Chap. III. 
cover’d on one Side with mofl: curious ancient Pillars of 
Baffo relievo^ fo naturally difpofed, as if they had been 
made for thofe Places where you fee them. All the 
Apartments are fill’d with admirable Statues and PiSfures^ 
among the firft, the Gladiator made by Agafias Son of 
Dojltheus the Ephefian, as the Greek Inscription on the 
Bafe exprefles it, a Copy whereof in Brafs flood at the 
End of the Canal in St. Jameses Park in London, (fince 
removed to Hampton Court) is an excellent Piece, as 
well as the Juno of Porphyry ; Romulush Wolf of the 
fineft Egyptian Marble ; the Bulls of Hannibal^ Seneca^ 
and Pertinax ; the Hermaphrodite ; the old Silenus, with 
Bacchus in his Arms ; the David throwing a Stone out 
of his Sling at Goliath, Mneas carrying his Father, and 
the Transfiguration of Daphne, three modern Pieces of 
Bernini, yet deferve to be rank’d among the beft of 
the former Ages. Among the Pidlures, which are 
numberlefs here, the St. Anthony by Caracchio, and the 
dead Chrilf by Raphael, are preferr’d before all the 
reft. In fhort, the Villa Borghefe is a moft delicious 
Seat, and if it wants fomething of that Royal Magni- 
ficence, which gives a Luftre to fome Palaces, its fweet 
and natural Beauties feem to make an ample Amends 
for it : Befides that, for Statues and Sculptures the Seat 
of a Roman Gentleman may challenge the Precedency 
before all the other Palaces in the World. In the 
Garden, the Gardener ftiew’d us a double white Hya- 
cinth, the Root of which, he told us, coft five hundred 
Crowns the Year before ; a Thing not much furprizing 
to me, when I had known the Fondnefs (to fpeak no 
worfe) of fome People to proceed to that Extrava- 
gancy in Flowers, as to give four or five hundred Pif* 
toles for a Tulip-root in Flanders. 
The Villa hudovifia, though much out of Order other- 
wife from the Poverty of the Prince of Piombino its Ma- 
iler, yet is very remarkable for a vaft Number of Statues, 
and thole for the moft Part very ancient and valuable. 
The Faujiina embracing a Gladiator, her Lover ; the 
two Gladiators, one a dying Mirmillo, and the other 
repofing himfelf after the Engagement. The Statues 
of Bacchus, Mercury, and Concord are all moft curious 
Pieces : The choiceft Pidlures and richeft Furfiiture are 
removed from hence to other Places, the only Thing 
of Value remaining there, being the Bedftead, which 
(they fay) coft twenty thoufand Piftoles, but was much 
out of Order. In the fame Chamber they fhew’d us 
Ibme Bones, which, they would make us believe, were 
the Skeleton of a petrified Man y bur, upon a ftridt 
Search, I found thefe Bones not petrified, but cover’d 
only with a ftony Cruft ; not that I believe it impoffible 
for Bones to be liable to Petrifadion as well as other 
Things, having in my Travels had the Opportunity of 
feeing great Variety of petrified Fruits, Flowers, Trees, 
Wood, Plants, Fifties, broad Pieces of Flelh, and Ani- 
mals of all Sorts : Paraus fpeaks of a whole Child 
petrefied in the Mother’s Womb ; and Kircher relates 
the fame of the Town of Biedoblo in Afric, that it 
was petrified in one Night, with Men, Beafts, Trees, 
and every Thing that was in it. 
The Filla Chigi is famous for its curious little Water- 
fpouts, and the Cabinet of Curiofities, in which the 
Adrian of oriental Jafpar ejfcels the reft, and is really 
invaluable. The curious Walks of the Villa Montalto 
or Savelli, are not inferior to any of Rome for va- 
luable Statues and Pidures ; among the firft, the Ger- 
manicus, the Pefcennius Niger, the Scipio, the Goddefs 
Nania, the Adonis, and the Gladiator, are moft excel- 
lent Pieces of Antiquity ; and among the Pidures, the 
dead Christ by Raphal, the St. Francis by Caracchio, the 
Virgin and the Bacchus by Guido, and the St. John by 
Pomarancio. I obferved here an unufual Figure of 
Abraham*^ Sacrifice, by I'Efpagnolet, who, inftead of a 
Cymetar, or fhort two-handed Sword, as Abraham is 
commonly painted with, has, more agreeable to Truth, 
given him a plain facrificing Knife, to cut his Son’s 
Throat. 
