diff options
Diffstat (limited to '30634-tei')
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/30634-tei.tei | 12999 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/frontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 186314 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/frontisth.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33186 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus01.jpg | bin | 0 -> 196543 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus01th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 35588 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus02.jpg | bin | 0 -> 197403 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus02th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 34931 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus03.jpg | bin | 0 -> 190592 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus03th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32370 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus04.jpg | bin | 0 -> 196770 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus04th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31732 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus05.jpg | bin | 0 -> 195095 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus05th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32358 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus06.jpg | bin | 0 -> 193421 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus06th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32570 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus07.jpg | bin | 0 -> 194819 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus07th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31116 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus08.jpg | bin | 0 -> 194261 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus08th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31503 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus09.jpg | bin | 0 -> 164869 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus09th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 29639 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus10.jpg | bin | 0 -> 188716 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus10th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 34402 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus11.jpg | bin | 0 -> 192967 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus11th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 34665 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus12.jpg | bin | 0 -> 198778 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus12th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 36267 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus13.jpg | bin | 0 -> 197254 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus13th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33195 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus14.jpg | bin | 0 -> 180518 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus14th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 29775 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus15.jpg | bin | 0 -> 198334 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus15th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 34757 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus16.jpg | bin | 0 -> 188919 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus16th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31202 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus17.jpg | bin | 0 -> 196785 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus17th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33215 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus18.jpg | bin | 0 -> 185287 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus18th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31354 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus19.jpg | bin | 0 -> 190543 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus19th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32052 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus20.jpg | bin | 0 -> 175140 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus20th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 26994 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus21.jpg | bin | 0 -> 194633 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus21th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 31019 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus22.jpg | bin | 0 -> 189666 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus22th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 28699 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus23.jpg | bin | 0 -> 193429 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus23th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 28325 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus24.jpg | bin | 0 -> 200186 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 30634-tei/images/illus24th.jpg | bin | 0 -> 30692 bytes |
51 files changed, 12999 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/30634-tei/30634-tei.tei b/30634-tei/30634-tei.tei new file mode 100644 index 0000000..014b00a --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/30634-tei.tei @@ -0,0 +1,12999 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> +<!DOCTYPE TEI.2 SYSTEM "http://www.gutenberg.org/tei/marcello/0.4/dtd/pgtei.dtd"> +<TEI.2 lang="en"> + <teiHeader> + <fileDesc> + <titleStmt> + <title>The Naples Riviera</title> + <author><name reg="Vaughan, Herbert M.">Herbert M. Vaughan</name></author> + </titleStmt> + <publicationStmt> + <publisher>Project Gutenberg TEI edition</publisher> + <date value="2009-12-09">December 9, 2009</date> + <idno type='etext-no'>30634</idno> + <availability> + <p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere + at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. + You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under + the terms of the Project Gutenberg License online at + www.gutenberg.org/license</p> + </availability> + </publicationStmt> + <sourceDesc> + <p>Vaughan, Herbert M.: The Naples Riviera. - London : Methuen, 1907</p> + </sourceDesc> + </fileDesc> + <encodingDesc> + </encodingDesc> + <profileDesc> + <langUsage> + <language id="it" /> + <language id="fr" /> + <language id="en" /> + <language id="de" /> + </langUsage> + </profileDesc> + <revisionDesc> + <change> + <date value="2009-12-09">December 9, 2009</date> + <respStmt> + <resp>Produced by <name>Juliet Sutherland</name> and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net.</resp> + </respStmt> + <item>Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1</item> + </change> + </revisionDesc> + </teiHeader> + + <pgExtensions> + <pgStyleSheet> + .italic { font-style: italic } + .smallcaps { font-variant: small-caps } + .small { font-size: small } + .center { text-align: center } + figure { text-align: center; width: 100% } + head { text-align: center } + lg { margin-left: 2; font-size: 90% } + </pgStyleSheet> + <!-- uncomment this CharMap to directly generate ISO 8859-1; replace "(two hyphens)" in the first char with the characters mentioned --> + <!--<pgCharMap formats="txt"> + <char id="U0x2014"> + <charName>mdash</charName> + <desc>EM DASH</desc> + <mapping>(two hyphens)</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2018"> + <charName>lsquo</charName> + <desc>LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>'</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2019"> + <charName>rsquo</charName> + <desc>RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>'</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x201C"> + <charName>ldquo</charName> + <desc>LEFT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>"</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x201D"> + <charName>rdquo</charName> + <desc>RIGHT DOUBLE QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>"</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x201E"> + <charName>rdquo</charName> + <desc>DOUBLE LOW-9 QUOTATION QUOTATION MARK</desc> + <mapping>"</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x153"> + <charName>oelig</charName> + <desc>LATIN SMALL LIGATURE OE</desc> + <mapping>oe</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x113"> + <charName>emacr</charName> + <desc>LATIN SMALL LETTER E WITH MACRON</desc> + <mapping>e</mapping> + </char> + <char id="U0x2009"> + <charName>thinsp</charName> + <desc>THIN SPACE</desc> + <mapping></mapping> + </char> + </pgCharMap>--> + </pgExtensions> + +<text lang="en"> +<front> + <div> + <divGen type="pgheader" /> + </div> + + <div> + <divGen type="encodingDesc" /> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgii'/> + <anchor id="frontis"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: CHARCOAL CARRIERS, AMALFI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/frontisth.jpg" rend="width: 100%"> + <head rend="small"><xref url="images/frontis.jpg">CHARCOAL CARRIERS, AMALFI</xref></head> + <figDesc>Illustration: Charcoal Carriers, Amalfi</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> + </div><titlePage rend="page-break-before: right; center"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgiii'/> + +<docTitle> + <titlePart type="main"><hi rend="font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold">THE</hi><lb/> + <hi rend="font-size: xx-large; font-weight: bold">NAPLES RIVIERA</hi></titlePart> +</docTitle> + +<byline rend="margin-top: 2">BY<lb/> +<docAuthor rend="font-size: large">HERBERT M. VAUGHAN, B.A. (<hi rend='smallcaps'>Oxon.</hi>)</docAuthor> + <lb/> + <hi rend="font-size: x-small">AUTHOR OF “THE LAST OF THE ROYAL STUARTS”</hi> +</byline> +<lb/><lb/><lb/> +<titlePart> + <hi rend="font-size: small">WITH TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY</hi><lb/> +MAURICE GREIFFENHAGEN +</titlePart> +<lb/><lb/><lb/> +<docImprint rend="margin-top: 3; font-size: large"> + METHUEN & CO<lb/> + 36 ESSEX STREET W.C.<lb/> + LONDON +</docImprint> + </titlePage> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb/><anchor id='Pgiv'/> + +<p rend="center"> +<hi rend='italic'>First Published in 1907</hi> +</p> + +<p rend="center; page-break-before: always"> + <pb/><anchor id='Pgv'/> +TO<lb/> +<hi rend="font-size: large">G. L. L.</hi><lb/> +IN MEMORY OF<lb/> +MANY PLEASANT DAYS IN THE SUNNY SOUTH<lb/> +THIS BOOK IS<lb/> +AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED<lb/> +BY THE AUTHOR +</p> + +<pb/><anchor id='Pgvi'/> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n='vii'/><anchor id='Pgvii'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="Contents"/> +<head>CONTENTS</head> + <table rend="tblcolumns: 'l lw(43m) r'"> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER I</cell> + <cell><hi rend="font-size: x-small">PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Introductory</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg001">1</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER II</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Vesuvian Shore and Monte Sant’ Angelo</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg008">8</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER III</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>La Città Morta</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg038">38</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER IV</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Vesuvius</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg066">66</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER V</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Corniche Road</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg100">100</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER VI</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Amalfi and the Festival of St Andrew</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg126">126</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER VII</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ravello and the Rufoli</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg152">152</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER VIII</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Salerno</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg172">172</ref></cell> + </row> + <pb n='viii'/><anchor id='Pgviii'/> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER IX</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Paestum and the Glory that was Greece</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg198">198</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER X</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Sorrento and its Poet</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg221">221</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER XI</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Capri and Tiberius the Tyrant</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg249">249</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER XII</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ischia and the Lady of the Rock</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg275">275</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">CHAPTER XIII</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Puteoli and the Grandeur that was Rome</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg295">295</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell rend="center">————</cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Index</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="Pg321">321</ref></cell> + </row> + </table> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n='ix'/><anchor id='Pgix'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="List of Illustrations"/> +<head>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</head> + +<table rend="tblcolumns: 'l lw(35m) r'"> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend="font-size: x-small">PAGE</hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Charcoal Carriers, Amalfi</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><hi rend='italic'><ref target="frontis">Frontispiece</ref></hi></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Capriote Fisherman’s Wife</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus01">16</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Road near Castellamare</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus02">30</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Monte Faito, Castellamare</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus03">37</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Forum, Pompeii</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus04">46</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>La Casa dei Vettii, Pompeii</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus05">58</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus06">80</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Pozzano</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus07">101</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Evening at Amalfi</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus08">124</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Amalfi</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus09">132</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>In the Valley of the Mills, Amalfi</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus10">140</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Amalfi: Piazza and Duomo</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus11">148</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ravello: Il Duomo</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus12">156</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Street in Ravello</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus13">163</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Minori at Sunset</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus14">170</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>On the Road To Ravello</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus15">186</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>The Temple of Neptune, Paestum</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus16">204</ref></cell> + </row> + <pb n='x'/><anchor id='Pgx'/> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Afternoon, Sorrento</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus17">230</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Faraglioni Rocks, Capri</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus18">249</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Capri From the Villa Jovis</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus19">254</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>In the Blue Grotto, Capri</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus20">262</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>A Gateway, Capri</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus21">274</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>On the Piccola Marina, Capri</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus22">288</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>Ischia From Castellamare (Sunset)</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus23">294</ref></cell> + </row> + <row> + <cell> </cell> + <cell><hi rend='smallcaps'>On the Beach</hi></cell> + <cell rend="text-align: right"><ref target="illus24">306</ref></cell> + </row> +</table> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='xi'/><anchor id='Pgxi'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="Bibliography"/> +<head>BIBLIOGRAPHY</head> + +<p rend="center"> +A small selection out of the books I have consulted during the +preparation of this work is given below:— +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>E. Gibbon</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Dean Merivale</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>The Romans under the Empire</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Pliny’s Letters</hi>: (Church’s and Brodribb’s Translation, London, +1897). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. Phillips</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Vesuvius</hi> (Oxford, 1869). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>C. Ramage</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Nooks and Byways of Italy</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>C. Lenormant</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>À Travers la Lucanie et l’Apulie</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>W. J. A. Stamer</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi> (London, 1878). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>E. Neville Rolfe</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Naples in 1888</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Constance Giglioli</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Naples in 1799</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>C. L. Sismondi</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Histoire des <anchor id="corrxi"/><corr sic="Republiques">Républiques</corr> Italiennes</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>L. Alberti</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Descrizione di tutta l’ Italia</hi> (Venetia, 1596). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>C. Mills</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>The Travels of Theodore Ducas</hi> (London, 1822). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Les Délices d’Italie</hi> (Paris, 1707). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Nuova Guida de’ Forastieri in Napoli, etc.</hi> (1751). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Count Stolberg</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Travels through Italy and Sicily in 1756</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. H. Norway</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Naples, Past and Present</hi> (London, 1904). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>E. Busk</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Folk-Songs of Italy</hi>. +</p> +<pb n='xii'/><anchor id='Pgxii'/> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. A. Symonds</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Sketches and Studies in Italy</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Catherine Phillimore</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Studies in Italian Literature</hi> +(London, 1891). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>T. A. Trollope</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>A Decade of Italian Women</hi> (London, 1859). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>G. Boccaccio</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Il Decamerone</hi>. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. Mau</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Pompeii: its Life and Art</hi> (New York, 1899). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. Fergusson</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Handbook of Architecture</hi> (London, 1859). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>Franz von Reber</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>History of Ancient and Mediæval Art</hi> (New +York, 1882). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>E. Jameson</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Sacred and Legendary Art</hi> (London, 1879). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>J. Elworthy</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>History of the Evil Eye</hi> (London, 1888). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>N. Valletta</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Cicalata sul Fascino detto Jettatura</hi> (Napoli, 1819). +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='smallcaps'>A. Canale</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Storia dell’ Isola di Capri</hi>. +</p> + +<p><hi rend='smallcaps'>G. Amalfi</hi>: <hi rend='italic'>Tradizioni ed Vsi nella Penisola Sorrentina</hi>. +</p> + </div> + +</front> +<body rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n='1'/><anchor id='Pg001'/> + +<head>THE NAPLES RIVIERA</head> +<div n="1"> + <index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="1: Introductory"/> +<head>CHAPTER I</head> + +<head type="sub">INTRODUCTORY</head> + +<epigraph><lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 7'><q rend="post: none">In otia natam</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Parthenopen.</q></l> +</lg> +</epigraph> +<p> +That the city of Naples can prove very delightful, +very amusing, and very instructive for a +week or ten days no one will attempt to dispute. +There are long mornings to be spent in inspecting +the churches scattered throughout the narrow streets +of the old town,—harlequins in coloured marble and +painted stucco though they be, they are yet treasure-houses +containing some of the most precious monuments +of Gothic and Renaissance art that all Italy +can display. There are afternoon hours that can be +passed pleasantly amidst the endless halls and galleries +of the great Museo Nazionale, where the antiquities +of Pompeii and Herculaneum may be studied in +advance, for the wise traveller will not rush headlong +into the sacred precincts of the buried cities on the +Vesuvian shore, before he has first made himself +thoroughly acquainted with the wonderful collections +preserved in the Museum. Then comes the evening +drive along the gentle winding ascent towards Posilipo +with its glorious views over bay and mountains, all +<pb n='2'/><anchor id='Pg002'/>tinged with the deep rose and violet of a Neapolitan +sunset; or the stroll along the fashionable sea front, +named after the luckless Caracciolo the modern hero +of Naples, where in endless succession the carriages +pass backwards and forwards within the limited space +between the sea and the greenery of the Villa Reale. +Or it may be that our more active feet may entice +us to mount the winding flights of stone steps leading +to the heights of Sant’ Elmo, where from the windows +of the monastery of San Martino there is spread out +before us an entrancing view that has but two possible +rivals for extent and interest in all Italy:—the +panorama of the Eternal City from the hill of San +Pietro in Montorio, and that of Florence with the +valley of the Arno from the lofty terrace of San +Miniato. We can while away many hours leisurely in +wandering on the bustling Chiaja or Toledo with +their shops and their amusing scenes of city life, or +in the poorer quarters around the Mercato, where +the inhabitants ply their daily avocations in the open +air, and eat, play, quarrel, flirt, fight or gossip—do +everything in short save go to bed—quite unconcernedly +before the critical and non-admiring eyes +of casual strangers. Pleasant it is to hunt for old +prints, books and other treasures amongst the dark +unwholesome dens that lie in the shadow of the +gorgeous church of Santa Chiara or in the musty-smelling +shops of the curiosity dealers in the Strada +Costantinopoli, picking up here a volume of some +<hi rend='italic'>cinque-cento</hi> classic and there a piece of old china that +may or may not have had its birth in the famous +factory of Capodimonte. All this studying of historic +sculpture in the churches and of antiquities in the +<pb n='3'/><anchor id='Pg003'/>Museum, this observing the daily life of the populace, +and bargain-hunting in the Strada de’ Tribunali, +are agreeable enough for a while, but of necessity +there comes a time when the mind grows weary of +yelling people and of jostling crowds, of stuffy +churches and of the chilly halls of the Museum, of +steep dirty streets and of glaring boulevards, so that +we begin to sigh for fresh air and a change of scene. +Nor is there any means of escape within the precincts +of the city itself from the eternal cracking of whips, +from the insulting compliments (or complimentary +insults) of the incorrigible cabmen, from the continuous +babel of unmusical voices, and from the reiterated +strains of <q>Santa Lucia</q> or <q>Margari</q> howled +from raucous throats or strummed from rickety +street-organs. Oh for peace, and rest, and a whiff +of pure country air! For there are no walks in or +around the City of the Siren, where there is nowhere +to stroll save the narrow strip of the much-vaunted +Villa (which is either damp or dusty according to +weather) or the fatiguing ascent amidst walled gardens +and newly built houses to the heights of the Vomero, +which are covered with a raw suburb. Moreover our +pristine delight in the place is beginning to flag, as +we gradually realise that the city, like the majority +of great modern towns, is being practically rebuilt to +the annihilation of its old-world features, which used +to give to Naples its peculiar charm and its marked +individuality amongst large sea-ports. Long ago +has disappeared Santa Brigida, that picturesque high-coloured +slum, on whose site stands the garish domed +gallery of which the Neapolitans are so proud; gone +in these latter days is classic Santa Lucia with its +<pb n='4'/><anchor id='Pg004'/>water-gate and its fountain, its vendors of medicated +water and <hi rend='italic'>frutti di mare</hi>, those toothsome shell fish of +the unsavoury beach; vanished for ever is many a landmark +of old Naples, and new buildings, streets and +squares, blank, dreary, pretentious and staring, have +arisen in their places. This thorough <hi rend='italic'>sventramento di +Napoli</hi>, as the citizens graphically term this drastic +reconstruction of the old capital of the Kingdom of +the Two Sicilies, is no doubt beneficial, not to say +necessary, and we make no protest against these +wholesale changes, which have certainly tended to +destroy utterly its ancient character and appearance. +But all seems commonplace, new, smart, and unpoetic, +and we quickly grow weary of Naples now that it +has been turned into a Liverpool of the South without +the local colour and the peculiar attributes of which +author and artist have so often raved. The life of +the people, picturesque enough in its old setting, now +appears mean and squalid; the toilers in the streets +look jaded, oppressed and discontented; we search +in vain for the spontaneous gaiety of which we have +heard so much. We feel disappointed, cheated even, +in our expectations of Naples, and we begin to understand +that its chief attraction consists in its proximity +to the scenes of beauty that mark the course of its +Riviera. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb"/> + +<p> +The Riviera of Naples may be said to extend from +the heights of Cumae, at the end of the Bay of Gaeta +to the north, as far as Salerno in a southerly direction, +whilst, lying close to this stretch of shore, are included +the three populous islands of Capri, Procida and +Ischia, which in prehistoric times doubtless formed +<pb n='5'/><anchor id='Pg005'/>part and parcel of the Parthenopean coast itself. +Our pleasant task it is to write of these classic shores +and islands, where the beauties of nature contend for +pre-eminence with the glorious traditions of the past +that centre round them. What spot on earth can +surpass, or even be compared with, Amalfi in the +perfect lustre of its setting? What loftier or bolder +cliffs than those of Capri can the wild bleak headlands +of the North Sea exhibit? The fertile lands of +France cannot vie with the richness of the Sorrentine +Plain, nor can any mountain on the face of the globe +rival in human interest the peak of Vesuvius; +Pompeii is unique, the most precious storehouse of +ancient knowledge the world possesses; whilst the +Bay of Baia recalls the days of Roman power and +luxury more vividly to our minds than any place +save the Eternal City itself. And again: what illustrious +names in history and in literature—classical, +medieval, modern—are for ever associated with these +smiling shores! Robert Guiscard and Hildebrand +in quiet Salerno, Tasso at health-giving Sorrento, +Vittoria Colonna in her palace-fortress on the crags +of Ischia, the great Apostle of the west at Puteoli:—these +are but a few of the more eminent and gracious +figures that arise before us at the casual bidding of +memory. Then there are the infamous, as well as +the virtuous and the gallant, whose misdeeds are +still freshly remembered upon these coasts or in +their fertile valleys. The sinister Tiberius, the half-crazy +and wholly vicious Caligula, many a king and +queen of evil repute that ruled Naples, the vile Pier-Luigi +Farnese, the adventurer Joachim Murat, all +have left the marks of their personality upon the +<pb n='6'/><anchor id='Pg006'/>coveted shores of the Neapolitan Riviera. From +the days of the Sibyl and of the Trojan hero to +the stirring times of Garibaldi and of King Bomba, +which were but of yesterday, Naples and its environs +have played a prominent part in the annals and +development of the civilised western world; Roman +emperors, Pagan statesmen and poets, Norman, French +and Spanish princes, popes, saints and theologians, +merchants and scientists of the Middle Ages, writers +of the Renaissance and heroes of the <hi rend='italic'>Risorgimento</hi>, +all have combined to shed a halo of historical romance +upon Naples and its Riviera, where there is scarcely +a sea-girt town or a crumbling fortress that is not +redolent of the memory of some personage whose +name is inscribed on the roll of European history. +It seems but right, therefore, that many works should +have been written concerning this favoured corner of +Italy, so replete with natural charm and with historical +interest; and in truth multitudes of books, large and +small, witty and dull, erudite and empty, light and +heavy, prosaic and rhapsodical, have poured forth +from the prolific pens of generations of authors. We +feel sincerely the need of an apology for making a +fresh addition to the ever-increasing pile of Neapolitan +literature, and we can only urge in extenuation of +our crime of authorship that the same scene appeals +in varied ways to different persons, and that every +fresh description is apt to shed additional light upon +old familiar subjects. In the following pages we +make no profession to act the part of a guide to +the neighbourhood of Naples, for are there not the +carefully prepared pages of Murray and Baedeker, to +say nothing of the works of such writers as Augustus +<pb n='7'/><anchor id='Pg007'/>Hare, to lead the wanderer into every church and +castle, to show him every nook in valley and mountain, +and to supply him thoroughly with accurate dates +and facts? No, our treatment of this theme may +be deemed a poor one, but it has at least the merit +and the courage of following its own peculiar lines. +For we pursue our own course, and we touch lightly +here and omit there; we run to dissertation in this +place, we glide by silently in another. We take our +own views of people and places, and give them for +what they are worth to our readers to approve or to +condemn, as they think fit. We offer a medley of +history and of imagination, of biography and of private +comment; and we crave indulgence for our short-comings +by observing that any deficiencies in these +pages can easily be remedied by application to the +abundant literature upon Naples and its surrounding +districts which every good library is presumed to +contain. +</p> + +</div><div n="2" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='8'/><anchor id='Pg008'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="2: The Vesuvian Shore and Monte Sant' Angelo"/> +<head>CHAPTER II</head> + +<head type="sub">THE VESUVIAN SHORE AND MONTE SANT’ ANGELO</head> + +<p> +That little stream the Sebeto, which is indeed, as +the courtly Metastasio observes, <q>scanty in depth +of water though overflowing with honour,</q> may be considered +as the boundary line that divides the city of +Naples from its eastern environs, although it is evident +that the whole stretch of coast from Posilipo to +Torre del Greco is covered with an unbroken line of +houses. Past the highly cultivated <hi rend='italic'>Paduli</hi>, the chief +market-gardens on this side of the city, with the town +of La Barra on the fertile slopes to our left, we pass +by way of San Giovanni a Teduccio to Portici, once +a favourite resort of royalty. Here the dilettante +Charles III., first Bourbon King of Naples, built a +palace and laid out gardens in the days of patches +and powder, constructing a royal pleasaunce that was +destined to become the chief residence of the temporary +supplanter of his own family, Joachim Murat, the +citizen king of Naples and brother-in-law of the great +Napoleon. Villa and gardens still remain, but +monarchs have ceased to visit Portici since the days +of Bomba, and the old royal demesne has been turned +into an agricultural college. Adjoining and practically +forming part of Portici is the town of Resina, which +preserves almost intact the old classical name of Retina +<pb n='9'/><anchor id='Pg009'/>that it bore in the distant days when it served as the +port of Herculaneum. Here then in the mean streets +of Resina we find ourselves standing above, though +certainly not upon, historic ground, for the temples and +villas, the theatres and private houses of the famous +buried city lie far below the surface trodden by our +feet. To visit Herculaneum it is necessary for us to +descend some seventy to a hundred feet into the +depths of the earth, passing more than one layer of +ancient lava, for Resina and Portici themselves are but +modern editions of former towns that have been +engulfed in the course of ages. If the stranger can +derive any solid satisfaction from the descent by a +gloomy underground passage and from fleeting glimpses +of ancient walls and dwellings seen through a forest of +wooden baulks, which serve to support the spaces +excavated, he must indeed be an enthusiast. But +most people, perhaps all sensible people, will be content +to take the undoubted interest of Herculaneum +on trust, probably agreeing (at any rate after their +visit) that the inspection of this subterranean city is +not worth the candle, by whose flickering beams alone +can objects be distinguished in the oppressive darkness. +Personally we strongly hold to the expressed opinion +of Alexandre Dumas, who declared that even the most +hardened antiquary could not desire more than one +hour’s contemplation of this hidden mass of shapeless +wreckage. <q>Herculaneum,</q> writes that genial Frenchman, +<q>but wearies our curiosity instead of exciting it. +We descend into the excavated city as into a mine by +a species of shaft; then come corridors beneath the +earth which can only be entered by the light of tapers; +and these smoke-grimed passages allow us from time +<pb n='10'/><anchor id='Pg010'/>to time to obtain a momentary glimpse of the angle of +a house, the colonnade of some temple, the steps of a +theatre. Everything is fragmentary, mutilated, dingy, +uncertain, confused, and therefore unsatisfactory. Well, +at the end of an hour spent in wandering amongst +these abysmal recesses, the most hardened archæologist, +the most dry-as-dust antiquary, the most inquisitive +of tourists begins to experience only one feeling—an +intense desire to ascend to the light of day and to +breathe once more the fresh air of the upper world.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Nevertheless, it was from these dismal caverns, black +as Erebus, that some of the choicest marbles and +bronzes that now adorn the Museum at Naples were +originally extracted. From a villa at Herculaneum +also was taken the famous collection of 3000 rolls of +papyrus, chiefly filled with the writings of the Epicurean +philosopher Philodemus, perhaps the greatest <q>find</q> +of ancient literature that has yet been made, although +the contents of this damaged library, deciphered with +equal toil and ingenuity, have not proved to be of the +value originally set upon them by expectant scholars. +But much of the city itself has yet hardly been touched +since the days when it was destroyed in the reign of +Titus, so that far below the squalid lanes of Portici +and Resina there must still exist acres upon acres of +undisturbed buildings, public and private, many of +them perhaps filled with priceless works of Greek and +Roman art, for Herculaneum, unlike Pompeii, was +never tampered with by the ancients themselves, for +the coating of volcanic mud, which filled the whole +area of the city, made impracticable a systematic +searching of its ruins by the despoiled citizens. Then, +as if nature had not already buried the city sufficiently +<pb n='11'/><anchor id='Pg011'/>deep, subsequent eruptions of Vesuvius have superimposed +additional layers of lava, whilst confiding +human beings have in their turn built habitations upon +the volcanic crust. +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb"/> + +<p> +We all know the story, perhaps mythical, of the +discovery of Herculaneum at the beginning of the +eighteenth century by the accidental sinking of a well +upon its long-forgotten site and of the subsequent +excavations made by the Prince d’Elbœuf. These so-called +explorations were, however, made in the most +greedy and destructive spirit, for the prince’s sole +object was to obtain antique works of art for his +private collection, not to make intelligent enquiries +about the dead and buried city lying beneath his +estate. Ignorant workmen were despatched to hew +and hack wholesale in the mirky depths in order to +discover statuary and paintings, and since there was +no receptacle at hand to contain the <hi rend='italic'>débris</hi>, they took +the simple course of filling in each hollow made with +the masses of rubbish already excavated. Later in the +same century the Bourbon king was induced by +Neapolitan savants to take some interest in the work, +but, strange to relate, the superintendent appointed, a +certain Spanish officer named Alcubier, was so ignorant +and careless that half the objects found under his +supervision were broken or lost before they reached +Naples; this ignoramus, it was said, even went so far +as to order whole architraves to be smashed up and +their bronze lettering to be picked out before making +a copy of the original inscription! Under these +circumstances the marvel is that anything of beauty +or value should have survived at all, for this selfish +<pb n='12'/><anchor id='Pg012'/>plundering of Herculaneum, in strong contrast with +the reverent treatment meted out to Pompeii, may be +considered one of the greatest pieces of vandalism +ever perpetrated. In spite of this wholesale destruction, +however, there must remain untouched, as we +have said, a vast quantity of objects, beautiful, useful +or curious, yet it is extremely doubtful if we shall live +to see any serious and intelligent effort made to bring +these hidden treasures forth to the light of day. +The expense of working this buried hoard would +be enormous in any case, whilst the existence of the +houses of Resina and Portici overhead necessitates +special measures of precaution on the part of the +excavators. The only method of examining Herculaneum +properly would be in fact to treat the buried +site like an immense mine by the construction of +regular galleries and shafts for the entrance of skilled +workmen, and to remove the rubbish displaced to the +outer air. Perhaps some multi-millionaire might be +found ready to undertake so arduous, yet so fascinating +a task, though we fear that the Italian Government, +which has always shown itself as tenacious of its +subterranean wealth of antiquity as it appears languid +in the work of quarrying it, would indignantly refuse +to accede to any such offer. As regards the ancient +city of Hercules, therefore, we must perforce remain +content to inspect the magnificent bronzes and the +other objects of interest that are to be found in the +Museum of Naples, for we are not likely to see any +further researches just at present, more’s the pity, +since there is every reason to suppose that a thorough +investigation conducted regardless of cost would yield up +to the world the most marvellous and valuable results. +</p> + +<pb n='13'/><anchor id='Pg013'/> + +<p> +Some two miles of dusty suburb lie between Resina +and Torre del Greco, which has been destroyed time +after time by the lava streams descending from <q>that +peak of Hell rising out of Paradise,</q> as Goethe once +named the burning mountain overhead. Nevertheless, +the Torrese continue to sit patiently at the feet of +the fire-spouting monster, trembling when he is angry, +pleased when he is quiescent, and ready to abandon +meekly their homes when he renders them insupportable +by his furious outbursts. Yet these people never +fail to return and risk the ever-present chances of +death and destruction. And little can we blame +them for their fatalism, when we gaze upon the +glorious views that reveal themselves at this spot, +whence Naples rising proudly from the sea, the rocky +islands of Ischia and Capri, the aerial heights of +Monte Sant’ Angelo and all the features of the placid +bay are seen spread around us in a panorama of +unsurpassed loveliness. Beneath lava rocks, black +and sinister, that contrast strangely in their sombre +hues with the brilliant tints of sea and sky, lie little +beaches of glittering gravel that would afford delightful +retreats for meditation, were it not for the dozens +of half-naked brown-skinned imps, children of the +fisher-folk of Torre del Greco, who wallow in the warm +sand or rush with joyful screams into the tepid surf. +The population must have increased not a little since +those days, nearly a century ago, when the unhappy +Shelley could find peace and solitude in his darkest +hours of unrest upon these shores, where it would be +well-nigh impossible for a twentieth-century poet to +espy a retreat for soothing his soul in verse. Yet +somehow, during the drowsy noontide rest when the +<pb n='14'/><anchor id='Pg014'/>active life of the South ceases, if only for an hour or +so, it is still possible to catch the spirit in which that +melancholy wanderer indited one of his most exquisite +lyrics:—sunshine, clear sky, murmuring seas, the +fragrance of the Italian spring, all are present to our +reverie; and how true and perfect a picture has the +poet-artist drawn for us of this beautiful Vesuvian +shore! +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The sun is warm, the sky is clear,</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>The waves are dancing fast and bright,</l> +<l>Blue isles and snowy mountains wear</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>The purple noon’s transparent light:</l> +<l>The breath of the moist earth is light</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>Around its unexpanded buds;</l> +<l>Like many a voice of one delight,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>The winds, the birds, the ocean floods,</l> +<l>The City’s voice itself is soft, like Solitude’s.</l> +</lg> +<lg> +<l>I see the Deep’s untrampled floor</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>With green and purple seaweeds strown;</l> +<l>I see the waves upon the shore,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>Like light dissolved in star-showers, thrown:</l> +<l>I sit upon the sands alone;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>The lightning of the noontide ocean</l> +<l>Is flashing round me, and a tone</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>Arises from its measured motion,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">How sweet! did any heart now share in my emotion?</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +But it must be admitted that the seashore by +Torre del Greco does not often lend itself as a +suitable spot for romantic or solitary communings +with nature; it is a busy place where the struggle +for life is keen and practical enough, and its inhabitants +have little time or inclination to bestow on the +pursuit of poetry. As in all the towns of the <hi rend='italic'>Terra +di Lavoro</hi>, as this collection of human ant-hills on +<pb n='15'/><anchor id='Pg015'/>the eastern side of Naples is sometimes designated, +the old command given to the first parents of mankind—<q>by +the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat +bread</q>—is scrupulously observed in Torre del Greco. +It is little enough, however, that these frugal people +demand, for a hunk of coarse bread, tempered with a +handful of beans or an orange in winter or with a +slice of luscious pink water-melon or a few figs in +summer, is thought to constitute a full meal in this +climate; nor are these simple viands washed down by +anything more potent than a draught of <hi rend='italic'>mezzo-vino</hi>, +the weak sour wine of the country. A dish of +maccaroni or a plateful of kid or veal garnished with +vegetables is a treat to be reserved for a marriage or +some great Church festival, whilst a chicken is regarded +as a luxury in which only <hi rend='italic'>gran’ signori</hi> of +boundless wealth can afford to indulge. Amongst the +many classes of toilers with which populous Torre del +Greco abounds, that of the coral-fishers is perhaps the +most interesting. There is pure romance in the very +notion of hunting for the beautiful coloured substance +lying hidden in the crystalline depths of the Mediterranean, +and its quest is not a little suggestive of +azure caverns beneath the waves, peopled by soft-eyed +mermaids and strange iridescent fishes. As a matter +of fact, it would be difficult to name a harder occupation +or a more dismal monotonous existence than that +of the coral-fishers, many hundreds of whom leave +this little port every spring in order to spend the +summer months on the coasts of Tripoli, Sardinia, or +Sicily. The men employed, who work under contract +during some six months of unending drudgery, are by +no means all natives of Torre del Greco, but are +<pb n='16'/><anchor id='Pg016'/>collected from various places of the neighbourhood, +not a few of them being thrifty youths from Capri, +who are eager to amass as quickly as possible the +lump sum of money requisite to permit of marriage. +It is true that the amount actually paid by the +owners of the coral fleet sounds proportionately large, +yet it is in reality poor enough recompense when +measured by the ceaseless toil, the burning heat and +the wretched food, which the venture entails. The +lot of the coral-fisher has however much improved of +late years, partly by measures of government which +now compel the contractors to treat their servants +more humanely, and partly by the fact that the +practice of emigration in Southern Italy has reduced +the numbers of applicants for the coral-fishing business +and has thereby, indirectly at least, raised wages and +bettered the old conditions of service. A truly pitiable +account is given of these poor creatures some thirty +years ago by an English writer, whose knowledge of +the Neapolitan people and character remains probably +unsurpassed; and it is some satisfaction to reflect that +even in Mr Stamer’s day the bad old oppressive system +had already been somewhat tempered for the benefit +of these white slaves, who for nearly half the round of +the year were worse treated than King Bomba’s unhappy +victims in the pestilent prisons of Naples and +Gaeta. +</p><anchor id="illus01"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: A CAPRIOTE FISHERMAN’S WIFE]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus01th.jpg" rend="width: 100%"> + <head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus01.jpg">A CAPRIOTE FISHERMAN’S WIFE</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: A CAPRIOTE FISHERMAN’S WIFE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +<q>Badly paid, badly fed, and hard worked is the poor +coral-fisher. Compared with his, the life of a galley-slave +is one of sybaritical indolence. His treatment +was, until very recently, not one whit better than that +of the poor oppressed negro as he existed in the vivid +imagination of Mrs Harriet Beecher Stowe; +im<pb n='17'/><anchor id='Pg017'/>measurably worse than that of the real Simon Pure. +The thirty ducats for which he sold his seven months’ +services once paid, he was just as much a slave as +Uncle Tom of pious memory, harder worked, more +brutally handled. His <hi rend='italic'>padrone</hi> was a sea-monster, +alongside of whom Mr Legree would have seemed a +paragon of Quaker-like gentleness and amiability. +His word was law and a rope’s end well laid on his +sole reply to any remonstrance on the part of his +bondsmen. For six days out of the seven he kept +them working incessantly, not unfrequently on the +seventh into the bargain, if the weather was favourable; +and that they might be strong, hearty and able to +haul away, their food consisted of dry biscuits; a dish +of maccaroni with just sufficient oil to make the sign +of the cross being served out for the Sunday’s dinner.</q><note place="foot">W. J. A. Stamer: <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +In those <q>good old days,</q> not so very far distant, +the dredging nets were coarse and weighty, and the +capstan of the clumsiest and most primitive description, +so that the coral-seeking serfs under contract were +worked like bullocks until they were often wont to +fall asleep out of sheer exhaustion as they hauled +away mechanically. We can imagine then with what +raptures of joy these ill-treated mortals must have +hailed the advent of October, the month that terminated +their long spell of suffering and semi-starvation, +and with what eagerness they must have returned +homewards, the more industrious to perform odd jobs +during the winter season on farms or in factories; the +lazier to enjoy a well-earned holiday of loafing on the +quay or in the piazza. And although times have +changed for the better in the eyes of the coral-fisher, +<pb n='18'/><anchor id='Pg018'/>his lot still remains hard enough, even in the present +days of grace; whilst any employment that saps the +workman’s strength during the hot summer months +and leaves him idle or unemployed in winter time +cannot well be described as a desirable trade. Yet +the temptation to obtain a considerable sum of money +in advance, as is the case in this particular industry, +often proves overwhelming to the young man of the +Torres or of Castellamare, imprudently married before +he is out of his teens and with an ever-increasing +family. It is so easy to accept the proffered gold, +which will keep wife and babies in comparative comfort +throughout the long hot summer; unskilled labour +is paid so lightly on these teeming shores of the Terra +di Lavoro; saddled already with children he cannot +make up his feeble mind to emigrate; in short, to go +a-coralling is his sole chance, if he wishes to keep his +home together and to stave off charity or starvation +from his young wife and family. +</p> + +<p> +Beyond Torre del Greco we seem to escape to +a certain extent from the enveloping network of +human dwellings, so that we are at last enabled +to gain some idea of the natural features of the +country. The oriental character of the landscape, +which marks more or less distinctly the whole of +the Neapolitan coast-line, will at once be noticed in +the domed farm buildings, not unlike Mahommedan +<hi rend='italic'>koubbas</hi>, washed a glistening white, that stand out +sharply against the lugubrious tints of the lava beds. +Above us, crowning a bosky hillock that juts forth +from the mountain flank, stands one of the many +convents of the monks of Camaldoli, whose houses are +scattered throughout the breadth of Southern Italy. +<pb n='19'/><anchor id='Pg019'/>The position of their Vesuvian settlement is certainly +unique, for the rising ground on which it is perched +appears like some verdant oasis amid the arid fields +of sable lava. Secure in its commanding site, the +monastery has many a time been completely surrounded +by burning streams, which have invariably +left the building and its woody demesne unscathed. +More than once have the good brethren, who wear the +white robe of St Romualdo of Ravenna, looked down +from their convent walls upon the work of destruction +below, and have watched the waves of liquid fire surging +angrily but uselessly round the rocky base of their +retreat. Hard manual labour, prayer, solitude and +contemplation: these are the chief duties enjoined by +the famous Tuscan order, and surely no more suitable +place for carrying out such precepts could have been +chosen by the pious founder of this Vesuvian convent. +For what scenes on earth could be deemed more +beautiful to contemplate, we wonder, than the wide +stretches of heaven and ocean, of fertile plain and of +rugged mountain, that are ever before the eyes of +the brethren; or more instructive than the constant +spectacle of disappointed human ambition and energy, +which is afforded by the barren lava beds and the +ruined cities close at hand! +</p> + +<p> +Descending from the slopes of Camaldoli, we cross +a tract of country wherein black lava alternates with +patches of rich cultivation and of thriving vineyards, +and gaining the high road we soon reach Torre +Annunziata. Here it is evident that the manufacture +of maccaroni forms the chief industry of its population, +for on all sides are to be seen the frames filled with +the golden coloured strings of <hi rend='italic'>pasta</hi> that have been +<pb n='20'/><anchor id='Pg020'/>hung up to dry in the sunshine. Every flat roof +in the place, moreover, is covered with smooth concrete +and protected by a low parapet for the spreading of +the grain, and on the beach are laid huge cloths +of coarse brown material that are heaped with masses +of the crude corn, whilst men with their naked feet +from time to time turn the grain so as to dry the +whole bulk. Torre Annunziata and its inland neighbour, +Gragnano, are in fact the two chief local scenes +of this industry with which the Bay of Naples has +always been so closely associated, and it is here that +we can best make ourselves acquainted with the +process of manufacturing maccaroni. By following +any one of the tall brown-skinned fellows, stripped to +the waist and bare-legged, who have been breathing +the fresh air of the street for a few moments, we +quickly arrive at the entrance of one of the many +small factories with which the town abounds. In spite +of open doors and windows its atmosphere feels hot +and stifling, for it is impregnated with tiny particles +of flour dust, which too often, alas! are apt to affect +permanently the lungs of the workmen. The dough +of maccaroni is obtained by mixing pure wheaten +flour with semolina in certain proportions, only water +being used for the purpose, whilst the task of kneading +is carried out in primitive fashion by means of a lever +worked continuously by two or more men. When the +dough has at length arrived at the required consistency +after some hours of steady kneading, it is placed in a +large perforated copper cylinder, each hole having +a central pin at the bottom and a valve on top. A +powerful screw is then employed to press down upon +the dough, which is thus squeezed out of the +imprison<pb n='021'/><anchor id='Pg021'/>ing cylinder through the holes in the serpentine shape +that is so familiar to us. On reaching a certain length +these pipes, issuing from the holes, are twisted off and +are then removed for drying to the frames in the open +air. Maccaroni has, of course, many varieties of form +and quality, from the thin fluffy vermicelli, known +under the poetical name of <hi rend='italic'>Capilli degli Angeli</hi>, to +the great thick pipe-stem-like article of ordinary +commerce. There are endless means of cooking and +dressing this, the national dish of Italy, but perhaps +the most popular of all is <hi rend='italic'>alla Napolitana</hi>, wherein +it is served with tomato sauce, to which a sprinkling +of grated Parmesan cheese is frequently added. A +compound of eggs and maccaroni, sometimes known +as a Neapolitan omelette, likewise makes an appetising +dish, though it is one that is little known to foreigners. +One circumstance is patent; the dismal so-called +<q>maccaroni pudding</q> one meets with in England +seems to have nothing in common with the delicately +flavoured, sustaining dish that can be obtained for +a few pence in any Southern restaurant. +</p> + +<p> +Torre Annunziata has the reputation of being a +dirty malodorous town, composed of shabby stone +houses and full of quarrelsome people. Well, perhaps +there is a scintilla of truth in the sweeping observation, +yet if we can contrive to endure the smells and racket +of the place for a brief space of time, there is much +of human interest to be observed in the daily scenes +of its crowded beach and its noisy streets. After all, +no odours of the South can compare in all-pervading +intensity with the blended aroma of fried fish and +London fog that old Drury Lane can often produce; +nor are the Torrese more dangerous to strangers or +<pb n='22'/><anchor id='Pg022'/>more objectionable in their habits than the crowds of +Lambeth or Seven Dials. In strength of lungs, it +must be granted, the Italian easily surpasses the +Londoner, for the Southern voice is positively alarming +in its vigour and its far-reaching power. No one—man, +woman or child—can apparently speak below +a scream; even the most amiable or trivial of conversations +seems to our unaccustomed ears to portend +an imminent quarrel, to so high a pitch are the +naturally harsh voices strained. Morning, noon and +night the same hubbub of men shouting, of women +screeching, and of children yelling continues for +nobody minds noise in Italy, where people are +troubled with no nerves of their own and consequently +have no consideration for those of strangers. And +why, therefore, should they suspend their native habits +to please a handful of cavilling <hi rend='italic'>forestieri</hi>? +</p> + +<p> +A stroll through Torre Annunziata, although it +possesses not a few drawbacks, can be made both +amusing and instructive; we can even find something +attractive in the quality of the local atmosphere, which +suggests at one and the same time sunshine, garlic, +incense, stale fish and wood smoke; it is the pungent +but characteristic aroma of the South, filled <q>with +spicy odours Time can never mar.</q> And what truly +charming pictures do the family groups present in +the wide archways giving on the untidy courts within, +full of sun and shadow and gay with bright-coloured +garments swaying in the wind! The ebon-haired +young mother with teeth like pearls and with warm-tinted +cheeks sits fondling the last helpless little +addition to her growing family, whilst toddlers of any +age from two to seven, unkempt but bright-eyed and +<pb n='23'/><anchor id='Pg023'/>engaging, play around the door-step, watched over by +their grandmother, or may be their great-grandam, +who with her wizened face enfolded in her yellow +kerchief, her skinny neck, and her distaff in the bony +fingers, looks as if she had stepped out of some +Renaissance painting of the Three Fates in a Florentine +gallery. Crimson carnations in earthenware pots stand +on the steps of the outside staircase, giving a touch of +refinement to the squalid home, and from the balcony +overhead the glossy-black, yellow-billed <hi rend='italic'>passer solitario</hi>, +the favourite cage-bird of the Neapolitan poor, chirrups +with apparent cheerfulness in his wicker-work prison. +Behind, in the dim shadows of the large room, which +serves as sole habitation, we can espy the inevitable +household altar with the oil lamp glimmering before +the little crude-coloured print of the Virgin and Child, +and its usual accessory, the piece of palm or olive +that was blessed by the priest last Palm Sunday; +poor and mean though the chamber be, its bed linen +and simple appointments are more cleanly than might +perhaps be inferred from the appearance of the family +itself. In a shady corner close by, three or four young +labourers at their mid-day rest have finished their +frugal repast of bread and beans, and are now playing +eagerly the popular game of <hi rend='italic'>zecchinetto</hi> with a frayed +and grimy pack of cards. Wives or sweethearts +watch with anxious faces from a respectful distance, +for it is not meet to disturb the lords of creation when +they happen to be engaged in a game of chance. +What possibilities of farce and tragedy can be drawn +from so simple, so common a scene upon these shores, +where human life is less artificially conducted than +elsewhere in Europe, and where human passions are +<pb n='24'/><anchor id='Pg024'/>kept under less restraint? Terrible are the tales of +jealousy and revenge, of deliberate treachery and of +uncontrolled violence, which are related of these quick-tempered +grown-up children of the South, who seem +to love and hate with the blind intensity of untutored +savages. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Lo ’nnamorato’ mmio sse chiammo Peppo,</q></l> +<l>Lo capo jocatore de le carte;</l> +<l>Ss’ ha jocato ’sto core a zecchinetto,</l> +<l>Dice ca mo’ lo venne, e mo’ lo parte.</l> +<l>Che n’agg’ io a fare lo caro de carte?</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Vogho lo core che tinite ’m pietto!</q></l> +</lg> + + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">That lover of mine is called Handsome Beppo,</q></l> +<l>The best player of cards all around this way;</l> +<l>He’s been playing on Hearts at <hi rend='italic'>zecchinetto</hi>,</l> +<l>And says now they turn up, now are sorted away.</l> +<l>What matters the heart in the card-pack to me?</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The heart in his bosom’s the heart for me!</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +Here lies the sleeping fisherman, worn out probably +with hours of hauling at the heavy nets, who is snatching +a chance hour of repose, prone upon his chest with +face buried in his crossed arms. Little he seems to +reck of the damp of the soil or the heat of the sun, +nor can a noisy game of <hi rend='italic'>mora</hi> played by a couple of +his companions beside him disturb his deep slumber. +<hi rend='italic'>Mora</hi> has ever been the classic game of the South, +and indeed, there is abundant evidence to show that +it was played by the ancestors of these dwellers in +Magna Graecia hundreds of years before Pompeii was +overthrown. The game, which requires nothing but +the human fingers, bears no little resemblance to our +own humble pastime of <q>Up Jenkin!</q> which may +almost be described as a species of drawing-room <hi rend='italic'>mora</hi>; +<pb n='25'/><anchor id='Pg025'/>perhaps some Italian traveller in a past age may +actually have introduced this form of the southern +diversion into prosaic England. The two players, face +to face and craning forward with outstretched necks, +simultaneously extend their right hands with one or +more fingers pointing upward, the aim of each man +being to guess the exact number, from two to ten, +jointly displayed by both right hands. If one of them +hit upon the correct figure, then he gains one point +towards the stakes, which are usually made in <hi rend='italic'>centesimi</hi> +rather than in <hi rend='italic'>soldi</hi>. How rapidly do the lean supple +brown fingers flash backwards and forwards, and with +what gusto do the two frenzied combatants yell out +their numbers! <hi rend='italic'>Mora</hi> has been a favourite recreation +with these people almost from their cradles, and he +would be a bold man indeed who would venture to +challenge a Torrese at this game, for the native’s skill +and experience are almost bound to tell eventually in +his favour, and the odds are <q>Lombard Street to a +China orange</q> against the outside player. There are +certain maxims too with regard to the game which +are closely observed by those who play it, as well as +peculiar expressions, such as <hi rend='italic'>tutte</hi> to denote that all +ten fingers are being shown, or <hi rend='italic'>chiarella</hi> for all but +one. Five points usually make the game, and these +are commonly marked by holding up one or more +fingers of the disengaged left hand.—These are a few +of the many sights to be witnessed by those who can +afford to endure the pestering attentions of small boys, +and the uncomplimentary staring of the adult population +in such places as the Torres or Castellamare; and +such as wish to make themselves acquainted with the +details of southern life and manners cannot do better +<pb n='26'/><anchor id='Pg026'/>than pass an idle hour in the fishmarket or the piazza +of these little industrial towns of the Vesuvian shore. +For to regard Southern Italy from the majestic isolation +of a railway compartment or a hired carriage cannot +possibly give the traveller the smallest insight into the +ordinary phases of local life; for he is ever looking, +as it were, into a picture from which all trace of colour +has vanished. +</p> + +<p> +It is but a short quarter of an hour by train from +Torre Annunziata to Castellamare di Stabia, the ill-fated +Stabiae of the Romans, which shared the evil lot +of Pompeii and Herculaneum. On our right we have +the sea, with the castle-topped islet of Revigliano, +whilst on looking to the left we can survey the fertile +valley of the Sarno, and the shapeless mounds which +hide that precious goal of every traveller to these +shores, the buried city of Pompeii. Everywhere thrives +sub-tropical vegetation:—cactus and aloe draped in +wreaths of smilax; tall straggling masses of scarlet +geranium that cling for protection to the Indian fig, +and blossom in security amid their spiky but safe +retreats; shrubs of fragrant yellow genista; clumps of +purple-leaved <hi rend='italic'>ricini</hi>, as the Italians name the castor-oil +plant. If it were summer time, the daturas would be +covered with their great white floral trumpets, and +every oleander bush would be one blaze of the coarse +carmine blossoms that are here called <hi rend='italic'>Mazza di San +Giuseppe</hi>, or St Joseph’s nosegay, and a very gaudy +rank bouquet they make. But in spring-time the +oleander can but display long greyish leaves and pods +of snowy fluff, which is blown hither and thither like +thistle-down on the air; and it is only in flaming +summer that these regions are brightened by St +<pb n='27'/><anchor id='Pg027'/>Joseph’s flower, or by the still more gorgeous masses of +the mesembryanthemum, which clambers on all sides +over the lava rock and hangs in crimson festoons +from tufa cliffs, making impossibly splendid splashes of +colour in the landscape. +</p> + <p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * * *</p> +<p> +So many writers have expatiated upon the sordid +ugliness of Castellamare and upon the beauty of the +wooded slopes above the town, that a further description +of the place may well be dispensed with. +Uninteresting, however, as this industrial town +appears, it boasts a long historical record, to which +its crumbling medieval castle bears witness. The +great Emperor Frederick the Second, the scholar-pope +Pius the Second, and all the monarchs of the Angevin, +Aragonese and Bourbon dynasties have been associated +with this <q>castle by the sea.</q> The whole +district was once the property of that human monster +Pier-Luigi Farnese, duke of Parma, heir of Pope +Paul the Third, of whose demoniacal cruelty and +treachery the racy pages of Cellini’s Memoirs give +so vivid an account, and whose repulsive face has +grown familiar to us from Titian’s famous portraits +in the gallery of Naples. It was the evil Pier-Luigi’s +descendant and heiress-general of the family, Elizabeth +Farnese, Queen of Spain, who conveyed the beautiful +villa and woods of Quisisana to the Bourbon kings, +and here the Neapolitan royal family for several +generations sought health (as the name of the place +implies) and repose upon the breezy heights that lie +so conveniently near to the great city in full view to +the west. Nowadays the old royal villa, deserted +by crowned heads since Ferdinand’s days and fallen +<pb n='28'/><anchor id='Pg028'/>from its high estate to its present use of a hotel and +pension, forms with its park the chief attraction of +Castellamare, where English travellers are wont to +congregate in winter, and Neapolitan and Greek +seekers of pleasure or drinkers of medicinal waters +resort in the hot summer months. The Southerners +who come here for their <hi rend='italic'>villeggiatura</hi> certainly enjoy +a better time than the winter visitors, for the bulky +form of Monte Sant’ Angelo intercepts much of the +sunshine, thereby rendering the place damp and +chilly in the cold season of the year. Nominally it +is the mineral springs that attract the Neapolitan +folk, wherein they have a fine choice of health-giving +beverages, varying from the <hi rend='italic'>acqua ferrata</hi>, a mild +chalybeate that is found useful as a tonic, to the +powerful <hi rend='italic'>acqua del Muraglione</hi>, that is warranted to +reduce the stoutest mortal to a mere shadow of his +former self in a trice. But though the waters may +be occasionally sipped of a morning and wry faces +made, it is in reality the warm sea-bathing on the +shore, where people spend hours pickling in tepid +salt water, and also the cool rides or walks amongst +the shady alleys of sweet chestnut and ilex woods of +Quisisana and Monte Coppola, which draw hither in +summer the elegant world of Naples, and even of +Athens, to visit Castellamare. The leafy groves on +the zephyr-swept hill sides, once sacred to the pleasures +of Bourbon tyrants, now ring with peals of noisy +laughter, with gallant compliments, and with the +harsh shouting of the <hi rend='italic'>ciucciari</hi>, the leaders of the +poor over-driven donkeys. Unhappy patient beasts! +usually covered with raws and galls, that are urged +forward at a gallop by the remorseless stick, or even +<pb n='29'/><anchor id='Pg029'/>by the goad, for the Neapolitan donkey-boy is +absolutely callous to the feelings of his animal. Not +that he is cruel out of sheer cussedness, for cruelty’s +sake, for he can be really kind to his dog or his cat; +but the beast of burden, the helpless uncomplaining +servant of man, suffers terribly at his hands. It is +useless to remonstrate or argue with the young +ruffian, who at our sharp reprimand will merely open +wide his big black eyes and stare in genuine amazement. +<hi rend='italic'>Non sono Cristiani</hi>—they have no souls, and +the beasts are their property and not yours; what +does it matter then to you how they are treated, +provided they carry you properly? That is the sum +total of the donkey-boy’s argument, and he has high +ecclesiastical authority to back up his private theory, +if he had the wit to enter into a discussion with us +on the subject. Almost equally hopeless is it to +point to the simple fact that a well-groomed, well-treated +animal lasts longer than a half-starved, mutilated +scare-crow. <q>How old is your horse?</q> we once +asked a driver in the south. <q>He is very old indeed, +<hi rend='italic'>eccelenza</hi>,</q> was the reply; <q>he must be nearly twelve!</q> +On being informed that horses often worked well up +to twenty years old and over in England, he let us +infer, quite politely, that he thought we were romancing. +Tenderness towards the dumb creation is a +common, not to say a prevailing characteristic of +the Anglo-Saxon race, and it must be confessed +that the thoughtless and horrible cruelty towards +animals witnessed on all sides in the Neapolitan +Riviera amounts to a serious drawback to the full +enjoyment of its many beauties and amenities. +Matters are improving a little of late, it is only fair +<pb n='30'/><anchor id='Pg030'/>to add. There is an Italian Society for the Prevention +of Cruelty to Animals, and its officials have done +some good in the streets of Naples itself, but naturally +its new ideas have not yet penetrated far into the +country districts. +</p> +<anchor id="illus02"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: ROAD NEAR CASTELLAMARE]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus02th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus02.jpg">ROAD NEAR CASTELLAMARE</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: ROAD NEAR CASTELLAMARE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +To the healthy and energetic the most delightful +excursion that Castellamare can offer is the ascent to +the summit of Monte Sant’ Angelo, that monarch of +the Bay of Naples, whose lofty crest gleams with +snowy streaks until the spring be well advanced. The +lazy or the feeble can make use of one of the poor +oppressed donkeys, but it is better to engage its +ragged master, who without his four-footed drudge +to whack and kick is a harmless enough being, +to act as guide over the steep ill-defined pathway that +leads ever upwards. As we slowly ascend through the +sub-tropical region of fig and vine, of olive and +carouba, we question our guide, who in spite of his +bright eyes and well-knit frame seems about as +intelligent a companion as the poor ass left behind in +the stall, where he is enjoying, let us hope, an unexpected +holiday. It is not easy to extract information +from our native attendant, yet with a little judicious +pressing we learn from him that the top of the mountain, +which is our bourne, was once inhabited by evil +spirits, until a holy hermit took up his abode on the +peak, since when his sanctity has kept the place +tolerably clear of witches and foul incubi. Wicked +sprites, however, still haunt the spreading woods of +beech and chestnut which we must presently traverse, +and our guide (whose name is Vincenzo) admits to +us that he would not care to venture there alone, even +in broad daylight. There is, he tells us, warming up at +<pb n='31'/><anchor id='Pg031'/>last to the subject, much gold hidden there, which the +spirits guard so jealously that they are ready to tear +in pieces any mortal who is clever enough to find and +bold enough to rifle their secret hoards. Only a +priest, on account of his sacred office, is reckoned safe +from their iniquitous spells. <q>But has not any one +dared,</q> we ask, <q>to go in company with a holy man, +to search for this hidden treasure?</q> Well, yes, he +had been told that men from Vico had once ventured +up into the woods to search for the gold. With a +little encouragement Vincenzo is finally prevailed upon +to give us the whole story, which is evidently of somewhat +recent date. +</p> +<p> +Once upon a time there were four men, one of them +being a priest, who lived in Vico, and one of these +men had often been told by his father that in the +forests near the top of Monte Sant’ Angelo there lay +buried a chest full of gold—<hi rend='italic'>molto! molto!</hi> The father +of the man had been himself in his youth to search +for the treasure, but find it he never could, for he +would never take a priest with him to avert the spells +of the evil spirits of the mountain sides, who kept the +place hidden. So this time the man chose two out of his +friends, the boldest and the trustiest he could fix upon, +to accompany him, and at the same time he obtained +the promise of a cousin, who was a priest, to assist in +the undertaking. All four made their way up to the +woods, and whilst the three men were digging and +searching, the priest continued to read aloud the incantations +out of a certain book he had brought with +him for the purpose. In course of time the chest was +discovered to the joy of all, and sure enough it was +bulging with the desired gold pieces. They opened +<pb n='32'/><anchor id='Pg032'/>it without difficulty, and the four friends divided its +contents in equal shares. Scarcely had the work of +division been carried out, than there came a loud voice +issuing from the unknown, calling out the question:—<q><hi rend='italic'>Che +ferete con questo tesoro?</hi></q> <q><hi rend='italic'>Mangeremo, beveremo!</hi></q> +boldly replied one of the group, to whom this +sudden accession of wealth offered dreams of unlimited +platters of maccaroni and countless flasks of ruby-red +Gragnano in the future. <q>We shall eat, we shall drink, +but we shall also make abundant alms!</q> called out +another—let us hope it was the priest!—but no sooner +had the word <hi rend='italic'>elemosina</hi> (alms) been uttered than there +was heard a most terrific rattling of chains, the gold +pieces turned to dead leaves in the affrighted mortals’ +hands, and the four men took to their heels and fled +in alarm down the mountain flank. +</p> + +<p> +Vincenzo believes this tale implicitly, just as it was +related to him, and he adds to combat our own incredulity +that the priest and one of the men who took +part in this strange adventure were still living and +ready to confirm the story, but that of the remaining +two, one was now dead, and the other had been deaf +and dumb ever since the event. It seem a pity to criticise +Vincenzo’s simple little narrative, which makes a +pretty fairy-story and points a sound moral, as it stands. +</p> + +<p> +We enter the fresh scented woods that have now +replaced in our climb the rich cultivated crops and +terraced gardens, and here amidst the clumps of +ancient chestnuts our guide points out to us the great +snow-pits, the contents of which are used to cool the +water sold by the <hi rend='italic'>acquaioli</hi> during hot summer nights +in the sultry streets of Naples. These pits are dug +about fifty feet deep, and half as much across, being +<pb n='33'/><anchor id='Pg033'/>conical in shape with a grating placed a short distance +above the tapering base to allow the melted snow to +drain off into the soil. The sides of each pit are first +well-lined with straw and leafy branches, and the new-fallen +snow shovelled in and forced into a solid mass +by pressure from above, whilst on top is placed a +sound thatched roof. As we wander through the +silent woods we see patches of anemones, white and +blue, lying upon the leaf-strewn ground, and beside +them in many places are tufts of the pale starry primroses; +coarse spurge, and lush masses of the hellebore +with its large pale green flowers and dark leaves +are common enough on all sides. From amongst the +naked trees we emerge into the bare bleak stony +stretches that lead to the summit, covered with the +coarse but aromatic vegetation that clothes the dry +limestone wastes of the south. How truly marvellous +is the description of these wind-swept, weed-grown +solitudes that Robert Browning presents to us in +what is perhaps the most truly Italian in feeling of +all his poems, <q>The Englishman in Italy!</q> For here +with the rich imagination, worthy of some of Shelley’s +finest flights, is mingled an accurate appreciation of +Nature, of which Wordsworth might well be proud; +for the Lake poet himself could not have improved +upon this exquisite description of the various shrubs +and plants of a limestone hill-top in Italy. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The wild path grew wilder each instant,</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And place was e’en grudged</l> +<l>’Mid the rock-chasms and piles of loose stones,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Like the loose broken teeth</l> +<l>Of some monster which climbed there to die</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>From the ocean beneath—</l> +<pb n='34'/><anchor id='Pg034'/> +<l>Place was grudged to the silver-grey fume-weed</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>That clung to the path,</l> +<l>And dark rosemary ever a-dying,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>That, spite the wind’s wrath,</l> +<l>So loves the salt rock’s face to seaward,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And lentisks as staunch</l> +<l>To the stone where they root and bear berries,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And ... what shows a branch</l> +<l>Coral-coloured, transparent, with circlets</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">Of pale sea-green leaves.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Above our heads hovers a kite, performing graceful +circles in the keen clear air and breaking the oppressive +silence of the place with his shrill screams, for his +mate must have her nest hidden in some cleft of yon +grey towering cliff. A pair of crested hoopoes with +brown plumage and ruddy breasts keep fluttering a +little way before us, uttering from time to time their +curious notes of alarm. Mercifully these handsome +birds have escaped the fowler, who lays his snares +even amongst the spirit-haunted crags of this desolate +region. The hoopoe, though a very rare visitor to +our northern shores, is fairly common on the Mediterranean +coast, and he would be still more frequently +encountered, were it not for his hereditary enemy, +Man. There is a venerable legend concerning this +interesting bird—<hi rend='italic'>bubbola</hi>, the Italians call him—which +relates how ages ago on the scorching plains +of Palestine a number of hoopoes once followed King +Solomon as he was riding, and in order to protect +the great king from the fierce rays of the sun, they +formed themselves into a living screen to shelter the +royal head. Grateful for this welcome attention, +Solomon Ben David at eventide sent for the king of +the Hoopoes to ask him what reward he would like +<pb n='35'/><anchor id='Pg035'/>to receive for this service, and the answer was +promptly made that a crown of pure gold on the head +would be acceptable. The Jewish monarch smiled +grimly as he granted the request, whereupon immediately +each bird found his poll decorated with a tuft +of pure golden feathers, and mightily pleased with +their new magnificence were the conceited hoopoes. +But alas! the news was quickly spread abroad that +there were to be seen strange birds with plumes of +real gold, and the eternal lust of gain at once set men +in quest of the hoopoes, whom they began to slay +wholesale with stones, arrows, and traps in order to +obtain the coveted precious metal they bore on their +heads. In despair, the king of the hoopoes then flew +to the monarch sitting on his ivory throne at Jerusalem, +and begged him to change their golden crowns for +crests of feathers. Solomon the Wise smilingly gave +the order; at once lovely red and black feathers took +the place of the golden plumes, and the slaughter of +the hoopoes in Palestine forthwith ceased. And the +story, argues the recorder of this lesson upon the +folly of personal adornment, must of necessity be true, +for it is certain that the hoopoes bear a crown of +feathers upon their heads unto this day. +</p> + +<p> +Slowly we toil up the last portion of the peak, +until we reach the ruined chapel of St Michael upon +its summit, which is still a resort of local pilgrims, +although in these days of doubt and avarice, when +<q>sins are so many and saints so few,</q> the statue of +the Archangel since its removal from this spot no +longer perspires with the sacred dew, which the priests +used to collect with cotton wool on the first day of +August and distribute to the peasants of the district. +<pb n='36'/><anchor id='Pg036'/>Like the oil that was once wont to exude from the +blessed relics of St Andrew in the Cathedral of +Amalfi, <hi rend='italic'>non c’è più</hi>; we may possess motor cars and +radium, but we must contrive to exist without these +precious exhibitions of the miraculous. +</p> + +<p> +It would be sheer folly to attempt a full description +of that glorious view, comprising the bays of Gaeta, +Naples, and Salerno; of Vesuvius with his ascending +smoky clouds; of the endless chain of the snow-tipped +Abruzzi Mountains that bound the vision to the east; +of the vast expanse of the Mediterranean, stretching +in one unbroken sheet of turquoise to the west, varied +by violet patches of reflected cloud, and studded by +innumerable ships, from the vast liners to the tiny +fishing craft with their glistening sails, like snow-white +sea-swallows resting on the calm waters. Again we +turn to Robert Browning, most human of poets and +most kindly of philosophers, to find adequate expression +for the thoughts we dare not, cannot utter. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Oh, heaven and the terrible crystal!</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>No rampart excludes</l> +<l>Your eye from the life to be lived</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>In the blue solitudes.</l> +<l>Oh, those mountains, their infinite movement!</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Still moving with you;</l> +<l>For ever some new head and breast of them</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Thrusts into view</l> +<l>To observe the intruder; you see it</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>If quickly you turn,</l> +<l>And before they escape you surprise them.</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>They grudge you should learn</l> +<l>How the soft plains they look on, lean over</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>And love (they pretend)</l> +<l>—Cower beneath them, the flat sea-pine crouches,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>The wild fruit-trees bend;</l> +<pb n='37'/><anchor id='Pg037'/> +<l>E’en the myrtle leaves curl, shrink and shut,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>All is silent and grave:</l> +<l>’Tis a sensual and timorous beauty.</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">How fair! but a slave.</q></l> +</lg><anchor id="illus03"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: MONTE FAITO, CASTELLAMARE]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus03th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus03.jpg">MONTE FAITO, CASTELLAMARE</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: MONTE FAITO, CASTELLAMARE</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +We descend by the slopes of Monte Faito in the +quiet of the evening, facing the distant headland of +Posilipo and the sunset, where above the horizon we +see collecting thick masses of dark purple cloud, +which augur a stormy morrow. Above us the peak +of the Archangel is already wreathed in garlands of +white mist, a sure sign of coming tempest, and it is +amid a lurid light from the sinking sun that we +hasten downwards, bending our steps in the direction +of Pozzano, where the form of its convent stands out +sharply defined against the background of the Bay. +Night is rapidly approaching, and in the gathering +darkness as we strike the road below the convent, we +can already hear the ominous roaring and seething of +the waters under the cliff, lashed to fury by the first +deep breaths of the coming squall. Hurrying along +the broad smooth roadway it is not long before we +reach our hotel door, where we bid good night to +Vincenzo, just as the first heavy drops of rain have +begun to fall; pleasantly exhausted after our long +excursion, we are ready to appreciate to the full the +warmth and good cheer of the hospitable Hotel +Quisisana. +</p> + +</div><div n="3" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='38'/><anchor id='Pg038'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="3: La citta morta"/> +<head>CHAPTER III</head> + +<head type="sub">LA CITTÀ MORTA</head> + +<p> +Pompeii can never be visited without the same +haunting conviction, the same oppressive thought: +how terribly difficult it is to understand the City of +the Dead which holds in so small a space the whole +secret of the antique world! There are far more +grandiose and impressive ruins to be seen in Rome; +the city of Timgad in Northern Africa is more complete +as a specimen of a Roman settlement than the +half-excavated town near Vesuvius; yet here, and here +only, can the men of the past stretch hands, as it were, +across the barrier of eighteen intervening centuries to +the dweller of to-day, and the dead-and-gone spirits +of a highly organized civilization can whisper into the +living ears of the twentieth century. For Pompeii +will speak to us, if we will take the trouble to learn the +tongue in which alone she can convey the secret of +her story. It is needless to say that this language is +not obtainable by one or two cursory visits to the +Naples Museum, and a few hurried half-hours given to +the contents of the guide-book; no, the language of +Pompeii, which constitutes the key of access to the +hidden chambers of the Roman world, can only be +acquired with much expenditure of precious time and +with infinite trouble. But <q>life is short and time is +<pb n='39'/><anchor id='Pg039'/>fleeting,</q> and our bustling age expects to seize its +required knowledge in the twinkling of an eye; well, +in that case the story of Pompeii must remain a sealed +volume to the traveller, who is conveyed to the City +of the Dead in a train crammed with fellow-tourists; +who eats a heavy unwholesome luncheon to the sound +of mandoline-players twanging sprightly Neapolitan +airs; and who is finally piloted round the sacred area +by a chattering guide in the oppressive heat and glare +of a sunny afternoon. Fatigued in mind and body, +such an one will sink with ill-concealed relief upon the +dusty velvet cushions of the returning train, thoroughly +disappointed in the vaunted marvels of Pompeii, which +his imagination had led him to expect. A vague +impression of low broken walls, of narrow—to his eyes +absurdly narrow—streets, of broken columns and of +peeling frescoes fills his tired brain, as he is borne back +to his hotel in Naples. But this disenchantment is +his own fault, for no one who sets foot within the Sea +Gate of the buried city in the proper spirit of knowledge +and appreciation can possibly fail to enjoy the +privilege which has thus been afforded him— +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 6'><q rend="post: none">to stand within the City Disinterred;</q></l> +<l>And hear the autumnal leaves like light footfalls</l> +<l>Of spirits passing through the streets; and hear</l> +<l>The Mountain’s slumberous voice at intervals</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">Thrill through those roofless halls.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Before passing through the Porta Marina into the +purlieus of the city, let us first of all instil into our +minds the essential difference that exists between the +ruins of Pompeii and the historic fragments of Rome +or Athens. When we gaze upon the well-known sites +of the vanished glories of the Palatine or the Acropolis, +<pb n='40'/><anchor id='Pg040'/>we experience no effort in looking backward through +the vista of the past and in conjuring up some vague +representation of the scenes that were once enacted in +these places; the more imaginative feel the very air +vibrating with the unseen spirits of men and women +famous in the world’s history. He must be indeed a +Philistine or a dullard who cannot contrive to arouse +a passing exaltation at the thought of treading in the +footsteps of Cicero and the Caesars in Rome, of Pericles +and Socrates in Athens, for the very soil of the Forum +and the stones of the citadel of Pallas seem impregnated +with the very essence of history. But this is +far from being the case at Pompeii, where long careful +study of details and a grasp of hard facts are really of +more avail than a poetic imagination in reclothing +with flesh the dry bones of the past, for the importance +of the Campanian city is almost purely social. The +<hi rend='italic'>names</hi> of many of its prominent citizens are certainly +familiar to us from inscriptions found, yet who were +these persons that we should take so deep an interest +in their lives and fates? Who were Pansa the ædile, +Eumachia the priestess, Caecilius Jucundus, Aulus +Vettius and Epidius Rufus, and a score of other +Pompeian worthies? The answer is, they were +officials or simple dwellers in a flourishing provincial +town; they had no especial literary or public reputation; +their names were probably little known beyond +the walls of their own city. Imagine an English +country town, such as Exeter or Shrewsbury, suddenly +overwhelmed by some unforeseen freak of Nature and +afterwards embalmed in the manner of Pompeii as a +curiosity for the edification of future ages. To what +extent, we ask, would the discovery of a place of this +<pb n='41'/><anchor id='Pg041'/>size and population supply the existing dweller with +a complete impression of our national life and civilization +in the opening years of the twentieth century? +The reply will be that it would give a very good idea +of the average provincial town, but that it would +hardly serve as a fair criterion to judge of the life +pursued in the capital, or in the really large cities. +Such a comparison will afford us a certain clue to the +unveiling of the mysteries of Pompeii. +</p> + +<p> +For the city at the mouth of the Sarno was an +ancient Campanian settlement, founded long before the +days wherein Greek adventurers beached their triremes +on the shores of the Siren. It was a native community +of Oscans, deriving its name from the Oscan word +<hi rend='italic'>pompe</hi> (five), and, unlike Paestum, it appears to have +retained its original appellation under all its successive +masters. Its primitive inhabitants seem to have intermingled +with their Hellenic victors, and to have grown +civilized by intercourse with them. Temples of heavy +Doric architecture were raised; walls and watch-towers +were built; and by the time the city fell into the +hands of the encroaching Romans, it had become a +flourishing place with some twenty to thirty thousand +inhabitants, owing its prosperity to its excellent situation +at the mouth of the river, which made Pompeii a +convenient port to serve the rich district of Campania +that lies eastward of Vesuvius. Nuceria (the modern +Nocera) and the larger city of Nola were both dependent +on it, for the Sarno was in those days navigable, so that +ships bringing Egyptian corn and Eastern merchandise +frequently left the Pompeian harbour and sailed up +stream to unload their cargoes at these cities. Let us +picture then to ourselves a compact town, an irregular +<pb n='42'/><anchor id='Pg042'/>oval in form, surrounded by walls pierced by eight +gates and embellished with twelve towers; its eastern +extremity towards Nocera containing the Amphitheatre, +and its most westerly point marked by the Herculaneum +gate leading to the Street of Tombs. Southward, we +must imagine the sea much closer to its walls than at +the present day, for the alluvial deposits have in the +course of nearly two thousand years added many acres +of solid ground to the shores of the Bay. Behind the +city to the north rose the mountain side, not seared +with the traces of lava as in these days, nor surmounted +by a smoking cone, but radiant with vineyards and +gardens which extended unbroken up to the very rim +of the ancient crater. Amidst the greenery of the +luxuriant slopes peeped forth innumerable farms and +villas of wealthy Romans, for this exquisite spot had +long become an abode of cultured leisure. Within the +closely packed streets of the town itself there were to +be found few open spaces except the Forum, and +perhaps a small park in front of the amphitheatre, for +the place was prosperous, though not wealthy, and its +chief citizens were forced to remain content with the +tiny gardens enclosed within the walls of their own +dwellings. +</p> + +<p> +Internally Pompeii presented, like many another +Roman town, marks of its six hundred years of existence. +There was at least one perfect Doric temple; +there were Oscan-Grecian buildings, notably the so-called +<q>House of the Surgeon,</q> with its air of +old-fashioned simplicity; there were houses of the +Republican period; there were numberless dwellings +of the Imperial era; there were unfinished structures +that were being completed at the time of the city’s +<pb n='43'/><anchor id='Pg043'/>overthrow. For, sixteen years before Vesuvius suddenly +awoke from its long sleep, the neighbourhood +had been visited by the severe earthquake shock of +63, and the effects produced by this disaster had not +nearly been effaced, when the great event of 79 transformed +the town into a huge museum for the delight +and instruction of future generations. Pompeii therefore +preserves the marks of more than half a thousand +years of civilization, so that those who will take the +necessary trouble can trace within its area the gradual +progress of its social and political life from the far-off +days of Greeks and Oscans to the reign of the Emperor +Titus. The case of a ruined Exeter or Shrewsbury +could not be widely different. The students of ensuing +ages would be able to find in the dead town one or two +churches of Norman or Plantagenet times; portions of +medieval city walls and gateways, perhaps even some +undoubted traces of Roman baths or fortifications; +some few public buildings erected under Tudor or +Stuart sovereigns; a large number of the plain roomy +mansions of the Georgian period; and, last of all, a +preponderating quantity of nineteenth century structures +of every description—churches, warehouses, factories, +inns, barracks, shops, dwelling-houses. Many +would be the inscriptions and monuments we should +find in such a town, alluding to private and public +persons utterly unknown to English history, but more +or less noteworthy in local annals: grandees of civic +life, soldiers, philanthropists, clergymen, <hi rend='italic'>et hoc genus +omne</hi>. Future generations of scholars would doubtless +strive eagerly to obtain details of the careers of these +provincial worthies, who filled municipal offices in the +reigns of Queen Victoria and King Edward, in order +<pb n='44'/><anchor id='Pg044'/>to throw more light upon the period wherein they +flourished. Let us apply then the same principles to +the study of Pompeii <hi rend='italic'>mutatis mutandis</hi>, for in our +quest of better knowledge of the old Roman life we +fix anxiously upon every detail concerning the leading +personages of the dead city. Nevertheless, it is its +existence in the aggregate that proves of surpassing +interest to us; we desire to learn of the daily tasks +and occupations of the mass of its population, rather +than to become acquainted with the private histories +of its leading individuals; we study the former, in +fact, only as a means to a definite end. We cry for +information, which to a certain extent we can secure, +as to how an average Roman city was administered, +provisioned, drained; how its inhabitants passed their +time both in leisure and in business; how they amused +themselves in their homes and in the theatre; what +they ate and what they drank—the endless trifles of +human life, in short, which like the <hi rend='italic'>tesseræ</hi>, the tiny +cubes of their own mosaic pavements, go to make up a +complete picture out of a thousand fragments. Not a +few of the cubes in this case are missing, it is true, nor +are they ever likely to be found; nevertheless, we own +an abundant supply wherewith we can piece together +a tolerably accurate picture of the life of a Roman +provincial city during the first century of the Christian +era. +</p> + +<p> +It is of course quite outside our province to attempt +any detailed account of the wonders of Pompeii. The +reader who desires full information must turn to the +elaborate works of Mau and Helbig, of Gell and +Overbeck, to say nothing of the descriptive pages, +full of condensed knowledge, contained in Murray’s +<pb n='45'/><anchor id='Pg045'/>and Baedeker’s guide-books in order to obtain a clear +impression of all he wishes to inspect. We can but +dwell on a point here and there, and even then but +lightly and superficially, for any endeavour on our +part to add to the statements and theories of the +great archaeologists already cited would be indeed a +matter of supererogation and presumption. +</p> + +<p> +Entering then by the Marine Gate, and pursuing +our course eastwards along the lines of naked broken +house-fronts, we reach the great rectangular space +of the Forum. Here at its southern extremity let us +select a shady corner, for the sun beats down fiercely +upon the bare ruins at every season of the year, and +even on a winter’s afternoon the air often shimmers +with the heat haze, so that in no place on earth is +the use of an umbrella so necessary or desirable as +at Pompeii. +</p> + +<p> +What an ideal spot for the founding of a city! +That is our first impression, as we glance across the +broad sunlit enclosure on to the empurpled slopes +of Vesuvius rising grandly above the broken columns +of the great temple of the Capitoline Jove; behind +us, we know, is the azure Bay with Capri and the +Sorrentine cape lying on its unruffled bosom, so that +we stand between sea and mountain to north and south, +whilst we have the luxuriant slopes of Vesuvius to +westward, and to the east the rich valley of the Sarno, +thickly dotted with groves and hamlets. One element +alone is wanting in the glorious scene before us—Life; +it will be our duty and pleasure to re-invest as +far as possible this empty space before us with the +semblance of the busy crowds that once flitted in and +out of its colonnades and porticoes; to rebuild in +<pb n='46'/><anchor id='Pg046'/>imagination its shapeless ruins, so that we may +obtain a fleeting picture of the Pompeian Forum in +early Imperial days. +</p><anchor id="illus04"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: THE FORUM, POMPEII]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus04th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus04.jpg">THE FORUM, POMPEII</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: THE FORUM, POMPEII</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Conceive, then, in front of us, instead of this long +bare stretch flanked by broken walls and strewn with +shapeless fragments of brick and stone, an immense +double arcade, two stories in height, affording ample +protection against sun or rain and enclosing an oblong +pavement whereon are set numerous statues of +emperors or private citizens, occupying lofty positions +of honour above the heads of the surging throng +below. Imagine that group of shattered pillars, +which obstructs our full view of the distant cone of +Vesuvius, transformed into an imposing temple, +covered with polychrome decoration, not in the best +of taste according to our modern ideas of art, but +gorgeous and cheerful in the clear atmosphere of the +south. Rebuild, in the mind’s eye, the Basilica and +the temple of Apollo on the left, and straight before +us, as we look forward from our coign of vantage at +the narrow southern end of the colonnade, let us plant +the three dominant statues of Augustus, Claudius +and Agrippina to form our foreground. If we can construct +by stress of fancy some such setting of classical +architecture, gay with primary colours and gilding +and graceful in design, it is easier to people the Pompeian +Forum with the masses of humanity that once +mingled here. For we have the knowledge of modern +Italian life to guide us to a certain extent; we have +seen the swarms of citizens who to-day fill the main +piazzas of the towns, especially those of the provincial +type, where the morning market is held and the chief +cafés and shops are situated. But if the general use +<pb n='47'/><anchor id='Pg047'/>of the piazza is characteristic of the modern second-class +Italian city, this concentration of life was far +more marked in the ancient Roman town, wherein +the Forum must have appeared as the very heart of +the whole body social and politic. Roman city life +indeed displayed two strongly antagonistic phases:—the +utmost privacy in the home, the most public +exhibition in the Forum, where every trade and form +of business were carried on in the open air, and +whither pursuit of gain, or pleasure, or religious duty +led all the citizens to direct their steps. For, as we +have already shown, almost all the public life of the +place was concentrated within this space and its +surroundings; temples, markets, shops, law courts, +municipal offices, all abutted on the Forum; it was +not merely the chief, but the only place that drew +together the daily crowd, bent alike on business or +amusement. No chariots were permitted to cross the +area sacred to the claims of money-making, of gossip, +and of worship; so that we must picture to ourselves +a great mass of people undisturbed by the passing of +vehicles, or by the shouts and whip-crackings of the +noisy charioteers—was ever such a thing as a quiet +Italian coachman, ancient or modern, we digress to +wonder! All was orderly and decorous when compared +with the quarrelling, screaming groups of +citizens that block the congested streets of modern +Naples. Happily for us various paintings of the +Forum of Pompeii have been discovered, and these +are naturally of immense value in helping us to a +proper understanding of the habits and methods of +the people, and of the general appearance of the +Forum itself during its busiest hours. The costumes +<pb n='48'/><anchor id='Pg048'/>of men, women and children; the articles of clothing +and of food ready for sale; the little knots of loiterers +or gossips; the citizens intent on reading the municipal +notices that are herein portrayed, all combine to +present us with an authentic picture of Pompeian and +therefore of Roman civic life. <q>There is nothing new +under the sun,</q> grumbled the Preacher many centuries +before the city under Vesuvius had reached its zenith +of civilization, and it must be confessed that the +general impression conveyed after studying the contemporary +pictures of antique life does not differ very +widely from that which we obtain by observing present +Italian conditions. For the frescoes in the Naples +Museum and in certain of the Pompeian houses seem +to recall strongly the scenes of the piazza, where all +the elements of society, irrespective of rank or station, +are still wont to congregate. Differences of dress, of +manner, of custom are doubtless evident enough, yet +somehow we perceive an essential sameness in these +two representations of classical and modern Italy. +Nevertheless, these simple and often rude wall-paintings +furnish us with many pieces of information +that we search for in vain amidst the ancient authors, +who naturally considered the commonplace everyday +scenes of life beneath the notice of contemporary +record. We are enabled to learn, for instance, how +the citizens were usually dressed in the Forum, and +how, in an age when hats and umbrellas were practically +non-existent, the pointed hood, like that of the +Arab burnous, was often used to cover the head in +cold or wet weather. Again, it is easy to perceive +from the same source that the diet of the Pompeians +must have resembled closely that of their present +<pb n='49'/><anchor id='Pg049'/>descendants; even the shape of the loaves has in +most cases continued unchanged to the present day. +And one curious coincidence is certainly worth +mentioning, in that a peculiar method of preparing figs +with caraway seeds, which was long supposed to be a +local speciality of a remote town in Central Italy, has +now been recognized as a common method of dressing +this fruit for the table at Pompeii, for large quantities +of figs so treated have been unearthed in shops and +kitchens. Such grains of information as the wearing +of hoods and the preserving of figs may appear trifling +enough at first sight, yet it is from a number of petty +details such as these that we are assisted to an intimate +understanding of a state of society extinct nearly two +thousand years ago. +</p> + +<p> +Close beside us on the eastern side of the Forum is +set the Chalcidicum, the large building of the priestess +Eumachia, one of the most gracious personalities of +Pompeii with which the modern world has become +acquainted. It was this lady who generously presented +this structure, one of the handsomest and most +solid of the public buildings of the city, to the fullers +to serve as their exchange, wherein goods might be +exposed upon benches and tables for the convenience +alike of sellers and purchasers. <q>Priestess Eumachia,</q> +remarks a modern critic, <q>has done the thing well; no +expense has been spared in the building and its +decorations. The columns of the portico are of white +marble; the statues of Piety and Concord, works of +art; and the flower-borders along the panelled walls, +prettily conceived and carefully executed. After so +much plaster and stucco, it is a relief to see something +so solid and genuine. When a third-rate city apes +<pb n='50'/><anchor id='Pg050'/>the capital, there must needs be a certain amount of +sham. But at Pompeii it is all sham, or next door +to it. In the entire city are not more than half a +dozen edifices whose columns are of real marble, the bas-reliefs +and cornices of anything more solid than stucco; +and of these half-dozen, the Exchange heads the list.</q> +</p> + +<p> +We feel tolerably secure in assigning this fine +building to the early years of the Emperor Tiberius, +and in naming the Emperor’s mother, Livia, as the +divinity to whom it was dedicated. The statue of +Concord with the golden horn of plenty doubtless +once adorned the large pedestal which still stands in +the eastern apse of the Exchange, but though the +figure and emblem were those of Concordia, the face +bore certainly the features of Imperial Livia. Yet +more interesting than the various speculations as to +the actual uses of this edifice and the different names +of the statues which once embellished its alcoves, +is the circumstance that the marble portrait of the +foundress herself has been discovered. It is true that +only a copy in plaster now occupies the pedestal at +the back of the apse where Eumachia’s statue once +stood, for the original has been removed for safety to +Naples, but it is not difficult to call to mind the calm +gentle face of this Pompeian Lady Bountiful, and her +graceful figure in its flowing robes. The existence of +this statue adds undoubtedly a touch of special human +interest to the whole building, and we find our minds +excited by the brief inscription which still informs +the curious that the fullers of Pompeii erected +this portrait in marble in grateful appreciation <q>to +Eumachia, a city-priestess, daughter of Lucius +Eumachius.</q> +</p> + +<pb n='51'/><anchor id='Pg051'/> + +<p> +Outside the Chalcidicum, at the corner of the lane +usually termed Via dell’ Abbondanza, is to be seen +a pathetic little memorial of the working life of the +city: the fountain of Concordia Augusta, the divinity +of Eumachia’s noble building hard by. Dusty and +heating is the business of fulling cloth, and it generates +thirst, so that it is but natural to find a fountain close +at hand, whereat the labourers could refresh their +parched throats. With what eagerness must the +exhausted toilers during those long summers of +centuries past have leaned forward to press their +human lips to the cool mouth of the sculptured +goddess that ejected with pleasing gurgles a volume +of water into the basin below! That this fountain +proved a boon to weary citizens is evident enough, +for the features of water-spouting Concordia are half +worn away by thirsty human kisses, and her suppliants’ +hands have left deep smooth furrows in the stone-work +of the basin, whereon they were wont to support +their bodies, so as to direct the cooling draught into +the dry and dusty gullet. In Italian cities to-day we +can frequently observe some exhausted labourer bend +deftly downwards to snatch a drink of water from the +mouth of some fantastic figure in a public fountain. +Who has not paused, for instance, beside Tacca’s +famous bronze boar in the Florentine market-place +without noting an incident of this kind? If we ourselves +are too dainty to place our own aristocratic +lips where our fellow-mortals have pressed theirs, +not so are the abstemious descendants of the ancient +Romans, the Italians, whose minds remain untroubled +by any nasty-nice qualms of possible infection. +</p> + +<p> +Here then is the setting of the picture, and we +<pb n='52'/><anchor id='Pg052'/>must ourselves endeavour to repeople the empty +space with the crowds of high and low that once +collected here. +</p> + +<p> +<q>It is high change, and the Forum is crowded. +All Pompeii is here, and his wife. <hi rend='italic'>Patres conscripti</hi>, +inclined to corpulence, taking their constitutional, +exquisites lazily sauntering up and down the pavements; +decurions discussing the affairs of the nation, +and the last news from Rome; city magnates fussing, +merchants chaffering, clients petitioning, parasites +fawning, soldiers swaggering, and Belisarius begging +at the gate.... It is a bright and animated scene. +Beneath, the crowded Forum, with its colonnades and +statues, at one end a broad flight of steps leading +to the Temple of Jupiter, at the other a triumphal +arch; on one side the Temple of Venus and the +Basilica; on the other the Macellum, the Temple of +Mercury, the Chalcidicum; overhead the deep blue +sky. Mingled with the hum of many voices and +the patter of feet on the travertine pavement are the +ringing sounds of the stonemasons’ chisels and +hammers, for the Forum is undergoing a complete +restoration. Although fifteen years have elapsed +since the city was last visited by earthquake, the +damage then done to the public buildings has not +been entirely repaired. First the Gods, then the +people. The temples of Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury +are completed, but the Forum and Chalcidicum are +still in the workmen’s hands.</q><note place="foot">W. J. A. Stamer: <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +With this fleeting glimpse at the public life of the +city, let us now turn our attention to its domestic +arrangements. Of the many houses which have been +<pb n='53'/><anchor id='Pg053'/>excavated of recent years under the truly admirable +superintendence of Signor Fiorelli, none is better +calculated to give us a striking impression of the +working details of an upper-class Roman household +than the private dwelling which is known equally +under the two names of the Casa Nuova and the +House of the Vettii;—perhaps the former name has +now ceased to own any significance, since the buildings +were laid bare as far back as the winter of +1894-5. An hour or two spent in a careful inspection +of this house and its contents is to most persons +worth four times the same amount of time occupied +in aimless wandering amongst the hot glaring streets +of the city, peeping into this courtyard and that, and +listening to the interminable tales of guide or +custodian. If we study the Casa Nuova intelligently, +lovingly and minutely, it will not be long before we +obtain a tolerable grasp of Roman life and manners, +which will prove of immense service and of genuine +delight. What then is it, the question will be asked, +that makes the House of the Vettii so valuable as +an example of antique architecture and decoration, +in preference to other mansions which can boast an +equal and often a greater distinction? The answer +is simple enough: it is because this particular group +of buildings has been allowed to remain as far as +practicable in the exact condition wherein it was +originally unearthed, when its various rooms and +courts were once more exposed to the light of day. +For until the clearing of this <q>new house</q> a decade +or so ago, no proper opportunity had so far been +afforded to the amateur of our own times of judging +for himself the interior of a Roman dwelling in full +<pb n='54'/><anchor id='Pg054'/>working order, and with all its furniture, paintings, +and utensils complete. Up to this, almost every +object of value had been removed at once for safety, +every fresco even of importance had been cut bodily +out of its setting and placed in one of those immense +halls on the ground floor of the Museum in Naples. +How well do we remember those gaunt chilly +chambers, filled from pavement to ceiling with painted +fragments of all sizes, a medley of domestic subjects +and of classical myths! Torn from the walls they +were specially executed to adorn, divorced from their +proper scheme of surrounding ornament, these wan +dejected ghosts stare at us like faces out of a mist. +The uninitiated cannot find pleasure in them, for they +have no pretention to be called works of art; on the +contrary they form an inherent part of a conventional +system of house decoration. The classical student can +of course find many points of interest in the incidents +portrayed, but all charm of local environment is +absent;—it is, in short, impossible to judge of Roman +decoration from this collection of crumbling, fading +pieces of painted stucco. It would be as easy to +imagine the effect of a rose-bush in full bloom from +the sight of a few withered rose-buds, pressed until +every vestige of colour had left their petals, as to +understand the significance of antique domestic art +from the contents of the Museo Nazionale. +</p> + +<p> +But here, in the House of the Vettii, the public was +for the first time initiated into the mysteries of true +Roman life; here it was admitted to gaze upon the +fruits of classical taste and refinement, and to contrast +them, favourably or unfavourably, with prevailing +modern standards. The Casa Nuova has been left +<pb n='55'/><anchor id='Pg055'/>as an object lesson, a complete museum in itself, +wherein every daily incident of Pompeian life, every +domestic secret, reveal themselves to our inquisitive +eyes. Here in the roofless halls we can be taken from +entrance to dining-hall, from <hi rend='italic'>atrium</hi> to sleeping rooms, +spying into the minutest detail of shape, size and +colour, as though we were seriously intending to rent +the house for our own habitation. The last tenant +has even left his money-chest in his hall, his pots and +pans in the kitchen, and as we inspect his utensils, we +wonder if they would suit our own requirements to-day. +Of portable objects of value—plate, jewels, statuettes +of precious metals and the like—belonging to the late +owner, there is certainly no trace, for Signor Fiorelli’s +labourers were not the first to break the deep silence +of this buried mansion. For it was the survivors of +the stricken town, the citizens of Pompeii themselves, +who were the foremost pioneers to excavate, and they +carried off every work of art they could conveniently +remove. Cutting from above into the deposit of ashes +that filled the streets, they managed to reach in course +of time the level of the ground, after which they +tunnelled from room to room, from house to house, +collecting every object they thought worth the trouble +of transporting. Perhaps the owners of the house, the +Vettii themselves, presuming they escaped in the general +<anchor id="corr055"/><corr sic="castastrophe">catastrophe</corr>, may have returned with skilled workmen +to recover some of their treasures; perhaps some <q>man +of three letters</q>—the colloquial Roman term for thief +(<hi rend='italic'>fur</hi>)—may have forestalled the masters’ efforts—who +knows? And at this distance of time, who cares? +</p> + +<p> +The house once occupied by Aulus Vettius Restitutus +and Aulus Vettius Corvina stands in a quiet district +<pb n='56'/><anchor id='Pg056'/>not far from the Capuan Gate, and consequently at +some distance from the Forum. Like all Roman +habitations it was essentially Oriental in its outward +aspect, and must have resembled closely any one of +those mysterious dwellings of wealthy Arab citizens +which we constantly encounter in the native quarters +of Algiers or Tunis. The gateway giving on the +street was wide, certainly, but it was well defended +both by human and canine porters; its windows were +few and small, and were probably closely latticed like +those of the nunneries which we sometimes perceive +overhead in the crowded streets of Naples. There +must have been something austere, even suspicious, in +the external appearance of the Casa de’ Vettii, but +snarling dog and grim janitor have long since disappeared, +and we pass unmolested through the <hi rend='italic'>atrium</hi> +and thence into the Great Peristyle, which is perhaps +the most remarkable feature of this house. The +peristyle, as its name implies, is a Greek importation +in a Roman city, and its use would have been scorned +by the old-fashioned citizens, such as the master of +the <q>House of the Surgeon</q>; yet it was in truth +admirably suited to the character of Southern Italy, +where it afforded shelter from sun and wind, and its +arcades protected from the rainfall. The peristyle of +the Vettii, with its gaudily tinted pillars of stucco, is +highly ornate; perhaps it passes the limits of good +taste in certain points of colour and æsthetic decoration, +yet the general effect is undoubtedly pleasing to the +eye. This courtyard is at once a lounge open to the +sky; it is a garden; it is an art-gallery; for the +cheerful court of Greek domestic architecture had +nothing in common with its successor of the Middle +<pb n='57'/><anchor id='Pg057'/>Ages, the monastic cloister of religious meditation. +Cannot we imagine to ourselves the goodman of the +house proudly leading his guests after a sumptuous +meal in the adjacent dining-room into the cool corridors +of his peristyle, in order to point out to them his +statues and vases of bronze or porphyry, and to +expatiate upon their value or elegance of form? On +such a festive occasion these great shallow basins of +pure white marble before us would be heaped high +with fragrant pyramids of red and white roses, roses +that were perhaps plucked all dewy in the famous +gardens of Paestum on the other side of Mons +Gaurus. For the flowering shrubs in the tiny +pleasaunce itself are far too precious to be stripped +of their blossoms in so lavish a manner, and perhaps +if Vettius be anything of an amateur gardener, he +may comment to his visitors upon the rare plants that +fill his diminutive flower-beds. Careful and reverent +hands have restored the little garden as near as +possible to its pristine plan and appearance. There +are still standing the two bronze statues of urchins +holding in their chubby arms ducks from whose bills +once gushed the limpid water, making a soothing +sound amidst the alleys of the peristyle; corroded +and injured they certainly appear, yet here they +hold their original positions in Vettius’ domain long +after temple and tower have fallen to the ground. +The marble chairs and tripod tables likewise remain, +and around them still thrive the very plants that the +servants of the house were wont to tend in the days +of Titus. For, by a rare chance, we find depicted +on the walls of the excavated house the actual flowers +and herbs that were popular during Vettius’ lifetime, +<pb n='58'/><anchor id='Pg058'/>and these have been replanted by modern hands in +the garden of the peristyle. There are clumps of +papyrus, the strange mop-headed rush from the banks +of the Nile, introduced into Italy as a botanical +novelty after the conquest of Egypt; there are rose-bushes, +of course; and also masses of shining ivy +trained in the ancient Roman manner upon a cage +of wicker-work fixed into the soil. As we watch the +verdure-clad sunlit space there descends, delicately +fluttering, one of those splendid pale yellow brimstone +butterflies of the South with flame-coloured blushes +on its wings, and after some moments of graceful +hesitation, this new visitor settles upon the purple +head of an iris bloom. With its vivid colouring and +its quick movements the butterfly brings an atmosphere +of life into the courtyard that was hitherto lacking. +Its appearance too suggests the famous allegory, the +unsolved riddle of human existence which so puzzled +the divine Plato and the ancient philosophers of +Athens and Syracuse. Here are we, the living +men of to-day, watching the corpse of a departed +world upon which the mystic symbol of Psyche has +just alighted. <hi rend='italic'>Tempus breve est</hi> is the simple little +truism that rises to our reflecting minds. Eighteen +centuries between the Vettii and ourselves! They +are gone like a flash, and we are amazed to note +how little has our nature altered either for the better +or the worse within that space of time, long enough +if we measure its limit by the standard of history, +trivial if we reckon it by the progress made in human +ethics and human understanding. Surely there are +lessons to be learned in the silent city; Pompeii, we +realize, is not merely a heap of antique dross whence +<pb n='59'/><anchor id='Pg059'/>we can pick up precious grains of knowledge, but +it is an oracle in itself, which, if properly consulted, +will give us plain answers to our modern speculations, +and will possibly reprove us for our conceited +assumption of omniscience. +</p><anchor id="illus05"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: LA CASA DEI VETTII, POMPEII]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus05th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus05.jpg">LA CASA DEI VETTII, POMPEII</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: LA CASA DEI VETTII, POMPEII</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Still brilliant in their strong prevailing tints of black, +yellow and vermilion are the decorative schemes which +make a visit to the house of the Vettii of such supreme +importance for those who wish to understand fully the +artistic tastes of the Romans, and also their artistic +limitations. If the contents of the Museum seem +colourless and cold, and prove unsatisfying and disappointing, +here the eye of the artist can feast upon +the classical ornamentation which remains fairly fresh +in spite of a dozen years of exposure to daylight. +For this province of art is peculiarly associated with +the opening years of the Empire, and Pompeii is +naturally the chief place for its study, and in Pompeii +the untouched Casa Nuova is all important for the +student. According to Pliny, the inventor of this +pleasing style of decoration was a certain Ludius, who +flourished in the reign of Augustus, and first persuaded +the Romans to embellish their flat wall-surfaces with +designs of <q>villas and halls, artificial gardens, hedges, +woods, hills, water basins, tombs, rivers, shores, in as +great a variety as could be desired; figures sitting +at ease, mariners, and those who, riding upon donkeys +or in waggons, look after their farms; fishermen, +snarers of birds, hunters and vine-dressers; also +swampy passages before beautiful villas, and women +borne by men who stagger under their burdens, and +other witty things of this nature; finally, views of sea-ports, +everything charming and suitable</q>:—a fairly +<pb n='60'/><anchor id='Pg060'/>long and comprehensive list of subjects, truly, from +which a patron might pick and choose, or an artist +might execute! +</p> + +<p> +Although the great architect Vitruvius strongly +denounced this new striving after scenic effect and +characterized it as petty and false, yet none can deny +that these cheerful scenes with their bright colours and +their agreeable if trivial subjects were singularly well +adapted to improve the appearance of the bare narrow +rooms, the meagre proportions of which seem to us +absolutely incompatible with plain comfort, to say +nothing of luxury. Space may be increased, so far +as the eye is concerned, by an architectural or +landscape painting ingeniously conceived, and thus +the restricted rooms seem to obtain by means of +this new system of decoration a wider expansion, and +with it an increased sense of ease and lightness. The +invention of Ludius became at once the fashion, the +rage; and all Rome began to cover the walls of its +narrow chambers with these novel designs, which had +already found favour in Imperial circles. Campania, +where the old Greek love for polychrome still lingered, +was not slow in imitating the new taste of the +Capital, so that Pompeii bears undoubted testimony +to the popularity of this revolution in artistic ideas, +which substituted a lighter freer method for the old +conventional severity of treatment. Experts profess +to trace—and none will endeavour to gainsay them—a +marked difference between the frescoes executed +before the earthquake of 63 and those undertaken +subsequent to that date. The wall paintings of the +first group, carried out when the art was comparatively +novel, are superior in harmony of colour, in choice +<pb n='61'/><anchor id='Pg061'/>of themes and in technical finish to those which belong +to the latter period, the sixteen years that intervened +between the earthquake and the eruption of Vesuvius. +From this circumstance it has been inferred, not +without reason, that this particular house must have +passed some time before the year 63 out of the +possession of people of good taste into the hands of +vulgarians, ignorant of the fundamental principles of +art and anxious only to obtain what was startling +and garish. As freedmen, the two Vettii would +naturally belong to a class which was not remarkable +for culture; nevertheless, they seem to have had the +good sense to leave intact some of their predecessor’s +most cherished works of decoration, and for this +exhibition of restraint we must feel duly grateful +towards our dead-and-gone hosts, the maligned Vettii. +</p> + +<p> +But it is not only for purposes of examining Roman +internal decoration <hi rend='italic'>in situ</hi> that this art gallery of the +Casa Nuova is available. Below the painted panels +of the dining-room runs a long string of ornament, +whereon are represented Cupids and Psyches engaged +in the various occupations of Pompeian daily life. +Full of dainty grace and of lively expression, these +little winged figures initiate us into a number of the +trades and customs of the ancients. For they are +made to appear before us as goldsmiths, vine-dressers, +makers and sellers of olive oil, dealers in wine, fullers +of cloth, and as partakers in a dozen other scenes +of town or country life. Where learned antiquaries +had hitherto doubted and disputed, the discovery of +the paintings of these celestial little mechanics and +merchants helped to solve many a difficulty, for the +secret of half the arts and crafts of Pompeii is revealed +<pb n='62'/><anchor id='Pg062'/>to us in this playful guise. Nor are the designs +themselves contemptible from an artistic point of +view; look how intent, for example, is the pose of +the tiny jeweller working with a graver’s tool upon +the gold vessel before him; how steadily he bears +himself at a task which requires at once strength of +hand and delicacy of workmanship. Look again at +the nervous pose of the pretty elf who is gingerly +pouring wine out of a huge amphora, which he holds +in his arms, into a shallow tasting cup offered by a +brother Cupid. How thoroughly must the unknown +artist have enjoyed the task of painting this frieze! +How unfettered his fancy, as his brush glided smoothly +and deftly over the carefully prepared wall-surface! +Excellent, no doubt, he thought his work at the time +of execution, but even the most conceited of Campanian +artists could hardly have dreamed that these creations +of his brush would still at the end of two thousand +years be admired, commented upon and even reproduced +in thousands, by a process he never dreamed +of, for the benefit of citizens of nations as yet unborn +or unforeseen. +</p> + +<p> +As the spring evening softly steals over the city +and the shadows of the colonnades lengthen, let us +leave the silent halls and chambers of the Casa dei +Vettii and turn our footsteps westward; and issuing +out of the Gate of Herculaneum, let us traverse the +famous Street of Tombs, that extends along the road +leading to the sister buried city. In ancient times +this was the Via Domitiana, a branch road of the +Appian Way, and it formed the most frequented +entrance into Pompeii. To Roman ideas, therefore, +it was but natural that tombs should be erected +along<pb n='63'/><anchor id='Pg063'/>side its borders, whilst the spirits of the passing and +repassing crowds were in no wise affected by the +memorials of death attending their exits and entrances. +And with the surging human tide that was +ever flowing in this thoroughfare the funeral processions +must constantly have mingled, the wailing +of the hired mourners rising sharply above the din of +harsh voices, the creaking of clumsy wooden wheels +and the braying of the heavily laden asses. Now over +all reigns a decorous silence, such as we moderns deem +fitting for a cemetery; only the hum of insects breaks +the deep quiet of the atmosphere, nor are there any +living creatures visible at this late hour save the bats +which flit restlessly in and out of the weed-grown piles +of brick or stone that once were stately monuments +of wealth or piety. Above our heads the tall sombre +cypresses shoot upward like gigantic spear-heads into +the crystal-clear air, pointing heavenward like our +own church spires in a rural English landscape. This +Street of the Dead in the City of the Dead is in truth +a solemn and a soothing spot; nor can we find its +precincts melancholy, when we stand in the midst of +such glorious scenery. For Monte Sant’ Angelo +towers to our left against the mellow evening sky, +flecked with lines of peach-blossom cloud, whilst in +front of us the dark form of Capri seems to float in a +golden haze between firmament and ocean. Behind +us the dark mass of the Mountain with its breath of +ascending smoke seems like an eternal funeral pyre in +honour of the Dead, who were spared the horrors of +that fearful disaster which overwhelmed the living. +Upon the broken tombs and altars the light from the +setting sun falls with warm cheerful radiance, flushing +<pb n='64'/><anchor id='Pg064'/>stone and brick-work with a ruddy glow like jasper; +whilst, high in the heavens above the cypress tops, +the crescent moon prepares to turn to gold from +silver. +</p> + +<p> +<hi rend='italic'>Beati sunt mortui</hi>: here rest, we know, the priestess +Mammia, the decemvir Aricius, Libella the aedile, and +a host of other citizens with whose names the student +or the lover of Pompeii is familiar. How many a +time has this line of roadway rung with the sound of +the last sad appeal, the thrice repeated valediction: +<q><hi rend='italic'>Vale, vale, vale!</hi> farewell until the day when Nature +will allow us to follow thee!</q> How often have the +wooden pyres flung up in these precincts their clouds +of perfumed smoke into the clear air, now redolent +with the aroma of yellow broom, of dewy thyme and +of sweet marigolds! Perhaps it was amidst these +lines of cypress-set tombs by the Herculaneum Gate +that the poetic genius, whose verses were spurned by +his own generation, composed his famous Ode to +Naples, for in its opening lines Shelley tells us it was +the aspect of the <q>city disinterred</q> that gave him +inspiration:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Around me gleamed many a bright sepulchre</q></l> +<l>Of whose pure beauty, Time, as if his pleasure</l> +<l>Were to spare Death, had never made erasure;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>But every living lineament was clear</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>As in the sculptor’s thought; and there</l> +<l>The wreaths of stony myrtle, ivy and pine,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>Like winter-leaves o’ergrown by moulded snow,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>Seemed only not to move and grow,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'>Because the crystal silence of the air</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 1'><q rend="pre: none">Weighed on their life....</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Tranquilly and slowly descends night upon the +untenanted city, as one by one the stars begin to peep +<pb n='65'/><anchor id='Pg065'/>forth like chrysolites in the heavens, which have +changed from azure to a deep indigo during the +sunset hour. Amid chilly dews, to the sound of the +evening bell from the distant church of Santa Maria +di Pompeii, we hasten in the growing darkness from +the Street of the Tombs towards our modest inn +outside the Marine Gate, anticipating with delight +a ramble in the city in the freshness of the coming +morning. +</p> + +</div><div n="4" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='66'/><anchor id='Pg066'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="4: Vesuvius"/> +<head>CHAPTER IV</head> + +<head type="sub">VESUVIUS: THE STORY OF THE MOUNTAIN</head> + +<p> +The first appearance of Vesuvius, whether viewed +from the deck of a steamer entering the Bay of +Naples or espied from the window of a railway +carriage on the main line running southward from +Rome, makes an impression that will linger for ever +in the memory. It is open to argument which is the +more striking of the two experiences: the Mountain +rising proudly from the deep blue waters into the +paler shade of the upper air, or its graceful broken +contour seen from the landward side to the north +across the green fertile plains of the Campagna Felice. +From a long acquaintance with both ways of +approaching Naples, we are inclined to prefer the +latter view. Travelling in an express train from +Rome we find ourselves whirled suddenly, by magic +as it were, into the atmosphere of the South, when +with the sight of the domes and towers of Capua, the +ancient capital of Campania the Prosperous, we first +note the presence of orange trees and hedges of aloe, +of white lupin crops and clumps of prickly pear, and +we feel we are nearing Naples with <q>its burning +mountain and its tideless sea,</q> so that we eagerly +strain our eyes in a southerly direction to catch our +first glimpse of Vesuvius, with whose shape and +<pb n='67'/><anchor id='Pg067'/>history we have been so familiar since our childhood’s +days. At length we perceive its double summit, with +smoke tranquilly issuing from the cone and obscuring +the clarity of the air, and as we hurry forward towards +our destination, through the plains studded with elm-trees +festooned with vines, we have the satisfaction of +observing its form grow larger and more distinct in +outline. +</p> + +<p> +On our arrival at Naples, in course of time we grow +more intimately acquainted with the peculiar attractions +of <q>the Mountain,</q> as the Neapolitans always +designate their treacherous but fascinating neighbour, +of whose near existence they have every reason to be +proud, for certainly Vesuvius, though barely as lofty +as Ben Nevis, <hi rend='italic'>is</hi> to us westerns the most famous +mountain upon earth. Regarding Vesuvius both from +the land and the sea, we note that it rises in solitary +majesty from an extended base some thirty miles in +circumference, and that it sweeps upwards in graceful +curving lines until at a distance of about 3000 feet +from sea level its summit is cleft into two peaks; +that to the north being a rocky ridge which catches +our eye as we gaze eastward from the heights of Sant’ +Elmo or the Corso at Naples, the other point being +the actual cone of the volcano itself. The upper part +of the Mountain has in fact two aspects; in other +words, Vesuvius is double, being composed of the ridge +of Monte Somma to the north, 3760 feet in height, +which is pre-historic; and the ever-shifting modern +dome of Vesuvius to the south, which is <hi rend='italic'>about</hi> 4000 +feet high. We say <q>about</q> purposely, for Vesuvius +proper sometimes over-tops, sometimes equals, and +sometimes even crouches under its immovable +sister-<pb n='68'/><anchor id='Pg068'/>peak, according to the effect produced by volcanic +action. Monte Somma, which is one of the everlasting +hills, is the parent, and Vesuvius is the child, born +but yesterday from a geological point of view, for it +is not so old as the Christian era;—<q>it is a variable +heap thrown up from time to time, and again, not +seldom, by a greater effort of the same force, tossed +away into the air, and scattered in clouds of dust over +far-away countries. Thus it has happened often, in +the course of these variations of energy, that Vesuvius +has risen to a conical height exceeding that of Somma +by 500 or 600 feet, and again, the top has been +truncated to a level as low as Somma, or even as +much below that mountain as we now behold it +above.</q><note place="foot">Professor John Phillips: <hi rend='italic'>Vesuvius</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +To understand the story of the Mountain, therefore, +it is necessary for us to travel back in retrospect +to ancient Roman days. In the first place, however, +one word as to its present name that we use to-day, +for all are familiar with Vesuvius, but comparatively +few, until they visit Naples, have heard mention made +of Monte Somma. The name of Vesuvius, then, +though strictly applicable only to the volcanic and +modern portion of the Mountain, is not a recent +appellation; on the contrary, it is probably of far more +ancient origin than <hi rend='italic'>Mons Summanus</hi> by which the +whole was known to the Romans. The point is by +no means unimportant, for etymologists derive +Vesuvius from the Syriac <q>Vo Seevev, the abode of +flame,</q> thereby proving to us that whatever opinions +may have been held as to the nature of the Mountain +in the century preceding the Christian era, its volcanic +<pb n='69'/><anchor id='Pg069'/>nature must have been perfectly well understood +by those who gave it this suggestive title in a more +remote age. But the secret locked up in Mons +Summanus was not altogether unsuspected by the +Roman scientists. Strabo, the geographer, writing +about thirty years before the birth of Christ, made a +careful examination of the crest of Mons Summanus, +then a saucer-shaped hollow surrounded by a steep +rocky edge and occupied by a flat plain covered with +cinders and void of grass, although the flanks of +the Mountain were extraordinarily fertile. From what +he saw during his visit, Strabo conjectured the +Mountain to be an extinct volcano, in which surmise +he was destined to be proved partly in the right and +partly in the wrong; whilst Vitruvius, the famous +architect of the Emperor Augustus, <q>who found Rome +of brick and left it of marble,</q> as well as Tacitus the +historian, shared the same opinion. About a century +and a half before the first recorded eruption in 79, +Mons Summanus figures prominently in Roman +history as the scene of a curious incident during +the Servile War, so that in the pages of the old +chronicler Florus we obtain an interesting description—especially +interesting because it was not given for +scientific purposes—of the condition of the mountain +top at that period. The brave gladiator Spartacus +and his intrepid band of revolted slaves, seeking +a place of safety from the pursuing Roman legions, +not very wisely selected the top of this isolated peak, +which, although affording a good position of defence +and possessing a wide outlook over the Campanian +plain, had only one narrow passage in its rocky rim +to serve as entrance or outlet. Followed hither by the +<pb n='70'/><anchor id='Pg070'/>Roman forces and caught like rats in a trap, Spartacus +and his men were doomed either to be reduced +by starvation, or else to run the gauntlet of the sole +narrow exit, which the Senate’s commander, Clodius +Glabrus, was already guarding. The story of +Spartacus’ escape from his terrible dilemma is told +in the history of Florus, and repeated with further +details by Plutarch in his Life of Crassus. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Clodius the Prætor, with three thousand men, +besieged them in a mountain, having but one narrow +and difficult passage, which Clodius kept guarded; all +the rest was encompassed with broken and slippery +precipices, but upon the top grew a great many wild +vines: they cast down as many of these boughs +as they had need of, and twisted them into ladders +long enough to reach from thence to the bottom, +by which, without any danger, all got down save +one, who stayed behind to throw them their arms, +after which he saved himself with the rest.</q> +</p> + +<p> +A dozen learned statements of a scientific nature as +to the ancient appearance and slumbering condition of +the Mountain could not impress our imagination more +vividly with its subsequent natural changes than +the account of this episode of Spartacus and his handful +of rebels, beleaguered by Clodius within the +very crater of the volcano. We can see the Mountain +in the last years of the Roman Republic before us, +with its truncated cone encircled by a low rampart +of rock half hidden by wild vine, ivy, eglantine, +honeysuckle and all the creeping plants whose tough +trailing stems enabled the besieged gladiators to effect +their escape from the snare into which they had unwittingly +fallen. We can understand from this event +<pb n='71'/><anchor id='Pg071'/>how utterly remote was the idea of any upheaval of +nature to the dwellers on these shores, whose ancestors +remembered the crest of the mountain as the scene of +a military operation. +</p> + +<p> +The first warning of a coming eruption after +unnumbered centuries of quiet was given by a series +of earthquakes which did an immense amount of +damage at Herculaneum and Pompeii; yet in a +district which had from time immemorial been subject +to similar convulsions of nature, the shocks, though +unusually distressing and destructive to life and +property, were evidently unconnected in the popular +mind with their true cause: the reawakening to life +of the mountain overhead. The mischief done by the +earthquakes was accordingly repaired as quickly as +possible, and the normal course of life was resumed +until the terrific and wholly unexpected outbreak of +August 24th 79, during the reign of the Emperor +Titus. Of this, the first recorded eruption of Vesuvius, +we are exceptionally fortunate in possessing the +testimony of a credible eye-witness, who was no less +a personage than Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, +better known to the modern world as Pliny the +Younger, who wrote two lengthy letters to Tacitus +on the subject of this event, the first describing the +fate of his uncle, the Elder Pliny, most eminent of +Roman naturalists, who perished during this period of +terror; and the second containing a more detailed +account of the eruption itself. For it so happened—luckily +for posterity—that at the time of this sudden +outburst of Mons Summanus, the Elder Pliny was in +command of the Roman fleet at Misenum on the Bay +of Naples, where his young nephew (who was also his +<pb n='72'/><anchor id='Pg072'/>adopted son) was living with his mother in a villa. +<q>On the 24th of August,</q> writes Pliny the Younger +some eleven years after the event he is about to +describe, <q>about one in the afternoon, my mother +desired my uncle to observe a cloud which appeared +of a very unusual size and shape. He had just +returned from taking the benefit of the sun, and after +bathing himself in cold water, and taking a slight +repast, was retired to his study. He immediately +arose and went out upon an eminence, from whence +he might more distinctly view this very uncommon +appearance. It was not at that distance discernible +from what mountain this cloud issued, but it was found +afterwards to ascend from Mount Vesuvius. I cannot +give a more exact description of its figure than by +resembling it to that of a pine-tree, for it shot up to +a great height in the form of a trunk, which extended +itself on the top into a sort of branches, occasioned, I +imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled +it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upwards, +or the cloud itself being pressed back again by its own +weight, expanded in this manner; it appeared sometimes +bright, and sometimes dark and spotted, as it +was more or less impregnated with earth and cinders. +This extraordinary phenomenon excited my uncle’s +philosophical curiosity to take a nearer view of it.</q> +The nephew then proceeds to relate how his uncle +sailed by way of Retina, the port of Herculaneum, to +Stabiae, where he met with his second in command, +one Pomponianus. Meanwhile the Younger Pliny, +who had declined to accompany his uncle’s expedition +on the plea of having to pursue the studies with which +as a hard-working youth of seventeen he was evidently +<pb n='73'/><anchor id='Pg073'/>engrossed, became alarmed during the night for the +Elder Pliny’s safety. His own and his mother’s +terrible experiences are vividly portrayed in the second +letter, which, at the historian’s special request, the +Younger Pliny wrote to Tacitus in later years. +</p> + +<p> +<q>When my uncle had started, I spent such time as +was left on my studies—it was on their account, +indeed, that I had stopped behind. Then followed +the bath, dinner and sleep, this last disturbed and +brief. There had been noticed for many days before +a trembling of the earth, which had caused, however, +but little fear, because it is not unusual in Campania. +But that night it was so violent, that one thought +everything was being not merely moved, but absolutely +overturned. My mother rushed into my chamber; I +was in the act of rising, with the same intention of +awaking her, should she have been asleep. We sat +down in the open court of the house, which occupied +a small space between the buildings and the sea. +And now—I do not know whether to call it courage +or folly, for I was but in my eighteenth year—I called +for a volume of Livy, read it as if I were perfectly at +leisure, and even continued to make some extracts +which I had begun. Just then arrived a friend of my +uncle, who had lately come to him from Spain; when +he saw that we were sitting down—that I was even +reading—he rebuked my mother for her patience, and +me for my blindness to the danger. Still I bent +myself as industriously as ever over my book. It was +now seven o’clock in the morning, but the daylight +was still faint and doubtful. The surrounding buildings +were now so shattered, that in the place where we +were, which though open was small, the danger that +<pb n='74'/><anchor id='Pg074'/>they might fall on us was imminent and unmistakable. +So we at last determined to quit the town. A panic-stricken +crowd followed us.... We saw the sea retire +into itself, seeming, as it were, to be driven back by +the trembling movement of the earth. The shore had +distinctly advanced, and many marine animals were +left high and dry upon the sands. Behind us was a +dark and dreadful cloud, which, as it was broken with +rapid zig-zag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped +masses of flame; these last were like sheet lightning, +though on a larger scale.... It was not long before +the cloud that we saw began to descend upon the +earth and cover the sea. It had already surrounded +and concealed the island of Capreae, and had made +invisible the promontory of Misenum. My mother +besought, urged, even commanded me to fly as best I +could; <q>I might do so,</q> she said, <q>for I was young; +she, from age and corpulence, could move but slowly, +but would be content to die, if she did not bring death +upon me.</q> I replied that I would not seek safety +except in her company; I clasped her hand and +compelled her to go with me. She reluctantly obeyed, +but continually reproached herself for delaying me. +Ashes now began to fall—still, however, in small +quantities. I looked behind me; a dense dark mist +seemed to be following us, spreading itself over the +country like a cloud. <q>Let us turn out of the way,</q> +I said, <q>whilst we can still see, for fear that, should we +fall in the road, we should be trodden under foot in +the darkness by the throngs that accompany us.</q> We +had scarcely sat down when night was upon us,—not +such as we have seen when there is no moon, or when +the sky is cloudy, but such as there is in some closed +<pb n='75'/><anchor id='Pg075'/>room where the lights are extinguished. You might +hear the shrieks of women, the monotonous wailing of +children, the shouts of men. Many were raising their +voices, and seeking to recognise by the voices that +replied, parents, children, husbands or wives. Some +were loudly lamenting their own fate, others the fate +of those dear to them. Some even prayed for death, +in their fear of what they prayed for. Many lifted +their hands in prayer to the gods; more were convinced +that there were now no gods at all, and that +the final endless night of which we have heard had +come upon the world.... It now grew somewhat +light again; we felt sure that this was not the light of +day, but a proof that fire was approaching us. Fire +there was, but it stopped at a considerable distance +from us; then came darkness again, and a thick, heavy +fall of ashes. Again and again we stood up and +shook them off; otherwise, we should have been +covered by them, and even crushed by the weight. +At last the black mist I had spoken of seemed to +shade off into smoke or cloud, and broke away. Then +came genuine daylight, and the sun shone out with a +lurid light, such as it is wont to have in an eclipse. Our +eyes, which had not yet recovered from the effects of +fear, saw everything changed, everything covered deep +with ashes as if with snow. We returned to Misenum, +and after refreshing ourselves as best we could, spent +a night of anxiety in mingled hope and fear. Fear, +however, was still the stronger feeling; for the +trembling of the earth continued, while many frenzied +persons, with their terrific predictions, gave an exaggeration +that was even ludicrous to the calamities +of themselves and of their friends. Even then, in +<pb n='76'/><anchor id='Pg076'/>spite of all the perils which we had experienced, and +which we still expected, we had not a thought of +going away till we could hear news of my uncle.</q><note place="foot">Pliny’s Letters. (<hi rend='italic'>Church’s and Brodribb’s Translation.</hi>)</note> +</p> + +<p> +As to the fate of the Elder Pliny, it seems that +the old man had been obliged together with his friends +and servants to fly from the villa at Stabiae where he +was resting. The sea being too agitated to allow +of an embarkation, the fugitives turned their steps +towards the slopes of Mons Gaurus, the present +Monte Sant’ Angelo, with pillows bound over their +heads to serve as protection against the showers of +hot cinders that were falling thickly on all sides. +At length the famous old writer, who was somewhat +plethoric and unwieldy, sank exhausted to the ground, +never to rise again, and shortly expired in an attack +of heart failure, induced by the unusual excitement +and fatigue he had lately been called upon to endure. +At any rate, it appears fairly certain that the Elder +Pliny did not perish, as is still sometimes asserted, +by the direct effects of the eruption, but rather +through an ordinary collapse of nature—syncope, +perhaps. Three days later his body was found lying +not far from Stabiae by his grief-stricken nephew, +who describes his uncle’s corpse as looking <q>more +like that of a sleeping than of a dead man.</q> +</p> + +<p> +This then was the first, as it was also the most +violent, of the many outbreaks of Vesuvius which +our own age has witnessed, and with this eruption +of 79 in the reign of Titus, the Mountain, as we +have already said, greatly altered its shape. More +than half the rim of the ancient crater that had enclosed +Spartacus and his men less than two hundred +<pb n='77'/><anchor id='Pg077'/>years before had been torn away and destroyed, its +remaining portion on the landward side retaining the +old name of Mons Summanus. Between this remnant +of the old wall of the crater and the scene of wreckage +on the southern face of the Mountain, there now +appeared the great cleft, the horse-shoe shaped valley +called the Atrio del Cavallo, which separates the two +peaks of the whole summit. A fragment only of +the original crater, known as the Pedimentina, still +remains on the seaward side above Torre del Greco. +From that terrible day, so vividly described by the +Younger Pliny, to our own times, a period stretching +over 1800 years, a vast number of eruptions, great +and small, have been enumerated, for owing to the +nearness of Vesuvius to one of the largest cities in +Europe, every incident connected with its activity +has been carefully noted, at least since the time of +the Renaissance. Out of the many upheavals we +propose to select the eruptions of 1631 and 1779, +as being amongst the most significant. +</p> + +<p> +Ever since an outburst in the year 1500, the +Mountain appears to have lapsed into a remarkable +condition of quietude, even of apparent extinction, +for over a century and a quarter, during which period, +it may be remarked, the Sicilian volcano of Etna +was unusually active. Once more the summit of +Vesuvius was beginning to assume the form it had +borne in the days previous to the overthrow of +Pompeii; the riven crater was becoming filled with +dense undergrowth and even with forest trees, amidst +which wild boar made their lairs and were occasionally +hunted. The learned Abate Giulio Braccini, whose +account of the eruption of 1631 is the most graphic +<pb n='78'/><anchor id='Pg078'/>and accurate we possess, explored the crater shortly +before the outbreak of the volcano, but found little +to suggest any idea of an approaching convulsion. +He reckoned the deep depression occupying the crest +of the mountain to be about five miles in circumference, +and to take about a thousand paces of walking +so as to reach the lowest point within its area. He +remarked abundance of brushwood on its sides, and +observed cattle grazing peacefully upon the open +grassy patches in the midst of the over-grown space. +A deep crack, however, ran from end to end of the +whole crater, which allowed persons so minded to +descend amidst rocks and boulders to a large plain +below the surface, whereon Braccini found three pools +of hot steamy water, of a saline and sulphureous +taste. Such was the tranquil aspect of the Mountain +as surveyed by the Abate Braccini in the first half +of the seventeenth century; to men of science signs +of latent energy were certainly not wanting, yet to +the ignorant, careless peasants of the hill-side and the +scarcely less ignorant dwellers of the towns on the +seashore, the state of repose in which the Mountain +had continued for four or five generations suggested +no fears or suspicions. Tilling of vineyards, building +of new houses, sinking of wells, went on apace as +cheerfully as though an eruption were an impossibility, +till certain unmistakable portents that occurred +towards the close of the year 1631 roughly dissipated +this spell of fancied security. Earthquakes, +more or less severe, began at this time to be felt +along the whole of the volcanic line stretching from +Ischia to the eastern slopes of Vesuvius; the plain +within the crater of the Mountain began to heave +<pb n='79'/><anchor id='Pg079'/>and rise in an alarming fashion, and the water in all +the local wells sank mysteriously below ground. +The signs of some impending disaster coming from +the heights above were too strongly marked to be +lightly disregarded; the idea of a volcanic convulsion, +though by this time a long-distant and vague memory, +became so terrifying to the dwellers on the mountain’s +flanks and in Torre del Greco, Resina and the various +towns that line the seaward base of the Mountain, +that the majority of the people removed themselves +and their property with all speed to places of safety. +Nevertheless, despite the warnings given by Nature +and also by men of science and the royal officials, +many remained behind in their houses, and in consequence +perished, to the immense number, it is surmised, +of 18,000. On the morning of Wednesday, December +16th, the long threatened eruption burst forth in +earnest upon an expectant world. Amidst crashes +like prolonged volleys of artillery the people of +Naples and the surrounding district beheld the terrible +pine-tree of smoke and ashes, described centuries ago +by Pliny, ascend from the south-western side of the +summit of the Mountain, veiling the sky for miles +around, and so charged with electricity, that many +were even killed by the <hi rend='italic'>ferilli</hi>, or lightning flashes, +that darted from the smoking mass. The spectacle +of the ominous pine-tree was at once followed by a +terrific rumbling and an ejection of lava, which after +flowing down the southern flank in several streams +finally reached the sea, making the waters hiss and +boil at the moment of contact. Slowly but surely +these relentless red-hot rivers of lava crept like +serpents along the hill-side, destroying vineyard and +<pb n='80'/><anchor id='Pg080'/>garden, cottage and chapel, on their downward path. +Resina shared the fate of its ancient forerunner +Herculaneum, whilst Torre del Greco and Portici +suffered severely, as we can see to-day by noting +the great masses of lava flung on to the strand at +various points. To add to the universal confusion of +Nature, the sea, which had now become extraordinarily +tempestuous, probably owing to some submarine +earthquake-shock, suddenly retreated half a mile +from the coast, and then as suddenly returned in a +tidal wave more than a hundred feet beyond its +normal limits. Such were the main features of the +second great eruption of Vesuvius, wherein the ashes +ejected by the Mountain were wafted by the wind +beyond the Adriatic, to the Greek islands and even to +Constantinople itself. +</p> +<anchor id="illus06"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: VESUVIUS AND THE BAY OF NAPLES]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus06th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus06.jpg">VESUVIUS AND THE BAY OF NAPLES</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: VESUVIUS AND THE BAY OF NAPLES</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +From this date onward the Mountain became very +active in contrast with its previous condition of +lethargy, and throughout the whole of the eighteenth +century there were frequent eruptions, many of them +on a vast scale. All these outbursts have been carefully +recorded and commented upon, for naturally the +scientists of a great city like Naples were intensely +interested in the passing phases of their own volcano. +During the latter half of this century all the phenomena +have been described for us by Sir William +Hamilton, British ambassador at the Court of the +Two Sicilies, the versatile diplomatist who eventually +married the beautiful but frail Emma Hart. During +his long period of residence in Naples, Sir William +made no fewer than fifty-eight explorations of the +crater alone, besides carefully studying every peculiarity +visible upon the sides of the Mountain. He was, +<pb n='81'/><anchor id='Pg081'/>of course, a close observer of the great eruptions of +1766-7, and also of the still greater convulsion of +1779, which, strangely enough, occurred on the +seventeenth centenary of the awakening of the +Mountain from its pre-historic slumbers. On this +occasion, Hamilton, accompanied by a Mr Bowdler +of Bath, had the temerity to track the streams of +flowing lava to their hidden source by walking over +the rough unyielding crust of stones and earth that +had formed upon the surface of the molten stream, +as it slowly trickled down hill at the rate of about a mile +an hour. The adventurous pair of Englishmen were +successful in their quest, and Sir William thus describes +the fountain-head of the fiery streams that he found +a quarter of a mile distant from the top of the cone. +</p> +<p> +<q>The liquid and red-hot matter bubbled up +violently, with a hissing and crackling noise, like that +which attends the playing off of an artificial firework; +and by the continued splashing up of the vitrified +matter, a kind of arch, or dome, was formed over +the crevice from whence the lava issued; it was +cracked in many parts, and appeared red-hot within, +like a heated oven. This hollowed hillock might be +about fifteen feet high, and the lava that ran from +under it was received into a regular channel, raised +upon a sort of wall of scoriae and cinders, almost +perpendicularly, of about a height of eight or ten feet, +resembling much an ancient aqueduct.