h^ 
 
 BANCIR.OFT LWRAKT 
 
 \ /-\. I % 
 
"^u 
 
TRAVELS IN ITALY, 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE OF THE 
 
 RURAL MANNERS AND ECONOMY 
 
 OF THAT COUNTRY. 
 
 BY 
 
 FREDERICK LTLLIN DE CHATEAUVIEUX, 
 
 CITIZEN OF GENEVA^ 
 
 UonJon : 
 
 PRINTED FOR SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS AND Co. 
 
 ^RIDE COURT, BRIDGE STREET, 
 BY SHACKELL AXD ARROWSMiTH, JOHNSON '.--COlRTj FLEET-STREET. 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Until the appearance of these Travels, the system 
 of Agriculture, as it is pursued in the different States 
 of Italy, seems to have been but little understood. 
 How much it is deserving of imitation, in various 
 particulars, the reader will, on perusing them, not 
 fail soon to perceive. The intelligent writer contends, 
 in opposition to Arthur Young, and the generality of 
 our modern political economists, that the system of 
 small farms is not only highly favourable to popula- 
 tion, but has the advantage of bringing the greatest 
 quantity of produce to market. The farmer being 
 stationed in the centre of his land, and within the 
 reach of every part of it, is enabled to bestow more 
 pains on its cultivation, and to regulate and superin- 
 tend his crops with greater precision. By increasing 
 the number of farms, the number of gardens, orchards, 
 and poultry-yards — objects which are considered as 
 trifling on a large farm, and which can alone be ren- 
 dered productive by the daily attention of an econo- 
 mical and industrious family, is also increased. It is 
 therefore much to be wished that the patriotic example 
 of Count Lodi, in the management of his Piedmon- 
 tese estate, and that of the Tuscan Knights of St. 
 Stephen, may be one day followed, under certain modi- 
 fications, in our own country, which boasts of natural 
 
IV INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 advantages denied to Italy. That territory possesses, 
 notwithstanding, a j^opulation of 1,237 inhabitants to 
 the square league, an amount which greatly exceeds 
 that of either Great Britain or France, and may ac- 
 cordingly be considered as one of the most flourishing 
 countries of Europe. 
 
 A curious fact is noticed by the writer relative to 
 the cultivation of the potatoe, which was not general 
 in France until after two seasons of scarcity, in 1795 
 and 1811. It is owing to the French gens d*armes 
 stationed in Italy, that this valuable production is now 
 cultivated there very successfully ; thus presenting a 
 certain resource to the inhabitants whenever the corn- 
 crops may chance to fail, 
 
 m 
 
TRAVELS 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE OF THE 
 
 RURAL ECONOMY OF ITALY. 
 
 Turin, May 12, 1812. 
 
 It is now twenty years since I first visited Italy. That beau- 
 tiful country then presented itself to ray imagination as a land of 
 enchantment, separated from the rest of the world by pre- 
 cipices scarcely accessible. I expected to find the counte- 
 nances and the manners of the people, as well as the face of 
 nature, beyond the Alps, totally different from any thing that 
 I had seen, and I bade adieu to my friends with the feeling 
 that 1 was going to visit a region unknown. 
 
 1 have just passed the Alps again, but without being sensible 
 to the emotions they before inspired. The magnificent roads 
 which have lately being opened amidst these precipices, have 
 destroyed the barriers which nature had bestowed on Italy. 
 These vast works are, doubtless, the noblest proofs of our 
 civilization ; but in levelling the rocks we have lowered the 
 Alps, and destroyed the illusion of the scene. These moun- 
 tains no longer inspire terror by their name, or separate the 
 nations between whom they are placed. This facility of com- 
 munication tends to efface the originality of national charac- 
 ter. A similarity of manners is acquired with similar habits 
 and similar necessities. National peculiarities gradually dis- 
 appear amidst a community of all the customs of life ; and 
 the European traveller will soon find himself, wherever he goes, 
 surrounded by the same people. 
 
 I was struck with this sentiment as soon as I arrived at 
 Turin. I could have fancied myself in some large and hand- 
 some town of France ; so great a resemblance was there in 
 all the objects that met my eye. One would have supposed 
 that the dresses, the ornaments, the shops, the promenades, 
 and the placards in the streets, had been sent from Paris with 
 the Restaurateurs^ and the Journal des Modes. 
 
 I shall avoid mentioning those parts of Italy which have so 
 often been described by travellers. I shall not speak of its 
 edifices, of its monuments, of its cities, or of the arts which 
 have adorned them. I shall relate its rural history ; I shall 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No, 4, Vol. I. 2 S 
 
2 Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 say how its fields are cultivated, and how, its harvests are 
 reaped. 1 j>hoil endeavour to describe the landscapes of this 
 beautiful country as I have seen them ; at least as they have 
 appeared to me, for the traveller is liable to deception, even 
 when speaking of objects before his eyes. For the sake of 
 order, 1 shall begin with dividing the several states of Italy 
 into as many regions as 1 have observed differences in their 
 situation, in their appearance, and in their rural economy. 
 
 Italy may be divided into three regions, distinguished from 
 each other by the three systems of agriculture which prevail 
 in them. The difference of their climates, of their produc- 
 tions, and of the manners of the peasantry, marks this dis- 
 tinction to the eye of the traveller, as well as to his obser- 
 vation. 
 
 The first of these regions commences at the Alps of Suza, 
 and of Mount Cenis, and extends to the shores of the Adriatic. 
 It comprises all the plain of Lombardy, divided by the course 
 of the Po into two nearly equal parts. The fertile soil of this 
 rich plain yields, in luxuriance, an uninterrupted succession 
 of various productions; and from the skilful arrangement of 
 the crops, it may be denominated the district of Agriculture 
 hij Rotation. 
 
 The second region stretches along the southern declivities 
 of the Appennines, from the frontiers of Provence, to the 
 boundaries of Calabria. I shall call it the Region of Olives, 
 or of the Canaanitish Cultivation. This Oriental species of 
 culture is confined to the hills and slopes. The sides of the 
 mountains are graduated by a succession of terraces, sup- 
 ported by artificial walls of turf, and covered with various sorts 
 of fruit-trees. 1 shall not have occasion to say much of this 
 department of agriculture, in which there are neither mea- 
 dows nor corn crops, because a very interesting description of 
 it has already been given by M. Sismondi. 1 wish 1 may be 
 equally successful in describing the rural economy of the third 
 region, which I shall designate by the name of the Region of 
 the Malaria, or of the Patriarchal system. It extends along 
 the shores of the Mediterranean, from Pisa to Terracina, and 
 comprehends all the plains lying between the sea and the first 
 chain of the Appennines. 
 
 This region, which is happily the smallest, is depopulated 
 by the scourge of a deadly atmosphere, which has destroyed 
 its ancient prosperity, with its villages, its hamlets, and its 
 farms. Its vast plains serve only as pasturage for ilocks, 
 which, like those of the first inhabitants of the world, consti- 
 tute the whole wealth of their proprietors. 
 
 Besides these three grand divisions, Italy also encloses 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 3 
 
 within the bosom of its lofty mountains, savage tracts, the in- 
 habitants of which subsist on the produce of the woods alone ; 
 and the meadows of the Po, watered by innumerable canals, 
 and covered with cattle, remind the traveller, under this fa- 
 voured sky, of the grazing system of Ireland, and the coun- 
 tries of the North. 
 
 I shall attempt, first, to describe the agriculture of Pied- 
 mont: from which it will be seen how greatly it increases the 
 natural beauty of this country, surrounded by the Alps, and 
 favoured w^ith the choicest gifts of nature/ 
 
 AsTJ, July 10, 1812. 
 
 The first agricultural region of Italy extends, as has been ob- 
 served, from the foot of the Alps to those of the Appennines, 
 over that vast plain of aqueous formation which commences 
 at the pass of Suza, and terminates only with the eastern 
 boundaries of Italy. This extensive region may be termed 
 the garden of Europe, and is unquestionably of all its countries 
 the most favoured by nature. 
 
 The soil deposited by the waters, as rich as it is deep, is 
 almost every where of a perfect level. It is only in the im- 
 mediate vicinity of the mountains, that stony banks are found : 
 the whole of the plain consists of a black earth of great ferti- 
 lity. The lofty mountains by which Lombardy is every where 
 surrounded, pour into it a prodigious number of streams, 
 which art has not yet succeeded in entirely controuling, but 
 whose currents are broken into an infinite number of canals 
 for irrigation; so that there is scarcely a farm, or a meadow, 
 which has not one of these canals, with its sluice, at com- 
 mand. 
 
 This copious irrigation, in so fine a climate, combines with 
 the action of a southern sun, to produce the utmost luxuriance 
 of vegetation. 
 
 These great natural advantages have, from a remote period, 
 filled Lombardy with an immense population, and its usual 
 consequences; such as numerous towns, and consequently 
 markets, excellent roads leading from all parts of the country, 
 and the subdivision of the lands into innumerable small farms, 
 each with a farm house in the centre of it, together with a 
 system of skilful cultivation, which allows neither time nor 
 room to be lost. The harvests are inclosed by plantations of 
 fruit-trees of all kinds, intermixed with mulberries, poplars, 
 and oaks. The last two are not planted merely for their 
 shade, but as supports for their vines, the branches of which, 
 
4 Chaieauvieuxs TraveU through Italy. 
 
 spreadioc: in every direction, cover them as it were with a ca- 
 nopy, and fall in festoons. 
 
 The luxuriance of the plantations throughout Lombardy is 
 such, that the eye is unable to penetrate them ; the horizon of 
 the traveller is always contracted, and opens only as he ad- 
 vances. The succession of landscapes thus presented, which 
 continually excites the imagination with the expectation of 
 something new; the verdant freshness; the innumerable ha- 
 bitations, uniting a sort of elegance to commodiousness ; the 
 fields, whose shady inclosures have an agreeable air of wild- 
 ness, while their rich cultivation announces all the economy 
 of rural wealth ; present at once a contrast and an harmony, 
 which no other country possesses in an equal degree. The 
 traveller finds, not the gigantic and monotonous vegetation of 
 India; nor the extensive farms which occupy the uniform 
 plains of the Nortli ; nor those savage scenes in which the 
 cool vales of Switzerland are embosomed ; but he traverses a 
 region vv'hich partakes of the character of each of these diver- 
 sities of scener}', and reminds him of them by seeming to 
 unite them all. 
 
 Such are the fields which Lombardy thus invitingly offers to 
 the art of the husbandman. The system pursued is simple, 
 because it has been brought to great perfection, and because 
 judicious practices in rural economy are become familiar, and 
 as it were habitual, to all the farmers. The density of the 
 population, and the great variety of the objects of cultivation, 
 have naturally thrown the land into small farms; as is the 
 case in all countries where the soil is highly fertile, and where 
 the produce requires that minute and daily attention, which 
 can be obtained only from a direct and individual interest in it. 
 Those of Lombardy are seldom less than ten, or more than 
 sixty acres in extent. 
 
 From the want of other employment for capital, all the 
 landed property of the country has long been in the posses- 
 sion of the higher classes, who inhabit the towns. Scarcely 
 any of the farmers are proprietors; they all occupy on the 
 condition of paying half the produce to the landlord. This 
 tenure is universal : leases at a fixed rent being nearly un- 
 known. 
 
 Hence, though Lombardy seems destined by nature for 
 farming on a large scale, it has become, through the elTect of 
 its social institutions, exclusively, a country of agriculture in 
 detail. 
 
 In order to render the dilferent operations of this system 
 more intelligible, 1 shall give a description of the situation and 
 rural economy of the charming- estate of iSantcnas^ situated 
 
Clialeauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 5 
 
 ten miles from Turin, on the other side of the hills which 
 border the Po. The road to it lies over the hill of Montcallier, 
 on the summit of which stands a m.ansion, formerly the resi- 
 dence of the royal family; but which is now uninhabitable, 
 and retains nothing of its ancient grandeur but the fine land- 
 scape which it commands. From the terrace the eye follows 
 the river, vvinding in numerous meanders through the country ; 
 its shores covered with plantations, which partly conceal the 
 farm-houses and hamlets scattered among them. At the ter- 
 mination of the plain, the view is bounded by the majestic 
 inclosure of the Alps and the Appennines, which rise like a 
 noble amphitheatre to guard these happy vales. These bul- 
 warks of nature still strike the imagination, at the same time 
 that they teach us that the globe has no longer any ramparts 
 insurmountable to the genius and enterprize of man. 
 
 I passed several days among the groves and orchards of 
 Santenas, and carefully observed all the practices of its rural 
 economy. They are so similar throughout the whole of Pied- 
 mont, that this specimen will give a complete idea of all the 
 rest. The estate is divided into four farms, contiguous to each 
 other, and of considerable extent, lying along the banks of 
 a canal, from which they may be watered at pleasure. The 
 dykes which keep in the water are shaded by a long line of 
 alders, poplars, and other trees, the lofty branches of which 
 appear to be a sufficient shelter against the most violent 
 storms. Under these woods innumerable shrubs and flowers 
 grow in luxuriance. When 1 traversed the.~e paths, in an even- 
 ing of the month of May, they were in full bloom, bent down 
 under the weight of the dew, which is much more copious 
 here than in France. The hay-harvest was going on ; and its 
 fragrant exhalations, blended with those of the roses and 
 orange-trees, added an inexpressible charm to the verdant 
 beauty of the scene. 
 
 The mansion stands at one end of the domain. Before it 
 stretches a rich extent of turf, watered by the canal, and or- 
 namented with groups of trees and shrubs. This is reserved 
 for the proprietor. At the opposite extremity stands the first 
 farm-bouse, with its roofs peeping above the fruit-trees which 
 inclose the meadow ; forming at once a pleasing object in the 
 landscape, and an agreeable walk. 
 
 It is built of red brick, uniting solidity with a sort of rustic 
 elegance, and is remarkable, as are all the farm-houses of 
 Lombardy, for its numerous and costly buildings : these oc- 
 cupy a spacious court. In the centre of one of the sides 
 stands a dwell in "• of two stories, of regular and agreeable pro- 
 portions. The ground floor serves as a lodging for the farmer, 
 
6 Chateauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 
 
 and to store his provisions : the upper story is used as a 
 granary. Two out-buildings extend, as Nvinf^s, from the two 
 sides of the house, and complete that side of the court. They 
 are only a single story in height, and are used, one as a stable 
 for oxen, and the other as a cow-house ; there being an en- 
 trance to each from the interior. These stables, which are 
 twelve feet in height, are arched, and whitewashed, so that the 
 cattle are never incommoded by the dust falling on them. 
 Nothing can be cleaner, or more carefully attended to, than 
 these stables ; and the beasts, which are plentifully supplied 
 with litter, manifest by their gentleness how well they are satis- 
 fied with their treatment. 
 
 The three other sides of the court are occupied by a por- 
 tico, from twenty to twenty-four feet wide, and from fifteen 
 to sixteen in height; the roof of which is supported in the in- 
 terior by a row of pillars, placed at equal distances from the 
 wall, and from each other; so that the space between each 
 forms a square. 
 
 Under the ample range of these porticoes, the forage, the 
 straw, and other productions of the farm, are deposited ; 
 together with the carts and agricultural implements. One 
 half of the court is paved ; the other forms an area for thresh- 
 ing the grain. The manure is deposited without, so that the 
 court is never dirty, and presents, with its colonnade, an ap- 
 pearance of symmetry, neatness, and convenience, of which 
 our filthy, slovenly farms, can give no idea. 
 
 Such, with the exception of the dimensions, is the uniform 
 model of all the farm-houses of Lombardy, and ought to be 
 that of all Europe. It gives the greatest room with the least 
 building: it affords the best protection for produce, with the 
 greatest facility of disposal ; it is at once the most economical, 
 and the least in danger from fire. It certainly requires an 
 enormous quantity of bricks; but each proprietor makes them 
 on his own land : he prepares all the materials beforehand, 
 and then contracts with the bricklayers for the building. It 
 is neither so troublesome, nor so expensive a business as may 
 be supposed, and as is generally represented. 
 
 The exterior walls of the farm were entirely covered with 
 vines, bearing a large grape, but yielding very indifferent 
 wine; it is, however, drank by the peasantry, and custom 
 renders it tolerable. A door opens from the house into the 
 garden, which is separated from the ploughed land by a hedge, 
 and ornamented with fig-trees, shrubs, and flowers. Large 
 gates open from the porticoes upon the cart roads, which 
 communicate with, and divide, the several quarters of the 
 farm. 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 7 
 
 The land bordering on the canal is laid down in a perma- 
 nent meadow, flooded at pleasure, and the vigorous vegetation 
 of which allows of its being mowed three times in the year. 
 The turf is formed of oat-grass, meadow-grass, rye-grass, 
 ribwort, plantain, and different species of trefoil. One fourth 
 of the farm is usually thus occupied ; the other three are 
 reserved for the plough. The fields are divided by rows of 
 trees, which are generally mulberries, but sometimes maples 
 or cherry-trees ; these support the vines, and thus increase the 
 number of crops without taking up any room. 
 
 The whole extent of the farm may be about sixty acres. A 
 road, shaded by mulberry-trees, conducts to the second farm, 
 which is in every respect similar to it ; and from that to a 
 third. These three farms, with the land reserved for the pro- 
 prietor, and a few woods, form one of the finest estates iij 
 Piedmont. 
 
 Each of them is occupied by a family, and frequently de- 
 scends from father to son, like an ancient patrimony, without 
 any renewal of the tenure, which is continued from genera- 
 tion to generation, on the same conditions, without writing or 
 register. The stock belongs to the landlord, the farmer being 
 allowed the benefit of it at a fixed rent, which he pays in cash, 
 and which is estimated at half the net produce of the meadow, 
 that is, at forty francs per acre. The clover crops he has 
 to himself; but all the others, viz. the wheat, Indian corn, 
 wines, hemp, silk, &c. are divided in kind, in presence of the 
 proprietor's agent. 
 
 This sort of conduct is singularly advantageous to the pro- 
 prietor, who, without making any advances, unless for the 
 payment of the taxes, receives a fixed rent for his meadow- 
 land, and a clear half of the gross produce of the other parts 
 of his estate. On this he can safely speculate, so as to dispose 
 of it at the most favourable moment: for having no disburse- 
 ments to make for the business of the farm, he stands in the 
 situation of a merchant, and seldom fails to profit by it. But 
 this plan can only be adopted in a country where the small 
 extent of the farms, and the contiguity of the land, allow of 
 their being cultivated by a single family ; where the work is 
 done by bullocks, whose breed and manure are a profit to the 
 farmer, instead of an annual expence, as is the case with 
 horses ; and where the climate and the fertility of the soil 
 allow the continual employment of the land for a great variety 
 of crops, and an extra produce of grain. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, the farmer having no stipulated rent to pay, and 
 employing only his own family, is not called upon to advance 
 any money ; he lives upon his small crops, and provides him- 
 
8 Ckateauineu.v's Trcwels through II ahj. 
 
 self with sufficient ."^jpecie from ihe produce of his yard, and the 
 sale of his corn. 
 
 This system possesses the further advantage of bringing the 
 greatest quantity of produce to market. I make this assertion 
 in opposition to the opinion of Arthur Young, who attributes 
 this advantage exclusively to large farms. But, from the ac- 
 count just given, it is evident, in the first place, that the sub- 
 division of the farms increases, at the same time, the number 
 of plantations, gardens, and farm-yards ; by which means an 
 abundance of minor produce is obtained, which is lost on a 
 large farm. In the second place, the farmer, from motives of 
 economy, turns all his smaller produce to the best advantage 
 for the consumption of his household, in order to save his 
 most saleable article, his corn, for the market. This may be 
 estimated at one-fourth of the gross amount, to which is to 
 be added the whole of the landlord's share; so that three- 
 fourths of the whole produce of the farm are thus brought to 
 sale, in consequence of the increased production, and careful 
 domestic economy, resulting from this system. I am of opi- 
 nion, that not any country brings to market so large a propor- 
 tion of its produce as Piedmont. In France the proportion 
 cannot be more than one-third ; judging by the relative num- 
 bers of the inhabitants of the towns and of the country. In 
 England it may, perhaps, reach one-half. In Switzerland it 
 scarcely amounts to any thing ; and this is the reason why 
 living there is so dear. 
 
 The number of towns in Piedmont is surprising ; and yet 
 this limited country, having a great part of its surface occu- 
 pied by mountains, after satisfying its own wants, supplies the 
 territory of Genoa, Nice, and even the port of Toulon, with 
 corn and cattle. Without making an exact calculation, it is 
 evident, from this statement, that there must be a superfluity 
 of produce in the country, which must be attributed rather 
 to its rural economy than to its direct fertility, for the average 
 return of corn in Piedmont is not quite six for one. 
 
 It must, however, be allowed, that the system here spoken 
 of is suited only to those countrits where the employment of 
 capital has long brought agriculture to its highest degree of 
 productiveness, where experience has established an excellent 
 order of crops, and where the most suitable division of pro- 
 perty has been finally fixed. In improving countries, where 
 an advance of capital is necessarily required, nothing but long 
 leases and fixed rents will pr(jcure the investment of it, and 
 thus prepare the means of future prosperity. 
 
 But it is time that I should advert to the system of cultivation 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 9 
 
 pursued on the farm which I have undertaken to give an ac- 
 count of. 
 
 It is sixty acres in extent, of which fifteen are in meadow : the 
 remainder is in tillage, with about ten acres of clover. This 
 last crop, and the hay, maintain a stock of eight bullocks, and 
 thirteen cows or calves, together with a miserable horse, whose 
 only business is to go to market, and to thrash the corn : making 
 a gross amount of twenty-two head of cattle, or about one per 
 acre for the green crops. The cattle are of the breed of Querci, 
 which prevails through all the south of France, Dauphine, and 
 Savoy. Here they are leaner, and have smaller horns, but pos- 
 sess, in other respects, the same characters. They are of the 
 same clear dun colour, with the same difference of make between 
 the male and female, the cow being small and ill looking, while 
 the bull is large and muscular, though he never acquires a good 
 shape. 
 
 Though there is a vast number of cattle in Piedmont, the 
 farmers have not learned, from their neighbours in the Milanese, 
 to make much advantage from their dairies. They milk but few 
 cows, and derive their profits chiefly from the calves, and from 
 the manure. On the farm I am speaking of, for instance, a pair 
 of bullocks are reared every year. At three years old, they are 
 put into harness for the lighter work of the farm ; and, during 
 the two next, are in full work. At five years old, they are 
 fattened, and often fetch as much as 1000, or 1100 francs, 
 thus forming one of the principal sources of the farmers' profits. 
 The forty-five acres of tillage employ two pair of bullocks, from 
 four to five years old, which work two ploughs : add to these, a 
 pair of three years old for the lighter work, and two pair of 
 calves, with the rosinante, which thrashes the corn, and goes 
 to market. 
 
 The Piedmontese plough has been so well described by M. 
 Pictet, as well as the skill with which it is managed by the la- 
 bourers, that it is not necessary for me to give an account of it 
 here. I cannot, however, neglect to m.ention the dexterity with 
 which they perform, with this single plough, all the operations of 
 deep and surface ploughing, for which such a multitude of in- 
 struments have been invented in England. Nothing can be 
 more neat and regular than the dressing given to the Indian corn, 
 when in full vegetation, with a plough and a pair of oxen, so as 
 completely to destroy all the weeds, without disturbing a single 
 stem. In like manner, the potatoe crops which I admired at 
 Hofwyl were not better managed than a field of twenty acres 
 which I saw at La Mandria, where the plough alone had been 
 used. 
 
 The rotation of crops is usually for four years, viz. 
 
 Voyages and Tkavels, A^o. 4, P^ol. T. 2T 
 
10 Ckaieauvieux's Travels through Itahj. 
 
 1st Year. Indian corn manured, beans, do. hemp do. 
 
 2d Wheat. 
 
 3d Trefoil, ploughed after the first cutting, and 
 
 followed by a fallow. 
 4th Wheat. 
 
 This rotation may be considered as one of the most produc- 
 tive ; and the continued fertility of the soil, notwithstanding the 
 repetition of farinaceous crops, shews that it may be pursued for 
 any length of time. This, it is true, must be attributed to the 
 abundant manure, supplied by a meadow mowed three times, 
 the whole of which is spread on the arable land. 
 
 In this arrangement of crops, the Indian corn is considered as 
 preparatory to the others ; all the manure is reserved for it, and 
 the land is kept perfectly clean, by weeding and dressing. 
 Nothing can be more beautiful than the harvest which follows. 
 The plants, ranged in the most exact order, raise majestically 
 their yellow heads, and give to the fields of Italy a certain pomp 
 which adds to their beauty. 
 
 The produce of the Indian corn is very considerable, but its 
 principal recommendation is, that it constitutes almost the sole 
 article of subsistence with the country people, who eat it under 
 every form of preparation. The crop is intermixed with beans 
 of various kinds, and with hemp. 
 
 The harvest terminates in September, and as soon as it is got 
 off the ground, the land is prepared for the wheat. It is sown in 
 very narrow straight furrows, which the plough fills as it goes 
 along. The soil having been sufficiently cleaned and manured 
 in the spring, requires no further attention until the harvest, 
 which takes place in the beginning of July. 
 
 After the corn has been dried in heaps, under the porticoes of 
 the court-yard,during the latest days of August, it is thrashed on 
 the area, at one of its ends. Instead of trampling it out by a 
 herd of miserable jades, after the stupid custom of Provence, or 
 of leaving it to be devoured by the mice for a year, as at Paris, it 
 is thrashed by a cylinder,drawn by a horse, which a child guides: 
 the labourers, in the mean time, turning over the straw with forks. 
 This business takes up about a fortnight; it is as economical as 
 it is expeditious, and completely cleans the grain. 
 
 The trefoil is sown upon the wheat in spring: the quick vege- 
 tation of Italy brings it into fiower in the early part of autumn; 
 and in (October it is mown, supplying afterwards, with the mea- 
 dow laud, a latter-math. The following spring it shoots again, 
 flowers, and is once more mowed; but the hot weather coming 
 on, prevents a second crop: it is therefore ploughed in, and the 
 land lelt fallow for the wheat. 
 
 In the course of four years, therefore, we find three crops of 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 1 1 
 
 food for man, one fallow, and two crops for cattle. To these 
 must be added the hemp, the produce of which is sometimes 
 considerable, the silk, the wine, the vegetables, the fruit, the poul- 
 try; and, lastly, the young stock, the milk, and the manure. 
 
 From this account, it appears that a farm of sixty acres sup- 
 ports a family of eight or nine persons; that it feeds twenty-two 
 head of cattle, of which three are every year fattened, besides 
 one or two pigs; that it produces at least twenty-five louis in 
 silk; that it supplies more wine than the domestic consumption 
 requires ; and that the preparatory crop of Indian corn and beans 
 alone, is nearly sufficient for the whole maintenance of the house- 
 hold; so that almost all the wheat is disposable for the market, 
 besides a number of minor articles. The superiority of the agri- 
 culture and rural economyof Piedmont, to that of perhaps every 
 other country, may hence be easily conceived; and the pheno- 
 mena of its great population, and extensive exportation of pro- 
 duce, will no longer appear extraordinary. 
 
 La Mandria di Chivas, July 20, 1812. 
 
 Though an excellent description of La Mandria has already 
 been given by M. Pictet, I cannot quit Piedmont without no- 
 ticing this establishment, the noblest perhaps of its kind in 
 Europe. 
 
 It lies in the form of a perfect parallelogram of two thousand 
 six hundred acres in extent, watered by a canal, and divided by 
 cart roads into one hundred and twenty-six equal squares, one- 
 third of which are in meadow, and the rest in tillage. 
 
 The object of the Pastoral Society, which undertook the 
 management of this magnificent domain, was the feeding and 
 improvement of a flock of six thousand merinos. 
 
 An enterprize like this, was an innovation in the agricultural 
 system of Piedmont, where the land, consisting chiefly of irri- 
 gated meadows, without any fallows, is by no means suited for 
 sheep. They do not, in fact, form any part of its rural economy, 
 and could not even be kept alive, were it not for the vicinity of 
 the Alps, where they are sent to pass five months every summer. 
 On their return, they have the benefit of the after-crop for about 
 six weeks, and are then fed from the rack. They do not, there- 
 fore, enter into the regular system even of La Mandria, and might 
 perhaps be replaced to advantage by other stock. 
 
 But the richness of the mountain pastures, the abundance and 
 - quality of the winter keep, and the continual attention of Count 
 Lodi, have had a great effect on the breed, which is now distin- 
 guished from all the rest, by its size and beauty. They are 
 longer in the legs than the sheep of llambouillet, but equal them 
 
12 Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy . 
 
 in weight, and in roundness and symmetry of form : the rams 
 have short horns, and are not so fierce looking. Very heavy 
 fleeces, the staple of which is slightly glossy, are clipped, and 
 the wool resembles that of the Electorate of Saxony. This fine 
 flock, which has, however, a rival in that of Messrs. Laval and 
 Colegno, succeeded extremely well, till the year 1811, when the 
 depreciation of wool gave a check to its progress, and brought 
 all the inferior sheep to the slaughter-house, as well as all the 
 lambs which were not bred from select animals. This circum- 
 stance, though unfortunate for the company of proprietors, has, 
 however, tended still farther to improve the breed. 
 
 There is one circumstance attending the management of La 
 Mandria with which I have been particularly struck, and which 
 I think isworthy of observation, as an exam pie for those countries 
 where the farms are upon a large scale. I have before said that 
 those of Piedmont are small, and the objects of cultivation nu- 
 merous, but La Mandria, which was formerly the royal stud, 
 presented an uniform and level surface of two thousand six 
 hundred acres in extent, with a single farm-house in the centre. 
 It thus seemed laid out for the system of agriculture on the grand 
 scale which was, in fact, previously adopted upon it. But Count 
 Lodi, aware of the advantages of the Piedmontese system, under- 
 took to introduce it into the vast domain of La Mandria, and he 
 has succeeded. The means he employed are as simple as they 
 are judicious, being nothing more than the subdivision of the 
 land, and a surprizing regularity in the business of the farm. 
 
 The soil of La Mandria being all alike, allowed of the same 
 course of crops being adopted for the whole: and Count Lodi 
 has followed the usual rotation of the country, that is — 
 
 1st Year Indian corn, manured. 
 
 2d Year Wheat. 
 
 3d Year Trefoil, followed by a fallow. 
 
 4th Year Wheat. 
 
 The only innovation he has made, is that of reserving twenty 
 acres of the corn land for potatoes, for the use of the sheep. 
 
 With the view of adhering to this systematic arrangement, 
 instead of availing himself of the great extent of the domain, to 
 lay out his fields on a large scale, as is usually done, he divided 
 it into regular plots of twenty acres each, inclosed with a fence 
 of alders, and separated by a road running between them. 
 
 By this plan, the estate, instead of forming one vast whole, 
 became merely an assemblage of small farms; and such appears 
 to have been the Count's view\ Having determined on the 
 course of crops to be followed, he did not, as is usual on large 
 farms, aim at reducing, as low as possible, the number of his 
 labourers, which usually loads to the neglect of the inferior and 
 
Chateauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 13 
 
 distant parts of the farm. He estimated the labour necessary to 
 carry his system into complete effect on every part of the estate, 
 and regulated the number of his workmen accordingly. This 
 was merely a matter of calculation : the difficulty lay in giving 
 motion to a machine which was to represent the multiplied 
 business of twenty farms lying within a common inclosure. 
 This he accomplished, by establishing a sort of military subor- 
 dination and responsibility; and by keeping, invariably, the 
 same men to the same department. 
 
 The establishment consists of regular servants hired by the 
 year, and of day-labourers, all of whom engage, on entering, to 
 follow the order prescribed. The laying down of this rule was 
 attended with some difficulty at first, but custom has long since 
 removed it. 
 
 Both servants and labourers feed themselves, receiving their 
 fullrecompence in money, and clubbing together at the board, 
 as suits their convenience. The former have gardens, the size 
 of which is proportioned to their rank in the household, and for 
 the cultivation of which, a stated time is allowed them. 
 
