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PRIVATE DIARY.
VOLUME IL

THE PRIVATE DIARY

OF

EICHARD, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM

AND CHAEDOS,

K.G.

EST THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. n.

LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT, PUBLISHERS,
SUCCESSORS TO HENRY COLBURN,
13, GREAT MARLBOROUGH STRBKT.
1862.
The right of Trcmslaiion is reserved.

EoLK.iri

'' <s^"

LONDON :
pbintbd by b. born, gloucestek stkeet,
regent's park.

CONTENTS OF VOL. IL

CHAPTER L

Taste of the Neapolitan Nobles — Roman ViUa — Blind Soldiers —
Washing the Apostles' Feet at Court — Castle of Baise — Lake
of Avernus — Forcing an entrance to the Sybil's Grotto — Baths
of Nero — Temple of Venus— Mare Morto — Temple of ApoUo —
A Royal Fishmonger — A Child for Sale . . " . .1

CHAPTER n.
Castle of Procida — ^Royal Tavern — Unreliable Liformation — ^Va
pour Baths — Layers of Tufa — La SentineUa — Description of an
Earthquake — Government Liberality — InteUigence at Ischia —
Roman Baths— Another Dream — OasteUo del Mare . . 19

CHAPTER m.
Rush of Water into a Cavern — Carbonari Influence on the King
— Royal Expenditure — Sorrento — Catching Quails — True
Modesty — Interview with the Syndic — Liquefaction of the
Blood of St. Januarius — Explanation of the Supposed Miracle
— Treachery — Sir Hudson Lowe  34

VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
Stalactite Columns at Capri— Sword Fish— Amalfl— Beautiful
Landscapes- A Magnificent Cavern — Salerno — Ruins at Pses-
tum — Effects of Malaria — Banditti— Suspicious Appearances —
Stromboli from the Sea — Showers of Scoriae — Craters — ^Minerals
— Adventure in Search of Specular Iron .... 49
CHAPTER V.
Lipari — ^Mineral Products — Becalmed off the Rocks — Coast of
Sicily — Malta— Fashionable Society — ^Admiral and Lady Cod
rington — ^Dowager Countess of ErroU — Lady E. Ponsonby — ^A
Little Comedy — The Government and the Hero of Navarino —
La Boschetta — Dinner at the Palace — A Knight of Malta — ^The
Greatest Bore in the Island  68
CHAPTER VI.
Island of Gozo — Calypso and Fenelon — Cyclopean Buildings at
Rabbato — Reception by tbe Authorities — Fungus Rock —
Gergenti — ^Misconduct of the Health Officers — Marsala and its
Wine — ^Trapani — Prisons — Coral Fishery — ^Miraculous Ma
donna, and the CarmeUte Convent — Extraordinary Work of
Art  92
CHAPTER vn.
Temple of Venus at St. Julian — ^Temple of Segestum — ^Wonderful
Cavern — An Adventure — Tantalaria, and its Pohtical Prisoners
— ^Visit from the Governor — ^Professor Ferrara and his History —
Granite and Lava — The Barbary Corsair — Basaltic Caves and
Hot Springs  113
CHAPTER Vni.
Visit to the Governor of Pantaleria— A Delightful Bath— Means
of Communicating to their FamiUes offered to the Prisoners 
A Terrific Storm and Hot Blast— Narrow Escape from Ship
wreck — ^Defective Anchors — Leave the Island — Return to Cas-
teUo del Mare — ^Political Risings — French Diplomacy  The
King's Confidante  137

CONTENTS. VU
CHAPTER IX.
Pontius Pilate's Baths — Interesting ReUc — Visit to the Governor
of Ponza — CagUari — Visit to the Viceroy and the Archbishop
— PestUence — ^Robbery and Assassination — H Cavaliere della
Marmora-r-Ancient MSS. — Sharks — The Viceroy's Dinner —
Migratory Birds — Sardinian Costume — Dancing and Music 15.3
CHAPTER X.
Burning Forests — Acting Royalty — ^Pula — St. Antonio — Malaria
on the Coast — ^Eagle's Nest — Oristan and its Pestilential State
— Coral Fishing — Alghero and Porto Conte — Grotto di
Nettuno — Extraordinary Scene — Ajaccio Bay and the Coast of
Corsica ; . .'  178
CHAPTER XI.
Colonel GuiUemot — The Brigand and the Judge — Travelling in
Corsica — ^A Mysterious Correspondent — -Scenery — Bourjoynano
— ^Death of a Bandit — ^Precautions against a Surprise — Outlaws
— ^A -Courteous Robber — Armed Labourers — The Gate of Hea
ven — An Inn Dinner — VaUey of the Tavignano — Picturesque
Scenery — Bastia  200
CHAPTER Xn.
Curiosity at Bastia — Signor Lescia — ^A Traitorous Proposal — Ju-
venUe Bathers — ^A'SquaU off Porto Vecchio — ^Porto Manza —
Granite Islands ia the Straits of Bonifacio — ^Arrival at Genoa —
Reception at the Palace — The Queen Dowager — Visit to the
Naval 'Arsenal — Bay of Genoa — Hon. Mr. Arundel — La Con
servatoire des Fieschini — Leave Genoa .... 219
CHAPTER Xin.
Genoese Women — Architectural Freak at Savona — Magnificent
View — ^VentimigUa — Monaco — Trophy of Augustus on the
Mountaiu La Turbia — Approach to Nice — ViUafranca — As
cending the Maritime Alps — Col de Tende — Dangerous Road —
Mountains and Clouds — Cosi — Approach to Turin . . 238

VIU CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XIV.
Turin — Professor BoreUi and the Museum — Palais Royal — ^VaUe
d'Aosta — ViUages — Glimpses of Mont Blanc — Cattle Fair at
Morjex — Battle of Marengo — Extortionate Innkeepers — ^Earth
quake in the neighbourhood of Genoa — Its Effects . . 262
CHAPTER XV.
Lovely Scenery on the Road to Chiavari — ^The Holy Hermit of
Sestri — Tricks upon TraveUers — A Waterspout — Spezzia by
Moonlight — Passing the Ferry — ^An Appeal for an Archduchess
— ^Marble Quarries at Carrara — Bust of the King of England's
Brother — Tales of Brigands — Suspicious Appearances — Lucca —
Approach to Leghorn  291
CHAPTER XVI.
Whim of a Chaplain at Leghorn— Sienna — ^The Cathedral — Ap
pearance of the Neighbouring Country — Cold at Radicofoni —
Bolvent — Etruscan Remains  308

DIARY OF
RICHARD DUKE OP BUCKINGHAM
AND CHANDOS, K.G.

CHAPTEE I.
Taste of the Neapolitan Nobles — Roman ViUa — BUnd Soldiers —
Washing the Apostle's Feet at Court — Castle of Baise — Lake
of Avernus — ^Forcing an entrance to the Sybil's Grotto — Baths
of Nero — Temple of Venus — Mare Morto — Temple of Apollo —
A Royal Fishmonger — ^A ChUd for Sale.
Apkil 1st. I return on board my yacht, tired of Naples,
and glad to find myself in my own home again. My
lacquais de place, Giovanni Gandolfi, excellent, finding
out the oddest holes and comers in which to stick his
clarionet, snuff-box, and music book. I heard much ob
jurgation going on between Captain Wilcox and him.
" You must not put nothing there, I tell you. I say I
won't have it ! " exclaimed the former.
VOL. II. B

2 TOEEE DEL GKECO.
"Indeed, Mstere ViUicock, it vill not be in no vay at
all ! " whined out the latter.
" I tell you it shan't be ! " reiterated the former.
Comte et Comtesse Stackleberg, with twelve children
and two governesses, came on board to see the vessel.
Much admiration, bowing, and compliments, of course.
" La belle chose que la navigation."
2nd. The mineral which I found in the Astroni lava
at Pozzuoli is Brieslakite and glassy feldspar, with, I
think, meUiHte tetanium. I went in my barge round by
Kesina and Portici.
3rd. The city is in silence. All carriages are stopped
from twelve o'clock to-day ; the flags of all Catholic ships
are hoisted half-mast high, and their yards topped. The
sentries mount with reversed arms, and the Host is car
ried about in mourning, followed by white penitents.
No bells are tolled. This lasts until twelve o'clock in
the noon of Saturday. The King alid Queen wash the
feet of twelve poor men representing the twelve Apostles,
and our Saviour's tomb is represented in all the churches,
many of which the Eang visits. Last night the " Mise
rere " was sung. I am glad that I am on board — I dis
hke making sights of religious processions or ceremonies,
which are contrary to my own ideas of rehgion.
I went in my barge to Torre del Greco. In the even
ing Signor Donati, Cavalier Monticelli's secretary, called
upon me with a detailed report of the late eruption of
Vesuvius. I sent a copy of it in a letter to Dr. Buck-
land, for the Geological Society.
Good Friday — 4th. I went in my barge along the
Pausihpo side of the bay. The scenery is lovely. Every
ten yards gives a new landscape. The tufa cliffs, with
the casini and the gardens of the NeapoHtan noblesse,

NEAPOLITAN TASTE. d
are very picturesque, and in the hands of a rich or an
active-minded nobihty, would be unquestionably beautiful.
But the casini are in ruins or turned into merchants'
stores, &c., and the gardens are neglected. Nattire re
mains the same, and her form and beauties are unal
tered and unalterable. Along the bay are many remains
of Roman viUas and baths. Here the luxury of Lu
cuUus was manifested.
The taste of some of the Neapohtan nobles is not
better than Mr. Nash's. Chinese pagodas perched upon
tufa chffs, amidst Roman remains, are quite as incon
gruous as the best specimens in Regent's Street. But
time gives the tirfa rock such beautiful tints of anti
quity, and the aloe, the Indian fig, the myrtle, and the
Mediterranean heath — now in full flower — ^form such
lovely appendages to them, that the eye soon escapes from
the Chinese pagodas, and is filled by the beauties of the
spots on which they are perched. The hand of man
also, as well as the wash of the sea, have formed innu
merable caverns, which are romantic, in the rocks, and
must in the hot weather form beautiful retreats for the
mermaids and tritons who come there from Naples in
the summer evenings to drink coffee and eat ice.
After passing the point of Pausihpo, we opened the
romantic village of Marochiano. Here was situated the
magnificent villa of Vedius PoUio, the freed slave and
favourite of Augustus, who in his vast Piscinae,
which still exist, kept the murense, which he fed with the
flesh of his unfortunate slaves who offended him. The
vUla exists no longer, but on the margin of the water
are the beautiful remains of a Roman villa, which have
escaped the researches of almost aU the antiquaries, and
are all but tmknown. Dr. Nott conducted me to the
B 2

4 BLIND SOLDIERS.
spot. It consists of two stories. The whole house is
built upon arches over the sea, which forms the whole
lower part of the house into a beautiful bath, into which
a boat can row through an archway which opens from
the house into the sea. With the exception of the roof
the house is perfect. Its walls are of reticulated brick
work, and the upper story is stuccoed. It is curious
that, anxious as the antiquaries have been to ascertain
the proportions of Roman viUas, and, active as have been
their researches in Pompeii and Herculaneum for that
purpose, they should entirely have passed over so perfect
a specimen as this is, close to their doors, and, except
from the circumstance of the roof's being off, appearing
as if it had been inhabited within the last twenty years.
5th. I went to the Church of St. Martino de Certosini.
This is situated close to the Castle of St. Ehno, and,
consequently, commands all Naples. It belonged, for
merly, to the Certosini Convent, once one of the most
magnificent in Europe. The convent is now turned
into the Hospital of Military Invahds ; and I was much
struck by the number of blind soldiers, who formed the
greater proportion. This must be mainly attributable to
the glare of the sun, during the summer, on the white
houses and streets in which the men do duty. Notwith
standing that Naples entertains an army so much larger
than she ought or need to have, their duty is so severe in
the city, owing to the strictness of the mihtary pohce,
that the men have but one day out of tliree off duty.
From a belvidere, or balcony, you look down upon the
convent garden beneath, full of orange trees, and those
trees full of fruit and blossom ; and below that again is
the vast panorama of the Bay and Campania of Naples.
In this belvidere, exposed to the rays of the sun and en-

EASTERN SUNDAY. 5
joying its warmth, sat, sunning themselves, a number of
bhnd soldiers, who, in the enthusiasm created by their
doing the honours of one of the finest views their country
can boast of, to a stranger, forget that they themselves
could not see it ! " Qui bellissima veduta, Signor !"
came from the lips of men whose eyes were closed in
darkness. They were happy and contented, and walked
about theh' elevated dwelhng as a sleep-walker does on
the eaves of a house, not knowing where they tread.
I dined with Comte Stackleberg and returned to my
vessel at night, having taken leave of my poor Arch
bishop and his cats. He asked me when he should see
me again? I told him I calculated on returnuig to
Naples in the autumn.
" Come soon," said the poor old man ; " I shall not be
able to wait for you long !"
I may go before him.
6th. — Easter Sunday. Service on board, and service
and the Sacrament at the British Consul's. All the
Cathohc world in jubilee. Every one out in the streets
in their best clothes, and all rejoicing at having got rid
of Lent.
A great circle at court to-day at twelve o'clock, after
mass ; and it was intimated to me that I should be there.
But I rephed that Easter Sunday was a festival with us
as with the Catholics'; that our service was precisely at
that hour ; and that I must be excused if I attended it
instead of going to court.
The ceremony of washing the Apostles' feet here is
precisely the same as ours on Maunday Thursday in our
Chapel Royal, with the difference that there are no feet
washed vrith us ; but bread, meat, fish, money, and wine
are distributed here to those whose feet are washed as

6 EOTAL EAMILT.
they are to our poor who have no such ablution. The
King goes upon both his knees ; the feet of twelve poor
persons, dresed out in wigs, with their hair parted on
their foreheads, to represent the twelve Apostles, are
uncovered, and the King washes them. Two chamber
lains, on their knees, hold the towel and basin. To them
the King leaves the wiping of the feet, and kissing the
feet afterwards. The Queen washes the feet of twelve
old women in the same manner, representing — I know
not who. The King, Queen, and Royal family then,
with their own hands, serve the people whose feet have
been washed with an excellent dinner of bread, fish,
meat, and vrine, which are packed up in separate baskets
for them to carry home. The men are then embraced
by the King and the women by the Queen, and all are
sent home with a sum in piastres hung by a string round
their necks. The Queen went through the ceremony
with a stohd look of resignation ; the young Princes and
Princesses giggled, laughed, and quizzed ; the Prince of
Salerno was sulky and ungracious ; but the King, whose
confessor was at his back, with a long white beard, and
his monastic garments and rope of flagellation, richly
trimmed and laced with gold, bent his knees and fore
head to the ground and went through the whole proceed
ings with deep and painful devotion.
He loudly and openly rebuked orie of the chamberlains
who contented himself with going on one knee, instead of
both. I fear that he is entirely in the hands of the
Jesuits and priests, who work upon his mind through
very low and unworthy channels. His valet de chambre
has the character of being his chief adviser, and Medicis,
his minister, has no influence.^ If Europe is cursed with
• Ferdinand, of as many vicissitudes as perjuries, having finished an

CAVOUR. 7
another revolution, it ^^^U be caused by the utter weak
ness of all its sovereigns.
7th. At daybreak this morning we unmoored and
warped out to the outward harbour, and took in our
powder. At eleven o'clock a.m. we sailed for Baise;
but the wind became scant, and we had to work, and at
last to tow, our way out of the bay. This, although
tedious, gave us the opportunity, as we tacked from side
to side, to visit and enjoy in detail all the beauties of the
bay. At the same time the steamboat, full of pleasure-
hunting passengers, rushed by, as for Capri ; and, rush
ing round the island, rushed back again at the rate of
thirteen miles the hour, and her passengers satisfied
themselves with having seen Capri !
We again passed our Roman House ; and this second
view of it only increased our desire again to visit it in
detail. It must have formed one of the cluster of viUas
which surroimded Lucullus's and Vedius PoUio's, and
where all the luxury of the former was exhausted in im
proving the beauties of his country residence. A lonely
hermit is now the only inhabitant of the site of the
unexampled career of cruelty and fraud, died in 1825, and had
been succeeded by his son, Francis I., who proved himself not
less a Bourbon. The despotism of this mercUess tyrant became
known throughout Europe, by the thrUUng exposure of Mr.
Gladstone, and the denunciations of many a less eloquent orator.
At the period of the Duke's visit this monarch was at the height
of his absolutism. The name of a young man of eighteen, then
a subaltern in the Sardinian army, if known to him at aU, could
have given him no uneasiness ; yet the genius of CamiUo Benso
di Cavour, aided by the enterprise of a more daring soldier of
fortune, Garibaldi, drove his dynasty out of SicUy, though not tiU
after the death of King Francis. His son, Francis H., is now a
fugitive, an aUy only of Pope Pius Hie Ninth and — ^the Roman
' brigands !

HERMIT.

luxurious Roman's proud domain. Where the lords of
the world feasted, their names only survive in the tradi
tion of obscure story or the verses of parasitic poets ;
where Virgil sung, and Lucullus feasted, the eye of the
antiquarian searches doubtfully for even the traces of
their dweUings ; where milhons were spent in enjoyment,
a begging friar is the only specimen of mortality ; and
on the spot where the festive shouts and the classic songs
of thousands were raised in honour of their princely en
tertainer, a mendicant asks for ahns to support a
wretched existence.
On the shelves of the lonely rocks on which stands the
low-browed hermitage, with its simple cross and figures
of Franciscan friars cut in stone before its door, we saw
the hermit watching the passing vessel, and giving his
solitary blessing to the fishermen as their barks glided by
his abode. What a lesson this for the owners of Stowe
and Blenheim !
After doubling the point, we passed by the island of
Nicida, where Cicero held his interview with Brutus, the
least execrable of Juhus Csesar's assassins ; and where
Portia, Brutus's wife, died the death of a murderer's
wife, and, self -devoted, " swallowed fire."
As the evening closed in, and we sUently and slowly
glided into our anchorage under the Castle of Baise, I
could not help drawing a contrast between the present
time and that when the lonely bay into which we were
entering rang with the shouts of revelry, and gleamed
with the lights of the thousand lamps that iUuminated
the palaces and viUas of Rome's Emperors, and her
nobles ; when the luxury of the world was exhausted
on her shores, and its power was concentrated within its
hmits. Now all was sUent. The temples of the gods

NERO S BATHS. i)
remain,but in utter ruin, and even their destinations doubt
ful — surviving the houses and the memories of those who
erected them, but in their own ruin manifesting the
weakness and the futUity of an idolatrous faith. The
hot streams flow where they were coUected into Nero's
baths. But Nero's palace is no more; and the reticulated
brickwork which fronts the mountain's side alone de
notes that here was once the residence of man.
Sth. The weather cleared up a httle towards noon,
and we proceeded in the barge to Pozzuoli, and coasted
the bay. After we had passed Mont^ Nuova, which
was thrown up by volcanic process in thirty-six hours, we
came to the range of tufa chffs which reach round the
bay to the Castle of Baise, and were the sites of the
magnificent palaces and vUlas — of all that was great in
Rome. The whole chff, from the surface of the sea to
the summit, was faced with buUdings. The reticulated
walls and masses of brickwork, which have faUen into
the sea, and the excavations that penetrate the moun
tain in every part, and in which the hot springs still rise
that formed the great luxury of Roman greatness,
alone remain ; but walks and arches literally encrustrate
the whole bay. Notwithstanding the surf, we succeeded
in landing at Nero's Baths. I found two very handsomely
ornamented terra-cotta pipes, that had formed the ridge
of a Roman house, and which I took on board. The
only temple that we visited was the Temple of Diana —
a hexagon exteriorly. Within, it appears hke half an
eUiptical vault. They tell you that it was a piscina or
bath. I doubt it, as it is above the level of other buUd
ings attached and belonging to it, which, if the water
had been brought into this buUding, must themselves
have been under water. It appears more hkely to have

10 MUREN^.
been the sanctuary of the temple, the adytum and por
tico of which are in ruins. The castle is now used as a
barrack. I have an order from the Neapolitan Govern
ment allowing me to land and embark goods, &c., freely.
But a Government schooner, as if by accident, has fol
lowed us into our anchorage, and has anchored close to
us, and I rather suspect is a spy.
9th. We rowed to Pozzuoh, and proceeded to the ruin
of Cicero's villa, which consist only of a few arches by
the sea-shore. Some rocks stretch out in a hue from
the shore, which is flat and sandy, and, I thiiik, may
probably have been the remains of a mole for the accom
modation of the houses and viUas on this side of the bay.
From thence we proceeded to Nero's Palace, where we
landed. We did not then enter the vapour baths ; but
after examining one or two baths cut in the tufa rock,
mounted mules and donkeys, and proceeded to the Lake
Avernus. The whole of the ground upon which the
tufa rock stands, against which was built the Palace of
Nero, and the City of Baise, is in a state of active vol
canic process. The sand on the shore, and the sea-water
immediately below, is warm ; and in the first excavation
we came to, where there was an ancient bath, in which
the water rose from out of the sand below, the thermo
meter stood at 110 degrees of Fahrenheit. We passed by
an ancient Roman pond, caUed II MariceUo, the remains
of the quarries, from which the sea is carefully waUed
out, but into which it opens by an ancient sluice, where
the luxurious inhabitants of some of the neighbouring
villas fattened the murense, which formed the great deh-
cacy to their tables. The mm-ena is an eel, with a sMn
spotted in stains of light and dark-red brown, of different
sizes. We got two, of about two feet long each fish, and

LAKE AVERNUS. 11
had them for our dinner. They tasted rich, like any
other eel, perhaps ; and certainly the knowledge that we
were tasting a Roman dehcacy did not counterbalance
the unpleasant feehng arising from the fact that we were
eating a disgustmg snake-looking animal.
In passing to Lake Avernus, we rode at the base of
Mont6 Nuovo, which, in the year 1538, was thrown up
by an eruption in one night. It is from 200 to 300 feet
high, and about three miles round at its base. The Lake
of Avernus, hke the Lake d'Agnano, is the crater of an
ancient volcano. It is not necessary to say that here,
amidst deep woods, and probably active volcanic in
fluence, the ancient poets fabled the descent into the
infernal regions. Birds are stiU said to drop as they fly
over its sulphureous waters. But, unfortunately for the
legend, I tasted the water, and found it perfectly sweet
and good ; and I saw bald coots and moorhens diving
and splashing about, and enjoying themselves, in deflance
of the infernal deities. The lake is likewise full of fish,
principally tench and eels. It appears to be about two
mUes in circumference, and, in the middle, is 200 palms
deep. The woods which overhang it are cut down, and
brushwood only exists ; but stiU the scenery would be
picturesque in summer, were it possible at that season to
enjoy it. But the Mal Aria now supplies the place of
the infernal gods. No one can visit the lake in summer
time without danger — ^no one can sleep upon its banks,
and wake again in life.
A narrow path, amongst the brushwood, leads to the
Sibyl's Grotto, formerly a place of interest. The entrance
used to be from the side of the Lucrine Lake ; it passed
through the mountain, which separates it from the
Averno ; and the view of the latter lake through the far

12 SIBTl'S GROTTO.
end of the grotto, with the Temple of Apollo on its
banks, was very striking and picturesque. But an
official, resident at Pozzuoli, having no right or title to
the ground, or to the cave, and having no authority from
the Government, stiU thought that he might make money
of the place, and made the fabled descent into heU con
tribute to the income of a Neapolitan judge. So he has
waUed up one end of the grotto next to the Lucrine
Lake, and has buUt a door in the other, the key of which
he keeps at Pozzuoli, four miles off, and wiU dehver to
the curious only on the payment of a fee.
After I had ascertained that this act was done without
the authority of Government, and that the person who
had done it was, in no respect, proprietor of the groimd,
I directed my saUors to batter down the door, which they
did in an instant ; and I sent my lacquais de place to
Pozzuoli to the pohce, to lodge a complaint against the
judge, to say that the door had been beat down by my
orders and men, and that the guides of the place had not
done it. I did this, as, otherwise, the roguish judge
would have visited my sins upon the wretched guides, as
he had, in fact, begmi to do, having issued an order
for the arrest of my guide to-morrow morning. As it
was, the pohce acknowledged the justice of my complaint,
refused to receive the judge's, or to arrest the man, and
sent to me to desire me, on no account, to pay him
a grain for his broken door.
The Sibyl's grotto, which never was the grotto of any
Sibyl at aU, but was only a road conducting to the
Lucrine Lake, hke the grotto of Pausihpo, is 1,350
palms in length. About two-thirds of its length a passage
leads to the right, nearly full of water, which leads to
what appears to have been an ancient bath ; at least.

NERO'S BATHS. 13
here rises a cold spring, which they say comes from out
the Lake Avernus, and finds- its way through the
fissures of the rock to the Lucrine Lake. This was
probably VirgU's Styx, and certainly some sacred ideas
were attached to the place, and perhaps oracles were
dehvered at the extremity of this gloomy recess, as
there is a sort of tribune cut out of the rock where the
water is deepest, and appears well-suited to the purpose.
Indeed, inscriptions are said to have been discovered
here, denoting the visits of certain persons to consult the
oracle, and amongst others Juhus Csesar.
From this grotto we proceeded to a splendid ruin on
the eastern bank of the lake, which by some is called the
Temple of ApoUo, by others Juno, by others Proserpine,
and perhaps aU with equal reason.
From thence we returned the way we came, and,
coming to Nero's palace, ascended by a precipitous and
shppery ascent into the vapour baths, which are ex
cavated in the tufa rock, and were probably in the rear
of Nero's palace, that projected into the sea. The
great corridor in which you enter is about 100 feet
above the level of the sea. It is cut into vast chambers,
and in their waUs are recesses, in which those who in
the days of Nero came, and those who come now to
make use of the vapour baths repose, whilst the outlets
into the outer air being closed, the vapour was, and still
is, turned upon them. These corridors are much too
extensive and the recesses much too numerous to permit
one to believe that they could have been only a private
estabhshment, even in the palace of such an individual
as Nero. They were probably pubhc baths attached to
his residence.
At the further end is a low, arched recess, into

14 HOT VAPOUR.
which the moment you enter you experience the
current of hot vapour, which in an instant envelopes
you. If you proceed further you must, hke your guide,
strip yourself, taking off your shirt, and everything but
your drawers. This, of course, I did not do, but others
of my party did, and penetrated down into a narrow
passage, at the end of which rises an immense boUing
spring. At the entrance into this gallery my thermo
meter stood at 116° of Fahrenheit. In the water the
mercury flew up directly the whole length of the tube,
and as a bucket was drawn up full, into which fresh
eggs were put, that in three minutes' time were per
fectly boUed, it was not necesskry further to examine
the quantum of its temperature. The guides teU you
that where the water rises is below the level of the sea,
and, considering the length and dechnation of the
passage, it is hkely to be so. Those who visited the
spring came back the colour of boUed lobsters, with
their faces and eyes inflamed, and their entire persons
pouring down with perspiration. The greatest care
must of course be taken to cover up most carefuUy and
warmly upon coming out of this mass of vapour into the
outer air.
From thence we ascended a narrow and steep acchvity
within the chff, which at length brought us out upon
the face of the rock, where a beautiful view opened upon
us. Probably aU these which are caUed temples were, in
fact, baths dedicated to certain deities, and meant for
particular purposes. In one of the buildings surround
ing the Temple of Venus are some stuccoes, with/ree
subjects painted on them. Baise was noted as the scene
of Roman voluptuousness, as.weU, as the place where

MARE MORTO. 15
health and relaxation from business were sought after,
and this great buUding had probably its appropriate
use. 10th. I went in my barge round the promontory of
Misenum, the sea beating hard and breaking high upon
it. AU along the coast the cliff is faced with ruins and
perforated into chambers. The Cente CamareUe are of
that description. There was a hole about the size of a
large fox-earth in the centre of the chff. Into this
WUson, as we had a tank on board, crept, and found
five regular chambers cut in the rock, and stuccoed,
communicating with each other. The countrypeople caU
them Nero's prisons. On the northern side of the island
of the cape is the entrance into the Mare Morto — ^here
lay the fleet of Roman gaUeys. The entrance is
defended by a reef of rocks, which run a great distance
across, and by projecting capes, also of tufa rock, in
one of which is a large natural arch, that perforates
the entu'e rock, and contains water enough to carry
boats through in calm weather. Above this cape are
the ruins of vUlas belonging to LucuUus and others,
which cover a vast extent of ground ; and here Phny
heard first of the eruption that overwhehnned Pompeii,
in approaching which he met his death. Inside of
this inlet is the basin, with five and six fathoms of water
in the middle. On the edges of the inlet ruins of houses
are to be seen under the water. Across the top of this
harbour runs a dyke and a bridge, with a sluice in it,
which shuts up the waters of the Mare Morto — ^there is
a royal fishery, and the fish are sold very dear, for the
benefit of the King.
Upon the borders of the Mare Morto is a district, now
covered with poplars and vines, and in the summer redo-?

16 CICERO S VILLA.
lent of the malaria which constituted the Elysian fields
of the ancients. Whatever may in their times have
been the charms of this spot, most certainly it now pos
sesses none, and the banks of the Mare Morto towards
the land present a damp and dreary aspect. Towards
the sea the mountain of Prosida and the rocks which
form the shore are bold and fine. The point of Misenum
itself is bold and magnificent.
The bottom of the cliff is perforated aU round and in
every direction by caverns, formed originaUy by the
wash of the sea, and made by the Romans into maga
zines for the service of their fleet. In one of the largest
— ^now caUed La Dragonara — is a spring of fresh water,
on a level with the sea.
llth. We got a carriage from Pozzuoh, a mule and
asses, which met us at Cicero's VUla. Proceeding first
by the northern bank of the Lake d'Averno, we had a
beautiful view from the heights. We then passed
onward along the old Roman road to L'Arco Fehce, or
the great gate of the ancient city of Cuma.
From the top, a fine view is commanded of the
country from sea to sea. It evidently appears that
the Lake Licola was once the crater of a volcano. To
Ciraia Tarquinius Superbus retired when expeUed from
Rome. On the top of the mount of Cuma are the ruins of the
Temple of ApoUo. It is now a heap of stone and
rock, and under them are many precious marbles, but
the columns were removed to Caserta. I however
brought away a part of a frieze representing a winged
Hon, two hoUow sacrificial altars in fragments, forming
portions of fluted columns, and a piece of richly-worked
entablature. I also brought away four very complete

LA CAPELLA. 17
and perfect amphorae, found in a house in Cuma, but
was obliged to leave behind me much that was too heavy
to remove.
On the other side of the road from the Arco Fehce is
the amphitheatre, of which the mounds only remain.
Here, sending away our carriage, we rode down to the
royal chace and lake of Fusano, where is a preserve of
wUd boars. The lake, which is flat and uninteresting,
has a small islet in it, on which stands the royal hunting-
lodge, an octagon building of no interest. Fusano is
famous for its oysters and eels, which are sold, for the
benefit of the King, at high prices, and bring him in an
enormous profit.
From thence we graduaUy wound amongst the hills
by horrid roads, untU we came to a vUlage caUed La
CapeUa, which, as weU as the road leading from thence
to the vUlage of Santa Anna, forms a street of sepul
chres — ^now the habitations of the living. It was cu
rious to see the tombs thus occupied, and the ancient
Columbarise serving the purposes of closets, cupboards,
pigsties and henroosts, whilst the bodies of the sepul
chres were fiUed with wretched inhabitants, with nume
rous and more than half-starved families. Here I
bought some sepulchral inscriptions.
Winding along the banks of the Mare Morto, and
through the dismal precincts of the Elysian Fields, we
arrived at La Piscina Mirabile, an immense excavation,
made for the purpose of coUecting and preserving water
for the Roman fleet.
The rain came on here tremendously heavy, and we
took shelter in different hovels in the village of Santa
Anna. I went into a miserable sort of chandler's shop,
where I found a squahd woman with flve children,
VOL. II. / > *^

18 a BOT for SALE.
whom she said she knew not how to feed. I bought
some articles in the shop, in order to pay for my shelter,
and gave soine copper money to the chUdren, which so
delighted the mother that, when I went away, she
gravely offered me the youngest, a boy of eight months
old, for sale.

19

CHAPTER II.
Castle of Procida — Royal Tavern — UnreUable Information — ^Va
pour Baths — Layers of Tufa — La SentineUa — Description of an
Earthquake — Government LiberaUty — InteUigence at Ischia —
Roman Baths — Another Dream — CasteUo del Mare.
April 12th. The rain of yesterday appears to have
broken up the Neapohtan winter, and to have brought
on spring. This morning we weighed anchor, and
sailed out of the bay of Baise for Procida, in a most
lovely day. But, before my -departure, I had the satis
faction of getting an amphora fished up out of the sea,
from the ruins of Juhus Csesar's vUla, and another from
those of Cicero's. Both are covered with oysters,
serpidse, and barnacles, I find the conviction here is,
that I am the King of England, or, at least, his brother.
Our guide gravely asked which of the above personages
I was. About four o'clock we anchored under the Castle of
Procida. The island is not interesting, consisting of
tufa rock, on lava and horn-stone. But the citadel
stands high and fine, is strong, and contains houses and
C2

20 CASTLE OF PEOCIDA.
barracks enough for all the inhabitants of the town,
which stands below it.
We took a row this evening for an hour round part of
Procida.. A stream of lava has dipped under the nor
thern part of the island, and comes out in a vast mass
of cooled, boihng, bubbling globules on the other side.
The lava contains glassy felspar, horn-stone, and py
roxene. 13th. After Divine service we rowed round the
island of Procida in my barge. The Miss WUbrahams
went on shore last night to sleep at the King's hunting-
seat, which receives strangers hke an inn, and, hke
an innj afforded them such wretched accommodation,
that they were too glad to come back to the yacht, and
to pray for the accommodation of my cabin. They
were eaten up with vermin of aU sorts.
The Castle of Procida stands on a rock of lava and
tufa, to the north-east of the island, and is rather
strongly fortified, according to the old plan. It contains
an archieopiscopal palace in ruins, a church, &c., and
accommodations, in case of necessity, for nearly aU the
population of the town. The rock cannot rise less than
300 feet from the sea. The town extends right through
the island from north to south, and on the north forms
a pretty little harbour for small vessels. But the sound
ings laid down in the best charts are strangely incorrect,
notwithstanding which we stood in by the lead, and took
up what proved to be the best anchorage in the road.
The rest of the island afforded nothing else worth see
ing. Its productions are limited to wine. No com is
grown, and even their firewood is brought from the
Italian coast. Their meat is supplied from Naples, and
nothing but the commonest sort is to be got.

CASTLE OF ISCHIA. 21
Between Ischia and Procida is a high rocky island,
belonging to the latter, where a little brushwood is cut,
and rabbits abound. Indeed, the latter are a nuisance in
Procida, and are killed by all who choose to do so. They
caught some for us immediately. The sea has worn
beautiful caverns in the tufa rock, which are picturesque,
but furnish no mineral or geological variety.
14th. I weighed at day-break, and by breakfast-
time was at anchor in an excellent berth under the
Castle of Ischia, where none of the charts even gave
soundings. I had the anchorage surveyed and laid
down, and am satisfied that in all ordinary cases it would
answer veiy well for men-of-war, as the land of Terra
cina and Gaeta must break the swell of the sea from the
only point to which the anchorage is open, and all other
parts are protected by the Castle of Ischia and Procida.
Supphes are not easy to be got, as the inhabitants have
not the means of feeding meat ; consequently they kill
none. I took a row in the evening to a point where I saw
some labourers at work in the cliff, which had fallen
down, and there I discovered immediately what I had not
been aware of, and what I believe is not mentioned in
any book — ^viz., gypsum and selenite. We naturally,
after what had passed, asked the labourers to what the
f aU of the chff was owing ; and immediately — such is
their love of the marveUous, and their desire to humbug
strangers — they told us a long history of an earthquake
winch had taken place the night before, &c., the whole
of which, we found out from the clerk of the works, is a
lie, the rock being broken down every year by the hand
of man, in order to furnish blocks for anchoring the
tunny-nets, for which purpose they use them, of immense

22 ANCIENT LAVA.
size and weight. A tunny-net, with its estabhshments
afloat, costs 500 ducats.
15th. This morning we set out to make an excursion
in the island. There are not more than four or flve
horses in the place, and no mules. A cart or
carriage of any sort is perfectly unknown. Everything
is carried upon asses, and a donkey with a most splendid
jinghng scarlet bridle, with a looldng-glass in front and
a small horn suspended to the check-piece, in order to
avert the evil eye, was selected to carry sa Excellenza il
Signor Duca. The whole island is one mass of volcanic
matter in aU its different shapes. Here, once for aU, we
take leave of the theory — if ever we entertained it — of
lava's regularly decomposing and becoming vegetable
matter. The youngest lava here is 500 years old, and it
is as barren and as rugged as when first thrown out of
the crater, whereas some of the other lavas much older
are teeming with vegetation. The fact is, that the vege
tation of lava solely depends upon the substances thrown
up with it. Lava itself never decomposes ; but when ac
companied by masses of cinders, ashes, vegetable earth,
or mineral decompositions, it becomes triturated, and
easily receives vegetable roots and seeds, and thus in
some instances made very speedily fit for cultivation.
I mention this, as a great deal of error has arisen, encou
raged, I beheve, very much by 'Brydone's very foohsh
book, from calculations on the supposed age of the
world, formed on the appearances of different stratas of
lava. On leaving the town we proceeded to the westward
along the coast, to where the King is erecting a lodge
for himself, and passed by the first warm baths, called
La Stufa d'Ischia. The whole island is surrounded by

HOT SPRINGS. 23
hot baths and springs of various temperatures, from boil
ing water to 70° of Fahrenheit. They ai'e more or less
sahne, and impregnated with magnesia, alumina, and
iron. Many of the springs rise in the sea and bubble
up upon its surface. The high mountain that over
shadows the whole island is itself a mass of volcanic
matter, and contains, at this moment, active volcanic
effervescences. For above 500 years it has exhausted
itself through the means of its boiling springs, with oc
casional earthquakes. Whenever the effervescence be
comes too powerful for its existing safety-valves, an erup
tion wiU be the consequence. Immediately above the
town is the last stream of lava which broke out of a crater
at the roots of the mountain, and ran into the sea at
Punta del Ajio. In proceeding thither we passed by a
salt-water lake that communicates with the sea, and
which a httle labour might make a very fine harbour, at
a trifling expense. There is an islet in it with a tower,
which has a very picturesque effect.
Turning to the left we passed through one continual
scene of vineyard and cultivation, until we came to La
Stufa da Castighone. These are at the top of the cliff,
and there take the shape of sand-baths. Under a covered
shed a bath is dug in the tufa rock. In this the patient
sits or hes down. The room is then closed up to confine
the vapour. In the sides of this dry bath are earthern
pipes, that communicate with the hot springs below,
and are so contrived as to apply thernselves to any sepa
rate and distinct part of the body affected with rheuma
tic, gouty, erysipelatic, or paralytic affections, for which
these baths are principaUy used. These pipes are closed
If the patient wishes for a general apphcation of the

24 FOSSIL SHELLS.
vapour, aU these pipes are opened ; if not, only the one is
opened which is apphed to the part, and the whole body
of vapour pours out upon it. The body is covered with
linen cloth aU but the head, and the vapour, escaping,
rises, condenses, and faUs down in the shape of a general
dew. When the patient has thus remained as long as is
prescribed to him, he generally gets into a bath of warm
water, in order gradually to cool, and then into bed.
Great cures have been performed by these vapours,
and certainly they are capable of wonderful eflJcacy.
But the accommodations are so detestable, and the state
of the baths so filthy — aU descriptions of persons, with all
descriptions of vermin, using the same baths, linen, &c. —
that it is next to impossible for anyone accustomed to
cleanhness and comfort to use them. A spirited Enghsh
hotel-keeper would make his fortune here by common
cleanliness, and the most simple accommodations. This
may serve as a description of all the vapour baths in
Ischia. At the foot of the cliff of Castighone, and from
under the sea, rise the hot springs which furnish the
vapour baths above and hot baths below. The heat of
the water is boiling.
About fifty yards from this place, at the foot of the
cliff, on the level of the sea, with the tufa rock above it
and another below, are found a strata of clay, or rather
decomposed tufa, fuU of the best preserved fossU remains
of shells I ever saw. They are all Mediterranean sheUs,
but of the greatest beauty. Intermixed with them are
remains of vegetable matter. Now, although this for
mation is of the youngest, perhaps, yet it cannot be
younger than the deluge. Give whatever age you please
to the tufa stratum above it, it still is tufa, which means
volcanic matter decomposed and mixed with calcareous

LA SENTINELLA. 25
substances. What age can you give to the tufa stratum
beneath the stratum of shells ? Many of the shells are
filled up with pumice. Pumice contained in the stra
tum of clay also contains the shells. Pumice nodules
are found interspersed throughout the stratum. There
the sheUs, the pumice, and the stratum are coeval — but
what is the age to affix to them? And what becomes
of the theories of Neptumists and Volcanists before
such evidence ?
From thence we turned into the romantic valley of
Casalmicciola, famous for its baths and hot springs, and
now too much so for the late earthquake in February,
which has overwhelmed it. In entering the village you
pass over a bridge under which runs the heated stream,
that serves the neighbourhood for culinary pur
poses. Here is an hospital or place of repose for the
poorer classes of people seeking rehef from the waters,
and here now are lodged sixty miserable famihes which
have been rendered houseless and penniless by the earth
quake. By a precipitous road you mount up the hill to
La SentineUa, a sort of hotel built for the accommoda
tion of the richer sort who use these waters, but who
must descend below when they use them, to enjoy the
same baths and mix in the same filth with the poor in
the hospital — certainly a most disgusting illustration of
equahty in an arbitrary monarchy.
La SentineUa commands a beautiful sea-view, in
cluding the sinuosities of the coast of Ischia, the
coast of Italy as far as Terracina, the Ponza Islands,
&c. Towards the land the view is bounded by high
and rugged momitains, at the roots of which is
situated the town of Casalmicciola, and which is clothed
with vineyards and vine magazines, farmhouses, &c., as

26 EARTHQUAKE.
far as the crags wiU permit the foot of an Ischian moun
taineer to plant a spade. Above frovm the heights of
the mountain, calcined by fire and sphntered by storms.
In its bosom the wretched inhabitants of this seeming
paradise know too weU that fire is raging at this mo
ment. So many stories had been told about this earthquake,
that I was determined to see the spot, and judge for
myself. The great concussion took place on the Sun
day, fortunately, when the greater part of the popu
lation was in the church. Its waUs resisted the shock,
but the whole building cracked, and the ground rocked.
The persons who were there described it as the effect of
a moment. They heard a sort of hissing, rumbling
noise, for a second ; then a vast explosion, hke an im
mense cannonade, for another second, or three at most.
They threw themselves upon their faces, and when they
got up all was over. They rushed out of the church,
and the village was in ruins. Those who were in the
houses were aU killed or maimed, or escaped by miracle.
One little girl, about eight years old, lay buried
for four nights and five days. I saw her. She
is lamed, but slowly recovering. Her father is ahve ;
her mother, big with child, was kUled. The searchers
took for granted the chUd was dead ; they knew that she
was buried. They searched for the mother, and found
her corpse. At that moment they heard a plaintive cry
of " Mamma, mia," and digging on they found the child
protected by a beam, which had faUen diagonally. She
was insensible, and now remembers scarcely anything
that passed. For two days after her restoration she
slept continually, waking only to call for water, of which
she drank incessantly. All she now says is, that La

CHARITY. 27
Madonna came to her and fed her vrith cake as she lay
buried. It appeared evident to me that her senses are
still bewildered ; and I cannot help suspecting that some
injury has been done to her head. Two different earth
quakes followed this, but no more mischief was done.
In fact, nature had performed her office, and nothing
that could stand remained to be affected by the subse
quent convulsions.
The earthquake came from the west, and ran on in a
line to the east. It appears to have covered an extent of
about four mUes space ; and, from the description given
to me of the violence of the explosion, neither preceded
nor succeeded by any shaking, but performing its office
hke an immense mme sprung under their feet, it must
have been occasioned by the sudden formation of a quan
tity of gaseous air too large for the natural apertures of
the ground, and fissures in the rock, to dispose of. No
smoke was seen, or exhalation felt. AU was quiet ; the
explosion came, and aU was again quiet, but desolate.
I wish that I could say anything in favour of the
humanity of the Government, or even of the people of
Naples ; but I cannot. They have done nothing. The
Enghsh have subscribed liberaUy, and the people of
Ischia bless them and the English Consul, Sir Henry
Lushington, who himself came over and distributed
money and necessaries to the sufferers. But the mer
chants and nobihty of Naples did not subscribe a
doit. The Government has not given one farthing of rehef.
It has offered the wretched peasantry the money to re
build their homes for seven years, at three per cent ; but
not one has accepted the offer, as at the end of the seven
years the houses would become the property of the

o
28 EAEr-RINGS.
Government, in default of payment of principal and
interest, and an enormous rent would be imposed upon
them. Not a single tax, direct or indirect, has been
remitted to them, except that upon the houses which
were destroyed! And there I left the poor creatures gazing
upon their ruined homes and buried relatives.
From thence, by a very steep and rocky path, worse
than any which I have ever trod, except in my ascent up
Etna, but along which my donkey conveyed me with
great precaution and perfect safety, we wound up
amongst the hiUs at the foot of Epopeo, through vine
yards and chestnut* underwood covered with spring-
flowers, until we broke upon a magnificent view of the
bay and town of Ischia, Naples, Vesuvius, Capri, &c.,
vrith the crater below us, out of which issued the stream
of lava I at first mentioned. Close to us ran the
aqueduct which conveys from Epomeo the only spring of
fresh water in the island to Ischia. All the other water
drank in the island is rain water. Here we refreshed'
ourselves, and returned down a very rugged mountain
path to Ischia, to our vessel. At La SentineUa the
daughter of the master of the house showed me her
wedding ear-rings, of beautifully-worked pure gold, made
by an artist in the island from Genoa. She valued them
at forty-two ducats.
16th. We set forth in my barge, and rowed and sailed
entirely round the island — about twenty-two Enghsh
miles. We went round by the Castle of Ischia to the
eastward, and then to the southward, and came home by
the westward coast. The rocks are all lava and tufa';
and the sand of the sea being very strong and unbroken
by any land, except the coast of Africa, the chffs, whicli
are extremely high, are broken into magnificent black

CAVASCURO. 29
caverns, in which the blue waters of the Mediterranean
looked beautifully clear and serene.
Before we came to Cape St. Angelo we landed on a
sandy beach, and through a ravine in the rocks of about
three-quarters of a mUe ki length, waUced up a httle
stream, uiitU we came to the source of the hot springs of
Cavascuro, which fell in a small streamlet from above.
The ravine was in no place ten yards wide, and the
rocks 200 feet high. It appeared just the place for
banditti. But the honest Ischians know not the mean
ing of the term. They are too secluded not to be honest.
One of them asked us if England was as big as Ischia ?
Upon being assured it was bigger, she (for the inquirer
was a woman) said, as if sure of a triumph — " What, as
big as Naples f Upon being answered " Yes, and big
ger," she smUed, and shook her head, incredulous.
The water of Cavascuro is bofling at its source. Fur
ther on the smoke rises through the sea-beach, and shews
the sources of the baths of Vomitella. Wherever the
sand is moved the steam rises, so hot that the hand can
not bear it, and at the depth of three feet boils up boihng
water. From thence the same class of broken rugged chff
extends, in all the varieties of volcanic and sea-beat shore,
to Punto del Imperatore, which stands out a bleak and
black rock in the sea, and forms the western part of the
island. The land tends to the northward. The water
is deep up to the edge of the cliff. The town of Forio
is large, with old walls and towers. Farther on a mag
nificent scene of the town and bay of Laco, backed
by the mountain, vrith all its viUages, vineyards,
and viUas, with rocky points running out into the sea,
and here and there crowned with weather-beaten towers.

