Dickens describes things brought to a convent high in the Alps by a mule train. The list includes "proveder", a word I've not seen for a long time.
Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Definition: \Prov"en*der\, n. [OE. provende, F. provende,
provisions, provender, fr. LL. praebenda (prae and pro being
confused), a daily allowance of provisions, a prebend. See
{Prebend}.]
1. Dry food for domestic animals, as hay, straw, corn, oats,
or a mixture of ground grain; feed. ``Hay or other
provender.'' --Mortimer.

Good provender laboring horses would have. --Tusser.

2. Food or provisions. [R or Obs.]

Dear wwh: In a happy coincidence I remember this word from a poem I was reading over the weekend, 'Tales of a Wayside Inn, HW Longfellow. It is in the Bell of Atri canto.

Edit:
Here is a link: http://snurl.com/37p5