How long his confinement lasted I know not, but it must have been a long
while, as in after-times, when he would occasionally revert to his
former life, all incidents he related were for years "when he was in his
dungeon, or in the courtyard prison of the Capitol," where many of his
ancestors had dictated laws to nations.
At last the Prince was restored to freedom, but captivity had made no
alteration in his feelings or sentiments. His love for his country, and
his desire for its regeneration, were as strong as ever, and he very
soon placed himself at the head of the Carbonari, a sect which, years
afterwards, was rendered illustrious by the constancy and sufferings of
a Maroncelli, a Silvio Pellico, and many others.
The Prince was again detected and arrested, but he was not thrown into
prison. The government had been much weakened and the well-known
opinions and liberality of the Prince had rendered him so popular with
the Trasteverini, or northern inhabitants of the Tiber, that policy
forbade either his captivity or destruction. He was sentenced to be
banished for (I think) ten years.
During his long banishment, the Prince Seravalle wandered over various
portions of the globe, and at last found himself in Mexico. After a
residence at Vera Cruz, he travelled into the interior, to examine the
remains of the ancient cities of the Western World; and impelled by his
thirst for knowledge and love of adventure, he at last arrived on the
western coast of America, and passing through California, fell in with
the Shoshones, or Snake Indians, occupying a large territory extending
from the Pacific to nearly the feet of the Rocky Mountains.
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