mense multitude which filled the whole street. We had scarcely
proceeded a third of the distance down when we suddenly saw all before us
uncovered and upon their knees. We alone formed an exception, and we
continued our course with various hints from those around us to stop and
kneel, which we answered by talking English to each other in a louder
tone, and so passed for unchristian _forestieri_, and escaped unmolested,
especially as the soldiers were all at the head of the street.

"The effect, however, was exceedingly grand of such a multitude upon
their knees, and, could I have divested myself of the thought of the
compulsory measures which produced it and the object to which they knelt,
the picture of the Virgin, I should have felt the solemnity of a scene
which seemed in the outward act to indicate such a universal reverence
for Him who alone rightfully claims the homage and devotion of the
heart."

Whether this curious custom still persists in Genzano I know not;
Baedeker is silent on the subject.

It was nearly dark before they started on the drive back to Rome, and
quite dark after they had gone a short distance.

"We passed the tombs of the Horatii and Curiatii, which looked much
grander in the light of the torches than in the day, and, driving hastily
through Albano, came upon the Campagna once more. It was still more like
a desert in the night than in the day, for it was an interminable ocean,
and the masses of ruins, coming darker than the rest, seemed like
deserted wrecks upon its bosom.

"It is considered dangerous in the summer to sleep while crossing the
Campagna; indeed, in certain parts of it, over the Pontine Marshes in
July and August, it is said to be certain, death, but, if the traveller
can keep awake, there is no danger. In spite of the fears which we
naturally entertained lest it might be already dangerous, most of us
could not avoid sleeping, nor could I, with every effort made for that
purpose."

The days following his return to Rome were employed chiefly in copying at
the Colonna Palace. The heat was now beginning to grow more oppressive,
and we find this note on June 21:--

"In the cool of the morning you see the doors of the cafes thronged with
people taking their coffee and sitting on chairs in the streets for some
distance round. At _mezzo giorno_ the streets are deserted, the
shop-doors are closed, and all is still; they have all gone to their
_siesta_, their midday sleep. At four