A tour through Sicily and Malta. In a series of letters to William Beckford, Esq, ... A new edition

Front matter

* TOUR THROUait SIC1JLY AJVJD MALTA, IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO WILLIAM BECKFORD, Esq. OF S0MERLY IN SUFFOLK ; FEOM P. BRYDONE, F.R.S. A NEW EDITIOX. lotttion: PRINTED FOR II. D. SYMOSBS, PATERNOSTER-ROW : J. NUN'N, GREAT Q UEE N-STUEET J MESSRS. VKRNOH, HOOD, AND SHARl'E, POUITRT; T. OSTELL, AVE MARIA-LANE ; AND MESBUSi LACKINCTON, Al LEN, AND CO. rlNSBl/RY-SaUAKE; 1807. Printed bj Law and Gilbert, St. John's- Square, Clcrkenwell.

ADVERTISEMENT.

. TTAD there been any book in our language on the subject of the following Letters, they never should have seen the light. The Author wrote them for the amusement of his friends, and as an assistance to his memory ; and if it will in any degree apologize for their imperfections, he can with truth declare that they never were intend ed for publication : nor indeed was that idea-sug gested to him, till long after they were written. One principal motive he will own, was the desire of giving to the world, and perhaps of transmitting to posterity, a monument of his friendship with the gentleman to whom they are addressed. When Mr. Forster's translation of Baron Rie desel's book first appeared, these Letters were al ready in the press, and the author apprehended an anticipation of his subject ; however, on perusal, he had the satisfaction to find, that the two works did not much interfere. A 2 In

Letter VII

Journey from Jaci to Catania ; Coast formed of lava ; Conflict between the fire and water; Harbour of lava ; St. Agatha's veil ; Its power over Mount Ætna ; Great antiquity ofthe eruptions of this mountain P. 72

Letter VIII

Prince of B'scaris ; His museum ; Convent of Benedictines; Lava run over the walls of Catania; Antiquity of this city ; Revenue of the bishop rained from the sale of the snow of Ætna ; Earthquake 1693 ; Antiquities; Elephant of lava; Heathen temple converted into a church ; Rtsemblance ofthe Catholic to the Pagan rites; Saints disgiaced; Devotion of the Catholics; Preparations for ascending Mount Ætna P. 76

Letter IX

Journey up Mount Ætna ; Three regions of the mountain ; Common progress of an eruption; Lesser mountains formed on Ætna; Difference of Ætna and Vesuvius ; Fate of the country near Hybla ; Montpelieri ; Celebrated statues covered by the lava ; Eruption of 16695 Dreadful effects of the lava; Singular fa'.a of a vineyard ; Mouth from whence this eruption issued; A cavern ; Wildness of the inhabitants of Ætna ; Conversation with them ; La Regione Sylvosa ; La Spelonca del Capriole ; View of the setting sun; Pass the night in a cavern; Eruption 1766 ; Lava not yet co'd ; It? vast depth - - . P. 89 7 LETTER CONTENTS. VII

Letter X

Continuation of the journey up Mount Ætna; Difficulties attending it; Torre del Filosofo; Distinctness of vision; Conical mountain ; Summit of Ætna ; Prospect from it ; Regions of the mountain; Crater; Reflections; Descent from Ætna - - P. 103 LETTER Xr. Mensuration of heights by the barometer; Not reduced to a certainty ; Supposed height of Ætna ; Magnetical needle agitated on the mountain ; Electricity of the air near volcanoes ; Singular effects of electricity ; Lightning from the smoke of Ætna ; Variety of the waters on th£ mountain ; Subterraneous river ; Periodical and poisonous springs ; C?.verns ; Plants and flowers -of Ætna; Wild beasts ; Horses; Cattle; Crater fills in every century ; Anfinomus and Anapias, their filial piety; Earthquake 1169; Eruption 1669; Poetical descriptions of Ætna - - P. 119

Letter XII

Voyage from Catania to Syracuse ; Coast formed by Mount Ætna ; Homer takes no notice ot this mountain ; Virgil lands his hero at the foot of it ; View of the mountain from the sea; Circumference of Ætna ; River Simetus ; Amber found near its mouth ; Lakes of Beviere and Pantana ; Leontine fields ; Augusta ; Syracuse; Remains #f antiquity ; Latomie; Ear of Dionysius ; Amphitheatre ; Catacombs ; Temples ; Ortigia ; Fortification ; Fountain of Arethusa ; Fictions concerning it; Alpheus; Harbours of Syracuse; Archimedes; His burning-glasses; Magnificn^fi CONTENTS. I ficence of the ancient Syracuse ; Poverty of the modern ... P. 146 P. 146

