where we were compelled to take lodgings for the night, amidst beggars, bed-bugs, and fleas, the latter of which became more active and sanguinary, as the summer campaign opened. The swarms of these animals, multiplied partly by the warmth of the climate, partly by the ruinous condition of the houses, and still more by a want of neatness in the inhabitants, form a serious drawback upon the comfort and pleasure of the traveller. It is utterly impossible to escape their ravages. I have frequently fled for refuge from the bed to a sofa; but the remorseless gang pursue, and hold their nightly revels in every corner of the crazy mansions.

It was rather an act of mercy on the part of the vetturino, to arouse his passengers at an earlier hour than the old Carthaginian used to muster his troops, and to hurry us away from Capua with all possible despatch. The weather was intensely hot and our progress slow; but the charms of the country, now dressed in summer pride, together with books and conversation, rendered our leisurely retreat over a road once travelled far from tedious. We reached the charming villa of Cicero, at Mola di Gaeta, on the second night from Naples; and the third day brought us to Terracina, where it was necessary to take lodgings, much against our inclinations, amidst beggars and banditti. In recrossing the Pontine Marshes, a grand thunder-storm was witnessed. The dark cloud, with well defined borders, rolled along the ridge of Apennines to the east, enveloping one village after another, about which the bolts fell in rapid succession, and the road trembled with the reverberations from the hills. At 11 o'clock, we again reached the Half-way House. A dejeuné consisting of a dirty omelet, a bit of coarse bread, and a glass of sour wine, was served up on a wooden bench, in a room profusely ornamented with frescos in charcoal. This inn is supposed to stand upon the site of the Three Taverns, alluded to in the Acts of the Apostles, where Paul met his friends in journeying to Rome. In the vestibule of the ruinous chapel, mentioned in a former letter, a Latin inscription states, that the temple and its refectory were built by the Pope, to commemorate the scriptural incidents, and preserve the footsteps of the great Apostle of the Gentiles.

The fourth night brought us to the Alban Mount, where good accommodations were obtained at the Villa di Londra. On the following morning, our trunks were forwarded to Rome, while we lingered a day or two to examine this interesting region. The 8th of June was here commemorated, as the anniversary of our departure from the United States; and on the heights of Albano, seating ourselves upon the steps of a little church at sunset, we looked towards the west and

called up the images of home, expressing our feelings in the language of the Swiss emigrant:

"Oh! when shall I visit the land of my birth?

'Tis the loveliest spot on the face of the earth!"

In the pretty little white village, on the brow of the Alban Mount, there is a coffee-house, called the Caffè Americano, out of compliment to our country. Could the old Romans awake from the sleep of the tomb, and read the sign, how would they be puzzled with the name, and what would be their astonishment to learn, that it designated a Republic, proud as their own at the zenith of its glory, situated in a land beyond the waste of the Atlantic, unknown to the world for a thousand years after the fall of the Roman Empire !

At the door of this coffee-house and along the streets were seen the descendants of the Alban Fathers, playing at Mora, the national game of the lower classes throughout Italy. It is a singular amusement. The two combatants stand facing each other, and thrust out their hands simultaneously, both guessing aloud at the same instant, the number of fingers extended conjointly by the parties, the others being pressed to the palm. If either happens to guess right, it counts upon the score. The only words heard are the Italian numerals from two to ten inclusive, as thumbs are reckoned in the lot. By the loudness of the voice and the earnestness of manner, it is a stunning, crazing game; and the antagonists, heated with wine and maddened by play, often draw their dirks and engage in more serious contests. The women of Albano are beautiful, in comparison with the same classes in the Neapolitan dominions. They do up their hair in a peculiar manner, with massive silver skewers eight or ten inches in length. Red bodices, tightly laced, preserve an original beauty of form, even among the peasantry.

LETTER LXX.

SKETCH OF MONTE ALBANO-SHORES OF THE ALBAN LAKE-EXCURSION TO LAKE NEMI-POMPEY'S PRISON-MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES-GROTTO-FERRATA-FRASCATI--RUINS OF TUSCULUM-MODERN PALACES-RETURN TO ROME.

June, 1826.

THE morning after our arrival at Albano, we procured a suite of donkeys, and commenced an examination of the hill, under the guidance of a local cicerone. A shower overtook us soon after leaving the hotel, and compelled us to take shelter under a grove of ilex upon the declivity, commanding a full view of the Campagna di Roma, which was chequered with sunshine and shade. In the distance, the eye

could distinctly mark the foam of the sea, breaking upon the solitary shore. Beneath us rose the tomb of Ascanius, and several other old towers peeped out from the rich foliage, which covers the hill, rendering it highly picturesque. As the rain intermitted, we rode to the woody borders of the Alban Lake, slumbering in a deep, circular crater, more than a hundred feet below the bank. The shores are rural, but lonely and silent. Here a relapse of the shower increased to such a degree of violence, as to drive us into a Franciscan Convent, the monks of which permitted our donkeys to enter the cloisters. These monastic institutions, situated in a healthy region, are appropriated to the purposes of education; and on our way up the acclivity, we met a long procession of Roman boys, in their black tunics, and dressed with remarkable neatness. The forms of instruction in Italy are observed with the utmost precision; but the mind is early filled with the mummery of the church, and intellect rather stifled than developed.