30 QUAILS.
broke upon the eye ; and the same sort of a scene, con
stantly varying, but always beautiful, attended us home
to our vessel.
What is most admirable, round the whole course of
this island is the wonderful labour of man employed
upon it. In all its extent — rocks, mountains and re
cesses — ^it is one incessant vineyard, and garden, and
corn-ground. Wherever a scrambhng islander can
plant his foot, he plants a vine, and builds a waU to
protect the earth from crumbling away from it. As we
sailed along, we saw the peasants sticking to the faces of
the precipices, making ledges in the lava, and crumbhng
down decomposed tufa and laporillo upon it, to make a
soil and plant a garden. The poor know not what meat
is. Their bread is good and cheap.. Their wine is ex
cellent, and to be had for next to nothing. During the
summer they have grapes, and figs, and oranges m
profusion ; fish, both fresh and salted — chiefly the latter ;
and agrami, which they find grovring spontaneously,
such as vrild garlic, asparagus, &c.
The men are the finest race of beings I ever saw —
tall, robust, black-eyed, active, and always gay. The wo
men have a beautiful cast of features ; but hard labour, the
climate, and precocious child-bearing, reduce theh figures
to bundles of clothing, and dirt makes them disgusting.
Their national costume is, however, beautiful and gaudy,
and the girls who stiU dress in it are not a little vain of
their good looks.
The people were everywhere setting nets between
poles, on all the cliffs facing the south, to catch the
quails, which are beginning their migration from the
coast of Africa, for the summer, in immense numbers.
We bought some for a carhno each. The nets are the

HERMIT. 31
same as those in which woodcocks used to be caught in
England. 17tli. Weighed anchor at one o'clock P.M., for Naples,
where my sister is arrived from Rome to see me, and
anchored in the bay about five o'clock. I have got leave
for Donati, Monticelli's secretary, to come with me on
board, to help me in my search after minerals.
18th. At eleven o'clock my sister and Lord Arundel'
came on board. I find that they have brought a large
party with them — Lord Dormer,'' Bishop Baines, the
Doughtys, &c. Lord Arundel very cordial. After
we had had much talk of old times, we aU embarked in
my barge, and went across the bay to visit the ruins of
the Rornan House, which I mentioned before. On the
right as you enter, on a rock rising above the
waves, is a little hermitage, vrith three coloured statues
of Franciscan monks, in their robes. In this hermitage
hves a brother of St. Francis, who begs of all the boats
which pass by; and close by the margin of the sea a
little basket hangs to a pole, inchned over it, in which the
offerings of the fishermen are thrown as they scud round
the point of the hermit's dwelling. We propitiated St.
Francis, and received the blessings of his votary in ex
change. ' The tufa rock aU round the hermitage is per
forated, hke a rabbit warren, with ancient excavations,
ruins of buUdings, &c. ; and the whole scene is romantic
and lonely.
I receive a letter from Count Nugent,' through the
Due de Laurenzana, which I answer through the same
channel. His object is to endeavour to make me inter-
• James Everard, tenth Baron Arundel, of Wardour. He died
in 1834.
' .foseph Thaddeus, eleventh Baron Dormer.
» James, a Count of the Germanic or Holy Roman Empire.

32 A DREAM.
fere in England to procure peace. But my pohtical
career is closed. However, Count Nugent insists upon
going to Vienna, to learn from head-quarters whether
my influence may not yet be useful in a cause which he
knows I have deeply at heart.
19th. I this day receive another letter from my poor
wife. Poor Muir's vrife is dead in childbed. My wife
has engaged to protect her children, and she died in
peace and comfort. When I announced this news, I
found that on the very day on which this poor creature
died, Muir told Wilcox, Sharp, and several others on
board, that he was sure his wife was dead ; for that she
had come to him in a dream and told him so ! The fact
is indisputably true. All one can do is, to wonder and
be silent. But the resiUt has been a confirmed and de
cided ghost-story in the ship. In the afternoon I again
went in my barge to the Roman House, the schools of
Virgil, and round the httle picturesque island of Nicida.
20th. I find that the selenite which I found in Ischia
was a trick of the workmen. It is brought over from
Mafra, on the Italian shore, to burn into hme, and is
produced by the workpeople as coming from Ischia!
The shells which we found in the clay at the foot of the
rock are supposed to have been throvyn up, by volcanic
fire, on the high ground above where the sheUs now are
found, and to have fallen down from thence below into
their present situation. And this is supposed to be
proved by the fact of the stratum of clay being found
above vrithout any shells at all in it, and of that stratum
dipping down from above to its present site.
21st. Sir Henry Lushington, Lady L., and one of
their daughters, came on board and proceeded with me
across the bay. The day was beautiful, and the situation

CASTELLO DEL MARE. 33
of Castello del Mare, at the foot of a high calcareous
mountain, clothed v^rith wood and dotted with villas and
houses, most picturesque. Castello del Mare stands
nearly upon the site of the ancient Stabia. To the
westward of it, under the same range of mountains,
stands the town of Vico, and, further on, that of Sor
rento. Above all is the range of calcareous mountains,
forming a branch of the Apennines, on which stands a
Camandoh Convent. Castello del Mare skirts the sea
shore, has 5,000 inhabitants, and the King has a country
palace, vrith a beautiful mountain pleasure-ground and
paik. Signor Donati remains on boai'd as mineralogist,
&c. The Prince of Denmark arrives in Naples to see the
eruption. Dines with the King. The Royal Dockyard
at CasteUo del Mare, where the fleet of Naples is built.
One frigate here.

VOL. II.

34

CHAPTER III.
Rush of Water into a Cavern — Carbonari Influence on the King
— Royal Expenditure — Sorrento — Catching Quails — True
Modesty — Interview with the Syndic — Liquefaction of the
Blood of St. Januarius — Explanation of the Supposed Miracle
— Treachery — Sir Hudson Lowe.
April 22nd. I proceeded in my barge along the coast
towards Vico. The coast is here entirely calcareous,
secondary limestone, and clay slate. The rock hes in
very thin strata, dipping in an angle of from eighteen to
twenty degrees from east to west. Underneath the whole
is volcanic tufa. The coast is lined with limekilns, where
aU the hme is burnt that is used in Naples. The chffs
are very bold, bluff, and high, furrowed with channels
made by the winter rains. The water of CasteUamare
is considered remarkably fine and pure, and is famous
for keeping well. There are muieral waters at CasteUa
mare, of two different sorts — one a strong f errigeneous
water, the other sulphureous. The cliffs are clothed
with low wood of oak and chestnut, and are not less than
300 feet high.

VICO. 35
About three miles from CasteUamare, at a place called
Canosella, we found a stratum of clay slate, with beauti
ful fossil remains of fishes, of two species — a small flat
fish, and the sardine. It is curious to say, that these
fossil remains are perfectly unknovra in Naples. There
are many specimens of dendritic slate, and of the calca
reous rock used for lithography ; and carbonate of lime,
in crystals, occurs everywhere. Under the rock is a sea-
beach, the sand of which is wholly volcanic, and consists
of beautiful minute crystals of augite, pyroxene, titanUum,
specular iron, &c. This is probably thrown up from the
opposite shore of Vesuvius or Ischia, or perhaps of both.
Just before we came to Vico, in a deep bay, at the bot
tom of which is a limekiln, we saw the fuel of the kiln
conveyed to it in a very simple and direct manner. The
fuel consists of ohvewood, cut on the mountain and chff
just above the kiln ; and a long rope being passed over
two forked poles on the top of the cliff, and bound tight
to stakes stuck into the ground where the kiln is, the
faggots, as they are cut above, are slung by a forked peg
on the rope, and sent down in rapid succession to the
hand of the man below, who makes up the faggot pile as
they arrive. The effect of seeing the faggots in the air,
when you do not see the rope that supports them, is sin
gular. Round the point is the little harbour for the fishing-
boats of Vico. The town stands most picturesquely on the
top of the chffs, surrounded by olive woods and vine
yards. Below, the rocks faU perpendicularly 300 feet
into the sea. We saw a small cavern, worn by the sea,
which had a curious effect. The sea rushes into it, and
when the surf is the least rough, as was the case to-day,
it enters it with violence. From the effect produced,
D 2

36 DONATI.
probably by another latent fissure, into which the water
equally enters, and which internally communicates with
the cavern, the weight of water forced in by one pro
pels into it a column of air stronger than that driven in
by the other. The consequence is, that the water, in its
reflux fioiH the first cavern, is driven out of its mouth
bythe air pumped into the second, like a shower of spray
or shot out of a gun, with a loud report. We lay on
om- oars to watch the effect of this natural piston, and I
daresay we saw the spray shot out like a cloud of mist .
twenty yards horizontally from the mouth of the cavern.
We returned to the yacht. AJ^ter taldng our fossil
hunters on board, which, however, was a work of diffi
cult}'^, as the surf was so strong that we were obliged to
bring our boat to a grapnel, to let her go stern forward
on the beach, when the men jumped into the siirf, threw
one gentleman into the boat on their shoulders, and the
boat was insLantly hauled out of the surf by the grapnel
rope. 23rd. We verified the position of the rock containing
the shells. It runs up near 200 feet of the face of the
cliff, is underlaid by tufa, and covered by calcareous
rocks. It dips from east to west in a dechnation of from''
thirty to forty degrees. I imjnediately weighed anchor,
and sailed for Naples.
Donati has never been at sea before, and, beginning
with the delights of smooth sailing, soon commenced
showing the effects produced by a httle swell, and his
dark Italian countenance began to look very green and
very yellow. At length he came up with great glee to
us all, and exclaiming, "_No vomitato," found himself
much relieved. ^
¦ 24th. Last evening we came to an anchor just as the

CARBONARI. 37
sunset gun fired. The health-officer boat came along
side, but refused us pratique, because the inspector was
gone home.
The Viceroy of Sicily is arrived in Naples, I believe,
vrith a \iew of representing the deplorable state of the
finances and resources of Sicily. Currency has entirely
disappeared. The King's taxes are monthly transmitted
to Naples in buUion, and nothing is received in exchange.
In the country the system of barter is resorted to, in the
entire want of the ch'culating medium. The whole country
is in a desperate condition, and a crisis must take place.
The King is solely in the hands of his valet de chambre,
who is a Carbonaro himself, and through whose influence
the Carbonari are receiving their footing, under the sha
dow of the King's authority. A judge has been lately
restored under the valet's influence, who was a Carbonaro,
and the other day decided a case, the justice of which
was self-evident, in the teeth of the evidence, upon the
defendant's making the signs of Carbonarism in court.
The family of Paterno, one of the greatest and oldest
famihes in SicUy, had a law-suit in Palermo, and last
week had the baseness to send over a letter of introduc
tion and recommendation from the valet de chambre to
the chief judge of Palermo. The judge had yet some
decent feeling left, and indignantly sent back the letter.
The King's expenses are dreadful, and he does nothing
for his money, and never gives a dinner. When he came
to the throne he was offered the Civil List, which Murat
enjoyed, of 100,000 ducats per month — each ducat 3s.
2d. of our money — ^which he refused, saymg that it was
too little, and that La Casa Reale must be unchecked
and unlimited in its expenditure. Accordingly he draws
for whatever money he wants, and gives no account, I

38 . ROTAL EXTRAVAGANCE.
have taken some pains to verify my information upon
the point, and I am inclined to believe that I am not
deceived. No one is responsible for the royal expendi
ture. The Ministre Secretaire d'Etat della Casa Reale
is at the head of the palace, and receives the expendi
ture money en gros, and distributes it to the Superin
tendent, and to the Major Domo, who are officers of state,
much too important to look into their own concerns, or
those of the King their master. They distribute it to
those under them in their respective departments; and at
length, after being filtered and diibbled through all the
veins of the body-corporate of the palace, which differs
from the human body in this respect, that the blood which
flows from the heart does not return to it, some of the
money in question reaches the King. But as aU take
their share of the plunder before it reaches him, I
have reason to believe that he is robbed to the extent
of from seventy to eighty per cent.
I go to see MonticeUi's collection of minerals, and to
meet him. I saw the collection ; but Mons. Monticelli
is ordered to attend the Prince of Denmark, who is come
here on a tour, up Vesuvius. The coUection of Vesu-
vian minerals is immense and beautiful, and supplies all
Europe. His general collection is meagre and bad.
Signor Donati proceeds to Cuma, to superintend an
excavation in a tomb for me. Returns, having found
nothing but two pieces of money in the mouths of two
skeletons, and a miserable lamp, a patera, and a lachry
matory. 29th. Leave Baise, and cross the Bay of Naples to
Sorrento. The situation of the town is beautiful. It
includes two towns, Sorrento proper and II Piano di
SorrentOi Both are upon high chffs, backed by high

AMALFI. 39
mountains covered with olive and orange groves, in the
midst of which the houses are interspersed. In the
charts good anchorage is laid down ; but we find the
shore so steep that, if we had run into it, we should
have been close under the rocks, without room to svring,
or the means of getting under weigh if the vrind came
in on the land. We, therefore, dropped our anchor ftir-
ther out from the shore, in twenty fathoms. All sorts
of civihties from the authorities. Sorrento is famous
for its oranges, which are immensely large, but, I think,
insipid and tasteless, vrith very thick rinds. I have
been much disappointed in the oranges of the Mediter
ranean, which ceii;ainly are very inferior to those we
get in England.
The coast is here whoUy calcareous, the tufa dipping
under it from the eastward. It is a hard, compact Ume
stone, splashed over everywhere with bitumen.
30th. Went in the barge along the coast to the
westward. AU beautifuUy romantic ; the chffs high and
bold, the grounds above covered vrith vines, olives, and
oranges, and rising into craggy mountains, that sepa
rate this sea from that on the other side, which bathes
the coast of Amalfi. We land at a romantic sandy
cove, about a mile from the town, where a tunny fishery
was going on. These fish are just beginning to come
in. The sand is a mixture of tourmahne, crystaUized,
peridote, pyroxene, calcareous spar, and specular iron,
aU in minute crystals. No signs of organic remains of
any sort ; the rocks very f uU of bitumen, which exudes
aU along the coast, but is nowhere found in masses or in
springs. Further on, about two miles, we entered, by a natural
arch in the rock, just wide enough to admit the barge,

40 FLIGHTS OF QUAILS.
and about thirty feet high, into a natural circular basiri
of the sea, surrounded by high rocks, and about two
fathoms deep. Over the entrance towards the sea we
saw the remains of reticulated brickwork and a Roman
tower, and, to our sm-prise, found the whole interior
covered vrith Roman brickwork, vaults, chambers, &c.,
and that, in fact, we were in the middle either of a vast
Roman castle or villa, of which this natural basin was
the piscina. I measured it, and found the circle of the
basin ninety-five feet in diameter, and the height from
the top of the rock to the surface of the water was
forty-five feet. Going out of this natural basin, we
sounded the point of land on which stands the ruins of a
Roman watch-tower, and the continued remains of the
edifice to which the piscina belonged. The vaults and
chambers on the summit and along the sides of the
rock are very numerous, and the stucco remains on the
waUs. The exterior wall is to be seen on the roclts
close down to the seaside, and even under its surface.
From hence the coast continues to the southward,
stretching in romantic inlets and rocky capes towards
Capri, whose rugged summits and bold chffs constitute
a beautiful background. All the chffs are covered
with nets, set between slight poles, to catch the quaUs,
which are now emigrating from Africa to the coasts of
Italy, in thousands to breed. They are sold for three
grains each, and last year one net in Capri caught in the
season 14,000 quails. Just before daybreak the poor
birds come in, and drop exhausted on the rocks. After t
a few hours' rest they rise again, and fly into the inte- ;
rior. They may at first be picked up vrith ease, and the
land resounds with guns ; fifty or sixty shots may be got ,
in a morning. But they are micertain in their flight,,?

MAFRA. 4l
and some mornings consecutively follow without any
flights. From thence we proceeded to a Small village in a
romantic bay called St. Paolo, refreshed our boat's crew,
and returned to the vessel. On going on board I
found that the Syndic of the town and the magis
trates had been to visit me, and, finding me gone,
had left a present of fresh veal — for which Sorrento is
famous — and oranges and lemons. I immediately sent
Giovanni with my cards on shore to retm-n the visits,
and appointed the day after to-morrow to receive them,
as to-morrow will be a great festa, and I knew that
they would be busy in their church in a " funzione "
aU day.
The nobles here consider themselves much purer in
blood than the Neapolitan nobles, and are very jealous
of their honour. They consider themselves as descended
from the Spanish nobihty in lineal descent, and retain
the title of Don.
May 1st. To-day we again embark in the barge, and
pursue our course to the southward and westward. The
range of cliffs increases in height and ruggedness, all of
compact limestone, with bitumen and bituminous slate,
untU we come to the little town of Mafra, where sud
denly the calcareous rock sinks into clay, in which the
compact limestone is found of which grindstones are
made. Mafra lies at the bottom of a cove or bay, where
some fishing vessels harbour. The height of the moun
tains protects the whole of this range of coast from the
south, and makes it, the coolest range of coast on the
Neapolitan territories. The towns and olive woods are
fuU of villas, either belonging to the Neapolitans, or let
to them and the Enghsh during the hot months. Th©

42 MAFRA.
climate is beautiful, but in winter, owing to the absence
of the sun from the height of the mountains, it is damp.
In summer it is what Montpellier used to be. A sea-
breeze regularly sets in about eleven o'clock, and cools
the air until sunset, when the breeze comes off the land.
Boats pass from Sorrento and CasteUamare to Naples
every day; and yet, such is the want of energy and
spirit in the people and the government, that there is no
road between these two towns, or across the peninsula to
Amalfi — nothing but a mule-track, and that in parts
very bad. The sea is deep up to the very foot of these
cliffs — from twenty to sixty fathoms.
From Mafra the calcareous rock rises again, and the
same line of coast continues round to Amalfi. Wlien
we were opposite to Capri, as we could find nothing but
continued masses of limestone, we returned. The num
ber of watch-towers built in former days to protect the
coast from Saracen enemies is very great. Every cape
is crowned with one, and their romantic ruined form
add considerably to the beauty of the scenery. Above
Mafra, on a mountain which overhangs it, are the
romantic ruins of a castle, which give the place the
name of Mafra di Castello, &c. Here on our return we
refreshed our men, having the wine and bread and
cheese brought into the boat.
The shore was covered with fishermen and children,
the latter almost naked, many entirely so, and aU
dabbling in the water, in which they pass the whole
day. The men had finished their labour, and were
waiting on the shore, chattering to each other, and
romping vrith each other, until the evening came on and
they were again to pass the night at sea. Dressed in
nothing but a shirt tucked up at the elbow, a lazzarpnj

MODEST WOMEN. 43
cap of blue or scarlet cloth on their heads, and a pair of
linen trowsers tucked close up between the thighs, and
leaving the half of them and all their legs and feet bare,
they presented magnificent models for the painter and
sculptor. A boat was unloading on the shore, and we
held by her whUst our men were eating.
Having more wine than we wanted, I gave a glass
apiece to the chUdren round us ; and seeing, two young
girls helping to unload the vessel, and bearing great
weights through the sun, the boat being loaded with
sand, which these girls earned in great baskets on roUs
on their heads, marching up-hill vrith them, without
even supporting their burthens vrith their hands, I called
to them and offered them some wine — ^but they smiled
and turned away. I desired the people about me to call
them, and explain to them that we would not offend
them ; hut they said the girls would not take the wine.
I asked why, and the answer was, that if they took wine
from strangers they would be thought "cattive," and
that it was not modest to do so. Of course we said no
more. In fact, I never saw so much decorum anywhere
as amongst the lower orders of women in the country
here. Both these girls were pretty, finely formed, and,
from the practice of carrying heavy weights on their
heads, very upright, and walked and stood beautifully.
They were labouring hard, amidst a large parcel of men,
and I observed that not one indecorous look, or word, or
demeanour, even in play, passed between them; and they
refused a glass of wine, offered vrithout any freedom of look
or voice, by strangers, lest it should be deemed immodest.
Of what passes amongst the higher orders in Italy I
of course can know nothing; but this I know, that
nothing but the strictest decorum is visible in society.

44 BOWING.
Amongst the lower orders in the country, I am con
vinced that the strictest decorum exists in fact, and it is
universally practised. In large towns vice vrill exist as
elsewhere ; but nowhere does it appear as in England.
2nd. At eleven o'clock this morning the Syndic of
the town of Sorrento came and paid me a visit of cere
mony. Much bovring, assurances of civihty, attention,
&c., on his part — equal bowing, &c., on mine. He was
a relation, lineally descended, from Tasso, whose house
StiU exists here — he was born here. I comphmented the
Syndic on his poetical origin — no doubt the genius of
the family descended with the blood ! More bows. The
¦ nobility of Sorrento are the most ancient in the Idngdom*
of Naples. They are of the pure Spanish blood, and
look down upon the nobility of Naples. They call
themselves Don, and their ladies Donna. No doubt II
Cavaliere was of the noblest of these families. H Cava
liere, a httle black man, who talked incessantly, said he
was. I was proud to have upon my deck so illustrious,
&c., &c. More bows — and so we bowed about the
deck, until I bowed him out.
In two hours I got upon my mule and returned the
visit. Ditto bows — ditto compliments. Tasso's pictures,
letters, pedigree, &c., produced and bowed over. I was
the most illustrious person in Europe — bow ; aU Europe
rings with my fame — two bows ; Sorrento honoured for
ever by my presence — three bows; the Syndic made
for ever happy by my visit, condescension, amenity, &c.
— tliree bows. So we parted bovring.
Visited two large Roman cisterns. Spring water
brought three miles to it — three-and-twenty feet deep.
We then proceeded along the Piano di Sorrento. The
whole country blooming and blushing with orange flowers

SPLENDID VIEW. 45
and fruit. All the roads in the neighbourhood are
between high stone walls, and are so for miles.
At last I ascended one of the mountains which over
hang Sorrento, and the view that breaks upon the eye
is splendid, of the whole Bay of Naples, that of Sorrento,
the Piano of ditto, and the craggy Apennines, clothed
half-way up to theh tops with olive woods and oak.
From CasteUamare the limestone rock, of which the
Apennines are composed, come down and force the
tufa down. Near the easternmost point of Sorrento the
tufa rises in chffs above the sandy coves, in which
beautifuUy picturesque fishing viUages are situated close
to the sea. The calcai-eous rock retires vrith the
Apennines, and, forming a high ridgy rock, or backbone,
along the extent of the peninsula, comes into the sea
again at, the town of Sorrento, where the tufa is finally
lost, and gives place to the compact limestone, that
extends roimd Point Campanella. The variety of
beautiful caves, and caves in which the mhrture and
contention, as it were, between the two rocks brealt the
coast, is beautiful beyond conception. The Umestone is
compact without organic remains, and fuU of bitumen.
3rd. Anchored again in the Bay of Naples. Lord
Arundel calls upon me. Mary is gone to see the lique
faction of the blood of St. Januarius, which takes place
to-day. The miracle is performed every day during the
octave of the feast of the saint. At Pozzuoh, too, there
is a stone which sweats blood at the same time. Upon
this stone the saint suffered martyrdom. Lord Arundel
has too much sense to believe in it, and deplores the con
tinuance of so dreadful a blasphemy.
Lord Carysford' is at length dead. He died on Easter
' John Joshua, first EarL He died in AprU, 1828.

46 A MIRACLE.
Monday, in a fit which lasted only five minutes. He
passed away without any suffering or pain. His death
is a great rehef to poor Lady C. and all about him.
But he was very kind to me, and I regret his loss.
4th. My sister comes on board. I found her in horror
about the miracle which she witnessed yesterday. She
was placed close to the rails of the altar. My old friend
Cardinal SciUa Ruffo performed the ceremony. The
crystal phial which held the coagulated lump caUed
blood was brought out in procession by the Cardinal
from the sacristy. The blood is supposed to hquefy at
the presence of the head, and the head as weU as
the blood were put upon the altar. But many de
clared that when the liquor began to stain the glass it
was not near the head, and that many people stood
between the two. It took twenty-two minutes to hquefy,
during which time the mob who fiUed the chm-ch yeUed
and screamed, and abused the saint with aU the violence
which distinguishes the annoyed Neapohtan, and aU the
indecency which adorns his vulgar tongue. In the'
meanwhile the Cardinal, aware of the whole trickery,
and only desirous to get it over, kept the phial in his
hand, turning it, tasting it, and shaking it about and
holding it in his hand to make it hquefy. At length
when he declared " II miracolo e fatto!" a yeU of delight
burst out frpm the people, and a vast clapping of hands
succeeded. Mary said that it did not appear to hquefy
entirely, but to become pasty and smeary, like red sa
voury jelly.
Sth. St. Januarius performed his miracle again to-day,
and in a much shorter time — so he did not get abused.
It is done by heat operating upon iron mixed with am
monia, and answers much better in warm than in cold

A CARBONARO BETRAYED. 47
weather. In fact, although it is a great secret, the
miracle has been performed in Naples privately, in order
to ascertain the fact. A courier was ready on Saturday,
mounted at the door of the church, and set off imme
diately to let the King know the happy news at Portici,
that " U miracolo e fatto." The truth is, the sensible
Cathohcs know it is an imposture, and are ashamed of it.
The clergy know it too, but keep up the farce to keep
the people in order. By suspending or delaying the
miracle for an hour, any effect wished for might be pro
duced on a Neapohtan populace. In fact, the greatest
abuses exist in the exercise of the rites of the Cathohc
rehgion here. I know a case where a Carbonaro had hid
his diploma and his arms in a part of his house where he
had built them up. Imprudently he had intrusted his
wife with this fatal secret. Oppressed by the weight of
it, she communicated it, sub sigilli. confessionis, to her
confessor. He was vUlain enough to betray both his
penitent and her husband to the pohce. The next night
the pohce came to the very spot marked out by the
woman, who had thus sacrificed her husband. The di
ploma and arms were found, and both husband and wife
were carried to prison, where they now remain. I find
that the King imphcitly beheves in the miracle of the
hquefaction of St. Januarius's blood.
6th. Lord Clifford's son' — a younger son in the
Piedmontese military academy, a fine young man — comes
to see the yacht, with his friend Mr. King, and both of
them come on to Capri and Psestum. Accordingly we
weigh anchor, and the weather improves. We anchor
in Capri about four o'clock. N.B. — The Neapohtan
• Robert Henry, fifth son. of Charles, seventh Baron. He died
in 1833.

48 SIR HUDSON LOWE,
charts give no anchorage. By the lead we find a very
good one close to the town.
The whole rock is a huge mass of calcareous limestone.
The town lies in a bight of the bay. Very few houses
are on the sea^shore. The land rises immensely high
directly, and the ascent to the tovwi is by flights of high
steps. On the top of the cliff, to right of the anchorage,
which is above 1,000 feet high, is a strong fort, which
commands the anchorage. On the half-way down is
another battery, and on the left chff is again another,
with a fourth in front commanding the town. The place
might be rendered impregnable if it were worth while ;
but last war it was taken by us, and from us again hy
surprise. Sir Hudson liowe commanded there, and had
a spy in his pay, who was in the pay of Marmont also.
The preparations made for the attack of Capri were
public along the coast ; but this man had the art to per
suade Sir Hudson that they were destined for Provida
and Ischia, and Capri was taken vrithout a shot being
fired. The French landed at the back of the island, and
took possession of Ana Capri, and the heights which in
reverse commanded all the batteries. Sir Hudson had
nothing to do but to cry hke a child and surrender.
On the left of the town is a point of rock called 11
Capo, composed of secondary rock, calcareous through
out. Here I found some remains of shells in the
secondary rock. The base is calcareous slate. We
returned to dinner.

49

CHAPTER IV.
Stalactite Columns at Capri — Sword Fish — ^Amalfi — Beautiful
Landscapes — ^A Magnificent Cavern — Salerno — Ruins at Pses
tum — Effects of Malaria — Banditti — Suspicious Appearances —
Stromboh from the Sea — Showers of Scorise — Craters — Minerals
— Adventure in Search of Specular Iron.
Mat 7th. I went round the island in my barge. We
proceeded by the northern side to the westward. About
half a mile from the town, on the verge of the sea, and
in it, are the remains of Tiberius's Baths. Their ruins
are an immense mass of reticulated brick-work ; and
many pieces of scattered marbles lay about. The height
of the rock above it cannot be less than 1,000 feet.
From thence the rock continues to approach the sea,
until before we reached the western point of the island it
rose in one unbroken waU from the water's edge, whoUy
perpendicular. A dwarf fir, which looked very like the
Labrador pine, and the fan-palm, found nutriment in the
crevices of those precipices. We sounded close to the
rock, and found fifteen and twenty-seven fathoms
water. In one of the numerous caves which the water
VOL. II. E

50 STALACTITES.
has formed in the calcareous rock we saw a stalactite
column. We contrived to get men into the recess, and,
having our geological apparatus vrith us, sawed it off
at both ends, and lowered it safely into the boat. It was
above three feet long.
After rounding the western point, the limestone gets
shady and stratified, and lower. But as we approach,
the south-western point, crowned with a watch-tower,
stands out magnificently into the ocean ; arid behind, over
the land, appeared the tremendous precipices of Ana
Capri, which extend along the whole southern coast, in a
more tremendous hue of serrated pinnacles, some of
them 2,000 feet high, than I ever saw elsewhere. In
the breast of the first of these precipices was a series of
caverns, like the largest Gothic arches, fretted, and fuU
of pendent stalactites, which, at the distance we were at,
appeared not larger than those in a common Enghsh
cavern. Encouraged by the smoothness of the sea, and
the appearance of a practicable part of the rock, we
landed our boat's crew, who, by dint of sailors' climb
ing, and with the assistance of a rope-ladder which
I had made for such emergencies, reached the cavern,
where they found they might as well have sought for
stalactites hanging from the moon, as they were many
of them thirty feet long and proportionately thick. Be
fore they came down, however, Signor Donati, who had
accompanied them, coUected some very interesting geo
logical specimens of carbonate of lime, mixed with
crystals of quartz, which, in the geology of these parts,
is curious. When, with great labour, we had got the whole party
into the boat again, we proceeded along this stupendous
coast, eveiy moment varying the scene in every possible

QUAIL NETS. 51
variety and shape of pinnacle and precipice, untU we
reached three immense insulated pinnacles of hmestone
rock, standing out like our Needle Rocks, only at least
2,000 feet high. Through one* of these the sea has
formed an enormous archway, which we passed through
m the boat. These rocks are caUed Li Faraglioni.
The whole island of Capri is surrounded, at this season,
by quaU-nets, which catch enormous quantities every
morning, when the birds arrive from the coast of Africa to
breed. Not only the top of every chff, but every crag
which is accessible to the foot of a Capri quaU-catcher,
is crovraed with a net; and in the day, when the few
poor birds which escape the nightly massacre are regain
ing strength to take another fiight into the interior, men
are to be seen stalking vrith huge batfowhng nets carried
before them, many in a Une, and each with a httle dog,
which is trained to beat not more than ten feet from the
mastei's foot, and, as a quail is raised, the net is dropped
upon him, and is scarcely ever missed. These quaUs are
sold for three grains a piece. Ten grains constitute a
carline, which is in value about fourpence. Even Li
Faraghoni are full of these nets.
In one bay we landed and found a bed of tertiary
formation/ containing shells and some smaU bones of
birds. 1^ the Faraghoni stands, most romanticaUy
situated, the convent of La Certosa. From thence we
came round by H Capo to the yacht, making the circle
of the island as nearly eleven Enghsh miles as possible.
The chief commerce of Capri consists in its wines, which
are exceUent.
Sth. A party go on shore, and another with me
pohsh up our geological works of yesterday. In the
place, under II Capo, I found much f ossU remains in
E 2

52 THE SYRENS.
brescia, evidently secondary ; and in secondary hmestone
I found sheUs, madrepores, and bones, but of what species
I know not yet. The fact is, however, important. We
took barometrical heights of aU the highest points of the
island. Quantities of African doves, a beautiful variety,
come over here at this time, and we got some ahve, as
weU as quails ahve, to fatten for our table, as they are
very thin at their first coming.
I had a visit from the Syndic of the place; but a
Prince and Princess of Saxony are coining, and II Signor
Duca was evidently not so great a man.
9th. We weighed anchor for Salerno. The vrind is
StiU sirocco, and the weather hot — apparently dry and
rheumatic. I say apparently dry, because in effect, as
proved by the hygrometer, the weather is damp. Two
pesci deUe spade approached the vessel, vrith their fins
above water ; and one of them jumped bolt upright out of
the water, flourishing his sword in the air. We lowered
our cutter, and sent out our harpoon ; but just as he was
on the point of sticking on, they both went down with a
tremendous splash. They appeared to be about four
feet long each, and were apparently male and female, as
they gambled about, and seemed mightily pleased with
each other's company.
About three o'clock we were off the rocks caUed " The
Syrens ;" but we heard no singing. The sea was calm,
and we saw nothing to tempt us out of our way to look
at their fair visionary inhabitants. The rocks constitute
a reef which goes by the name now of " Li Galh," and
the largest of Isola Lunga. They appear not very high
above the water. On the coast above them appears the
town of Pasitano, picturesquely situated in the gorge of
the high mountain of St. Angelo, which is seen from

AMALFI. 58
Naples, with its three rocks on the summit, caUed la tre
pizzi ; on the highest of which — ^formed like a
huge gigantic cube — stands a convent, or chapelry, of
Le Camaldoh. This spot must overlook the whole of
southern Italy, but it is nearly inaccessible.
We could not make Salerno in the evening, and as it
is not easy to make good one's anchorage in the dark on
this coast, where no anchorage is laid down in the charts,
and where the water is so deep, that when we do drop our
anchor our bowsprit almost touches the chffs, we deter
mined to make it good by dayhght ; so we got into
Amalfi by dark. Another danger attending the making
these coasts in the night consists in the tunny nets, which
extend out to sea a mile sometimes from the shore, and
in very deep water ; and the nets themselves are so
strong, and the hawsers and great rocks by which they
are secured so powerful, that either we might do immense
damage to the fishermen, or be brought up ourselves.
We anchored close to the shore, in fifteen fathoms
water. 10th. About one o'clock the sear-breeze set in, and
we proceeded in the barge to survey the coast. The
town of Amalfi, once the seat of a Republic — now a
bishop's see — is the most picturesquely situated that I
have yet seen ; in a gorge at the foot and up the slopes
of the Apennines, intermixed with fohage of evergreen
oak, ohve, orange, myrtle, &c. The whole is calcareous.
The rocks rise into mountains, the summits of which are
broken into huge serrated masses, and into the ca
verns and varieties that distinguish the secondary lime
stone formation. AU the slopes are covered with culti
vation, either in the shape of vineyard, orange, or olive
grounds, with here and there a patch of com ground,

54 AMALFI.
and the whole studded vrith villages, single houses, cot
tages, and convents. Whatever may be the dirt within,
the outsides are always white, and contrast beautifully
vrith the dark fohage. The chffs break into gorges, that
run back into valleys amongst the Apennines, all culti
vated and inhabited like the coast, but the sides broken
into immense rocks and precipices, on which the eye
dweUs vrith wonder when it rests on cultivation and
the residence of man in such situations.
High above Amalfi stand the ruins of its ancient
castle, and lower down a suppressed Carthusian monas
tery, vrith a beautiful garden. To the westward stands,
most picturesquely situated on the top of a high moun
tain, and over an immense cavern thickly studded with
large stalactites, the convent of nuns dedicated to Santa
Rosa ; and on the rock below, forming the point of the
bay in which Amalfi hes, is one of the many watch-
towers originally buUt to protect the coast against the
Barbaresque corsairs, and now against the smuggler.
These towers are placed at regular distances the whole
way to Cape Spartavento.
Amalfi is divided into two httle tovras ; but the prin
cipal one is where the cathedral is, that has only the
merit of being on the site of an ancient temple, of
which some of the columns still remain in the church.
It is caUed the burial-place of St. Andrew. Amalfi
is famous for the manufacture of maccaroni, and of
writing-paper. We endeavoured to take sketches of the
scenery here; but the size of the scenes is so large,
and their detaUs of rock, shadow, hght, Wldings, and
fohage, so minute, that it would require remaining a
month to finish one view properly, and every step makes
a varied scene. Immediately opposite to where the

LANDSCAPES. 55
vessel hes is a deep cavern, and not far from it a beauti
ful fairy cove, with a cavern at the further end ; and the
entrance to the cove is through a large archway in the
rock, connecting the cliff with a fairy islet covered with
verdure. In short, this is the school of landscape paint
ing. The scenery is precisely that which we see in
BreugheU's landscapes, and Poussin's. The glassy water
and vivid tints, which no eye can understand that has
not seen them, and which prevail throughout these land
scapes, are strictly true to nature.
In the next bay to Amalfi, to the eastward, stand the
towns, equally romanticaUy situated on the sea-shore and
in gorges of the mountains, of Atroni, Majori, and
Minori, each the capital of its httle vaUey, and each, in
good old feudal times, the seat of a petty baron's war
fare, who was in a state of constant cat-and-dog feud
with his neighbours within a quarter of a mile of him.
Over the whole of this line of coast domineers in stately
^andeur the mountain of St. Angelo. At Majori is
the ruin of a stately castle, which commands the town
and vaUey belonging to the Dukes of Monteforte, now
resident in Naples, and who would die of the idea only
of now visiting the estates of their ancestors. The out
ward walls, flanked by towers, are aU that remain, with
the low buUdings, which probably served for lodgings
for soldiers and retainers. To the right, high on the
summit of a rocky mountain, stands the large convent of
the Camaldoh del Awocata, high raised amongst clouds
and storms, or enjoying in sunshine and repose a com
plete seclusion from the world which smUes below.
Round the rocky point, surmounted by the Torre
Reguavola and the Col del Orso, we entered a cavern,
certainly the most magnificent marine one, except Staffa,

56 MARINO CAVERN.
that I ever saw. Its entrance cannot be less than
fifty feet high ; it rises immediately to above ninety.
The depth of water in it is, about half-way in, four
fathoms, and it continues pretty much at that depth
untU we come to its extreme end, which my barge
reached vrith perfect ease. I took the exact measure
ments, which are as foUows : — Length of cavern, 318
feet ; width at widest, 88 ; supposed height, 90 ;
depth of water, 24. The whole was ribbed, arched,
and ornamented with the finest stalactites I ever saw,
of every shade of which they are capable, the sides
divided by columns into aisles of a cathedral, and the
roof fretted with pendant pieces, whilst side-niches, hke
chapels, seem dedicated to the god who rules the sea.
We remained here above an hour. The sound of voices
in the grand marine temple was beautiful. As we rowed
back in the evening, vrith the stillness only broken by
the " Angelus " of the convents above responsive to the
churches below, it required a mind not absorbed in me
lancholy to be proof against its influence.
In the calcareous mountain above Amalfl we found
splendid specimens of crystallized carbonate of hme,
with ammonites, and other fossU remains, together with
much bituminous, compact carbonate of hme, quite
different from that on the other side at CasteUamare and
Sorrento, and both again different from what we found
at Capri. The base of the cavern is bituminous hme
stone. llth. The coast continues of the same character, but
not of quite so beautiful a cast. However, the situation
of Salerno is certainly very fine, at the bottom of the
vast bay which embraces the ancient city of Psestum.
As far as Salerno the coast retains its rocky forms, but.

