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LETTERS FROM 
but our conductor assured us, that the Venus 
was considered to be equal in beauty to the 
Venus di Medici. In the building which 
contains the museum, there is also a library. 
The harbour of Syracuse is a very fine 
sheet of water, about two miles in length, and 
one in width. On the western side it is 
bordered by a low flat country, at some sea¬ 
sons swampy and unhealthy, and the view in 
that direction is bounded by a range of 
barren, rocky hills. As the entrance is very 
narrow, this must be a safe harbour at all 
times, but I do not know whether there be 
sufficient depth of water for large ships. 
Having seen enough of the beauties of 
modern Syracuse, we now accepted the 
services of a guide, and were conducted 
out of the town, passing over the four 
drawbridges which connect the island 
with the main land. We first inspected 