 They are divided into companies, according to their occupa- 
 tions, each company having a foreman, or captain, who is re- 
 sponsible for the manner in which the work is executed, and has 
 his lieutenants and subalterns under him. He receives his orders 
 from theprincipal, and distributes them among theseveral squads. 
 Thus the shepherds form one company, the herdsmen another, 
 the carters another, and the workmen employed in tillage a 
 fourth. The day labourers are distributed among the several 
 companies as they are wanted, and are under the orders of the 
 officers of those companies, so long as they are attached to them. 
 All the different employments commence and conclude regu- 
 larly at the sound of a bell; and the corporals, who are never 
 absent, superintend both their execution and their duration. 
 
 In order to preserve this regularity in the business of the farm. 
 Count Lodi made it a rule never to separate the working com- 
 panies on any account whatever. The fields being all of the 
 same size, the men are set to work upon each of them, all at 
 once, and the business must be completed in a given time. Both 
 men and ploughs work in a line ; and I have never beheld a finer 
 rural sight than that of twenty ploughs, in one field, moving at 
 equal distances, in an exact line, all turning at once at the word 
 of command, and commencing their march, with a sort of silent 
 solemnity, in the same order. It was not less gratifying to see a 
 hundred and fifty mowers, ranged in an oblique line, cutting 
 down, with measured strokes, a luxuriant herbage, and followed 
 by a similar line of women, forming an exact parallel behind 
 them, and turning over the swarth as fast as it dried. 
 
14 Chateauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 
 
 It is by observing this strict order that the Count has suc- 
 ceeded iu obtaining the most perfect regularity in the per- 
 formance of the agricultural labours, and that he has been 
 able to transfer the minute attention and precision of the 
 small farm to an extent of two thousand six hundred acres. 
 In the wiiole of this space there is not a single inch of ground 
 neglected : the whole estate is included in the plan which has 
 been laid down ; every part receives an equal share of ma- 
 nure and of cultivation, and repays the care bestowed on it by 
 crops, which could not have been expected from the medio- 
 crity of the soil, and the greatness of the extent. But there 
 is nothing which perseverance and resolution cannot ac- 
 complish. 
 
 Parma, September 10, 1812. 
 The farther we advance towards the east, along the course 
 of the Po, the deeper and more fertile does the soil become; 
 but at the same time the rivers, which How at a considerable 
 depth within their beds in the vicinity of the Alps, rise to the 
 level of the surrounding country, as they approach the Adri- 
 atic, and the soil is consequently more humid. We accord- 
 ingly find less corn and more meadow land. 
 
 This change is apparent as soon as you reach the environs 
 of Piacenza. The size of their farms, and their general ma- 
 nagement, are the same as in Piedmont ; but the rotation of 
 crops and the sources of profit are different. The wealth of 
 this part of Lombardy consists more in cattle than in corn, 
 and the landscape becouies so much the more beautiful and 
 animated in its appearance. The whole right bank of the 
 Po is planted with magnificent oaks, whose majestic branches, 
 spreading from their lofty trunks, give to this part of the 
 country an air of freshness and verdure which we do not 
 expect to find in Italy. The acorns of these trees are of con- 
 siderable value to the farmers, as they serve to feed an im- 
 mense number of pigs ; and 1 have been surprised to observe, 
 that their shade does little or no injury to the crops which 
 grow beneath them ; a circumstance which must be attributed 
 to the combined effect of the moisture and fertility of the 
 soil, and of an Italian sun. 
 
 On the dairy farms which border the course of the Po, 
 the Parmasan cheese is made, of which there is so great a 
 consumption all over Italy. These meadows are the most 
 fertile in the world. Being constantly watered, they produce 
 three, and sometimes four, crops of hay ; but, as {\\v\ are 
 divided into a great number of small lots, few of the farms 
 
Chaleauvieux's Travels through Italy. 15 
 
 are capable of supporting a dairy singly; because this would 
 require the milk of lifty cows at least. It has, therefore, long 
 beeu the custom for the neighbouring farmers to form them- 
 selves into societies, for the purpose of making their cheese 
 together. The milk is carried twice a day to the general 
 dep6t, where the dairyman keeps an account of the quantity 
 brought by each person. These accounts are settled every 
 six months by a proportionate division of the cheese. 
 
 The breed of horned cattle about Piacenza is also different. 
 We no longer see the large dun-coloured short-horned beasts 
 of Piedmont; but a fine slate-coloured breed, distinguished 
 by the smallness of their bones, the roundness of their make, 
 their lively eye, and their long and regularly-turned horns. 
 They are produced by the continual crossing of the Hungarian 
 breed with that of the small Cantons of Switzerland. 
 
 The Hungarian breed is found pure in the south of Italy, 
 and produces the finest and best cattle known ; but they are 
 bad milkers, and on this account the Lombards have found it 
 necessary to cross them, in order to turn their meadows to 
 advantage. Every year, from time immemorial, two thousand 
 cows pass Mount St. Gothard to be dispersed over Lombardy, 
 and produce that renovation of the species which alone pre- 
 serves to the breed of Italy its valuable qualities. 
 
 These Swiss cows are not of the breed of Berne, so well 
 known in France, and distinguished by their bright colours 
 and fine shapes. They are from the small Cantons, and from 
 their dull colours, long horns, and loose make, appear to me 
 to be themselves the offspring of the Hungarian stock, greatly 
 improved by care, food, and climate. This common origin 
 renders it precisely adapted for mixing with the Italian breed. 
 
 The farms are let on the same terms as in Piedmont, namely, 
 the payment of half the produce ; but the rotation of crops is 
 somewhat different. A greater proportion is laid down in 
 meadow, and the Indian corn gives place, in a great degree, to 
 the cultivation of hemp and winter-beans. The usual course 
 is as follows : 
 
 1st Year, Indian Corn and Hemp, manured. 
 
 2d Wheat. 
 
 3d Winter-beans. 
 
 4th Wheat, manured. 
 
 6th Trefoil, ploughed in after the first mowing. 
 
 6th Wheat. 
 
 Tobacco has lately been cultivated in the neighbourhood of 
 Parma with great success : in which case it takes place of the 
 Indian corn and hemp the first year. 
 
 This course is still more productive than that of Piedmont ; 
 
16 Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 but it arises from the ricliness of the soil, and the abundance 
 of dung obtained from the cattle, which enables the farmer 
 to manure every third year. In Piedmont this is only done 
 every four years. 
 
 I shall not enlarge on this admirable rotation, which, in six 
 years, gives four crops of grain, one of hemp, and one of fodder. 
 Notwithstanding the rapidity of the succession, it is, as will 
 be observed, so skilfully arranged, that the fertility of the 
 soil is in no wise exhausted by it, while, at the same time, it 
 gives all the opportunity necessary for preparing the land, and 
 keeping it clean, by crops which are regularly weeded. The 
 winter-bean is the only plant on which 1 wish to make a few 
 remarks. 
 
 It has been successfully introduced within the last few 
 years about Geneva, where the winter is very severe. It is, 
 therefore, evidently hardy, and may be employed with advan- 
 tage in the agriculture of the northern countries, for it will 
 enter readily into almost any course. 
 
 The winter-bean resembles the spring-bean in its general 
 appearance. It is sown at the beginning of September, and 
 ought to acquire a certain degree of strength before winter, in 
 order the better to withstand its severity. When the frost and 
 snow come on the stalk dies; but early in the spring the 
 plant throws up from the root tvro or three fresh stems, which 
 flower in May, and are ripe by the end of July. 
 
 Its cultivation is extremely simple. After the wheat is got 
 off, the land is broken up by a single ploughing, and left to 
 lighten through the effect of the season. Early in September 
 the beans are sown, either burying them with the plough, or 
 covering them with the harrow, or lastly, with the dibble, 
 which last method affords an opportunity to clean them with 
 the horse-hoe in the spring ; otherwise they must be weeded 
 by the hand some time in April. 
 
 As they are ripe as early as July, the farmer has plenty of 
 time to prepare his land for the wheat crop which is to follow, 
 and which almost always does well. 
 
 They succeed best on strong clayey soils, where roots will 
 not thrive ; they come in well with the different periods of 
 ploughing and sowing, and keep up the fertility of the soil. 
 They, therefore, possess every quality that can be desired, and 
 I have no doubt, that the cultivation of them will rapidly 
 extend itself. 
 
 Such is the sketch of the cultivation and general system of 
 that portion of Lombardy which extends along the right bank 
 of tlio Po; that is, of a part of the first agricultural division 
 of Italy, laid down in a former letter It will be observed 
 
Chateauvieux" s Travels through Italy. 11 
 
 that the crops are almost all destined for food, and that, ex- 
 cepting hemp and flax, there are none for the employment of 
 industry. The result of this abundant supply of provi."<ions, 
 is a vast population, not any classes of which are manu- 
 facturers, because the raw materials are without their reach. 
 
 They may, therefore, be divided into four classes, namely, 
 the soldiers and public functionaries ; the landed proprietors, 
 who live on their rents; the merchants and artisans; and, 
 lastly, the farmers, who rent the land and live by their in- 
 dustry. 
 
 This last class, only, reside in the farm-houses scattered all 
 over Lombardy ; the other three live in the cities and large 
 towns, and this is the reason why not any of the hamlets or 
 villages inhabited by farmers of property, so frequent in 
 France, are here to be seen. On the other hand, the whole of 
 the landed property being in the possession of the capitalists, 
 the number of persons thus living on the rents of their estates 
 is greater in this part of Lombardy than elsewhere, and gives 
 to the towns an agreeable appearance of affluence. 
 
 Sarzana, Septeniher 20, 1812. 
 
 Having, in my former letters, given a brief account of the 
 cultivation of Lombardv, that is, of the first of the ao:ricullural 
 districts into which I have divided Italy, 1 now proceed to de- 
 scribe my journey over the Appennines, which I crossed at the 
 highest part ; by which means some idea may be formed of 
 their natural scenery and culture, and the customs of their 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Being desirous to obtain some knowledge of the unexplored 
 valleys of these mountains, and of the rural economy of the 
 pastures by which their summits are covered, I set out from 
 Parma, accompanied by Messrs. Ortali and Succhi, two pro- 
 prietors of Merino flocks, with the view of traversing, in its 
 whole extent, the lofty chain which separates the stale of 
 Medina from that of Genoa and Tuscany. This expedition 
 cannot be performed otherwise than on horseback, or more 
 generally on foot, the paths which lead over these mountains 
 being steeper, and more rugged than those of the Alps. 
 
 We passed the first night at Sala, once the favourite villa of 
 the late Grand Duchess, the sister of Marie Antoinette; it is 
 situated at the foot of the mountains, at three leagues distance 
 from Parma, and at present belongs to a contractor, who has 
 let the estate and its dependencies to my travelling compa- 
 nions. The stables, coach-houses, &c. are converted into 
 sheep-folds, within which tw^o thousand Merinos pass the 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 4, Vol. I. 2 U 
 
18 ChcUeaucieujo's Travelfi ilirough Itaty. 
 
 winter; in the summer they are upon the mountains, where 
 we were going to visit them. They are supplied with hay 
 from extensive meadows situated beneath the chateau. 
 
 There are few situations finer than that of Sala. Being 
 placed on the last of the ridges formed by the declivity of the 
 mountains, it commands the whole plain of Lombardy ; while 
 it is itself protected from observation by an ancient lorest of 
 chestnut-trees. The majestic scenery which surrounds it is, 
 however, its sole recommendation, the internal accommoda- 
 tions being very indifferent. 
 
 We left it at day-break, and proceeded along the foot of the 
 hills in a direction parallel with the course of the Po. The 
 road sometimes ran on a level with the plain, and at others, 
 led along eminences shaded by chestnut-trees, or by trellises of 
 vines, whence we enjoyed an enchanting prospect. The hills 
 in which the Appennines terminate are intersected by stream- 
 lets, and covered with cottages ; the vine is the principal 
 object of cultivation, and the spots which are too rough for it, 
 are shaded by the vast branches of the chestnut-trees. 
 
 Having reached the village of Berzola, we quitted the fertile 
 plains of Lombardy, and, turning abruptly to the south, en- 
 tered the ravaged valley, periodically devastated by the stream 
 of the Parma, which we ascended to its source, and then en- 
 tered on the savage parts of the mountains. 
 
 We followed the course of this valley for seven leagues, 
 pursuing our way in the bed of the river, which at that time 
 presented no other appearance than that of an arid tract, 
 covered with loose stones, and extending to the moimtains on 
 either side, to the breadth of about half a league. The whole 
 of this extensive channel is often covered with water; but the 
 inundation never lasts more than a few days. 
 
 On each side of us ran two parallel chains of hills, which at 
 first were no more than gentle declivities ; but increasing in 
 elevation as we advanced, at length joined the lofty range of 
 the Appennines, from which they extended themselves, like 
 arms, from north to south ; the direction of the central chain 
 being from east to west. These ramifications are evidently 
 stony ridges which have resisted the violence of the waters, 
 and there is a continued succession of them along the whole 
 length of ihe Appennines. 
 
 During the early part of our journey these hills were en- 
 livened by numerous cottages, interspersed with vineyards 
 and cultivated fields, with here and there a steeple peeping 
 up above the chestnut-trees. These symptoms of rural life, 
 however, became more rare as we advanced into the vale, and 
 soon neither vines nor elms were to be seen. The declivities, 
 
Ohaieauvieux's Travels through Italy ^ 19 
 
 too steep for cultivation, presented nothing to the eye but 
 pasturage, with a ^e\\ trees and fragments of rock. The cot- 
 tages, which were thinly scattered, were small and dark; and 
 their sloping roofs, covered with flat stones, indicated that we 
 had already entered the region of snow. The beautiful cattle 
 of the plain had also disappeared ; a few miserable animals, 
 with some goats and spotted sheep, were alone browzing the 
 scanty herbage. 
 
 Towards the close of our progress, these appearances of 
 animated nature abandoned us altogether. The valley became 
 suddenly contracted ; the bed of the river, instead of being 
 wide and open, was confined by enormous rocks ; and the 
 mountains assumed a grander character, being marked by large 
 masses of rock and forests. In short, all the surrounding ob- 
 jects bore the features of the Alps. 
 
 The path we were following now rose suddenly over a 
 rocky steep, and displayed to us a gulph, at the bottom of 
 which the waters were roaring ; a bridge boldly thrown over 
 the abyss; and, beyond it, on a woody knoll, the steeple of 
 Bosco, the village which was to terminate our day''s journey. 
 
 I cannot describe the effect produced upon me by the view 
 of this village, which is the capital of the mountainous dis- 
 trict. It bore no resemblance to any that T had seen, and 
 gave me the idea of an Otaheitean hamlet, rather than of an 
 European country town. It has no streets, or rows of houses, 
 nor are there any gardens or cultivated grounds. A number 
 of enormous chestnut-trees, rising at considerable distances 
 from each other, upon a fine turf, unite their branches, and 
 form a verdant canopy, under which the houses are scattered 
 at random amidst this natural orchard. The church is built 
 in an opening of the wood, aud has rather an elegant appear- 
 ance ; close by it stands the parsonage-house. 
 
 At the time of our arrival, the vesper-bell had assembled 
 all the inhabitants at the temple. They were on their knees 
 before the porch ; and although the sight of our party some- 
 what interrupted their attention, this scene of rural devotion 
 bad something inexpressibly interesting in it. 
 
 Strangers are always received with hospitality by these 
 mountaineers. The clergy, more especially, practise this virtue 
 with uncommon zeal and heartiness. The worthy curate of 
 Bosco nearly dragged us off our horses to take us to his house. 
 He was acquainted with my companions ; but had they been 
 equally strangers to him with myself, he would have received us 
 with the same cordiality. Taken thus by surprise, he was at a 
 loss how best to entertain us. He would have killed his whole 
 dove-cote ; he scolded his servant, and broke his bottles. 
 
20 Chateauvieux's Travels through lUily. 
 
 glasses, and eggs. The result of all this bustle, however, was, 
 that he presented us with six brace of pigeons, and several 
 omelets, which we eat with as much pleasure as he had in 
 providing them. 
 
 After supper we were visited by the principal inhabitants of 
 the village, who disputed the honour of being our guides the 
 next day. I took advantage of this opportunity to obtain 
 some information respecting the cultivation and manners of 
 the country, which I shall now lay before the reader ; it may 
 be considered as a specimen of what prevails along the whole 
 range of the highest chain of the Appennines. 
 
 The soil is too much broken by the torrents to admit of the 
 cultivation of grain, and the climate is too severe for the 
 growth of the vine, Indian corn, or pulse of any kind. The 
 whole harvest is a little hay, grown on favourable spots, which, 
 with the leaves of the beech-tree, forms the winter provision 
 of the cattle. These consist of a few small horses of burden, 
 some spotted sheep, and goats ; together with pigs of an ex- 
 cellent quality, which are fed on chestnuts and skim-milk. 
 
 During the summer these animals rang? about the moun- 
 tains in the neighbourhood of the hamlet; in winter they are 
 kept in the stables. From the milk of the sheep and goats the 
 inhabitants make small, hard, sour, cheeses, which form the 
 principal part of their food. The wool of the sheep is spun 
 during winter by the women, who contrive to weave it into a 
 sort of stuff, which serves as clothing for the whole family. 
 
 Thus this uncultivated region supports its inhabitants solely 
 by its spontaneous productions, that is, by its chestnut-trees. 
 These grow in surprising luxuriance and abundance, on the 
 sides of the mountains, and the chestnuts are much larger, 
 and very superior in quality to those grown in the North. 
 They are eaten in every sort of form ; but the most usual 
 one, namely, that of a flat cake, to which they give the name 
 of bread, appears to me the only one that is disagreeable. 
 The wheaten bread is brought from Parma, and is a luxury iu 
 which they indulge only on grand occasions. 
 
 Potatoes would be an important acquisition. There are 
 various situations where they might be cultivated with suc- 
 cess ; and where, from the certainty of their produce, they 
 would form a valuable addition to the resources of the coun- 
 try. I met with them further on; but here they are un- 
 known. The curate had, indeed, heard them mentioned, and 
 I exhorted him to make trial of them. 
 
 The means of subsistence of these inhabitants of the Appen- 
 nines, who depend solely on the bounty of nature, consist, there- 
 fore, la their chestnuts, the produce of which is uncertain, and in 
 
Chateauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 21 
 
 some trifling animal productions; to which maybe added a great 
 number of pigeons, who are nourished I know not bow, and a 
 tolerable quantity of bees. The population, notwithstanding, is 
 pretty numerous, and the territory much divided. The people 
 are yerj industrious, but their distinguishing characteristic is 
 excessive economy. They themselves fabricate both their fur- 
 niture and their clothes, and these form almost their only wants. 
 They make a great deal of charcoal, which is their only method 
 of clearing the woods ; but their principal revenue arises from 
 emigration. All the active part of the population quit their 
 habitations to go and work during the summer in Lombardy, 
 or mofe commocly in Tuscany, whence they bring home their 
 savings, which form nearly the whole circulating capital of the 
 country. They may, therefore, be denominated the Auvergnats 
 of Italy. At this moment, great numbers of them are working 
 on the new road leading from Genoa to Spezia, and are hand- 
 somely recompensed for their labours. They hold the French 
 engineers in high esteem : so that the influence of the Polytech- 
 nic school is felt even here. 
 
 It is evident that a country, whose whole produce is scarcely 
 sufficient to support its population, and which furnishes no 
 marketable commodities, is not likely to attract the capitalist. 
 We accordingly find, throughout all the range of the Apennines, 
 that the farmers are also the proprietors of the land ; a circum- 
 stance by which these regions are distinguished from every 
 other part of Italy. 
 
 The sun was risen when we left our worthy curate, to ascend 
 the high chain of the Appennines. Our party made no little 
 shew, for not only had the whole village contributed, in the 
 most friendly and hospitable manner, to supply us with pro- 
 visions, but the principal people of the place insisted on accom- 
 panying us ; so that we mustered fifteen horsemen at our de- 
 parture from the parsonage-house. 
 
 Ws soon plunged into the midstjof a forest of chestnut trees, 
 which covered the first declivity of the mountain. Our road 
 lay occasionally over a fine turf, but more commonly over 
 rocks, covered with mosses, and entwined by the roots of the 
 gigantic trees which overshadowed us, and beneath whose im- 
 penetrable shade an everlasting coolness prevails. We were 
 two hours in traversing these woods, which from time imme- 
 morial have been the noblest ornament of these regions, and the 
 manna of these deserts. 
 
 We had now reached the foot of a ridge of rocks, which we 
 passed with considerable difficulty, and then entered the region 
 of beech-trees. The ascent now^ became so steep, that our horses 
 could scarcely scramble up. At length, after a further progress 
 
22 Chateauvieux' 8 Travels through Italy^ 
 
 of two leagues, our guides cried out, that they saw th"e Acqua 
 santa. ^Accordingly, having gained the highest summit, we 
 found ourselves on the brink of a small lake. Its waters were 
 pure and fresh, and its form a regiilar oval, like the crater of a 
 volcano, from two to three hundred feet in depth. This de- 
 clivity was covered with beech-trees, whose verdure was re- 
 flected in the limpid waters of the basin ; had it not been for 
 this circumstance, I could have supposed myself on the shores 
 of one of the lakes of the high Alps. 
 
 The country people attribute great virtues to these waters, 
 which have no visible outlet, so that it is a sort of pilgrimage 
 to visit the Acqua santa. I do not know^ at what height we 
 were, but it must have been considerable, as masses of snow, 
 which had survived the winter, lay around us. 
 
 Beyond the lake, commences the extensive summer pastures, 
 called, by the inhabitants, JMacchie. They extend over the 
 summits of the whole of the high chain of the Appennines, be- 
 ginning at the valley of La Magra, which separates the lower 
 mountains of Genoa from those of Tuscany and Modena. They 
 are intersected by crags of rocks, which overhang their sunkea 
 bases. A few strong built huts are provided for the shepherds, 
 but the flocks remain always in the open air. 
 
 Almost all these mountains belong to the Communes of the 
 lower valleys. They are let for the season, at so much per 
 head of cattle. The rate is a piastre, or crown, for a horse, 
 five sols for a sheep, and three for a goat. The latter animals 
 browse amongst the rocks and bushes ; the best pastures being 
 reserved for the horses. 
 
 The flocks all come from Tuscany, where they pass the 
 winter in the pastures of the Maremme* . They belong to 
 migratory shepherds, who, like those of Spain, have no other 
 property, nor any fixed residence. They always keep to one 
 sort of animal, some having horses, others sheep, and others 
 goats. They rent the winter pastures of Tuscany at the rate 
 of three piastres for a horse, twelve sols for a sheep, and eight 
 for a goat, for the season. 
 
 This erratic system, though injurious in countries capable of 
 high cultivation, is greatly beneficial to those where this is inter- 
 dicted by the nature of the soil, and whence nature seems, as it 
 were, to have repelled man. The migration of the flocks, in the 
 region of the Appennines, is attended with the double advantage 
 of turning to use the herbage of the mountain summits, and of 
 peopling the unhealthy districts with the only inhabitants capa- 
 ble of profitable by their spontaneous vegetation, as they remain 
 
 • Plains, subject to the Malaria, or pestilential atmosphen-, situated between 
 the sea and the Apj^ennines, in the Tuscan and some other Italian states. 
 
Chateauvieux' s Travels throvgh Italy, 25 
 
 there only during winter. In short, it is the only way of con- 
 verting the vegetable productions of these countries into wool 
 and cheese,and is, therefore, the most suitable economy forthem. 
 
 The first flock of sheep we met with, was of the common 
 breed of Tuscany. They w^ere rather low, but admirably 
 formed. Their wool was white and plentiful, and they ap- 
 peared to me, in all respects, the same with the migratory spe- 
 cies of Provence. Their fleeces are rather fine ; the wool was 
 formerly shipped at Leghorn for England, but is now sold in 
 Dauphine. The produce of the cheese is, however, more con- 
 siderable than that of the w ool. 
 
 Close by was a herd of horses, which we had much ditliculty 
 in approaching : they vrere all young colts, the mares passing 
 the whole year on the plains. As is the case with all the wild 
 herds, they were moulded very much alike. They are ele- 
 gantly made, their limbs clean, and small boned ; but they 
 were all mule-rumped, hollow-backed, and had the long nar- 
 row head of the Italian horses. 
 
 These little horses, however, though badly fed, and worse 
 attended to, will gallop to a great distance, without losing either 
 their spirit or their wind. They are fitter for the saddle than 
 for draught, being deficient in shoulder, and in w^eight, for the 
 collar. As, however, in Italy, all the heavy loads are drawn 
 by oxen, this light little breed is very well adapted to the pur- 
 poses for which it is needed. 
 
 On approaching a rocky tract, covered with bushes and bram- 
 bles, I beheld a sight I had never before witnessed. This was 
 a migratory flock of twelve hundred goats, which live con- 
 stantly in the woods, and are never housed. They are perfectly 
 wild, and never come near the herdsman except for the salt, 
 which is given them twice a day, when they are milked ; and 
 this was the only time that I had an opportunity of seeing them. 
 They were extremely handsome. I remarked one he-goat in 
 particular, which would have made a fine figure, as the repre- 
 sentative of his species, in a menagerie. 
 
 At some distance farther, on a noble pasture, was the flock of 
 merino's belonging to my companions, and amounting to about 
 two thousand. I never saw a flock of finer animals, or in better 
 condition ; notexcepting even that of Rambouillet. It is true, 
 they are managed differently from the Tuscan flocks. Instead 
 of passing the winter in the Maremrae, they descend in autumn 
 to the folds of Sala, where they find shelter, and are supplied 
 with the best of fodder. This especial care the merinos seem 
 to require ; for the proprietors, tempted by the low price of the 
 wintering in the Maremme, sent a thousand thither in the year 
 1811, of which seven hundred perished with cold and hunger. 
 
i24 Chatcauvieux' 8 Travels through Italy. 
 
 From many other facts of a similar nature, I am persuaded 
 that these animals require more care and expence than any 
 other breed of sheep. 
 
 The latter part of the day was thus spent by me in visiting the 
 shepherds' huts, in inspecting the flocks, and in examining the 
 other particulars of this part of the migratory system of Tus- 
 cany. We passed the night in one of the huts, and the next 
 morning, at day-break, I took leave of my companions, and 
 set out, with a guide, on my descent towards the Mediterranean. 
 I had as yet traversed the northern side only of the high chain 
 of the Appennines ; and was still half a league distant from their 
 summits, which separate the territory of Parma from that of 
 Tuscany. I began my ascent over a grassy turf, moistened 
 with dew. I already commanded the view of all the chains of 
 the Appennines ; but the moment I reached the extreme summit, 
 a boundless horizon opened before me. Never had so noble a 
 prospect met my eyes : all Italy was extended at my feet. In 
 the cloudless distance, the long chain of the Alps stretched far- 
 ther than the eye could reach, from the frontiers of France, to 
 the boundaries of Illyria; inclosing, as it were, in a silver 
 frame, that vast plain, watered by so many rivers. To the 
 south, the ground appeared to descend by terraces, from the 
 height where I stood to the shores of the sea. I distinguished the 
 bay and castles of Spezia, and followed, with my eye, the mag- 
 nificent curve in which the sea sweeps along the shores of Tus- 
 cany, to embellish, at a still greater distance, those of Naples. 
 The whole history of this ancient land presented itself before 
 me ; from the landing of Eneas on the banks of the Tiber, to 
 the battles of Lodi and Marengo. What a multitude of events 
 recurred to my recollection ! What sensations were inspired 
 by this theatre, whence, as in a panorama, 1 beheld all Italy 
 depicted around me ! 
 
 The site from which I enjoyed this view, is certainly one of 
 the most remarkable in Europe. I would advise every traveller 
 to visit it. He may easily accomplish this, by going by the new 
 carriage road from Parma to Pontremoli, whence he may, on 
 horseback, reach the point I have mentioned in three hours, and 
 return the same day to Pontremoli. But this excursion, which 
 is, perhaps, more interesting than that of the glaciers of Savoy, 
 can only be made in summer; and most foreigners devote the 
 winter to visiting Italy. They, in consequence, can form no 
 just idea of that country : their acquaintance with it is confined 
 to its churches, its tombs, and monuments ; but all the richer 
 which nature displays there, remain unknown to them. 
 
 I was now on the frontiers of Tuscany ; and looking about me, 
 to see how I was to get down, I perceived a commodious road, 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy, 25 
 
 six feet JD width, skilfully carried along- the declivities, which 
 conducted me from mountain to mountain, till it brought me 
 into the valley of La Magra, in which Pontremoli is situated. 
 
 This road, like so many other works of public utility, was 
 made by Leopold, who extended his attentions even to the ren- 
 dering of the pastures more accessible to the flocks, to which 
 purpose only the road in question, which ought io serve as 
 a model to the inhabitants of the Alps, was constructed. 
 
 As I descended towards the Mediterranean, the face of 
 nature wore a totally different aspect. I had lost the fertile 
 inclosures and corn-fields, the meadows and their canals, the 
 oaks and the willows. I was in the region of the south, sur- 
 rounded by woods of evergreen, oaks and olives, of laurels, 
 and cypresses : and, instead of the clover-sprinkled turf, 
 I beheld the hyacinth and the tuberose. I was on the moun- 
 tains of Genoa. 
 
 Having crossed the valley of La Magra, which separates 
 these lower chains from the high Appenuines I had just de- 
 scended, I entered the Genoese territory, distinguished by its 
 pomp, its wretchedness, and its sterility. Continuing my way 
 along barren ridges, on which grew a few stinted chestnut 
 trees, through valleys devastated by the torrents, and villages 
 which bore the aspect of wretchedness, as the countenances 
 of their inhabitants did that of guilt, I passed through Com- 
 piano, a small town which supplies all Europe with exhibitors 
 of monkies and wild beasts, and at length came into the road 
 delta Cornice, near the port of Bracco. 
 
 I have little to say concerning the agriculture of these 
 mountains. They are destitute of herbage, and consequently 
 do not afford pastures, although a few goats and sheep are 
 occasionally to be seen. The valleys produce Indian corn, 
 together with the olive and the vine, and supply some re- 
 sources to the inhabitants, whose principal dependence, how- 
 ever, is on the sea and on emigration. 
 
 What particularly attracted my notice, was a number of 
 little plots of potatoes in very good order ; and near the port 
 of Bracco, I saw a considerable quantity of them growing on 
 a piece of landisrecently cleared, which appeared to be ex- 
 <;eedingly well managed. I complimented, on this head, the 
 post-master, whose property I supposed it to be ; but he in- 
 formed me that it belonged to the French gens-d'armes stationed 
 there. He told me that our soldiers, whose numbers it had 
 been found necessary, for good reasons, to increase in these 
 parts, had introduced the cultivation of the potatoe within the 
 last five years. The peasants followed their example, and the 
 last year of scarcity greatly contributed to its progress. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 4, Vol. I. 2X 
 
26 ChafeauvieiLvs Travels Ihroiigh Itahj. 
 
 I could not help being struck at the singular means by 
 which Providence had bestowed oq this country, the only pro- 
 duction, in my opinion, adapted to its ^^ retched soil. Assu- 
 redly no Agricultural Society would have thought of it. 
 
 1 liad thus traversed the whole chain of the Appennines, and 
 found myself on the RivierUy or coast of the (Julf of Genoa. 
 1 followed the windings of the shore to the top of the Gulf, 
 whence, as from a throne, that celebrated city proudly domi- 
 neers over these seas. 
 
 1 shall not say any thing of the splendour of Genoa, of its 
 palaces, or of the monuments of its ancient glory, as these 
 have already been repeatedly described. I shall confine my 
 account to the singular aspect of the barren, but majestic 
 scenery by which it.is surrounded ; and I cannot do this better 
 than by continuing the narrative of my journey. 
 