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Some days later, at midnight on August 7th, a +veritable fountain of red fire shot up from the crest of +Vesuvius, illuminating all the surrounding country; +and on the following night a still more marvellous +sheet of flame appeared, hanging like a fiery veil +<pb n='82'/><anchor id='Pg082'/>between heaven and earth, and reaching to a height +(so Sir William Hamilton guessed) of about 10,000 +feet above the summit, affording a wonderfully grand +but terrible spectacle. This great curtain of fiery +particles, accompanied by inky black clouds from +which were darting continual flashes of lightning, +was reflected clearly on the smooth surface of the +Bay, delighting the Court and the scientific world of +Naples, but inspiring, as may well be imagined, the +mass of superstitious inhabitants with the direst alarm. +The theatres were closed and the churches were +opened; above the rumblings and explosions of the +agonised volcano could be heard the tolling of the +bells. Maddened by terror, the Neapolitan mob rushed +to the Archbishop’s palace to demand the immediate +production of the holy relics of St Januarius, the +protector of the city, and on this request being +refused, set fire to the entrance gates, a forcible +argument that soon persuaded his Eminence of the +propriety of the people’s demand. Thereupon the +head of the Saint, enclosed in its case of solid silver, +was accordingly borne in solemn procession with +wailing and repentant crowds behind it to an improvised +shrine, hung with garlands, on the Ponte +della Maddalena, at the extreme eastern boundary +of the city. Nor was the confidence reposed by the +Neapolitans in their patron Saint misplaced, for +except from the stifling smells and the dense rain +of ashes, the terror-stricken capital suffered not a whit, +whilst the general alarm inspired its inhabitants +with a revival of religious fervour which was by no +means insalutary. As usual, the old cynical proverb +was once more justified:—<hi rend='italic'>Napoli fa gli peccati, e la +<pb n='83'/><anchor id='Pg083'/>Torre gli paga</hi>, for of course poor Torre del Greco +was grievously affected by the lava streams. In this +case, however, even Torre del Greco and Resina +did not fare so badly as did the towns on the +northern slopes of Monte Somma, a district which is +of course perfectly immune from lava inundations +owing to the protecting rocky ridge of the Atrio del +Cavallo. But it seems that the great veil of clouds +and fire, extending some thousands of feet from the +crest of the mountain to the heavens above, was +swayed by a chance current of air, so that its component +red-hot dust, ashes and stones were emptied +in one fatal shower upon the northern flank of the +Mountain. Whole villages were ruined, hundreds +of acres of vines and crops were scorched and burned; +the smiling peaceful hillside was in a few minutes +converted into a parched wilderness. Ottajano, a +large town of some 12,000 inhabitants, was the place +most seriously injured by this wholly unexpected +rain of destruction, for a tempestuous fall of red-hot +stones, some of immense size, and a shower of ashes +killed hundreds of the terrified and suffocating citizens, +and blocked up the streets with smoking debris to a +depth of four feet. +</p> + +<p> +Of the recent eruptions of Vesuvius, which have +been pretty frequent during the latter half of last +century, that of April 1872, so carefully recorded +by Professor Palmieri, who in spite of imminent +danger never abandoned his post in the Observatory, +is the most notable. It is remembered also owing +to the catastrophe whereby some twenty persons out +of a large crowd of strangers, who had imprudently +ascended to the Atrio del Cavallo to get a closer +<pb n='84'/><anchor id='Pg084'/>view of the phenomenon, were suddenly caught by the +lava stream and enfolded in its burning clutches. +For if ignorance and superstition seem to make the +poor fisherman or peasant unduly alarmed on such +occasions, curiosity and self-confidence are sometimes +apt to lead the educated or scientific into unnecessary +peril. Naples itself was once more alarmed in 1872, +so that the relics of St Januarius at the furious +demand of the populace were again brought forth in +solemn procession, and exposed towards the face +of the Mountain on the Ponte della Maddalena. +Thousands of quaking mortals gathered near this +spot, joining in the chanting of the priests and +watching with pallid anxious faces the fiery currents +of lava slowly trickling down the south-western flank +of Vesuvius towards the city itself. A certain number +of attendants meanwhile were engaged in perpetually +brushing away from the image of the Saint, from his +improvised altar, and from its votive garlands the +ever-accumulating mantle of grey dust, and it is +scarcely to be wondered at that a certain cool-headed +Neapolitan artist, Il Vaccaro, should all this time +have been busily engaged in painting so characteristic +and highly picturesque a scene. Within the churches, +and particularly in St Januarius’ own cathedral, +enormous crowds of hysterical men and women had +collected, loudly bewailing their past sins and imploring +the Divine mercy, for +</p> + +<lg> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="post: none">E belle son le supplice</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Pompe di penitenza, in alto lutto.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Again the historic <hi rend='italic'>palladium</hi> proved effectual, and +the city, that was never for a moment in danger, was +<pb n='85'/><anchor id='Pg085'/>once more saved! Naples received no damage +beyond a temporary panic and a heavy fall of ashes, +which covered every street and flat surface within the +town to a depth of some inches and which it took +many days of enforced labour to remove. Again +it was the poor confiding vine-dressers and tillers of +the Vesuvian soil who suffered in this upheaval, for +though the loss of life was very slight indeed, yet +numerous houses, fields and vineyards were totally +destroyed and many more were injured. Truly it is +a maxim well proven by time:—<hi rend='italic'>Napoli fa gli peccati, +e Torre gli paga.</hi> +</p> + +<milestone unit="tb"/> + +<p> +Such, told baldly and briefly, is the history of the +Mountain, which forms the most conspicuous feature +of the Bay of Naples and dominates one of the +fairest and most populous districts on the face of the +globe. But it does not take long to make visitors +to the Neapolitan shore understand the mysterious +charm, not unmixed with awe, and the all-pervading +influence of Vesuvius. Go where we will within the +circuit of the Bay of Naples and even outside it, we +are never out of sight of the obtruding Mountain +and its smoky wreath. We begin to feel that the +Mountain is an animated thing, that the destiny of +the Parthenopean shore is locked up in the breast of +the Demon who has his dwelling within its red-hot +caverns. So sudden are the actions, and so capricious +the moods of this Monster of the Burning Mountain, +that no one can tell the day, or even the hour, wherein +he will give us an exhibition of his fiery temper, +though, it is true, in the case of violent eruptions he +is kind enough to afford timely warning by means +<pb n='86'/><anchor id='Pg086'/>of a succession of earthquakes and other signals +almost equally alarming. His Majesty’s presence is +felt everywhere; each morning as we open our +window upon the dazzling waters of the Bay, we +note with relief his tranquil aspect; each night, ere +we retire to sleep, we find ourselves inevitably drawn +to watch the glare thrown by the molten lava within +the crater upon the thick vapour overhead. The +nightly expectation of this aerial bonfire possesses +an extraordinary fascination for the stranger. Some +times the lurid glare is continuous; at other times +there are long intervals of waiting, and even then the +reflected light is very faint, a mere speck of reddish +glow in the surrounding blackness, gone in the +twinkling of an eye. But, strangely enough, one +grows to understand the Mountain better from a +distance and by watching its moods from afar, like +the Neapolitans themselves, who never ascend to +probe its mysteries, except a few vulgar guides and +touts who batten on the curiosity of the foreigner. +</p> + +<p> +On clear windless days the intermittent clouds of +vapour sent up from the crater assume the most +fantastic shapes—trees, ships, men, birds, animals—ever +changing like the forms of Proteus. It would +seem as if the Spirit of the Mountain were idly +amusing himself, like a child blowing bubbles, or a +vendor at a fair-stall carving out little figures of +gingerbread to tickle the fancy of country boys and +girls. The clouds so formed sometimes cause amusement +by their uncanny shapes, but not unfrequently +they inspire alarm. The superstitious peasant of the +<hi rend='italic'>Paduli</hi>, looking up suddenly from his work amidst +the early peas or tomatoes, beholds against the blue +<pb n='87'/><anchor id='Pg087'/>sky a vague nebulous form that to his untutored mind +suggests a gigantic crucifix upheld in mid-air above +the Mountain, and he crosses himself devoutly ere he +bends down to earth once more to his work in the +rich dark soil. <q>Such stuff as dreams are made of</q> +appear in truth the weird phantoms that the sly +Demon of Vesuvius flings up into the pure aether, +and if credulous mankind likes to draw inferences +for good or bad from these unsubstantial creations +of his fancy, he laughs to himself with a hollow +reverberating sound. It must, however, have been +in the true spirit of prophecy on the occasion of +King Manfred’s birth, that the genius of the Mountain +despatched two cloud-forms into the sky (so the +unabashed old chroniclers gravely relate), one having +the appearance of a warrior armed cap-à-pie, and the +other that of a fully vested priest. The affrighted +gazers below, struck with the strange phenomenon, +beheld the two figures sway towards each other and +finally become locked together in deadly aerial combat, +until all resemblance to human shape had vanished +from the pair. Then, after an interval of time, men +perceived the cloudy mass once more assume a mortal +shape, and a huge towering priest with flowing robes +and tiara on head was left in solitary and victorious +possession of the sky. The Churchman had swallowed +up the soldier; the Pontiff had vanquished the King; +it was a true premonition of the fatal field of +Benevento, which saw the ultimate triumph of the +Papal over the Imperial cause. +</p> + +<p> +But if the near presence of the burning mountain +has tended to make the inhabitants of its immediate +zone the slaves of superstitious awe, the disasters of +<pb n='88'/><anchor id='Pg088'/>generations have likewise imbued them with a spirit of +fatalism, that appears even stronger than their outward +show of credulity. Life is not so sweet nor so dear +apparently to these children of the South, but that +they can afford to take their chance of disturbance or +death with a true philosophic calm. The fisher-folk +and maccaroni workers of Resina, Portici and the two +Torres have, it is true, little to lose; a small boat can +at the last moment easily convey their families and +slender stock of household furniture to a place of +temporary safety, and when the danger is over-past, +the same shallop can bring back the refugees and their +belongings. But with the husbandmen the case is +different. Not only has he to fear the actual stream +of lava, which may or may not overwhelm his house +and farm in its slow inevitable course, but there are +also the showers of hot ashes and of scalding water +that will frizzle up in a few seconds every green blade +and leaf upon his tiny domain, for which he pays an +enormous rental, sometimes as much as £12 sterling +an acre. Yet the <hi rend='italic'>contadino</hi> takes his chances with a +seraphic resignation that we do not usually attribute +to the southern temperament. After the eruption of +1872, which covered the rich <hi rend='italic'>Paduli</hi> with a deep +coating of grey ashes, a young peasant girl was heard +deploring the loss of her carefully tended gourds and +melons; <q><hi rend='italic'>Oh come volimme fa? Addio, pummarole! +addio, cucuzzielle!</hi></q> whereupon an older woman, witnessing +these useless tears, upbraided her with the +words: <q>Do not complain, child, lest worse befall you!</q> +And indeed the whole population of the <hi rend='italic'>Paduli</hi>, instead +of lamenting over their scorched and spoiled crops, +were jubilant at the thought that the havoc done was +<pb n='89'/><anchor id='Pg089'/>only partial, not irrevocable;—a few months of incessant +labour, said they, would bring back the holdings +to their former state of perfection. Yet a general +opinion prevails among foreigners that the Neapolitans +are lazy, thriftless and helpless! They indeed rely +to a certain extent upon St Januarius to protect their +crops from the efforts of Nature, over which, they +argue, the Saint is more likely to possess control than +his human applicants, but when once the fatal shower +of ashes has fallen, they do not expect <q>San Gennaro</q> +to set their injured acres to rights again, but with a +rare patience turn to the task themselves. A more +industrious, and at the same time a more capable and +practical race of agriculturists than the tillers of the +slopes of Vesuvius, it would be hard to match. And +thus in the sunshine of the south, yet ever under the +shadow of death and destruction, dwell many thousands +of human beings, as unconcerned as though Vesuvius +were miles and miles away. Not unconscious, but +fully conscious of their doom, the victims of the +Mountain toil and moil upon the fertile farms (in +many cases risen phoenix-like from their own ashes) +that grow the early beans and tomatoes, the egg-plants +and the white fennel roots (<hi rend='italic'>finocchi</hi>) that well-fed +travellers devour in the hotels of Naples. Or else +they tend the vines that yield the generous <hi rend='italic'>Lagrima +Christi</hi>, of which imprudent and heated visitors drink +long draughts unmixed with water, and then complain +of ensuing languor and pains beneath their waistcoats. +Luscious, yet seductive wine! Counsellor of moderation +after a first experience of excess! Essence of +Vesuvius, whose strange name so puzzled the poet +Chiabrera! +</p> + +<pb n='90'/><anchor id='Pg090'/> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Chi fu de’ contadini il si indiscreto,</q></l> +<l>Ch’ a sbigottir la gente</l> +<l>Diede nome dolente</l> +<l>Al vin’ che sovra gli altri il cuor fa lieto?</l> +<l>Lagrima dunque appellerassi un riso</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Parte di nobilissima <anchor id="corr090"/><corr sic="quote mark missing">vendemmia?</corr></q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">Who was the jesting countryman, I cry,</q></l> +<l>That gave so fearsome and so dour a name</l> +<l>To that choice vintage, which of all think I</l> +<l>Most warms the heart’s blood with its genial flame?</l> +<l>Smiles, and not tears, the epithet should be</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Of juice wrung from so fair a vinery.</q>)</l> +</lg> +<p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +Scarcely had the above pages been written, than +the Mountain, which had been drowsing for more than +thirty years, suddenly awakened to give appalling evidence +of its latent activity and powers of mischief. +The eruption of April 1906 has, in fact, surpassed all +previous outbursts within living memory, and it may +probably be reckoned amongst the most violent of all +hitherto recorded. Many of the details of this event +doubtless remain fresh in the memory, and in any case +the sad condition of numerous towns and villages, and +of the beautiful Vesuvian districts, the <hi rend='italic'>paesi ridenti</hi> as +the Neapolitans affectionately term these fertile lands, +will serve for some years to come as a sinister and +ever-present reminder of the horrors of the past and +of the dread possibilities of the future. All vegetation +for miles around the volcano has been injured or +destroyed, for not only was the Mountain itself +covered deep with grit and ashes, but the streets and +gardens of Naples, the luxuriant plain of Sorrento, and +even the heights of Capri, twenty miles distant across +the Bay, were shrouded in a funereal mantle of the +<pb n='91'/><anchor id='Pg091'/>greyish-yellow dust that Vesuvius had flung into the +air to let fall like a shower of parching and destructive +rain upon the earth. How vast was the amount of +matter ejected from the crater and scattered in this +form over the surrounding country, we may judge from +the scientific calculation that 315,000 tons fell in +Naples alone! Everywhere appeared the same scenes +of desolation, the same dreary tint, for so thickly had +this aerial torrent of ashes descended, that buildings, +trees and plants were completely hidden by +it, the whole landscape suggesting the idea of a +recent heavy fall of dirty-coloured snow. <hi rend='italic'>Paesi +ridenti</hi>, indeed! It was a land of ugliness and +mourning, a city of stifling air and of human +terror. +</p> + +<p> +A few days previous to the eruption, which began +on April 5th, the island of Ustica, which lies some +forty miles north of Palermo, had been visited by +earthquake shocks of such violence that the Italian +Government at last decided to remove the greater +part of its population to the mainland, as well as the +convicts attached to the penal settlements on the +island. Scarcely had these manifestations ceased at +Ustica, than Vesuvius began to show signs of +increased activity; the supplies in the wells on the +mountain sides began to fail, and there was observed +a strong taste of sulphur in the drinking water; +whilst—most dreaded phenomenon of all—the ever-active +crater of Stromboli, that lies midway between +Naples and Messina, suddenly lapsed into quiescence. +We all know the subsequent story of the outbreak; +of the thousands of fugitives flying into Naples or +other places of refuge; of the utter destruction of +<pb n='92'/><anchor id='Pg092'/>houses and cultivated lands;—the doleful scenes of a +Vesuvian eruption have been enacted and described +time after time in the history of the Mountain, and +there is every reason to suppose they will be repeated +at intervals for centuries to come. The marvel is +how human beings can calmly settle down and pass +their lives so close to the jaws of the fire-spouting +monster, and why an intelligent Government permits +its subjects to dwell in places which are ever exposed +to catastrophes such as that which we have just +witnessed. Well, it is the natural temperament of +the Vesuviani to be fatalistic, despite their religious +fervour; and acts of legislature cannot force them to +abandon their old deep-rooted notions; all that the +Italian Government can do therefore is to stand ready +prepared to help, when the upheaval <hi rend='italic'>does</hi> occur, as it +inevitably must. +</p> + +<p> +It is always a matter of speculation on these +occasions as to what course the ejected lava will +pursue; whose turn, of the many settlements on the +southern slopes of the Mountain, will it be to suffer? +This time it was Bosco-Trecase, a village above Torre +Annunziata, that was devastated by the sinuous +masses of incandescent matter, high as a house and +broad as a river. Torre Annunziata itself, as also +ruined Pompeii were threatened, but the red-hot +streams of destruction mercifully stopped short of +their expected prey. The story of horrors and panic +in the overthrow of Bosco-Trecase is happily relieved +by many a recorded incident of valour and unselfishness. +The royal <hi rend='italic'>Carabinieri</hi>, that splendid body of +mounted police, who in their cocked hats and voluminous +cloaks appear as ornamental in times of quiet as +<pb n='93'/><anchor id='Pg093'/>they prove themselves useful in the stormy hours of +peril, acquitted themselves, as usual, like heroes. It +was they who guided away the trembling peasants +before the advance of the lava, searching the doomed +houses for sick and crippled, whom they carried on +their shoulders to places of security. Working, too, +with almost equal zeal and practical good sense were +the Italian soldiers, who richly deserved the praise +that their royal commander, the Duke of Aosta, +subsequently bestowed upon them for their invaluable +services rendered during these fearful days of darkness +and danger. <q>Soldiers!</q> declared the Duke, in his +address to the troops on April 23rd, <q>I have seen +you calm and happy in the work of alleviating the +misfortunes of others, and I put on record the praise +you have won. By promptly appearing at the places +distressed by the eruption, you have encouraged the +people by your presence and your example; you +have maintained order and have safe-guarded property. +Helping the local authorities, and even in some +instances filling their offices, you have carried out the +most urgent and dangerous duties in order to save +the houses and to keep clear the roads. In the +spots most heavily afflicted you have lent your +assistance in removing and caring for the injured, +and in searching for and burying the dead you have +given proofs of great self-sacrifice and reverence +(<hi rend='italic'>pietà</hi>). Not a few of the refugees have obtained +food and shelter in your barracks, and whole communities +without means of existence have been +provided by you with the necessaries of life. Everywhere +and from all your conduct has gained you +loud applause. Nevertheless, your task is not yet +<pb n='94'/><anchor id='Pg094'/>ended; continue at it out of love for your country +and devotion to your King!</q><note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>La Nazione</hi>, April 24, 1906.</note> +</p> + +<p> +With such a reputation for kindness of heart and +energy in time of need, no wonder that the Army is +popular with all classes in Italy! +</p> + +<p> +Nor did the King and Queen hold aloof from the +scene of disaster, for they hurried from Rome at +midnight of that terrible Palm Sunday on purpose +to comfort the terror-stricken population. Victor-Emmanuel +even penetrated in his motor-car as far as +Torre Annunziata, in spite of the fumes of sulphur +and the many difficulties in proceeding along roads +clogged deep with volcanic dust and ashes. On +another occasion the King and Queen paid a visit to +the afflicted district of the slopes of Monte Somma, +where Ottajano and San Giuseppe had been almost +buried by the continuous falling of burning material +from the crater. In fact, these localities suffered +even more severely than the towns on the seaward +face of the Mountain (Bosco-Trecase excepted), and +at Ottajano hardly a house in the place remained +intact at the close of the eruption, whilst the loss of +human life was probably higher here than elsewhere. +The Duke and Duchess of Aosta—he the king’s +cousin, and she the popular Princess Hélène, daughter +of the late Comte de Paris—were likewise indefatigable +in their efforts to assist and reassure the +demoralized population, and to make every possible +arrangement for the feeding and housing of the +numberless refugees and the tending of the injured in +the hospitals of Naples. Equally valorous was the +conduct of the great scientist, Professor Matteucci, +<pb n='95'/><anchor id='Pg095'/>who remained together with a few Carabinieri throughout +all phases of the eruption at the Vesuvian +Observatory, although in imminent peril of death +amidst a deadly atmosphere of heat and sulphureous +fumes. +</p> + +<p> +It was on April 5th that the streams of burning +lava first burst from the riven crater and made their +way down the south-eastern slopes, destroying Bosco-Trecase +and reaching to the very suburbs of Torre +Annunziata. Pompeii itself was imperilled, and it is +always well to remember that during an eruption this +precious relic of antiquity may possibly be lost to the +world. Meanwhile the rain of ashes and mud—formed +by dust and hot water commingling—fell incessantly; +150,000 inhabitants of the Vesuvian districts fled in +precipitate flight towards Naples, towards the shore, +towards the hill country beyond the Sarno. It was +truly a marvellous spectacle to observe the relentless +stream of burning lava crushing irresistibly every +opposing object in its fatal path. Onlookers at a +distance could perceive the walls of houses bulging +outward under pressure of the moving mass, until the +roof collapsed in an avalanche of tiles upon the ground, +whilst with a final crash the whole structure—cottage, +farm, church or stately villa—succumbed to the +overwhelming weight. +</p> + +<p> +Many are the tales of courage and intrepidity; not +a few, alas! are the stories of folly and cowardice that +are related in connection with the eruption. It cannot +be said that the population of Naples, where everybody +was perfectly safe even if the atmosphere was +unpleasant and the distant thunders of the Mountain +reverberated alarmingly, comported itself with dignity +<pb n='96'/><anchor id='Pg096'/>or calm; and this criticism applies in particular to +the hundreds of visitors—English, German, American +and other <hi rend='italic'>forestieri</hi>—who besieged the railway station +in frantic and indecent anxiety to remove themselves +with all speed from the city. Some excuse might +perhaps be found for the hysterical terror of the poor +inhabitants of the Mergellina or the Mercato, who +spent their time in wailing within the churches or in +screaming for the public exhibition of the venerated +relics of their patron Saint, which again on this occasion +the Archbishop, <hi rend='italic'>nolens volens</hi>, was compelled by +the mob to produce. But for the great mass of +educated foreigners then filling the hotels and pensions +of the place, it cannot be said that their conduct was +edifying, particularly in face of the example set by the +King and Queen of Italy. To add to the general +panic prevailing in the city, the Neapolitans themselves +were not unnaturally greatly exasperated by the +serious accident which took place at the Central +Market Hall near Monte Oliveto in the heart of the +old town. Here, early one morning during the course +of the eruption, the great roof of corrugated iron +collapsed, killing many and frightening the whole of +the populace, already sufficiently unnerved by recent +events. That this catastrophe was due to the casual +methods, amounting in this case to criminal neglect of +plain duty, of the municipal authorities, who had +neglected to sweep the accumulation of heavy volcanic +ash from off the thin metal roof, none can deny; and +this glaring example of public stupidity had of course +a bad effect on the demoralized multitude, which +threatened to grow unruly, as well as terrified. No, +the graceless stampede of educated foreigners to the +<pb n='97'/><anchor id='Pg097'/>railway-station, the incompetence of the Municipality, +and the behaviour of the Neapolitan crowd do not +appear very creditable to the supposed enlightenment +of the twentieth century. It had been confidently +predicted that nearly fifty years of State education +and liberal government would work wonders in dispelling +the crass ignorance and the deep-seated +superstition of the dwellers on the Bay of Naples. +Yet, so far as can be judged from recent events, +matters seem to have changed but little on these +shores, for the mass of the population evidently preferred +to pin its hope of safety to the miracle-working +relics of San Gennaro, rather than to the reassuring +messages of Professor Matteucci, sent from his post +of undoubted peril on the mountain-side. +</p> + +<p> +If the inhabitants of a great city, which was never +seriously threatened with danger, should have acted +thus, there is undoubtedly much excuse to be found +for the Vesuviani themselves, whose houses and lives +were certainly in danger from the devastating streams +of lava. It was with a sigh and a smile that we +learned how the good people of Portici attributed +their escape from the fate of Bosco-Trecase to the +direct interposition of a wonder-working Madonna enshrined +in one of their own churches. For some days +the town had been threatened, so that many were +convinced of its impending doom, when happily at +the last moment the expected fate was averted, as +though by a miracle. And miracle it truly was in +the eyes of the people of Portici, when it was observed +that the snow-white hands of their popular +Madonna had turned black in some mysterious manner +during the night hours. What could be a simpler +<pb n='98'/><anchor id='Pg098'/>or easier deduction from this circumstance, than that +Our Lady’s Effigy, taking pity on its affrighted +suppliants, had with its own hands pushed back the +advancing mass of lava, and thus saved the town! +Great was the joy, and equally great the gratitude, +displayed by these poor souls at Portici, who at once +organised a triumphal procession in honour of their +prescient patroness <q>delle mani nere.</q> Does not such +an incident, we ask, lend a touch of picturesque +medievalism to a modern scene of horror and darkness, +exhibiting to us, as it does, the traits of a simple +touching faith and of genuine human thankfulness? +</p> + +<p> +Well, the great eruption of 1906 is over, and the +inhabitants of the Vesuvian communes are once more +settling down in their ruined homes, or their damaged +farms and gardens. No doubt a new Bosco-Trecase +will arise on the shapeless ruins of the old site, for fear +of danger seems powerless to deter the outcast population +from reoccupying its old haunts. Ottajano will +be rebuilt, not for the first time, and its citizens will +again trust to luck—and to St Januarius—for protection +from the evil fate which has repeatedly +overtaken their town. The two Torres, Resina, +Portici, and the villages along the shore, have this +time contrived to escape the lava streams, and +though their buildings have been severely shaken, and +even wrecked in many instances, the people will +doubtless mend the cracks in their walls and place +fresh tiles on the injured roofs. They are wise in +their own generation, for the Mountain is not likely to +burst forth again for another quarter of a century at +least after so violent a fit, <hi rend='italic'>salvo complicazioni</hi>, of course, +as the more cautious Italians themselves say. But +<pb n='99'/><anchor id='Pg099'/>another outburst is inevitable; and whose turn to +suffer will it be then? Will it be Portici, or either of +the Torres? Who knows?—and what dweller under +Vesuvius to-day cares at this moment? <q>Under +Vesuvius,</q> but it is a new Vesuvius, for the tall cone +which was so conspicuous a feature of the Bay of +Naples has disappeared completely, and the summit +of the volcano has been once more reduced to the +level of Monte Somma. How many years, we +wonder, will be required for the Mountain to raise for +itself once more the tall pyre of ashes that it has +itself demolished and flung on all sides to the winds? +At any rate let us now look for a period of rest, a +period of prosperity to recoup the disturbed denizens +of these <hi rend='italic'>paesi già ridenti</hi> for their heavy losses and +terrible experiences. <hi rend='italic'>Speriamo.</hi> +</p> + +</div><div n="5" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='100'/><anchor id='Pg100'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="5: The Corniche Road from Castellamare to Amalfi"/> +<head>CHAPTER V</head> + +<head type="sub">THE CORNICHE ROAD FROM CASTELLAMARE TO AMALFI</head> + +<p> +It is without any feelings of regret that we learn +of the non-existence of a railway line beyond +Castellamare, so that our journey to Amalfi along the +coast must be performed in the good old-fashioned +manner of long-past <hi rend='italic'>vetturino</hi> days. Three skinny +horses harnessed abreast are standing ready at the +hotel door to draw our travelling chariot, each member +of the team gorgeously decked with plumes of +pheasant feathers in his head-gear and with many-coloured +trappings, whilst on the harness itself appears +in more than one place the little brazen hand, which is +supposed to ensure the steed’s safety from the dangers +of any chance <hi rend='italic'>jettatore</hi>, the unlucky wight endowed +with the Evil Eye. Nor is the swarthy picturesque +ruffian who acts as our driver unprovided with a +talisman in case of emergency, for we observe hanging +from his heavy silver watch-chain the long twisted +horn of pink coral, which is popularly supposed to +catch the first baleful glance, and to act on the +principle of a lightning-conductor, in deflecting the +approaching danger from the prudent wearer of the +coral trinket. Merrily to the sound of jingling bells +and the deep-chested exhortations of our coachman do +<pb n='101'/><anchor id='Pg101'/>we bowl along the excellent road in the freshness of +the morning air and light <q>through varying scenes of +beauty ever led,</q> for the Corniche road towards Amalfi +is admitted to be one of the finest in the world. +Following the serpentine curves above the cliffs, we +have on our right hand the dazzling Mediterranean +with classic capes and islands all flushed in the early +sunshine, whilst above us on the left rise the steep +fertile slopes of the Lactarian Hills. Convent and +villa, cottage and farmhouse, peep out of embowering +verdure, whilst our road is shaded in many +places by the overhanging boughs of blossoming +almond and loquat trees. The whole region is in +truth a veritable garden of the Hesperides, where in +the mild equable climate fruit and flowers ripen and +bloom without a break throughout the rolling year. +</p><anchor id="illus07"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: POZZANO]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus07th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus07.jpg">POZZANO</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: POZZANO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Tall thriving trees confess’d the fruitful mould;</q></l> +<l>The verdant apple ripens here to gold;</l> +<l>Here the blue fig with luscious juice o’erflows,</l> +<l>With deepest red the full pomegranate glows,</l> +<l>The branches bend beneath the weighty pear,</l> +<l>And silver olives flourish all the year;</l> +<l>The balmy spirit of the western gale</l> +<l>Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail.</l> +<l>Each dropping pear another pear supplies,</l> +<l>On apples apples, figs on figs arise;</l> +<l>The same mild season gives the blooms to blow,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +A lovely and a fertile scene it is indeed, and +thoroughly typical of the peculiar charm of Southern +Italy, wherein the rich well-tilled lands appear in +striking contrast with the near-lying stony fallows and +scrub-covered wastes. +</p> + +<p> +Beneath the picturesque pile of Santa Maria a +<pb n='102'/><anchor id='Pg102'/>Pozzano, perched aloft above the roadway, we pass +along the edge of the sea-girt precipice, rounding the +Capo d’Orlando, until we reach the pretty little town +of Vico Equense, with its churches and gay-coloured +villas nestling amidst groves of olive and orange trees. +Vico owes its prosperity in the first instance to the +patronage of <q>Carlo il Zoppo,</q> Charles the Dwarf, +the lame son and heir of King Charles of Anjou, who +founded a settlement and built a villa upon the site of +the ancient Roman colony; and it was in the old +royal demesne of the Angevins that the hand of +the deformed king’s daughter, the Princess Clementia, +was demanded formally in marriage by the French +monarch, Philip the Bold, who sought to marry her to +his third son, Charles of Valois. The match between +the young prince of France and his cousin, the +Neapolitan princess, appeared suitable to all concerned +in every respect save one; for it was well known that +the King of Naples had been lame from his birth, and +it could never be deemed fit for the expected heir of +France to marry any but a perfectly sound and +healthy bride. Now the Queen of Naples was too +proud to accede to the hints of the French ladies, who +evidently were most anxious to acquaint themselves +with the satisfactory condition of her daughter’s +<q>walking members,</q> though she went so far as to +allow the maiden to appear before them clad only in +a flowing robe of gossamer silk. The possible danger +of losing her opportunity to become Queen of France +proved, however, beyond the ambitious young lady’s +powers of endurance, and to the horror of her haughty +mother and the delight of the foreign emissaries, the +Princess Clementia then and there doffed her silken +<pb n='103'/><anchor id='Pg103'/>robes and appeared before all in the historic garb of +Lady Godiva. A glance at the princess’s form <hi rend='italic'>in +puris naturalibus</hi> sufficed to convince the inquisitive +Frenchwomen that no hereditary taint from Il Zoppo +descended to his daughter; and accordingly the +betrothal of the two young people was celebrated that +very evening amidst the usual revels and feastings. +</p> + +<p> +The clean cheerful town on the sheer limestone +crags boasts a cathedral, wherein, so the guide-book +informs us, we shall find the tomb of Filangieri, the +great Italian jurist. But the building contains in +reality far more stirring associations than those connected +with a prominent lawyer. It is but a rococo +structure of the usual Italian type, and its painted +series of portraits of past bishops is by no means an +uncommon complement of cathedral churches in the +South. But here, amidst the long rows of indifferent +portraits, we note an omission, a space that is occupied, +not by a likeness but by a medallion, which +represents a cherub with the forefinger of his right +hand laid as a seal of silence upon the lips. Here-by +indeed hangs a tale, obscure perhaps, but pathetic +and human to the last degree. We all remember the +broad frieze filled with Doges’ faces which is carried +round the great hall of the ducal palace in Venice, +wherein the place assigned to the traitor, Marino +Faliero, contains a black veil instead of the usual +portrait. Here in little Vico Equense is to be found +a somewhat similar incident, but with this important +difference:—the bishop whose portrait is here omitted +was the most worthy of remembrance of all his peers. +</p> + +<p> +The crime of Monsignore Michele Natale, Bishop +of Vico Equense, to which the silent cherub bears +<pb n='104'/><anchor id='Pg104'/>everlasting witness, was that of being a patriot and +a Liberal (in the truest sense of that term) during +the anxious times of the ill-fated Parthenopean +Republic, that short-lived period of aristocratic government +which was set up in self-defence by certain +Neapolitan nobles, prelates and men of science after +the abrupt departure of their cowardly King and +Queen to Palermo. We all remember the terrible +ending of that government: how the vile rabble-army +of Cardinal Ruffo assaulted Naples; how the +city capitulated to the Cardinal on the express condition +that all life and property should be spared; +and how Lord Nelson, refusing to recognise the terms +that Ruffo himself had agreed to, and overruling the +Cardinal’s protests, treated the unhappy prisoners. +The Bishop of Vico Equense was one of this band +of martyrs, for he suffered death under circumstances +of exceptional brutality on the morning of August +20th 1799, in the piazza in front of the church of +the Carmine, together with two Neapolitans of noble +rank, Giuliano Colonna and Gennaro Serra, and with +the poetess, Eleonora Pimentel, a Portuguese by +birth but the widow of a Neapolitan officer. All +went nobly to their doom amidst the execrations of +the demoralised bloodthirsty mob of <hi rend='italic'>lazzaroni</hi>, yelling +at and insulting the <q>Jacobins,</q> and kept back with +no little difficulty by the royal troops from mutilating +the corpses of women, bishops and princes. +Monsignore Natale himself was hanged, and in his +case the public executioner—<q>Masto Donato</q> as he +was nick-named by the populace—gave vent to +many pleasantries concerning the episcopal rank of +his victim. Blindfolded and with the cord of infamy +<pb n='105'/><anchor id='Pg105'/>depending from his neck, the Bishop was led up to the +fatal ladder amid deafening shouts of +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Viva la forca e Masto Donato;</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Sant’ Antonio sia priato!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +On reaching the top of the gallows, the hangman +made fast the rope to the cross-tree, and then an +assistant (<hi rend='italic'>tirapiede</hi>) from below adroitly pushed the +unseeing prisoner into space, catching on to his legs +meanwhile, whilst <q>Masto Donato</q> himself adroitly +leaped from the gallows-top upon the prelate’s +shoulder. With the hangman on his back, shouting +aloud how much he was enjoying his ride upon a +real bishop, and with the other ruffian clinging to his +heels, Monsignore Natale swayed backwards and forwards +amidst yells of execration and gratified hate +on that hot August morning in front of the Church +of the Carmine little more than one hundred years +ago. His body was left on the gallows to be insulted +by the mob throughout the long sweltering day, and +then, stripped of all its clothing, was finally flung +with other corpses of noble men and women into a +charnel-house at Sant’ Alessio al Lavinaio. Who it +was that placed this quaint little memorial to the +murdered prelate in his cathedral church we know +not; but here the speechless yet eloquent cherub +tells Natale’s sad story of brutality and injustice to +all who care to listen. Happily the spell of silence +is at length broken, and the true history of that +hateful era of crime, cruelty, lying, and intrigue is +gradually being revealed; and the enemies of the +Church in Italy learn with an astonishment, which +is perhaps feigned, that in that glorious army of +<pb n='106'/><anchor id='Pg106'/>martyrs of 1799 more than one ecclesiastic of high +rank suffered in the ill-starred and premature cause of +Neapolitan liberty. +</p> + +<p> +Crossing the little river Arco, we proceed uphill +through the region of vines and olives, until we have +passed the Punta di Scutolo, where begins our +descent into that famous tract of country, the Piano +di Sorrento, a plateau above the cliffs, some four miles +in length by one in breadth. Poets of antiquity and +bards of the Middle Ages alike have sung the +delights of the Sorrentine Plain, and have painted +in glowing colours of inspired verse its race of happy +peasants, its fruitful fields and orchards, its luscious +vines, its excellent flocks. Galen, the cunning old +physician, recommended to his nervous patients what +would now be termed a <q>rest cure</q> in these favoured +regions; whilst the grateful Bernardo Tasso, father of +the immortal Torquato, speaks of the capital of this +district as <q>l’Albergo della Cortesia,</q> and in an +ecstasy of delighted appreciation, goes on to add: +<q>l’aere e si sereno, si temperato, si salutifero, si vitale, +che gli uomini che senza provar altero cielo ci vivono +sono quasi immortali.</q> And though praise from +Torquato’s courtly sire must not be taken too +seriously, yet few will deny that the beautiful plain +deserves many of the eulogies that have been +showered upon it. At the small town of Meta, the +next place of importance after Sorrento itself, the road +divides at the Church of the Madonna of the Laurel: +our way to Amalfi leading southward over the opposing +ridge—the <q>Sorrentini Colles</q> of Ovid—whilst +the other traverses the length of the plain by way of +Pozzopiano and Sant’ Agnello, until it reaches Sorrento. +</p> + +<pb n='107'/><anchor id='Pg107'/> + +<p> +One prominent feature of this district has already +attracted our attention; the number of deep ravines +with which the whole plain is intersected. These +natural clefts are marvellously lovely in their rich +luxuriance of foliage, and with their precipitous sides +and verdure-clad depths will recall the wonderful +<hi rend='italic'>latomiè</hi>, the ancient stone-quarries of Syracuse. Their +depths are filled with orange and lemon trees, mingled +with sable spires of cypress and the tall forms of bays, +which here bear jet-black berries, such as are rarely seen +in our northern clime; whilst the edges of the cliffs +are clothed with a serried mass of wild flowers; red +valerian, crimson snap-dragon, tall blue campanulas, +the dark green wild fennel, white-blossoming cistus, +and a hundred other plants, gay with colour and +strong with aromatic perfume. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The quarry’s edge is lined with many a plant,</q></l> +<l>With many a flower distilling fragrant dew</l> +<l>From brightly coloured petals. Almond trees</l> +<l>Give snowy promise of sweet leaves and fruit;</l> +<l>Here all the scented tangle of the South</l> +<l>Covers the boulders, calcined by the sun</l> +<l>To pearly whiteness; thorn or asphodel</l> +<l>Sprout from each cranny of the topmost ledge</l> +<l>To nod against the deep blue sky, or peer</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Into the verdure-clad abyss below.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +It is not surprising to learn that these romantic glens, +filled with greenery, are reputed locally to be the haunts +of fairies, <hi rend='italic'>Monacelli</hi>, as the Sorrentine inhabitants +name them. Like the <q>good folk</q> of certain country +districts in England, the pixies of Devonshire, and the +<q>Tylwyth Teg</q> of rural Wales, these elfin people of +the ravines are not malicious or unkindly in their nature, +but they are particular and somewhat exacting in +<pb n='108'/><anchor id='Pg108'/>certain matters. They appreciate the attentions of +mortal men, and offerings of fresh milk or choice +fruit are not beneath the notice of the Monacelli. +Borrowing the idea from the votive offerings they +make in the churches to the Virgin and the Saints, +the peasants sometimes place little lamps in the fern-draped +grottoes of these gullies, and to such as +punctually perform these acts of courtesy, the +Monacelli frequently show signs of favour. The +<hi rend='italic'>padrone</hi> of a local inn has assured us that he and +his wife stood very high in the good graces of the +little people, who had on one occasion actually +written them a letter, although as the characters +employed were unknown to any person in the +village, the object of their communication by this +means seems somewhat of a mystery. Another and +a more practical instance of their patronage was +then related, for the favoured landlord assured us +that on one occasion, when he and his wife descended +downstairs in the morning, they found the house +cleared, the hearth ready swept, and all the contents +of last night’s supper-table relaid on the brick floor, +but <hi rend='italic'>d’un modo squisito</hi>, such as no human hand could +ever have been deft enough to contrive. Just a simple +innocent trifle of Sorrentine folk-lore, but how closely +does it resemble the old-time gossip of rustic England, +of which the great poet has left us so charming +a picture!— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Tells how the drudging Goblin sweat</q></l> +<l>To earn his cream-bowl duly set,</l> +<l>When in one night, ere glimpse of morn,</l> +<l>His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">That ten day labourers could not end.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='109'/><anchor id='Pg109'/> + +<p> +For, as we have already said, the Monacelli show +themselves grateful to those who anticipate their +wants, and will serve their votaries with industry +and fidelity. <hi rend='italic'>Fuore avra il Monacello in casa</hi>—perhaps +he has had the Fairy in the house—has +passed into a local phrase to designate a neighbour’s +unexplained prosperity. But, again, the lucky recipient +of these favours must never blab or even hint +at the origin of his good fortune, for all gossip is +highly distasteful to the fairy folk; and that, we +suppose, is the true reason why so little authentic +information can be gleaned as to the methods of +the Monacelli. +</p> + +<p> +In direct contrast with the Monacelli of the ravines, +who are, on the whole, well inclined towards mortals, +are the Maghe, first cousins evidently to the terrible +<hi rend='italic'>ginns</hi> of Arabian folk-lore; perhaps the Saracenic +pirates themselves may have introduced their oriental +sprites to the Neapolitan shores. In the popular mind +the Maghe are supposed to possess vast treasures +hidden in caves by the seashore, or on the bleak +mountain side, and it was doubtless concerning these +spirits that the guide’s tale, given in a previous chapter, +relates. The most celebrated Maga of all is the demon +who haunts a certain underground corridor near +Pozzuoli, containing an immense hoard of gold and +jewels, which he is willing to present to anybody +that is ready to give in exchange a new-born baby, +presumably for purposes of devouring. Nor was the +general belief in the cave-dwelling monster at Pozzuoli +limited to the poor peasants and fisher-folk, for rumour +persistently asserted that King Francis of Naples, +father of Bomba of impious memory, more than once +<pb n='110'/><anchor id='Pg110'/>attempted to negotiate with the guardian of this +buried treasure; but the Maga’s terms, it seems, +were too bloodthirsty and extravagant even for a +Neapolitan Bourbon to comply with, and in that +case they must indeed have been pretty startling. +Malignant fairies are, in short, quite common upon +the Sorrentine plain, where exasperated mothers are +sometimes in the habit of frightening their squalling +children into silence by threatening to introduce them +to <hi rend='italic'>Mammone</hi>—perhaps a corruption of the old Greek +word <hi rend='italic'>mormo</hi>—a terrible ghost, that must be a near +relation to the <q>Big Black Man</q> of English nurseries, +who is ever ready to carry off naughty boys and girls +in his sack. +</p> + +<p> +But the whole of the Sorrentine Peninsula is full of +local superstitions, the vast majority of which can easily +be traced to the influence of Catholicism, whilst comparatively +few seem to be the legacy of ancient Greek +or Roman mythology. Belief in witchcraft is universal +in these parts, but the witch herself (<hi rend='italic'>strega</hi>) is regarded +somewhat in the light of a beneficent <q>wise woman,</q> +who can arrest the far more dreaded spell of the Evil +Eye, rather than as the malevolent old hag of bucolic +England in the past. Certainly there has never been +recorded in Southern Italy any such popular persecution +of poor harmless old crones as once disgraced +English countrysides; nor has any Italian jurist, like +the erudite Sir Matthew Hale, ever condescended to +supply legal information concerning the peculiarities +of witches, and the best methods of prosecuting and +burning them. But the <hi rend='italic'>strega</hi>, though not as a rule +dangerous to mankind, provided she be not disturbed +or insulted, has the same supernatural power of transit +<pb n='111'/><anchor id='Pg111'/>on a broomstick that is possessed by her northern +sister. On many a dark night have the peasants +crossed themselves with fear on hearing the witches +flying through the storm-vexed air to keep their unholy +tryst beside the famous walnut tree of Benevento, which +has been described for us by the learned Pietro Piperno +in his mysterious treatise, entitled <hi rend='italic'>De Nuce Beneventana</hi>. +Even snatches of the witches’ song can sometimes be +distinguished above the howling of the gale— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Sott’ aero e sopra vento,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Sotto la Nuce di Benevento!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Perhaps it may afford some consolation to those +who have a dread of witches that the word <q>Sabato,</q> +solemnly pronounced on these awful occasions, is of +real service to the utterer; whilst such as have had +the good fortune to be born on a Friday in March are +permanently placed outside the evil power of their +spells, since our Saviour was crucified on a Friday in +that month. +</p> + +<p> +But at length we have finished the ascent of +the ridge, and our driver halts for a moment at +the inn of the <q>Due Golfi.</q> A smiling damsel, +dressed in the picturesque native costume, advances to +offer us the national drink of Italy, sweet vermouth +that is frothed up with a little fizzing water in a narrow +tumbler; and though carriage exercise is not liable to +produce thirst, yet we cannot be so churlish as to +refuse the draught, especially as the delay allows us to +take our farewell look at the Bay of Naples. For here +we have reached the peak of the rocky saddle that +divides the two famous gulfs; and before us we now +behold the wide crescent of the Bay of Salerno with +its sunburnt vineyards and its precipitous cliffs. To +<pb n='112'/><anchor id='Pg112'/>our right we perceive the craggy headlands stretching +southward till they culminate in the Cape of Minerva:—how +much more attractive sounds the good old classical +name than the new-fangled Punta della Campanella, +so called from the alarm bell which used to be tolled +in the ruined fortress at the approach of the Moslem +pirate galleys! Vastly different is the aspect on this +side of the peninsula to that which we have just left +behind us. There is the plain below us, thickly dotted +with farms and villas set amidst crops and orchards, a +fertile scene of industry and population; here on the +Salerno side are wild stony tracts affording only pasturage +for a few sheep and goats, and covered for +miles with broom, cytizus, coronella, myrtle, and numberless +fragrant weeds, all struggling fiercely for existence +on the dry barren soil, and filling the clear air +with an incense-like perfume. Such is our first acquaintance +with the Costiera d’Amalfi, that wonderful +stretch of indented rocky coast-line once containing +the Republic of Amalfi, which was the forerunner of +the glorious Commonwealths of Florence and Venice. +From the grey cliffs of Capri to the west, as far as the +headland beside Salerno, stretched this diminutive +state, composed of a confederacy of sister-cities, whereof +Amalfi herself was the queen and metropolis. Its +glories have long vanished, but the Costiera d’Amalfi +remains an enchanted land, not only on account of its +natural beauties, but also by reason of its historical +associations which give an additional charm to every +breezy headland and every little town upon this +wonderful shore. +</p> + +<p> +Below us, as we rapidly descend the slopes by the +curves of the Corniche road, lies the little beach known +<pb n='113'/><anchor id='Pg113'/>as Lo Scaricotojo, whence in the days previous to the +construction of this splendid highway all visitors were +wont to embark for Amalfi;—that is, unless they +attempted the expedition by way of the mountain +roads leading thither from Castellamare or La Cava. +It raises a smile in these days of swift and luxurious +travelling to learn from an early Victorian guide-book +that <q>the most elegible mode of going from Sorrento +to Amalfi is either to ride or to be carried in a <hi rend='italic'>chaise +à porteurs</hi> to that part of the Colli where begins a +rapid descent, and thence descending on foot to the +Marinella of the Scaricotojo on the Gulf of Salerno.... +The ride occupies about an hour and a quarter, +and the descent which, though steep, is not dangerous, +occupies about an hour.</q> <hi rend='italic'>Nous avons changé tout ça</hi>; +yet there are still living amongst us those who lament +the passing away of the old-fashioned days of Italian +travel, when inns were bad but picturesque, and expeditions +to such remote places as Amalfi were not only difficult +but even dangerous; since in compensation +for slow progress and risk of brigands every town +owned a primitive charm which is now rapidly disappearing +before the modern irruption of locust-like +swarms of tourists with their motor cars, their luncheon +baskets, and their kodaks. Well, to the majority of +travellers the value of natural scenery is not a little +enhanced by the sense of comfort, and here on the +Costiera d’Amalfi the most particular can have no +cause to complain, since it is one of the few lovely +spots of Southern Europe that has not yet been invaded +by the dividend-paying railway. No, the old +Republic retains to a great extent its ancient atmosphere +of unspoiled beauty and remoteness from the +<pb n='114'/><anchor id='Pg114'/>bustling world. It is still a stretch of glorious and +historic country wherein one can obtain a pleasant and +valued respite for a time from the overpowering improvements +of an industrial age. +</p> + +<p> +As we look southward across the breadth of the +Bay, our eye is at once caught by the group of the +Isles of the Sirens, which, though in reality fully a +mile distant from the nearest point of the coast, seem +in this clear atmosphere as though they were lying +within a stone’s throw of the beach. Around these +bare bluffs of rock, seemingly flung by the hand of +Nature in a sportive mood into the blue waves, lingers +one of the most insidious of all the old Greek legends, +for it was past these lonely cliffs that the cunning +Ulysses sailed during his long career of mazy wanderings +in search of his island home and his faithful +Penelope. In those days, so the Greek bard tells us, +there dwelt upon these islets strange sea-witches +with the faces and forms of most beautiful maidens, +although their lower limbs had the resemblance of +eagles’ feet and talons. Two sirens only, says Homer, +dwelt upon these coasts, although later poets have +increased the number of the fatal sisters to three or +even four. Singing the most enchanting songs to +the sound of tortoise-shell lyres, there used to bask +in the sunlight beside the gentle ripple the Sirens, +their nether limbs well hidden from the gaze of +passing seamen, who, attracted by the tuneful notes, +hastened hither to discover the whereabouts of the +musicians. Innocent eyes, angelic faces, flowing +golden locks and white beckoning hands had every +power to draw the curious mariner nearer and +nearer, until he came within reach of the fell +en<pb n='115'/><anchor id='Pg115'/>chantresses. For the Sirens loved the flesh of +mortals, and bleached skulls and bones of digested +victims lay in heaps upon the sandy floor of their +azure-hued caverns. Gold and jewels, too, the spoils +of many a brave galley that had been lured to destruction +by these charmers, likewise littered their +retreat, and perhaps it was as much the glittering of +this gold as their own lovely features that in certain +cases enticed the wary merchant into this fatal trap. +Gold and a pretty face: what male heart could be +proof against the double temptation the Isles of the +Sirens offered to the navigator in the days of the +Odyssey! Only one sailor over these seas proved +himself a match for the wiles of the cruel goddesses +of the Amalfitan coast; for Ulysses, as we know, +stopped the ears of his companions with wax on +their approach towards this dangerous spot, whilst he +himself, always eager to hear and see everything yet +perfectly well aware of the Sirens’ magnetic power, +had himself tightly bound by cords to the mast. So +whilst the deaf rowers stolidly tugged at their oars, +oblivious of the weird unearthly melody around them, +the clever King of Ithaca gained the honour of becoming +the only mortal who had listened to that +subtle song without paying the penalty of a hideous +and ignoble death. +</p> + +<p> +It is strangely disappointing to find that no recollection +of Sirens or of Ulysses lingers in the lore +of the present dwellers upon these coasts. They +have no more notion of the aspect of a Siren than +they have of a pleisosaurus, and, as a modern writer +naïvely complains, they are not sharp-witted enough +to invent fanciful tales to please the enquiring foreigner. +<pb n='116'/><anchor id='Pg116'/>Nor is this lack of intelligence to be wondered at, +when we recall to mind the clean sweep of all +classical learning and tradition which that period of +time, truly known as the Dark Ages, made throughout +Italy; if Petrarch found it necessary to explain to +King Robert the Wise with the greatest tact and +delicacy that Vergil was a poet and not a wizard, +what must have been the appalling ignorance prevailing +amongst the peasant and the fisherman? And +yet these barren rocks were known as the Isles of +the Sirens centuries before the verses of the Aeneid +immortalized the mythic voyage of the Trojan +adventurer, who passed along this iron-bound coast +on his way towards the mouth of Tiber. Their +modern, or rather medieval name of I Galli is somewhat +of a puzzle. Erudite scholars affect to derive +it from Guallo, a fortress captured during a war +between King Roger and the Republic of Amalfi, +but this explanation, we confess, does not sound very +reasonable. Others prefer to imagine that the word +Gallo (a cock) contains an allusion to the claws and +feathers of the Sirens themselves, for certain of the +ancient writers endowed these dire Virgins of the +Rocks with the wings as well as the claws of birds;—in +fact, they represented them as Harpies, those +horrible fowls with women’s faces that appeared upon +the scene at Prospero’s bidding to spoil the bad +king’s supper party. But why, if the Sirens were +female,—and on this point all their critics agree with +an unanimity that is wonderful—should their ancient +haunts be called <q>The Cocks?</q> The untutored +natives themselves, understanding nothing of Sirens +or of Odysseys, hold their own theory with regard +<pb n='117'/><anchor id='Pg117'/>to the disputed name, which they connect with the +construction of a harbour at distant Salerno, and +though this legend sounds foolish enough, it is +scarcely less flimsy than the notions already quoted. +A certain enchanter, one Pietro Bajalardo, undertook—in +modern parlance, contracted—to build in a +single night the much needed breakwater at Salerno +on the strange condition that all cocks in the +neighbourhood should first be killed; for the wizard, +so the story runs, had a special aversion to Chanticleer +on account of his having caused the repentance +of St Peter by his crowing. In any case, the reigning +Prince of Salerno gladly complied with the eccentric +request, and at his command every cock in or near +the place was accordingly slaughtered, with the +solitary exception of one old rooster, who, being very +dear to the heart of his aged mistress, was kept concealed +beneath a tub and thus escaped the general +holocaust. Throughout the livelong night Bajalardo +was busily engaged in superintending the work of +building the harbour, whilst the fiends who carried +out his behest were actively conveying huge blocks +of broken cliff from the Cape of Minerva to place in +the waters of Salerno. But at daybreak the cock +imprisoned beneath the tub, the sole survivor of his +race, according to natural custom announced the dawn, +to the despair of Bajalardo and the terror of his attendant +fiends, who in their precipitate flight dropped +into the sea near the Punta Sant’ Elia the huge masses +of stone they were then carrying; and these rocks +are called by men I Galli in consequence to this day. +</p> + +<p> +But, to be strictly impartial, it was not the Sirens +alone who were responsible for all the victims who +<pb n='118'/><anchor id='Pg118'/>perished on these arid rocks. <hi rend='italic'>Homo homini lupus</hi>; +man is always ready to prey upon man, and many of +the dark tales concerning the Galli go to prove the +truth of the terrible old adage. At what period the +Sirens abandoned their ancient retreat and swam or +flew away to more congenial haunts is unknown to +history; but certain it is that the rulers of proud +Amalfi committed many a cruel deed of murder or +torture upon their deserted islets. For here, many a +hapless political prisoner languished for years in abject +misery, a prey to the heat and glare of summer and +to the fierce gales of bitter winter nights. Rock-cut +steps and ruined towers still remain as mementoes of +those dark days, when callous human gaolers worthily +filled the places of the absent Sirens. It was in a +chamber of yonder turret, still standing, that the Doge +Mansone II., blinded by a brother’s vengeance, dragged +out years of utter misery in pain and darkness, until +the Emperor of the East, suzerain of Amalfi, at last +took compassion upon the prisoner’s wretched plight +and allowed him to be removed into honourable confinement +at Byzantium. For many hundreds of years +the Isles of the Sirens have lain untenanted, nor are +they visited nowadays save by a few inquisitive +travellers or by the fishermen of the Scaricotojo, who +find safe shelter under their lee during the sudden +squalls of the Mediterranean. For, strange to relate, +there are no dangerous currents, no treacherous whirlpools +close to these rocky islets, such as we might +expect to give some natural interpretation to the ancient +myth, the origin of which remains unexplained and +constitutes a very pretty mystery as it stands. +</p> + +<p> +We bid farewell to the group of ill-omened rocks, +<pb n='119'/><anchor id='Pg119'/>as we proceed rapidly under the rocky slopes of the +Monte di Chiosse towards Positano, which extends in +a long curving line of cheerful-tinted flat-roofed houses +from the summit of its protecting cliff to the strand +below, sprinkled with boats and nets and cloths with +heaps of grain a-drying. The descent to the lower +portion of the little town is singularly charming with +its varied scenery of rocks and hanging woods above +us, with the tiled domes of churches outlined against +the deep blue waters, and with the whole scene +dominated by the pierced crag of Montapertuso, +beyond which thrusts up into the cloudless sky the +triple peak of the giant Sant’ Angelo. Positano is a +thriving as well as an ancient place, and of its dense +population we have abundant evidence in the swarms +of children that pursue our carriage, brown-skinned +picturesque little nuisances, shrilly and incessantly +crying out for <hi rend='italic'>soldi</hi>. Most of these infants wear +bright coloured rags, but not a few are dressed in +garments that at once recall the ginger-coloured robes +of the Capuchin friars, for the brothers of the Order +of St Francis are popularly reputed to be especially +competent in keeping aloof evil spells from young +persons entrusted to their charge; and of course, +argue the doting parents, it is only natural that the +spirits of darkness should not dare to molest the little +ones tricked out in robes similar to those worn by +these holy men. +</p> + +<p> +From the point of view of history the chief interest +of Positano centres in the time-honoured tradition +that Flavio Gioja, the original inventor of the compass, +was a native of this town, once a flourishing and +important member of the group of cities which +com<pb n='120'/><anchor id='Pg120'/>prised the Amalfitan Republic in its palmy days. +But Clio, the Muse of History, is an inexorable +mistress, and she will not rest content with mere +hearsay, however venerable, and as a result of careful +investigation it would seem that Flavio Gioja, who for +centuries has been generally credited with this marvellous +discovery, must himself have been a personage almost +as mythic as the Sirens of this shore, for his very +name is spelled in a variety of ways that is hopelessly +confusing. Nor has the question of his place of birth +ever been satisfactorily settled, for both Positano and +Amalfi claim this hero of science for a son, although +only in Amalfitan annals can the disputed name +be detected. Be this as it may, it was a citizen of +this Costiera who has ever been acknowledged as +the inventor of the compass, though concerning both +himself and his alleged discovery there is a complete +absence of any contemporary record. Later +writers have, it is true, always admitted the honour on +behalf of the Republic, and Pontano goes so far as to +call Amalfi <hi rend='italic'>magnetica</hi> in compliment thereof, whilst +during the later crusades the Amalfitani, who were +evidently convinced of the genuine nature of Gioja’s +claim, had an heraldic figure of the mariner’s compass +emblazoned on their banners. It seems a thousand +pities to throw doubt upon so picturesque a tradition, +for the date of the invention of the compass has been +fixed as 1302, two years only after the holding of the +famous Papal Jubilee in Rome which Dante’s verse +has described for us. Nor can the ingenious theory +be upheld that the fleur-de-lys, the emblem of the +French kings of Naples, which still decorates the dial +of the compass in almost all lands, is in any wise +<pb n='121'/><anchor id='Pg121'/>connected with Carlo il Zoppo, the monarch to whom +Gioja is said to have dedicated his ingenious discovery. +No, we have little doubt that the compass, like so +many of the scientific wonders that crept into Europe +before and during the time of the Renaissance, was +originally brought from the far East, a farther East +than the argosies of Amalfi had ever penetrated. The +little magic box with its moving needle was first used, +it is now admitted, by the cunning merchants of +Cathay during their trading expeditions across the +stony monotonous plains of Central Asia that lay +between the Flowery Land and the civilization of +Persia. From Cathay the use of the magnetic needle +was introduced to the Arab mathematicians of Baghdad +and Cairo, and through them the secret of the lodestone +of China was conveyed to the coast towns of the +Levant. At Aleppo or Alexandria some astute trader +of Amalfi—perhaps his name really was Flavio Gioja—contrived +to learn the new method of steering from +some Moslem or Jewish merchant, and he in his turn +brought this novel and precious piece of information +back to the Italian shores. If, then, a native of +Amalfi did not evolve the idea of the compass out of +his own brain, at least it was the old Republic which +first impressed the Western world with its immense +value, and this, too, at a far earlier period than the +date usually assigned to Gioja’s <q>discovery.