Rollo in Naples

"No, indeed," replied Mr. George. "I shall let her pay her share, which will be just two thirds, for she has four in her party, and we are two."

"And so her portion will be four sixths," said Rollo, "and that is the same as two thirds."

"Exactly," said Mr. George.

"So then it is all settled," said Rollo.

"About the money it is," replied Mr. George; "but that was not what I referred to. When two parties form a plan for travelling together in the same carriage for many days, it is necessary to have a very precise understanding beforehand about every thing, or else in the end they are very sure to quarrel."

"To quarrel!" repeated Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George; "and generally the more intimate their friendship for each other is before they set out, the more sure they are to quarrel in the end."

"That's curious," said Rollo.

"They begin by being very polite to each other," continued Mr. George; "but by and by, a thousand questions begin to come up, and there is nobody to decide them. For a time each one professes a great readiness to yield to the other; but before long each begins to think that the other assumes too much of the direction. Mrs. A. thinks that Mrs. B. keeps the carriage too much shut up, or that she always manages to have the best seat; and Mrs. B. thinks that Mrs. A. takes the best room too often at the hotels; or that she is never ready at the proper time; or that she always manages to have what she likes at the hotels, without paying enough regard to the wishes of the rest of the party."

"Is that the way they act?" asked Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George; "that is the way exactly. I have heard the secret history of a great many travelling parties that began very brightly, but ended in heart-burnings, miffs, and all sorts of troubles. The only way to prevent this is to have a very definite and precise understanding on all these points before we set out. And that is what I am going to have with Mrs. Gray."

"And suppose she won't come to any agreement," said Rollo. "She'll say, 'La, it's no matter. We shall not quarrel.'"

"Then I won't go with her," said Mr. George.

Chapter II.

Contracts and Agreements

In arranging for a journey in Italy with a vetturino, there are three separate classes of expenditure to be provided for. First, the carriage and horses; secondly, the board at the hotels by the way; and thirdly, the buono manos.

As to the carriage and horses, the question, in the case of Mr. George's party, was soon settled. Vittorio said that his regular price was three napoleons a day for a full party. This is about twelve dollars, and includes the keeping of the horses, and all the tolls, tariffs, and way expenses of every kind. Mr. George had ascertained that this was about the usual price, and he did not ask Vittorio to take any less.

For the board of the party by the way, Vittorio said that they could themselves call for what they wanted at the hotels, and pay their own bills, or he would provide for them all the way, on their paying him a certain sum per day for each person. This last is the usual plan adopted when travelling in Italy, for the hotel keepers are very apt to charge too much when the travellers call for and pay the bills themselves. Whereas, when the vetturino pays, the hotel keepers are much more reasonable. They are aware that the vetturino knows what the charges ought to be, and they are afraid, if they overcharge him for his party, that then he will take his next party to some other hotel.

"And what shall you give us," asked Mr. George, in talking with Vittorio on this subject, "if you provide for us?"

"In the morning," replied Vittorio, "before we set out, there will be coffee or tea, and bread and butter, with eggs. Then, when we stop at noon, you will have a second breakfast of mutton chops, fried potatoes, fried fish, omelets, and other such things. Then, at night, when the day's journey is done, you will have dinner."

"Very well," said Mr. George. "I should think that that might do. And how much must we pay you?"

"It used to be eight francs a day," said Vittorio; "but the price of every thing is raised, and now we cannot do it well for less than nine francs. I will do it for nine francs apiece all round."

"But there are two boys," said Mr. George. "Don't you charge any thing extra for boys?"

"No, sir," said Vittorio, smiling. He thought at first that Mr. George was going to ask for some abatement on account of a portion of the party being young. "No, sir; we don't charge any thing extra for them."

"You would charge extra for them, I think," said Mr. George, "if you only knew how much they can eat."

Vittorio smiled and said that if the party would pay nine francs apiece all round, he should be satisfied, without asking for any thing extra on account of the boys.

The third item of expense in an Italian journey consists of the buono manos. In Italy, and indeed generally in Europe, though especially in Italy, nobody, in rendering you a service, is satisfied with receiving merely what you agreed to pay for the service. Every one expects something over at the end, as a token of your satisfaction with him. If you employ a guide in a town to show you about to the places and things that are curious there, under an agreement that he is to have a dollar a day, he is not satisfied at night if you pay him merely a dollar. He expects twenty cents or a quarter of a dollar over, as a buono mano, as it is called. This is the understanding on which the bargain is made.

