April xxv.
By nine this morning his Excellency returned the visit to the Prince, who received him at the head of the stairs, and entertained him at first with a conference of about an hour and half long. After this his Excellency was conducted into the dining room, where, at a long table sumptuously spread, the Prince and his Excellency (the former on the right hand) sat down to diner. On the side of his Excellency sat the two eldest sons of the Prince, his son in law, with the other nobles and officers of the court. On the side of the Prince sat in order the retinue of the ambassador, with our conductor Count Tomaso and others. The feast was protracted at least seven hours, during which passed a great variety of courses, consisting of excellent and costly dishes, with plenty of exquisite wine, and many ceremonious healths; the principal of which were to the Grand Signior, the Emperor of Germany, and the Queen of England, all seconded with salvoes from the soldiery in the adjoining court. Here we were made witnesses to a singular air of courtesy, hospitality, and gentile behavior in the Valachian nobility; but more particularly in the Prince himself, who drank to the health and prosperity of each stranger at the table. At the conclusion of the entertainment he veiled his Excellency with a rich silk robe of the Valachian fashion, lined with an excellent sable fur, upon which his Excellency and his retinue return to their own lodgings. The palace of the Prince, with the apartments, and gardens adjoining, are truly noble and magnificent; and tho not to be compared with those of some other Christian princes, yet much preferable to those, in which the ignorant Turks so ambitiously please themselves.