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diff --git a/30634.txt b/30634.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..eee1284 --- /dev/null +++ b/30634.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9340 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Naples Riviera by Herbert M. Vaughan + + + +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 included with this eBook or +online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license + + + +Title: The Naples Riviera + +Author: Herbert M. Vaughan + +Release Date: December 9, 2009 [Ebook #30634] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAPLES RIVIERA*** + + + + + + [Illustration: CHARCOAL CARRIERS, AMALFI] + + + + + + *THE* + *NAPLES RIVIERA* + + + BY + HERBERT M. VAUGHAN, B.A. (OXON.) + AUTHOR OF "THE LAST OF THE ROYAL STUARTS" + + + +WITH TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOUR BY +MAURICE GREIFFENHAGEN + + +METHUEN & CO +36 ESSEX STREET W.C. +LONDON + + + + + + _First Published in 1907_ + + TO + G. L. L. + IN MEMORY OF + MANY PLEASANT DAYS IN THE SUNNY SOUTH + THIS BOOK IS + AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED + BY THE AUTHOR + + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER I PAGE + INTRODUCTORY 1 + CHAPTER II + THE VESUVIAN SHORE AND MONTE SANT' ANGELO 8 + CHAPTER III + LA CITTA MORTA 38 + CHAPTER IV + VESUVIUS 66 + CHAPTER V + THE CORNICHE ROAD 100 + CHAPTER VI + AMALFI AND THE FESTIVAL OF ST ANDREW 126 + CHAPTER VII + RAVELLO AND THE RUFOLI 152 + CHAPTER VIII + SALERNO 172 + CHAPTER IX + PAESTUM AND THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE 198 + CHAPTER X + SORRENTO AND ITS POET 221 + CHAPTER XI + CAPRI AND TIBERIUS THE TYRANT 249 + CHAPTER XII + ISCHIA AND THE LADY OF THE ROCK 275 + CHAPTER XIII + PUTEOLI AND THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME 295 + -------- + INDEX 321 + + + + + + LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + + PAGE + CHARCOAL CARRIERS, AMALFI _Frontispiece_ + A CAPRIOTE FISHERMAN'S WIFE 16 + ROAD NEAR CASTELLAMARE 30 + MONTE FAITO, CASTELLAMARE 37 + THE FORUM, POMPEII 46 + LA CASA DEI VETTII, POMPEII 58 + VESUVIUS AND THE BAY OF NAPLES 80 + POZZANO 101 + EVENING AT AMALFI 124 + AMALFI 132 + IN THE VALLEY OF THE MILLS, AMALFI 140 + AMALFI: PIAZZA AND DUOMO 148 + RAVELLO: IL DUOMO 156 + A STREET IN RAVELLO 163 + MINORI AT SUNSET 170 + ON THE ROAD TO RAVELLO 186 + THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE, PAESTUM 204 + AFTERNOON, SORRENTO 230 + FARAGLIONI ROCKS, CAPRI 249 + CAPRI FROM THE VILLA JOVIS 254 + IN THE BLUE GROTTO, CAPRI 262 + A GATEWAY, CAPRI 274 + ON THE PICCOLA MARINA, CAPRI 288 + ISCHIA FROM CASTELLAMARE (SUNSET) 294 + ON THE BEACH 306 + + + + + + BIBLIOGRAPHY + + +A small selection out of the books I have consulted during the preparation + of this work is given below:-- + +E. GIBBON: _Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_. + +DEAN MERIVALE: _The Romans under the Empire_. + +_Pliny's Letters_: (Church's and Brodribb's Translation, London, 1897). + +J. PHILLIPS: _Vesuvius_ (Oxford, 1869). + +C. RAMAGE: _Nooks and Byways of Italy_. + +C. LENORMANT: _A Travers la Lucanie et l'Apulie_. + +W. J. A. STAMER: _Dolce Napoli_ (London, 1878). + +E. NEVILLE ROLFE: _Naples in 1888_. + +CONSTANCE GIGLIOLI: _Naples in 1799_. + +C. L. SISMONDI: _Histoire des __Republiques__ Italiennes_. + +L. ALBERTI: _Descrizione di tutta l' Italia_ (Venetia, 1596). + +C. MILLS: _The Travels of Theodore Ducas_ (London, 1822). + +_Les Delices d'Italie_ (Paris, 1707). + +_Nuova Guida de' Forastieri in Napoli, etc._ (1751). + +COUNT STOLBERG: _Travels through Italy and Sicily in 1756_. + +A. H. NORWAY: _Naples, Past and Present_ (London, 1904). + +E. BUSK: _Folk-Songs of Italy_. + +J. A. SYMONDS: _Sketches and Studies in Italy_. + +CATHERINE PHILLIMORE: _Studies in Italian Literature_ (London, 1891). + +T. A. TROLLOPE: _A Decade of Italian Women_ (London, 1859). + +G. BOCCACCIO: _Il Decamerone_. + +A. MAU: _Pompeii: its Life and Art_ (New York, 1899). + +J. FERGUSSON: _Handbook of Architecture_ (London, 1859). + +FRANZ VON REBER: _History of Ancient and Mediaeval Art_ (New York, 1882). + +E. JAMESON: _Sacred and Legendary Art_ (London, 1879). + +J. ELWORTHY: _History of the Evil Eye_ (London, 1888). + +N. VALLETTA: _Cicalata sul Fascino detto Jettatura_ (Napoli, 1819). + +A. CANALE: _Storia dell' Isola di Capri_. + +G. AMALFI: _Tradizioni ed Vsi nella Penisola Sorrentina_. + + + + + + + THE NAPLES RIVIERA + + + + + + CHAPTER I + + + INTRODUCTORY + + + "In otia natam + Parthenopen." + + +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 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 _cinque-cento_ 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 +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 "Santa Lucia" or "Margari" 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 water-gate and its fountain, +its vendors of medicated water and _frutti di mare_, 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 _sventramento di +Napoli_, 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. + + + +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 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 +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 +_Risorgimento_, 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 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. + + + + + + CHAPTER II + + + THE VESUVIAN SHORE AND MONTE SANT' ANGELO + + +That little stream the Sebeto, which is indeed, as the courtly Metastasio +observes, "scanty in depth of water though overflowing with honour," 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 _Paduli_, 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 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. "Herculaneum," writes that genial Frenchman, "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 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 +archaeologist, 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." + +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 +"find" 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 +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. + + + +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'Elboeuf. 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 _debris_, 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 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. + +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 "that peak of Hell rising out of Paradise," 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 +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! + + "The sun is warm, the sky is clear, + The waves are dancing fast and bright, + Blue isles and snowy mountains wear + The purple noon's transparent light: + The breath of the moist earth is light + Around its unexpanded buds; + Like many a voice of one delight, + The winds, the birds, the ocean floods, + The City's voice itself is soft, like Solitude's. + + I see the Deep's untrampled floor + With green and purple seaweeds strown; + I see the waves upon the shore, + Like light dissolved in star-showers, thrown: + I sit upon the sands alone; + The lightning of the noontide ocean + Is flashing round me, and a tone + Arises from its measured motion, + How sweet! did any heart now share in my emotion?" + +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 _Terra di +Lavoro_, as this collection of human ant-hills on the eastern side of +Naples is sometimes designated, the old command given to the first parents +of mankind--"by the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread"--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 _mezzo-vino_, 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 _gran' signori_ 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 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. + + [Illustration: A CAPRIOTE FISHERMAN'S WIFE] + +"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; immeasurably 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 _padrone_ 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."(1) + +In those "good old days," 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, 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. + +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 _koubbas_, 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. 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! + +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 _pasta_ that have been +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 imprisoning +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 _Capilli degli +Angeli_, 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 _alla Napolitana_, 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 "maccaroni pudding" 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. + +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 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 _forestieri_? + +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 "with spicy odours Time can never mar." 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 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 _passer solitario_, 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 _zecchinetto_ 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 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. + + "Lo 'nnamorato' mmio sse chiammo Peppo, + Lo capo jocatore de le carte; + Ss' ha jocato 'sto core a zecchinetto, + Dice ca mo' lo venne, e mo' lo parte. + Che n'agg' io a fare lo caro de carte? + Vogho lo core che tinite 'm pietto!" + + ("That lover of mine is called Handsome Beppo, + The best player of cards all around this way; + He's been playing on Hearts at _zecchinetto_, + And says now they turn up, now are sorted away. + What matters the heart in the card-pack to me? + The heart in his bosom's the heart for me!") + +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 +_mora_ played by a couple of his companions beside him disturb his deep +slumber. _Mora_ 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 "Up Jenkin!" which may +almost be described as a species of drawing-room _mora_; 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 _centesimi_ +rather than in _soldi_. 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! _Mora_ 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 "Lombard Street to a China orange" 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 +_tutte_ to denote that all ten fingers are being shown, or _chiarella_ 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 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. + +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 _ricini_, 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 _Mazza di +San Giuseppe_, 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 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. + + + * * * * * * * + + +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 "castle by the sea." 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 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 _villeggiatura_ +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 _acqua ferrata_, +a mild chalybeate that is found useful as a tonic, to the powerful _acqua +del Muraglione_, 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 +_ciucciari_, 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 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. +_Non sono Cristiani_--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. "How old is your horse?" we once asked a driver in +the south. "He is very old indeed, _eccelenza_," was the reply; "he must +be nearly twelve!" 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 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. + + [Illustration: ROAD NEAR CASTELLAMARE] + +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 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. "But has not any one dared," we ask, +"to go in company with a holy man, to search for this hidden treasure?" +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. + +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--_molto! molto!_ 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 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:--"_Che ferete con questo tesoro?_" +"_Mangeremo, beveremo!_" 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. "We +shall eat, we shall drink, but we shall also make abundant alms!" called +out another--let us hope it was the priest!--but no sooner had the word +_elemosina_ (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. + +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. + +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 _acquaioli_ +during hot summer nights in the sultry streets of Naples. These pits are +dug about fifty feet deep, and half as much across, being 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, "The Englishman in Italy!" 