A Classical Tour through Italy ... Fourth edition, ... illustrated with a map of Italy, plans, etc

Front matter

COLLECTION O I ANCIENT AND MODERN ENGLISH-AUTHORS. VOL. CCIII. A CLASSICAL TOUR Timoucii ITALY. PRINTED BY PAUL RENOBARD 5, rue Geranciere. A CLASSICAL TOUR THROUGH ITALY. BV THE REV. JOHN CHETWODE EUSTACE. FROM THE SIXTH LONDON EDITION. Hæcest Italia di Is sacra, hæ gentes ejus, bæc oppida populorum. Tlin. Nat. Hist. ill. 20. VOL. II. PARIS: BAUDRT'S EUROPEAN LIBRARY, BCE BV COQ, NEAR THE LOOVBE. SOLD ALSO BI AM. OT, RUE DE LA PAIX; TRUCHY, BOULEVARD DES ITALIEKS; TBEOPHILE BABBOIS, JUN., BLE RICHELIEU; LIBRAIRIE DES ETBANGEBS, BBE NEUVE-SAINT-AUGUST1N; AND BY ALL THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSELLEBS ON TOE CONTINENT. 1857. A CLASSICAL TOUR THROUGH ITALY.

Chapter I

Bay and Castle of Procida — Evening Hymn — Beautiful View, Observations — the Island of Vivara — Ischia, its Mountains, Eruptions, Appearance, and Population — Nisida — Vesuvius. As we passed the bay of Misenus we observed the fine appearance of that promontory ; it is separated by the harbour, and by Mare morto (the dead sea) with the flat shore beyond, from the neck of land which it terminates , and thus it forms an insulated eminence, remarkable for its shape, its boldness, and its aerial elevation. After having doubled the cape , we crossed the strait which flows between it and the island oi Procida. Here I landed, while my companions pursued their course lo the island of Ischia, about four miles further. Procida is about two miles from the continent : its shore, towards the west, is comparatively low, but it swells gradually towards the east, and terminates in a bold promontory, the summit of which is crowned with the castle or royal palace.

The prominence of this point on one side, and the Punta del Vornere (plough-share point) about a mile from it to the south, formalittle bay. The promontory is sufficiently lofty to entitle the island, of which it is the most conspicuous feature, to the epilhet alta1 (lofty), which Virgil gives it, as the rocks which line its eastern and southern coast justify the word aspera (craggy) employed by Statius2. Besides the harbour which I have described, there are on the same coast several creeks, which afford shelter to fishing boats and small vessels, and contribute 1 Æn. ix. 7 1 5. 2 Sylva. ii. 2. II. J. much to the variety and the romantic beauty that eminently characterize this and the neighbouring shores and islands. There is no regular inn, I believe, in the town, bul strangers arc received and very well treated in the castle.

This edifice is large and very roomy, though almost unfinished ; ilhas a small garden to the west and north, surrounded by a wall that borders the brow of the precipice. A trellice supporting thick spreading vines co vers this wall , and shades the walk along it, while large windows open al intervals, and enable the eye lo range over the view that lies expanded beneath. Atoneof these windows I seated myself, and enjoyed the glorious exhibition of the setting sun, which then hung in appearance over the distant island of Pandataria, and cast a purple gleam on all the promontories of Gaicta, and the hills of Formiæ. The purple tints, as the sun descended into the waves, brightened inlo golden streaks, then softened into purple again, and gradually deep ening into blue, al length melted away in darkness.

The moon rose soon after ; a table was placed before me covered with figs, apricots, and peaches. The man and the woman who look care of the palace, a young couple, the husband strong and comely, the wife handsome, sealed themselves opposite to me ; their son, a smart lively boy, served at table. After a litlle conversation, the man took his guitar and accompanied his wife while she sung ihe evening hymn, in a sweet •voice and wilh great earnestness. Occasionally the man and boy joined in chorus, and while they sung, the eyes of all three were sometimes raised lo heaven and sometimes fixed on each other, with amixed expression of piety, affection, and gralilude. I own, I never was present at an act of family devotion more simple or more graceful. It seemed to harmonize with the beauty of the country, and the temperature of the air, and breathed at once the innocence and the joy of Paradise.

