planted upon misshapen shoulders,
supposed to be AEsop, a beautiful deformity; a Hercules, leaning
against a column, and reposing after some of his many labours; the
large marble vase with Bacchante figures and attendant Fauns, carrying
skins of wine to keep up the festivities; all these are well worthy of
a longer inspection than we have now time to bestow. The mosaics on
the floor, too, offer pleasing representations of different objects of
natural history; many birds, "goldfinch, bullfinch, greenfinch,
chaffinch, and all the finches of the grove;" cicadae and dragonflies,
fruits and flowers, the arbutus and the ivy, commingling their various
forms and colours, and all inimitably executed. Descending slowly, we
find ourselves once more at Agrippina's side in the Portico; not this
time to look at the statues, but out upon the prospect, _sub dio_, and
amuse ourselves with tracking the broken and often interrupted lines
of converging aqueducts that cross and recross the plain. The clear
Italian atmosphere renders objects so distinct, that with a glass we
can read the names of the _locanda_ at Frascati, nine miles off, and
almost determine what provisions the man in the white apron has in his
hand. Tivoli and Frascati, not far distant from each other, stand high
upon the hills; and still higher up is Rocca di Papa on its lofty
site; while between us and them, in the dancing air, lies that
malarious Campagna, which, though unfruitful in corn, wine, or olives,
yields notwithstanding a rich harvest of its own. From it, every year
are gathered bushels of imperial and consular coins; engraved stones,
and other works of ancient art; and from the same "marble wilderness"
many of the busts and bas-reliefs, which adorn not only this villa,
but also most of the mansions in and about Rome. But we have to walk
home; and we accordingly look with natural alarm at the garden, with
its broad shadeless walks blazing in the sun; the sparrows can bear
the heat no longer; a whole bevy, who for the last five minutes have
been jargoning their uneasiness over our head, have finally gone off
to seek shelter in the bushes;--their instinct having first prompted
several expedients to relieve their distress, all of which failed
them; thus, when they found that sitting either in company or "alone
upon the house top" would not do, and that hopping on the tiles
blistered their feet, they bethought them of the metal pipes, and
tried to effect an entranc