feels scorched and cold almost at the same
moment. The floors are all of stone, but a few straw-mats are
sometimes spread beneath the dining-tables.

The landscape through which we travelled to-day did not possess many
attractions. For about forty miles, as far as Ronciglione, we saw
neither town nor village. The aspect of Ronciglione is rather
melancholy, though it boasts a broad street and many houses of two
stories. But the latter all have a gloomy look, and the town itself
appears to be thinly populated. We passed the night here.

According to Italian custom, I had made a bargain with the
proprietor of our vehicle for the journey, including lodging and
board. I was well satisfied, for he strictly kept his contract.
But whoever expects more than one meal a day under an arrangement of
this sort will find himself grievously mistaken; the traveller who
wishes to take any thing in the morning or in the middle of the day
must pay out of his own pocket. I found every thing here
exceedingly expensive and very bad.

November 24th.

To-day we passed through some very pretty, though not populous
districts. In the afternoon we at length reached two towns,--
namely, Viterbo, with 13,000 inhabitants, lying in a fruitful plain;
and Montefiascone, built on a high hill, and backed by lofty
mountains, on which a celebrated vine is cultivated. At the foot of
the hill, near Montefiascone, lies a small lake, and farther on one
of considerable size, the Lago de Balsana, with a little town of the
same name, once the capital of the Volsci. An ancient fortress
rises in the midst of this town, surrounded by tall and venerable
houses as with a wreath.

We had now to cross a considerable mountain, an undertaking of some
difficulty when we consider how heavily the rain had fallen. By the
aid of an extra pair of horses we passed safely over the miserable
roads, and took up our quarters for the night in the little village
of Lorenzo. We had already reached the domain of the Apennines.

November 25th.

We had now only a few more hours to travel through the papal
dominions. The river Centino forms the boundary between the States
of the Church and Tuscany. The greater portion of the region around
us gave tokens of its volcanic origin. We saw several grottoes and
caverns of broken stone resembling lava, basaltic columns, etc.

The Dogana of Tuscany, a handsome building, stands in the
neighbourhood of Ponte Centino. The cou