ng last
night beside the blazing fire, and we were amused to hear them talking
about us. I overheard one asking another to converse with us awhile.
"Why should I speak to them?" said he; "they are not of our
profession--we are swineherds, and they do not care to talk with us."
However, his curiosity prevailed at last, and we had a long conversation
together. It seemed difficult for them to comprehend how there could be
so much water to cross, without any land, before reaching our country.
Finding we were going to Rome, I overheard one remark we were pilgrims,
which seemed to be the general supposition, as there are few
foot-travelers in Italy. The people said to one another as we passed
along the road:--"They are making a journey of penance!" Those peasants
expressed themselves very well for persons of their station, but they
were remarkably ignorant of everything beyond their own olive orchards
and vine fields.

_Perugia, Dec. 24._--On leaving Levane, the morning gave a promise, and
the sun winked at us once or twice through the broken clouds, with a
watery eye; but our cup was not yet full. After crossing one or two
shoulders of the range of hills, we descended to the great upland plain
of Central Italy, watered by the sources of the Arno and the Tiber. The
scenery is of a remarkable character. The hills appear to have been
washed and swept by some mighty flood. They are worn into every
shape--pyramids, castles, towers--standing desolate and brown, in long
ranges, like the ruins of mountains. The plain is scarred with deep
gulleys, adding to the look of decay which accords so well with the
Cyclopean relics of the country.

A storm of hail which rolled away before us, disclosed the city of
Arezzo, on a hill at the other end of the plain, its heavy cathedral
crowning the pyramidal mass of buildings. Our first care was to find a
good trattoria, for hunger spoke louder than sentiment, and then we
sought the house where Petrarch was born. A young priest showed it to us
on the summit of the hill. It has not been changed since he lived in it.

On leaving Florence, we determined to pursue the same plan as in
Germany, of stopping at the inns frequented by the common people. They
treated us here, as elsewhere, with great kindness and sympathy, and we
were freed from the outrageous impositions practised at the greater
hotels. They always built a large fire to dry us, after our day's walk
in the rain, and placing chairs in the