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. + + "The wild path grew wilder each instant, + And place was e'en grudged + 'Mid the rock-chasms and piles of loose stones, + Like the loose broken teeth + Of some monster which climbed there to die + From the ocean beneath-- + Place was grudged to the silver-grey fume-weed + That clung to the path, + And dark rosemary ever a-dying, + That, spite the wind's wrath, + So loves the salt rock's face to seaward, + And lentisks as staunch + To the stone where they root and bear berries, + And ... what shows a branch + Coral-coloured, transparent, with circlets + Of pale sea-green leaves." + +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--_bubbola_, 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 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. + +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 "sins are so +many and saints so few," 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. Like the oil that was once wont to exude +from the blessed relics of St Andrew in the Cathedral of Amalfi, _non c'e +piu_; we may possess motor cars and radium, but we must contrive to exist +without these precious exhibitions of the miraculous. + +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. + + "Oh, heaven and the terrible crystal! + No rampart excludes + Your eye from the life to be lived + In the blue solitudes. + Oh, those mountains, their infinite movement! + Still moving with you; + For ever some new head and breast of them + Thrusts into view + To observe the intruder; you see it + If quickly you turn, + And before they escape you surprise them. + They grudge you should learn + How the soft plains they look on, lean over + And love (they pretend) + --Cower beneath them, the flat sea-pine crouches, + The wild fruit-trees bend; + E'en the myrtle leaves curl, shrink and shut, + All is silent and grave: + 'Tis a sensual and timorous beauty. + How fair! but a slave." + + [Illustration: MONTE FAITO, CASTELLAMARE] + +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. + + + + + + CHAPTER III + + + LA CITTA MORTA + + +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 "life is short and time is fleeting," 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-- + + "to stand within the City Disinterred; + And hear the autumnal leaves like light footfalls + Of spirits passing through the streets; and hear + The Mountain's slumberous voice at intervals + Thrill through those roofless halls." + +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, 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 _names_ 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 aedile, 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 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. + +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 _pompe_ (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 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. + +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 "House +of the Surgeon," 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 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, _et hoc +genus omne_. 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 to throw more light upon the period wherein they flourished. Let us +apply then the same principles to the study of Pompeii _mutatis mutandis_, +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 +_tesserae_, 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 imagination its shapeless ruins, +so that we may obtain a fleeting picture of the Pompeian Forum in early +Imperial days. + + [Illustration: THE FORUM, POMPEII] + +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 +cafes and shops are situated. But if the general use 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 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. "There is nothing new under the sun," 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 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. + +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. "Priestess Eumachia," remarks a modern critic, "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 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." + +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 "to Eumachia, a city-priestess, daughter of Lucius +Eumachius." + +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. + +Here then is the setting of the picture, and we must ourselves endeavour +to repeople the empty space with the crowds of high and low that once +collected here. + +"It is high change, and the Forum is crowded. All Pompeii is here, and his +wife. _Patres conscripti_, 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."(2) + +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 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 "new house" 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 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. + +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 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 _atrium_ 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 +catastrophe, may have returned with skilled workmen to recover some of +their treasures; perhaps some "man of three letters"--the colloquial Roman +term for thief (_fur_)--may have forestalled the masters' efforts--who +knows? And at this distance of time, who cares? + +The house once occupied by Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius +Corvina stands in a quiet district 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 _atrium_ 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 "House of the Surgeon"; 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 aesthetic 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 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, 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. _Tempus breve est_ 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 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. + + [Illustration: LA CASA DEI VETTII, POMPEII] + +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 "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":--a fairly long and +comprehensive list of subjects, truly, from which a patron might pick and +choose, or an artist might execute! + +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 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. + +But it is not only for purposes of examining Roman internal decoration _in +situ_ 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 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. + +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 alongside 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 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. + +_Beati sunt mortui_: 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: "_Vale, vale, vale!_ farewell until the +day when Nature will allow us to follow thee!" 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 "city disinterred" +that gave him inspiration:-- + + "Around me gleamed many a bright sepulchre + Of whose pure beauty, Time, as if his pleasure + Were to spare Death, had never made erasure; + But every living lineament was clear + As in the sculptor's thought; and there + The wreaths of stony myrtle, ivy and pine, + Like winter-leaves o'ergrown by moulded snow, + Seemed only not to move and grow, + Because the crystal silence of the air + Weighed on their life...." + +Tranquilly and slowly descends night upon the untenanted city, as one by +one the stars begin to peep 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. + + + + + + CHAPTER IV + + + VESUVIUS: THE STORY OF THE MOUNTAIN + + +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 "its burning mountain and its tideless +sea," so that we eagerly strain our eyes in a southerly direction to catch +our first glimpse of Vesuvius, with whose shape and 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. + +On our arrival at Naples, in course of time we grow more intimately +acquainted with the peculiar attractions of "the Mountain," 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, _is_ 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 _about_ 4000 +feet high. We say "about" purposely, for Vesuvius proper sometimes +over-tops, sometimes equals, and sometimes even crouches under its +immovable sister-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;--"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."(3) + +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 _Mons Summanus_ by which the whole was known +to the Romans. The point is by no means unimportant, for etymologists +derive Vesuvius from the Syriac "Vo Seevev, the abode of flame," 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 +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, +"who found Rome of brick and left it of marble," 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 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. + +"Clodius the Praetor, 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." + +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 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. + +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 adopted son) was living +with his mother in a villa. "On the 24th of August," writes Pliny the +Younger some eleven years after the event he is about to describe, "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." 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 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. + +"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 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; 'I might do so,' she said, '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.' 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. 'Let us turn out of the way,' I said, +'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.' 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 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 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."(4) + +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 +"more like that of a sleeping than of a dead man." + +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 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. + +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 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 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 _ferilli_, 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 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. + + [Illustration: VESUVIUS AND THE BAY OF NAPLES] + +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, +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. + +"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." + +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 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:--_Napoli fa gli peccati, e +la __Torre gli paga_, 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. + +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 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 + + "E belle son le supplice + Pompe di penitenza, in alto lutto." + +Again the historic _palladium_ proved effectual, and the city, that was +never for a moment in danger, was 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:--_Napoli fa gli +peccati, e Torre gli paga._ + + + +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 +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. + +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 +_Paduli_, looking up suddenly from his work amidst the early peas or +tomatoes, beholds against the blue 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. "Such stuff as dreams are made of" +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-a-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. + +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 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 L12 sterling an acre. Yet the +_contadino_ 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 _Paduli_ with a deep coating of grey ashes, a young +peasant girl was heard deploring the loss of her carefully tended gourds +and melons; "_Oh come volimme fa? Addio, pummarole! addio, cucuzzielle!_" +whereupon an older woman, witnessing these useless tears, upbraided her +with the words: "Do not complain, child, lest worse befall you!" And +indeed the whole population of the _Paduli_, instead of lamenting over +their scorched and spoiled crops, were jubilant at the thought that the +havoc done was 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 "San Gennaro" 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 (_finocchi_) that well-fed travellers devour in the +hotels of Naples. Or else they tend the vines that yield the generous +_Lagrima Christi_, 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! + + "Chi fu de' contadini il si indiscreto, + Ch' a sbigottir la gente + Diede nome dolente + Al vin' che sovra gli altri il cuor fa lieto? + Lagrima dunque appellerassi un riso + Parte di nobilissima vendemmia?" + + ("Who was the jesting countryman, I cry, + That gave so fearsome and so dour a name + To that choice vintage, which of all think I + Most warms the heart's blood with its genial flame? + Smiles, and not tears, the epithet should be + Of juice wrung from so fair a vinery.") + + + * * * * * * + + +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 +_paesi ridenti_ 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 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. _Paesi ridenti_, indeed! It was a land of ugliness and mourning, a +city of stifling air and of human terror. + +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 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 +_does_ occur, as it inevitably must. + +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 _Carabinieri_, that splendid body of mounted +police, who in their cocked hats and voluminous cloaks appear as +ornamental in times of quiet as 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. "Soldiers!" declared the +Duke, in his address to the troops on April 23rd, "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 (_pieta_). 