SALERNO. 57
beyond Salerno it falls gradually down to a sandy beach
and lowlands, in the midst of which stands Psestum, the
mountains retiring, and forming a vast amphitheatre to
receive the city. We anchor on this side of Salerno,
opposite to the smaU town of Vietri.
The sight of the fire-flies to-night, when we anchored
off Salerno, was very beautiful — skimming along the
shore hke httle hghts in the fishermen's boats.
12th. I go roimd the coast as usual. The town of
Salerno looks, hke aU the Itahan towns, splendid and
gUttering at a distance, and squahd and dirty as you
approach it : all is whitewash and gay colours vrithout,
and filth within. The Prince of Salerno has a large
house close to the sea-side, which, as weU as the whole
town, must be dreadfuUy hot in the summer, as it is
open to the south, and shut up from every breath of
wind. Salerno stands in a valley that opens from the
Apennines to the sea; and, from there being a great
deal of wood and grouped trees, both oak and chestnut,
the country had more the appearance of an English val
ley than any I had yet seen. Over the town, on the
pointed summit of a mountain, stands the convent of
St. Liberatore. To the eastward a smaU river runs into
the sea, forming a shaUow sandy bar; and beyond that
again is a tower, standing upon a rock of calcareous
petroleum, in which is a guard. On this mount we
found many remains of Roman mosaic pavement. In
the mountain above Salerno we obtained Lumachella
marble. 13th. Weighed anchor by daybreak for Psestum, but
the vrind faUed, and we did not get within distance of
the ruins untU one o'clock. The shore sinks into a flat
plain soon after we leave Salerno, and the mountains

58 P^STUM.
retire into a magnificent amphitheatre, until they come
again into the sea at the ancient city of Agropoh. The
plain in which Psestum stands is, as the heat advances,
dreadfully unwholesome, and even now to sleep there
would be dangerous. Many little streams fall into the
sea through this plain, but the waters are brackish, and
higher up so impregnated with vegetable matter as to be
very unwholesome. Psestum itself was, in ancient
times, celebrated for its insalubrity, as mentioned by
Strabo, and the potable water was brought eight mUes,
from the calcareous mountain of the Apennines, in an
aqueduct, the remains of which stiU exist, from Monte
Soprano. The coast is quite flat, and about two nules
from the shore we hove to, and embarked in the barge
for the mighty ruins of unknown times, which stood ia
melancholy grandeur on the sandy shore. The effect
as you approach them is very imposing, and the two or
three large white farm-houses which are scattered
amongst them take off nothing from the scene, but
rather serve to Ulustrate by comparison the size and
proportions of the temples.
We beached our boat on the sand, and landing found
that we had fuU hah" a mUe to walk through the heat,
and amongst sandy hiUocks, low brushwood of arbutus,
and marshy ground. At the first farmhouse we came
to we saw marks of the malaria manifested in the squalid
yeUow countenances and swollen bodies of the natives.
Even the infants in arms bore proofs of their being
affected by this dreadful malady.
About a quarter of a mile further you pass over the
massive remains of the waUs of Psestum, which are
about three miles round, and the three great temples

BANDITTI. 59
called the Basilica, the temples of Neptune and Ceres
stood before us.
The temples are surrounded by deep ditches, to
prevent the cattle from getting into them, and this
is the only good thing that has been done. Just before
the Temple of Neptune stands the proprietor's house, a
good-looking fabric, into which the wretched Mr. and
Mrs. Hunter were conveyed when they were both
struck with one shot, by banditti, about three years ago,
and both died. The perpetrators of this bloody deed
have since been hanged. The people boast that it was
perpetrated, not by regular banditti, but by country
people, who could not resist the temptation of endea
vouring to obtain by murder some money and silver
plate which these travellers had imprudently shewn at
Psestum. Since that catastrophe, however, a body of
gendarmes is stationed on the spot, which accompanies
aU parties of strangers. I believe it was known that I
was coming, so I found a guard ready in the Temple of
Neptune, where we took our cold dinner. I had a party
of my saUors with me to carry our things, and, under
pretence of shooting vrild pigeons, we had our guns.
But stUl some precaution was necessary. The whole
country goes about armed. The day before Lord
Arundel met with the proprietor of the estate going
in his carriage to Salerno, and he was preceded and
accompanied by a whole posse of servants and
dependants on horseback, armed up to the teeth. Just
upon the borders of Calabria nothing would be more
easy than for a band of robbers to approach the ruins
unseen amongst the brushwood, and carry off an
unwary traveller who was worth incurring the risk,
and carrying him off for ransom.

60 A SUSPICIOUS CHARACTER.
In the Temple of Neptune we dmed. All the popu
lation of the country assembled round us, some bringing
coins, &c., a few of which I bought — they certainly were
good; others terra-cotta heads and bits of vases, &c.,
fabricated for travellers. The cicerone of the place, who
is paid a miserable pittance by the Government, is an
old man of eighty-six years, very garrulous, knowing
nothing, but jumbling together all dates and names, and
very proud of being the survivor of so many generations
of malaria. But the real cicerone of the place is the
padrd curate, who is a very well-informed man. He
makes models in cork of the buildings, of singular
beauty and correctness.
Whilst we were at dinner, surrounded by the people,
who looked wistfully upon our provisions, and to whom
we gave the remains of the repast, a stout dark man,
dressed above the common rank, with a belt round his
waist, appearing like a postUion or a courier, having a
travelhng whip in his hand, hovered round us. He
evidently did not belong to the party which surrounded
us. He was a stranger, and, after remaining some time
on the skirts of our party, entered it, and, beginning with
insistmg on kissing my hand, became very officious and
obtrusive in his attentions — endeavouring to call off the
attention of my altezza to objects which he pointed out,
officiously making way for me, removing stones from
before my path. I saw he was not a cicerone, and by
his dress he had travelled that morning. I had my sus
picions, but did not betray them ; yet I took care not
to go vrith him, although he several times appeared
anxious to get me away from my party, under pretence
of shewing me a more convenient path and objects of
curiosity.

MALARIA. 61
At length, whilst we were eating, seated on the steps of
the temple, I observed one of the gendarmes go up to his
brigadier and whisper something in his ear. I foUowed
his eye, and saw he was adverting to something which
was passing behind me. The brigadier took a circle,
and entering the temple a few yards further down came
behind me. I watched him, and saw him tum out from
behind the massive columns close to me my stranger
friend, who had hid himself behind it. From that
moment the brigadier and one of the gendarmes stuck
close to me, and never let me stir from them. My
friend kept hovering round us, but could never join us
again. They suspected him, and so did I ; and, remem
bering the pubhc tale at Salerno occasioned by the dis
cussions relative to the hire of carriages, &c., for me and
my party, and that I unexpectedly came by sea, I
cannot help suspecting — God forgive me if I am wrong !
— that my courier friend had evidently come forward to
see what had become of us, disappointed at our not
coming by land, and curious to see whether we meant to
return. The gendarmes' suspicions at least excited
mine. The padr^ told me that the population of his parish
somewhat exceeded 2,000 souls, constant residents ; and
of these he calculates that 200 die annuaUy of the
malaria alone. He attributes it to misery, to drinking
bad water, eating bad and putrid matter, sleeping out at
night, and exposure to the sun by day. He says that
those who feed weU and drink good wine escape ; and
my old friend the cicerone, who, although of the lowest
class, is yet, by the pittance of the Crown and the
generosity of traveUers, enabled to hve better than his
companions, is a proof of it.

62 STROMBOLI.
To the north-east of Psestum, on the mountain's side,
stands the town of Capaccio Vecchio, to which the inha^
bitants of Psestum fied, and where they settled, when
they were driven from their homes in the struggles be
tween the Guelphs and the Ghibellines.
After passing the day amongst the ruins, we walked
down, in the cool of a delicious evening, to the sea-shore,
to n Torre di Pesto, a watch-tower. Here, where the
Rivo di Capo di Fiume enters the sea, was the ancient
port of Psestum. Under the waves may yet be seen,
in summer weather, some remains of the mole. But
it has disappeared as a port, and a low sandy shore has
fiUed its place. We embarked, and the vessel having
been standing off and on aU the day, took us up at sun
set. We fiUed our sails and stood out to sea.
14th. At sea, meaning to reach Stromboli ; but calms
intervened, and our progress was slow. We shot two
goat^suckers in the course of the day, which had accom
panied or followed the vessel from the land ; scrubbed
and white-washed the ship, galley, sleeping-places, &c.,
and scrubbed aU hammocks and bags, giving out spare
ones to the men. At one o'clock came in sight of
Stromboli ; and the ah- was so clear that we could see
Capri and Stromboh at the same time. They cannot be
so httle as 100 miles apart. As the evening advanced,
the fitful gleam from Stromboli became visible, and, of
course, increased during the night as we slowly and
almost imperceptibly approached it.
loth. StiU at sea, and approaching Stromboh slowly.
At breakfast-time a shoal of bonito came alongside, and
Michelson, the carpenter, succeeded in spearing a very
fine one, which wiU add much to our frugal dinner, as

EXCELLENT WINE. 63
the weather is so hot that it is very difficult to keep meat
fresh. At fall of day we anchored off Stromboh, between the
rock caUed Sti-omboluzzi and the island. This rock,
which rises about 500 or 600 feet out of the water, looks
at a httle distance so like a large ship going before the
wind vrith studding-sails set, as to deceive even an expe
rienced eye. There is no harbour of any kind, but an
open roadstead, and you anchor on a sort of bridge be
tween the rock and the land. Of course you must be
prepared to get under weigh the moment any foul
weather comes on. There is a long straggling line of
huts, called a vUlage, consisting only of one story each.
They are so built to avoid their being thrown down by
the winds, which in winter sweep resistless across the
ocean. There is one other collection of huts at the other
end of the island, and three small whitewashed churches.
For their own preservation, they are strict about ships
which come here having health certificates, as it has hap
pened that Algerine vessels cruising in the Mediterranean
have taken shelter here. There is no officer, military or
civil ; but my boat which went on shore for provisions
was met by two men with long guns, who seemed at first
to dread our warlike appearance and red fiag, which they
took for Algerine. But their fears subsided when they
saw the arms of the King of Naples on our passport,
and they were rejoiced at the unusual accession to then-
society. There are 1,200 inhabitants in the island ; and
their wine is exceUent — quite equal to that which is so
much famed as Lipari Malmsey. They grow, also,
quantities of the Zante currant, which they rear upon
stages, and against hedges made of cane reeds.
The volcano, which is stiU actively burning, and never

64 ERUPTION.
ceases for an instant, is situated, not at the top of the
highest peak, but about 100 feet below the summit, on
the side over the sea to the north-west of the island.
' The moment the anchor was dropped we proceeded in
our barge to the foot of the cone, and remained there
until long after dark vievring the jets of fitre. The whole
island is volcanic, and furnishes every possible variety of
specimen of compact and porous lava. The highest
point of the mountain out of which the fij-e issues is two
thousand two hundred feet. The sea bathes its foot,
and the stones and scorise ejected from the crater come
down a precipitous slope of ashes, bounding and splash
ing into the sea. Several showers of stones feU wlule
we were there. They fell about the boat, and so thick
upon the black beach, that I was obhged suddenly to
summon on board the gentlemen and party who had
ventured on shore, as it was impossible to avoid the
scorise, and to have been struck by one of them would
have been certain death. We got on board two large
specimens, red hot, which feU on the shingle close to the
boat's bow. They were precisely the same as the scorise
thrown out of Vesuvius during the last eruption.
The detonations were not very loud, but incessant ;
and the jets of flame were thrown up every three or five
minutes. The smoke was that occasioned by mmiatie
acid; but neither in that, nor in the flame, were the diver
sities of colour which constituted the beauty of Vesuvius.
The jets were of deep-red flame, and some of the scorise
appeared to be thrown up between 300 and 400 feet.
The greater quantity fell into the crater again; but
sometimes they fell over its edge, and then came patterf
ing down the inclined plane like a heavy ricochet fire of

GRANITE. 65
shot and grape. There appeared to be three craters in
active play — two threw up scorise.
Close to the beach, under the volcano, the sea is
extremely deep ; and one of the wonders of the place is,
that, burning as it has incessantly, ever since the first
light of history has shone, and constantly throwing up
immense masses of materials into the sea, the soundings
of the latter have never varied, and the dimensions
of the mountain have ever remained the same — for ever
burning, but never consuming. Whence, then, come
the materials which feed this eternal fire, and whither go
they ? All that can be argued from the past of the fuel
is, that the fire is fed so deep in the bowels of the
earth, that the consumption of materials produces no
change in the immense chimney through which the fur
nace plays.
16th. The island is, vrith its indentures, about ten miles
round. The first thing I found, and which rewarded
me for aU my pains, was a rock of granite, one-third of
the way nearly up the moimtain. It was perfect granite,
with pyroxine mixed with it. If this rock had been
found hteraUy in situ embedded in the ground, it would
settle the long-disputed point respecting the formation
of granite. But this stone was loose on the mountain,
amongst high grass and bushes, evidently not a rolled
pebble, and not appearing to be in any respect worn by
attrition or violence. I met with another piece shortly
after, but that was a roUed pebble, and vrithin the pos
sible reach of the sea. The circumstance is, however,
material, as the other party found sienite and granular
rock in situ. Both parties also found much porphyry. We
discovered specular iron in beautiful crystals and planes,
in two locahties, one generaUy known, in a cave of smaU
VOL. II. F

66 GEOLOGICAL FORMATION.
depth — the other on the face of the cUff, about three
hundred feet high, and just on the opposite side and
point of the island from those where the volcano plays.
The whole island is evidently a miass of iron, which,
under a more enterprising and active government,
would, I have no doubt, be worked to advantage. Bar
salt, in decided prismatic form, and schistose lava, are
found in many places — also dolomite and calcareous
brescia, forming a sort of tufa. There appeared to be
much salt on the surface of the rocks, which I concluded
to be the evaporation of the water of the sea. But,
perceiving the appearance of it -on the face of a calca
reous rock, and so high up the mountain as to put out of
the question its communication with the sea, I sent up
to it, and my men found a continuaUy dropping faU of
salt water, and stalactites of muriate of soda — ^which,
occasioned by the muriatic acid of the volcano, causes
all the filtrated water on the island to be salt.
At the south-eastern extremity we put into a rocky
cove, near some huts and a smaU church, to refresh our
men. Seeing a man on the rocks we hailed him, to
inquire the locality of the specular iron. He rephed by
asking us who we were and whence we came "? As this
was not to be immediately satisfactorily answered, with
a range of rocks and a high chff between us, we sat
StiU in our boat, and saw one man send off another, who
scampered across the country, and shortly returned with
a long gun, and an old woman armed vrith a mattock.
The possi comitatus being thus called out and in ac
tivity, one man began descending the rocks followed by
his infantry, he himself smoking a long pipe, and, as we
afterwards found, bearing a small flask of wine in his
hand. We sent one of our party to meet him, and

MALVASIA. 67
explain to him who we were ; upon which, and having
ascertained that we were not Turks, of whom he stood
in great dread, he called to the old woman to stop and
retain possession of the heights, and to his musketeer to
lay down his gun. He then informed us that he was il
proprietario of a large farm at that end of the island,
on which the finest malvasia was made, which he would
fain seU. We were immediately on the best terms.
The mUitia were dismissed — the wine tasted and found
exceUent ; we bought two barrels of it, and he fumished
us with a guide to the specular iron.
We then proceeded, round the island, and enjoyed
another view of the volcano as we returned. What is
principaUy to be observed here are the varieties of stra^
tification of the different courses of lava overlaying
and underpinning each other. The sides of the cliffs
afforded beautiful sections of every process of volcanic
agency, in every shape except that of fresh flowing lava,
which now never boils over the crater's mouth. The
fire was very vivid to-night, and Ulumined the sky over
the mountain.

f2

68

CHAPTER V.

Lipari — Mineral Products — Becalmed off the Rocks — Coast of
Sicily — Malta — Fashionable Society — ^Admiral and Lady Cod
rington — Dowager Countess of ErroU — Lady E. Ponsonby — ^A
Little Comedy — The Government and the Hero of Navarino —
La Boschetta — Dinner at the Palace — A Knight of Malta — The
Greatest Bore in the Island.

May 17th. This morning about three o'clock there was
an immense explosion from the volcano, which lasted
about four minutes, and woke us aU, although at a con
siderable distance. The flames were thrown up to a
great height, and a shower of ashes and pumice fell
completely over the island, which covered the vines ; and
the sea, for a great distance to the southward was co
vered vrith them and with floating pumice. The erup
tion then subsided to its ordinary state, but the quantity
of smoke that continued to arise during the day was
very great, and I found the inhabitants were in expecta
tion of a more than usual state of active eruption. In
short, it is the safety-valve of the volcanic Islands.
We weighed anchor and sailed for Lipari. On our

PANARIA. 69
passage we passed through the cluster of the smaller
Islands, all of volcanic formation ; and a party
landed on Panaria, which appears to be about six mUes
round. A good deal of corn is grown there, principaUy
barley. Our wine merchant told us that he paid his labourers,
during the vintage, nothing, but gave them half the
crop, he paying the tithe to the bishop — the only tax the
islands pay — ^upon the whole crop ; and that his share,
when he had thus done, was about 500 ounces per
annum — £250 sterhng. The retaU price of his wine —
which certainly was exceUent, of a beautiful bright
amber colour, and sweet, but not luscious — ^was four
scudi (sixteen .shillings) the barrel of sixty quarts, the
purchaser paying, besides, sixteenpence for the barrel.
Our party crossed the island of Panaria, on which are
200 inhabitants. Here, too, on their landing, they were
confronted by a man with a long gun, who anxiously
asked if there was any news about the Turks. Here I
saw, on the face of the chff, a large range of basaltic
prismatic piUars, cubes, and pentagons. Here, too, above
the lava, was a course of tertiary calcareous matter, full
of fossil remains of sheUs.
In the evening we anchored opposite to the town of
Lipari — ^the island of considerable extent and fertUity,
dotted with whitewashed huts, and the town resplendent
with a white-towered cathedral, and rhubarb-coloured,
bright grass, and white houses. Here resides a bishop,
and an invalid, who acts as governor ; and here, too, once
reigned King Eolus. On our left, and divided by a
smaU sound, is the island of Volcano, vrith a crater which
is ever smoking, but emits no fire. We immediately got
pratique, and anchored close to the roclcs.

70 VOLCANO.
18th. The Enghsh consul, a native of the island, came
on board — pretending to offer services, but in fact to get
all he could. Began by begging for some Enghsh gun
powder, which I gave him. Then endeavoured to sell
everything to me as dear as possible, and to cheat on
behalf of his countrymen. In the evening, after dinner,
we went in the barge to see the town, which stands well
on the sea^shore, with a castle, cathedral, governor's
house, bishop's palace, &c., within it, on a high volcanic
rock. On the left, separated from Lipari only by a nar
row but deep sound, is the island of Volcano, with its
crater ever smoking, but never blazing. A great quan
tity of sulphur, ammonia, and alum, are here formed by
mechanical process at the bottom of the crater, by merely
taking advantage of the natural chemistry which is hourly
going on. It is exported to all parts of the world. The
speculation is in the hands of a general officer. General
Ajinunciata, who pays a smaU quit-rent to the bishop
for permission to extract the sulphur from the volcano.
The bishopric of Lipari is not a contemptible one. His
revenues amount to near £2,000 sterling per annum.
But out of this he is obliged to pay the functionaries of
his cathedral. There is a judge here ; and the governor,
who commands a garrison of a few invahds, is a major
in the Neapohtan service.
The approach to Lipari is very striking. The im
mense chffs of white pumice stone look, at a "distance,
like the white chalk chffs of England; and they are
strongly contrasted vrith the masses of black porous lava
and obsidian which alternate vrith them. Almost all the
pumice of commerce is furnished from hence, and the
island is cased with it, and vrith a waU of different;
coloured obsidian, which shines and glitters in the sun.,

LIPARI MALMSEY. 71
The houses are poor and mean, composed of only one
story ; but the sides of the mountain are cultivated with
patches of barley, now ripe and cutting, and with masses of
vines, and the Indian fig. Here is manufactured, or at
least sold, a wine called Lipari Malmsey, which is highly
valued. But I find that much which is so called is made
at Stromboh and the neighbouring island of Salina;
and certainly we voted that what was made at Stromboli
was better than what was offered to us in this place,
although the price asked here was liigher.
19th. The weather continues very heavy and rainy ;
but numbers of persons — men, women, priests, &c.,
&c. — ^have been to see the vessel. One of the fi-iars told
us that their convent stood upon the ruins of King
Eolus's palace ! What his authority is for this I know
not, nor I daresay does he. But coins and cameos are
sometimes dug up in the vineyards, of considerable value.
I bought some gold and sUver Syracusan coins, some
cameos, and a httle figure of Diana enamelled upon gold,
which reaUy were remarkably good.
In the evening the weather abated a httle, and we
proceeded along the western coast in the barge. The
rocks, being composed of porous lava and pumice, very
easUy absorb the water which falls during the rainy
season ; and a heavy rainy day is sure to bring down
considerable landslips. The whole island is a mass of
lava, and great part of it is more or less coloured by iron
and sulphur. The colours, therefore, of the chffs vary
through aU the shades of red, from the darkest to the
lightest tint of rose-colour and red ; the same of yellow,
white, purple, and violet. The effect of heat on different
sorts of crystallization has occasioned the most arbitrary
stratifications, which add to the singular appearance of

72 MONTE ROSSO.
the rocks by their variety. The island is divided into
three masses of mountain. That nearest to Volcano is
called Monte Guardia ; the next is Monte VulcaneUo ;
the third is Monte Bianco, and is composed whoUy of
pumice. 20th. The prevaihng disease in the island is the itch,
which the inhabitants never attempt to cure, although the
quantities of sulphur which surround them afford the
amplest means for doing so. But they gravely tell you
that it pmifies the blood; so they retain the disease
voluntarily. The number of inhabitants throughout
the islands is 25,000, of which 12,000 inhabit Lipari.
The weather continues very wild and stormy. Late in
the day we proceeded in our survey, and in the cliffs
called Monte Rosso, to the westward of the tovra, and
forming the western extremity of a deep bay, I found, in
considerable quantities, the pew mineral called bresUakite.
This is an entire new locality, and in pumice-stone a
perfectly new situs. The chffs here are, many of them,
wholly formed of obsidian of all colours — ^black, green,
red, rose-colour, and a coffee-brown exactly resembhng
that found in St. Domingo. Beyond Monte Rosso, the
cliffs of Monte Bianco bound the land ; and the whole
mountain, from the summit to the base, is a mass of
pumice. The effect is singular. The dechvity being
very steep, and the pumice porous, the rain cuts channels
fast in the soft material, which soon wear into cavities,
which become, in process of time, deep ravines ; and the
whole mountain is striated in little glens, the ridges
of which are fifty or sixty feet high. No vegetation
grows in the pumice. The whole face of the cliffs is ex
cavated into caves by the workmen who dig out the sub
stance for sale ; and in these caverns many of them live.

PIP ARI. 73
The pumice range is separated from that of the lava by
immense precipices, both where II Monte Bianca begins
at the httle viUage of Caneto, and again where it ends,
further to the westward, at Cape Castagno.
It is plain that Lipari has been formed of running
lava, and not heaved out of the sea. The different cur
rents of lava can be distinctly traced from their ancient
craters to the sea ; and it is difficult to conceive how it
can be avoided being seen, that at least four or five
craters have been at different periods in active combina
tion. In the island are vapour baths and springs,
strongly impregnated with carbonic acid gas — others
with muriate of soda.
21st. The weather cleared up, and we went entirely
round the island iu the barge. The circuit is nineteen
mUes ; but as we foUowed the indents of the bays, geo
logizing and pigeon-shooting, we did not make our expe
dition less than thirty mUes. We expected to have been
able to saU part of the way, but we forgot that we were
in the dominions of the arbitrary Monarch of the Winds,
and we, somehow or another, had not propitiated him ;
for, hteraUy — although we performed a circle, and con
sequently had a right to expect the vrind to be vrith us
some part of the way, at least — ^we found it was regularly
ahead us as we came round. To my poor bargemen's
cost, we found it impossible once to set our sails.
We proceeded through the sound which separates
Vulcano from Lipari, and opened Pietra Lunga and
Le Cavazza — insulated pyramidal rocks which stand out
in the ocean. The first I calculated at 300 feet high —
abrupt and precipitous, unapproachable by man, and
consequently the resort of sea-fowl, which breed there
in security.

74 MARINE CAVERNS.
The whole coast here is compact lava, basalt prisma-
tically crystalhzed, and obsidian. In a bay caUed VaUe
Mura, which forms a gorge through the precipices of
lava into the sea, I found much sulphate of hme crystal
lized, and alabaster. In the basalt we found zeolite in
considerable quantities. I never saw a coast more beau
tifuUy excavated into marine caverns, into which the
sea rolls with violence, in my life. These caverns and
precipices abound with wild pigeons, which we endea^
voured to shoot, but they were very shy. We stopped
to give our men their dinners in one of the most roman
tic coves I ever saw, surrounded by volcanic preci
pices, and almost shut in in the bosom of the moun
tain. The whole island is surrounded by insulated rocks,.
which go by different names, given them by Captain
Smith in his Survey — such as the Bath Rock, the Pyra
mids, &c., most of them arched at their bases, and pre
senting the most imposing and romantic forms. Through
several of these arches, and some formed by the rocks
connected with the coast, we passed in our barge, in
deep and still water. Through many, the surges dashed
with violence, and the sea, plunging into many a dark
abyss, made a noise like thunder. Thus we passed
along the coast, every moment changing the scenery, but
always of the same description. We passed under the
base of Monte VulcaneUo, and opened the beautiful
sound between Lipari and the fertile island of Salina.
This sound is about nine miles across. Sahna presents
two conical iriountain peaks, evidently once the two bea-'
cons of volcanic fire.
Before we came to Capo di Castagno, the rocks were
composed entirely of brown and yellow obsidian and

SULPHUR. 75
lava ; and aU at once, where a few scattered hovels and
a httle chapel have found a nook and resting-place,
break again into ridges of pumice-stone. Round Lipari,
in different parts, is a coral fishery ; but the inhabitants
are so jealous of the locahty being known, that they al
ways endeavoured to mislead us when we inquired after
it. We were guided from point to point, and from bay
to bay. Some told us it was off Stromboli, some off the
coast of Calabria. We sent out our drags to search for
it, but in vain.
22nd. We weighed anchor for Volcano. At Lipari
we had snow every day, which was brought all the way
from Sicily, to cool our hquors : the supply never fails..
By dinner-time we anchored in Volcano close to the
great crater, and within VulcaneUo. At first we dropped
our anchor on a rock, and it roUed off into deep water,
where it did not reach the bottom; consequently, the
vessel drove some httle way before she brought up ; and
when she did, she was so close to the precipice that she
had not room to swing. As it was, we were in twenty-
six fathoms water.
We were here in the centre of one of the great labo
ratories of nature, which never ceases working. The
great crater is always smoking, and the General Annun-
ciata, who has the grant of the island, carries on large
sulphur works here, merely by taking advantage of the
volcanic fire at the bottom of the crater. In some
places cisterns are placed over the vents through which
the heated air is emitted. The sulphur is placed in
these cisterns fiUed with water, which boils over the
natural furnace, and, being evaporated again, the puri
fied sulphur faUs down, and is coUected for commerce.
In the same way alum is precipitated and collected.

76 SULPHUR.
The large crater is about a mUe in diameter, and
about 500 feet deep. Immediately below it is a smaUer
crater, on the face of the chff towards the sea, which is
no longer active. About forty souls hve on the island,
employed in the sulphur works. They are fed and sup
plied from Lipari, the island producing nothing except,
as they told us, a few rabbits — ^but for them we looked
in vain. A priest resides dn the spot in a small, neat
house, which has been built for him by the General,
whose connexion by blood he is. The crater of Vul
caneUo is on the top of a small conical hill between
Volcano and Lipari. Formerly it was a separate island,
and enjoyed a fiery independence ; but an eruption
about sixty years ago connected it by a narrow isthmus
vrith Volcano, since which it has been perfectly tranquU.
Volcano is fuU of hot springs, which rise even in the
sea. Close under the rocks, opposite to the vessel, our
party bathed in the sea; and, whilst one part of the
swimmer's body was in water of the common tempera^
ture of the atmosphere, the other might be, if he chose,
in water so hot as to be inconvenient. Close to the
edge, and in the wash of the sea, a spring rises which
raised my thermometer to 190° of Fahrenheit — as high
as it was graduated. The air exhales sulphur, and,
close to the rocks, the sea is of a sulphureous colour.
We proceeded in the barge to examine the island,
which is about fifteen miles round, and presents a scene
of bleak, barren lava precipices, such as I have not
elsewhere seen. It is the head-quarters of desolation.
About a mile from the ship, in a deep bay, we smelt
very strong the fumes of sulphur, and, on landing,
found they proceeded from a smaU cleft in the rock,
from whence the heated vapour rose in great force.

.STRANGE FISH. 77
We coUected beautiful specimens of sulphate of lime,
compact and crystaUized, from the rocks, and of boracic
acid, sulphuret of iron, supersulphuret of ammonia, &c.,
from the crater and its vicinity. Then we took our
leave of volcanic land.
23rd. The Padre came on board, dehghted to see
the human face divine. He never stirs from off the
island. He had been very civil and attentive to our
party, when making an excursion over the island, and
in return I gave him some specimens of English cut
lery, which were most acceptable, and gratefuUy re
ceived. The fishermen brought in to-day a large fish,
ten feet long, called an " old nurse." It is not unlike a
shark ; but it has no back fin, and, although most terri-
ficaUy armed vrith teeth, is formidable only to the finny
tribe, and never attacks man.
In the afternoon we weighed anchor, with a pleasant
breeze. We were so close to the rocks, that we were
obhged to warp out. The breeze faUed us when we
were under the high precipices of the island, and a stark
calm succeeded. But a heavy tumbling swell set us in
right upon the rocks, and the water was so deep as to
render anchoring an uncertain resource. Every mo
ment increased our danger ; and had we once touched
the rocks, nothing would, or could, have got us off. We
had out our boats and towed, but for a long while with
out success, as the swell was too strong for us, and the
rebound of the sea raised a short, but dangerous, succes
sion of waves, which only hurried us faster on the side
of the precipice, that rose 500 feet above us. At this
moment a shght air rose from off the land, which, aided
by the exertions of the men in the boat, at length got
our head round, and by slow degrees took us out of

78 MALTA.
danger. The breeze rose as we got from under the
influence of the high land, and we were soon clear.
Two fishing-boats, at a distance, saw our danger, and,
with great alacrity, pulled towards us and tendered their
assistance. At the moment they arrived we just felt
the influence of the breeze ; so we did not want their
aid. But we rewarded them handsomely for their acti
vity, as it might seem as a stimulus to them to assist
hereafter other ships in peril. A merchantman, with
but few hands on board, would, in our situation, have
been inevitably lost. By night-faU- we made the Faro
light. 24th. The wind failed us, but the current which regu
larly alternates through this passage, like the tide, but
vrithout any difference in the height of the waters, swept
us through Charybdis, and by ScyUa, untU we passed
Messina, where the breeze sprung up, but, unfortunately,
contrary to our course. So we continued tacking and
beating up to the coast of SicUy, which repaid us for the
delay by the lovely landscapes that every change in
our situation presented to our eyes. Etna was now in
majesty before us, stUl streaked with snow, and throw
ing out from its summit more smoke than I yet have
seen proceed from it.
27th. The appearance of Malta is curious, but in no
respect striking. A white speck in the ocean at first, it
does not improve as it comes nearer, and shews a barren,
rocky island, without trees or verdure, or even heighth
of land to recommend it in the shape of cliffs. As you
come nearer, the fortifications of La Valetta rise upon
the eye, and give a strange interest to the scene, their
grandeur increasing as you approach. Before brealcfast
we had dropped our anchor under the Enghsh colours.

THE governor's HOUSE. 79
Nothing can exceed the dreariness of the coast — no
thing but calcareous white rock, of which the city is
built. The moment we dropped our anchor we got pra
tique. We found the " Asia^" " Revenge," and "Blonde"
frigate here, besides a bomb, and some brigs, in quaran
tine. My old friend. Colonel Pitt, came immediately on
board. With him I landed, and waited upon General
Ponsonby and Lady Emily, who received me most
kindly. They live in the palace of the Grand Masters
of the Order, and are better lodged than most sovereigns
in Europe.
I went by invitation to dine with General' and Lady
E. Ponsonby,^ at St. Antonio, which is one of the
Grand Master's country-houses, about five miles from
Valetta. The whole road is lined with vUlas, belonging
to ofiicers and merchants, but the only hedges are formed
of white stone, which gives a dreary aspect to the whole
country. The governor's house is a very pleasant one,
and surrounded by a beautiful garden full of orange
trees, many of them of the blood-red kind, and exotics,
brought here, many of them, by Lord Hastings fromlndia.
I returned to my ship in the evening, having passed a
very pleasant evening with a very charming party.
Pitt introduced me to his wife, a very pleasing, ladylike
woman, and handsome. They have five children hving.
Mr. Frere and the Dowager Lady ErroU' are here, and
' Major-General Sir Frederick Cavendish, K.C.B., K.C.H.,
G.C.M.G., K.M.T., and K.S.G. He died in January, 1837.
He was the second son of Frederick, third Earl of Bessborough.
His sister was the celebrated Lady CaroUne Lamb.
' Emily Charlotte, youngest daughter of Henry, third Earl
Bathurst, married to Sir Frederick Ponsonby in 1825.
' Harriet, sister of Lord SomervUle, second wife of WiUiam,
fifteenth Earl.

80 LADY CODRINGTON.
Mr. Nugent, of singing celebrity in London, who holds
a civil appointment under Government in the island.
At two o'clock, P.M., the Governor gave me a salute
of nineteen guns, which my yacht returned vrith the lUse
number. 28th. Occupied in paying and receiving visits. I
went to the palace, and the General shewed me some
curious and interesting papers. I then drove out by St,
Julian's Bay, and returned on board. Nothuig can be
uglier than the country — nothing but stone waUs and
buildings. The latter are many of them either the
remains of ancient grandeur of famous knightly times,
or are buildings once belonging to the knights of the
order, and now appropriated to Governinent purposes,
the Grand Master's stables, &c., &c. Lord Hastings
added much to St. Antonio. He was quite heartbroken
when in this place, and severely felt the difference be
tween the situation here and that in India. He was
much beloved, and the Maltese were pleased with the
little vanity which induced him to appear more in state
than any former governor. Sir Thomas Maitland was
detested here.
The population of the island is nearly double what it
was when the French occupied it, and comprises
120,000 souls. For this, above one year's consumption
of corn is regularly kept ui the magazines. Cattle are
supplied from Barbary, and are very sweet and good —
wines, &c., from Sicily and France. Colonial produce
here is good and cheap.
29th. I dined with Lady Codrington, the wife of the
admiral, her daughter and son — ^her other son was
wounded at the battle of Navarino, but is quite re
covered. Ll the evening I went to the opera, which really

SIR FREDERICK HANKEY. 81
is very reasonably good. There is a good buffo from the
Fondo theatre in Naples ; and a prima^donna, who has a
good voice if she were weU taught, but her manner is
awkward, although she is rather good-looking; all
the rest sing so loud, that they force her above her
voice. Nugent occupies himself entirely with the opera,
and takes great pains vrith it. Any amusement which
breaks up a regimental mess is a good thing, and this is
a very rational one.
When the Russians were here they took it into their
heads to applaud violently the two worst singers, more
for the sake of quizzing than for any other object, and
the consequence has been, that these two animals fancy
themselves the first singers' in Italy, and squeak so loud
that there is no bearing them. The Russians would
beUeve Nugent to be the manager of the opera, and
affronted him sadly by insisting on applying to him for
boxes, &c.
30th. StiU receiving and returning visits. The style
of society here is not well-regulated, some people dining
at four o'clock, some at seven, in order to be sure of
being cool. I think myself it is pleasanter in a hot
chmate to dine very early, which ensures your enjoying
the whole evening. The Admiral was telegraphed
to-day on his return. I dined with Sir Frederick
Hankey, the Colonial Secretary. His house is a
Government one, and most spacious. The dinner was
so splendid and recherchi, that it is plain the office is a
good one. All the houses here are flat-roofed, and, in
fact, bomb-proof. On these terraces the inhabitants
take the fresco in the cool of the evening. Hankey was
so dehghted with his party that he wanted to press us
aU, women and aU, to drink, but after dinner we made
VOL. II. G

82 A SCENE.
our escape, and my barge and another being in waiting.
Lady Emily Ponsonby, Lady Codrington, Mrs. Pitt,
and some of the gentlemen, took a row about the harbour
by moonUght, which was dehghtful. We afterwards
returned to Hankey's, where we had cards, &c. There
is no gambling here, but regular whist.
In the evening a report was made that the admiral's
ship, the " Ocean," had fallen to leeward, and could not
come in that night ; but that he had put off in his barge,
and was coming on shore. In an instant we were all in a
pucker, and a little comedy began. Lady C. in the tremor,
the daughter in a flutter, aide-de-camps and secretaries
in a fuss, and aU waiting to perform the Ko Tow simul
taneously to the great man. Soon suspense began to be
too irritating to be borne by tender feehngs, and Lady
Codrington and family all retired to the verandahs^
fanning themselves out of the heat of expectation. At
last a buzz arose that the admiral was on the stairs, and
the group was instantly formed. The astonished
admiral, who expected to have gone quietly home to his
wife and dish of tea, found himself produced in a room
fuU of lights and hot people. Lady C. hung on one
arm in ecstasy, the daughter on the other with stream
ing eyes, as if he had come from another battle of Na
varino instead of a peaceful cruize of not above four
teen days, whilst we performed the Ko Tow. The
Admiral took the hint and became the hero at once,
soothing the sympathies of his fat wife and long daugh
ter, gracious and condescending to his brother bluecoatSj
extending his hand in protection, and casting his eyes
around in gracious pleasure. With a most princely em-
pressement he hailed me as a brother prince ; and Wil
cox's cheeks grew redder and redder, and his eyes

LADY ERROLL. 83
rounder and rounder, as he stared upon the hero, and
was nearly exhausted with perspiration by the time his
tum came to be presented to one who he thought was
the greatest man in the world.
These ceremonies over, we gradually subsided into
respectful tranquillity, whilst the hero most oracularly
doled out to us the treasures of his information. I
found that his tone was warhke, and the Turks are
to be ground into powder. Thus passed this eventful
evening. 30th. The " Ocean " came in this morning, and we
all saluted the Admiral's flag. There are now three
sail -of -the -line, several gmi brigs, a frigate, the
" Blonde," and two bombs. I stand godfather this eve
ning to Colonel Pitt's daughter, and afterwards dine
with them. At flve o'clock we proceeded to the Go
vernment chapel, where Mrs. Whitmore, the chief en
gineer's wife, and Mrs. Brown, wife of the commanding
officer of the rifle corps, were the godmothers. I
named the child Susan Eliza, the flrst being one of
the mother's names, the second one of my wife's. The
dinner party was smaU, but received accession in the
evening. June 1st. Dined vrith the General. We had a
large party, but we dined in the great baU-room, a
larger one than Almacks, and much higher. It was
perfectly cool — ^indeed, here the palaces are so vast and
large, and such precautions are taken to cool the rooms,
that no one need be. hot. The staircases are also so well
laid, and the steps so low, that one might ride up them.
In the morning I called upon Lady ErroU, who, I think,
was agitated at seeing me, as we had not met since
much gayer times. Mr. Frere is grovra very old also,
g2

84 LORD DUDLEY.
wears a black vrig and silk coat, and is very hke Suett,
the actor.
After dinner the Admiral and I had a long set-to
about Navarino. It is quite plain that Dudley' has sa
crificed him rather than lose his place. Nothing could
be more precise, defined, and clear, than the instructions
under which the Admiral acted before Canning's death.
Nothing more vacillating, more contradictory, and more
weak than those subsequent. The blockade off Patras
with part of the fleet approved, and that of Navarino
vrith the whole fleet, considered as unwise ; and again he
is reproached by Huskisson for not having prevented
the Egyptians from carrying off the Greek slaves,
although there were not 500 instead of 5,000 as stated,
notwithstanding the Admiral had been told that he was
only to interfere for the purpose of preventing the
Turks from receiving re-inf orcements to act against the
Greeks, and not to interfere in any other matter what
ever. Then he was first to prevent the Austrian flag
from conveying succours to the Turks — ^then he was
told that he was not a belligerent, and therefore could
not blockade. In short, there was no end to the weak
ness and vacillation of Dudley and Huskisson, for the
sole purpose of keeping their places. How was Cod
rington to blockade if the Austrians were to be let in?
How was he to blockade at all if the doctrine was true
that none could blockade but a belhgerent %
Codrington sent in a statement to Dudley ofthe man
ner in which the Austrians conveyed assistance to the
Turks, and asked for instructions. The answer was no
instructions, but a hst of complaints made by Metternich
• John William, fourth Viscount Ward, created Earl of Dudley
in 1827. He died in 1833.

