leads to the Ponte del Abbadia, which is one of the most glorious scenes in this land of beauty. A gigantic bridge spans the river at a height of ninety-six feet, striding from one great orange-coloured cliff to another by a single mighty arch, while on the other side, close to the bridge, rises a most picturesque medieval castle with a tall square* tower. From bridge and rocks alike, hang stupendous masses of stalactites, often twenty feet in length, giving a most weird character to the scene, and formed by many centuries of dripping water, "charged with tartaric matter." The whole view is filled with colour; the smoke of the large fires which the guards at the castle burn to keep off the malaria adds to the effect, and the utter desolation of the surrounding country only renders it more impressive.

"The bridge is of different dates. It has three projecting piers of red tufo, much weather-worn, which are obviously of earlier construction than the neat and harder nenfro masonry which encases them. Both are in the same emplecton style, like the walls of Sutri, Nepi, and Fal

*Not round, as in the engraving in Dennis' book.

The return-facing

leri; and the nenfro portion is, in part, rusticated. of the arch, however, is of travertine, and may with certainty be referred to that people, as it possesses features in common with bridges of undoubted Roman origin-the Ponte d'Augusto at Narni, and the celebrated Pont du Gard. The aqueduct, also (which occupied the parapet of the bridge), I take to be Roman, simply because it passes over arches of that construction; for the skill of the Etruscans in hydraulics is so well attested, as to make it highly probable that to them were the Romans indebted for that description of structure. The tufo buttresses are very probably Etruscan, for they are evidently the piers of the original bridge. The nenfro and travertine portions are, in any case, of Roman times, whatever be the antiquity of the tufo piers."-Dennis.

Scarcely anything is known of the history of Volci, beyond the fact of the defeat and conquest of its people, together with those of Volsinii, in B. C. 280, by the Roman Consul Titus Coruncanius. The city, however, was not destroyed then, and continued to exist in imperial times, as is proved by inscriptions which have been found there, including even some early Christian epitaphs. Now, however, scarcely a trace of the ancient city remains, and only a few fragments of wall, of imperial date, stand here and there above-ground on the table-land which it once occupied upon the right bank of the Fiora, and which is still known as the "Pian di Voce."

Comparatively little also is now to be seen in the famous Necropolis of Volci, which occupied the summits of the cliffs on both sides of the Fiora about a mile below the Ponte del Abbadia, for though they are absolutely inexhaustible in the treasures they have afforded and continue to afford, the proprietors of the soil are so greedy of space, that a sepulchre is no sooner rifled of its contents, than it is filled up again. The tombs were first discovered by the earth falling in when some men were ploughing, in 1828. After that, Lucien Bonaparte, who had bought the Principality of Canino on

the advice of Pius VII., made considerable scavi, appropri ating the riches they afforded, and these excavations were afterwards continued by his family.

The points best worth visiting are on the left bank of the Fiora. Here is the great sepulchral mound of La Cucumella, 200 feet in diameter and above 40 feet high, once encircled

by a wall of masonry. It was opened in 1829, but has been closed again. Two towers, one round and the other square, have been disclosed in the upper part of the mound, and it is supposed that there may have been once five of these towers on cones, as in the tomb of Aruns at Albano. Beneath the towers were found two chambers approached by long passages, guarded by the sphinxes which are now at Musignano.

Very near this is a walled tumulus called La Rotonda; and beyond it, near the Fiora, another smaller mound, called La Cucumelletta, which was opened in 1832. Near these an enormous tomb was discovered in 1857, consisting of a principal chamber with a pyramidal roof, surrounded by a series of smaller crypts, and approached by a passage 100 feet long. The principal tomb is surrounded by paintings: -Achilles sacrificing to the Manes of Patroclus: Ajax and Cassandra at the altar of Minerva: Masarna releasing Cæles Vibenna from his bonds, and other subjects, in good preservation. A tomb, opened in 1840, and reclosed, called the "Grotta d' Iside," was very curious, as containing painted ostrich-eggs, vases, and ointment pots decorated with figures of Isis, all evidently of Egyptian origin, as well as the effigies of the two ladies in whose honour it was constructed, one a miniature full-length marble figure, the other a bronze bust. On the opposite side of the Fiora, a tumulus, opened by

Campanari in 1835, contained the skeleton of a warrior, with helm on his head, ring on his finger, and a confused mass of broken and rusted weapons at his feet. The "Grotta del Sole e della Luna," opened in 1830, consists of eight chambers, with walls and ceilings carved in regular patterns.

