i8Ss LETTERS FROM FLORENCE I0 5 



prehistoric archaeology, and I have been greatly interested in 

 acquainting myself with the general results of their work. 



We moved here last Friday, and only regret that the reports 

 of the weather prevented us from coming sooner. More than 

 iooo ft. above the sea, in the midst of a beautiful hill country, 

 and with the clearest and purest air we have met with in Italy, 

 Siena is perfectly charming. The window is wide open and I 

 look out upon a vast panorama, something like that of the 

 Surrey hills, only on a larger scale — " Raw Siena," " Burnt 

 Siena," in the foreground, where the colour of the soil is not 

 hidden by the sage green olive foliage, purple mountains in the 

 distance. 



The old town itself is a marvel of picturesque crookedness, 

 and the cathedral a marvel. M. and I have been devoting our- 

 selves this morning to St. Catarina and Sodoma's pictures. 



I am reading a very interesting life of her by Capecelatro, 

 and, if my liver continues out of order, may yet turn Dominican. 



However, the place seems to be doing me good, and I may 

 yet, like another person, decline to be a monk. 



To his Daughter, Mrs. Roller 



March 8. 

 The great merit of Rome is that you have never seen the end 

 of it. M. and I have not worked very hard at our galleries and 

 churches, but I have got so far as a commencing dislike for the 

 fine arts generally. Perhaps after a week or two I shall take to 

 science out of sheer weariness. 



Hotel de Milano, Florence, March 12, 1885. 



My dear Foster — My wife and I send you our hearty good 

 wishes (antedated by four days). I am not sure we ought not 

 to offer our best thanks to your mother for providing us with 

 as staunch a friend as people ever were blessed with. It is 

 possible that she did not consider that point nine and forty 

 years ago ; but we are just as grateful as if she had gone through 

 it all on our own account. 



We start on our way homeward to-morrow or next day, by 

 Bologna to Venice, and then to England by the way we came — 

 taking it easy. The Brenner is a long way round and I hear 

 very cold. I think we may stay a few days at Lugano, which I 

 liked very much when there before. Florence is very charming, 

 but there is not much to be said for the climate. My wife has 

 been bothered with sore throat, to which she is especially liable, 