Letter XIII

Voyage to Pachinus ©r Capo Passero; Maltese sparonaros ; Method of rowing them; A hurricane ;, Capo Passero; Barrenness ofthe country; Danger of this coast ; Method of avoiding it - P. 166

Letter XV

Malta ; Its productions ; Corn ; Cotton ; Oranges ; In. duitry of the Maltese ; Departure of a Maltese fleet ; Harbour of Malta ; Fortifications ; Public buildings ; Church of St. John; Conspiracy of the Turkish slaves - - - P. 178

Letter XVI

Ancient city of Melita ; Catacombs ; Bosquetta ; Statue and grotto of St. Paul ; Miraculous property ; Grand Master; His power; Land force of the island ; Sea force; Singular piece of ordnance ; Police; Duelling ; Punishment of a knight ; Remarkable storm ; Horse races; Malta an epitome of Europe; Its connection with Sicily - - P. i%j

Letter XVII

Sail for Agrigentum; Island of Gozzo ; Coast of Sicily ; American aloes ; City of Agrigentum - P- 199 LETTER CONTENTS.

Letter XVIII

Antiquities of Agrigentum ; Temples of Venus ; Of Concord ; Of Hercules ; Of Jupiter Olympus, &c. Celebrated picture of Zeuxis ; Statue of Apollo ; Catacombs and Sepulchres ; Mountain of Agrigentum P. 203

Letter XIX

Luxury of the ancient Agrigentum ; Hospitality ; Anecdote ; Humanity and gratitude to their horses ; Agrigentum long subject to tyrants ; Phalaris, anecdote of him ; Menalippus and Cariton, their friendship ; Death of Phalaris . - P. 208

Letter XX

Country round Agrigentum ; A feast ; Hospitality of the Agrigent'mi ; Their character ; The bishop ; Departure for Trapani ; Sea storm ; Driven back to Agrigentum ; Journey by land to Palermo ; Richness and beauty of the country ; Poverty and oppression of the peasants - - ; - P. 117

Letter XXI

Conclusion of the Journey to Palermo ; Contrast betwixt Sicily and Switzerland ; Inns, &c. - P. 229 LETTER XXTI. •City of Palermo ; Marino ; Conversations where held ; Sicilian ladies ; Reflections - P. 237

LETTER X CONTENTS.

Antiquities ; Camesena ; Temple of Ceres at Erma ; Temple of Venus Erecina ; Difference of Homer and Virgil in their accounts of Sicily - P. 325

Letter XXXII

Monte Pelegrino ; St. Rosolia ; Ancient fortress ; Situation of Palermo ; Antiquity of that city ; Inscriptions .... P. 333 LETTER XVxril. Utility of ices in a hot climate; Sicilian fisheries; The tunny fish ; The ptsce spada, or sword fish ; Method of fishing in the night ; Coral fishing ; Oppression of the government ; Foundation ef the feudal system in Sicily ; Parliament ; Inquisition ; Power of the Viceroy ; Military force ; Bandiere men - - P. 34a

Letter XXXIV

Sicilian titles ; Luxury of the Sicilians in their carriages ; Ridiculous prejudice - - - P. 353

Letter XXXV

Sicilians animated in conversation ; Marriage ceremonies ; Beauty of the ladies ; Anecdote ; Poetry the universal passion of the Sicilians - - P. 35s LETTER CONTENTS.

Letter XXXVI

The opera ; Gabrieli, her wonderful performance ; Her caprice ; Ballet of the opera ; English characters taken off; Enmity betwixt the Sicilians and Neapolitans P. 364

LETTER XXXXVII

, Remarkable springs in Sicily ; Sulphureous baths ; Springs of warm water in the sea ; Gigantic bones ; crops of wheat ; Method of preserving their grain ; Commodities of Sicily; Soda; Wild honey; Sugar; Liquorice; Oranges ; Pistachio nuts ; Manna ; Cantharides ; Marbles ; Pietra Saponaro ; Mushroom stone, &c. ; Mount Ætna; Advantages resulting from it P. 374

Letter Xxxviii

Returm to Naples P. 381 A TOUR SICILY and MALTA.

