Before concluding the present chapter, it may not be unacceptable to such travellers, as propose to pass from Florence to Rome, by way of Sienna, to state various circumstances, which may be useful in directing their proceedings. In the first place, I shall allude to the contract I had made with the proprietor of the voiture. My bargain was, that we should leave Florence on a fixed day, and proceed forward to Rome, occupying five days and four nights on the journey, resting on the successive nights at the following places, viz. Sienna, La Scala, Bolsena, and Ronciglione. He was to convey myself and luggage, providing me with coffee every morning before setting out, breakfast about noon, and a supper and bed at night; bearing every expense, excepting custom-house fees; for these advantages, I agreed to pay him three Napoleons and a half, with a _buona mana_ of five francs on arriving at Rome, in case he conducted himself properly. From experience, I would now recommend as a modification of the above plan, after reaching Sienna on the first night, to rest there for a day or two, which not only gives an opportunity of seeing this interesting town, but serves to recruit the horses, or mules, so as to expedite the remainder of the journey. It will be desirable to leave Sienna at four o’clock in the morning, in order to reach La Scala in time to secure good accommodations; in addition, by arriving early, the horses will have a prolonged rest, before undertaking, the next morning, the fatiguing journey over Radicofani: after staying the third night at Bolsena, it is very necessary to set off early on the following morning, to enable you to reach Ronciglione; for although better accommodation might be found at Viterbo, this place is too distant, to make it easy to reach Rome on the following evening, and there is no town between these points which offers any comfortable accommodation. On arriving at the gates of Rome, your carriage will be taken possession of by custom-house officers, termed _doganieri_, who conduct you to the custom-house, where a close inspection of baggage takes place; but it is possible to avoid this detention, by writing to your banker, to obtain a _lascia passare_, or permission to pass, which should be left directed for you at the gate. Possibly, instead of contracting with the vittureno to perform the journey in a limited time, it might be preferable to engage with him by the day. In this case, you might rest for any time on the road, when points of interest presented themselves; or if he behaved ill, or from any cause became unable to proceed, he might be discharged. CHAP. XV. ROME.