Quel grande che cantò l'armi e gli amorl,

as Guarini describes him, I believe. The face of the country from Parma to
Reggio is exactly the same as what we have passed thro' already.

The next day (20 August) we passed thro' Modena, where we stopped to
breakfast and refresh horses. It is a large and handsome city, the Ducal
Palace is striking and in the Cathedral is presented the famous bucket
which gave rise to the poem of Tassoni called _La Secchia rapita._ An air
of opulence and grandeur seems to prevail in Modena.

At Samoggia we entered the Papal territory and again underwent a search of
trunks. Within three miles of Bologna a number of villas and several
tanneries, which send forth a most intolerable odour, announce the approach
to that celebrated and venerable city. On the left hand side, before
entering the town, is a superb portico with arcades, about one and a half
miles in length, which leads from the city to the church of San Luca. On
the right are the Appennines, towering gradually above you. Bologna lies at
the foot of these mountains on the eastern side and here the plain ends for
those who are bound to Florence, which lies on the western side of the vast
ridge which divides Italy. We arrived at Bologna at half-past seven in the
evening, and here we intend to repose a day or two; I shall then cross the
Appennines for the first time in my life. A reinforcement of mules or oxen
is required for every carriage; from the ascent the whole way you can
travel, I understand, very little quicker _en poste_ than with a
_vetturino_. We are lodged at Bologna in a very comfortable inn called
_Locanda d'Inghilterra_.