 At six o'clock in the evening of the 21st, I set out from 
 Genoa, on my return to Tuscany, along the road by the sea 
 side, called La Cornice. At present this road is a mere path, 
 traced along the shore, or on the side of the mountains ; but, 
 in a few years, it will be formed into a noble terrace, encir- 
 cling the Gulf, and thus uniting Italy to France. Some parts 
 of it are already completed, but as they do not join, 1 could 
 not profit by them, and therefore accompanied the courier, who 
 still passes this way, on horseback. 
 
 It was a holiday, and the whole population of Genoa was 
 come forth to breathe, during a fine evenin^r, the refreshing 
 breeze from the sea, and ihe perfume of the orange-trees. 
 The sun was setting behind the mountains, and a semi-tint 
 was beginning to steal over the villas built on their sides, so 
 that I could scarcely distinguish the fresco paintings with 
 which their fronts were ornamented. Elegantly-dressed 
 women, attracted by the galloping of our horses, were peep- 
 ing out irom the numerous arbours which bordered the road 
 side. They were not, as formerly, enveloped in a veil which 
 concealed their whole figure. They had renounced the shawls 
 known by the name of inezzaros, which, it is said, were not 
 unfrequently employed for purposes of coquetry, and were 
 dressed in the French style. 
 
 After an hour's riding, we were obliged to slacken our pace, 
 the new road terminating here, and quitted these environs, so 
 highly embellished by art, at the close of day. Our road was 
 now a rocky path, the windings of which led us sometimes 
 through woods of olive-trees, and at others, along the sea- 
 shore. It was perfectly dark. 'I'he inhabitants had all retired 
 to their d\v(>Ilirigs. The plants which grew along our path, 
 exhaled (heir nameless odours: tli(> nightingales, concealed 
 
Clialeauviiiux's TraviUs iliroiti^h Ualy. 27 
 
 amidst tlie foliage of the trees, poured fortli their songs, and 
 innumerable fire-flies, fluttering from flower to flower, illu- 
 mined their blossoms with a transient light, and seemed as it 
 were, a shower of stars descended upon earth to cheer the 
 night. 
 
 Trusting to my horse''s acquaintance with the road, I threw 
 the reins upon his neck, and committed myself, without fear, 
 to his guidance. I inhaled the air, cooled by the freshness 
 of the evening, but still soft and tepid. I listened to the 
 murmur of the sea as it broke gently on the shore ; for such 
 was the serenity of the weather, that its waves, though coming 
 from the main, made no more noise than the rippling of a 
 brook. I Avould fain have stopped to enjoy, without inter- 
 ruption, the various sensations occasioned by this scene of 
 repose. All nature seemed to speak a language in unison 
 with the clearness of the sky, and the calmness of the sea. 
 The deliciousness of the climate, and the perfume of the 
 flowers, conspired to create around me an ideal world, which 
 my fancy embellished at pleasure. I wished to protract 
 this pleasing dream, for I foresaw that it would vanish with 
 the return of day ; and I regretted its approach, as the des- 
 truction of one of those reveries, the illusions of which are 
 so delightful. 
 
 The risino; sun revealed all the magnificence of the scene 
 which surrounded me. I was then near Sestri, on one of the 
 terraces recently cut in the rock, in the line of the projected 
 road, whence I conmianded the sea. It was less calm than 
 the evening before, and its waves, raised by the southern wind, 
 broke at the foot of the rocks, and bedewed the shrubs, which 
 grew in their clefts, with spray. The mists of the morning 
 were spreading, in silver tints, ov-er the sides of the moun- 
 tains ; and villas, embosomed in vines and fig-trees, were 
 seen, here and there, in their recesses. They were decorated 
 with frescoes, which deceived the eye with the appearance of 
 a noble architecture ; and their flat roofs were surrounded by 
 a balustrade, covered with jasmine and creeping plants. All 
 around, the surface of the earth presented nothing but naked 
 sterility, or useless shew. The mountains of Genoa seem in- 
 tended to evince, that nature occasionally delights to invest 
 herself in ostentatious pomp, without any purpose of utility. 
 The vegetables which serve to sup})ort life, are utterly ex- 
 cluded, while those which are productive only of ornament, 
 grow here hi profusion. We find neidier harvests nor fruits 
 amidst these rocks, but every plant is a liower, and every 
 shrub a laurel. 
 
 I travelled all dav alouii narrow ])aths, amidst the magnificence 
 
28 Chalcauvitux's Travels ihrovgh liabj. 
 
 of this sterile region. I could, with difficulty, procure any 
 thing to eat in the miserable dwellings at which we stopped, 
 nor did our horses find a better supply on the mountains, 
 wlicre they were turned to graze. They were lean and small, 
 but I could not help admiring the spirit with which they 
 climbed up the sides of the mountains. Thcv are' brought from 
 the Maremme of Tuscany, and from the wild habits in which 
 they are bred, acquire surprizing obstinacy and spirit. At 
 length, from an elevated point, I descried tlie extensive basin 
 of Spezia, encompassed by hills covered with olive-trees. Tiie 
 road widens as it descends into the valley ; and thence to Sar- 
 zana, the traveller again meets wdth the new one. It was just 
 finished, not any carriage having, as yet, left its trace on the 
 sand Avith which it was covered. None, in fact, are to be 
 found in the neighbourhood : and I, therefore, c(mtinued my 
 joiu-ney on horseback to Sarzana, where I arrived as the day 
 closed. 
 
 FloivExce, May 4, 1813. 
 
 I SHALL not attempt, after M. Sismondi, to give a detailed 
 account of the agriculture of Tuscany. My object is to convey 
 a general idea of this charming country, for which purpose 
 I shall adopt the course I have hitherto pursued, by continuing 
 the narrative of my journey. 
 
 Tuscany comprehends three regions perfectly distinct. The 
 Arno, flowing through its smiling vale, forms, amidst the 
 mountains, a sort of basin, in the centre of v. hich Florence is 
 situated ; and which extends southward as far as Cortona, and 
 westAvard as far as Pisa. In the vicinity of the sea, this basin, 
 which, higher up, is frequently very narrow, exj)ands into a vast 
 plain, of aqueous formation, level as a mirror. 
 
 The right bank of the Arno is bordered by the chain of the 
 high Appennines : its left extends to the sea, and to the frontiers 
 of the Ecclesiastical State. The surface of the latter is broken 
 and irregular, the air, for the most part, unwholesome, and 
 the hills crowned with ruins of all ages. The Appennine region 
 com})rises two-sixths of the whole extent of Tuscany : the 
 rich vale of the Arno one-sixth only : the remainder is occupied 
 by the tract known by the name of the Marennne, or the 
 region of the Malaria, of which Sienna may be considered as 
 the ca])ital. 
 
 The fertile and beautiful ]iart of Tuscany is thus limited to 
 one-sixth of its whole extent, and it is to this alone that the 
 descriptions given by ti'iivi'llers are confined. I shall adil 
 my account to the rest ; but I wish also to iu;ike the reader 
 
Chateauvieux^s Travels i/irough Italy. 29 
 
 acquainted with that unhealthy, unknown, and savage country, 
 which nature seems to have struck with premature sterihty 
 and death, and which every where bears tlie marks of happier 
 times, and of former prosperity. Tuscany lias been, at tv»'o 
 distinct periods, the theatre of the highest civilization, and 
 affords, perhaps, a better opportunity than can elsewhere be 
 found, for observing the influence of man over the works of 
 the creation. 
 
 I have, in the preceding letter, described the general character 
 and scenery of the Appennines. They present nothing to the eye 
 but valleys devastated by the waters, rocky tracts, wooded 
 declivities, and natural pastures. The same features prevail 
 in the mountains of Tuscany, and it would be superfluous to 
 retrace them. There is, however, a softer character about the 
 Florentine scenery, as if the vicinity of that terrestrial elysium 
 shed a sweet influence around it. The mountains are not so high, 
 their declivities are more gentle, their pastures greener, and their 
 valleys more populous. 
 
 But here, as throughout the Appennines, the inhabitants are 
 poor, living on chestnuts, and migrating, for employment, to 
 Florence, Leghorn, the fertile vale of the Arno, and the mines of 
 the island of Elba. 
 
 The Arno, before it reaches Florence, flows through the Val 
 di Chiana. As this valley is, in every respect, similar to that 
 known by the name of Val d"'Arno, which extends from Flo- 
 rence to the sea, an account of my excursion through the 
 latter, will give a sufficient idea of the whole course of the 
 river. 
 
 I left Florence alone, and directed my course by Pistoia and 
 Lucca, to Pisa, following the right bank of the Arno, along the 
 foot of the mountains. Their bases are covered with olive- 
 woods, whose foliage conceals from the eye innumerable little 
 farms. The higher acclivities are occupied by the chestnut 
 trees, whose vigorous verdure forms a pleasing contrast mth 
 the pale tint of the olives, and gives a sort of brilliancy to the 
 entire scene. 
 
 The road I pursued was bordered on each side with rural 
 habitations, not more tlian a hundred paces distant from each 
 other: they are built of brick, and display a justness of pro- 
 portion, and an elegance of form, unknown in more northern 
 climes. TJiey consist of a single story, with frequently only a 
 door and tv.'o windows in front. They are always placed at a 
 short distance from the road, from which they are separated by 
 a low wall, and a terrace of a few feet in breadth. On this 
 wall are usually placed vases, copied from the antique, in 
 which are planted aloes, flowers, or young orange-trees. The 
 
30 Ckateauvieu.v\t Travels through liahj. 
 
 house itself is entirely covered with vines, so that in sunnner-tinie 
 the traveller is at a loss to know whether they are verdant 
 arl)ours, or habitations intended for winter. 
 
 Before these dwelhngs, bands of yoinif^ ^h'ls, dressed in 
 white, with corsets of silk, and straw hats ornamented witli 
 flowers to shade tlie face, are busily employed in plaiting the 
 fine mats of which the Florence hats are made. This manu- 
 facture is the source of the ])rosperity of the Val d'Arno. 
 It brings in annually three milhons of liras, which are earned 
 exclusively by the women, the men not being concerned in this 
 branch of business. The girls buy the straw for a few sols, 
 and vie with each other in plaiting it as finely as possible. They 
 themselves dispose of the hats they manufacture, and the 
 profits they derive from them are their marriage portion. The 
 father of the family has, however, a right to exact from the 
 females of his household a certain share in the laliours of 
 his farm ; but this is commonly performed by the Nvomen 
 from the mountains who are hired by the girls of the plain 
 to do the work for them. The latter can, in fact, earn from 
 thirty to forty sols a day by their plaiting, while the hire of 
 a poor woman from the Appennines is not more than eight or 
 ten. They observe, that the labours of the field would harden 
 their fingers, and render them unfit for the delicacy of their 
 work. 
 
 Such are the country girls of the Vale of Arno, whose 
 graces and beauty are celebrated by every traveller; whose 
 language xMfieri went to study ; and who seem born to em- 
 bellish the arts, and to supply them with models. They are 
 Arcadian nymphs, but not shepherdesses ; they have only 
 their health and fjood-humour, without havintr to endure their 
 tods and fatijrue. 
 
 I have been told, that all the straw required for the manu- 
 facture of hats in Tuscany is grown on two acres of land. It is 
 the stalk of a species of wheat without a beard, drawn up, and 
 rendered delicate, by the poorness of the soil. It is sown very 
 thick on calcareous spots on the hills, which are never manured, 
 and is cut before the grain is quite ripe. 
 
 The vicinity of the habitations to each other, of itself indicates 
 that the farms attached to them are small, and that ])roperty 
 is very much divided in this vallev. Thev are, in fact, not 
 more than from three to ten acres in extent, lying round the 
 dwelling-house, and divided into comj)artments by small canals, 
 and rows of trees. These trees are sometimes nuilluTries, 
 but generally ])o])lars, the Icavi's of which are gathered for 
 the cattle, while their stems are eni})loye(l to snpporl the 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Ilahj. 31 
 
 vines, which are interwoven among them in a thousand dif- 
 ferent ways. 
 
 These compartments, in the form of long squares, are suf- 
 ficiently spacious lo admit of being cultivated by a plough 
 without wheels, drawn by a pair of oxen, which are kept by 
 ten or twelve of the farmers at the common expence, and 
 employed by them alternately. They are brought from the 
 Campagna of Rome and the iVlaremme, and are of the Hun- 
 garian breed : they are taken great care of, and are covered 
 with white housings, bedecked with red ribbons and em- 
 broidery. 
 
 Almost all the farmers keep a light, elegant-looking horse, 
 used for drawing a small two-wheeled cart, tastefully con- 
 structed, and painted red, which serves for all the business of 
 the farm ; but more especially for taking the farmers' daugh- 
 ters to mass, or to the l3all. On holidays, hundreds of these 
 little cars may be seen moving in every direction on each of 
 the roads, filled with young women, adorned with ribbons and 
 flowers. 
 
 The farms in the Vale of Arno do not produce sufficient 
 fodder for cows; but it is part of the system to rear calves, 
 which are bought in at three months old, kept for a year and 
 a half, and then sold to the butcher. They are brought from 
 the pastures of the Maremme to the fairs of the Vale of Arno, 
 by the cattle dealers. 
 
 The reason of this practice will be better understood from 
 an account of the rotation adopted in these vallies. There 
 not being any natural meadows, the leaves of the trees, the 
 remains of the vegetables, and a little trefoil, are the only food 
 provided for the cattle. Every thing is reserved for man in 
 this country, which is populous beyond measure, through the 
 effect of long civilization. There is no absolutely fixed rota- 
 tion in this region ; but the following is the most prevailing 
 one, and will give an idea of the rapid succession of crops. 
 ' 1st Year, Indian Corn, French-beans, Peas, or other kinds 
 
 of pulse, manured. 
 
 2d Wheat. 
 
 3d Winter-beans. 
 
 4th Wheat. 
 
 6th Trefoil, sown after the wheat cut in spring, and 
 
 followed by sorgo, a species of large pannic, or 
 millet, yielding a coarse flour, which is made 
 into a wretched sort of soup, and pollejita. 
 
 There are thus six crops in five years, of which one only is 
 destined for cattle. 
 
 Though the land is manured only once during this period, 
 
S2 Chateauvieux's Travels thro7igh Italy. 
 
 the crops are nevertheless very fine. This must be attributed 
 to the depth, fertility, and coolness of the alluvial soil ; to the 
 minute care with which it is cultivated ; to the judicious inter- 
 mixture of tho crops ; and finally, to the thickly-placed ha- 
 bitations, the fertilizing effect of which, though imperceptible 
 to our senses, we are compelled to admit from experience. 
 
 The soil, thus subdivided, supports an immense population ; 
 but this IS on terms of the strictest economy, never affording 
 a surplus which may be reserved against years of failure. 
 When these occur, the produce of wine, of oil, and of the 
 straw manufacture, brings in return some supplies from the 
 port of Leghorn, and from the markets of Romagna. It is 
 not the natural fertility of a country, or the abundance which 
 it displays, to the eye of the traveller, that constitutes the well- 
 being of its inhabitants. It is the number of individuals 
 among whom its produce is to be divided, and the portion 
 which falls to the share of each ; and which is here very 
 small. 
 
 I have, as has been seen, described a charming country, 
 fertile, well watered, and covered with a perpetual vegetation. 
 I have displayed its innumerable enclosures, filled, like so 
 many gardens, with a thousand various productions, and 
 adorned by elegant dwellings, enwreathed with vines, and 
 bedecked with flowers. But on entering these habitations you 
 find an appearance of nakedness, a more than frugal table, 
 and a total absence of all the conveniences of life. Not any 
 of the families by v>-hom they are inhabited are proprietors 
 of the farms they cultivate ; they are tenants only, and pay to 
 the landlords the half of all their crops in kind. The latter, 
 some of whom own from ton to a hundred farms, reside in 
 the numerous towns of the fertile vallies of Tuscany ; so that 
 the population is divided into two classes, who never mix, the 
 citizens proprietors, and the peasants non-proprietors. When 
 we add to this the number of merchants and artizans, who 
 also inhabit the towns, the cause of their great number and 
 populousness becomes evident. 
 
 The amount of capital expended in the Vale of Arno, in 
 building the innumerable farm-houses, in subdividing the 
 land, and in bringing the whole system to its present state of 
 perfection, must have been very considerable, without reckon- 
 ing the extensive works it has been found necessary to esta- 
 blish, in order to preserve the low grounds from the fury of 
 the waters. This valley being placed between two chains of 
 mountains, one of which is very lofty, was periodically devas- 
 tated by a multitude of torrents which precipitated themselves 
 from them, loaded with stones and rubbish. It was necessary 
 
Chateauvicux'a Travels through Italy. 33 
 
 to coutroul those torrents, and to restrain their violence, v.ithoiit 
 losing the benefit of their waters, and of the soil wiiich they 
 brought with them, 
 
 To accomplish this double purpose, the courses of tlie 
 torrents are embanked by strong walls, arid thus formed into 
 so many canals. These are made straight, tJiat the violence 
 of the waters may not break down any angle, and thai: they 
 may deposit the stones they contain as they go along. Open- 
 ings arc made at regular distances, on a level with the average 
 height of the stream, in order that the v/ater escaping iaterally, 
 may overflov/ the adjacent land, and deposit upon it the mud 
 with which it is charged. A multitude of successive canals, 
 from these openings, divide the principal current ; and, while 
 they moderate its violence, diffuse the benefits of its waters 
 over the surrounding fields. These canals branch out into innu- 
 merable ramifications, so that there is not a single flat which is 
 not inclosed by them. They are all cut at right angles, and in- 
 closed by walls of brick. 
 
 Each torrent having a complete and separate system of re- 
 straint and subdivision, the vallics are overspread, as it were, 
 with a net-work of little streams, v»'hich difFuse coolness and 
 moisture over every part. A multitude of biidges and sluices 
 connect these islets together, and regulate the communication 
 between them : so that the capital employed in the construction 
 of the uliole must have been innnense. 
 
 Far greater wealth was, liowever, required, to erect the nu- 
 merous towns and tillages scattered along the course of the 
 Arno. They have an appearance of splendour which is found 
 only in the principal cities of other countries. Their temples, 
 their fountains, their promenades, all their edifices, in short, 
 imite to the most perfect elegance a striking appearance of 
 magnificence and grandeur. The whole capital of Tuscany, 
 at the present day, would be insufficient to build the churches 
 which it contains, with their ornaments, their marbles, por- 
 phyries, &c. 
 
 I was more particularly struck with this architectural mag- 
 nificence, this profusion of monuments, on arriving at Pistoia. 
 Of this city it may be said, that it was built as a model, and 
 that the inhabitants had come thither l)v accident ; — for of 
 forty thousand which it formerly contained, only eight thou- 
 sand now remain. The popidation of all the towns has di- 
 minished nearly after the same rate ; and yet its amount is still 
 prodigious. In the prosperous times of Italy it must have ex- 
 ceeded every known proportion. The vastness of the build- 
 ings, and the small number of the inhabitants, give to the cities 
 of Italy, at the present day, amid so many palaces, and so 
 
 Voyages and Tjiavels, No 4, Vol. I. 2 y 
 
84 Chateauvleua.^ s Travels through Italy. 
 
 great an architectural display, an air of solitude, and departed 
 splendour. 
 
 Beyond Pistoia the country becomes more pleasant and fertile, 
 because the alhivial soil is deeper, and the valley, as it opens, 
 being further removed from the mountains, enjoys a warmer cli- 
 mate. The verdure accordingly is richer, the liarvests more 
 abundant, and the liorizon more extended. 
 
 The road approaches the foot of the Appennines, near Pescia, 
 a pretty town, situated on the side of a valley covered with 
 olive-trees, in the midst of which, on the declivity of the liill, 
 stands a smiling, rural dwelling, accessible only by a narrow 
 path, concealed by grou]^*s of fig-trees, vines, and aloes. In 
 this retreat I visited ^\. Sismondi, at that time engaged in writ- 
 ing the last volumes of his Plistory of Italy. Prom his shel- 
 tered abode he beheld the vast theatre of the scenes he has de- 
 scribed ; while in the distance, towards the mountcins of Vol- 
 terra, ruined towns and castles seemed to present themselves as 
 venerable testimonials of the traditions of the times. 
 
 A single hill, detached from the Appennines, stretclies to- 
 wards the mouths of the Arno, and separates the vale from 
 the territory of Lucca. The plain of Lucca is still more fer- 
 tile than the vale of Arno. Its agriculture is similar, and its 
 produce nuich more abundant. But though its natural advan- 
 tages are greater, the industry here displayed is far inferior. 
 Neither the same elegance in the houses, nor the same care in 
 the construction of the canals, is to be found : every thing is 
 more rou^h and neMected. The women are ill clad, and have 
 lost the graces of their language, as well as the charms of their 
 figure. 
 
 The ancient city of Lucca stands in the middle of this plain, 
 near the course of the Serchio. I knoAV not whence it is, that it 
 has not the least apjiearance of an Italian town. Its crooked 
 streets, pointed roofs, and irregular construction, render it more 
 like a city of Flanders. I have not been able to meet with an 
 explanation of this singularity any where. 
 
 The road from Lucca to Pisa passes, along v. .ih the Serchio, 
 through an opening of the hills m hich separate these two towns, 
 and enters the vast plain of Pisa and Leghorn. On a])proach- 
 inji Pisa and the sea, the n^arden-like cultivation which enli- 
 vens the vicinity of Florence, ceases ; the trees become fewer, 
 the houses are thinly scattered, and extensive fields lie ojhmi 
 to the plough. The innumerable families of the vale have dis- 
 a])]K'ared : a few large farmers occupv the land, for we are now 
 on the confines of the region of the jMal.uia, and of the mea- 
 dow-lands. 
 
CJuiteauvkuaPs Travels through Italtj, 35 
 
 Pisa, May 15, 1813. 
 
 Before entering the INIaremme of Tuscany, I wish to say a 
 word of one of the most remarkable agricidtural estabhsh- 
 ments in Europe, wliich is situated at the gate of Pisa, and 
 visited by scarcely any travellers. It is called San Rossore, 
 and was originally formed by the Medici family ; but is now 
 managed by Sig. Batistini with distinguished intelligence and 
 ability. 
 
 Between Pisa and the sea, from the mouths of the Serchio 
 to those of the Arno, the waters have left a plain of more 
 tlian a square league in extent, the soil of which, being mixed 
 with the sea-sand, Avas too poor to be worth cultivating. A 
 wood of evergreen oaks stands in the middle of this plain, 
 which is covered with a fine turf, and forms the domain of San 
 Ilossore. 
 
 I visited it on horseback, accompanied by Sig. Batistini. On 
 leaving Pisa you pass by the celebrated hanging tower, which 
 has remained in this impending position for centuries; and 
 immediately enter an avenue, planted with elms, w^hich leads 
 to the casino, or hunting-villa, of San Kossore. On each side 
 of the avenue extend meadows, which supply hay for the 
 winter support of the stock of the farm. The surface of these 
 meadows, however, is speedily converted into a short turf, scat- 
 tered over with briars and evergreen oaks, which give it the 
 appearance of a neglected park. The Italians designate these 
 wild tracts, composed of wood and pasture, by the name of 
 Macchie. 
 
 We soon after reached the casino, a pretty square building 
 of two stories, adorned by Leopold with frescoes, representing 
 the pleasures of the chase. Hence we directed our course north- 
 ward towards the district watered by the Serchio, walking on 
 the turf under the shade of the oaks. On our passage we 
 came to a vast shed, supported by pillars, tlie upper part of 
 which is used as a loft for hay and the lower divided into several 
 compartments by racks. Here the horses pass the night in bad 
 weather, and are supplied with hay from the racks when the 
 pasture fails. 
 
 A little farther on, m an opening of the wood, we stopped 
 near a new sheep-fold, intended for two hundred Merinos, which 
 have been lately introduced upon the farm. They pass the, 
 winter in these sandy pastures, and ihe summer on the moun- 
 tains. Sio^. Batistini's mode of treatment, which is exactly 
 analogous to that of Spain, appeared to me to suit them; for 
 the flock was in good condition, and contained some remark- 
 ably fine animals. 
 
S6 CJiutecuiviciLV s Travels ihroir^h Italy. ^ 
 
 On the lianks of the Sercliio, where the herbao;e is more 
 luxuriant, we found a stud of horses, wliich generally feed in 
 this part. It consisted of twenty mares, with their followers, 
 and a stallion. A little farther on was a similar herd. Tliere 
 are eio-ht of them in the whole establishment. These horses are 
 (juite wild, and are left entirely at liberty, both on the plains, 
 where they pass the winter, and on the mountains, whert^ they 
 pasture during summer : the only attention paid to them is 
 on the iournev- 
 
 What principally attracted my notice, with respect to them, 
 was tiie separation of the mares, who form so many distinct 
 herds, governed by their stailicm. These herds never mix, or 
 if they accidentally do, a mortal combat ensues between the 
 stallions ; for the fierce jealousy of these animals is altogether 
 of an Asiatic character, far beycmd that of the horses (jf the 
 north. 
 
 Each herd has its district, to which it keeps, without any in- 
 terference on the ])art of the keepers ; and this division, which 
 is strictly observed, is so fairly made, that each has an e(]ual 
 share of the pasturage, in the space which it has appropriated 
 to itself. 
 
 These horses ai*e all made very nuich alike. Their bones are 
 small, but their joints are too weak and flexible. Their haunches 
 are low and flat, the loins and withers prominent, the shoulder 
 loose, the chest deer-shaped, and their heads disproportionably 
 long and narrow. They are, in fact, execrable nags : fit, ])er- 
 haps, for light cavalry, but good for nothing here. They are 
 too light for draught, too high for the saddle, and too vicious 
 in every respect, and are scarcely ever sold, except to the charcoal- 
 malvcrs, and for post-horses. 
 
 Signor ]]atistini, aware of their defects, took a journey to 
 Normandy, foi' the purpose of l)uying some horses there to 
 imj)rove the breed. The only i^roduce of the cross that I 
 saw, were foals of two months old ; the awkward shape of the 
 liead was corrected, and they appeared altogether very hand- 
 some. 
 
 (Jn leaving the quarter where the horses were, Ave directed 
 our course towards the sea, through a wood of evergreen oaks. 
 I remarked that the leaves of all these trees were cropped to 
 the height of about twelve feet from the ground ; not a leaf 
 being left ])elow that line. I Avas t()ld that it was occasioned by 
 the camels browzing the Ibllage as high as their necks would 
 reach, and that we shoulil soon see a herd of these foreign 
 animals. 
 
 \Ve bad, in fact, scarcely lefl the vein, Ix^fore we found 
 ourselves on a vast sandy plain, bounded t)nly by the sea and 
 
Chateau'vieux' s Travels through Italij. 37 
 
 the forest. It was truly an Arabian desert. Some of the 
 camels which were lying clown on the sand, got up at our 
 approach, and others which were grazing along the shore, 
 turned their heads and gazed stupidly at us. More than two 
 hundred of them were scattered over tlie plain, wandering 
 silently about, and awaiting the heat of the day, to return to 
 the forest. At some distance were a group of female camels, 
 with their 3^oung, but they took to flight at our approach, and 
 trotted with such rapidity, that our horses could with difficulty 
 overtake them at full speed. In this rapid chase, the camels 
 leaped, bounded, and displayed a vivacity which I did not sup- 
 pose they possessed, and which their odd figure rendered not a 
 little ridiculous. 
 
 The singular appearance of these animals ; the profound soli- 
 tude ; together with the prospect of the sea, on which some 
 English vessels, belonging to the Leghorn station, were cruiz- 
 ing along the coast, as if tempted by the fineness of the day, 
 gave to the whole scene a strange and oriential character, to 
 wliich nothing similar can, perhaps, be found in Europe, 
 
 This Asiatic family has subsisted, in this district, ever since 
 tlie time of the crusades, when they were brought thither by a 
 Grand Prior of the order of St. John, who was a native of 
 Pisa. They are more remarkable than useful, being employed 
 in the work of the farm, but for no other purpose. They sup- 
 ply all the mountebanks in Europe with those which they lead 
 al)out from town to toivTi, at the moderate price of six or seven 
 louis. 
 
 We had now reached the mouths of the Arno, at the southern 
 extremity of the farm. Here feed, during the whole year a 
 herd of eighteen hundred wild cows, still more fierce than the 
 horses or camels ; it being always difficult, and often danger- 
 ous, to approach them. They are of a greyish slate colour, 
 their limbs small boned, and their whole make round, and well 
 set ; they carry their heads nobly and gracefully, and seem 
 proud of the immense horns with which nature has adorned their 
 fronts. 
 
 It is impossible to milk these cows, nor indeed is it worth 
 while to attempt it, as they become dry at the end of tliree 
 months, as soon as they have weaned their calves. These are 
 sold, as soon as they leave the mother, to the little fai'mers of 
 the vale of Arno. The cows are killed at seven or eight years 
 old, for the sake of their liides and flesh. They are pjiirsued 
 by himters armed with lances, or torreadors, as they are termed ; 
 a sort of festival which rarely passes without accident. 
 
 This establishment, the sole principle of which consists in 
 leaving nature entirely to herself, is found in the immediate 
 
38 Chateauv'ieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 vicinity of the country described in my preceding letter, wliere 
 she has been so transformed by civilization, as not to have a 
 single original feature remaining. These two extremes are 
 necessary to each other. This Tartarian system supplies the 
 industrious Florentine with animals which he has no means of 
 rearing, but "which are necessary for the labour of his farm ; 
 and a market is thus provided for the spontaneous productions 
 of the desert. This reciprocal interchange subsists every where, 
 to the mutual advantage of both parties, because it enables 
 the respective fai'mers to devote themselves exclusively to 
 that species of culture Mhich best suits the nature of their 
 land. 
 
 This equilibrium is most perfect in those countries where a 
 happy intermixture of natural and artificial crops enables the 
 agriculturist to make these exchanges on his own farm, and 
 where one species of produce serves to fertilize another ; as is 
 the case in Lombardy, Belgium, and in every country where art 
 employs the spontaneous vegetation of the earth, to obtain a 
 more abundant supply of productions, selected by the choice of 
 tlie cultivator. 
 
 Sienna, May, 25, 1813. 
 
 A PART of my plan was to pass through Volterra, in my way 
 to Sienna, and thus to traverse the country known by tlie title of 
 the Maremme, or the region of the Malaria. It stretches along 
 the Mediterranean, from Leghorn to Terracina, extending inland 
 as far as the first chain of the Appennines. 
 
 It is a theatre in which are contained the remains of tlie ancient 
 world, and of its vanished glory ; a land of memory, where the 
 traveller finds nothing but ruins. Nature, exhausted by her 
 former efforts, seems to have renounced the work of production : 
 the fields are sterile and uninhabited : the waters unwholesome, 
 and embued with sulphur : and the forests have no inhabitants 
 but their aged oaks, which bid defiance to time. 
 
 A recital of my journey will, liowever, give a better idea of 
 this land of antiquity, tlian mere declamation. 
 
 After quitting Pisa, I re-ascended the left bank of the Arno, as 
 far as Empoli, wliere I left the great Florence road, and took that 
 leading to Volterra and Piombino. This last, which was made 
 by I^eopold, and is the only one that leads to the Marennne, is 
 carried skilfully cilong the side of the hills. It is only nine feet 
 wide, but is kept in such nice order, that it resembles a gravel 
 walk, rather than a high road. 
 
 From Enjpoli I proceeded directly southwards, advancing 
 
Chateauvieuoo' s Travels through Itabj. S9 
 
 towards the chain of hills which incloses the vale of Arno. I 
 continued my way for another mile, under the verdant bowers 
 which adorn the banks of that river, and then be^ran to ascend 
 the hill which was soon to hide this delicious vale from my sight. 
 
 As I ascended, the vegetation became weaker and more scanty. 
 I was still surrounded by vines and olives, but their foliage wa» 
 pale, like the soil from which they sprung. On the other side of 
 the hill, I crossed several small valleys. They were still animated 
 by villages, vineyards, and cultivated enclosures, and watered 
 by a few canals ; but the houses had lost the graceful character 
 of the dwellings of the plain. They were clustered around the 
 churches, and were neither adorned with flowers, nor enlivened 
 by pretty peasant girls. A few villas and country houses were 
 still to be seen, distinguishable, at a distance, by their long 
 plantations of cypresses. 
 