</q> For a +Christian bishop of Jerusalem a hundred years before +Gioja’s day makes mention of the compass as being in +common use amongst the Saracens of Palestine, whilst +its existence was certainly known to Brunetto Latini, +the tutor of Dante, whom for certain moral failings +upon earth his brilliant pupil somewhat harshly places +<pb n='122'/><anchor id='Pg122'/>in the infernal regions. History has, in short, long +deprived poor disconsolate Positano of its vaunted +glory in the production of a medieval scientist whose +very existence has now become a matter of speculation. +</p> + +<p> +As we thread our way along the road that curves +round headland after headland, and is carried over +sheer precipices whose base is lapped by the cool +jade-green water, we begin to realize the essential +difference between the Sorrentine shores we have left +behind us, and the marvellous Costiera d’Amalfi we +are now passing. Ever green and smiling are the +favoured districts that stretch from Castellamare to +Massa Lubrense, with the mountain tops acting +as screens to protect the groves and crops from +the sun’s ardent rays and with the fresh reviving +breezes from the Abruzzi ever breathing upon them. +But here we seem to be under the very eyes of the +Sun-God, who stares fixedly from rising to setting +upon the Amalfitan coast. Welcome enough is this +continuous basking in his smiles during the short +winter days; but oh! the long, long summer hours +wherein King Helios relentlessly pours down his +burning glances upon the shallow soil that covers the +rocky face of the Costiera! We who visit the +territories of the old Republic in winter or early +spring only perceive one aspect of the picture. We +rejoice in the gladdening warmth afforded by unbroken +sunshine and by the complete absence of cutting winds +which Monte Sant’ Angelo’s towering form excludes +from these shores; we note with delight the premature +unfolding of buds and blossoms, and we marvel at the +young fruit of the dark-leaved loquat trees—the +<hi rend='italic'>nespoli</hi> of the South—turning to pale yellow even in +<pb n='123'/><anchor id='Pg123'/>February. But we cannot realise the blinding glare +and the torrid heat of a July or August, making +a perfect furnace of this sheltered corner, where the +thin layer of cultivated soil, that has been scraped +together painfully by human hands, becomes baked +through and through, when the water-tanks are +exhausted, and when the clouds of thick dust hang like +a pall of white smoke for miles above the sinuous course +of the Corniche road. How close and sweltering must +be the atmosphere of these populous coves, when the +very waves are flung luke-warm upon the hot sand! +How must the inhabitants sigh for a breath of cool +air from the Abruzzi, for the zephyr that tempers the +heat on the Sorrentine plain! <hi rend='italic'>Carpe diem</hi>; let us enjoy +the Costiera d’Amalfi in the freshness of early spring-time, +before the oranges and lemons have been stripped +from the leafy groves and before the sun has had +time to scorch up the vegetation that now gives +colour to every cleft and crevice of the rocky +coast-line. +</p> + +<p> +As we advance eastward from Positano we obtain +glimpses from time to time of mountain valleys +thickly clothed with brushwood, and far above +our heads we perceive Agerola perched aloft under +the shadow of the topmost crag of Monte Sant’ +Angelo—Agerola, where wolves still haunt the dim +recesses of the chestnut woods, and where the charcoal +burners can tell us of the great grey Were-Wolf that +prowls round the village on stormy nights. Passing +the torrent of the Arriengo and the Punta di San +Pietro with its lonely chapel looking out to sea; +glancing down upon the deep set strand and gloomy +caverns of Furore, and rounding Cape Sottile, we find +<pb n='124'/><anchor id='Pg124'/>ourselves at Prajano, one of the prettiest spots to +be found on all this wonderful coast. Here we +stop to visit the church of San Luca, which stands on +a little grassy platform overhanging the sea and +commanding a superb view of the Bay of Salerno. It +is a baroque structure of the type common everywhere +in Italy, which travellers are apt to despise without +acknowledging how picturesque this decadent style of +architecture can appear. At Prajano the wooden +doors of green faded to the hue of ancient bronze, +the yellow-washed plaster façade and the lichen-covered +tiles of the roof and tower make up a +charming mass of varied colouring when viewed +against the broad blue band of sea and sky beyond. +Within, the church is mean and tawdry, just a +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Sad charnel-house of humble hopes and crimes,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Long dead and buried in obscurity;</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +but the afternoon sun struggling through the curtains +that cover its fantastic windows allows a mellow light +to fill the expanse of the building. A toothless +old woman and a young girl, both of them thinly and +poorly clad, are the sole occupants of the church, and +they are evidently too much absorbed in prayer to +notice our presence. They have placed beside the +Madonna’s altar lighted tapers which glimmer feebly +in a shaft of strong sunlight that falls through a rent +in the curtain overhead. For what purpose, we +wonder, have these candles been bought out of a +scanty store! Are they burning on behalf of some +sailor-boy now being tossed upon the ocean? Or are +they offered to obtain some boon more selfish and less +pathetic? At any rate, this pair of intent worshippers, +<pb n='125'/><anchor id='Pg125'/>representing fresh Southern youth and crabbed age, +make up a pretty picture as they kneel together +on the pavement of tiles ornamented in bright rococo +patterns to represent the coat-of-arms of some +forgotten noble benefactor: it is too simple and everyday +a sight in Italy to offer a theme for verse, too +sacred a subject for an idle photograph. We leave +the church on tip-toe, and return to the terrace with +its low marble seats and its stunted acacia trees to sit +a few moments before re-entering the carriage. +</p><anchor id="illus08"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: EVENING AT AMALFI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus08th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus08.jpg">EVENING AT AMALFI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: EVENING AT AMALFI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Skirting the Capo di Conca we obtain our first +sight of proud Amalfi, and we realize that our drive, +long in distance perhaps, but all too short with its +varied beauties and interests, is drawing to a close. +Nearer and nearer do we approach our goal, the shining +turrets of the Cathedral tower acting as our beacon, +until at length our chariot clatters beneath the echoing +tunnel hewn in the cliff that leads into the town itself. +</p> + +</div><div n="6" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='126'/><anchor id='Pg126'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="6: Amalfi and the Festival of St Andrew"/> +<head>CHAPTER VI</head> + +<head type="sub">AMALFI AND THE FESTIVAL OF ST ANDREW</head> + +<p> +The traveller’s first impressions of Amalfi, which +is essentially the beauty-spot of the Riviera of +Naples, are usually associated with the old Capuchin +convent, long since turned into a hotel and now the +bourne of most visitors to this coast. Its arcaded +façade and its terraced garden stand on a plateau +seemingly cut out of the sheer face of the cliff, whilst +high above the town the lofty barren rocks enfold the +Convent and its verdant demesne within a natural +amphitheatre and protect this sunny paradise from the +keen blasts of winter. A flight of steps zigzagging +up the rocky hill-side connects the building with the +high road below; whilst a narrow pathway, leading +between stone walls and now passing beneath dark +mysterious archways, wherein the lamps burning +before the Madonna’s shrines afford a welcome light +even at midday, descends by steep gradients from the +garden above into the main piazza of the little city. +Built by the celebrated Cardinal Pietro Capuano nearly +seven hundred years ago for Cistercian monks, the +monastery in the sixteenth century came into the possession +of the Capuchin Friars, those brown-robed +figures that with their bare feet and girdles of knotted +white cord are such familiar and picturesque objects +<pb n='127'/><anchor id='Pg127'/>in the daily crowds of every Italian town. But the +friars have been forced to abandon their airy retreat +ever since the suppression of the religious houses, which +succeeded the union of the old Neapolitan kingdom +with young Italy, and their convent has long been +put to secular uses. Yet the old monastic church +still exists, and superstitious people declare that the +spectral forms of ejected Capuchins are sometimes to +be seen advancing slowly up the rocky ascent in order +to revisit the sacred building that is now closed for +worship. Nevertheless the church is cared for by the +members of the Vozzi family, its present owners, who +every Christmas-tide still prepare the popular <hi rend='italic'>presepio</hi>, +that curious representation of the scene in the stable at +Bethlehem, wherein a score of gaily dressed figures of +painted wood represent the Holy Family and the +worshipping peasants. Little in fact has been changed +within the building itself, and the exquisite cloistered +court with its slender intertwining Saracenic columns +still remains to delight alike the artist and the antiquary. +We say <q>still remains</q> advisedly; for beyond the +tiny quadrangle our eyes at once light upon a scene +of hideous devastation. +</p> + +<p> +Doubtless many persons will recall the great land-slip +of December 1899, when almost without warning +the whole face of the rocky headland that shelters +Amalfi on the west tore itself loose and slid with a +crash like thunder into the sea below, overwhelming +in its fall the little inn known as the <q>Santa Caterina</q> +and burying in its ruins two English ladies and several +fishermen. The sinister scar still continues as a blot +upon the lovely landscape, speaking only too eloquently +to all of sudden death and destruction amidst the +<pb n='128'/><anchor id='Pg128'/>surrounding scenes of life and beauty. The older +portion of the Capuchin convent, by a miracle as it +were, escaped the on-rush of the land-slide, but its +famous <q>Calvary,</q> the large group of the Crucifixion +that appears prominently in so many pictures of +Amalfi, was completely swept away, so that the boatmen +from the sands below can no longer behold the +immense vivid representation of the Last Agony which +was wont to greet their upturned eyes. Already +Time’s kindly hand has begun to drape the scene of +the catastrophe with a decent mourning veil of grey +and green, for the hardy succulent plants that can withstand +the sun’s fierce rays and can thrive despite the +boisterous salt sea-winds are already sprouting from +every crack and cranny of the riven earth. Perhaps +it is as well for us selfish and self-satisfied mortals to +possess a <hi rend='italic'>memento mori</hi> close at hand in a spot so +teeming with the joy of life; yet somehow the first +sight of that mass of broken headland and the dark +ominous fissure in the hill-side, flung across the sunlit +scene, is apt to send a slight shiver through the frame +of the beholder. +</p> + +<p> +There are three indisputable advantages to be gained +by turning a suppressed religious house into a modern +hotel, so a cunning old Italian inn-keeper once confided +to us; that is, of course, provided one is not afraid of the +proverbial curse that clings to the buying of any of the +Church’s sequestrated property. These three things are +good air, good water, and lovely views; benefits that +a layman is fully as competent to understand as +any cloistered ecclesiastic. And certainly the worthy +Vozzi are fully justified in offering these privileges +to their guests at the Albergo Cappuccini. Signor +<pb n='129'/><anchor id='Pg129'/>Vozzi! How many travellers in the South recall with +infinite pleasure their host’s tall commanding figure, +his snowy drooping whiskers, the sun-shade that was +rarely out of his hand, his old-fashioned courteous +manners, and his famous family of cats, whereof the +coal-black Nerone was the prime favourite, a feline +monster almost as tyrannical as his Imperial namesake +of evil reputation. Signor Vozzi’s striking personality, +the sable fur of agate-eyed Nerone, the eternal sunshine, +and the wide all-embracing views over sea and land, +are somehow all jumbled together in our perplexed +mind, as it recurs to the many days spent beneath +the convent roof. Nay, not beneath the roof! For +we were wont to pass the whole day, even the short +December day, in basking on the warm sheltered +terrace and peering over the busy beach and the +dazzling waters below, whereon the tale of Amalfitan +fisher-life could be read as it were from the pages of +a book. +</p> + +<p> +Somehow the old monastic buildings appear +marvellously well adapted to modern needs. The +former inmates’ cells, wherein the brown-robed brethren +of the Order of St Francis until lately were wont to +pass their placid uneventful lives, afford comfortable if +somewhat limited accommodation; whilst the covered +<hi rend='italic'>loggia</hi> that runs the whole length of the cells has been +turned into a series of delightful little sitting-rooms, +their broad arc-shaped windows facing full south, a +boon that only a winter resident in Italy can properly +appreciate. <hi rend='italic'>Dove non entra il sole, entra il medico</hi>, is +a hackneyed but well-proven adage; consequently +here in the old Capuchin convent the services of the +local medicine-man ought rarely to be required. +<pb n='130'/><anchor id='Pg130'/>Signor Vozzi’s guests partake of their meals in the +ancient refectory, a large bare echoing chamber with a +vaulted ceiling, which still contains the old stone pulpit +from which in more pious days a grave brother was +wont to read aloud choice passages from the works of +the early Fathers of the Church or of St Bonaventura, +the Seraphic Doctor of the Franciscans, during the +hours allotted to the frugal repasts of the friars. But +the public rooms and the cool white-washed corridors +do not present such attractions as the glorious garden +with its famous <hi rend='italic'>pergola</hi> and its views of the Bay. +Here even in Christmas week we found quantities of +plants in full bloom: the delicate yellow blossoms of +the Soffrana rose; trailing ivy-leaved geraniums with +gay heads of carmine flowers; the honey-scented +budleia with its little globes of dark yellow flowerets: +clumps of gorgeous scarlet salvia; and straggling +masses of the pretty cosmia, red, pink and white. +Humming-bird hawk-moths darted hither and thither +in the sunshine, restless little creatures whose wings +are never for a moment still, as they poise gracefully +over each separate blossom in turn. The <hi rend='italic'>pergola</hi> +itself, which every artist at Amalfi paints as a matter +of course, generally with a Capuchin friar—at least a +friar <hi rend='italic'>pro hac vice</hi>—or a pretty dark-eyed damsel in the +native costume, sitting in the foreground, was certainly +bare of foliage, we admit, for even in the soft warm air +of the Bay of Salerno the grape-vine wisely refuses to +burst into leaf at Yuletide, no matter how enticing the +warmth. But the thick white pillars and their wooden +cross-beams, around which are entwined the leafless +coiling limbs of the sleeping vine, throw dark blue +patterns of chequered shadow upon the sunlit ground. +<pb n='131'/><anchor id='Pg131'/>Above the terraced garden rises the orangery, well +watered by many artificial rillets, and from the midst +of the orange and lemon trees there emerges a path +leading to the entrancing <hi rend='italic'>bosco</hi>, or grove, that fills the +deep hollow space formed by the sheltering cliffs +behind. It was mid-winter, as we have said, yet pink +cyclamens and strong-scented double narcissi were +blooming freely, whilst from the dark boughs of the +ilex trees overhead there fell upon the ear the pleasant +twittering of innumerable birds, for happily the cruel +snare and the gun are strictly forbidden in this sacred +spot, so that his <q>little sisters, the birds,</q> that the +gentle Saint of Assisi loved so tenderly, can still sing +their songs of innocence and build their nests in peace +amidst the trees that no longer remain the property of +the great humanitarian Order. At nightfall this +garden is almost equally beautiful beneath a star-lit +sky and with the many lamps of the town below +throwing long bars of yellow light upon the placid +waters of the Bay. As we pace the long terrace, +wrapped in the glory of a million stars and revelling +in the exalted yet fairy-like loveliness of the scene +around us, we perceive the mellow night air to be +redolent of a strange but fascinating perfume. It is +the <hi rend='italic'>olea fragrans</hi>, the humble inconspicuous oriental +shrub that from its clusters of tiny white flowers is +thus giving out its secret soul at the falling of the +night dews, and permeating the whole garden with +its marvellous floral incense. But if the star-lit, +flower-scented nights of Amalfi are to be accounted as +exquisite memories, how much more glorious and +exhilarating is the rising of the sun, as he appears in +full majesty of crimson and gold above the classic hills +<pb n='132'/><anchor id='Pg132'/>that overlook Paestum to the east! Leaning at early +dawn from the windows of the Cappuccini, we have +watched the sky flush at the first caress of <q>rosy-fingered +Eôs</q> and seen the fragment of the waning +moon turn to silver at the approach of the burning +God of Day, still tarrying behind the lofty barrier of +the capes and mountains of the Lucanian shore. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Slowly beyond the headlands comes the day,</q></l> +<l>Though moon and planet on a sky of gold,</l> +<l>Chequered with orange and vermilion-stoled,</l> +<l>Have floated long before the sun’s first ray</l> +<l>Has shot across the waters to display</l> +<l>Amalfi in her dotage; as of old</l> +<l>His beams lit up her splendours manifold,</l> +<l>Her quays and palaces that fringed the bay.</l> +<l>His smile makes every barren hill-side blush</l> +<l>In rose and purple for the glories fled,</l> +<l>As early watchers note th’ encroaching flush</l> +<l>From proud Ravello to Atrani spread,</l> +<l>And curse the cruel arm that once did crush</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">This sea-sprung Niobe, and leave her dead.</q></l> +</lg><anchor id="illus09"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: AMALFI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus09th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus09.jpg">AMALFI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: AMALFI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Dead, alas! For the old liberties of the great +Republic of Amalfi have been extinct for more than +half a thousand years, and it is in consequence difficult +for us to realise that the quaint noisy squalid +picturesque little city by the sea-shore, huddled into +the narrow gorge of the Canneto, is that self-same +Amalfi whose navies rode triumphant over the +Mediterranean before the days of the Early Crusades. +Yet Amalfi, which may be reckoned amongst the +first-born of that fair family of medieval cities that +their prolific parent the land of Italy brought forth in +an age of darkness, was also the foremost to droop and +die, her glories scattered and passed before Florence had +<pb n='133'/><anchor id='Pg133'/>ceased to be an obscure country town. In this case +History presents to us a most forcible, not to say +an unique example of the origin, rise and decline of +a power, all occurring within a short space of time. +Amalfi springs, as it were, out of the void as a city +of importance, for no Roman colony occupied its +site in antique times. Its very nomenclature is a +puzzle to scholars, and the usual statement that it +owed its name to Byzantine settlers coming hither +from the ancient town of Melfi in the Basilicata does +not sound very convincing, though for want of a +better theory it must suffice. Why, when, and by +whom the city was in reality founded remains an +enigma, yet we learn from a passage in one of the +letters of St Gregory the Great that the place was of +sufficient size to be governed by a bishop in the +sixth century. By the tenth we find the Republic +of Amalfi already risen to a position of commanding +importance, and holding its own against the rival +states between which its territories were wedged; +the dukedom of Naples to the west and the principality +of Salerno to eastward. Dexterously playing on the +greed and prejudices of the various tyrants who ruled +Naples and Salerno, and occasionally allying itself +with them in order to repel the fierce attacks of their +common enemy, the Saracenic hordes who were then +harrying the Lucanian coast, Amalfi continued to +uphold its political freedom and dignity in the face +of immense difficulties. And in gratitude for the +vigour with which the Amalfitani had waged war +against the infidel invaders, Pope Leo IV. in course +of time conferred upon the Duke or Doge, the chief +magistrate of the Republic, the title of <q>Defender of +<pb n='134'/><anchor id='Pg134'/>the Faith.</q> Nominally under the suzerainty of the +Greek Emperor at Constantinople, Amalfi was +practically independent; its system of government +was conducted on lines somewhat akin to those of +aristocratic Venice; its population is said to have +exceeded fifty thousand in the capital city alone; its +boundaries extended from the Promontory of Minerva +on the west to the town of Cetara upon the confines +of Salerno; whilst many daughter-towns of wealth +and importance, such as Scala and Ravello, sprang +into being within the narrow limits of the sea-girt +republic. Owning a small and by no means fertile +extent of land, the inhabitants of Amalfi from its +earliest days were forced to become merchants and +sailors; to use a modern phrase, the Amalfitani came +to possess a complete monopoly of trade with Eastern +lands, both Christian and Mahommedan. It was +the ships of the Republic that alone brought to the +shores of Italy the rich stuffs, the gold and silver +embroideries, the dried fruits and the strange birds +and beasts of Asia Minor and Arabia, and in exchange +for their oriental merchandise obtained an abundance +of corn, wine, oil, meat and other commodities of life +that their beautiful but somewhat sterile dominions +were unable to supply to an ever increasing population. +But it was not only the material products of the East +that the sailors of Amalfi conveyed to Europe in +their home-bound argosies; for they brought back +with them the rudiments of arts and sciences that +distracted Italy had well-nigh forgotten during the +period of the barbarian invasions. Through the +merchant princes of Amalfi, the secrets of astronomy, +of mathematics and of scientific navigation were +re-<pb n='135'/><anchor id='Pg135'/>introduced into the land that had almost lost its old +Roman civilization. A priceless manuscript of that +great code of laws, the Pandects, which a Byzantine +Emperor, the famous Justinian, had caused to be +compiled with such skill and labour, putting into +concise and accurate form the collected wisdom of +generations of Roman jurists, was included amongst +the treasures of the East that were borne back to +Italy in the Republic’s vessels. And in addition to +restoring the old Roman jurisprudence to its original +home, the city of Amalfi had the honour of promulgating +the celebrated <hi rend='italic'>Tabula Amalphitana</hi>, the new +maritime laws that were henceforth destined to +regulate the whole commercial system of the western +world. No marvel then that the poet William of +Apulia should praise in unmeasured terms the glories +of the new-sprung city, whose trade extended to the +shores of India and whose merchants possessed +independent settlements in every great city of the +Levant. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Nulla magis civitas argento, vestibus, auro</q></l> +<l>Partibus innumeris; hac plurimus urbe moratur</l> +<l>Nauta marit coelique vias aperiri peritus.</l> +<l>Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbe</l> +<l>Regia et Antiochi. Zeus haec freta plurima transit</l> +<l>His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri.</l> +<l>Haec genus est totum prope nobilitata per orbem,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Et mercanda ferens, et amans mercata referre.</q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">No city richer in its store of gold,</q></l> +<l>Of precious stones and silks doth Europe hold;</l> +<l>Her skilful mariners o’er treacherous seas</l> +<l>With aid of compass sail where’er they please.</l> +<l>From Egypt and from Antioch they land,</l> +<l>Their precious cargoes on th’ Italian strand.</l> +<pb n='136'/><anchor id='Pg136'/> +<l>Scathless Amalfi’s navies penetrate</l> +<l>The distant ports of every Paynim state.</l> +<l>Match me throughout the circuit of this earth</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Another race so full of zeal and worth.</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +A small state on a barren shore, yet the holder +of the balance between East and West by means of +its wide-spread commerce, such was Amalfi during +the tenth and eleventh centuries. In some respects +this Republic of the Middle Ages appears as the +prototype of the Venice of the Renaissance, for there +is not a little in common between the city that was +built upon the marshy islets of the Adriatic lagoons, +and the city that was erected at the base of the +treacherous cliffs of the Tyrrhene Sea. Solely by +means of commerce both foundations rose from +nothingness to splendour and power: both held the +gorgeous East in fee; and both fell lamentably from +their high estate. The chief point of difference in +this comparison of their careers is obvious; Amalfi +collapsed suddenly and utterly, whilst the Queen of +the Adriatic has sunk gradually to decay until she +has become the interesting monument of a vanished +magnificence which we admire to-day. +</p> + +<p> +It was the rising naval power of Pisa that finally +crushed the greatness of Amalfi, although the Republic +had already entered into its days of decline when +Robert Guiscard at the time of the First Crusade had +temporarily annexed its dominions to his new principality. +Some thirty years later King Roger of +Naples forcibly seized the whole of the Costiera +d’Amalfi, allowing the citizens to retain their own form +of government. Four years after this, the Pisan fleet, +coming to aid the people of Naples against King +<pb n='137'/><anchor id='Pg137'/>Roger, utterly destroyed the once vaunted navy of +Amalfi, and sacked both the city itself and the two +hill-set towns of Scala and Ravello. Its political +liberty had already been crushed by the Normans, +and now its ships and its wealth were dissipated by +the Pisans; it was a double measure of ignominy +and disaster from which Amalfi never recovered. +Amidst its humiliations and sorrows, the stricken city +had also to mourn the loss of its greatest treasure, its +secular <hi rend='italic'>palladium</hi>, that most precious copy of the +Pandects of Justinian, which the Pisan marauders +seized and carried back with them to their city +on the Arno. Here in Pisa the famous volume +remained in safe keeping for some three hundred +years, and then, as Time’s round brought its inevitable +vengeance on the plunderers of Amalfi, it was removed +by the victorious Florentines to their own city. So +intense a veneration for the book itself now manifested +itself amongst the scholars and students of Florence, +that at one period offerings of incense were often made +to the inscribed wisdom of past ages as to a most +holy relic of some Saint, and the clerk or jurist about +to peruse its faded characters was wont, first of all, to +breathe a prayer of genuine gratitude on his knees for +the preservation of this ancient book. Amalfi, Pisa, +Florence, each in its turn has owned the guardianship +of this most famous literary jewel, which is to-day +jealously guarded as the chief treasure of the world-renowned +Laurentian Library. +</p> + +<p> +It is true that the prosperity of Amalfi did not +disappear immediately after the inroad of the Pisans, +for Boccaccio, writing in the fourteenth century, still +speaks of the ancient territory of the destroyed +<pb n='138'/><anchor id='Pg138'/>Republic as <q>a rocky ridge beside a smiling sea, +which its inhabitants call the Costa d’Amalfi; full of +little cities, of gardens, of fountains, and of rich and +enterprising merchants.</q> It was in fact reserved for +relentless Nature herself to complete the work of destruction +that Norman armies and Pisan fleets had +more than half accomplished. We have already +spoken of the terrible land-slips to which this beautiful +shore is eminently subject, even at the present +day, as the mass of wreckage outside the old Capuchin +convent only too clearly testifies. In the year 1343, +during the progress of a storm of exceptional fury, of +which the poet Petrarch has left us a vivid account in +one of his letters, the greater part of the devoted city +was swept away by a tidal wave. The whole line of +quays stretching from the headland by the Cappuccini +to the point of Atrani on the east, together with +churches, palaces, and warehouses, was now swallowed +up by the surging waters and engulfed for ever in the +depths of the sea; and thus the very element that +had brought wealth, power, and prosperity to Amalfi +in the past now proved the direct cause of her final +calamity. With this fearful cataclysm of Nature +following upon the heels of its political extinction, we +can hardly wonder at the rapid decline of this +<q>Athens of the Middle Ages,</q> whose population has +now sunk to about one seventh part of the 50,000 +citizens it once boasted in the far distant days of her +maritime supremacy. +</p> + +<p> +Reflecting upon the famous past of this ancient +city, let us descend the steep pathway from the terrace +of the Cappuccini to visit the crowded beach below. +Here we find ourselves in the midst of a cheerful +<pb n='139'/><anchor id='Pg139'/>animated throng, engaged in mending nets, in painting +boats, and in other occupations connected with a sea-faring +life. The tall fantastic houses with balconied +windows that line the curve of the sea-shore, the +glistening sands and the brown-legged, gay-capped +fishermen, combine to present a charming picture of +southern Italian life, so that we could gladly linger in +observing the ever-changing scenes of life and industry. +But we cannot tarry long, for the ubiquitous beggars +who have begun to pester us ever since we passed the +hotel gates have meantime dogged our descending +footsteps, and their forces have been recruited on the +way hither by many willing assistants. No doubt +the vast majority of the Amalfitani are hard working +and self-respecting, for the little town possesses +maccaroni factories and old-established paper mills +of no small importance, yet it is obvious that a +considerable portion of the total population and at +least one-half of all the children spend their whole +time in demanding alms of strangers. Before, behind, +and from a distance arises the ceaseless cry of +<q><hi rend='italic'>Qual co’ signor’! Fame! Fame!</hi></q> in hateful tones +of make-belief misery, and these whining appeals are +aided by all the expressive pantomimic gestures of +the South. You are placed on the horns of a dilemma: +give, and the report that a generous and fabulously +wealthy Signore has arrived in Amalfi will run like +wild-fire through the whole place, and your life in +consequence will become an absolute burden for the +remainder of your sojourn in this spot. Refuse, and +the wretches who have hitherto been wheedling and +cringing at your heels, will at once grow insolent and +threatening, especially in the case of unprotected +<pb n='140'/><anchor id='Pg140'/>ladies. It is in fact a choice of two evils, and the +only remedy that we ourselves can suggest is for the +persecuted traveller to select a good stout larrikin and +pay him freely to keep at arm’s length his detestable +brothers and sisters in professional beggary. But the +uninitiated usually endure these odious importunities +for a certain length of time, and then, exasperated by +the unchecked mendicancy of the place, at last fly +precipitately from this beautiful shore, to seek comparative +peace and freedom elsewhere. For it is +useless to argue; it is foolish, even dangerous to +grow angry. <q>Why should we give to you?</q> we +asked one day in desperation of a particularly persistent +woman. <q>Because,</q> was the unabashed and +impudent but unanswerable reply, <q>you have much, +and I have nothing!</q> Driven by these human pests +from the sunlit strand, we make our way through the +busy piazza, where peasant women with piles of fruit +and vegetables make a glowing mass of colour around +the central fountain below St Andrew’s statue, and +proceed towards the Valley of the Mills. A different +phase of Amalfitan life now greets us, for here are to +be found the hard-working bees of this human hive, +and it must be confessed their ways make an agreeable +change from the habits of the pestering drones that +infest the beach and the neighbourhood of the hotels. +The whole of the steep rocky gorge of that tiny +torrent the Canneto is full of mills, each emitting a +whirring sound which mingles with the continual +plash of the water as it descends in miniature +cascades the full length of the ravine, providing in its +headlong course towards the sea the motive power +required to turn all this quantity of machinery. +<pb n='141'/><anchor id='Pg141'/>Bridges span the Canneto at several points, whilst +either bank is occupied by tiny factories of paper or +soap, and by winding stone stair-ways that lead upward +to terraces contrived to catch the sunshine for +the purpose of drying the goods. The whole valley, +with its strong contrasting effects of sun and shade +and its varied atmosphere of intense heat and of +chilly dampness, is full of seething picturesque +humanity. The combined sounds of creaking wheels, +of falling water and of human chattering are almost +deafening within this narrow echo-filled gorge, above +which in the far distance we catch a glimpse of rocky +heights with the town of Scala perched eyrie-like +against the deep blue of the sky overhead. Pretty +laughing girls, bare-footed and with marvellously +white teeth, emerge from the open door-ways to +smile pleasantly at us, for the workers of the Valle +de’ Molini are thoroughly accustomed to the presence +of strangers in their midst. Half-naked men, who +have stepped for a moment out of the hot rooms of +the maccaroni factories in order to breathe the fresh +air, regard us with calm disdain and without any +seeming interest. Our presence is tolerated, even if +our reception excites no feelings of surprise or +cordiality, so that we are allowed to pursue our walk +up the ever-narrowing valley in peace and comfort +and to admire at our leisure the wonderfully +beautiful effects of colouring produced by the +cascades of purple-stained water, the graceful forms +and gay dresses of the girls, and the peeps of fruit-laden +orange trees above fern-clad walls. And how +dark the people are! For though black eyes and +hair are commonly associated with the Italian race, +<pb n='142'/><anchor id='Pg142'/>yet in the North we find abundant evidence of the +admixture of Teutonic blood, whilst in the South the +fair-haired Norman settlers have left indelible marks +of their conquest of Naples and Sicily in many blue-eyed +and white-skinned descendants; but here in +Amalfi a blonde complexion seems to be absolutely +unknown. <q><hi rend='italic'>Com’ è bianco! Com’ è bianco!</hi></q> called +out one of a party of girls with swarthy skin and +ebon hair and tresses, who languidly came out to +stare at us, as we wended our way slowly up the +Valley of the Mills. +</p><anchor id="illus10"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: IN THE VALLEY OF THE MILLS, AMALFI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus10th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus10.jpg">IN THE VALLEY OF THE MILLS, AMALFI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: IN THE VALLEY OF THE MILLS, AMALFI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +But the chief pride of Amalfi, and indeed its sole +surviving fragment of departed magnificence, is the +Cathedral, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle, who +is patron of the city. A broad flight of steps, flanked +on either side by the Archbishop’s Palace and the +residence of the Canons, leads to a platform covered +by a most beautiful Gothic <hi rend='italic'>loggia</hi> set with richly +traceried windows and upheld by antique marble +columns. At its northernmost angle we see springing +into the blue aether the tall graceful red-and-white +striped campanile, surmounted by its barbaric-looking +green-tiled cupola and pinnacles. Facing the top of +the steps are the two magnificent doors, specially +designed in distant Byzantium to embellish this +church more than eight hundred years ago, and cast +by the famous artist in bronze, Staurachios. Two +Latin inscriptions, incised in letters of silver upon the +baser metal, relate to the world that one Pantaleone, +son of Maurice, caused this work to be undertaken +in honour of the holy Apostle Andrew, in +order that he might obtain pardon for the sins he +had committed whilst upon earth. These glorious +<pb n='143'/><anchor id='Pg143'/>gates were the gifts to their native city of members +of the family of Pantaleone of Amalfi, merchant +princes who had amassed an immense fortune by +trade in the Levant. They are splendid specimens of +<hi rend='italic'>niello</hi> work, which consisted in ornamenting a surface +of bronze by engraving upon it lines that were +subsequently filled in with coloured enamel or with +some precious metal. These portals of Amalfi, +perhaps the earliest example in Southern Italy of +this rare form of art, are divided into panels adorned +with Scriptural subjects simply and quaintly treated, +wherein the stiff attitudes of the figures and the +many long straight lines introduced testify plainly +enough to their Byzantine origin and workmanship. +As we enter the cool dark incense-scented building, +we note that though cruelly maltreated by the +baroque enthusiasts of the eighteenth century, the +general effect of the interior is still impressive with +its rows of ancient pillars and its richly decorated +roof. On all sides marble fragments with exquisite +reliefs meet the eye, spoils evidently filched from the +abandoned city of Paestum across the Salernian Bay +and presented to the church by the Norman conquerors +of Amalfi. After inspecting the classical bas-reliefs, +we descend into the ancient crypt, which well-meaning +artists have completely encased with a covering of +precious marbles and garish frescoes of the Neapolitan +school. It is a place of more than local sanctity, +this modernized crypt, for the possession of the relics +of the Apostle which Cardinal Capuano proudly +brought hither after the sack of Constantinople in the +early years of the thirteenth century, was considered +by many to constitute a sufficient recompense to +<pb n='144'/><anchor id='Pg144'/>Amalfi for her lost independence. Popes and +sovereigns were in the habit of approaching the +shrine, and the number of these illustrious visitors +includes the names of St Francis of Assisi, Pope +Urban IV., the holy St Bridget of Sweden, and +the notorious Queen Joanna II. of Naples. Aeneas +Silvius Piccolomini, afterwards Pope Pius II., however, +seems to have thought Amalfi, ever dwindling +in size and importance, too mean a place to own so +great a treasure, and he accordingly transported the +head of the Saint to Rome, where it is now accounted +amongst the four chief relics of St Peter’s. Perhaps +it was to counterbalance the loss of so important a +member of the Saint’s anatomy, that in the succeeding +century there arose a report which spoke of the +rescue of certain relics of the Apostle Andrew during +the headlong course of the Reformation in Scotland. +The most precious objects preserved in the Cathedral +of St Andrew’s, says this legend, were secretly saved +from the expected fury of Knox’s partisans and +brought to Amalfi, where they were reverently added +to the store of remains that had survived the plundering +of Pius II. Whether or no there be any truth in +this somewhat fantastic theory, it is enough to state +that St Andrew continues to be patron Saint of this +maritime city, for which office the character of the +Galilean fisherman who was called to be a fisher +of men seems specially appropriate. Nevertheless, +despite the valuable additions made in Reformation +days, the sanctity of the shrine is not held so high +as it used to be. No longer do the venerated bones +ooze with the sweet-scented moisture that in medieval +days was piously collected to be used for purposes so +<pb n='145'/><anchor id='Pg145'/>varied as the curing of warts, or the scattering of +Paynim fleets! Yet so late as the days of Tasso, +the great Apostle himself was evidently connected in +the popular mind with the performance of so bizarre +a miracle:— +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Vide in sembianza placida e tranquilla</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Il Divo, che di manna Amalfi instilla.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +But although the present times are too sinful to +allow of the distillation of the fragrant dew of Amalfi, +we observe the kneeling forms of not a few intent +worshippers within the dimly-lighted crypt, in the +midst of which the Spaniard Naccarino’s bronze figure +of the Apostle uprises with dignified mien and life-like +attitude. Sant’ Andrea is still <q>Il Divo,</q> the tutelary +god of the Amalfitani; he remains in the estimation +of these simple ignorant folk the special protector of +the community. Times and ideas change, but not the +old deep-rooted feeling of a personal tie between the +Saint and his favoured people. +</p> + +<p> +We were lucky in happening upon the great popular +festival of Sant’ Andrea during our visit to Amalfi, +and consequently were enabled not only to witness a +picturesque scene of considerable splendour, but also +to observe how strong a devotion the Amalfitani still +manifest towards their own especial Saint. With the +first flush of early dawn, discharges of mortars from +the beach and the neighbouring hills began to arouse +the echoes and to remind the still slumbering population +that once more the great anniversary had arrived. +The world was quickly astir to do honour to the great +St Andrew, and from a very early hour an interminable +stream of peasants and villagers, young and old, male +<pb n='146'/><anchor id='Pg146'/>and female, began to enter the town from all quarters, +and to congregate in the piazza where stands the large +fountain crowned by the Saint’s own effigy. Here +with exemplary patience the throng waited until the +hour of the ceremony in the Cathedral drew nigh. +Within the huge building priests and lay-helpers were +actively employed in preparing for the event, and by +their exertions the whole interior had been transformed +into what may be best described as a magnificent +ball-room, for every blank wall had been covered +with draperies of rich crimson damask and the very +pillars had been swathed from base to capital in the +same gorgeous material. Innumerable old cut-glass +chandeliers, that had reposed since the last <hi rend='italic'>festa di +Sant’ Andrea</hi> in huge round boxes in some secluded +vault, had been slung by means of cords from the +ceiling and the arches of the nave, whilst a large +number of mirrors set in carved gilt frames had been +affixed to various points of the walls and columns. +The fine marble pavement lay thickly strewn with bay +and myrtle leaves, emitting a pleasant wholesome +scent when crushed under foot by the picturesque but +somewhat malodorous crowd of fisher-folk and +peasants. On entering the church, at the first sound +of the bells booming over head, we found ourselves +heavily pressed by the surging throng of worshippers, +and it was only with difficulty we could obtain a sight +of the ceremonies at the high altar, prominent upon +which stood the silver bust of the Apostle containing +the precious relics. It was a typical Italian <hi rend='italic'>festa</hi>. +The chanting was harsh and discordant; the antiquated +inharmonious organ emitted unexpected squeals, as if +in positive pain; there was, it is needless to add, a +<pb n='147'/><anchor id='Pg147'/>complete absence of that <q>churchy</q> demeanour which +passes for reverence in the North; yet withal, despite +the shrill discordant music, the tawdry embellishments +of the grand old building and the absence of propriety +of the crowd, there was perceptible some mysterious +underlying force that compelled us to note the extraordinary +hold the Church has upon the people of +Southern Italy. For all this throng of persons had +assembled that day with one definite purpose: to see +their universal friend and patron, their Saint and their +worker of domestic miracles; they had come to pay +their homage to a celestial acquaintance, with whom, +thanks to the Church’s teaching, they had all been +intimate from their cradles. They had not thus +assembled at an early hour, deserting their mills and +their shops, their boats and their nets, renouncing their +chances of gain, to hear a preacher’s eloquence or to +listen to fine music, but merely to pay their annual +visit of respect to their Spiritual Master. Why should +we aliens intrude upon so private a gathering? In +any case, we have grown weary of standing in the +close sickly atmosphere, wherein the fragrance of the +crushed bay-leaves, the fumes of incense and the strange +smell of garlic-eating humanity blend in an oppressive +manner. We push our way through the eager and +intent congregation, and gaining the door-way step +with a sigh of relief into the sunshine that is flooding +the <hi rend='italic'>loggia</hi>. But it is too hot to remain here, and we +descend the great stair-case in order to take up a post +of vantage in the shade on the opposite side of the +piazza; having gained our desired position we expect +in patience the arrival of the procession. Nor have +we very long to wait. The officials of the town +<pb n='148'/><anchor id='Pg148'/>suddenly dart forward to clear the steps of their crowd +of ragged children, and almost simultaneously the +great bronze doors of Pantaleone are flung open to the +sweet air and the sunshine. It was a wonderful and +deeply interesting experience to watch the glittering +train slowly emerge from the darkness of the church +into the glare of day, and then descend that stately +flight of marble stairs to the sound of joy-bells and to +the accompaniment of explosions of fireworks. First +came the leading members of the various Confraternities +of the little city, all bearing tapers whose +tongues of flame shone feebly in the fierce contemptuous +sunlight, and all wearing snow-white smocks and +coloured scarves. Red, green, blue, white, purple, +yellow, gleamed the huge banners of these different +societies, each borne by a tall <hi rend='italic'>vessillifero</hi>, or standard +bearer, assisted by quaint solemn little figures who +acted as pages. Then followed the body of the clergy +in copes of white and gold, with eyes downcast as +they chaunted in loud nasal tones from books in their +hands; next came the Canons of the Cathedral in fine +old festal vestments reserved for such occasions and +with mitres on their heads, for Amalfi clings to the +ancient ecclesiastical privileges that were granted in +distant days when Florence and Venice were little +more than villages. Last of all walked the Archbishop, +an aged tottering figure, weighed down by his cope of +cloth of gold and seemingly crushed beneath his +immense jewelled mitre. Two lackeys, almost as +infirm as their venerable master, and clad in threadbare +liveries edged with armorial braid, were in close +attendance, whilst behind the Archbishop, beneath a +gorgeous canopy of state upheld by six white-robed +<pb n='149'/><anchor id='Pg149'/>assistants, was borne the great silver bust of St Andrew. +The appearance of the Image of <q>Il Divo,</q> upon +which the sunbeams were playing in dazzling coruscations +of light, was greeted with a murmur of applause +and satisfaction from the expectant crowd in the open. +Hats were doffed; knees were bent; prayers were +muttered, as with slow and cautious steps the bearers +of the Image and its canopy began to descend. +Having gained the lower ground in safety, a momentary +halt was made, during which we were able to note +the mass of votive offerings—jewels, chains, rings, +watches, seals—suspended round the Saint’s neck, +amongst them being many silver fishes, doubtless the +gifts of grateful mariners. And at this point we were +spectators of a pretty incident. A little girl with +black ringlets and eager eyes was dexterously lifted on +to her father’s shoulder, in order that she might present +<q>Il Divo</q> with a golden chain, which the tiny fingers +deftly clasped round the bejewelled neck of the silver +bust. The crowd saw and applauded; it was a moment +of triumph for the dark-eyed child, for the Church, and +for the approving throng. With the new addition of +the child’s necklet to the treasury of the Saint, the +procession pursued its way through the square towards +the Valley of the Mills, with banners waving, with +priests chaunting in harsh monotonous tones, and with +clouds of incense rising into the sun-kissed air. It +was truly a beautiful and curious sight, this festival of +the Church amidst people so devout and surroundings +so appropriate. +</p><anchor id="illus11"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: AMALFI: PIAZZA AND DUOMO]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus11th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus11.jpg">AMALFI: PIAZZA AND DUOMO</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: AMALFI: PIAZZA AND DUOMO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +On his safe return to his now brilliantly lighted +Cathedral, the Saint was welcomed with indescribable +enthusiasm. The crazy old organ was made to +pro<pb n='150'/><anchor id='Pg150'/>duce the loudest and liveliest of music; the uniformed +municipal band awoke the echoes of the venerable +but bedizened fabric with its complimentary braying; +and urchins were even permitted to scatter fire-crackers +upon the floor in honour of the event. It was a real +ecclesiastical Saturnalia of a most innocent and joyous +description. All Amalfi spent the remaining hours of +day-light in feasting, dancing and singing, and when +at last darkness fell upon the merry scene, rockets +and Roman candles were seen to spring into the +night air from many points in the landscape, illumining +the sea with quickly dying trails of coloured light. +Watching the bonfires and the fireworks, and listening +to the sounds of revelry and song arising from the +town below, we pondered over our experiences of the +day as we paced our airy terrace of the Cappuccini. +Surely the South has remained immutable for +centuries in its deeply rooted love of religious +festivals. The forefathers of these devotees of Andrew +the Fisherman were equally enthusiastic worshippers +of Poseidon or of Apollo. The Church has not in +reality altered the outer attributes; it has but added +a special moral significance to the old pagan gatherings. +The ancient gods of Greece and Rome are +dethroned, and their very names forgotten by the +populace; but their cult survives, for it has been +adapted to the glorification of Christian Saints. True +it is that the milk-white sacrificial oxen and the gay +garlands of antiquity have been omitted; nevertheless, +there remain the music, the incense and the unrestrained +jollity of the people. Much that is beautiful +and suggestive has perished, yet there survives enough +of the old classical ritual for us to see that the true +<pb n='151'/><anchor id='Pg151'/>spirit of antiquity has never wholly died out amongst +these sunburnt children of Magna Graecia. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">See the long stair with colour all ablaze,</q></l> +<l>With banners swaying in pellucid air,</l> +<l>As mitred priests with cautious footsteps bear</l> +<l>The silver Image, flashing back the rays</l> +<l>Of jealous Phoebus—Ah! the altered days</l> +<l>When these Lucanians with wind-lifted hair,</l> +<l>Blossom-bedecked, with limbs and bosoms bare,</l> +<l>Sang to Apollo psalms of love and praise!</l> +<l>With bells and salvoes all the hills resound,</l> +<l>And incense mingles with the atmosphere,</l> +<l>As still this Southern race, ill-clothed, uncrowned,</l> +<l>Retains the memory of the Pagan year,</l> +<l>When changed, yet all unchanged, Time’s round</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Makes the Jew Fisherman a god appear.</q></l> +</lg> + +</div><div n="7" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='152'/><anchor id='Pg152'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="7: Ravello and the Rufoli"/> +<head>CHAPTER VII</head> + +<head type="sub">RAVELLO AND THE RUFOLI</head> + +<p> +No visit to Amalfi can be considered complete +without ascending to the decayed town of +Ravello, that crowns the rocky heights to the north-east +of the parent city by the sea-shore. The road +thither leads along the beach, passing between the +picturesque old convent that is now the Hotel Luna, +beloved of artists, and the solitary watch tower on +the precipice which stands sentinel above the waters +on our right hand. At this point we turn the corner, +and find ourselves in Atrani, lying in the deep gorge +of the Dragone and joining its buildings to those of +Amalfi on the road above the beach. Prominent +upon the steep ridge that separates the two cities +stands the ruined keep of Pontone, the last relic of +the town of Scaletta that was a flourishing place in +days of the Republic. A tall belfry of peculiar and +striking architecture which dominates Atrani is usually +attributed to the art of the Saracens, whom King +Manfred called in to garrison this place during his +wars with Pope Innocent IV. Atrani, which is but +a suburb of Amalfi, suffered equally with the Capital +during the great upheaval of Nature that desolated +this coast in the fourteenth century, so that little of +interest remains except the quaint church of San +<pb n='153'/><anchor id='Pg153'/>Salvatore a Bireta, wherein the Doges of Amalfi were +once elected and crowned. This ancient building +lies hidden in a sandy cove beneath the roadway, and +those who care to run the gauntlet of beggars and +descend to the beach below, can examine its beautiful +bronze doors, which the generous citizen Pantaleone +gave <hi rend='italic'>pro mercede animae suae et merito S. Sebastiani +Martyris</hi>. But there is very little else to inspect, for +the interior has been hopelessly modernized. +</p> + +<p> +Soon after passing Atrani we turn sharply up hill +to the left, and begin our ascent towards Ravello. +The dusty white road winds upwards through a +region of carefully cultivated terraces filled with olives +and vines, intermingled here and there with orange, +lemon, fig, and pomegranate trees. As we gain +higher ground, our horizon tends ever to widen, and +we behold the expanse of sea and sky melting in the +far distance into <q>some shade of blue unnameable,</q> +whilst the mountain-fringed ring of the Bay of Salerno +becomes vividly mapped out to our eyes from the +Cape of Minerva to the Punta di Licosia. On our +left we peer down into the depths of the dark ravine +of the Dragone, whose black shadows are popularly +supposed to give its name of Atrani to the cheerful +little town we have left behind. Let us thank Heaven +that we are at last out of reach of the beggars, and +that the only human beings to be encountered upon +the road are a few peasants with loads of fruit or +vegetables, and an occasional charcoal-burner bearing +his grimy burden to the town below. The <hi rend='italic'>carbonaio</hi> +with his blackened face and queer outlandish garments +is a familiar figure throughout all parts of Southern +Italy. He belongs to a race apart, that dwells in +<pb n='154'/><anchor id='Pg154'/>the belt of forest land clothing the higher hills, and +he only descends to the cities of the shore and the +plain in order to sell his goods. He is despised by +the sharper-witted townsman, who beats down his +prices for the combustibles he has borne with such +fatigue from his distant mountain home. Sometimes +the old people are despatched to do the money +bargaining, the selling and buying. Look at the old +couple at this moment passing us; an aged man and +woman that Theocritus might have known in earlier +days when the world was less civilized and less greedy +of gain. With bare travel-stained feet, with feeble +frames supported by long staves and with the heavy +sacks of charcoal on their bent backs, the modern +Baucis and Philemon crawl along the white road +beneath a broiling sun, patient and uncomplaining, +and apparently with no feelings of envy as they cast +one careless glance at our carriage. Weary and foot-sore, +they will only obtain a few <hi rend='italic'>quattrini</hi> in the +town for all their toil and trouble, and then they must +retrace every step up the long hill-side, with their +little stock of provisions to help eke out a miserable +existence. Yet can any life in such a climate and +amid such surroundings be truly accounted miserable, +we ask, no matter how humble the dwelling or frugal +the fare? +</p> + +<p> +As our carriage creeps slowly upward, we find the +land less cultivated, and now and again we pass tracts +of woodland whence little purling streams fall over +rocky ledges on to the roadway. We catch sight of +small clumps of cyclamen, and in the shady hollows +we detect tufts of the maiden-hair fern—<hi rend='italic'>Capilli di +Venere</hi>, <q>Venus’ tresses,</q> as the Italians sometimes +<pb n='155'/><anchor id='Pg155'/>call this graceful little plant. At a curve of the road +we are confronted by a smiling old peasant with gold +rings in his ears, who in the expectation of <hi rend='italic'>forestieri</hi> +coming this way has been patiently sitting for hours +on a boulder. Doffing his battered hat and putting +a sunburnt hand to his mouth, the old fellow in a deep +musical bass wakens all the sleeping echoes that lie in +the many folds of the valley, so that we hear the words +of welcome repeated again and again, growing fainter +and fainter as the sound of the voice travels from +cliff to cliff. The performer is delighted with a few +<hi rend='italic'>soldi</hi>, and the jaded scarecrow of a horse seems pleased +with his momentary halt. <hi rend='italic'>Iterum altiora petimus</hi>; by +degrees we reach the airy platform upon which Ravello +stands, and finally alight at the comfortable old inn so +long associated with the excellent family of Palumbo. +</p> + +<p> +Ravello undoubtedly owes its early foundation to +certain patrician families of Amalfi, which after securing +their fortunes decided to leave the hot close city beside +the shore, and to seek new homes in the bracing air +of the hill-top above. Placing itself under the protection +of the powerful Robert Guiscard, Ravello became +faithfully attached to the Norman interest, and in 1086, +at the suggestion of the great Count Roger, who +cherished a deep regard for the Rufolo family, the +town was created a bishopric by Pope Victor III. As +a subject city of the Norman princes, Ravello was +during this period at the zenith of its fame and +importance. Its actual population is unknown at this +distant day, but we learn that under Count Roger the +large area of the city was entirely girdled by strong +walls set with towers; that it contained thirteen +churches, four monasteries, many public buildings, and +<pb n='156'/><anchor id='Pg156'/>a large number of private palaces. Its cathedral was +founded in honour of Saint Pantaleone by Niccolò +Rufolo, Duke of Sora and Grand Admiral of Sicily, +the head of the powerful family whose name is still +gratefully remembered in this half-deserted town. In +1156 Ravello was honoured by a state visit from Pope +Adrian IV.—the English monk, Nicholas Breakspear, +the only Briton who ever succeeded in gaining the +papal tiara and who gave the lordship of Ireland to +Henry Plantagenet—and during his stay the Pontiff +was entertained as the guest of the all-powerful Rufoli. +Born of humble parents in the village of Bensington, +near Oxford, Nicholas Breakspear became a monk at +St Alban’s, and having once entered the religious life, +he rose by sheer force of intellect and an iron strength +of will to the attainment of the highest honour the +Church could bestow. It was in the hey-day of his +power that the English pope entered Ravello and sang +Mass in the Cathedral in the presence of all the noble +citizens of the place, for in the previous year he had +crushed for ever the dangerous heresy of Arnold of +Brescia, by boldly sentencing that ardent reformer to +be burnt at the stake in Rome and his ashes cast into +the Tiber. The Pontiff during his visit sojourned in +the Palazzo Rufolo, the beautiful Saracenic building +that is still standing intact after so many centuries, +and by a curious coincidence is now the property of +the well-known English family of Reid. Nor was Pope +Adrian the only sovereign who honoured Ravello by his +presence, for Charles of Anjou, brother of St Louis of +France and the murderer of poor Conradin, and King +Robert the Wise also received the hospitality of the +Rufolo family within these walls. The whole existing +<pb n='157'/><anchor id='Pg157'/>town in fact is eloquent of the long extinct but by no +means forgotten Rufoli, who may fairly be reckoned +among the more enlightened of the petty tyrants of +medieval Italy. That their name was still familiar in +Italian society in the fourteenth century is evident +from the circumstances that Boccaccio puts a story, +no doubt founded on fact, into the mouth of the fair +Lauretta, which deals with the adventures of one +Landolfo Rufolo of Ravello, <q>who, not content with +his great store, but anxious to make it double, was +near losing all he had, and his life also.</q> The novel +proceeds to relate how this member of a wealthy and +respected family turned corsair, after losing all his +capital in a mercantile speculation in Cyprus; how he, +in his turn, was robbed of his ill-gotten gains on the +high seas by some thievish merchants of Genoa; and +how Landolfo, after passing through a variety of more +or less improbable adventures, was finally rescued from +drowning off the coast of Corfu by a servant-maid who, +whilst washing dishes by the sea-shore, chanced to +espy the unconscious merchant drifting towards the +beach with his arms clasped round a small wooden +chest, which kept him afloat. <q>Moved by compassion,</q> +says the relator of the tale, <q>she stepped a little way +into the sea, which was now calm, and seizing the half-drowned +wretch by the hair of his head, drew both him +and the chest to land, where with much trouble she +unfolded his arms from the chest, which she set upon +the head of her daughter who was with her. She +herself carried Landolfo like a little child to the town, +put him on a stove, and chafed and washed him with +warm water, by which means the vital heat began to +return, and his strength partially revived. In due +<pb n='158'/><anchor id='Pg158'/>time she took him from the stove, comforted him with +wine and good cordials, and kept him some days till +he knew where he was; she then restored him his +chest, and told him he might now provide for his +departure.</q><note place="foot"><anchor id="corr158"/><hi rend='italic'><corr sic="italics added">The Decameron.</corr></hi> <corr sic="italics removed">Novel IV. of the Second Day</corr>.</note> Of course the little chest that Landolfo +had clutched by chance in his agony of drowning +eventually turned out to be filled with precious stones, +which by a miracle—and miracles were common +enough in the days of the <hi rend='italic'>Decameron</hi>—not only floated +of itself but also supported the weight of Master +Landolfo. In any case, the rescued merchant, with +the greed and ingratitude which are often accounted +for sharpness and wit, presented his kind hostess with +the empty trunk, whilst he concealed the gems in a +belt upon his own person. Equipped with these +jewels, he made his way across the Adriatic to the +Apulian coast, and thence reached Ravello with +greater wealth than he had ever hoped to obtain with +his original capital at the time he set sail for Cyprus. +</p><anchor id="illus12"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: RAVELLO: IL DUOMO]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus12th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus12.jpg">RAVELLO: IL DUOMO</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: RAVELLO: IL DUOMO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Fortunately Ravello, though shrunk to such modest +proportions nowadays, still possesses many memorials +of its glorious past. Travellers will of course turn +their steps towards the Duomo, with its yellow +baroque façade abutting on the little piazza that, +with its daisy-starred turf and old acacia trees, forms +so pleasant a play-ground for the merry dark-eyed +children of the place. The cathedral of St Pantaleone +is—or rather was—one of the most interesting and +richly decorated churches erected in Southern Italy +under the combined influence of Norman and Saracenic +art at a time when cunning workmen were able to +blend together the styles of East and West, and to +<pb n='159'/><anchor id='Pg159'/>produce that rich harmonious architecture of which +the splendid churches of Monreale and Palermo +present to us the happiest examples. There still +exist intact the magnificent bronze doors with their +fifty-four panels of sculpture in relief, the gift of +Sergio Muscettola and his wife, Sigilgaita Rufolo, +and the work of the Italian artist Barisanus of Trani, +who likewise designed and cast the portals of the +cathedrals of his native town and of Monreale. But +alas! the interior of the building, that was once +rich with <anchor id="corr159"/><corr sic="mosiac">mosaic</corr> and fresco and fanciful carving, has +been converted into one of those dull soulless caverns +of stucco that the wanderer in all parts of Italy meets +with only too frequently. This deplorable act of +vandalism at Ravello dates of course from the +eighteenth century, and appears to have been the +work of a bishop named Tafuri, who in his frenzied +eagerness to possess a cathedral worthy of comparison +with the fashionable atrocities in plaster then being +erected at Naples, did not hesitate to destroy wholesale +almost all the ancient and elaborate ornamentation +of his Duomo. His architect—perhaps the +miserable Fuga, who ruined the interior of the +Cathedral at Palermo, who knows?—dug up the fine +old pavement, tore out the mosaics and had them +carted away, effaced the frescoes, and at last transformed +the venerable building with its memories of +popes and princes into a commonplace white-washed +chamber. Why this wretched prelate stayed his +hand at the pulpit, it is difficult to say: perhaps he +was meanwhile translated for his private virtues, +perhaps Death overtook him in the work of destruction; +at any rate, the famous pulpit of Ravello +<pb n='160'/><anchor id='Pg160'/>mercifully escaped the general onslaught, though it +must have been by fortunate accident and not by +design that Monsignore Tafuri omitted to remove +this unique specimen of a style of architecture, which +doubtless he considered barbaric and un-Christian in +its character. For this pulpit is one of the finest +examples of the ornate, if somewhat bizarre art of +the thirteenth century, and belongs to a type of work +that is not unfrequently met with throughout Italy. +Six spiral columns, springing from the backs of +crouched lions, support the rostrum of marble inlaid +with beautiful mosaics; whilst above the arch of the +stair-way of ascent stands the famous portrait, usually +called that of Sigilgaita Rufolo, wife of the founder +of the Cathedral. The striking face, which is surmounted +by an elaborate diadem with two pendent +lappets, is evidently an excellent likeness of the +original; yet there can be no doubt that this interesting +bust has been wrongly named, since the +pulpit itself, as a Latin inscription duly records, was +erected in the year 1272 by Niccolò Rufolo, a +descendant of the famous Grand Admiral, so that we +may fairly conclude that the portrait represents the +wife, or perhaps sister or daughter, of the donor. +But popular tradition dies hard; and the name of +Sigilgaita will probably cling for ever to the female +face which has for over six centuries looked calmly +down upon generation after generation of worshippers. +Perhaps those severe proud features may have +impressed the ignorant Vandal-Bishop as that of +some unknown Saint, whom it might be dangerous +to offend, and may thereby have saved the pulpit +of Niccolò Rufolo from the destruction that must +<pb n='161'/><anchor id='Pg161'/>have seemed inevitable. Be that as it may, the bust +has survived uninjured, which, apart from the feeling +of sentiment, is particularly fortunate, for it belongs +to a small class of artistic work, of which existing +specimens are rare and highly prized. For there +must have been a local and premature Renaissance +in this part of Italy during the thirteenth century, +otherwise a statue so imbued with true classical +feeling and so correct in technical finish as that of +Sigilgaita in Ravello Cathedral could never have +been produced; yet the names of the artist or artists +who thus anticipated the great plastic revival remain +undiscovered. Portrait-busts, similar in treatment +and idea to that of the so-called Sigilgaita, are to be +found here and there in museums, but this effigy in +remote Ravello remains unique amidst its original +surroundings. +</p> + +<p> +Turning aside from Sigilgaita’s steady gaze and +making the round of the bleak white-washed building, +our eyes are suddenly attracted by a fine picture, +in the manner of Domenichino, representing the +martyrdom of Pantaleone, the popular Amalfitan +Saint to whom this church was dedicated by the +Rufolo family. +</p> + +<p> +The cult of this Asiatic martyr in Amalfi is of +course another legacy of the Republic’s close connection +with the Levant, whence some relic-hunting +admiral or merchant of the state reverently brought +Pantaleone’s bones to the Italian coast. As the +veneration of this Saint still exists so deep-seated +that his Hellenic name is frequently bestowed on +children at baptism, it may not be deemed amiss to +give a very brief account of this eastern Martyr, who +<pb n='162'/><anchor id='Pg162'/>is so closely associated with Amalfitan, and later with +Venetian life. Pantaleone was born at Nicomedia, +in Bithynia, the son of a Pagan father and a Christian +mother. Well educated by his parents, he became +a physician, and on account of his skill, his learning, +his graceful manners and his handsome face, was +finally selected to attend the person of the Emperor +Maximian. At the Imperial Court the young doctor, +who had meantime neglected the faith of his mother, +was recalled to a true sense of Christian duty +by the precepts of an old priest named Hermolaus. +Pantaleone now began to heal the sick and to preach +the Gospel, and even at times to perform miracles. +Information as to his conduct having reached the +Emperor’s ears, Maximian gave the young physician +the choice of renouncing Christianity or of suffering +death, whereat Pantaleone boldly declared he would +rather die than apostatize. Thereupon the Saint, +together with the Christian priest Hermolaus, was +bound to an olive tree and beheaded with a sword. +The story of his martyrdom has been frequently treated +in Venetian art, for as an eastern Saint Pantaleone +has a church dedicated to him in Venice, wherein the +brush of Paul Veronese has painted in glowing colours +the chief incidents of his life and death. As in the +case of other physician-saints of the Roman Church—St +Roch, St Cosmo and St Damiano—Pantaleone +was especially besought in cases of the plague, which +owing to the intercommunication between Amalfi +and the Orient, frequently ravaged the towns of this +coast. +</p><anchor id="illus13"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: A STREET IN RAVELLO]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus13th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus13.jpg">A STREET IN RAVELLO</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: A STREET IN RAVELLO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +From the Cathedral we proceeded to visit the quaint +little church of Santa Maria del Gradillo, that with its +<pb n='163'/><anchor id='Pg163'/>oriental-looking towers and cupolas affords a pleasing +example of the mixed Lombard and Saracenic style +which was in vogue in the years when the house of +Hohenstaufen were masters of Southern Italy. We +found little that was worth seeing inside the building, +except the pretty black-eyed daughter of the +toothless tottering old sacristan, who slunk off grumbling +on his child’s appearance, leaving her to do the +honours of the place. Her merry face with its welcoming +smile and her modest loquacity excited our +interest, and in answer to our questions we gathered +that she was twenty years old, and was still unmarried, +not for lack of opportunity, she naïvely told us, but +because she was unwilling to leave her old parents, +who had no one in the world but herself to attend to +them. Coming to the door of the church, Angela +(for that was her name) pointed out her home, a +little white-washed cottage with a heavily barred +window over-hanging the grass-grown lane. We +wished our pleasant companion a warm good-bye, +or rather <anchor id="sic163"/><hi rend='italic'>a riverderla</hi>, at the entrance of the dwelling, +where through the open doorway we could espy a +small sun-smitten courtyard tenanted by a wizened +old woman sitting in the shade of an orange tree, by +three cats, and by a large family of skinny hens. On +a low wall we noted some shallow earthenware pans +filled with carnation plants, whose red and yellow +heads were clearly silhouetted against the blue sky +over head. Perhaps Angela’s life, we thought, is after +all happier thus spent in the tending of her parents, +her poultry and her garden, than if joined to that of +some swarthy rascal of the beach below or dull +peasant of the hillside. Long may the old people +<pb n='164'/><anchor id='Pg164'/>survive to keep their guardian Angel from the mingled +sorrows and joys of matrimony! +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Tenete l’uocchie de miricula nere;</q></l> +<l>Che ffa la vostra matre che n’n de’ marite?</l> +<l>La vostra matre n’a de’ marito’ apposte</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Pe’ ne’ lleva’ son fior, a la fenestre.</q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">Your eyes are marvellously black and bright!</q></l> +<l>How is it that your mother does not wed you?</l> +<l>She will not wed you, not to lose her light—</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Not to remove the flower that decks her window!</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +The well-known hotel kept by Madame Palumbo, +who is thoroughly conversant with English ways and +requirements, occupies a delightful position in the old +aristocratic quarter of Ravello known as <q>Il Toro,</q> +the name of which is still retained in the interesting +little church of San Giovanni del Toro close by. +This comfortable hostelry has been constructed out of +the <hi rend='italic'>Vescovado</hi>, the ancient episcopal residence, and it +still retains many curious and attractive features of +the original building, notably the quaint little stair-way +that descends from the bishop’s private chamber +into the chapel, which is now the <hi rend='italic'>salon</hi> of the hotel. +With its magnificent views, its interesting buildings +and its pure exhilarating air, Ravello would seem to +be an ideal spot wherein to linger, and it affords +a most agreeable change in the later Spring months +from the close atmosphere and enervating heat of +Amalfi or the coast towns. Perched on this breezy +hill-top, from the terrace of the hotel can be observed +the whole circuit of the Bay of Salerno, whilst behind +to the north and east the ring of enclosing mountains +rises sharp and distinct against the sky. From this +point we are presented with a complete view of +<pb n='165'/><anchor id='Pg165'/>the territories of the ancient Republic, spread out like +a map beneath our feet and stretching from the Punta +della Campanella to the heights above Vietri, and backed +by the arid grey mountain peaks. If the garden +of the Hotel Palumbo seems a fitting place wherein to +idle or to dream, might not it also appeal to some +historian, not tied to time nor to the hard necessity of +money-making, as a suitable spot for the conception +of a history of the origin, rise, decline and fall of +the great maritime Republic, whose dominions, still +smiling and populous, surround Ravello on all sides? +Gibbon found the first suggestion for his Roman +History whilst musing upon the ruins of the Capitol, +and he finished his great work in a Swiss garden +amidst the scent of acacia bloom; might not the +annals of the Amalfitan Republic likewise spring from +reflections made upon this terrace, where the memories +of a former greatness still beautiful in its decay must +operate so powerfully? Well, perhaps some future +Gibbon—or more probably some budding Mommsen—may +in time present the world with a true impartial +and erudite history of the Costiera d’Amalfi. +</p> + +<p> +We bask lazily in the afternoon sunshine, to the +soft, rather soporific cooing of some caged doves, that +live in the back-ground out of sight behind a screen of +lemon trees in huge red jars, such as Morgiana must +have been familiar with. Beyond the terrace wall we +note the carefully tended vines, precious plants, for +their grapes produce the delicate <hi rend='italic'>Episcopio</hi> wine, +perhaps the choicest vintage to be obtained around +Naples, and boasting a flavour and bouquet that +are rarely to be encountered except in the products of +the most celebrated vineyards of France or Germany. +</p> + +<pb n='166'/><anchor id='Pg166'/> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">O quam placens in colore,</q></l> +<l>O quam fragrans in odore,</l> +<l>O quam sapidum in ore,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Dolce linguae vinculum.</l> +</lg> +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Felix venter quem intrabis,</q></l> +<l>Felix guttur quod rigabis,</l> +<l>Felix os quod tu lavabis;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">Et beata labia!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Below the vinery we catch glimpses of the dancing +waters of the Bay and of the little towns of Minori +and Majori, seen through a screen of olive and almond +trees that are gently swayed by the south wind. +Opposite to us towers the huge form of the mountain +of the Avvocata, upon whose slopes centuries ago the +Madonna herself appeared in a flood of glory to +an ignorant but pious shepherd lad, promising the +startled youth to become his mediator, the <hi rend='italic'>avvocata</hi> of +his simple prayers. The story must be true, say the +peasants, for there on the hillside can still be seen the +ruins of the shrine that the wondering and grateful +villagers raised upon the very site of the apparition in +honour of their celestial visitor. But the whole +country-side teems with interesting and often beautiful +legends and traditions, handed down by generations of +the simple hardy folk who toil for their daily bread +amidst the vineyards and olive groves that clothe the +sun-baked slopes descending to the shore. +</p> + +<p> +The intervening distance is not great between +Ravello and La Scala, which surmounts the opposite +ridge of the valley of the Dragone, whence good +walkers can easily descend by the ancient mule +track that leads down direct to Amalfi by way of +Scaletta. Like its neighbour and historic rival across +<pb n='167'/><anchor id='Pg167'/>the valley, the annals and fortunes of Scala are closely +interwoven with those of Amalfi; and it was during +the palmy days of the Republic that this daughter-town +reached its height of prosperity. Although the +tradition that once Scala possessed a hundred towers +upon its walls and a hundred and thirty churches is +obviously exaggerated, yet it must have been a place +of importance even as early as 987, when Pope John +XVI raised it to the rank of a bishopric, an honour +which did not fall to Ravello until many years later. +Early in the twelfth century Scala was pillaged by the +Pisans, but some years afterwards, when the mother +city tamely submitted to the demands of these Tuscan +invaders without the smallest effort at self-defence, the +higher-spirited mountaineers of La Scala manned their +walls with skill and vigour, though without avail. +The hill-set city was ultimately carried by storm, and +so thoroughly did the enraged Pisans wreak their +vengeance upon the place that Scala never again rose +to fame or eminence, but henceforward dwindled in +wealth and size until it finally sank to the condition of +a large village, whilst Clement VIII offered an +additional indignity to the city in its dotage by depriving +it of episcopal rank. But though the citizens of +modern Scala no longer possess a bishop in their +midst, they are still the proud possessors and jealous +guardians of the magnificent mitre presented by Charles +of Anjou, who was greatly pleased by the men and +money that this ancient town sent to aid his brother, +St Louis of France, in his Crusade. Some sculptured +tombs, one of them a monument in honour of Marinella +Rufolo of Ravello, who was married to a Coppola of +Scala, remain in the churches to interest the curious +<pb n='168'/><anchor id='Pg168'/>traveller, but most visitors will find the principal charm +of this dilapidated little city in its lofty striking situation +beneath the frowning mass of Monte Cerrato. +</p> + +<p> +But the sunset has come and gone, and the last +tints of its rose-pink glow are rapidly disappearing from +the serrated line of mountain tops against their background +of daffodil sky. Stars are beginning to peep +in the firmament, and yellow lights, the stars of earth, +are springing up fast in the town below, and even +appearing at rare intervals of space amongst the +cottages of the woody hillside, or upon the fishing +boats that lie on the bosom of the Bay, now turning +to a deep purple under the advancing shadows of +night. A cheerful concert of unseen insects greets +our ears as we descend rapidly towards Atrani, whilst +the goatbells amid the distant pastures tinkle pleasantly +from time to time. We soon exchange the dewy +freshness of evening in the country for the heavy air, +thick with dust, that hangs over the coast road, and +in a few moments more find ourselves at the foot of +the rock-cut staircase that leads to our convent inn. +</p> + <p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +But our days upon the beautiful Costiera d’Amalfi +are at an end, and the moment has at last come +for us to bid farewell to these enchanted scenes and to +the ancient city slumbering peacefully in its rocky +valley by the shore. Our rows upon the glassy waters +of the Bay, our scrambles up the wild scrub-covered +hillsides above the town, our evening walks along the +broad high-road to catch the fleeting glories of the +sun-set,—all are ended; the day, the hour of departure +has actually arrived. +</p> + +<p> +Casting a longing look behind we quit Amalfi in +<pb n='169'/><anchor id='Pg169'/>the cool of the evening, in order to cover the eight +intervening miles of coast road that lie between us and +Salerno. We pass Atrani, with its tall parti-coloured +tower, and proceed towards our destination with the +smooth plain of waters below us and the fertile slopes +above our heads, and thus we quickly gain Minori, +another of the busy little settlements that once helped +to make up the collected might of the old Republic. +We meet with bare-footed sun-embrowned peasants, +in their suits of blue linen and broad shady straw +hats; lean sinewy figures, returning from a long day’s +work in the fragrant orange groves by which the town +is surrounded. We meet also, alas! with the usual +crowd of beggars, the halt, the maimed, and the +pseudo-blind, who are quickly left behind; nevertheless +the naughty picturesque half-naked children, +loudly screaming for <hi rend='italic'>soldi</hi>, caper in the dust alongside +our carriage, until these little pests are out-stripped, +but only to give way to other imps, equally +naughty and unclothed, from Majori. Majori, nestling +by the seashore amidst the enfolding mountains, appears +to us a second Amalfi, with its crowded beach and +brightly coloured boats, with its paper and maccaroni +mills, huddled into the narrow ravine of the Senna, +which cuts the town in half ere it empties itself into +the Bay. Overhead the huge ruined castle of San +Niccolò looms distinct against the rose-flushed evening +sky, crouching like some decrepit old giant above the +little city which he so oppressed in the bad old days +when Sanseverini and Colonna carried on a perpetual +selfish strife that allowed their humble neighbours no +repose. Beautiful as is Majori, it is no lovelier than +many another spot upon this exquisite coast; it is but +<pb n='170'/><anchor id='Pg170'/>as one pearl in a well-matched necklace, for the country +that lies between Amalfi and Salerno is fully as rich +in historical interest and natural charm as is the +western portion that we have just traversed. Behind +Majori we behold Monte Falerio, with its rocky +summit tipped with the glow of evening and its base +in purple shadow, descending abruptly into the darkening +waters of the Bay. Slanting down to the surf-fringed +beach, the great mountain seem to bar our +further progress, but with a guttural imprecation and +a loud cracking of the whip, our coachman deftly +guides his half-starved but cunning little horses round +the sharp corner of the mountain spur known as the +Capo del’ Orso, and in a trice Amalfi, whither we have +been straining our eyes, is snatched from our vision; +a few minutes later, and we have rounded the Capo +del Tumulo, with its memories of the great Genoese +admiral, Filippino Doria, who in the treacherous +currents that circle round this Cape, destroyed the +Spanish fleet of the Emperor Charles V. Already the +sun has dipped below the horizon, and the calm +expanse of the Tyrrhene has lost the last reflected ray; +forward our driver urges his horses in the fast-fading +light. The Angelus rings out from half a score of +belfries beside the seashore and on the hillside, +breaking the stillness of the gloaming with musical +reverberations. Sunset and evening star, twilight and +evening bell; how exquisite is the fall of night upon +the shores of the Bay of Salerno! We pass the fishing +village of Cetara, and in so doing we pass by the +willing strength of imagination out of the dominion of +the ancient Republic of Amalfi into the Principality +of Salerno. Onward we press, and it is not long +<pb n='171'/><anchor id='Pg171'/>before a shrill familiar sound bursts upon our ears, +a sound that quickly tears the gossamer threads of a +fancy revelling in the thoughts of long-extinct principalities +and powers. It is the whistle of a railway-engine +descending the slope from Vietri above us +down to Salerno; it is the neighing of the iron horse +that has not yet pranced along the unconquered +Costiera d’Amalfi, nor befouled its crystal-clear air +with his smoky breath. For at Vietri we re-enter the +every-day world, and leave behind us the sea-girt fairy-land; +Vietri, not Cetara, is the true frontier town to-day. +But the lights of Salerno are drawing nearer +and nearer, and in a few moments of time we are +tearing along the broad lamp-lit Marina of the town, +in the middle of which our driver pulls up suddenly +at the entrance of that old-fashioned comfortable inn, +the Albergo d’Inghilterra: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Another day has told its feverish story,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Another night has brought its promised rest.