laughing, and waited till he was out of sight. Soon after they set off,
this gentleman was thrown from his horse and ducked in a pool; so the
"_Jettatura_" was fulfilled. But my daughters thought his bad seat on
horseback enough to account for his fall without the Evil Eye.

CHAPTER XV.

ALBANO--POPULAR SINGING--LETTERS FROM MRS.
SOMERVILLE--GIBSON--PERUGIA--COMET OF 1843--SUMMER AT VENICE--LETTERS
FROM MRS. SOMERVILLE AND MISS JOANNA BAILLIE--ELECTED ASSOCIATE OF THE
COLLEGE OF RESURGENTI AND R.I. ACADEMY OF SCIENCE AT AREZZO.

In spring we went to Albano, and lived in a villa, high up on the hill
in a beautiful situation not far from the lake. The view was most
extensive, commanding the whole of the Campagna as far as Terracina, &c.
In this wide expanse we could see the thunderclouds forming and rising
gradually over the sky before the storm, and I used to watch the vapour
condensing into a cloud as it rose into the cool air. I never witnessed
anything so violent as the storms we had about the equinox, when the
weather broke up. Our house being high above the plain became enveloped
in vapour till, at 3 p.m. we could scarcely see the olives which grew
below our windows, and crash followed crash with no interval between the
lightning and the thunder, so that we felt sure many places must have
been struck; and we were not mistaken--trees, houses, and even cattle
had been struck close to us. Somerville went to Florence to attend a
scientific meeting, and wrote to us that the lightning there had
stripped the gold leaf off the conductors on the powder magazine; a
proof of their utility.

The sunsets were glorious, and I, fascinated by the gorgeous colouring,
attempted to paint what Turner alone could have done justice to. I made
studies, too, which were signal failures, of the noble ilex trees
bordering the lake of Albano. Thus I wasted a great deal of time, I can
hardly say in vain, from the pleasure I had in the lovely scenery.
Somerville sat often by me with his book, while I painted from nature,
or amused himself examining the geological structure of the country. Our
life was a solitary one, except for the occasional visit from some
friends who were at Frascati; but we never found it dull; besides, we
made many expeditions on mules or donkeys to places in the
neighbourhood. I was very much delighted with the flora on the Campagna
and the Alban hills, which in spring and early summer are a perfect
garden of