256 
LETTERS FROM 
antiquity ; but the beautiful prospect around 
us prevented me from paying much atten¬ 
tion to its mouldering walls. The day was 
remarkably clear and bright, and our view 
extended far over the blue Mediterranean, 
and to the coast of Italy, while before us 
rose Mount Etna, the most beautiful of all 
the Sicilian antiquities; though I think it is 
not seen to so much advantage from this 
situation as from Catania. It is said that 
the theatre of Taormina is the largest in the 
world. Our companion, the ex-priest, in¬ 
formed us, that it was admirably well formed 
for conveying the sound of the speaker’s 
voice ; in proof of this, he descended to the 
lower part, and began an oration in Latin, 
not one word of which could we distinguish, 
but whether the fault lay in his bad enuncia¬ 
tion, or in the ruined and incomplete state 
of the building, we could not tell. The 
