46 Gbe (Sarfcen 



or retains the heat from underneath, according 

 as you require. Beyond this lie a bedroom and 

 ante-room, which enjoy the sun, though 

 obliquely indeed, from the time it rises till the 

 afternoon. When I retire to this garden sum- 

 mer-house, I fancy myself a hundred miles 

 away from my villa, and take especial pleasure 

 in it at the feast of the Saturnalia, when, by the 

 license of that festive season, every other part 

 of my house resounds with my servants' mirth ; 

 thus I neither interrupt their amusement nor 

 they my studies. Amongst the pleasures and 

 conveniences of this situation there is one 

 drawback, and that is, the want of running 

 water ; but then there are wells about the place, 

 or rather springs, for they lie close to the sur- 

 face. And, altogether, the quality of this coast 

 is remarkable ; for dig where you may, you 

 meet, upon the first turning up of the ground, 

 with a spring of water, quite pure, not in the 

 least salt, although so near the sea. The 

 neighboring woods supply us with all the fuel we 

 require, the other necessaries Ostia furnishes. 

 Indeed, to a moderate man, even the village 

 (between which and my house there is only one 

 villa) would supply all ordinary requirements. 

 It has three public baths, which are a great 

 convenience if it happen that friends come in 

 unexpectedly, or make too short a stay to allow 



