Illuftrious families. Bourgeoife. Fountains. ftant array, and that upon occafion he can bring twenty thousand into the field. The most illuftrious families are the houses of Rangoni and Montecucully. There are no remains of the families of thofe petty tyrants who governed Modena before the house of Eft were chofen for their fovereigns. The Modenese feem a gay, cheerful people; have much genius for pantomime shows, and what is called pleasure, or rather diffipation. They are esteemed gallant, and the ladies and other females much inclined to coquetry. The Noblesse imitate the French in their drefs. The Bourgeoise univerfally wear the zendado, a piece of black filk, with which they cover their heads; and which crossing before, is finally tied behind their waifts. Modena is abundantly fupplied with the finest water imaginable; there are fountains in almost all the houses. The town indeed seems to be fituated upon a vast reservoir; as, wherever they dig, they never fail to find a pure fpring; this peculiarity extends as far as feven miles east of the town. On the north fide they do not find water farther than to the distance of four miles. In the making wells, after digging about the depth of twenty-three feet, they find the remains of ancient buildings, lower down a firm earth, and at the depth of forty-five feet, a black and a whitish foil, intermixed with branches of trees, together with troubled and foul water, like that of a marsh. This muddy water is kept out by means of a cir cular wall of brick, which is founded upon the next stratum; namely, a bed of about eighteen feet thick, compofed of chalk, in which are found fea-productions, as fhells, &c. Under this chalk begins another ftratum of a marshy bed, composed of leaves, branches, and rufhes: when the well is dug to the depth of eighty-five feet, they come to another bed of chalk like the first, then another ftratum of marshy ground, which is fucceeded by another of chalk, and that again by a marfh. Having continued to dig on to one hundred and three feet deep, they come to the last bed, which confifts of gravel, round pebbles, fea-fhells, and large trunks of trees; under this is found the pure refervoir of water, which has always proved to them an inexhaustible fource; it fprings up clear, and in great abundance, by the means of holes made by a borer through the last stratum above mentioned. They are alfo fupplied by other water, from hills fituated at about three leagues diftance from the town, which forms little canals that run through the streets. There is a fpring at a place called Bagnonero near Modena, which produces on its furface that oily bituminous fubftance called oleum faxi, or petroleum. The adjacent country presents you with plains, Country adjacent. fertile in corn and wine, mulberry-trees, and elms in rows, with vines conducted in feftoons from tree to tree, as I mentioned before in the road from Plaisance and Parma hither. Amongst Moftrious Amongst the illuftrious Men Modena has given birth to, Taffo is one of the most remarkable. The architect Vignola was born in a village of the fame name, four leagues from hence; as was the famous Muratori, who has wrote feveral voluminous works in Latin and Italian, confifting, amongst other subjects, of a History of the Antiquities of Italy, and a General History of Italy, &c. It feems there is a French tranflation of part of his works. It is to be prefumed that the Dukes of Parma and Modena live up to the utmost of their income, otherwife they would probably fave money to defray the expence of building bridges over the dangerous rivers, which render travelling through their territories inconvenient, and often impassable to their own subjects, and particularly fo to travellers, by whom they profit confiderably. It would not be difficult to reftrain and conduct the rivers fo as to keep them within their banks; by which means they might gain a confiderable extent of land, now rendered totally useless by the impracticability of its cultivation. Befides, there are many other particulars respecting this city and territory, upon which public money might be moft laudably as well as beneficially expended. We leave this place to-morrow, to pursue our journey to Bologna, from whence you shall hear from me with the very firft opportunity. This letter has been the work of two evenings only, fo excufe the inaccuracies, &c. Adieu; it is late, I am very fleepy, and can fay no more, than that I am always, &c. LETTER XXIV. Bologna, Nov. 28, 1770. W E left Modena yesterday, and reached this city last night. The roads are good the whole way. At about two miles from Modena, bano. there are alSamogoggia SamogogBologna, it gia vil lage. we croffed the river Panaro in a bark. This river Panaro divides the Dutchy of Modena from the Ecclefi- river. aftical State. About a mile farther, and to the left, is fituated the Fort Urbano, a citadel built Fort Urin the beginning of the feventeenth century, by order of Pope Urban the Eighth: ways fome troops in garrison here. is just half-way between Modena and is a confiderable village, and has the appearance of a town. Before you arrive at Samogoggia, there is a long ftone bridge to pafs, which joins Bridges together two branches of the river Reno; this, Reno. like other rivers already mentioned, has, by changing its bed, branched itself out, and is impaffable after great rains. It takes its fource in the Appenine, at the foot of which Bologna is built. VOL. I. X We and river Inn. We are extremely well lodged at the Pellegrino, and well served. The provifions are excellent in every respect, and extraordinarily well dreffed. Our hoft provides us much more than we can eat and drink, dinner and supper, for eleven livres and a half (French) by the day; our firing, lodging and wine included. Our dinner to-day confifted of a white foup, with vermicelli and fine Parmesan cheese rasped over the surface, half a Bologna hog's-head admirably dried and dreffed, fuperior to any hog-meat I ever tasted in England; une friture tres recherchée, a difh of boullie, a poularde, one of the finest I ever faw; it rivalled those of Git; a fore-quarter of lamb roasted, a fricando with fmall navées, fpinage dreffed the French way, colliflower, fricaffeed truffles dressed with butter and anchovy, a difh of mortadello: for defert, the finest white grapes imaginable, white Bury-pears, the best chefnuts and walnuts, being of an uncommon fize and sweetness. The wine is exceedingly good here, fo is the water, which I think a most material object in the article of luxury. I have given you this detail of our dinner, to fhew you the great difference in respect of eating between one part of Italy and another. Our dinner we mutually agreed was too abundant for two perfons only to fit down to; as fome of the dishes went away untouched, our hoft was fhocked, fearing we did not like them: I fent for him, and told him we were perfectly satisfied with what he had provided; but defired he would for the |