RUSSIA. 85
against Codrington for interfering with the Austrian
flag, which he was required to answer. What appears
to cut Codrington most is the refusal to thank him and
his fleet. If the battle was " unexpected " and the
event "untoward," was it owing to Codrington? If
yes, let those who say so produce the evidence and the
papers, and let Codrington be blamed. But he is not
blamed. Then its being an unexpected event was the
result of the minister's act, and not his. Then if that
was the case, why are he and his fleet to lose the merited
reward of his country's thanks because ministers have
set him to perform a task become more difficult and de
Ucate by their own precautions, or rather feebleness?
Amidst aU this storm Russia steers steadily to her
purpose. She must come into colUsion with Austria and
France, and probably America, who will see their in
terest in driving things to the uttermost, in order that
out of it they may get what they want, viz., France
Candia, and America a footing in the Mediterranean.
The latter w'ants Syracuse.
2nd. I dined with the mess of the 80th regiment, and
went to the opera. It was the last of the evening, and
really far from bad. La prima-donna has a fine sweet
voice, but it is forced above her compass by the
other performers. I find — but it is a secret — ^that they
have been graduaUy but materiaUy improving their de
fences here since the Russians and French have been in
such strength in the Mediterranean. Above fifty addi
tional guns have been mounted on the different points
which more immediately command the harbour. When
the Russians flrst came here they brought 4,000 men
with them, who, according to the present system of the
Russian navy, are armed regularly and drilled like sol-

86 BAD WEATHER.
diers, and we had scarcely a gun mounted on any point
bearing upon the anchorage.
The officers of the 80th were very civil, and Pitt
made a long speech about Provincial battalions, &c.,
which was duly answered by me; and when we had
comphmented each other, like Lord Doodle and Lord
Noodle in the play, we separated. He wanted to have
shown me the regiment out on parade, but the weather
was so boisterous that fortunately he could not. The
weather is extraordinary for Malta. It has been a
sirocco for above a month, and now blows a gale right
into the harbour, which throws up a heavy sweU, and
makes it very disagreeable. In vrinter these gales have
been knovsm to throw the sea fairly over the works of
St. Elmo. There has been also rain, a thing almost
unknown at Malta at this season of the year. With all
this there is a close dry heat, which incapacitates one for
exertion. of any kind. No paint vrill dry, no meat will
keep or take the salt during the sirocco. Colonel Pitt
told me that this morning his servant ptit his boots
cleaned into his dressing-room. In the evening when
he put them on they were covered with mildew.
3rd. Colonel and Mrs. Pitt, myself, and party, went to
see Civita Vecchia, the ancient capital of the island,
about seven miles from Valetta. From thence we went
to the Deanery, where is estabhshed a new manufactory
of Maltese cotton. It affords sorae occupation to the
poor, who are very wretched here, and ought, therefore,
to be encouraged. They make table-covers ; and those
which retain the natural colour of the cotton, which is a
light brown, and are inlaid vrith white patterns, are the
best. They work arms, devices, &c. in napkins; but
when they bring in vivid colours they part. I bought

SILK. 87
two table-covers for twenty-six dollars the two. We
then proceeded to La Boschetta, a vaUey containing
pure springs, and a grove of orange trees. On the left
hand, on a high, rocky, rising ground, is a high, square,
casteUated and fortified house, once belonging to the
Grand Master, and one of his country houses. It
stands, solitary and desolate, amidst rocks and winds.
It has fallen into decay, and last war served as a French
prison. Its waste and dreary walls are now appro
priated to the more useful estabhshment of a silk
manufactory, carried on by a Mr. Walker, a gentleman
employed by the society in England, established for the
encouragement of the silk trade in our colonies. Lord
Hastings first got the person over, and rented to him
La Boschetta, where he has planted many thousand
mulberry trees, which are thriving prodigiously. In the
meanwhile he is raising as many worms as he can vrith
the means he has, and gives them to such cottagers and
people in the island as have mulberry trees, or the means
of raising them, and he buys the sUk which they make.
I think that this year he wiU export 400lbs. of silk,
which, he says, fetches as good a price as the best from
the south of France. If it succeeds, it wUl be a vast
encouragement to the island, and find employment for
many women and children now starving. I never saw
¦larger shoots than those which the young trees made.
The high vrinds which sometimes prevail in the island
are aU the hindrances their growth receives.
The Boschetta is rather in a romantic situation, and,
from the water, has more of a green look than the
neighbouring country. The house, which is a plain
farm-house, stands on the calcareous rock above. Be
neath it, under the shade of orange trees, of an immense

88 LADY EMILY PONSONBY.
Size, is a large grotto, in an artificial basin at the extre
mity of which rise three springs, beautifully cool and
pellucid. Here, on the feast of St. John, all the
natives of Malta come in pic-nic parties, and the most
of them, especially of the old people, wear the dresses
they were married in, which they carefully preserve for
this purpose and day. Upon the whole, although there
would not be much beauty elsewhere in La Boschetta,
the purity of its waters, and the verdure of the trees,
give it many claims in this place.
4th. We dined vrith Colonel and Mrs. Whitmore, and
had music in the evening. The prima donna at the
opera, who sings much better at private parties than in
a theatre, sang remarkably weU.
I went on board the " Ocean," Commodore CampbeU.
She is a very fine ship, once a three-decker, now cut down
to an 80-gun ship. I dined vrith Mr. Frere and Lady
Errol. I never felt more melancholy in all my life. She
remembers too weU all that has passed; and in the State
of ruin in which she is — kept drunk by opium — she talks
of nothing but of times gone by, and persons with whom
we passed our early and gay days. She was very wild
— sometimes laughing, sometimes crying. In short, I
was most rejoiced when I escaped.
Lady Emily Ponsonby gave a dance at the palace.
It was very cheerful, and very gay. They danced in
the great baU-room, for coolness; and at the end
was a table of refreshments. Many persons were intro
duced to me — amongst others, a little old man, in a
white silk coat, one of the few remnants of the Knights
of Malta. He can talk of nothing but the battle of
Lepanto ; and I should almost think that he was there
himself. Admiral Codrington told me that he could

GREEK SLAVE. 89
never begin upon the battle of Navarino (on which,
by-the-bye, the Admiral loves to dilate) in this old man's
company without his instantly clapping in with Lepanto-
In the ball-room was an Englishman, a Mr. Hayes, in
a Turkish dress, and aping Turkish manners. He
bought a Greek slave, whom he has just married, and
whom he brought to the ball. She was specially ugly,
and had neither form nor features to recommend her.
If he did choose to buy a wife in open market, he might
as weU have bought a pretty one. They are going
immediately to England; and I am inclined to think
that, if his face did not behe him, he vrill soon recaU
to this wretched woman that he bought her to be his
slave. 5th. The weather is beginning to mend, and the vrind
to change to the north-west. We shall then have a
continuance of fine weather. The people here are
splendidly hospitable; but their style of dinner is not
pleasant. Their fashion is to dine very late, for the
cool, to drink an immense quantity of iced champagne,
and to eat enormous hot dinners. Nugent has intro
duced champagne here, which was not before much
known; and I suspect him to be rather interested in
encouraging the taste, the expense, and a manner of
living for which the officers do not thank him.
It is anything now but a cheap quarter. The barrack
regulations are so strictly enforced, that no married
officer can hve in barracks, which they used to do, in
absent officers' rooms.
6th. I gave a dejeuner on board my yacht to Lady
EmUy Ponsonby, the Governor, Admiral, &c., and all
who had been civil to me. We had turtle soup and
beef steaks (the latter a favourite luncheon dish here),

90 SIR JOHN STODART.
and aU the rest cold. We sat down at two o'clock, and
afterwards had a dance on my quarter-deck. We-con^
trived to have fifty people, who found ample room ; and
all parties were in high good humour. I dressed the
ship, manned the yards, and cheered the Admiral when
he came on board ; and when the General and he left
me, I saluted them vrith thirteen guns each. At eight
o'clock, I went and dined with the Admiral, where I met
some of my morning's party. But everybody was dead
tired, and went to bed. I introduced Signor Donati to
Miss Codrington, who danced with him, and he was in
the highest heavens. I also took him on board the man-
of-war when I went, and his ecstasy was extreme. He
had never been in an English man-of-war before.
7th. I was introduced to the greatest bore in the
island. Sir John Stodart, the chief judge, once the
editor of the New Times. He has got into a scrape by
recommending the suspending proceedings against some
pirates, on a quibble in law, which they have declared in
England to be frivolous. But so much time has elapsed
that probably the pirates will escape hanging. There
are many laughable stories against Lady Stodart, a
great, fat, fuU-blovra, scolding woman, who governs Sir
John, and fancies she can do the like with the rest of
the island. Lady Codrington is, I find, not popular
here. The Maltese are the finest divers in the world, and
pass the greatest part of their time in the water.. The
Datoh, a kind of long mussel, which perforates the
rock, makes its habitation there, and lives in it. The
fishermen find them out by the punctured rocks and
break them out. They are, when properly stewed, veiy
fine, and are esteemed a great luxury. The cockles and

THE "ASIA." 91
oysters, too, are good, but are only ate dressed and
hot. In general I don't think the fish in Malta are
very good. The figs are fine, but the apricots are
what are caUed in the Mediterranean " Kill-Johns" and
are good only in tarts. There is a small fruit, half
apricot, half greengage, called the Alexandrina, which
is deUcious. I never saw it in England. I have
ordered six plants to be sent me. The banana and
plantain grow in perfection in Colonel Pitt's garden,
and at St. Antonio. The Japanese cherry was in
troduced here by Lord Hastings, and fiourishes.
8th. At two o'clock I went on board the "Asia,"
where the admiral received me and conducted me over
his vessel. She is a beautiful ship.. Her lower-deck
battery is the finest I ever saw ; but her orlop-deck is
not so high as the "Revenge's," and her quarterdeck
neither so long nor so broad. But she is in high order,
and reflects great credit upon Captain Baynes, her
second captain. The admiral saluted me with his
32-pounders, and the echo was magnificent. All her
guns are 32-pounders, except two short guns of 68-
poimds each.

92

CHAPTER VI.
Island of Gozo — Calypso and Fenelon — Cyclopean BuUdings at
Rabbato — Reception by the Authorities — Fungus Rock —
Gergenti — Misconduct of the Health Officers — Marsala and its
Wine — ^Trapani — Prisons — Coral Fishery — Miraculous Ma
donna, and the CarmeUte Convent — Extraordinary Work of
Art.
June 10th. Weighed anchor this morning by daybreak,
and left Malta. The admiral sails on Friday with his
whole squadron for Navarino. The "Revenge" sailed
on Sunday for the same station. The " Parthian," gun-
brig is lost off Marabout Island. The "Glasgow"
frigate saved all her crew, guns, and stores. The
captain (Hotham), who was on the eve of promotion, is
on board the " Glasgow," and, being in quarantine, is
sent in her to Navarino to be tried. I fear some neglect
is attributable to her captain. The " Glasgow " sailed
on Friday evening : the manner in which she got under
weigh and stood out to sea was the most beautiful thing
I ever saw.
At eleven o'clock, a.m., we anchored off the island of

GOZO.

93

Gozo. Major Bailey, the governor, immediately came
on board. Gozo is the island of Calypso, and only
wants Calypso, her nymphs, wood, water, and verdure
to make it perfectly resemble Fenelon's description.
But, wanting aU these requisites, the traveUer may
search in vain for the reahty of Fenelon's dream. Gozo
contains about twenty-sis square miles, and is divided
into seven parishes : — ^Rabbato (the capital), Nadur,
Caccia, Zebbey, Garbo, Sannat, and Xeuchia. The
Lieutenant-Governor is appointed from Rome. There
is a body of magistracy, a civil hospital, a coUege, and a
Montd de Pieta. NominaUy there is a Lord-Lieutenant
appointed to the island, but he never resides in it, and
the principal civil magistrate in each parish is his
deputy. The population of Gozo appears at different
periods to have been as foUows, viz. : —

Anno.

Number of Houses.

Inhabitants

1590 .

. 417 . .

1,864

1632 .

495

1,884

1647 .

400

3,000
1772 .
— .
13,249
1789 .
—
12,000
1816 .
—
•
14,005
1818 .
—
14,405
1819 .
—
14,631
1821 .
—
15,469
1823 .
—
. 15,915
1828 .
1 1
• . 1
. 17,000
1 . /-» T
The poor are very much distressed, but find some
rehef from the cotton manufactory and the Mont^ de
Pi^ta. The animal work on the farms is done by
oxen, mules, and asses. The latter are very fine, and
94 COTTON.
sell for £150 sterling each, if very fine, for breeding!
The principal crops are cotton, grain, and suUa. The
other crops are garden crops and fruit. One-tenth of
the island is annually cultivated in cotton. The land is
calcareous and clayey, and very strong; it requires
much manure, which is dug into the land, turned up,
and left to mellow and crumble vrith the sun. The
cotton is sown in April until June. If the rains fail,
the seed is lost, and then the land is sovm again by
dibbling in the seed and pouring water into every hole.
The crop requires much hoeing, and is collected in
October and November. Scarcely any pure wheat is
so^vn — it is generally mixed vrith barley. The com is
beat out on the ground by cattle, and the wheat sepa
rated from the barley by sieves. SuUa is the inter
mediate crop between com and cotton, and is taken off
green. The seed is sown in August, when the com is
taken off. When cotton is to foUow the crop is taken
off in March, and the roots are left in the ground to
serve as manure. In parts of the island there are large
orchards and gardens, which answer extremely well.
Olives, carabbas, figs, and apples, are the principal
growths ; a few vines and oranges also — of the former a
little wine is made, but not for sale. The Indian fig
forms much of the food of the lower orders, as in
Sicily. I did not go on shore this evening, but went in my
barge along the shore. The island is one mass of fossil
shells and teeth — the latter principally sharks'. A thick
bed of clay, containing sulphate and carbonate of hme,
and hydrate of iron, underlies the calcareous rock.
llth. At nine o'clock I go on shore, and am received
by a guard of honour and a salute from the citadel.

CYCLOPEAN BUILDINGS. 95
vehicles and donkeys were in waiting for the whole
party. I got into one of the former so long as the road
would admit of it, and then mounted a donkey. We
first proceeded about four miles, to what is popularly
called the Giant's House. On the top of a hill is a low
enclosure of large rude stones, of the style called Cyclo
pean architecture, placed without cement or joints. At
the east portion of this enclosure are two upright
stones, forming a portal into it. In the middle an
excavation has been made, which has discovered a circle
of upright stones surrounding a rude altar, consisting of
a rough unhewn slab, supported by two uprights.. The
stones are of the calcareous limestone of the island. On
the slope of the hiU, immediately under this, is
another much larger, of Cyclopean architecture also, but
much more perfect. Within this are two temples, evi
dently originaUy buUt in the same style, of rough
unhewn stones, caUed Cyclopean ; but, as I think, dese
crated, and afterwards restored by other inhabitants of
the island, and appropriated to another worship. My
reasons for thinking so are, that in forming the altars
and the places for sacrificing the victims, the rough un
hewn Cyclopean wall is faced with hevni stones, but
without cement — the stones are of small dimensions, and
in regular courses. The pavement is also composed partly
of stucco and partly of large hewn square stones, worked
by the chisel, and regularly laid in courses. Still the
Cyclopean work, even when faced, remains entire.
You first pass through an entrance formed of two
upright stones on each side. The highest stone is four
teen feet; the next to it is six feet two inches. The
vridth of this entrance is sis feet nine inches. In these
uprights are holes made to contain bars which shut up

96 EXCAVATIONS.
the portal. A paved causeway conducts you through
the door into an area fifty-three feet eight inches in
length, by twenty-nine feet nine inches in breadth. On
the right hand another portal, of which only basement
stones remain, leads into the spot where stood the great
altar, consisting of one large stone supported by two
uprights. The portal basement stones are carved rudely,
in a sort of circular volute pattern. They are the only
carved work in the place. The space occupied by the
high altar is six feet nine inches. Behind the left hand
support of the altar, and between it and the waU of the
temple, I discovered what had never been before observed
or known, a columnar emblem of Priapus, about four
feet high, precisely simUar to those seen in the ancient
excavations in India at the present day. I excavated
down to its base, and found that it was deeply fixed in
the ground, but fixed to nothing. Behind the opposite
jamb of the altar was nothing but a high lateral stone
forming a division, in which was a diamond-shaped
opening, about eight inches vride, communicating with a
sort of lateral recess. On the other or left hand of the
area stands a momid of clay and rubbish, forming appar
rently the outhne of a pedestal, the facing of which has
disappeared, seven feet in diameter.
Opposite to the main entrance is another portal leading
into an interior area. This portal, composed hke the
former of rude upright stones, is six feet seven inches
vride. The stones that form it are seven feet six ,
inches high. You ascend to this portal by a low broad
step of a single broad stone. The interior of both area
are of rude Cyclopean architecture, but carved, about
four feet high, vrith small regular cut-stone, evidently
the work of an age quite different from that in which the

temple, 97
enclosures were formed. This second area is forty-seven
feet in length by seventeen feet three inches in breadth.
As you enter, on the right hand, is a semicircular- recess
twenty feet by twenty-seven.
In this recess is a stone basin, about three feet in
diameter, sunk into the ground to receive the blood of
the victims that were sacrificed here. In one corner
was a heap, which I had opened and found composed of
ashes and earth, with a few bones of animals and little
broken bits of pottery of black earth, glazed. Opposite
to this was a hole cut in stone, and communicating vrith
the rock, which evidently was the conduit of water for
lustration, and for cleansing the place of sacrifice.
Beneath it are stones ornamented with the punctures of
a pointed tool, but in no pattern, that appear to have
supported probably the cistern which received the water.
On the left hand of the area is another semicircular
recess, containing apparently an altar in three divisions,
formed of slabs of stone and uprights. The width of
the slab is four feet four inches. The centre division of
the altar is eight feet two inches long, and five feet four
inches from the ground. One of the lateral divisions is
five feet eleven inches, the other four feet ten in length.
The altars and uprights are formed of one stone
each. Opposite to the entrance is a semicircular recess,
twenty-seven feet ten inches by twenty-four feet. The
floor of this, of the sacrificing chamber, and of the altars,
is of stucco. A flagged pavement runs up the centre,
and a broad low step divides the lastr-mentioned recess
from the area.
Such are the dimensions and form of this singular
temple. Adjoining it is another upon a much smaller
VOL, II. H

98 PHCENICIAN TEMPLE.
scale, but divided in . the same manner, and with the
same tabular altar. Further down the hiU again, and
in the same line with the other two, is another circle of
Cyclopean wall, but the ground is private property, and
cannot be excavated. The same reason prevents those
which I have already described from being further
opened. In opening the upper one they found great
heaps of bones of animals and birds. In the high-altar
division of the second, they found the mutilated hands
of two figures of stone, and a small, globular, clay vase,
with a cover and two handles. These are preserved in
the town-house at Rabbato. They are of the rudest
workmanship. The heads are very smaU, apparently of
young persons, vrith their hair rudely represented, close-
cut round the head like wigs, and parted on the fore
head. No coins or other remains have been found.
My impression is that those temples were formed by the
aborigines of the island, and were afterwards adapted by
the Phoenicians to their ovwi worship ; and that the em
blem of Priapus, evidently, from its situation behind the
great altar, considered the most sacred object, was placed
there by the latter. There are no funds to continue the
excavation ; but 1 trust that I persuaded Major Bayley
to employ some convicts that he has, condemned to
hard labour, in forwarding the excavation of what I
believe to be the only Phoenician temple extant.
After passing some houses in examining these ruins,
we proceeded to the town of Rabbato, the capital of the
island, and a very clean, well-built town. It contains
9,000 inhabitants, the whole of whom turned out to
stare at me. I descended at the town-house, where 1
was received by " the authorities," and by a Latin ad
dress on the part of the clergy, to which I responded by

governor's HOUSE. 99
profound bows, and many com^Uments, in a lingua
Franca of my own, to the learning, erudition, &c., ef
the clergy of the island.
I was conducted to the topmost pmnacle of the highest
tower of the earth, to see the whole island and the
beauties thereof. From thence I was led, very loath, to
the civil hospital, and the Mont^ di Pidta. At the
latter they extend the time of redemption of goods to
three years. Almost aU the pledges are small articles of
silver, Maltese buttons, crucifixes, and baubles.
AJter expressing my gracious approbation of all these
estabhshments, and being duly saluted by the garrison,
consisting of a corporal and two men, the third being
sentry, I was permitted, exhausted by heat and covered
with dust, to retire from the capital to the sea-side and
the coolness of my own vessel, where the thermometer
stood at only 84° ! The Governor's house is small, and
was very bad ; but the present officer has added two
comfortable rooms to it, and it wiU be as pleasant as
entire solitude can make it. I passed a large farm
house, the proprietor of which pays £600 sterhng per
annum to the Government. The judicial court here can
condemn to five years' imprisonment, but not to the loss
of life. Capital offences are referred to Malta. It can
also decide in civil cases to the amount of £5,000 cur
rency. The people are naturally very litigious ; but the
Governor exerts an arbitrary power, and forces them to
agree, and make up their quarrels without going to law,
for which he, of course, gets abused on all hands. Major
Bayley dined and passed the evening with me, too happy
to have a soul to speak to.
12th. A large two-decker passed us for Malta — I
hope, a reinforcement to Sir Edward Codrington.
H 2

100 FUNGUS ROCK.
Lord Yarborough's yftcht, as I beUeve, also passed by
for Malta, from Gibraltar. This morning I proceeded
in my barge to the Fungus Rock, on the other side of
the island, so called from its bearing, vrithout any assign
able cause, large crops of a fungus highly esteemed by
the natives as a styptic and astringent. The rock itself
is a mass of calcareous stone, like the rest of the island ;
but the fungus grows nowhere else but upon the rock.
It stands in the middle of a wild rocky bay, in a tempes
tuous sea, which was so rough and boUing, owing to the
rebound of a very heavy sweU from a hue of precipitous
cliffs, from 300 to 500 feet high, that my barge was
much nearer being swamped in approaching it than I
liked at the time, or like to think of now, especiaUy as,
had we overset, every man must have perished. The
rock rises high and abrupt, and is unapproachable except
from the mainland, where a rope is run over to it
from the opposite precipice, to which is suspended a
wooden box, in which amateurs and the curious are run
over. It is about 200 feet high, about a quarter
of a mile roundj with a natural arch right through the
middle of it.
Round the furthest point that forms this vrild bay is
a low-browed cavern, in which no boat can enter, but
which opens into a large rocky basin of salt water,
about three or four feet deep, and about half a mile
round. I never saw a scene of greater desolation than this
place. No vegetation is to be seen — not even a blade
of grass ; nothing but white arid rock and precipice, and
a stormy, raging sea — for there is nothing to break the
wave from the coast of Africa. Once more braring
the tossing and tumbling sea round the point, we got

GIRGENTI. 101
into smoother water, set our saUs, and reached home to
dinner. Between this and Malta is the little island of Comino,
not inhabited except by a corporal, the sohtary inmate
of a strong tower, whose duty it is to preserve the rab
bits that swarm there, and which are kept for the
amusement of the Governor of Malta and his friends.
Com is grown on the island, as the soil is rocky, and the
rabbits cannot burrow, consequently stone walls protect
the grain from their ravages.
13th. We left Gozo for the coast of Sicily. As we
sailed out we saw the Admiral quitting Malta for the
coast of the Morea. About sunset we made Terra Nova,
about fiteen.nules ahead.
14tli. About nine o'clock, a.m., we came to an
anchor off Girgenti. The port contains only a mole for
fishing vessels and smaU craft, the pratique office, and
house belonging to the guardiani. Upon a sort of level
plain, forming part of the vale, stand the remains of the
ancient city and her temples, which had so strongly
excited our curiosity and expectation.
As soon as we had dropped our anchor a boat came
off from the shore which hailed us, and said that the
head of the Board of Health was in the city, that they
had sent off an express to him on seeing the vessel two
hours ago, and that he would be with us " subito." In
the meanwhUe, we waited patiently untU twelve o'clock,
when, as no health officer appeared, I sent Mr. Rad
cliffe off in our boat with my passport, regular bill of
health from Malta, and the letter which the Viceroy of
SicUy had sent me, assuring me that he had given in
structions that I should be weU received throughout
Sicily. When he first came to the mole the health

102 TROUBLESOME PEOPLE.
officer met him, and, looking at our biU of health, de
clared that we had pratique, and began, as usual, taking
down the names of the passengers, crew, &c., when one
of them whispered the rest, and then, taking an objec
tion of form to the bill of health — viz., that it did not
recite the names of all the crew, but only men
tioned me, my suite, and crew of my yacht in general
terms — declared that I could not have pratique at Gir
genti. It was in vain that Radcliffe pointed out that the
names and description of all the crew and passengers
were inserted in the passport, and that nothing could be
more easy than for them to see that the persons on board
corresponded vrith the names and descriptions in the
passport. They refused pratique, but said that, if I
would send the papers up to the Intendente at Girgenti,
they had no doubt that I should have pratique — they
offering to send the bill of health, engaging that I
should have an answer in two hours, and to send it off
to me. Radchffe came off to me for orders, and I
directed the bUl of health to be sent to the Intendente,
and at the same time forwarded a copy of the Viceroy's
letter. We remained until five, P.M. No answer came, and
we had no communication with the shore. I then sent
Radcliffe again, peremptorily demanding either pratique
or my papers back again. We heard nothing of him
until night closed in and nine o'clock arrived, when, not
knowing what trick they might have played my boat, as
they were four miles from the seat of the government, I
armed another boat, arid sent her on shore with my
raarines, with orders to bring off my first boat. They
found Radcliffe and his crew upon the mole, , with a

INSOLENCE. 103
sentry on them, and the whole population of the place
around. The moment they saw my armed boat
appear, they dispersed and -fled, except the sentry,
who stood his ground. Radcliffe had received no
answer. The officers of health said they had sent the
papers, but that no reply had been forwarded.
In the meanwhUe, alarmed, probably, at seeing that
I took up the matter seriously, as my boat had orders to
remain (but not to land) withm the mole until my
papers were returned, a feUow who appeared to be a
private pohce soldier came to Radcliffe vrith the biU of
health, and a verbal message from the Intendente to me,
saying that I could not have pratique at Girgenti.
Radchffe then demanded my papers. The soldier had
them in his hand, but declared that he should not have
them untU he had paid for the expresses, &c., to
Girgenti, and the expenses. Radcliffe flew at him
instantly, and seized him, whereupon the feUow gave
him the biU of health and ran away, and Radcliffe
returned with his boat ; by this time it being ten o'clock, it
was above twelve hours after the time of the vessel being at
anchor, though it was the duty of the health officer imme
diately to have come off and come alongside, to have
decided whether we had pratique or no.
15th. Determined not to let the insolence of the
Intendente and his officers pass unnoticed, I wrote him
as strong a letter of reproach as I could put together,
and declared that I would lodge a complaint against him
before the King and the Viceroy. This letter I forwarded
at daybreak by a boat I sent to the mole to purchase re
freshments, to be delivered at the health office. The
boat was too early for the health office, and the people
¦crowded down to it, and sold us all that we wanted

104 MARSALA.
The officer then came • down, turned away the people,
and refused to take the letter. My people threw it on
shore, and the health people kicked it back into the
boat, so it came off with the letter, but vrith all the
refreshments I required. Whether this conduct was
the Intendente' s, or whether he never received the
papers, and the whole was an insolence of the health
officers, I neither know nor care. His name was used,
and he raust abide by the consequences of permitting
his inferiors to act insolently in his name.
In the evening we came to Marsala and anchored,
and the health officers instantly gave pratique upon the
very same papers the others had refused.
16th. There has been a severe earthquake here, on
the 28th ult., which kiUed four people, and threw down
many houses. The shocks were four in number on
that day, when the principal mischief was done; but
there had been several slight shocks on preceding days,
and some since, so much so that the inhabitants, most
of them, bivouacked in the fields.
Mr. Barlow, a partner in the vrine-house of Wood-
house and Co., came off to me with samples of their
wine. There are no less than three English wine-mer
chants' establishments now here. Woodhouse exports
upon an average 3,000 pipes annually. They sell a
great deal to America, as well as to England. They
pay great attention to the growth of the grapes, their
cultivation, and the making the wine. They have con
siderable vineyards of their own ; but, besides that, they
superintend the cultivation of quantities of vines belong
ing to small proprietors, whose crops they buy, and to
whom they advance raoney for the culture. The wine
is good in itself ; but it is, in my mind, very much in-

WINE. 105
jured by the quantity of brandy which they put into it,
both for the American and British markets. They sell,
for that reason, very little to the natives, or Itahans ;
but send much to Malta, and to the British ships in the
MediteiTanean. The house of Woodhouse and Co.
employ regularly, aU the year round, ninety-seven people
in their estabhshment, besides the persons in the vintage,
and the regular cultivation of the grapes. The Sicihans
are beginning to get jealous of the estabhshments, and
of what they caU their money going into strangers' hands.
They have not yet the wit to learn that the capital of
strangers creates capital at home, and is the real source
of the wealth of a country.
The coast is- extremely fiat and uninteresting ; the soil
is clay and Uraestone, in parts marshy and unhealthy.
In the evening, the smell of the marshes was very dis
tinctly appreciable on board, and perfectly explains
the malaria. There is nothing to be seen here — ^no anti
quities to be coUected, and no temptation to stay. I
put here into the port my letter to the Intendente of
Agrigentum, which he wiU thus per force receive; as
also, another to the Viceroy at Palermo, containing a
narrative of what passed, copies of the letters, &c., and
demanding satisfaction for the insult offered me. We
shaU see the result.
We weighed anchor for Trapani, which we approached
at night-fall. I find that the oldest man living does not
remember an earthquake at Marsala before that of the
28 th of May. The shocks appeared to come from the
sea. 17th. Arrived at Trapani early. Got pratique imme
diately, and aU sorts of civU messages from the Inten
dente, and the health-officer. At twelve o'clock the

106 COLUMBARA.
Enghsh Vice-Consul came off to me, an old raan, who
is also French Consul, and his son-in-law, who speaks
French. The Intendente carae on board, offered me
his carriage, and everything in his power. As soon as
he was gone I went on shore and found his carriage
waiting, and the Consul's son-in-law, Monsieur Malati,
who conducted me round the town, although at the time
devoted usually to the siesta after dinner. Trapani
stands on a peninsula, and is strongly fortified.
On the left hand, as you enter the port, is the rocky
island of Columbara, on which stands the hghthouse,
and a battery, containing a prison, in which about forty
state prisoners, or what are here called prizioneri d'opin-
ione, are languishing in hopeless captivity. The air
holes of their miserable dungeons are opposite to us;
but they are so constructed as to preclude the view of
any vessel, or of any part of the bay. The tenants of
these may look down upon the rock immediately beneath
them, and upon the wave which dashes against it ; but
beyond that extent their vision cannot penetrate, and
vessels are not allowed to anchor within a certain dis
tance of the tower, in order to preclude even the possi
bility of telegraphic communication. In the interior
ditch of this work, looking only towards the tower,
forming a focus for the heat, and letting in none of the
hght of heaven, sorae of these wretched beings are
allowed at certain times to see the sky. But these pri
sons are nothing when compared with those in the
islands, Farignana, &c., where some of the best men of
Naples have been imprisoned; where MonticeUi, for
instance, passed four years, in corapany with the Che
valier Medicis, the present Prime Minister of Naples ;
and the former was for three months, by the jealousy

FUNERAL GAMES. 107
of the late Queen, fettered both on his hands and
feet. This rocky island is famous for having been the spot
on which ^neas celebrated the funeral games in honour
of Anchises, who was buried somewhere here, but the
spot is unknown. Here the pious jJEneas ran round this
island in celebration of the obsequies of Anchises, and
in propitiation of the infernal gods. But, if he did so,
the island must have been different from what it now is,
and the horrid raass of naked and precipitous rocks
which it is coraposed of would now set at complete defi
ance the most pious and most active son who might
have recourse to these gymnastics for a sacred or for
any purpose. Here, too, was planted the oaken garland
that constituted the goal of the boat and galley races
described by VirgU. Under the lea of this island lay
Adhubal's fleet when the Roman fleet attacked him ;
and on the rocks and shoals between it and the salt
works the Roman fleet was wrecked and destroyed in
the battle. The town is well built, and clean ; and the
police of it must be good, for I never saw streets so well
paved or kept in Italy.
The Intendente is certainly indefatigable ; but his
good taste is not quite equal to his zeal, as he has
directed aU the houses in the town, in all the streets, to
be washed down and fronted in one uniform pattern of
yeUow and white ; and he invited me to come flve years
hence to see his city, which, he expected, would by that
time have becorae one of the finest rhubarb-coloured
cities in the Mediterranean. By the sea-side is a marina
or drive, ornamented by statues of Victor Amadeus and
Philip V. The mole is a good one ; and there is a good
deal of trade here for salt, even from the north of Europe.

108 CORAL FISHERY.
A long aqueduct conducts beautiful water frora the mass
of calcareous rock which forms the mountain of St.
Juhan, but in such small quantities that, in order to
fill ray vessel, aU the fountains in the tovwi were ob
Uged to be stopped for a whole raorning ; and this was
no joke, with the thermometer varying frora eighty-six
to ninety-two degrees.
The coral fishery from hence on the coast of Africa is
considerable. The Dey receives 100 piastres per season
from every boat employed in it, as a tribute or acknow
ledgment. Much is sold at Genoa and Leghorn ; and
rauch used to be sold in the Levant until these unquiet
tiraes. A large quantity is, however, carved here into
necklaces and ornaments, crucifixes, &c. ; and the Tra^
panese are celebrated for their carvings in that article,
as well as in ivory, and in Sicihan sheUs, out of which
they forra very beautiful caraeos.
About half a league to the eastward of the town, on
the side of the road to Palermo, is a convent of Car-
mehtes, and a chapel, containing the celebrated miracu
lous Madonna of Trapani. The hour was that of their
siesta, and their sleep resisted numberless and loud
attacks made upon it, and most noisy appeals, on the part
of the Intendente's servants, who, being dressed in
splendid royal hveries, with coloured handkerchiefs
about their necks, and no shirts on, thought themselves
entitled to rouse even the dead from their repose. At
length a feeble voice was heard, " Che volete f " and
upon the reply thsit they came " della parte del I'Eccel-
lenze U Intendente," &c., &c., and had the honour to
conduct " Un Principe iUustrissimo d'Inghilterra," the
doors flew open, the bell was rung out, and the sleepers,
conceiving another miracle was working, came tumbling

MADONNA. 109
in frora their repose. But they were exceedingly civil.
I exhausted all my bad Itahan to make excuses for
my intrusion, and called upon my interpreter to make
more ; but the superior, calhng to my recoUection that
the Carmehtes once held " neUi beUe terapei della reli-
gione," great property in England, observed that an
Enghsh Prince was always welcome to a CarmeUte
convent, especially one of my vast merit — I thought he
was going to say size. So, after much bowing and com-
phmenting, I was introduced to the miraculous Madonna,
and I then found that much of the delay had been
occasioned by their giving their people time to light all
the candles and lamps, and make the Madonna put on
her best gown. I was introduced into the sanctuary in
which she stands, which is a chapel incrustrated with
marbles, separated from the church by an ornamented
iron and gilt grate. Within this heretics are not in
general admitted ; but an English Prince of my pecuhar
merit, &c., &c., &c.
The Madonna is a white marble statue, holding the
child; both crowned vrith gold crowns, and adorned
with the most splendid jewels, the gifts of the faithful.
Amongst them I counted ten watches hanging to the
Virgin's girdle. Every finger was loaded with rings,
and precious stones ghttered from every part about her.
Most preposterously, the features of both the Virgin and
chUd are painted over, which, contrasted with the white
marble, made them look most ghastly. In other respects
the statue is not a bad one. It was brought, about
three centuries ago, from the island of Cyprus; and
duty not having been paid upon her, she was lodged in
la dogana. Outrageous at this insult, the statue walked
out by night, and was found some fields off. She was

110 A MIRACLE.
reconducted to her place of detention. Again she walked
off, and again was caught and brought back. By this
time the clergy had heard of the affair, and interfered.
Nothing could be more reasonable than their decision.
" Wait," said they. " The figure, if she be miraculous,
wUl walk forth again. Wherever she is found, leave her.
She shall then be placed in a cart, drawn by oxen of the
country, and they shall be set going, and permitted to go
of themselves wherever the Virgin or their own fancies
may lead them. If they go towards the dogana, you
may take her and do what you hke vrith her ; but if she
goes towards the country, wherever the oxen stop there
the Virgin shall remain."
It is scarcely necessary to say that the oxen which
presented themselves to conduct their sacred load had
never been fed at the dogana, and probably had in the
farm-yard of the Carmelite convent ; for there they took
her, and there she has been performing miracles ever
since, as innumerable legs, arms, noses, and limbs re
stored by her, and duly represented in wax, testify most
amply. This story was told me by the superior, who evidently
did not believe one word of it, as, lest I should laugh, he
laughed hiraself. But to me these things are no laugh
ing matter. He knew that a Protestant would not
believe him, so he hoped to obtain the character of
superior wisdora in ray eyes by shewing that he dis
believed what he daily irapresses upon aU the wretched
pilgrims and idiots who surround him, that it is true and
necessary to their salvation that they should believe. I
cannot but detest a religion which builds its foundation
in deceit, and works for the purposes of teraporal power
by spiritual charlatanry.

CARVING IN WOOD. Ill
When I came out of the chapel, I found the In
tendente's servants in the church. On hearing me
enter, they thought the whole monkish corps d'armee
was in advance, and they plumped down upon their
knees before the statue. But I had entered before the
rest, and seeing that it was only a heretic, they all got
up again, looked at each other, laughed, and began
brushing the knees of their dirty breeches. In a few
seconds, however, on the actual approach of the holy
party, down they went in earnest, and began crossing
themselves from top to toe. How acceptable must have
been such prayers !
At the Jesuits' college they would force me into the
refectory, where I found the whole fraternity sitting, in
pick-tooth manner, after dinner. They aU got up,
forced me into the rector's chair, drank ray health, and
I drank theirs. Their table was covered with fruit and
-wine, and I observed several bottles marked rosoha. So
they did not lack creature comforts.
I then proceeded to a chapel dedicated to St. Michael,
in which were a great many groups, extraordinarily well
and powerfully carved in wood, and coloured, as large as
life, representing our Saviour's passion. They are done
by a Trapanese artist,^hose name not a soul in Trapani
could teU me. "Ma sono mdlto antichi." They are
carried about in cars in procession during the Holy
Week. They are terribly weU done, but impressive
solely by the horror they excite. Our Saviour is so
bloody, and all the anatomical detaUs so horribly weU
imitated, and the Jews so ugly, ferocious, and banditti
like, that nothing is left for religion to do ; all is done
that is done by making people sick and children fright
ened. The group representing the denial of Christ by

112 POLITENESS.
Peter is the best ; and the look of raild reproach on the
countenance of the former, and of cowardly but at the
same time self-reproving weakness on that of the latter,
were well described.
At six o'clock in the evening, being inforraed that
this was the hour when S. E. had dined and finished his
siesta, and was again fit to be seen, I returned II Signor
Intendente's visit, when the noodling and doodhng began
again, and all Trapani was placed at my disposal. He
was unmarried, or he would have offered me his vrife, '
But, however, he was very civil ; and, in fact, did not
confine his civilities to mere offers only, as he showed
me every attention and kindness in his power. His
country habits and style, of course, interlarded the reahty
with much unmeaning, but still well-meant, ceremonious
nothingness.

