[23]
the second spring flows, is a hole in the rock, through which a person may creep. While we were trying to explore the course of this cavity, an old woman appeared with a lighted candle, in order to penetrate through this opening into a subterraneous passage, which she did with much ease. She had been sent by a physician to gather a quantity of the substance and incrustation mentioned above; but having advanced about nine yards, the great heat and steam obliged her to make her retreat as fast as possible. Probably this passage leads to other baths within the mountain, of Roman construction; for, no doubt, the Romans were acquainted with these waters and their virtues. No fish, nor any reptile, as you may imagine, can exist in or near these springs. – The third fountain supplies a bath of about twenty-two feet in diameter, of an irregular shape: it was built for Madame Royale. The water of this is green, and so transparent, as to discover the source bubbling up through the gravel at the bottom: but is not so hot as the two springs before mentioned. – About two hundred yards higher up is another fountain, milk-warm only, that has scarcely any taste; this is called the refreshing spring. Our guide assured us, it has the extraordinary quality of restoring in a few hours to their original freshness all sorts of herbs and vegetables, though dried and withered. We had not time to make any experiments ourselves, nor further inquiry into the qualities of these waters: it is to be wished that