 The land is here, also, much divided, and occupied by farmers, 
 who rent it. It produces good wine, a little oil, wheat, Indian 
 corn, and sorgo ; but inferior both in quality and quantity, the 
 wheat yielding only three for one. Sain-foin is also cultivated, 
 but to no great extent. It is grown for the horses, great numbers 
 of which are kept here, being employed in the carriage of all 
 kinds of goods. This description of country, which is by no 
 means unpicturesque, continues as far as Castel Fiorentino^ 
 situated four leagues from Empoli, on the frontier of the desert. 
 
 Here all cultivation ceases, and we enter the Maremme. The 
 surface of the country is undulated, like the vast waves of an 
 immense ocean, but softened in their forms by time, and the 
 labours of man. On the ridges were to be seen, from time to 
 time, enclosures of mouldering walls, and ancient towers, which 
 seemed still to make a show of protection to the houses which 
 were visible through their ruins. 
 
 In their valleys were to be seen a few houses, scattered at 
 great distances from each other, and unsurrounded by gardens, or 
 verdure of any kind. They were merely habitations attached to 
 some plots of Indian corn or sorgo, as if to inform the traveller 
 that a few miserable beings still survived the dissolution of their 
 country. 
 
 Above all the rest rises the eminence on which the aged 
 walls of Volterra repose. From a distance, that ancient city 
 appears in the horizon like a vast assemblage of walls, steeples, 
 and towers. One might term it the capital of the middle ages, 
 separated, by the wilderness^ from all those countries which have 
 forgotten the manners of their ancestors, and their respect for 
 times past. 
 
 After having travelled all day, I stopped, as it closed, to pass 
 the night at a solitary house called Casianco. The influence of 
 
40 Cliateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 the pestilential atmosphere having already been felt here, the 
 proprietors of the estate had abandoned it, and retired to San 
 Gemioniano, leaving, for the entertainment of strangers, a tall 
 spare -^gure of a man, whose paleness had, for years, rendered 
 him the image of death. I had no other eompanion than my 
 guide; and had no sooner entered this dwelling, where hospi- 
 tality had scarcely any thing to offer, than the shaking of the 
 walls, occasioned by an earthquake, M'hich we felt at three several 
 intervals, compelled us to quit it. The shocks here were weak, 
 but elsewhere were violerit, having thrown down a house, as also 
 a part of the church of San Casciano. 
 
 I sat down on the trunk of a tree, whence I contemplated the 
 wilderness which siuTounded me. It was in tlie state of the 
 tracts called by the Italians Macchie, scattered over with a few 
 aged oaks, which are never replaced ; for, as those tracts are used 
 for pasturage, the cattle devour all the young shoots as they ay)- 
 pear. These ancient trees, the remains of former forests, indi- 
 cate, by their presence, that they belonged to a period when man, 
 in these regions, was still able to watch over his possessions : at 
 the present time he no hunger attempts it. 
 
 AVhile seated at this spot, mournfully contemplating tliese 
 deserted fields, one of the little cars used in the vale of Arno 
 approached. Two children were laid in it; and the motiier 
 walked on foot by the side of them, never taking her eyes ofl' 
 them for a moment. She was still liandsome, but pale and 
 fatigued, and seemed overwhelmed with distress. She lifted her 
 children carefully out, and asked for milk for them to drink : 
 there was none to be had. She gave them some v/atcr, which 
 was yellow and sulpluu'ous ; anxiously watching them as they 
 drank it, and seeming to count, as it were, every drop. These 
 tw^o poor children had been bitten by a mad dog, and the un- 
 happy mother was taking them to Volterra. She told me that a 
 nail of the true cross was kept there, which, if applied to wounds 
 of this sort, prevented their fatal effects. I could not forbear 
 insinuating some doubts as to its efficacy ; but she assured me, 
 tliat it had been employed as a remedy in Tuscany from time im- 
 memorial. I took the liberty of telling her th;it cauterization 
 was considered as still more efficacious; but she then added, that 
 before the sacred relic was applied to tlie wounds, it was matle 
 i-ed-lu)t. This removed my fears as to tlie fate of these pcK)r 
 children. 
 
 It appears, then, that the secret of cauterizing, so lately intro- 
 duced in surgery, in these cases, has l)een long ])raclised in 
 Tuscany. Notliing ])ut the accidental visit of a traveller was 
 wanting to make it known : but v.liiil traveller ever goes to 
 Volterra ? 
 
ChafcauvieiLt''s Travels Through Italy, 41 
 
 The inhabitants of the Maremme fix the period of their dc- 
 chne to about the time of tlie pestilence which prevailed in the 
 sixteenth century, by which a great part of the population ap- 
 pears to have been destroyed From that period it has never 
 been sufficiently numerous to resist the destructive influence of 
 the Malaria, which augments in proportion as tlie resistance of 
 civilization diminishes. 
 
 The decline of the population, by destroying competition, 
 caused the price of property to fall : at which time the great 
 capitalists of Tuscany obtained possession of it, and, from that 
 moment, all productive activity was banished, without hope of 
 return. The attem])ts made by Leopokl to plant Colonies in the 
 Maremme, all failed, the colonists dying of the fever before the 
 settlement could be estal)lished. The soil is become sterile, as 
 if utterlv exhausted by the labours of man : it presents merely a 
 pure white clay, mixed with sulphur, whicli forms in great abun- 
 dance in this region. Sulphureous springs are seen bubbling out 
 of the ground, announcing themselves, at a distance, by an odour, 
 and by exhalations v/hich give a gloomy aspect to the face of the 
 whole country. 1 here is a frightful appearance about these soU 
 ^faterre^ which drives every inhabitant from their neighbourhood. 
 Fetid flames rise amidst whirls of smoke from these little craters, 
 tlie sides of which are covered with sulphureous incrustations, 
 while a livid water boils in the centre. 
 
 There remained, therefore, no way of turning to advantage the 
 soil of these countries, depopulated by nature, and fallen into the 
 grasp of the great capitalists, but to abandon it to its indigenous 
 productions, and to furnish it with a migratory population, AA'hich 
 should reside there only during the healthy season, and pasture 
 their flocks on the herbage spontaneously yielded by nature. 
 
 The genial climate permitting the growth of vegetation during 
 the whole winter, there has been established, between the plailis 
 of the Maremme and tlie mountains of the Appennines, an 
 exchange of population, by means of which, each of these re- 
 gions is turned to the best account that its circumstances will 
 admit. 
 
 The extensive pasturage of the mountains belong to different 
 parishes, to whom a floating capital would be as little advanta- 
 geous, as to the great land-owners of the Maremme. An inter- 
 mediate class has, therefore, naturally placed itself between them, 
 consisting of migratory herdsmen and shepherds, whose only pos- 
 sessions are their flocks, and who follow them from the moun- 
 tams to the plain, according to the season, hiring the pasturage 
 necessary for their support at so much per head. 
 
 Such is the agricultural system of the Maremme — a system, 
 
 V^OYAGEs and Travels, No. 4, Vol. I. 2 z 
 
42 Chateauv'teux'i Travels through Italy. 
 
 tlie adoption of which has, in some measure, been necessitated 
 by circumstances, and which is likely to be permanent ; for with- 
 out it, there would be nothing but a perfect solitude. Its con- 
 tinuance is further secured by other circumstances, both of a 
 local and general nature ; for the surrounding countries all 
 depend for their supply of animal food on the produce of the 
 Maremme. 
 
 Four hundred thousan 1 slieep, thirty thousand horses, l)esides 
 a vast number of horned cattle and goats, are fed in these regions, 
 and make up for the total want of breeding stock in the vale of 
 Arno. The effect of this arrangement lias, no doubt, been to 
 create a desert in the midst of Italy, and to people it with a set 
 of half savao'c beino-s, who are seen scourin.o; along; these solitudes, 
 like Tartars, armed with long lances, and clad in coarse cloth and 
 raw skins. But 'this state of things is still more the work of 
 nature than of man : and some intelligence was manifested in 
 thus getting possession, as it were, in defiance of her, of a tract 
 which seemed destined to be the dominion only of death. 
 
 The soil of the Maremme, at the same time that it has ceased 
 to yield the vegetable productions necessary for the support of 
 man, has become the subject of those chemical combinations by 
 which sulphur, salt, and alum, are formed in immense quantities. 
 The collecting of these furnishes subsistence to a great portion 
 of the inhabitants, though the business is only pursued during 
 the season when there is nothing to apprehend from the effects of 
 the air. In the neighbourhood of N^olterra, I was surprised to 
 find the road assume a white colour, which the sun rendered per- 
 fectly dazzling. It arose from the alabaster of which the road 
 was made. The whole mountain is composed of it, and it is 
 from hence that the blocks used by the modellers and statuaries 
 are cut. This road, paved with alabaster, gave me the idea of an 
 avenue to an enchanted palace, and had a singular effect, when 
 contrasted with the scene which surrounded me. 
 
 After having ascended for about on hour, I reached the emi- 
 nence on which Volterra is built. Ruined convents, deserted 
 gardens, with a few olive-trees, moiddcring walls, and roofless 
 palaces, aftest the ancient splendour of this city, in which three 
 thousand inhabitants, for the most part peasants or manufacturers 
 of alabaster, still vegetate. 
 
 No where are the traces of that gradual decay which silently 
 undermines the works of creation, more awfully impressed, than 
 on the wails of Volterra. Its pale inhabitants wander, like shades, 
 amidst ruins of majestic grandeur; and, as if dismayed at the 
 sight of the surrounding desol.-ition, do not attem})t to pre- 
 serve even their own habitiitions fVom the fate which threatens 
 them. Thev abandon tliem to the elements, and await, with 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels tluough Italy. 45 
 
 resignation, the periodical scourge which nature has commis- 
 sioned to decimate them every year. 
 
 I searched in vain lor an inn, and was engaged in seeking for 
 a lodging, when I was stopped by a well-dressed man, who ac- 
 costed me in French, and our accent mutually discovered to us 
 that we were natives of the same country. This great national 
 tie immediately removed the reserve which so novel an acquaint- 
 ance seemed to require. He informed me that there was no inn 
 at VoJterra, because the landlord could not make a living from it ; 
 and he invited me to take up my abode at his house, an offer 
 which I thankfully accepted. 
 
 The person who showed me all this j^oliteness, was Receiver of 
 the District : and as I Avas not aware that he had any other occu- 
 pation, I was surprised to see so much bustle about his habi- 
 tation. It was formerly an immense convent, the four sides of 
 which enclosed, within their porticoes, a spacious court. In this 
 court workmen were going backwards and forwards, and every 
 thing announced bustle and activity. I expressed to him my sur- 
 prise at this, on which he related to me, that a few years before, 
 as he was rambling for amusement in the neighbourhood of the 
 town, he came to a solfaterra, and was struck with the quantity of 
 sulphur which the water had deposited on the banks. It was at 
 a time when that substance was become more valuable, in conse- 
 quence of the supply from Sicily and Egypt being cut oiF, and he 
 knew that no one claimed the possession of it. He had a slight 
 knowledge of chemistry, and sent to Leghorn for Chaptal's work, 
 with the assistance of which he attempted to make the sulphur 
 into rolls. He succeeded ; sent samples to Marseilles, and was 
 desired to send more. This gave him courage ; he gradually ex- 
 tended his manufactory, and makes, at this moment, forty quin- 
 tals a week, which are sent off, as fast as they are prepared, to 
 Provence. 
 
 In the evening we went to the theatre, for no tov/n in Italy, 
 however paltry is without one. It was sufficiently large, but as 
 the lights were sparingly distributed, we were obliged to feel our 
 way into it. The admission was only five sous, so that we could 
 not complain of the scantiness of the illumination. At length 
 candles were lighted in front of the orchestra, and the curtain 
 drew up. The house was full. The play was a translation of 
 The Mvies of Poland^ a melo-drama of the Ambigu theatre, for 
 Italy no longer furnishes originals : they are content with trans- 
 lating the pieces performed at the Feydeau and the theatres of 
 the Boulevards. The dressess and decorations were tolerably 
 handsome, and the actors performed with a truth and nature 
 w^hich made me blush for ours, and captivated all my attention. 
 The interest which I felt was, however, nothing in comparison 
 
44 Chateauvicux^ Travels through liali^, 
 
 with that displayed by the impassioned audience of this cour.- 
 try town. The critics of Volterra shed tears, leaped, warned 
 the heroine, by their cries, of the dangers to which she was 
 exposed, clapped their hands, and confrratiilated eacli other 
 on the happy stratagem by whicli ]\I. de Pixericourt acconi- 
 plislied her rescue. 
 
 From the towers of Volterra the view extends to a distance 
 over sterile wastes. Tiie nakedness of the pros]^>ect is broken 
 only by a few woods of cypresses and evergreen oaks, whose 
 deep verdure, set off by the yelloAv hue of the soil, makes 
 them appear as if planted for the decoration of so many ceme- 
 teries. From the bottom of the vallies rises the continual 
 smoke of the solfaterra, sometimes rolling along in volumes, 
 and at others ascending in colunms towards heaven, like the 
 smoke of a sacrifice. 
 
 Home, June 10, 1813. 
 
 It is generally supposed that the noxious atmosphere whicFi 
 depopulates the plains of Italy, along the shores of the Me- 
 diterranean, proceeds from marshes and stagnating waters, 
 which are every where found to render the air insalubrious- 
 This may, perhaps, be the case in the Pontine marshes ; but 
 in the Maremmc of Tuscany and the Campagna of Home, it 
 cannot be attributed to this cause; for we have seen, in the 
 preceding letter, that these Maremme are an elevated region, 
 where the winds and the air have free circulation, and where 
 there are neither marshes nor stagnant waters ; and yet I can 
 testify that this scourge is felt with as much violence on the 
 lofty summit of Radicofani, as in the forests of Mount Soracte. 
 
 It would seem probable, that this corruption of the air 
 arises from the chemical constitution of the soil of this volca- 
 nic region ; a constitution which it has gradually acquired by 
 a process of nature, and a coiu'se of events unknown to us. 
 It is certain at least, that the cause of these constant and ter- 
 rible plienomena is not yet known. ]k)t.i llie medical men 
 and the chemists, wlio have attempted to account for tliem, 
 have alike fiiiled ; for tlieir hypotheses are contradicted by 
 facts, and they have never, to the ])resent moment, been able 
 to discover the source of that mysterious influence which dif- 
 fuses itself like an invisible fluid ; and the })resence of w liich 
 is not in any way indicated. The sky is as cleju*, the verdure 
 as fresh, the air as serene, as elsewhere: the tranquility of 
 the scene seems cak'ulated to inspire a feeling of ])erfect secu- 
 rity, and yet I cannot describe tlu* secret dread which one 
 
Chateauvleux's Travels tUrough Italy. 45 
 
 experiences in spite of ones self on breathing this air, at once so' 
 soft and so deleterious. 
 
 The effect produced by this slow destruction of the human 
 constitution, cannot be conceived except by those who have' 
 actually visited these provinces during the dangerous season. 
 Their dejected inhabitants gradually lose the healthy colour 
 of life ; their complexion becomes livid and yellow : their 
 strength declines daily ; numbers of them perish before the 
 end of the season ; and even those to whom Providence re- 
 serves a few more years of existence, have scarcely spirits to 
 desire them. Tliey lose their animation, and fall into a com- 
 plete despondency ; and this moral debilitation tends, perhaps, 
 equally with the pestilential atmosphere, to hasten the termi- 
 nation of ther existence. 
 
 The effect of this physical and moral depression is a peri- 
 odical suspension of all social intercourse, as well as of all the 
 pursuits of industry ; and the rural economy of these coun- 
 tries has necessarily been arranged with a reference to these 
 circumstances. This economy I was desirous of studying, 
 because it appears to me to have been misunderstood by all 
 travellers : and I shall now attempt to describe it. 
 
 The great road from Florence to Rome passes through the 
 Maremme of Tuscany as far as Acquapendente, where it enters 
 the Roman territory. Here the nature of the soil, and with 
 it the face of the country, changes. The argillaceous hills, 
 whose whiteness and bareness fatigue the eye, have disap- 
 peared, and a luxuriant vegetation announces the fertility of 
 the black volcanic sand of which the soil is composed. For 
 several leagues the road successively rises and falls, till it 
 reaches the lakes of Bolseno and Vico, around which immense 
 forests, extending from the Appennines to the sea-shore, have 
 grown for centuries. In the midst of tliese woods, which human 
 industry seems to have forgotton, are openings of great extent, 
 covered, like the savannas of America, Avith natural grasses, and 
 plants, whose singular growth gives a sort of African character 
 to this neglected scenery. 
 
 From time to time we meet with towns and cities, with 
 whose names history has rendered our imaginations familiar ; 
 but which, at the present day, seem like the mausolea of ge- 
 nerations past, around which the inhabitants have taken up 
 their melancholy residence, through veneration for their 
 memory. 
 
 These towns are surrounded by fertile gardens and vine- 
 yards, where the vines are not trained over trees, as in Tus- 
 cany, but against trellises of reeds. Fig-trees and aloes grow 
 every where amidst the ruins, and adorn them with their deep 
 
4G Chaieauvieux's Travels through Jialj/. 
 
 verdure and Oriental forms ; while at a distance, corn-fields, 
 interspersed in the openings of the woods, display, amidst the 
 wildness of nature, the only mark of the presence and industry 
 of man. 
 
 The crops produced by these fields are most luxuriant. The 
 land is previously suffered to repose for seven years in a state 
 of pasturage ; and such is its fertility, that innncdiatcly after 
 the crop is off, it becomes spontaneously covered with vi- 
 gorous herbage. In this state it feeds immense herds of 
 horned cattle, horses, and sheep ; but after a few years the turf 
 wears out ; briers, reeds, the ricinus, or palma-christi, and other 
 broad-leaved plants, cover the soil, and the farmer, after hav- 
 ing burned them, ploughs them up. During tlic year of fal- 
 low which succeeds, it is turned oVer by the spade no less 
 than seven times, and it is not till, after this labour, which is 
 necessary to destroy the roots and germs of the wild vegetables, 
 that the corn is sown. The land thus prepared yields a produce 
 of eight for one, and is then again suffered to return to the state 
 of natural pasture, from which it has been with so much trouble 
 reclaimed. 
 
 In this part of Italy, therefore, of which Viterbo is the capi- 
 tal, one seventh only of the land is in a state of cultivation ; 
 the rest being abandoned to its spontaneous vegetation, and 
 to the pasturage of cattle. The whole extent of cleared land is, 
 indeed, very limited, two-thirds of the country being covered by 
 forests. 
 
 The vegetation of these majestic woods, cherished by the 
 hand of nature, is too luxuriant to be employed, as in Tus- 
 cany, for pasturage. The eye cannot penetrate their depth ; 
 and the imagination peoples their gloom with the manes of that 
 ancient people who formerly rendered these deserts iUustrious, 
 and delights in contemplating amidst the solitary shades thus 
 consecrated by their memory. 
 
 The souncl of the axe is rarely heard here, for the value of 
 the timber would by no means repay tlie expence of felling it. 
 It is only used in working the iron mines of the Island of 
 Elba, the ore of which is brought to Ih'acciano and its vicinity. 
 There is no other market near enough to rendei* it worth the 
 while to cut the timber. As for the consum])tion of the country, 
 it is so trifiing as to l)e scarcely perceptible. 
 
 The whole region I have been describing, is divided into 
 vast estates, except the land immediately adjacent to the 
 towns, where there are gardens and vineyards. Tliese exten- 
 sive domains are at once a result, and a cause, of the insalu- 
 brity of the atmosphere, and have long since l>anis]ied all the 
 rural population from the fields. Throughout the wliole 
 
Chateauvieiix's Travels through Italy. 47 
 
 country, not a village, not a hamlet, I may even say, not a 
 farm-house is to be seen. The peasantry live in the cities and 
 towns, where landlords, farmers, labourers, merchants, and 
 artisans, all vegetate together. The only erections that ap- 
 pear in the country are solitary buildings at great distances 
 from each other, called Casali. They are attached to the 
 .several estates, but contain no families, or inhabitants of any- 
 kind ; being merely a place of shelter during the working 
 season, for the herdsmen and labourers, who retire there of 
 an evening to avoid the humidity of the nights, and to eat tlie 
 provisions which are brought to them from the neighbouring 
 town. There is nothing rural, nothing patriarchal about these 
 dwellings. The housewife never collects her children to the 
 evening repast, the cock never sommons the husbandman to 
 his morning labours, the swallow never builds her nest there ; 
 nothing is heard but the croaking of the crows, w^hich hover, like 
 evil omens, about these abodes of melancholy. 
 
 The cattle which rove about these immense farms, under 
 the care of a few herdsmen, are very superior to those found 
 on the scanty pastures of Tuscany. They are of the most 
 stately make and beautiful form, and their immense horns 
 give them a proud and dignified air, which is heightened by a 
 certain fierce expression, derived from their wild and savage 
 habits of life. All their movements are measured and grace- 
 ful, and their action is altogether different from the breeds of 
 the North ; insomuch, that they are employed in every de- 
 scription of work, even in carrying goods ; for which purpose 
 they are far preferable to the horses. 
 
 At Ronciglione, situated at the foot of the mountains of 
 Viterbo, commences the celebrated plain which surrounds the 
 city of Rome. It is bounded by the sea and by a range of 
 mountains, enclosing it like an amphitheatre, from the pro- 
 montory of Circe to the hills of ancient Etruria. The surface 
 of this plain, w^hich is thirty leagues in length, by ten or twelve 
 wide, is not level and uniform, like those of aqueous formation ; 
 but forms a continued suite of undulations. These do not 
 follow any common direction, nor are any of them much higher 
 than the others, but they confine the view, so that you only see 
 the country immediately around you. 
 
 This peculiar disposition of the soil indicates, at first sight, 
 that it is not the effect of water, a fluid which is always uniform 
 in its laws and direction, but of the volcanic action, which is every 
 where recognizable, and which is altogether irregular. 
 
 The vallies which separate the hi.ls of the Campagna of 
 Rome are neither deep nor precipitous. They are mere slc^s, 
 softened down by time, cultivation, and tlic crumbling away 
 
48 Chateauv'iCU.Ts Travels through JtuJij. 
 
 of the soil. The summits are not clothed ^vith wood, but bare, 
 and often entirely destitute of soil ; while the sides and bottoms 
 are for the most part very fertile. Throughout the whole of this 
 plain, which bears the name of the Agro Komano, trees are 
 very scarce. The meadows near IVIonte Rossi are, indeed, still 
 surrounded ^^ith majestic white oaks ; but thence to the moun- 
 tains of Albano, we meet only with a few scattered green oaks, 
 beaten by the winds, and which accident alone lias preserved. 
 Some rows of fir-trees, however, are occasionally seen at a dis- 
 tance, affording at once a grateful shade to the flocks, and an 
 elegant ornament to these solitary fields. 
 
 The general appearance of the plain resembles that of th-^ 
 steppes of Tartary. Like them it pressents an immeasurable 
 extent of turf, spotted with tufts of thorns and briers. It is 
 intersected by dead fences of wood roughly hewn, and strijiped 
 of its bark by decay. These inclosures separate the different 
 pastures, and keep the cattle from injuring the corn which sue-, 
 ceeds in due course, as the natural turf wears out. They con- 
 tain from' thirty to forty acres belonging to some vast domain, 
 the casale of which appears in the distance, saddening, rather 
 than embellishing the scene. 
 
 The traveller meets with nothing on the road but a few inns, 
 or post-houses. Those of Baccano and La Storta, belong to 
 the princes Chigi and Borghese, and are built with a magni- 
 ficence which alone, amidst the desert that surrounds him, reveals 
 to him that he is in the vicinity of Home. This he would not 
 otherwise suspect, until he reaches the summit of Monte Mario, 
 whence the Tiber, and the seven hills, with their domes and 
 edifices burst at cmce upon the view, with the cross of the Basi- 
 hcuni of St. Peter, sublimely towering above them all. 
 
 Rome, June ^^, 1813. 
 
 In speaking of Rome I shall say nothing of the Coliseum, or 
 tilt' Capitol ; but I shall endeavoiu* to jiourtray that city, bowed 
 down with the weight of ages, and of glorv, arrived at the final 
 term of her destiny, and ah-eady presenting nothing but a mighty 
 ruin. I shall simply relate the impressions which I experienced 
 myself. Perhajis the reader may share them with me. Perhajis 
 I may enable him to form some idea of the great scene of 
 destruction, daily acc()m])rishing w ithin the walls of Rome ; 
 a scene, the melancholy grandeur of which is, however, biyond 
 the reach of language, and more solemn than all human cere- 
 monies. It is the great festival of the tlead, to be worthily cele- 
 brated only bv the voice of tin* (U>sert, and tlie waves of tlie 
 'I'lbcr. 
 
Chaieauvieuxs Travels through Italy. 49 
 
 I was at Rome in 1791. The city, at that time, contained 
 one hundred and sixty-six thousand inhabitants : the streets were 
 filled with sumptuous equipages and liveries, and decorated with 
 magnificent palaces, in which strangers were received with press- 
 ing hospitality ; every thing, in short, had an appearance of 
 opulence and splendour. On the present occasion, I entered the 
 city by the same road, but, instead of equipages, it was filled with 
 droves of cattle, goats, and half- wild horses, which a number of 
 Tartar-looking herdsmen, armed with long pikes, and v/rapped in 
 cloaks, were driving before them. The air was filled with the 
 clouds of dust which they raised. 
 
 These men come every evening with their fiocks to seek an 
 asylum within the walls of Home, from the fate v/hich awaits 
 them in the fields. They take possession of the streets and pa- 
 laces, which are abandoned by the inhabitants, as the population 
 diminishes, and as the advance of the noxious atmosphere drives 
 them towards the centre of the city. The Porta del Popolo, 
 a part of the Corso, the entire quarters of the Quirinale, of 
 La Trinita del Monte, and the Trastevere, are already deserted ; 
 and the countr)^ people have taken up their residence in them. 
 The population is now reduced to one hundred thousand, and of 
 this number, ten thousand are vine-drcRsers, herdsmen, or gar- 
 deners. There are extensive districts in Rome, which are nothing 
 more than villages, inhabited by the peasantry, vrhom the pesti- 
 lential atmosphere has compelled to abandon their habitations in 
 the country. 
 
 So rapid a depopulation in the space of twenty-two years, 
 is almost without example. The political events whic'i have 
 occurred during that period, have, no doubt, contributed, in some 
 degree, to occasion this reduction ; but its principal cause must 
 be referred to the general circumstances of the city, and to the 
 effect of the Malaria. This scourge is every year advancing. 
 Every year it invades some fresh street, some new square or 
 quarter, and every year its terrible influence is augmented ; 
 for it increases precisely in the inverse ratio of the resistance 
 occasioned by the population. The fewer inhabitants there are, 
 the more victims : and one funeral is always the fore-runner of 
 manv others. 
 
 It is, therefore, probable, that we are arrived at that period of 
 the history of this queen of cities, which is destined to strip her 
 of her s})lendour, and leave to her, of all her glory, nothing but 
 her immortal name. The walls of Rome, like those of Volterra, 
 will contain nothing Imt a vast assemblage of monuments, pa- 
 laces, and ruins of all ages. The goatherd, the vine-dresser, 
 and the shepherd, will dwell in her porticoes. Thus will ter- 
 minate the history of Rome. She has long survived her rivals ; 
 
 V0YA6ES and Travels, No. 4, Vet I. 3 a 
 
50 Cha/cauuieiix'ti Travels through Italy. 
 
 but, like Athens and Persepolis, she must experience tliecunnnorl 
 fate of all that the hand of man hatli raised, and be destroyed. 
 
 The city presents every where the appearance of ruin. As 
 there are many more houses than inlia])itants, tliey are never 
 repaired: when they get out of order, the occupiers move to 
 others. Neither doors, stairs, nor roofs, are ever replaced : 
 they tumble to pieces, and are left to remain where they fall. 
 Multitudes of convents have thus acquired the appearance of 
 ruins ; and a great number of palaces, no longer habitable, 
 are left without even a porter to take care of them. This 
 universal neglect has, together with the droves of cattle, and 
 Tartar-looking people, which fill the streets, already occasioned a 
 striking apj)earance of desolation and decay. 
 
 Amidst this general neglect of all the private structures, a 
 great buptle is seen about all tlie remains of antiquity which have 
 been spared by time. '1 he government has recently adopted a 
 grand project of removing the rubbish by which they are ob- 
 vStructed, and of connectintr, and OTouninjr them tooether, so as 
 to place these inestnnable remains in the most picturesque and 
 advantageous }>oints of view. 
 
 The whole of the space comprehended within the Capitol, the 
 Temple of Peace, the Coliseum, and the Tiber, is already cleared 
 of all its modern edifices, and of all the walls and mean buildings 
 which were accumulated about the Palatine mount, and which 
 obstructed both the approach and the view of this noble area. 
 It is intended to surround it with a double avenue of trees, within 
 the enclosure of which, these ruined temples and triumphal arches 
 will repose on tlie turf forming a sort of unique pleasure-ground, 
 diversified by the Palatine and Aventine hills, and ornamented by 
 the Capitol and the Coliseum. 
 
 This vast and noble design, inspired by the veneration of an- 
 tiquity, is only a tribute of respect paid to its inanimate remains, 
 and has no influence on the social state of modern Rome. Every 
 thinf^ there appears to be the work of former times : nothing new 
 is to be seen. I'^ach one uses his possessions to the last, as if a kind 
 of presentiment deterred him from untlertaking or attempting 
 any thing: and this species of languor is, itself, a powerful cause 
 of decline, because it extinguishes all j)roductive industry. Tlie 
 labourer, and the ai'tisan, ])erish for want of subsistence ; the 
 v/hole of the industrious population soon disappears; and the 
 destruction of the class of consumers, ruins, in turn, that of the 
 ])roducers. 
 
 There is, in fact, no city where tlie necessaries of life are so 
 che.-ij) as at Home ; the supplies ])rovi(led for a ])()pulation of 
 one hundred and si\tv-si\ thousand, helnu- now consumed by 
 one hundred tlioiisand only. The onlv advanta<;i' of this low 
 
Chaiecniv'ieiLv'ii Travels through Italy. 51 
 
 price is, tliat it tempts the inhabitants to slay. For a lon<^ time 
 to come, it is probable that a certain population, consisting of 
 the possessors of property, will be concentrated about the middle 
 of the city, and there struggle against the pestilential atmosphere ; 
 while all the rest of Rome, abandoned to the elements, will be 
 nothing but avast heap of solitary ruins. 
 
 Such is the scene which strikes you on passing through those 
 ([uarters of the city which have been long deserted, and which 
 present a singular mixture of town and country, of porticoes, 
 and of miserable huts. I was, one evening, contemplating this 
 scene, at once so impressive and extraordinary, from the garden 
 of a ruined convent, between the Coliseum and the temple of 
 Peace. Before me lay the valley which separates the Palatine 
 hill from Mount Caelius, with the arch of Constantine, and the 
 Via Sacra. On the summit of the hill of the Caesars, rose the 
 deputy of Africa.^ the pahn-tree, displaying itself in the azure 
 sky, like a last trophy of glories past ; while, on the opposite 
 hill, a row of cypresses extended like a funereal decoration to the 
 verge of the horizon, and seemed to mourn that these glories 
 were departed. 
 
 On the other side of the Tiber, towards the Basilicum of St, 
 Peter, and the Porta Angelica, I passed through streets entirely 
 deserted, and which were inhabited only by the herdsmen who 
 come to pass the night in this insecure asylum. All the environs 
 of the Vatican were abandoned in like manner. I was particu- 
 larly struck with this loneliness on going early one morning to 
 the church of St. Peter. The sun was just rising as I entered 
 the area : the gates of the temple w^ere still closed, a profound 
 tranquility reigned throughout, interrupted only by the distant 
 tinklmg of the bells of flocks which were returning to the pas- 
 tures. The obehsk still rested on its brazen pediment, and the 
 tw^o fountains were pouring forth their everlasting streams. The 
 pavement was not trodden by a single foot, and I arrived at the 
 vestibule w ithout mcetino- a human beino;. The freshness of the 
 morning, and the tints of the dawn, diffused an inexpressible 
 charm over this divine solitude : I contemplated at once the 
 temple, the porticoes, and the heavens, and, for the first time, 
 felt the full effect of those magnificent phenomena, with which 
 nature accompanies the rising and the declining day. 
 