Letter I

Naples, May 14, 1770. DEAR BECKFORD, T REMEMBER to have heard you regret, thai ■*- in all your peregrinations through Europe, you had ever neglected the island of Sicily ; and had spent much of your time in running over the old beaten track, and in examining the thread-bare subjects of Italy and France ; when probably there were a variety of objects not less interesting, that still lay buried in Obsivion in that celebrated island. We intend to proiit from this hint cf yours. — Fullarton has been urging me to it with all that ardour, which a new prospect of acquir ing knowledge ever inspires in him; and Glover, your old acquaintance, has promised to accom pany us. B Ifce 7 * The Italians represent it as impoflible : us there are no inns in the island, and many of the roads are over dangerous precipices, or through bogs, and forests, infested with the most resolute and daring banditti in Europe.

However, all these considerations, formidable as they may appear, did not deter Mr. Hamilton*, his lady, and Lord Fortrosef. They made this expedition last summer; aud returned so much delighted with it, that they have animated us with the strongest desire of enjoying the same pleasure. Our first plan was to go by land to Regium, and from thence, cross over to Messina ; but on making exact enquiry, with regard to the state of the country, and method of travelling, we find that the danger from the banditti in Calabria and Apulia is so great, the accommodation so wretched, and inconveniences of every kind so numerous, without any consideration whatever to throw into the opposite scale, that we soon relinquished that scheme; and in spite of all the terrors of •Scylla and Charybdis, and the more real terrors of sea sickness (the most formidable monster of the tin ee) we have determined to go by water; aud, that no time may be lost, we have already taken our passage on board an English ship, which is ready to sail wilh the first fair wind. iMovv, as this little expedition has never been considered as any part of this grand tour ; and as it will probably present many objects worthy of your attention, not mentioned in any of our books of travels; I flatter myself that a short account of these will not be unacceptable to you ; and may in some degree make up for your having neglected * Now kuight ofthe bath. t Now Earl osSeaforth, to to visit them.

You may therefore expect to hear of me, from every town where we stop ; and w hen I meet w ith any deserving of notice, I shall attempt to describe it in as few words as possible. We have been waiting wilh impatience for a fair wiud, but at present there is little prospect of it. The weather is exceedingly rough, and not a ship has been able to get out 6f the harbour for upwards of three weeks past. This climate is by no means what we expected to find it ; and the serene sky of Italy, so much boasted of by our tra veiled gentlemen, does not altogether deserve the great eulogiums bellowed upon it. It is now the middle of May, and we have not as yet had any continuance of what may be called fine weather. It has, indeed, been abundantly warm, but seldom a day has passed without sudden stoims of wind and rain, which render walking out litre to the full as dangerous to our invalids, as it is in England.

I am persuaded that our physicians are under some mistake with regard to this climate. It is certainly one of the warmest in Italy; but it is as certainly one of the most inconstant ; and from what we have observed, disagrees with the greatest part of our valetudinarians ; but more particularly with the gouty people, who have all found themselves better at Rome; which, though much colder in winter, is, I believe, a healthier climate. Naples, to be sure, is more eligible in summer, as the air is constantly refreshed by the sea breeze, when Rome is often scorched by the most insupportable heat. Last summer, Farcnheit's thermometer never rose higher at Naples than 76. At Rome it was 89. The difference is often still more considerable. In winter it is not less re- B 2 tuarkable. markable. Here, our greatest degree of cold was in the end of January ; the thermometer stood at 36; at Rome it fell to 27; so that the distance between the two extremes of heat and cold last year at Naples, was only 40 degrees; whereas at Rome it was no less than 62.

Yet, by all accounts, their winter was much more agreeable and healthy than ours : for they had clear frosty weather whilst we were deluged with rains, accompanied with very high wind. The people here assure us, that in some seasons it has rained every day for six or seven weeks. But the most disagreeable part of the Neapolitan climate is the sirocc or south-east wind, which is very common at this season. It is infinitely more relaxing, and gives the vapours in a much higher degree, than ?he worst of our rainy Novembers. It has now blown for these seven days without intermission ; and has indeed blown away all our gaiety and spi rits; and if it continues much longer, I do not know what may be the consequence. It gives a degree of lassitude, both to the body and mind, that renders them absolutely incapable of perform ing their usual functions.