Shortly after similar little concerts rose from the town below, and from different parts of the island, and continued at intervals for an hour or more, sometimes swelling upon the ear, and sometimes dying away in distance, and mingling with the murmurs of the sea. One would almost imagine that Milton, who had visited all this coast, had these concerts in mind when he speaks of Celestial voices to the midnight air Sole or responsive each lo other's note SingiDg their great Creator. Par, Lost, book iv. 682. Next morning I was awakened earlier than usual by the rays of the sun shining full into my room, and getting up, I placed myself in the balcony to enjoy the air and the prospect. Misenu* and Baiæ rose before me ; the Elysian fields and the groves of Cumæ extended between them in full view slill fresh with dew, and bright with the beams ofthe new risen sun.

No scene perhaps surpasses that which is now under my eye in natural beauties, and few equal it in those embellishments which the action of the human mind super adds to the graces of nature. These intellectual charms are the most impressive, and even the most permanent ; without them the exhibitions of the material worldbecome an empty pageant, lhat pleases the eye for a moment and passes away, leaving perhaps a slight recollection, but pro ducing no improvement. Hence, although Germany and other more northern countries, frequently display scenes both grand and beautiful , yet, if I may judge of the feelings of other travellers by my own, they are viewed with indifference, andpassed over in hasle. Even the gigantic features of America, ils interminable forests, and its mountains that touch the skies, its sea-like lakes, and its volca nos that seem to thunder in another world, may excite wonder, but can awaken little interest, and certainly inspire no enthusiasm.

Their effect is confined to the spot they cover, and to the very hour which rolls over them; they havenoconnextion wilh other regions, no retrospect to olher times. They stand vast masses, grand but silent monuments, in the midst of boundless solitudes, unenlivened by industry and unadorned by genius. But, if a Plato or a Pytha goras had visited their recesses in pursuit of knowledge ; if a Ho mer or a Virgil had peopled them with ideal tribes, wilh heroes or wilh phantoms ; if the useful ambition of an Alexander ora Cæsar had carried war and civilization to their borders ; if a courageous people had made a last and successful stand against invasion in their fastnesses; then indeed they would assume dignity and importance; then they would excite interest, and acquire a title lo the attention of travellers : Tune sylvæ, tune antra loqui, tune vivere fontes, Turn saeer horror aquis , adytisque efl'unditur echo Clarior, el doctæ spirant præsagia rupes '.

Claud, vi. Cons. Honor. 32. Nature has shed over the coast before us some of its terrors and many of its beauties. Homer either visited it, or heard accounts of it, when probably the former were predominant, and represen ted it accordingly, as the boundaries of the living world, and the confines of the infernal regions ; the groves of Proserpina, accord- * Then ev'ry forest, ev'ry grotto speaks, The fountains gush with life, o'er ev'ry stream A sacred horror broods, from each recess Burst clearer echoes, and the learned rocks A voice oracular return. 1ing to him, spread over the sullen beach, and covered it with a thick bul barren shade. EvO' axTvi te XayE'.a xai aXssa nepse^cvur**; Maxpai t' at-jeijot xai t-s'ai wXeaixaproi * Odyss. x. 5o9. Virgil beheld it al a time when beauty was its prevalent feature, and though he was obliged to adopl the mythology of his predecessor, yet he qualifies its horrors, by confining the infernal gloom to the precincts of Avernus ; while he improves upon it at the same time, by conducting his hero through the regions of the dead, and open ing scenes, grand, novel, and in the highest degree delightful.

Thus while the foundation was laid by the Greek, the elegant superstructure was raised by the Latin poet. The heroes, the appellations, the topography, are principally Homer's ; but the graces, the de corations, the enchantment, belong to Virgil. The former is con tent with evoking the dead, and throwiug an awful horror over the whole coast : the latter fixes on particular spots, and atlaches lo each some pleasing or instructive recollection. Thus, lo yon pro montory he consigns Ihe name and the glory olMisenus, — quo non præstantior aller Ære ciereviros, Martemque accendere cantu2. Æn. vi. I64. Inlo yonder grove on the borders of Avernus, which Homer had filled wilh phantoms, the nations ofthe dead, Virgil introduces the doves of Venus, and brightens its gloom with the vision ofthe golden bough.

Species auri frondentis opaca Illice5 Ibid. vi. 208." The adventures of Dædalus were perhaps Homer's ; but the temple with ils sculptured walls, and the vain efforts of the father to represent the son's fate are characteristic embellishments of Virgil. 1 The barren trees of Proserpine's black woods, Poplars and willows trembling o'er the floods. * st -r, Pope. * none so renown'd The warrior-trnmpet in the field to sound; With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms' And rouze to dare their fate in honourable arms. Dryden. Such was the glitt'ring, such the ruddy rind, And danciDg leaves that wanton'd in the wind. Ibid. Bis conalus erat casus cflingeie in auro Bis patria; cecidere mauus ' . Ibid. 32. He also converted the cavern in yonder rock rising on the level shore, into the abode ofthe Sybil ; he made its vaults echo with the voice of futurity, and peopled its recesses wilh generations yet un known to the sun.