The storm assumed an aspect of much grandeur, and heavy peals of thunder reverberating among the hills were peculiarly suited to the character of the Alban Mount, which was sacred to Jove. Fortunately our covert afforded a prospect of many of the interesting objects in the vicinity. The Convent stands upon the high shore of the lake. Before it rise fourteen little shrines, intended to represent the various stages of the crucifixion. Several monasteries are in sight, crowning romantic eminences, and the sound of the bells mingling with the storm had a strong effect upon the mind. The Lake itself is a pretty sheet of water, seven miles in circumference, embosomed by an unbroken chain of green hills. On its southern shore, stood Alba Longa, the cradle of the Roman empire. It is now in utter ruins, which

may be indistinctly traced along the edge of the water. A modern convent rises near the site; and above on the declivity is a cluster of houses called Rocca del Papa. Behind the village, swells the highest peak of the Alban Mount, finely wooded and lonely, crowned with the ruins of the temple of Jupiter Latiaris, to which a triumphal way once led, and whither the Roman conquerors at the head of their legions, together with all the Latin tribes, resorted to pay their annual

After the rain was over, we continued our ride to Castle Gandolfo, a massive old fortress occupying an eminence, surrounded with a group of buildings, and looking down upon the lake. A winding, precipitous path leads to the margin. We descended and traversed the shore for some distance. The water is deep and of a sea-green complexion. Its greatest depth is said to be four hundred feet. The borders are reedy and overhung with groves of ilex, intermingled with wild bushcs of various kinds. A spacious but gloomy cavern, scooped out of the cliffs, and bearing the marks of having once been fashioned into a temple or grotto with brick arches, goes by the name of the Baths of Diana. Between its entrance and the water, spreads a pretty alluvial patch, sprinkled with flowers.

On the western side of the lake is the celebrated Emissary, or artificial outlet, constructed in the time of the Roman Republic, four hundred years before the Christian era. It was undertaken in consequence of a response from the Delphic oracle, which gave out that the war with the Veii, in which the Romans were then engaged, would not terminate till this work was completed. It was finished in a single year, and consists of a tunnel bored through the solid rock of the mountain, for the distance of more than a mile. Its dimensions are sufficiently large, to enable it to be cleared without difficulty. A lofty court or reservoir, constructed of massive blocks of stone, forms the vestibule of the shaft. The stream issuing from the lake is narrow, but extremely rapid, and at the distance of a few rods from the margin, loses itself in the arch. A group of fishermen and sportsmen, with their dogs and guns, were found collected about the mouth of the outlet, spreading their nets and beating the bush for game. One of them wished to sell us a monster of an eel, three or four feet in length; still alive, entangled in the meshes. He was probably a lineal descendant of those, which some imperial epicure had sent to feed and fatten in these waters.

Returning to the village of Albano by another path, bordered on both sides by groves of oak, we made an excursion in a different direction, along the old Appian Way, to Aricia and Genzano. The

remains of the former of these ancient towns are scattered by the side of the road, at the base of the hill on which the modern village is situated. In the vicinity are the ruins of numerous tombs, which cover the dust of the Alban fathers. Sections of the Appian Way, together with fragments of a bridge, are also here distinctly visible. The large square blocks of stone are worn deep by the wheels of Roman chariots, which once whirled onward from the metropolis to Brundusium and the baths of Baiæ.

At Genzano, we visited the lake of Nemi, back of the town. It is four miles in circumference, cradled in a deep basin, which to all appearances was once the crater of a volcano. Its waters are of a greenish complexion, clouded occasionally with darker hues, giving to the surface the variety of rich mosaic. It has an artificial outlet, bored through the hills. The shores are rural, but less wild, woody, and picturesque than those of the Alban Lake, though it derives its name from the groves of Diana, which once darkened its borders.* A pretty little village is seated on the brow of the opposite hill, overhanging the water, into which the fountain of Egeria, gushing from below, pours its tributary urn. In the bosom of Lake Nemi is buried an imperial palace, which once floated on its surface, no small part of which it covered. It was constructed by the Emperor Trajan, in the wantonness of wealth and luxury, and was suffered to sink without much regret. It is said to have been five hundred feet in length, three hundred in breadth, and two hundred in height; built of wood fastened with iron clamps; covered on the outside with sheets of lead, and lined with marble. It was moored in the centre of the lake, and supplied with fresh water by conduits leading from the fountain. The adjacent shores were adorned with walks, and this little region was converted into a sort of fairy land. In the 16th century, an enterprising Roman citizen descended in a diving-bell, and examined the foundered palace. It is said to be in a good state of preservation; and could it be raised again to the surface, valuable specimens of the arts would probably be found.

A visit was paid to the Cathedral at Genzano, for the purpose of examining a picture by Annibale Caracci. The subject is the ascension of a female saint, in the guise of an angel. She is represented in mid-air, having just escaped from purgatory, in which others are seen with flames flashing around them, and their eyes and hands uplifted in

* The priest of Diana, whose worship was here established, held his office so long as he could defend himself against assassination by some new aspirant.