It is not perhaps sur prising, that it should produce these effects on a phlegmatic English constitution; but we have just now an instance, that all the mercury of France must sink under the load of this horrid, leaden atmosphere. A smart Parisian marquis came here about ten days ago : he was so full of animal spirits that the people thought him mad. He never re mained a moment in the same place ; but, at their grave conversations, used to skip from room to room with such amazing elasticity, that the Italians swore that he had got springs in his shoes. 1 met him this morning, walking with the step of a philosopher ; tbsopher ; a smelling bottle in his hand, and all his vivacity extinguished. I asked him what was the matters 'f Ah! mon ami," said he, "je m'en nui a la mort; — moi, qui n'ai jamais scu l'ennui.

Mais cet execrable vent m'accable: et deux jours de plus, tt je me pend." The natives themselves do not suffer less than , strangers ; and all nature seems to languish during this abominable wind, A Neapolitan lover avoids his mistress with the utmost care in the time of the sirocc, and the indolence it inspires, is almost sufficient to extinguish every passion. All works of genius are laid aside during its continuance; and when any thing very flat or insipid is pro duced, the strongest phrase of disapprobation they can bestow is, " Era scritto in tempo dell siroc co ;" that it was writ in the time of the sirocc. I shall make no apology for this letter ; and when ever I happen to tire you, be kind enough to remember (pray do) that it is not me you are to blame, but the sirocc wind. This will put me much at my ease, and will save us a world of time in apologies.

I have been endeavouring to get some account of the cause of this very singular quality of the si rocc ; but the people here seldom think of ac counting for any thing, and I do nui tind, nut withstanding its remarkable effects, that it has ever yet been an object of enquiry amongst them. I have not observed that the sirocc makes any remarkable change in the barometer. When it first set in, the mercury fell about a line and a half ; and has continued much about the same height ever since ; but the thermometer was at 43 the morning it began, and rose almost immedi ately to tio ; and for these two days past it has b 3 been been at 70 and 71. However, it is certainly not the warmth of this wind, that renders it so oppressive to the spirits ; it is rather the want of that genial qualily, which is so enlivening ; and which even rendeis the western breeze so agreeable : The spring and elasticity of the air seems to be lost; and that active principle which animates all nature, appears to be dead.

This principle we have supposed to be nothing else than the subtle electric fluid that the air usually contains ; and indeed, we have found, that during this Mind, it appears to be almost annihilated, or at least, its activity exceedingly reduced. Yesterday, and to day, we have been attempting to make soihe elec trical experiments ; but 1 never before found the air so unfavourable for-them. Sea-bathing we have found to be the best antidote against the effects of the sirocc ; and this we certainly enjoy in great perfection. Lord Fortrose, who is the soul of our colony here, has provided a large commodious boat for this purpose. We meet every morning at 8 o'clock, and vow about half a mile out to sea, where we strip and plunge into the water : were it not for this, We should all of us have been as bad as the French marquis.

My lord has ten watermen, who are in reality a sort of amphibious animals, as they live one half of the summer in the sea. Three or four of these generally go in with us, to pick up stragglers, and secure us from all accidents. They dive with ease to the depth of forty, and sometimes of fifty feet, and bring up quan tities of excellent shell-fish during the sum ii'ier-months; but so great is their devotion, that every time they go down they make the sign of the cross, and mutter an Ave Maria, without which StCILY AND MALTA. which they should certainly be drowned; and were not a little scandalized at us for omitting this cere mony. To accustom us to swimming in all circumstances, my lord has provided a suit of clothes, which we wear by turns ; and from a very short practice, we have found it almost as commodious to swim with as without them : we haVe likewise learned to strip in the water, and find it no very diflicult matter : And I am fully persuaded, from being accustomed to this kind of exercise, that in case of shipwreck we should have greatly the ad vantage over those who had never practised it; for it is by the embarrassment from the clothes, and the agitation that people are thrown into, from finding themselves in a situation they had never experienced before, that so many lives are. lost in the water.

After bathing, we have an English breakfast at his lordship's ; and after breakfast, a delightful lit tle concert, which lasts for an hour and a half. Barbella, the sweetest fiddle in Italy, leads our little band. This party, I think, constitutes one principal part of the pleasure we enjoy at Naples. We have likewise some very agreeable society amongst ourselves, though we cannot boast much of that with the inhabitants. There are, to be sure, many good people among them : but iu general, there is so very little analogy betwixt an English and a Neapolitan mind, that the true so cial harmony, that great sweetener of human life, can seldom be produced. In lieu of this, (the ex change you will say is but a bad one) the country round Naples abounds so much in every thing that is curious, both in art and nature, and affords so ample a field of speculation for the naturalist and antiquary, that a person of any curiosity may spend b 4 some A TOUR TI1R0UCH some months here very agreeably, and not without profit.