The Elysian fields, one of the most delightful fictions of antiquity, if that may be called a fiction which is founded on truth, belong al most exclusively to Virgil. He at least gave substance and locality to a notion before him vague, indefinite, and shadowy. He shed on yonder groves lhat cover the hills and border the sea, a purer, a softer radiance 2, and introduced into them the immortal spirits of the good made happy. Hie manus oh patriam pugnando vulnera passi : Quique sacerdotes casti dum vita manebat : Quique pii vates et Phæbo digna locuti . . . Quique sui memores alios fecere merendo 3. Lib. vi. 660 In short, not a wood, a lake, a promontory, appears on the coast before me , that has not been distinguished by some illustrious name, or embellished by some splendid fiction. In contemplating a prospect thus adorned by nature, and thus ennobled by genius ; the theatre of the most sublime and most instructive fables that the human mind ever invented; we may be allowed, as wre bewilder ourselves in the mazes of classical illusion, to indulge a momentary enthusiasm ; Audite et videor pios Errare perlucos, amænæ Quos et aquæ subeunt et aura*.

Hor. Carm. Lib. Od. iii. iv. 6. 1 He twice essay'd to cast his son in gold; Twice from his hands he dropp'd the forming mould. Dryden. 3 ... lumine vestit Purpureo Æn. vi. 64o. Vested wilh a purple sky. Dryden. ' Here patriots live, who for their country's good In fighting fields were prodigal of blood : Priests of unblemish'd lives here make abode. And poets worthy their inspiring God .... Those who to worth their bounty did extend, And these who knew that bounty to commend. Ibid. * Through hollow'd groves I stray, where streams beneath From lucid fountains flow, and zephyrs balmy breathe. Francis. But the scenes before me owe not iheir graces and their interests to poetry only; history has had its share in the decoration and renown of this savoured region. On the summit of that promontory (.I//,$<?.-..,*) rose the villa of Marius.

Lucullus succeeded to it, and spread around it the amenity, and the beauty which distinguished his character. On the slope of the hill beyond Ihe harbour and looking towards Pozzuolo stood the villa of Baulis, where Cicero and Horteusius used to meet and exercise their rival pow ers. On the eminence above it, rose the retreat of Cæsar, lofty in ils site, but in ihe vicinity of Baiæ; thus suited lo the temper of that chief, high and imperious, but open to all the charms of lite rature, and lo all the allurements of pleasure. Yonder in the curve of ihe buy and almost in the beach was Cicero's Academy, sacred, as ils name implies, to meditation and philosophical research. Around in different directions, but all within the compass of four miles, were the villas of Pompey, Varro, and Lucullus ; of Pom pey, once the first of Roman citizens in power and moderation ; of Lucullus, famed alike for his talents, his learning, and his luxury ; and of Varro, renowned for his deep erudition and thorough insight inlo the laws, the literature, and the antiquities of his country.

What spoi in ihe universe, Rome alone excepted, ever united so much power, so much genius, so much greatness! Baiæ indeed at thai time was the resort, or rather the very lemple of Wisdom and ihe Muses; whither the masters ofthe world retired, not to dissolve their energies in effeminacy, but to unbend their minds in literary inquiries and refined conversation. Luxury appeared , without doubt, bul in her most appropriate form and character, as the handmaid of taste, lo minister al the tables, and season the repasts, where Cæsar and Cicero, Pompey and Lucullus, Varro and JJorlensius, enjoyed the feast of reason. Shortly after this era of greatness and glory , the sun of liberty set for ever on the Roman world; but it cast a parting beam, Which slill continued to brighten the hemisphere. Augustus him self felt its influence; he had been educated in the principles, and inured to the manly and independent manners of a free Roman ; he observed the forms and retained the simplicity of ancient times, and gloried in the plainness and even in the appellation of a citizen,- he may therefore be considered as a republican prince.

