and passed into a cavern. Here the water appeared, rushing with great force, beneath the rock, towards the bason on the outside. It was the coldest spring we had found in the country; the mercury in the thermometer failing, in two minutes, to thirty-four, according to the scale of Fahrenheit. When placed in the reservoir immediately above the fall, where the water was more exposed to the atmosphere, its temperature was three degrees higher. The whole rock about the source is covered with moss. Close to the bason grew hazel and plane trees; above were oaks and pines; all beyond was a naked and fearful precipice. [Clarke's Travels, Part II. Sect. 1.] 2. Source of the Clitumnus. From PLINY to ROMANUS. HAVE you ever seen the source of the river Clitumnus? as I never heard you mention it, I imagine not; let me therefore advise you to do so immediately. It is but lately indeed I had that pleasure, and I condemn myself for not having seen it sooner. At the foot of a little hill covered with venerable and shady cypress trees, a spring issues out, which gushing in different and unequal streams forms itself, after several windings, into a spacious bason, so extremely clear that you may see the pebbles and the little pieces of money which are thrown into it †, as they lie at the bottom. From thence it is carried off not so much by the declivity of the ground, as by its own strength and fulness. It is navigable almost as soon * Now called Clitumno: it rises a little below the village of Campello in Ombria. The inhabitants near this river still retain a notion that its waters are attended with a supernatural property, imagining it makes the cattle white that drink of it a quality for which it is likewise celebrated by many of the Latin poets. See Addison's Travels. The heads of considerable rivers, hot springs, large bodies of standing water, &c. were esteemed holy among the Romans, and cultivated with religious ceremonies. "Magnorum fluminum," says Seneca," Capita reveremur; subita et ex abdito vasti amnis eruptio æras habet: coluntur aquarum calentium fontes ; et stagna quædam, vel opacitas, vel immensa altitudo sacravit." Ep. 41. It was customary to throw little pieces of money into those fountains, lakes, &c. which had the reputation of being sacred, as a mark of veneration for those places, and to render the presiding deities propitious. Suetonius mentions this practice in the annual vows which he says the Roman people made for the health of Augustus. as it has quitted its source, and wide enough to admit a free passage for vessels to pass by each other, as they sail with or against the stream. The current runs so strong, though the ground is level, that the large barges which go down the river have no occasion to make use of their oars; while those which ascend find it difficult to advance, even with the assistance of oars and poles; and this vicissitude of labour and ease is exceedingly amusing when one sails up and down merely for pleasure. The banks on each side are shaded with the verdure of great numbers of ash and poplar trees, as clearly and distinctly seen in the stream, as if they were actually sunk in it, The water is cold as snow, and as white too. Near it stands an ancient and venerable temple, wherein is placed the river-god Clitumnus, clothed in a robe, whose immediate presence the prophetie oracles here delivered sufficiently testifiy. Several little chapels are scattered round, dedicated to particular gods, distinguished by dif ferent names, and some of them too presiding over different fountains. For, besides the principal one, which is as it were the parent of all the rest, there are several other lesser streams, which, taking their rise from various sources, lose themselves in the river: over which a bridge is built, that separates the sacred part from that which lies open to common use. Vessels are allowed to come above this bridge, but no person is permitted to swim except below it": The Hispalletes †, to whom Augustus gave this place, furnish a public bath, and likewise entertain all strangers at their own expense. Several villas, attracted by the beauty of this river, are situated upon its borders. In short, every object that presents itself will afford 1 you entertainment. You may also amuse yourself with numberless inscriptions, that are fixed upon the pillars and walls by different persons, celebrating the virtues of the fountain, and the divinity that presides over it. There are many of them you will greatly admire, as there are some that will make you laugh; but I must correct my. self when I say se; you are too humane, I know, to laugh upon such an occasion. Farewell. [Melmoth's Translation.] The touch of a naked body was thought to pollute these consecrated waters, as appears from a passage in Tacitus, 1. 14. an. c. 22. + Inhabitants of a town in Ombria, now called Spello. The Lake Vadimon. PLINY to GALLUS. THOSE works of art or nature, which are usually the motives of our travels, are often overlooked and neglected, if they happen to lie within our reach; whether it be that we are naturally less inquisitive concerning those things which are near us, while our curiosity is excited by remote objects; or because the casiness of gratifying a desire is always sure to damp it; or, perhaps, that we defer, from time to time, viewing what we know we have an opportunity of seeing whenever we please. Be the reason what it may, it is certain there are several rarities in and near Rome, which we not only have never seen, but have never so much as heard of; and yet, if they had been the production of Greece, or Egypt, or Asia, or any other country which we admire as fruitful in wonders, they would, long since, have been the subjects both of our reading, conversation, and inspection. For myself, at least, I confess I have lately been entertained with a sight of one of these our indigenous singularities, to which I was an entire stranger before. My wife's grandfather desired I would look upon his estate near Ameria *. As I was walk. ing over his grounds, I was shown a lake that lies below