changes and much disorder; this
rendered the roads dangerous for all desiring to enter or travel out of
Rome; and as he had come to the city by land, so he now resolved to
depart by sea, wherefore, proceeding to the port of Ostia, he there
embarked, and having reached Naples, added to the satisfaction which he
had previously felt at seeing Rome, that of finding himself in a city,
in his estimation, and in the opinion of all who have seen it, the
finest in Europe, or even in the whole world.

From Naples, Rodaja proceeded to Sicily, where he visited Palermo and
Messina; the first of these cities he admired for the advantages of its
position and its beauty, and the second for the convenience of its port;
while to the whole island he could not but offer the tribute of his
praise for that abundance which causes it to be justly denominated the
granary of all Italy.

Returning from Sicily to Naples and Rome, Rodaja thence proceeded to Our
Lady of Loretto, in whose Holy Temple he could see neither walls nor
partitions, since every part was covered with crutches, biers, shrouds,
chains, padlocks, fetters, and locks of hair; with arms, hands, legs, or
busts in wax, to say nothing of pictures and prints, all giving manifest
indication of the mercies and favours innumerable which hundreds of men
have received in that place from the hand of God, by the intercession of
his Divine Mother, whose sacred Image (there preserved) He has been
pleased to exalt and sanction by a vast number of miracles, which have
been performed in recompense of the devotion of her votaries; for by
them it is that the walls of her house have been adorned in the manner
described.[52]

[52] The _ex-votos_, or pictures and figures here described, are too
familiar to the visitor of Catholic churches to need any explanation.

Here Rodaja beheld that very chamber of the Virgin, wherein was
delivered the most stupendous embassy ever heard or witnessed by all the
heavens, all the angels, and all the archangels, or other inhabitants of
the everlasting abodes.

From this place our traveller proceeded to Ancona, where he embarked and
repaired to Venice, a city which, had Columbus never appeared in the
world, would certainly be still supposed to have no equal; but, by the
favour of heaven, and thanks to the great Fernando Cortez who conquered
Mexico, the magnificent Venice has now found a city that may be compared
to herself. The streets of these two renowned capit