 Albaxo, July 4, 1813. 
 I SHALL now endeavour to give a faithful delineation of the 
 picturesque and riaal scenery of the domain of Campo Morto, 
 and its vicinity. The name 'will sufficiently apprize the reader 
 
5* Chateauvkujc's Travels through I tali/. 
 
 that this scenery does not consist of fertile vales or smilinn: fields, 
 but of the plains which contain the ashes of the Romans. 
 
 The route which I pursued has, in part, been described by 
 jM. de Bonstetten, in his ' Voijage au Lcifium,'' and there is a 
 degree of temerity in attempting, after him, to give an account 
 of the solemn scenes which he has depicted with so much truth 
 and beauty. But he visited them with the Eneid for his guide, 
 in search of the City of Turnus, and the camp of the Trojans ; 
 while I have trodden in the steps of Columella, with the Bucolics 
 and the Georgics for my companions. It will, perhaps, be found, 
 that we have followed this path, traversed alike by the husband- 
 man, and the warrior, without meeting with each other, and 
 I may, therefore, venture to delineate the same landscape, because 
 my attention was not directed to the same objects. 
 
 The estate of Campo DJorto is the only remaining endowment 
 of the Church of St. Peter, and the revenue arising from it is the 
 sole provision for its support. It is a vast tract, situated near the 
 Pontine marshes, between Velletri and Nettuno, in the most un- 
 healthy and desert part of the Agro Romano. 
 
 From the uniformity of the pastoral system, the agricultural 
 history of one farm is that of all the rest ; and, from the rural 
 economy of Campo ]\forto, the reader may form an idea of that 
 w^hich prevails throughout the whole Patrimony of St. Peter. 
 
 I left Rome in company with Signor Trucci, who farms the 
 estate. He was going to inspect his crops, and politely offered 
 to be my conductor, and to explain to me the agricultural })rac- 
 tices, and rural details, of his farm. The sky was brightening 
 with the dawn as we set out, and the first beams of day were shot 
 horizontally on the monuments and porticoes with which the 
 entrance of Rome is adorried. 
 
 We followed the great road to Naples through a barren and 
 dismal country, as far as the foot of the mountains of Albano. 
 To the eastward, the horizon is bounded by long lines of arches, 
 designed to convey the water to Rome ; — a massive colonnade, 
 covered with mosses and other cryptogamous ])Iants, which has 
 escaped the ravages of time. The view to the west is interce])ted 
 by a long chain of hills, covered with ruins belonging to tlie 
 middle ages, which bear the name of Homa Vecch'ia : while the 
 southern horizon is closed by Mount Albano, raising its pyrami- 
 dical form to the clouds. 
 
 The character of this mountain is altogether distinct from 
 that of the plain on wliich its base rests. Its sides extend them- 
 selves, in gentle swells, presenting no trace (>f their volcanic 
 origin, except the distinct course of each of tlie streams of lava 
 which have flowed at different times from the smimiit. These 
 lavas have filK^d the cavities of the cliHs, and levelled their 
 
Chate(iuvleua.''s Travels thrcnigh Italy. 53 
 
 inecjualitics, till at length, being cooled down and pulverized by 
 a course of ages, they have nourished the vegetable germs sown 
 by the tempests in their fertile ashes. 
 
 This comparatively youthful soil still enjoys all its native ferti- 
 lity, and by its lively'tints, and v/ild luxuriance of vegetation, re- 
 calls to the imagination those primitive days of the world, passed 
 amidst the solitude of nature, ere human industry had felled the 
 forests, or directed the course of the waters, or confided the 
 seed to the bosom of the earth. Every thing in this volcanic 
 region seems to bear the marks of a peculiar and spontaneous 
 creation, alternately destroyed, and renovated, by torrents of 
 lava. It is a scene, the wild magniiicence of which disdains the 
 assistance of man, who derives no other advantage from it than 
 that of contemplating its silent beauty. 
 
 The Appian road winds through the plain round the foot of the 
 mountains. Here the new road to Naples leaves it, rising in a 
 direct and gradual ascent to the town of Albano, which stands 
 about half way up the mountain, commanding a view of the Cam- 
 pagna of Rome. On the side towards the sea is a garden belong- 
 ing to Prince Doria, the flowers and trees of which have long 
 been suffered to grow wild ; and whose ancient and entangled 
 shades diffuse a solemn gloom, congenial with those recollections 
 of the past which every thing around contributes to inspire. 
 
 At the other extremity of the town, the road, cut through a 
 purple rock, and shaded by elms, descends to the bottom of a 
 deep valley, which separates Albano from the ancient city of 
 Aricia, now called La Riccia. Prince Chigi has surrounded this 
 valley with an enclosure, as if he were desirous of keeping its 
 beauties to himself; but the wall was broken down, and I had 
 little difficulty in penetrating its profound retirement. It is 
 shut in by rocks, watered by a streamlet, and covered wdth a 
 thick foilage. Having been long abandoned by its proprietor to 
 the care of nature, and the seasons, it is now the mansion of 
 uninterrupted repose. It is inhabited only by a deer which strays 
 and pastures there in undisturbed security ; and thousands of 
 birds, attracted by the same privilege, have taken up their abode 
 in it. In all the countries which it has been my fortune to 
 visit, I have no where beheld finer scenery than that of this 
 valley, excepting, perhaps, the banks of the Flaon, near Lau- 
 sanne. 
 
 Having quitted the Vale of Albano, I ascended the road which 
 mnds round the hill on which the village of La Ricca is situated. 
 Just before it reaches the town, it passes over a precipice where 
 a low wall is erected for the security of passengers. Leaning 
 on this wall I had a distant view of the sea, and of the promon- 
 tory of Circe, in the horizon to the left. The intervening plain 
 
54 Chateauv]eiLi^s Travels through Italy. 
 
 appeared all of one monotonous yellow tint. No habitations were 
 ' visible, and the deep verdure of a few -woods alone, relieved the 
 uniformity of the prospect. The hills, towards the foot of the 
 mountain, appeared to be of the same volcanic origin. Some ruins 
 were scattered on them, as also a few houses, which I could 
 scarcely distinguish amidst the thick foilage of the vines and 
 shrubs in which they were embosomed. Among these hamlets, 
 one was pointed out to me, which still bore the name of Lavinia. 
 A secret charm attached me to this spot, whence I could wander 
 at ])leasure over all the region described by Virgil : a region with 
 which our early life is familiar, and on which we still dwell, with 
 pleasure, in its decline. 
 
 Below me, in the fore ground of the landscape, I observed a 
 spacious garden, surrounded bv a natural inclosure of rocks. It 
 was watered l)y the brook which flowed through the valley ; and 
 its soil, which was perfectly level, and of the colour of ashes, 
 produced an incredible quantity of fruit and vegetables. Sur- 
 prised at its fertility, I enquired the cause of my companion, and 
 was informed, that this favoured spot was the crater of an ancient 
 volcano, which, from time immemorial, had been filled with 
 water. It was the Lake of Aricia, on the shores of which Virgil 
 relates that the martial trumpet of Turnus was heard, when he 
 took up arms against the Trojans. Pope Alexander VII. opened 
 an issue for the waters of the lake, and gave it as an inheritance 
 to his nephew. Prince Chigi, in whose family it has ever since 
 remained. 
 
 I pursued my way through the toAvn, passing l)y tlie palace of 
 Prince Chigi, which commands a view of the valleys I have just 
 described, and entered a covmtry which has returned to a state of 
 nature. The forests which covered the sides of the mountains, 
 as far as the town of Genzano, concealed the face of the country ; 
 and I should have supposed it to have been totally uninliabited, 
 had it not been for the appearance of a church, the solitary resort 
 of rural devotion. The architecture of this Christian edifice was 
 in the style of that of the tem])lcs of Greece, and rendered the 
 imagination for a moment doubtful to what religion it had been 
 dedicated. The ideas thus awakened, accom})anied me to the 
 shores of the Lake of Nerni, alike ctmsecrated by interesting and 
 moral associations. Passing through the woods which cover its 
 banks, we reached the town of Genzano, at a short distance be- 
 yond which, we quitted the road to Na])les, turning to the west, 
 from Mont Albano, towards the ])ort of Nettuno, along a road, 
 the traces of which were scarcely visible on the turf. 
 
 After riding for an hour and a lialf, corn-fields, and herds of 
 cattle, announced tliat we were approaching Campo IMorto. On 
 the whole of this vast estate, which extends from the foot of the 
 
' Chateauvleux's Travels through Italy. 65 
 
 mountains to the neighbourhood of the sea, there is no other 
 building than the spacious casale : a noble structure, but dis- 
 coloured and decayed by time, and destitute of all the conve- 
 niences of life. 
 
 The fattore, or steward, ordered horses for us to visit the farm ; 
 and wliile they were getting ready, I examined this noble, but 
 gloomy structure. It consisted of a spacious kitchen, and two 
 large apartments adjoining, at the end of which were three other 
 rooms, of similar dimensions : all totally destitute of furniture, 
 not even having windows. These formed the ground-floor of the 
 centre building. Above them were six other rooms of the >ame 
 size, used as granaries ; one only being furnished for the vise of 
 the superintendants. The wings were formed by capacious arched 
 stables, at once airy and cool ; and above them were lofts for hay. 
 This part of the establishment is almost superfluous, being merely 
 used to put up the cattle employed in the work of the fami dur- 
 ing the resting time in the middle of the day ; at all others they 
 are turned out to graze in the open air. 
 
 There was not the least appearance of care or neatness about 
 the whole farm. Neither trees, gardens, nor vegetables, were to 
 be seen. On my reproaching them with their negligence, they 
 replied that the cattle would trample down and destroy what- 
 ever might be planted or sown, and that it was, therefore, more 
 convenient to purchase their vegetables, at the same time with 
 their bread, in the neighbouring towns, which are surrounded 
 with vineyards and fertile gardens. The expense of carriage, 
 which is so material an object on our small farms, is nothing on 
 these large grazing ones, where there arc always cattle in abun- 
 dance. They put a loaf, and a bundle of hay, into the cart, and 
 thus equipped, will often perform a journey of sixty miles with- 
 out any expense. 
 
 This abundance of animals constitutes the only luxury of these 
 farms. Neither bailiffs, superintendents, nor even the herdsmen, 
 even think of going on foot. They are always on horseback, gal- 
 loping at full speed over the plains, with a gun, or a lance, in 
 their hands, and horses are always kept ready saddled in the sta- 
 bles ; each person employed on the farm having two assigned to 
 his use. Some of these are old, and employed to train the others : 
 but the greater part are young ones, which the men amuse them- 
 selves in breaking, and which are sold as soon as they liave be- 
 come accustomed to the bit. The draught-horses are sold un- 
 trained, there being coachmen at Rome very skillful in that 
 business. 
 
 The breeding of horses was formerly a favourite pursuit with 
 the Roman nobility. Their estates were, at that time, managed 
 by stewards on their own account, and their breeds of horses were 
 
56 Chatcauvieu.v' s Travels tlirough Italy. 
 
 called after their names. Thus, in 1791, I saw some of the Bor- 
 ghese breed. They were bronze-coloured, like the Xerxes horses, 
 and served as models to the lloman artists. The horses painted 
 by Guido, harnessed to the car of Aurora, are of this description. 
 These titled breeds are now mixed and lost : the nobihty hav- 
 ing let their estates. The horses reared by the farmers are all 
 black, of a tolerable figure, and are used indifferently for the 
 saddle or for harness. 
 
 As soon as we were mounted, the steward conducted us to the 
 part of the farm where the harvest was commencing. Broad stripes, 
 of a golden yellow, extended, at a distance, over the vmdulated 
 surface of the soil, towards the sea ; and we at length came in 
 sight of a sort of army, in battle array, wdth the commanders on 
 horseback, with lances in their hands, fixed to their stations. We 
 passed several carts, drawn by oxen, which were loaded with 
 bread, intended for the consumption of this army. In a short 
 tune we beheld before us a long file of a thousand reapers, sur- 
 rounding a vast tract of corn, which was silently falling imder their 
 sickles ; while twelve superintendents, on horseback, surveyed 
 and animated them from behind. They raised a loud shout at 
 our approach, which resounded through the solitude, and was in- 
 tended as a salute to the master of the farm. 
 
 Soon after, the carts which we had passed drew up under the 
 shade of some oaks, which were, providentiallv, still remaining in 
 the middle of the plain, to shelter the reapers. ^At a signal given, 
 they quitted their work, and the whole troop defiled before us. 
 There were about as many men as women, all natives of the 
 Abruzzi. The former were good figures, but the women were 
 frightful. They were bathed in sweat for the heat was terrible. 
 Though it was only a few days since they left the mountains, the 
 Malaria was beginning to affect them Two only had as yet been 
 attacked by the fever, but I was told that the number would in- 
 crease daily, and that, by the end of the harvest, scarce half the 
 troop would be left. " What becomes of these j)oor wretches ?"" 
 enquired I. " We give them a piece of bread, and send them 
 away." " But where do they go .^" " 'I'hey return towards the 
 mountains: some of them die on the road, and the others reach 
 home exhausted with Inmger and wretchedness, to rcconnnence 
 the same attem])t next year." 
 
 The repast of this day was a festival ; for the master, in order 
 to render his visit the more welcome, had purchased, at Genzano, 
 two cart loads of water mellons, which were distributed to the 
 reapers M^ith the bread, which in general forms their only food. 
 The eyes of these ]X)or peo])le were eagerly fixed on these fine 
 fruits, and I cannot <.lescrii)e the joy which ;ij)j)earcd in their 
 countenances, wjien the large knives displayed their letVesliing 
 
ChaicauvicuaPs Travels tlirough Italij. 57 
 
 juice, and ensanguined pulp, and spread around a delicious 
 perfume. 
 
 They make three meals a day, which divides their labour into 
 two periods; and they are allowed two hours sleep in the middle 
 of the day. Their slumbers at that time are unattended with 
 dans^er; but the earth still serves as their bed after the cold dews 
 of the evening have descended upon it. and they pass the night 
 on the moist turf in the midst of sulphureous exhalations. Their 
 employers say, that they would lose too much time, were they to 
 return every evening to sleep at the Casale, which, in these ex- 
 tensive farms, is often at a great distance. 
 
 The corn is left to dry in the heat of the sun for two days, 
 before it is bound in sheaves. Is is then formed into shocks, at 
 regular distances in the field, and a fortnight after is trampled 
 out by liorses — for the roller used in Lombardy is not known 
 here. Till within tlie last few years, the straw was left, after this 
 operation, to be dispersed by the winds ; but since that time, an 
 order of M, Degeiundo has compelled the farmers to form it into 
 stacks, for the purpose of destroying the clouds of locusts which 
 often devastate this part of the country, by setting fire to them ; 
 a practice which has been found of such utility, that it will pro- 
 bably be continued. These stacks, scattered over the country on 
 the ridges, resemble African villages, and add to the wildness of 
 its appearance. The corn is seldom left at the Casale, but is con- 
 veyed, as soon as it is threshed, to Rome, 
 
 Leaving the harvest scene, we proceeded towards a forest, 
 which extended like a curtain before us, concealing from our 
 view the sea. This forest continues, almost without interruption, 
 along tlie whole coast, from Tuscany to the promontory of Cii'ce, 
 and consists of immense white oaks, which the vicinity of the sea 
 gives an opportunity of exporting. 
 
 On the steppe.% between the corn-fields and tlie forest, was a 
 herd of one hundred oxen, of a grey colour, with long horns. 
 Being old sers'aiits, they were not at all frightened at us. They 
 are always in the pastures, except during the working season, 
 when they are supplied with hay in abundance. Farther on, 
 were some hundreds of wild cows, which seemed as if uncertain 
 whether to attack us, or to take to flight. They decided on the 
 latter, and fled with the swiftness of deer, preceded by the calves, 
 and followed reluctantly by the bulls, which galloped heavily 
 after them, and were the first to stop. They turned fiercely 
 towards us, as if ashamed of their flight, blowing through their 
 wide nostrils, and seeming to bid us defiance. The keepers 
 came up at a gallop, and at the sight of them they became tran- 
 quil, and allowed us to pass them: such is the respect paid by 
 tlie animal creation to man. These cows do not give any milk. 
 
 Voyages (i?ul Travels, No. 4, VoL I. 3 e 
 
58 Chateaux'le lev's Travels through Italy. 
 
 They are sold for slaiiglUer at six or seven years old ; and this, 
 Avith the calves, is all the return ohtained from them : but, as 
 they require very little attention, it is bv no means inconsiderable. 
 It is estimated at about forty francs per head ; so that a herd of 
 one hun Ired cows, with their followers, will produce, annually, 
 4000 francs. There are more than a thousand of these cows on 
 many farms, 
 
 As we a})proac]ied the woods, we founil a vast number of jiigs, 
 partly concealed anion (^ the trees, while others were feedino- on 
 the plain : the whole number beloncjinii; to the farm was about 
 two thousarid. They wander, during the whole year, about the 
 extensive tracts borderini^ on the sea ; and are so savao-e and 
 ferocious in their appearance, that they miglit be taken for wild 
 boars. They are, however, of a domestic breed, of a black co- 
 lour ; and being fed on the acorns of the forest, their flesh is of 
 exquisite flavour. 
 
 We returned to the Casale by another route, in tlie course of 
 v/hich we met with the horses and sheep. Of the former there 
 were about four hundred, of whicli, at least one hundred were 
 trained for the use of the keepers : the rest were wild, of all 
 ages, and are used for the sole purpose of treading out the corn. 
 Though thay have nothing particularly to reconmiend them, they 
 are by no means despicable. They are tolerably well made, and 
 not deficient either in strength, spirit, or wind. Thev are ex- 
 tremely well adapted for the cavalry : I have seen some of them 
 that had stood the severest campaigns without injurv. They are 
 all black, a circumstance whicli distinguishes them from the 
 Neapolitan horses, wliich are generally pied. The horses of the 
 kee})ers are remarkably patient and docile : they will stand for 
 hours together, exposed to the attacks of the flies, and set ofi", in 
 a moment, at full s])eed, when any of the cattle require to be 
 stopped. They are naturally less ferocious than the Tuscan 
 horses, and sufler themselves to be caught and trained with much 
 less difliculty. 
 
 The life of these keepers, who are to be met with all over the 
 Maremme, is .attended with a freedom and inde])endence which 
 is not without its attractions ; and to this is added, the interest 
 they take in the cattle committed to their care, and in those 
 whicli are their ])rivate jiropertv, and which.are allowed to go with 
 the others. They may be seen, armed with a gun and a lance, 
 under tlie shade of an oak, observing, from their saddles, the 
 direction taken by the flocks in the steppes. In this situation, 
 tluy will rem.iui motionless for hours, surveving tlie whole 
 )iori/,on \s ith llieir dark eyes, and noting the smallest occurrence 
 which take's place. Should a hare or rabbit scjuat within their 
 rani^e, they drop from their horses, and taking their gun, proceed 
 
ChateauvleuaPa Travels through Italy. 59 
 
 to the point with the instinct of a spaniel. Sometimes they ride 
 off at full speed to turn the course of the herds: at others, they 
 dart, with the rapidity of hghtning, to separate the furious com- 
 bats of the bulls. When these ferocious animals happen to meet, 
 they send forth a dull bellowing, throwing clouds of dust into the 
 air; but no sooner has their jealous fury led them to the en- 
 counter, than the keeper comes upon them at full gallop. He 
 wounds them with his lance, and drives them, terrified, away. 
 They slowly recede, as if ashamed that their wounds were not 
 received in a more glorious conflict. 
 
 The sheep occupieU the most elevated part of the farm. The 
 whole flock consisted of about four thousand, but I saw only a 
 small part of them, the rest being at that time on the mountains. 
 I had, however, an opportunity of examining the breed. There 
 are two in the Marenmie perfectly distinct. One is the sort 
 called Negretti : they are small vigorous animals, with short legs 
 and straight faces, well furnished with wool, and similar, in every 
 respect to the Dauphine breed, except that their wool, though 
 of a fine quality, is of a cliocolate colour. The whole number of 
 these dun sheep is about 80,000. Their wool was formerly used 
 in making the dresses of the mendicant friars, and the cloaks of 
 the herdsmen ; but is now principally sent to the manufactories 
 x)f Dauphine, where it is mixed for military great coats. The 
 other breed, of which it is supposed there are more than 600,000, 
 is that of Apulia, and is unquestionably the finest I have seen any 
 where. Their backs are broad and straiglit, their bodies cylin- 
 drical, and their heads, which are disproportionably long and nar- 
 row, are ornamented with two long flapping ears, which fall down 
 upon the face. They stand high, but are remarkably free and 
 well set in their limbs ; traversing their pastures with a sedate 
 and measured gait. Their wool, which is beautifully white, and 
 almost equal in fineness to that of Arragon, grows only on the 
 upper part of their bodies ; but to compensate this defect, they 
 give a prodigious quantity of milk. 
 
 As mutton is never eaten in Italy, on account of its inferior 
 quality, the male lambs are always killed, and even a part of the 
 females ; and the sheep are milked for cheese. A single ewe will 
 often yield to the amount of three piastres in the course of the 
 season. In the middle of May they migrate to the mountains of 
 Norcia and the Abruzzi, whence they return in October. At that 
 season, and during winter, all these different animals, with their 
 keepers, are to be found wandering, in uninterrupted silence, 
 over these vast steppes, where not a village or a cottage is to be 
 seen, and which appear as if set forth by Providence, as an awful 
 example of the final destiny of the whole earth. 
 
60 Chaieauvkiiec'i Travels through Italij, 
 
 Tkrracina, Julij 13, 1813. 
 
 I AM just returned from visiting the Pontine ]\Iarshes, in cout- 
 pany with the Inspector General of En<»inc'ers, who went to ex- 
 amine the draining- canals lately opened hy government, with a 
 view of completing, if possible, the great works conmienced by 
 Pius VI. The opportunity was particularly valuable at this mo- 
 ment, on accovuit of the escort ])rovided for the Officers of En- 
 gineers against the banditti, who contribute, even more than the 
 pestilential air, to render the approach of the marslies dangerous. 
 
 These banditti liave been established, from time innnemorial, 
 in the mountains of Sabina and the Abruzzi ; and it -is almost 
 impossible to extirpate them, because they are r(X)ted, as it were, 
 in the population of the country. They are not mere associations 
 of robbers, without property or fixed residence, wandering in dis- 
 guise : on the other hand, the hordes w^ho infest the frontiers of 
 the kingdom of Naples, are neither more nor less than the vil- 
 lagers who inhabit the neig-hbourino; mountains. The men wlio 
 
 V • • • 
 
 follow this trade are possessed of families and ])roperty, and are 
 employed in agriculture a part of the year ; but as their labour, 
 amidst these barren rocks, is insufficient to supply their plea,- 
 sures, or, indeed, their wants, necessity, together with an almost 
 invincible penchant to pillage and murder, leads them to unite in 
 bodies, and not only attack travellers, but frequently the dwellings- 
 and resident inhabitants of the plains. 
 
 The principal part of the population is enrolled under tlie 
 standard of a few chiefs, who have thus a little army always 
 ready to take the field, and which is as quickly dispersed as as- 
 sembled. No more men than are wanted are smmnoned on any 
 expedition ; and unless they are seized upon the spot, the police 
 can never find them, for they return directly to their homes, 
 where they resume their rustic dress and occupations, and are 
 straightway transformed into peaceable peasants, living under the 
 protection of their curate and mayor, whose indulgence is un- 
 bounded, and, as it is said, for very good reasons. 
 
 A few only of the chiefs are known, and after these the gens- 
 d'armes are continually in pursuit. During the last five years, 
 several of them have been taken and executed, without, however, 
 at all discouraging the survivors. Many of the banditti have 
 been killed in the combats they have had with the militaiy : and 
 many have likewise been surrounded and taken in the expeditions 
 made against them. It was hoyx'd, that the execution of these 
 would have intimidated the rest, but it lias only rendered them 
 a little more prudent ; for they know that this predatory life ex- 
 poses thfin to the danger of the scaffold, and are no more alarmed 
 at it, than the sailor at the tempest. 
 
ChateauvkiLV 3 Travels through Itahj. 61 
 
 The most formidable of their chiefs, who had for five years 
 eluded all the researches of the French police, has lately been 
 taken. He calls himself Peter ^ the Calabiian. At Rome, he 
 is known simply by the title of " The Calabrian, (II Calabrese,'") 
 and, under this designation, he figures continually in the nar- 
 ratives of the populace, Avho are always fond of the marvellous. 
 By way of increasing his consequence, he assumed a political 
 character, calling himself chief of the La Vendee of Rome. 
 He entitled himself. Emperor of the Mountains, King of the 
 Forests, and Governor of the road from Florence to Naples ; 
 but what rather tends to diminish his dignity is, that he was 
 no less a marauder under Pius VII. than under the French 
 government. 
 
 Leaving, however, his merits as a partizan out of the question, 
 as a brigand chief he has displayed great talents. This man, 
 who is by birth a mere peasant, presents a singular mixture of 
 rapacity and devotion, of honour and barbarism. He piques 
 himself more especially upon his humanity. Never, he declares, 
 has he shed a single drop of blood, except in battle ; and he has 
 always severely punished the cruelties which his band are but 
 too ready to commit. This is probably true, for I have, myself, 
 witnessed the regret which his arrest has caused in all the in- 
 habitants of the neighbourhood, who looked upon themselves 
 as left henceforth without protection against the atrocity of his 
 men. 
 
 The government is at present engaged in arranging a treaty 
 with his successor Gaetano, similar to that by which Sixtus V. 
 succeeded in repressing the robberies which were committed 
 before his pontificate : viz. by arming the banditti against each 
 other. The soldiers of the Calabrian, in despair at his capture, 
 and desirous of saving his life on any terms, sent a herald, a 
 woman who sold fruit at Rome, with a proposal of submission. 
 They offered to protect the road against all the other bands, 
 for a pay of thirty sous a-day, on condition that the Calabrian 
 should not be executed, but only transported to Corsica. The 
 treaty was concluded, and a few days after, Gaetano informed the 
 commander of the gend'armerie stationed at Sermoneta, that he 
 had some evidence to give him of its execution on his part. 
 The officer accordingly repaired to the place appointed on the 
 mountains, where Gaetano delivered four heads to him, which 
 he affirmed were those of four brigands whom liis men had killed. 
 Scarcely, however, had the officer returned to Sermoneta, than 
 information was brought him that the bodies of four farmers 
 of the neighbourhood had been found without their heads in an 
 olive wood. The officer accordingly demanded a fresh interview, 
 and reproached Gaetano warmly with his want of faith. The 
 
62 Chakauvieu.v\i Travels through Italy, 
 
 latter allowed there was some reason to complain, if the matter 
 were to be nicely sifted, but tliat, taking one head to be as good 
 as another, he thought it better to cut off those of four fellows 
 whom he knew nothing about, than to assassinate his brother 
 banditti, who, at the bottom, were very good friends of his. 
 Notwithstanding this specious reasoning, however, the officer 
 informed him, that if this was the way in which he intended to 
 fulfill the treaty, the Cnlahrian should be executed innncdiately. 
 This threat so alarmed the gang, that they promised faithfully to 
 perform the conditions of the treaty. Some of them were already 
 come to Terracina to undertake the guard of the road, and from 
 the sight of them, I can fully imagine the terror they ^^'iH inspire 
 into the travellers whose safety is to be committed to them. 
 
 Velletri, situated on the southern side of Mont Albano, is the 
 last town through which the traveller passes, before he enters the 
 marshes. Hence the view extends over their vast solitudes, 
 bounded to the east by the mountains of Sabina, and to the west 
 by the open sea. The town is surrounded by vineyards, in an 
 admirable state of cultivation. The branches of the vines arc 
 carefully trained in lines along trellises formed of large reeds, 
 presenting the appearance of innumerable ranges of espaliers, 
 extending as far as the eye can reach. In each of the vineyards 
 stands a pretty cottage, nihabited by the vine-dresser, and evtTy 
 thing wears the aspect of the most active and animated industry. 
 Such is the change which appears even in the states of the church, 
 as soon as the region of the Malaria is passed. This fatal region 
 is, however, close at hand. Scarcely had we proceeded half a 
 league beyond Velletri, descending tli rough the midst of vine- 
 yards, than we foimd ourselves on the j)lains of the desert. The 
 road, as far as Cisterna, lies through a wild and irregular country, 
 formed by streams of lava: it produces a few cork-trees with 
 ragged trunks ; and a few farm-houses and corn-fields, still en- 
 liven the prospect. 
 
 Beyond Cisterna, all traces of human habitation entirely dis- 
 appear. A vast domain ])el{)nging to Prince Cajetano extends 
 hence to Tor Tre Ponti, distant two posts and a cpiarter. This 
 tract does not properly belong to the marshes. It is a picturesque 
 and wooded region, where fertile })astures, and ricli harvests, 
 successively present themselves, in the openings of the forests. 
 Here and there, groups of huts, of a cuTular form, thatched 
 with reeds, and inhabited by tlie she])herds and herdsmen, 
 appear clustered on the j)lain like Hottentot kraals; and around 
 these JU"e seen ])uffaloes wandering amidst the luxurious herbage, 
 which the moist soil of these savannahs causes to jrrow to u 
 great height. 'J'hey instinctively direct their slow and heavy 
 course along beaten tracts Icafling to the miry ponds, where thev 
 
Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 6B 
 
 remain during the lieat of the day. The weight of their bodies 
 sinks them gradually in the mud, till their backs are entirely 
 covered by the aquatic plants, so that their fierce-looking heads 
 are the only part of them visible. Towards evening, a herdsman, 
 on liorseback, rouses them with loud shouts, striking the water 
 with his lance. The buffaloes then put themselves in motion 
 with sullen roarings, and rush out of the water, adorned, like 
 the river gods of old, with long wreaths of aquatic plants, 
 which they drag after them over the savannah, like the garlands 
 of the Bacchantes. 
 
 The marshes commence a little on this side Tor Tre Ponti, 
 where the road again joins the ancient Appia Via, which it had 
 quitted below Albano, and is carried on a causeway in a straight 
 hne to Terracina. Below the road, to the right, commences 
 the canal called Naviglio Grande, on which Horace sailed to 
 Brundusium, and which Pius VI. caused to be repaired, at the 
 same time with the road. The plan of that intelligent and 
 unfortunate Pontiff, was to take advantage of a fall of seven 
 feet which is found between the highest part of the marshes and 
 the sea, by opening parallels at regular distances, which should 
 discharge the Avater into it. Into these he intended to open a 
 second set of parallels, at angles of forty-five degrees ; by which 
 means the benefit of the fall would have been extended to the 
 "whole service of the marshes. Only two of the principal paral- 
 lels, with their secondaries, have been finished ; but the entire 
 success which has attended them, has shewn the French engineers 
 that it was only necessary to complete the undertaking, to restore 
 the whole of the marshes to cultivation, and they are now occu- 
 pied in doing it. 
 
 The grand parallels are carried along the marshes, in a longi- 
 tudinal direction, from north to south, and discharge themselves 
 into the sea near Terracina, at Bocca di Fiume. They could 
 not be carried in a transverse direction, from the mountains to the 
 sea, because a low bank, about a league in breadth, runs along 
 the coast, and its soil, which consists of rubbish, renders it im- 
 practicable to carry a drain through it. This bank is covered 
 with forests, and appears to the navigator like a mysterious veil 
 which conceals the sight of Italy from the eyes of the profane. 
 