them, called Vadimont, which I was informed had several very extraordinary qualities attending it. This raised my curiosity to take a nearer view. Its form is exactly circular; there is not the least obliquity or winding; but all is regular and even, as if it had been hollowed and cut out by the hand of art. The water is of a clear sky blue, though with somewhat of a greenish cast; it seems, by its taste and smell, impregnated with sulphur, and is deemed of great efficacy in all fractures of the limbs, which it is supposed to consolidate. Not. withstanding it is but of a moderate extent, yet the winds have a great effect upon it, frequently throwing it into violent commotions. No vessels are suffered to sail here, as its waters are held sacred t but several floating islands § swim about in it, covered with reeds * Now called Amelia, an episcopal city in Ombria. + Now called Lago di Bassanello. See note p. 53. The credit of this account does not rest entirely upon our author: Pliny the elder mentions these floating islands, (1. 2. 95.) and so does Seneca, who accounts for them upon philosophical principles. (Q. N. 1. 3. 25.) Varenius says, that in Honduras, a province in America, there is a lake in which are several and rushes, together with other plants, which the neighbouring marsh and the borders of the lake produce. These islands differ in their size and shape; but the edges of all of them are worn away by their frequent collision against the shore and each other. They have all of them the same height and motion, and their respective roots, which are formed like the keel of a boat, may be seen hanging down in the water, on which ever side you stand. Sometimes they move in a cluster, and seem to form one entire little continent; sometimes they are dispersed into different quarters by the winds; at other times, when it is calm, they float up and down separately. You may frequently see one of the larger islands sailing along with a lesser joined to it, like a ship with its long boat; or, perhaps, seeming to strive which shall out.swim the other: then again they all assemble in one station, and afterwards joining themselves to the shore, sometimes on one side, and sometimes on the other, cause the lake to appear considerably less, till at last uniting in the centre, they restore it to its usual size. The sheep which graze upon the borders of this lake, frequently go upon these islands to feed, without perceiving that they have left the shore, till they are alarmed by finding themselves surrounded with water; and in the same manner, when the wind drives them back again, they return, without being sensible that they are landed. This lake empties itself into a river, which, after running a little way, sinks under ground; and if any thing is thrown in, brings it up again where the stream emerges. I have given you this account, because I imagined it would not be nor less agreeable to you than it was to me; as I know you take the same pleasure as myself, in contemplating the works of nature. Farewell. less new, Baia and the Lucrine Lake. I RETURNED in the morning to the coast of Bauli, where some ruins are shown as the tomb of Agrippina the younger, murdered near this place by order of her son. It is true that her slaves burnt little hills planted with shrubs, &c. tossed up and down by the winds. And he quotes Boethius, the Scots historian, who affirms, that, in a large Loch, called Lomond Lo h, in Scotland, there is a floating island, upon which cattle graze. See Varen. Geog. Vol. I. p. 413. her body and deposited the ashes on the road to Bauli; but these ruins bear a greater resemblance to a theatre, or hanging garden, than to a sepulchre. The place of her interment is not to be ascertained, for the sea must now cover a large portion of land which formerly contained spacious gardens, fish-ponds, and buildings: Hortensius, the contemporary and rival of Cicero, possessed a villa on this shore, for which the present confined spot could not possibly afford sufficient space. We next entereda bay, where the placid waters reflect the mutilated remnants of Baix, that center of pleasures, that elegant resort of the gay masters of the world. The hot springs and medicinal vapours that abound in its environs must very early have excited the attention of valetudinarians, as bathing was the constant solace of the Greeks while in health, and their remedy when diseased; but Baiæ does not seem to have attained a degree of celebrity superior to that of other baths, till the Roman commonwealth began to be in the wane. As soon as the plunder of a conquered world was transferred from works of public use and ornament to private luxury, the transcendent advan tages which Baiæ offered to Romau voluptuaries, flying from the capital in search of health and pleasure, were attended to with enthusiasm: the variety of its natural baths, the softness of its climate, and the beauties of its landscape, captivated the minds of opulent nobles, whose passion for bathing knew no bounds: abundance of linen and disuse of ointments render the practice less necessary in modern life; but the ancients performed no exercise, engaged in no study, without previous ablutions, which at Rome required an enormous expence in aqueducts, stoves, attendants: a place, therefore, where waters naturally heated to every degree of warmth bubbled spontaneously out of the ground, in the pleasantest of all situations, was such a treasure as could not be overlooked. Baie was this place in the highest perfection; its easy communication with Rome was also a point of great weight. Hither at first retired for a temporary relaxation the mighty rulers of the empire, to string anew their nerves and revive their spirits, fatigued with bloody campaigns and civil contests. Their habitations were small and modest, but soon increasing luxury added palace to palace with such expedition and sumptuosity, that ground was wanting for the vast demand; enterprising architects, supported by infinite wealth, carried their foundations into the sea, and drove that element back from its ancient |