Mount Familypo prefents a moft beautiful project from the lea; and near it lies the little iland of Netda, adorned with fuch a variety of plantations, ring one above anther in beautiful order, that the whole pot refembles a terrace garden. It is no longer infefted with the poisonous exhalations mentioned by Lucan:

Nes' high rocks each Stygian air produce,
And the blue breathing peffllence diffule.

From Nefida we rowed to Cape Mifeno, for merly the great port of the Roman fleet, employed in the Mediterranean, as Ravenna was for that in the Adriatic. A few remains of old Misenum are ftill vifible, particularly a set of galleries hewn in the rock, which fome imagine to have been a refervoir for water, and others Nero's baths.

The ancient Inarime, now Ischia, lies farther out in the fea. It was formerly a volcano, but has been long extinguished, though it still emits fmoke in fome places. The poets feigned that Typhoeus was buried under it.

Typhoeus roars beneath, by Jove's command,
Aftonish'd at the flow that shakes the land;
Soon fhifts his weary fide, and scarce awake,

With wonder, feels the weight press heavier on his back.

morning, going to Cume by a very pleah, I faw in my way many ruins of fepuld other ancient edifices. Cuma is at pretirely depopulated; but here are fhewn ains of the temple of Apollo, which antifuppofe to be the fame as Virgil describes, by Daedalus. Among other fubterraneous ks, is a paffage ftopped up, about one hundred rds from its entrance, by the falling in of the earth.

earth. This is fuppofed to have been the oppofite mouth of the Sibyl's grotto, from Avernus, as it lies exactly in the fame line.

At Cajeta, where Æneas's nurse was buried, they fhewed us a rock of marble, faid to have been cleft by an earthquake, at our Saviour's crucifixion, and over the door of the chapel that leads into the crack, are written the words of the evangelift, ECCE TERRÆE-MOTUS FACTUS EST MAGNUS. Every one who views this vaft rent, in so high a rock, must be convinced it was produced by fome convulfion of nature; though the precife time cannot be ascertained.

1 next touched at Monte Circeio, called by Homer the Ifle of Æëa, from a fuppofition that it was infulated. Indeed, it is not impoffible but that this might have formerly been the cafe, as it is joined to the main land by a narrow ifthmus, almoft on a level with the furface of the water. The extremity of the promontory is very rocky, and much expofed to winds and waves, which perhaps gave rife to the howlings of wolves, and the roarings of lions, so often mentioned by the poets. Of this I had a lively idea, from being forced to lie under it a whole night. Virgil's defcription is highly poetic.

From hence we heard rebellowing to the main,
The roars of lions that refuse the chain,

The grunts of briftly boars, and groans of bears,

And herds of howling wolves that stun the failor's ears.
Thefe from the caverns at the close of night,

Fill the fad ifle with horror and affright.

Darkling they mourn their fate, whom Circe's power,
That watch'd the moon and planetary hour,

With weeds and wicked herbs, from human kind
Had alter'd, and in brutal fhapes confin'd.

The

The ruins of Antium, in this vicinity, spread over a large circuit of land. The foundations of the buildings are ftill to be feen, with many grottos and paffages of great length. We faw fome remains of Nero's Port, compofed of three moles, running round it, except where the ships were to

enter.

We now arrived at the mouth of the Tiber, which we entered with fome danger, from the roughness of the fea at the conflux of the river. The feafon of the year, and the beauty of the banks, put me in mind of the delightful image that Virgil has given us, when Æneas had the firft view of it:

The Trojan from the main beheld a wood,

Which thick with fhades and a brown horror stood;
Betwixt the trees the Tiber took his courfe,
With whirlpools dimpled, and with downward force,
That drove the fand along, he took his way,
And roll'd his yellow billows to the fea:
About him and above, and round the wood,
The birds that haunt the borders of his flood,
That bath'd within, or bafk'd upon his fide,
To tuneful fongs their liquid throats apply'd.

It has been generally obferved, that modern e ftands higher than the ancient, and fome mputed it at fourteen or fifteen feet on an

The reafon affigned for this change is, prefent buildings ftand on the ruins of ner; and indeed I have often obferved, herever any confiderable pile of building anciently, one ftill finds a rifing ground, h was doubtlefs made up out of the fragIts and rubbish of the ruined edifice. But rious other caufes have contributed to the eletion of the prefent city, and in fact have much altered

altered the face of the fite, from what it was in ancient times.

In Rome are two forts of antiquities, the Pagan and the Chriftian. The latter are fo intermingled with fables and legends, that little fatisfaction can be derived from fearching into them; while the former affords a high degree of pleasure to those who can compare them with the descriptions of ancient authors.

Of all the antiquities of Rome, none pleafed me fo much as the ancient ftatues, the workmanfhip of which is frequently the moft exquifite of any thing of the kind. Of thofe, many are already brought to light; and it is probable, that pofterity will have the pleasure of feeing many noble pieces of fculpture, yet hid among the ancient ruins. There are frequently undertakers in Rome, who purchase the privilege of digging up fields and gardens, where they think there is a probability of making discoveries of this kind, and frequently they meet with great fuccefs.

Next to the ftatues, the amazing number of ancient pillars, in fo many varieties of marble, is moft attractive. The expence of erecting thefe muft have been immenfe, particularly of those pieces brought from Egypt. Some of thefe refift the inftruments now in ufe; and though I faw a native of Milan, at this time working on them at Rome, his advances were fo flow, that he was four months affiduoufly employed in forming a common-fized falver of porphyry.

Among the pillars, thofe of Trajan and Antonine are juftly esteemed the most noble in the world. Nothing can be more magnificent than the defign of Trajan's pillar; for where could the ashes of an emperor have been so nobly difpofed

of,

The ruins of Antium, in this vicinity, fpread over a large circuit of land. The foundations of the buildings are ftill to be feen, with many grottos and paffages of great length. We faw fome remains of Nero's Port, compofed of three moles, running round it, except where the ships were to

enter.

We now arrived at the mouth of the Tiber, which we entered with fome danger, from the roughness of the fea at the conflux of the river. The feafon of the year, and the beauty of the banks, put me in mind of the delightful image that Virgil has given us, when Æneas had the firft view of it:

The Trojan from the main beheld a wood,

Which thick with fhades and a brown horror stood;
Betwixt the trees the Tiber took his courfe,
With whirlpools dimpled, and with downward force,
That drove the fand along, he took his way,
And roll'd his yellow billows to the fea:
About him and above, and round the wood,
The birds that haunt the borders of his flood,
That bath'd within, or bafk'd upon his fide,
To tuneful songs their liquid throats apply'd.

It has been generally obferved, that modern Rome ftands higher than the ancient, and fome have computed it at fourteen or fifteen feet on an average. The reafon affigned for this change is, that the prefent buildings ftand on the ruins of the former; and indeed I have often obferved, herever any confiderable pile of building iently, one ftill finds a rifing ground, s doubtlefs made up out of the fragd rubbish of the ruined edifice. But other caufes have contributed to the elen of the prefent city, and in fact have much altered