</q></l> +</lg><anchor id="illus14"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: MINORI AT SUNSET]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus14th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus14.jpg">MINORI AT SUNSET</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: MINORI AT SUNSET</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div n="8" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='172'/><anchor id='Pg172'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="8: Salerno and the House of Hauteville"/> +<head>CHAPTER VIII</head> + +<head type="sub">SALERNO AND THE HOUSE OF HAUTEVILLE</head> + +<p> +Backed by gentle slopes well wooded and well +tilled, and screened from the northern blasts +by its guarding amphitheatre of grey crags, Salerno +occupies a delightful position upon the Bay to which +it gives its own name. The long stretch of its Marina, +tolerably clean to the eye if not at all points agreeable +to the nostrils, follows the broad curve of the strand, +and an idle hour or so may pleasantly be whiled away +in watching the fishing craft moored beside the mole +and the attendant sailors. At the northern end of +this promenade, in what constitutes the most fashionable +quarter of the place, is a tiny garden with palms +and daturas, whilst hard by stands a large theatre, +evidences of the gentility of modern Salerno. But +the whole town appears sleepy and dead-alive to a +stranger, though at the sunset hour a band occasionally +plays in this open space, the music attracting hither a +crowd composed of all the divers elements of society +in the quiet old city. Yet though not possessing any +great attractions for a sojourn in itself, Salerno makes +an excellent centre whence to explore the neighbourhood, +for it lies within easy reach of the great +Benedictine Abbey of Santa Trinità; of beautiful La +Cava, <q>that Alpine valley under an Italian sky</q>; of +<pb n='173'/><anchor id='Pg173'/>Nocera, with its ancient cathedral that was once a +pagan temple; and last, but very far from least, of +that glorious group of temples at Paestum. It has +tolerable hotels, and if only their <hi rend='italic'>padroni</hi> could be +brought to realise that a flavouring of rosemary and +garlic in every dish is not appreciated by the palates +of the <hi rend='italic'>forestieri</hi>, the fare provided would be excellent. +As in all Italian cities, northern or southern, however, +the nocturnal noise is prodigious. Shouting and +shrieking, quarrelling and yelling rend the air at all +hours, whilst the practice of serenading, more agreeable +in romantic poetry than in everyday life, is here +carried to excess, and the twanging of the mandoline +and the throaty voices of ardent lovers are rarely silent +o’ nights in the dark narrow streets of Salerno. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">A lu scur’ vagi cercann’</q></l> +<l>La bella mia addo è?</l> +<l>Mo m’annascunn’ po’ fann’ dispera’,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>I mor’, I mor’ pe’ te,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">Ripos’ cchiù ne ho!</q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">In favouring dusk I wandering go,</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>My fair, where shall I find her?</l> +<l>Now she attracts, now drives me wild;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'>I die, I die for her;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">Repose no more have I.</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +Behind the long line of lofty well-built houses facing +the Bay, the streets are gloomy, narrow and crooked, +a labyrinth of dark mysterious lanes that contain no +palaces or churches of note, and but few artistic <q>bits</q> +to catch the eye and delight the soul of a painter. As +in the case of Amalfi, the Cathedral of San Matteo at +Salerno is almost the sole monument left standing of a +past that is peculiarly rich in historical associations. +<pb n='174'/><anchor id='Pg174'/>Ever since the accession of the Angevin kings Salerno +has remained a quiet provincial town, neither rich nor +poor, but stagnant and without commerce. Into its +harbour, which Norman and Suabian princes attempted +to improve, the sand has long since silted, and Naples +for many centuries past has been able to regard with +serene contempt the city that it was once intended to +make her commercial rival: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Se Salerno avesse un porto,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Napoli sarebbe morto.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Well, Naples owns an excellent harbour, and has +in consequence grown into one of the largest sea-ports +on the shores of the Mediterranean, whilst little Salerno +can only afford anchorage for fishing boats. +</p> + +<p> +The chief interest of the place centres in its close +connection with the great Norman house of Hauteville, +and especially with Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia +and Calabria, who after a fierce struggle managed to +capture this city from the Lombard princes. Sprung +from a hardy race of <hi rend='italic'>valvassors</hi> or <hi rend='italic'>bannerets</hi> in Normandy, +Duke Robert was one of the twelve sons of +Tancred of Hauteville in the bishopric of Coutances. +Joining his elder half-brother William Bras-de-Fer in +Italy, Robert at once began to make a remarkable +display of soldierly and statesman-like qualities. An +adventurer pure and simple in an alien land, this +sharp-witted Norman in course of time obtained the +nick-name of Guiscard, or the Wiseacre, and on the +death of his elder brother he was nominated Count of +Apulia by acclamation of the Norman followers, to the +exclusion of his helpless young nephews. Robert +Guiscard’s appearance and character have been sketched +<pb n='175'/><anchor id='Pg175'/>for us with loving care by one of the most famous of +the world’s historians, who was fully able to appreciate +the mingled force and cunning, the <hi rend='italic'>suaviter in modo</hi> +and the <hi rend='italic'>fortiter in re</hi>, of this leader of a handful +of Normans in a hostile and distant country. Let +Gibbon’s stately prose therefore present to us a +word-painting of the Great Adventurer himself:— +</p> + +<p> +<q>His lofty stature surpassed the tallest of his army; +his limbs were cast in the true proportion of strength +and gracefulness; and to the decline of life he maintained +the patent vigour of health and the commanding +dignity of his form. His complexion was ruddy, +his shoulders were broad, his hair and beard were long +and of a flaxen colour, his eyes sparkled with fire, and +his voice, like that of Achilles, could impress obedience +and terror amidst the tumult of battle. In the ruder +ages of chivalry, such qualifications are not below the +notice of the poet or historian; they may observe that +Robert at once and with equal dexterity could wield +in the right hand his sword, his lance in the left; that +in the battle of Civitella he was thrice unhorsed, and +that on the close of that memorable day he was adjudged +to have borne away the prize of valour from +the warriors of the two armies. His boundless ambition +was founded on the consciousness of superior +worth: in the pursuit of greatness he was never +arrested by the scruples of justice, and seldom moved +by the feelings of humanity: though not insensible of +fame, the choice of open or clandestine means was +determined only by his present advantage. The +surname of <hi rend='italic'>Guiscard</hi> was applied to this master of +political wisdom, which is too often confounded with +the practice of dissimulation and deceit; and Robert +<pb n='176'/><anchor id='Pg176'/>is praised by the Apulian poet for excelling the +cunning of Ulysses and the eloquence of Cicero. Yet +these arts were disguised by an appearance of military +frankness: in his highest fortune he was accessible and +courteous to his fellow soldiers, and while he indulged +the prejudices of his new subjects, he affected in his +dress and manners to maintain the ancient fashion +of his country. He grasped with a rapacious, that he +might distribute with a liberal hand; his primitive +indigence had taught the habits of frugality; the gain +of a merchant was not below his attention; and his +prisoners were tortured with slow and unfeeling cruelty +to force a discovery of their secret treasure. According +to the Greeks, he departed from Normandy with only +five followers on horse-back, and thirty on foot; yet +even this allowance appears too bountiful;—the sixth +son of Tancred of Hauteville passed the Alps as a +pilgrim, and his first military band was levied among +the adventurers of Italy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Gaining over the Pope Nicholas II. to his interests, +the new Count was able to exact an oath of fealty in +1060 from the Italian barons, hitherto his equals, to +recognise him as <q>Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and here-after +of Sicily, by the grace of God and of St Peter,</q> +although it took many years of hard fighting before +these lands, thus proudly claimed, could be subdued. +Beginning with the conquest of the Duchy of Benevento, +Guiscard at once laid siege to Salerno, taking it +after an obstinate resistance lasting over eight months, +during which he was himself severely wounded by a +splinter from one of his own engines of war. The +city captured with such difficulty now became the +victor’s favourite residence and the recipient of his +<pb n='177'/><anchor id='Pg177'/>bounty and enlightened rule, so that Salerno quickly +rose to the rank of one of the most illustrious towns +in Europe, supplanting even its magnificent neighbour +Amalfi in popular esteem. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Urbs Latii non est hâc delitiosior urbe,</q></l> +<l>Frugibus arboribus vino redundat; et unde</l> +<l>Non tibi poma nuces, non pulchra palatia desunt,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Non species muliebris abest probitasque virorum.</q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">All Latium shows no more delightful place,</q></l> +<l>Whose sunny slopes the vine and almond grace;</l> +<l>’Midst fruitful groves her palaces uprear,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Her men are virtuous, and her women fair.</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +It was under the Guiscard’s auspices that the +famous school of Medicine that had long been seated +at Salerno rose to its highest point of excellence. +<q>Paris for learning, Bologna for law, Orleans for +poetry, and Salerno for Medicine</q>;—such was the +verdict of the age. With the somewhat grudging +consent of the clergy, the hygienic skill of the dreaded +Arabs was in this city permitted to temper the crass +ignorance of medieval Italy, and at Salerno alone +were the works of the infidel Avicenna and of the +pagans Galen and Hippocrates openly studied. The +result was that the fame of the doctors of this <hi rend='italic'>Fons +Medicinae</hi> spread over all Western Europe, so that +distinguished patients either came hither to be treated +in person or else sent emissaries to explain their +symptoms and to obtain advice. Nor were the +professors of the healing art at Salerno tied down by +a strict adherence to drugs and boluses, for they fully +realised that the height of all human ambition, the +<hi rend='italic'>mens sana in corpore sano</hi>, is in any case more easily +to be obtained by self-control than by all the +in<pb n='178'/><anchor id='Pg178'/>gredients of the pharmacopoeia. They were warm +believers apparently in the doctrine of moderation in +all things, which after all is one of the most valuable +prescriptions of modern hygiene: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Curas tolle graves, irasci crede profanum,</q></l> +<l>Parce mero, coenato parum, non sit tibi vanum,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Surgere post epulas, somnum fuge meridianum.</q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">Throw off dull care; thine angry moods restrain;</q></l> +<l>Eschew the wine-cup; lightly eat, nor vain</l> +<l>Deem our advice to make Enough thy feast.</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Take exercise, and shun the noon-day rest.</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +Such was the oracular reply of the Salernitan +sages to Robert, Duke of Normandy, and no one can +dispute the sound common sense of the prescription +given, nor doubt that it is applicable to half the +patients who to-day throng the consulting rooms of +fashionable London physicians. +</p> + +<p> +But to return to Robert Guiscard, who shares the +historical honours of the place, together with the great +Pope Gregory VII., of whom we shall speak presently. +After subduing the southern half of Italy and the +island of Sicily, the great Duke next turned his +victorious arms against the Eastern Empire, with the +secret intention, it was suspected, of ascending the +throne of Constantine. With the pseudo-Emperor +Michael in his train, the Great Adventurer in 1081 +assembled a vast army at Otranto, consisting of +30,000 Italian subjects and of 1300 Norman knights, +with the object of crossing over to Epirus. Durazzo +on the opposite Albanian coast, the Dyrrachium of +the ancients, a city that was henceforth destined to be +closely associated with succeeding dynasties of South +Italy, was the objective of this gigantic expedition, +<pb n='179'/><anchor id='Pg179'/>for it was commonly reported to be the key of the +Eastern Empire. Thither the flotilla set sail, but +before reaching the Greek shore, an unexpected and +unseasonable tempest scattered Guiscard’s argosy, +destroying many of the ships and drowning many +crews. Nevertheless, the undaunted spirit and endless +resources of the Norman Duke rose superior to all +misfortunes. Landing with the remnant of his army +he at once laid siege to Durazzo, despite the fact that +the Emperor Alexius was marching to its relief, and +that the Venetian fleet was already anchored in its +harbour. In spite of overwhelming odds, Guiscard +utterly routed the Byzantine army. With his heir +Bohemond and his wife Sigilgaita beside him, the +Duke watched the progress of the battle, and at its +most critical juncture, at a moment when it appeared +inevitable that the hard-pressed Italian army must +yield to the sheer numbers of the foe, the deep voice +of the leader could be heard booming like a deep-toned +bell over the battlefield, as he addressed his wavering +troops. <q>Whither do ye fly? Your enemy is implacable, +and death is less grievous than slavery!</q> +Joined with the hoarse voice of Guiscard, the Norman +warriors could distinguish the exhortations of the +Amazon-like Sigilgaita, <q>a second Pallas, less skilful +in arts, but no less terrible in arms than the Athenian +goddess.</q> Rallying at the words of their master and +shamed by the martial ardour of the Duchess, the invading +troops made one last desperate effort, whereby +the Imperial army was driven back and scattered, so +that Alexius barely escaped with his life. Having +routed the Emperor in fair fight, Guiscard now made +use of his unparalleled cunning by bribing the +<pb n='180'/><anchor id='Pg180'/>treacherous Venetians, who eventually assisted the +Italian forces to enter the city gates, and thus Durazzo +was gained at the point of the sword after one of the +fiercest sieges known to history. Scarcely had the +beleaguered town been reduced, than the indomitable +Guiscard found himself compelled to return to Italy, +where the Emperor of the West, the unhappy Henry +IV., vainly endeavouring to wipe out the humiliation +of Canossa, had seized Rome and was actually besieging +the great Hildebrand in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo. +Leaving his son Bohemond in command of the army +in Macedonia, Robert recrossed the sea, and hastened +with a handful of men towards Rome. But so intense +a fear did the victor of Durazzo inspire, that the +terrified Emperor without waiting to give combat fled +headlong together with his anti-pope from the Holy +City, where Guiscard was received with acclamation. +<q>Thus, in less than three years,</q> remarks Gibbon, <q>the +son of Tancred of Hauteville enjoyed the glory of +delivering the Pope, and of compelling the two +Emperors of the East and West to fly before his +victorious arms.</q> Guiscard’s triumphal entry into +Rome was however marred by scenes of violence and +scandal, due to the conduct of the Saracen troops which +his brother, the great Count Roger of Sicily, had +brought to assist the enterprise. So infuriated were +the Romans by the behaviour of the infidels, that the +prudent Gregory deemed it wiser to return to Salerno +together with his deliverer, and it was in Guiscard’s +palace that the famous <q>Caesar of spiritual conquest</q> +expired three years later. As to the Great +Adventurer himself, he died in the island of Cephalonia +in the very year of the Pope’s death at Salerno (1085) +<pb n='181'/><anchor id='Pg181'/>and was buried beside his first wife, the gentle Alberada, +at Venosa in Apulia, though the city which he had +always loved and favoured would seem to have offered +a more appropriate spot for his interment. +</p> + +<p> +But although the mortal remains of the Great +Adventurer do not rest within the precincts of his +beloved city, an undying monument of his glorious +but turbulent reign is to be found in the Cathedral, +which despite the neglect and alterations of eight +centuries may still be ranked as one of the most +interesting buildings in Southern Italy. Standing in a +secluded part of the town, this magnificent church +gains nothing from its position, for it can only be +reached by means of tortuous dingy lanes, and even +on a near approach the effect produced on the visitor +is not impressive. <q>The Cathedral-church of San +Matteo,</q> says the Scotch traveller, Joseph Forsyth, in +quaint pedantic language, <q>is a pile so antique and so +modern, so repaired and rhapsodic, that it exhibits +patches of every style, and is of no style itself.</q> But +is not this quality, we ask, exactly what a great +historic building, such as Guiscard’s church, truly +demands? Ought not it to bear the impress of the +various ages it has survived, and of the many famous +persons who have contributed to its embellishment? +From Duke Robert’s day to the present time, the +Cathedral is an epitome of the history of Salerno, a +sermon in stones concerning the great past and the +inglorious present of the city. +</p> + +<p> +In the year preceding his own death and that of +the great Pontiff, who was tarrying at Salerno as +his not over-willing guest, Duke Robert erected this +Cathedral, obtaining the chief ornaments for his new +<pb n='182'/><anchor id='Pg182'/>structure and also its most important relic, the supposed +body of the Apostle St Matthew, from the lately +deserted city of Paestum across the bay. The church +is approached by means of a quadrangular fore-court, +a cloister supported on antique columns, such as can +still be observed in a few of the old Roman churches, +so that we venture to think that this idea at Salerno +was suggested by the great Pope himself. A number +of sculptured sarcophagi, which, like the pillars, were +the spoils of Paestum, are ranged alongside the +entrance walls; and once upon a time there stood in +the centre of the courtyard the huge granite basin +that all visitors to Naples will recall as set in the +middle of the Villa Reale, where it performs the +humble office of decorating a miniature pond, wherein +lily-white ducks quack and gobble at the bread crumbs +thrown to them by children and their nurses. Fancy +the irate disgust of Duke Robert at waking to learn +that the antique fountain for his new Cathedral, brought +with such care and toil from distant Poseidonia, should +have been transported to the rival city and turned to +such base uses! Above the splendid bronze doors, the +gift of Landolfo Butomilea and his wife shortly after +Guiscard’s death, we perceive the dedication of the +church to the Apostle Matthew by the proud conqueror +of the Two Sicilies and the protector of Hildebrand. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">A Duce Roberto donaris Apostole templo:</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Pro meritis regno donetur ipse superno.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +The donor, we note, is confident that the Apostle, +in return for so glorious a fabric, will undertake to +obtain the Kingdom of Heaven for this generous +client upon earth. +</p> + +<p> +The interior, which is sadly marred by white-wash +<pb n='183'/><anchor id='Pg183'/>and gaudy decoration, is a perfect treasure-house of +works of art—antique, medieval, Renaissance—of +which the guide-book will give a detailed list. +Succeeding generations have put to strange uses some +of the fine marble reliefs that Guiscard transported +hither from Paestum, and we note that one archbishop +has gone so far as to filch a sarcophagus carved with +a Bacchanal procession to serve for his own tomb. +We might perhaps infer that the deceased prelate was +addicted to the wine-flask, and to have been a firm +believer in and follower of one of the rules of the +medical school of his own diocese: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Si nocturna tibi noceat potatio vini,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Hoc ter mane libas iterum, et fuerit medicina.</q></l> +</lg> + <lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">If a carouse at night do make thee ill,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">For morning medicine drink of wine thy fill</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +Let us hope that this extraordinary receipt for <q>hot +coppers</q> was intended satirically, or else given seriously +as the only advice that a confirmed toper was likely +to follow in any case. But the use of classical adjuncts +to adorn Christian tombs, which to-day appears so +incongruous to us, was popular enough at the time of +the Renaissance, and readers of Robert Browning’s +poetry will call to mind the story of the dying +Bishop’s injunction to his heirs concerning his tomb +in St Praxed’s church at Rome: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">The bas-relief in bronze ye promised me,</q></l> +<l>Those Pans and Nymphs ye wot of, and perchance</l> +<l>Some tripod thyrsus with a vase or so,</l> +<l>The Saviour at His sermon on the mount,</l> +<l>Saint Praxed in a glory, and one Pan</l> +<l>Ready to twitch the Nymph’s last garment off,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">And Moses with the tables....</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='184'/><anchor id='Pg184'/> + +<p> +But it is necessary to shake off the spirit of Renaissance +dilettantism before we venture to approach the +chapel of John of Procida to the right of the high +altar, where stands the stern figure of the greatest +of the medieval Pontiffs. Above the marble statue +of the Caesar of the Papacy, that was tardily erected +to his memory by the unfortunate Pio Nono, appear +the glittering mosaics of the apse of the chapel, from +which look down the figures of John of Procida and of +King Manfred, the last sovereign prince of the hated +Suabian line that Gregory twice anathematized. +Beneath the cold forbidding eye of the last of the +Hohenstaufen and his friend and avenger here rest, +strangely enough, the ashes of that <q>great and +inflexible asserter of the supremacy of the sacerdotal +order: the monk Hildebrand, afterwards Pope +Gregory the Seventh.</q> Born the son of a poor +carpenter in the Tuscan village of Soana, this extraordinary +man rose to eminence as a monk of Cluny, +where he became famous for his extreme asceticism +of life in an age of undisguised clerical corruption +and luxury, when simony, lay investiture and priestly +marriages were the rule rather than the exception on +all sides, so that but few Churchmen were able to rise +above their surrounding temptations. Such few as +could resist the world, the flesh and the devil were +accounted, and not unfrequently were in reality, +ignorant crazy fanatics, half-pitied and half-despised. +Between these two extremes of worldly indulgence +and of unreasoning severity of life, Hildebrand ever +pursued a middle course, for whilst on the one hand +he eschewed the vanities of life around him, on the +other he never sank into the self-effacement of +<pb n='185'/><anchor id='Pg185'/>a hermit. His acknowledged purity and zeal soon +won for him from the laity a respect mingled with awe, +whilst his natural talents, his indomitable will, and +his genuine piety in course of time brought all +Churchmen who had any regard for their holy office +to fix their hopes upon this Clugniac monk, now a +Cardinal. For some years before his actual election +to the Papal throne in 1079, Hildebrand had begun +to exercise an immense control over the councils of +the Church, and he was personally responsible for +the epoch-making resolution under Nicholas II., which +declared that the choice of a new Pontiff was vested +in the College of Cardinals alone. His own election, +under the terms of this new and drastic arrangement, +became the signal for the fierce struggles, equally +of the battlefield and the council-chamber, that were +destined to distract Italy for generations to come. For, +as might have been expected, the Emperor Henry IV., +King of the Romans, was not long in protesting against +so decided an infringement of his secular claims. +From the synods of Worms and Piacenza came the +Imperial decree of deposition against Gregory, which +was addressed by <q>Henry, not by usurpation but +by God’s holy ordination, King, to Hildebrand, no +longer Pope, but false monk.</q> Gregory, strong alike +in virtue and in resolve, and aided by the might +of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany and of Robert +Guiscard, answered by pronouncing a solemn anathema +upon his secular adversary. In awe-struck silence the +Council of the Lateran listened to the Pope’s final +excommunication of the King, and of all those +who dared to associate themselves with him. <q>I +absolve,</q> said Gregory, <q>all Christians from the oaths +<pb n='186'/><anchor id='Pg186'/>which they have taken or may take to him; and +I decree that no one shall obey him as king; for it +is fitting that he, who has endeavoured to diminish +the honour of the Church, should himself lose that +honour which he seems to have.</q> We all know +the final act of that terrible unequal struggle, the +duel of brute force against spiritual terrors in a rude +age of violence and superstition, which took place +in the courtyard of the Castle of Canossa, the +Countess Matilda’s fortress in the Apennines. +</p> + +<p> +<q>On a dreary winter morning, with the ground +deep in snow, the King, the heir of a long line +of Emperors, was permitted to enter within the +two outer of the three walls which girded the Castle +of Canossa. He had laid aside every mark of +royalty or of distinguished station; he was clad +only in the thin white linen dress of the penitent, +and there, fasting, he awaited in humble patience +the pleasure of the Pope. But the gates did not +unclose. A second day he stood, cold, hungry and +mocked by vain hopes. And yet a third day dragged +on from morning till evening over the unsheltered +head of the discrowned King. Every heart was moved +save that of the representative of Jesus Christ.</q> +</p><anchor id="illus15"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: ON THE ROAD TO RAVELLO]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus15th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus15.jpg">ON THE ROAD TO RAVELLO</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: ON THE ROAD TO RAVELLO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Can we wonder then that the phrase <q>to go to +Canossa</q> (<hi rend='italic'>gehen nach Canossa</hi>) has become ingrafted +on to the German language, or that so significant an +expression was openly used by Prince Bismarck +during the fierce religious struggles in the days of +the <q>Kultur-kampf</q> between the newly-formed +Empire and the direct successor of the spiritual Caesar +who had thus humbled a former Emperor of Germany? +It was in vain that Henry afterwards endeavoured, +<pb n='187'/><anchor id='Pg187'/>by making war upon his oppressor, to undo the evil +effects of his public recantation at Canossa; the act +of humiliation was too marked ever to be wiped out +either by himself or by his descendants. For good +or for bad, Gregory had succeeded in rendering the +Papacy free from lay control; he had gained for ever +for the Church one of her most cherished tenets, the +absolute independence of the Pope’s election by the +College of Cardinals; and he had even partially reduced +the Western Empire into a fief of the Church +itself. The former of Gregory’s great objects, the +freedom of election, still remains intact after an interval +of more than eight hundred years; the latter +attempt, though long struggled for and apparently +with success at times, has, we know, ultimately failed. +</p> + +<p> +Having accomplished so much during his reign, +it is strange to think that Gregory’s last days should +have been passed in a form of exile away from the +Eternal City which he claimed as the metropolis of +the Universal Church. There is pathos to be found +in the Pope dying at Salerno, far removed from the +scene of his ambition and success. With the bitter +feeling that his name was execrated in Rome after +Guiscard’s sack, and that his host was bent upon +obtaining the imperial title from his reluctant guest, +Gregory’s declining days were spent in melancholy +reflections. To the last he spoke confidently of the +righteousness of his cause, and whilst making his +peace with all mankind in anticipation of his approaching +end, he deliberately excepted from his own and +God’s mercy the names of his arch-enemy Henry and +the anti-pope Guibert, together with all their followers. +Thus the aged Pontiff languished to his end within +<pb n='188'/><anchor id='Pg188'/>the walls of the Castle of Salerno, encircled by flattering +Churchmen who did their utmost to cheer their +dying champion. <q>I have loved justice and hated +iniquity, and therefore I die in exile,</q> are the +famous words recorded of Hildebrand in the face of +the King of Terrors. <q>In exile thou canst not die!</q> +eagerly responded an attendant priest. <q>Vicar of +Christ and His Apostles, thou hast received the +nations for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts +of the earth for thy possession.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Perhaps the expiring Pope was cheered by these +words—who can tell? In any case they were prophetic, +for the present world-wide character of the +Roman Church, which embraces in its fold all nationalities +and holds its members together all the globe +over in one indissoluble bond of a spiritual empire, +is largely due to the trials and exertions of one man: +the monk Hildebrand, Pope Gregory the Seventh. +</p> + +<p> +Here then he sleeps his last sleep, the friend of Matilda, +the mortal foe of King Henry, the patron of William +the Conqueror, the guest of Robert Guiscard:—what +a galaxy of illustrious names shines upon that dim +silent chapel in the Cathedral of Salerno! Here +stands in unchanging benediction his gleaming marble +effigy, calmly surveyed by King Manfred near at +hand in imperial robes, the last prince of the hated +and twice banned Suabian House, whose bones were +destined to bleach in the sun and rattle in the wind +by the bridge of Benevento under a Papal curse. +</p> + +<p> +Before we quit the Cathedral in order to enjoy the +evening sunshine, which is filling the interior with +its roseate glow, let us return for one brief moment +to the northern aisle, to glance at the grave of the +<pb n='189'/><anchor id='Pg189'/>Duchess who fought so boldly by her husband’s side +at Durazzo. It is easy to find, for her simple tomb +stands not far from the beautiful and elaborate +monument of Margaret of Durazzo (strange coincidence!) +wife of King Charles of Naples, wherein +the sculptor has portrayed angels drawing aside a +curtain so as to display the sleeping form of the dead +Queen within. Close to this monument of a not +unusual Renaissance type, we discover the last resting +place of Robert Guiscard’s second wife, the Duchess +Sigilgaita, their son Roger Bursa and their grandson +William, in whom the direct line of the Great Adventurer +became extinct. Many stories are told by +the old chroniclers of this bold intrepid princess (not +always to her credit)—daughter of the last Lombard +prince Gisulf of Salerno and wife of her father’s +supplanter, whose humble Norman ancestry she affected +to despise. But despite her reputation for cruelty +and even for murder, Sigilgaita was a faithful wife +and a brave woman, with a character not unlike that +of our own Queen Margaret of Anjou; and it seems +strange that so devoted and well mated a pair as +herself and Robert Guiscard should be separated in +death, he at Venosa and she in the cathedral of +her husband’s foundation. +</p> + +<p> +Passing out of the silent church into the warm +light of eventide, by steep alleys and by stony +footpaths we <anchor id="corr189"/><corr sic="gradully">gradually</corr> mount upwards towards the +ruined castle that commands a lofty position with an all-embracing +view of the bay and its encircling mountains. +The crumbling fragment of the old palace of Salerno +differs but little in appearance from any one of those +innumerable dilapidated piles of the Middle Ages with +<pb n='190'/><anchor id='Pg190'/>which Southern Italy is so thickly studded, yet +coming fresh from visiting Guiscard’s cathedral and +Hildebrand’s last resting-place, we find it comparatively +easy to conjure up some recollections of its +past, so as to invest its crumbling red-hued walls +with a spell of interest. These broken apertures +were surely once the windows through which the +dying Pope must have wearily glanced upon the +sun-smitten waves and violet-shadowed hills that we +behold to-day; here in this embrasure, long despoiled +of its marble seat, must have brooded the fierce and +unscrupulous Sigilgaita, thinking of how best to rid +herself of her step-son Bohemond, in order that her +own children might inherit their father’s realms. +The ghosts of princes and popes are around us, yet +the only living inhabitant of the roofless castle is +the ragged little goat-herd, whose unsavoury charges +are cropping the short grass that covers the site of +the banqueting hall, where Norman knights and +Italian barons once caroused in the crusading days +of long ago. We seat ourselves on the dry sward +in a sun-warmed angle of the ruins, where an almond +tree that has sprouted from the rubble sends down +from time to time upon our heads a tiny shower of +pale pink blossoms at the bidding of the soft evening +breeze. At our feet are masses of the dark shiny leaves +of the wild arum, and rank grass which is plentifully +starred with tall-stemmed crimson-petalled daisies +and the mauve wind-flowers that are drowsily closing +their cups at the approach of night. The little goat-herd +eyes us solemnly, but—strange and welcome to +relate—shows no inclination to pester the <hi rend='italic'>signori</hi>. +The soft murmuring of the distant sea, the subdued +<pb n='191'/><anchor id='Pg191'/>hum of the city far below us and the drowsy buzzing +of the bees in the almond and ivy bloom close at +hand combine to strengthen the golden chain of +imagination. As we sit basking in the peaceful +beauty of the scene around us and serenely conscious +of its glorious past, one of our party suddenly remembers +in a welcome flash of inspiration that this deserted +courtyard has been made the scene of one of +Boccaccio’s most famous tales. It is a story that +many writers of succeeding ages have endeavoured +to imitate in prose or verse, but this fictitious love-tragedy +between a princess and a page at Salerno has +a simple charm and dignity in its original setting +that only the master-hand of the Tuscan author +could impart. The scene of the novel of Guiscard +and Ghismonda is laid, as we have said, at this very +spot, and as the hero, the heroine and the villain of +the tale have Norman names, we may be allowed +to conjecture that this graceful story, which Boccaccio +puts into the mouth of the lady Fiammetta, was +founded upon some actual but half-forgotten family +scandal in the annals of the mighty but self-made +House of Hauteville. +</p> +<p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +Once upon a time there reigned in Salerno the +Prince Tancred, who was a widower, and the father +of an only daughter, Ghismonda, Duchess of Capua. +The Duchess, who was considered one of the most +beautiful, accomplished and virtuous princesses of +her day, had been early married to the Duke of +Capua, but on his death after a very few years +of matrimony had been left a childless widow. +Being still very young, the Princess Ghismonda was +<pb n='192'/><anchor id='Pg192'/>now taken back to his court by her father, who +jealously guarded her and seemed unwilling for her +to be remarried. Living in rooms that over-looked +the courtyard of the palace, the Duchess, who found +time hang on her hands somewhat heavily, used to +spend hours daily in watching the lords and pages +of her father’s household passing and repassing the +quadrangle below, and amongst the many well-favoured +youths a certain page named Guiscard +found most favour in her sight. Now Guiscard, who +had thus all unwittingly attracted Ghismonda’s attention +and finally won her heart, was a young Norman of +no great lineage and of small means, but being discreet, +upright and sensible-minded, had obtained a +high place in Prince Tancred’s estimation. Skilfully +questioning her maids of honour without exciting +their suspicions, the Princess gained all she wished +to know concerning Guiscard’s position and attainments, +and it was not long before she found means of +conveying the secret of her affection to the youth, +who in fact had already fallen head over ears in +love with the beautiful Duchess who so often +leaned from the casement above. She now sent him +a letter hidden in a pair of bellows, wherein she +explained to him the existence of a secret passage, +long disused, that led from a hollow in the hillside +below the castle walls up to her own apartment. +Over-joyed at receiving this missive, the infatuated +page took the first occasion, as we may well imagine, +to make use of this friendly clue, and before many +hours had passed after receiving the letter, the young +man, flushed and triumphant, was standing in the +chamber of his beloved mistress, who had meanwhile +<pb n='193'/><anchor id='Pg193'/>taken every necessary preparation for receiving her +lover in secret. Many a time were the pair able to +meet thus without awakening the least suspicion in +the minds of Prince Tancred or of the maids of +honour, and all would doubtless have gone well for +an indefinite period of time, but for a most unforeseen +accident. It appears that one morning the old Prince +of Salerno, wishing to confer with his daughter on +some matter of state, came to her private apartment, +and on learning that she had gone out riding settled +himself upon a couch that stood within a curtained +alcove, and whilst waiting for her return fell sound +asleep. After some hours of repose the prince was +suddenly roused from his heavy slumber by the sound +of two voices in the room, that of his daughter and of +a strange man. Peeping stealthily through the folds +of the draperies, he now beheld to his fury and +amazement the Duchess alone with his page Guiscard. +But the descendant of Robert the Wiseacre well knew +how to temper vengeance with dissimulation. Dreading +the scandal that would follow an open exposure, +the Prince, in spite of his years and the stiffness of +his joints, contrived to quit the chamber unperceived +by means of a convenient window. That very night +the unsuspecting Guiscard was seized by his sovereign’s +orders and thrust into a foul dungeon of the palace, +whither Tancred himself descended to question his +prisoner and to reprove him violently for his base +ingratitude. But the unhappy page could only make +repeated answer: <q>Sire, love hath greater powers +than you or I!</q> On the following morning Tancred +proceeded to visit the Duchess, still ignorant of her +paramour’s fate, and in a voice strangled with the +<pb n='194'/><anchor id='Pg194'/>conflicting emotions of paternal love and desired +vengeance bitterly upbraided his erring child. +<q>Daughter, I had such an opinion of your modesty +and virtue, that I could never have believed, had I +not seen it with mine own eyes, that you would have +violated either, even so much as in thought. The +recollection of this will make the pittance of life that +is left very grievous to me. As you were determined +to act in that manner, would to Heaven you had +made choice of a person more suitable to your own +quality; but this Guiscard is one of the meanest +persons about my court. This gives me such concern, +that I scarce know what to do. As for him, he was +secured by my order last night, and his fate is determined. +But with regard to yourself, I am influenced +by two different motives: on one side, the tenderest +regard that a father can have for a child; and on the +other, the justest vengeance for the great folly you +have committed. One pleads strongly in your behalf; +and the other would excite me to do an act contrary +to my nature. But before I come to a resolution, I +would fain hear what you have to say for yourself.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Seeing clearly from her father’s words that her +secret had been discovered and that her lover was +in prison, the intrepid Ghismonda, a true daughter +of the high-spirited House of Hauteville, assuming +a composure she was very far from feeling, made a +dignified appeal on behalf of Guiscard and herself. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Father, it is not my purpose either to deny or to +entreat; for as the one can avail me nothing, so I +intend the other shall be of little service. I will by +no means bespeak your love and tenderness towards +me; but shall first, by an open confession, endeavour +<pb n='195'/><anchor id='Pg195'/>to vindicate myself, and thus do what the greatness +of my soul prompts me to. It is most true that I +have loved, and do still love Guiscard; and whilst I +live, which will not be long, shall continue to love +him; and if such a thing as love be after death, I +shall never cease to love him.... It appears from +what you say, that you would have been less incensed +if I had made choice of a nobleman, and you bitterly +reproach me for having condescended to a man of +low condition. In this you speak according to vulgar +prejudice, and not according to truth; nor do you +perceive that the fault you blame is not mine, but +Fortune’s, who often exalts the unworthy, and leaves +the worthiest in low estate. But, not to dwell on +such considerations, look a little into first principles, +and you will see that we are all formed of the same +material and by the same hand. The first difference +amongst mankind, who are all born equal, was made +by virtue; they who were virtuous were deemed +noble, and the rest were all accounted otherwise. +Though this law, therefore, may have been obscured +by contrary custom, yet is it discarded neither by +nature nor good manners. If you regard only the +worth and virtue of your courtiers, and consider that +of Guiscard, you will find him the only noble person, +and these others a set of poltroons. With regard to +his worth and valour, I appeal to yourself. Who ever +commended man more for anything that was praise-worthy +than you have commended him? And +deservedly, in my judgment; but if I was deceived, +it was by following your opinion. If you say, then, +that I have had an affair with a person base and +ignoble, I deny it; if with a poor one, it is to your +<pb n='196'/><anchor id='Pg196'/>shame to have let such merit go unrewarded. Now +concerning your last doubt, namely how you are to +deal with me: use your pleasure. If you are disposed +to commit an act of cruelty, I shall say nothing +to prevent such a resolution. But this I must apprise +you of; that unless you do the same to me, which +you either have done, or mean to do to Guiscard, mine +own hands shall do it for you. If you mean to act +with severity, cut us off both together, if it appear to +you that we have deserved it.</q> +</p> + +<p> +The Duchess’ able defence of her choice of Guiscard +and her democratic views of society were hardly +likely to influence the proud tyrant of Salerno, +although his house was sprung from a plebeian stock +of Normandy. Ignoring her plea and arguments, +Tancred left his daughter alone with her grief, and +proceeded to the cells below to give the order for +Guiscard’s immediate death by strangling. But +Tancred’s fury was by no means appeased by the +page’s death, for tearing the unhappy youth’s heart +from the warm and still quivering body, the brutal +prince had the bleeding flesh placed in a golden +covered cup, which he bade his chamberlain deliver to +Ghismonda, with these cruel words: <q>Your father +sends this present to comfort you with what was +most dear to you; even as he was comforted by you +in what was most dear to him.</q> With a calm +countenance and with a gracious word of thanks, the +Princess accepted the gift, and on removing the +cover and realising the contents of the cup, said with +meaning to the bearer of this gruesome present: +<q>My father has done very wisely; such a heart as +this requires no worse a sepulchre than one of gold.</q> +<pb n='197'/><anchor id='Pg197'/>Then after lamenting for a while over her lover’s fate, +Ghismonda filled the goblet with a draught of poison +that she had already prepared in anticipation of her +father’s vengeance, and quaffed its contents. After +this she lay down upon her bed, clasping the cup to +her bosom, whereupon her maids, all ignorant of the +cause of their mistress’ conduct, ran terrified to call +Prince Tancred, who arrived in time to witness his +unhappy daughter’s death agony. Now that it was +too late, the Prince was stricken with remorse and +began loudly to bewail the violence of his late anger. +<q>Sire,</q> said the dying Princess, <q>save those tears +against worse fortune that may happen, for I want +them not. Who but yourself would mourn for a +thing of your own doing?</q> Then dropping her tone +of irony, she made one last request of her weeping +and repentant father, that her own and Guiscard’s +bodies might be honourably interred within the same +tomb. Thus perished by her own hand the beautiful +Princess Ghismonda of Salerno, Duchess of Capua, +urged to the fell deed by a parent’s inexorable cruelty. +And it is some slight consolation to the sad ending +of the story to learn that Tancred did at least carry +out his daughter’s dying entreaty, for the bodies of +Ghismonda and Guiscard were duly laid in one grave +amidst the pomp of religion and the cold comfort of +a public mourning.<note place="foot"><hi rend='italic'>The Decameron</hi>—Novel I, of the Fourth Day.</note> +</p> +<p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +But the sun has long since sunk below the horizon, +and the chill dews of night are falling round us. Hastily +we leave the old palace of the princes of Salerno to the +solitary occupation of the bats and owls, to seek warmth +and cheerfulness in our inn upon the Marina. +</p> +</div><div n="9" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='198'/><anchor id='Pg198'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="9: Paestum and the Glory that was Greece"/> +<head>CHAPTER IX</head> + +<head type="sub">PAESTUM AND THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE</head> + +<p> +In these days of easy travelling there lies a choice +of two routes to Paestum and its temples: one +by driving thither direct from La Cava or Salerno, +in the mode of our forefathers; and the other by +taking the train to the little junction of Battipaglia, +and thence proceeding southward by the coast line +to the station of Pesto itself, that stands almost +within a stone’s throw of the chief gate of Poseidonia. +A third, and perhaps a preferable way, consists in +using the railway beyond Battipaglia to Eboli, a +town of no little interest in the upper valley of the +Silarus, and thence driving along the base of the +rocky hills that enclose the maritime plain and through +the oak wood of Persano that was brigand-haunted +within living memory. But though the scenery +between Eboli and Paestum undoubtedly owns more +charm and variety than the marshy flats can boast, +yet the strange loneliness of the sea-girt level has +a fascination of its own, which will appeal strongly +to all lovers of pristine undisturbed nature. For +the larger portion of these Lucanian plains still +remains uncultivated, so that thickets of fragrant +wild myrtle and lentisk, of coronella and of white-blossomed +laurustinus, stud the landscape; whilst +<pb n='199'/><anchor id='Pg199'/>the open ground is thickly covered with masses of +hardy but gay flowering weeds. The great star-thistles +run to seed unchecked by the scythe, and the +belled cerinthia and the glaucous-leaved tall yellow +mulleins seem to thrive heartily on the barren soil. +Boggy ground alternates with patches of dry stony +earth, and in early summer every little pool of water +affords sustenance to coarse-scented white water-lilies, +and clumps of the yellow iris that are over-shadowed +by masses of tall graceful reeds. These <hi rend='italic'>arundini</hi>, +which are to be found near every water-course or +pool throughout Italy, are characteristic of the country +with their broad grey leaves, their heads of pink +feathery bloom, and their mournful whispering answers +to the question of every passing breeze; elegant in +their growth, they are also beloved by the practical +peasant who utilizes their long slender stems for +a variety of purposes in his domestic economy. +For the reeds, stripped of their foliage, support his +tender young vines and make good frame-work +whereon to train his peas and tomatoes; the longest +canes of all, moreover, serve well as handles for the +long feather brushes which are used so extensively +in all Italian households. Other floral denizens of +the plain are the great rank <hi rend='italic'>porri</hi>, or wild leeks, conspicuous +with their bright green curling leaves issuing +from globe-like roots above the ground, and of course, +the asphodel, the plant of Death. For the asphodel +is pre-eminently the flower of Southern Italy and of +Sicily, since it presents a fit emblem of a departed +grandeur that is still impressive in its decay. How +beautiful to the eye appear the dark grey-green sword-like +leaves from the centre of which up-shoots the +<pb n='200'/><anchor id='Pg200'/>tall branching stem with its clusters of delicate pink-striped +blossoms, that show so lovely yet smell so +vile! Apart from its fetid odour, the asphodel is a +thing of intense beauty, so that a long line of these +plants in full bloom, covering some ridge of orange-coloured +tufa or the velvety-grey crest of some ancient +wall, with their spikes of starry flowers standing out +distinct like floral candelabra against the clear blue +of a southern sky, makes an impression upon the +beholder that will ever be gratefully remembered. +</p> + +<p> +But flowers and shrubs are not the only occupants +of the Poseidonian plain, for as we proceed on our way +towards the Temples, we notice in the drier pastures +large herds of the long-horned dove-coloured cattle of +the country, whilst in marshy places our interest is +aroused by the sight of great shaggy buffaloes of +sinister mien. The buffalo has long been acclimatized +in Italy, though its original home seems to have been +the trackless marshes of the Tigris and Euphrates. +The conquering Arabs first introduced these uncouth +Eastern cattle into Sicily, whence they were imported +into Italy by the Norman kings of Naples. In spite +of its malevolent nature and the poor quality of its +flesh and hide, the buffalo came to be extensively bred +in the Pontine and Lucanian marshes, where the +moisture of the soil and the unwholesome air always +affected the native herds unfavourably. For hours +together these fierce untameable beasts love to lie +amidst the swampy reed-beds, wallowing up to their +flanks in slimy malodorous mud and seemingly +impervious to the ceaseless attacks of the local wasps +and gad-flies, which try in vain to penetrate with their +barbed stings the thick hairy covering of defence. +<pb n='201'/><anchor id='Pg201'/>Perchance between Battipaglia and Paestum we may +encounter a herd of these shaggy beeves being driven +by a peasant on horse-back, with his <hi rend='italic'>pungolo</hi> or small +lance in hand: a human being that in his goat-skin +breeches and with his luxuriant untrimmed locks, +seems to our eyes only one degree less savage and +unkempt than the fierce beasts he guides. As cultivation +has made progress of recent years and the +unhealthy marshes of the coast line are being gradually +drained, the numbers of buffalo tend to decrease, whilst +the native Italian oxen are being introduced once +more into the newly reclaimed pastures. That former +arch-enemy of the cattle in the days of Vergil seems +to have disappeared: that <q>flying pest,</q> the <hi rend='italic'>asilo</hi> of +the Romans and the <hi rend='italic'>aestrum</hi> of the Greeks, which in +antique times was wont to drive the grazing herds +frantic with terror and pain, until the valley of the +Tanager and the Alburnian woods re-echoed with the +agonised lowing of the poor tortured creatures. And +speaking of noxious insects, a general belief prevails +in Italy that their bite—as well as that of snakes and +scorpions—becomes more acute and dangerous when +the sun enters into the sign of Lion, so that human +beings, as well as defenceless cattle, must carefully +avoid all chances of being bitten during the months of +July and August. +</p> + +<p> +Before our goal can be reached it is necessary for +us to cross the broad willow-fringed stream of the Sele, +the Silarus of antiquity, which according to the testimony +of Silius Italicus once possessed the property of +petrifying wood. In the distant days of the eighteenth +century, the traveller to Paestum had to endure amidst +other difficulties and dangers of the road the +disagree<pb n='202'/><anchor id='Pg202'/>able business of being ferried across the Sele, which +was then bridgeless. Owing to the malaria and the +loneliness of the spot, the acting of ferryman over this +river was not an agreeable post, and Count Stolberg, +a German dilettante who has left some memories of +his Italian wanderings, relates how a feeble dismal +soured old man, a veritable Charon of the upper air, +had great difficulty in conveying himself, his horse +and his servant across the swollen stream. The old +man’s age and misery aroused the Count’s compassion, +so that he asked him why he continued thus to perform +a task at once so arduous and so distasteful. +<q>Sir,</q> replied the boatman, <q>I would gladly be +excused, but that my master compels me to undertake +this work.</q> <q>And who, pray, is this tyrant of a +master of yours?</q> indignantly enquired the Count. +<q>Sir, it is my Lord Poverty!</q> grimly answered the +old ferryman, as he pocketed the Teuton’s fee. Times +have changed with regard to the necessity of a ferry +over the Sele, but to judge from the appearance of the +people and from the accounts in the journals, we much +doubt if my Lord Poverty’s sway has been much +weakened in these parts. +</p> + +<p> +At length we reach the tiny hamlet and station of +Pesto, surrounded by its groves of mournful eucalyptus +trees, and if we visit the station itself, we cannot help +noticing the fine gauze net-work over every window +and door, also the veiled faces and be-gloved hands +of the station-master and his <hi rend='italic'>facchini</hi>. It is not +difficult to gauge the reason of the eucalyptus trees at +Pesto, an alien importation like the buffalo, for these +native trees of Australia have been planted here with +the avowed object of reducing the malaria, for which +<pb n='203'/><anchor id='Pg203'/>the place is only too renowned. Scientists have +positively declared that the mosquitoes which rise in +clouds from the poisonous swamps at sunset are +directly responsible for this terrible form of ague, and +a paternal Government has accordingly introduced +gum-trees to improve the quality of the air, and has +presented gloves, veils and fine lattice work to its +servants in the hope of protecting them from the bites +of these tiny pestilence-bearing insects. We do not +wish to dispute the wisdom of modern bacteriologists, +but somehow we have no great faith in this elaborate +scheme for battling with Nature; and indeed not a +few persons who have studied the matter declare that +though the reeking marshes are certainly productive of +malaria in themselves (so much so that it is dangerous +to linger amidst the ruined temples of an evening), yet +these spiteful little creatures are at least innocent of +innoculating humanity with this particular disease. +Moreover, a plausible idea that is now largely held +insists that the recent spread of cultivation over the +Lucanian Plain is itself largely responsible for the +increase of malaria; it is the up-turning of the germ-impregnated +earth that has lain fallow for centuries, +say the supporters of this theory, which awakens and +sets free the slumbering demon of fever in the soil, +so that the speeding of the plough on the Neapolitan +coast must inevitably mean also the spreading of this +fell and mysterious sickness. Let us therefore give +the devil his due: the mosquito is a hateful and +persistent foe, and his sting is both painful and disfiguring, +but do not let us accuse him of carrying +malaria until the case can be better proved against +him. But enough of fevers and doctors’ saws! Let +<pb n='204'/><anchor id='Pg204'/>us turn our willing eyes towards the three great +temples that confront us close at hand. Before however +proceeding to inspect these great monuments of +Grecian art and civilization, which rank amongst the +most venerable as well as the most beautiful relics of +antiquity, it is only meet that we should carry with +us into their ruined halls a few grains of historical +knowledge, whereby our sense of reality and our +appreciation of their greatness and splendour may be +increased. +</p><anchor id="illus16"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE, PAESTUM]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus16th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus16.jpg">THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE, PAESTUM</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE, PAESTUM</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Although we do not possess a definite history of +Paestum, similar to that of Rome or of Athens, yet +from the many allusions to be found scattered throughout +the pages of classical historians, as well as from +the various inscriptions and devices found upon ancient +coins of this city, it is not a difficult task to piece +together the main features of Poseidonian annals. +From a very remote period of antiquity there was +undoubtedly a settlement on or near the coast to the +south of the river Silarus, whilst it is commonly held +that this spot was called Peste—a name almost +identical with the modern Italian appellation—many +hundreds of years before the arrival of Doric settlers +on the shores of the Tyrrhene Sea. Late in the +seventh century before Christ, the Greek colony of +Poseidonia, the city of the Sea God, was founded on +or near the site of Italian Peste by certain Hellenic +adventurers from Trœzen, who were amongst the inhabitants +of Sybaris, at that time one of the most +flourishing of the famous cities of Magna Graecia: +and this new colony of Trœzenians henceforward was +accounted one of the twenty-five subject-towns that +recognised Sybaris for their metropolis, or mother and +<pb n='205'/><anchor id='Pg205'/>suzerain city. We have no details of its early history, +but it is quite certain that under the protection of +Sybaris the new city of Poseidonia rose by degrees to +such wealth and importance that in course of time it +gave its own name to the whole Bay of Salerno, which +henceforth became known to the Greeks as the +Poseidonian Gulf and later, to the Romans, as the +Bay of Paestum. With the fall of the mother city, +this flourishing colony was left alone to face the attacks +of the Samnites, the native barbarians who peopled +the dense forests and the barren mountains of Lucania; +yet it somehow contrived to retain its independence +until the close of the fourth century <hi rend='small'>B.C.</hi>, when the +Samnite hordes, forcing the fortified line of the Silarus, +made themselves masters of Poseidonia, and put an +end, practically for ever, to its existence as a purely +Hellenic city. From its Lucanian masters the +captured town received the name of Paestum, and its +inhabitants were at once deprived of their independence, +were forbidden to carry arms, and were probably +in many instances reduced to the level of serfs. A +large number of Samnites also settled within the walls +of the town, and compelled the former owners to surrender +to them the larger and richer portion of the +public and private lands upon the maritime plain. +The use of the Hellenic language and public worship +were however permitted, and, strange to relate, no +interference was made with a solemn annual festival, +which the depressed and enslaved population now +inaugurated with the confessed object of remembering +for ever their Greek origin and their former greatness. +For once a year at a fixed date all Greeks were wont +to gather together and to bewail in public, outside +<pb n='206'/><anchor id='Pg206'/>the great temple of Poseidon, their lost liberty and +their vanished power. It is evident that the Lucanians +did not fear the tears and lamentations of this unhappy +subject state, for this custom continued to be observed +throughout the whole period of Samnite oppression, +and survived even till Roman times—perhaps to the +very end of the city’s existence,—although in the +course of passing generations there could have been +but few persons of pure Greek descent left in the place. +</p> + +<p> +With the advent of Alexander of Epirus, who had +been called into Italy by the Greeks of Tarentum in +order to assist the sorely-pressed colonies of Magna +Graecia, Epirot troops were landed at the mouth of +the Silarus. Under the very walls of <anchor id="corr206"/><corr sic="Pæstum">Paestum</corr> there +now took place a stubborn fight wherein the army of +the Samnites was completely routed, and its survivors +driven in confusion from the coast into the wild woods +and rocky valleys of the Lucanian hills. For a brief +interval of years Poseidonia regained its lost liberty +and its Hellenic name, but with the overthrow and +death of Alexander of Epirus, the scattered hordes +pressed down once more from their mountain fastnesses +upon the rich plain, and the city was for the +second time enslaved by the ruder conquering race. +Forty years later, after the Pyrrhine war, all Lucania +fell under the rising power of Rome, a change that +was by no means unacceptable to the Greek cities, +which were groaning under the rude tyranny of the +Samnites. A Latin colony was now planted at +<anchor id="corr206a"/><corr sic="Pæstum">Paestum</corr>, to form a convenient centre whence the +neighbouring district could be kept in order and +peaceably developed according to Roman ideas. +These Roman colonists, although they did not restore +<pb n='207'/><anchor id='Pg207'/>the lands and buildings held by the expelled Samnites +to their rightful owners, yet lived on terms of amity +with the Greek population, with whom they must have +freely intermarried. The original Hellenic inhabitants, +relieved of the bonds of servitude, were now placed on +an equal footing with the new colonists, partaking of +political rights in the city thus freshly re-created under +the supremacy of Rome, and soon they grew to imitate +the speech and manners of their new masters, so that +as an immediate result of the expulsion of the barbaric +Samnites and the entry of the progressive Romans, +Paestum began to recover a considerable portion of +its ancient splendour. +</p> + +<p> +During the course of the second Punic War the +name of Paestum is not unfrequently mentioned in +Roman annals, and owing its revived prosperity to its +annexation by Rome, it is not surprising to find the +existence of a strong feeling of gratitude amongst the +inhabitants. At the date of fatal Cannæ this faithful +Greek city sent assurances of unswerving allegiance to +the Senate, and also more substantial help in the +form of all the golden vessels from its temples. It +was Paestum also that early in the third century <hi rend='small'>B.C.</hi> +supplied part of the ill-fated fleet of Decius Quinctius, +that was raised to run the blockade of Tarentum. +But even the loss of its ships and men did not deter +this loyal city from coming forward a second time +with expressions of fealty and promise of further aid +to the great suzerain city in this dark hour of its +difficulties. From this point onward till the close of +the Republic, History is almost silent with regard to +Paestum; but its numerous coins go far to attest its +continued welfare, for it now shared, together with +<pb n='208'/><anchor id='Pg208'/>Venusia, Brundusium and Vibo Valentia, a special +right to strike money in its own name and with its +own devices. Under the Empire, Paestum managed to +uphold its size and importance, so that it became the +capital of one of the eight Prefectures into which the +district of Lucania had been divided. At this period, +there can be no doubt, the surrounding plain was in +the highest state of cultivation, whilst its prolific rose-gardens—<hi rend='italic'>biferi +rosaria Paesti</hi>—have supplied the +theme of every Roman poet from Vergil to Ausonius. +Yet in spite of its apparent prosperity, the seeds of +coming decline had already been sown. Strabo tells +us that even in early Imperial days the city was +obtaining an unenviable reputation for malaria: a +circumstance that was due to the over-flowing of the +unwholesome streamlet, the Salso, whose reeking and +fever-bearing waters began to impregnate the earth. +Engineering works on a large scale were planned to +remedy this drawback, but these were never executed, +and in consequence the unhealthiness of the place +increased. With the decline of the Roman power +the population and prosperity of Paestum likewise +tended to lessen, so that its citizens were placed in a +worse position than before with regard to the carrying +out of this vast but necessary scheme of sanitation. +</p> + +<p> +In a spot so accessible to external influence, it is +easy to understand that Christianity early took root +in Paestum, which in the fifth century of our own era +had already become a bishopric. The story of the +growth of the Faith in Lucania is closely connected +with a legend that centres round a native of the place, +a certain Gavinius, a general in the army of the +Emperor Valentinian, who whilst serving in Britain +<pb n='209'/><anchor id='Pg209'/>against the Picts by some means succeeded in obtaining +a valuable relic, supposed to be nothing less +than the body of the Apostle Matthew, which he +brought back with him to his native place. Early in +the ninth century there appeared a fresh cause of +alarm, more serious and far-reaching even than the +dreaded malaria, for plundering Saracens, foes alike +to the old Roman civilisation and to the new Christian +creed, now began to harass the Tyrrhenian shores. +Settling at Agropoli to the south of the Bay, these +Oriental freebooters found little difficulty in effecting +a landing on the Poseidonian beach, and in raiding +the weakened and almost defenceless city. Able-bodied +men and young maidens were forcibly carried +off to the pirates’ nest at Agropoli, or perhaps even +to the distant coast of Barbary, to be sold into +perpetual slavery. Alarmed beyond measure by this +raid, the remaining inhabitants of the place, at the +advice and under the guidance of their bishop, now +decided—wisely, for they had to choose between +immediate flight or gradual extermination by disease, +slavery and the sword—to remove themselves to the +barren mountains in their rear, once the haunts of +the Samnites, and to build a new Paestum on a site +at once more healthy and better protected by Nature +against the raids of infidel corsairs. In a body therefore +the remaining citizens amid deep wailing left for +ever the ancient city with its glorious temples, and +retired to a strong position to the east. The spot +chosen for the new residence of these exiles lay close +to the source that supplied with pure water their +ancient aqueduct, known for this reason as Caputaqueum, +now corrupted into Capaccio. A link with the +<pb n='210'/><anchor id='Pg210'/>old city, that lay deserted in the plain below, was still +retained by the bishop of the newly founded town in +the mountains, who continued to be known as <hi rend='italic'>Episcopus +Paestanus</hi>. In the eleventh century Robert +Guiscard systematically plundered the ruins of Paestum +in order to erect or embellish the churches and palaces +of Salerno and Amalfi. Every remaining piece of +sculpture and of marble was removed, and it was only +the vast size of the pillars of the three great temples, +and the consequent difficulty attending their transport +by boat across the bay or along the marshy ground +of the coast line, that saved from destruction these +magnificent relics of <q>the glory that was Greece.</q> +But even humble Capaccio did not afford a final +resting-place to the harried Paestani, for in the year +1245 the great Emperor Frederick II., who had been +defied by the feudal Counts of Capaccio, besieged and +utterly destroyed this stronghold of the mountains +that had been the child of Poseidonia of the sea-girt +plains. Another and a yet loftier retreat had to be +sought by the survivors of the Imperial vengeance, so +that the ruined Capaccio the Old was abandoned for +another settlement, which still exists as a miserable +village amidst those barren hills that had ever looked +down with jealous envy upon the proud city with its +pillared temples. One curious circumstance with +regard to Paestum must finally be mentioned, in that +the existence of its ruins, the grandest and most +ancient group of monuments on the mainland of Italy, +remained unknown to the learned world until comparatively +modern times. Only the local peasants +and the inhabitants of the poverty-stricken towns in +the Lucanian hills seem to have been aware of the +<pb n='211'/><anchor id='Pg211'/>presence of the gigantic temples standing in lonely +majesty by the shore and as the superstitious nature +of these ignorant people attributed these structures to +the work of a magician—perhaps to the great wizard +Vergil himself—they were shunned both by night and +by day as the haunt of malignant spirits. Poor +fisher-folk and buffalo-drivers, who had of necessity +to pass near the ruined fanes, were wont to slink by in +fear and trembling, and doubtless they brought back +strange stories of its ghostly occupants with which +they regaled their friends or families by the fire-side +of a winter’s evening. Yet it is most strange that +during the period of the Renaissance, at a time when +enthusiastic research was being made into the neglected +antiquities of Italy, this unique group of Doric +temples should have escaped notice. For neither +Cyriaco of Ancona nor Leandro Alberti, who visited +Lucania ostensibly for the sake of recording its +classical remains, make mention of <q>the ruined +majesty of Paestum,</q> and it was reserved for a certain +Count Gazola (whose name is certainly worthy of +being recorded), an officer in the service of the +Neapolitan King, to present to the notice of scholars +and archaeologists towards the middle of the eighteenth +century the first known description of what is perhaps +Italy’s chief existing treasure of antiquity. From +Gazola’s day onward the beauty and interest of Paestum +have been appraised at their true worth, and numberless +artists and writers of almost every nationality +have sketched or described its marvellous temples. +</p> + +<p> +With this brief introduction to the history of a city, +whose chief building is still standing almost intact +after a lapse of 2500 years, let us take a rapid survey +<pb n='212'/><anchor id='Pg212'/>of Poseidonia as it exists to-day. Its walls, of Greek +construction but probably built or restored as late as +the time of Alexander of Epirus, who gave the captured +town a fleeting spell of liberty, form an irregular pentagon +about three miles in circumference, <anchor id="corr212"/><corr sic="wheron">whereon</corr> the +remains of eight towers can be observed, whilst the +four gates, placed at the four cardinal points of the +compass, are clearly traceable. We enter this <hi rend='italic'>città +morta</hi> by the so-called Porta della Sirena, the eastern +gate that faces the hostile Samnite Hills and (oh, +the prosaic touch!) the modern railway-station. This +gate remains in a tolerable state of preservation, and +draws its name from the key-stone of its arch, which +bears in low relief a much defaced design of a mermaid +or siren, its counterpart on the inner keystone being a +dolphin: two devices very appropriate to the entrance +of a city dedicated to the Lord of Ocean. Passing +the picturesque yellow-washed Villa Salati, with its +high walls and iron-barred windows testifying only too +plainly to the lawlessness that once reigned in this +district, we find ourselves face to face with the great +temple of Neptune or Poseidon, and its companion-fane, +the so-called Basilica. The Temple of Neptune +(for in this instance at least the popular appellation +chances to be the correct one), in all probability co-eval +with the first Greek foundation of the city, formed +the central point of the life of Poseidonia during the +1400 years of its existence as a Hellenic, a Samnite, +and finally a Roman city. In its simple grandeur and +its perfect proportions this wonderful temple possesses +only one rival outside Greece itself: the Temple of +Concord at Girgenti, which the poet Goethe compared +to a god, after designating the building before us as a +<pb n='213'/><anchor id='Pg213'/>giant. Superiority in grace is therefore a disputed +point between the two great structures of Poseidonia +and Agrigentum, yet in every other respect the temple +of the Lucanian Plain surpasses its Sicilian rival. +</p> + +<p> +To-day, after more than a score of centuries of +exposure to the salt winds and to the burning sunshine +of the south, the walls and pillars of these great buildings +have been calcined to a glorious shade of tawny +yellow, fit to delight the soul of every artist, whether +he views their Titanic but graceful forms outlined +against the deep blue of sky and sea on the western +horizon, or against the equally lovely background of +grey and violet mountains to the east. But it was +not always thus. The porous local travertine that gave +their building material to the Greeks of the sixth +century before Christ was once carefully stuccoed, and, +in the manner of Hellenic art, painted in the most +brilliant hues of azure and vermilion, so that it becomes +hard for us to realise the original effect of such +gorgeous masses standing erect in a landscape that is +itself fraught with glowing colour. But better to +appreciate the magnificence before us, let us give a +brief technical description of the greatest of the temples +in the choice words of an eminent French antiquary. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The largest and most elegant, and likewise the +oldest of the Temples of Paestum, is that commonly +known by the name of the Temple of Neptune. This +building shares, together with the Temple of Theseus +at Athens, the honour of being the best preserved +monument of the Doric order in existence, and the +impression of grandeur that it gives to the spectator rivals +even the first sight of the Parthenon itself. In front of +the building is a platform in the midst of which can be +<pb n='214'/><anchor id='Pg214'/>seen the hollow space that formerly held the altar of +sacrifice, for according to the practice of the Greek +religion, these rites of blood-shedding took place in the +open air and outside the temple. With a length of +190 feet and a breadth of 84 feet, this building is +hypoethral, which means that the <hi rend='italic'>cella</hi>, or sanctuary +that held the statue of the deity, was constructed open +to the sky. It is peripteral, and presents a row of +six pillars fluted at base and top, with twelve on each +side, making thirty-six in all. The <hi rend='italic'>cella</hi> itself in the +interior is upheld by sixteen columns about six feet +in diameter, which in their turn are surmounted by +two rows of smaller pillars above that support the roof. +With the exception of one side of the upper stage of +the interior every column of the temple remains intact, +as do likewise the entablature and pediments. Only +the wall of the <hi rend='italic'>cella</hi> has been pulled down; doubtless +to supply material for building.</q><note place="foot">F. Lenormant: <hi rend='italic'>A travers l’Apulie et la Lucanie</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Having quoted Monsieur Lenormant’s careful +description of the chief pride of Poseidonia, we shall +confine ourselves to as few remarks as possible concerning +the two remaining temples. The Basilica, a +misnomer of which the veriest amateur must at once +perceive the absurdity, is inferior both in size and in +beauty of proportion to its close neighbour of Neptune. +Its chief peculiarity from an architectural point of view +will be at once remarked, for it has its two façades +composed of seven—an odd number—of columns, so +that its interior easily divides itself into two narrow +chambers of equal length, affording ample ground for +the theory, now generally held, that this building was +not a hall of Justice, or <hi rend='italic'>Basilica</hi>, but a temple intended +<pb n='215'/><anchor id='Pg215'/>expressly for the worship of dual divinities. Almost +without a doubt it was erected—probably not long after +the Temple of Poseidon—in honour of Demeter (Ceres) +and of her only child Persephone (Proserpine), who +was seized from her mother’s care by the amorous god +of the Infernal Regions, as she was plucking anemones +in the verdant meadows of Enna. We all know <q>the +old sweet mythos</q>; we all understand its hidden +allegory with regard to the sowing, the up-springing +and the garnering of the yellow corn, that spends +half the year in the embraces of the earth, the +palace of Pluto, and half the year on the broad +loving bosom of Mother Demeter. Here then within +these bare and ruined walls were mother and daughter +worshipped by the people of Poseidonia, who reasonably +considered that the two goddesses of the Earth +should have their habitation as near as possible to the +Sanctuary of the Sovereign of Ocean. +</p> + +<p> +Much smaller than either of these immense temples +is the third remaining Greek building of Paestum, +which lies a good quarter of a mile to the north, not +far from the Golden Gate, the Porta Aurea, that leads +northward in the direction of Salerno. Like that of +Neptune, this temple is hexastyle, with six columns on +each of its façades and twelve on either flank, but as it +is little more than half the size of its grander and older +brethren, it is now frequently known as <q>Il Piccolo +Tempio,</q> although its former incorrect ascription to +Ceres still clings to it in popular parlance. It is from +this building, which stands on slightly rising ground, +that the best impression of the whole city and of its +wondrous setting between the savage Lucanian hills +and the blue Mediterranean can be obtained. +</p> + +<pb n='216'/><anchor id='Pg216'/> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Between the mountains and the tideless sea</q></l> +<l>Stretches a plain where silence reigns supreme;</l> +<l>A land of asphodel and weeds that teem</l> +<l>Where once a city’s life ran joyfully.