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 ended; continue at it +out of love for your country and devotion to your King!"(5) + +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! + +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 Helene, 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, 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. + +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. + +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 or calm; and this criticism applies in particular to the hundreds +of visitors--English, German, American and other _forestieri_--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, _nolens +volens_, 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 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. + +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 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 "delle mani +nere." 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? + +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, _salvo +complicazioni_, of course, as the more cautious Italians themselves say. +But 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? "Under Vesuvius," 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 +_paesi gia ridenti_ for their heavy losses and terrible experiences. +_Speriamo._ + + + + + + CHAPTER V + + + THE CORNICHE ROAD FROM CASTELLAMARE TO AMALFI + + +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 +_vetturino_ 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 _jettatore_, 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 we bowl along the excellent road in the +freshness of the morning air and light "through varying scenes of beauty +ever led," 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. + + [Illustration: POZZANO] + + "Tall thriving trees confess'd the fruitful mould; + The verdant apple ripens here to gold; + Here the blue fig with luscious juice o'erflows, + With deepest red the full pomegranate glows, + The branches bend beneath the weighty pear, + And silver olives flourish all the year; + The balmy spirit of the western gale + Eternal breathes on fruits untaught to fail. + Each dropping pear another pear supplies, + On apples apples, figs on figs arise; + The same mild season gives the blooms to blow, + The buds to harden, and the fruits to grow." + +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. + +Beneath the picturesque pile of Santa Maria a 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 "Carlo il Zoppo," 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 "walking members," 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 robes and appeared before all in the historic garb of Lady Godiva. +A glance at the princess's form _in puris naturalibus_ 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. + +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. + +The crime of Monsignore Michele Natale, Bishop of Vico Equense, to which +the silent cherub bears 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 _lazzaroni_, yelling at +and insulting the "Jacobins," 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--"Masto Donato" 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 depending from his neck, the +Bishop was led up to the fatal ladder amid deafening shouts of + + "Viva la forca e Masto Donato; + Sant' Antonio sia priato!" + +On reaching the top of the gallows, the hangman made fast the rope to the +cross-tree, and then an assistant (_tirapiede_) from below adroitly pushed +the unseeing prisoner into space, catching on to his legs meanwhile, +whilst "Masto Donato" 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 martyrs of 1799 more +than one ecclesiastic of high rank suffered in the ill-starred and +premature cause of Neapolitan liberty. + +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 +"rest cure" in these favoured regions; whilst the grateful Bernardo Tasso, +father of the immortal Torquato, speaks of the capital of this district as +"l'Albergo della Cortesia," and in an ecstasy of delighted appreciation, +goes on to add: "l'aere e si sereno, si temperato, si salutifero, si +vitale, che gli uomini che senza provar altero cielo ci vivono sono quasi +immortali." 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 "Sorrentini Colles" of Ovid--whilst +the other traverses the length of the plain by way of Pozzopiano and Sant' +Agnello, until it reaches Sorrento. + +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 _latomie_, 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. + + "The quarry's edge is lined with many a plant, + With many a flower distilling fragrant dew + From brightly coloured petals. Almond trees + Give snowy promise of sweet leaves and fruit; + Here all the scented tangle of the South + Covers the boulders, calcined by the sun + To pearly whiteness; thorn or asphodel + Sprout from each cranny of the topmost ledge + To nod against the deep blue sky, or peer + Into the verdure-clad abyss below." + +It is not surprising to learn that these romantic glens, filled with +greenery, are reputed locally to be the haunts of fairies, _Monacelli_, as +the Sorrentine inhabitants name them. Like the "good folk" of certain +country districts in England, the pixies of Devonshire, and the "Tylwyth +Teg" 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 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 _padrone_ 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 _d'un modo squisito_, 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!-- + + "Tells how the drudging Goblin sweat + To earn his cream-bowl duly set, + When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, + His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn + That ten day labourers could not end." + +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. _Fuore avra il Monacello in casa_--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. + +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 _ginns_ 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 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 +_Mammone_--perhaps a corruption of the old Greek word _mormo_--a terrible +ghost, that must be a near relation to the "Big Black Man" of English +nurseries, who is ever ready to carry off naughty boys and girls in his +sack. + +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 (_strega_) is regarded somewhat in the light +of a beneficent "wise woman," 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 _strega_, though not as a rule dangerous to mankind, +provided she be not disturbed or insulted, has the same supernatural power +of transit 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 _De Nuce Beneventana_. Even snatches of the witches' song can +sometimes be distinguished above the howling of the gale-- + + "Sott' aero e sopra vento, + Sotto la Nuce di Benevento!" + +Perhaps it may afford some consolation to those who have a dread of +witches that the word "Sabato," 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. + +But at length we have finished the ascent of the ridge, and our driver +halts for a moment at the inn of the "Due Golfi." 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 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. + +Below us, as we rapidly descend the slopes by the curves of the Corniche +road, lies the little beach known 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 "the most elegible mode of going +from Sorrento to Amalfi is either to ride or to be carried in a _chaise a +porteurs_ 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." +_Nous avons change tout ca_; 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 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. + +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 +enchantresses. 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. + +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 naively complains, they are not +sharp-witted enough to invent fanciful tales to please the enquiring +foreigner. 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 "The Cocks?" The untutored natives themselves, +understanding nothing of Sirens or of Odysseys, hold their own theory with +regard 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. + +But, to be strictly impartial, it was not the Sirens alone who were +responsible for all the victims who perished on these arid rocks. _Homo +homini lupus_; 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. + +We bid farewell to the group of ill-omened rocks, 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 _soldi_. 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. + +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 comprised 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 _magnetica_ 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 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 "discovery." 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 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. + +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 _nespoli_ of the South--turning to pale +yellow even in 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! +_Carpe diem_; 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. + +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 +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 facade 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 + + "Sad charnel-house of humble hopes and crimes, + Long dead and buried in obscurity;" + +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, 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. + + [Illustration: EVENING AT AMALFI] + +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. + + + + + + CHAPTER VI + + + AMALFI AND THE FESTIVAL OF ST ANDREW + + +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 facade 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 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 _presepio_, +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 "still remains" advisedly; for beyond the +tiny quadrangle our eyes at once light upon a scene of hideous +devastation. + +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 "Santa Caterina" 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 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 "Calvary," 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 _memento mori_ +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. + +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 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. + +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 _loggia_ 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. _Dove non entra il sole, entra il +medico_, 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. 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 _pergola_ +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 _pergola_ itself, which every artist at Amalfi paints as a +matter of course, generally with a Capuchin friar--at least a friar _pro +hac vice_--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. 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 _bosco_, 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 +"little sisters, the birds," 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 _olea fragrans_, 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 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 "rosy-fingered Eos" 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. + + "Slowly beyond the headlands comes the day, + Though moon and planet on a sky of gold, + Chequered with orange and vermilion-stoled, + Have floated long before the sun's first ray + Has shot across the waters to display + Amalfi in her dotage; as of old + His beams lit up her splendours manifold, + Her quays and palaces that fringed the bay. + His smile makes every barren hill-side blush + In rose and purple for the glories fled, + As early watchers note th' encroaching flush + From proud Ravello to Atrani spread, + And curse the cruel arm that once did crush + This sea-sprung Niobe, and leave her dead." + + [Illustration: AMALFI] + +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 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 "Defender of the Faith." 