Beyond that part of the Necropolis known as La Polledrara, the little river Timone flows under a natural arch called the Ponte Sodo, a miniature of that at Veii.

"On the painted pottery, found at Volci, it were needless to expatiate. Every museum in Europe proclaims its beauty, and, through it, the name of Volci, never much noised in classic times, and well-nigh forgotten for two thousand years, has become immortal, and acquired a wider renown than it ever possessed during the period of the cities' existence. Volci has none of the tall black ware with figures in relief, which is peculiar to Chiusi and its neighbourhood; but of painted vases there is every variety-from the earliest, quaintest efforts, through every grade in excellence, to the highest triumphs of Hellenic ceramographic art. Of the early, so-called Doric, pottery, little is found at Volci; nor of the Perfect style, which is predominant at Nola, is there so great an abundance here; the great mass of Volcian vases being of the Attic style-of that severe and archaic design, which is always connected with black figures on a yellow ground. The best vases of Volci, in the chaste simplicity of their style, closely resemble those of Nola and Sicily; yet there are characteristic shades of difference, in form and design, which can be detected by a practised eye. On this site, more than on any in Etruria, have been found those singular vases painted with eyes, so common also in Sicily, the meaning of which continues to perplex antiquaries.

Although thousands on thousands of painted vases have been redeemed from oblivion, this cemetery still yields a richer harvest than any other in Etruria. No site has been so well worked by the excavatornone has so well repaid him; yet it seems far from exhausted. Nor is it rich in vases alone. Bronzes of various descriptions, mirrors with beautiful designs, vessels, tripods, candelabra, weapons—are proportionally abundant, and maintain the same relative excellence to the pottery. That exquisite cista, or casket, now in the Gregorian Museum, and which yields not in beauty to any one of those very rare relics of ancient taste and genius, was found at Volci. No site yields more superb and

delicate articles in gold and jewellery-as the Cabinets of the Vatican and of Cavaliere Campana (now in the Louvre) can testify; none more numerous relics in bone-spoons, needles, dice, to wit—or more beautiful specimens of variegated glass.”—Dennis.

A visit to Volci finds its natural sequel at the Palace of Musignano, five miles distant, the property of Prince Torlonia, who bought it in 1854 from the Roman Bonapartes, with whom it was a favourite residence. It is an ordinary villa built on the site of the Franciscan Abbey ("Abbadia") which gave a name to the bridge at Volci. The gate and court-yard are adorned with griffins and lions from La Cucumella, but the collections of antiquities within, formed by Lucien Bonaparte and his widow, has been long since dispersed. The gardens and shrubberies, which are of great extent, are now overgrown and neglected. There is a lake with an island planted with willows from the grave at S. Helena.

The little town of Canino, which gives a princely title to the descendants of Lucien Bonaparte, is about two miles from the villa, at the foot of the hill called Monte di Canino. In the church is a monument by Pampaloni to Prince Lucien, who died at Viterbo and is buried here, with his second wife. The Monte de Canino is 1380 feet in height, and, in its lonely position and lime-stone formation, greatly resembles Soracte. It is possible to proceed in a carriage from Canino to Toscanella, about nine miles distant, but as it is difficult to sleep there, and impossible to pass the night in the wretched locanda of Canino, it will be better to return to the inn at Civita Vecchia, or to a lodging at Corneto, and make the excursion from the latter place.