urs, and even days, did they not devote to me, to
accompany me sometimes to one place, sometimes to another; how
eagerly did they seek to shew me all the riches of nature and art
displayed in this favoured city! I was truly proud and delighted at
having found such friends; and once more do I offer them my sincere
thanks.

CHAPTER XX.

Caserta--Costume of the peasants--Rome--Piazza del Popolo--Dogana--
St. Peter's--Palaces--Borghese, Barberini, Colonna, etc.--Churches--
Ancient Rome--The Colliseum--Departure for Florence--Bad weather--
Picturesque scenery--Siena--Florence--Cathedral and palaces--
Departure from Florence--Bologna--Ferrara--Conclusion.

November 7th.

I travelled by the mail-carriage. By seven in the morning we were
at Caserta, and an hour later at Capua, a pretty bustling town on
the banks of a river. Our road was most picturesque; we drove among
vineyards and gardens through the midst of a lovely plain. On the
right were mountains, increasing in number as we proceeded, and
imparting a rich variety to the landscape. At noon we halted before
a lovely inn. From this point the country increases in beauty at
every step. The heights are strikingly fertile, and in the valley
an excellent road winds amid pleasant gardens. The mountains
frequently seem to approach as though about to form an impenetrable
pass; while ruins crown the summits of the rocks, and give a
romantic appearance to the whole. At about three o'clock we reached
the little town of Jeromania, lying in the midst of vegetable-
gardens. Above this town the handsome convent of Monte Cassino
stands on a rock, and in its neighbourhood we notice the ruins of an
amphitheatre.

To-day the weather was not in the least Italian, being, on the
contrary, gloomy and rough, as we generally find it in Austria at
the same season of the year. Yesterday it was so cold at Naples
that Mount Vesuvius was covered with snow during several hours.

The dress of the peasants in these regions is of a more national
character than I had yet found it. The women wear short and scanty
petticoats of blue or red cloth, tight-fitting bodices, and gaily-
striped aprons. Their head-dress consists of a white handkerchief,
with a second above it folded in a square form. The men look like
robbers; with their long dark-blue or brown cloaks, in which they
wrap themselves so closely that it is difficult to get a glimpse of
their faces, and their steeple-crow