 The Appian road, which traverses this region, is covered with 
 a fine sand, and shaded by an irregulai* line of elms on either 
 side, which form a bower, both over the road and the canal, and 
 extend like a long promenade from post to post. They were not 
 planted, but were left on each side of the road, when it was re- 
 paired by Pius VI. The journey is performed with such ease 
 and rapidity, that you are astonished, on arriving at Terracina, 
 at the distance you have come. 
 
64 Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 Tliroiigh the whole length of this causeway there is not a 
 village, nor even a pot-house. Pius \'I. caused vast caravansaries 
 to be erected at nearly equal distances, whicli stand amidst these 
 solitudes, as noble monuments of his pontificate. There is 
 something stately and singular about these edifices : the apart- 
 ments, the stables, and other buildings, are all on a grand 
 scale, but totally unfurnished. They appear at once magnificent 
 and mean ; splendid, and destitute of every thing. 'I'he beings 
 who inhabit these palaces of the desert are half naked, ghastly, 
 and consumed by a slow fever, which reduces them to such a 
 state of weakness, that they have scarcely strength sufficient to 
 harness the half wild horses which are put to the carriages. 
 These animals, which are taken from their pastures, seem as 
 if indignant at the momentary subjection imposed on them. 
 They snort, paw the earth with their feet, ana champ the bit, 
 till they are permitted to set off, and then they dart away in a 
 moment, with a fury which is not unattended with danger, and 
 which increases, as th-ey proceed, at the sight of their comj^anions 
 grazing at liberty in the meadows. This violent and untractable 
 character of the horses in the Pontine Marshes, has obtained for 
 them the name of scamjpatores. 
 
 Though the marshes on each side of the road are drained, 
 the air is still as noxious as in the other parts of the INIaremme. 
 Thus they do not appear to have gained any thing in point of 
 salubrity by this process ; but, instead of producing rushes and 
 reeds only, the dried part is covered with a fine turf, and bears 
 harvests which repay twelve, and even fifteen, for one. Except 
 in Belgium, finer corn crops are no where to be seen. But 
 when Pius VI. undertook this grand project, he did not attempt 
 at the same time, to sow the seeds of industry and population m 
 the country. He bestowed these immense domains on his nephew, 
 the Duke of Braschi, and a few other great proprietors, who 
 contented themselves with proceeding on the usual system of tlie 
 Maremme farms. A large mansion serves as a conunon re- 
 sidence, and the lands are pastured by vast herds of horned 
 cattle, horses, and buffaloes ; the soil being too wet for sheep. 
 The driest parts are reserved for corn, and are fallowed mucli 
 oftener than in tlie territory of Latium : for tiie land, like the 
 virgin soil of America, l)eing perfectly fresh and inexhausted, 
 the natural herbage springs with such hixiu'iance, that it requires 
 to be ])l()ughed every two years to cleanse and prepare it for tlie 
 grain ci'ops. 
 
 A part of the drained lands, inmicdiately contiguous to the 
 feet of the mountains, is occujned by the inhabitants of Piperno, 
 Sermoneta, and the villaixcs situated on their declivities. The 
 vicinity of tiiese little farms to the h.ibltations of the villages, 
 
.V;7r 
 
 / 
 
 rS^j ' 
 
 -t -. 
 
 \ 
 
 ■M 
 = -'"'•■■11 1 
 
 
 
Chateauvieua.^s Travels ihrough Italy. 65 
 
 enables them to pursue tlieir avocations without quitting their 
 homes, and they raise fine crops of Indian corn, hemp, and pulse. 
 I measured some of the stems of the Indian corn which were six- 
 teen feet high, and the hemp was nearly as vigorous. 
 
 There is a luxuriance of vegetation on all sides of this canal, 
 wliich seems to offer every thing that can support or charm 
 the life of man ; but which in reality is found, as in India, to 
 increase with the circumstances which are destructive of it. 
 The level soil presents no obstacle to his steps. An unclouded 
 sun beams in the sky, while bowers of foilage moderate its 
 effulgence. A rich verdure springs every where in this fertile 
 region ; and flowers of every hue bloom innumerable under the 
 shade of the elms. Enormous fig-trees grow on the sides of 
 the canal, and blend their flexible boughs and sugared fruits 
 over the stream ; while between them aloes, the natives of 
 the East, raise their lofty stems, like the sacred tapers of a 
 solemn ceremonial. Groves of willows, oaks, and elms, pro- 
 tect these flowers and fruits from the storm ; and to render their 
 tufted foilage more dense and bowery, the vine entwines its 
 aged stems around the lofty trees to their very tops, whence, 
 like the climbing plants of the American forests, it extends its 
 branches to the neighbouring trees, covering the whole canal 
 with a verdant canopy. In autumn, innumerable clusters hang 
 from these festoons^ and invite the birds to partake of their juicy 
 sweets. 
 
 .But all this magnificence of nature displays itself in vain to 
 the silence of the desert, and is usurped by the savage inhabi- 
 tants of the forest. Herds of wild boars tear up the earth in 
 search of the roots of vegetables. The hideous buffalo strays 
 amidst the verdure, or lies concealed in the woods. The bird 
 of prey quits his rocks to soar undisturbed over a solitude 
 which he appears to regard as his rightful domain. At certain 
 seasons of the year, multitudes of birds of passage resort hither 
 to repose from their flight, and seem to consider the time 
 which they pass amidst these grateful shades as a festival. 
 Amidst these savage ti'ibes of the brute creation, man now and 
 then appears ; but he, even in this abode of peril, wears a 
 hostile aspect Sometimes a herdsman is seen, pursuing with 
 his lance an enraged buffalo ; or the mountain robber^ con- 
 cealed amidst the flowers on the tufted fig-trees, awaits with 
 watchful eye and loaded fusil, the passage of a traveller. Sliould 
 the unsuspecting stranger escape this peril, the delicious, but 
 deadly atmosphere may yet breathe its secret poison into his 
 veins. 
 
 I cannot describe the singular and mingled feeling of delight 
 and terror, which the perpetual contrast between the vegetable 
 
 Voyages and Travels, Vol. I. 3 c 
 
66 Chateauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 and animal worlds, in tliis extraordinary cpimtry, occasions. 
 It presents a sort of grand image of life, which an unknown and 
 indefinite danger perpetually menaces, while the imagination 
 spreads its delusions around to banish tins danger from our 
 thoughts. 
 
 I V, as still occupied in these reflections when we arrived at a 
 part of the road where a section had been made through the 
 causeway to open a passage for one of the new discharging 
 canals. Here the engineers stopped to inspect the works, and in 
 the mean time I employed myself in examining the vertical plan 
 presented by the section of the road. This road was the Appia 
 Via; and the works of ages, if I may so express myself, lay 
 bare before me. Three feet beneath the actual surface appeared 
 the ancient pavement, constructed by Appius, resting on a mass 
 of brickwork. Above this broad pavement ap})eared a second, 
 formed in like manner of masonry, and raised about a foot 
 higher. This was the new pavement laid by Trajan, which 
 serves as a foundation for a bed of pebbles forming the road, as 
 restored by Pius VI. The ancient mode of constructing pave- 
 ments is still followed at Rome. They are not laid merely in 
 sand, like ours, but on a bed of well-tempered masonry of flints 
 and mortar, so that the pavements of the streets are like so many 
 walls under the surface of the soil. 
 
 We here left our cai'riages, and mounted on horses, for tlie 
 pur])ose of proceeding to examine the new works in the middle 
 of the plain. The season of the year had already rendered it 
 necessary to suspend them ; but the workmen were summoned 
 for the day of inspection. We traversed vast savannahs, where 
 the grass Avas as high as the bodies of our horses, keeping as 
 much as possible imder the shade of the trees, for it was 
 past noon, and the heat was intense. The buffaloes fled be- 
 fore us as we advanced, till they were prevented by tlie new 
 canal from proceeding farther. They then turned round, and 
 assumed a menacing attitude ; but the workmen raising a 
 loud shout, they fled precipitately along the line of the canal, 
 and disappeared. The engineers then proceeded to examine 
 the works, and I could not help admiring the wonderful power 
 of human genius and civilization, whieh enabled ]\1. Prony, at 
 the distance of Paris, to calculate and direct the great works 
 which were at length to change these solitary wilds into Ely- 
 sian fields. 
 
 The part of the marshes, which we were now traversing 
 was not yet drained ; and instead of meadows and j)astures, 
 we met with nothing but reeds, interspersed with tufis of wil- 
 lows and other aquatic trees, wliose ])ale foilage gave a grey 
 and monotonous aspect to the whole landscape. The soil was 
 
Cliateauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 67 
 
 spongy, and the feet of our horses made no noise upon it. It 
 was, however, firm enough to bear; and by following the 
 tracks of the buffaloes and wild boars amongst the reeds, we 
 ran no risk of sinking in. At length, after riding nearly an 
 hour, we reached the wooded zone, extending along the sea- 
 shore, of which I have before spoken. Here the atmosphere, 
 and with it the face of nature, suddenly changed, and we again 
 beheld the mossy turf and the majestic oaks. Notwithstand- 
 ing the immense size of these trees, the wild vines climbed to 
 their very tops, forming a sort of natural vineyard, whose im- 
 penetrable shade afforded shelter to innumera])le tribes of 
 birds and insects. The confused and lively himi whicli arose 
 fi'om these^ was truly agreeable after the silence of the 
 marshes. 
 
 Naples, July 18, 1813. 
 
 The states of the Church terminate a little beyond Terracina, 
 when the traveller enters those of Naples. On arriving at Fondi, 
 the first town of Campania, he is struck with the irregular man- 
 ner in which it is built, and with the wretched appearance of 
 the inhabitants. It resembles the towns of the South of France, 
 and its ancient towers recall the memory of those feudal times 
 when men crowded into the inclosure of the cities, to seek, be- 
 hind their ramparts, a protection which the open fields could not 
 afford them. 
 
 This feudal and gothic character is every where visible the 
 moment you enter the Neapohtan territory. The villages, placed 
 on the summits of the hills, are surrounded by walls, whose 
 mouldering battlements are covered with creeping plants, the 
 natural decoration of ruins ; and each object indicates, at the 
 first view, that this kingdom has not participated, with the rest 
 of Italy, in that glorious era, when the genius of the arts went 
 hand-in-hand with the spirit of liberty : — that spirit -which alone 
 exalts the character of nations, by inspiring them with the love 
 of all that is great. 
 
 The traces of this brilliant epoch are manifest in all the other 
 parts of Italy ; and one of the beauties of the country consists in 
 the grandeur and elegance of the works of architecture, for -which 
 it is indebted to past ages. A refined taste has presided over 
 the construction of all its edifices, from the decorations of its 
 more splendid monuments, to the simple structures of rural 
 life ; and this imiversal character of elegance combines, vA\\\ 
 the system of cultivation and the natural forms of the landscape, 
 to complete the effect of the whole. The general result, to the 
 imagination of the traveller, is not only a continued series of pic- 
 
68 Chateauvieuxs Travels ihrough Italy. 
 
 turesque scenes, but a strikinp; picture of life and enjoyment. It 
 may, indeed, be deceitful, but the sensations to which it gives 
 rise are not the less real. 
 
 We do not, in the beautiful part of Italy, meet with those 
 crooked and dirty villages, which appear the very abodes of 
 poverty ; neither do we find any of those gloomy cabins, 
 where the wretched inhabitants dwell promiscuously with their 
 cattle and their liarvests. We do not, and it is, perhaps, the 
 only charm that is wanting to the scene, see, as in France, 
 those village churches, shaded by lime-trees, and consecrated 
 to the Eternal by simple hearts and unskilful hands. The 
 churches of the Italian villages would be considered as orna- 
 ments to the cities of other countries. The solitary chapels 
 which are met with in the woods, or by the road-sides, delight 
 the eye by their graceful designs. The hamlets, and even the 
 farm-houses, are built with a sort of rural elegance, which the 
 Italians think nothing of, because its general prevalence renders 
 it familiar to them. 
 
 This perception of architectural beauty, so universal in 
 Italy, can have originated only in those long habits which for 
 so many ages have conspired to form the national taste. It 
 commenced with the Romans : and the a^e of Leo X., bv re- 
 newing the prosperous days of this ancient land of the arts, 
 preserved that traditional skill which has transmitted the noble 
 art of adorning the earth, by the edifices erected on its 
 surface, to the present times. The genius of the painter pe- 
 rishes with liim. Haphael was unable to bequeath the magic 
 of his pencil to his successors ; but architecture is a positive 
 science, whose trophies 'may be imitated and perpetuated at 
 pleasure. 
 
 But the times which beheld the revival of the fine arts in 
 the rest of Italy had no influence on the kingdom of Naples. 
 Conquered by the Normans in the eleventh century, the only 
 fruit it reaped from that conquest, was the inheritance of their 
 barbarous manners, and the establishment of the feudal sys- 
 tem in its full extent. The social state of the middle ages was 
 thus preserved unaltered, and one might, even recently, have 
 contemplated at Naples its institutions and its effects. Against 
 the difficulties opposed to it by these institutions, modern civiliza- 
 tion has made but slow ])rogress. Amidst the new customs lately 
 introduced, the impression of an anterior ])eriod is constantly ob- 
 servable ; and notwitlistanding the fertihty of this land of the 
 South, there is a wildness in its general appearance which resuks 
 from the luxuriance of nature having never been com]ileti'lv sub- 
 dued by human industry ; an appearance which few countries of 
 the earth at present offer. 
 
Chateauvieuoe's Travels through Italy, 69 
 
 The miserable huts scattered over this fertile region are in- 
 habited by numerous families, who seem reduced to a state of 
 indigence, so disorderly and neglected is every thing about 
 them ; but this repulsive appearance of poverty arises rather 
 from the careless habits occasioned by the climate, than from 
 real distress. In this favoured region, the necessaries of life 
 are procured with such facility, that the extremity of indi- 
 gence is never felt, nor is the increase of population retarded 
 by it. As a proof of this I need only refer to the last census, 
 by which it appears, that the number of inhabitants amounts 
 to 6,345,000. There is no reason to distrust the accuracy of 
 this statement, seeing that it was taken by the mayors of the 
 several parishes, with the view of assessing levies of men and 
 money. They were, therefore, not likely intentionally to aug- 
 ment it. 
 
 This immense population must be attributed to the long 
 peace which this country enjoyed under the dynasty of the 
 Bourbons, and which spread a profound tranquility through 
 the whole kingdom. The government had diffused a sort of 
 langour through all the branches of the administration. Every 
 thing went on in the same manner, from day to day. No one 
 disturbed either himself or others, but every one enjoyed, in 
 his own way, an uninterrupted security, which long habit had 
 consecrated. 
 
 From the impulsion thus bestowed on the Neapolitans by 
 their manners and institutions, it may be supposed that agri- 
 culture is almost the only art they cultivate. Devoid alike of 
 vanity and of ambition, they never aim at magnificencCj nor 
 even at that external appearance of enjoyment, by which men 
 in other countries seek to excite the envy of their fellows. 
 The liberal arts, and even those which are simply mechanical, 
 are unknown to them. Every article of luxury is, as well as 
 the greater part even of those of the first necessity, supplied 
 by foreigners, who carry away in exchange the surplus pro- 
 duce of the soil ; for in these fertile fields heaven blesses abun- 
 dantly the toil of the husbandman : his labour is easy, and his 
 reward g-reat. 
 
 o 
 
 The corn which is sown in the vallies and plains often pro- 
 duces a harvest of eight or ten for one ; and the land, instead 
 of being left to repose for a year after this abundant crop, as 
 was the custom with the Romans, is immediately ploughed, and 
 sown with something else. All these various productions grow 
 with inconceivable luxuriance in this volcanic soil. The hope 
 of the husbandman is thus renewed every succeeding spring and 
 autumn_, and the vicissitudes of the seasons seldom disappoint it. 
 Frequently, after harvest, the land is sown with the scarlet tre- 
 foil, a plant indigenous in the South of Italy, and which appears. 
 
70 Chateauvieux' s Travels through Italy. 
 
 when in flower, ]ikc a carpet of crinii^on extended upon the ver- 
 dure of the fields. These gay inclosures are surrounded by 
 elms and nuilberry trees, festooned with vines, affording a grate- 
 ful shade, and increasing the various productions of the soil. 
 
 The greater part of the kingdom is covered with lofty moun- 
 tains, some of which retain the winter snows on their frozen 
 summits throughout the year. Though not so elevated as the 
 Alps, their scenery is nearly as savage ; but the vegetation is 
 richer, and they appear to have lost nothing of their original 
 fertility by time. On their highest ridges, innumerable flocks 
 find, during summer, a rich pasture, which the heats of the 
 season do not scorch. Below this grassv region, the chestnut 
 forests commence, covering the sides of the mountains with their 
 shade. These trees are of such a size, that a small number of 
 them are sufficient to cover a larg-e space. I have seen sinfjlc 
 trees, the branches of which, descending to the ground on all 
 sides, formed a complete dome. The ancient guardians of these 
 mountains, these aged trees, defy the fury of the winds, and 
 retain, by their roots, the soil which the rains would otherwise 
 wash away. The lower declivities are covered with olive woods, 
 which spring and flourish, as in their native soil, almost without 
 assistance ; requiring no other trouble from their possessors, 
 during the whole year, than to collect the ripe fruit which falls 
 from their branches. In the neighbourhood of the villages, the 
 broken and rocky parts are occupied bv fig-trees : the citron 
 grows in the gardens ; and rows of fruit-trees form the divisions 
 of the farms. 
 
 Near Fondi, tlie orange-tree appears, for the first time, in 
 its natural state : not stretched on espaliers, nor placed in formal 
 rows in tubs, but free and wild, as the oaks of the forest. In 
 these orange groves, the tree is seen in every stage of its growth. 
 Sometimes a number of young shoots springing from the same 
 root, cluster round an aged stem : at others, seedlings, scattered 
 at random, push their young branches through the foilage. A 
 streamlet, diverted from its course, fiows in lines of silver at the 
 feet of the trees, watering their roots as it sinks into the soil. 
 One may ramble, or recline, at pleasure, in these woods: the 
 branches are bowed down with ripe fruit, which presents itself to 
 the hand. 
 
 Beyond Fondi, the road reaches the foot of a chain of hills, 
 M'hich lead, [)y a long ascent, on the brink of a ])reci[)ice, to the 
 village of Itre, in the vicinity of which it follows the windings 
 of the valleys, there connected with each other by the course of 
 the streams, and by woods of evergreen oaks. ()n the sea-side, 
 the solitary rocks, on which stands the citadel of (iaeta, present 
 themselves to the view; and, beneath its ramparts, the lutile and 
 
Chateauvicuafs Travels through ItaJij. 71 
 
 smiling plain, watered by the Garigliano, named by the Italians 
 Campagna Felice, commences. Through this elysium the tra- 
 veller reaches Capua. The surrounding landscape, and the re- 
 collections associated with it, lead him to expect, as he approaches 
 the town, to find a country still more rural, and scenery still 
 more beautiful. On arriving at the gates, however, the delusion 
 vanishes : he finds nothing but a fortess, guarded by sentinels, 
 and surrounded with moats and bastions. 
 
 ' Naples, July 25, 1813. 
 
 Naples, placed at the ])ottom of tlie gulph formed by the cur- 
 vature of the shore, seems itself, only an additional decoration 
 to the richness of the amphitheatre ; and its lively agitation forms 
 an interesting contrast to the profound tranquility of the sea and 
 the shores. The promontory, to the north of the bay, has ac- 
 complished the prediction of Virgil, and still bears the name of 
 Misenus, which it received from Kneas. It is easily accessible 
 from the sea, on which account the road which formerly led to it, 
 has been suffered to fall to decay. Carriages can go no farther than 
 Pozzuoli : the road, for the rest of the way, towards the ruins of 
 Baise, runs along the shore, over rocks which can only he passed 
 on foot, or on horseback. I preferred visiting the environs of the 
 gulf in the former way, from the opportunity which it gave me 
 of following all its indentures, and of enjoying, with perfect free- 
 dom, the sensations inspired by a scene which nature, time, and 
 poetry, have alike contributed to embellish. 
 
 I left Naples at day-break, guided only by my former recollec- 
 tions, and arrived, without difficulty, at the entrance of the 
 grotto of Pausilippo. The darkness of night was spread over its 
 long vaults, which I could not pass through without a painful 
 sensation ; for this deep avenue, the noble work of the Romans, 
 has nothing to excite curiosity, and affects the imagination only 
 by its gloom. 
 
 I beheld the light of day again with pleasure, and left the high 
 road to avoid the dust. The fields around me were shaded by 
 elms of sufficient heig-ht to allow of several branches of the vines 
 they supported being trained from one to the other, so that suc- 
 cessive rows of festoons, loaded with grapes, were seen waving one 
 above another. Under the shade of these, a vigorous crop of 
 young beans, sown since the harvest, were growing ; and re- 
 minded me of spring in my o^\ti country. Further on, the pur- 
 ple tinge of the Indian corn announced its approaching maturity; 
 while, in an adjoining field, long rows of melons diffused their 
 perfume through the air. Self-sown tufts of figs, peach-trees. 
 
72 Chateauvieui^s Travels through Italy. 
 
 and aloes, grew by the sides of these fields, and seemed to invite 
 the labourer to partake of tlieir fruits. 
 
 While I was contemplating this rural scene, a band of young 
 peasant girls, preceded by a tambour, passed me on their way to 
 their rural labours. They held each other by the hand, and 
 danced along the path I was pursuing. I would fain have arrayed 
 these virgins of the south in the costume and freshness of the coun- 
 try girls of Florence ; for they resembled them in notliing but 
 their careless gaiety. x\midst the numerous ])rivilcges wliich Na- 
 ture has bestowed on the females of Naples, she has denied them 
 the roseate bloom of beauty, and the attractive graces of simplici- 
 ty. Their features are hard, their complexions dark, and there 
 is nothing pleasing about them, except the marvellous skill with 
 which they divine the secret relations existing between motion, 
 sound, and thought. 
 
 The ravages of time, and volcanic eruptions, have covered the 
 shores of the gulf of Baia? with rocks and ruins. Amidst the wild 
 vegetation with which they are clothed, there appear here and 
 there a few remaining shoots of the shrubs which, two thousand 
 years ago, adorned the gardens of Campania. I passed the lieat 
 of the day at Pozzuoli ; and towards evening, rambled on the 
 sea-side, near the ruins of the temple of Serapis, where the re- 
 mains of the causeway, intended by Domitian to unite, by an easy 
 communication, the two arms of the gulf, are still visible under 
 the water. I there continued my walk along a path traced on 
 the shore. The grasshoppers were chirping, and the waves, 
 agitated by a gentle breeze, died in soft murnuu's along the shore. 
 The lake of Avernus, which I wished to visit, is not visible till 
 you have passed a ridge, which I ascended by a rocky path-way. 
 The hill over which it wound, was covered with flowering shrubs, 
 which diffused their fragrance around. From the summit I be- 
 held the lake, reposing in its circular basin amidst a profoimd 
 solitude, I stood still to enjoy the prospect, The setting sun 
 still gilded the eastern side of the lake, but the opposite shore was 
 already in shade. Notwithstanding the fineness of the evening, 
 it was silent as in the days of Virgil : neither the song of a bird, 
 nor the chirp of a grasshopper, was heard. Not a cottage, or a 
 patch of cultivation, is to be seen on the hills \\liich surround it ; 
 and tlic ima<rination is left to induloc its reveries undisturbed, 
 amidst its silent woods, and tranquil waters. 
 
 I proceeded, the next morning, to tlie place where the Cuma\7U 
 Sibyll delivered her oracles. The guide who accompanied me 
 lighted his torch, and conducted me into a subterraneous gallery, 
 carefully cut through the rock, from the sides of which })assages 
 oj)en('d into other apartments, where the traces of elegant sculp- 
 ture were still visible. The whole work is arliiicial, and wants 
 
yci\' 
 
 
 IjJJTlKKiOK OTTHK TEMFJLE or JTPITP.li SIEIiAPl'^.-VT P0ZZU01.1. 
 
Cludeanraeux' s Travels through lUdy. 73 
 
 that character of siibhmity which nature alone can give. It is 
 not thus that we picture to ourselves the abodes of the Prophets, 
 or the sacred grottoes where oracles were pronounced. In this 
 land of wonders, many caverns might have been selected for such 
 a purpose, of deeper gloom, and wilder disorder. 
 
 As you advance towards Misenum, you still continue to meet 
 ^vith ruins, some of which retain the traces of their ancient beauty, 
 but the greater part are buried under water. Nov/here is the 
 destructive power of tim^e more strikingly displayed, than in 
 these scenes once so celebrated. The coast of Baiae, and the 
 remains with which it is covered seem absolutely incapable of 
 being restored to the scene of the world. The very access to 
 them is destroyed, and you can only get at them by climbing 
 over the rocks. On the top of the cliffs, the aspect of nature is 
 very different. The renovated soil extends in gentle and irregu- 
 lar slopes, intersected by streamlets. The meadows, refreshed 
 by their waters, are clothed every morning mth a new verdure. 
 Tufts of aloes, and orange-trees, are interspersed, and cottages 
 scattered amid these groves, where children are to be seen col- 
 lecting oranges, or gathering flowers. When the mid-day heats 
 become too powerful, grottoes, excavated in the earth, invite 
 you to descend into tliem. Here a feeble light only is visible, 
 and the cascades which fall on all sides preserve a constant 
 equality of temperature. The obscurity of tliese recesses, and 
 the sounds of the waterfalls, calm the imagination exerted by so 
 many interesting scenes and recollections, and you return to the 
 shore and its ruins with renev/ed curiosity. 
 
 I was desirous, before I departed, of proceeding to the extreme 
 point of the promontory, to enjoy the finest scene presented by 
 a single view in the universe. It was at Misenum, between the 
 Avernian Lake, and the Elysian fields, near the ruins of Baiae 
 and the tom^bs of the Romans. Several vessels, impelled by a 
 favourable breeze, were entering the road of Naples, and thou- 
 sands of boats were skimming along the bay. The radiance of 
 the setting sun streamed in sheets of gold along the sky ; while 
 the wearied earth seemed to await in profound tranquihty the 
 mysteries of the night. 
 
 , PoRTici, August 2, 1813. 
 
 I AM just returned from an excursion to Vesuvius. This 
 mountain has been so often described, that it may appear 
 superfluous to say any thing further about it. But the erup- 
 tion of a volcana is so grand a phenomena of nature, that a 
 faithful description of one will not, perhaps, tire the reader's 
 curiosity. 
 
 Voyages a?ul Travels, No. 4, Vol. I. 3d 
 
74 ChateauiHeiLTs Travds through Italy. 
 
 It is now a long time since this awful scene has been ex- 
 hibited ; as if the earth, wearied by the political storms which 
 have agitated her surface, was unwillinfr to add to the com- 
 motion, by her internal convulsions. But I was at Naples 
 during the eruption of 1791, and the accoinit which I am now 
 about to give, is transcribed from a journal which I wrote at the 
 time. 
 
 It was in the month of March, and I was about to leave 
 Naples in order to reach Rome in time for the Easter festival. 
 I had just returned to the Hotel de Venice, where I lodged, 
 about eleven o'clock at night, when the people of the house 
 came into my room to inform me that Vesuvius was beginning 
 to throw up clouds of ashes, and that the flames which pro- 
 ceeded from it, announced an approaching erujjtion. The air 
 was as hot as in the month of Julv, and as calm as on a fine 
 summer''s day. I immediately went out on the terrace of the 
 house. The atmosphere was filled with a shower of ashes. 
 You might feel them falling, but you could not see them. 
 '1 hev descended gently and imperceptibly, and accunuilated 
 gradually on the surface of the ground. They silenced the 
 noise of the carriages, and covered the whole of the adjacent 
 territory with a dark tint, as if it had been attired in mourn- 
 
 The darkness was from time to time illumined bv the 
 flames, which darted in long flashes from the crater. Suddenly 
 a luminous point appeared on the side of the mountain, about 
 two hundred yards from the smnmit. It was the new crater 
 through which the lava had just forced its way. At the same 
 time a general exclamation burst from the whole city : " There 
 i« the lava ! there is the new crater ! It has oj^cned on this side ! 
 May God and St. Januarius ])rotect us !"" In a moment tlie 
 churches were all opened : the bells rung ; and the whole 
 population of Napels poured forth into the streets and squares. 
 1 also went towards the mole, to mingle with the crowd, and 
 share in their alarm and their curiosity. 
 
 This spectacle, grand as it was, liad not the appearance of a 
 festival. Anxiety was de})icted in every countenance, and all 
 eyes were turned towards the luminous ])oint which was 
 visibly enlarging every instant. The j)riests were already 
 assembled at the altars, and . the crowd ])ressed into the 
 churches. The peo])le were imyxitient for the departure of 
 the procession, in which they ])laced all their hopes. The ban- 
 ners were displaved amidst solenm hvnms, and soon after they 
 began to leave the churches. The nnjrnuu' which precedeil 
 them, made the people give way ; and, as they advanced, every 
 one fell into their train. Even the women left their carriages. 
 and marched through the ashes, with the rest of the faithful. 
 
Chateauvieua:'s Travels through Italy. 75 
 
 The processions from all the streets directed their course to the 
 grand square of the palace. The king and the royal family were 
 at the balcony, and the people, as they passed, saluted them with 
 loud exclamations. The processions from all quarters, met in 
 this innnense square. They kept crossing, going and coming, 
 and increased hi number continually, till at length, wearied out 
 by their own terror, they returned, by long circuits, to the 
 churches whence they set out. 
 
 The showers of ashes ceased towards day-break, and the 
 first rays of morning destroyed the brilliancy of the flames, 
 which had appeared so vived during the night. The return of 
 day-light dissipated the fears of the people. They thought that 
 heaven was appeased, and forgot the grand nocturnal scene they 
 had witnessed, without considei'ing that it would be renewed the 
 succeed ino; evening:. 
 
 I also retired to rest ; for it is only \\\ darkness that the full 
 magnificence of a volcano is displayed, and I was desirous of 
 takino; a nearer view of it the following nio-ht. 
 
 I set out towards Vesuvius about seven o'clock in the even- 
 ing, in company with a young Livonian. As the day declined, 
 the flames of the volcano resumed I heir splendour ; and, on 
 reaching Portici, we were able to judge of the progress the lava 
 had made during the day. It was no longer a luminous point, 
 as on the preceding evening, but a broad stream, ilovv ing slowly 
 along the course which it had formed for itself. 
 
 AVe took guides at Portici, where we left our cabriolet, and 
 mounted mules. We were provided with torches, but we stood 
 in little need of them, for the sky was sufficiently illumined 
 by the flames. We ascended through the vineyards, to the 
 hermitage of San Salvador, along a rugged path bestrewn with 
 stones and cinders ; but our mules being accustomed to it, pur- 
 sued their way v/ithout difficulty, and left us at liberty to enjoy 
 the grand scene which surrounded us. 
 
 In this manner we reached San Salvador, at that time inha- 
 bited by two hermits, one of whom was a Genoese, and the other 
 a native of Paris. They lived in two separate ceils for they had 
 quarrelled, and had not spoken to each other for several years. 
 We were received by the Parisian, who placed before us dates 
 and oranges. An eruption was a sort of festival to him : not 
 that his curiosity was excited by the phenomenon, but because 
 many strangers visited his cell at those times, and gave him an 
 opportunity of talking. 
 
 Here we sent bac^ our mules to Portici, for they could no 
 longer be of any use to us. Two of the guides alone re- 
 mained with us, to direct us to the part of the mountain where 
 the lava had taken its course. Before we set off, we remained 
 for some time before the hermitage, contemplating the fiery 
 
76 Chatcauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 clouds which the volcano was spreading around it. At length 
 we continued our way towards tlie tc^rrent of lava, which then 
 threatened the unfortunate town of Torre del Greco. It es- 
 caped at that time : and was not destroyed till three years 
 afterwards. 
 