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-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 _Tabula Amalphitana_, 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. + + "Nulla magis civitas argento, vestibus, auro + Partibus innumeris; hac plurimus urbe moratur + Nauta marit coelique vias aperiri peritus. + Huc et Alexandri diversa feruntur ab urbe + Regia et Antiochi. Zeus haec freta plurima transit + His Arabes, Indi, Siculi nascuntur et Afri. + Haec genus est totum prope nobilitata per orbem, + Et mercanda ferens, et amans mercata referre." + + ("No city richer in its store of gold, + Of precious stones and silks doth Europe hold; + Her skilful mariners o'er treacherous seas + With aid of compass sail where'er they please. + From Egypt and from Antioch they land, + Their precious cargoes on th' Italian strand. + Scathless Amalfi's navies penetrate + The distant ports of every Paynim state. + Match me throughout the circuit of this earth + Another race so full of zeal and worth.") + +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. + +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 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 _palladium_, 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. + +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 Republic +as "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." 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 "Athens of the Middle Ages," 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. + +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 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 "_Qual co' signor'! Fame! Fame!_" 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 +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. "Why should we give to you?" we asked one day in +desperation of a particularly persistent woman. "Because," was the +unabashed and impudent but unanswerable reply, "you have much, and I have +nothing!" 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. 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, 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. "_Com' e bianco! Com' e bianco!_" 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. + + [Illustration: IN THE VALLEY OF THE MILLS, AMALFI] + +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 _loggia_ 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 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 _niello_ 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 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 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:-- + + "Vide in sembianza placida e tranquilla + Il Divo, che di manna Amalfi instilla." + +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 "Il Divo," +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. + +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 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 _festa di Sant' +Andrea_ 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 _festa_. 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 complete absence of +that "churchy" 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 _loggia_. 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 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 _vessillifero_, 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 assistants, was borne +the great silver bust of St Andrew. The appearance of the Image of "Il +Divo," 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 "Il +Divo" 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. + + [Illustration: AMALFI: PIAZZA AND DUOMO] + +On his safe return to his now brilliantly lighted Cathedral, the Saint was +welcomed with indescribable enthusiasm. The crazy old organ was made to +produce 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 spirit of antiquity has never wholly died out amongst +these sunburnt children of Magna Graecia. + + "See the long stair with colour all ablaze, + With banners swaying in pellucid air, + As mitred priests with cautious footsteps bear + The silver Image, flashing back the rays + Of jealous Phoebus--Ah! the altered days + When these Lucanians with wind-lifted hair, + Blossom-bedecked, with limbs and bosoms bare, + Sang to Apollo psalms of love and praise! + With bells and salvoes all the hills resound, + And incense mingles with the atmosphere, + As still this Southern race, ill-clothed, uncrowned, + Retains the memory of the Pagan year, + When changed, yet all unchanged, Time's round + Makes the Jew Fisherman a god appear." + + + + + + CHAPTER VII + + + RAVELLO AND THE RUFOLI + + +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 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 _pro mercede animae suae et merito S. +Sebastiani Martyris_. But there is very little else to inspect, for the +interior has been hopelessly modernized. + +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 "some +shade of blue unnameable," 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 _carbonaio_ 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 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 _quattrini_ 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? + +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--_Capilli di Venere_, "Venus' tresses," as the Italians sometimes 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 +_forestieri_ 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 _soldi_, and the jaded scarecrow of a horse seems pleased with +his momentary halt. _Iterum altiora petimus_; 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. + +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 a large number of private palaces. +Its cathedral was founded in honour of Saint Pantaleone by Niccolo 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 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, "who, not content with his great store, but anxious to make it +double, was near losing all he had, and his life also." 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. "Moved by compassion," +says the relator of the tale, "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 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."(6) 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 _Decameron_--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. + + [Illustration: RAVELLO: IL DUOMO] + +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 facade +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 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 mosaic 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 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 Niccolo 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 Niccolo Rufolo from the destruction that +must 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. + +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. + +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 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. + + [Illustration: A STREET IN RAVELLO] + +From the Cathedral we proceeded to visit the quaint little church of Santa +Maria del Gradillo, that with its 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 naively 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 _a riverderla_, +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 survive to +keep their guardian Angel from the mingled sorrows and joys of matrimony! + + "Tenete l'uocchie de miricula nere; + Che ffa la vostra matre che n'n de' marite? + La vostra matre n'a de' marito' apposte + Pe' ne' lleva' son fior, a la fenestre." + + ("Your eyes are marvellously black and bright! + How is it that your mother does not wed you? + She will not wed you, not to lose her light-- + Not to remove the flower that decks her window!") + +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 "Il Toro," 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 +_Vescovado_, 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 _salon_ 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 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. + +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 +_Episcopio_ 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. + + "O quam placens in colore, + O quam fragrans in odore, + O quam sapidum in ore, + Dolce linguae vinculum. + + "Felix venter quem intrabis, + Felix guttur quod rigabis, + Felix os quod tu lavabis; + Et beata labia!" + +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 _avvocata_ 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. + +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 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 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. + +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. + + + * * * * * * + + +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. + +Casting a longing look behind we quit Amalfi in 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 _soldi_, 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 +Niccolo 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 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 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: + + "Another day has told its feverish story, + Another night has brought its promised rest." + + [Illustration: MINORI AT SUNSET] + + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + + SALERNO AND THE HOUSE OF HAUTEVILLE + + +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 Trinita; of beautiful La Cava, "that Alpine valley under an +Italian sky"; of 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 _padroni_ +could be brought to realise that a flavouring of rosemary and garlic in +every dish is not appreciated by the palates of the _forestieri_, 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. + + "A lu scur' vagi cercann' + La bella mia addo e? + Mo m'annascunn' po' fann' dispera', + I mor', I mor' pe' te, + Ripos' cchiu ne ho!" + + ("In favouring dusk I wandering go, + My fair, where shall I find her? + Now she attracts, now drives me wild; + I die, I die for her; + Repose no more have I.") + +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 +"bits" 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. 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: + + "Se Salerno avesse un porto, + Napoli sarebbe morto." + +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. + +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 +_valvassors_ or _bannerets_ 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 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 _suaviter in modo_ and the _fortiter in re_, 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:-- + +"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 +_Guiscard_ was applied to this master of political wisdom, which is too +often confounded with the practice of dissimulation and deceit; and Robert +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." + +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 "Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and here-after +of Sicily, by the grace of God and of St Peter," 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 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. + + "Urbs Latii non est hac delitiosior urbe, + Frugibus arboribus vino redundat; et unde + Non tibi poma nuces, non pulchra palatia desunt, + Non species muliebris abest probitasque virorum." + + ("All Latium shows no more delightful place, + Whose sunny slopes the vine and almond grace; + 'Midst fruitful groves her palaces uprear, + Her men are virtuous, and her women fair.") + +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. "Paris for learning, Bologna for law, Orleans for poetry, and +Salerno for Medicine";--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 _Fons Medicinae_ 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 _mens sana in corpore sano_, is in any +case more easily to be obtained by self-control than by all the +ingredients 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: + + "Curas tolle graves, irasci crede profanum, + Parce mero, coenato parum, non sit tibi vanum, + Surgere post epulas, somnum fuge meridianum." + + ("Throw off dull care; thine angry moods restrain; + Eschew the wine-cup; lightly eat, nor vain + Deem our advice to make Enough thy feast. + Take exercise, and shun the noon-day rest.") + +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. + +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, 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. "Whither do ye +fly? Your enemy is implacable, and death is less grievous than slavery!" +Joined with the hoarse voice of Guiscard, the Norman warriors could +distinguish the exhortations of the Amazon-like Sigilgaita, "a second +Pallas, less skilful in arts, but no less terrible in arms than the +Athenian goddess." 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 +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. "Thus, in less than three years," remarks +Gibbon, "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." 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 "Caesar of spiritual conquest" 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) 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. + +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. "The +Cathedral-church of San Matteo," says the Scotch traveller, Joseph +Forsyth, in quaint pedantic language, "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." 