als to carry off the stagnant water which renders
this district so unhealthy. It is said that the entire plain between the
mountains of Carrarra and the hills back of Leghorn has been gradually
formed by the deposits of the Arno and the receding of the
Mediterranean, which is so shallow along the whole coast, that large
vessels have to anchor several miles out. As we approached Pisa over the
level marsh, I could see the dome of the Cathedral and the Leaning Tower
rising above the gardens and groves which surround it.

Our baggage underwent another examination at the gate, where we were
again assailed by the vetturini, one of whom hung on us like a leech
till we reached a hotel, and there was finally no way of shaking him off
except by engaging him to take us to Florence. The bargain having been
concluded, we had still a few hours left and set off to hunt the
Cathedral. We found it on an open square near the outer wall, and quite
remote from the main part of the town. Emerging from the narrow and
winding street, one takes in et a glance the Baptistery, the Campo
Santo, the noble Cathedral and the Leaning Tower--forming altogether a
view rarely surpassed in Europe for architectural effect. But the square
is melancholy and deserted, and rank, untrampled grass fills the
crevices of its marble pavement.

I was surprised at the beauty of the Leaning Tower. Instead of all old,
black, crumbling fabric, as I always supposed, it is a light, airy,
elegant structure, of white marble, and its declension, which is
interesting as a work of art (or accident,) is at the same time pleasing
from its novelty. There have been many conjectures as to the cause of
this deviation, which is upwards of fourteen feet from the
perpendicular; it is now generally believed that the earth having sunk
when the building was half finished, it was continued by the architects
in the same angle. The upper gallery, which is smaller than the others,
shows a very perceptible inclination back towards the perpendicular, as
if in some degree to counterbalance the deviation of the other part.
There are eight galleries in all, supported by marble pillars, but the
inside of the Tower is hollow to the very top.

We ascended by the same stairs which were trodden so often by Galileo in
going up to make his astronomical observations; in climbing spirally
around the hollow cylinder in the dark, it was easy to tell on which
side of the Tower we were, from the proportiona