Besides the discoveries of Herculaneum and Pompeia, which, of themselves, afford a great fund of entertainment, the whole coast that sur rounds this beautiful bay, particularly that near Puzzoli, Cuma, Micenum and Baia, is covered with innumerable monuments of Roman magnificence. But, alas ! how are the mighty fallen ! This delightful coast, once the garden of all Italy, and inhabited only by the rich, the gay, and luxu rious, is now abandoned to the poorest and most miserable of mortals. Perhaps, there is no spot on the globe that has undergone so thorough a change ; or that can exhibit so striking a picture cf the vanity of human grandeur. Those very walls that once lodged a Cæsar; a Lucullus, an Anthony, the richest and most voluptuous of man kind, are now occupied by the very meanest and most indigent wretches on earth, who are actually starving for want in those very apartments, that were the scenes of the greatest luxury.

There we are told that suppers were frequently given that cost fifty thousand pounds ; and some that even amounted to double that sum. The luxury indeed of Baia was so great, that it became a proverb, even amongst the luxui ions Romans themselves; and, at Kome,.we often find them upbraiding with effeminacy and epicurism, those who spent much of their time in this scene of delights ; Ciodius throws it irt Cicero's teeth more than once : And that orator's having pur -chased a villa here, hurt him not a little in the opinion of the graver aud more austere part of the senate. The walls of these palaces still remain, and the poor peasants, iu some places, have built up up their miserable huts within them ; but, at pre sent, there is not one gentleman or man of fashion residing in any part of this country ; the former state of which, compared with the present, certainly makes the most striking contrast imagina ble.

Yesterday we rode over the greatest part of it a-shooting porcupine, a new species of diver sion, which I had never heard of before. We killed several of these animals on the Monte Bar bara,, the place that formerly produced the Faler nian wine, but now a barren waste. I don't know if you are acquainted with this kind of sport. To me, I own, its novelty was its greatest merit ; and I would not at any time give a day of par tridge for a month of porcupine shooting. Nei ther indeed is the flesh of these animals the most delicious in the world, though to-day most of us have dined upon it. It is extremely luscious, and soon palls upon die appetite. We are now going to lay in our sea-store, as. there is some probability that we shall sail in a day or two. Farewell — you shall hear from me again at Messina, if we are not swallowed up by Charybdis.

LETTER 11.

On Board the Charming Mulli/, of the Island of Capre, May 15. "\X7E have now begun our expedition with every auspicious omeiv This morning the melancholy sirocc left us ; and in place of it we, have gotten a tine brisk, tramontane (or North wind> b 5 whicb which in a few hours blew away all our vapours' and made us wonder how much the happiness of mankind depends on a blast of wind. After eating a hearty dinner with many of our friends at Mr. Walter's, and drinking plentifully of his ex cellent burgundy, we took leave in the highest spirits. Had the sirocc blown as yesterday, we should probably have been in tears ; and not one of us would have suspected that we were crying, only because the wind was iu the south. We are not apt to suppose it ; but probably a great part of our pleasures and pain* depend upon such tri vial causes, though always ascribed to something else ; few people being willing to ow n themselves like a weathercock, affected by every blast.

Indeed we should have naturally imputed it to the grief of parting with that excellent family whom you know so well ; which no person could ever leave without regret, or see without pleasure; but the agreeable prospect of soon meeting again (pro bably better qualified to amuse and entertain them) absorbed all melancholy thoughts, and even added to that alacrity, which the delightful tour before us had already inspired. AVe sailed at five ; and after firing our farewel signals to our friends on shore (whom we discovered with our glasses at some miles distance), we soon found ourselves in the middle of the bay of Naples, surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in the world. It fell calm for an hour, on purpose to give us time to contemplate all its beauties. / The bay is of a circular figure ; in most places upwards of 20 miles in diameter ; so that, in cluding all its breaks and inequalities, the cir cumference is considerably more than 60 miles.

