In former chapters I have spoken of the ancient city of Vetulonia, and of various sites that have been assigned to it; and have shown that all of them are far from satisfactory. In the course of my wanderings through the Tuscan Maremma in the spring of 1844, I had the fortune to fall in with a site, which has stronger claims to be considered that of Vetulonia than any of those to which it has hitherto been referred.

Vague rumours had reached my ear of Etruscan anti-quities having been discovered at Magliano, a village between the Osa and the Albegna, and about eight miles inland; but I concluded it was nothing beyond the excavation of tombs, so commonly made at this season throughout Etruria. I resolved, however, to visit this place on my way from Orbetello to Saturnia. For a few miles I retraced my steps towards Telamone, but, turning to the right, crossed the Albegna some miles higher up, at a ferry called Barca del Grassi; from this spot there was no carriage-road to Magliano, and my vehicle toiled the intervening five miles through tracks sodden with the rain.