232 Mary Somerville. ' 



[In spring we went to Naples for a few weeks, and 

 returned to Rome by the San Germano road, now so 

 familiar to travellers, but then hardly ever frequented, as 

 it was extremely unsafe on account of the brigands. We 

 met with no adventures, although we often reached our 

 night quarters long after sunset, for my mother sketched 

 a great deal on the road. We travelled by vetturino and 

 continued this delightful journey to Como. My mother 

 was a perfect travelling companion, always cheerful and 

 contented and interested in all she saw. I leave her to 

 tell of our pleasant residence at Bellaggio in her own 

 words : 



"We remained only a short time at Florence, and 

 then went for a month to Bellaggio, on the Lake of 

 Como, at that time the most lonely village imaginable. 

 We had neither letters, newspapers, nor any books, 

 except the Bible, yet we liked it exceedingly. I 

 did nothing but paint in the mornings, and Somer- 

 ville sat by me. My daughters wandered about, 

 and in the evening we went in a boat on the lake. 

 Sometimes we made longer excursions. One day we 

 went early to Menaggio, at the upper end of the 

 lake. The day had been beautiful, but while at 

 dinner we were startled by a loud peal of thunder. 

 The boatmen desired us to embark without delay, 

 as a storm was rising behind the mountains ; 

 it soon blew a gale, and the lake was a sheet 



