VISIT TO ST. PETER'S AT ROME. 439 



motley and amusing assemblage is generally to be found in the Via 

 de Condotti. One only caution I will give before proceeding further, 

 which is that though the masters of the numerous and tempting shops 

 are pretty honest in their way, yet an Englishman who enters for the 

 sake of purchasing, may safely offer a trifle less than he is asked for 

 any article. It goes very much against our English feelings to be 

 obliged to bargain and haggle in this paltry manner, but the Italians 

 in general have the habit of doing so ; and whoever neglects to 

 follow their example, will frequently pay for his purchases double 

 their just value. 



In crossing the Corso we will just give one glance to the right, to 

 catch a view of the distant obelisk which stands in the Piazza del 

 Populo, and another to the left, for the sake of the long perspective of 

 houses and palaces which stretch in that direction, and then pass on 

 to the Via della Fontanella. We are now advancing into the shabbier 

 and more densely inhabited parts of Rome, the Tiber is immediately 

 on our right, though it is concealed from the view by the crowded 

 houses; still, every now and then we arrive suddenly at some object 

 of architectural splendour. That large building, for instance, which 

 we have just passed, and which extends far away to the right, is the 

 Borghese palace. The reputation of its picture gallery would tempt 

 us to enter, but we must proceed, and in proceeding, the further we 

 advance the narrower, the dirtier, and the worse paved are the 

 streets. At last we arrive at a point where a branch of the thorough- 

 fare suddenly reverts to the left; this is the Via dell' Orso, or Bear- 

 street, which leads to the Pantheon, the Piazza Navona (formerly the 

 circus Agonalis), and to the site of the Campus Martins, which is 

 now the most crowded part of modern Rome. However, we must 

 leave all these attractions and the path which conducts to them, 

 simply observing that the corner house, with its odd-looking archway 

 and rude frescos of bears painted on its front, is the residence of a 

 remarkable personage, and is in some sense, the centre of Europe. 

 For Signor Balzani, one of the principal vetturini in Italy, here 

 holds his court, and if you desire to travel to any part of the conti- 

 nent economically and by easy stages, you cannot do better than 

 apply to him : he will give you strong horses, an easy carriage, and 

 a civil driver. 



Of the Italian vetturini, as the Italians themselves confess, " ce ne 

 sono buoni, e ce ne sono mali," " there are good, and there are bad," 

 but in general they are an' honest, open-hearted, enterprising set of 

 men. Without ever having even seen a map, a vetturino has a tole- 

 rably correct knowledge of all the principal routes and cities of 

 Europe ; and without the assistance of books, he acquires some pro- 

 ficiency in several languages. He rises early, goes to bed late, and 

 is exposed indifferently to storm and sunshine. A few days in the 

 year he devotes to the society of his wife and children, but he leaves 

 them abruptly to travel somewhere, he cares not in what direction. 

 His face is well known in every capital, his acquaintances are num- 

 berless ; but as his visits are transient, so is his intercourse with them 

 brief, for his salute is"Addio! caro," his greeting is " good bye!" 

 Such is the vetturino. 