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. + +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 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. + + "A Duce Roberto donaris Apostole templo: + Pro meritis regno donetur ipse superno." + +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. + +The interior, which is sadly marred by white-wash 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: + + "Si nocturna tibi noceat potatio vini, + Hoc ter mane libas iterum, et fuerit medicina." + + ("If a carouse at night do make thee ill, + For morning medicine drink of wine thy fill") + +Let us hope that this extraordinary receipt for "hot coppers" 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: + + "The bas-relief in bronze ye promised me, + Those Pans and Nymphs ye wot of, and perchance + Some tripod thyrsus with a vase or so, + The Saviour at His sermon on the mount, + Saint Praxed in a glory, and one Pan + Ready to twitch the Nymph's last garment off, + And Moses with the tables...." + +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 "great and +inflexible asserter of the supremacy of the sacerdotal order: the monk +Hildebrand, afterwards Pope Gregory the Seventh." 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 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 "Henry, not by +usurpation but by God's holy ordination, King, to Hildebrand, no longer +Pope, but false monk." 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. "I absolve," said Gregory, "all +Christians from the oaths 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." 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. + +"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." + + [Illustration: ON THE ROAD TO RAVELLO] + +Can we wonder then that the phrase "to go to Canossa" (_gehen nach +Canossa_) 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 "Kultur-kampf" 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, 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. + +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 the +walls of the Castle of Salerno, encircled by flattering Churchmen who did +their utmost to cheer their dying champion. "I have loved justice and +hated iniquity, and therefore I die in exile," are the famous words +recorded of Hildebrand in the face of the King of Terrors. "In exile thou +canst not die!" eagerly responded an attendant priest. "Vicar of Christ +and His Apostles, thou hast received the nations for thine inheritance, +and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +Passing out of the silent church into the warm light of eventide, by steep +alleys and by stony footpaths we gradually 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 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 _signori_. The soft murmuring of the distant +sea, the subdued 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. + + + * * * * * * + + +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 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 +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: "Sire, love hath greater powers than you or I!" On the following +morning Tancred proceeded to visit the Duchess, still ignorant of her +paramour's fate, and in a voice strangled with the conflicting emotions of +paternal love and desired vengeance bitterly upbraided his erring child. +"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." + +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. + +"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 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 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." + +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: "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." 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: "My father has done very wisely; such a +heart as this requires no worse a sepulchre than one of gold." 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. "Sire," +said the dying Princess, "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?" 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.(7) + + + * * * * * * + + +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. + + + + + + CHAPTER IX + + + PAESTUM AND THE GLORY THAT WAS GREECE + + +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 +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 +_arundini_, 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 _porri_, 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 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. + +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. Perchance between +Battipaglia and Paestum we may encounter a herd of these shaggy beeves +being driven by a peasant on horse-back, with his _pungolo_ 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 "flying pest," the _asilo_ of the +Romans and the _aestrum_ 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. + +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 disagreeable 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. "Sir," replied the boatman, "I would gladly be excused, but +that my master compels me to undertake this work." "And who, pray, is this +tyrant of a master of yours?" indignantly enquired the Count. "Sir, it is +my Lord Poverty!" 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. + +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 _facchini_. 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 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 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. + + [Illustration: THE TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE, PAESTUM] + +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 Troezen, 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 Troezenians +henceforward was accounted one of the twenty-five subject-towns that +recognised Sybaris for their metropolis, or mother and 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 +B.C., 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 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. + +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 Paestum 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 Paestum, 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 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. + +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 +Cannae 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 B.C. 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 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--_biferi rosaria Paesti_--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. + +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 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 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 _Episcopus Paestanus_. 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 "the glory that was Greece." 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 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 "the ruined majesty of Paestum," +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. + +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 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, +whereon 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 _citta morta_ 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 +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. + +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. + +"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 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 _cella_, 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 _cella_ 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 _cella_ has been pulled +down; doubtless to supply material for building."(8) + +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 facades 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 +_Basilica_, but a temple intended 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 "the old sweet mythos"; 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. + +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 facades 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 "Il Piccolo Tempio," +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. + + "Between the mountains and the tideless sea + Stretches a plain where silence reigns supreme; + A land of asphodel and weeds that teem + Where once a city's life ran joyfully. + 'Vanity! Vanity! All Vanity!' + Whisper the winds to Sele's murmuring stream; + Whilst the vast temples preach th' eternal theme, + How pass the glories and their memory. + Think what these ruins saw! what songs and cries + Once through these roofless colonnades did ring! + What crowds here gathered, where the all-seeing skies + For centuries have watched the daisies spring! + Dead all within this crumbling circle lies: + Dead as the roses Roman bards did sing." + +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, 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 _aziola_, 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. + +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 "the tears of mournful Eve" 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 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. + +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 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 _vetturino_ 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 _carabinieri_ 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 _patois_, 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 "to diet with the natives," we +had preferred to take our chance of midday refreshment at the solitary +_osteria_ within the ruined city wall. The good people of the inn did what +they could to regale the two _gran' signori Inglesi_, 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 _Lucanica_ unchanged; the same tough, greasy, odoriferous +compound, in fact, that Cicero describes as "an intestine, stuffed with +minced pork, mixed with ground pepper, cummin, savory, rue, rock-parsley, +berries of laurel, and suet." 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. + +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. + + + + + + CHAPTER X + + + SORRENTO AND ITS POET + + +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 _il piccolo paradiso_ of the Bay of Naples, and +its air is considered by Neapolitans as the "balm in Gilead" 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 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. "One swallow +does not make a summer," 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 +_tramontana_ 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 _vicoletti_, the narrow steep rocky +paths running up hill, which make rough going and give little pleasure, +for they are almost all bounded on either 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. + + "Qualis populea maerens Philomela sub umbra + Amissos queritur fetus, quos durus arator + Observans nido implumes detraxit, at illa + Flet noctem, ramoque sedens miserabile carmen + Integrat, et moestis late loca questibus implet." + + ("At nightfall hear sad Philomel upraise + Her mellow notes amid the dark-leaved bays, + Mourning her babes and desecrated bower, + Which some rough peasant robbed in evil hour; + She tells her story of despair and love, + Until her plaintive music fills the grove.") + +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 _cacciatori_ 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 _uccellare_, +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 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 +_contadini_, 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. _Che bel +arrosto!_ (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 +_bel arrosto_ to the "profuse strains of unpremeditated art" that so +entrance the northerner, who is in reality far more of a poet by nature +than the more picturesque dweller of the South. _Tantum pro avibus._ + +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 _persiani_, 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 "Queen Joanna's Bath," or some strange caverns beyond the +headland of Sorrento, well known to our boat-men. That is the true life of +_dolce far niente_, 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. + +In early autumn also the place has its charms, in the days when the market +is filled with stalls heaped 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 +_cotogni_ 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 _cotogne_ 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 _renati_, 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 _Regina_; we note also the quaintly shaped "Ladies' +Fingers," which are especially sweet. The figs, massed together in serried +layers between fresh vine leaves and costing a _soldo_ 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 _Vescovo_, 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 (_poponi_) 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 _peperoni_, 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! + +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 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: + + "O for a draught of vintage, that hath been + Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth, + Tasting of Flora and the country-green, + Dance, and Provencal song, and sun-burnt mirth! + O for a beaker full of the warm South, + Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene, + With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, + And purple-stained mouth." + +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 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. + + [Illustration: AFTERNOON, SORRENTO] + +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 +resembles the well-known Roman variety. Equally popular with visitors are +the various articles made of olive wood and decorated in _tarsia_, 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 _tarantella_, of Pompeian maidens in +classical drapery, of _contadini_ 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 _tarsiatori_, but most persons will +certainly prefer the trite but characteristic patterns of the place. + +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, +"like golden lamps in a green light," 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. + +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 _aranciaria_ 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--_Portogalli_ 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 walking-sticks, or to serve the ignoble purpose of supplying +hotels and cafes 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. + +With the ripening of the oranges on the trees appear those strange +creatures from the wilds of the Basilicata or Calabria, the _Zampognari_, +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 _Fra Diavolo_, 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 _zampognaro_, for it +is he who carries the _zampogna_ or classical bag-pipe of Southern Italy, +whilst his companion is the _cennamellaro_, so called from his +ear-splitting instrument, the _cennamella_, a species of primitive flute. +The _zampogna_ may be described as first cousin to the historic bag-pipes +of Caledonia, for the sounds emitted strongly resemble the traditional +"skirling" of the pipes; but no Scotchman even could pretend to delight in +the shrill notes of the _cennamella_. 