trious family, of which I am the sole
representative."

Baedeker says, "The beauty of its situation, and the interesting
reminiscence of its ancient magnificence, render a visit to Genoa very
attractive, especially to the traveller who is visiting Italy for the
first time.... The Renaissance palaces are objects of extreme interest,
surpassing in number and magnificence those of any other city in Italy.
Many of the smaller churches are of very ancient origin, though usually
altered in the Gothic period."

The many splendid palaces of the old nobility, with all their art
treasures and galleries of fine paintings by the great masters, have
been left to the city as a free gift, with the stipulation of their
being open to visitors. Rubens and Vandyke both resided here, and there
are a number of their greatest works to be seen. As an example of the
wealth of the nobles even at the present day, and their patriotic pride
in their city, the Duke of Galliera, who died in 1876, presented twenty
million francs for the improvement of the harbour, on condition that the
Government would advance the remainder of the sum required, and the work
is now in progress.

This semicircular harbour is crowded with shipping, while all around are
large warehouses, and stretching along the edge is a superb promenade of
white marble on raised arches. The Gulf of Genoa is very stormy, and
there are but few fish to be found in it.

The streets are paved with stone which tires one to walk on. Many of
them are dark and crooked, particularly in the interior of the town and
near the sea, and so steep and narrow that in some of them a carriage
cannot pass through. Most people will remember Dickens' amusing remarks
on this subject in his "Pictures of Italy."

Some of the streets, however, are very fine. The Via Roma stretches up
the hill, and descends in an almost unbroken line to the valleys beneath
the mountains, and is remarkably clean and pleasant. On either side are
houses of stone, with overhanging roofs. In the Via Carlo Felice is the
Via Carlo Felice Theatre, the third largest in Italy. The Via Garibaldi
has no less than eighteen splendid marble palaces in succession, while
the fine streets, Nuovissima, Balbi, and Carlo Alberto, are also lined
with these grand old palaces of the Genoese nobility. Many of them
contain rare and magnificent works of art, and their furniture and
decorations are rich and beautiful in the extreme. They are usually on