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ing city presents. Nearly half of our visit of three weeks to Naples was occupied in excursions to the environs, if environs may be said to extend to a distance of fifty miles and upwards. The first of these was an aquatic expedition to the island of Capri, in the steam-boat Royal Ferdinand, one of the largest and finest I have seen in Europe. She is owned and manned by Scotchmen, who have made money by the enterprise. Her regular trips are from Naples to Palermo and Messina, in Sicily, whither she goes every week. Had not the season been so far advanced as to lead us to look towards the north, we should have availed ourselves of this opportunity for visiting old Trinacria. But one would not care to go, without climbing to the top of Etna, rambling over the ruins of Syracuse, and making a general tour through the Island, which would occupy a month or six weeks, a longer term than our arrangements would permit.

The trip of the Ferdinand was an extra, on a party of pleasure, and the passengers, amounting to something more than a hundred in number, were a motley assemblage of both sexes and all ages, composed chiefly of travellers from every nation of Europe, collecting in separate groups and jabbering different languages. Two of our American friends, the Chargé des Affaires, and our old messmate, the Surgeon in the Navy, joined us in the excursion. At the hour of embarkation, between 9 and 10 o'clock in the morning, the weather was pleasant, affording a charming view of the city and its environs, from the cleft and burning top of Vesuvius, to the yet snow-capt Apennines in the distance. But the reign of pleasure was shortlived. Rapidly as the boat receded from the shore, she had scarcely reached the middle of the Bay, when the blue skies of Campania suddenly vanished, and the blowing of the Sirocco, tumbeld in the sea in tremendous swells from the south. Placid and tranquil as is the general character of these waters, they are often lashed into fury by squalls, to which the whole coast of Italy is very liable. From the windows of my apartment, I have frequently watched the progress of the storm, accompanied sometimes by thunder and lightning. Fleets of little boats, hovering like sea-birds to the land, are generally the precursors; for the fishermen, grown familiar with the climate, can judge from a speck in the horizon, when a tempest impends. With all their caution, however, they have occasionally been

observed to be too tardy, and their white sails to disappear instantly in the dense verge of the storm. Then the waves, crested with foam, rapidly extend their circles to the inmost recesses of the Bay. I have seen them run so high, that the British ship-of-war Revenge, lying at anchor in the Roads, danced and rocked like a skiff.

The Royal Ferdinand on the present occasion, though a - staunch boat, rolled merrily, and the consequence was that more than half of the hundred passengers soon strewed the deck. They fell like soldiers on the field of battle, in the places where they stood, sometimes five or six at a lurch Russians, Austrians, Germans, Italians, French, and English all yielded to the impulses of sympathy; for the barriers of national prejudice had been effectually broken down by the motion of the ship. Some of the party had already ta ken so much lachrymachristi, that they were in a state of happy ignorance, whether their sickness proceeded from the influence of the bottle or the sea. A pretty Italian woman was just ill enough to cause a portion of the blood to retreat from her cheek, and render her face more interesting. All the well gentlemen on board who had smelling-bottles, seized this opportunity to tender their services. She appeared to retain her senses, and manifested more gratitude than did her husband, who stood by in amazement at the formidable array of whiskers and mustaches which encircled her. A tall blue-eyed German girl, taking a hint from the occasion, fell sick about the same time; but Priests and Levites passed by on either hand. Such are the advantages of per sonal beauty.

As soon as the boat reached the lee of Capri, the water became comparatively tranquil, though the storm had by no means abated. We were now in sight of the rocks of the Sirens, off the capes of Sorrento; but in such a day at least the warbling trio had retired to their ocean caves, and the only melody which greeted our ears, was the whistling of the Sirocco and the beating of the surge upon the naked crags Coming to anchor close to the shore, and about midway the Island, we had a tolerable view of this insulated ridge of tufo, the postion of which has already been described. Its length from east to west is three miles, and its breadth less than one giving a circumference of nine miles. It is extremely broken, and exhibits the strongest evidences of being a ruin. Its greatest height above the level of the Bay may be some

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thing like twelve or fifteen hundred feet. There are two tremendous bluffs-one near the centre, up which steps have been cut in the rock to the village of Anacapri on the summit; and the other terminating in impending cliffs, down which Tiberius Cæsar used to order criminals to be thrown, to amuse his sullen solitude.

