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in going the next six miles. At the close of day, after a laborious 

 and dangerous passage through abrupt ravines, and along the sides 

 of steep hills, our guide announced that we were in sight of the 

 second register, where it was proposed that we should pass the night. 

 On arriving we found it a most miserable place, inhabited by five or 

 six soldiers under the command of a serjeant. This good man gave 

 us a hearty welcome, and with the assistance of his comrades, cooked 

 us a supper of fowls, and regaled us with whatever else their scanty 

 store afforded. We were not without music to our repast, for the 

 house is built on the edge of a roaring torrent, which, bursting through 

 a ravine, has washed away every thing except some huge masses 

 of rock. A bit of ground, about ten yards square, is all the garden 

 these poor people have, and even this is much neglected, for the 

 guards here are so often changed, that no one thinks of adding to 

 the comforts and conveniences of an abode, which others are to 

 enjoy. 



At day-break, we found that our mules had strayed into a wood 

 adjoining, but as the road was stopped, we were under no apprehen- 

 sion of losing them, for the thickets on each side were impervious. 

 This occurrence gave me an opportunity of seeing more of these 

 remote regions, and certainly the imagination of Salvator Rosa him- 

 self never pictured so rude a solitude. On one side rose the great 

 barrier of mountains, which we had yet to cross, covered to their 

 summits with trees and underwood, without the smallest trace of 

 cultivation ; on the other lay the broken country, between this ridge 

 and the plain, presenting the same wild features of sylvan scenery. 

 The miserable hut, at which we lodged, partook of the savage cha- 

 racter of the neighbourhood, and seemed formed for the abode of 

 men cutoff from all intercourse with their fellows. On our return we 

 were provided with a breakfast of coffee and eggs ; as to milk, there 

 was no possibility of procuring any; a cow would have been considered 

 here as an incumbrance, nor would any one of the six idle soldiers 



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