In the modesty of this character, he frequented the coasts of Baiæ, and conducted in his train improvement, opulence, and festivity ; Agrippa and Mæcenas, Virgil and Horace. One ofthe most pleasing scenes of this Emperor's life, and well calculated to close a career once so active, with tranquillity, took place in the bay of Ptiteoli. ' 1 Suetonius, Aug. 9S. The spirit of the republic seems lo have expired with Augustus : under his successor Rome was destined to taste the bitters of des potism, and during the following reigns, to drain the cup to the dregs. The Baiæ became the receptacle of profligacy and effeminacy ' , of lust and cruelty, as far beyond ihe bounds of nature as the power of the imperial monsters was above human control. The beauties of nature were tarnished by the foulness of vice, and the virtuous man turned away from scenes which he could not behold without disgust and horror.

Silius, Martial, Slatius, courted the Muse in vain on that shore which had inspired the strains of Virgil. They attempted to celebrate the beauties of Baiæ; bul the subject was degraded; and iheir lines, forced and inharmonious, neither delight the ear nor win the understand ing ~. Baiæ and its retreats, defiled by obscenity, and stained wilh blood, were doomed to devastation; and earthquakes, Avar and pestilence were employed in succession to waste its fields, and to depopulate its shores. Its pompous villas were gradually le velled in the dust; ils gay alcoves were swallowed up in the sea; its salubrious waters were turned into pools of infection ; and its gales lhat once breathed health and perfume, now wafted poison and death. The towns forsaken by the inhabitants, gradually sunk to ruin, and the most delicious region the sun beholds in his course, is now a desert, and seems destined lo expiate in ages of silence and desoiation the crimes of the last degenerate TRomans 5. 1 Diversorium vitiorum esse cæperunt.

Seneca, Ep. Ii. " It began to be the abode of every vice." 2 With all due respect to the partial opinion of the admirers of Silius, Martial, and Statius, the compositions of these authors are the offspring of study and exertion, and though in different proportions, yet always in some degree, strained, harsh, and obscure. They have been praised, it is true, but principally, I believe, by their editors and annotalors. Pliny, indeed, speaks with kindness aud partiality of Mar tial, but his praise seems dictated less by his taste than his gralilude ; and that his opinion of Martial's poetical powers was nol very high, may be suspected from the equivocal expression with which he closes his eulogium. "At non ermit œterna quee scripsit ! non erunt fortasse : ille tamen scripsil tanquam futura *."

In fact, Naples is more indebted to a single modern poet, lhan to the three ancients above mentioned united. I allude to Sannazarius, who has celebrated the scenery of his country in a strain, pure, graceful and Yirgilian, aud interwoven all the characteristic features of the Bay with the subject of his eclogues aud elegies. * But his writings will not be eternal ! they will not be eternal, though he wrote as if he expected that they would be so. 5 The present unwholesomenessof Baiæ and its bay, if real, must be ascribed partly to the same cause as lhat of the lakes Agnano aud Averno; and partly to the streams and sources ouce collected on Ihe hills behind it in aqueducts and reservoirs, now spreading and oozing down the declivities, aud settling in Ihe hollows below. In a warm climate all stagnant water becomes putrid during ihe hot months.

This in- The morning was now far advanced, and I turned towards the west to view the island, which is highly cultivated, thickly inha bited, and presents to a spectator beholding it from the castle a most delightful grove of mulberries, poplars, and vines, with domes, and clusters of white houses intermingled Juvenal * seems to allude to it as a solitary retreat in his time; it does not merit that appellation at present; in truth, it resembles a large town interspersed wilh orchards, gardens, and public walks. The views which have been described above are not the only prospects which the castle affords ; it extends ils perspective over iVaples, the lower part excepted, which is covered by the promi nency of Pausilypus, includes Vesuvius, Stabiœ, Surrenium, and terminates in the island of Capreæ.

It is perhaps one of the finest points of view, as it looks down on the bay of Pateoli, which is the most delicious part ofthe crater 2. Close under ihe southern point of Prochyta rises another little island, now called Vivara. "Whether this island has been de tached from Prochyta by some subterraneous convulsion, or whether il existed in ancient limes and be that which Ovid men tions under the appellation of Pithecusæ habitantum nomine dictæ 3, I leave the learned reader to determine. I shall content myself with observing, that it answers Ihe description given by the poet, and swells into a little barren hill in the centre 4. The truth is, convenience might easily be remedied, and will, without doubt, when Ihe government becomes more active, and the taste of the Neapolitan gentry more rural. •* Qnainvis digressu veteris confusus amici, Laudo tamen vacuis quod sedem figere Cumis.