The apex of the Island is crowned with ruins. Palaces were here commenced by Augustus, and embellished by his successor, Tiberius, at an immense expense. The latter found in this solitary retreat an abode suited to his gloomy and suspicious tyranny. He was killed upon the very rocks, whence hundreds had been hurled into the sea for his recreation. After his death, the palaces were suffered to fall into decay. Some traces of them are yet discoverable. The Island is at present covered with rich verdure, which contrasts beautifully with the white cliffs. Nearly in its centre, the little village of Capri is seated far up the acclivity, many hundreds of feet above the sea. It is approached by a flight of steps, winding up from the landing, and something more than a mile in extent-one of the most fatiguing walks I have ever taken. As the rain poured in torrents, and there is no hotel in the town, we took shelter in the Cathedral, the principal ornaments of which were images of the Virgin and Child, tricked out with a new suit of finery, each wearing a tinsel crown upon curled and frizzled locks. The storm continued with such severity, that it became wholly impracticable to visit the ruins of the imperial palace, and a few other antiquities scattered over the Island. One of our friends found an asylum in a Convent, and took lodgings for the night, determining to wait for a fair day. The rest of us, embarked at 4 o'clock, and scudded back before the wind to Naples, happy to escape from scenes of intoxication, profanity, and rudeness of behaviour among a portion of the pas sengers.

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LETTER LXV.

EXCURSION TO BALE-PAUSILYPO-LAKE AGNANO -GROTTO DEL CANE-GULF OF BALE-POZZUOLI--ANCIENT PORT-BATHS OF NERO-LUCRINE LAKE-LAKE OF AVERNUS-GROTTO OF THE SIBYL-CUME-ACHERON--RUINS OF BAIEELYSIAN FIELDS-CAPE MISENO-VILLA OF CICERO-SOLFATARA.

May, 1826.-One day was actively and delightfully employed in an excursion to Baiæ, some seven or eight miles west of Naples. A friend who had recently been over the whole ground, was so kind as to accompany us, affording at once the pleasure of his society and the benefit of his acquaintance with all the localities. As the objects to be seen in this direction are both numerous and interesting, we left Naples at an early hour in the morning, and were favoured with one of the brightest days, that had been found in this soft and delicious climate. The road we pursued, leads through the faubourg of the city as far as the Tomb of Vir gil, and thence pierces the hill of Pausilypo,* by an arch, or grotto, as it is called of the same name. This arch resembles the tunnels of canals, or the galleries on the road between Nice and Genoa. It is forty or fifty feet in height, and barely wide enough for two carriages abreast, hewn out of a solid ridge of tufo, and paved with blocks of lava. Two small apertures open diagonally through the roof, serv ing the double purpose of ventilation and of admitting a feeble light. In neither respect, however, are they of much importance, being of less size than Herschel's telescope, and half closed at top by the foliage of the hill. They were not observed at all in our first ride through the grotto, which in the central parts has more than the dimness of twilight.

* This appellation is derived from two Greek words (avois and AUTH) signifying the cessation of sorrow, classically given to the hill by the scho lars of the Augustan age, on account of the charm of its scenery, and its exhilarating effects on the mind. The word is written Posilipo, Posilippe, and in half a dozen other different ways. As the orthography seems to be wholly unsettled, I take the liberty of following the analogies of the Greek and English languages.

A lamp suspended before the image of the Virgin, is kept constantly burning. The deafening noise of coaches, and the obscure glimpses of pedestrians, gliding like ghosts through the shades, render the way gloomy, and even terrific, to the foot passenger, who is not protected from carriages by side-walks. In the month of October, the setting sun shoots his horizontal beams through the whole length of the arch, and illuinines a house at the eastern end. Many conjectures have been offered as to the origin and object of this work. Its antiquity is undoubted, as it is mentioned by Roman writers soon after the Augustan age. But in a region where excavations are so easy and so numerous, the subject appears unworthy of the profound speculations, with which antiquaries have racked their brains. A luxurious Roman might open the road in a single season, to save the trouble of climbing the hill on his way to Baiæ. Ten thousand modern works surpass it in expense and labour.

The ridge of Pausilypo extends in a southern direction to the distance of three or four miles, terminating in high perpendicular cliffs, and with the little island of Nisida, a few rods from the extremity, forming one of the capes of the basin of Baiæ. A new road yet in an unfinished state, has been opened along the eastern side of the promontory, crossing it by a deep cut, and leading to Pozzuoli by another route. It has been constructed at an immense expense, and with the usual tardiness of similar works in Italy. an excursion on a subsequent day to the end of the cape, three or four hundred Neapolitans were seen engaged in digging through the hill, carrying away the sand in baskets poissed upon their heads.

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Although the hill of Pausilypo affords a charming ride, commanding a full view of the bay of Naples, it presents few objects of interest. Its heights were once covered with the villa of Pollio, the friend of Virgil; and it is said the poet himself here had a house. But the ruins of both have vanished. The residence of Sannazaro is shown on the right of the new road, and on the left are a Chinese temple, and the lodge of Lady Craven, who has made so much noise in Europe. She was banished from the Neapolitan court, under an accusation of being accessory to the amours of the queen. Her mansion, standing near the water, and surrounded with gardens, exhibits a good deal of taste.

So much for a digression on one side of the grotto of

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