ens are delightfully laid out;
there is a shrubbery of evergreens with a cascade, and
a summer-house paved with tiles--two or three rooms in
it, and a hot and cold bath. It is astonishing how they
cherish the memory of 'Lord Bentinck.'[7a] I heard of him in
various parts of the town, particularly here, as he
lived in the house when first he came to Genoa. The
Gardens command a fine view of the city, the sea, and
the mountains. The saloon in the Serra is only a very
splendid room, glittering with glass, and gold, and
lapis lazuli; by no means deserves to be called, as it
is by Forsyth, the finest saloon in Europe. It is not
very large, and not much more gilt than Crockford's
drawing-room, but looks cleaner, though it has been
done these seventy years or more.

[7a] [Lord William Bentinck was Mr. Greville's uncle.]

[Page Head: SESTRI AND PISA]

Florence, March 21st, 1830 {p.296}

Arrived here at seven o'clock. Left Genoa on the 19th (having
previously gone to see the Scoghetti Gardens and the Serra
Palace), and went to Sestri to pass that evening and the next
morning with William Ponsonby, who was staying there. The road
from Genoa to Chiavari is one continual course of magnificent
scenery, winding along the side of the mountains and hanging over
the sea, the mountains studded with villages, villas, and
cottages which appear like white specks at a distance, till on
near approach they swell into life and activity. The villas are
generally painted as at Genoa; the orange trees were in full
bloom, and the gardens often slope down to the very margin of the
sea. Every turn in the road and each fresh ascent supplies a new
prospect, and the parting view of Genoa, with the ocean before
and the Apennines behind, cannot be imagined by those who have
not seen it. 'Si quod vere natura nobis dedit spectaculum in hac
tellure vere gratum et philosopho dignum, id semel, mihi
contigisse arbitror, cum ex celsissima rupe speculabundus ad oram
maris mediterranei, hinc aequor caeruleum, illinc tractus Alpinos
prospexi, nihil quidem magis dispar aut dissimile nec in suo
genere magis egregium et singulare.'[8]

[8] Burnet's 'Theory of the Earth.'

Chiavari and Sestri are both beautiful, especially the latter, in
a little bay with a jutting promontory, a rocky hill covered with
evergr