
immense height, being of six or seven stories, which form such a shade as
effectually to protect those who walk thro' these alleys from the rays of
the sun. The houses diminish in height in proportion as they are built on
the slant of the mountain from the bottom to the top, those at the bottom
being the loftiest. Carriages are scarcely of any use in the city of Genoa,
except to drive from one end of the town to another thro' the streets
_Nuova_, _Balbi_ and _Nuovissima_; and accordingly a carriage with four
wheels, or even with two, is a rare conveyance in Genoa. The general mode
of conveyance is on a sedan chair, carried by porters, or on the backs of
mules or asses. Genoa is distinguished by the beauty of the Palaces of its
patricians, which are more numerous and more magnificent than those of any
other city, probably, in the world.
The Ducal Palace or Palace of Government, where the Doge used to reside,
claimed my first attention; yet, tho' much larger, it is far less splendid
than many of the Palaces of individual patricians.
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