At last we turned
aside into a road which led us pretty directly to another gate of the
city, and climbed steeply upward among tanneries, where the young men
went about with their well-shaped legs bare, their trousers being tucked
up till they were strictly breeches and nothing else. The campanile
stood high above us; and by and by, and very soon, indeed, the steep
ascent of the street brought us into the neighborhood of the Piazza del
Campo, and of our own hotel. . . . . From about twelve o'clock till one,
I sat at my chamber window watching the specimens of human life as
displayed in the Piazza Tolomei. [Here follow several pages of moving
objects.] . . . . Of course, a multitude of other people passed by, but
the curiousness of the catalogue is the prevalence of the martial and
religious elements. The general costume of the inhabitants is frocks or
sacks, loosely made, and rather shabby; often, shirt-sleeves; or the coat
hung over one shoulder. They wear felt hats and straw. People of
respectability seem to prefer cylinder hats, either black or drab, and
broadcloth frock-coats in the French fashion; but, like the rest, they
look a little shabby.
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