The Gardens of the Villa Pamphilia would, for their 
Exadnefs and orderly Difpofition, challenge the Pre- 
ference before many others, were they kept in better 
Repair, the Houfe being adorn’d on the Outfide with 
567 
excellent Bajfo relievo, like that of the 'Filla Borghefe^ 
and is as well furnifti’d within, but that the beft Sta- 
tues are much diforder’d by an odd Accident ; for the 
Prince Pamphilia being very young, and much bigotted 
to the Jefuits, thefe holy Fathers, under a Pretext of 
Devotion, prevail’d upon him fo far, as to have all his 
Marble Statues, Men, Women, and Children, quite 
laid over with Plaifter-work in divers Parts of their 
Bodies, except a little Bacchus, who had the good For- 
tune to efcape their ill-placed Zeal 5 and a poor Venus^ 
the Mafterpiece of Caracchio, but her Beauties hid by 
Smutt from Head to Foot. After fomeTi me, however the 
Prince, being got out of the Hands of thefe pretended 
Zealots, order’d the nafty Clay or Plaifter to be taken 
off^ again, which was done accordingly, but he found, 
to his no fmall Regret, that the clumfy Plaifterers had 
mangled feveral Parts of the Statues to make their Clay 
flick the better. 
The Vigne Madame, a Country- feat belonging to the 
Duke of Parma, is neither Ipacious nor magnificent, 
but very regular and pleafantly feated, being the Defign 
of Julius Romanus : On one Side it has a moft delight- 
ful Profpedt of Rome, with many Gardens and adjacent 
Seats*, and on the other, a moft beautiful Landskip 
of little well-cultivated Hills. Over againft it you fee 
the Fyber flow through the pleafant Meadows and Fields, 
and at a Diftance the fnowy Tops of the Apennines ri- 
fing up among the Clouds j behind it is a Wood 
of tall Trees, divided into cool and lhady Walks ; the 
Gardens rife by Degrees into Terrafs Walks, and are 
well adorn’d with Statues and Fountains. Having fuf- 
ficiently tired your Patience with the Defeription of 
Statues and Pidiures, I will fay nothing of the Houfes 
of Medicis, Matthcei, Lanti, Cafarini, JuJtiniani, and 
many others. 
3. I will at prefent begin with anfwering your Quef- 
tlons concerning the 23'^fr. As on one Hand it^es 
its chief Reputation to that famous City that was built 
upon its Banks, fo on the other Hand, it has been re- 
prefented by fome with too much Contempt, its Breadth 
being by a general Computation at Rome about 
three hundred Feet, as may be feen by the Bridges of 
St. Angelo and of Sixtus j the firft is three hundred 
and thirty, and the laft three hundred Foot long 5 be-' 
fides that, it has a rapid Current, and a confiderable 
Depth. What fome Antiquaries would maintain, that 
it was unlawful to ereft Houfes upon the Banks of the 
Tyber, may be fufficiently refuted out of Claudian and 
other Authors. Suetonius fays, that Augujlus order’d it 
to be clean’d, and enlarged its Chanel, to render the 
Paffage eafier to the Current ; whofe Example has been 
follow’d by feveral other Princes, to prevent its Inun- 
dations, but without any remarkable Succefs ; for the 
South-Eaft Wind off the Mediterranean (here call’d the 
Sea Wind) fometimes blows with fuch Violence, that it 
flops the Waters of the Fyber at its Outlet, which if 
it happens at a Time when (either by continual Rains, 
or the Melting of the Snow in the Apennines) the Tor- 
rents of the leffer Rivers that join with the Tyher are 
fwoln, this Concatenation of Accidents produces thofe 
Inundations, which are look’d upon as the Scourge of 
Rome, as the fulphureous Eruptions of Mount Vefuvius 
are the Scourge of Naples ; and of thefe, one of the 
moft fatal happen’d under Clement Ylll. in December 
1698. 
The Waters of the Tyber always muddy and 
yellowifh, but if they are fet by for a Night to fettle, 
they will become clear and limpid, and are then ac- 
counted very good 5 notwithftanding which, the Ro^ 
mans have been anciently, and ftill are, at a vaft Charge 
to convey other Waters to Rome, through the Moun- 
tains, by the Means of coftly Aqueduds. The Aqua 
Felice coft Pope Sixtus V. near four hundred thoufand 
Crowns to bring them twenty Miles to Rome ; and as 
the Waters of the Fountain of Montorio were carried at 
a greater Diftance by Pope Paul the Fifth, 16125 fo it 
is probable they coft a great deal more Money in the 
Materials neceffary for their Carriage. 
On the High Altar of the Church of the Francifeans 
at Montorio, is to be feen that moft excellent Piece of 
the 
Create d Part 0/ I t a l V. 
