64

LIFE OF COLONEL MACERONI.

On one occasion I accompanied Prince Aldobrandini ,Prince Santra Croce, Prospero Barbarini, and the Neapoli-tan Prince Cariati on a shooting excursion to Ostia . Wekilled six wild boars, three porcupines and a variety of othergame of all kinds and sizes, from the wild goose to the snipe,of which there were millions. I now have occasion tospeak of the celebrated Italian pine tree, the kernels or fruitof which are used in a variety of ways, both by the cooksand the confectioners of Italy .

The pine I allude to prefers a light sandy soil; the stemis very straight, diminishes but little towards the top, whereit spreads out numerous very strong branches, in an almosthorizontal direction, when turning upwards they form ahead very similar to a cauliflower. From the ground tothe head, the trunk is bare, save here and there a littlerotten stump or a hole from which a small branch has fallen,as it seems that none but those composing the head are per-manent. These members of the fir, or coniferi family, growto the height of from sixty to eighty feet and even more ;the trunks are often five feet in diameter. The fruit iscontained in the cones which grow on the top, of about thesize of a swan’s egg, and are placed singly one under eachscale as they are, in miniature, in other firs and cedars, tothe number of about one hundred to each cone- Thesekernels, or pignoli of the size of an elongated cherry-stone,have a rich pleasant nutty flavour, partaking of turpentine.Close to Ostia there are extensive tracks covered with thesepines, and from the regularity of their positions, I inferredthey had been planted. Although the soil is pure sand,they thrive prodigiously and produce so large a quantity offruit and turpentine, as to form an important item in therevenues of the owners. In the midst of a large wood, whichbelonged to a convent, I attended to the process of gatheringthe cones, extracting the fruit, and then the turpentine from