</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none; post: none"><q>Vanity! Vanity! All Vanity!</q></q></l> +<l>Whisper the winds to Sele’s murmuring stream;</l> +<l>Whilst the vast temples preach th’ eternal theme,</l> +<l>How pass the glories and their memory.</l> +<l>Think what these ruins saw! what songs and cries</l> +<l>Once through these roofless colonnades did ring!</l> +<l>What crowds here gathered, where the all-seeing skies</l> +<l>For centuries have watched the daisies spring!</l> +<l>Dead all within this crumbling circle lies:</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Dead as the roses Roman bards did sing.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Beautiful as Paestum presents itself in the bright +noontide of a Spring day, beneath a cloudless sky +and with the blue waters of the Mediterranean +lapping the distant yellow sands, there appears something +incongruous in the sharp contrast between this +joyfulness of vigorous life and the solemn atmosphere +of the deserted city. The noisy twittering of multitudes +of ubiquitous sparrows, equally at home in Doric +temples as amongst the sooty chimney stacks of +London; the twinklings and rustlings of the lizards +in the young leaves and grass; the polyglot babble +of excursionists from Naples or La Cava that a warm +day in Spring invariably attracts to Paestum:—these +are not sounds that blend well with the solemn spirit +of the place. We long to cross the intervening ages +so as to throw ourselves, if only for one short hour, +outside the cares and interests of to-day into the heart +of that refined civilisation which is gone for ever;—with +the cheerful sunlight around us, and with our +fellow-mortals on pleasure bent close at hand, we find +it difficult to forget the present. Would it be possible, +<pb n='217'/><anchor id='Pg217'/>we ask ourselves, to spend a nocturnal vigil within the +hall of the great temple of the Sea God, so as to +behold, like that undaunted traveller, Crawford Ramage, +the shafts of crystalline moonlight shed through the +aperture of the roof leap from pillar to pillar, making +bars of brilliant light amidst the surrounding blackness! +O to sit and meditate thus engrossed with the memory +of the past, and with no other sounds around us than +the sad cry of the <hi rend='italic'>aziola</hi>, the little downy owl +that Shelley so loved! But the gaunt spectre of +Fever ever haunts this spot, and after sunset his power +is supreme; so that he would be a bold man indeed +who in an age of luxury and selfish comfort would +carry out an idea at once so romantic and so perilous. +</p> + +<p> +We ourselves were especially fortunate on the +occasion of our last visit to Poseidonia on a mild +day in December, a month which on the Lucanian +shore somewhat resembles a northern October. A +soft luminous haze hung over the landscape and over +the Bay of Salerno itself, rendering the classic mountains +at once indistinct in outline and unnaturally +lofty to the eye. More grandiose and mysterious +than under the fierce light of a sunny noontide +appeared that day the three giant pillared forms, as +we entered the precincts of the ruined city by the +Siren’s Gate, and made our way through the thick +herbage still pearled with dew, since there was neither +sunshine nor sirocco to dry <q>the tears of mournful +Eve</q> off the clumps of silver-glinted acanthus, or the +tall grasses bending with the moisture. In the warm +humid air we seated ourselves on the plinth of a +column, and gazing around allowed the influence of +this marvellous spot to sink deep into the soul. No +<pb n='218'/><anchor id='Pg218'/>tourists with unseemly or unnecessary chatter arrived +that day to share our selfish delight or to break the +all-pervading spell of solitude; all lay peaceful and +deserted. All was silent too save for the low +monotonous sobbing of the sea on the unseen beach +near at hand, the historic beach on which at various +times throughout the roll of past ages Doric colonists, +Epirot warriors, Roman legionaries and fierce Mohammedan +pirates had disembarked, all with the same +object:—to seize the proud city that had now for +the last thousand years lain uninhabited, save for +the owls and the bats. It was too cloudy a day for +sun-loving creatures such as lizards or serpents to +emerge and rustle amongst the broken stones and +leaves, over all of which during the silent hours of +the past night Arachne had been employed in weaving +her softest and whitest textures, that the windless +morning had allowed to remain intact. The only sign +of animate life was visible in a pair of lively gold-finches, +which with merry notes were fluttering from +thistle to thistle, picking the down from each ripened +flower-head and prodigally scattering the seeds upon +the weed-grown soil where once had bloomed the +odorous Roses of Paestum that the poets loved. +</p> + +<p> +Sitting thus amid the silence and solitude of a city +half as old as Time itself, we were unexpectedly +aroused by a gruff salutation proceeding from a little +distance behind the temple. Turning quickly in the +direction of the sound, we perceived the figure of a +tall bearded man dressed in conical hat, with goat-skin +trousers and cross-gartered legs, who but for the gun +slung across his shoulders by a stout leathern strap +might well have been mistaken for an apparition of +<pb n='219'/><anchor id='Pg219'/>the god Pan himself returned to earth. Vague recollections +of the brigand Manzoni, the scourge of the +neighbourhood and the murderer of more than one +unhappy visitor to the ruins of Paestum in the good +old <hi rend='italic'>vetturino</hi> days, flashed through our mind, as we +surveyed the muscular frame and the fowling-piece +of the strange being before us. It was with a sigh +of relief that we noted upon the straight stretch of +white road leading to the Little Temple in the distance +the presence of two royal <hi rend='italic'>carabinieri</hi> majestically +riding at a foot’s pace, their tall forms enveloped in +long black cloaks whose folds swept over their horses’ +tails. We felt reassured, and when for a second +time the guttural voice addressed us in unintelligible +<hi rend='italic'>patois</hi>, we perceived the innocent object of this +mysterious visit. Searching in a capacious goat-skin +bag, a species of Neapolitan sporran, this descendant +of the Poseidonian Greeks produced and held up to +our gaze three birds that he had shot in his morning’s +hunting. For the modest sum of three lire the game +exchanged hands, and the sportsman departed, well +satisfied with his luck. Next evening we feasted +royally in our inn at Salerno upon a succulent woodcock +fattened upon the berries of the wood of Persano, +and upon a couple of snipe that had grown plump +amongst the Neptunian marshes. Nor was this dainty +addition to our supper that night altogether undeserved; +for having decided in a momentary fit of +enthusiasm to forego the usual basket of hotel food +at the time of starting from Salerno, in order to follow +the advice of old Evelyn <q>to diet with the natives,</q> +we had preferred to take our chance of midday refreshment +at the solitary <hi rend='italic'>osteria</hi> within the ruined +<pb n='220'/><anchor id='Pg220'/>city wall. The good people of the inn did what they +could to regale the two <hi rend='italic'>gran’ signori Inglesi</hi>, whose +unexpected presence had the effect of creating some +stir within their humble walls. No little time was +expended in bustling preparations, before a flask of +red wine, some coarse bread, a dish of fried eggs and +a plateful of cold sausage were placed before us upon +the rough oak table, well scored with knife-cuts. +Eggs, wine and bread are usually tolerable everywhere +throughout Italy, no matter how mean the inn that provides +them; but the Lucanian sausage, though interesting +as a relic of classical times, is positive poison to +the Anglo-Saxon digestion. For the Lucanian sausage +of to-day is the <hi rend='italic'>Lucanica</hi> unchanged; the same tough, +greasy, odoriferous compound, in fact, that Cicero +describes as <q>an intestine, stuffed with minced pork, +mixed with ground pepper, cummin, savory, rue, +rock-parsley, berries of laurel, and suet.</q> And we +have only to add that mingling with the above-mentioned +condiments there was an all-pervading +flavour of wood-smoke, due to the sausage’s place of +storage, a hook within the kitchen chimney. But if +the fare was rough, it was cheap and smacked of +classical times, and our reception by the Paestani of +to-day was most cordial. +</p> + +<p> +We left Poseidonia late in the afternoon, casting +back many regretful glances at the three giant sentinels +of the plain, looming preternaturally large in the +rapidly fading light of a starless evening. At that +hour we felt we could understand and sympathise +with the poor untutored peasant’s fear and avoidance +of these lonely ruins, for superstition is often as much +the result of chance environment as of crass ignorance. +</p> +</div><div n="10" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='221'/><anchor id='Pg221'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="10: Sorrento and its Poet"/> +<head>CHAPTER X</head> + +<head type="sub">SORRENTO AND ITS POET</head> + +<p> +It has been said of more than one spot on this +globe, that it was so beautiful in summer the +marvel was to think any one could die there; and so +wretched in winter, it was a miracle for its inhabitants +to survive. Sorrento may be said to belong to this +class of place, for the climate of its short winter is one +of the most trying and inclement that can possibly be +imagined, whilst during spring, summer and early +autumn it well merits its local reputation as <hi rend='italic'>il piccolo +paradiso</hi> of the Bay of Naples, and its air is considered +by Neapolitans as the <q>balm in Gilead</q> for every evil +to which human flesh is heir. The Lactarian Mountains +protect the plain of Sorrento in summer from the +scorching rays of the sun, and lay their beneficent +shadow for several hours of the long hot summer’s day +over the many thousands who dwell on the fertile +Piano di Sorrento at their base. But in winter these +same hills intercept the blessed sunshine, which is what +most travellers speed southwards to obtain, and leave +the coast line from Castellamare to the Punta di +Sorrento with its northern aspect wrapped in shade +and moisture, whilst the remainder of the Bay is still +basking in the genial warmth, so that anything more +miserable than a mid-winter sojourn in Sorrento it +<pb n='222'/><anchor id='Pg222'/>would be impossible to conceive. There are of course +calm warm days to be met with even in December and +January, but these are occasional and by no means +dependable blessings, and the visitor who persists in +taking up his abode here at this season of the year +must prepare himself to experience cold, damp, wind +and rain, without any of the contrivances or comforts +of a northern winter. <q>One swallow does not make a +summer,</q> and on the same principle a southern latitude +and the presence of orange groves do not necessarily +imply a salubrious climate; indeed, the sub-tropical +surroundings seem to add an extra degree of chilliness +to the place. To sit at Christmastide in a large lofty +room before a meagre fire of sputtering smoky logs, +with Vesuvius wrapped from crest to base in a white +mantle of new fallen snow, and with an icy <hi rend='italic'>tramontana</hi> +from the bleak Abruzzi howling round the house, bending +the bay trees and penetrating into every corner of +the chamber, is by no means the ideal picture of a +winter in the Sunny South; yet this is only what the +traveller must be prepared to face, and is very likely to +obtain. Nor is the cold compensated for by any +advantages in the neighbourhood itself, for there is but +the high road from Castellamare which passes through +the town and leads above the seashore to Massa +Lubrense. It is all very well in its way, but in wet +weather its surface is one sheet of slippery mud, and +the streams pouring down the hillside make it chilly +and damp for all who are not quick walkers. Besides +this not very attractive and soon exploited walk, there +are only the <hi rend='italic'>vicoletti</hi>, the narrow steep rocky paths +running up hill, which make rough going and give +little pleasure, for they are almost all bounded on either +<pb n='223'/><anchor id='Pg223'/>side by high stone walls that jealously exclude the +view. So much for Sorrento in its winter dress. But +when the spring comes, here truly is a transformation +from cold and torpor! The soft warm air is redolent +of the penetrating fragrance of orange blossom, of +stocks, of jessamine, of wallflower, and of a hundred +odorous plants and shrubs from each garden and grove +behind the many obstructing walls. The balconies +and gate-pillars are draped in scented masses of the +beautiful wistaria, which in Italy produces its long +pendant bunches of purple flowers before putting forth +its bronze-coloured leaves. Cascades of white and +yellow banksia roses fall over each confining barrier, +or else their stems may be seen climbing like huge +serpents up the trunks of pine and olive, to burst forth +amidst the topmost boughs into floral rockets against +the cloudless sky. The ravines with which the whole +of the Piano di Sorrento is intersected are filled with +a perfect jungle of fresh spring foliage, amidst whose +varied tints of green appear here and there the bright +red shoots of the pomegranate trees bursting into leaf. +In the heavily perfumed air at dusk, or when the +bright moonlight is flooding the whole scene and is +turning the Bay into a mirror of molten silver, the song +of the innumerable nightingales can be heard resounding +from all sides; alas! too often sweet songs of +sorrow for nests despoiled by the ruthless hands of +young Sorrentine imps, as in the days of the Georgics. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Qualis populeâ mærens Philomela sub umbrâ</q></l> +<l>Amissos queritur fetus, quos durus arator</l> +<l>Observans nido implumes detraxit, at illa</l> +<l>Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Integrat, et mœstis late loca questibus implet.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='224'/><anchor id='Pg224'/> + +<lg> +<l>(<q rend="post: none">At nightfall hear sad Philomel upraise</q></l> +<l>Her mellow notes amid the dark-leaved bays,</l> +<l>Mourning her babes and desecrated bower,</l> +<l>Which some rough peasant robbed in evil hour;</l> +<l>She tells her story of despair and love,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Until her plaintive music fills the grove.</q>)</l> +</lg> + +<p> +All is fragrant, warm, genial, and peaceful, save for +the melancholy notes of poor ill-used Philomel, who +is foolish enough to visit a cruel country, wherein +every bird is merely regarded as a toothsome morsel +for the family pot. We bird-lovers of Britain, with +our Selborne Societies and our Wild Birds’ Protection +Acts, find it extremely difficult to understand the +utter indifference displayed by Italians of all classes +towards the feathered race. The whole of the beautiful +country with its cypress hedges and olive groves +lies almost mute and lifeless, for on every festival the +fields and lanes are patrolled by bands of <hi rend='italic'>cacciatori</hi> +with dogs and guns on the look-out for game, if +blackbirds and sparrows can be accounted such. In +some districts it is even dangerous for pedestrians to +use the roads on a Sunday, for fear of a stray bullet, +since all, as a rule, fire recklessly at any creature +within and out of range. Nor is this senseless war +of extermination carried on merely with guns, for +trapping is used extensively, and very ingenious and +elaborate are some of the arts employed in this +wretched quest. Every country house has its <hi rend='italic'>uccellare</hi>, +or snare for the securing of small birds for the table, +whilst many of the parish priests in the mountain +districts add to their scanty incomes by catching the +fledglings which the young peasants sell in the +neighbouring market. The result is what might +<pb n='225'/><anchor id='Pg225'/>only naturally be expected—a scarcity of birds and +an almost complete absence of song, for the whole +countryside has been practically denuded of blackbirds +and thrushes; even the nightingale has escaped +destruction rather on account of its nocturnal habits +than of its tiny size and exquisite notes. It is positively +sickening to observe the quantities of slaughtered +wild birds in an Italian market at any season of the +year, for the work of devastation proceeds apace +equally in spring time. Basketfuls of thrushes and +blackbirds, and strings of smaller varieties—linnets, +sparrows, robins, finches, even the diminutive gold-finches, +most beautiful, most gay, and most innocent +of all songsters—are being hawked about by leathern-lunged +<hi rend='italic'>contadini</hi>, who, alas! always manage to find +customers in plenty. No matter how melodious, how +lovely, or how useful to the farmer a bird may be, no +Italian, high or low, seems to have any sense or +appreciation of its merits except as an article of +food; it is merely a thing that requires to be caught, +killed, cooked and eaten, and Providence has decreed +its existence for no other purpose; even gold-finches +in the eye of an Italian look better served on a +skewer than when they are flying round the thistle-heads, +uttering their bright musical notes and enlivening +the dead herbage of winter with their gay +plumage. <hi rend='italic'>Che bel arrosto!</hi> (what a glorious dish!) +sigh the romantic peasants, as they glance upward +for a moment from their labour in the fields at the +sound of the larks carolling overhead; and though +an educated Italian would probably not give vent to +so vulgar a remark, he would much prefer the <hi rend='italic'>bel +arrosto</hi> to the <q>profuse strains of unpremeditated art</q> +<pb n='226'/><anchor id='Pg226'/>that so entrance the northerner, who is in reality far +more of a poet by nature than the more picturesque +dweller of the South. <hi rend='italic'>Tantum pro avibus.</hi> +</p> + +<p> +As summer advances, the delight of bathing in the +limpid waters of the Bay is added to the other attractions +of Sorrento, whilst many pleasant and profitable +hours can be passed in reading or writing during the +long midday rest in the cool airy carpetless and +curtainless rooms, where on the frescoed ceilings there +plays the green shimmer of light that penetrates +through the closed bars of the <hi rend='italic'>persiani</hi>, the outside +heavy wooden shutters that let in the sweet air, but +somehow seem to exclude the intense heat. With +the approach of sunset and the throwing open of +casements to catch the westerly breeze, there comes +a delightful ramble, perhaps an excursion on mule-back +to the famous convent of the Deserto or some +other point of interest; or else a row upon the glassy +waters at our feet, to explore <q>Queen Joanna’s Bath,</q> +or some strange caverns beyond the headland of +Sorrento, well known to our boat-men. That is the +true life of <hi rend='italic'>dolce far niente</hi>, but such an ideal existence +can only be indulged in during summer time or in +late spring; to pass a winter at Sorrento the heaviest +of clothing, abundance of overcoats and rugs, hot-water +bottles, cough drops, ammoniated quinine and +all the usual adjuncts of a northern yule-tide must +be carefully provided before-hand by the traveller, +who is bold enough to tempt Providence by turning +what is essentially a warm weather retreat into a place +of winter residence. +</p> + +<p> +In early autumn also the place has its charms, in +the days when the market is filled with stalls heaped +<pb n='227'/><anchor id='Pg227'/>with glowing masses of fruit, many of them unknown +to us wanderers from the north. There are peaches +that resemble our own fruit at home, and there are +also great yellow flushed velvety globes, like the sun-kissed +cheeks of a fair Sorrentina, that appear tempting +to the eye, but are in reality tough as leather, for +they are the <hi rend='italic'>cotogni</hi> or quince-peaches of Italy, which +to our feeble palates and digestions seem only fit for +cooking, though the experienced native contrives to +make them edible by soaking the fruit in wine. The +moment he sits down to table, he carefully pares his +<hi rend='italic'>cotogne</hi> and cuts it into sections, which he drops into +a glass of red wine where they repose until the meal +is finished; by this time the fruit has become +thoroughly saturated, and it is then eaten with +apparent relish. There are hundreds of apples, some +of a shining rich crimson and others of dull yellow +peppered over with tiny black specks, the <hi rend='italic'>renati</hi>, highly +prized by the natives for their delicate flavour and +soft flesh. There are of course loads of grapes, +varying from the little honey-tasting purple sort, that +has been introduced from California, to the huge but +somewhat insipid bunches of the white <hi rend='italic'>Regina</hi>; we +note also the quaintly shaped <q>Ladies’ Fingers,</q> +which are especially sweet. The figs, massed together +in serried layers between fresh vine leaves and costing +a <hi rend='italic'>soldo</hi> the dozen, stand around in glossy purple +pyramids, so luscious that their sugary tears are +exuding from their skins, and so ripe that they seem +to cry to be eaten before noon. Here is a barrow +piled high with the little green fruit, each separate +fig being decorated with a pink cyclamen stuck in its +crest; and here is a smaller load of the black <hi rend='italic'>Vescovo</hi>, +<pb n='228'/><anchor id='Pg228'/>which is said to obtain its ecclesiastical name from +the fact that the parent stock of this highly esteemed +variety originally flourished in the bishop’s garden at +Sorrento. No one who has not visited the shores of +the Mediterranean in September or early October can +realize the luscious possibilities of the fig; for there +seems nothing in common between the freshly-picked +fruit of the south, bursting its skin with liquid sugar, +and the dry sweetish woolly object which tries to +ripen on the sheltered wall of an English garden and +is eaten with apparent gusto by those who know not +its Italian brother. Being autumn, we have missed +one prominent feature of the fruit market, the great +green-skinned water-melons (<hi rend='italic'>poponi</hi>) with their rose-coloured +pulp and masses of coal-black seeds, which +form the favourite summer fruit of the people, who +find both food and drink in their cool nutritious +flesh. But even gayer and more striking than the +fruits are the piles of vegetables, arranged with a fine +appreciation of colour to which only an Italian eye +can aspire. Carrots, turnips, tomatoes, purple-headed +cauliflowers, all the broccoli and many others to be +observed are old familiar friends, but who in England +ever saw such gorgeous objects on a coster’s stall or +in a green-grocer’s shop as the yellow, scarlet and +shining green pods of the <hi rend='italic'>peperoni</hi>, or the banana-shaped +egg-plants of iridescent purple, or the split +pumpkins, revealing caverns of saffron-hued pulp +within? Truly, the Sorrentine market contains a +feast of colour to satisfy the craving of an artist! +</p> + +<p> +At vintage time the whole Piano di Sorrento reeks +with the vinous scent of the spilt juice, that is carelessly +thrown on to the stone-paved roads by the +<pb n='229'/><anchor id='Pg229'/>jolting of the country carts which bring in the great +wooden tubs, so that the very streets seem to run with +the crimson ooze. Slender youths in yet more slender +clothing, with legs purple-stained from treading the +grapes (for in the South wine is still made on the +primitive plan), are to be met with on all sides, playing +at their favourite game of bowls on the public road, +in order to relieve their brains of the pungent fumes +of the fermenting grape juice. Somehow at the very +thought of a Campanian vintage with its long hot +dusty days, its bare-legged brown-skinned peasants +treading the pulp, and its all-pervading aroma of wine-lees, +there rise to memory the truly inspired lines of +John Keats: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">O for a draught of vintage, that hath been</q></l> +<l>Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,</l> +<l>Tasting of Flora and the country-green,</l> +<l>Dance, and Provençal song, and sun-burnt mirth!</l> +<l>O for a beaker full of the warm South,</l> +<l>Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,</l> +<l>With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 4'><q rend="pre: none">And purple-stained mouth.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +But all these joys of odorous gardens made musical +by nightingales, of morning plunges into the blue +Mediterranean, of the wealth of southern fruit and the +novel delights of the vintage are not for the winter +traveller, who had far better spend the December or +January days of his visit to the Bay in a steam-heated +Neapolitan hotel, rather than face the cold and wet in +a Sorrentine inn on its overhanging cliff. Nevertheless +the warm autumn often extends itself into a continuous +St Martin’s summer, that lasts almost until the New +Year, before skies grow clouded and the snow-flakes +<pb n='230'/><anchor id='Pg230'/>descend upon the vineyards and the lava streams of +Vesuvius. Nothing can be pleasanter in fact than +some of the long walks in a sharp exhilarating air, and +though days are short and nights are often chilly, one +can sometimes linger on comfortably in Sorrento, +though it is as well to be prepared for departure in +case of a sudden spell of stormy weather, for winter +sunshine is a necessity, not a luxury, on the Piano di +Sorrento. +</p> +<anchor id="illus17"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: AFTERNOON, SORRENTO]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus17th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus17.jpg">AFTERNOON, SORRENTO</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: AFTERNOON, SORRENTO</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Unlike other towns upon the Bay of Naples, +Sorrento is divided into two distinct portions; the city +on the cliffs, with its streets and squares, its cathedral +and ancient walls, its villas and gay gardens; and the +Marina, lying at the mouth of the gorge below, close +to the water’s edge. The population of Upper +Sorrento is agricultural and labouring, whilst that of +the lower consists entirely of fisher-folk and sailors; +it is needless to add that the latter are far less prosperous +than their fellow-citizens who live over-head. Until +recent times little communication between these two +sets of Sorrentines took place and intermarriages were +rare, for the sea-faring population only ascended to the +town above and intermingled with the people of Upper +Sorrento on the great occasions of local festivals, such +as the enthronement or funeral of a bishop. Nor has +the levelling spirit of the age as yet broken down the +deep-rooted feeling of local clannishness; although it +cannot be long before time-honoured customs and +prejudices will be swept away in the tidal wave of +modern development. One of the chief industries of +the place is the manufacture of scarves and sashes of +rich silk woven in cross bars of strong contrasting +colours, so that the Sorrentine silk work strongly +<pb n='231'/><anchor id='Pg231'/>resembles the well-known Roman variety. Equally +popular with visitors are the various articles made of +olive wood and decorated in <hi rend='italic'>tarsia</hi>, the art of inlaying +with pieces of stained wood, which is a speciality +of the place. There are two kinds of this Sorrentine +inlaid work; one consisting of figures of peasants +dancing the <hi rend='italic'>tarantella</hi>, of Pompeian maidens in classical +drapery, of <hi rend='italic'>contadini</hi> or priests bestriding mules, and +of similar local subjects; and the other, of fanciful +patterns made up of tiny coloured cubes of wood, +much in the style of the old Roman stone mosaics. +The designs employed vary of course with the fashion +of the day, for there is a local school of art supported +by the municipality, which professes to improve the +tastes of the <hi rend='italic'>tarsiatori</hi>, but most persons will certainly +prefer the trite but characteristic patterns of the place. +</p> +<p> +But the main industry of Sorrento consists in the +culture of the orange; and the dark groves, covered +with their globes of shining yellow fruit, <q>like golden +lamps in a green light,</q> to quote Andrew Marvell’s +charming conceit, constitute the chief feature of its +environs. Even the coat-of-arms of the medieval city, +showing a golden crown encircled by a wreath of the +dark glossy leaves, attests the antiquity of this industry +here. The cultivation of the orange in Southern Italy +is by no means an easy pursuit, though under favourable +conditions it may prove a very lucrative one, even +in a spot so subject to sudden changes of temperature +as Sorrento in winter time, when a continuance of +severe weather, like that experienced around Naples +in the opening months of the year 1905, means total +destruction of the fruit crop and temporary ruin to the +owners. +</p> + +<pb n='232'/><anchor id='Pg232'/> + +<p> +The fruit of commerce is propagated by means of +grafting the sweet variety on to the stock of the bitter +orange—said on doubtful authority to be indigenous +to this district—which is fairly hardy and can be +grown in the open as far north as Tuscany, so that +every <hi rend='italic'>aranciaria</hi> ought to possess a nursery of flourishing +young sweet-orange shoots, ready in case of +necessity. For eight long years the grafted tree +remains as a rule profitless, but having survived and +thriven so long, it then becomes a valuable asset to its +proprietor for an indefinite period;—as a proof of the +longevity of the orange under normal conditions we +may cite the famous tree in a Roman convent garden, +which on good authority is stated to have been planted +by St Dominic nearly six hundred years ago. As to +the amount of fruit yielded, the growers of Sorrento +commonly aver that one good year, one bad year and +one mediocre year constitute the general cycle in the +prospects of orange farming. Two crops are gathered +annually, the principle one in December and the other +at Eastertide, the fruit produced by the later and +smaller crop being far finer in size and flavour than +those of the Christmas harvest. Mandarin oranges +are gathered on both occasions, but the large luscious +loose-skinned fruit of March and April—<hi rend='italic'>Portogalli</hi> as +they are commonly termed—are far superior to the +small hard specimens that appear in December, and +seem to consist of little else than rind, scent and seeds. +The oranges begin to form in spring time, almost +before the petals have fallen, when the peasants +anxiously draw their conclusions as to the expected +yield. But however valuable the fruit, the wood of +the tree is worthless for commerce, except to make +<pb n='233'/><anchor id='Pg233'/>walking-sticks, or to serve the ignoble purpose of +supplying hotels and cafés with tooth-picks! Lemons, +which are far more delicate than oranges and require +to be kept protected by screens and matting during +the sharp winter nights, are less common at Sorrento +than on the warmer shores of the Bay of Baia or the +sunny terraced slopes of the Amalfitan coast. +</p> + +<p> +With the ripening of the oranges on the trees appear +those strange creatures from the wilds of the Basilicata +or Calabria, the <hi rend='italic'>Zampognari</hi>, who visit Naples and the +surrounding district in considerable numbers. They +usually arrive about the date of the great popular +festival of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th) +and remain until the end of the month, when they +return to their homes with well-filled purses. In +outward aspect these strangers resemble the stage-brigands +that appear in such old-fashioned operas as +<hi rend='italic'>Fra Diavolo</hi>, for they wear steeple-crowned hats with +coloured ribands depending, shaggy goat-skin trousers, +crimson velvet waistcoats, blue cloaks, sandalled feet +and gartered legs. Their pale faces are unshorn, and +their hair hangs in great tawny masses over neck +and ears, which are invariably adorned with golden +rings. These fellows come in pairs, one only, properly +speaking, being the <hi rend='italic'>zampognaro</hi>, for it is he who carries +the <hi rend='italic'>zampogna</hi> or classical bag-pipe of Southern Italy, +whilst his companion is the <hi rend='italic'>cennamellaro</hi>, so called +from his ear-splitting instrument, the <hi rend='italic'>cennamella</hi>, a +species of primitive flute. The <hi rend='italic'>zampogna</hi> may be +described as first cousin to the historic bag-pipes of +Caledonia, for the sounds emitted strongly resemble +the traditional <q>skirling</q> of the pipes; but no Scotchman +even could pretend to delight in the shrill notes +<pb n='234'/><anchor id='Pg234'/>of the <hi rend='italic'>cennamella</hi>. The former at least of these two +popular instruments of southern Italy was well known +to the omniscient author of the Shakespearean plays, +for in <hi rend='italic'>Othello</hi> we have a direct allusion to the uncouth +braying music still made to-day by these outlandish +musicians. +</p> + +<p> +<q>Why, masters, have your instruments been in +Naples, that they speak i’ the nose thus?... Are +these, I pray you, wind instruments?... Then put +up your pipes in your bag, for I’ll away: go; vanish +into air; away!</q> +</p> + +<p> +In the midst of their instrumental duet the two +shaggy mountaineers are apt to break into a harsh +nasal hymn in honour of the Virgin, to visit whose +shrines at this season of the orange harvest is the main +object of their Christmas migration to the Neapolitan +shores. Very tastefully decorated are many of the +Madonna’s little sanctuaries in or near the orange +groves, when the arrival of the <hi rend='italic'>zampognari</hi> is considered +imminent. The tiny lamps are well trimmed and +shine brightly, whilst heavy garlands composed of +masses of bay or laurel or ilex leaves, interspersed +with some of the golden clusters of the ripening fruit +are suspended round the alcove that holds the figure +of the Virgin. This effective but simple form of +ornamentation will at once suggest the beautiful glazed +and coloured terra-cotta wreaths of fruit and foliage +that are to be seen so frequently in Tuscan churches; +indeed, it is possible that the members of the Della +Robbia family may have originally borrowed the +decorative schemes for their famous plaques and +lunettes from the rustic shrines thus simply but tastefully +embellished. Nominally, the two performers +<pb n='235'/><anchor id='Pg235'/>are supposed to sing and make music on nine different +days at the houses of all their patrons in order to +make up the total number of the <hi rend='italic'>novena</hi>, but the +extent of their performances is generally calculated in +accordance with the depth of the householder’s purse, +the sum given for their services varying from a few +<hi rend='italic'>soldi</hi> to a five <hi rend='italic'>lire</hi> note. All classes of society employ +the zampognari, for it is with the first appearance of +the lovely golden fruit, essentially <hi rend='italic'>the</hi> winter fruit of +the Italians, that the arrival of these picturesque +strangers has been associated from time immemorial. +The <hi rend='italic'>zampognari</hi> are in fact as much of a national +institution with the Neapolitans at Christmastide as +are the waits or carol-singers in our own country, so +that to the majority of these people <hi rend='italic'>Natale senza +zampogna e cennamella</hi> would seem no true Christmas +at all. +</p> + +<p> +Closely connected with the life of the people of the +Piano di Sorrento is the famous dance known as the +<hi rend='italic'>Tarantella</hi>, which may be witnessed by the curious at +almost any time—for money. Even when performed +by professional dancers, tricked out in spick and span +stage-peasant finery, the Tarantella is a most graceful +exhibition of movement, although the dance naturally +gains in interest when it takes place in the days of +vintage or on the popular festivals of the Church, +without the presence of largesse-giving strangers. +The origin of the name has always puzzled antiquarians, +although in all probability the dance derives its curious +appellation from the Greek city of Taranto, whence +the Tarentines introduced its steps and action into +other parts of Italy. But vulgar belief is very strong, +so that this graceful dance is still closely associated in +<pb n='236'/><anchor id='Pg236'/>the popular mind with the <hi rend='italic'>tarantula</hi>, a kind of +poisonous spider found in the neighbourhood of +Taranto, the effects of whose bite are said to yield to +violent exercise followed by profuse perspiration. In +order to excite the proper amount of exertion +necessary for the cure, the person afflicted, <hi rend='italic'>il tarantolato</hi>, +is induced to leap and caper by the sound of music, +with the result that there exist a number of tunes +specially connected with this wild species of dancing. +The real explanation of this fable seems to lie in the +extremely excitable nature of the Tarentines themselves, +assisted by the exhilarating music and by frequent +pulls at the wine barrel. The two lines sung to the +air of one of the tunes employed: +</p> + +<lg rend="margin-left: 6"> +<l><q rend="post: none">Non fu Taranta, ne fu Tarantella,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Ma fu la vino della carratella:</q></l> +</lg> + +<p rend="display"> +(<q>It was neither the taranta, nor the tarantella, but it was the +wine from the cask.</q>) +</p> + +<p> +sums up pretty accurately the real cause of these +strange Tarentine orgies, which have really nothing +whatever in common with the rhythmical dance that is +still so popular in the environs of Naples. Nevertheless +the theory of <hi rend='italic'>tarantella</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>tarantismo</hi> has been +gravely discussed by old Italian writers, and a certain +learned prelate of the fifteenth century, Niccolo +Perotto, Archbishop of Siponto, alludes to the +malignant cause of this dance-cure as <q>a species of +speckled spider, dwelling in rents of the ground +caused by excessive heat. It was not known in the +time of our fore-fathers, but now it is very common +in Apulia ... and is generally called <hi rend='italic'>Tarantula</hi>. +Its bite seldom kills a man, yet it makes him half +<pb n='237'/><anchor id='Pg237'/>stupid, and affects him in a variety of ways. Some, +when a song or tune is heard, are so excited that +they dance, full of joy and always laughing, and do +not stop till they are entirely exhausted; others +spend a miserable life in tears, as if bewailing the +loss of friends. Some die laughing, and others in +tears.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Such is the curious legend concerning the origin of +the Tarantella, which is still danced with something +of the old spirit by the holiday-making crowds of +Naples, though it is at the <hi rend='italic'>festa</hi> of San Michele, the +patron of Procida, that the Tarantella can now be +seen to best advantage. Of the three islands that lie +close to Naples, Procida is the least known or visited +by strangers, so that when the Tarantella is danced by +the Procidani, the old-fashioned popular orchestra is +employed to give the necessary music. This consists +of five quaint instruments (obviously of Oriental origin +as their counterparts can still be seen amongst the +Kabyles of Northern Africa): the first being a fife +(<hi rend='italic'>siscariello</hi>); the second a tin globe covered with skin +pierced by a piece of cane (<hi rend='italic'>puti-puti</hi>); the third a +wooden saw and a split stick, making a primitive bow +and fiddle (<hi rend='italic'>scetavaiasse</hi>); the fourth an arrangement of +three wooden mallets, that are rattled together like a +gigantic pair of bones (<hi rend='italic'>tricca-ballache</hi>); and the fifth a +Jew’s harp (<hi rend='italic'>scaccia-pensieri</hi>). A tarantella danced to +the accompaniment of so weird a medley of instruments +and by real peasants full of gaiety is naturally a +thing altogether diverse from the stilted, though graceful +and decorous performance that can be observed +any day for payment in a Sorrentine or Neapolitan +hotel; yet it must ever be borne in mind that the +<pb n='238'/><anchor id='Pg238'/>Tarantella proper, whether danced <hi rend='italic'>con amore</hi> by Procidan +peasants or performed for lucre by costumed +professionals, is no vulgar frenzied <hi rend='italic'>can-can</hi>, but a +musical love-dance expressive of primitive courtship. +</p> + +<p> +<q>The Tarantella is a choregraphic love-story, the +two dancers representing an enamoured swain and his +mistress. It is the old theme—<q>the quarrel of lovers +is the renewal of love.</q> Enraptured gaze, coy side-look, +gallant advance, timid retrocession, impassioned +declaration, supercilious rejection, piteous supplication, +softening hesitation; worldly goods oblation, gracious +acceptation; frantic jubilation, maidenly resignation. +Petting, wooing, billing, cooing. Jealous accusation, +sharp recrimination, manly expostulation, shrewish +aggravation; angry threat, summary dismissal. Fuming +on one side, pouting on the other. Reaction, +approximation, exclamation, exoneration, reconciliation, +osculation, winding up with a grand <anchor id="corr238"/><corr sic="pas de circomstane"><hi rend='italic'>pas de circomstance</hi></corr>, +expressive of confidence re-established and +joy unbounded. That’s about the figure of it; but no +word-painting can give an idea of the spirit, the <q>go</q> +of the tarantella when danced for love and not for +money.</q><note place="foot">W. J. A. Stamer: <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +On a modest scale Sorrento can lay claim to be +called an eternal city, for the Surrentum of the ancient +Romans was a place of no small importance, filled with +villas of wealthy citizens and boasting a fair-sized +population, as its numerous remains of antiquity can +easily testify; whilst its crumbling ivy-clad walls and +towers point to its prosperity during the Middle Ages, +when Sorrento shared the political fortunes of Naples. +It is now a busy thriving little cathedral town, and +<pb n='239'/><anchor id='Pg239'/>the possessor of silk and <hi rend='italic'>tarsia</hi> work industries, so +that like Imperial Rome it can boast a continuous +existence as a city from remote times to the present +day. Its chief local Saint—for what Italian town +does not boast a special patron?—is Sant’ Antonio, +whose most famous feat is said to have been the +administering of a severe drubbing to Sicardo, Duke +of Benevento, for daring to interfere with the liberties +of his city in the ninth century. It would appear +from the legend that all arguments as to ancient +rights, the quality of mercy and the honour of keeping +faith having been vainly exhausted upon the cruel and +obstinate prince, Bishop Antonio came forward with +a stout cudgel and belaboured the tyrant in order to +obtain a favourable answer to the people’s petition. +The sanctity of the pugnacious prelate and the force +of this <hi rend='italic'>argumentum ad baculum</hi> were evidently too +much for the Duke of Benevento, who at once conceded +the popular demands, whilst Antonio’s name has +deservedly descended to posterity as the capable protector +of his native city. +</p> +<p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +But the name which above all others Sorrento will +cherish as her own, <q>so long as men shall read and +eyes can see,</q> is that of the famous Italian poet, Torquato +Tasso, whose interesting but melancholy life-story +is closely associated with this, the town of his +birth. Tasso is reckoned as the fourth greatest bard +of Italy, ranking after Dante and Petrarch, and being +esteemed on a level with rather than below his rival +and contemporary, Ludovico Ariosto. In one sense +however he may be described as the most truly national +poet of this immortal quartet, for his career is +con<pb n='240'/><anchor id='Pg240'/>nected with his native country as a whole, rather than +with any one of the little cities or states then comprising +that <q>geographical expression</q> which is now +the Kingdom of Italy. His father’s family was +of Lombard origin, having been long settled in the +neighbourhood of Bergamo, where a crumbling hill-set +fortress known as the Montagno del Tasso still recalls +the name of the poet’s ancestors. His mother, Porzia +de’ Rossi, was Tuscan by birth, her family haling from +Pistoja at the foot of the Apennines, but owning property +near Naples; whilst the poet himself was +destined to spend his years of childhood at Sorrento +and at Naples, his youth at Rome and Verona, his +brilliant period of fame and prosperity at Ferrara and +the Lombard courts, and again some of his closing +years of disgrace and disappointment amidst the +familiar scenes of his infancy. Of good ancient stock +the Tassi owed their acquisition of wealth to the re-establishment +of the system of posting throughout Northern Italy in the +thirteenth century, when the immediate progenitor of the poet, +one Omodeo de’ Tassi, was nominated comptroller, and it is +curious to note that owing to this circumstance the arms of the +family containing the posthorn and the badger’s skin—<hi rend='italic'>Tasso</hi> +is the Italian for badger—continued to be borne for +many centuries upon the harness of all +Lombard coach-horses. Torquato’s father, Bernardo +Tasso, himself a poet of no mean calibre and the +composer of a scholarly but somewhat prolix work, the +<hi rend='italic'>Amadigi</hi>, formed for many years a prominent member +of that brilliant band of literary courtiers within the +castle of Vittoria Colonna, the Lady of Ischia, of whom +we shall speak more fully in another place. But for +<pb n='241'/><anchor id='Pg241'/>the overwhelming and all-eclipsing fame of his distinguished +son, Bernardo might have been able to claim +a high place in the list of Italian writers of the +Renaissance; as it was, the father’s undoubted talents +were quickly forgotten in the blaze of his own beloved +<q>Tassino’s</q> popularity, so that he is now chiefly remembered +as the sire of a poetic genius, as one of <anchor id="corr241"/><corr sic="the the">the</corr> +great Vittoria’s favourite satellites and as the author +of an oft-quoted sonnet to his intellectual mistress. +Bernardo Tasso did not marry until the somewhat +mature age of forty-seven, when, as we have already +said, he espoused the daughter of the Tuscan house of +Rossi, by whom he had two children; a daughter, +Cornelia, and the immortal Torquato, who was born in +1544, three years before the death of the divine +poetess of Ischia. +</p> + +<p> +But Bernardo was not merely a bard and a courtier, +for he was also, unfortunately for himself and his ill-fated +family, a keen politician in an age when politics +offered anything but a safe pursuit, and as his views +invariably coincided with those of his chief friend and +patron, the head of the powerful Sanseverino family, +Tasso the Elder found himself in course of time an +exile from Neapolitan territory on account of his +dislike of the new Spanish masters of Naples. The +poet-politician therefore took up his abode at Rome, +whilst his wife and two young children continued to +reside at Naples and Sorrento. The boy was a born +student, almost an infant prodigy of learning, and so +great was his desire for knowledge that he would +insist upon rising long before it was day-light, and +would even make his way to school through the dark +dirty streets of Naples, conducted by a servant with a +<pb n='242'/><anchor id='Pg242'/>torch in his hand. The Jesuits, who had just set up +their first academy at Naples, soon discovered in the +future poet an ideal pupil, and not only did they impart +to the child all the lore of ancient Greece and +Rome, but they also imbued his mind, at an age when +it was <q>wax to receive and marble to retain,</q> with +their own peculiar theological tenets. It is obvious +indeed that the faith implanted by the Fathers in his +tender years was largely, if not wholly answerable for +the unswerving belief and firm religious convictions +that ever stood Tasso in good stead throughout the +whole of his chequered career. <q>Give me a child of +seven years old,</q> had once declared the great Founder +of the Society of Jesus, <q>and I care not who has the +after-handling of him</q>; and in this case the Jesuit +professors did not fail to carry out Loyola’s precept. +But his home life with his mother, whom he loved +devotedly, and his course of study at the Jesuit school +were suddenly interrupted when he was barely ten +years of age, for the elder Tasso was anxious for his +little son to join him in Rome, there to be educated +under his own eye. The boy left his mother, but +after his departure the Rossi family brutally refused +to allow their sister access to her absent husband, +who had lately been declared a rebel against the +Spanish government and deprived of his estates. +Thus persecuted by her unfeeling brothers, Porzia +Tasso sought refuge together with Cornelia in a +Neapolitan convent, where, deprived of her erratic but +beloved husband and pining for her absent son, the +poor woman died of a broken heart a year or two +later. As for Cornelia, she became affianced when +of a marriageable age to a gentleman of Sorrento, +<pb n='243'/><anchor id='Pg243'/>the Cavaliere Marzio Sersale, and consequently +returned to live in the home of her childhood. +</p> + +<p> +Of Tasso’s many adventures, of his universal literary +fame, of the honours heaped upon him by his chief +patron, Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, and of his subsequent +disgrace and imprisonment for daring to lift his eyes +in love to a princess of the haughty House of Este, +we have no space to speak here. Let it suffice to say +that he was one of the most charming, virtuous, +brilliant, manly figures, as he was also almost the last +true representative, of the great Italian Renaissance, +the end of which may be described as coinciding with +his decease. According to his biographer Manso, the +author of the <hi rend='italic'>Gerusalemme Liberata</hi> was singularly +noble and refined in appearance, though always +possessed of an air of melancholy; he was well-built, +strong, active and resourceful, anything in fact but a +carpet-knight who spent his days in writing verse and +dallying with Italian court beauties: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Colla penna e colla spada,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Nessun val quanto Torquato;</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +sang the populace of Ferrara in honour of their +illustrious Sorrentine guest, for the Ferrarese delighted +in the handsome stranger who could in an emergency +wield the sword as skilfully as he could ply his +quill. Twice only however did Tasso revisit the city +of his birth, and each return home was occasioned +by deep tragedy. In 1577, wounded by the attacks +of his literary rivals and humiliated by the Duke +Alfonso’s discovery of his infatuation for the Princess +Leonora d’Este, the unhappy poet travelled southward, +reaching Sorrento in the disguise of a shepherd. +<pb n='244'/><anchor id='Pg244'/>Making his way to the Casa Sersale, the house of his +sister, now a widow with two sons, Torquato passed +himself off as his own messenger, and so eloquently +did he relate the story of his own grief and wrongs, +that the tender-hearted Cornelia fainted away at this +recital. Having satisfied his mind as to his sister’s +genuine affection, the pseudo-shepherd now revealed +his true character, whereupon the pair embraced with +transports of joy, though it was deemed prudent not +to acquaint their friends with the arrival of Torquato, +who was represented to the good people of Sorrento +as a distant relative from Bergamo. Cornelia Sersale +now entreated the poet to take up his abode permanently +in her house, and to forget the rebuffs of +the cruel world without in the enjoyment of family +ties and affections; and well would it have been for +Torquato, had he accepted his sister’s advice and +passed the succeeding years in simple rural pleasures. +But restless and inconsequent despite all his virtues, +the poet must needs return to Ferrara to bask in the +presence of his beloved Leonora, with the dire and +undignified result that all the world knows. Tasso’s +second visit took place not long before his death, +when his strength was rapidly failing, so that it seems +strange that he did not decide to end his days amidst +these lovely and well-remembered scenes of his early +boyhood, instead of deliberately choosing for the last +stage of his earthly journey the Roman convent of +Sant’ Onofrio, where the death-chamber and various +pathetic relics of the poet are still pointed out. +</p> + +<p> +Students of Tasso’s immortal epic are apt to overlook +the immense influence exercised on its author by +his early Sorrentine days and surroundings. The +<pb n='245'/><anchor id='Pg245'/><hi rend='italic'>Gerusalemme Liberata</hi> contains, as we know, a full +account of the First Crusade and constitutes an +apotheosis of Godfrey de Bouillon, first Christian King +of Jerusalem; but it is also something more than a +mere poetical description of a departed age of chivalry. +For there can be little doubt that the poet aspired to +be the singer of a new movement which should wrest +back the Holy City from the clutches of the Saracens, +and set a second Godfrey upon the vacant throne of +Palestine. To this important end the experiences of +his infancy and his training by the Jesuits had undoubtedly +tended to urge the precocious young poet. +The servants of his father’s house at Sorrento must +many a time have regaled his eager boyish mind with +harrowing tales of the infidel pirates who scoured the +Tyrrhene Sea within sight of the watch-towers on the +coast; within ken, perchance, of Casa Tasso itself, perched +on the commanding cliff above the waters. Scarcely +a family dwelling on the Marina below but was mourning +one or more of its members that had been seized +by the blood-thirsty marauders, perhaps to be brutally +slain on the spot or to languish in the dungeons of +Tripoli and Smyrna, eking out a life of slavery that +was far worse than death itself. Stories of tortured +Christians, like that of the pious Geronimo of Algiers +who was tied with cords and flung into a mass of soft +concrete, were common enough topics among the +Sorrentine folk, all of whom lived in constant dread +of a successful raid by the Barbary pirates. For, +despite the efforts of the great Emperor Charles the +Fifth to protect his maritime subjects, the swift galleys +of Tunis and Tripoli out-stripped the Imperial men-of-war, +and continued to carry on their vile commerce +<pb n='246'/><anchor id='Pg246'/>of slavery. Such a state of terrorism must have +appeared intolerable to the highly romantic, deeply +religious spirit of the young poet; and his Jesuit +preceptors, working on the boy’s imagination, were +soon able to instil into his youthful brain the notion +of a new Crusade which would not only sweep the +infidel ships from off the Italian seas, but would also recapture +the Holy City itself. The Church, beginning +at last to recover from the effects of Luther’s schism, +was once more in a position to re-assert its ancient +authority over Catholic Christendom, and in Torquato +Tasso it found an able trumpeter to call together the +scattered forces of the Faithful, and to reunite them +in a holy war. Astonished and delighted, all Italy +was swept by the golden torrent of Tasso’s impassioned +verses, that were intended to urge the Catholic princes +of Europe to the inauguration of a new Crusade. Nor +were the times unpropitious for such an event. Tunis, +that hot-bed of infidelity, piracy and iniquity, was in +the hands of the Christians; and the fleets of the +Soldan had been well-nigh annihilated by Don John +of Austria at the glorious battle of Lepanto:—to +convince a doubting and hesitating world that the +actual moment had come wherein to recover the city +of Jerusalem was the main object of the author of +the <hi rend='italic'>Gerusalemme Liberata</hi>. And it was his infancy +spent upon this smiling but pirate-harassed coast that +was chiefly responsible for this desired end in the epic +of the Crusades; it was Tasso’s early acquaintance +with the Bay of Naples, combined with his special +training by the Jesuits, that forced the poet’s genius +and ambition into this particular channel. +</p> + +<p> +It is pleasant to think that Sorrento is still +appre<pb n='247'/><anchor id='Pg247'/>ciative of its honour as the birth-place of the great +Italian poet. The citizens have erected a statue of +marble in one of their open spaces; they have called +street, hotel and <hi rend='italic'>trattoria</hi> by his illustrious name; and +can the modern spirit of grateful acknowledgment go +further than this? His father’s house has perished, it +is true, through <q>Nature’s changing force untrimmed,</q> +for the greedy waves have undermined and swallowed +up the tufa cliff which once supported the old Tasso +villa. But there is still standing in Strada di San +Nicola the old Sersale mansion, wherein the good +Cornelia received her long-lost brother in his peasant’s +guise, an unhappy exile from haughty Ferrara. Of +more interest however than the old town house of the +Sersale family is the ancient farm, known as the Vigna +Sersale, which once belonged to Donna Cornelia, and +supplied her household with wine and oil. It is a +lovely sequestered spot lying on the breezy hill-side +not far down the Massa road, facing towards Capri +and the sunset. Hallowed by its historic connection +with the poet and his devoted sister, the Vigna Sersale +can claim perhaps to be one of the most interesting +and beautiful places of literary pilgrimage upon earth. +Ascending by the steep pathway that leads upward +from the broad high road, it is not long before we +reach the old <hi rend='italic'>podere</hi>, amidst whose olive groves and +vineyards the poet was wont to sit dreamily gazing at +the glorious view before him. Here are the same +ancient spreading stone-pines, the same gnarled olive +trees that sheltered the gentle love-lorn poet, whilst +Cornelia and her sons sate beside him in the shade, +endeavouring—alas! only too vainly—by their caresses +to detain the roving Torquato in their midst. Could +<pb n='248'/><anchor id='Pg248'/>not, we ask ourselves, the erratic poet have been content +to remain in this spot, <q>in questa terra alma e +felice</q> as he himself styles it, instead of plunging once +more into the dangers and dissipation of that Vanity +Fair of distant Ferrara? Why could he not have +brooded over his ill-starred infatuation for the high-born +Leonora in this soothing corner of the earth, +allowing its quiet and beauty to sink into his soul, +until the recollection of his Innamorata declined +gradually into a fragrant memory that could be +embalmed in never-dying verse? But like his own +favourite hero, the Christian King of Jerusalem, the +poet must in his inmost heart have preferred a +changing storm-tossed life to the ideal existence of +rustic ease; and had he not returned to the treacherous +splendours of Alfonso’s court, how much less +entrancing would his own life-story have appeared to +after ages! Unconsciously he seems to have composed +his own epitaph in describing Godfrey’s death; +for the crusading king lived and died like a true +Christian knight, for whom the world has afforded +many adventures, and but few intervals of peace until +the final call to endless rest. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Vivesti qual guerrier cristiano e santo,</q></l> +<l>E come bel sei morto: ei godi, e pasci</l> +<l>In Dio gli occhi bramosi, o felice alma,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Ed hai del ben oprar corona e palma.</q></l> +</lg> +</div><div n="11" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='249'/><anchor id='Pg249'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="11: Capri and Tiberius the Tyrant"/> +<head>CHAPTER XI</head> + +<head type="sub">CAPRI AND TIBERIUS THE TYRANT</head> + +<p> +Lying between the classic capes of Misenum +and Minerva, the island of Capri appears like +a couched lion, guarding the entrance of the Bay +of Naples; his majestic head being formed by the +stupendous cliffs of the Salto that face the sunrise, +whilst his back and loins are represented by the long +broad slope which stretches from the summit of +Monte Solaro to the most westerly headland of +Vitareta. Nor is it only as a guardian to their +Bay that Capri serves the Neapolitans, for it also +presents them with a gigantic natural barometer. +In fine settled weather a soft haze invariably lies +over the sea, so that Capri is only faintly visible +from the shores of Parthenope, save at sunrise and +sunset, when for a short time the graceful form +of the islet looms out clear-cut like a jagged amethyst +upon a sapphire bed; but before rain or storm +it yields up its inmost secrets to the public gaze +of Naples. The northern Marina, the towns of +Capri and Ana-Capri, even the little terraced fields +become discernible to the naked eye: <q>It will +be wet to-morrow</q> augur the weather-wise of Naples, +and the prediction is rarely falsified. +</p> +<anchor id="illus18"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: FARAGLIONI ROCKS, CAPRI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus18th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus18.jpg">FARAGLIONI ROCKS, CAPRI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: FARAGLIONI ROCKS, CAPRI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It is an easy matter to cross from Sorrento to the +<pb n='250'/><anchor id='Pg250'/>island, whether it be by the little steamer that plies daily +between Naples and Capri, putting in at Sorrento on +its journeys backwards and forwards, or—far pleasanter +if somewhat slower way—by engaging a boat with +four rowers, who on a calm day ought to make the +Marina of Capri in less than two hours. Nothing +can be more delightful or exhilarating than this old-fashioned +method of transit; and it gives also a +feeling of superiority over less enterprising persons +who prefer the quicker passage on a smoky steamer, +crammed with tourists and attendant touts. It is +the very morning for a row on the cool glassy water, +as we step joyfully into our boat with its four +stalwart Phrygian-capped sailors in attendance: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Con questo zeffiro</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Cosi soave,</l> +<l>Oh, com’ e bello</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Star su la nave!</l> +<l>Mare si placido,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'>Vento si caro,</l> +<l>Scordar fa i triboli</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 2'><q rend="pre: none">Al marinaro.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Bending with a will to their oars, our genial +mariners quickly impel our barque round the first +jutting headland, so that the thickly populated +Piano di Sorrento is at once lost to view. Making +good headway over the clear water, it is not long +before we find ourselves passing beneath the wave-washed +precipices of the Salto, and well within our +time limit of two hours we reach the roadstead of +the Marina, to find ourselves in a bright and busy +world of traffic and pleasure. Between the houses +coloured coral-pink, white, blue, and yellow, and +<pb n='251'/><anchor id='Pg251'/>the pale green transparent water lies a long stretch of +beach covered with every sort of craft that sails the +Mediterranean, and with a motley crowd of fishermen, +tourists and noisy children; whilst the whole +atmosphere rings with raucous voices raised in +giving directions, in quarrelling, or in addressing +the many perplexed strangers. We disembark, and +cross the intervening beach with its sea-weed veiled +boulders and masses of tawny fishing nets; we reach +the village, and here we meet with our first disappointment +in romantic Capri. It was not so very many +years ago, barely thirty in point of fact, that this +island was roadless, and in those primitive days the +visitor was met at the Marina Grande by tall +strapping Capriote women, who were wont to seize +the traveller’s pieces of baggage as though they had +been light parcels, and to march up the old stone +staircase poising these burdens on their heads with +the carriage of an empress. The stranger’s own +entrance into Capri was less dignified, for either he +had to toil painfully in the blazing sun up that +steep picturesque flight of steps and reach the plateau +above, perspiring and probably out of temper; or else +he was compelled to bestride a miserable ass which a +bare-footed damsel steered upward by means of the +quadruped’s tail. Nowadays, we are spared this +original and somewhat humiliating manner of arrival +at our journey’s end. There are little <hi rend='italic'>carrozzelle</hi>, +drawn by clever black Abruzzi cobs awaiting us, +and even one or two hotel conveyances. We find +ourselves being driven rapidly up the excellent +winding road constructed only a quarter of a century +ago, past the domed Church of San Costanzo, the +<pb n='252'/><anchor id='Pg252'/>patron Saint of the Caprioti, past hedges of aloe and +prickly pear, until we gain the saddle of the island-mountain, +where stands the small capital perched +upon a ledge that overlooks the Bay of Naples to the +north, and to the south the endless expanse of the +unruffled Tyrrhene. +</p> + +<p> +It is evident even to the most casual untrained eye, +that this huge mass of sea-girt rock whereon we stand +must in remote ages have formed part of the mainland +opposite, until some fierce convulsion of nature, +common enough in this region that is ever changing its +outward face through subterranean forces, tore what is +now Capri asunder from the Punta della Campanella, +and placed the sea as an eternal barrier between the +riven headlands of continent and new-formed island. +The charm of this rocky fragment, thus placed in mid +ocean by volcanic action, was first discovered by the +great Emperor Augustus, who chancing to visit the +island for some obscure reason was greatly affected by +the spectacle of a withered ilex tree, that revived and +burst into foliage at the auspicious moment of his +setting foot at the Marina. Flattered at the compliment +paid by Nature’s self to his august presence and +drawing a happy omen from the incident, the Emperor +at once proposed to the people of Neapolis, who then +owned the island, that they should exchange barren +Capreae for the larger and more fertile imperial +appanage of Aenaria (Ischia)—a bargain to which the +shrewd Neapolitans readily agreed. Here then in a +spot at once so salubrious and so convenient for +the management of affairs of state, the Emperor sought +rest and relaxation at such times as he could escape +the cares of government. At his bidding villas and +<pb n='253'/><anchor id='Pg253'/>pleasaunces were constructed; roads were carried by +means of viaducts across the airy plateau lying between +the Salto and the Solaro; and the able bodied inhabitants +of the island were enrolled as a sort of +honorary bodyguard for the person of Augustus during +his occasional visits. In this secluded, yet accessible +retreat, the ruler of the Roman world could easily lay +his finger, as it were, upon the beating pulse of his +mighty empire, for Capreae was at no great distance +from Rome itself, and from the heights of the island +note could be made of the movements of the Imperial +fleet lying at Baiae or of the arrival of the corn ships +from Egypt and Asia Minor. But the name of the +good Augustus is scarcely remembered in connection +with Capreae, which alone recalls its association with +Tiberius the Tyrant, who spent the last nine years +of his reign upon the rocky islet that was so beloved +of his predecessor. To this spot <q>Timberio</q> (as the +natives invariably misname the Emperor) feeling the +rapid approach of senile decay, weary of the thankless +task of ruling an ungrateful people, sick of family dissensions +and of court intrigue, at last came in the +cherished hope of spending the few remaining years of +his life in cultured leisure and in comparative solitude. +An enthusiastic student of astronomy and of its sister +science, or rather pseudo-science, astrology, Tiberius +proposed to study the heavens in the company of +chosen mathematicians and soothsayers. Twelve +buildings—palaces, villas, pavilions, call them what +you will—were now constructed for the special examination +of the planets, and in consequence the whole +of the island, whose limited area after all is exceeded +by many an English park, was practically turned into +<pb n='254'/><anchor id='Pg254'/>one vast maritime residence, for all the Imperial +pleasure-houses seem to have been connected with each +other by means of viaducts or secret stair-ways. Yet +whilst immersed in astronomy and occultism, the aged +Emperor contrived to find time for the routine of +public business, and, like Augustus, he was still able +to direct from his rocky retreat the policy of the +Empire. The reports of governors of provinces, for +example, were received, read, and commented upon by +Tiberius in his Capriote home, and amongst these +there must have been included a certain official +document from one Pontius Pilatus, Procurator of +Judaea, relating how a Jewish prophet from Nazareth +had been condemned, scourged and crucified by his +orders at the special request of the Jews themselves. +How eloquent is this bald statement of a simple fact, +that here in this tiny barren islet was brought the +casual news of the death of Jesus Christ to the then +ruler of the Roman world! Surely an historical +incident such as this is of more value than all the +hazy legends or pointless miracles of St Januarius or +of San Costanzo, upon which the imagination of the +islanders has been fed for generations. +</p> +<anchor id="illus19"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: CAPRI FROM THE VILLA JOVIS]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus19th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus19.jpg">CAPRI FROM THE VILLA JOVIS</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: CAPRI FROM THE VILLA JOVIS</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Remnants of Tiberius’ palaces, all of which are said +to have been razed to the ground by order of the +Roman Senate at his death, are scattered thick as +fallen leaves in Vallombrosa over the whole surface of +the island, and it is to the ruins of the Villa Jovis at +its eastern crest that the visitor will in all probability +first direct his steps. The way thither from the little +city of Capri leads through narrow lanes along a stony +but populous hill-side, to which the flat-roofed dazzling +white houses with their small iron-barred windows lend +<pb n='255'/><anchor id='Pg255'/>an oriental aspect; an illusion that is aided by the +appearance of an occasional date-palm over-topping +some low wall, and by clumps or hedges of the prickly +pear. This latter plant, of Indian extraction as its +name of <hi rend='italic'>Ficus Indica</hi> betrays, grows in profusion over +the sun-baked rocky slopes of southern Italy, especially +in the neighbourhood of the sea. The peasants find +it most useful, for it makes impenetrable hedges, and +its coarse pulpy leaves when pounded up afford good +provender for their goats and donkeys. The fruits of +the prickly pear, those quaint crimson or yellow knobs +attached to the edges of the leaves, are likewise +gathered and eaten by the people, or else cleaned of +their protecting layers of spiny hairs and despatched +in baskets to Naples, where the cactus-fruit forms an +important item of the popular fare. The fruit itself +has a lovely colour and a fragrant scent, which give +promise of a better flavour than it actually possesses, +for it is hopelessly insipid to the taste, although the +Neapolitans declare that the pulp, when mashed up +into patties and iced, is very palatable. +</p> +<p> +A long up-hill ramble over rough paths leads eventually +to the Villa of Jupiter, perched on the Salto—the +<hi rend='italic'>Saltus Caprearum</hi>, the <q>Wild Goats’ Leap,</q> of the +ancients. There is little of interest to be seen in the +existing portions of Tiberius’ chief villa, for the building +has been despoiled centuries ago of its rich marbles, +its slabs of <hi rend='italic'>giallo</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>verde antico</hi>, its pillars of red +porphyry and <hi rend='italic'>serpentino</hi>, some fragments of which may +be found imbedded in the pavement of the mosque-like +little Duomo of Capri. But it is evident from the +immense extent of its substructures, now used for +humble enough purposes, that the Villa Jovis must +<pb n='256'/><anchor id='Pg256'/>have been a palace of remarkable size. A hermit who +offers sour wine, a fat middle-aged woman, a figure of +fun in her gay be-ribboned dress who begins languidly +dancing a <hi rend='italic'>tarantella</hi>, and a vulgar pestilent guide who +produces a spy-glass usually haunt these caverns on the +look-out for any chance visitor. Buy them off, O stranger! +with <hi rend='italic'>soldi</hi>, is our advice, for you cannot otherwise +escape their importunities, and then mounting +to the highest point, peer down into the clear depths +of the water nearly a thousand feet below. For it +was here, if we can credit serious Roman historians, +that the Imperial tyrant, half crazy with terror and +ever thirsting for human blood, was wont to hurl the +objects of his hate into the sea; <q>from this eminence,</q> +Suetonius gravely tells us, <q>after the application of +long drawn-out and exquisite tortures, Tiberius used to +order his executioners to fling their victims before his +eyes into the water, where boats full of mariners, +stationed below, were waiting in readiness to beat the +bruised bodies with oars, in case any spark of life might +yet be left in them.</q> The terrible legend fits in aptly +with the appearance of this forbidding dizzy precipice, +especially on a dark stormy afternoon, when the dull +roar of the waves dashing against the cliffs below, +mounts upward to the Villa Jovis like the angry bellowing +of some insatiable sea-monster. +</p> + +<p> +It was whilst brooding here after the death of +Sejanus in Rome, that the Emperor, not daring to +move beyond the walls of his palace, shunning the +society of all save his familiar friends and attendants, +and with his face disfigured by an eruption of the +skin of which he was painfully sensitive, that there +took place an incident (which may or may not be +<pb n='257'/><anchor id='Pg257'/>true) mentioned by Suetonius. In the privacy of +this villa Tiberius was one day surprised by an +ingenious Capriote fisherman, who in ignorance or +defiance of the Emperor’s wishes had managed to +scale with his naked feet the steep cliffs from the +sea below, in order to present a fine mullet for the +imperial table, and of course to earn a high reward +for his <q>gift.</q> Terrified at the mere notion of anybody +being able thus to penetrate into his most +secret domain, the irate Emperor at once gave orders +for the intruder’s face to be scrubbed with the mullet +he had brought, a sentence that the imperial minions +performed without delay. The intrepid fisherman +might have congratulated himself on so mild a +punishment for having disturbed a tyrant’s repose, had +he not been possessed of an unusually strong sense +of humour. For at the close of the mullet-scrubbing +episode, the foolish fellow remarked by way of a +jest to the officer on duty, that he was thankful he +had not also offered the emperor a large crab +which he had likewise brought in his basket. This +imprudent speech was immediately reported to +Tiberius, who thereupon commanded the man’s face +to be lacerated with the aforesaid crab’s claws; but +whether this pleasing incident ended with a cold +plunge from the Salto, the Roman historian does not +relate. +</p> + +<p> +Other tales of Timberio’s vices and cruelties have +been handed down from generation to generation, so +that the dark deeds committed at the Salto have almost +passed into a local article of faith; and such being +the case, it would seem almost a pity to pronounce +these picturesque horrors untrue or exaggerated. +<pb n='258'/><anchor id='Pg258'/>Nevertheless, of recent years there has arisen amongst +scholars a certain degree of scepticism as regards +these highly coloured anecdotes of Roman historians +known to be prejudiced. The Emperor was nearly +seventy years old at the time he came to reside in +Capreae, and until that date his life had been orderly +and above reproach; it is not likely therefore, argue +these modern writers, that Tiberius should suddenly, +at so extreme an age, have flung himself into a whirl +of vices and crimes that he had hitherto shunned. +The thing is of course possible, but it sounds improbable. +That he was moody and morose; that he loved solitude and +hated formal society in the spot he had especially chosen +as the retreat of his declining years; that he practised +certain of the mystic arts, as well as studied astronomy, +are all likely enough conjectures; and these circumstances +probably formed the foundation for the extravagant legends which +now surround the Emperor’s memory. Very shocking +and reprehensible were the doings at Villa Jovis, if +they really occurred there, but to try and dispute +their authenticity would be a task quite outside the +scope of this work.<note place="foot">For an able defence of the Emperor Tiberius, the reader is referred +to Mr J. C. Tarver’s <hi rend='italic'>Tiberius the Tyrant</hi>, chap. xviii.