In the same manner, when you pay your bill at the hotel, the waiter expects you to give him a buono mano. If any body renders the vetturino a service along the road, it is the vetturino who pays them, because it is in the agreement that he is to pay the way expenses; but then, after getting their pay from him, and also his buono mano, they generally come to the carriage and ask for another buono mano from the party of travellers. Some travellers get vexed and out of patience with this system, and always give, if they give at all, with scowling looks and moody mutterings. Others, seeing how poor all the people are, and how hard it is for them to get their living, are very willing to pay, especially as it is generally only a few cents in each case that is required. Still, unless the traveller understands the system, and prepares himself beforehand with a stock of small change, the buono mano business gives him a good deal of trouble. If he does so provide himself, and if he falls into the custom good naturedly, as one of the established usages of the country, which is moreover not without its advantages, it becomes a source of pleasure to him to pay the poor fellows their expected fees.

"Rollo," said Mr. George, "I am going to put the whole business of the buono manos into your hands."

"Good!" said Rollo. "I'll take the business if you will only give me the money."

"How much will it require, Vittorio, for each day, to do the thing up handsomely?" asked Mr. George.

Vittorio immediately began to make a calculation. He reckoned in pauls, the money which is used most in the central parts of Italy. The substance of his calculation was, that for the whole party about half a dollar would be a proper sum to pay to the domestic at the hotel where they stopped for the night, and a quarter of a dollar or less at noon. Then there were chambermaids, ostlers, and drivers of extra horses or oxen to help up the long hills, all of whom would like a small buono mano. This would bring the amount up to about six francs, or a dollar and a quarter a day, on the plan of doing the thing up handsomely, as Mr. George had proposed.

"You mean to be generous with them, uncle George," said Rollo.

"Yes," said Mr. George. "In travelling in Italy, pay out liberally to every body that renders you any service, but not a sou to beggars. That's my rule."

"Besides," he continued, "it is good policy for us to be generous in this case, for Mrs. Gray will pay two thirds of the money. So that you and I, sitting in the coop, as you call it, will have all the pleasure of the generosity, with only one third of the expense of it."

While Mr. George was saying this, he took his wallet out of his pocket, and opened to the compartment of it which contained napoleons.

"Let us see," said he; "we shall be ten days on the way in going to Naples, and Sunday makes eleven. Six francs a day for eleven days makes sixty-six francs."

So saying, he took out three gold napoleons, for the sixty francs, and six francs in silver, and handing the whole to Rollo, said, "There's the money."

"But, uncle George," said Rollo, "I can't pay the buono manos in gold."

"No," said Mr. George; "you must get the money changed, of course."

"And what shall I get it changed into?" asked Rollo.

"I don't know, I'm sure," said Mr. George. "That's for you to find out. We have three different kinds of currency between here and Naples. We are now in Tuscany. After we get through Tuscany we come into the Roman states, and after we get through the Roman states we shall come into the kingdom of the two Sicilies, where Naples is. You will require different money in all these countries, and you must look out and not have any left over, or at least very little, when you cross the frontiers."

"But how shall I manage that?" asked Rollo.

"I don't know," said Mr. George, "any more than you do. If I had it to do, I should try to find out. But that is your affair, not mine. You said that if I would give you the money you would take the whole business of the buono manos off my hands. I must go now and see about my arrangement with Mrs. Gray."

"Well," said Rollo, "I'll find out what to do."

Thus the buono mano question was disposed of.

As to the board, Mr. George made a verbal agreement with Vittorio that he would pay fifty-four francs a day for the whole party, and that, in consideration of that sum, Vittorio was to provide board and lodging for them all, at the best hotels, and in the best style. He paid for five days in advance. At the end of that time, the party were to be at liberty either to continue the system at the same rate, or to abandon it, and pay the bills at the hotels themselves.

In respect to the carriage and horses, Vittorio brought him an agreement, filled up from a printed form, which he and Vittorio signed in duplicate. It was as follows. There was a picture of a carriage and horses at the head of it. I give you the document in the original French. If you are studying French yourself, you can read it. If not, you must ask some one to translate it for you, if you wish to know what it all means.

Vittorio Gonsalvi, Voiturier.

    Florence, le 22 Mars, 1857.