We crossed the Tiber on a glorious day in October, and arrived at the iron gates of the Queen of Villas, over the entrance of which the Eagle of the Dorias surmounted the Lily of the Pamfili. What a gay, smiling scene was before us in that garden, enlightened by fountains, rich in shady woods and plantations, and crowned by the Palace with its spacious terraces! What sounds of joy, what shouts of laughter on all sides! Groups of young girls, dressed chiefly in white, with coloured ribbons flaunting gaily, their dark hair plaited and braided in a manner purely classical, and crowned with fantastic wreaths of natural ivy and wild-flowers, sang in chorus as they walked hand-in-hand, or tripped backwards and forwards, with one arm thrown round the waist of a companion, and the other flourishing the jingling tambourine high above their heads. Occasionally when two groups met they challenged each other, and then, with many expressions of civility, a circle would be formed, and, after much pressing, and many modest refusals, the two best performers would begin dancing, and setting and wheeling round each other with that occasional bound in the air which gives the name of _saltarello_ to their dance. There were few men in proportion, and those chiefly kept aloof, although a gayer jacket than usual, or even a feather in the hat, showed that all the _minenti_ had not arrived without an escort. Staid matrons might be seen looking on—women, not unfrequently, of majestic beauty (beauties of a proud, stern character)—their luxuriant hair confined by nets of rich and variegated colour, or broad loose ribbons, forming a most picturesque kind of coronet. There seems little doubt that the origin of these Festivals can be traced to the Bacchanalia of Classical Rome, and the Trasteverini girls (for most of the dancers came from the further side of the Tiber) bore no little resemblance to the Mænads of old, with their dishevelled hair crowned by the emblematic ivy and vine leaf. With their proverbial pride they considered no title high enough to content them but _eminente_ (or _minente_.)