</note> +</p> + +<p> +If, despite the negative theories held to-day concerning +the private life and character of the second +Emperor of Rome during his residence on Capreae, +the traveller be still inclined to trace the sites of +the remaining eleven Imperial villas, he will find little +difficulty in meeting with numberless Roman remains +scattered over all parts of the island. On the beach, +for example, a little to the west of the Marina Grande, +<pb n='259'/><anchor id='Pg259'/>are clearly visible the sunken foundations of the +great sea-palace, which in the Roman manner jutted +into the water and ranked probably second in size to +the Villa Jovis. The neighbourhood of Ana-Capri +also, and in fact the whole western portion of the +island, is likewise plentifully besprinkled with ancient +ruins, one of which is still known by the suggestive +title of Timberino. But most people will prefer to +explore the unrivalled natural beauties of Capri, rather +than to make themselves acquainted with its archaeological +points of interest. +</p> + +<p> +First and foremost of the many wonders that Capri has to +show must be ranked the Grotta Azzurra. The pleasantest +way of reaching this world-famous cavern is by small boat +from the Marina, rather than by the daily steamer from Naples; +and a perfectly calm and bright morning must be selected for +the expedition, for if the surface of the sea appears in the +least degree ruffled by northerly winds, it becomes +impossible for any craft to make the low entrance of +the grotto. Capriote boatmen are as a rule intelligent +and pleasant to deal with, and not a few of the +denizens of the Marina own to some knowledge of +English, or rather of American, since several of the +inhabitants are the sons of emigrants who have +settled in the cities of the United States or the +Argentine, but whose love for their island home is +still so strong that they contrive to send their children +back to Capri, in order that they may retain their +Italian citizenship and be ready to serve their expected +term of years in the Army. +</p> + +<p> +Past the gay-coloured shipping of the noisy Marina, +past the wave-washed halls of Tiberius’ <hi rend='italic'>palazzo a mare</hi>, +<pb n='260'/><anchor id='Pg260'/>our boat swiftly glides over the pellucid expanse until +it reaches those vast towering cliffs of limestone that +spring almost perpendicular from the waters’ edge to +the plateau of Ana-Capri, fully a thousand feet above +our heads. Clumps of palmetto, of cytizus, and of +various hardy shrubs manage to sprout and to exist in +the crannies of this sheer wall of rock; and on some +of the larger ledges, far out of reach of a despoiling +human hand, we see masses of the odorous narcissus, +though whence they draw their sustenance it is hard +to tell. At length we reach the entrance of the +Grotto, and here, at a signal from our boatman, we +crouch down low in the body of the boat, whilst our +rower, skilfully taking advantage of a gentle surging +wave, guides our craft with his hands through an +opening in the sheer wall, so low that the gunwales +grate against the rocky surface of the natural arch. +At once we find ourselves in a scene of mystical +beauty, in an extravagant voluptuous dream of loveliness, +such as the Arabian Nights alone could dare to +suggest. Above us, around us, behind us, before us +lies a luminous azure atmosphere, which produces the +effect of a gigantic molten sapphire, whose secret blue +fires we have actually tracked to their lurking-place in +the very heart of the gem. Against the all-pervading +shimmering light our own forms stand out distinct of +an intense and velvety blackness, yet the blades of the +oars that cleave the melted sapphire of the water, the +tips of our fingers that dabble in the celestial liquid, +appear as if coated with tiny globules of silver. Our +boatman’s son, a picturesque lad of fifteen or there-abouts, +has, we notice, been engaged in hastily casting +off his scanty attire; for a moment his slight graceful +<pb n='261'/><anchor id='Pg261'/>figure is outlined against the blue light like some antique +bronze of Pompeii or Herculaneum, and then there is +a splash as the youthful form, diving into the pool, is +instantaneously changed by the genius of the place +into a silver-glistening sea-god, the very image of the +fisherman Glaucus sung of old by Ovid, who became +an Immortal and dwelt ever afterwards, according to +the ancient myth, in an azure palace beneath the sea. +As the stripling rises to the surface all glittering to +breathe the air, his head turns from frosted silver to +ebon blackness, as does likewise his hand, raised from +the water to clasp the boat’s prow. Slowly we are +propelled round the lofty domed cavern, and are shown +the little beach at its further extremity with its +mysterious and unexplored flight of stone steps, down +which, so our mariner informs us, the wicked Timberio +used to descend from his villa at Damecuta, hundreds +of feet overhead, to take a plunge in these enchanted +waters. The Emperor and his friends may or may +not have gambolled in this jewelled bath; but certain +it is that Tiberius knew of the existence of this unique +cavern; and equally certain that an artistic but +demented potentate of our own days was so smitten +with the idea of owning a secret staircase descending +to a blue grotto, that he must needs construct within +the walls of a fantastic castle in the highlands of +Bavaria an artificial counterpart of the Grotta Azzurra, +with metal swans moved by clockwork swimming +thereon! +</p> + +<p> +Our genial boatman beguiles the time of our returning +by a long story, told him in his boyhood by his +old grandfather, of how two English <hi rend='italic'>Signori</hi> had +managed to rediscover the entrance to the Blue +<pb n='262'/><anchor id='Pg262'/>Grotto, which had been lost since the days of the +Emperor Timberio, and how in expectation of the +Englishmen’s reward a plucky sailor, named Ferrara, +had made his way all round the island in a cask, +trying to force an entrance into every possible cavern, +until at last he hit upon the mouth of the Grotta +Azzurra itself, and thus gained the prize. But as a +matter of fact the existence of the Grotto was never +wholly forgotten, for its beauties were certainly known +to the old Italian chronicler Capaccio. Yet doubtless +during the long period of the Napoleonic wars, when +Capri from its strategic position became a choice +bone of contention between French, English and +Neapolitan forces, there were few if any persons who +possessed the courage or curiosity to visit the cavern; +with the result that its <hi rend='italic'>exact</hi> locality became temporarily +lost. It was known, however, to exist somewhere at +the base of the great northern cliff, so that only a very +small portion of the coast-line had to be explored, +before its tiny inconspicuous entrance could be rediscovered. +A far more exciting event than the refinding +of the Blue Grotto was the genuine discovery +of the beautiful Grotta Verde on the southern side of +the island by two Englishmen, Mr Reid and Mr +Lacaita, in the summer of 1848. This grotto, +esteemed the second in importance of the many caves +that Capri boasts, consists of a huge natural archway +formed in the cliffs wherein the water and rocks appear +of an emerald hue, contrasting strangely with the +opaque blue of the sea beyond, and suggesting in its +dual colouring the marvellous combination of dark +blue and iridescent green in the peacock’s tail. +</p><anchor id="illus20"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: IN THE BLUE GROTTO, CAPRI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus20th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus20.jpg">IN THE BLUE GROTTO, CAPRI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: IN THE BLUE GROTTO, CAPRI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Capri is a pleasant enough place of residence for a +<pb n='263'/><anchor id='Pg263'/>short time, particularly if one invests in a pair of the +rope-soled shoes affected by the people, which enables +the wearer to follow with greater ease the rough stony +tracks, often at a dizzy height above the sea, that form +the only walks in the eastern portion of Capri, except +the villa-lined Tragara road leading to the Guardiola, +now become the fashionable promenade of the many +foreign residents upon the island. There are some +delightfully peaceful nooks to be sought near the water’s +edge, not far from the Faraglioni, that picturesque trio +of rocks lying off the south-eastern corner of Capri. +Here we can find a sheltered corner, unfrequented +alike by the pestering native or by the ubiquitous +tourist; perchance the deserted hall of some maritime +villa, for the caverns near the Piccola Marina abound +in traces of Roman architecture. In such a retreat, +with a book on one’s knees and with one’s own +thoughts for sole company, how fascinating it is to lie +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">... on Capri’s rocks, close to their snowy streak</q></l> +<l>Of ambient foam, and watch the restless sea</l> +<l>Tossing and tumbling to Eternity,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Feeling its salt kiss fall upon the cheek.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +But to those who prefer to take long tramps afield +rather than to linger in meditation on the sunny +beaches near the Piccola Marina, there is always the +ascent to Ana-Capri by the broad smooth winding road +that affords a fresh view of the Bay of Naples at every +one of its many twists and turnings. Over a ravine +filled with masses of ilex and myrtle; past the fragment +of the pirate Barbarossa’s aerial castle, perched on a +rocky pinnacle and looking like some fantastic creation +of Gustave Doré’s brush; the broad ribband of road +leads across the steep northern flank of Monte Solaro, +<pb n='264'/><anchor id='Pg264'/>until it ends at Ana-Capri with its white houses nestling +round a domed church. It is an easy ascent, taking +no great space of time, yet strange to relate, well within +living memory the only approach to this hill-set village +was by means of the interminable stone staircase with +some five hundred steps that connected it with the +Marina Grande below. A charming writer on Neapolitan +life and character thus shrewdly sums up the +general opinion concerning this altered aspect of +conditions with regard to Ana-Capri, now brought at +last into close touch with modern civilization and its +accruing benefits: +</p> + +<p> +<q>Before the culminating point is reached, the road +crosses the old staircase, which has unfortunately been +almost completely destroyed by the huge masses of +rock dislodged from the cliff above by the workmen. +It makes one sad to look at it, and almost regret +that the new road ever was constructed. Were every +invective that has been vented on those same steps +turned into a paving-stone, there would be more than +sufficient to pave the streets of Naples anew; were +every drop of sweat that has fallen upon them collected, +there would be enough water to flood them. And yet +now that this dreadful staircase has been superseded +by a good macadamised road, every one seems to regret +the change. Says the heavily laden <hi rend='italic'>contadina</hi>: <q>The +old way was the shortest;</q> says the artist: <q>It was +infinitely more picturesque; that new parapet wall is +a dreadful eye-sore;</q> says the archaeologist: <q>It had +the merit of antiquity; it is not everywhere that one +can tread in the footprints of a hundred generations.</q> +Even those whose every step in the olden time was +accompanied by a malediction, can remember how +<pb n='265'/><anchor id='Pg265'/>good a glass of very inferior wine tasted on reaching +Ana-Capri.</q><note place="foot">W. J. A. Stamer: <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +But whether Ana-Capri has or has not been really +benefited by the Italian Government’s finely engineered +road, there can be no doubt that the +primitive charm of the island, which in by-gone days +constituted one of its chief attractions, has greatly +declined with the wholesale introduction of modern +conventions and improvements. With the sudden +influx of wealthy strangers, Anglo-Saxon, German, +French and Russian, it is not surprising to learn that +the islanders have become somewhat demoralized +under the changed conditions of life, and that not a +small proportion of them have grown venal and grasping. +The happy old days when artists and inn-keepers, +peasants and such chance visitors as loved the simple +unsophisticated life, hob-nobbed together on terms of +equality are gone for ever. Fashion, that merciless +deity, has annexed the Insula Caprearum to her ever-growing +dominions;—there are smart villas on the +Tragara road and even at Ana-Capri; there are +British tea-rooms and Teutonic <hi rend='italic'>Bierhälle</hi> in the town. +At the present time the tourists and foreign residents +form the chief source of wealth to the islanders, now +that the quails have more or less deserted these shores. +Instead of awaiting in due season with nets ready +prepared the advent of the plump little feathered +immigrants from the African coast, the modern +Caprioti are continually on the look-out for the +steamers that bear hundreds of money-spending +tourists to the Marina, and these they proceed to +enmesh with proffered offers of service. And, +speak<pb n='266'/><anchor id='Pg266'/>ing of the quails, in the days before breech-loading +guns and reckless extermination had injured this +valuable source of revenue, the arrival of the birds +winging their way northward was the signal for every +sportsman on the island to hasten to collect the annual +harvest of game. High poles, supporting nets twenty +feet broad and sixty feet long, were erected on the +grassy slopes of the Solaro or in the plateau of the +Tragara, towards which, by dint of judicious scaring +and shouting from expectant watchers stationed at +various points, the flight of the on-rushing birds was +directed. Dashing themselves with force against this +wall of netting, the poor quails fell stunned to the +ground, where they were easily taken by hand, whilst +scores of guns were levelled ready to bring down such +birds as had escaped the snare prepared for them. +From the thousands of quails thus captured the +islanders were enabled to pay their taxes to the +Bourbon Government, as well as to provide the income +of their Bishop—for in those distant days a prelate +dwelt at Capri—who in allusion to his chief source of +income was jocularly known at the Roman court as +<q>Il Vescovo delle Quaglie.</q> +</p> + +<p> +From Ana-Capri to the western shore extends the +most fertile stretch of land in the island: a broad +slope set with vineyards and groves of silver-grey +olives, that are interspersed here and there with clumps +of almond and plum trees. Fine oil is yielded by the +<hi rend='italic'>poderi</hi> of Ana-Capri and Damecuta, whilst the grapes +produce the highly prized red and white Capri vintages, +choice wine of which the casual traveller rarely tastes +a good sample, for it is usually doctored and <q>improved</q> +for purposes of keeping by the wine-merchants +<pb n='267'/><anchor id='Pg267'/>of Naples. Thus the rasping red liquid that appears +on the table of a London restaurant, and the scented +strong-tasting white stuff that is sold in the hotels of +the island itself or of Naples under the name of Capri, +have little in common with the pure unadulterated +product of these sunny breezy vineyards. But besides +wine and oil, the island is likewise celebrated for its +beautiful and varied flora, and it is amongst the olive +groves and lanes of the western side of the island that +the wild flowers can be found in the greatest profusion. +Amongst the tender green shoots of the young springing +corn are set myriads of brilliant hued +anemones, purple, scarlet, and white with a crimson +centre; and even in January can be found in warm +sheltered nooks the pretty mauve wind-flower, one of +the earliest of spring blossoms in Italy. The grassy +pathways that intersect the various holdings are gay +with rosy-tipped daisies, white <q>star-of-Bethlehem,</q> +dark purple grape-hyacinth, and the tiny strong-scented +marigold, that seems to bloom the whole twelve-month +round. Amongst the loose stone-work of the +walled lanes, where beryl-backed lizards peep in and +out of every crevice, can be found fragrant violets and +the delicate fumitory with its pink waxy bells. In +moist places flourish patches of the wild arum or of +the stately great celandine, the <q>swallow-wort</q> of +old-fashioned herbalists, who believed that the swallow +made use of the thick yellow juice that runs in the +veins of this plant to anoint the eyes of her fledgelings! +And with the disappearance of the anemones +as the season advances, their place is taken by blood-red +poppies, by golden hawkweeds and by masses of +tall magenta-coloured blooms of the wild gladiolus, the +<pb n='268'/><anchor id='Pg268'/><q>Jacob’s Ladder</q> of our own English gardens. +Strange enough amongst these familiar homely flowers +appear the sub-tropical clumps of prickly pear, and +the hedges of aloe which here and there have thrown +up a gigantic spike of blossom eight or ten feet in +height, a triumphal favour of Nature that the plant +itself must pay for by its subsequent death. +</p> + +<p> +From Ana-Capri we ascend to the peak of the lofty +Solaro, by no means an arduous climb from this point, +for we have but to follow a narrow goat-track leading +across slopes covered with coarse grass and some low +thickets of stunted lentisk and myrtle. The rosemary +too grows plentifully on the dry wind-swept soil, +and the soft sea breeze wafts its refreshing scent to +our nostrils. There is a pretty legend of the people +which relates the cause of this plant obtaining its +perfume of unearthly sweetness:—how the Madonna +one day hung the swaddling clothes of the Infant +Christ to dry upon a common pot-herb in the +garden at Nazareth—the rosemary is freely used in +Italian cookery, and its taste is as unpleasant as its +scent is delicious—whereupon the humble plant thus +honoured was ever afterwards endowed with the delicate +odour that is so highly prized. And beyond this, the +rosemary was likewise permitted to put forth masses of +flowers of the Madonna’s own colour of blue, concerning +which a tradition—Celtic, not Italian—avers that on +Christmas morning upon every plant of rosemary will +be found by those who care to seek them expanded +blooms in honour of St Joseph, the Virgin and the +Holy Child. Reaching the crest of the Solaro, we are +well rewarded for our climb over the stony slopes by a +wide-spreading view. Owing to the central position +<pb n='269'/><anchor id='Pg269'/>of the island, we can from its airy summit, some +sixteen hundred feet above sea-level, command a +glorious panorama of the three bays of the Neapolitan +Riviera, each teeming with a thousand associations of +classical or modern history. Upon those dancing +waters of the Bay of Naples appeared in the dim ages +of the heroic world the Trojan galleys that were bearing +the founder of the Roman race towards the beach +by Cumae yonder, where dwelt the venerable Sibyl; +the fleets of ancient Rome and Carthage, the war-ships +of the great Emperor Charles V., the pirate galleys of +the Soldan’s vassals, the men-of-war of Nelson have +all rode and fought upon the bosom of the bay beneath +us. What a marvellous perspective of the whole naval +history of the Mediterranean does a survey of the Bay +of Naples suggest! +</p> + +<p> +Exquisite and inspiring as is the view on a clear +cloudless day, with the keen <hi rend='italic'>tramontana</hi> off the distant +Abruzzi flecking the azure waves with streaks of +creamy foam and driving the white-sailed feluccas +merrily towards the open sea, the landscape is even +more impressive in dull lowering weather, when the +inky clouds that envelop the sky give promise of the +approaching hurricane. At such times a striking phenomenon, +said to be peculiar to the Parthenopean shores, +may be observed. From out the purple threatening +masses that fill the heavens there suddenly falls a +shaft of rosy light, as though directed by some vast +celestial lens fixed aloft in the sky, upon a small +portion of the opposite shore. The plateau of Sorrento +with its many white hamlets first becomes illuminated; +then the light rapidly passes towards Vesuvius, which +is instantly revealed with marvellous clearness, whilst +<pb n='270'/><anchor id='Pg270'/>Sorrento returns to its former dark brooding shadows. +For some moments we watch the circlet of towns that +fringe the base of the burning mountain and Camaldoli +erect on its wooded height, and then our gaze is +diverted towards Naples, so clearly revealed that one +can almost fancy it possible to detect the carriages +driving along the white line of the Caracciolo. From +the city this weird fairy-like light glides swiftly towards +the headland of Posilipo and the great sombre mass +of Ischia, and then finally seems to vanish altogether +in the leaden-hued expanse of the watery horizon. +Storm, rain, wind, hail and thunder will certainly +follow the appearance of this fantastic rose-coloured +glow, and the visitor to Capri may in consequence be +compelled to remain willy-nilly upon the island until +such time as communication with Naples shall be +once more restored, for rough weather on Capri means +complete isolation from the mainland and the outside +world. A spell of four or five days without a letter +or a newspaper may in certain cases be restful and +even beneficial, but it can also be highly inconvenient. +</p> +<p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +Comparatively few persons are aware that in the +history of Capri is to be found a page, not a particularly +glorious one perhaps, of the annals of our own +nation. In the spring of 1806, the year after Trafalgar, +whilst our fleet was blockading Naples on behalf of its +worthless monarch, King Ferdinand, then skulking in +cowardly ease at Palermo, Admiral Sir Sidney Smith, +the hero of Acre, managed to capture the island after +a sharp struggle with the French troops then holding +it in the name of Joachim Murat, King of Naples +and brother-in-law of the great Napoleon. Sir Hudson +<pb n='271'/><anchor id='Pg271'/>(then Colonel) Lowe—afterwards famous as the +Governor of St Helena during Buonaparte’s captivity—was +now put in command of the newly conquered +island with some 1500 English and Maltese troops +at his disposal. Lowe and his second in command, +Major Hamill, at once set to work to put the place +into a strong state of defence, and so satisfied were +they with their work of fortification, that Lowe in his +confidence nick-named the islet <q>Little Gibraltar.</q> +For more than two years the Union Jack floated in +triumph from the fort-crowned heights of Capri, much +to the annoyance of the monarch on the mainland, +who finally determined at all costs to recapture the +stronghold facing his capital. Fancying himself perfectly +secure in his <q>Little Gibraltar,</q> now deemed +impregnable by a combination of art and nature against +any hostile descent, Lowe made light of any possible +expedition from Naples, and when Neapolitan warships +actually appeared as though making to land troops +at the Marinas on either side of the saddle of the +island, the British commandant was delighted at the +ease with which these attempts were repelled. But +whilst the garrison was busied in thwarting the movements +on the Marinas, which in reality only constituted +a feint on Murat’s part, transports were engaged in +disembarking at the low cliffs of Orico, the western +extremity of the island, boat-loads of men, who quickly +swarmed up the terraced slopes towards Ana-Capri +and surprised its garrison. On the following day, +October 6th 1808, in spite of Lowe’s efforts, Ana-Capri +with its eight hundred men surrendered to the +French and Neapolitan troops led by General Lamarque, +who at once set up a battery on the crest of the Solaro, +<pb n='272'/><anchor id='Pg272'/>so as to command the town of Capri and the English +head-quarters, fixed at the Convent of the Certosa that +lies between the Tragara Road and the southern shore. +The eastern half of the island still of course remained +in the hands of the British; and failing to reduce the +town itself and the Convent of the Certosa by bombardment +from above, General Lamarque decided upon +taking the place by storm, so as to forestall the arrival +of the English fleet, which was hourly expected to come +to the rescue of the beleaguered garrison. As we +have already mentioned, there was no road existing +upon the whole island in those days a hundred years +ago, so that in order to attack the capital, the French +general had to march his victorious troops by the +precipitous flight of stone steps down to the Marina +Grande and then try to carry the position from below. +Before however the Frenchmen, now further aided by +supplies sent by Murat’s order from Sorrento, could +arrange for the projected assault upon the town, the +delayed British fleet suddenly appeared in the offing, +evidently with the intention of bearing down upon the +island. But on this occasion the luck was all on the +side of the French, for scarcely had the eagerly expected +ships hove in sight, than the besieged garrison +had the mortification to see their hopes of succour +overthrown by the uprising of one of those sudden +squalls, so common on the Mediterranean, which drove +the warships southward. More than one assault was +repulsed with heavy loss by the small English garrison, +which had already been deprived of half its numbers +at Ana-Capri, including the gallant Major Hamill, +whose death is commemorated in a marble tablet set +in the little piazza of the town. But with the +re<pb n='273'/><anchor id='Pg273'/>tirement of the relieving fleet and the continuance +of foul weather, Colonel Lowe deemed it useless to +resist further, and like a sensible man decided to +capitulate on the best terms he could obtain. In +return for his immediate surrender of Capri the British +commandant accordingly stipulated that his garrison +should be allowed to embark and sail for Sicily unmolested, +and that the persons and property of the +islanders, who seem to have appreciated the British +occupation, should be respected. But Lamarque, on +communicating Colonel Lowe’s request to King Murat, +received peremptory orders to demand an unconditional +surrender, whereupon an aide-de-camp of the King’s, a +certain Colonel Manches, was sent to interview Lowe +with the royal letter in his pocket. Had the missive +been delivered to him, the British Governor would in +all probability have decided to fight to the bitter end +rather than to submit to such severe and humiliating +conditions. Happily so terrible a catastrophe, which +must have involved heavy loss of life on both sides, +followed by a sack of the town, was unexpectedly, +averted at the last moment, for whilst Manches was +actually advancing with a flag of truce, the approach +of the British fleet was again signalled from the look-out +on the hill now called the Telegrafo. Before the +Governor could be made aware of this piece of +news, Colonel Manches, cunningly keeping his master’s +imperious letter in his pocket, told Colonel Lowe that +King Murat was ready to accept the terms of surrender +offered. The weather being propitious, the British fleet +would have been able this time to reach the island, +but its nearer approach was prevented by Colonel +Lowe himself, who sent to acquaint the Admiral, +<pb n='274'/><anchor id='Pg274'/>much to his chagrin, of the compact already concluded +with the besiegers, a compact which, as Hudson Lowe +himself very properly pointed out, was binding upon +the British Government. On October 26th, three +weeks from the date of the first attack, the English +troops embarked for Sicily, and the island was +formally handed over to the French and Neapolitan +forces, who held it undisturbed until the close of the +Napoleonic Wars. +</p><anchor id="illus21"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: A GATEWAY. CAPRI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus21th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus21.jpg">A GATEWAY. CAPRI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: A GATEWAY. CAPRI</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div n="12" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='275'/><anchor id='Pg275'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="12: Ischia and the Lady of the Rock"/> +<head>CHAPTER XII</head> + +<head type="sub">ISCHIA AND THE LADY OF THE ROCK</head> + +<p> +Embarking at Torregaveta, the little terminus +of the <hi rend='italic'>Ferrovia Cumana</hi>, which traverses the +classic district of the Phlegraean Fields, we are +quickly transported in a small <anchor id="corr275"/><corr sic="costing">coasting</corr> steamer past +the headland of Misenum to the island and port +of Procida, the <q>alta Prochyta</q> of Virgil. Although +the poet calls the island lofty, it is remarkably flat +considering its volcanic origin, for Procida and Ischia +were undoubtedly one in remote ages, as the learned +Strabo rightly conjectured. Its only eminence is the +Rocciola, the castle-crowned hillock to the north-east +of the island, but as this hill must first have caught +the expectant eye of Aeneas’ steersman, perhaps the +epithet is after all not so misplaced as would appear +at first sight. Carefully tilled and densely populated, +the island produces a large proportion of the fruit, +vegetables, and olive oil, that are sold in the Naples +market, and as it possesses no remains of antiquity, +no medieval churches, no works of art, and but few +beauties of nature to recommend it for inspection, +Procida is rarely visited by strangers. Its inhabitants, +who are chiefly husbandmen, are hard working +and independent, and content also to retain the +manners and customs of their frugal forefathers, and +<pb n='276'/><anchor id='Pg276'/>even to a certain extent to continue the use of +their national dress, so that the festivals of Procida +have more interest and local colour than those +observed in tourist-haunted Capri or Sorrento. Unconcerned +at the progress of the world without, unspoiled +by the gold of the <hi rend='italic'>forestiere</hi>, the Procidani pursue the +even tenor of their old-fashioned ways, unenvious of +and unenvied by their neighbours on the mainland. +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona nôrint,</q></l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Agricolas!</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +We halt at the port of Procida, with its flat-roofed +gaily coloured houses lining the quay and ascending +the gentle slope towards the Rocciola. Thence, skirting +the low-lying fertile shores of the island, and passing +the olive-clad islet of Vivara, we soon come in sight of +the steep headland on which are perched the grey masses +of the Castle of Ischia, <q>the Mount St Michael of Italy.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Covered from base to summit with fume-weed, +lentisk, aromatic cistus, and every plant that loves +the sun, the wind and the salt foam of the +Mediterranean, the huge solitary cliff rises majestically +from the deep blue water. Whether viewed +in brilliant sunshine under a cloudless sky, or in +foul weather, when the sea is hurling its waves over +the stone causeway that connects the isolated crag +with the little city of Ischia, the first sight of this +historic castle is singularly impressive. Nor is its +grandeur lessened on a near approach, for the ascent +to its topmost tower takes us through a labyrinth +of staircases and mysterious subterranean passages, +through vaulted chambers and curious hanging +gardens to an airy platform, which commands a +glorious view in every direction over land and sea. +</p> + +<pb n='277'/><anchor id='Pg277'/> + +<p> +Built by Alphonso V. of Aragon in the fifteenth +century, this massive pile, half-fortress and half-palace, +is famous in Italian annals for its long +association with the noble poetess Vittoria Colonna, +Marchioness of Pescara. Born in the old Castle +of Marino, near Rome, one of the strongholds of +the great feudal house of Colonna, the poetess, who +was great-great-niece to Pope Martin V., was betrothed +in her infancy at the instigation of King Ferdinand +of Naples to the youthful heir of the d’Avalos family, +hereditary governors of the island of Ischia. The +elder sister of Vittoria’s affianced husband, Constance +d’Avalos, the widowed Duchess of Francavilla, was +the <q>châtelaine</q> of Ischia during her brother’s +minority, so that it was but natural that his Colonna +bride-elect should be sent to dwell with Constance +in this castle. Here Vittoria under her sister-in-law’s +excellent tutelage grew up to womanhood amidst the +intellectual atmosphere of the Italian Renaissance, and +here she was trained to develop into one of the most +learned, the most interesting and the most attractive +figures that all Italy produced at this period. Childless +in her early marriage at eighteen, and with her husband +frequently, not to say usually, engaged in military +expeditions on the mainland, Vittoria had every +opportunity of cultivating her mind and of filling her +sea-girt palace with men of genius. The poets Cariteo +and Bernado Tasso (the father of Torquato Tasso), +were frequent visitors at this +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Superbo scoglio, altaro e bel ricetto,</q></l> +<l>Di tanti chiari eroi, d’ imperadori,</l> +<l>Orde raggi di gloria escono fuori,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Ch’ ogni altro lume fan scuro e negletto.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='278'/><anchor id='Pg278'/> + +<p> +Strange to relate, her husband, the Marquis of +Pescara, was destined to forestall his learned lady in +the matter of poetry, for during his imprisonment at +Milan in the year 1512, he composed a <q>Dialogo +d’Amore</q> to send to his sorrowing wife at Ischia, a +production which the learned Paolo Giovio, the historian +and bishop of Nocera, pronounced as being <q>summae +jucunditatis,</q> though in reality it seems to have been +feeble enough. But however halting and commonplace +the warrior’s verses, Pescara’s composition had +the immediate effect of opening the flood-gates of his +wife’s poetic temperament, for she replied at once to +her spouse’s effort with an epistle conceived in the +<hi rend='italic'>terza rima</hi> employed by Dante, and though the poem +is turgid in diction and shallow in thought, full of +classical names and allusions, <q>a parade of all the +treasures of the school-room,</q> it exhibits the graceful +ease and high scholarship which mark all Vittoria’s +writings. Meanwhile, unblest with offspring of her +own and ever separated by the cruel circumstance +of war from the husband she seemed perfectly content +to admire from a distance, Vittoria did not expend +all her time at Ischia in sacrificing to Apollo +and the Muses, for she now undertook the education +of her husband’s young cousin and heir, Alphonso +d’Avalos, Marchese del Vasto, whose manhood certainly +did credit to his instructress, for del Vasto +under her influence grew up to be a brave soldier and +a tolerable scholar. +</p> + +<p> +After sixteen years of married life with a husband +who, although professing deep devotion to his brilliant +and virtuous consort, was almost invariably absent from +her side, Vittoria found herself left a widow shortly +<pb n='279'/><anchor id='Pg279'/>after the great battle of Pavia in 1525 wherein Francis I. +of France surrendered to the Emperor Charles V. The +Marquis of Pescara, after the usual career of bloodthirsty +adventures which passed in those days for a life of +knight-errantry, died at Milan towards the close +of this year, leaving behind him an unenviable reputation +for treachery towards his master. But however +hard were the things said of the deceased Fernando +d’Avalos by the outside world, no breath of suspicion +seems ever to have penetrated to the heart of the faithful +if placid Vittoria, who mourned bitterly if somewhat +theatrically over her departed hero. The Lady +of the Rock was now in her thirty-fifth year, and her +beauty, so we are told, still remained undimmed; in +fact it was rather improved by a tendency towards +plumpness, for sorrow and poetry are not necessarily +associated with a meagre appearance. Spending her +time partly in the great Italian cities, but chiefly on +her beloved <hi rend='italic'>scoglio superbo</hi>, the widow of Pescara now +set herself to write that series of sonnets in memory of +her dead husband which have rescued his unworthy +name from oblivion and have rendered her own famous +in Italian literature. For the sonnets of Vittoria +Colonna, though appearing cold classical and pedantic +to our northern ideas, evidently appeal to the Italian +temperament, so that the praises of Pescara and his +widow’s stilted complaints, couched in the elegant +language of the Renaissance, are still read and appreciated +to-day by her compatriots. As time passed, +and the ghost of sorrowful remorse was supposed to +be decently laid, the sonnets contain somewhat less of +hero-worship, and assume a religious and speculative +character. Some critics have even gone so far as to +<pb n='280'/><anchor id='Pg280'/>affect to perceive a latent spirit of Protestantism +underlying the graceful platitudes and commonplace +but grandly expressed ideas. Very likely the Lady +of the Rock dabbled in the fashionable heterodoxy of +the hour, as it is at least certain that she was on terms +of intimacy with the celebrated Princess Renée, the +<q>Protestant</q> Duchess of Ferrara. On the other hand, +several of her acquaintances and correspondents were +amongst the most prominent of the unyielding +Churchmen of the day; in their number being, it is +interesting to note, Cardinal Reginald Pole, great-nephew +of King Edward IV. of England and afterwards +Queen Mary’s Archbishop of Canterbury, who +was certainly not likely to encourage Vittoria’s unorthodox +or reforming tendencies. <q>The more +opportunity,</q> so writes the poetess to Cardinal Cervino, +afterwards Pope Marcellus II., <q>I have had of observing +the actions of his Eminence the Cardinal of England, +the more clear has it seemed to me that he is a true +and sincere servant of God. Whenever, therefore, he +charitably condescends to give me his opinion on any +point, I conceive myself safe from error in following +his advice.</q> And on the strength of Cardinal Pole’s +astute counsels, Vittoria promptly broke off all communication +with the leading reformer, Bernardino +Ochino, and (a thing which does not strike us as particularly +honourable) forwarded his letters to herself +unopened to his spiritual adversaries. But it is +evident that Vittoria’s <q>Protestantism</q> was a mere +pose, assumed at a time when adverse criticism from +all sides was being levelled at the political abuses of +the Papacy and at the various scandals in the Church +which were patent to the eyes of all onlookers. In +<pb n='281'/><anchor id='Pg281'/>short her religious verses are if anything more frigid and +artificial than those which compose the <hi rend='italic'>In Memoriam</hi> +to her husband, her <hi rend='italic'>Bel Sole</hi>, as she usually terms him. +Whilst admitting considerable merit in Vittoria’s compositions, +we find it at this distance of time very +difficult to understand the extravagant praise which +was showered upon her poems by the Italian critics of +the day, or to conceive how a sonnet from the gifted +pen of the Marchioness of Pescara could possibly have +been considered an important event in the literary +world by cardinals, princes, poets, wits and scholars. +From Naples to Rome, from Rome to Ferrara, from +Ferrara to Mantua and Milan, the precious manuscript +containing the last-born sonnet of the illustrious Lady +of Ischia was eagerly passed along. Court poets read +aloud amidst breathless silence the divine Vittoria’s +fourteen lines of jejune sentiment draped in folds of +elegant verbiage; nobles and prelates applauded, +hailing the authoress as a heaven-sent genius. Sincere +to a certain extent this strange admiration undoubtedly +was, although the homage was paid perhaps in +equal proportions to the excellence of the verse and +to the high rank of the author. She was a Colonna +by birth; she was the widow of a petty despot; she +was governor of a large island;—any literary production, +however indifferent, from so high a personage +would have been received throughout Italy with +respect or flattery. But Vittoria was no mean or +careless aspirant to fame; it was the fault of an +artificial age rather than the lack of her own natural +ability that has made her poetry cold and soulless, +for under healthy conditions of life and thought, +<q>the Divine Vittoria</q> was doubtless capable of +pro<pb n='282'/><anchor id='Pg282'/>ducing something warmer and more human than the +lifeless but graceful sonnets that bear her name. +</p> + +<p> +It is chiefly through her close connexion with the +great literary movement of the Italian Renaissance +and her intimacy with its leading artists and writers, +rather than through her own reputation as a poetess, +that the name of Vittoria Colonna herself is remembered +outside the borders of Italy. With her +wealth, her culture, her virtue and her unique position +in the world of rank and of letters, it is nothing +marvellous that so fortunate and gifted a mortal +should have become the idol of the leading persons of +her day. She belonged, in fact, to a brilliant and +famous group of which she was the soul and centre; +of which she was at once the patron, the disciple and +the teacher. That great master of Italian prose, +Pietro Bembo, set a high value on her powers of +criticism; other men, almost as distinguished as the +Venetian cardinal, besought her for advice on literary +subjects. Foremost in her circle of admirers appears +of course the great Michelangelo, with whom the +immaculate Vittoria condescended to indulge in one +of those cold platonic pseudo-passions which constituted +the true <hi rend='italic'>divino amore</hi> of the idealists of the +Renaissance. So here was nothing to cavil at, nothing +to arouse base suspicion. Considered the greatest +man and the greatest woman in all Italy, both were +of mature age, he in the sixties and she in the forties, +when Michelangelo first professed himself seized with +a pure but unquenchable love and devotion for the +widowed Lady of the Rock. +</p> + +<p> +The last days of Vittoria, which were chiefly spent +within the walls of the Convent of Sant’ Anna at +<pb n='283'/><anchor id='Pg283'/>Rome, were clouded by ill-health and sorrow. The +death of the young Marchese del Vasto, <q>her moral +and intellectual son,</q> was an irreparable loss, for which +her boundless fame and popularity could offer little +real consolation. At length the poetess, feeling death +approaching, moved to the house of Giulia Colonna, +her relative, and there expired in February 1547, in +the fifty-seventh year of her age. To the last her +death-bed was surrounded by sorrowing and adoring +friends, amongst them being Michelangelo, who is said +to have witnessed with his own eyes the last moments +of his beloved Lady. And the famous sculptor, +painter and poet—perhaps the most stupendous +genius the world has yet produced—is reported to +have bitterly regretted in after years that on so solemn +an occasion he had not ventured to imprint one chaste +kiss upon the forehead of the woman he had adored +so ardently, yet so purely during life. By her expressed +wish the body of the poetess was buried in +San Domenico Maggiore at Naples, the finest and +least spoiled of all the Neapolitan churches, where +a velvet-covered coffin containing the ashes of the +Divine Vittoria and her <q>Bel Sole,</q> and surmounted +by the sword, banner and portrait of Fernando d’Avalos, +is still pointed out to the stranger, resting on +a shelf in the sacristy of the church. We cannot but +regret that Vittoria’s body did not find a final resting-place +in her <hi rend='italic'>superbo scoglio</hi>, where all her happiest years +were spent and where her memory still survives so fresh. +</p> + +<p> +Sadly deserted appear to-day the historic buildings, +which are fast falling into hopeless decay; even the +large domed church of the Castle has been desecrated +and turned into a stable. +</p> + +<pb n='284'/><anchor id='Pg284'/> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Tocsins from yon bleak turrets never ring;</q></l> +<l>No knight or pages pace those galleries,</l> +<l>So sombre and so silent: ever cling</l> +<l>To that cold church and palace draperies</l> +<l>Of glaucous fume-weed; sea-birds ever sing</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">The vanished glories with low mournful cries.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Ischia itself is a quaint, dirty, straggling town, +possessing a small cathedral of ancient foundation, +but modernised within and without, its sole object of +interest being a curious font resting on marble lions. +The charm of the city lies chiefly in the busy scenes +to be witnessed daily on its sandy beach and on the +stone causeway that leads to the Castle, where a large +part of the population seems to spend most of its +time in mending the deep brown fishing nets or in +attending to the gaudily painted boats. +</p> + +<p> +Almost adjoining the outskirts of the little capital +of the island is Porto d’Ischia, with a deep circular +harbour that was once the crater of an extinct volcano, +wherein every variety of Mediterranean fishing craft +is to be seen at anchor. Close to the port, embowered +among groves of orange and lemon trees that in +winter time are laden with bright or pale yellow +fruit, stands a fine old villa of the Bourbon kings +of Naples, once a favourite summer retreat of his +Majesty King Bomba. Royalty has long abandoned +Ischia, and the villa has now been converted into a +bath house. Beyond its neglected park stretches an +extensive pine forest, carpeted in spring time with +daisies, marigolds and anemones, and even in February +gay with yellow oxalis and redolent with the scent of +hidden violets. +</p> + +<p> +The road from Ischia to Casamicciola, a distance +<pb n='285'/><anchor id='Pg285'/>of four miles, leads along the base of Monte Epomeo +through olive groves and vineyards, the whitewashed +walls of the domed cottages, the flat roofs and cisterns, +and the frequent clumps of aloe or prickly pear giving +an Eastern aspect to the scenery, though the sharp +tinklings of the goat bells among the thickets of +white heath and dark myrtle scrub on the hill-sides +and the continual murmur of the waves breaking on +the rocks below, serve to remind us we are upon the +Neapolitan Riviera. Our destination at length is +reached, the roadway crossing the deep valley of the +Gurgitello with its sulphur baths, which once had a +wide reputation and are still much frequented in the +summer months by the people of Naples. Although +the sources of the springs were certainly damaged by +the earthquake of 1883, new bathing establishments +have been built, and a fair number of patients are +once more availing themselves of these beneficent +waters, which of course are warranted to heal every +bodily evil under the sun. A course of the Ischian +waters therefore applied externally and internally (so +the local doctors inform us) +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Muove i paralitici,</q></l> +<l>Spedisce gli apopletici,</l> +<l>Gli asmatici, gli asfitici,</l> +<l>Gl’ isterici, i diabetici</l> +<l>Guarisce timpanitidi,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">E scrofule e rachitidi.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Formerly the most populous and prosperous township +of the whole island, Casamicciola consists to-day +principally of a mass of shapeless ruins, together with +a number of dismal corrugated iron huts grouped +round an ugly modern church, nor can its exquisite +<pb n='286'/><anchor id='Pg286'/>views and luxuriant gardens make amends for the +settled air of melancholy which continues to brood +over this unlucky spot. Every reader will doubtless +remember the story of the terrible earthquake of +July 28th 1883, when almost without warning the +whole town, then crowded with its usual influx of +summer visitors, was overthrown and engulfed in +the space of a few seconds of time. Hotels, villas, +churches, cottages, all suffered equally, and though the +exact number of those who perished of all classes +will never be known, the most moderate accounts put +the figure as high as 3000 souls. Several English +people lost their lives in that brief but terrible +upheaval, and as many of the bodies as were +recovered from the wreckage were laid to rest in the +little cemetery outside the town, a plot of ground +overhanging the sea, and shaded by cypress and +eucalyptus trees. Many and impressive are the +stories still to be heard from the lips of the present +inhabitants, who are wont to date all events from +that fearful night of darkness and destruction, and +who all have piteous tales to tell of relations killed +and houses shattered. The English landlady of the +<hi rend='italic'>Piccola Sentinella</hi>, who herself had an almost +miraculous escape on the occasion, gave us a most +vivid and heart-rending description of how her hotel +and most of its inmates were overwhelmed on that +awful July night, and how the existing inn is literally +built upon foundations that are filled with many +unrecovered bodies of victims. It was on a dark +sultry night after the evening meal had been finished, +when the many guests of the <hi rend='italic'>Piccola Sentinella</hi> were +sitting in the public rooms or on the terrace overlooking +<pb n='287'/><anchor id='Pg287'/>the hotel gardens. In the <hi rend='italic'>salon</hi> a young Englishman, +an accomplished musician, had been playing for some +time on the piano, when suddenly and unexpectedly +he plunged into the strains of Chopin’s <hi rend='italic'>Marche +Funèbre</hi>, which had the immediate effect of scattering +his audience, since many of his listeners, not caring for +so melancholy a piece of music, deserted the room +for the garden. Lucky indeed were those persons +driven forth by the strains of Chopin’s dirge, for +a few moments later came the earthquake, when in a +trice the whole hotel was swallowed up in the yawning +chasm of the earth. Everybody inside the walls +was killed, and the body of the poor pianist was +actually discovered later amidst the wreckage, crushed +down upon the instrument which had struck the +warning notes of impending disaster. The horrors +of that night still linger vividly in the memory of the +people, and many are the terrible incidents, and many +also, we are glad to say, the acts of bravery which are +recorded of it. One elderly English lady, who owned +a small villa on the slope above the hotel, rushed at +the first suspicion of the catastrophe into the stone +archway of a window, whence she beheld the whole of +her house collapse like a castle of cards around her. +Nothing daunted by the spectacle, this gallant woman, +as soon as the shock had ceased and the clouds of +dust rising from the ruin had cleared away, left her +own dismantled home, of which nothing but the one +wall that had sheltered her remained standing, and +joined the <hi rend='italic'>parrocco</hi>, the parish priest of Casamicciola, +in the task of succouring the living and comforting +the dying. To the darkness of the night was now +added a heavy rainfall, yet the good priest and this +<pb n='288'/><anchor id='Pg288'/>noble woman traversed together the altered and +devastated scene amidst the wet and gloom on their +errand of mercy. It is some satisfaction to learn that +this piece of unselfish heroism and devotion on the +part of the priest was officially acknowledged, for the +humble curate of Casamicciola was afterwards made +a prelate by Pope Leo XIII. in recognition of his +signal services. Even to-day people are inclined to +be somewhat chary of spending any length of time +in this unfortunate spot, where the ruined streets and +shapeless mounds of earth, only too suggestive of a +latter-day Pompeii, speak so eloquently of terrible +experiences in the past and of possible dangers in the +future. Nevertheless, if one can triumph over these +gloomy feelings, Casamicciola affords a delightful +centre whence to explore the whole island, and many +are the pleasant walks to be found on the overhanging +slopes of Mont’ Epomeo, and many the boating +expeditions to be made from the Marina below the +upper town. +</p> +<anchor id="illus22"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: ON THE PICCOLA MARINA, CAPRI]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus22th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus22.jpg">ON THE PICCOLA MARINA, CAPRI</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: On the Piccola Marina, Capri</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +It is a two-mile walk through stony lanes overhung +by branches of fig and orange from Casamicciola to +Lacco, a large village well situated on a little bay +which is distinguished by a curious mushroom-shaped +rock, aptly nicknamed <q>Il Fungo</q> by the natives. +This place, which also suffered severely in the earthquake +of 1883, is the head-quarters of the straw-plaiting +industry of the island, the women and children noisily +beseeching every chance visitor to buy their wares in +the guise of baskets, hats and fans; the pretty coloured +tiles (<hi rend='italic'>mattoni</hi>), which are used with such good effect in +the churches and houses of the island, are likewise +manufactured here. Lacco is particularly associated +<pb n='289'/><anchor id='Pg289'/>with the great annual festival of St Restituta on May +17th, which is always marked by religious processions +and by universal merry-making, followed by illuminations +and fireworks at nightfall. This saint, of whom +an early mosaic portrait still exists in her ancient chapel +within the Neapolitan Cathedral, was once the patroness +of the city of Naples, but since medieval times she has +been honoured as the special guardian of this island, +whither her body (so the legend runs) was miraculously +conveyed from Egypt in a boat rowed by angels. A +local tradition also asserts that on her landing by the +beach of Lacco, an Egyptian lotus bloom was found +in the saint’s hand, as fresh as when it had been +plucked months before from the banks of the Nile. +</p> +<p> +Leaving the little bay with its sulphur-impregnated +sands, and turning inland, we proceed along a road +across an ancient lava-stream over-grown with pine +trees, wild caper and a tangle of aromatic brushwood, +to Forio, which with its white domed houses, its palm +trees, and its stately bare-footed women bearing tall +pitchers on their heads gives at first acquaintance the +full impression of an Oriental city. There is little to +be seen in Forio itself, with the exception of some fine +vestments of needlework that are preserved in the +sacristy of its principal church, but no traveller should +fail to visit its wonderfully picturesque Franciscan +monastery, a barbaric-looking pile of dazzling white +walls and cupolas set against a background of cobalt +waters, which stands outside the town on a rocky platform +jutting into the Mediterranean and is approached +by a broad flight of marble steps adorned with most +realistic figures of souls burning in brightly painted +flames of Purgatory. This point too commands a +<pb n='290'/><anchor id='Pg290'/>good view of the extreme north-eastern promontory +of the island, a tall cliff known as the Punta del +Imperatore in honour of the great Emperor Charles +the Fifth, beyond which visitors rarely penetrate owing +to the roughness, or rather non-existence of roads, +though the southern side of the island, which lies +between this cape and the castle of Ischia, is fully as +beautiful as the northern portion just described. +</p> + +<p> +The chief attraction, however, of a visit to Ischia is +the ascent of Mont’ Epomeo, an easy expedition on +foot to the active, and feasible to the weak or lazy on +mule-back. This extinct volcano, whose broad lofty +summit is visible from many points of the Bay of +Naples, is naturally rich in classical associations, the +ancients believing that within it lay imprisoned the +giant Typhoeus, whose agonised movements were wont +to cause the frequent eruptions of the crater that +eventually drove away the early Greek settlers from +this island—the Aenaria or Inarime of antiquity—and +in later times accounted for the neglect of Ischia +as a winter resort by the luxurious Romans, in spite +of its near presence to fashionable Baiae. So destructive +of life and property were these convulsions of +nature, that for long periods, notwithstanding its fertile +soil and its lucrative fisheries, the island remained +uninhabited, and an old tradition, mentioned by Ovid, +derives one of its ancient names, Pithecusa, from a +race of apes (<hi rend='italic'>pithēkoi</hi>) that dwelt on its abandoned +shores. Since the great eruption of 1302, the effects +of which can still be traced among the large pine +woods near Porto d’Ischia, the mountain has been +quiescent, and the population of the island has increased +considerably, although the constant shocks of +<pb n='291'/><anchor id='Pg291'/>earthquake have always made a permanent residence +in Ischia somewhat insecure. Nor can we rest assured +that Typhoeus himself is truly dead, not merely sleeping, +but ready to renew his fierce efforts after his long +spell of slumber, and to change the face of nature as +unexpectedly as did the Demon of Vesuvius in the +reign of Titus. +</p> + +<p> +Like the great volcano of Etna, which the Ischian +mountain somewhat resembles on a tiny scale. +Epomeo contains three distinct climatic zones. The +lowest is that of the coast line with its rich sub-tropical +vegetation, the early part of the ascent leading by steep +stony paths through sun-baked vineyards which produce +the white wine of Ischia, wholesome and light but +somewhat acid in taste. For the storing of this vintage +the peasants make use of the numerous old stone +towers, that once served as safe retreats for the terrified +inhabitants in times when the Barbary pirates frequently +descended on the Italian coasts to plunder and enslave. +Very curious it is to step out of the blinding sunlight +into the interior of one of these medieval buildings, +where in the icy gloom stand great barrels of the new +white wine, each carefully inscribed with a prayer in +praise of St Restituta, from one of which the swarthy +<hi rend='italic'>contadino</hi>, in expectation of a few pence, draws a glassful +of the sour chilly liquid to offer his visitor. Leaving +behind this region of houses and of cultivation, the +zone of forest is reached, covered with woods of chestnut +and oak, with a thick undergrowth of heather, myrtle, +laurustinus and sweet-scented yellow coronella; there +is grass under our feet, and long-stemmed daisies, +violets, mauve anemones and small fragrant marigolds +everywhere. Through the trees comes the nasal but +<pb n='292'/><anchor id='Pg292'/>not unmelodious singing of an unseen charcoal-burner, +or the plaintive note of the little goat-herd’s rustic pipe, +accompanied by the musical jingling of his goat-bells;—for +a moment we try to fancy ourselves in the pastoral +Italy of Theocritus, where nymphs and shepherds, +peasants and dryads, lived together on terms of amity +in the woods. But soon the chestnut trees appear +stunted, and the groves become less thick, and we +finally gain the last zone, the desolate expanse of naked +rock and dark lava deposits of the summit, where only +a few hardy weeds can thrive. Here in some damp +mouldy chambers dwells a hermit, for nearly all the +classic mountains of Southern Italy are tenanted by an +anchorite, generally an old and ignorant, but pious +peasant, of the type of Pietro Murrone, the holy recluse +of the Abruzzi, who was finally dragged from his cell to be +invested forcibly with the pontifical robes and tiara as +Celestine the Fifth. The present hermitage on Mont’ +Epomeo dates however from comparatively modern +times, for its first occupant is said to have been a +German nobleman, a certain Joseph Arguth, governor +of Ischia under the first Bourbon king, who in consequence +of a solemn vow made in battle deliberately +passed his last years of existence on the topmost peak +of the island he had lately ruled. His example has +been followed and his cell filled by many successors, +who have endured the spring rains, the summer heats, +the autumn storms and the winter chills upon this airy +height, where the glorious view may be found a compensation +for eternal discomfort, if hermits condescend +to appreciate anything so mundane as scenery. The +shrine and cell are dedicated to St Nicholas of Bari, +and to this circumstance is due the local uninteresting +<pb n='293'/><anchor id='Pg293'/>name of Monte San Niccolò to the entire mountain, +whose crest, some 3000 feet above sea-level, we finally +gain by means of steps roughly hewn in the lava. +</p> + +<p> +The view from this height, embracing two out of +the three historic bays of the Parthenopean coast, is +one of the noblest and most extensive in Southern +Italy. Looking southward, the fantastic cliffs of Capri +are seen to rise abruptly from the ocean; beyond them +appears the graceful outline of Monte Sant’ Angelo, +with the crater of Vesuvius beside it, veiling the clear +blue sky with volumes of dusky smoke. Beneath +extends the broken line of shore, stretching north and +south as far as the eye can travel, with its classic capes +and islands basking in the strong sunshine; whilst +behind the foam-fringed boundary of land and sea +rises the jagged line of the Abruzzi Mountains with +the huge snow-clad mass of the Gran Sasso d’Italia +towering above the lower peaks. At our feet is spread +the beautiful and fertile island, in outward appearance +little changed since the days when the good Bishop +Berkeley <q>of every virtue under Heaven</q> penned its +description nearly two centuries ago in a letter to +Alexander Pope, wherein he described Ischia as <q>an +epitome of the whole earth.</q> +</p> + +<p> +In spite of the good Bishop’s eloquent tribute to the +genial climate and the natural beauty of Ischia, it +must be borne in mind that a residence on the island +possesses one or two serious drawbacks. Apart from +the ever-present fear of earthquakes, which hangs like +the sword of Damocles above the heads of the inhabitants, +there is yet another disadvantage, prosaic +but very real, in the lack of pure water, every well +and rivulet on Ischia being more or less impregnated +<pb n='294'/><anchor id='Pg294'/>with sulphur, with the result that water for drinking +(and in summer even for domestic) purposes has to be +conveyed by boat from Naples. It is bad enough to +be dependant on a distant city for a food supply (which +is to some extent also the case here), but the possibility +of enduring a water famine through storms or misadventure +would be a far more serious calamity; +nevertheless as casual visitors to this charming and +little-known island, we can easily afford to smile at +such misfortunes.<note place="foot">A portion of this chapter has already appeared in an article by the +Author, entitled <hi rend='italic'>The Island of Ischia</hi>, in the <hi rend='italic'>Westminster Review</hi>, December +1905.</note> +</p><anchor id="illus23"/> +<pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: ISCHIA FROM CASTELLAMARE (SUNSET)]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus23th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus23.jpg">ISCHIA FROM CASTELLAMARE (SUNSET)</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: ISCHIA FROM CASTELLAMARE (SUNSET)</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +</div><div n="13" rend="page-break-before: always"> +<pb n='295'/><anchor id='Pg295'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="13: Puteoli and the Grandeur that was Rome"/> +<head>CHAPTER XIII</head> + +<head type="sub">PUTEOLI AND THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME</head> + +<p> +Passing along the noisy thronged street of the +Chiaja and plunging thence into the chill +gloomy recesses of the ancient grotto of Posilipo, +we emerge at its further side into a new world, as +it were, into a district where <q>there is scarcely a spot +which is not identified with the poetical mythology +of Greece, or associated with some name familiar in +the history of Rome.</q> In truth, the headland of +Posilipo presents a wonderful landmark in the history +of Naples, for it forms a barrier between the busy +world of to-day and the departed civilisation of the +ancients: at the latter end of this tunnel, the fierce +life and movement of a great commercial city; at its +western exit, a tract of land teeming with recollections +of the glorious past. +</p> + +<p> +As our carriage emerges once more into the warmth +and sunlight, we find ourselves in the miserable village +of Fuorigrotta, which, by a strange coincidence, is +associated with the memory of a famous Italian poet. +For if the name and verses of Sannazzaro cling to +Piedigrotta and the Parthenopean shore on the eastern +side of the hill, the genius of Count Giacomo Leopardi +sheds its melancholy radiance over the unlovely purlieus +of Fuorigrotta. Here in the vestibule of the parish +<pb n='296'/><anchor id='Pg296'/>church of San Vitale, lie the ashes of that unhappy +writer, the Shelley of Italian literature, who so bewailed +the Austrian and Bourbon fetters that enchained his +native land. Poor Leopardi! It was but eleven years +before the first great movement of the <hi rend='italic'>Risorgimento</hi> +swept over Italy in 1848 that he passed away; his +poems were indeed songs before sunrise, a sunrise of +which he failed to detect the far-off glimmering, so +that he could only lament without hope the sad +condition of his dismembered country, once the +mistress and now the play-thing of the world, and +the abject slave of hated Austria: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">O patria mia, vedo le mure e gli archi</q></l> +<l>E le colonne e i simulacri e l’ erme</l> +<l>Torri degli avi nostri,</l> +<l>Ma la gloria non vedo;</l> +<l>Non vedo il lauro e’l ferro ond’ eran carchi</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">I nostri padri antichi.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +It is a flat dusty stretch of road that lies between +Fuorigrotta and Bagnoli; the high walls give only +occasional glimpses of well-tilled <hi rend='italic'>parterres</hi>—one +cannot call these tiny patches of cultivation fields—with +thriving crops of brilliant green corn, of claret-red +clover, of purple lucerne, and of the white-flowered +<q>sad lupin,</q> which Vergil has immortalised in verse. +The round bright yellow beans of the lupin crop, known +locally by the name of <hi rend='italic'>spassa-tiempî</hi> (time-killers), +afford an article of food to the very poorest of the +population. A quaint story runs that one day an +impoverished philosopher, reduced to making his +dinner off a handful of these beans, and imagining +himself in consequence the most wretched wight in +existence, was cheered and comforted by observing +<pb n='297'/><anchor id='Pg297'/>himself followed by a still more miserable fellow-mortal, +who was engaged in picking up and eating +the husks of the beans that, <hi rend='italic'>more italiano</hi>, he had +thrown carelessly on to the pathway after their insipid +farinaceous contents had been sucked out! +</p> + +<p> +Above us to the right are the heights of Monte +Spina, covered with groves of the umbrella pine, the +typical tree of Naples; to our left extends the verdant +ridge of Posilipo, ending in Cape Coroglio, beyond +which the massive form of Nisida rises proudly from +the blue expanse of water. All the landscape shows +somewhat hard in the glare of noontide, and we find +the enveloping clouds of fine white dust very oppressive +and disagreeable. From time to time a lumbering +country cart is passed with its attendant bare-footed +peasant; otherwise there is little sign of life on the +high road. The bright sunlight flashes upon the +horse’s polished brass harness, and upon the elaborate +erection of charms placed thereon, with the avowed +object of averting the dreaded Evil Eye, that everlasting +bugbear of all dwellers upon these southern +shores. On his poor drooping head the worn-out old +steed carries a large bell with four jingling clappers +and two brazen crescents, the horns of one of which +point upwards and of the other towards the ground. +On the off-side of the headgear is a bunch of bright-coloured +ribbands or woollen tassels, from which +depends the single horn, the invaluable Neapolitan +talisman that is supposed to protect every man, +woman, child or beast, from the chance glance of +a passing <hi rend='italic'>jettatore</hi>. Above this glowing mass of +colour some three or four feathers of a pheasant’s +tail are stuck, apparently with no ulterior purpose +<pb n='298'/><anchor id='Pg298'/>than that of ornament; but beside the bunch of +ribbands there is also fixed a piece of wolf’s skin, +to give strength to the jaded animal, for, remarks +the sapient Pliny, <q>a wolf’s skin attached to a horse’s +neck will render him proof against all weariness.</q> +Personally, we should think a little more consideration +and some elementary knowledge of farriery +would have been of more service to the ill-used +beasts round Naples than the excellent Pliny’s +highly original receipt. Besides this powerful battery +of charms to intercept the <hi rend='italic'>jettatura</hi>, there is the light +brass headpiece engraved with sacred figures, so +that any evil glance must be fully absorbed, baffled +or exhausted, before it can fix itself upon the animal. +In addition however to this shining mass of headgear, +the horse carries on his back one of those +curious high pommels that are peculiar to Southern +Italy and Sicily. The front of the pommel itself is +of well-polished brass, and covered with a number of +studs, whilst at its back is fastened a miniature +barrel, upon which there stands erect the figure of +some local saint, generally that of San Gennaro. +The exact part that the barrel and the row of studs +play in this mystic battle against the Evil Eye is +unknown, but the two revolving flags of brass that +swing and creak above the pommel itself are believed +to represent <q>the flaming sword which turned every +way,</q> and finally expelled Adam and Eve from the +Garden of Eden. Certainly this shimmering metal +has the appearance of a flaming sword in the bright +sunshine, so that it ought to prove efficacious in +catching and averting any baleful glance. A second +patch of wolf skin on the crest of the pommel, and +<pb n='299'/><anchor id='Pg299'/>some red worsted wound round the spindle of the +flags complete the list of strange charms that are +considered necessary to protect a Neapolitan horse +from the pernicious influence of a casual passer-by. +</p> + +<p> +We soon reach the sea-shore at Bagnoli, a little +watering-place much frequented by Neapolitans of +the middle classes, and on looking back we obtain a +charming view of the headland of Posilipo and of +stately Nisida, the Nesis of the ancients, with its +memories of Brutus, <q>the noblest Roman of them all,</q> +who on this little island bade farewell for ever to his +devoted Portia. A very different tenant from the chaste +Portia, however, who once possessed a villa in this +sea-girt retreat during the Middle Ages, was Queen +Joanna the Second, the last member of the Durazzo +branch of the Angevin royal house, and sister and +heiress of King Ladislaus II., whose splendid monument +in San Giovanni a Carbonara is one of the chief +artistic treasures of Naples. It is of course unnecessary +here to remark that there were two Queens of Naples, +both Joanna by name, and that the first of these, the +contemporary of Petrarch (whose proper feeling she contrived +to shock) was certainly not a pattern of female +virtue, but that she shone as a moral paragon when +contrasted with her name-sake and successor, the sister +of King Ladislaus. Of this second Queen, tradition +more or less accurate relates a host of stories, none of +them to her credit; how she dabbled in necromancy +and was immersed in love intrigues, the most celebrated +of which was her amour with the handsome <q>Ser. +Gianni,</q> Giovanni Caracciolo, head of an eminent +family that has figured prominently in Neapolitan +history from the days of Angevin monarchs to those +<pb n='300'/><anchor id='Pg300'/>of King Ferdinand. Little good did the fickle Queen’s +favour do Ser. Gianni, who suffered an ignominious fate +for having one day boxed Joanna’s ears during a lovers’ +tiff. Murdered secretly by four assassins, Caracciolo’s +body was laid to rest in the family chapel in San +Giovanni a Carbonara beneath a splendid monument +which is surmounted by the luckless favourite’s +effigy. Joanna the First with all her faults was never +guilty of such light conduct as this, but the peasant +mind is always impatient of dry details of fact, so that +in the popular imagination to-day both Queens are +blended into one personage, whose character, it is needless +to say, is about as vile as can be conceived. +<q>Siccome la Regina Giovanna,</q> is a form of peasant +execration around Naples that has some historical +affinity with the time-honoured Irish <anchor id="corr300"/><corr sic="maledicton">malediction</corr> of the +<q>Curse o’ Cromwell.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Turning our backs on the island with its memories +of Portia the Perfect and of Queen Joanna the Improper, +we pursue our course along the sea-shore +with rocks of ancient lava above us to the right, +now heavily overgrown with brushwood and plants, +amongst which we notice tufts of the pretty wild +asparagus, that the observant Pliny centuries ago +found flourishing in this district. As an early herb, +coming into season long before its cultivated +cousin is fit for cutting, this succulent vegetable is +highly prized in the South, and its flavour though somewhat +bitter is most palatable, so that an omelette <hi rend='italic'>aux +pointes d’asperges sauvages</hi> is a dish not to be despised +by those who get the opportunity of testing this local +delicacy. Before us lies our goal, Pozzuoli, with its +ancient citadel jutting into the placid waters and backed +<pb n='301'/><anchor id='Pg301'/>by the classic headland of Misenum, above which in +turn towers the crest of distant Epomeo. +</p> + +<p> +Pozzuoli in recent years has been much neglected +by strangers, so much so that no inn worthy to be +called an hotel now exists, and such <hi rend='italic'>trattorie</hi> as the +place offers are all equally extortionate and detestable. +Some time ago there was a comfortable <hi rend='italic'>pension</hi> at the +edge of the town on the road to the Amphitheatre, +but its English landlady has long since migrated elsewhere, +and the comfortable <q>Hotel Grande Bretagne</q> +is no more; whilst nowadays there are to be found +no visitors hardy enough to endure a prolonged +sojourn in the wretched hostelries of the town itself. +The electric tram and the rail-road have in fact killed +Pozzuoli as a winter resort, more’s the pity, for it is +not only a spot of singular interest in itself but +its climate is certainly superior to that of Naples, for +the great headland which shuts off the city from the +Phlegrean Fields serves also to act as a buffer against +the icy <hi rend='italic'>tramontana</hi> that sweeps along the Chiaja in +winter and early spring. Invalids used at one time +to inhabit Pozzuoli on account of its mild atmosphere, +and even to visit the Solfatara daily on mule-back, in +order to inhale its sulphureous fumes, which were +then believed to be good for weak chests. But +medical fashions vary like all others, and consumptive +patients now seek other places <anchor id="corr301"/><corr sic="then">than</corr> Pozzuoli for their +cure. +</p> + +<p> +Many are the walks outside the town, and none +are without beauty or interest, for, the neighbourhood +of Syracuse excepted, we can think of no place +in Italy wherein one is brought so closely into touch +with the classical past. Nature has long clothed the +<pb n='302'/><anchor id='Pg302'/>ruined area of the ancient city with her kindly +drapery of foliage and flowers, so that the crumbling +masses of tawny brick that we come across in our +rambles are all swathed in garlands of clematis, myrtle, +honey-suckle and coronella. It is a delight to +speculate upon the original use and appearance of +these shapeless blocks of creeper-clad masonry, which +attract the eye on all sides amidst the vineyards and +orange groves, where the peasants delving in the rich +soil frequently alight upon treasures of the antique +world. What a delight it is to wander through the +Street of Tombs—alas, long rifled of their contents!—where +the gay valerian and the pink silene sprout +from every fissure of the soft tufa rock, and lizards of +unusual size and brilliancy play games of hide-and-seek +in the warm sunshine. We moderns are afraid +of graveyards and the paraphernalia of the dead: +many a stout-hearted Englishman objects to passing +through a church-yard at night; not so the pagan +Romans, who placed their cemeteries in public places +and were wont to proceed through lines of tombs as +they entered the city of the living: a very salutary +and practical reminder of the transitory nature of +life itself. The whole neighbourhood in short is +sprinkled with these memorials of Imperial Rome; +there is not an orange or lemon orchard but stands +above some forgotten villa, not an acre of tilth but +must conceal some hidden mine of classical associations. +Charming too are the walks by the sea-shore—now sadly +disfigured by the <hi rend='italic'>Cantiere Armstrong</hi>, with its smoke +and ugliness looking like a dirty smudge upon the +delicate landscape of the Bay—for here again we find +endless traces of the Imperial age. There can be no +<pb n='303'/><anchor id='Pg303'/>more fascinating employment than to wander along +the beach after one of the heavy winter storms that so +often vex the quiet of the Bay of Naples, and to +search for fragments of precious marbles that have +been spied by the waves amidst the sunken foundations +of Roman villas, and thence idly flung upon the shore. +Pieces of the choicest white Parian, squares of speckled +Egyptian porphyry, of <hi rend='italic'>verde</hi>, <hi rend='italic'>rosso</hi> and <hi rend='italic'>giallo antico</hi>, of +the coal-black <hi rend='italic'>Africano</hi>, all wet and glistening from +the waves, can be picked up by the quick-sighted, and +the gathering of these beautiful trifles, cut and polished +by skilled hands nearly two thousand years ago, makes +an interesting occupation. Nor is its classical lore +the only feature of the Bay of Baiae, for though its +actual scenery cannot compare with the grandeur of +Capri nor its vegetation with the rich luxuriance of +Sorrento, yet these shores have a quiet beauty of their +own. Vine, olive and almond abound on all sides, +and everywhere we see the groves of orange and +lemon that in spring time scent the air with their perfumed +blossoms. And in the early months of the +year every patch of warm-coloured, up-turned earth is +gay with sheets of that beautiful but rapacious weed, +hated of the peasant, the oxalis, with its clusters of +pale yellow flowers: a species of sorrel that is allied +to our own white-blossomed variety. From many a +point on the little ridges that rise behind Pozzuoli +magnificent views can be obtained, whilst to those who +care to study the scientific results of volcanic action +the Phlegraean Fields afford endless occupation and +interest. Every one of course visits the Solfatara, that +curious semi-extinct crater, the <hi rend='italic'>Forum Vulcani</hi> of +Strabo, which has remained for over seven hundred +<pb n='304'/><anchor id='Pg304'/>years in its present condition of languor. A strange +experience it is to enter the heart of a volcano that is +still comparatively active, and to observe woods of +poplar and a large pine tree beneath which grow +masses of spring flowers—bright blue bugloss, the +crimson vetch, starch hyacinths, purple self-heal, and +golden spurge—and to pass from these thickets on to +a space of bare white-coloured ground that trembles +and sways under the feet like a sheet of insecure ice. +Beyond, one sees the little fissures (<hi rend='italic'>fumaroli</hi>) emitting +fumes of sulphur, and the guides take us to stifling +caverns in the hill-side where we are shown the +beautiful primrose-coloured crystals. The Solfatara, +the Amphitheatre and the Temple of Serapis, these +are the recognised <q>sights</q> of Pozzuoli, which strangers +visit to-day in the space of an hour or two, and then +return to Naples comforted with the feeling that they +have exhausted the attractions of the place. Certainly +their reception in the town is not likely to +inspire them with a wish to return, for the guides and +touts swarm here more than in any other spot in +Italy; <q>until he has spent half an hour in Pozzuoli,</q> +says the author of <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi>, <q>let no man say that +he understands the signification of the verb to pester.