sure of the gardens of a villa, and the southern side has been planted with a few trees which appear above the topmost seats. It may be worth while to mention also that the tunnel at the west end has been walled up externally, but that in no way interferes with the examination of the interior of the theatre.

From Sutri we returned to Ronciglione, and next day visited Capraruola, where there is a sumptuous palace built by the Farnese family in the sixteenth century, the windows of which command the entire Campagna of Rome: the landscape is bounded by the Alban hill to the south, with the Sabine range to the west, and much closer in the same direction, Mount Soracte, which was sacred to Apollo:

"Summe deûm, sancti custos Soractis Apollo." Æneid x1. 785.

Leaving Capraruola, we proceeded through a wood in the direction of Cività Castellana, and about four miles short of that town approached Faleri from the west, and crossing a small stream which flows on the south side of the town, and falls into the Tiber near Cività Castellana, we observed on our left a number of apertures in the rocks, which, upon examination, proved to be tombs. They differed, both from those of Castel d' Asso and of Tarquinii, for the entrances were above ground like the door of a house, and on entering you do not descend, but find yourself at once in a square chamber with a rude pillar left in the rock to support the centre of the roof, and a low shelf all round the room, and round the central column also, which formerly served for the sarcophagi to rest upon, but at present many of these caves being used as stables, the shelf answers the purpose of a manger. We could not find the least trace of painting or sculpture on any of these grottos. It is remarkable that in one instance the rock has been cut away so nearly to the surface, that, either by accident or design, a hole has been made from the top, and thus the light shines in and discloses the thinness of the roof of rock. Grooves remain in the doorcases, seeming to point out that a stone door had been tightly fitted in; but in all cases the doors and every thing moveable have long disappeared. It is evident that the road to the town by these tombs was an ancient one, for it was cut deep in the rock, and led directly to one of the principal gates which is perfect, and is now called "Porta di Giove," from a head, supposed to be that of Jupiter, carved upon the key-stone. The arch is formed of nineteen blocks of peperino of remarkable length and narrowness, and

these are surmounted by a handsome architrave springing from a well formed impost: the effect of this gate is very striking indeed, and reminded us extremely of certain arches in the cloister of St. Trophimus at Arles, which, being a city full of Roman remains, the ancient style may have been traditionally preserved. This gateway, which, according to Gell, is twenty-four feet high, and eleven wide, is flanked by two square towers that do not project internally beyond the thickness of the walls, and are similar to others occurring at irregular intervals all round the city. On the side where the Porta di Giove occurs the earth inside is raised to the top of the wall, so that you mount by a sloping bank and look down a depth of about thirty feet. The walls are built of tufo cut into rectangular blocks, and the courses, of which we counted in some places twelve, in others sixteen, are perfectly even. Except in the parts where there is a precipitous rock, scarcely any ditch is perceptible, and the wall is the only defence on the whole of the north and part of the eastern and western sides; no battlements remain to shew how the wall was finished. Soon after quitting the Gate of Jove, we came to a corner where the wall turns at a right angle, and presents a straight line on the north side broken only by three small posterns, which are arched, and would not admit more than two persons abreast: near the centre one a huge tomb resembling those on the Via Appia near Rome, and, like them, stripped of its external coating, remains, and a little beyond it is an oval mound, which has every appearance of having served as an amphitheatre, beyond which, turning again at a right angle, we reached the eastern side of the town, where there is a small gate whence issued the road in the direction of Cività Castellana, and close to this road is a large monument of great solidity, in which the sepulchral chamber is still preserved. The wall on the south side follows the sinuosities of the valley, which is of considerable depth, and divides the city from what is designated by Gell the necropolis. We did not cross to this hill, but we could distinguish two very lofty tombs upon it, and, like the two others already mentioned, they doubtless belong to the imperial times. There is a principal gate called Porta del Bove, from an ox's head on the key-stone, and two smaller ones, all leading in the direction of the necropolis. The entire circuit of Faleri, not reckoning the sinuosities of the south side, amounts to a mile and one-third. But what renders these walls so remarkable is, that in no place have they any appearance of reparation or more recent construction:

excepting an occasional fissure, they might serve as fortifications at this day. And what do they contain? an abbey in ruins, and a few mounds of earth alone break the regularity of a cultivated field. The church of Santa Maria has been profusely adorned with marbles, and the west front is very rich and beautiful in the light Saxon style; but the stone roof has fallen in and laid bare the nave; the transepts are still covered, but serve only as shelter for cattle: no cost has been spared to make the edifice magnificent. The adjoining buildings of the monastery, now applied to farming purposes, were spacious and elegant; and the name of Cardinal Farnese, sculptured over many of the doors, bears testimony to the liberality of the princely house whose principal seat, Capraruola, was only a few miles distant.