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 _Othello_ we have a direct +allusion to the uncouth braying music still made to-day by these +outlandish musicians. + +"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!" + +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 _zampognari_ 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 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 _novena_, +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 _soldi_ to a five _lire_ note. All classes of +society employ the zampognari, for it is with the first appearance of the +lovely golden fruit, essentially _the_ winter fruit of the Italians, that +the arrival of these picturesque strangers has been associated from time +immemorial. The _zampognari_ 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 _Natale senza +zampogna e cennamella_ would seem no true Christmas at all. + +Closely connected with the life of the people of the Piano di Sorrento is +the famous dance known as the _Tarantella_, 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 the popular mind with the _tarantula_, 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, _il tarantolato_, 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: + + "Non fu Taranta, ne fu Tarantella, + Ma fu la vino della carratella:" + + + ("It was neither the taranta, nor the tarantella, but it was the + wine from the cask.") + + +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 _tarantella_ and _tarantismo_ 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 "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 _Tarantula_. Its bite seldom kills a man, yet it makes him half +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." + +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 _festa_ 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 (_siscariello_); the +second a tin globe covered with skin pierced by a piece of cane +(_puti-puti_); the third a wooden saw and a split stick, making a +primitive bow and fiddle (_scetavaiasse_); the fourth an arrangement of +three wooden mallets, that are rattled together like a gigantic pair of +bones (_tricca-ballache_); and the fifth a Jew's harp +(_scaccia-pensieri_). 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 Tarantella +proper, whether danced _con amore_ by Procidan peasants or performed for +lucre by costumed professionals, is no vulgar frenzied _can-can_, but a +musical love-dance expressive of primitive courtship. + +"The Tarantella is a choregraphic love-story, the two dancers representing +an enamoured swain and his mistress. It is the old theme--'the quarrel of +lovers is the renewal of love.' 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 _pas de circomstance_, 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 'go' of the tarantella +when danced for love and not for money."(9) + +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 the possessor +of silk and _tarsia_ 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 _argumentum ad baculum_ 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. + + + * * * * * * + + +But the name which above all others Sorrento will cherish as her own, "so +long as men shall read and eyes can see," 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 connected with his native country as a whole, rather than with any one +of the little cities or states then comprising that "geographical +expression" 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--_Tasso_ 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 _Amadigi_, +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 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 "Tassino's" popularity, so that +he is now chiefly remembered as the sire of a poetic genius, as one of the +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. + +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 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 "wax to receive and marble to retain," +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. "Give me a child of seven years old," had once declared the great +Founder of the Society of Jesus, "and I care not who has the +after-handling of him"; 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, the Cavaliere Marzio Sersale, and +consequently returned to live in the home of her childhood. + +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 _Gerusalemme Liberata_ 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: + + "Colla penna e colla spada, + Nessun val quanto Torquato;" + +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. 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. + +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 _Gerusalemme Liberata_ 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 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 _Gerusalemme +Liberata_. 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. + +It is pleasant to think that Sorrento is still appreciative 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 _trattoria_ 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 "Nature's changing force untrimmed," 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 _podere_, 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 not, we ask +ourselves, the erratic poet have been content to remain in this spot, "in +questa terra alma e felice" 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. + + "Vivesti qual guerrier cristiano e santo, + E come bel sei morto: ei godi, e pasci + In Dio gli occhi bramosi, o felice alma, + Ed hai del ben oprar corona e palma." + + + + + + CHAPTER XI + + + CAPRI AND TIBERIUS THE TYRANT + + +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: "It will be wet to-morrow" augur the +weather-wise of Naples, and the prediction is rarely falsified. + + [Illustration: FARAGLIONI ROCKS, CAPRI] + +It is an easy matter to cross from Sorrento to the 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: + + "Con questo zeffiro + Cosi soave, + Oh, com' e bello + Star su la nave! + Mare si placido, + Vento si caro, + Scordar fa i triboli + Al marinaro." + +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 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 _carrozzelle_, 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 +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. + +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 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 "Timberio" (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 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. + + [Illustration: CAPRI FROM THE VILLA JOVIS] + +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 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 _Ficus Indica_ 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. + +A long up-hill ramble over rough paths leads eventually to the Villa of +Jupiter, perched on the Salto--the _Saltus Caprearum_, the "Wild Goats' +Leap," 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 _giallo_ and +_verde antico_, its pillars of red porphyry and _serpentino_, 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 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 _tarantella_, 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 _soldi_, 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; "from this eminence," Suetonius gravely +tells us, "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." 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. + +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 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 "gift." 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. + +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. 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.(10) + +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, 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. + +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. + +Past the gay-coloured shipping of the noisy Marina, past the wave-washed +halls of Tiberius' _palazzo a mare_, 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 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! + +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 +_Signori_ had managed to rediscover the entrance to the Blue 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 +_exact_ 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. + + [Illustration: IN THE BLUE GROTTO, CAPRI] + +Capri is a pleasant enough place of residence for a 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 + + "... on Capri's rocks, close to their snowy streak + Of ambient foam, and watch the restless sea + Tossing and tumbling to Eternity, + Feeling its salt kiss fall upon the cheek." + +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 Dore's brush; +the broad ribband of road leads across the steep northern flank of Monte +Solaro, 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: + +"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 +_contadina_: 'The old way was the shortest;' says the artist: 'It was +infinitely more picturesque; that new parapet wall is a dreadful +eye-sore;' says the archaeologist: 'It had the merit of antiquity; it is +not everywhere that one can tread in the footprints of a hundred +generations.' Even those whose every step in the olden time was +accompanied by a malediction, can remember how good a glass of very +inferior wine tasted on reaching Ana-Capri."(11) + +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 _Bierhaelle_ 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, speaking 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 "Il Vescovo delle Quaglie." + +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 _poderi_ 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 "improved" for purposes of +keeping by the wine-merchants 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 "star-of-Bethlehem," 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 "swallow-wort" 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 "Jacob's Ladder" 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. + +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 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! + +Exquisite and inspiring as is the view on a clear cloudless day, with the +keen _tramontana_ 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 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. + + + * * * * * * + + +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 +(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 "Little +Gibraltar." 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 +"Little Gibraltar," 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, 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 retirement 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, 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. + + [Illustration: A GATEWAY. CAPRI] + + + + + + CHAPTER XII + + + ISCHIA AND THE LADY OF THE ROCK + + +Embarking at Torregaveta, the little terminus of the _Ferrovia Cumana_, +which traverses the classic district of the Phlegraean Fields, we are +quickly transported in a small coasting steamer past the headland of +Misenum to the island and port of Procida, the "alta Prochyta" 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 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 _forestiere_, the Procidani pursue the even tenor of their +old-fashioned ways, unenvious of and unenvied by their neighbours on the +mainland. + + "O fortunatos nimium, sua si bona norint, + Agricolas!" + +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, +"the Mount St Michael of Italy." + +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. + +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 "chatelaine" 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 + + "Superbo scoglio, altaro e bel ricetto, + Di tanti chiari eroi, d' imperadori, + Orde raggi di gloria escono fuori, + Ch' ogni altro lume fan scuro e negletto." + +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 "Dialogo d'Amore" to +send to his sorrowing wife at Ischia, a production which the learned Paolo +Giovio, the historian and bishop of Nocera, pronounced as being "summae +jucunditatis," 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 _terza rima_ employed by Dante, and +though the poem is turgid in diction and shallow in thought, full of +classical names and allusions, "a parade of all the treasures of the +school-room," 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. + +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 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 _scoglio superbo_, 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 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 Renee, the "Protestant" +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. "The more +opportunity," so writes the poetess to Cardinal Cervino, afterwards Pope +Marcellus II., "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." 