113

CHAPTER VII.
Temple of Venus at St. JuUan — Temple of Segestum — ^Wonderful
Cavern — An Adventure — Tantalaria, and its Pohtical Prisoners
— Visit from the Governor — ^Professor Ferrara and his History —
Granite and Lava — The Barbary Corsair — Basaltic Caves and
Hot Springs.
June 19th. Mount St. Julian stands about a mile to
the eastward of Trapani. It was the ancient Momit
Eryx, where Venus was worshipped in her most licen
tious form. The raountain is 2,175 feet high ; and
whatever it might once have fumished to suit the taste
of the inhabitants of Trapani, it now furmshes them
with ice. On the top of it is now a wretched town
caUed Old Trapani, containing 8,000 miserable inhabi
tants, in hovels as miserable as themselves. Doedalus
built the city of ancient Drepanum. Eryx, a giant,
the son of Butes and Venus erected the temple.
Nothing now remains of it but heaps of rubbish, and
a fiUed-in tank, or reservoir, in which the story goes
that Venus bathed. But why she should have scrambled
so high to do that which she might have done so much
VOL. II. I

114 SEGESTUM.
better below, amidst the crystal fountains which bubble
out at the foot of Mount St. Julian, her adorers best
know. Those are aU that remain of the Teraple of
Venus. St. Julian is a raass of clay and Uraestone. Agate,
jaspers, Lumachella marble, and sulphate of hme, are
found there. The city of old Drepanum was taken in
the first Punic War, and razed by HamUcar.
20th. At six o'clock this morning I proceeded to
Segestum. The road is a very good one, and is the
new coraraunication frora hence to Palermo. You pass
along twenty-two miles of it untU you come to a red house,
which is a station for the persons having the care of the
road. You then must walk, or take a mule, to the
temple, which lies araongst the hiUs. There was no
such thing as a carriage and post-horses to be hired at
Trapani. A friend of the EngUsh consul's lent me a
caleche, in which we craramed four people, and from
four persons more we coUected four horses ; another
equipped us vrith a coachman who had never driven,
and a sixth with a postUion who had seldora rode in his
life. We set forth.
The Intendente offered me an escort of gendarmerie,
which I positively refused, and was very near regretting
my magnaniraity, as I found rather late in the day that
thirty gaUey-slaves had escaped from the neighbourhood
of Trapani, that part only had been retaken, and the
rest infested the neighbourhood. The country we passed
through was rich land, but, hke aU Sicihan rich land,
going sadly to waste with what is caUed a year's fallow,
i.e., weeds and neglect, and two years' crop. There are
no fences of any kind ; and as the harvest is just col
lected, as with us in September, the look of the country

PATRIARCHAL CUSTOM. 115
was ranch that of the open corn land of Dorsetshire.
Leaving Trapani, we passed sorae groves of olives, some
vineyards, and aloes in bloom, from twenty-five to thirty
feet in height. But very soon the whole melted down
into unvaried swelUng lands of com or corn-ground.
At first we stopped at every mile. One horse jibbed,
another kicked, the foot-board broke, and what were mis
named traces — because they were rotten leather, and
were not rope — broke; lastly, the postihon, who was
unused to such exercise, was frequently obliged to stop
and dismount. At length we went merrily on, and per
formed our twenty-two miles in three hours.
At the guard-house above mentioned we left our
carriage, and I mounted my mule, which I had sent
before in order to keep him fresh. I found him on ray
arrival, going his round with two or three others in tread
ing out the corn, which aU over SicUy they still do, after
the ancient patriarchal manner ; and they strictly obey
the order of Scripture, not to muzzle the animal which
treadeth out the com. The consequence was, that my
poor mule got his feed by the sweat of his brow, instead
of enjoying it, as he ought, in quiet in his stable ; my
rogue of a muleteer, besides his bargain with me for
the whole day, pocketed the little extra job gained by the
mule's extra exertion, and I had to pay for the feed,
which the mvde never ate, besides.
On leaving this place, which we were told was two mUes
only from Segestum, we wound round amongst the hiUs,
leaving cultivation and the habitations of men behind us.
Every now and then we saw a patch of com, and, at a
distance, a patriarchal well with a long lever marked the
existence of a spring, to which at certain hours aU the
flocks and herds, horses, miUes, asses, and birds, of the
i2

116 SIROCCO.
district resort, for there is no other water to quench their
thirst ; and the people of the country regularly assem
bled, at stated hours, to quench their own thirst and that
of their fellow-creatures in this vrildemess. At one of
these assemblies we assisted, and none know the luxury
of such a reunion who have not traveUed over rocky and
barren land vrithout water. We believed the distance to
be only two mUes, and left our refreshments at " la Casa
Reale," as our dog-hole of a resting-house was called, to
meet us at our return. We found it fuU five miles, and
felt the want of them.
After rounding one hill after another, and crossing
many a dried-up and rocky river bed, we at length swept
round the base of a rocky knoll, and on a height above
us to our right stood, magnificent ui its magnitude and
frowning in desolation, the Temple of Segestum ; whUst
on our left hand, at the top of a higher mountain, were
the few waUs which designate the site of the ancient city.
StUl winding round the hiUs, we at last reached the
bottom of a steep ascent, at the top of which the temple
stood. The day was a true sirocco — the sky clear, but the
vapour over the earth thick, hazy, and lead-colour ; the
air at that height strong, so as elsewhere to be caUed a
strong breeze, but the wind felt as though it came out of
the mouth of an oven ; and if you stood opposite to it,
and held the mouth open to receive the freshness of the
breeze, you inhaled heat instead of coolness, and the hps
and face were dried and caked as if over a fire.
Liquor passed down the throat and gave a momentary
coolness as it passed, but it did not quench an mcipient
thirst, and produced no refreshment. Those who walked
lay down and panted like dogs, and, I, who rode, could

ANCIENT TEMPLE. 117
scarce sit upon my mule. We had some water in a
bottle which we brought from the last spring, but it was
hot and frothy ere it reached the temple. I hung
up my thermometer under the broad shade of the vast
columns, in the strongest infiuenee of the breeze, and
perfectly independent of the heated stone, and I never
could get it less than 90° of Fahrenheit.
From the temple the view is vast, sublime, and deso
late. To your left, amongst the mountains, you see the
inlet of the sea on which stands CasteUamare, which
was the seaport of Segestum. But the ruins even of the
city exist no longer, and the seaport has become a melan
choly and sohtary bay. Although the habitations of
man were not visible in this desert, his miseries were
forced upon our attention. Two wretched blind men,
guided by chUdren, came up to scrape a welcome upon
two wretched fiddles, which we silenced with little diffi
culty, and at, indeed, a most triffing expense ; which made
aU parties joyful — us, by what we lost in the shape of
music, they by what they gained by a most munificent
copper donation. But although they were not rausical,
they were not sUent, and both of thera, " high gravel
bhnd," had their story to teU about this " beUa casa," as
they caUed their teraple, which both aUowed they had
never seen.
"BeUa Casa" indeed it is, and I believe it to be the
finest specimen of — we know not what age — ^but of
Doric architecture in Europe. It consists of fourteen
columns of Doric architecture, standing on bases, with
four in each front, or rather, one may say, twelve lateral
columns, and sis in each front. I took the measureraents
exact by rule, and I can answer for their correctness.
The exterior length of the temple is 190 feet 8 inches ;

118 DORIC COLUMNS. ,
its extra breadth 75 feet 10 inches ; the space of each
intercoluraniation, 7 feet 1 inch ; the diaraeter of the
base of each coluran, 6 feet 10 inches ; the circumfer
ence of each column at five feet from the ground, 20
feet 9 inches. I had no sextant vrith me, so I could not
take the exact height of the colurans by georaetrical
measurement ; but I took the height as foUows : — One
of our party, whose height we measured, stood at the
base of a coluran opposite to where we stood on the ex
trerae opposite side of the teraple ; another, standing
where we did, held up a paper perpendicularly opposite
to his eye, and upon the edge of it raarked first his oppo
site neighbour's height, and then the height of the whole
building, of which, of course, our friend's height stood
as a proportional part. This was not exact, as we
could not raeasure the value of the angle between his
head and the top of the building from where we
stood ; but the measureraent could not be very incorrect,
and I should take the height of the colurans at 35 feet.
The columns are not fluted, and they evidently appear
to be of a later date than Psestum, both on account of
the bases and the dentils being not of so severe an archi
tecture as the earhest Doric. In the intercolumniation
which forms the centre an entrance is raade of ma
sonry squared stones. The whole temple stands upon
a phnth, forming a regular step from the ground.
Standing as you enter, with the face looking to the
further extremity, you see on the right hand the inter-
columniations, fiUed with a dwarf waU precisely the
height of the bases of the coluran. The intercolumnia-
tions on the left hand are all open. It is surmised that
the closed spaces on the right hand were either for altars
or statues.

MASSES OF STONE. 119
Underneath these closed intercolumniations are large
raasses of rough stone, which had not been cleared
when the stones on the surface of which they project
were squared and chiseUed. One row of thera is on
these dwarf waUs, the other is on the outside plinth
below. But they do not correspond. The two tiers are
Uke the ports of a two-decked ship, one alternating with
the other. These projections exist along the whole of
that side of the teraple, but do not exist on the other side,
or at the ends. They are caUed projections, by which
the -stones were raised in their places. But this is
absurd. The corresponding stones on the other side
have thera not, they are but a few feet from the ground.
The immense stones which form the dentils and the
cornice have them not, and they would have required
more assistance to raise them in their places than stones
not more than four feet from the ground. I suspect
they raust have been some ornament of animal's heads,
although quite contrary to all the rules of architecture ;
and no form appears — ^but what else could they be?
From being on the side where the intercolumniations are
fiUed up, and supposed to have been filled by statues of
gods, could these projections have been smaU altars to
their worship, where the people might adore and make
their simple offerings before they ventured into the holy
precincts of the temple?
The pavement appears now to be rock, but the bases
of the columns seem to stand on end stones, which, by
their situation, are more protected from the weather.
I suspect, therefore, the whole pavement to have been
originaUy squared stone, now worn down into rock.
On each side, however, of the temple in the third inter
columniation at both ends there is a square of more per-

120 RESTORATION.
feet pavement, which induce me to think they were the
sites of four altars or statues of peculiar sanctity.
Some think the temple never was finished. Certainly
some of the intercolumniations are filled up by smoothed
and some by rougher stone. But what is most reraark
able is, that at the foot of each column, where it enters
the base, there is a large channeUed groove, regularly cut
as if to admit a metalhc moulding. This apphes to
every column. Either, then, those mouldings have never
been placed where they were meant to be, or they have
been all carefully removed, as every groove is perfect
and complete.
The temple was repaired by the late king of Naples,
who, vrith very good taste and judgment, restored a
fallen pillar and part of a pediment which had been
shattered by hghtning, replaced stones which had faUen,
and secured weak parts by bands of iron, without attempt
ing to do more than to prevent the temple from going
more into ruin than he found it. But he has thought
fit to inscribe, on a large long white tablet of marble on
the front of the pediment of the temple, the achieve
ment of the august Ferdinand in restoring and repair
ing, &c. He would have done wiser to have recoUected
that if the original founder of this stupendous and
splendid monument has left no inscriptiori to record his
valuable name, his modesty is greater than that of the
ostentatious personage who has attempted to hand down
to posterity his slight and puerile efforts to stay the hand
of Tirae.
The temple stands upon the summit of a deep pre
cipitous ravine, plunging deep into a rocky vaUey.
A boy who jomed us could not resist teUing us a mar
vellous story of a cavern in the face of the precipice

CAVERN. 121
which was unapproachable by man, but reached an
iraraense way, spreading into raany chambers, in
winch was a subterranean river, and a statue in white
marble holding an iron club in his hand ! " If this is
unapproachable by man how do you know all this ? "
" Oh, in tempi passi a shepherd had wandered in search
of a lost goat, and had got from shelf to shelf to the
raouth of this place, but that no one had seen it but
hhn." " WeU, where the shepherd could go we can go — come
and show us the place."
" No, it is unapproachable — and, besides, it is dark, and
ombre (ghosts) have been seen to enter it."
" Never mind li ombr^, come along;" and my valet de
place and Radchffe set forth on the expedition, forcing
the boy with them, who went evidently most unwillingly.
They came to a steep precipice, and found they could
not get at the cave that way. They went into the
ravine below and saw its raouth. They separated in
their course and lost sight of each other. The boy
guide reraained with Radcliffe. Giovanni advanced his
own way. He stopped to strike out with his hammer
some agate rock for me, and as soon as his hammer
struck he heard a shriU whistle, and, looking up, beheld
two men in the dress of the lowest peasantry, but armed
vrith guns, creeping on their hands and knees out of this
unapproachable cavern, and then dive amongst the brush
wood. He hallooed to Radchffe, to warn him of his
danger, and at that instant the boy ran away from and
left him, never appearing again, not even to ask for a
reward for having guided him.
Giovanni retraced his steps to tell me of my danger,
after having told Radchffe that the men were arraed.

122 SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCE.
Radcliffe persevered in his attempt and reached the cave
upon his hands and knees. The mouth was so low that
he was obliged to enter it in the same posture. He saw
that others had been there before him, by the sraoke of
torches which had blackened the roof. But he found
the cave wind into different charabers, and, being per
fectly dark, having no means of getting a hght, and
being alone, he most wisely returned.
In the meanwhUe Giovanni came to me with his story,
evidently very rauch alarraed. I had no reraedy for it.
We were alone. In the confidence of security my mules
and guide had been sent for our provisions, and there
was not a habitation near us. I had in ray belt the
brace of pocket pistols which I always carried vrith me
in Sicily, but they were the only arras of our party.
But we were five, and, keeping together, we were deter
mined not to be robbed by two raen. So we remained
to abide the event, which was that we saw and heard
no more of the httle rascal of a guide, or of the two
men. The probabihty was, that the men were lurking there
for mischief, but thought us stronger than we were ; and
taking it for granted that, being strangers, we were sup
ported by the gendarmerie of the country, they did not
venture to attack superior nurabers. The boy's love of
talking would not allow of his holding his tongue about
the cave, though he was endeavouring to prevent us
frora visiting it. When he found that some of our
party were determined to penetrate its recesses, he went
far enough to give his friends notice of their danger, and
then fled with thera.
When we had returned to Trapani, I sent an account
to the Intendente of what had passed, and he and those

CAVERN. 123
he consulted had no doubt, from their knowledge of the
country, that the men were two of the runaway gaUey-
slaves, who merely avoided attacking us because they
fancied we might have been sent in pursuit of them, or
were backed by a military force. They all agreed that
we had had a narrow escape, especially Radcliffe, who
might vrith perfect ease have been seized and detained in
the cave.
I left the Government at Trapani determined to send
gendarmes to scour the fastnesses and the rocks which
surround the ruins. The cavern is weU known, is
always mentioned to strangers, has been frequently
visited, but, owing to the want of light, has never been
explored. This makes the conduct of the boy and the
men more suspicious. Having thus remained for three
hours, our provisions came up. Of course I gave part of
them, when our guides were refreshed and we had done,
to three boys who had been with us all the while. It
was quite melancholy to see the eager ghstening of their
wretched eyes when they saw our provisions, and the ra
pacity and anguish of hunger with which they devoured
them. They never had touched meat before, and knew
not what it was. Wine they knew, but had never
tasted it ; for this country grows no vines, and vrine is
not the drink, as elsewhere, of the poorer classes. They
had not ate before that day. What were they to have
had, a le casa, had they not met us? Fav6 (beans)
boUed, and water. We fed them weU, put some raoney
into their poor attenuated hands, and left them, as I
hope and beheve, grateful.
Radcliffe is convinced that the cave, from its direction,
goes right under the temple.
After five hours passed in this stupendous scenery, we

124 PANTALARIA.
returned, through the hottest evening I ever experienced,
and reached Trapani by ten o'clock at night. The tem
ple is buUt of the calcareous rock of the country. The
pUlars consist of iraraense blocks, containing whole cir
cumferences of from three to four feet in thickness.
Segesta is said to have been a Trojan city, subdued and
occupied by the Carthaginians. Two coins which I
bought from a shepherd, and which were found in the
old city, are Carthaginian. But these are the only
traces of this great and once flourishing place.
21st. We weigh anchor from Trapani. We pass by
the islands of Maritinio, Levanzo, and Farignana —
masses of calcareous rock, and used as prisons by the
Government of Naples. There cannot be less than from
thirty to forty thousand prisoners of opinion in the Nea
pohtan dominions ! The garrisons of aU the places
where these prisoners are. confined are changed every
sis months.
The thermometer in the shade of my cabin, which is
the coolest part of the ship, and is hable neither to sim
nor wind, stands at 89° ; but the sirocco is gone, and we
breathe freer. I have now regularly observed the sirocco
wind. It comes burning from the deserts of Africa, but
it bears on its wings the heavy damps of the ocean. I
have been writing this journal on the deck, untU the
paper got so wet that I could write no more. Our decks
and clothes are as if they had been sprinkled with
water. 22nd. This morning we reached Pantalaria, a smaU
island belonging to Sicily on the coast of Africa, but
StiU within the Umits of Europe, At Catania Count
Boff6 had told me that it was extremely interesting in a
mineralogical point of view, being a mass of volcanic

PRISONERS. 125
raatter, that had never been inspected, and was scarcely
known. Here the king of Naples keeps most of his
state prisoners whom he wishes to have forgotten. It is
out of the course of aU trade; has nothing to tempt
vessels to touch at it ; has no water even but rain-water
and sulphureous mineral springs, which the natives drink
for want of other ; and being only a place of confine
ment, the very name even of it is dreaded by the ItaUans.
It is thirty-six mUes round, and about nine over, and
presents a raost dreary appearance of black volcanic
rocks, on which the sea rushes with constant fury, as
there is nothing to break the waves.
The hills, which are aU evidently extinguished craters,
rise picturesquely over the mouth of what is caUed the
anchorage, viz., a smaU open bay, fuU of rocks and
dangers of every kind, open to every wind except the
S.S.W. and S.E., and with a rocky bottom, in which no
hempen cable could last an hour. The town consists of
a collection of whitewashed huts, two or three churches,
and a frowning old good-for-nothing castle, the scene of
raany an unknown, uncared, forgotten, captive's misery.
Every pohtical party in its tum has sent its victims
here, and when other parties have succeeded to power,
unless when great infiuenee has been excited, then the
poor wretches have remained forgotten. The castle
possesses no strength, either natural or artfficial ; and a
few wretched veterans who have begun as galley-slaves
and end as soldiers, serve to defend this important
fortress. A certain number of prisoners of the better sort have
the hberty of the town and island, under the condition
that they shall all be forthcoming at any time either of
the day or night when the governor — ^who usually is a

126 HEALTH OFFICERS.
major in the service, supposed to be well attached to the
king, and who undergoes this banishment frora all
society for three years to be gaoler, and then to obtain a
step in proraotion — choses to caU for them. Others are
kept vrithin the precincts of the town strictly, and others
again are confined in the prison of the castle — a place
too horrible, especially in an African chmate, for descrip
tion ; and raade more so by their being mixed up with
the greatest wretches of galley-slaves, and beings too bad
to be kept in any other Italian gaol.
As soon as we dropped our anchor the health-boat
came out to us, and gave us pratique; advising us,
however, to haul further out, as we were in foiU ground,
and if wind set in strong from the north-west or north
east we should inevitably be on the rocks. We took
their advice, and hauled out into seven fathoms water,
but in the worst anchorage ever laid down for vessels.
Smith's sketch of the town is very correct.
Shortly afterwards the health-boat came out again,
reinforced by an additional party of pohce-officers,
health-officers, and vagabonds of every description, who
informed us that we had not pratique, but that they
must see our papers, which the first fellow had never
asked for. He was in the boat, and we appealed to
him whether he had not given us pratique; but he
became suddenly stone deaf, and the others said we had
not pratique. So we produced our papers, which they
received with tongs, &c., &c., and then put to us all
sorts of impertinent questions. Where had we been ?
Answer : Look at our biU of health. Had we been at
Gergenti ? Yes. Had we pratique there ? No. Why
not ? Ask your friends at Gergenti ; we are not
accountable for their actions, and know nothing of their

IMPERTINENT QUESTION. 127
reasons. Where have we been in Sicily? In every
part of the island. Where were we going to nejct ? I
answered this in person : To Jericho, I beheved, or
where else I chose. Then we consulted together where
Jericho was, and gave up the geograpical part of their
inquiry. Then they insisted on seeing all our crew. This, of
course, we iraraediately assented to. Was the ship a
king's ship? No. A raerchant vessel? No. What
was she ? Look at our biU of health, and you vriU see.
Then they deraanded my passport. This I refused to
give imtil I knew whether they gave me pratique or
not. After long consultation in a small boat and a heavy
sweU, they said Yes, provided our commandant would
give his word of honour that there was no sickness on
board. This, of course, was done, and they were told
that there was not nearly the sickness on board the vessel
that there was in their boat, where several of the
medical questioners had begun to shew manifest symp
toms of iUness; whereupon they carae on board and
were civU. I met them very coldly, and said that they
had put a great many impertinent questions, and had given
as much trouble as possible, that now I would shew
them their Viceroy's letter, and if I had any more im
pertinence I would instantly weigh anchor for Palermo,
and report their conduct. Whereupon they immediately
performed Ko Tow, were as humble as they before
were insolent, and degraded themselves by paltry submis
sion — so much so, that I longed to kick them. But they
gave no further trouble, only were very inquisitive after
news, of which they knew no more than if they had
been in one of the Sandwich Islands. I gave them the
latest from Malta, and at length we parted good friends.

128 A SPY.
Then I found that a man who acted as interpreter —
i.e., endeavoured to speak Enghsh, but stuck fast, and
French more difficult to be understood than my Italian
— was a detenu pour les opinions publiques, and permitted
to run about tame on condition, I suppose, of doing any
dirty work the police required of him. He said that he
had the honour of being in the English service, and,
vraiment, although SicUian, was more an Enghshman
than Sicihan. What capacity had he served in ? Aide-
de-camp to Le Chevaher Stuart, Officier-General in
SicUy. Aide-de-camp ! In what regiraent had he held
a coraraission? In the Anglo-Sicihan corps. Then
what rank had he, as in our service a General's aide-de
camp was an officer of confidence, and highly in the
esteem of his general? A dire le vrai, he was not
strictly aide-(£M-camp, but, c'est a dire, that he was in
the family de Monsieur le General, and sometimes inter
preted for his exceUency, as he had now the honour of
doing for my exceUency. So here I dropped my
queries, as I fomid the feUow had hed — that he did not
know how to get out of the scrape, and had probably
been only a private soldier servant.
After much meanness on the part of these fellows
they -withdrew, and when they had aU disappeared
except my friend the aide-de-camp, he carae up to me
slyly, and whispered in my ear, "Nous soraraes touts
malheureux ici, je suis plus Anglais que SicUien. Fiez
vous en moi!" I said I had nothing to "ma fier" in
him — that he was a prisoner, and that I was sorry for
him — and then I bowed hira out. It is plain the feUow
is a spy. I found out afterwards that a boat's crew had
come in from Gergenti, who had seen us reftised pratique
there and go away, and this was the reason of aU their

THE GOVERNOR. 129
questioning and difficulties. The pohce-officers volun
tarily stated this to my servant, Giovanni, and told hira
how rauch they regretted the impertinence they had
been guilty of, and then aU combined in abuse of the
Intendente of Gergenti, who was a brigand, unfit for
his situation, &c., &c., and they hoped he would be
disgraced, &c.
In the evening I had a message from S. E., the
Governor, to say that he would, if I would permit hira,
come on board in the evening, to pay his respects to S.
Altezza il Signor Duco, and lay the keys of his fortress at
my feet. To this I returned a gracious answer, and at six
o'clock a httle civil man, dressed in a fine uniform, with
a special gold-laced cocked hat, and a sabre heavier and
longer than himself, came on board, attended by a
canonico and a boat-fuU of priests, and another of
employes, all of whom were tame prisoners, an old major
of artillery, who had never seen a gun, I beheve, since
the wars of the Guelphs and the GhibeUines, and a
Capitaine du Port, in a naval uniform, who did not
know the stem from the stern of a ship. But they were
exceedingly civil.
The Governor (a major), had only come to his
government four days before my arrival, had not his
famUy with him, was as great a stranger to the place as
myself, and regretted that he could not receive me as he
ought, &c. I, of course, was as civil to him, and
amused myself by having them aU shewn about my
vessel, unlashed a gun to exhibit a cannon, which
none but the artUlery officer had ever seen before, and
which they aU expected would go off of itself, especially
when I told them it was caricato a ballo. The locks
upon the cannons, the new sights fitted to them, the
VOL. II. K

130 A PRISONER.
patent steering apparatus, the chain cables, and, indeed,
everything in the vessel, astonished and confounded
thera. Then they aU went below, and astonishraent
began again. Then my charts upon deck were looked
over and talked over; and gli soldati — were they the
King's? No, my own, and paid by me. Then then-
wonderment began again. I gave them coffee and
rosoho, and they went away, but not untU a thick fog
came suddenly over the sea and wetted them to the
skin. The sarae thing had happened the night before.
We could not see the bow of the vessel frora the stem,
and everything exposed to it becarae as wet as if it had
been in the sea.
A very gentleraanUke young man here acted as
interpreter, who had traveUed a great deal, especially in
Egypt, and was weU-informed. I foimd out that he too
was a tame prisoner, doomed for a certain period to
expiate some poUtical offences in this blessed spot. He
is a Neapohtan, and of noble famUy. I did not of
course choose to ask many questions, but I found that
one of these poor feUows was sent here in consequence
of a political quarrel with Professor Ferara at Palermo,
who was jealous of him ! He is here for fifteen years !
But he is revenging himself upon Ferara by writing a
statistical and mineralogical history of the island, for
which he is well calculated by his scientific researches
and knowledge, and which vrill dreadfuUy expose the
professor's history of this place, which is the most
extraordinary bundle of hes I ever saw coUected together
in the same space. The most charitable supposition is,
that Ferara was never here.
23d. At six o'clock this morning I was in my barge,
and went completely round the island. I, of course,

VOLCANIC MATTER. 131
calculated upon the wind, which opposed us in one part
of our course, favouring us in another part of a circular
career; but, with the most perverse determination to
thwart our calculations, it came round against us, as we
rounded every head land, and my poor feUows had to
row every inch of the way. Some of our party went by
land to visit some vapour baths, and a cave, stated to be
curious ; and a lake, described to be at the top of a
mountain, by Ferara, which they found at the foot of it,
and to be unfathomable, whereas it is about twenty or
thirty feet deep, at least as far as it could be ascertained.
The cave turned out to be about fifteen or twenty feet
deep, and a cleft only in the lava occasioned by its
cooUng. I went round the island, commencing by the western
extremity. It is a raass of volcanic matter, composed of
scorise, lava, compact basalt, prismatic and columnar
basalt, pumice, obsidian, and horn-stone. On first start
ing from the vessel there appears a high wall, with a
black cross upon it, on a point of lava about three-quar
ters of a mile from the town. I took this for a chapel ;
but I found it to be the termination of a walk or ride,
made by a former Governor, from the town^ — -the only
walk or ride these wretched people have. The scorise
and lava are as barren, and appear to be as fresh as if
they had been thrown up yesterday ; and yet there is no
tradition even of any volcanic fire here. So httle is the
place known, that MonticeUi, at Naples, desired Donati
to ascertain whether the island is " vraiment volcanique."
It is nothing else. In this mass of volcanic matter we
found granite in situ, forming parts of large rocks. This
puts an end to all the discussion about the aqueous ori
gin of granite^ The deplorable appearance, too, and
k2

132 FISHING BOAT.
the entire want and absence of vegetation on the scorise
aud lava, furnish entire proof, if proof were wanting, of
the irapossibihty of even endeavouring to affix dates to
lava by the greater or less degree of vegetation belong
ing to it.
For the first three railes the coast continues to be this
raass of unvaried scorise, with crystals of white and
black feltspar, and a horn-stone base, which, indeed,
appears to run round the island. At the west point of
the island, by compass, we carae to regular chffs of five-
sided prismatic basalt, and hard and. compact lava, sur
mounted by scorise. The pillars were quite perfect, and
their joints complete. On the south-west, compact
basalt, the land there sinks into scorise, and smaU
patches of vegetation and vines appear. The crater
from whence this has flowed is evidently about one mile
and a^half inland, bearing north-east by compass;
South-west by south we came to a deep inlet or bay,
the land consisting, as before, of low scorise and lava.
In the bight of this bay is a small coUection of fishing
huts, where they salt the fish which they catch upon the
coast vrith the salt which is evaporated on the sea-shore,
and send it round to " la Citta," as they call the princi
pal town. Off this bay we saw a fishing-boat, and en
deavoured to haU her, to know if she had any fish for
our dinner; but the men eraployed sails and oars to
escape us. We, however, succeeded in cutting him off,
when we found the poor possessor of her in the most
humble of all frights, not knovring what to make of a
ten-oared barge, and inchned to beheve that we were
Barbary corsairs. We asked him for some fish, if he
had any to seU? He said he had only salt-fish; but
that the cargo, boat and all, were at our service if we

HOT SPRING. 133
would but spare their lives. We found we could not
persuade him that we were not eneraies; and with hands
alternately clasped and extended, and with all the ener
gies and gesticulations which he could master, he went
on imploring us to spare his life ; and we left him, won
dering that we took neither it, his salt-fish, nor his boat.
From hence the cliff rises high above the sea, and
forms a stratified mass of scorise, compact lava, obsidian
as fine as that of Lipari, pumice in aU its varieties,
puzzuolana, lava slate, all in strata, and shewing beauti
fuUy the formation of each, as combined with the other
materials. South-south-west, the lava and horn-stone
continue ; the hUls are here entirely cultivated up to
the top, with vines, currants, figs, Indian fig, arbutus,
myrtle, evergreen oak, cystus phylarsea, and raany of
our tenderest green-house plants. The figs here, if the
season be favourable, are dehcious ; but the sirocco dries
them up as they ripen; and as there has been much
sirocco lately, the figs are vrithered. The grapes are
delicious when ripe ; but they make but httle vrine,
the trade being principaUy in raisins, which are the
finest in the Mediterranean, and the Zante currant.
Corn they grow very little of, and depend upon Sicily
for a supply.
South-west by south, we came to a very fine cave of
columnar basalt. As we were roaming about, and
examining it, one of the seamen complained how hot it
was at the farthest end of the cave, and we found a
regular heated vapour issuing from the earth. Close to
the wash of the sea, finding the sand hot, we opened it,
and came immediately to a hot spring of fresh water.
In the air the thermometer was at 82 degrees of Fah
renheit ; in the water it stood at 160 degrees. The water

134 BASALTIC CAVE.
was quite pure and tasteless, and fresh. Farther on we
came to another basaltic cave, with another hot spring of
the same kind; and here, amidst compact basalt and
pumice, we found splendid nodules of white chalcedony,
equal and similar to that of Sardinia.
It was now past noon, and the heat was intense. The
thermoraeter stood at eighty-four degrees in the shade.
It was impossible for the men to row longer under such
a burning sun, as the awning only smothered them,
and I anxiously looked out for a place where they might
lay by during the hottest hours. Fortunately, at the
south-south-east point, we came to another magnificent
basaltic cave, in all its depth of beautiful shade, vrith a
flat ledge of rocks within it. The arch was a splendid
one of columnar basalt, of which the roof was equally
composed. It ran shelving about thirty yards, when
it came down into the water. A current of lava had
run under it, on the left hand, which formed our
kitchen and dinner-table. Here we moored our barge,
the men landed, dined, bathed, and slept; and we having
a portable cooking apparatus on board landed it, and
made the most dehcious dinner of our own cooking I
ever ate.
There is nothing but sulphureous water in the island ;
but we brought plenty frora the ship, and plunging the
vessels which contained it, as weU as our hquors, in the
sea, we cooled thera dovra to sixty-four degrees, the
temperature of the sea-water in the cave. Here we
remained for three hours. Just outside of the cave is
another hot spring, and masses of chalcedony as before.
Indeed, from hence I may say there was no variety in
the coast, which consisted whoUy of high basaltic cliffs,
sometimes compact, sometimes columnar, vrith stratas of

CLIFFS. 135
pumice, obsidian, and puzzuolana, mterchangeably ac
companying and chacing each other in every direction
through the chffs. The soU holds rauch clay, and there
evidently is a strong superstratum of carbonate of lime,
as is perceivable in the traces which the water makes in
the interstices of the basalt. I only regretted that we
had not the means of more closely and deliberately
examining these chffs, which, in all probabihty, held
many zeohtes amongst them. But we began to find out
that we had more than half of our toil to go through,
and that we must not trust to the wind for aid ; the air
was Uke a quivering furnace, and the sea like an expanse
of hot molten steel.
Great masses of chlorite and porphyry interchange
in the strata of aU these rocks. Here I should say the
basaltic chff cannot be less than 1,000 feet high. To
the S.E. the land runs into low coast, but still composed
as before. But the chffs rise again abruptly, in all the
varieties of basaltic shape and cave, until we come to a
very high pyramidical mass of rock, completely insulated
and unapproachable, except by the aid of wings. This
is to the E.S.E. point of the island. On the N.E. by
E. we came to a splendid natural arch and bay of basalt
as before, through the former of which the water flowed
in a beautiful expanse, that gleamed hght as silver
under the moonbeam. From thence the coast was a
continuation of basaltic coves and lava, and the night
closed in upon us before we got near our vessel. Head
land after headland appeared and disappeared without
our seeing our vessel's hghts. At last we saw them,
and arrived safely at eleven o'clock at night, with our
men almost exhausted.
Our party on shore had seen but httle. The water of the

136 A CRATER.
lake is clear and cold, but slightly sulphureous to the taste ;
it has no visible outlet, and evidently was once a crater ;
three sides are sheer basaltic rock. The fourth is of scorise
and lava, and appears to be pretty nearly on a level with
the sea, from which it is separated by a narrow neck of
land, that at a smaU expense raight be removed, and a
circular pond thus obtained at a shght sacrifice of time
and trouble.

137

CHAPTER VIII.
Visit to the Governor of Pantaleria — A Delightful Bath — Means
of Communicating to their FamUies offered to the Prisoners —
A Terrific Storm and Hot Blast — Narrow Escape from Ship
wreck — Defective Anchors — Leave the Island — ^Return to Cas
teUo del Mare — Political Risings — French Diplomacy — The
King's Confidante.
June 24th. I went on shore to return the Governor's
visit. He is lodged in the castle vrith his prisoners, over
whom he is gaoler. But his situation is such as no
gaoler in the worst gaol I ever heard of, would envy.
We were conducted through divers narrow streets, at
the comers of which were placed sentinels to do honour
to my altezza, but the Governor had better have spared
his attempt at mUitary parade, and not showm off the
most extraordinary set of scarecrows that ever had been
seen by mortal eye since the days of Falstaff's new-
raised levies. When we reached the castle we found at
different points different persons stuck up to represent
different functionaries, but evidently equipped with bor
rowed coats for the occasion. There was a complete
staff, more numerous than the garrison, and worthy of

138 STATE RECEPTION.
it. By these persons I was conducted into the castle
by a drawbridge which shook under my weight, and
through guard-rooms and passages, loaded and stinking
with all sorts of abominations. To the left hand through
an open grating were to be seen the wretched prisoners,
many of them galley-slaves for hfe — many victims of
popular opinion — aU squahd and wretched.
At length, at the top of a rickety wooden staircase,
stood the Governor in full uniform, with the great offi
cers of state ; they introduced me first through a corps
de garde, where twelve raen, all rags and tatters, stood as
guard, commanded by a most aged and feeble warrior,
and arraed vrith rauskets, some of which were vrithout
locks, and none of which had ever been cleaned or fired
off. The presence-chamber was the worst alehouse's
worst room in England, only larger and more desolate,
and vrithout furniture, except a sofa on three legs, and
four chairs, fastened up against the waU, vrith two legs
each. Here I had my audience, which was as amusing
as the preparation for it had been.
I announced my intended departure early the next
morning. The Governor then said that he raust visit me
again to take leave of rae. I deprecated the honour;
but he persisted, and, after sorae tirae elapsed in un-
raeaning conversation, we took leave. The Governor
insisted on reconducting me, and nothing would satisfy
hira but the showing rae his horrid dungheaps of houses,
which he caUed la Citta. So we waded in filth unutter
able, and heat inexpressible, up one vile aUey and down
another, vrith all the raob of the town at ray heels,
curious to see whether an Enghsh signor was raade hke
other people. I then erabarked almost exhausted, and
returned to ray vessel.

PLEASANT BATH. 139
This island has not only never been described, but
there was not a soul in it who had ever seen its shape
laid down on a raap, or who knew the depth of the
waters round it ; and when I offered the Governor the
use of my charts for a few hours, I could not have gra
tified him more had I given him a guinea. The lan
guage spoken is a bad Itahan, mixed up with a bastard
Arabic. AU the names of places, headlands, and points
are pure Arabic, and every hiU is caUed ghibel-some-
thing. After laying quiet during the heat of the day, and
having no incUnation to give my poor fellows another
heavy row, I went to bathe in a basaltic cove about a
nule from our anchorage. I had had a bathing appa
ratus and tilt attached to the awning of my barge over
its stern, which raade a very comfortable bath hke a
machine in England, only not upon wheels. This was
made to hoist or let down and take off at pleasure, and
this was the first time I had ever used it. I had a de
hghtful bath, but, a heavy sweU coming on, I was
obhged to anchor and bathe in deep water. The place
was very romantic. A cove of columnar basalt formed
a semicircle, in the further extremity of which was a
deep basaltic cave, formed of regular prismatic columns,
reaching deep into the sea, and surmounted by lava and
scorise. By the time I returned to dinner the swell had
increased, and the evening came on gloomy and ill-
looking. At the appointed time instead of the Governor came
all his attendants with his excuses, saying that the sea
was rough and his Excellency was afraid, and, besides,
did not hke to come on board my altezza's vessel, " per se
far vomire." So they brought my charts, passport, and

140 HOME.
biU of health, and departed. A boat-load of tame pri
soners came at the same time vrith the vrives of two of
them, who went over the vessel and became dead sick —
so they all turabled into a boat together and went home.
But before they went I told them that I had nothing
to do with their politics, and would hear nothing of
them, but that, knowing they were all separated from
their famihes, I as an Englishman could only say that I
was returning to Naples, and woidd carry safe and
honourably any letters which might be put on board,
and that my boat and Itahan servants woiUd be on shore
to purchase provisions the next morning before I sailed
at six o'clock, a.m. I saw instantly that the poor
wretches' eyes lit up. Many of them had not commu
nicated with their homes for years, as all communication
was prohibited. One of them whispered me that all
paper was interdicted them, and they had not the means
of buying any even if there was any on the island, and
there was none. Immediately I gave him a quantity out
of my cabin, which he seized and hid about his person
vrith an avidity that was most shocking from the feel
ing of wretchedness it displayed. They went on then,
some of them crying, all blessing rae. Who wiU say
that I have done wrong ?
By the tirae they went away the evening closed in,
with heavy gusts of vrind right into the harbour's mouth,
and we much nearer the rocks, which rose around us in
every quarter, than I Uked. Nothing could be fouler
than the ground. In fact, there is no anchorage ; the
bottom is hard flat rock, and the anchor holds by the
projecting rocks which rise from the table of sohd rock
beneath. As the sweU was considerable, we got our top-
gaUant masts down and yards on deck, for precautions^

STORM. 141
and weU it was we did so. In the middle of the night
the most terriflc squaU the sailors had ever seen came in
an instant, burst over us, and then shifted round to its
old point, right into the harbour's mouth ; so we could
not stir, and had not room to run away more cable.
Our last bower anchor and chain-cable were dropped
under our bows, as no boat could live to carry it out.
We had before hung by our second bower anchor and
chain-cable ; no hempen cable could stand half an hour.
We hung over our lead line for only ten minutes, to see
if the vessel drifted astern : it was cut in two by the
rocks. Having taken these precautions, we hoped the
two anchors would hold.
In the course of the night it blew what in the Medi
terranean is called a gregara, a heavy gale at north-west,
which lasts never less than three days, and the sea ran
mountains high, breaking m tremendous breakers upon
the lava-bound, black shore aU around us, towards which
it was evident the vessel was drifting. But we could
veer out no more cable as we had not room, and were
therefore obliged to trust to riding it out. , There had
been much hghtning and thunder in the night, after the
day had closed in, but it had gone off. The most extras
ordinary thing, however, was that, when the squaU came
on from over the land, it brought vrith it a wind hot as
a furnace. So powerful was this feeling, that those
who ran upon deck first thought the vessel must have
been on fire. The instant the wind chopped round the
effect went off, and the succeeding wind, although vio
lent, was cold. Whether this effect was produced by
electrical fire in the clouds, or by its bringing on its
vrings a burning blast from the Desert of Sahara, from
which we are not 400 mUes distant, I leave to philoso-

142 DANGEROUS SITUATION.
phers to explain. I only state the fact. The vrind
of the sirocco is always hot, but nothing to be corapared
with this.
25th. Dayhght showed us our very precarious situa
tion. We had drifted m to the shore, and a terrific reef
of rocks was vrithin a cable's length of our stem, upon
which the breakers threw up their foam as high as our
main-top. Tremendous reefs extended on each bow and
quarter, and it was plain that we had played with the
shore once too often. But our lot was drawn, and we
were obliged to abide by it. We thought that we held
on by two chain-cables, but found, to our misfortune,
our mistake. On seeing that the strain was unequal
upon the chains, we tried them, and discovered that one
anchor had come home partly, but had jamraed again
amongst the rocks. By the raotion of the chain it was
plain that soraething had given way — ^what we knew not
¦ — but one buoy-rope was cut, and the buoy floated
away, and no boat could hve either to carry out another
anchor, or weigh this and carry it further out. So, as
we found that both anchors, in fact, held, we abided by
them, but in great anxiety, as we had sixty fathoms of
chain out upon one, and only twenty upon the other, the
rest having drifted horae.
In letting go the second chain, owing to inattention,
one of ray poor goats, which I had on board for milk,
not having been properly secured, got its leg entangled
with the chain and shivered to atoms. The poor,
wretched animal screamed hke a child. The only hu
mane thing was to take the shortest course and put it
out of its misery, which was immediately done.
In this way we passed the day, anxiously watching the
marks which we had taken on shore, and which proved

A MEMORABLE NIGHT. 143
too clearly to us that we were graduaUy, slowly, but evi
dently drawing in to the rocks. We struck our top
masts, spanker, driver, and jib-boom, and lowered aU
the yards upon deck, leaving only our two lower-yards
aloft, in order, if necessary, to take advantage of any
flow of wind that might arise to draw us off the land.
Our hght buoy astern was washed away, but recovered
by a desperate leap that one of my men — ^young Sey
mour — made into the barge, that was astern, towing
with a great length of painter, and which was draivn up
at the moment with great activity. The other boats
were hoisted in, as they could not live, and we must
have depended upon them to save our hves. The barge
rode out the gale well ; the vessel rode pretty easy, and
we were in hopes the worst was over. The hatches and
ports were secured, and, although we shipped some
water, it passed over us ; and her sharpness forward,
which in one respect was the fault of the vessel, was here
an advantage, as she shpped into the water without
affording it much resistance, and dived under the waves
hke a sea^guU.
Thus closed in the night. We, of course, did not
take off our clothes, as, had our chain gone, very few
minutes would have been allowed us to attempt our
escape in, and we retired into our cabins with the know
ledge that, had one Unk of a chain given way, there was
no salvation for us — but in another world. Had our
smaU bower given way, we must have gone upon the
rocks before the other could have brought us up, even
could it have done so at aU ; but we were aware some
mischief had happened to the anchor, although we
knew not what — and were afraid to examine, as we
could not remedy it.