 We proceeded through cinders and scoriae, along obstructed 
 paths : they at first lead us across a wide valley, which sepa- 
 rates the hermitage from the upper part of Vesuvius. This 
 valley which was destitute both of grass and shrubs, extended 
 in an eastward direction, along the side of the mountain, op- 
 posite to the eruption. It was dark and still, except that a 
 lucid light was reflected upon it from the clouds. It was tlie 
 vale of death and eternal silence : save that on this night its tran- 
 quility was broken by the numerous parties whom cuuosity had 
 brought thither, and who were going and coming from the her- 
 mitage to the crater. 
 
 After marchino' for an hour v/e beo'an to climb witli diffi- 
 culty over heaps of scoria?. We were obliged to grope our 
 way through passages unknown to our guides, for at each 
 eruption the lava alters its course. We soon found ourselves in 
 a I'egion where every thing bore the marks of fire. The air 
 })egan to be scorching : the very stones were warm ; and we 
 beheld fiery clouds rolling over our heads, and leaving an en- 
 sanguined track in the sky. 
 
 AVe were within half a mile of tlie end of our iournev, when 
 we met with a lady, attended by two o-uides, who had been 
 left behind on the mountain by her party. She was sittmg on 
 a rock, wrapped in a shawl, and was talking with great ear- 
 nestness to her guides. Her accent explained to me that she 
 was an Englishwoman, and I went up to her to offer her my 
 assistance, and to ask the cause of her agitation. She replied 
 in French, witli an eloquence inspired by the darkness and 
 disorder of the surrounding scene. She informed me that her 
 husband and a party of her countrymen had accom])anie(l her 
 as far as this place, but that the guides had persuaded him that 
 it would be dangerous for her to proceed any furtlier. She liad 
 made many entreaties to be allowed to g(^ on, but ineffectually ; 
 and had since used her best endeavours to prevail on the 
 guides to take her forward, but without success. She was 
 mortified, she said, to tlie last degree, at being thus prevented 
 from witnessinc: a scene as hich she had looked forward to with so 
 much eainestness. 
 
 I ventured to offer lier the assistance of my arm, for the 
 short distance which remained. She accepted it with a rea- 
 diness which surprised me, though it arose merely from her 
 anxious desire of^ being present at the magnificent spectacle 
 
ChaieauvieuaPs Travels through Italy. Id 
 
 displayed by Vesuvius : and we set off, notwithstanding tlie re- 
 monstrances of her guides. 
 
 She leaned on my arm, and we proceeded slowly, because 
 we sunk into the ashes, and the scorias wounded her feet. 
 Nevertheless, we were drawing nearer the torrent of lava, and 
 the glare which proceeded from it gave me an opportunity of 
 observing my companion. She was young and beautiful, but 
 pale with emotion, and seemed to share in the agitation and dis- 
 order of the scene. 
 
 The ground and the air became hot as we approached the 
 glowing furnace, and gusts of smoke came rolling towards us. 
 We endeavoured to avoid them, by getting out of the current of 
 ""the wind, but the blast was so violent^ that we were twice enve- 
 loped in these fiery clouds, and were near being suffocated. The 
 soil gave way under our feet, and the fire appeared beneath the 
 scoriae, as they rolled down the precipices. 
 
 At length, with some difficulty, we reached the end of our 
 journey. The friends of my young female companion were 
 already arrived, but their attention was so fully engaged by the 
 spectacle before them,, that they had not perceived our ap- 
 proach. We were therefore obliged to introduce ourselves 
 to them, and I was not without some uneasiness as to the 
 reception we might meet with ; but success is ahvays a sufficient 
 justification. We had proceeded safely thither : our imprudence 
 was forgiven ; and we had only to enjoy in silence the grand 
 scene before us. 
 
 The lady's husband called her Florinda, the only name by 
 which I have ever known her. Twenty- two years have elapsed 
 since that period. Should Florinda read these letters, she will re- 
 collect this nocturnal scene upon the mountain, and know who 
 the stranger was that conducted her to that ocean of fire. 
 
 We contemplated in silence the burning torrent, which was 
 rolling its waves before us. They did not flow like those of 
 an ordinary stream, but seemed to roll over like masses of rock. 
 It kept continually increasing in breadth, because, as it went 
 on, it rekindled the old scoriae, so that the whole mountain 
 seemed on fire. 
 
 The stream of lava, which was now some hundred feet 
 broad, was gradually approaching the brink of a precipice, 
 down which it threatened to fall before morning : we deter- 
 mined to await the catastrophe, measuring, with our eyes, the 
 space which remained for it to traverse. It kept slowly, but 
 continually, drawing nearer ; the scoriae taking fire before it, 
 and preparing its way. At- length the ignited torrent reached 
 the edge of the rocks, and precipitated itself down them with 
 a tremendous noise. Clouds of smoke arose from the abvss, 
 
*iS Chute auvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 and were driven by the wind in all directions, while the lava con- 
 tinued to fall into the gulph. 
 
 This natural reservoir arrested the violence of the torrent, 
 and saved the habitations which it menaced. It would have 
 required several days to have filled it, and the eruption hap- 
 pily ceased before that time. In that which took place three 
 years aftewrards, no such obstacle occurred : the lava took its 
 course towards the sea, and utterly destroyed the town of Torre 
 del Greco. 
 
 The dawn now appeared in the horizon ; and, as if by a soft 
 magic, the splendours of the night faded and disappeared before 
 the radiance of day. The fire grew pale, the vapoiu^s became 
 white, and there remained nothing but the singular appearance of 
 a moimtain moving by its own efforts. 
 
 It was time to retire, for the presence of the ignited matter, 
 when veiled by the sun, is highly dangerous : the spectator may 
 be consumed before he is aware of its approach. We therefore 
 returned by the same course to San Salvador, and thence to 
 Portici, where our carriages were waiting for us. Here I bade 
 adieu to Florinda, whom I have never since seen. 
 
 Rome, Septemher 10, 1813. 
 
 As the traveller advances towards the south, the richness and 
 grandeur of this volcanic country increase. I was, therefore, 
 unwilling to return to llome by the road I had already traversed, 
 and determined to penetrate a little farther into the country, to 
 have an opportunity of still enjoying this oriental climate, and its 
 •wild and majestic scenery. I hired one of the light carriages 
 of the country, built to travel on rough roads, and set out from 
 Naples, without having even settled the plan of my joiu'ney. 
 The summer heats were beo;innino; to decline, the niohts were 
 longer, and co})ious rains had cooled the air, and laid the dust, I 
 coukl not have chosen a finer season. 
 
 I took the road to Portici, and proceeded without stoj)ping, 
 to Pompeii, where I j)asse(l the rest of tlie dav. I shall not 
 re})eat what has ])een so often, and ><o justly remarked, ccmcern- 
 ing the imexpected efi'ect produced by the sight of these fine 
 remains of anticpiity. The lava has kej)t them in })erfect ])re- 
 servation, and they seem to want nothing but inhabitants. 
 I shall only observe that a great deal lias been done within the 
 last four years. A whole (piarter has been cleared, tlie structure 
 and ornaments of which show it to liave been the residence of a 
 richer class than the inhabitants of die houses before discovered ; 
 and another of tlie gates of the town has been found. A few 
 
Chateauvieux' s Traoels through Italy. Yd 
 
 more years, and Pompeii will arise entire from the sepulchre 
 where it has been for so many ao;es entombed. 
 
 There are no rnins in Italy, nor, perhaps, m the world, which 
 inspire the same interest with those of Pompeii, because there 
 is no uncertainty attending them. There is nothing left to 
 conjecture or supposition. Every thing remains as the Romans 
 left it; every thing points out their habits of life. We live 
 with them, we use their furniture, eat at their tables, behold 
 their pictures, and peruse their manuscripts. The whole period 
 that has elapsed since Pliny perished there, seems effaced, and 
 appears but as yesterday. 
 
 I stayed a long time looking at the workmen employed on the 
 ruins. They had just penetrated into the interior of a house, 
 and at every stroke of the spade we anticipated a discovery. 
 I know nothing in the world that excites so lively an interest as 
 the progress of an excavation of this kind, in a classic country. 
 Expectation, and curiosity, are raised to their height, and all the 
 history of the scene recurs to the imagination. The eye invo- 
 luntarily follows the trowel with which the workmen carefully 
 removes the ashes, for fear of injuring the objects he may chance 
 to discover. 
 
 I remained fixed by the side of the workmen, who were 
 throwing the ashes with their shovels into wheelbarrows. A Avail, 
 covered with fresco paintings, and arabesques, made its appear- 
 ance, and we hoped to find something interesting on their me- 
 dallions. Our expectation was however disappointed; they re- 
 presented only Cupids and Bacchantes. 
 
 As the work went on, the chamber was emptied of the ashes 
 with which it was filled, and we came to a lower apartment. 
 The workmen now redoubled their caution, because they ex- 
 pected to find furniture, and other valuable articles. One of them 
 at length touched a hard substance with his trowel. He carefully 
 removed the ashes, and a bronze ornament made its appearance. 
 Leaves, branches and fruit, beautifully sculptured, successively 
 rose from the soil. It w^as an orange-tree, the stem of which 
 rested on a vase, formed of the same metal, which served as a 
 pedestal for it. This elegant bronze was nothing more than a 
 candelabrum, with numerous lights; each fruit being a lamp. 
 The arts have never produced any thing more natural, or grace- 
 ful, than this candelabrum, which was dug up before my eyes, 
 as clear and bright, after the lapse of two thousand years, as 
 when it first proceeded from the hands of the ai'tist. 
 
 By the side of this bronze, and on the same shelf, was found 
 a bust of Marius ; and I flattered myself that I should have 
 witnessed still more interesting discoveries, but the approach of 
 night suspended the operations. The workmen and the an- 
 
80 ChcUeauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 tiquaries retired, and I was obliged to follow them. From what 
 I experienced during the short time I staid, I can imagine how a 
 man might pass his whole life in these regions without a moment 
 of weariness or ennui. 
 
 The next day I continued my way along the winding shores 
 of the gulf, towards the promontory of Sorrento. In pro- 
 portion as I got farther from Vesuvius, and the region, covered 
 with scoriae, which surrounds its base, I entered a rich volcanic 
 soil. Tlie road was bordered by the villas of the Neapolitan 
 families, most of which were painted in fresco, and ornamented 
 with statues copied from the antique. Their roofs were encom- 
 passed with a balustrade, and covered with shrubs, forming a 
 kind of aerial grove, where may be enjoyed the coolness of the 
 evening, and the beauty of the landscape. They were sur- 
 rounded by gardens, of small extent, but carefully decorated. 
 Large aloes, planted in vases formed from blocks of lava, were 
 growing on the pedestals of the portal ; and every thing reminded 
 me of the ornamental taste of the ancients. The appearance of 
 these decorated habitations was not unpleasing; for the regular 
 works of art acquire an additional charm, when placed in the 
 midst of wild and luxuriant scenery. 
 
 The coast, as far as Castellamare, is rich and populous. 
 The eruptions have as yet spared the eastern side of the bay of 
 Naples, and reserved a delicious rural retreat for its inliabitants. 
 Beyond Pompeii, the traces of the disorder caused by Vesuvius 
 cease, and nature appears young and vigorous. The shore falls 
 in gentle slopes covered mt\\ olives and mulberries, vines, and 
 orange-trees. This tract, so favoured by heaven, extends all 
 the way from Sorrento to Salerno, and bears the name of the 
 Piave di Sorrento. 
 
 The plain of Sorrento is almost the only part of the kingdom 
 of Naples where the operation of an intelligent and active 
 industry is visible. The peasantry have here attempted, with 
 success, the cultivation of cotton, an article which is now 
 become almost a nccessaiy of life. It was, before, partially 
 grown about Naples for local consumption, but the continental 
 system, by increasing the value of this article, increased also its 
 cultivation ; insomuch, that in 1812, sixty thousand bags of 
 cotton were sujiplied by the farmers of these ])arts for the 
 manufactories of Europe. The plantations which I have visited, 
 promise this year, also, an abundant crop, and will enricli, by 
 their [>roduce, many families who were before deprived of tlie 
 h()])e even of competency ; a consideration which added not a 
 little to the ])leasure I felt in viewing them. 
 
 This plain, which is inclosed by the sea, nearly in tlie manner 
 of a peninsula, terminates at Salerno ; and a little beyond, 
 
Chateauvieux^s Travels througfi Italy. 81 
 
 you once more enter a Maremma, that is to say, a region infected 
 by the Malaria. The kingdom of Naples is not entirely exempt 
 from this scourge. It re-appears, under similar circumstances, 
 on all the shores of the Mediterranean, but no where in those of 
 the Adriatic. These insalubrious tracts may be readily known by 
 the want of inhabitants, and the cessation of cultivation. The 
 land is divided into large domains, which have the a])pearance of 
 so many deserts. As soon as you enter ujxjn them, the road 
 loses itself in the turf, or at least the traces of it are so faint, 
 as to be scarcely sufficient to direct the passenger. 
 
 Evergreen oaks, aloes, and cypresses, are scattered over this 
 Maremma ; for in proportion as you approach the south, the 
 soil becomes richer, and the vegetation more luxuriant. A few 
 I'uins, half Roman, half Gothic, appear here and there amongst 
 the fig-trees. Sometimes a herdsman, armed with a lance, is seen 
 near them, watching his flock : at others, these men are seen 
 scouring along at full speed in the verge of the horizon, as if 
 pursued by an enemy. The cattle which they tend, are as savage 
 as themselves. The ferocious animals gaze, in stupid amazement, 
 at the new objects which chance may bring within their range. 
 They are the sole inhabitants of these plains, monopolizing a 
 territory which Providence seems to have exclusively assigned to 
 them. 
 
 The wild pastures of the Neapohtan Maremme have not even 
 a casale vipon them. There are no partially-inhabited remains 
 of ancient towns ; nor are they, hke the Campagna of Rome, dis- 
 tinguished by a name which ennobles whatever has the privilege 
 of bearing it. The herdsmen who inhabit these wildernesses, 
 have no other dwellings than huts of reeds. The cattle lie around 
 them, and ruminate in peace through the silence of the night. 
 
 After travelling for a long time in the Marennna, the traveller 
 discovers, in the remote horizon, some solitary, but apparently 
 perfect, edifices. On approaching them, they gradually increase 
 in size, till at length they become immense ; and a regular 
 colonnade is distinguishable. These structures, the architecture 
 of which is visible, in the clearness of the sky, at a great distance, 
 are the three temples of Pa^stum, where strangers usually termi- 
 nate their tour. 
 
 Of all the ruins of Italy, these are the most ancient, and the 
 most striking. Built in those unknown ages, anterior to history, 
 which we people with demi-gods and heroes, these temples 
 witnessed the lono- career of Rome, from its commencement to 
 Its conclusion, and seem destined, in like manner, to behold the 
 termination of the world. 
 
 At what period of the earth are we to place the existence of 
 those imknown and incomprehensible beings, who built in Italy 
 
 Voyages rtf?<:/ Travels, Val.l. 3E 
 
82 Chati'auvleuxs Travels tlirough Italy, 
 
 the walls of the Cyclops, and raised in Africa the pvrannids of 
 Djiza, and the avenue of the Splilnxes? History is silent; her 
 records throw no lloht on this miraculous age, the monuments of 
 which confound our reason, and surpass even our imagination ; 
 for they apj^ear to have heen beyond mortal power to raise. No- 
 tliing in nature has, to this day, revealed tlie mysteries of a period, 
 the ruins of which still remain the astonishment of the world : 
 which reared cologsal altars to its gods, and constructed mountains 
 ' for its sepulchres. 
 
 How is it that all trace is lost of that gigantic people, whose 
 domestic animals were mammoths, and who built their ramparts 
 with rocks "^ The ruins of those which remain, astonish us the 
 more from our being able to form no idea of the genius of the 
 age in wliich their foundations Avere laid. It is a world whose his- 
 tory has not reached us ; and all that we can do is to contemplate, 
 in silent amazement, the august monuments of it, which time lias 
 preserved by surrounding them with deserts. 
 
 Even nature herself, at the present day, seems too weak to 
 destroy these mighty ruins, so enormous is their mass. The 
 earth has borne them on her surface, vmtil at length they appear, 
 like the other works of the creation, to form a part of her 
 substance. 
 
 These stupendous colonnades, unshaken by ages, behold the 
 seasons roll over them in these solitudes, and serve now only as 
 a retreat for the savage inhabitants of the plain, who seek be- 
 neath them a shelter from the storm. An old buffalo may be 
 seen awaiting the return of the sun behind the columns, which 
 has been his haunt for twenty years. The rest of the herd give 
 place to him, as to the lord of the desert, and never dispute with 
 him the retreat he has chosen. 
 
 I ought, perhaps, before I left these Marenmie, to have learned 
 from the herdsmen the particulars of their customs, and of their 
 rural economy ; ])ut these details of actual life appeared so insipid 
 in the presence of so venerable an antiquity, that my mind was 
 whollv occupied with thoughts of ages for ever lost in the obscu- 
 rity of time. I merely cast a ])assing glance at the unknown 
 flowers which adorned these deserts, and the herds which were 
 reposing among them. The latter consisted chiefly of buffaloes, 
 which being of a dingv colour, did not at all contribute to enliven 
 the landscape. In another j)art I saw several herds of cattle, 
 of a different breed from that of Hungary. They were not grev, 
 but of a bright fawn-colour: their horns, of a moderate length, 
 but gracefully turned, and their loftv stature and beautiful make, 
 gave them a noble appearance. I'rom the account I have seen 
 of them, I think it probable that they came originally from 
 Africa. 
 
ChateauvieuA-^s Travels through Italy, 83 
 
 There were also many horses in these plains. Their figure was 
 much more graceful and spirited than that of those met with 
 in the other parts of Italy, though they were still characterized 
 by the length and straightness of the head. They were spotted 
 with various colours, and in their make and action, bore a great 
 resemblance to the Barbary horses ; so that they may be con- 
 sidered as an intermediate race between the Spanish and Arabian 
 breeds. 
 
 The Maremme terminate in the vicinity of the Appennines. 
 As you approach these mountains nature seems to revive. The 
 landscape is no longer embellished by the prospect of the sea ; 
 but the fields though less cultivated, are nearly as fertile as those 
 about Naples. They are not enlivened by the numerous cottages 
 scattered over the hills of Tuscany and Umbria, nor is agricul- 
 ture carried to the same degree of perfection as in those pro- 
 vinces. The inhabitants live in towns, advantageously situated 
 for defence ; and the principal growth of the country is the olive- 
 tree, which, in this volcanic soil aquires a majestic size, and gives 
 a great richness to the mountain scenery. 
 
 A little beyond Salerno, I left the road to Naples, and directed 
 my course towards Nola, on the eastern side of Vesuvius, along 
 a road which was only practicable for a light carriage. The 
 country was well watered, irregular, picturesque, and full of 
 ravines occasioned by the torrents and volcanic eruptions. It 
 was productively, though negligently, cultivated. Fruit-trees 
 grew spontaneously every where, and streamlets murmuring at 
 the bottom of every dell, gave a wooded and rural appearance 
 to the whole. 
 
 At Nola I was obliged to send back my carriage to Naples, and 
 to continue my way on horse-back, on account of the state of the 
 roads. I found no difficulty in procuring good horses, which 
 I engaged from station to station. The owners frequently accom- 
 panied me, in person, to bring them back ; and I found it an 
 advantage to be thus provided with guides resident in the 
 country, because they gave me information respecting the dif- 
 ferent objects that presented themselves, which I could not other- 
 wise have obtained. 
 
 From Nola I directed my course towards Alisi, still approach- 
 ing the high chain of the Appennines, which constantly skirted 
 the horizon ; but I did not actually reach it, because I followed 
 a nearly parallel direction. I went on from valley to valley, some- 
 times through savage defiles, and at others ascending acclivities 
 more or less steep. The roads were mere tracts, but the country 
 through which they led was enchanting. I wandered almost at 
 random, trusting to fortune, who generally used me well. Travel- 
 lers on these cross roads were formerly lodged in the convents ; 
 
84 Chafeauvieux^s Travels fhrough Itahj, 
 
 but the duties of hospitalitv have now devolved upon the curates, 
 by whom the^y are discharg-ed with the utmost benevolence and 
 simplicity. My guides seemed to consider my reception as a 
 matter of course. They took me straight to the door of tlie 
 parsonage, and desired me to alight, even before any of the family 
 made their appearance. 
 
 The traveller is much less exposed to the attacks of banditti 
 in these parts, than in the neighbourhood of the high roads. So 
 few travellers pass this way, that it is not worth their while to 
 lay in wait for them. Besides, it is not the custom to attack pas- 
 sengers in the interior of the country : the robber, whom it is 
 so dangerous to meet near Terracina, here suffers the traveller to 
 pursue his way unmolested, because he has been accustomed, 
 from his childhood, to respect the territory of these vallies. 
 Habit and opinion are every thing with mankind. 
 
 The continued succession of hill and vale through this country, 
 has rendered the objects of cultivation various, and the size of 
 the farms small. The soil and the climate are alike favourable 
 to a thousand different productions. The chestnut, the olive, and 
 the vine, grow here in the greatest vigour, and cover all the 
 acclivities. Indian corn, wheat, beans, and pulse, are cultivated 
 wherever the declivity is moderate. 
 
 At the season when I traversed the coimtry, nothing could 
 exceed the richness it displayed. The plants, shrubs, and trees, 
 were alike loaded with fruit of all sizes and colours. Some, by 
 their farinaceous quality, supplied the place of bread to the 
 poorer classes. Others yielded oil, a product in these countries 
 of almost equal necessity. Many sorts, cultivated in our gardens 
 merely for ornament, here form articles of food ; and the fruit 
 whick covers the frugal tables of the farmers, is coloured, l)y 
 autumn, with tints wliich in our northern climates art in vain 
 attempts to impart to them. 
 
 I re-entered the states of the church at Alatri. As I passed 
 near Monte Casino, I was desirous of visiting it ; but tliat cradle 
 of the monastic institutions is now deserted, and I was separated 
 from it by difficult roads, and uncultivated wilds. The scenery 
 of this unknoun part of the territories of the church is j)ic- 
 turesque and mountainous, but nuich inferior iu fertilitv to the 
 kingdom of Naples. The mouiUains, no longer covered with 
 volcanic ashes, are bare and sterile. The chestnut woods no 
 longer cover their sides with their protecting shade; a few stinted 
 trees only are scattered here and there. 'J^he olive-tree, which 
 delights in broken and rocky sites, alone retains its beauty. Not- 
 withstanding the arid a|)])earance of these mountains, innumerable 
 torrents descend from their sunnnits, and fall in foam over the 
 rocks. 'I'he vines, in these parts, are neither carried in fest(K)ns 
 
Chaleauvieux^s Travels flirough Italy, 55 
 
 over the elms, nor trained close to the ground, as in the neigh- 
 boin'hood of Albano, but supported on lofty trellises formed of 
 the branches of trees. These rise to the height of twelve or 
 fifteen feet, and form so many bowers, beneath which hang the 
 grapes. They are covered with the richest verdure, and afford 
 an agreeable shade during the summer, but the foliage is so thick 
 that nothing will grow underneath. 
 
 The surface of the ground is so much broken in these parts, 
 that scarcely a spot suitable for tillage can be found. Indian 
 corn, melons, and pulse, are grown on a few patches by the sides 
 of the brooks, fenced with aloes and fig-trees. The mountains, 
 which have no other vegetation than the few odoriferous shrubs 
 which grow amongst the rocks, are pastured by a few sheep and 
 goats. Horses could scarcely be kept alive in this arid region, 
 so that the farmers are obliged to employ asses to do their work. 
 These animals resemble ours in nothing but their hardiness. 
 They stand high, are well made, and are extremely useful in 
 these mountainous districts. 
 
 The scenery, though worn as it were by time and cultivation, 
 still retains some beautiful features. The olive, the evergreen, 
 oak, and the vine, trained on trellises, still adorn the landscape. 
 The forms of the mountains are bold and picturesque ; and the 
 outlines displayed by their numerous chains, as they run into each 
 other, are as fine as the painter could select for his pencil. 
 
 The country, though enjoying the advantage of a pure air, as 
 well as an unclouded sky, is, however, unable to support its in- 
 habitants, who are obliged to 'migrate for subsistence into the 
 Roman Maremme. They reap the harvests, and tend the flocks, 
 of these unhealthy regions, and supply the places of those who 
 are annually swept away by the pestilential atmosphere. Fre- 
 quently, also, by way of filling up their time, in the intervals 
 between the harvests, they join the troops of banditti, and attack 
 travellers in the Pontine Marshes. 
 
 The road, winding under trellises of vines, and woods of 
 ohve-trees, led me, amidst a continuation of the same kind of 
 scenery, to Subiaco. It is a mere path, sometimes so rough as 
 to be nearly impassable, but affording, as it passes from valley to 
 valley, continual and unexpected changes of scenery. I might 
 have returned to Rome through Palestrina, by a better and more 
 direct road, but I enjoyed so much this independent way of 
 travelling, through an almost unknown country, that I wished 
 to prolong my journey, and preferred going by Liccnza and 
 Tivoli. 
 
 Tivoli is only six leagues from Subiaco, but I was a long time 
 in reaching it, for the road, which is a mere tract along the side 
 of the mountains, was at times so stonv, that the horses were 
 
8(5 Chateauvieu.v\ Travels through Italy. 
 
 obliged to proceed with caution. The country became still more 
 wild, and was entirely uninhabited : nothing was to be seen but 
 evergreen oaks, and laurels, together with large aloes, which 
 grew on the rocks, and, being full in flower, gave a sort of mag- 
 nificence to these solitudes. This was the once smiling and po- 
 pulous vale of the Anio, celebrated by Horace, who had a coun- 
 try-house here. I stopped at Licenza for the purpose of visiting 
 its ruins ; but I could find nothing but the founclations of some 
 
 • • • ^ 
 
 brick walls, just sufficient to show that there had once been a 
 l)uilding there. The private habitations of the Romans were not, 
 indeed, calculated to endure. They were built of brick, and of 
 such small dimensions, that, in the course of time, they soon 
 crumbled to dust. 
 
 After about three hours travelling, the horizon began to 
 open, and the diminished size of the mountains informed me 
 that I was approaching Tivoli. A single hill was now all that 
 separated me from the wide-stretching horizon of the Cam- 
 pagna of Rome. The noise of the waterfalls broke upon my 
 ears when I had nearly reached its summit, and in a few mo- 
 ments I beheld once more the temples and roofs of Tivoli, 
 w^ith the rocks and dells which surround them. I entered 
 the town by the bridge of the Anio, and turning down a narrow 
 street, I alighted at the inn of the Sybil, where I had so often 
 been before. 
 
 I reposed all the next day till evening, lulled by the sound 
 of the cascades, and then revisited the gardens of the Villa 
 Adriana, which place I left towards the approach of night, 
 and two hours afterwards terminated my long excursion. I 
 re-entered Rome, by the Porta Salare, with that sentiment of 
 pleasure which the sight of this first of cities has never failed 
 to afford me. 
 
 Perugia, September 25, 1813. 
 
 I KNOW not whether the feelings I experienced on leaving 
 Rome have been shared by other travellers ; but whenever I 
 have quitted that city to return to more northern regions, it 
 has been with reluctance and regret. This may be partly 
 owing to those associations by which the countries of the 
 South are enriched in our imaginations with all the choicest 
 gifts of nature; but is, no doubt, to be principally attributed 
 to the agreeable life which a stranger leads there. The man- 
 ners of the people are affable, obliging, and friendly. Their 
 language is pure and nonious, and remarkable for its grace- 
 
 ful simplicity. No sort of restraint is im])osed upon you. You 
 live in the centre of a population of a hundred tliousiuid souls, 
 
7\T/F 
 
 p--~i-^M^^^ 
 
 
 
 rib. 
 
 •c-^eV^: 
 
 
 
 't' i"v •>■;;■' v''^'--' '■•';'•- " - y'^^~y'i 
 
 .^ 
 
 
 Al^'TIQITi: E?^"r3iAN€E OT THli TIT.JLA ABl^IANA.B^EAE. T'OOLl. 
 
Chateauvieuoi^s Travela through Italy ^ 87 
 
 as mucli at liberty as if you were in the bosom of a rural 
 retreat. At every step you meet with something to awaken 
 your interest or your curiosity. The imagination is thus 
 agreeably occupied, and the time filled up without effort. I 
 never took a ramble amongst the hills of Rome, without expe- 
 riencing new, and often profound sentiments of delight and 
 admiration, inspired by the influence of those mighty names 
 in wliom all the glories of history repose. The monuments 
 of those ages not only delight us by their elegance and beauty, 
 but are so many testimonies of die truth of history ; and, 
 while tkey inspire us with additional confidence in her records, 
 they give to them an interest, and a reahty, which they nowhere 
 else possess. 
 
 Before bidding adieu to this proud city, perhaps for ever, it 
 remains for me to notice a few other particulars of her rural 
 economy, and to describe that part of the States of the Church 
 which borders on the Appennines. 
 
 The Roman farmers have not remained wholly strangers to 
 that spirit of improvement which has prevailed all over Eu- 
 rope for the last twenty years. To have effected an entire 
 change of the agriculture of the Agro Romano, would have 
 required, not only an immense capital, but a new population, 
 and a new atmosphere. This, therefore, they did not attempt ; 
 but when agriculturists were every where endeavouring to in- 
 troduce the productions of India into Europe, the climate of 
 Rome appeared highly favourable to such experiments. Sugar, 
 indigo, and cotton, were among the productions attempted to 
 be cultivated, and some plantations of sugar-canes were made 
 near Terracina. They were not cut when I saw them ; but 
 appeared strong and vigoix)us. The indigo also succeeded 
 well ; but the climate is too variable for cotton, which has 
 found its native sun and air only in the vicinity of Naples. It 
 was tried on a large scale on the fertile lands near Rome ; but 
 in 1811 the plants were devoured by locusts, and in 1812, some 
 heavy rains, which fell so early as the middle of September, 
 caused the pods to burst, and the cotton was blown away by the 
 winds. These repeated losses, which were very heavy, gave the 
 farmers a disrelish for the cultivation of colonial produce, and 
 Avill, probably, put a stop to any further experiments for the pre- 
 sent. As I have before observed, the system has been imposed 
 by local circumstances. It is the resiut of the long history 
 oi Rome, the vicissitudes of which it has followed. Her fields, 
 like herself, were once the envy of mankind : like her they are 
 now in ruins ; nor when the capital of the world is reduced to a 
 sohtude, is it to be expected that her territory should be any 
 other than a desert. 
 
8 8 CkaLeauvieux's Travels Ihrough llahj. 
 
 ' On leaving Rome to re-ascend the Tiber, in a northern di- 
 rection, yon are obhged to follow tlie great Florence road as far 
 as Monte Rossi. Here you turn eastward to Ancona, by Tolen- 
 tino, and so to Florence by Perugia. This was the road I in- 
 tended to take, and I went on horseback from Monte Rossi to 
 the farm of Torre in Pietro, near Civita Castellana, which I 
 wished to visit. The country hereabouts is extremely fine. The 
 road runs through a series of meadows, interspersed with tufts of 
 oaks, inider whose shade the cattle were feeding. The face of 
 the country was woody, without being wild, for the light and air 
 circulated freely amongst the trees, which were grouped upon the 
 swells, as we see them in the landscapes of Poussin, who used id 
 repair hither to select his subjects. 
 
