“On returning down to the Casentine, we could trace along the Arno the mischief which followed a late attempt to clear some Apennines of their woods. Most of the soil, which was then loosened from the roots and washed down by the torrents, lodged in this plain; and left immense beds of sand and large rolling stones on the very spot where Dante describes

‘Li ruscclletti che de’ verdi colli

Del Casentin discendon giuso in Arno,

Facendo i lor canali e freddi e molli.’