144 ANCHORS.
26th. Between one and two o'clock' this morning I
had lain down in my clothes and had got to sleep, when
I was awoke by some heavier lurches than we yet had
experienced. The wind seemed then to luU a httle, and
between five and six o'clock it had raoderated, and the
sea did not run quite so high ; but we saw too plainly
that we had drifted in much nearer the rocks, upon
which we could now cast a pebble from the deck. Rad
chffe and Wilcox came into my cabin, and I found
Radcliffe strongly urging the hawhng out upon the
second bower, which was furthest out, weighing the best
bower, that was under foot, and either letting it go
again or dropping the sheet anchor, so as to give us the
fair play of two chains. Wilcox's objection was the
danger of moving our good anchor. But there was no
alternative but to try the experiment to save the vessel,
as it was evident that what we now had out could not
hold us. I therefore desired the attempt raight be made,
especiaUy as the wind had luUed, and the sea did not
run so high.
Nothing could exceed the steadiness and activity of
all hands. Mr. King worked with the greatest activity
and intelligence. We got to our best bower, and found
its iron stock was broken right off. It, therefore, was
useless, and we had, in fact, hung by our second bower
only. With great activity Carphy and Michelson, who
both worked beyond aU praise, got up the sheet anchor,
which weighs three cwt. more than the best bower, and
bent its chain to it. We also got the stream anchor
with its chain ready on the other quarter, and, hanging
thera both a cochbill, in order that they raight go down
clear, we hove upon our second bower, which providen
tially held firra ; and just as we were upon it we dropped

MIRACULOUS ESCAPE. 145
the two other anchors, and, veering away upon all three
at once, had the satisfaction of finding her secured by
three chains, all bearing an equal strain. We, therefore,
are at ease on that score.
Our rudder-head is spht right down by the uplift of
the sea, and part of our steering apparatus gone. But
we have shipped the iron tUler, and Michelson has
secured the rudder-head vrith an iron hoop and wedges,
and it is as strong as ever. We now, therefore, are com
paratively at our ease, although the rocks frown at us
dreadfuUy near. The wind and sea are, however, much
diminished — so much so, that I have been able to send a
boat on shore for refreshments and another goat, which
has returned safe. The governor has settled signals
with me to-night in case of renewed danger ; but as
yet everything looks weU and quiet. I now find that
when the hot blast came on which I have mentioned, a
shock of an earthquake was felt in the town. All the
people ran into the churches, and the heat was so ex
cessive that an eruption was expected; but, as the
describer said, it evaporated through the craters in the
islands. In fact, they were all covered with clouds and
vapours. We are in the hands of God !
27th. We have indeed had a miraculous escape. Last
night the gale moderated, and this morning ceased en
tirely. We accordingly hove out upon our stream-chain,
weighed it, carried it out with a hawser to the chain, and
warped out to sea. In weighing our anchors we found
that our smaU bower-anchor, which was the one we
depended upon before we dropped the sheet-anchor, and
which in fact rode out the heaviest part of the gale, had
carried away its fluke within seven inches of the crown
of the anchor ; and by this stump, which must have got
VOL. II. L

146 BAD ANCHORS.
jamraed into a cleft of the rock, we have held, and to
this we owe our safety. The wooden stock must have
helped to hold us, as it came up sprung and tom to
pieces. Thus we have realized the fears that were enter
tained of the hghtness of Ruble's anchors, and the
dishonesty of his advice, which was only given to take
out lighter anchors than those we have had, and
which have failed, in order that his vessel might appear
to sail better; and we owe our safety to the sheet-
anchor I took against his and WUcox's opinion, and
against my having it. Ruble protested to the last
moment. It is fit that this should be known. In one
gale of wind his two anchors broke. The iron of which
thev were composed appears to have been brittle. The
iron tiller. Ruble's rudder-head, his iron hoops, and the
steering apparatus, were. aU faulty, and gave way,
although, being at anchor, there was no strain upon the
rudder, except from the violence of the sea.
It took us five hours to get up our rigging and anchors,
and repair our damages, before we could get sail upon
the vessel, when we left this wretched island, as I hope,
never again to see it. Before evening we made the
coast of Sicily, near Marsala, and atterapted to coast along
it ; but the wind failed, and we had a calra.
29th. In the evening we saw a cloud of vapour rise
upon the horizon ; it appeared so extraordinary in shape
and size that we took its bearings, thinking that it might
proceed from an eruption of Vesuvius or Stromboh.
But we found it rise exactly over Psestum. It, there
fore, must have been the exhalations from those marshes
and pestilential waters.
30th. We made Capri this morning, but were all day

INSURRECTION. 147
working up to Castello del Mare, the anchorage of which
we reached just at nightfall. Vesuvius has been eject
ing dense smoke all day, and as night came on we
saw the strong reflection of flames within its crater,
which it threw up every seven or eight minutes. There
evidently is rauch volcanic action going on.
July 2nd. We are told that Pantaleria is in strict
quarantine ; but they have sent over to Naples for
instructions. Sir Henry Lushington' is here : so I write
hira a letter saying that I went to Pantaleria on the
official assurance, on the part of the Neapolitan Consul
at Malta, that the island was in pratique with Naples ;
that at Pantaleria the Board of Health assured me of the
same thing, and requesting him to exert himself for us.
He sent the letter to the Board of Health, with a private
one from himself to the secretary, who is a friend of his.
In the evening he gets an answer, saying that the writer
will raake as favourable a report as he can, but that, strictly
speaking, we are hable to twenty-eight days quarantine
at Nisida — and that we shall have answer to-raorrow.
I find things are in great confusion here, ovring to re
ported insurrection, &c. Eight hundred people have
been arrested in Naples and Calabria. The latter is
said to be in a very bad state. Indeed, the rumour is
that actual risings have taken place. Fifteen hundred
troops were sent to Calabria last week ; part of them by
the steamboat. They say that Salerno is the seat of the
discontent. Vesuvius is much more active than when
I left the bay last, and throws out a vast body of sraoke
by day and sorae fire by night. I hear that a sraall cone
is forraing in the middle of the great crater. We heard
• The second Baronet, Sir Henry, was appointed Consul-General
at Naples in 1815. l2

148 DUKE OF WELLINGTON.
some detonations very plain, but not violent. The king
is at Portici. He was expected here, but, ovring to the
disturbances in Calabria, he goes to Caserta instead,
3rd. No answer yet. The account given me by the
health boat is, that the matter is referred to the King, and
that I may have an answer to-day. I answer my letters
from England. The late changes appear so extra
ordinary, and the conduct of the Duke of WeUington so
arbitrary, that I must pause before I can support a Go
vernraent so formed — especiaUy as the Cathohc balance
is entirely destroyed. I, therefore, write to my friends
to beg that they vrill reraain neuter.
I now find that on the sarae day on which we had that
volcanic hot blast at Pantaleria, they had the same here
six hours sooner. The sand was raised in a whirlwind,
the sea raged, and the heat was excessive. The same
night there was an earthquake at Ischia, and a shght one
at Portici. This proves volcanic connection and sym
pathy throughout the whole hne of volcanic action.
This evening we got pratique. The excuse now made
is, that they mistook Pantaleria for Larapedusa! — that
the former is in pratique with Naples, and the latter
is not. Now, in the first place, it is not hkely that such
a mistake could happen ; in the next, Larapedusa is un
inhabited, except by rabbits — so there could be no question
of quarantine or pratique vrith an unhihabited island. It
is plain the case was not laid before the King ; and the
general opinion is, that I have been kept out of the
way, purposely, of hearing of the risings in Calabria.
They never can get rid of the idea that we are cruizing
in these seas for a political object, and I reaUy beheve
they fancy I want to becorae king of Naples.
4th. Vesuvius continues showing fire every night, bilt

VESUVIUS. 149
it does not increase. I heai- from my sister at Rome.
The idea is that the pohce, somehow or another, con
nected my visit to Salerno and Pantaleria vrith the
risings, and that this made them pause about giving me
pratique. The plot which was first laid, I understand,
was for a large body of discontented from Salerno to
come into Naples on the festa of the Seven Churches,
when the king and royal family, who on that day walk
in procession through the streets to visit seven churches
in Naples and make their offerings, were to be murdered
during the walk. The plot was discovered; the King
and royal family walked by proxy. The guards were
doubled, and aU the sentries mounted loaded. Many
arrests were made, and the plot miscarried. But a new
one has since been formed, and the report is that the
Castle of Salerno is in the hands of the rebels. I don't
beheve this ; but everything is carried on with great
mystery, and, although stories are exaggerated, I have
no doubt that there is much discontent. There are
reports of movements in SicUy.
There has been much thunder yesterday and to-day,
and both days we have had our electric chain up, as the
storm passed right over the vessel. They have had
much more thunder and lightning than is usual at this
season. They remark they have not had one regular
steady Neapohtan summer's day yet.
5th. The King has been so. alarmed that he has slept
for two nights on board a frigate in the bay. The roads
are full of gendarmes, and the towns of spies. Vesu
vius throws up gleams of hght every night, and smoke
aU day. I went in my barge to the Magazine Rock,
and so on to Torre del Greco, and sailed along the coast.
The situation is beautiful, and the wooded hills romantic

150 DIPLOMACY.
to a degree. The highest mountain, which furnishes ice
and snow to the whole country, is St. Angelo, on the
top of which is a chapel. Hither the EngUsh raake pic
nic parties, as vrith us no arauseraent can take place
without eatuig and drinking. Mrs. Stark, the guide
book writer, is at Torrento, and carries large parties
about with her on eating excursions araongst the rocks.
Two days ago one of her party, an Enghshraan, fell
down a ravine and fractured his skull. He is in danger,
but not hopelessly so.
6th. In the evening the Lushingtons, Adrairal Taylor,
and Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, drank tea with me on board.
Admiral Taylor is making desperate love to Mrs. Mit-
cheU, who is very pretty, but young enough to be his
grand-daughter. She laughs at him.
8th. I go in the afternoon and dine with Colonel
Biss ; meet Lord Moray' and Captain Gordon ; very
hot, but the house as cool as it can be. Situated
on a high hill, the approach of which is practicable only
part of the way in a carriage, it is very fatiguing. In the
morning the French Chargd d' Affaires caUed upon me.
Frora France and Sardinia I get exemption from all
custom dues, &c., for my yacht. The Frenchman was
very iraportant, and very diploraatic, locking up all his
potatoes in his strong box. It was good fun to press
hira upon the points of politics of the present hour, upon
which, I knew, he did not vrish to speak ; and to oblige him
to answer. He says that the rising about Salerno is over,
and that they never had more rebels in arras than about
forty-five banditti, headed by a Chanoine, an ancient Car
bonaro. If there was only this nuraber, all one can say
> Francis Stuart Baron Donne, ninth Earl of Moray in the
Peerage of Scotland, and Baron Stuart in that of England,

ROYAL FAVOURITES, 151
is, that the Government of Naples sent out 4,000 men to
oppose forty-five. The Chanoine had been a member of
the Constitutional Parliament of Naples, and has been
harrassed so much by the pohce, imprisoned, let out,
watched, and spied upon to such a degree, that the poor
man was forced to fly from his home, and, like Rob Roy,
" become a broken man." As yet he has escaped. It is
extraordinary in what low hands the King reposes his
confidence. One of his principal favourites is a shop
keeper in Naples, of the narae of Grindorge, who is a
general dealer in foreign coraestibles, &c. He waited
upon the Ejng the other day with sorae pickled salraon,
which he had just received from England. The King
immediately locked the door, broke open the tin, and ate
up the salmon ; then talked to Grindorge about what
was going on. He said he hoped the Chanoine would
escape, for that he had been very ill used, and that, if
taken, after what he had now done, he must hang
hira. Grindorge repeated this to Wilson, whose land
lord he is.
9th. Got a letter from Count Nugent, and answered it.
Got my bUl of health, and ray passport vise by all the
foreign Ministers at Naples. The Board of Health send
me in a proffigate long biU, to make me pay as if I had
been in quarantine for the whole time during which
they were blundering between Pantaleria and Larape
dusa, or keeping me prisoner on board, lest I should
communicate vrith the rebels at Salerno. This bUl I
sent back to Sir Henry Lushington, positively refusing
to pay it. My Pantaleria letters I sent to the Duke de
Laurenzana, begging him to present them, as directed,
to the King and his Ministers. This is an unfortunate
time for the petitioners, as suspicion is more than ever

152 BAY OF NAPLES.
on the alert. 800 people have been arrested on this late
business. At one, P.M., I got under weigh. The vrind at first
was scant, but it soon freshened into a lovely breeze,
carried us across the Bay of Naples (whose beauties I
bade adieu to), under the brilliant hues of an Italian
sunset, which gave rae, also, a last splendid view of
Vesuvius, and the delicious coast of Baise. We roimded
Cape Misenura, went between Prosida and the main,
and steered a straight course for Mola di Gaeta.

153

CHAPTER IX.
Pontius PUate's Baths — Interesting ReUc — Visit to the Governor
of Ponza — CagUari — ^Visit to the Viceroy and the Archbishop
— PestUence — ^Robbery and .Assassination — H CavaUere deUa
Marmora — Ancient MSS. — Sharks — ^The Viceroy's Dinner —
Migratory Birds — Sardinian Costume — ^Dancing and Music.
JuLT 10th. At nine, a.m., anchored in Gaeta. Got pra
tique immediately, and a very civil message from II
Duca di Milano, the Governor. But as my tirae was
limited, and everything that was to be seen, except the
land batteries, were examinable in ray barge, I did not
land. Gaeta stands on a vast proraontory of calcareous
rock, divided into two hiUs, which are included in the
fortffications ; but the town is principally confined to
the part and the summit nearest to the sea. The whole
rock is spht in two, from top to bottom, by a fissure of
from sis to eight feet vride, by the earthquake, as the
people teU you, at the raoraent of Christ's crucifixion.
In the chasm is built, or rather wedged in, a chapel,
which has, at least, the advantage of being cool, as the
sun can never enter it, or shine upon it. The chffs next

154 CICERO.
the sea are perpendicular, and rise, hke those at Capri,
at least 300 feet above the waves. Their jealousy about
the fortifications is very great. A sentry, perched on
one of the highest points of the cliff, was inexpressibly
enraged because we approached the foot of it in our
boat. He capered, and screamed, and made signs, then
took off his shako, and shook it ; then threw three stones
at us ; and then, finaUy, pointed his rausket at us. But
all his antics had no effect, and we pulled off our hats to
him, and left him still screaming.
Gaeta hes at the bottom of a deep bay, weU described
by Homer. On the other side are the Forraian Moun
tains, once celebrated for their wines ; and at their foot
stands Mola, close by the sea-side, the principal place of
coramerce of the Bay of Gaeta. The beauty of the
scene is very great. The mountains are clothed half
way up their sides by orange trees and ilex ; and the
sea-shore is studded vrith farm-houses and villas, and
ruins of Roman piscinse and baths. Here stood Cicero's
Formian villa, the scene of his enjoyments and happi
ness, and of his death. They shew raany reraains of the
walls, which, they say, constituted part of his villa ; but,
after attentively surveying thera, I think there can be
no doubt but that the piscinse and reraains of baths,
which I have drawn, best agree with the description of
it. A tower stands on the spot where he is said
to have been murdered, as he was coming down to the
sea. 12th. Quite calm this morning. About noon we
lowered the deep sea water-bottle in 340 fathoms — no
bottora; but we brought up the bottle fuU. At that
depth the thermometer stood at 57^° Fahrenheit-^at
the surface it stood at 85°. Spoke a Sardinian brig

ponza. 155
bound to Genoa. In the afternoon anchored in the
harbour of Ponza.
The island constitutes the principal of a group
subject to the crown of Naples, and which serves as its
prisons, either for malefactors or state crimes. Ponza
is about four miles long and ten round. Its breadth
varies — in some places it does not exceed half a mile.
Upon it there are 400 prisoners, allowed to have the
range of the island. There is a governor and a small
garrison. Last war it was taken by a British seventy-
four and a frigate : the latter got on shore on a sunken
rock at the entrance. This is the only danger, as,
when once in, you may anchor close to the shore,
and run a hawser on the mole. The mole is an ex
traordinary good one — the harbour is protected frora
all winds.
The appearance of the island is very picturesque.
At a distance much appears Uke chalk cliffs, ribboned
down with different coloured strata. The whole is
trachite and grey-stone, consequently volcanic. As you
approach, you see that much of the darker parts are
columnar and prismatic. The other islands round it
are of the same sort. Mr. Scrope' has written a long
geological memoir, with sections of the island and all its
strata. 13th. The Governor sent on board fruit and fish.
No fishing is allowed here, on account of the prisoners^
who would make use of the boats to escape in. After
dinner went in the barge a little way along the island.
On the northern extremity of the bay are some beauti
fuUy formed insular rocks, formed, as much of the
•trachite of this range is, of prismatic columnar joints,
' See " Considerations on Volcanoes."

156 PONTIUS Pilate's baths.
precisely in form like those of the Giant's Causeway,
and Staffa — not of basalt, but of decomposed lava. I saw
upon one of the masses of rock a smaU natural arch
standing up, coraposed of raany of these prismatic shapes
jointed together. We carefully separated the whole
arch frora the rock, and brought it on-board, as a perfect
specimen of the trachitic prismatic formation of the
island. The specimen forras a space of about two feet
wide. The shapes which the forraation takes constitute
a beautiful picture. The trachite is in some parts fuU
of pitchstein baUs of aU sizes, frora immense masses to
the size of a tennis-ball. These peel off like the coating
of an onion. The prismatic trachite consists of prisms of
four, five, and six sides.
On the south side of the harbour are the reraains of
large Roman baths and vUlas. By the inhabitants they
are called Pontius Pilate's baths, for they say he was a
native of Pontia, the ancient narae for Ponza, that he
was governor here after the crucifixion of Christ, and
that he took his name from his native place. However
this may be, the ruins are those of a very large system
of baths. Perhaps the public baths of the town, into
which there was a private communication raade to the
villa, and this frora its size must have been that of a
principal personage.
The baths consist of three caverns, in each of
which a deep swimming-bath is cut, commimicat-
ing with the other by raeans of channels, cut,
with great labour, through the rock, and aU com
municating with chambers cut in the rock above, and
by lateral communications with the villa, which appears
to have been built round the corner, immediately under
the lighthouse, in a smaU bay. But some great convul-

ROMAN WORK. 157
sion of nature has evidently changed the form of the
island, and destroyed the villa, a few building stones of
which alone reraain, with some ruined masses of brescia
and lime rubbish. The stone used is calcareous, and
evidently was brought from somewhere out of the island.
The opening from the baths is upon the bare face of
the cliff upon the sea. This raust have been the site
of the viUa, and the sraall ruins which reraain are
those of the offices and the back buildings of the
Marina. 14th. We proceeded in the barge round the island,
visiting again PUate's baths. The principal swimming-
baths, which are from thirty to forty feet in length,
have marble steps round them. The depth of the
water in them is fifteen feet. There are niches at
each end and on the sides, either for statues or couches
for the bathers to repose on.
Just beyond the lighthouse is a beautifully insulated
arch, entirely composed of prismatic trachite. Indeed
these rocks exist along the whole coast. Further on is
a deep bay, which is precisely opposite to the principal
port of Ponza ; and as the sea is daily consuming the
decomposing lava and eating into the bay, in the course
of time the separation vriU be completed, and a new
island vriU be formed by the decomposition of the soil.
This deep indent is, a place of considerable interest. At
the bottom of it is a vast excavation of Roman work,
partly reticulated brickwork, which the people call an
aqueduct ; but I think it was made to serve several
purposes. Its course is direct to Ponza, immedi
ately opposite. There is no spring that ever could
have flowed along its channel; but it has been the
bed of one, as the land springs of all the country are

158 ROMAN CONDUIT.
received into it by channels cut for the purpose, and
collected for use. Besides this, it served as a corarauni
cation perhaps for the transit of goods, certainly of
troops, frora one side of the island to the other. But
the opening of the excavations is now on the shore,
and terminates abru; tly.
My behef is, that the island once extended in all
chrections rauch farther than it now does. Ancient
historians tell that the number of inhabitants of Ponza
amounted to above 100,000 souls. That number of
people could not stand upon the existing island. But
what sets at rest speculation is, that on a little nest of
rocks called Li Formiche, and which fitrst raise their
little black heads above water near two miles fi-ora the
shore, and only exists as a reef to be avoided, excava
tions and foundations of buildings are to be seen. But
a curious fact results from the exaraination of the
excavations in La Chiaja della Luna. Nothing is
more doubtful than the age of lavas, and especially of
trachite. Indeed, Mr. Scrope, in his very able and
minute memoir, expresses his opinion that the age of tbe
trachitic formation of Ponza is stiU perfectly mi-
decided. I heard that this Roman conduit was choked up
at its extremity, and determined to examine by
what means. The height of this great work, cut
through the rock, and wherever it was sufficiently
decomposed to render it doubtful whether it would
support the lateral and superincumbent weight, worked
up with reticulated brickwork — is from seven to eight
English feet. We examined it closely to its termination,
where it was broken in upon by a stream of trachite
lava, which had evidently flowed upon it, not broken

geological FORMATION, 159
in by superincumbent weight; and this current we
traced continuously up to its crater on Mount Drago
nara, This trachite is of a light brown, and semi-
vitrose. I would not have stated this so decidedly had
not the examination been raade in the presence of many.
Thus it is evident that the date of this trachite forraa
tion must have been subsequent to the construction
of this aqueduct by the Romans, and probably to their
evacuation of the island, as the same spirit of labour
and employment of hands which originated so great
a work, would have equaUy induced the nation that
employed such means to repair that work, had it
happened whUst they remained in possession of the
resources of the island. We, of course, took care to
bring away speciraens of the current of trachitic lava
which had thus overwhelraed the passage.
As the heat came on we sought out for a trachite cave,
that sheltered us from the sun, and there we dined
and reposed. We then proceeded, taking in speciraens
as we advanced. Exactly in the spot raarked by Mr.
Scrope we landed, and found quantities of quartz cry
stals, and raany of them of a beautiful amethyst colour,
occasioned by an admixture of iron.
Before we came to La Panta del Incenso, we
saw a vertical stratum, or whin-dyke, of a brighter
yeUow than the other veins of yeUow trachite in
the island, which induced us to land, and there we
found a long dyke or fissure, constituting a regular
fumarolo, stUl working ; and the yellow crystals which
had excited our attention were beautiful effiorescent
specimens of subhmated sulphate of iron. This is sub
limated upon decomposing trachite, and proves that, so
far from the volcanic formation of this island beino- of

160 CHRISTLAN RELIC.
ancient date, they are stiU in progress. Nature is add
ing to thera, whilst she is subtracting frora them by the
action of the sea. But the former operation is carrying
on, on a rauch smaUer and more restricted scale than
the latter ; and, if we raay judge of the future by what
we see of the results of the latter, in the course of years
Ponza will become a weather-beaten reef of insulated
rocks like Li Formiche. Le Chiaja della Luna, and
several other inlets of the same nature, struck us very
much as having been ancient craters.
On the south side of the island, before we came to
Le Chiaja deUa Luna, we saw in a bay some excava
tions; and, landing there, found gaUeries and vaulted
chambers in the rock, evidently of Roraan work. In
one of these was a weU of fresh water. Before it were
the rums of a building evidently Roraan, and in one of
the apartments were the remains of an altar, on the
front of which was a rude image of Christ crucified.
It was no " Christ " of Cathohc tiraes ; it was evidently
as ancient as the house, which clearly was of Roman
work. From aU the circumstances of its locaUty, from
the huge vaults into which it opened, with the weU
within it, I have scarcely any doubt of its having been
one of the prisons of the Christian martyrs, who were
sent here either to pine in hopeless banishment, or
to be privately made away with. The iraage, rudely
sculptured, and defaced by the weather, I carefuUy
brought away with me, as one of the earhest remains of
Christianity — very few years, indeed, subsequent to our
Saviour's death.
In one of the bays, observing a stratum of a brighter
and clearer yeUow colour than any we before had seen, we
landed and foimd, what had escaped Mr. Scrope's re-

CALIGULA. 161
searches, a fissure in the decomposing trachite, where the
rock was crossed by a quantity of sublimated sulphate of
iron, beautifully crystaUized. On removing the stones
and rocks the ground fell — ^hot sand, pieces of sulphur,
and, as I thought, of arsenic, were very percep
tible. In short, this was a fumarolo still at work,
slowly subhraating and creating, whilst the sea was
destroying. As we proceeded onwards we came to a magnificent
spring of beautifully clear and peUucid cool water,
which issues directly out of the trachite cliff. Of course
it raust come from a considerable depth. Two very
large cisterns are buUt over it, to keep it from the
sun and impurities ; a smaU flight of steps ascends to it,
and a covered gaUery from and through the rock above
gives access to this treasure from the country above.
The water rises at once out of the rock, without any ad
mixture of extraneous matter or communication with
the air, and is, of course, delightfuUy cool. Here Cali
gula made a regular aqueduct within the lava rock,
following all the sinuosities of the coast for three miles,
to convey this water to the bay and town of Ponza.
The work is exactly hke that which I have raentioned in
Pozzuoli. It proves what ravages the sea makes in this
island, as the acqueduct breaks out into the face of the
chff in raany bays, and is continued again in the oppo
site side of the bay. The intervening space, therefore,
has been swaUowed in the waves.
As we returned home in the evening we saw a party
of country people, men and woraen, dancing the taran
tella, to the sound of a tarabourine and a sort of violin,
played with a bow, consisting of three strings, and held
something hke a violoncello, between the knees. The
VOL. II. M

162 TARANTELLA,
tune was nothing but a simple modulation of see-saw to
mark the time, but the dance is light, airy, and graceful.
It consists entirely of the dancers setting at each other;
then, with graceful movements of the arms, and vrith
castanets moving round each other, alternately approach
ing and retreating. It was a very raoderated, decent
fandango. One woman dances untU she has tired her
self, then she sits down ; another occupies her place
immediately, and thus the dance is continuously kept up.
15th. Went on shore and visited the Governor, who,
although he was once a captain of gendarmerie — now
a raajor — seems a well-instructed, sensible man. He is
an araateur of antiquities, and raeans to coraraence ex
cavating in the autumn. He has been here about four
months. He is married, and has his books and comforts
about hira. He gave rae sorae paterse, coins, and arti-
ticles of some interest, which have been dug up here.
I returned his present with some articles of steel-cutlery
work from England, which are much valued. He and
the Syndic, a sensible, weU-informed man, had been
very civil to me, and supphed me to the best of their
means vrith fruit, &c., during ray stay, and I raade them
both presents.
Before the Governor's barrack stands a headless sta
tue of a togated Roman senator, which had been dug
out of the port in clearing it. The workmanship is good^
but the marble has been corroded by the water. It
proves that the Romans took pains to ornament then-
port. 17th. At length the wind coraes fair, and this raorn
ing we see Sardinia. Doubling Cape Carbonaro, giv
ing the little rocky islet a berth, as we did not choose to
risk the inside passage, just at sunset we anchored in

CAGLIARI BAY. 163
Caghari roads. The run down the coast of Sardinia
was anything but picturesque. The land is very moun
tainous, but barren and scorched up. No white houses,
no orange groves, as in Sicily, met the eye. In the
vaUeys traces of scattered cultivation were to be seen ;
but it was evidently the cultivation of necessity only,
and not of luxury, profit, or commerce. On the rocky
islet is a sohtary tower garrisoned by five men, who are
banished here for six raonths. They are not even al
lowed a boat. The whole coast is lined with these
towers, originaUy built by Charles V. against the Bar
bary powers, and now kept up as affording the best
protection to the coast against European attack.
The bay in which Caghari stands is very deep, and
the anchorage good. But as we sailed in, in a
lovely summer's evening, we saw the white fleecy cloud
of malaria and intemperia creeping over the whole
island, carrying certain death within its bosom to any —
especiaUy strangers — exposed to its infiuenee. On the
top of the hiU, or rather near its surarait, is the citadel,
in which stand the palace, the archbishop's residence,
the cathedral, and aU the houses of the nobility. They
in every sense of the word look dovm — and, in fact, treat
with great contempt — those whom the privileges of the
island don't permit to inhabit within the dignified pre
cincts of the citadel.
18th. Got pratique iraraediately this raorning, and
the Consul and captain of the port came off, the latter
vrith the compliraents of the Viceroy, and offers of ser
vice, &c. I found that it was usual to salute the flag.
I sent word that I would do so, provided they returned
gun for gun to the Enghsh flag. After sorae negocia^
tion this was agreed to, and I saluted the Piedraontese
H 2

164 SIR WILLIAM CURTIS.
flag with twenty-one guns, the usual salute, which was
returned. I then gave the Viceroy his own salute of
seventeen guns, for a return of which I had not stipu
lated, as it was a private corapliment to himself. But he
returned that also, gun for gun. The etiquette of the
coast is strictly kept up, so as to raake one smile. The
Viceroy raust never be approached except in fuU dress.
I insisted on going to hira as I should to my own king
in the morning, or, like Lord Amherst, I would not
give Ko Tow. The Viceroy put his carriage at my
disposal, as there are no carriages to hire, and the
streets are so steep and ill-paved that it is impossible to
walk. At half -past eleven I went to my audience. The streets
are narrow and have no good architecture, and their
pavement is so wretched as to make them almost useless.
Indeed, they are scarcely ever used, and I have reason
to believe that one was repaired in order to enable me to
get to the palace. I landed at the arsenal, a very com
modious and well-defended mole, vrithin which small
merchantraen can lie in fifteen feet of water; from
thence I proceeded to the palace. The whole population
of the city turned out to see us, as they have got it into
their heads that I am " Parente del Re d'Inghilterra."
But I have no reason to pride myseF upon my dignities,
as three years ago Sir WUliam Curtis was here, whom
the Sards voted to be the King of England himself in
cognito; and the English Consul told me that when
soon after he received a print of the King and showed
it to the people here, they declared that they were now
satisfied Sir W. Curtis was he, for the hkeness was
evident !
The Viceroy received me in the attitude of the King

PLAIN OF DEATH. 165
of Sardinia when he receives strangers, viz., with one
hand a-kimbo and the other upon his sword. Made
many bows, which I returned — many fine corapliments,
which I accepted — and offered me the use of his car
riage, which I accepted. He dismissed me, inviting me
and WUcox — who stood bovring at my tail — to dinner
on Sunday. 1 then went to visit the archbishop^ a poor
old gentleman of seventy-six, very shattered in his
intellects, crying and complaining that he was so poor,
having only 12,000 ducats per annum income — he could
receive no one ; and that all affairs, civil, mihtary, and
ecc}esiastic, passed exclusively through his hands, and
that he was killed with business of state. I condoled
with him on both accounts, and he showed me the ca
thedral, which has a magnificent sUver embossed altar, a
beautiful silver shrine, and two splendid silver candle
sticks. It is rich in inlaid marbles, but in nothing else.
In a side aisle lies buried the young king, Martin of
Sicily, who died of "intempia," a few days after a
splendid victory over the Spaniards, and in the midst of
a glorious career. Under the steps of the high altar is a
crypt lit up vrith windows, dry and airy, in which are
coUected the bodies of two hundred Sardinian martyrs ;
here viceroys dying in office, and the archbishops of
Caghari, are buried. The present archbishop has been
above thirty years bishop in Sardinia.
The view from a gaUery on his palace is superb, over
the whole plain of Caghari, caUed La Campadogha.
But it is the plain of death. A salt lake covers part of
it with its white shroud, and the whole plain is the seat
of colpo d'aria in cloudy weather, colpo del idi in
sunshiny, and intempia in all hours ; for even the day
time does not exempt the traveUer frora it, in the plains;.

166 COSTUME.
This disease is raainly owing to the entire neglect, of
cultivation and the poverty of the country, which pre
vents the raarshy lands from being drained. From
June to October a pestilence rages over the land.
The Viceroy is prohibited by law from ever quitting
Caghari, even to go into the country to see vrith his ovrai
eyes the state which he is sent to govern ! So he never
dies of I'intemperia.
The costumes of the coraraon people are raost singu
larly grotesque. They partake in the tovms of the
Grecian dress as now worn in the Morea, and the old
Roman dress. The lower orders are usually in a thick
leathern jacket sitting tight to the shape, a red cap hang
ing behind in a bag, an undressed sheepskin capote, and
sometimes a wooUen cloak over all vrith a hood, trowsers
half-way down the leg, and leathern gaiters buttoned
close down to the heel, the hair hanging in long, un
combed, unshorn locks, and many with thick beards.
Thus equipped they march through the country gene
rally with a long gun, or a pike, with the thermometer
at an average of 86°. The women's dress is indescri
bable, and varies in every district. But their gala dress
is resplendent with scarlet cloth, gold lace, and gold or
naments of all sorts aU over them. Their wealth is ex
hausted on their persons. But one gala dress lasts a
whole life.
None of the peasantry, or even small proprietors,
sleep in a bed until they marry and have an establish
raent of their own. Until then they sleep, wrapped up
in their sheepskins, upon the floor or amongst their
flocks on the hiUside. They lead a shepherd's nomade
life, and very few have even a home. They are pre-
6erve4, they say, from the intemperia by the thickness of

INHABITANTS. 167
their garments, which admit of no evaporation, and
you will see them in the heated atmosphere of a Sar
dinian noon walking with their hoods over their eyes
and their sheepskins muffled over their mouths. They
are vindictive to a degree, and no time extinguishes
their thirst of vengeance, which descends from father to
son. Many Sards are obliged to confine themselves to
their dwellings or the towns for years, knovring that an
unerring bullet, to satisfy some ancient family or per
sonal feud, surely awaits thera if they stir out. They
boast that they don't rob : they only assassinate. That
they do the latter is weU known ; that they do not the
former is not quite so clear.
The higher orders literally scarcely ever stir out.
There are not more than twenty carriages in all Caghari.
The only means of traveUing is on horseback, except on
one road nearly made from Caghari, which is the
wonder of the world. Sometimes some of the ladies
are to be seen on a walk, so miscalled, shaded by a
few miserable trees, on a platforra at the castle. But,
generally, they content themselves with sitting on the
terraces of their houses, and viewing the source of
disease below ; and all this in a country blessed with the
means of unexampled and unequalled fertility, and pos
sessing never-failing, Umpid water, and deep forests ;
added to this, water, of which the country is fuU, being
principally a mass of calcareous rock, is so scarce at
Caghari that it is sold from door to door. Such is
CagUari !
Frora the Archbishop, I proceeded to visit Corate
Roberti, the mihtary governor and commander of the
forces under the Viceroy, and found him a straightfor
ward, plain, blunt soldier. The Regent, or Chancellor,

168 DELLA MARMORA.
the second man in the states, was in his court, so I only
left my name, and thus finished act the first of my civi
lities. At twelve o'clock every house and shop shuts up.
Dinner and siesta occupy every soul until four or five,
when the town is again alive.
19tli. At ten o'clock I landed, and the English Con
sul took me in the Viceroy's carriage to the museum,
where the directors met rae, and conducted me all over
it. It is a new, but a very fine and promising establish
ment. The collection of mineralogy and geology is
extremely good, and, above all, well arranged. The
director has done much ; but the principal person who
has laboured the hardest, and done the raost, is II Cava^
here della Marraora, a man of high Piedmontese family,
who, unfortunately for himself, served under Napo
leon and Murat, was engaged in the constitutional
troubles at the end of the late war, and was sent here
into a sort of honourable banishment or state of surveil-'
lance. He assisted Captain Smith in the survey of Sar
dinia ; took to the study of mineralogy and geology, of
which he previously understood nothing, to amuse the
dreary hours, and wile away uneasy thoughts ; has
penetrated through and surveyed the whole of the island
on foot over and over again, describing its geological
and raineralogical features, forraing a map of the island,
and writing an account of it, of which the first volume,
vrith an atlas, is pubhshed, and is a very valuable
work. He is, I beheve, upon the eve of being allowed
to return to his famUy.
From thence I went into the hbrary — a spacious
room ; with an ignorant young Jesuit for a librarian ; and
nobody knows what books, for there is no catalogue, nor
the raeans of making one. I asked if they had any

CLERICAL IGNORANCE. 1G9
manuscripts ? " Sicuramente altezza," and down he
tumbled a heap of controversial divinity, written on
paper, and in sad condition. "Matutti — ^tutti raolto anti-
chissim^." One attracted my notice, a MS. of Dante,
with beautifuUy written notes in the Latin language,
from beginning to end. " What are the notes ? "
" Chi sa," said the librarian.
" Chi sa!" re-echoed the rector of the University, at
my elbow.
" Of what date ? By whom written ? Are they cri
tical, explanatory, or historical ?" to aU which the answer
was, " Chi sa." '
"Has anybody everattempted to read or examinethem?"
" No, altezza ! "
So I thought it high tirae to come away.
I then went geologizing along the coast, in the barge,
with II Cavaliere deUa Marmora, and found some very
curious fossU bones. Marmora told me that, until he
came, the use of a barometer was unknown in the island.
In the evening a deputation of clergy, from the Arch
bishop, came on board to return my visit, and were sick
in the midst of their speeches. Then came the Regent,
the Governor, and a whole tribe of officers, who kept me
upon the bow all the evening, and I lost my airing. An
aide-de-camp of the Governor came to inquire after my
health ; to lay upon rae his Excellency's coraraands, that
I should stay untU after Thursday next, which is the
celebration of the Queen of Sardinia's birthday, who,
he assured me, had a particular esteem for my Ex
cellency. This, as I meant to go next Monday, is not
pleasant ; but I don't like to refuse, especially as I shall
visit Turin ; so I was comble and extasiS, and agreed to
stay. •

170 THE VICEROY.
20th. On coming here we heard loose stories about
sharks in the bay, which we did not beUeve, as it is the
general opinion that there are no such animals, of any
great size, in the Mediterranean ; and I was only prcr
vented by a strong sirocco breeze yesterday from bathing
as usual. In the middle of the day a fine fellow, of at
least eight feet long, was seen cruizing round ray yacht,
as if waiting for me ; and, upon inquiry, I found that a
soldier of the garrison, bathing, had been carried down
by one, not a fortnight ago, and lost. So our bathing,
like Tony Lumpkui's education, is put off to another
opportunity, as the shore is rauddy, and bad.
At two o'clock, in the raidst of a hot sirocco, and the
thermometer at eighty-sis degrees, I went, in full uni
form — belted, gartered, and buttoned up — to dine with
the Viceroy. A fine dinner ; tremendous heat ; and all
the etat-major of CagUari. The Viceroy formidably
civil. During dinner he entertained me with nothing
but the hberal establishments in Sardinia ; how free the
people were ; and how he (the Viceroy) was obhged to
take an oath to preserve inviolate aU the constitutional
laws and estabhshments of Sardinia, none of which are
adhered to.
At last the formal prig provoked me ; and I said that
it was, doubtless, raost grating to his rehgious, as well as
his well-laiown liberal feeUngs, to take such an oath,
after the other oath which he had taken between the
King's hands, at Turin, before he accepted the governor
ment, " to execute the King's private commands — whaf>^
ever they might be ; however contrary to the laws and
privileges of Sardinia." This oath is regularly taken by
every Viceroy, as well as the other.
I never saw a formal gentleraan so completely thi-own

A DIFFICULTY. 171
off his balance. He stared at rae for a moraent, and
then, in a low voice, exclaimed, " Coraraent diable
saviez vous cela?" And then, bursting out laughing,
talked no more about the constitutional establishments
of Sardinia.
No ladies dined with us, or appeared. They are all
reserved for Thursday, when there is to be circle, when
the Viceroy threatens to present them all to me, and to
be revenged upon me for my mauvaise plaisanterie.
After coffee we returned on board. The Viceroy sent
word to the gentlemen on board my yacht, to desire that
they may be presented to him to-morrow, at eleven
o'clock, that he may be able, salon V etiquette de la cour,
to invite thera for Thursday. But it is expressly inti
raated to thera that they must go full-dressed, and in
knee-breeches. Several have them not ; but the EngUsh
Consul, accustomed to cut short such difficulties, kindly
offered to borrow breeches for them. I shall be
charmed to see how this difficulty is to be solved
to-morrow. There was a fire last night in the town, and the house
of a banker — ^who at the same time employed his
leisure hours in raaking ladies' bonnets — ^was burnt to
the ground. The whole garrison, governor and all,
attended all night to view the fiames ; for they could not
stop thera, seeing that there was but one engine, and no
water. All diligence, however, was used, as they sent to
the artUlery depot for oxen, and to the coraraissariat
department for carts and barrels; and this corabined
operation moving upon the river, produced, at the
top of the town where the fire was, some hogsheads
of water, four hours after it had burnt itself out. The
houses are strongly built of stone, so the fire cannoit

172 CEREMONY.
spread. No lives were lost ; but there is not a bonnet to
be got in Caghari for love or raoney, and what the ladies
are to do next Thursday I know not.
21st. I went this morning to the Monte St. Elias to
geologize, and found plenty of the ordinary sheUs of
tertiary formation. In the evening the governor went
in state to a grand fonction at the church of La Madonna
deUa Carmelite, whose fete it was. She is supposed
to be particularly favourable to mariners. AU the
people attended in their gala dresses. Of course I did
not go into the church, which was full of candles and
dreadfully hot; but before the church was a place,
in which the large and fine band of the Sardinian
Chasseurs de la Garde played all the evening. There
were many processions of penitents, &c., in white dresses
and raasks. As the evening came on the people began
singing their national songs, which are strangely wild
and not devoid of harmony. The treble voice seems to
repeat the words ; the under voices fill up the melody
with sounds. There were some tolerable good fireworks,
and a large transparency of la Madonna in front of the
church. 22nd. I dined again vrith the Viceroy and some of the
gentlemen presented yesterday. It was not a state
dinner. Afterwards we proceeded in the Viceroy's
and Governor's carriages to Quartu, a village about
four railes from CagUari, which holds 6,000 inhabi
tants. Our route lay alongside of a salt lake, the
exhalations from which are very unwholesome. As
it communicates vrith the sea, it cannot be drained.
It is good for nothing, the salt being of a bad quahty,
and mised with much mud, as the water is but a few
inches deep.