 I was accompanied by Signor Giorgi, who farms the domain 
 of Torre in Pietro, and with whom I had become acquainted at 
 Rome. The ancient town of Veiae formerly stood on this spot, 
 and he has lately been enaged in searching for its remains. 
 He was encouraged to make this attempt by M. Millin, who 
 visited the spot in the course of his researches, and his labours 
 have hitherto been very successful. AVe left the high road, on 
 the other side of the ancient city of Nepi, and soon reached 
 the scene where they were carrying on. The antiques which 
 had been discovered were in the house ; and among them, a 
 statue of Tiberius, who had a country seat here. He is repre- 
 sented sitting in a curule chair, in an attitude of command. 
 This statue is highly esteemed by Canova, who places it among 
 the chefs d'oeuvre of antiquity. Another discovery, less ad- 
 mired, perhaps, by artists, is that of a temple, in perfect pre- 
 servation, though completely buried in the earth. It is cer- 
 tainly not quite so large as those of Pa?stum, nor even as the 
 temple of peace, or that of Vesta, being only ten feet in dia- 
 meter, and of a correspondent height. It resembles the temple 
 of Love in the gardens at Trianon, and was, probably, intended 
 merely as an ornament to those of Tiberius, and not for the 
 purpose of sacred worship. Whatever may have been its des- 
 tination, this temple is characterized by a singularity hitherto 
 unknown in the annals of architecture. Not one of the eioht 
 columns which support the roof belongs to any of the hve 
 orders which were su})posed to comprehend every mode of 
 just proportion tliat could ])e devised by art. The artist has 
 had tlie talent to invent a different style for each of them, arid, 
 notwithstanding their singularity, they are all in the ])urest 
 taste, and of extpiisite workmanship. They seem like the 
 production of an Indian imagination, purified by a transfusion 
 through (iivece. This monument will, no doubt, soon be en- 
 graved, and will sup])ly new cond)inatl()ns to the artist, who 
 
Chaleauvieux's Travels ihrough Italy. 89 
 
 may henceforth indulge, without restraint, in all the innova- 
 tions suggested by his genius, supported by a precedent of 
 such antiquity. 
 
 Among the collection were several other statues of inferior 
 merit, besides a number of smaller objects which were thrown 
 promiscuously into two chests, as being of little value. They 
 consisted of agricultural implements, vessels, and ornaments of 
 bronze, horse-shoes, bits, and iron-work of all kinds. These 
 common articles were of precisely the same form and size with 
 those now employed in Italy for the same pui-poses. Time has 
 not made the slightest alteration in the habits of the country, 
 m these respects, from what they were in the days of the 
 Romans. I rummaged for a long time among these chests, 
 gratified v.ith seeing the Roman gravity exhibited, as it were, 
 in an every-day dress ; for even trifles relating to such a people 
 are highly interesting. The whole collection was about to be 
 transported to Rome, where it will, no doubt, soon become 
 celebrated. 
 
 The country about Civita Castellana is broken by deep chasms, 
 of a singular appearance, and for which it is difficult to assign 
 a cause. The nature of the ground renders it improbable that 
 these abysses should have been worn in the rocks by the torrents : 
 they have rather the appearance of having been caused by some 
 violent convulsion. The precipices which overhang them are 
 crowned with wood, as if to conceal their horrors. You come 
 suddenly upon a yawning gulf into which immense purple 
 rocks descend, covered with briers and ivy ; while from the 
 bottom rises a dark vapour which keeps them always moist, and 
 covers them with a perpetual verdure. 
 
 In the centre of the region thus fortified by nature, rise the 
 ancient ramparts of Castellana, covered Avitli mosses and ivy. 
 The points of the bastions are surmounted by antique stone 
 watch-towers, which overlook the mouldering battlements now 
 nearlv effaced by time. These fortifications were erected by 
 Julius II. and, consequentlv, are not of very remote date, but 
 every thing seems to assume an appearance of antiquity about 
 Rome. 
 
 As far as Otricoli the country continues to be occupied by 
 large grazing farms. The cattle are left almost wholly to them- 
 selves, and rove about the pastures, or repose in the shade, 
 at their pleasure, unrestrained by the careful attention bestowed 
 on them in other countries. 
 
 But no sooner have we reached the first chain of mountains, 
 than every thing assumes a different aspect. The air becomes 
 salubrious, and the houses more frequent. Instead of large 
 uninhabited farms, we find the cottages of the husbandman, 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No 4, Vol I. 3 f 
 
90 Chalecnivieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 and of the vine-drcsser, shaded by trellises, linder which may be 
 heard the cheerful sound of children at play, the voice of the 
 mother, and the aninuuion of a busy, active, and perhaps, 
 haj^py familv. Around these dwellings are vineyards, plantations 
 of olives, and patches of Indian corn and wheat. The soil, 
 though hilly and uneven, is cultivated throughout ; industry ap- 
 pears every where. Farther on, after decending from the heights 
 of Narni, the traveller enters a plain covered with crops of Indian 
 corn, or wheat, and extending to the gates of Terni ; where 
 commence the fine olive-woods, which crown the valley leading 
 to the magnificent basin in which Perugia is situated. 
 
 This superb amphitheatre is bounded on the right, by the 
 high range of the Appennines, which separate it from the Adriatic, 
 and on the left, by a less-elevated chain, to the westward of 
 which begin the Maremme of Tuscany. The distant steeples of 
 Fuligno appear in the centre. Still farther, on the side of the 
 mountain, rise the antique towers of Perugia ; while the ancient 
 castle of the dukes of Spoleto, with its crenated walls, and 
 half-ruined turrets, occupies the fore-ground. 
 
 The lofty mountains, whose snow-clad summits rise over the 
 Adriatic, present to the eye nothing but forests and deep gulleys, 
 whence issue streams which, tumbling in cascades from rock to 
 rock, fall in silver spray into the valley, where they keep up a 
 perpetual coolness. On the opposite side, the hills form a long suc- 
 cession of amphitheatres, sprinkled with innumerable habitations, 
 scarcely distinguishable amidst the foliage of the trellises, and 
 olive-trees, by which they are surrounded. The ])lain, as in 
 Tuscany, is divided into an infinite num])er of little farms, 
 planted with nuill)erry-trees, maples, and poplars, festooned with 
 the garlands of the vine. Indian corn, wiieat, and pulse, are 
 cultivated within these inclosures, together with a little sainfoin, 
 and scarlet trefoil. The only difference between this country 
 and Tuscany, is, that it is in a less artificial state. The brooks 
 are left to follow their natural course ; their banks are shaded by 
 large trees, and the graceful irregularity of nature is combined 
 with the richer vegetntion produced by art. 
 
 The pastures, with their numerous herds, have disappeared; 
 a few oxen for the plough, some little black horses, and sheep, 
 are the only animals to be seen. The mountain pastiu'es are 
 occupied during sunnner by the migratory Hocks from the 
 Maremme. 
 
 Many of the inhabitants of Rome have estates in this valley, 
 where they come to pass the autumn, and to receive from their 
 tenants their share of the harvest. The rest of the farms belong 
 to persons of ])roperty residing in the three towns of Spoleto, 
 Fuligno, and Perugia. 
 
Chaieaiivieux^ 8 Travels throvgh Italy. 91 
 
 Spoleto, which is the nearest to Rome, is remarkable for its 
 singular situation. An entire mountain, which, from a distance, 
 appears to belong to the high chain of the Appennines, is sepa- 
 rated from it by a torrent, whose waters roar at the bottom of a 
 precipice. This isolated mountain appears to have been chosen 
 for a citadel from times anterior to liistory, for it is surrounded 
 by the remains of one of those walls which have been called by 
 the name of the Cyclops"*, because no other appropriate one 
 could be found for them. Upon this immense foundation, the 
 emperor Trajan, at a later period, built other walls ; and the 
 dukes, or as they were termed, the tyrants of Spoleto, erected a 
 fortress on the point of the rock, whence they fearlessly extended 
 their sway over the whole valley. In order to convey a supply of 
 water to this nearly inaccessible summit, they caused an arch 
 to be thrown across the chasm at a terrific heiglit. It has neither 
 the nobleness, nor the elegance of the Pont du Gard, but it has 
 a still more striking effect. The declivity of the mountain is 
 covered with olive-woods, gardens, houses, and terraces, quite 
 down to the plain. All the mountains round Spoleto abound 
 with consecrated edifices. Here an ancient convent displays its 
 front amidst the woods ; and there you see a number of chapels 
 which w ere formerly the residence of pious hermits. Farther on, 
 stands a church decorated with a long colonnade ; a lasting 
 monument of the faith of the pilgrims, whose offerings contri- 
 buted to erect it. By the side of the road is shown a humble 
 chapel, where a taper is kept burning before a Madonna, which 
 is protected by a grating. It was painted by Raphael, when, in 
 his early youth, he pursued his studies at Perugia, under l*ietro 
 Perugino. 
 
 Beyond Fuligno, where the valley expands, is a large cathe- 
 dral, the noble architecture of which is displayed, without ob- 
 struction, to the eye of the traveller. This is the church degii 
 Angebi^ the metropolitan of the order of St. Francis ; and at a 
 httle distance on the side of the mountain, stands the town 
 of Assisi. Thence the valley is terminated by a mountain 
 of gradual ascent, which unites the two chains of the Appen- 
 nines. The ancient city of Perugia crowns its summit ; and 
 on the opposite side the view extends, far as the eye can reach, 
 over the vallies of Thrasymenus, winding through the distance 
 till they join those of Arezzo and Florence. 
 
 The situation of Perugia is one of the finest I have seen. 
 The gentle and varied slopes which surround the town, are 
 covered by innumerable gardens, filled with trellises, fruits, 
 and flowers. The numerous canals which water these gardens, 
 together with the shade of the trees, and the fresh and elastic air 
 of the mountains, constantly refresh vegetation, and make every 
 
92 Ckateauvieax's Travels through Italy. 
 
 thing look smiling and verdant. Passing through these howers, 
 you arrive at the foot of the lofty walls which defend the town, 
 and find yourself suddenly in the midst of ages long past. The 
 streets, which are spacious, are adorned hv palaces of an ancient 
 and noble architecture : the lofty domes of the cathedrals are 
 seen towering in the air, and the terraces of the town connnand a 
 view of the whole siu'rounding coimtry. 
 
 Vales still more umbrageous and jiicturesque, conduct to the 
 shores of the lake of Thrasvmcnus. I should have l)een more 
 struck with it, if I had not seen those of Nerni and Albano. 
 It is inclosed by wooded and verdant liills, which are reflected 
 in its tranquil waters, but offers nothing particularly to attract the 
 attention. A little way beyond the lake, you re-enter Tuscany. 
 
 Ferrara, October 5, 1813. 
 There is no country in Europe, nor perha})s in the world, which 
 contains so great a variety of scenery as Italy. The traveller 
 who visits its different provinces, passes, successively, over savage 
 mountains, and cultivated hills, through fertile vales, and desert 
 plains. His eye sometimes rests with delight on smiling fields, 
 where every thing wears an aspect of social happiness ; while in 
 the immediate vicinity of these, he finds other regions, which 
 seem destined by Providence to be tb.e tomb of the human race. 
 
 This endless variety of form, assumed by nature in Italy, 
 arises from two causes, alike interesting to trace : namely, the 
 original structure of the creation, and the power possessed by man 
 of impjiiring or increasing its beauty. 
 
 The influence of man over the works of nature, is more visible 
 in Italy than elsewhere, because she has no where been so long 
 subjected to his empire. The vicissitudes of civilization have 
 caused this fine country to experience every various degree of 
 prosperity and decline. Its history presents us, in a maimer 
 with a series of experiments, exemplifying the changes which 
 the different combinations of society are capable of eil'ecting in 
 the elementary forms of the globe. 
 
 In traversing the several provinces of Italv, the different 
 genius of their ancient governments is still plainly discernible. 
 Thus, in the agriculture of Florence, we recognise a ])eriod of 
 the highest civilization. Fvery thing about Genoa di>>pl;ivs ii 
 state jealous of an inde])en(lence often endangered, and seeking 
 to preserve it by rendeiing its territory dillicult of access. 
 The ruins of Volterra bear testimony to its sul)jection ; and the 
 solitudes of the Cam])agna of Home, indicate tlie careless indif- 
 ference of the government of the church in matters of secular 
 policy. These liistorical testimonies give additional interest to 
 
Chateauvuux's Travels through Italy 93 
 
 the tour of Italy, and supply the pohtical economist with lessons 
 of wisdom. 
 
 As an instance of this, I may mention a rural establishment 
 in the Val di Chiana, below the city of Crotona. At the bottom 
 of this valley a lake formerly subsisted, of small extent in itself, 
 but surrounded by marshes which diffused their pestilential ex- 
 halations all around. This tract belonged to the order of St. 
 Stephen, but, though rich and extensive, was lost to cultivation, 
 and did not yield any revenue. The Tuscan genius, Avhich at 
 that epoch fertilized and embellished whatever came within the 
 sphere of its influence, suggested to the Knights of St. Stephen 
 a plan for draining the lake and its marshes. 
 
 It was ingeniously conceived, and skilfully executed. A canal 
 was opened into the Arno, which carried off the water, reserv^ing 
 a supply to be distributed at pleasure through a multitude of 
 secondary ones. The tract thus restored to cultivation, was 
 nearly three thousand acres in extent. It seemed most natural 
 to throw the whole into one grand domain, with a suitable man- 
 sion in the centre. But the Tuscans of those times were too 
 well acquainted v/ith rural affairs, thus to consign so valuable a 
 tract to langour and inactivity. Instead of one farm only, it was 
 divided into seventy, separated by roads, crossing each other at 
 right angles, and bordered by canals, forming at once communi- 
 cations and divisions. On each farm was erected a rustic dwell- 
 ing, of elegant form, and regular proportion, after the usual 
 custom of Tuscanv. The land was distributed into meadow and 
 arable, and planted with trees, some of them bearing fruit, others 
 foliage only, but all destined to support the vine, with whose 
 festoons they are now loaded. 
 
 I turned out of my road at the entrance of this domain, for 
 the purpose of visiting it, and observing its arrangement and 
 cultivation. I walked on a border of turf by the side of innu- 
 merable canals, shaded by a sort of natural trellis, whose waters, 
 distributed over the meadows by sluices, maintained, in the mid 
 heats of summer, a fresh verdure, which charmed alike the senses 
 and the imagination. 
 
 Each of the farms is about forty acres — a size sufficient to 
 enable the peasants who occupy them to live comfortably. 
 The produce consists of corn, wine, fruit, vegetables, and silk ; 
 and each farmer keeps a pair or two of oxen and a few cows. 
 At the time I was there, they were busy sowing their wheat. The 
 day was very favourable, for a gentle rain, wliich fell during the 
 night, had softened the earth, and caused it to yield easily to the 
 harrow. Every body was out in the fields. The women were 
 employed in weeding. The father held tiie plough, and traced 
 the furrow, while the childi-en . drove the oxen. Behind them 
 
94 Chatcauvieux's Travels through Italy. 
 
 followed the sower, with measured step, scattering the grain from 
 a linen cloth suspended to his neck, the end of which floated 
 after him in the air like a drapery. An appearance of joy was 
 diffused over the whole scene. It sprang from hope, that balm 
 for all the sorrows of life, which may be said more peculiarly to 
 preside over the day, when the husbandman, confiding in the 
 bounty of Providence, commits his seed to the bosom of tlie 
 earth. Though threatened by innumerable dangers, the experi- 
 ence of ages gives him an assurance that he shall still see liis 
 liarvest, in the fields which were reaped by his forefathers. 
 
 The ])]ain of Crotona displays one of the noblest triumphs of 
 Imman mdustry. Nature had covered it with a lake : industry 
 has transformed it into fertile meadows. It was formerly pesti- 
 lential ; it is now salubrious : it was formerly a desert ; it is 
 now inhabited by a happy population. Every thing, even to the 
 streams of water, is formed and regulated by art ; but the effect 
 is far from being monotonous. The fields are so verdant, the 
 trees so thick ; there is such a buz of insects, and such a singing 
 of birds, that you ma}^ fancy yourself in the midst of a wood, 
 where nothing has been done but the opening of a few roads, and 
 the clearing of a portion of the land. 
 
 Leaving this fertile valley, the traveller soon after arrives at 
 Aresso. Here the elegant architecture of Florence and Tuscany, 
 which his eye seeks in vain in the vrretched-looking towns of 
 Naples, and the States of the Church, again appears. Spacious 
 pavements, fre([uently repaired, render the streets commodious 
 and clean. The promenades, the fountains, the buildings, and 
 public edifices of every description, throughout Tuscany, are 
 kept in the nicest repair, and respected equally with private pro- 
 perty. Arezzo is situated in the fertile vale of the Chiana, at no 
 great distance from the Arno ; but, a little below the town, that 
 river takes a wide sweep along the foot of the high Appennines, 
 through the woods of Vallombrosa, and does not reach Florence 
 till after a long circuit. Here, therefore, the road leaves it, and 
 pursues a shorter course over the calcareous hills which occupy 
 the centre of Tuscany. They run through the whole of the 
 territory, as far as Sienna and Montepulclano, and })roduce the 
 best wines in Italy. The olive also grows on most of their decli- 
 vities ; but the more bare and steril ])arts are covered by pine 
 forests. The rose-colour sainfoin has been lately cultivated with 
 success on these hills. I saw some very fine crops of it on a 
 farm belonging to Colonel Ricci. This gentleman, who lias 
 treasured up a great store of information, has reduced to prac- 
 tice the observations made by him in an extensive course of 
 
 sh sheep brought 
 le summer on the 
 
 travelling. He has purchased the flock of Sj)ani 
 into Tuscany by M. de Lasterie. They pass tl 
 
Chafeauvieux's Travels Through Italy. 95 
 
 Appennines ; and he has prepared winter quarters for them on 
 the dry hills between San Casciano and Incisa. 
 
 At length Florence, with its neat agriculture, and gracefully- 
 attired population, re-appears, as you descend from the heights of 
 San Donato, along a torrent embanked by gardens and terraces. 
 On the delightful banks of the Arno, nature seems to display all 
 her bloom, nor is it possible to be insensible to the beauty of the 
 scene. But the picture, though charming, is painted m water 
 colours, and possesses not the warm and vivid tints of the land- 
 scapes of the south. 
 
 There is great pleasure, when you are travelling, in returning 
 to a place you have visited before. We insensibly contract a sort 
 of attachment to the scenes where we have passed our time 
 agreeably. The objects which surround us become familiar to 
 us, and we feel ourselves in some sense at home. This pleasure I 
 experienced on finding myself once more at Florence, in the same 
 apartment I had occupied in my preceding excursions. The win- 
 dows opened upon the Arno, and I could not help remarking the 
 resemblance between this part of the city and the Louvre. When 
 I recollected, however, that the buildings which embellish that 
 quarter of Paris, were erected by two queens of the Medici 
 family, I was no longer surprized at the conformity. Italy was, 
 at that time, exclusively, the land of the arts, and the school of 
 taste ; and supplied models for the works of ornament erected in 
 every other country. 
 
 On the day after my arrival, I w^nt to Poggio a Cajano, the 
 favourite residence of the Medici family. It is a large square 
 building, situated on a rising ground near the Arno, in a heavy 
 yet simple and magnificent style of architecture, which has since 
 been denominated the rustic style. A balcony, covered by the 
 projecting roof, runs all around it, and affords a delightful view of 
 the varied scene of mountain and valley. On the southern front 
 is a walled garden, filled with trellises and espaliers ; the others 
 look over meadows intersected by canals, and shaded by various 
 kinds of trees. The interior is handsomely fitted up, but its ge- 
 neral appearance is nothing more than that of the residence of 
 a gentleman of good property, whose object has been to render 
 his house commodious, and his estate productive ; planting even 
 his avenues with fruit-trees, for the sake of the profit. All the 
 works of the Medici family are of the same character. 
 
 The country between Florence and Bologna contains little that 
 is remarkable. The road runs along the lowest range of the 
 Appennines, so that you have neither the sublimity of the moun- 
 tam scenery, nor the beauty of the valleys. The only thing 
 which attracted my notice, was the improvements making upon 
 the road. The works of this sort, undertaken or completed by 
 
96 Chaicauvleiix's Travels through Italy. 
 
 the French government in Italy, during the last five years, are 
 astonishing. E ridges have been built, precipices levelled, and 
 the communications opened all over the country : if the same 
 improvements should be continued for three years longer, every 
 part of Italy will be rendered easily accessible. 
 
 On reaching Fi igare, situated on the sunmiit of the Appen- 
 nines, on the confines of the Bolognese territory, the Adriatic, 
 the plains of Lombardy, Illyria, and the Alj)s, burst at once upon 
 the vie^v. and a new scene of rural opulence and fertility presents 
 itself. The poetic vales of the Tiber and the i\rno, with their 
 magic names and cypress verdure, have disappeared. The radiant 
 skies, and wild luxuriance of the south, are gone. The ash, 
 the willow, and the alder, re-appear in the meadows : corn and 
 clover fields are seen ; and the landscape assumes the vegetation 
 and the tints of the northern climates. The cattle have lost the 
 fierce aspect and proud gesture of the wild herds. The sleek 
 heifers of the Bolognese are seen indolently pasturing in the rich 
 meadows, tended by children who are playing around them. 
 Nature seems, as it were, drowsy with reflection, and every where 
 teems with abundance. Here fields of wheat bend under the 
 weight of the ear : there, the Indian corn raises its orange- 
 coloured heads to the height of twenty palms. Farther on, the 
 waters of the canal are seen streaming over the thirsty meadows, 
 and, in a single night, restoring their verdure. In another part, 
 long rows of water-melons cover the ground with their beautiful 
 fruit. Towards evening, the farmer is seen, with his children, 
 selecting tlie ripest of them, which the latter joyfully pile in 
 heaps ; while the eldest, unyoking the oxen from the plough, 
 brings a light cart, in which they are conveyed home, amidst the 
 joyful shouts of the whole family. Nor is this exuberant fertility 
 confined to the surface of the earth. The vine displays her pur- 
 ple clusters from every tree, and gives additional luxuriance to 
 this scene of plenty. 
 
 The whole country, extending along the right bank of the Po, 
 to Parma, is of this description ; but at the mouth of the river, 
 towards the Adriatic, lies that singular and desolate region, kno^n 
 by the name of the Polesino. It connnences above Ferrara, and 
 widens as it approaches the sea, like the Delta of Egypt. 
 
 Bkllinzona, October 20, \SVS. 
 The country beyond the Polesino, on the left bank of tlie Po, 
 is fertile in the hii>hest deorce. Situated at the foot of the loftiest 
 mountains of Europe, it displays, in the immediate vicinity of 
 their steril rocks, all the various riches of the creation. The 
 traveller contemplates, witli awe, the Tyrolese Al})s, whose naked 
 precipices, lost amidst the clouds, and towering towards heaven. 
 
c^ 
 
 ChateautHeux's Travels through Italy, ^'1 
 
 seemed calculated to withdraw the mind from terrestrial thoughts ; 
 while the plain, through which he pursues hi^3 easy way, abounds 
 with all that art or nature can contribute to render liiis life de- 
 lightful. The sun beanis with a pui'e effulgence, while lofty 
 trees and innumerable streams, refresh and skreen the earlii 
 from his parching rays ; rendering the harvests ever plenteous, 
 and the meadows ever verdant. And, as if to protect these 
 blessings from every danger, the same hand v.hich formed the 
 mountains, has prepared at their feet natural basins to receive 
 the torrents which fall from them. In these lakes, their fury 
 is tranquilized ; they assume a steady level, and flow in peaceful 
 waves through the channels which human art has prepared for 
 them. Every thing, even to the air which you breatlie, is pure, 
 and serene in this delightful region of Upper Italy, boimded 
 by the Alps, and by the five lakes, whose exquisite scenery 
 gives additional charms to the beauty of the landscapes. 
 
 You pass through the finest part of the Milanese in going to 
 Lodi, by way of Crenwna. This province, called the Lodesan, 
 from the name of the former city, is so fertile, and so abundantly 
 supplied with water, that very little corn of any kind is cultivated 
 in it ; the spontaneous growth of the soil being found m.ore pro- 
 ductive. The meadows, which are irrigated at pleasure, are 
 mown four times in the year, and yield a produce superior to that 
 of the finest corn land ; for the crops exceed in height and thick- 
 ness any thing I have ever seen. The herbage consists of grasses, 
 trefoils, broad-leaved plants, and a great quantity of ranuncu- 
 luses, or butter-cups, which make the fields quite gaudy with 
 their yellow flowers. Tm o of the crops are cut green for the 
 cows, of which a great number are kept here ; the other two are 
 made into hay, for winter use. The cows are fed all the sum- 
 mer in the stables, and are not turned out till the latter end of 
 autumn. 
 
 Owing to the great richness and value of the land, the farms 
 of the Milanese are not very extensive, seldom exceeding from 
 fifty to a hundred acres. They are, however, larger than in 
 Tuscany, because grass land requu'es much less time and at- 
 tention than the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, or corn. The 
 farmers are also richer, from havinu; fewer hazards, and less 
 expences. Of the latter, one of the principal consists ni the 
 .annual purchase of cattle; for, by some unaccountable singida^ 
 rity, the cows, after the third generation, ahvays tlegenerate as 
 milkers, and must be replaced by others from Switzerland ; from 
 wliich country all the horses are likewise imported. The stock 
 belongs to the landlord ; but is kept up at the cxpence of the 
 tenant. 
 
 Voyages and Travels, No. 4, Vol I. 3 g 
 
9S C^uUeamneux^s Travels tkrough Italy. 
 
 The whole surface of the country, ^^hich is perfectly level, 
 is divided into plots of two or three acres, by canals, for the 
 purpose of irrigating it at pleasure. This copious supply of 
 water would in a short time injure the quality of the grass, 
 were it not for a thick dressing of maniu'e, a\ hich is spread on 
 the meadows every third yean Notwithstanding this powerful 
 corrective, the turf degenerates in time, and the polygamous 
 and umbelliferous tribes gradually increase at the expence of 
 the grasses and trefoil. The irrigation is then suspended, and 
 the land ploughed, and sown the following spring with hemp, 
 the tmly plant capable of subduing the natural vegetation 
 on this soil. Its stems rise to a pro(hgious height ; and, 
 after it is pulled, the land is occupied with a crop of some kind 
 of pulse till spring, \vhen it is sown with oats, which are seen 
 waving in the wind, at the height of six or seven feet. These 
 crops are suffered to exhaust the ground previously to the 
 wheat being sown, Ic^t it should be rendered too succulent 
 by an exuberance of fertility. Indian corn generally follows, 
 and a second crop of wheat concludes the course. The land 
 is then left to itself; and a winter-dressing of manure being 
 given to it, soon becomes covered with fresh herbage, without 
 requiring to be sown. As soon as the new turf is become 
 sufficiently thick, the sluices of the adjoining canal are drawn 
 up, and it is laid under water. 
 
 The canals of Lombardy are not faced with brick, as in 
 Tuscany, and are wider, on account of the greater abundance of 
 water. Osier-beds are planted all along the sides, by way 
 of strengthening the banks. Behind these are alders and 
 willows, intermixed with large plantations of poplars. The 
 latter require to be planted at considerable distances, for they 
 do not rise pyramidically, like the cypress, nor do they grow 
 close and round, like Ihe French poplar, but spread their 
 branches like the birch-tree, and aspire to an immense height. 
 The canals having long been formed, these plantations are 
 now grown up to their full size, and the water has worn the 
 banks into little indentations, like those of the natural brook. 
 The rugged and mossy trunks of the willows hang, covered 
 with ivy and convolvuluses, over the stream. The poplars 
 raise their symmetrical stems above them, like a vast colon- 
 nade, of unequal, but mighty proportions; and the whole 
 scene is at once smiling and graceful in tlie details, imd noble 
 in its general effect. 
 
 To the westward of the Lodesan, on the banks of the Tesino, 
 this fine country of wood and meadow tenulnates, and wide 
 plain? appear, extending to tlie horizon. Few houses or peo- 
 
Chateaumeux's Trcwels through Italy. 99 
 
 pie are to be seen : a pale monotonous verdure pervades the 
 whole. You now enter the rice-grounds. 
 
 Before the traveller quits Italy, — while he yet lingers on her 
 utmost limits, one would say that she is desirous of pre- 
 senting him with a last display of her magnificence, and her 
 beauty. On the shores of the lakes in the north of the Mi- 
 lanese, on the frontiers of Switzerland, oriental luxuriance, 
 and Alpine grandeur, unite to form the fairest scenes with 
 which the globe is embellished. The lofty mountains, where 
 dwells eternal winter, and the fertile plains, " the green 
 abodes of life," are brought together as if by magic ; and 
 every various tint that colours the surface of the earth, every 
 beautiful form that adorns it, are presented, in blended suc- 
 cession, to the eye. The plants of the northern and southern 
 climates mingle their perfumes in the same valley : the orange- 
 tree grows by the side of the fir, and the citron by the side of the 
 cytisus. 
 
 The natural advantages, and enchanting scenery, of the lakes 
 
 of Upper Italy, have long since attracted a numerous population 
 
 to their shores. The hills are covered with habitations, which 
 
 are not palaces, for the grounds attached to them would not have 
 
 been sufficiently extensive. Neither are they cottages, for the 
 
 inhabitants are too wealthy not to bestow some expense on their 
 
 residences. They are small, but elegant and commodious 
 
 dwellings, having nothing rustic al^out them but their beautiful 
 
 situation, and the trellises by which they are shaded. They 
 
 are surroimded bv orchards, rising; on terraces one above the 
 
 other, in which the fruits of Europe, and of Asia grow together ; 
 
 while the streamlets which descend from the Alps bring with 
 
 them the limpid coolness of their ices, and the murmur of their 
 
 cascades. The verdure of the hills is reflected in broken images 
 
 • • • 
 
 from the waters of the lake ; a moving picture painted by 
 
 nature, as if to shew to man that her works were capable of 
 being imitated. 
 
 'I he fineness of the day tempted me to continue my way to 
 Switzerland across the lake of the Lugano. As I approached 
 the Alps the hills became higher, the houses less frequent, and 
 the trellises less verdant and bowery. The fruit-trees disap- 
 peared, and were succeeded by the lofty sons of the forest, whose 
 vast branches were bent by the winds. The streamlets became 
 torrents, and poured in cascades over the rocks. The song of 
 the birds ceased, and nothing was heard but the distant moan 
 which announced the approach of the snow-storm and the 
 tempest. The air, no longer embalmed with the perfume of the 
 orange-flowers, was filled with the wild odour of the fir. I had 
 now readied the last turn of the lake. The boat entered a bay 
 
100 Chateauvieux'e Travels through Italy. 
 
 surrounded with rocks, where tlie ])ale tint of the Alpine snows 
 was reflected in the water; and looking up to heaven, I beheld 
 immediately before me those mighty mountains, whose majestic 
 irrandeur seems to render them worth v to be the sovereigns of 
 the world. 
 
 I disembarked at the foot of the rocks, near Lugano, and 
 pursued my way towards the wild secluded vales of the mountains, 
 with a sort of melancholy feeling. The only hal)itations to be 
 seen were a few huts scattered upon the sides of the mountains; 
 and I heard the distant tinkling of the bells of the flocks, tlie 
 sound of which, repeated by the echoes, is so delightful to the 
 ear of the Swiss shepherd. These simj)le sounds, one of th(i 
 harmonies of the Alps, announced the approach of the herds 
 which I soon after met. All the cattle of the valley were de- 
 scending from the mountains for the winter. The shepherds 
 did not wear garlands of flowers, as on the day of their departure 
 to the pastures, for the flower season was passed ; but each 
 carried a green branch. The villagers left their work, and 
 came out of their cottages to meet their cows, the companions 
 of their winters, and the supports of their families. The ani- 
 mals seemed sensible to their welcome, and each of them, 
 recojrnizinff the door of the shed where it had been reared, 
 saluted the sheltering roof, and the family of its master, with 
 joyful lowing. 
 
 The traits of this picture could not be niistaken : I beheld 
 once more the simple scenes and manners of Switzerland ; but, 
 though on my native soil, I could not forbear turning a last look 
 towards Italy, and, with an inexpressible feeling of regret, I bade 
 a final adieu to that delightful country, which no man ever quitted 
 but with reluctance, or re-visited but with renewed pleasure. 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO Tin; BINDER. 
 
 Pyramidcil Rock, near Tcrracina, to face page 6,'? 
 
 Interior of the Temple of Jupitor Sorapis, at Poz/.uoli 72 
 
 .Antifpia entraric*' of the V'lll.i Adiiaiiii, tuurTivoli 86 
 
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