( "7 ) 
prigin of thefe monuments of antiquity. He 
could only learn, that this part of the coun-? 
try had been uncultivated and abandoned 
during their memory ; that, about ten years 
before, the farmer whofe habitation he had 
noticed, eftablifhed himfelf there 3 and that 
having dug in many places, and fearched 
among the ruins which lay round him, he 
had found treafures fufficient to enable him 
to purchafe the whole. 
" At the painter's return to Naples, he 
informed his matter of thofe particulars, 
whofe curiofity was fo greatly excited by 
the defcriptjon, that he took a journey to 
the place, and made drawings of the princir 
pal views. Thefe were fhewn to the King 
of Naples, who ordered the ruins to be 
cleared, and Pceftum arofe from the obfcu- 
rity in which it had remained for upwards 
of feven hundred years, as little known to 
the neighbouring inhabitants as to travel- 
lers," Farewel, 
L E T- 