Destines, atque unum civem donare Sibylla*.-. Janua Baiarum est, et gratum littus amœni Secessns. Ego vel Prochytam pr-rpono Suburrae. Juv. iii. I — 5. Though, when I see ray long-lov'd friend depart, The mournful verse comes struggling from my heart, Speed him, ye Gods, to Cumæ's lonely fane, And give one subject to the Sybil's reign, Sweet be his sojourn, in the pleasant land That leads to Baiæ's salutary strand ; For me, I envy such a tranquil home, And Prochyta itself prefer to Rome. Hodgson's Translation. 2 The bay of Naples is often called the Crater. .... And Pithecusæ nam'd From its inhabitants (apes). sterilique locatas Colle Pithecnsas Met. xiv. 90. . . . . And Pithecusæ, perch'd Upon a barren hill. that the names of these islands have been applied in a very con fused and, indiscriminate manner by many of the ancients, and an attempt lo reconcile their differences would employ more time and attention than the subject deserves ; especially, as every material circumstance connected with their history, situation, and features is sufficiently ascertained, notwithstanding such verbal difficulties, and perhaps poetical mistakes or misrepresentations.

While I thus indulged myself in solitude and repose in the castle of Prochyta, my fellow travellers were employed in exploring the neighbouring island of Ischia, anciently Arime, Inarime, and Ænaria, and perhaps sometimes Pithecusæ. As it is only about two miles distant from the southern extremity oi Prochyta, and as it is distinguished by a very bold and lofty mountain, its scenery, owing to the extreme clearness of the air, was brought as it were under my eye, and appeared as distinct as similar objects in northern climates at the distance of half a mile. The following particu lars may suffice to give the reader a tolerable notion of this island. The town of Ischia, from which the modern name is derived, stands in a little bay opposite the island of Vivara , about two miles from the nearest point of Prochyta.

This bay is defended by a castle seated on a high rock, which communicates with the shore by an isthmus of sand. Ischia or Inarime was famed in ancient times for its eruptions, aud all the varied and dreadful phenomena that accompany the constant action of subterraneous fires. Resides the ordinary effects of volcanic fermentation, earthquakes, torrents of lava rolling down the declivities, or showers of ashes and cinders overwhelming the country, historians talk of flames rising suddenly from the cracks and fissures of the earth, and spreading like a conflagration over ihe whole surface of the island ; of hot water bursting out from unknown sources, and roll ing through the fields with all Ihe fury and mischief of a torrent; of mounlains suddenly sinking into the abyss below, and as suddenly shooting up again increased in bulk and elevation ; of vast masses of land detached from the shore and hurled into the sea, and again heaved up by the waters and thrown back on the shore '.

With such tremendous events on record before them, it is no wonder lhat the poets should have placed Typhæus himself under this island, and ascribed its convulsive throes to the agitations of that giant writhing under his tortures. The principal feature oi Ischia is the mountain anciently named Epopeus, now for euphony softened into Epomeo, but more generally called by the people Monte San Nicolo. To visit this mountain was our first business ; therefore the next morning, about four o'clock, we mounted our mules and began the ascent; the road is extremely steep and craggy, and at length with much 1 Strabo , Lib. v. Plin. lib. ii. c. 89. Jul. Obs. Sub. de Prod. exertion we reached ihe summit, but found it so enveloped in clouds, lhat one of the grand objects of our excursion, the exten sive view which is said to comprehend almost half ihe southern coast of Italy, was nearly lost lo us.

However, our disappointment was compensated by the local knowledge ofthe country, which our progress up and round the mountain enabled us to acquire. The summit is formed of a sort of grey or whitish lava, in the midst of which ihe form of the crater is easily distinguishable. Two her mits and a soldier inhabit this solitary spot, and occupy apartments cut out of the solid rock. This mountain, and indeed the whole island, is evidently of vol canic origin, and formed of lava, lufo, and pumice stone. No eruption however has taken place since the year 1302, when the convulsions that shook the mountain were so violent, and the rivers of burning fluid that poured down its sides so extensive and so des tructive, that the towns and villages were all levelled with the ground or consumed, most of the inhabitants were destroyed, and the few survivors were driven in terror from iheir homes.

Since this tremendous explosion the island has enjoyed a slate of tranquillity, and all apprehension of similar visitations seems removed. The subterraneous fire however is not extinguished, and the num ber of hoi fountains that spring up in different places still attest its existence and activity. The surface of Ischia is very beautifully varied by vineyards, gardens, groves of chestnut, and villages. It is intersected by num berless sleep and narrow dells, which are shaded by forest trees intermingled wilh aloes, myrtles, and other odoriferous shrubs, that shoot out of the fissures of the rocks, and wave over their summits. The soil is fertile, and peculiarly favorable to vines; hence ihe wine of Ischia is plentiful, and held in considerable estimation ; it is lodged in caverns worked out of the rocks, and formed into very capacious and cool cellars ; a method of keeping wine practised nol only here and in some other pans of Italy, but in Austria, and various transalpine wine countries ; it has many advantages, and implies a great degree of honesty and mutual con fidence among the inhabitants.