FLAMINGOES. 173
On all these lakes there are, in the water, myriads of
swans, geese, and water-fowl of every description, and,
above all, of that beautiful bird, the fiamingo. They
migrate thither from the coast of Africa. They fiy in
large bands, hke wild geese, and preserve exactly their
order of march hke them. When they first appear they
look hke hues of fire in the horizon, their red plumage
glittering and fiashing in the sun. The moment they
see the lakes of CagUari, their accustomed haunts, below
them, they form spiral concentric circles, screaming, and
sailing, and at length alighting in regular lines upon the
mud or in the shallow waters, stand mid-leg deep, like
miniature lines of soldiers, dressed in scarlet. They are
very difficult to approach.
When we arrived in Quartu we drove up to the door
of an old farmer or proprietor of lands. His riches
consist in flocks and herds. He told me that he had
about 500 sheep, as many goats, and about 40 cows.
They have no dairy, and use the milk only to drink and
fatten their calves with, and make cheese. No butter.
He had settled a whole tribe of children and grand-
chUdren in the world, and stUl was worth a sum amount
ing to £12,000 sterling of our money. He is eighty-two
years of age, and never has changed the old Sardinian
dress, which is very much hke that left them bythe ancient
Romans. It consists of a leathern habit, without sleeves,
sitting close to the form, and buckled round with straps
and large silver buckles in front. The lower part comes
round the loins full and plaited, like the Scotch phillabeg.
This dress is put over a jacket of scarlet cloth, orna
mented with large sUver buttons. The neck is either
open or covered with a silk handkerchief, folded loosely
round. The breeches are full, like a fisherman's. Black

174 GALA DRESS.
gaiters, fitting close to the leg, and shoes with large
silver buckles, and garters of silver lace, complete the
dress. The hair is long and plaited carefuUy, and put
up under a red Phrygian bonnet, over which, when they
go abroad, they wear a large black cloth broad-brimmed
hat, Uke a Spanish sombrero. In sorae parts they wear,
over aU this, a raantle of sheep skin, vrith the wool outer
most or midermost, as the weather is ; and the old man
assured me that this dress was cool in suraraer, warm in
winter, and dry at all times, which is what they most
look to in this chmate.
He received us most hospitably, although he did not
expect us, and it was late.
His house forms the one side of two large squares
occupied by his farm-buildings and cattle-sheds. A
verandah runs along the front of the house, which is
wholly upon one story. Here, in very large rooms, airy
and decently furnished, live the old raan, his son — a
priest — and two grand-daughters, unmarried. The rest
are all married off. He raade one of the girls go and
put on her gala suit, which, as she was somewhat pretty,
she wilhngly did. She was covered with red, green, and
blue velvet, and gold lace. Her jacket fitted close to
her shape, and was fastened with gold buttons. Its
sleeves came down just above the elbows, where they
terminated in old-fashioned cuffs richly laced. Her
shift-sleeves came below her elbows. Her fingers were
covered with rings, and silver buckles graced her shoes.
Her red petticoat came in deep folds aU round her.
Gold chains and reliquaires hung round her. Her hair
was prettily plaited up under a ribband net, which came
down each side of her forehead ; and over all was a white
veil. She carried a fan in her hand, which she practised

DANCING. 175
as if she had learnt in the academy proposed to be estab
lished by the " Spectator ;" and having very fine teeth
and eyes, and a pretty face, she showed off her dress
weU. AU the women, from their earliest youth, are accus
tomed to a very tight hgature of linen round the waist,
which makes them look big-bellied. Whenever a girl
marries, aU her dresses must be changed; as a new-
married woman has everything new, and the wealth and
admiration of her husband are manifested in the magni
ficence of her attire. They reserve all their money for
their dress, and have no other expense.
We sat eating fruit and drinking wine untU the
musical performer of the viUage came with his pipes,
and set everybody, old man, priest, and aU, dancing.
Their dance is en ronde, holding each others' hands, and
raaking steps forwards and backwards like the chasse
and en avant of a modem quadrille, and they slowly
move round. The dance is graceful, and capable of
great variety and good dancing. The musician is a
shepherd, who came in from the raountain, with a long
leathern case hke a quiver at his back, filled with cane
reeds of different sizes. The priest had a Uttle piano
forte, upon which he thumped vrith all his might. The
pipes consists of three. The tenor and bass are fastened
at one end together, diverging at the other end. The
piccolo is separate, and used with the right hand — the
left plays the two others. The air is adraitted, not like
a clarionet at the extreraity, but on the side, hke a flute,
through a narrow horizontal crack, which is closed more
or less as the sound is meant to be flat or sharp. Y(\th.
all these three pipes in his raouth at once, and playing
upon them precisely in the manner represented in

176 DECORATIONS.
ancient Roman monuments, this raan accompanied the
pianoforte, and played with an energy which surprised
me. By habit they gain the art of filhng all these pipes
at once, and keep a never-ceasing flow of air, just as
one does in using the blow-pipe ; but the effort is evi
dently very great. However, they go on for two hours
at a time without ever drawing the pipes out of their
mouths. The tone is something between the organ and
the bagpipes, but vrithout the drawUng drone.
I bought a set of his pipes, which he manufactures
himself, and after a very pleasant evening returned
home. Having dined vrith the Viceroy, I had my star and
ribband on and a military laced loop in my hat. These
attracted the old man's attention, as he could not guess
what they meant, and desired leave to look at them.
The laced loop he turned his nose up at, and exclaimed,
"Bagatelli!" The English consul did the honour of'
the rest, and made the most of the highest order,
the noblest, &c., &c., in Europe ! The old man looked
at them also, turned up his nose, and again exclaimed,
"Bagatelli!" and returned to his chair — a good com
ment on human greatness. But the young ladies did
not view li bagatelli quite in so contemptible a light as
the old father did, and that consoled me.
I went to the great common or waste ground which
is to be found in the vicinity of every town. Here is
piled up in beds and spread out, the com as it is pulled
up, belonging to each proprietor, who treads out with
oxen and horses, raost primitively, such a portion of
grain as he wants for his daily use, or for sale, for they
have no barns or granaries. For this reason, unseasonable
rain in suraraer, which soraetiraes comes, is ruin to the

ROMAN MILL. 177
farmer's hopes, as his corn turns to dung. When thus
trod ont, it is carried to the little ancient Roman mill,
which is turned round from morning until night by a
poor patient ass, that thus passes every day of his life,
and at night is turned out of the room to raake way for
the young people of the famUy, who spread their beds
and sleep together in the most innocent promiscuousness.
This null is preferred by the Sardinians, as more
regularly and closely grinding the corn than the water-
raiUs which they have in some parts of the country. As
to windmiUs, they never heard of thera.

VOL. II. N

178

CHAPTER X.
Burning Forests— Acting Royalty — ^Pula — St. Antonio — Malaria
on the Coast —Eagle's Nest — Oristan and its Pestilential State
— Coral Fishing — Alghero and Porto Conte — Grotto di
Nettuno — Extraordinary Scene — Ajaccio Bay and the Coast of
Corsica.

July 23rd. Went down the coast in ray boat. Nothing
very interesting. All calcareous. Saw a cave of no
great importance, but some size. AJl the valleys
amongst the hiUs are covered with immense forests of
oak, evergreen oak, beech, and chestnut. But the hiUs
theraselves are uncultivated, and there being no roads,
or even horse-paths, across these regions, the country is
in a state of nature. There is a strict law against
burning these forests, but it is regularly done by the
shepherds to procure food and grass for their flocks,
and 100 acres of raagnificent forest trees are burnt to
procure one acre of grass. The law reraains unad-
rainistered; for, "Chi sa?" — who sets the forests on fire,
and who could punish the perpetrators if they were
found out ? The only real reraedy, which would be the

queen's name-day. 179
maldng roads through these regions and the timber an
article of comraerce, the Government will not apply, but
it propagates long laws instead. I counted ten of these
fires to-day from my boat.
Soda is grown and burnt also, but France, which
used to be the market for it, takes no more. Grain is,
as everywhere else, a drug. Silk is not encouraged.
Wine tliey make, but not much for exportation, so that
in fact the finances of Sardinia are in a wretched state.
The present Viceroy has done something towards hqui-
dating and arranging the national debt, but still much
remains to be done in the interior of the island.
The population increases annually, in spite of the
mortahty occasioned by the intemperia. Many of the
galley-slaves employed on the pubhc works die daily,
although aU work is at an end from the beginning of
July. The persons who have country-houses in Sar
dinia leave CagUari for la Villaguatura the end of Feb
ruary, and remain there until the middle of June, when
they aU flock into the city, and remain in heat and
obscurity until February comes round again. No
carriage, except the one or two belonging to ministers,
&c., exists in the island, not even the letiga of Sicily.
The ladies must either leave the towns riding behind
cavaliers on piUions, or they must go in carts drawn by
oxen. Whilst in Caghari, they sometimes walk on the
little battery esplanade from whence the flag ffies, or
they sit in the evenings on their terraces.
24th. The Queen's name-day. I dress ship ; but as
they fire no salute from the shipping or shore, I fire
none. I buy a Sardinian fowling-piece, richly orna
mented vrith steel-work, very long and narrow bore —
the barrel made in Brescia, the mounting, &c., done
n2

180 ACTING KING.
here. The Sards are unerring raarksraen, because they
shoot at small distances, fifteen to thirty yards; at
greater distances they are not better shots than their
neighbours. They never fire a gun at a bird, which is
beneath their notice — only at a beast or a man I
In the evening I go fuU-dressed to a cercle, conver
sazione, and concert at the palace vrith our gentlemen,
and to my horror I found when I arrived that I was to
act King, and that the cercle was to be introduced
to me. The heat was tremendous, as the cercle was
numerous, the roora not very large, and at the other
end of it was a numerous band, and a new maestro di
capella, brought from the conservatoire at MUan, and
making his first appearance, with a crowd of friends to
witness his performance. I thought that I should have
died of it, as the real Viceroy did not bate me an inch
of my new dignity, and fancied it the greatest comph-
ment in the world. After sustaining this scene of
liquid fire until twelve o'clock, I retired and raost cheer
fully abdicated.
25th. This morning the English Consul, who had
shewn me great civility, had forwarded all my wishes,
and had furnished me vrith game, &c., came on
board with II Cavahere Marmora to take leave. I had
last night taken leave of the Viceroy, Governor, &c.,
and I discovered how great had been the civility offered
me. The Viceroy had found out that I was going over
to Pula for water, on the other side of the bay. He
thought the air of Pula unwholesome, so he directed the
Consul not to let rae go there; and directed that I
should be furnished with water from the royal tanks in
the arsenal, vrithout paying ; a boon not even granted to
our men-of-war. At eleven o'clock we weighed anchor ;

CHARTS OF SARDINIA, 181
but the breeze being foul, we were all day beating out
of the roads,
26th. In the morning we were off Pula. There is a
smaU island off the point which has not been examined.
I sent a boat on shore upon it. We found it composed
of stilbite, trachite, and quartz upon stilbite. The whole
is volcanic. When the boat was hoisted in we stood off
to reach the Bay of Palmas by the night, and in the
evening carae to an anchor vrithin the peninsula.
Smith's charts of Sardinia, as far as we yet have seen
of them, are not equal to those of SicUy, which are very
correct. Chevalier de Marmora pointed out to us an
error of four miles in longitude ; and in one place he
appears to have laid dov\na the survey on two rocks.
Certainly we found his soundings of Caghari incorrect,
and had we trusted to thera we should have ran on
shore. There is a large bank in mid-channel, vrith less
than three fathoms upon it, which he does not lay down,
and a passage on the Pula shore, on the other side of it,
equally unlaid down. This is unpardonable in a road
stead so much frequented, and so important, as that of
Caghari. The fact is, I suspect, that Mr. Smith was
rather afraid of the malaria, and trusted raore than he
ought to have done to others.
The land all along the coast is raountainous and bar
ren. The mountains, covered with vast gloomy forests,
are untrod at any time by strangers, on account of the
disposition of the inhabitants ; and from June imtU
November are unapproachable, because of the intemperia.
Here and there a smaU patch of cultivation enhvens the
scene, but no cottages — no viUages cheer the eye, which
rests upon nothing but nature in her gloomiest dress.
Cape Spartivento pushes its huge granite head and

182 MORASSES.
giant body far into the waves, and the Bay of Palmas
opens fair to the view, but is pestilential. The shores are
flat. The eye passes over the morasses on the edge of
the sea, and rests on the mountains beyond ; but miles
of marsh intervene between the shore and their feet;
and there being no tide or current to carry off the de
trition of the weed and slush, it lies rotting and ferment
ing in the burning sun ; and the horrid smell which
assailed us as we worked in, although in this great bay,
proved the cause, as well as the extent, of the unwhole
some air. Added to all this, the dews feU heavy like
rain at night; to-day, for instance, although the sun
was so hot that the thermometer, in the coolest part of
the ship, stood at eighty-four degrees, the damp was
such in mid-day that some of us were drawing upon
deck, and we found that our colours would not work,
but ran into one another, and did not dry.
Between Cape Spartivento and Cape Teulada is the
Bay of I'lsola Rosa, at the bottora of which hes a small
island of that name. Cape Teulada forms the imme
diate boundary of the Bay of Palmas, in which Lord
Nelson's fleet often anchored. St. Antioro is, properly
speaking, an island of above thirty raUes round ; but it
is joined to the raain by a ridge of rocks, upon which a
sort of rude bridge has been constructed. On the left,
as you carae in, is the town of St. Antioro. It
is wholly mountainous, and forraed of trachite, stilbite,
and decoraposed lava.
27th. Sent our boat off for refreshments. She had
five mUes to row, and when she reached the shore
nearest the town, at the bottora of the bay, they were
not perraitted to land, nor to purchase anything;
and upon being told this — as I had an order from the

SULEIS. 183
Com-t of Turin, and another from the Viceroy of Sar
dinia, directing that my vessel should be treated as a raan-
of-war — ^we weighed anchor, to run up to the town and
enforce our demands. When withm two miles of the
town we met a boat, with the English Vice-Consul (a
Sardinian), and a Sardinian health-officer, making apo
logies, laying aU the blame on the ignorance of soldiers,
&c., giving us immediate pratique, and tendering all
assistance. So we merely shewed them that we had
shotted our guns, and were able to bring the town to
reason, and then we became good friends ; and I sent
them off for provisions, fruit, &c., and a party went on
shore sight-seeing.
The place has a garrison of four guns, one com
mandant, one officer, one corporal, and three gunners —
all of whom came on board to comphment my excel
lency ; so I had the whole garrison as hostages. I can
not rauch blame their shyness. Only twelve years ago
1,500 Tunisians landed, depopulated the whole vicinity,
and carried off 800 inhabitants into slavery. They had
had a simUar visit a few years before. Amongst their
prisoners, the last time, were the sister of the command
ant, and the vrife and family of the English Vice-Consul
— ^whose son they shot — and tearing down the EngUsh
flag, they plundered and destroyed his house and pro
perty. In about three months the poor man's wife and
family were recovered from slavery, and Lord Ex-
mouth's expedition released the rest.
The town of St. Antioro, so called from the relics of
a saint of that name who suffered here as a martyr,
stands upon the site of the ancient Greek city of Suleis,
a place of great wealth, and, from its sepulchres, of con
siderable extent. In these sepulchres many of the pre-

184 SALT MARSHES.
sent inhabitants live. Of others they make folds for
their sheep, and places of shelter for their cattle. To
land here, the sailors were obUged to plunge up to their
knees in putrifying slush and sear-weed. The castle is
not ancient, but of the architecture of le bassi tempi.
Much might be done in the way of excavation if we had
time to stop, and constitutions to stand even the superin
tendence of the work — but we had neither. I found a
tolerable cameo of a head of Apollo ; and, as the coun
try people open tombs to make new dwellings, they
discover raore relics. There are some caverns in the
trachite rock, and pearly obsidian is found in abun
dance. In Sardinia each district Uves upon abusing its neigh
bour. Here we were told that " I'aria e buonissime ;"
but that " I'aria " of St. Pietro on one side, and of Cag^
Uari on the other, " sono perfidy ! "
28th. Set saU, meaning to inspect the rocks at the
entrance of St. Antioro, called La Vacha ViteUe and
Toro, none of which have ever been exarained, and their
coraposition is whoUy unknown. We landed on all the
islands. The two first are sraall rocks, about one and
two miles round. The third is larger, 600 feet high,
forming a cone, about three raUes round. They are aU
three volcanic, trachitic, and porphyritic, and in the two
first is calcedony.
29th. At about nine o'clock in the morning we came
to an anchor in the roads of St. Pietro — not a bad an
chorage, but the air very bad. The authorities came on
board, and were very civil.
The cause of the malaria here is the salt marshes,
which are neither drained to make the air wholesome,
nor used for the purposes of getting salt, as salt is a

ST, PIETRO. 185
royal monopoly, and more must not be made than is
necessary to keep up the price. The sea-shore, too, is
full of sUmy, stagnant lakes, the fish of which are in
great esteem, the property of individuals, who hold them
of the Crown ; and the plague must be kept up, to pre
vent the miserable pockets of the King from suffering.
The sea-weed, too, accumulates in immense beds, there
being no tide or current to carry it off — -and there it re
mains, rotting and fermenting under a burning sun.
In the evening a blue mist creeps up the sides of the
hiUs, within the hmits of which no one can penetrate,
even for a moraent, and hve ; and a stench coraes off the
shore which makes even the sea-breeze unwholesome.
Many are sick, and some die daily, in the town of Castel
Forte, within a mile of us. But we take care not to go
on shore, and, even in the boats, not to be out in the
raornings or evenings. The sickness of St. Pietro comes
principally from the mainland of Sardinia. The island
itself is tolerably wholesome.
30th. Went in the barge to exaraine part of the
coast of St. Pietro. The whole island is trachitic, por
phyritic, jasper, and calcedony — very hke part of Ponza.
About three miles from our anchorage, round Punto
Nero, the trachitic cliffs rise to a considerable height,
and forra a range hke a vast Cyclopean waU, the strata
aU laying horizontal, and divided into great masses ;
whilst off the point are two great colurans standing insu
lated, on the outer side of which a pair of eagles have
built their eyrie, which stands up, a mass of twigs and
wood and reeds, about three feet over every way. It is
not well placed, as it may easily be pelted out from the
neighbouring rock. One fine chff of porphyry stands
very prominently out. But besides this, and a succes-

186 ORISTAN.
sion of trachitic caves like many that we have seent
There was nothing to attract our notice ; so we retm-ned
to our vessel.
31st. In the evening we anchored at the further
point of the island of St. Pietro, having thereby gained
the whole length of the island by beating up against the
wind. August 1st. Anchored in the evening in the Bay of
Oristan for refreshments. The coast appears to consist
of trachitic cliffs, but in the interior they run into high
granite masses, their sides covered vrith ancient forests ;
and, except here arid there where sorae squares of stub
ble announce the presence of man, the whole country is
uncultivated and desolate : not a house to be seen. Im
mense smokes rising upon the horizon show where the
Moorish shepherds are destroying whole forests by fire
to get sorae pasture for their flocks.
Oristan is a large deep bay and roadstead. The
town, which appears a large one, stands about four miles
from the sea ; but on the landing-place is a large tower
and a few houses, which constitute the port. Over
Oristan rises, on the top of a mountain ridge of granite,
apparently, a large rock of a most singular shape, which
goes by the name of the Finger of Oristan. It gives
one, however, more the idea of a human hand, the ser
rated ridge forming the fingers standing upright. The
land at the foot of this range of raountains runs flat for
many a mile ; and as we beat into this large and beautir
ful bay, it presented, apparently, one of the finest harr
hours in the Mediterranean. The horrid smeU which
came off the shore denoted the whole place being the
seat of pestUence and death. Of course we don't think
of landing.

PESTILENCE. 187
2nd. At daybreak I sent a boat on shore with orders
not to land, but to purchase refreshments at the beach,
and to send for the English Consul. The poor people
were civil to a degree, but implored our people not to
remain, even in the boat, on their pestilential shore, for
that they would be sure of catching the intemperia, and
the whole country is a charnel-house. People are dying
every day in Oristan. The British Consul was confined
to his bed, and probably would die. The wife of the
Receiver-general of the Customs had died that morning,
and others were foUovring. Pestilence hung over the
land, and misery, silence, and soUtude, crept along its
shores. The people cried like children to my servant in
the boat. They said they had not seen an English
vessel on the coast for many a year. They had not
ready the provisions and refreshments I wanted, but said
that aU should be ready on the coast by five o'clock in
the evening at the Tower, where they would hoist a
black flag (iU-omened signal !) when they came down, in
order that my boat might come and fetch thera; but
they implored us to anchor in the raid-channel, not to
let any soul go on shore, and to weigh anchor the rao
ment we got what we wanted, as death awaited us on
their shores.
Accordingly, at five o'clock the signal was made,
everything was furnished that we required, and we
weighed anchor from this dreadful scene. They de
scribed their whole coast to be in a similar pestilential
state, untU we carae to Alghero, which is healthy.
We wished to go to Boza for sorae mineralogical ob
jects, but they implored us not, as it would be certain
death. 3rd. Kept beating aU night; the sea calra and the

188 ALGHERO BAY.
night beautiful, but a dew falling like rain. All day we
continued our course along the shores of this ill-fated
country. We saw the beautiful bay, but dared not
pause. It is defended by a peninsula, on which stands a
tower. In the extreraity of the bay stand two others,
and apparently a work of some strength. A river runs
into the sea, on the banks of which stands Boza. The
country lies in a flat plain, beautiful to the eye in pesti
lential and fatal verdure, until it reaches the foot of the
range of mountains, rough vrild rocks, covered with
immense forests of chestnut and ilex, untrod by the
foot of man. Immediately behind Boza is a summit
crowned by the picturesque walls and towers of an
ancient fortress.
All this we saw as we stretched across the bay ; and
when the opposite land came down into the sea, and we
were obliged to tack from it to weather the cape, the
scenery, of granite, chestnut and ilex forests sweeping
down to the sea, was most imposing and beautiful. But
we were obliged to stand off. In the neighbourhood of
Boza are mines which we wished rauch to examine.
But the hand of God is upon and against this fine
country. It quite made us melancholy to see it. The
worst of all this is that the damps fall so heavy that we
aU shiver below in these beautiful nights quite as much
as if the weather was bad, and the thermoraeter in the
great cabin never stands at less than 84°
4th. This raorning we cast anchor in Alghero Bay.
About ten miles from the land we fell in vrith a fleet of
above fifty coral fishers. They are stout boats, with ten
men in each boat. Every Saturday they bring home
the produce of their labour to Alghero, where the mer
chants purchase it. I find the price at which the latter

CORAL. 189
seU it is about a doUar per ounce. It is red, and sup
posed to be of fine quality. But it is very rare to find
an entire unbroken branch. When the fishers come
upon the bank, which extends many miles over towards
the coast of Africa, they drop down iron bars crossed, to
which hang a quantity of swabs or loose hempen un-
tviisted hues, and let their vessels drift, towing the bars
across the coral rocks. They then drag up the bars, the
swabs on which are twisted in the coral, and, breaking it
off, draw up the coral into their boats. Thus the bran
ches are usuaUy broken off. The coral lies in about
sixty fathoras of water. Many of the fisherraen come
from Torr^ del Annunciata, and other places near
Naples. The town of Alghero stands weU, but, like all other
Itahan towns, is better at a distance than when you
approach it. It is at the bottom of a large bay, which
forms a wide and open roadstead.
5th. Made a party in the barge to visit the coast to
the southward. The cUffs of tertiary calcareous forma
tion near the town. In a smaU bay about a mile from
Alghero aU the Unen is washed, aU the water in the
town being kept for drinking. There is a very fine
spring covered over vrith a large arch, and weU pro
tected, about half-way up the hUl. As you proceed to
the southward the coast becoraes composed of tufa,
trachite, and obsidian. Further on round the cape are
beautiful varieties of agates, jaspers, calcedony, and
carbonate of lime. We got some green and rose colour,
very beautiful. The chffs are worn into deep caverns,
the resort of wild pigeons. In one of them we dined
and refreshed our men, and came home. The raoun
tains behind are in many places clothed vrith majestic

190 PUNTA GALLERA.
forests of Uex and chestnut, f uU of vrild boars, deer, and
mufiong. At Alghero a great deal of the beard of the Pinna
Marina is raade up into gloves, &c. The neighbouring
bays are full of them. In the shells are frequently
found pearls, but generally of a bad colour. There are
some, however, of a black colour and red, which are
much esteemed.
, 6th. We weighed anchor from Alghero, and pro
ceeded to the next bay of Porto Conte, where we an
chored in the evening. The passage was delightful.
From Alghero the land dips, aud forms a deep bight of
a bay, at the bottora of which is the lake before men
tioned. From thence it rises to the S.W. into very
high cliffs of pure limestone, of the boldest outline, and
not less than 500 feet high. The water has worn them
full of caverns. At the back rises Mount d'Olio. The
whole country is covered vrith vrild ohve, the fan palm,
myrtle, and cistus, and is generaUy fuU of vrild boars
and stags. But this hot summer has dried up all the
springs and water courses, and the beasts have fied to
fresher shades. The whole country is depopulated, and
lays waste.
Punta GaUera forms the southernmost point of the ¦
bay of Porto Conte, wdiich runs inland five miles, pro
tected from all winds but the S.W. However, there
are no rocks or dangers; the water is deep frora side to
side ; it is two railes and a quarter wide at its entrance,
widens as it enters the land, and has raany coves and
bays within it, in which ships could be sheltered from
any winds, and the harbour is certainly the finest that
we have seen in Sardinia. Here ought to have been
the site of the chief city of the country. Tradition

EAGLE. 191
says that there was a town here, and the whole country
cultivated and peopled, but that it was depopulated and
laid waste by an earthquake ; but the period is not men
tioned, and there are no traces of it in history. The
Catalans built Alghero, where the Catalan language is
alone spoken to this day by the natives, to whora the
Sard and Italian languages are unknown. In this bay
are some strong towers of defence against the Barbary
powers, but nothing else. The opposite or northern side
of the bay is formed by an immense proraontory,
clothed with low wood and rock, called Punto deUa
Caccia, because it is famous as the resort of the beasts
of chace. The resemblance which this promontory
bears to an immense gigantic mummy lying on its back
is truly striking. The open raouth and fallen chin form
the headland towards the sea, and the feet inward to
wards the land, are distinctly pointed out. This whole
range of chff is composed of pure hmestone, secondary
hmestone, osseous brescia, and pudding-stone.
7th. Some of our gentlemen went with their guns to
see if they could find any garae ; a party, armed, went
on shore to cut wood ; and I passed the day in surveying
Punta della GaUera and the adjacent chffs, and shooting
wild pigeons. I was fortunate enough to wing and bring
down a small eagle, two or three of which accora
panied our sport to pick up wounded birds ; but this
poor devU miscalculated his distance, and f eU a victim to
his temerity. It is a beautiful bird, very rare every
where but here ; and, having only his wing broken,
although very high up, I shall endeavour to keep him
ahve. The shooting party on shore had no sport. The
wooding party executed its duty ; and in order to

192 GROTTO.
facihtate its object by clearing away the palraetto from
the ground and leaves off the bushes, set the wood on
fire, which ran like fury all over the raountain opposite,
that was in a blaze in a rainute. I was frightened out
of ray senses lest any houses should be scattered over the
mountain's side ; but, fortunately, none were in the line
of fire, and we were told afterwards, by some country
people, that we had done them good, by clearing away
land for their sheep next spring, a thing which they
were not permitted to do themselves. The fire lasted
until night, and then — probably raeeting a ridge of
rocks — gradually died away.
8th. We set forth this raorning, with aU hands, to
view the extraordinary grotto called H Grotto di Nettuno,
which is just round Capo deUa Caccia. In passing thi
ther we went under the precipices which form that
point. They are none of them less than 1,000 feet
high, and quite perpendicular. In the bay, on this side
of Capo deUa Caccia, is a square bastion and a tower
caUed II Torre del Tresmuraghe. The bay is called
Calalonga, and is closed by a convulsion of nature,
which appears to have crushed together the sides of two.
rocks, or to have let in a vast cavern. There is no
doubt but that the whole of this proraontory is hoUowed
out into caverns. Many were the places where the
waters roUed in, in unbroken billows, and their suUen.
roaring proved that they held a long unbroken course.
But the roofs descend too low for boat to enter ; besides
which, the least sea rises so high against these tre-
raeridous precipices, that in vievring the cavern I am
going to describe, you leave a sentry at the raouth to
tell you if the waves rise, as your retreat must be in
stantaneous, or it vriU be cut off.

BEAUTIFUL GROTTO. 193
The water is quite deep to the foot of a large cavern,
where you land on a portico of rock. The entrance is
about thirty feet high, and about fifty or sixty wide.
When you land on the rock and proceed about twenty or
thirty feet, a scene breaks in upon you which I believe is
not exceeded in the world. Some who were with us had
seen the grotto of Antiparos, and declared this to be
quite equal to it. Beneath is a large lake of water, so
pm-e that the bottora and every object is perfectly clear.
It is about twenty feet deep. Immediately opposite is
an immense column of pure alabaster, or rather stalag
mite, on the top of' which is a hoUow formed by the
constant dripping of filtrated water from above, making
a small reservoir of fresh water, where the wild pigeons
flock to drink. Beyond this, the eye is lost in endless
arcades and clusters of columns — candelabras, and every
other fantastic forra which stalactitic formation can give
— all rising out and reflected in the clear stream, the
termination of which is not seen, as the lake vrinds to
the left ; and the arcades succeed and intermix with
each other in distance so as to resemble an immense
show-box, where columns and arches are multiphed in
endless perpetuation by the reflection of duly disposed
mirrors. We had sent the guide and six sailors forward to
hght up the grotto, for which we used above 100
candles ; and the Ughts, thus stuck upon all the project
ing points on the sides, and in the water, had an effect
like magic. Into this lake we dragged our cutter, and
embarked. Two other small boats were hkewise fiUed
with the party. We first carae to an iramense cluster of
columns in the centre, and to others on each side of the
lake, which, supporting the vaulted and fretted roof of
VOL. II. O

194 BEAUTIFUL GROTTO.
an immense cathedral, but adorned by such arches,
pendants, and tracery as no human hands could ever
form, the lake turned to the left and opened the second
scene of this iramense theatre. Fortunately a Sardinian
captain of a Sard frigate could not bring his 9-pounders
here. To the entrance he brought them, and, wanting
alabaster, brought do'wn, by successive discharges, a vast
quantity which adorned the opening.
The second scene is of the same nature as the first,
only the cavern rises into magnificent arcades to the
right and left ; especially to the latter, where the lights
showed long successions of galleries and arches rising
high above you, appearing to lead to other chambers.
The passage from scene first to scene second is through
narrow and rocky channels, where the water was often
so shallow as to make it necessary to track the boat along
and hft it over the rocks. Again the water deepens,
and the lake expands, until at the end of the theatre,
spreading an immense back scene of arches, arcades, and
clusters, the boat lands upon a bank of sand and pul
verized shells. The water is brackish, and is evidently
the sea-water which makes its way through minute pas
sages from without, and is partially freshened by the
filtered water continually dripping from above. I should
compute the two scenes which I have described to contain
about sixty yards each in length, and perhaps forty or
fifty in breadth.
When landed, we found the temperature of the air
cool and pleasant, but in no respect charged with vapour,
or unpleasant. I should consider the height of the roof
to be about 100 feet. The view back from the upper
end was very beautiful. Turning to our left, we as
cended a very steep rocky ascent, and wound a httle

FAIRY PALACE. 195
way between clusters and through stalactite arcades of
the purest alabaster, which shone like crystal opposed to
the light of our candles and torches, until we came to
another Gothic hall, as splendid as that below, but of
course without the accompaniment of water. Seated on
a rock here, the view of this splendid saloon, in the
centre of which was a gigantic circular lustre of alabaster,
with thousands of drops hanging from the roof, and that
of the second scene on the lake below, beggars aU de
scription. Here I stopped.
Others, more adventurous, went on and examined the
different arcades which led off from this great saloon, to
see whether they opened into any other similar chambers.
But none of them could proceed far, the rock either
closing upon them or ending in dark abysses, in the
bottoms of which they heard, on throwing down stones,
the plash of water. But it would take many days to
thread all the winding passages that lead from this
fairy palace ; and the experiment would not be a safe
one, for the labyrinth seems interminable, and a man
might, with the greatest ease, lose his way in the vast
honeycomb that eats into the bowels of this vast pro
montory. When we returned to the entrance from the first
scene of the lake into the second, we paused, whilst
persons whom we had left for that purpose let off at
once lines of blue lights, we had disposed in different
parts of these vast chambers, and which produced an
effect that no imagination could conceive. The con
trast was the more remarkable when, looking back into
the first' scene, you saw the entrance into the cave, the
hght of day, and the blue, hazy light of the sun, mixing
^¦with the hues of the caves and stalactites. I had brought
O 2

196 MAGNIFICENT CAVERN.
my bugle player with me. His instrument sounded
beautifully through the roofs, and the more so because
there was no reverberation, owing to the vastness of the
place, which blended the sounds in one.
Many stories are told of openings and spiracles into
the open air from below ; but I doubt them, as the
smoke of our blue hghts found no escape from above,
and roUed out in great clouds from the great entrance to
the cave long after we had come out. The lower shore,
where we landed, was, as I have said, a fine shelly sand.
But above, in the saloon under the stalagmite, the soil
was a red clay.
After passing the morning here, we proceeded along
the line of the same tremendous scenery, pigeon-shoot
ing and geologizing. The whole is pure limestone, ter
tiary calcareous formation, and osseous brescia. Beyond
the Torr6 della Penna is an island of the same class of
rock and of the sarae height. Here is a magnificent
cavern, which runs through the whole island frora east
to west, in one immense vault 300 or 400 feet high. The
sea flows through this until, at one end, a ledge of rock
about six yards wide prevents the entire completion of
the passage.
10th. We hove-to this raorning off Cape Negretto,
and Signor Donati went on shore to geologize, having
heard that something was to be found here, but came
away vrith nothing but sorae coarse drawing-slate, which
it seems is a rarity in Sardinia. I took the opportunity
of bathing in the barge — in no bottom at 900 fathoms
of line ! We had calras and extrerae heat aU day until
after Divine service, when a breeze sprung up and car
ried us round the Isle of Asinara, the northern point of
Sardinia, and in the evening we anchored in a beautiful

AJACCIO BAY. 197
bay. As the land is high granite and schistose rocks,
there is no vegetation except 'wild olives, no inhabitants
except those in the lonely watch-towers on the cliffs, no
water but what is brackish. But we got wild boars and
partridges, and we broke up a wreck which we found on
shore for firewood.
I went geologizing in my barge. Nothing on the
coast but granite, granitoid — the crystals of felspar
particularly large — ^bad tourmaline, garnets, mica slate,
and carbonate of lime. When we returned in the even
ing we got under weigh for Ajaccio.
12th. This afternoon anchored in Ajaccio Bay. The
scenery of the coast of Corsica is very fine, and higher
than Sardinia. The mountains rise in much more ser
rated and raore Alpine shapes. Some of them, which
form the background of Ajaccio Bay, cannot be less
than from 500 to 600 feet high, their sides clothed with
forests ; but it is impossible not to see the existence of
a better and more hberal governraent exemplified by
increased and improved agriculture, good houses, and the
employment of capital in agricultural labour. Cultiva
tion is carried very high up the sides of the mountains,
and farm-houses scattered about give a great appearance
of comfort.
Active improvements are going on in the town, old
houses puUing down, and new ones erected and building.
The chmate here is rauch cooler than in Sardinia, and
all the houses have chimneys. A fine market-place, and
public promenade vrith trees, and a fountain in the
midst, has been opened, and has a clear and good effect.
As no boat carae near us, I sent one on 'shore for
pratique, which was met by a harbour-master or master
pilot, who saluted it with what he thought a sailor's

198 QUARANTINE.
blessing — " God d  your eyes ! Go back to your
ship ! We vrill be on board iraraediately." In about an
hour a boatful of French doctors came alongside, who,
instead of giving us pratique, put us into five days'
quarantine, because we came last from Caghari, into
which port, four months ago, an Algerine vessel had
been chased by a French brig. The port being a neu
tral one, the Frenchman could not attack the Algerine,
but blockaded her. The Sardinian government put
guard-boats round the Algerine to prevent any commu
nication with the shore, and would not give them water
or refreshments. The Algerine sailed out in the face of
day, out-manceuvred and out-sailed" the Frenchman, and
escaped. The Frenchmen, enraged at raissing their
prize, went into Marseilles, and, out of pure sulkiness,
told a lie, that the Algerine had coraraunicated with
Sardinia, and had it put into quarantine vrithout any
notice to its government, or, as I believe to anybody, as
the French consul at Caghari assured me that I should
have immediate pratique at Ajaccio.
AU this we pleaded, but the doctors were inexorable,
saying it was " leur devoir." I told them that it was
"un tres sot devoir," which left nothing to circum
stances, to directions, to conveniences, or even to national
hospitahty. I said this because they had owned they
had notice of my coming, and knew my vessel. But aU
this did not take us out of quarantine.
16th. Got pratique this morning. I have reason to
believe the reception of me is a struggle between the
Bonapartists and the Royahsts — the latter having shewn
me such very marked attention, sending rae fruit, re-
freshraents, &c., in profusion, and the coramandant
having taken no notice of me. They are very proud of

\
FINE SCENERY. 199
being inhabitants of the place which gave Napoleon
birth, and are very much surprised that I do not land to
see his house, the room where he was born, &c.
I went in my barge, and coasted the bay as far as a
dreadful reef, distinguished by seven large rocks, which
look hke ships under sail at a distance. The sea breaks
over them with immense fury. The scenery was very
fine. The promontory over them, topped by a pictur
esque watch-tower. The other side of the bay is guarded
by a group of rocky islets, caUed les Isles Sanguinaires.
A party went from the ship geologizing — granite of
different colours, jasper, and quartz.

200

CHAPTER XI.
Colonel Guillemot — ^The Brigand and the Judge — TraveUing in
Corsica — A Mysterious Correspondent — Scenery — Bourjoynano
— Death of a Bandit — Precautions against a Surprise — Outlaws
— A Courteous Ilobber — Armed Labourers — The Gate of
Heaven— An Inn Dinner — Valley of the Tavignano — Pictur
esque Scenery — Bastia.
August 17th. Visits all day ; and crowds of people to
see the vessel. Amongst others, the serjeant-majors of
the garrison. I gave them a bottle of wine. They
were very thankful, and in great glee; insisted upon
carrying off Serjeant Mehan and the etat-raajor of the
vessel vrith them, to shew them the barracks, &c., and
succeeded, notwithstanding the repugnance of ray people.
The officers of the Corsican Rangers here, in our ser
vice now, on half-pay, lead a sad dog-and-cat life with
the Bonapartists. Colonel Guilleraot and his vrife came
off to visit rae — she a good-huraoured, obhging English
woman ; he a thorough, steady, old French officer. His
family is Vende^n. His father was shot at Vannes by

BANDITTI. 201
the Republicans. I remeraber hira at Abb6 Carron's
Academy in old times.
A man who has lately escaped from the galleys at
Bastia is at the head of the banditti. A few weeks ago
he met one of the judges of the district travelhng from
Bastia here, and stopped him. He said — " You were one
of the judges who sentenced me, and now it is my turn."
The man declared that he was not.
" WUl you give me your word of honour that you
were not?"
" Yes, I do."
" Then you may go free."
The judge, Mons. d' Arena, then said — " Now, to ob-
hge me, let me present you with this purse."
" No — people wUl say I robbed you. Adieu ! I will
take nothing."
They caught the hangman of Bastia coming to Ajac
cio for a job. They sent in word that they must have a
large ransom for him, which they named. It was not
sent out, and they stuck the poor wretch like a pig in
the road, and left him to bleed to death. Just as I was
at dinner the coraraandant caUed npon me, and went
away in high-dudgeon because he was not received.
The fact was, that I meant to mark ray sense of his in
civility. The serjeant-majors have been parading all
round the tovm, teUing everybody of my reception of
them. 19th. This raorning, at three o'clock, I went on
shore ; and by four o'clock the procession was formed,
and we left the town of Ajaccio in the following order
— viz., Myself in a cabriolet, with my double-barrelled
gun between my legs, and armed to the teeth; King,
Chve, and Donati, on horseback, each with pistols and

202 AN INCOGNITA.
a sabre— the latter vrith astonishing large pistols, geolo
gical hammer, &c. ; Giovanni, on horseback, jack-boots, ,
blunderbuss, and night-cap ; Sharp, blunderbuss and ,
cutlass ; one gendarme, forraing advanced guard,
another with the cabriolet, and a cart to carry our bag
gage. My cabriolet had two horses. Two officers,
reformes of our late Corsican Rangers, insist on accom
panying me the first stage.
Yesterday, I got a note, signed " Une dame d' Ajaccio,"
signifying that she had sent me a tarae young stag as a
present, as she could not do better than give it to " I'ami
des Bourbons." I found out who ray incognita was.
She was the wife of an officer in the Corsican Govern- ;
ment, whose husband was in Paris. I wrote her a note,
thanking her for her present, &c., saying that I would
wilhngly have come on shore to ask her to appear out of
her incognita, but that I could not land in Ajaccio after .
the reception which I met with ; and coraf orted her with
declaring that I was above fifty years old. She must,
therefore, be best satisfied vrith my thanks at a distance*
This raorning, on leaving Ajaccio, on turning a comer
of the square, an elegantly-dressed, tall woraan, closely
veiled, stood and kissed her hand to rae. She was the
only person in the street, except my party, at that early
hour ; and I strongly suspect that she was ray incognita.
I returned the salute and passed on.
On leaving the town I passed by the house just erect
ing for the Prefecture. It will be very splendid. A
handsorae theatre is just built ; trees are planted in the
principal streets, and on each side of the road. To the
right is a sraall dockyard made by the English, now
fiUing up by the order of Government, and a convent is
to be buUt in its place. Further on is a property, once

SAVOLA. 203
a salt-work belonging to Napoleon, now the property of
a relation of his. Cardinal Fesch had rauch property
here, all of which he gave to the tovni. He seems to
have done much for the place — Napoleon nothing.
We entered the valley of the River Campo di Loro.
On the right was the high range of the mountain of
Cutoli. The vaUey through which flowed the river,
through pastures and corn-fields, is full of granite boul
ders, evidently roUed from the vast ridges of granite
which compose all the mountains of this part of Corsica.
The banks of the river consist of flat table-land and
truncated cones, with table-tops gradually sloping to the
sea, and marking, in a very remarkable manner, the
subsiding of the waters, graduaUy and uniformly, after
some great convulsion of nature proceeding from water.
On the left of the vaUey was to be seen the magnificent,
gigantic crag of Monte Rosso, deriving its name from
the rose-coloured granite of which it is composed. In
the front were the heights of Monte St. Damiano, on
which the rising sun threw its first rays in the most
beautiful hues possible.
About three mUes further on you see the village of
Savola, situated on the high skirts of the mountain of
the same name. The lowlands appear to be well-culti
vated, but as the flocks and herds are stUl in the moun
tains, we saw but few. However, we met some coming
down, and the shepherds, as well as everyone we raet,
were armed with guns. In fact, nothing deters the
banditti but the sight of arms.^ As we advanced, the
road, StUl very good, hung over the river, which brawled
its summer stream along, its wide channel in winter
filled with water; whilst above, crags of granite, and
mountains covered with gum cistus of great height, and

204 CORSICAN SCENERY.
arbutus, frowned over us. The rocks changed from
granite to trachite and lava, and again rose in granite.
The crags of Monte d'Oro, one of the highest mountains
in Corsica, raised their serrated heads in front of us.
This forms part of the great raountain spine which
runs from south to north — from Bonifaccio to Cape
Corso. We soon carae in sight of the little village of Vero,
high up in the hills, in which dweUs, but never to be
found, the chief bandit of the country. By the side of
the road is a small public-house, where is a post of gen
darmerie, and where we halted to breakfast and refresh
the horses, and pass an hour or two of the heat away.
The valley here narrows. The river runs through elms,
arbutus, and gum cistus. Alpine mountains rise on
each hand. Here again we found lava with the gra
nite. After leaving the place where we breakfasted, the
scenery becarae finer, the mountains closed in, the valley
became narrower, and the whole scene more Alpine.
Immediately on quitting the place we passed through
a grove of the finest chestnut trees I ever saw, leading
down to the water-side, and most refreshing from their
shade and the verdure under them. There were
several sraall water-raills on the stream, and the water
was diverted into channels, so as to produce irrigar
tion. About three miles frora Vetro we crossed over
the river, along or above whose banks we had proceeded
all the way frora Ajaccio, by a very handsorae bridge of
granite, spanning the river vrith a single arch. It is a
very good piece of raasonry, and indeed the whole
road does credit to the engineer who has executed
it.

