the sharp curves we caught
the full beauty of the great plains below, discovering every moment some
new and lovely prospect over the Campagna; Rome lying far away in the
distance, and the mountains towering above our heads. The Romans were
right in seeking this beautiful retreat as their summer abode. Yes, this
is Tivoli--the ancient Tibur, the favourite resort of Scipio, AEmilianus,
Marius, Maecenas, and other great and eminent men. Augustus and Horace
came here to visit Maecenas; and here, too, Queen Zenobia spent a
pleasant banishment.

At length we came to the end of our journey, and entered the Tivoli
station, where there were plenty of carriages and guides awaiting us. We
lingered at one gap in the mountains, through which there was a most
magnificent view of the country around. Just below we saw some old ruins
which had evidently been turned into a factory of some kind--the
property, I believe, of the Napoleon family. Then we went to an hotel,
high up on the brow of the cliff, on the ruined site of the ancient
Sibyl's Temple. There are still some fine columns standing, under which
we sat for a time to admire the lovely and romantic scenery, the
beautiful grottoes in the abysses and glens below, in the valley of the
Anio. Only ten of the eighteen Corinthian pillars of this temple now
remain. Soane has imitated this architectural relic at the Moorgate
Street corner of the Bank of England. Lord Bristol would have brought
the original to London had he been allowed to remove it.

Around on the heights, one is told, "There was Maecenas' villa, there
Sallust's, and there Horace's," but I believe the truth is doubtful,
though the positions are such as might have been chosen for their
commanding beauty.

Nearly opposite the Temple of the Sibyl, and across this romantic chasm,
the river Anio tumbles over the cliffs in a magnificent volume of water,
throwing out beautiful rainbows across the glen by its radiated vapour:

"The green steep whence Anio leaps
In floods of snow-white foam."

Lower down there is another smaller stream, and the two form tumultuous
rapids among the rocks below, ultimately finding their way through a
vast cavern-like opening to the plains of the Campagna, and probably at
last find the Tiber. There is a zigzag pathway leading down to the deep
valley, and we stood so close to the basin into which the water fell
that we were covered with the spray and almost deafened by the roar. All
ar