78 Notes on a Tour in France, Italy, and Elba. 



bus, the greatest navigator — perhaps I ought to say, the greatest 

 man, the world has yet produced. I searched two hours for his 

 house, but searched in vain. The spot, one told me, where he first 

 saw the light, is on a small stream a mile or two distant from the city. 



At the close of the third of June we moved off for Leghorn, 

 which contains little to attract the attention of a man whose object 

 in going abroad is not commercial. I therefore took a trip of four- 

 teen miles to Pisa, a city built soon after the overthrow of Troy ; 

 and was nobly rewarded by a view of the Campanile, or Leaning 

 Tower, the Duomo, or church in the form of a Latin cross ; the 

 Baptistery, or the edifice in which baptisms are performed, and the 

 Campo Santo, or ancient burial ground. They fill the bosom of the 

 gazer with astonishment ; the sight of each of them is worth a jour- 

 ney from Moscow. The Leaning Tower"! most admired ; it is of 

 a circular form, one hundred and ninety feet in height, consisting of 

 eight stories, and ornamented with two hundred and seven granite 

 and marble columns. I mounted, by an easy, winding staircase to 

 the eighth story, where I had a commanding prospect of Pisa, of a 

 broad zone of land encompassing it, and of many conspicuous objects 

 far distant, among which was Leghorn. It is believed that the tower 

 was originally perpendicular, and that its present declining position 

 was occasioned by an earthquake, or by some other physical phenom- 

 enon. You will not allow me to speak of the abode of the illustrious 

 dead, and tell you that it is " a vast quadrangle, surrounded by sixty 

 light and elegant Gothic arches, composed of white marble, and 

 paved wdth the same substance ;" that it contains sarcophagi innu- 

 merable, of Parian and Luni marble, ancient vases and rich frescoes, 

 cinerary urns of alabaster, and paintings of enormous size. I must 

 leave the magnificence of the interior of the Duomo — its high altar, 

 ornamented with lapis lazuli, verd antique, bronze gilt, &c. — its por- 

 phyry columns, its group of angels, all must be left for you to ima- 

 gine. 



The next pause the Phocion made, was at the little filthy city of 

 Civita Vecchia, whose harbor was built by Trajan, who had a villa in 

 its vicinity. Here she remained eight days, for the purpose of giv- 

 ing her passengers an opportunity to visit the " Eternal City." This 

 period being expired, she brought me to Naples, or NapoJi in Ital- 

 ian, which stands at the extremity of my voyage. I remained in 

 that city of business and noise eight days, examining its merveilles, 

 and those of the region around it ; in treading the narrow streets of 



