A tea. 371 



Pisa. In the house of a Dr. Feroce I had a very large and 

 pleasant lodging, for which I had to pay only five hundred 

 lires for three months. Everything was cheap in proportion. 

 From a restaurant close by, kept by the brother of our land- 

 lord, we received two most excellent and rich meals, with wine 

 at discretion, for three lires each a day. 



Though I was incognito there, a priest, who gave me lessons 

 in Italian, had discovered who I was. • In consequence of this 

 I became acquainted with many persons belonging to the 

 society of Pisa, as Countess Pandulfo, Countess Samiviatelli, 

 and other very agreeable ladies and gentlemen, with whom I 

 passed a pleasant time. I made frequent excursions in the 

 neighbourhood, mostly on horseback, and liked especially to 

 ride through a deer park or the king's, where deer and boars 

 were quite tame, browsing quietly when we passed, or looking 

 at us fearlessly. 



Though I might say many things about Pisa and other places 

 in Italy, I have to consider that this is much-trodden ground, 

 and moreover, that my book has become more bulky already 

 than I intended. I shall thereiore limit myself to a very rapid 

 sketch, in order not to tire the reader. 



The great event oi the day was at that period the eruption 

 o. Vesuvius, and I wanted to see it. I went therefore to 

 Naples, where the people were in great fear, for the ashes 

 were tailing over the city, and a fate like that of Herculaneum 

 and Pompeii was thought possible by many. When the 

 eruptions and the flow of lava had ceased, everybody, 

 especially strangers, wanted to see the effects of the eruption 

 as near as possible ; and* I went also with Miss Runkel and 

 Jimmy, joining a large company. The guides would not permit 

 us to go beyond a certain place, saying that a further advance 

 was extremely dangerous. I am somewhat incredulous in 

 respect to such assurances and curious to ascertair. vi^<:;sr truth. 

 I therefore prevailed on two guides to go with us bt/0i5d the 

 saiety-line. Finding, however, soon, that the thing was indeed 

 somewhat venturesome, I insisted on Miss Runkel staying 

 behind with Jimmy. at a certain place which I would pass on 

 my return. 



The more we advanced the more interesting became om 

 excursion, though we were compelled to jump over rather wide 

 chasms, where one wrong step would have carried lis to 



