We  attended  the  theatre  one  evening — ^the  first  that  had
been  visited  in  Ita1y«  The  building  is  large  and  handsomely
finished,  in  the  style  of  an  Opera  House,  with  foui'  tiers  <^
boxes,  each  designed  to  accommodate  three  persons.  Gild-
ed galleries,  frescoes,  and  chandeliers  rendered  the  coup  cT
oeil  rather  brilliant.  The  scenery,  dresses,  and  decorations
were  respectable.  Although  the  piece  for  the  evening  was
comic  and  full  of  action,  the  slow,  indolent  movements  of  the
performers,  and  the  measured  pomp  of  the  language  present-
ed a  striking  contrai^t  to  the  brisk,  bustling,  sprightly  ges-
ture and  rapid  articulation  of  the  French.  An  excellent
orchestra  constituted  the  most  agreeable  part  of  the  enter-
tainment. The  audience  was  not  numerous,  and  by  no
Qieans  orderly.  Even  in  the  lowest  theatres  Jn  France,
every  spectator  is  silent,  and  intent  on  the  spectacle,  what-
ever it  may  be.  But  here,  a  majority  of  the  house  did  not
seem  to  regard  the  play,  and  were  engaged  in  loud  conversa-
tion.
One  day  was  occupied  in  an  excursion  to  Leghorn,  four-
teen miles  from  Pisa,  in  a  southerly  direction.  We  left
early  on  the  morning  of  the  twelflh,  in  company  with  our
friends  from  New-Tork,  and  accomplished  the  ride  in  about
two  hours.  The  road  runs  nearly  the  whole  way  over  a
low,  unbroken  plain,  of  moderate  fertility,  sprinkled  with  a
few  mean  villages  and  houses,  sometimes  skirted  with  a
grove  of  pines,  but  generally  devoid  of  interest,  and  leaving
us  to  draw  upon  our  classical  resources  for  amusement.  A
canal  connects  Pisa  with  Leghorn,  and  most  of  the  heavy
goods  from  Florence  and  the  Yale  of  the  Arno  pass  through
fiiis  channel.  It  was  made  at  little  expense  and  is  of  great
practical  utility.