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 "Protestantism" +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 short her religious verses are if anything more frigid and +artificial than those which compose the _In Memoriam_ to her husband, her +_Bel Sole_, 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, "the Divine Vittoria" was doubtless +capable of producing something warmer and more human than the lifeless but +graceful sonnets that bear her name. + +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 _divino amore_ 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. + +The last days of Vittoria, which were chiefly spent within the walls of +the Convent of Sant' Anna at Rome, were clouded by ill-health and sorrow. +The death of the young Marchese del Vasto, "her moral and intellectual +son," 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 "Bel Sole," 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 +_superbo scoglio_, where all her happiest years were spent and where her +memory still survives so fresh. + +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. + + "Tocsins from yon bleak turrets never ring; + No knight or pages pace those galleries, + So sombre and so silent: ever cling + To that cold church and palace draperies + Of glaucous fume-weed; sea-birds ever sing + The vanished glories with low mournful cries." + +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. + +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. + +The road from Ischia to Casamicciola, a distance 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) + + "Muove i paralitici, + Spedisce gli apopletici, + Gli asmatici, gli asfitici, + Gl' isterici, i diabetici + Guarisce timpanitidi, + E scrofule e rachitidi." + +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 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 _Piccola Sentinella_, +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 _Piccola +Sentinella_ were sitting in the public rooms or on the terrace overlooking +the hotel gardens. In the _salon_ 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 _Marche Funebre_, +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 +_parrocco_, 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 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. + + [Illustration: ON THE PICCOLA MARINA, CAPRI] + +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 "Il Fungo" 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 (_mattoni_), which are +used with such good effect in the churches and houses of the island, are +likewise manufactured here. Lacco is particularly associated 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. + +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 +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. + +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 (_pithekoi_) 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 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. + +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 +_contadino_, 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 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 name of Monte San Niccolo +to the entire mountain, whose crest, some 3000 feet above sea-level, we +finally gain by means of steps roughly hewn in the lava. + +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 "of every virtue under Heaven" +penned its description nearly two centuries ago in a letter to Alexander +Pope, wherein he described Ischia as "an epitome of the whole earth." + +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 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.(12) + + [Illustration: ISCHIA FROM CASTELLAMARE (SUNSET)] + + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + + PUTEOLI AND THE GRANDEUR THAT WAS ROME + + +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 "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." 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. + +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 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 _Risorgimento_ 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: + + "O patria mia, vedo le mure e gli archi + E le colonne e i simulacri e l' erme + Torri degli avi nostri, + Ma la gloria non vedo; + Non vedo il lauro e'l ferro ond' eran carchi + I nostri padri antichi." + +It is a flat dusty stretch of road that lies between Fuorigrotta and +Bagnoli; the high walls give only occasional glimpses of well-tilled +_parterres_--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 "sad lupin," which Vergil has +immortalised in verse. The round bright yellow beans of the lupin crop, +known locally by the name of _spassa-tiempi_ (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 +himself followed by a still more miserable fellow-mortal, who was engaged +in picking up and eating the husks of the beans that, _more italiano_, he +had thrown carelessly on to the pathway after their insipid farinaceous +contents had been sucked out! + +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 +_jettatore_. Above this glowing mass of colour some three or four feathers +of a pheasant's tail are stuck, apparently with no ulterior purpose 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, "a wolf's skin attached to a horse's neck will render +him proof against all weariness." 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 _jettatura_, 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 "the flaming sword which +turned every way," 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 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. + +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, "the noblest Roman +of them all," 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 "Ser. +Gianni," Giovanni Caracciolo, head of an eminent family that has figured +prominently in Neapolitan history from the days of Angevin monarchs to +those 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. "Siccome la Regina Giovanna," is a form +of peasant execration around Naples that has some historical affinity with +the time-honoured Irish malediction of the "Curse o' Cromwell." + +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 _aux pointes d'asperges sauvages_ 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 by the classic headland of +Misenum, above which in turn towers the crest of distant Epomeo. + +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 _trattorie_ +as the place offers are all equally extortionate and detestable. Some time +ago there was a comfortable _pension_ at the edge of the town on the road +to the Amphitheatre, but its English landlady has long since migrated +elsewhere, and the comfortable "Hotel Grande Bretagne" 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 _tramontana_ 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 than +Pozzuoli for their cure. + +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 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 _Cantiere +Armstrong_, 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 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 +_verde_, _rosso_ and _giallo antico_, of the coal-black _Africano_, 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 _Forum Vulcani_ of +Strabo, which has remained for over seven hundred 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 (_fumaroli_) +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 "sights" 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; +"until he has spent half an hour in Pozzuoli," says the author of _Dolce +Napoli_, "let no man say that he understands the signification of the verb +to pester." + +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 _persiani_ and balconies draped +with the domestic washing, with here and there a domed rococo church, look +down upon the clear tideless 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,--_lupi marini_ +(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 Cardenas, 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 +"footprints on the sands of Time" in the coveted land of the Siren, which +all have possessed in turn but none have held in perpetuity. His +Excellency the Bishop Cardenas stands therefore in the open as a solid +memento of the glory that once 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 +"finds" 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 +disappointment 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 _Stabat Mater_ 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 _petuli_ +(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 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. + + [Illustration: ON THE BEACH] + +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 preventing the silting of the sand. Formed of brick, faced with +stone, and cemented with the local volcanic sand, which is consequently +known as _puzzolana_, 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. "History," says Gibbon, "is but a record of the +crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind;" 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. + +Using a double line of vessels well yoked together 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, 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. + +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. + +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 A.D. there dropped anchor in +the port a certain Alexandrian corn-ship, the _Castor __and__ Pollux_, +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 _Prima Augusta Italica_. 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. + +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. + + + * * * * * * + + +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 of earthquake shocks, "Pozzuoli +awoke," says the flippant Alexandre Dumas, "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!" + +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 _parvenu_ 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. + +It is a very short walk from the base of the Monte Nuovo to the "golden +shores" 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. + +"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 'Rome by the sea,' where the materials +used for the foundations of a single villa would more than suffice for the +construction of a dozen 'genteel marine residences' 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 'eligible family mansions' wherein dancing is dangerous, and to +venture on whose balconies is perilous in the extreme? Echo answers: +'What!' "(13) + +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. "Quid Nerone pejus? Quid thermis melius Neronianis?" +(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 for the beau-ideal of a Roman +existence, the cynosure of every wealthy citizen. + +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 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 + + "Woman-country, wooed, not won, + Loved all the more by Earth's male lands, + Laid to their hearts instead." + +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? + + "Thy cave was stored with scrolls of strange device, + The work of some Saturnian Archimage, + Which taught the expiations at whose price + Men from the gods might win that happy age + Too lightly lost, redeeming native vice; + And which might quench the earth-consuming rage + Of gold and blood--till men should live and move + Harmonious as the sacred stars above." + +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 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: + + "Dies Irae! Dies illa! + Solvet saeclum in favilla, + Teste David cum Sibylla." + + + + + + + INDEX + + + Abbondanza, Via dell', 51 + Abruzzi Mountains, 36, 122, 222 + Acre, 270 + Adrian IV., Pope, 156 + Agerola, 123 + Agropoli, 209 + Alberada, 181 + Albergo Cappuccini, 128 + Alcubier, 11 + Aleppo, 121 + Alexander of Epirus, 206 + Alexandria, 121 + Alexius, Emperor, 179 + Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, 242 + Algiers, 56 + Alphonso V. of Naples, 277 + Amalfi, 5, 36, 100, 106, 112, 126 + Ana-Capri, 249, 259, 271 + Angelo, Monte S., 28, 30, 63, 76 + Annunziata, Torre, 19, 92, 94 + Aosta, Duke and Duchess of, 93, 94 + Appian Way, 62 + Apulia, 181 + ---- William of, 135 + Arabia, 134 + Arco, 106 + Arguth, Joseph, 292 + Ariosto, Ludovico, 239 + Aristarchus, 312 + Arno, 2 + Arnold of Brescia, 156 + Arriengo, 123 + Arthur, King, 318 + Athens, 28, 39, 58 + Atrani, 152 + Atrio del Cavallo, 77 + Augustus, Emperor, 59, 69 + ---- Temple of, 313 + Aulus Vettius, Corvina, 55 + ---- ---- Restitutus, 40, 55 + Ausonius, 208 + Avicenna, 177 + Avvocata, Madonna dell', 166 + + Baghdad, 121 + Bagnoli, 296 + Baiae, 253, 307 + Bajalardo, Pietro, 117 + Barbary, 209 + Barisanus of Trani, 159 + Barra, La, 8 + Battipaglia, 198 + Bembo, Cardinal, 282 + Benevento, 111 + Bergamo, 240 + Berkeley, Bishop, 293 + Bismarck, 186 + Boccaccio, 137, 157 + Bohemond, 179 + Bomba, King, 6, 8, 16, 109, 284 + Bosco-Trecase, 92, 97 + Bowdler, Mr, 81 + Braccini, Abate, 77 + Breakspear, Nicholas, 156 + Browning, R., 33, 36, 183 + Brunetto Latini, 121 + Butomilea, Landolfo, 182 + Byzantium, 118, 142 + + Caecilius Jucundus, 40 + Cairo, 121 + Caligula, Emperor, 5, 308 + Camaldoli, 18, 270 + Campagna Felice, 66 + Campanella, Punta della, 112 + Canneto, 132, 140 + Canossa, 180, 186 + Capaccio, 209, 262 + Capodimonte, 2 + Capri, 4, 5, 13, 45, 63, 74, 90, 112, 249 + Capua, 66 + Capuano, Cardinal Pietro, 126, 143 + Caracciolo, 2 + Cardenas, Bishop, 305 + Cariteo, 277 + "Carlo il Zoppo," 102, 103, 121 + Carmine, Church of the, 105 + Casamicciola, 284 + Casa Nuova, 53 + Castellamare, 18, 25, 26, 100, 113 +_ Castor and Pollux, The_, 311 + Cathay, 121 + Cava, La, 113 + Celestine V., Pope, 292 + Cellini, Benvenuto, 27 + Cephalonia, 180 + Cerrato, Monte, 168 + Cetara, 134, 170 + Chalcidicum, 49 + Charles III. of Naples, 8 + ---- VIII. of France, 307 + ---- of Anjou, 102, 156, 167 + Chiabrera, 89 + Chiaja, 2 + Chiosse, Monte di, 119 + Cicero, 40 + Clement VIII., Pope, 167 + Clementia, Princess, 102 + Clodius Glabrus, 70 + Cluny, 184 + Colonna, Giuliano, 104 + ---- Vittoria, 5, 277 + Conca, Capo di, 125 + Concordia Augusta, 51 + Conradin, 156 + Constantinople, 80, 134 + Coppola, Monte, 28, 167 + Corniche Road, 100 + Costantinopoli, Strada, 2 + Crassus, 70 + Cumae, 4, 317 + + Damecuta, 261 + Dante, 120, 121, 239, 278 + Devonshire, 107 + Domenichino, 161 + Domitiana, Via, 62 + Dragone, 152 + Dumas, A., 9, 314 + Durazzo, 178 + + Eboli, 198 + Elboeuf, Prince d', 11 + Epidius Rufus, 40 + Epirus, 178 + Etna, 77, 291 + Eumachia, 40, 49 + Exeter, 40 + + Faito, Monte, 37 + Falerio, Monte, 170 + Faliero, Marino, 103 + Farnese, Elizabeth, 27 + ---- Pier-Luigi, 5, 27 + Ferdinand, King, 27, 270, 277 + Ferrara, 240, 248 + Filangieri, 103 + Fiorelli, Signor, 53 + Florence, 2, 112, 132, 148 + Florus, 70 + Forio, 289 + Forsyth, J., 181 + Francis, King, 109 + Frederick II., Emperor, 27, 210 + Fuga, 159 + Fuorigrotta, 295 + Furore, 123 + + Gaeta, 16, 36 + ---- Bay of, 4 + Galen, 106, 177 + Garibaldi, 6 + Gaurus, Mons, 57, 76 + Gavinius, 208 + Gazola, Count, 211 + Gell, Sir William, 44 + Genoa, 157 + Gibbon, Edward, 175, 309 + Gioja, Flavio, 119 + Glaucus, 261 + Goethe, 13, 212 + Gragnano, 20 + Greco, Torre del, 8, 13, 18, 77 + Gregory VII., Pope, 178 + Grotta Azzurra, 259 + Grotta Verde, 262 + Guallo, 116 + Guiscard, Robert, 5, 136, 155, 174 + Gurgitello, 285 + + Hale, Sir Matthew, 110 + Hamill, Major, 271 + Hamilton, Sir William, 80 + Hare, Augustus, 7 + Hart, Emma, 80 + Hauteville, House of, 174 + Helbig, 44 + Helene, Princess, 94 + Henry IV., Emperor, 180 + Herculaneum, 1, 9 + ---- Gate of, 62 + Hermolaus, 162 + Hildebrand, 5, 180, 182, 184 + Hippocrates, 177 + Hohenstaufen, 163 + Homer, 114 + House of the Surgeon, 43, 56 + ---- Vettii, 53 + + Innocent IV., Pope, 152 + Ischia, 4, 13, 78, 241, 252, 275 + + Joanna II., Queen, 144, 299 + John XVI., Pope, 167 + John of Procida, 184 + Julius the Centurion, 311 + Jupiter, Temple of, 52 + Justinian, Emperor, 135 + + Keats, John, 229 + + La Barra, 8 + La Cava, 172, 198 + La Scala, 166 + Lacaita, Mr, 262 + Lacco, 288 + Lactarian Hills, 101 + Ladislaus II., King, 299 + Lamarque, Gen., 271 + Lauretta, 157 + Lavoro, Terra di, 18 + Lenormant, F., 214 + Leo XIII., Pope, 288 + Leonora d'Este, 243, 248 + Leopardi, Giacomo, 295 + Lepanto, 246 + Libella, 64 + Livia, 50 + Livy, 73 + Lowe, Sir Hudson, 271 + Lubrense, Massa, 122 + Lucrine Lake, 313 + Ludius, 59 + Luke, 312 + + Maddalena, Ponte della, 84 + Majori, 166 + Malta, 311 + Mammia, 64 + Manches, Colonel, 273 + Manfred, King, 87, 152, 184 + Manso, 243 + Mansone II., Doge, 118 + Macellum, 52 + Marcellus II., Pope, 280 + Margaret of Durazzo, 189 + Marina, Porta, 39, 45 + Martin V., Pope, 277 + Matteucci, Professor, 94, 97 + Matilda, Countess, 185 + Mau, 44 + Maurice, 142 + Maximian, Emperor, 162 + Melfi, 133 + Mercato, Il, 2, 96 + Mercury, Temple of, 52 + Mergellina, 96 + Messina, 91 + Meta, 106 + Metastasio, 8 + Michelangelo, 283, 319 + Milan, 278 + Minerva, Cape of, 112, 117, 153 + Minori, 166 + Misenum, 71, 74, 249 + Mole of Puteoli, 308 + Monreale, 159 + Mont' Epomeo, 290 + Montapertuso, 119 + Monte Nuovo, 313 + Montorio, S. Pietro in, 2 + Montpensier, Duke of, 307 + Murat, Joachim, 5, 8, 270 + Muscettola, Sergio, 159 + Museo Nazionale, 1 + + Naccarino, 145 + Napoleon, 8, 270 + Natale, Michele, 103 + Nelson, 104, 269 + Neptune, Temple of, 212 + Nero, Emperor, 308 + Nicholas II., Pope, 176, 185 + Nicomedia, 162 + Nisida, 297 + Nola, 41 + Nuceria, 41, 173 + + Ochino, Bernardino, 280 + Oliveto, Monte, 96 + Orico, 271 + Orlando, Capo d', 102 + Oscan inhabitants, 41 + Otranto, 178 + Ottajano, 94, 98 + Overbeck, 44 + Ovid, 106, 261, 291 + Oxford, 156 + + Paestum, 41, 57, 143, 173, 182, 198 + Palermo, 91, 159 + Palumbo, 155 + Pansa, the AEdile, 40 + Pantaleone, 142, 148, 161 + Paolo Giovio, 278 + Paris, Comte de, 94 + Parthenope, 249 + Paul III., Pope, 27 + Pavia, 279 + Pedimentina, La, 77 + Pericles, 40 + Pescara, Marquis of, 278 + Petrarch, 116, 138, 239, 299 + Philip the Bold, 102 + Phillips, John, 68 + Philodemus, 10 + Piacenza, 185 + Pimentel, Eleonora, 104 + Piperno, Pietro, 111 + Pisa, 136 + Pistoja, 240 + Pius II., Pope, 27, 144 + Plato, 58 + Pliny, 59, 71, 76 + Pliny the younger, 71 + Plutarch, 70 + Pole, Cardinal, 280 + Pompeii, 1, 5, 24, 38 + Pomponianus, 72 + Pontone, 152 + Portici, 8, 80, 88, 97 + Porzia de' Rossi, 240 + Posilipo, 1, 8, 37, 295 + Positano, 119 + Pozzano, 37 + Pozzopiano, 106 + Pozzuoli, 109, 301 + Prajano, 124 + Procida, 4, 237, 275 + Puteoli, 5, 295 + + Quisisana, 27, 37 + + Ravello, 134, 152 + Reggio, 311 + Reid, Mr, 156, 262 + Renee, Duchess of Ferrara, 280 + Resina, 8, 79, 88, 98 + Retina, 8, 72 + Revigliano, 26 + Rhegium, 311 + Robert of Normandy, 178 + ---- the Wise, 116, 156 + Roger, Count, 155, 180 + ---- King, 116, 136 + Rome, 39, 94, 144, 156, 180, 312 + Ruffo, Cardinal, 104 + Rufolo, Niccolo, 155, 160 + + S. Agnello, 106 + S. Alessio al Lavinaio, 105 + S. Angelo, 13, 119, 122 + S. Bridget of Sweden, 144 + S. Brigida, 3 + S. Chiara, 2 + S. Costanzo, 251 + S. Elia, Punta, 117 + S. Elmo, 2, 67 + S. Francis of Assisi, 144 + S. Gennaro, 298 + S. Giovanni a Teduccio, 8 + S. Giovanni del Toro, 164 + S. Giuseppe, 94 + S. Luca, 124 + S. Lucia, 3 + S. Maria a Pozzano, 102 + S. Maria del Gradillo, 162 + S. Maria di Pompeii, 65 + S. Martino, 2 + S. Matteo, 173, 181 + S. Michael, 35 + S. Miniato, 2 + S. Paul, 312 + S. Pietro, Punta di, 123 + S. Proculo, 307 + S. Restituta, 291 + S. Romualdo, 19 + S. Salvatore a Bireta, 153 + S. Trinita, 172 + S. Vitale, 296 + Salerno, 4, 36, 111, 117, 133, 172 + Samnite Hills, 212 + Sannazzaro, 295 + Sanseverini, 169 + Sardinia, 15 + Sarno, 26, 41, 95 + Scala, 134, 167 + Scaletta, 152 + Scaricotojo, Lo, 113, 118 + Scutolo, Punta di, 106 + Sebeto, 8 + Sejanus, 256 + Serapis, Temple of, 308 + Serra, Gennaro, 104 + Shelley, 13, 33, 64 + Shrewsbury, 40 + Sibyl of Cumae, 318 + Sicily, 15 + Sigilgaita, 161, 179 + Silarus, 198 + Sirens, Isles of the, 114 + Sixtus IV., Pope, 318 + Smith, Sir Sydney, 270 + Soana, 184 + Socrates, 40 + Solaro, 268 + Soldan, 246 + Somma, Monte, 67, 94, 99 + Sorrentine Plain, 5, 106 + Sorrento, 5, 90, 221 + Sottile, Cape, 123 + Spartacus, 69, 76 + Stabiae, 26, 72, 76 + Stamer, W. J. A., 16, 52, 238, 265, 316 + Staurachios, 142 + Stolberg, Count, 202 + Stowe, Mrs H. B., 16 + Strabo, 69, 275 + Strada Costantinopoli, 2 + " de' Tribunali, 3 + Stromboli, 91 + Suetonius, 256 + Syracuse, 58, 107, 311 + + Tacca, 51 + Tacitus, 69, 71, 73 + Tafuri, Bishop, 159 + Tancred of Hauteville, 178, 180 + Tarver, J. C., 258 + Tasso, 5, 106, 145, 239 + " Bernardo, 106, 240, 277 + Theocritus, 154, 292 + Thermae of Nero, 316 + Tiber, 116, 156 + Tiberius, Emperor, 5, 50, 253, 308 + Timgad, 38 + Timothy, 312 + Tiridates, 308 + Titian, 27 + Titus, Emperor, 10, 57, 71, 76 + Toledo, The, 2 + Torregaveta, 275, 317 + Trafalgar, 270 + Tragara, 263 + Tripoli, 15 + Tunis, 56, 246 + + Ulysses, 114 + Urban IV., Pope, 144 + Ustica, 91 + + Vaccaro, Il, 84 + Valentinian, Emperor, 208 + Valley of the Mills, 140, 149 + Venice, 103, 112, 134, 148 + Venosa, 181 + Venus, Temple of, 52 + Vergil, 208, 211, 275, 296 + Vesuvius, 5, 11, 36, 66 + Via Domitiana, 62 + Vico Equense, 31, 102, 103 + Victor III., Pope, 155 + Victor Emmanuel III., King of Italy, 94 + Vietri, 165, 171 + Vigna Sersale, 247 + Villa Jovis, 254 + Villa Reale, 2 + Vincenzo, 37 + Vitruvius, 60, 69 + Vittoria Colonna, 5, 277 + Vivara, 276 + Vomero, 3 + Vozzi Family, 127 + + Wales, 107, 318 + William Bras-de-Fer, 174 + Wordsworth, 33 + Worms, 185 + + Zampognari, 233 + Zoppo, Carlo il, 102, 103, 121 + + + + + + FOOTNOTES + + + 1 W. J. A. Stamer: _Dolce Napoli_. + + 2 W. J. A. Stamer: _Dolce Napoli_. + + 3 Professor John Phillips: _Vesuvius_. + + 4 Pliny's Letters. (_Church's and Brodribb's Translation._) + +_ 5 La Nazione_, April 24, 1906. + +_ 6 The Decameron._ Novel IV. of the Second Day. + +_ 7 The Decameron_--Novel I, of the Fourth Day. + + 8 F. Lenormant: _A travers l'Apulie et la Lucanie_. + + 9 W. J. A. Stamer: _Dolce Napoli_. + + 10 For an able defence of the Emperor Tiberius, the reader is referred + to Mr J. C. Tarver's _Tiberius the Tyrant_, chap. xviii. + + 11 W. J. A. Stamer: _Dolce Napoli_. + + 12 A portion of this chapter has already appeared in an article by the + Author, entitled _The Island of Ischia_, in the _Westminster + Review_, December 1905. + + 13 W. J. A. Stamer: _Dolce Napoli_. + + + + + + TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + + +The caption of two images (frontispiece, page 288) has been supplied from +the List of Images. + +The following obvious typographical errors have been corrected: + + page xi, "Republiques" changed to "Republiques" + page 55, "castastrophe" changed to "catastrophe" + page 90, quote mark added after "vendemmia?" + page 158, footnote, italics added to "The Decameron", removed from + "Novel IV. of the Second Day". (Other inconsistencies between the + two citations of the _Decameron_ were not changed.) + page 159, "mosiac" changed to "mosaic" + page 189, "gradully" changed to "gradually" + page 206, "Paestum" changed to "Paestum" (twice) + page 212, "wheron" changed to "whereon" + page 238, "circomstane" changed to "circomstance" + page 241, double "the" removed + page 275, "costing" changed to "coasting" + page 300, "maledicton" changed to "malediction" + page 301, "then" changed to "than" + page 311, "aud" changed to "and" + +In the Index, the following words have been changed to the spelling used +in the main text: + + "Baiae" (was: "Baiae") + "Caecilius Jucundus" (was: "Caecilius") + "Cumae" (was: "Cumae") + "Hohenstaufen" (was: "Hohenstauffen") + "Matteucci" (was: "Mateucci") + "Paestum" (was: "Paestum") + "Pimentel" (was: "Pimental") + "Rufolo, Niccolo" (was: "Nicolo") + "Sannazzaro" (was: "Sannazaro") + "Stabiae" (was: "Stabiae") + "Staurachios" (was: "Straurachios") + "Thermae of Nero" (was: "Thermae") + "William Bras-de-Fer" (was: "Bras de Fer") + "Zoppo, Carlo il" (was: "Zoppo, Carlo Il") + +Apart from the index and two occurrences of "Paestum" in the main text, all +"ae" ligatures have been maintained: "aedile" (and "aedile"), "archaeologist" +(and "archaeologist"), "aesthetic", "Cannae", "Mediaeval" (in a quotation, +otherwise "medieval"), "maerens", "Praetor", "tesserae". + +Not changed or normalized were small errors in Italian or German +quotations ("a riverderla", "Kultur-kampf", "Bierhaelle"), inconsistent +hyphenation (e. g. "boat-man"/"boatman", "sea-shore"/"seashore"), spelling +variations ("Phlegraean"/"Phlegrean") and unusual spellings ("elegible" +[in a quotation], "pleisosaurus", "innoculating", "choregraphic"). + + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE NAPLES RIVIERA*** + + + + CREDITS + + +December 9, 2009 + + Project Gutenberg TEI edition 1 + Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed + Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. + + + + A WORD FROM PROJECT GUTENBERG + + +This file should be named 30634.txt or 30634.zip. + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + + + http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/6/3/30634/ + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one -- the old editions will be +renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one +owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and +you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission +and without paying copyright royalties. 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