From Faleri we regained the main road to Rome from Florence, (the ancient via Cassia), a little north of Monterosi, and proceeded round the bed of the lake Baccano, which has of late years been successfully drained, and is evidently the crater of a vast extinct volcano, until having traversed part of the hill forming the lip of the crater, we continued until we reached the twelfth milestone, and then turned off to the left to visit the site of Veii. As we passed through a narrow road cut deep in the rock, we observed some of the egg-shaped cavities, such as we had noticed at Ardea, though in this instance they had been broken in laterally; but the size, shape, and circular aperture at the top, were similar to those we had before remarked. Isola Farnese, supposed to be the site of the citadel of Veii, consists of a ruinous castle built by the Orsini, in the middle ages, and near it a few cottages placed at the end of a steep ridge of rock separating two valleys. Beyond the part occupied by the village, numerous caves, probably sepulchral, exist; but the hill on which Isola stands is separated from the high land where the city of Veii stood by a deep valley with a stream, called Acqua Termale, at the bottom of it. Up this valley we passed, when we had examined the hill of Isola, and came to a most picturesque fall of water near a mill. This is a favourite resort of painters; and a little above this we crossed the stream by an ancient bridge, and continued on the northern side of Veii until we came into another valley, which divided the city from its necropolis, and then crossed the Cremera, a stream which was formerly much more considerable than at present, being fed by the waters of the lake Baccano; it runs immediately below a steep bank forming the boundary of Veii on the north-east. We observed

the spot called by Gell the Lavatojo, or washingplace; there are a number of rocky basins filled by the river, and it is a convenient place for the performance of what in ancient days was not deemed unworthy of damsels of the highest rank. See Odyssey, VI. 85,

Αἱ δ ̓ ὅτε δὴ ποταμοῖο ρόον περικαλλέ ίκοντο,
Ενθ ̓ ἦτοι πλυνοὶ ἦσαν ἐπηετανοὶ, πολὺ δ ̓ ὕδωρ
Καλὸν ὑπεκπρορέει, μάλα περ ῥυπόωντα καθῇραι.

A little beyond is the "Ponte Sodo," formed by a short tunnel being cut in the rock to receive the Cremera, which would otherwise stray in the valley, but is hereby confined to its channel, and serves as a moat to the city: of course, a gate and towers must have defended this natural bridge, but there can be no doubt that the tunnel is artificial; at one of its ends is a ferruginous spring, staining the sand around it of a deep red colour. On the other side of the valley is a hill, called Vaccarecia, which was evidently the necropolis of Veii, for numberless tombs have been discovered there, though the bank does not present a very uneven appearance, because, as soon as an excavation has been made, and the moveables taken away, the hole is filled up. There is no appearance of tumuli here as at Tarquinii, save a very large one somewhat removed from the necropolis, which is so considerable that it is seen from a distance in the Campagna. The difference between the relative position of the necropolis of Veii and that of Tarquinii, consists in the far larger scale of the hills and the intervening valley at the latter, and at the former the hill of tombs is to the N.W. of the city, whereas at Tarquinii it lies to the S. The landlord of a small inn at Isola keeps the key of a tomb in the necropolis, which was opened a few months ago at the expense of Signor Campana, who possesses the finest collection of Etruscan gold ornaments in Rome. There was reason to suppose that this sepulchre had been opened at a period when nothing save the gold was thought worth carrying off, for no valuable ornaments were found in it, but in other respects it had no appearance of having been disturbed; such, however, as it was found, it is to be seen at this day. A little below the brow of the hill we entered a passage open to the sky, six feet wide, and proceeding a few paces, reached the modern doorway, which covers the original entrance, thereby destroying the effect which is so well preserved at Tarquinii; but after entering, one may observe that the original door-case is arched in masonry, the stones are irregularly arranged, and the key-stone

not being well defined, it seems as if the arch had been the result of chance, rather than one formed upon scientific principles. The first chamber is about fifteen feet square, and has a door facing the principal entrance and leading to the inner chamber; on the right and left of the entrance is a stone bier, three feet high and seven feet in length, and upon one of them is a bronze helmet, pierced in such a manner as may have caused the death of the wearer; on both are spear-heads of iron and sword-blades very much rusted; the bodies of the warriors have been reduced to dust, but it is remarkable that neither greaves, nor breast-plate, nor shield, are to be seen. There is no inscription upon any part of the tomb, and the walls of the outer chamber are perfectly plain; its height is about seven feet; in the corners are rude vases almost black, and of a form by no means elegant. The inner chamber is likewise square, but smaller than the other: on the wall opposite the door is a painting in a kind of pattern of circles in rude imitation of mosaic, which was evidently intended to be seen immediately on entering the sepulchre; all round this chamber is a low shelf, upon which stand large vases and three chests of terra cotta, of the colour of common brick, resembling trunks with rounded lids: they are two feet in length and one and a half in height, and by way of handles to the covers there are ornaments resembling a human head. These receptacles for burnt bones are similar to some in the vestibule of the Etruscan Museum in the Vatican.

Having examined this, the only tomb preserved at Veii, we descended from the necropolis, and crossed the Cremera at a ford where there are traces of an ancient bridge, and a winding road leads up to the table-land where the city stood. On the right, on ascending by this road, we observed a large rock presenting perpendicular fronts covered with "columbaria "cut in the stone. These are little alcoves with a flat shelf, in which is a small cavity to hold ashes: thus, we may conclude that on the brow of the hill was a gate, between which and the bridge this spot was chosen as a suitable place of sepulture.

The north side of the site of Veii is covered with a wood that renders the search for the city walls more difficult, but a little above the before-mentioned columbarium we noticed a small piece of wall among the bushes, the stones were rectangular, but the courses irregular. We now reached the high ground once occupied by Veii; a deep lane traverses nearly the whole length of it, and near it in one part we remarked fragments of brick-work,