Women On Adventure is a blog by K.L. Webber exploring our rich shared history of women's adventure writing. This curated collection of quotations showcases the opinions and experiences of influential female travellers in their own words.

"I could not discern an inch of space between the wheels and the precipice."

We passed, by moon-shine, the frightful precipices that divide Bohemia from Saxony, at the bottom, of which runs the river Elbe; but I cannot say, that I had reason to fear drowning in it, being perfectly convinced, that in case of a tumble, it was utterly impossible to come alive to the bottom. In many places, the road is so narrow, that I could not discern an inch of space between the wheels and the precipice. Yet I was so good a wife, as not to wake Mr W——y, who was fast asleep by my side, to make him share in my fears, since the danger was unavoidable, till I perceived, by the bright light of the moon, our postilions nodding on horse-back, while the horses were on a full gallop. Then indeed I thought it very convenient to call out to desire them to look where they were going.

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Unknown, Czech Republic, 1716

 

Source: Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Letters of the Right Honorable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; Written During Her Travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, 1725

Further links:

http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17520/pg17520.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lady-Mary-Wortley-Montagu

http://www.muslimheritage.com/article/lady-montagu-and-introduction-smallpox-inoculation-england

 

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