From our delay in starting we got to the other side of the mountain just in time to miss the last train for Turin, which we had the satisfaction to see leaving the station as we entered it. This involved our stopping at Susa for the night; and, of all wretched, miserable places, commend me to Susa. Nobody stops there who can get away. It was eleven at night, and we had been travelling ever since 8.40 the previous evening. Telling the porter to take us to the best hotel, away we trudged, only too glad to take advantage of any resting-place for the night we could get—a regular old-fashioned Italian hotel, the entry through the kitchen, and the lower part of which, built round a courtyard, was devoted to the horses, cows, and pigs—very picturesque, no doubt, but, as may be easily imagined, anything but savoury in the way of scent.
The next morning we explored the town, which, though small, is the seat of a bishopric. It contains plenty of quaint bits of buildings, which would make good food for the camera, but not a photograph did I see for sale. As soon as breakfast was over we set off for Milan, being anxious to reach that city, as we expected some of our family to meet us there. This involved our missing Turin, the scenery around which is well worth the photographer’s attention, as I know of old, though the city itself has no feature of interest to the artist. At Milan we met with plenty of photographs of the Turin scenery, but, like the rest of the photographs to be seen in the shops as _souvenirs_ of these places of a very inferior character.
At Milan, though there are several good portraitists, the views of the place and surroundings are of a very inferior quality. Shop after shop we visited in the hope of getting a presentable view of the wondrous cathedral, but not one could I succeed in obtaining which would be worth having. In former days, no doubt, there was considerable difficulty in managing to get to a sufficient distance for a good point of view, and wide-angle lenses were not to be had. Now, however, that the Milan Improvements Company have cleared a broad space in front, this difficulty has been removed; but there seems no one who knows how to take advantage of it. Swing backs appear to be unknown, and every view is wretchedly distorted with converging perpendiculars—if such a phrase be admissible—owing to the tilting of the camera.