Having staid at Aix long enough to prove the inefficacy of the waters,
I came on to this place, for the purpose of informing myself here, as I
mean to do at the other seaport towns, of whatever may be interesting to
our commerce. So far as carried on in our own bottoms, I find it almost
nothing; and so it must probably remain, till something can be done with
the Algerines. Though severely afflicted with the plague, they have
come out within these few days, and showed themselves in force along the
coast of Genoa, cannonading a little town and taking several vessels.
Among other objects of inquiry, this was the place to learn something
more certain on the subject of rice, as it is a great emporium for that
of the Levant, and of Italy. I wished particularly to know, whether it
was the use of a different machine for cleaning, which brought European
rice to market less broken than ours, as had been represented to me, by
those who deal in that article in Paris. I found several persons who had
passed through the rice country of Italy, but not one who could explain
to me the nature of the machine.
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