Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/14

24 a magical scene, especially when, from the gloomy stalactite vault, one emerges upon the little lake on the summit of the mountain, and the view expands over the infinite, glorious blue sea! It is an astonishment of the highest species of beauty. Bare flowers and trees, seats of porcelain, all kinds of ornamental curiosities, scattered about in the walks and groves, are lesser surprises, which are everywhere to be met with; also jets of water which unexpectedly besprinkle the wandering stranger. There are two temples of dazzingly white marble, which are of striking beauty.

The Villa Pallavicini is the pearl of this species of splendid villa, and deserves a visit from every lover of art. The day was lovely, and our guides extremely polite and kind. It seemed to be a pleasure to them to carry in portantina, the pretty Jenny, who, after a severe illness had but little strength for continued exertion in walking.

Secondly, I will speak of the Corso of Genoa, the grand promenade, where the gay world of the city presents to observation, its marriageable daughters and marrying young men. For there is neither social intercourse, nor social life in Genoa. The young ladies, whom their parents or relatives wish to have married, promenade upon the Corso, where they are seen by the young men, and may see them if they venture to raise their eyes. When any one of them has attracted the attention, or taken the fancy of a young man, he gains from some of her connections information regarding her property, or expected fortune, and the circumstances of her family. If these are all found to be unexceptionable, he then announces himself as