Between Terni and Narni, we entered upon a wide and open though still hilly country, through which the Velino winds slowly along. Narni is certainly the most beautifully situated town that I have seen in the Appenines, lying at the side of a hill, at the foot of which the green waters of the Nera roll through a deep romantic glen, out of whose wooded sides gigantic masses of rock are seen to rise, in and upon which many old dwellings, now uninhabited, are discovered. The road from hence to Lavenga is fine and hilly, and between this latter and Otricoli, the mountains open, and show us in the distance Mount Soracte,
----"which from out the plain Heaves, like a long swept wave about to break, And on the curl hangs pausing,"
the Tiber winding slowly along, and, still further, another chain of distant mountains. The inn at Otricoli was the worst of the many bad ones we have met with among the Appenines, for there was literally nothing to be had in the house; and the only waiter who was to be seen was drunk.
_17th._ We left these wretched quarters at seven in the morning; and quitting the Appenines, soon afterwards crossed the Tiber, already a tolerably broad, but very muddy river. The whole country is volcanic, and the river seems to flow here through the crater of some tremendous volcano of a former world. At Borghetto, on the other side of the river, are the remains of an old castle, probably gothic. The sides of the roads, from hence to Citta Castellana, contain large masses of white garnet, and we passed by many craters, small and large, some only broad and deep pits, with trees growing out of the clefts of the lava rock; others filled up with earth, and now turned into cultivated fields. Citta, or Civita Castellana, is probably the ancient Veii, and must have been a very strong place in former days. The citadel, from which it takes its present name, is a large fort of half Roman, half Gothic architecture. Before entering the town we crossed a small river, which runs deep below through a wild and romantic fissure in the lava rocks, which surround the town, and of which the greater part of the houses are built. We passed through the town and over a bridge erected by Pius VI. A pompous Latin inscription consigns the name of this pope to posterity, for having ordered this bridge to be built. It is a good strong bridge, but nothing more. The Romans of old built and worked, and let others talk; those of the present day talk much and do nothing. We then drove on to Nepi, a small village, where we dined, and from hence through Monterosa to Baccano, which only consists of two inns, the poste and another, where the vetturini generally stop. Sir Humphry chose the latter, which we found very good. To-morrow we shall enter Rome, which is only two postes distant from us.