Th« The whole of this space is so wonderfully diversified, by all the riches both of art and nature, that there is scarce an object wanting to render the scene complete ; and it is hard to say, whether the view is more pleasing from the singularity of many of these objects, or from the incredible variety of the whole. You see an amazing mixture of the ancient and modern ; some rising to fame, and some sinking to ruin. Palaces reared over the tops of other palaces, and ancient magnificence trampled wider foot — by modern folly.— Mountains and islands, that were celebrated for their fertility, changed into barren wastes, and barren wastes into fertile fields and rich vineyards. Mountains sunk into plains, and plains swelled into mountains. Lakes drunk up by volcanoes, and extinguished volcanoes turned into lakes.

The earth still smoking in many places ; and in others throwing out flame. — In short. Nature seems to have formed this coast in her most capricious mood; for every object is a lusus natuiæ. Sh© never seems to have gone seriously to work ; but to have devoted this spot to the most unlimited indulgence of caprice and frolic. The bay is shut out from the Mediterranean by the island of Capre, so famous for the abode of Augustus ; and afterwards so infamous for that of Tiberius. A little to the west lie those of Ischia, Prosida, and Nisida; the celebrated promontory of Micæum, where Æneas landed ; the classic fields of Baia, Cuma, and Puzzoli; with all the variety of scenery that formed both the Tartarus and Elysium of the ancients; the Cainphi Phle grei, or burning plains where Jupiter overcame the giants; the Monte Novo, formed of late years by the fire ; the Monte Barbaro ; the picturesque B Q city city os Puzzoli, with the Solfaterra smoking above it; the beautiful promontory of Pausilippe, ex hibiting the finest scenery that can be imagined; the great and opulent city of Naples with its three castles, its harbour full of ships from every na tion, its palaces, churches, and convents innumerable.

The rich country from thence to Por •tici, covered with noble houses and gardens, and appearing only a continuation of the city. The palace of the king, with many others surrounding it, all built over the roofs of those of Hercula neum, buried near a hundred feet, by the eruptions of Vesuvius. The black fields of lava that have run from that mountain, intermixed with gardens, vineyards, and orchards. Vesuvius itself, in the b.ick ground of the scene, discharging volumes of fire and smoke, and forming a bro&d track in the air over our heads, extending without being broken or dissipated to the utmost verge of the horizon. A variety of beautiful towns and villages, round the base of the mountain, thoughtless of the impending ruin that daily threatens them. fSome of these are reared over the very roofs of Pompeia and Stabia, where Pliny perished ; and with their foundations have pierced through the sa cred abodes ofthe ancient Romans; thousands of whom lie buried here, the victims of this inexo rable mountain.

Next follows the extensive and romantic coast of Castello Mare, Sorrentum, and Mola; diversified with every picturesque object in nature. It was the study of this wild and beau tiful country that formed our greatest landscape painters. This was the school of Poussin and Salvator Rosa, but more particularly of the last who composed many of his most celebrated pieces from from the bold craggy rocks that surround this coast; and no doubt it was from the daily con templation of these romantic objects, that they stored their minds with that variety of ideas they have communicated to the world with such ele gance in their works. Now, should I tell you this extensive coast, this prodigious variety of mountains, vallies, promontories and islands, covered with an everlasting verdure, and loaded with the richest fruits, is all the produce of subterraneous fire ; it would require, I am afraid, too great a stretch of faith to believe me; yet thefact is certain, and can only be doubted by those who have wanted time or curiosity tf) examine it.

It is strange, you will say, that Nature should make use of the same agent to create as to destroy ; and that what has only been looked upon as the consumer of countries, is in fact the very power that produces them. Indeed, this part of our earth seems already to have undergone the sentence pronounced upon the whole of it; but, like the phœnix, has arisen again from its own ashes, in much greater beauty and splendour than before it was consumed. The traces of these dreadful conflagrations are still conspicuous in every corner; they have been violent in their operations, but in the end have proved salutary in their effects. The fire in many places is not extinguished, but Vesuvius is now the only spot where it rages with any degree of activity. Mr. Hamilton, our minister here, who is no less distinguished in the learned, than in the po lite world, has lately examined it with a truly philo sophic eye, and this is the result of all his observations: however, at present 1 only sit down to give you you an account of the prospect of this singular country, and not to write its natural history ; which would lead me into too vast a field ; I shall reserve that curious subject till our return, when I shall have more leisure to make you acquainted with it. 1 beg therefore you would at least suspend your judgment for the present, and do not condemn me before I am heard.