</q> +</p> + +<p> +Putting aside even the objectionable habits of so +many of its citizens, it cannot be said that the town +itself of Pozzuoli to-day is particularly attractive, +although its situation on the Bay of Baiae is charming +and its quays are full of picturesque life and movement. +Lines of irregular yellow-washed buildings, +with faded green <hi rend='italic'>persiani</hi> and balconies draped +with the domestic washing, with here and there a +domed rococo church, look down upon the clear +tide<pb n='305'/><anchor id='Pg305'/>less waters that gently lap the ancient stone-work of +the Mole, whilst a mixed crowd of fishermen with +bare bronzed limbs, of chattering women with gay +handkerchiefs tied over their thick black hair, and of +blue uniformed dapper little customs officers,—<hi rend='italic'>lupi +marini</hi> (wolves of the sea) as the poor people facetiously +term these revenue officials of the coast—loiter +in the sunlight amidst the piles of tawny fishing nets +or the pyramids of golden oranges. From the quay +we make our way to the Largo del Municipio, a +typical square of a provincial town in the South, +enclosed by shabby houses and adorned by a couple +of stunted date-palms and a battered marble fountain, +around which numberless children and some slatternly +women noisily converse or dispute. There is an old +proverb in the South, that a good housewife has no +need to know any thoroughfares save those leading to +her church and her fountain, and as conversation cannot +well be carried on in the former, it is the daily +visits to the well that usually afford the required +opportunity for exchange of gossip or for the picking +of quarrels. Two statues decorate this unlovely but +not uninteresting space; one is that of a Spanish bishop, +Leon y Cardeñas, one of King Philip the Third’s +viceroys, which serves as a reminder of the many +vicissitudes this classic land has experienced in the +course of history:—Phoenician, Greek, Carthaginian, +Roman, Barbarian, Norman, German, French, Spanish +conquerors have all left <q>footprints on the sands of +Time</q> in the coveted land of the Siren, which all have +possessed in turn but none have held in perpetuity. +His Excellency the Bishop Cardeñas stands therefore +in the open as a solid memento of the glory that once +<pb n='306'/><anchor id='Pg306'/>was Spain, when half Europe and all America owned +the sway of the Catholic King. The second statue, +though not a thing of beauty, has always had the +attraction of an unsolved puzzle, for we cannot +decide whether it proves a complete absence or an +abundant superfluity of humour in the Puteolani of +to-day. It is the figure of a Roman senator, vested +in his flowing toga, and owning (as the ancient inscription +informs us) the grandiose name of Quintus Flavius +Mavortius Lollianus, whose marble trunk was one of +the earliest archaeological <q>finds</q> made in the +excavations at Pozzuoli some two hundred years ago. +Since the statue lacked a head and was otherwise of +no especial value as a work of art, the Viceroy of +Naples very generously presented this object to the +place of its discovery, whose citizens, doubtless +thinking the appearance of the headless statue uncanny, +popped a stray antique occiput (of which a goodly +number, more or less mutilated, are constantly brought +to light by the peasants) upon Lollianus’ vacant +shoulders. Anything more comical and at the same +time more repellent than this hybrid statue it would be +impossible to imagine, yet Lollianus of the unknown +head remains a favourite with the people of Pozzuoli. +Leaving the Largo del Municipio, with its weird senator +and its dusty palms, we ascend by a zigzag lane +between tall featureless houses to the Cathedral of +San Proculo, which occupies the site of a temple of +Augustus, that once dominated the ancient city and +harbour below. Within, the cathedral of Proculus, +who was a companion of St Januarius and a fellow-martyr, +is gaudy and painted, one of those dismally +gorgeous ecclesiastical interiors that are such a +dis<pb n='307'/><anchor id='Pg307'/>appointment to the antiquarian in Southern Italy. In +opposition to the memorial of Spanish conquest in +the square below, we find here an elaborate monument +to a French viceroy, the Duke of Montpensier, who +served for some time as Governor of Naples after +Charles VIII.’s capture of the city. Except the tomb +of the young musician Pergolese, who composed the +original <hi rend='italic'>Stabat Mater</hi> there is little else to see, and we +gladly ascend the tower in order to gain a bird’s eye +view of the town from a point of vantage whither +noisy coachmen, troublesome beggars and impudent +ragamuffins cannot pursue. Captured by the Greek +colonists of Cumae, who gave the city the name of +Dicoearchia instead of its ancient one of Puteoli,—a +corruption, perhaps, of the Syriac word <hi rend='italic'>petuli</hi> (contention)—this +old Hellenic settlement was rechristened +Puteoli by the conquering Romans, under whose +beneficent rule the place rapidly aspired to wealth and +prosperity. With the rise however of Naples, the +fame of Puteoli began to grow dim, and its importance +to decline, although throughout Imperial times it ranked +after Ostia as the chief victualling port of Rome. And +of the two celebrated cities which adorned the shores +of this Bay in classical times, Puteoli was the seat of +commerce, and Baiae the resort of pleasure and luxury; +yet both were doomed to dwindle and almost perish in +the disastrous years that followed the break-up of the +Empire. The invading hordes of Germany, the raids +of Saracen pirates, and the constant presence of +malaria on this deserted coast were sufficient causes in +themselves to reduce in the course of time the thriving +port of Puteoli to the squalid town of to-day. From +our lofty post we can easily distinguish the limits of +<pb n='308'/><anchor id='Pg308'/>the city in the days of Tiberius and Caligula, for to +the north we turn our faces towards the ruined bulk +of the Amphitheatre, now lying amidst fields and +gardens, but well within the town walls at the time +when Nero entertained the Armenian king Tiridates +and shocked his Asiatic guest by himself descending +into the arena and deftly performing the usual disgusting +feats of a professional gladiator. To westward +lies the Bay of Baiae, a semi-circle of glittering water +surrounded by low hills amidst which the Monte +Nuovo, unknown to the ancients, stands conspicuous. +How completely have all traces of splendour and +extravagance disappeared from these shores! At +fashionable Baiae across the Bay there is nothing visible +save a few shapeless ruins over the identity of which +scholars dispute; at busy Puteoli there survive to-day +but the ruined Amphitheatre, the Temple of Serapis, +and the arches of the famous Mole, to prove to +wondering posterity how great were the wealth, the +population and the magnificence of a spot which is +closely associated with all the power and culture of +the Roman Empire in its zenith. +</p><anchor id="illus24"/> + <pgIf output='txt'><then> + <p rend="margin-left: 2; margin-right: 2">[Illustration: ON THE BEACH]</p> +</then><else> + <p><figure url="images/illus24th.jpg"><head rend="small"><xref url="images/illus24.jpg">ON THE BEACH</xref></head><figDesc>Illustration: ON THE BEACH</figDesc></figure></p> +</else></pgIf> +<p> +Of the various fragments of antiquity that are still +standing in this district of the Phlegrean Fields, the +Mole of Puteoli is undoubtedly the best preserved and +the most interesting. So splendidly constructed is +this relic of the past, that but for continuous shocks of +earthquake the whole breakwater must have survived +intact; as it is, more than half the Mole has withstood +the wear and tear of centuries of wind and storm. It +is built on the model of a Greek pier, a series of arches +of massive masonry, acting at once as a barrier against +the force of the invading waves and as a means of +<pb n='309'/><anchor id='Pg309'/>preventing the silting of the sand. Formed of brick, +faced with stone, and cemented with the local volcanic +sand, which is consequently known as <hi rend='italic'>puzzolana</hi>, this +wonderful breakwater must originally have stretched +out into the Bay a total length of twenty-five arches, +its furthest extremity being crowned by a light-house. +If we could only call up in imagination the Bay of +Baiae in the days of the Empire, when its shores were +fringed by sumptuous villas of famous or infamous +Romans and its expanse was thickly covered with +every variety of vessel of pleasure or merchandise, +instead of the few fishing boats that now and again +flit across its glassy surface, we might better be able +to realise the extraordinary episode which is connected +with this classical fragment in the little port of +Pozzuoli below us. For it was from the Mole of +Puteoli to the spit of land we see on the western +shore opposite that the demented tyrant, Caius Caligula, +constructed his historic bridge of boats across the +Baiaean gulf. Every large vessel in the surrounding +harbours had been pressed into the service of the +Emperor for this gigantic piece of folly, so that the +inhabitants of Rome were seriously inconvenienced by +the detention of their corn ships, and loud in consequence +were the complaints of the Roman populace, +for whose anger, it is needless to state, the Emperor +cared not a fig. <q>History,</q> says Gibbon, <q>is but a +record of the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind;</q> +and this smiling Bay of Baiae will ever be +memorable as the scene of what was perhaps the worst +exhibition of tyrannical caprice that the world has yet +witnessed. +</p> + +<p> +Using a double line of vessels well yoked +to<pb n='310'/><anchor id='Pg310'/>gether as a compact and solid base, the Emperor +now gave orders for a military road of the usual +Roman type to be constructed of planks of timber +covered with earth and paved with hewn stones. +When this stupendous work was completed, the usual +station-houses were erected at various intervals, and +fresh water was laid on by means of pipes connected +with the Imperial cisterns at Misenum. Upon this +broad road, laid across the Baiaean Gulf, the young +Emperor now advanced on horseback, followed by his +whole army clad in array of battle. Caligula on this +occasion wore a historic coat of armour studded with +rare gems that had once belonged to Alexander the +Great; a jewelled sword was fastened to his thigh, +and a crown of oak leaves bound his temples. +Solemnly the Emperor and his army crossed the +broad expanse of water on dry land and entered +Puteoli with mock honours of war. After remaining +a day in the port to refresh his victorious troops, the +Emperor was driven back in a splendidly equipped +chariot, which was surrounded by a number of +pretended captives of rank, some noble Parthian +hostages being utilised for the occasion. At the +centre of the bridge the procession halted, and the +crazy prince next indulged in an absurd bombastic +harangue, wherein he congratulated his soldiers on +their glorious campaign just concluded, and declared +to them that the famous feats of Xerxes and Darius +had at length been surpassed. Finally, he invited his +troops to a magnificent banquet upon this bridge of +boats, an entertainment which lasted till far into the +night and was accompanied by lavish illuminations by +land and sea. As might only have been expected, +<pb n='311'/><anchor id='Pg311'/>the feast soon degenerated into a drunken orgy, +wherein every guest from the Master of the Roman +world to his meanest soldier became intoxicated, +whilst many persons in their cups lost their balance +and fell into the waters, so that the sounds of music and +revelry throughout the midnight hours were mingled +with groans and cries of drowning men close at hand. +</p> + +<p> +Apart from its senseless extravagance and innate +folly, the story of the bridging of the Baiaean Gulf, of +this harnessing of old Ocean, affects us moderns with +astonishment at the extraordinary thoroughness of all +the ancient Roman feats of engineering; had this +high road across the Bay been intended to serve any +useful purpose, instead of merely to satisfy the passing +whim of a selfish tyrant, we could have had no choice +but to admire the marvellous speed of the artificers +and the completeness of the scheme undertaken. +</p> + +<p> +Quarter of a century later, and the Mole of Puteoli +was destined to become the scene of another event in +the world’s history, which has left a far more enduring +impression on mankind than the so-called miracle of +Caligula. In the early spring of the year 62 <hi rend='small'>A.D.</hi> +there dropped anchor in the port a certain Alexandrian +corn-ship, the <hi rend='italic'>Castor <anchor id="corr311"/><corr sic="aud">and</corr> Pollux</hi>, coming from Malta +after touching at Syracuse and Rhegium (Reggio) on +her way northward. Unnoticed amidst the vast +phalanx of shipping that lined the Mole and filled the +broad harbour of Puteoli, the vessel emptied her cargo +on the quay, whilst there also disembarked from her +hold a number of prisoners of no great social consequence, +who were on their way to Rome under the +guardianship of a kindly old centurion, named Julius, +belonging to the cohort <hi rend='italic'>Prima Augusta Italica</hi>. +<pb n='312'/><anchor id='Pg312'/>Amongst the persons under Julius’ charge was a Jew +named Paul, who was accompanied by three of his +friends, Timothy, Luke and Aristarchus of Thessalonica, +and all four, thanks to the kindness of the centurion, +who was evidently much attached to his exemplary +captive, were permitted to remain at this spot for seven +days. Paul himself was anxious to tarry at this spot, +for of all the Italian ports Puteoli was most frequented +by men of his own nation, so that the city possessed +its little community of Christians, who naturally were +eager to detain the Apostle. So hopelessly intermingled +are truth, tradition and legend concerning the +various places on Italian soil that St Paul is known to +have visited, that we cannot be too grateful for the +undoubted link with his journey to Rome that we +possess in the existing Mole of Puteoli, whose surface +has undoubtedly been trodden by the sandalled feet of +the great Apostle of the West. Here Paul landed +amid the haughty scenes of Roman pride and power; +above him he saw the pagan Temple of Augustus, all +gleaming with marble and gilded bronze that were +mirrored in the calm waters of the port: along this +famous causeway he passed, unmarked by the busy +crowd, except perhaps to be mocked by some idler for +his nationality or his halting speech. Guided by +Christian compatriots, the Apostle with his three faithful +friends was led through the noisy jostling concourse +of all countries that thronged the great Roman city to +the humble dwelling of his host. Where he lodged in +that mighty city we know not, but we do know for a +certain fact that he landed on the Mole, and that he +passed along it to the shore; it is not much, perhaps, +but that little is very precious. +</p> + +<pb n='313'/><anchor id='Pg313'/> + +<p> +What a contrast do these two incidents connected +with the Mole of Puteoli afford! The Roman +Emperor, glittering like the morning star in purple +mantle and jewelled cuirass, riding on his charger +across the solid road that to humour his own caprice +had been flung across the buoyant waters, accompanied +by soldiery, by music, and by bands of wealthy sycophants; +and the Apostle, poor, in bonds, a despised +prisoner in an alien land, meekly threading his way +through the crowds towards his mean lodging. Where +is the proud Temple of Augustus that beheld these two +strange scenes, that occurred with no great interval of +time apart? Where are the villas and quays that +lined the Bay of Baiae? The very ruins of the palaces +and warehouses are swept away; the gorgeous temple +is a Christian Cathedral dedicated to a follower of the +despised Jewish captive; the name of Caligula lives +but in human execration, whilst that of the Apostle is +enshrined in the hearts of the whole Christian world. +</p> +<p rend="center; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em">* * * * * *</p> +<p> +It is but a three-mile walk along the beach from +Pozzuoli to Baiae, passing beside the Lucrine Lake and +the southern slope of the Monte Nuovo, which always +seems to us a far more wonderful freak of Nature than +the Solfatara. Here we have a miniature mountain, a +mile and a half round its base and nearly five hundred +feet high, that was made in the course of a single night, +and is to-day less than four hundred years old! The +presence of this brand-new intruder on the shore of the +Baiaean Gulf must ever remain a wholesome warning to +all dwellers on these coasts, that their tenure of King +Pluto’s dominions is very insecure. One morning +towards the close of September 1538, after some days +<pb n='314'/><anchor id='Pg314'/>of earthquake shocks, <q>Pozzuoli awoke,</q> says the +flippant Alexandre Dumas, <q>and on looking about +did not recognise herself! She had left a lake the +evening before, and lo! she found a mountain; where +she had owned a forest, she found ashes; and last +of all, where she had left a village, she perceived no +trace!</q> +</p> + +<p> +In one sense Dumas’ facetious description is correct: +the New Mountain was born with extraordinary celerity, +and woods, lake and village—familiar and beloved landmarks +to the people of Baiae and Pozzuoli—disappeared +at its birth. But the event was no peaceful act of +Nature; on the contrary, it was accompanied by loud +rumblings, by showers of red-hot stones, by clouds of +smoke, by torrents of scalding water, and by the retreating +of the sea, which left thousands of fish lying helpless +on the exposed shore. The village of Tripergola, a +summer pleasaunce of the Angevin kings of Naples, +and many traces of ancient Roman villas and engineering +works, all perished in this notable cataclysm. +Four eye-witnesses have left us details of this strange +scene of desolation, whilst only a few days after Mother +Earth had brought forth this new mountain, one of +them, the Spanish Viceroy of Naples, the valiant Don +Pedro of Toledo, owned sufficient pluck and curiosity +to make the ascent of the Monte Nuovo, still smoking +hot and reeking of sulphur. Who can tell when this +<hi rend='italic'>parvenu</hi> volcano may spout forth fire and ashes? Would +any sane person have the courage ever to settle within +range of a possible eruption? No, the Phlegrean fields +are interesting to visit, but he must require a strong +nerve who would fain dwell beneath the shadow of this +dormant crater. +</p> + +<pb n='315'/><anchor id='Pg315'/> + +<p> +It is a very short walk from the base of the Monte +Nuovo to the <q>golden shores</q> of Imperial Baiae, which +is certainly not an imposing place in these days. +What with the destroying hand of time and the still +more obliterating action of the neighbouring volcano, +there is little left for the fancy to build upon; certainly +the three ruined shells that are called temples by +courtesy, but served probably a much humbler purpose +than that of worship, are not particularly striking. It +requires not only a good classical knowledge, but also +no small amount of imagination to picture the Baiae of +the Roman poets. +</p> + +<p> +<q>If Pozzuoli has gone down in the world, still more +so Baiae. It does not require any more sinking; it is +low enough as it is, so low that some of its ancient villas +and palaces can only be visited in a diving-bell. So +dreary and deserted is the site, that at first glance the +visitor feels mightily inclined to question the veracity +of the historian, and to doubt whether Baiae—Baiae +the gay, the fashionable, the dissolute, the beloved of +emperors, statesmen and poets—ever existed. But +when he is shown the enormous sub-structures lying +under water, and the masses of solid masonry wherewith +the surrounding hills are over-spread, incredulity gives +place to amazement. What towns of lath and plaster +are Brighton, Newport and Trouville, when compared +with this <q>Rome by the sea,</q> where the materials used +for the foundations of a single villa would more than +suffice for the construction of a dozen <q>genteel marine +residences</q> of the modern style! What would a +Roman architect think of the card-board streets and +squares, and the stucco crescents and terraces, of an +English watering-place? of those <q>eligible family +<pb n='316'/><anchor id='Pg316'/>mansions</q> wherein dancing is dangerous, and to venture +on whose balconies is perilous in the extreme? Echo +answers: <q>What!</q></q><note place="foot">W. J. A. Stamer: <hi rend='italic'>Dolce Napoli</hi>.</note> +</p> + +<p> +Here on this desolate strip of sea-shore, now +dominated by the Spanish viceroy’s frowning fortress +on the hill above, the great and opulent of ancient +Rome founded a city composed wholly of palaces. +Here were no noisy market-places to annoy aristocratic +nerves; no slums to afflict plutocratic nostrils; +no families of the proletariat to disturb the refined +senses of the jaded pleasure-seekers who retired hither +in the winter months. A writer, from whom we have +just quoted, makes comparison between Baiae and +Brighton or Trouville; but in reality the fashionable +American resort of Newport has more in common +with the old classical watering-place than any modern +European sea-side resort. The hot sulphur baths on +the Lucrine shore formed of course only a shallow +excuse for the annual migration of Roman fashionables +to Baiae, where blue-blooded senators and +pushing plutocrats indulged in fierce social struggles +for individual pre-eminence. Yet certain of the +natural warm springs had been enclosed in splendid +buildings, and were used by the luxurious citizens, so +that even to-day the Thermae of Nero (Stufe di +Nerone) are pointed out by the local guides. <q>Quid +Nerone pejus? Quid thermis melius Neronianis?</q> +(what is worse than Nero? yet what more beneficent +than his baths?) asks the poet Martial, whose name +will ever be bound up with the tales of luxury and +vice that are associated with this spot. Baiae in +winter, Tibur (Tivoli) in summer, the two names stand +<pb n='317'/><anchor id='Pg317'/>for the beau-ideal of a Roman existence, the cynosure +of every wealthy citizen. +</p> + +<p> +But let us ascend out of the close and enervating air +of low-lying Baiae to the breezy heights of Misenum, +which has immortalised the name of the Trojan +trumpeter whose end was mourned by the tears of +pious Aeneas himself. In gaining its summit and in +gazing upon the landscape spread around us, we have +penetrated, so it seems, into the very heart of Italy: +not the Italy of Roman history, but the land of +Ausonia itself, the fabled shore that the Trojan hero +sailed at his goddess-mother’s bidding to discover, +when all the world was young and the high dwellers +of Olympus still condescended to take a personal +interest in the affairs of favourite mortals. Surely +the vine-clad terraces of Lake Avernus, the pools of +the Lucrine and the Mare Morto, the verdure-clad +hillocks lying beneath us must conceal the true secret +of the antique Tyrrhenian country, in whose history +the rise and fall of Roman power afford but one +amongst many epochs. Looking to northward, +beyond the little landing-stage of Torregaveta, we +behold the heights of Cumae, that was a flourishing +city with harbour and citadel hundreds of years before +a certain Romulus built a wall of mud near the banks +of Tiber and slew his brother Remus for leaping over +his handiwork. The founding of Rome is enveloped +in impenetrable clouds of legend; the building of +Cumae is a fact:—here then we obtain a key to +Italian history. Rome, whose origin is lost in mists +of obscurity, is a flourishing modern capital; Cumae +is but a shapeless mass of crumbling ruins, overgrown +with ivy and cytizus, and inhabited by lizards and +<pb n='318'/><anchor id='Pg318'/>serpents. But both cities, dead Cumae and living +Rome, present but passing events in the long slow +progress of the centuries, which have witnessed successive +phases of civilisation and destruction in this +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Woman-country, wooed, not won,</q></l> +<l>Loved all the more by Earth’s male lands,</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'><q rend="pre: none">Laid to their hearts instead.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +Is the Genius of Italy, the Sibyl of Cumae, still +living, we wonder, in some dim recess, some secret +cavern of Cimmerian gloom, beneath those decaying +heaps of the ancient Greek city? She was old, very +old, we know, when pious Aeneas found her shrieking +her strange prophecies, and that was long ages before +Hellenic wanderers raised a fortress upon the wooded +heights above the dread lake of Avernus.—Venerable +Mother of Italy! dost thou still survive muttering thy +strange warnings in some sunless labyrinth, that the +rapacious guides of Baiae have yet failed to penetrate? +Art thou, like King Arthur of romantic Wales, still +keeping watch over the destiny of thy country, ever +ready to assist in the hour of need? +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Thy cave was stored with scrolls of strange device,</q></l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>The work of some Saturnian Archimage,</l> +<l>Which taught the expiations at whose price</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>Men from the gods might win that happy age</l> +<l>Too lightly lost, redeeming native vice;</l> +<l rend='margin-left: 3'>And which might quench the earth-consuming rage</l> +<l>Of gold and blood—till men should live and move</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Harmonious as the sacred stars above.</q></l> +</lg> + +<p> +For Italy has not wholly forgotten her ancient +guardian and soothsayer, who welcomed the founder of +the victorious Roman race; nor did the artists of the +revived glories of the Renaissance neglect to honour +<pb n='319'/><anchor id='Pg319'/>the mysterious priestess of the Cimmerian shore. +With prophetic mien the Sibyl of Cumae, that +Michelangelo depicted, watches ever the come-and-go +of humanity from her lofty post within Pope +Sixtus’ Chapel, bidding all remember her ancient +prophecy of the Judgment Day, which the Roman +Church has included in one of its most solemn +canticles: +</p> + +<lg> +<l><q rend="post: none">Dies Irae! Dies illa!</q></l> +<l>Solvet saeclum in favilla,</l> +<l><q rend="pre: none">Teste David cum Sibylla.</q></l> +</lg> + +<pb n='320'/><anchor id='Pg320'/> +</div></body> + <back><div rend="page-break-before: right"> +<pb n='321'/><anchor id='Pg321'/> +<index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="Index"/> +<head>INDEX</head> + +<list> +<item>Abbondanza, Via dell’, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref></item> + +<item>Abruzzi Mountains, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg122">122</ref>, <ref target="Pg222">222</ref></item> + +<item>Acre, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref></item> + +<item>Adrian IV., Pope, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> + +<item>Agerola, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref></item> + +<item>Agropoli, <ref target="Pg209">209</ref></item> + +<item>Alberada, <ref target="Pg181">181</ref></item> + +<item>Albergo Cappuccini, <ref target="Pg128">128</ref></item> + +<item>Alcubier, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref></item> + +<item>Aleppo, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Alexander of Epirus, <ref target="Pg206">206</ref></item> + +<item>Alexandria, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Alexius, Emperor, <ref target="Pg179">179</ref></item> + +<item>Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, <ref target="Pg242">242</ref></item> + +<item>Algiers, <ref target="Pg056">56</ref></item> + +<item>Alphonso V. of Naples, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item>Amalfi, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>, <ref target="Pg126">126</ref></item> + +<item>Ana-Capri, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref>, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref>, <ref target="Pg271">271</ref></item> + +<item>Angelo, Monte S., <ref target="Pg028">28</ref>, <ref target="Pg030">30</ref>, <ref target="Pg063">63</ref>, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref></item> + +<item>Annunziata, Torre, <ref target="Pg019">19</ref>, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref></item> + +<item>Aosta, Duke and Duchess of, <ref target="Pg093">93</ref>, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref></item> + +<item>Appian Way, <ref target="Pg062">62</ref></item> + +<item>Apulia, <ref target="Pg181">181</ref></item> + +<item>—— William of, <ref target="Pg135">135</ref></item> + +<item>Arabia, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref></item> + +<item>Arco, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref></item> + +<item>Arguth, Joseph, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref></item> + +<item>Ariosto, Ludovico, <ref target="Pg239">239</ref></item> + +<item>Aristarchus, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref></item> + +<item>Arno, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Arnold of Brescia, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> + +<item>Arriengo, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref></item> + +<item>Arthur, King, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref></item> + +<item>Athens, <ref target="Pg028">28</ref>, <ref target="Pg039">39</ref>, <ref target="Pg058">58</ref></item> + +<item>Atrani, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref></item> + +<item>Atrio del Cavallo, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref></item> + +<item>Augustus, Emperor, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>, <ref target="Pg069">69</ref></item> + +<item>—— Temple of, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref></item> + +<item>Aulus Vettius, Corvina, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref></item> + +<item>—— —— Restitutus, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref>, <ref target="Pg055">55</ref></item> + +<item>Ausonius, <ref target="Pg208">208</ref></item> + +<item>Avicenna, <ref target="Pg177">177</ref></item> + +<item>Avvocata, Madonna dell’, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref></item> + +</list><list> + +<item>Baghdad, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Bagnoli, <ref target="Pg296">296</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Baiæ">Baiae</corr>, <ref target="Pg253">253</ref>, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref></item> + +<item>Bajalardo, Pietro, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref></item> + +<item>Barbary, <ref target="Pg209">209</ref></item> + +<item>Barisanus of Trani, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref></item> + +<item>Barra, La, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref></item> + +<item>Battipaglia, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref></item> + +<item>Bembo, Cardinal, <ref target="Pg282">282</ref></item> + +<item>Benevento, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref></item> + +<item>Bergamo, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref></item> + +<item>Berkeley, Bishop, <ref target="Pg293">293</ref></item> + +<item>Bismarck, <ref target="Pg186">186</ref></item> + +<item>Boccaccio, <ref target="Pg137">137</ref>, <ref target="Pg157">157</ref></item> + +<item>Bohemond, <ref target="Pg179">179</ref></item> + +<item>Bomba, King, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref>, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>, <ref target="Pg284">284</ref></item> + +<item>Bosco-Trecase, <ref target="Pg092">92</ref>, <ref target="Pg097">97</ref></item> + +<item>Bowdler, Mr, <ref target="Pg081">81</ref></item> + +<item>Braccini, Abate, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref></item> + +<item>Breakspear, Nicholas, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> + +<item>Browning, R., <ref target="Pg033">33</ref>, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg183">183</ref></item> + +<item>Brunetto Latini, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Butomilea, Landolfo, <ref target="Pg182">182</ref></item> + +<item>Byzantium, <ref target="Pg118">118</ref>, <ref target="Pg142">142</ref></item> + +</list><list> + +<item><corr sic="Cæcilius">Caecilius</corr> Jucundus, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +<item>Cairo, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Caligula, Emperor, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref></item> + +<item>Camaldoli, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref></item> + +<item>Campagna Felice, <ref target="Pg066">66</ref></item> + +<item>Campanella, Punta della, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref></item> + +<item>Canneto, <ref target="Pg132">132</ref>, <ref target="Pg140">140</ref></item> + +<item>Canossa, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref>, <ref target="Pg186">186</ref></item> + +<pb n='322'/><anchor id='Pg322'/> + +<item>Capaccio, <ref target="Pg209">209</ref>, <ref target="Pg262">262</ref></item> +<item>Capodimonte, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Capri, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref>, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>, <ref target="Pg045">45</ref>, <ref target="Pg063">63</ref>, <ref target="Pg074">74</ref>, <ref target="Pg090">90</ref>, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref></item> + +<item>Capua, <ref target="Pg066">66</ref></item> + +<item>Capuano, Cardinal Pietro, <ref target="Pg126">126</ref>, <ref target="Pg143">143</ref></item> + +<item>Caracciolo, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Cardenas">Cardeñas</corr>, Bishop, <ref target="Pg305">305</ref></item> + +<item>Cariteo, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item><q>Carlo il Zoppo,</q> <ref target="Pg102">102</ref>, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref>, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Carmine, Church of the, <ref target="Pg105">105</ref></item> + +<item>Casamicciola, <ref target="Pg284">284</ref></item> + +<item>Casa Nuova, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref></item> + +<item>Castellamare, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>, <ref target="Pg025">25</ref>, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref>, <ref target="Pg113">113</ref></item> + +<item><hi rend='italic'>Castor and Pollux, The</hi>, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref></item> + +<item>Cathay, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> + +<item>Cava, La, <ref target="Pg113">113</ref></item> + +<item>Celestine V., Pope, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref></item> + +<item>Cellini, Benvenuto, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref></item> + +<item>Cephalonia, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref></item> + +<item>Cerrato, Monte, <ref target="Pg168">168</ref></item> + +<item>Cetara, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref>, <ref target="Pg170">170</ref></item> + +<item>Chalcidicum, <ref target="Pg049">49</ref></item> + +<item>Charles III. of Naples, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref></item> + +<item>—— VIII. of France, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref></item> + +<item>—— of Anjou, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref>, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref>, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref></item> + +<item>Chiabrera, <ref target="Pg089">89</ref></item> + +<item>Chiaja, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Chiosse, Monte di, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref></item> + +<item>Cicero, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +<item>Clement VIII., Pope, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref></item> + +<item>Clementia, Princess, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref></item> + +<item>Clodius Glabrus, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref></item> + +<item>Cluny, <ref target="Pg184">184</ref></item> + +<item>Colonna, Giuliano, <ref target="Pg104">104</ref></item> + +<item>—— Vittoria, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item>Conca, Capo di, <ref target="Pg125">125</ref></item> + +<item>Concordia Augusta, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref></item> + +<item>Conradin, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> + +<item>Constantinople, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref></item> + +<item>Coppola, Monte, <ref target="Pg028">28</ref>, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref></item> + +<item>Corniche Road, <ref target="Pg100">100</ref></item> + +<item>Costantinopoli, Strada, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Crassus, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Cumæ">Cumae</corr>, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref>, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Damecuta, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref></item> + +<item>Dante, <ref target="Pg120">120</ref>, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref>, <ref target="Pg239">239</ref>, <ref target="Pg278">278</ref></item> + +<item>Devonshire, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref></item> + +<item>Domenichino, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref></item> + +<item>Domitiana, Via, <ref target="Pg062">62</ref></item> + +<item>Dragone, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref></item> + +<item>Dumas, A., <ref target="Pg009">9</ref>, <ref target="Pg314">314</ref></item> + +<item>Durazzo, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Eboli, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref></item> + +<item>Elbœuf, Prince d’, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref></item> + +<item>Epidius Rufus, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +<item>Epirus, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref></item> + +<item>Etna, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref>, <ref target="Pg291">291</ref></item> + +<item>Eumachia, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref>, <ref target="Pg049">49</ref></item> + +<item>Exeter, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Faito, Monte, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref></item> + +<item>Falerio, Monte, <ref target="Pg170">170</ref></item> + +<item>Faliero, Marino, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref></item> + +<item>Farnese, Elizabeth, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref></item> + +<item>—— Pier-Luigi, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref></item> + +<item>Ferdinand, King, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref>, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item>Ferrara, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>, <ref target="Pg248">248</ref></item> + +<item>Filangieri, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref></item> + +<item>Fiorelli, Signor, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref></item> + +<item>Florence, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>, <ref target="Pg132">132</ref>, <ref target="Pg148">148</ref></item> + +<item>Florus, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref></item> + +<item>Forio, <ref target="Pg289">289</ref></item> + +<item>Forsyth, J., <ref target="Pg181">181</ref></item> + +<item>Francis, King, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref></item> + +<item>Frederick II., Emperor, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>, <ref target="Pg210">210</ref></item> + +<item>Fuga, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref></item> + +<item>Fuorigrotta, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref></item> + +<item>Furore, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Gaeta, <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref></item> + +<item>—— Bay of, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref></item> + +<item>Galen, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>, <ref target="Pg177">177</ref></item> + +<item>Garibaldi, <ref target="Pg006">6</ref></item> + +<item>Gaurus, Mons, <ref target="Pg057">57</ref>, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref></item> + +<item>Gavinius, <ref target="Pg208">208</ref></item> + +<item>Gazola, Count, <ref target="Pg211">211</ref></item> + +<item>Gell, Sir William, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref></item> + +<item>Genoa, <ref target="Pg157">157</ref></item> + +<item>Gibbon, Edward, <ref target="Pg175">175</ref>, <ref target="Pg309">309</ref></item> + +<item>Gioja, Flavio, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref></item> + +<item>Glaucus, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref></item> + +<item>Goethe, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>, <ref target="Pg212">212</ref></item> + +<item>Gragnano, <ref target="Pg020">20</ref></item> + +<item>Greco, Torre del, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref>, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref></item> + +<item>Gregory VII., Pope, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref></item> + +<item>Grotta Azzurra, <ref target="Pg259">259</ref></item> +<pb n='323'/><anchor id='Pg323'/> + +<item>Grotta Verde, <ref target="Pg262">262</ref></item> +<item>Guallo, <ref target="Pg116">116</ref></item> + +<item>Guiscard, Robert, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg136">136</ref>, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref>, <ref target="Pg174">174</ref></item> + +<item>Gurgitello, <ref target="Pg285">285</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Hale, Sir Matthew, <ref target="Pg110">110</ref></item> + +<item>Hamill, Major, <ref target="Pg271">271</ref></item> + +<item>Hamilton, Sir William, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref></item> + +<item>Hare, Augustus, <ref target="Pg007">7</ref></item> + +<item>Hart, Emma, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref></item> + +<item>Hauteville, House of, <ref target="Pg174">174</ref></item> + +<item>Helbig, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref></item> + +<item>Hélène, Princess, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref></item> + +<item>Henry IV., Emperor, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref></item> + +<item>Herculaneum, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>, <ref target="Pg009">9</ref></item> + +<item>—— Gate of, <ref target="Pg062">62</ref></item> + +<item>Hermolaus, <ref target="Pg162">162</ref></item> + +<item>Hildebrand, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref>, <ref target="Pg182">182</ref>, <ref target="Pg184">184</ref></item> + +<item>Hippocrates, <ref target="Pg177">177</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Hohenstauffen">Hohenstaufen</corr>, <ref target="Pg163">163</ref></item> +<item>Homer, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref></item> + + +<item>House of the Surgeon, <ref target="Pg043">43</ref>, <ref target="Pg056">56</ref></item> + +<item>—— Vettii, <ref target="Pg053">53</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Innocent IV., Pope, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref></item> + +<item>Ischia, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref>, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>, <ref target="Pg078">78</ref>, <ref target="Pg241">241</ref>, <ref target="Pg252">252</ref>, <ref target="Pg275">275</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Joanna II., Queen, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref>, <ref target="Pg299">299</ref></item> + +<item>John XVI., Pope, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref></item> + +<item>John of Procida, <ref target="Pg184">184</ref></item> + +<item>Julius the Centurion, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref></item> + +<item>Jupiter, Temple of, <ref target="Pg052">52</ref></item> + +<item>Justinian, Emperor, <ref target="Pg135">135</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Keats, John, <ref target="Pg229">229</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>La Barra, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref></item> + +<item>La Cava, <ref target="Pg172">172</ref>, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref></item> + +<item>La Scala, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref></item> + +<item>Lacaita, Mr, <ref target="Pg262">262</ref></item> + +<item>Lacco, <ref target="Pg288">288</ref></item> + +<item>Lactarian Hills, <ref target="Pg101">101</ref></item> + +<item>Ladislaus II., King, <ref target="Pg299">299</ref></item> + +<item>Lamarque, Gen., <ref target="Pg271">271</ref></item> + +<item>Lauretta, <ref target="Pg157">157</ref></item> + +<item>Lavoro, Terra di, <ref target="Pg018">18</ref></item> + +<item>Lenormant, F., <ref target="Pg214">214</ref></item> + +<item>Leo XIII., Pope, <ref target="Pg288">288</ref></item> + +<item>Leonora d’Este, <ref target="Pg243">243</ref>, <ref target="Pg248">248</ref></item> + +<item>Leopardi, Giacomo, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref></item> + +<item>Lepanto, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref></item> + +<item>Libella, <ref target="Pg064">64</ref></item> + +<item>Livia, <ref target="Pg050">50</ref></item> + +<item>Livy, <ref target="Pg073">73</ref></item> + +<item>Lowe, Sir Hudson, <ref target="Pg271">271</ref></item> + +<item>Lubrense, Massa, <ref target="Pg122">122</ref></item> + +<item>Lucrine Lake, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref></item> + +<item>Ludius, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref></item> + +<item>Luke, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref></item> + +</list><list> + + <item>Maddalena, Ponte della, <ref target="Pg084">84</ref></item> + +<item>Majori, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref></item> + +<item>Malta, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref></item> + +<item>Mammia, <ref target="Pg064">64</ref></item> + +<item>Manches, Colonel, <ref target="Pg273">273</ref></item> + +<item>Manfred, King, <ref target="Pg087">87</ref>, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref>, <ref target="Pg184">184</ref></item> + +<item>Manso, <ref target="Pg243">243</ref></item> + +<item>Mansone II., Doge, <ref target="Pg118">118</ref></item> + +<item>Macellum, <ref target="Pg052">52</ref></item> + +<item>Marcellus II., Pope, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref></item> + +<item>Margaret of Durazzo, <ref target="Pg189">189</ref></item> + +<item>Marina, Porta, <ref target="Pg039">39</ref>, <ref target="Pg045">45</ref></item> + +<item>Martin V., Pope, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Mateucci">Matteucci</corr>, Professor, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref>, <ref target="Pg097">97</ref></item> + +<item>Matilda, Countess, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref></item> + +<item>Mau, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref></item> + +<item>Maurice, <ref target="Pg142">142</ref></item> + +<item>Maximian, Emperor, <ref target="Pg162">162</ref></item> + +<item>Melfi, <ref target="Pg133">133</ref></item> + +<item>Mercato, Il, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>, <ref target="Pg096">96</ref></item> + +<item>Mercury, Temple of, <ref target="Pg052">52</ref></item> + +<item>Mergellina, <ref target="Pg096">96</ref></item> + +<item>Messina, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref></item> + +<item>Meta, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref></item> + +<item>Metastasio, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref></item> + +<item>Michelangelo, <ref target="Pg283">283</ref>, <ref target="Pg319">319</ref></item> + +<item>Milan, <ref target="Pg278">278</ref></item> + +<item>Minerva, Cape of, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref>, <ref target="Pg153">153</ref></item> + +<item>Minori, <ref target="Pg166">166</ref></item> + +<item>Misenum, <ref target="Pg071">71</ref>, <ref target="Pg074">74</ref>, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref></item> + +<item>Mole of Puteoli, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref></item> + +<item>Monreale, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref></item> + +<item>Mont’ Epomeo, <ref target="Pg290">290</ref></item> + +<item>Montapertuso, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref></item> + +<item>Monte Nuovo, <ref target="Pg313">313</ref></item> + +<item>Montorio, S. Pietro in, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Montpensier, Duke of, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref></item> + +<item>Murat, Joachim, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref></item> + +<item>Muscettola, Sergio, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref></item> + +<item>Museo Nazionale, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref></item> +</list> +<pb n='324'/><anchor id='Pg324'/> +<list> + +<item>Naccarino, <ref target="Pg145">145</ref></item> + +<item>Napoleon, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref></item> + +<item>Natale, Michele, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref></item> + +<item>Nelson, <ref target="Pg104">104</ref>, <ref target="Pg269">269</ref></item> + +<item>Neptune, Temple of, <ref target="Pg212">212</ref></item> + +<item>Nero, Emperor, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref></item> + +<item>Nicholas II., Pope, <ref target="Pg176">176</ref>, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref></item> + +<item>Nicomedia, <ref target="Pg162">162</ref></item> + +<item>Nisida, <ref target="Pg297">297</ref></item> + +<item>Nola, <ref target="Pg041">41</ref></item> + +<item>Nuceria, <ref target="Pg041">41</ref>, <ref target="Pg173">173</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Ochino, Bernardino, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref></item> + +<item>Oliveto, Monte, <ref target="Pg096">96</ref></item> + +<item>Orico, <ref target="Pg271">271</ref></item> + +<item>Orlando, Capo d’, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref></item> + +<item>Oscan inhabitants, <ref target="Pg041">41</ref></item> + +<item>Otranto, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref></item> + +<item>Ottajano, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref>, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref></item> + +<item>Overbeck, <ref target="Pg044">44</ref></item> + +<item>Ovid, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>, <ref target="Pg261">261</ref>, <ref target="Pg291">291</ref></item> + +<item>Oxford, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item><corr sic="Pæstum">Paestum</corr>, <ref target="Pg041">41</ref>, <ref target="Pg057">57</ref>, <ref target="Pg143">143</ref>, <ref target="Pg173">173</ref>, <ref target="Pg182">182</ref>, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref></item> + +<item>Palermo, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref>, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref></item> + +<item>Palumbo, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref></item> + +<item>Pansa, the Ædile, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +<item>Pantaleone, <ref target="Pg142">142</ref>, <ref target="Pg148">148</ref>, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref></item> + +<item>Paolo Giovio, <ref target="Pg278">278</ref></item> + +<item>Paris, Comte de, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref></item> + +<item>Parthenope, <ref target="Pg249">249</ref></item> + +<item>Paul III., Pope, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref></item> + +<item>Pavia, <ref target="Pg279">279</ref></item> + +<item>Pedimentina, La, <ref target="Pg077">77</ref></item> + +<item>Pericles, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> +<item>Pescara, Marquis of, <ref target="Pg278">278</ref></item> + + +<item>Petrarch, <ref target="Pg116">116</ref>, <ref target="Pg138">138</ref>, <ref target="Pg239">239</ref>, <ref target="Pg299">299</ref></item> + +<item>Philip the Bold, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref></item> + +<item>Phillips, John, <ref target="Pg068">68</ref></item> + +<item>Philodemus, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref></item> + +<item>Piacenza, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Pimental">Pimentel</corr>, Eleonora, <ref target="Pg104">104</ref></item> + +<item>Piperno, Pietro, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref></item> + +<item>Pisa, <ref target="Pg136">136</ref></item> + +<item>Pistoja, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref></item> + +<item>Pius II., Pope, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref></item> + +<item>Plato, <ref target="Pg058">58</ref></item> + +<item>Pliny, <ref target="Pg059">59</ref>, <ref target="Pg071">71</ref>, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref></item> + +<item>Pliny the younger, <ref target="Pg071">71</ref></item> + +<item>Plutarch, <ref target="Pg070">70</ref></item> + +<item>Pole, Cardinal, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref></item> + +<item>Pompeii, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg024">24</ref>, <ref target="Pg038">38</ref></item> + +<item>Pomponianus, <ref target="Pg072">72</ref></item> + +<item>Pontone, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref></item> + +<item>Portici, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg080">80</ref>, <ref target="Pg088">88</ref>, <ref target="Pg097">97</ref></item> + +<item>Porzia de’ Rossi, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref></item> + +<item>Posilipo, <ref target="Pg001">1</ref>, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref>, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref></item> + +<item>Positano, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref></item> + +<item>Pozzano, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref></item> + +<item>Pozzopiano, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref></item> + +<item>Pozzuoli, <ref target="Pg109">109</ref>, <ref target="Pg301">301</ref></item> + +<item>Prajano, <ref target="Pg124">124</ref></item> + +<item>Procida, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref>, <ref target="Pg237">237</ref>, <ref target="Pg275">275</ref></item> + +<item>Puteoli, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Quisisana, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref>, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Ravello, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref>, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref></item> + +<item>Reggio, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref></item> + +<item>Reid, Mr, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref>, <ref target="Pg262">262</ref></item> + +<item>Renée, Duchess of Ferrara, <ref target="Pg280">280</ref></item> + +<item>Resina, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg079">79</ref>, <ref target="Pg088">88</ref>, <ref target="Pg098">98</ref></item> + +<item>Retina, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref>, <ref target="Pg072">72</ref></item> + +<item>Revigliano, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref></item> + +<item>Rhegium, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref></item> + +<item>Robert of Normandy, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref></item> + +<item>—— the Wise, <ref target="Pg116">116</ref>, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> + +<item>Roger, Count, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref>, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref></item> + +<item>—— King, <ref target="Pg116">116</ref>, <ref target="Pg136">136</ref></item> + +<item>Rome, <ref target="Pg039">39</ref>, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref>, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref>, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref>, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref>, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref></item> + +<item>Ruffo, Cardinal, <ref target="Pg104">104</ref></item> + +<item>Rufolo, <corr sic="Nicolò">Niccolò</corr>, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref>, <ref target="Pg160">160</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>S. Agnello, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref></item> + +<item>S. Alessio al Lavinaio, <ref target="Pg105">105</ref></item> + +<item>S. Angelo, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>, <ref target="Pg119">119</ref>, <ref target="Pg122">122</ref></item> + +<item>S. Bridget of Sweden, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref></item> + +<item>S. Brigida, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref></item> + +<item>S. Chiara, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>S. Costanzo, <ref target="Pg251">251</ref></item> + +<item>S. Elia, Punta, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref></item> + +<item>S. Elmo, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref>, <ref target="Pg067">67</ref></item> + +<item>S. Francis of Assisi, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref></item> + +<item>S. Gennaro, <ref target="Pg298">298</ref></item> + +<item>S. Giovanni a Teduccio, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref></item> + +<item>S. Giovanni del Toro, <ref target="Pg164">164</ref></item> + +<item>S. Giuseppe, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref></item> + +<item>S. Luca, <ref target="Pg124">124</ref></item> + +<item>S. Lucia, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref></item> +<pb n='325'/><anchor id='Pg325'/> + +<item>S. Maria a Pozzano, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref></item> +<item>S. Maria del Gradillo, <ref target="Pg162">162</ref></item> + +<item>S. Maria di Pompeii, <ref target="Pg065">65</ref></item> + +<item>S. Martino, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>S. Matteo, <ref target="Pg173">173</ref>, <ref target="Pg181">181</ref></item> + +<item>S. Michael, <ref target="Pg035">35</ref></item> + +<item>S. Miniato, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>S. Paul, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref></item> + +<item>S. Pietro, Punta di, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref></item> + +<item>S. Proculo, <ref target="Pg307">307</ref></item> + +<item>S. Restituta, <ref target="Pg291">291</ref></item> + +<item>S. Romualdo, <ref target="Pg019">19</ref></item> + +<item>S. Salvatore a Bireta, <ref target="Pg153">153</ref></item> + +<item>S. Trinità, <ref target="Pg172">172</ref></item> + +<item>S. Vitale, <ref target="Pg296">296</ref></item> + +<item>Salerno, <ref target="Pg004">4</ref>, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg111">111</ref>, <ref target="Pg117">117</ref>, <ref target="Pg133">133</ref>, <ref target="Pg172">172</ref></item> + +<item>Samnite Hills, <ref target="Pg212">212</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Sannazaro">Sannazzaro</corr>, <ref target="Pg295">295</ref></item> + +<item>Sanseverini, <ref target="Pg169">169</ref></item> + +<item>Sardinia, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref></item> + +<item>Sarno, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>, <ref target="Pg041">41</ref>, <ref target="Pg095">95</ref></item> + +<item>Scala, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref>, <ref target="Pg167">167</ref></item> + +<item>Scaletta, <ref target="Pg152">152</ref></item> + +<item>Scaricotojo, Lo, <ref target="Pg113">113</ref>, <ref target="Pg118">118</ref></item> + +<item>Scutolo, Punta di, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref></item> + +<item>Sebeto, <ref target="Pg008">8</ref></item> + +<item>Sejanus, <ref target="Pg256">256</ref></item> + +<item>Serapis, Temple of, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref></item> + +<item>Serra, Gennaro, <ref target="Pg104">104</ref></item> + +<item>Shelley, <ref target="Pg013">13</ref>, <ref target="Pg033">33</ref>, <ref target="Pg064">64</ref></item> + +<item>Shrewsbury, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +<item>Sibyl of Cumae, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref></item> + +<item>Sicily, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref></item> + +<item>Sigilgaita, <ref target="Pg161">161</ref>, <ref target="Pg179">179</ref></item> + +<item>Silarus, <ref target="Pg198">198</ref></item> + +<item>Sirens, Isles of the, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref></item> + +<item>Sixtus IV., Pope, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref></item> + +<item>Smith, Sir Sydney, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref></item> + +<item>Soana, <ref target="Pg184">184</ref></item> + +<item>Socrates, <ref target="Pg040">40</ref></item> + +<item>Solaro, <ref target="Pg268">268</ref></item> + +<item>Soldan, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref></item> + +<item>Somma, Monte, <ref target="Pg067">67</ref>, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref>, <ref target="Pg099">99</ref></item> + +<item>Sorrentine Plain, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref></item> + +<item>Sorrento, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg090">90</ref>, <ref target="Pg221">221</ref></item> + +<item>Sottile, Cape, <ref target="Pg123">123</ref></item> + +<item>Spartacus, <ref target="Pg069">69</ref>, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Stabiæ">Stabiae</corr>, <ref target="Pg026">26</ref>, <ref target="Pg072">72</ref>, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref></item> + +<item>Stamer, W. J. A., <ref target="Pg016">16</ref>, <ref target="Pg052">52</ref>, <ref target="Pg238">238</ref>, <ref target="Pg265">265</ref>, <ref target="Pg316">316</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Straurachios">Staurachios</corr>, <ref target="Pg142">142</ref></item> + +<item>Stolberg, Count, <ref target="Pg202">202</ref></item> + +<item>Stowe, Mrs H. B., <ref target="Pg016">16</ref></item> + +<item>Strabo, <ref target="Pg069">69</ref>, <ref target="Pg275">275</ref></item> + +<item>Strada Costantinopoli, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item rend='margin-left: 2'> „ de’ Tribunali, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref></item> + +<item>Stromboli, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref></item> + +<item>Suetonius, <ref target="Pg256">256</ref></item> + +<item>Syracuse, <ref target="Pg058">58</ref>, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>, <ref target="Pg311">311</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Tacca, <ref target="Pg051">51</ref></item> + +<item>Tacitus, <ref target="Pg069">69</ref>, <ref target="Pg071">71</ref>, <ref target="Pg073">73</ref></item> + +<item>Tafuri, Bishop, <ref target="Pg159">159</ref></item> + +<item>Tancred of Hauteville, <ref target="Pg178">178</ref>, <ref target="Pg180">180</ref></item> + +<item>Tarver, J. C., <ref target="Pg258">258</ref></item> + +<item>Tasso, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>, <ref target="Pg145">145</ref>, <ref target="Pg239">239</ref></item> +<item rend='margin-left: 2'> „ Bernardo, <ref target="Pg106">106</ref>, <ref target="Pg240">240</ref>, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item>Theocritus, <ref target="Pg154">154</ref>, <ref target="Pg292">292</ref></item> + +<item><corr sic="Thermæ">Thermae</corr> of Nero, <ref target="Pg316">316</ref></item> + +<item>Tiber, <ref target="Pg116">116</ref>, <ref target="Pg156">156</ref></item> + +<item>Tiberius, Emperor, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg050">50</ref>, <ref target="Pg253">253</ref>, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref></item> + +<item>Timgad, <ref target="Pg038">38</ref></item> + +<item>Timothy, <ref target="Pg312">312</ref></item> + +<item>Tiridates, <ref target="Pg308">308</ref></item> + +<item>Titian, <ref target="Pg027">27</ref></item> + +<item>Titus, Emperor, <ref target="Pg010">10</ref>, <ref target="Pg057">57</ref>, <ref target="Pg071">71</ref>, <ref target="Pg076">76</ref></item> + +<item>Toledo, The, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Torregaveta, <ref target="Pg275">275</ref>, <ref target="Pg317">317</ref></item> + +<item>Trafalgar, <ref target="Pg270">270</ref></item> + +<item>Tragara, <ref target="Pg263">263</ref></item> + +<item>Tripoli, <ref target="Pg015">15</ref></item> + +<item>Tunis, <ref target="Pg056">56</ref>, <ref target="Pg246">246</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Ulysses, <ref target="Pg114">114</ref></item> + +<item>Urban IV., Pope, <ref target="Pg144">144</ref></item> + +<item>Ustica, <ref target="Pg091">91</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Vaccaro, Il, <ref target="Pg084">84</ref></item> + +<item>Valentinian, Emperor, <ref target="Pg208">208</ref></item> + +<item>Valley of the Mills, <ref target="Pg140">140</ref>, <ref target="Pg149">149</ref></item> + +<item>Venice, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref>, <ref target="Pg112">112</ref>, <ref target="Pg134">134</ref>, <ref target="Pg148">148</ref></item> + +<item>Venosa, <ref target="Pg181">181</ref></item> + +<item>Venus, Temple of, <ref target="Pg052">52</ref></item> + +<item>Vergil, <ref target="Pg208">208</ref>, <ref target="Pg211">211</ref>, <ref target="Pg275">275</ref>, <ref target="Pg296">296</ref></item> + +<item>Vesuvius, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg011">11</ref>, <ref target="Pg036">36</ref>, <ref target="Pg066">66</ref></item> + +<item>Via Domitiana, <ref target="Pg062">62</ref></item> + +<item>Vico Equense, <ref target="Pg031">31</ref>, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref>, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref></item> + +<item>Victor III., Pope, <ref target="Pg155">155</ref></item> + +<item>Victor Emmanuel III., King of Italy, <ref target="Pg094">94</ref></item> +<pb n='326'/><anchor id='Pg326'/> + +<item>Vietri, <ref target="Pg165">165</ref>, <ref target="Pg171">171</ref></item> +<item>Vigna Sersale, <ref target="Pg247">247</ref></item> + +<item>Villa Jovis, <ref target="Pg254">254</ref></item> + +<item>Villa Reale, <ref target="Pg002">2</ref></item> + +<item>Vincenzo, <ref target="Pg037">37</ref></item> + +<item>Vitruvius, <ref target="Pg060">60</ref>, <ref target="Pg069">69</ref></item> + +<item>Vittoria Colonna, <ref target="Pg005">5</ref>, <ref target="Pg277">277</ref></item> + +<item>Vivara, <ref target="Pg276">276</ref></item> + +<item>Vomero, <ref target="Pg003">3</ref></item> + +<item>Vozzi Family, <ref target="Pg127">127</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Wales, <ref target="Pg107">107</ref>, <ref target="Pg318">318</ref></item> + +<item>William <corr sic="Bras de Fer">Bras-de-Fer</corr>, <ref target="Pg174">174</ref></item> + +<item>Wordsworth, <ref target="Pg033">33</ref></item> + +<item>Worms, <ref target="Pg185">185</ref></item> +</list><list> +<item>Zampognari, <ref target="Pg233">233</ref></item> + +<item>Zoppo, Carlo <corr sic="Il">il</corr>, <ref target="Pg102">102</ref>, <ref target="Pg103">103</ref>, <ref target="Pg121">121</ref></item> +</list> + </div> + <div> + <pgIf output="pdf"> + <then></then> + <else> + <div id="footnotes" rend="page-break-before: right"> + <index index="toc"/> + <head>Footnotes</head> + <divGen type="footnotes" /> + </div> + </else> + </pgIf> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right; x-class: boxed"> + <index index="toc"/><index index="pdf" level1="Transcriber's Note"/> + <head>Transcriber’s Note</head> + <p>The caption of two images (<ref target="frontis">frontispiece</ref>, + <ref target="illus22">page 288</ref>) has been supplied from the List of Images.</p> + <p>The following obvious typographical errors have been corrected:</p> + <list> + <item><ref target="corrxi">page xi</ref>, <q>Republiques</q> changed to <q>Républiques</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr055">page 55</ref>, <q>castastrophe</q> changed to <q>catastrophe</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr090">page 90</ref>, quote mark added after <q>vendemmia?</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr158">page 158, footnote</ref>, italics added to <q>The Decameron</q>, + removed from <q>Novel IV. of the Second Day</q>. + (Other inconsistencies between the two citations of the <hi rend="italic">Decameron</hi> + were not changed.)</item> + <item><ref target="corr159">page 159</ref>, <q>mosiac</q> changed to <q>mosaic</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr189">page 189</ref>, <q>gradully</q> changed to <q>gradually</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr206">page 206</ref>, <q>Pæstum</q> changed to <q>Paestum</q> + (<ref target="corr206a">twice</ref>)</item> + <item><ref target="corr212">page 212</ref>, <q>wheron</q> changed to <q>whereon</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr238">page 238</ref>, <q>circomstane</q> changed to <q>circomstance</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr241">page 241</ref>, double <q>the</q> removed</item> + <item><ref target="corr275">page 275</ref>, <q>costing</q> changed to <q>coasting</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr300">page 300</ref>, <q>maledicton</q> changed to <q>malediction</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr301">page 301</ref>, <q>then</q> changed to <q>than</q></item> + <item><ref target="corr311">page 311</ref>, <q>aud</q> changed to <q>and</q></item> + </list> + + <p>In the Index, the following words have been changed to the spelling used in the main text: + </p> + <list> + <item><q>Baiae</q> (was: <q>Baiæ</q>)</item> + <item><q>Caecilius Jucundus</q> (was: <q>Cæcilius</q>)</item> + <item><q>Cumae</q> (was: <q>Cumæ</q>)</item> + <item><q>Hohenstaufen</q> (was: <q>Hohenstauffen</q>)</item> + <item><q>Matteucci</q> (was: <q>Mateucci</q>)</item> + <item><q>Paestum</q> (was: <q>Pæstum</q>)</item> + <item><q>Pimentel</q> (was: <q>Pimental</q>)</item> + <item><q>Rufolo, Niccolò</q> (was: <q>Nicoló</q>)</item> + <item><q>Sannazzaro</q> (was: <q>Sannazaro</q>)</item> + <item><q>Stabiae</q> (was: <q>Stabiæ</q>)</item> + <item><q>Staurachios</q> (was: <q>Straurachios</q>)</item> + <item><q>Thermae of Nero</q> (was: <q>Thermæ</q>)</item> + <item><q>William Bras-de-Fer</q> (was: <q>Bras de Fer</q>)</item> + <item><q>Zoppo, Carlo il</q> (was: <q>Zoppo, Carlo Il</q>)</item> + </list> + <p>Apart from the index and two occurrences of <q>Pæstum</q> in the main text, all <q>æ</q> ligatures have been maintained: + <q>ædile</q> (and <q>aedile</q>), + <q>archæologist</q> (and <q>archaeologist</q>), + <q>æsthetic</q>, + <q>Cannæ</q>, + <q>Mediæval</q> (in a quotation, otherwise <q>medieval</q>), + <q>mærens</q>, + <q>Prætor</q>, + <q>tesseræ</q>. + </p> + + <p>Not changed or normalized were + small errors in Italian or German quotations (<q>a riverderla</q>, <q>Kultur-kampf</q>, + <q>Bierhälle</q>), + inconsistent hyphenation (e. g. <q>boat-man</q>/<q>boatman</q>, <q>sea-shore</q>/<q>seashore</q>), + spelling variations (<q>Phlegraean</q>/<q>Phlegrean</q>) + and + unusual spellings (<q>elegible</q> [in a quotation], <q>pleisosaurus</q>, <q>innoculating</q>, + <q>choregraphic</q>).</p> + </div> + <div rend="page-break-before: right"> + <divGen type="pgfooter"/> + </div> + </back> + </text> +</TEI.2> diff --git a/30634-tei/images/frontis.jpg b/30634-tei/images/frontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4644921 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/frontis.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/frontisth.jpg b/30634-tei/images/frontisth.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a2ff900 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/frontisth.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus01.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus01.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d36c72 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus01.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus01th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus01th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7dc3cdd --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus01th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus02.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus02.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..783cc39 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus02.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus02th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus02th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..39db8f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus02th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus03.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus03.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a4f9b75 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus03.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus03th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus03th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..737df6c --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus03th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus04.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus04.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1226f3f --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus04.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus04th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus04th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b724a07 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus04th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus05.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus05.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1a4224d --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus05.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus05th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus05th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8f7f325 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus05th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus06.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus06.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f986577 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus06.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus06th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus06th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..29dba98 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus06th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus07.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus07.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dd476c6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus07.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus07th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus07th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ca99501 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus07th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus08.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus08.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6e32de0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus08.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus08th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus08th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec1f992 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus08th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus09.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus09.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..10d34f1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus09.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus09th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus09th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ad61752 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus09th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus10.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus10.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4342cc4 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus10.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus10th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus10th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c881256 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus10th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus11.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus11.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e59503 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus11.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus11th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus11th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f1698e --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus11th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus12.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus12.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..34d9eb5 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus12.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus12th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus12th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3f4765c --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus12th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus13.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus13.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e17e863 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus13.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus13th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus13th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f722de --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus13th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus14.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus14.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3f7c48 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus14.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus14th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus14th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a35e81e --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus14th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus15.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus15.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c4aff28 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus15.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus15th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus15th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..08a458a --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus15th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus16.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus16.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f52b06d --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus16.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus16th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus16th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7fe34ff --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus16th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus17.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus17.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3468810 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus17.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus17th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus17th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..82f390b --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus17th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus18.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus18.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..93b6142 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus18.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus18th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus18th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..738ee46 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus18th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus19.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus19.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..26e6538 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus19.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus19th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus19th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9f7ca9e --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus19th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus20.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus20.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb5d840 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus20.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus20th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus20th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c507c5a --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus20th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus21.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus21.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2e562e1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus21.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus21th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus21th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ba4a724 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus21th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus22.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus22.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..760ffd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus22.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus22th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus22th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f72b81f --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus22th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus23.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus23.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a29acd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus23.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus23th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus23th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..70e0363 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus23th.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus24.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus24.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..1293c3e --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus24.jpg diff --git a/30634-tei/images/illus24th.jpg b/30634-tei/images/illus24th.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ec5b13f --- /dev/null +++ b/30634-tei/images/illus24th.jpg |