Resides Ischia, there are nine towns and several villages; one of the former, Foria, is as large as the capital itself, and I believe more populous. Pa/izais, on the southern side of the isle, and near it, on an insulated and conical rock, stands a fortress. Casamicciola is placed nearly on the summit of Mount Epomeo,- these towns have all one or two large churches, as many convents, and gene rally some medicinal waters, or hot baths, or sands, within their confines. The island of Ischia is extremely well peopled, and highly cultivated ; and as ils beauty, its waters, and Ihe coolness and salubrity of its air, attract a considerable number of visitants to it in summer time, it may be considered as very prosperous and flourishing. Its coasts present a great variety of romantic scenery, as they are in general bold and craggy, indented with little bays, jutting out in points, and lined wilh shapeless rocks which have been torn in moments of convulsion from the shore, or hurled from the precipices above.

Such is Inarime, at present the seat of rural beauty and fertility, the resort of health and pleasure, very different from the shattered mountain tumbled in ancient days by Jupiter on the giant monster ', for ever resounding with his groans, and inllamed by his burning breath 2. On our return we touched at Procida, and again re-embarking crossed the bay of Pozzuolo. The port that once engrossed the commerce of the East, and was accustomed to behold the Roman navy riving on its bosom, was all solitude and silence ; not one sail was spread, not even a boat was seen to ply in its forsaken waters. The Julian mole, Lucrinoque addita claustra 5 no longer repel the indignant waves .■ the royal structure which was numbered among the wonders of Italy, has scarcely left a trace of its exist ence ; and the moral of the poet is literally exemplified in Ihe very instance which he selected for its illustration.

Debemur motti nos nostraque; sive receptus Terra Neplunus classes aquilonibus arcet, Regis opus* . . . Hor. D. Arte Poeticd. 63. "We passed under Nisida, rising as a theatre from the sea ; its lower part is covered wilh buildings, the upper is crowned as anciently with wood. Sylvaque quam fixam pelago Nesida coronat 5. Stat. 1 Quæ turbine nigro Fumantem pvemit lapetum, flammasque rebell i Ore ejectantem. SU. Lib. xii. 148. Whose load o'erwhelms The rebel giant, from whose mouth expire Eddies of lurid sinol_e, and ruddy fire. 2 Ischia is about eighteen miles in circumference, and may contain about seventy square miles; the number of its inhabitants amounts to four-and twenty thousand. It belongs to the King of Naples, and brings him a considerable income, arising prin cipally from a tax on its wines. 5 Virgil, Georgic.

II. i5r. * We and our noblest works to fale must yield ; Ev'n Cæsar's mole, which royal pride might build. Where Neptune far into the land extends, And from the raging north our fleets defends. Francis. And the wood that crowns The Nesian isle, deep rooted in the main. Il was once the rural retreat of Rrutus, and frequently honoured with Cicero's presence when on a visit to his friend. On doubling the promontory oiPosi/ipo, we beheld the bay with boats without number, skimming over its smooth surface, and Na ples extended along the coast in all its glory full before us. The immense line of white edifices stretched along the beach, and spread over the hills behind; the bold but verdant coasts on either side, glittering with towns, villages, convents, and villas; and Mount" Vesuvius raising its scorched summit almost in the centre, form a picture of singular beauty, and render this view from the sea preferable to every olher, because it alone combines all the characteristic features of this matchless prospect.

We landed at sunset, and sat down lo dinner with our windows open full on the bay, the colours of which were gradually fading away and softening into the dim tints of twilight. "We now turned our attention to Vesuvius, and resolved lo visit that mountain without delay, and the more so as the increasing heat of the weather might, in a short time, render such an excur sion extremely inconvenient. Therefore, leaving Naples about three o'clock next morning, we reached Portici, where guides wilh mules had been previously engaged to meet us at four, and instantly began the ascent. Vesuvius rises in a gentle swell from the shore ; the first part or base of the mountain is covered wilh towns on all sides, such as Portici, Torre del Greco, Torre dell' Anmtnziata, on the sea coast; and Ottaiano, Somma, Massa, etc., on the»inland side.