Anxuris are seen here. Under the ruins there is an excavation opening towards the south. It is the work of nature, if we may judge from the stalactites which hang from the vaulted roof and cover the walls. On penetrating into the inner cavities of this grotto it is said the sound of winds and the dashing of waves is heard. It is thought that this cavern served as a retreat to some of the primitive Christians, who fled from persecution, to practice in this solitude their mysterious ceremonies. But the sulphureous waters, which rush forth from many parts of the rock, render it probable that it was formerly used as a bath; and some remains, such as were used as ornaments in the halls of baths being found here, strengthen this conjecture.

The pyramidal rock of Terracina, called Pesculo, or Pescio Montano, was formerly crowned with a strong fortress, which commanded the passage to Campania, and could have defended it against a numerous army. The rock is isolated on three sides, and is joined to the mountain by its base. It seems worked with the chissel, like a wall, to the height of upwards of two hundred feet.

After visiting all the curiosities of Terracina, I resolved to examine the famous Pontine marshes which extend nearly to the gates of that city. I took a guide, and our route lay over the summits of the mountains by the ancient road of Piperno, then descending into the marshes, traversing them sometimes in a sandalo, a flat and very light sort of boat, and sometimes meeting with dry and solid ground. My companion, who was to meet me at Cisterna the following day, filled my pockets with garlic, and furnished me with a flask of a certain liquor to defend me from the influence of the aria cattiva.

The Pontine marshes occupy a plain of twenty miles in length and ten miles in breadth, bordered on one side by the Appennines, and on the other by a chain of hills which run from Mount Circello, and separate the marshes into many little lakes, which appear to be formed by the waters of the sea. Between Mount Circello and Terracina the stagnant waters extend as far as the sea, into which the superfluous waters pour themselves. The portion of the Roman territory which the marshes occupy, was formerly so fertile that it was called Feronia, from a temple of that goddess, the patroness of vegetation. In fact, in the times of the Romans, the ager Pontinus was considered as the granary of Rome, and it was covered with towns and splendid edifices. Atticus, Mecænas, and even Augustus retired hither to enjoy the delightful picture of rural pleasures and labours. The hills were crowned with olive trees, and their sides blushed with the clusters of the vine, while the plains were intersected with streams and ponds.

Applus Claudius, when he was constructing the famous road which bears his name, and which passed over these marshes, was the first who raised the banks and cleansed this portion of the country overflowed with the unchecked streams. Under the consulate of Cornelius Cethegus the draining was continued, but it was not finally completed till the time of Augustus. This tract of land retained its salubrity for more than four centuries, till the incursion of the Barbarians, and the removal of the emperors.

Under Theodoric it was again proposed to drain it, but, at the end of the fifth century, the plague, famine, and, above all, the attacks of the Barbarians, caused the enterprize to be abandoned. The writers of this age speak with horror of the Pontine marshes. When the Goths were expelled from Italy the popes turned their attention to this undertaking; but Boniface VIII. was the first who seriously applied himself to this object. When the apostolic chair was transferred to Avignon these labours languished. They were again attempted by some of the Pontiffs, but without success.

It is to Pius VI. that the present improved state of these marshes is owing; who, after having pursued a well-advised plan, of which the experience of many years has proved the success, has changed the appearance, and even the nature of the place lately so frightful, and converted it into one vast garden. It is with pleasure no longer mingled with fear that the traveller proceeds through a magnificent avenue, straight, well-paved, and shaded with beautiful trees, and bordered by canals, the evaporations from which are said to be no longer noxious, serving merely to give freshness to the atmosphere. Attempts are making to lead back the inhabitants to this deserted spot. Along the road four post-houses are built; and inns, granaries, mills, and bakehouses. There are also several houses built for the workmen and the superintendants. In addition to these a convent and a handsome church are found there. The lands have been divided, and some parts let on long leases. Villages will shortly rise, and then this plain, lately so unhealthy, will form once more the granary of Rome and the rest of Italy.

I rejoined my companion at Cisterna, and it was dark ere we reached the gates of Rome: and, on the following morning, my eyes opened on the ancient capital of the world. From my windows I could see innumerable palaces and cupolas of marble, and the summit of Trajan's column. I am absolutely distracted! I admire! I compare! I study!-One object attracts me and another calls off my attention; and I seem to wish in

one day to amass recollections to serve me the remainder of my life.

What a scene for an artist! The borders of the Tiber, the hills of the city, the shape of its walls, the immense heaps of ruins, the admirable variety of the gardens, which make you think you are wandering in the country when you are surrounded by the walls, all furnish the painter with studies and picturesque subjects, and with infinite sources of renewed delight. There is not a single bye-way which does not offer him an opportunity of exercising his pencil. Here the open gate of a house of ordinary pretensions displays at the bottom of the court a little fountain surmounted with some fragments of ancient sculpture, shaded by jasmine bowers; there a flight of stairs open to the air, leads to the summit of a terrace crowned with an arbour and bordered with vases of flowers, which the attentive hand of a young girl nurtures and cultivates: farther on the fragments of an aqueduct serve as a frame to the rich perspective. On one side a rude cabin, inhabited by an hermit, stands against an ancient palace of marble, of which there is nothing left but the front of a hollow wall, the unequal summit of which is decked with wallflowers. Everywhere the new city rises on the ruins of the ancient kingdom of the Cæsars, while the magnificent marbles which form the modern tombs were fashioned for the city of Augustus or of Adrian.

It is this fortuitous mixture of distinct elements which gives Rome such charms;-it is the ideas which rise on surveying them, and the deep train of feeling which they occasion, that render this place so attractive in the eyes of the artist, and make him regret that he cannot consecrate his life to beholding it.

I pass my time in wandering about without design or determinate object; and if I have not yet seen the museums and the more precious monuments of art, at least I have caught the picturesque and moral character of Rome. I have become familiar with the inhabitants, and with the topography of their city. My portfolio is full of sketches, and my memory of delightful recollections.

I resolved to visit Tivoli before winter made any further advances. Leaving Rome by the gate of San-Lorenzo, a little less than a mile off, we passed the church of the same name, one of the most ancient of the Christian edifices. Its character is simple and imposing. Constantine is generally regarded as the founder, but it has been successively restored by Sixtus III. and several of the succeeding Pontiffs. Many of the architec