MONTE d'oro. 205
At length the river winds under the foot of Monte
d'Oro, and the road follows it tlirough magnificent chest
nut woods and pastures, which adorn the roots and
flanks of this picturesque mountain. The whole scenery
gave me a stronger recoUection of the Pyrenees than
any other scenes I have witnessed. The verdure and
cultivation are the sarae, but the pine forests are not so
fine. The wood, however, upon the whole, is raore ro
mantic, and the pines which skirt the base and sides of
the Monte d'Oro are sufficiently large to show the
height of the mountain, that cannot be less than 7,000
feet ; and the granite crags are more serrated and wilder
than any I have elsewhere seen. The granite rises in
immense aiguiUes and pinnacles, and in vertical strata,
thus proving that whatever power — ^be it water or fire
— threw them up, they had never any pressure of
incumbent weight upon them to crush or divert the pro
gress or course of their crystallization ; but they stand
now in the sarae attitude and situation in which they
burst into creation, when " God said let there be light,
and there was hght."
Thus entering into the defiles of this iraraense mass
of granite, we passed along the river's side, that abounds
in trout, and, turning round a shoulder of a moun
tain, which would have appeared immense had it not
been for the over-turning peaks and precipices of its
giant neighbour, we came to the small town of Bour-
gognano, where there is a wretched inn, that received
us, and was a palace corapared with those which we
lodged in in Sicily. We brought our provisions and
beds vrith us. Giovanni cooked a good dinner for us,
and we were very weU off. The craggy heights of
Monte d'Oro rise just before our window, and the

206 BOURGOGNANO.
strearas, which gush out everywhere, are as cold and
pellucid as ice. In some of the crevices of the moun
tains snow is stiU to be seen. On the top is a lake,
which is frozen nine raonths in the year. In this
wretched town is a corapany of infantry, commanded by
a captain, and commandant of the place, who caUed
upon me, and was very civil. He has been in banish
ment here for three years, in almost perfect solitude.
The sports of the field are his only resource, and in win
ter he is enclosed in the snows, and araidst the tour-
m entes which rage throughout the narrow gorge of the
mountain pass. There are stags, wild boars, foxes, par
tridges, hares, and woodcocks, in profusion.
20th. Started at four o'clock this morning. The
rogue of an innkeeper had the modesty to charge me
186 francs — ^we having only had beds, a piece of mutton,
two pigeons, and some railk. I insisted on his putting
the biU, according to the laws of France, in writing,
and declared I would take it to the Pref^t, who was in
the tovra. He then came down to 100 francs. I in
sisted on my bill. He then had it written out, and re
duced it to 50. I gave him 40 francs, which was twice
as much as he ought to have had. This fellow had been
in the English service during the war.
On quitting Bourgognano, the road passed through
a forest of the raost magnificent Spanish chestnut-trees I
ever beheld in my Ufe — larger than almost any oaks I
ever saw, their trunks scathed and torn with age, but all
had thrown up vigorous heads and shoots of an immense
size, and were fuU of fruit. The views caught every
now and then through the trees of the valley, and the
granite heads of Monte d'Oro, just tinged by the earhest
light of the rising sun, were splendid in the extreme.

BANDITTI. 207
Through this forest, the road kept winding and rising
until, when we emerged from it, we found ourselves free
above the forest on a granite mountain's side, extending
far away to the right, and its recesses clothed with ever
green oak as far as vegetation existed. Monte d'Oro
was now towering in naked majesty over our heads.
Far away to the south-west extended the valley below
us, vrith the river winding at the foot of the mountain
which we had passed along yesterday.
Here one of the gendarmes, who was with us, shot
a bandit three years ago. He had committed many
murders. One man from Ajaccio he kUled, deliberately
cut off his head, then one of his ears, which he carried
as a trophy in his pocket. This wretch was such a ter
ror to his family that the latter gave him up, and one
gendarme was placed in ambuscade by the place
where he was known to go to quench his thirst. He
came on, with his gun over his shoulder, eating as he
walked along. The gendarme put two balls through
his body, and he feU without a groan, only biting his
fingers to the bone with fury as he dropped.
The varieties of granite here were beautiful. I looked,
however, in vain for the cubicular granite which I was
told I should find here.
The road kept still rising amidst the mountains, until,
about two leagues from Bourgognano, we came to a pass,
on the surarait of which is built a block-house surrounded
by a ditch, where a detachment of artUlery is stationed.
This block-house effectually locks up the whole pass both
ways, as nothing can pass it, and it cannot be turned.
Here, a short time since, the bandit who stopped Mr.
"Avena, the judge, kUled one of the soldiers. To the
right of us ran a high ridge of granite raountains,

208 robbers' HAUNT.
clothed high up their sides vrith evergreen oaks, end
ing with a pointed raountain, called II Punto del Mural.
Up to this point we had been slowly and graduaUy
rising, and, I suppose, were fuU 2,000 feet above the
level of the sea. The air was visibly rauch cooler. In
deed, at Bourgognano the spring-water was as cold as
any I ever drank not iced. Frora thence we began to
descend as gradually, by zig-zag roads, as we ascended,
and entered upon the skirts of a vast pine forest, mixed
with chestnut and beech. The underwood consisted
wholly of arbutus, gum cistus, and myrtle, the erica
Mediterranea, of enormous height, and the coraraon fern.
This forest we had seen sorae time skirting the vale
below, and running up the gorges of Monte d'Oro. It
now enclosed both sides of the valley, and presented a
vrild, wide, and secure range for banditti.
This was the haunt of the so-much dreaded robber
who had stopped Avena. Accordingly, on entering it
our gendarmes unslung their carbines, and one went
on as advanced guard. We did the same, and kept to
gether. The gendarraes said there was no danger of
our being attacked in a party ; but any straggler or loi
terer raight be shot at and plundered before the party
could asserable, and pursuit among the rocks and thick-
forest was out of the question. After we had gone
through about four mUes of the thickest forest imagin
able, we came up vrith a party of men at work on the
road, who inforraed us with the greatest glee that this
terrific personage had been shot close by, the evening
before, by the Voltigeurs de la Corse ; and shortly after
we met Le Juge de Paix of the. Canton going to view
the body, and make his proces verbal, accompanied by
one of the voltigeurs who had kiUed the brigand.

CORSICAN VENGEANCE. 209
It appears that he had been lurking about the defiles
of Mont6 d'Oro for sorae tirae, and probably for the
chance of picking up sorae loiterer of the Pr^fet's party,
who was upon the road on the sarae day, or of mine, as
the shepherds had seen him passing the valley and
chmbing the precipices of Monte d'Oro. Two voltigeurs
beset the gorge at the foot of that part of the mountain,
and two of them discerned the robber at the top of a
rock. He was perfectly unconscious of being pursued,
and was, at the time when they discovered him,
employed in sharpening his stUetto on the rock. They
crept up towards him; but from some stones which
fell from under their feet, he discovered them. They
cried out to him to surrender ; he instantly caught up
his double-barrelled gun which lay beside hira, and fired
at the voltigeurs, but missed both shots ; one of thera
fired and wounded hira, the other kUled him dead.
The state of the country is shocking. It is not over
run vrith banditti, but all the lower orders are in a
situation to becorae so. Strangers are, generally speak
ing, safe, unless the bandit is in a state of great priva
tion, when, of course, he vriU attack indiscriminately.
This fellow had escaped from the gaUeys ; but, generally
speaking, the Corsicans are moody, sulky, and revenge
ful. They are quick only in forming a quarrel, but
they are deliberate enough in their vengeance. They
never forget either a real or a supposed injury, A
Corsican has a quarrel — he retires, sulky, and watches
his opportunity, untU he shoots his opponent down. No
time cools his rage. He becomes a soldier or a saUor,
and goes into distant lands. Years afterwards he
returns, and he takes up his quarrel where he left on
leaving the country. He Mils his man, and then flies
VOL. II. P

210 BANDIT STORIES.
into the momitains; or he kiUs sorae relation of the
raan, and flies. The relations of the raurdered man
take up the quarrel, which again can only be quenched
in blood, and the blood-spiUer becomes a broken man
and flies into the mountains.
Thus Corsica is dotted over with individual outlaws.
They seldom or never act as a band together, because
they have no confidence in each other. They usuaUy
are supplied in their retreat with provisions by their
farailies or friends, and if not, they rob the shepherds,
or induce thera to give thera food. They are often be
trayed by these shepherds. They have an odd feehng of
generosity about them. One of them met an officer, who
told me the story himself, within a few paces of the door of
his own country cottage near Ajaccio, and told him that
he knew he had three guns — one was enough for him,
and, in civil terms, begged him to give him the two
others. The officer was unarraed, and told him that it
was true he had three guns at one time, but that he
had given one to his nephew and another to some one
else, whora he naraed. The robber said that it was
" tres bien," made him give his word of honour to. the
truth of the story, and then said that he knew that the
officer was a chasseur and raust have one gun, but
that he could not possibly want three, begged his pardon
for the trouble he had given hira — and he might have
added, the fright — and left hun.
An officer of the line, stationed at Borgognano, took
a walk one evening, close to the town, in the chestnut
forest, and was arausing hiraself with looking at the
trees, when he found hiraself vis-Or^is to a bandit, who
coolly told hira that he was sent to Borgognano in
garrison, and not to walk about the country ; that this

MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 211
time he would be content "with what the officer had in
his pocket ; but that if ever he met him again he must
expect to pay dearer for his rambles.
A man returned about six weeks ago from the galleys,
where he had been for twenty yeai-s. The disposition
to blood was too strong in him to be resisted. He recol
lected an ancient quarrel, shot his man, and ran off into
the mountains, where he still is.
After we had cleared the forest, we opened the
distant points of Mont6 Rotondo, the highest mountain
of Corsica. On our left was another mountain fort,
perched upon the summit of a sugar-loaf hUl, comraand
ing the pass ; and, by a very steep and tortuous road,
we descended into the picturesque Uttle viUage of
Vivario, situated in a vaUey watered by two httle streams
which run into the Tamraajo. Here we breakfasted.
The house was kept by an officer of gendarraerie, who
put on his uniform to sit vrith us as an officer, and
wanted to charge us hke an ale-house keeper.
From hence we traveUed without escort, as the road
was safe, and we were a strong party vrithout them, and
weU armed.
We stUl kept vrinding amongst the roots of Mont6
d'Oro, untU at length we left it behind us, and Mont6
Rotondo received us. We turned to the left, and
crossed one of the streams which descended from the
inmost recesses of the Mont^ Rotondo, in what in
vrinter must be a very considerable stream, over a bridge
of one arch, that confers great honour on the engineer.
It is wholly of granite, and is thrown over a tremendous
chasm, and the view when on the bridge, looking
below into the deep clefts of granite into which the river
tumbles, and above into the world of precipices amongst
p2

212 ARMED SHEPHERDS.
which it rises, retiring into vistas of endless perspective,
crag above crag, overhung vrith ilex, beech, chestnut,
and pine, untU at length vegetation ceases and needles
of granite appear as guards to the surarait of the moun
tain, that appears dim and white vrith the lapse of
years, which have blanched his granite locks, far in the
distance amongst the blue sky towering above the whole
island. From this bridge, called II Ponto del Vecchio, the
road runs along the cornice of the mountain, quite
broad enough for perfect safety,- but narrow enough for
imagination to form fancies vrith, with deep vegetation
and a cultivated vaUey interspersed with forest below
you and Alpine heights above. The custom of burning
the woods, in order annually to clear fresh pasture, has
the effect of breaking the woods into lavms and varieties
of coppice wood, which gives the whole scenery the ah
of a gigantic park, as the trees stand in many places
single or in picturesque groups, whUst flocks of sheep
and goats repose beneath their shade. But what breaks
the illusion is, that the shepherds are all armed — the man
at work in the vineyard or the field is armed. At break
of day the labourers going to their work are all armed
— for they have all their private quarrels to settle if
opportunity offers, or they have to guard against the
consequences of feuds which they are conscious others
have vrith them.
The granite is now elevated above us, and the sub
strata of schist, mica, slate, pudding-stone, and trachite,
which sustain on their incUned planes the weight of the
spine of granite that runs from one end of Corsica to
the other, appear. In one of the specimens of pudding-
stone we found obsidian !

RUINED CONVENT. 213
We kept on in this way, gradually rising, untU we
came to the viUage of SeragUo, situated at the top of
a high hill, from whence at once opened the lovely
valley of the Tavignano, with high mountains, of which
Punta Torricella towered above the rest. On the skirts
of the valley, through continued groves of chestnut and
ilex, we contmued our road, with the peaks of Mont6
Rotondo and Mont^ Coardo rising high above us, and
pouring coohng streams across the road, which were
very pleasant during the heat that stUl prevaUed.
In the course of the day we fomid green granite.
Passing through the viUage of St. Pietro, the ridge of
mountain caUed La Serra deUa Castello, which forms
one of the buttresses of Mont6 Rotondo, runs straight
into the vaUey, dips short into it, and upon a rugged
schistose rock stands the town of Corte, at the con
fluence of three streams tributary to the Tavignano.
A ruined convent is not the least picturesque object
which salutes the sight on the left of the town as you
enter it. Its ruins are so vast that its state in splendour
must have been very magnificent. The great portal
stands close by the roadside. Over it is the text from
Scriptm-e, " This is the Gate of Heaven " ; but the
gate was shut up and barred against cattle that might
be tempted now to feast on the verdure of its grass-
grown courts, as weU as against the Christians who
were thus informed by the proud raonks of former
days that through their monastery was alone to be
found the " gate of heaven." This may afford a good
lesson to the Pharisee of every rehgion.
Both the inns are on the top of this rock, unap
proachable by carriages of any description — a strong
proof -that we were not in the land of posting and stage

214 A SPARE DINNER.
coaches. Into that of the two inns which was nearest
to the road, and consequently gave me least climbing, I
entered in an unlucky hour, and the illusion was not
dispeUed by seeing that our rooms were airj'- and tole
rably clean. But I had sent ray courier forward to
order dinner at five francs par tite. He contented him
self vrith gi"ring the order without seeing how it could
be accomphshed. The exact picture of a French inn
keeper, lean, lantern-jawed, and spectacled, assured my
altesse that my altesse's dinner would be ready au plutot;
and the preparations for the dinner of the officers of the
2nd regiment of the hne, quartered there, gave me
hopes that at least dinner was to be had — ^but, alas ! on
the rock of this very mess dinner did ours spht. After
waiting two hours, in came une pin9^e of vermicelli
swimming in an ocean of oil, as soup ; then came three
trout, of three quarters of an inch each in length (for I
raeasured them), and three cotelets and an omelet, with
apologies for sauce from the landlord, that he had caleu-
lated on getting sorae Gibier for ray altesse, but had
failed, and that vraiment Messieurs les Officiers had eat
up everything in the house. That he was sensible that
this dinner for four people was not worth five francs par
tite, and that he should not charge it. I told him that
it was not reduction of price but increase of dinner that
we wanted, and I desired him to send out and get some
more meat.
Alas ! none was to be got. The weather was hot,
meat would not keep, and so there was none, and we
had no more dinner.
21st. We were en route by four o'clock, A.M. The
whole road from hence to Bastia was the most extraor-

ROMANTIC COUNTRT. 215
dinary that ever carriage went upon. It was just
marked out in the rock, and nothing else has been done
to it. The Pr^fet of Corsica is a native of Ajaccio,
and the money destined for the whole road has been
laid out by him at the Ajaccio end of it The carriage
which I was in was something Uke an English butcher's
cart, but not so easy. There was no back, but a rail to
it, just cutting the loins in two, and the unfortunate
traveller was obliged to sit upright without the means of
repose the whole journey; and this day's journey was
one of forty-six Enghsh raUes over the road which I
have described. I never suffered such fatigue in my
hfe. On leaving Cort^ we immediately passed one of the
streams which form the Tavignano. The first appear
ance of the sun lighting up the summit of the granite
peak of Mont6 Rotondo, and graduaUy dropping, as it
were, a curtain of gold gauze down its sides, was quite
magical. Here we took our final leave of granite ; but
the serrated edge of Mont6 Cenin, to the north, showed
that it stUl continued to raaintain its ground in the
central spine of the island.
For some httle space the road passed through a flat
country, the valley of the Tavignano, or wound up
amongst low hills cultivated and rich in vineyards. But
the skirts of the valley on both sides preserved their
mountain grandeur. Passing by Saverta, and rising the
hill, we left the Tavignano, which in the chain of
Monte Rosso finds its source, and at the bridge caUed
Ponta Francardar we crossed near its sorirce the river
caUed Le Golo. Here the country again assumes a ro
mantic aspect. The river runs in a deep, narrow, rocky

216 FOREST SCENERY.
bed, the rocks overhung with ilex and chestnut, and
deeply fringed vrith the beautiful arbutus imderwood
which clothes the whole country. The rocks are here,
and for raany miles, wholly of serpentine, schist, and
talc — black, green, and grey. The effect of their glassy
lustre, contrasted vrith the vivid green of the woods, and
the brightness of the water, was beautiful ; and in many
places the windings of the river presented deep and
placid pools, which afforded the most beautiful land
scapes of repose and rural picturesque effect.
The road ran upon a cornice high above the level of
the river, and we kept regularly ascending, untU we
again descended to cross it at Pont6 del Lucia, and
again at Ponte Nuova, where is a sort of public-house,
consisting of a station of gendarmerie, and apartments
for the officers of the army and Governraent traveUing
along the road. This place is surrounded by a waU re
gularly looped for rausketry, and serves as a " tete de
pent " for the bridge, which is a very handsorae one, of
one arch. Here, after four hours and a half drive, we
breakfasted and reposed for two hours.
The face of the country is quite different here from
that of the forraer part of our journey. The low
grounds are no longer cultivated. They are covered
vrith the raagnificent forest scenery of the country
down to the edge of the rivers, broken into lavms and
phnths, and with railes of underwood such as I
have before described. The summits of the hills are
cultivated, and in the deep recesses of their rocks, wherp
nothing, one should think, but an eagle could perch, and
nothing but a goat stand when there, are to be seen the
viUages, with their httle quiet unpretending church-

BASTIA AT NIGHT. 217
towers rising frora the raidst of vineyards, and tufted
with trees. In this raanner the road runs between
mountains of serpentine, schist, and talc, mitil near a
place caUed Valpeja, the river turns to the right and
shapes its course towards the sea, and the road, turning
round the shoulder of a mountain, breaks at once upon
the whole coast of Corsica as far as Cape Corso, the
expanse of the Mediterranean, with the isles of Elba
and Capraja in the distance, and Bastia on the sea
shore, about twenty miles distant. From hence the
country loses its mountain interest, and the road runs
straight through the flat country to the capital. But on
the left the mountains recede and show at a distance the
beauties of their recesses and the splendour of their

On the seaside is a long lake of salt water, separated
from the sea only by a narrow strip of land. Beyond
Bastia are to be seen the high mountains, which continue
their steady course along the centre of the island, until
finaUy they drop into the sea at Cape Corso.
After a very fatiguing journey, in which we had gone
far more than 100 mUes across the most interesting part
of the island, and through scenes it has been the lot
of very few people, especiaUy Englishmen, to see, we
entered Bastia after nightfaU. An immense crowd
assembled to see us, and attended us to the water's edge.
The streets got narrow and winding ; the mob increased
and grew noisy ; all the night-capped population assem
bled at the windows, and that part which was dressed
came into the streets to see what was the raatter, and
could not quite make out whether I was some hero
enjoying an ovation in a cabriolet, or a criminal carrying

218 BASTIA.
to the galleys in a cart. However, I was thus conveyed
to my barge, and the mob thanked me for the sight I
had afforded them by cheering me when I pushed off
frora the shore.

219

CHAPTER xn.

Curiosity at Bastia — Signor Lescia — A Traitorous Proposal —
Juvenile Bathers — A SquaU off Porto Vecchio — Porto Manza —
Granite Islands in the Straits of Bonifacio — Arrival at Genoa —
Reception at the Palace — The Queen Dowager — Visit to the
Naval Arsenal — Bay of Genoa — Hon. Mr. Arundel — La Conser
vatoire des Fieschini — Leave Genoa.

August 22nd, The Enghsh Consul came to rae. Bad
news of quarantine at Genoa, and at aU the Mediterra^
nean ports, in consequence of the Ulness at Marseilles
caUed the small-pox, which is spreading its ravages.
The CoUector of the Customs called and offered every
civihty. The Mayor and Prefect did the sarae. In
short, my reception here forms a strong contrast with
that at Ajaccio.
The coast to the northward very picturesque, every
recess in the mountains affording a different and a most
picturesque landscape.
23rd. Last night it blew a very heavy gale, right off
from the land. We were obhged to strike topgallant
masts and carry out another anchor astern. The harbour

220 curiosity.
is so narrow that you drop your anchor on the outside of
it, warp in, and raoor your ship by one hawser to the
mole on one side, and by another to a huge rock called
the Lion Rock, frora its shape, on the other. The gales
sometimes come down in heavy gusts frora the mountains,
and then you must take care that your hawsers on shore
hold, or you go on the Lion Rock. Our kedge-anchor
came home in the night ; but we were quite safe.
The raountains here are entirely schistose and hme
stone. The French Government is not very strong here.
There is a powerful English party. The Sous Prtfet
sent me a present of sorae Muscat of Cape Corso, which
is thought very fine.
25th. A party rode over to St. Fiorenzo, and were
much disappointed. It is a wretched place. The major
who commands there came out, and affected much
civility, but told thera that they must take no drawings
of " the fortifications," as if they did he must perform an
unpleasant duty and arrest them. They laughed in his
face, and asked him if he fancied that the Enghsh, who
had driven the French out of St. Fiorenzo, had not
drawings enough of its " fortifications." In fact, they
consist of one miserable dry ditch, which a jackass could
clamber over.
The curiosity of the people here is unbounded. To
day crowds of boats were round the vessel, and I allowed
all well-dressed persons to come on board and see her.
But a boatfuU of blackguards hung round the ship,
peeped through the quarter-deck ports, and laughed and
made faces at Mrs. Wilson on the deck. They were de
sired to go away, but would not ; said it was their port,
and they would do as they liked. Our men were ordered

LORD BURGHERSH. 221
to force them off, which they did ; and the Frenchraen
went swearing on shore, and threw stones, but, on a
musket being pointed at thera, ran away. I sent off to
the pohce, who in a tvrinkling seized the boat and the
men, and put them all into prison, when the Mayor sent
me a world of excuses, &c., and issued an ordinance to
prevent a repetition of such impertinence.
26th. A Signor Lescia, a Corsican, who was bred a
musician and educated in Paris, has married an Enghsh-
woman, the daughter of an Enghsh gentleman who has
ruined himself in Paris. She is very modest, quiet,
and weU-behaved. He is not absolutely in want, but
stUl teaches and wishes to sing in concerts. The Enghsh
Consul introduced them to me. He has, I think, one of
the finest bass voices I ever heard. I have given him a
letter to Lord Burghersh,' as he finds it sad work teach
ing the Corsicans to sing, and proposes immediately
going to Florence.
28th. The crowds of ladies who come on board to see
the vessel are incessant. We have not a moraent to
ourselves. I had received a letter, purporting to be
signed by a person in the name of the friends of the
English interest here, congratulating rae on my arrival,
professing the strongest attachment to England, and
desiring to receive my comraands, &c. I plead being ill,
and decline answering. This morning a person came on
board. I asked the English Consul who he was; he
told me that he was an officer of the Customs, and he
desired a private audience. When I took him into my
• Not more celebrated as a diplomatist than as a musical con
noisseur. He was also a Major-General in the army, and was for
many years at the head of our Embassy at Florence. He succeeded
his father as Earl of Westmoreland in 1841 .

222 A TRAITOR.
cabin I found out, to ray surprise, that he was ray cor
respondent ; and he professed hiraself afraid of losing his
situation in consequence of visiting me. I asked him
— " Why, then, did he come ? " He answered — " His
attachraent to the Enghsh, respect for rae," and a long
rigraarole of nonsense and fustian. He requested an
answer to his letter, to satisfy the irapatience of his
friends, &c. I asked hira if it were true that he was
eraployed under the existing Governraent ? He rephed
— " Yes — for want of bread," and produced certificates
of his father's having served the Enghsh, signed by
officers of the Enghsh forces commanding here, and
one by Paoh. I then said, that my only answer
was, that England must always remember with interest
her friends in Corsica ; but that, under existing circum
stances, no Englishman could give them other advice
than to remain contented under the Government of
France, and to serve her faithfully, as the best means of
benefiting their ovm country. He answered that,
" Governed, as France was now, by Jacobins, under the
semblance of royalty, the friends of the King could get
no employment ; that his party was the strongest in the
counti-y; and that a signal frora England would ruin
Corsica." I iraraediately got up, and said — " Did he expect that
I — =an EngUshraan, travelhng then under French pro
tection, the subject of a country at peace with France,
and known to be the friend of the reigning family on ¦
the French throne — could Usten to a person eating the
bread of that Governraent, talking upon such subjects,
as unfit for him to speak upon, as for me to hsten
to?" I desired to shew liim the way upon deck. He implored .

COAST OF BASTIA. 223
me to stay while he stated his case. I said I would
hsten to no more on the subject of his forraer conversa
tion. He then asked me to get him employed under
the Sardinian, or any other Governraent ; and was again
reverting to his former subject, when I peremptorily
refused to hear more, and desired him to quit the
vessel. I found the Enghsh Consul on deck; and, as I shrewdly
suspected the feUow to be a spy, I told the Consul what
had passed, and desired him to bear witness to what I
had told him. >
The view of the coast of Bastia is beautiful. The
tovm is situated at the foot of, and embosomed in, high
mountains, cultivated to the verge of the under
wood, and every eminence crowned with a church,
a monastery, or some picturesque building. We got
some magnificent blocks of noble serpentine and orbicu
lar granite. I think that it is plain that, with all their
fuss and profession, the French are doing, and will do,
httle for Corsica. They have opened no roads, and ap
pear to have raade no improvements. Education, and
the morals of the people, are in no respect attended to ;
and I see no marks of national improvement resulting
from a paternal government. The laws are better
administered than under the Genoese. But Corsicans
are never employed ; and the trial by jury not allowed
— ^because juries, they say, owing to the state of private
feud in the islands, could not be irapartial. For that
very reason I would give them juries. When they saw
that their feuds prevented justice frora being adminis
tered, their feuds would cease — as most certainly they
would prefer the due administration of justice to the
club-law now existing araong them.

224 STRAITS OF BONIFACIO.
This evening we got under weigh, and warped out of
the harbour. No vrind. The manner in which all the
little boys of the place habitually bathe here is very re
markable. From the youngest to the oldest, they all
leap off the head of the Lion Rock, which is in the har
bour, straight into the sea, a height of full forty feet ;
and this they repeat raany tiraes, clustering on the top
hke bees, and darting off hke stags one after the other.
They all went in feet f oreraost, and, I remarked, crossed
themselves regularly before they made their plunge.
They are half the day in the water, amusing themselves
with this exercise. A shght breeze sprung up after
sunset, which carried us very gently along the coast
towards Bonifacio. The hues of evening upon the
shores of the island, and the mountains over Bastia, can
not be imitated by any painter.
28th. In the evening we were off the estuary of the
Fiumorbo. To our right we saw, far inland, the gramte
peaks of our friends, Mont6 d'Oro and Rotondo, rising,
cold, in the clear sky ; and to our left the less high, but
more rugged and serrated, peaks of Monte Giovanni.
About two o'clock, p.m., the breeze mcreased, as we
opened the Straits of Bonifacio, and then died away,
At length, in an instant, the breeze came rushing down
in a heavy squall ; and we had barely tirae to take in
our sails, when we were laid down on our beam-ends;
We double-reefed everything, and lay very snug ; but
we were not quite in a comfortable situation, as we had
no chart of the harbour of Porto Vecchio, and we were
not quite clear of the look of the land, especiaUy as it
was described in our saihng directions with a little more
attention to the picturesque than was quite consistent
with technical precision ; and we saw rocks about which

PORTO VECCHIO. 225
we did not like to raake too intiraate an acquaintance
with, without proper introduction. However, at length
we found out the land to be clearly Porto Vecchio, and
we stood in for it, the vrind coraing in very heavy puffs
and squalls frora off the land ; and we were obhged to
make a dead beat to windward, maldng short bounds.
There are two channels into the roadstead, vrithin and
without two rocks, high above water. In the midst of
aU this pother we found the vessel answer the helm, as
we thought, very Ul ; and, on examining, we found that
the blessed reraains of Mr. Stebbing's iron-work, in his
patent steering apparatus, had flown like glass, and we
were obhged instantly to unship it all, and fix the iron
tUler. When this was done we ran into Porto Vecchio,
and came to an anchor in a very fine, weU-protected har
bour, quite landlocked, running four mUes inland, and
without any danger.
At the farther end of this harbour, and on the sum -
mit of a rising ground, stands the town of Porto Vecchio,
now entirely depopulated, as at this season of the year
all the inhabitants leave it, it being one of the few places
in Corsica deemed unwholesome — there being flat and
marshy ground, covered, down to the water's side, with
arbutus and heath. The background of the scenery of
Porto Vecchio consists of the same line of high raoun
tains, now gradually descending into calcareous forma
tion, which forms the back-bone of Corsica.
29th. We weighed this raorning and proceeded to
Porto Manza, the nearest to the granite islands and rocks
in the mouth of the Strait of Bonifacio. The breeze
stUl blew briskly, but it was steady, and carried us along
at the rate of ten knots the hour. By five o'clock in the
evening we were at anchor in the Porto Manza. Off
VOL. II. Q

226 "boney."
the raouth of it are two sraaU islands, the Greater and
Lesser Bull, to which it is right to give a good berth.
The harbour runs six raUes inland, and forras into
coves, which renders it safe and fine ; but not a house,
hut, shepherd, or living being, is to be seen. The rocks
are wholly trachitic, except one range of dazzhng white,
which upon exaraination we found was of tertiary calca^
reous rock, precisely like that of Sicily, and containing
the sarae shells.
As we did not, of course, choose to run the danger of
communication with possible inhabitants, we could not
trace the course of this stratum inland. But from the
ship we could distinguish it running up in patches
amongst the mountains.
The young stag which Madame Larabert gave me
at Ajaccio, and which the sailors have consequently
named " Boney," is a great amusement to us, feeding
out of our hands, and following us hke a dog. He is
of a darker brown than our red-deer in England. He
has good taste enough to prefer the quarter-deck to the
forward part of the ship ; is quite at liberty, and lies
dovsn^ amongst us, except at dinner-time, when he regu
larly goes forward and romps with the men for their
biscuit and potatoes, of which he is very fond.
In this harbour we found a French brigantine, laden
with firewood, which her crew were stealing out of the
woods that covered the shore.
30th. We proceeded at six o'clock this morning in
the barge in search of the island where the Romans had
excavated the great quarry of granite, out of which they
had, as the story goes, built the Pantheon in Eom6.
The whole opening of the Straits of Bonifacio lay be
fore us, vrith the lands of Sardinia and Corsica on either

ISLANDS. 227
side. The straits are in this place about six miles
over. On the Sardinian side are the St. Madeleiia
islands, enclosing fine anchorages and harbours, of which
Lord Nelson and our Mediterranean fleets took advan
tage last war. They are composed of masses of granite.
On the Corsican shore are the islands of Cavallo, Piano,
Perduto, and Levanza, and numberless other islets and
reefs, aU of the same grey granite, interspersed with
rose-coloured granite ; none of them rising very high,
but forming a wilderness of granite, amongst which no
vessel could venture or hve for a raoment. Here the
granite ceases, and, after running to vrithin a mile of
the Corsican land, stops. The land then rises calca
reous and sandy. It is plain, therefore, that the land
of Sardinia runs to nearly the coast of Corsica, when
the convulsion of nature happened which partiaUy broke
¦up the granite range, and formed the Straits of Boni
facio. That this was done by fire raay be argued by
our finding a regular stratum of basalt running right
across the granite, in an inclination from the north-west
to the south-east, in the first granite island we came to,
between the islands of Levanza and CavaUo. This dyke
of basalt runs about seven or eight feet broad, and the
stratification is so regular as nearly to approach a quad
rilateral prismatic formation. We also picked up in the
same spot sorae borabe of basalt.
The Island of Levanza is about a mile round, and,
amidst all its granite, furnishes in the interior a little
grass, which affords food to some miserable goats and
horses that are brought over from the land of Corsica
to devour it. Four men were also upon the island, as
they told us, fishing. By their directions we went back
towards the Island of CavaUo, and, on a small islet
Q2

228 VALUABLE STONE.
separated from CavaUo by a very narrow strait, we
found the object we were in search of. Immense blocks
of granite lay aU over the islet, ebauche, and partly
worked, and signs of iramense quantities being carried
away. A large column lay on the ground rudely
rounded off, as it came frora the parent. rock under
which it lay, sound, and compact, and ringing like a
bell. It was 29 feet in length, and 3 feet 6 inches in
diaraeter. Near it lay the ebauche of its phnth, and
squared blocks of granite, suited to entablatures, and
other parts of architectural decoration, on the largest
scale, laying about in aU directions, prove how much ad
vantage the Romans took of these iraraense resources of
architectural wealth. Whether the dimensions of this
column suit those in the Pantheon I know not ; but I
beheve that there is no evidence whatever, save of tra
dition, that the Pantheon was fumished from these quar
ries. It is evident, however, that the Romans found in
Corsica raany of the marbles which they were supposed
to have brought from Egypt. The green granite which
Lord Compton^ discovered worked up in an excavation
in Rome, I found in situ in Corsica. The verd antique
and serpentine have been discovered in Corsica; and^
considering the immense quantities of chloride found
here in all its varieties, I have httle doubt that othet
valuable stone exists here. But the fact is, that Corsica
is as yet entirely unexamined in a geological and mine
ralogical point of view.
Araidst all these rocks and ruins we took our dinner.
' Charles, Earl Compton, eldest son of the Marquis of Nor
thampton, President of the Royal Society, whom he succeeded in
the title.

CAVALLO. 229
The causeway, or inclined plane, formed of blocks of
granite, and along which these immense masses were
roUed to be embarked, is quite visible, and perfect down
to the water's edge ; and a large raass, probably in
tended for part of an entablature, is now to be seen at
the extremity of the causeway close by the water, raised
upon its granite supports, ready to be hove into the boat
waiting for it. It would thus appear that the works
must hastUy have been suspended. I cannot find that
upon any of these islands there is fresh water. The
expense of human hfe, therefore, in working these
quarries must have been immense. But this considera
tion never stood in the way of the Romans, who owe
much of their character of magnificence, as demonstrated
in their public and private works, to the utterly inhu
man and barbarous manner in which they raade their
wretched slaves and prisoners work for the gratification
of their vanity.
The Island of Cavallo is, hke the rest, forraed of gra
nite, with occasional veins of quartz ; the granite of
three sorts — ^grey, with large crystals of black felspar,
and broad plates of mica ; grey granite, somewhat ap
proaching to the graphic; and rose-coloured ditto. As
we returned to Porto Manza, we found that part of the
cliffs of Corsica consist of trachite, secondary granite,
and calcareous formation.
31st. In the evening weighed anchor and left Porto
Manza. The breeze was very hght and contrary, and we
were obliged to beat out. But, on the outside, what little
there was was fair, and we preserved our course along
the shores of the island.
September 2nd. The breeze failed at night. What
httle there was was again fair, and we quietly glided by

230 GENOA.
Cape Corso, the furthest extreraity of the Island of
Corsica. At nine o'clock we were about twenty miles
from it. At two o'clock the breeze failed us, and
then turned against us.
3rd. This raorning I dropped my anchor in the
harbour of Genoa, and here ends my voyage. Instead
of finding quarantine, we obtained pratique iraraediately,
the quarantine being confined to Marseilles and the land
communications across the Rhone. The illness at Mar
seilles is not the small-pox. It attacks, par preference,
the persons who have had the sraall-pox naturaUy and
most severely ; but the pustules do not fiU, and the dis
ease re-enters the systera.
Every civility has been shewn rae. The Governor is
absent, but the Admiral sent to me immediately, as well
as the General acting in the absence of the Governor..
The Queen Dowager is here. I saluted H.M. with
twenty-one guns, and the Adrairal with nineteen, who
returned gun for gun.
Nothing can be finer than the situation of Genoa,
covering the side of one of the lower roots of the
Apennines, with its white houses, marble palaces, and
churches. 4th. I went to the palace to-day in full dress, and was
well received by the- Queen Dowager, who is a very
mild-raannered and respectable old lady. She received
rae civUly and kindly, dressed in raourning. She
presented rae to her two daughters. After the usual
cereraonious talk on such occasions, I took my leave.
Her tone was to keep clear of aU politics — ^to inquire
about my travels, and especially about Sardinia— the
Viceroy, whora she praised — and the Archbishop, whom
she treated as an old twaddler. She seeraed to have httle

GENOESE PALACES. 231
Austrian hauteur about her, and endeavoured to be
affable. She hves in the Palazzo Doria, which she has
bought. I was ushered up a large ffight of stairs, raag
nificent, in marble, into a beautiful ante-room, painted in
fresco, and adorned with marble rehevos and colurans.
In the next roora, of immense dimensions, she received
me, standing in the midst of a shppery floor, and of
course I had not tirae to examine its beauties.
The court and fa9ade of the palace are in the best
style of Genoese architecture — ^massive, raagnificent, and
pure. The whole city is a raagazine of palaces, all
crowded together in narrow streets one on the top of
the other, so that they cannot be seen. But aU are
beautiful and splendid in marble and decorations.
There were but three streets in Genoa in which a
carriage could go, but the King has opened a third to
his new theatre.
5th. An aide-de-camp of the Admiral accorapanied
me to-day on board the ships of war and through the
naval arsenal. The whole is in high order. They have
one frigate as a guard-ship, which is a very fine one.
She mounts carronades on the gangway, and long guns
on the main-deck — all 24-pounders, and aU Enghsh,
,She carries sixty guns. They have had officers in our
dock-yards, and in that of Toulon, and have profited by
aU that they have seen. I sent in the raorning to say that
I wished td see the vessel. I went on board at eleven
o'clock. Until nine, when they got my raessage, they
were unraooring to shift their berth, clearing the hold,
and doing aU sorts of dirty work. By the time I got on
board she was as clean, and in as good order, as an
Enghsh ship. Everything was after the Enghsh fashion,
with but two distinctions — one of which was, in my

232 FRIGATES.
mind, a great improveraent ; the other not. The arms
and gunners' stores forraed the ornament of the after-part
of the wardroom, and were not separated from it ; conse
quently the wardroom officers either must live in the
raidst of the smell of oU and of the dirt occasioned by the
regular cleaning of the arms, or the arms must suffer
from want of attention, or frora the steam of the officers'
dinners, the smoke of their lamps, &c. The only re
commendation is that, in case of mutiny, aU the arms are
in the possession of the officers, through whose cabin is
the after cockpit and raagazine hatchway. But what I
approve highly is the arrangement made for the midship
men, who have a large cabin divided off for them before
the wardroom. Thus they are always under the eye of
the officers, and not exposed to the darkness and stench
of the cockpit and cable tier.
From thence I was conducted over the Arsenal, which
is very sraaU, but very pretty ; and, although in an infant
state, proraises well.
I went on board another frigate, not quite so large as
the first, but quite new, and with a round stern. They
had three other frigates of different sizes, and two half-
gallies, which are used now for coast service only.
They row with forty-four oars. They have a model-
room, with models of raany of the latest iraproveraents
in our dockyards.
After my visit, I brought the officer who conducted
me on board my yacht, and showed him sorae of our
yacht dandyisra, of which he took drawings.
I then went down the coast to the eastward in my
barge. Certainly nothing can be more beautiful than
the Bay of Genoa. In some respects it is finer than
that of Naples. The Apennines rising high imme-

BAY OF GENOA. 233
diately behind the town ; the luxe of marble palaces, and
houses of every degree, colour, and form, interspersed
with orange and olive groves, and vines, covering the
mountain's base, and swarming up its side ; the bold
outhne of the waUs and fortified positions crowning its
summit, present a picture not to be equalled anywhere ;
and the taper, beautiful form of the lighthouse, and the
coast stretching away to the westward to the Capo di
Noh, and to the eastward to II Porto Fino, almost com
pensate for the omission of Vesuvius, and the absence of
Portici and Pausihpo. As far as the eye can reach both
ways the same beautiful scenery, interspersed with the
deep gorges of the Apennines, continues. To the east
ward is the Lazaretto and Dockyard, where three large
frigates are on the stocks. Here the Enghsh were to
have stormed the works, upon their eastern flank, in
1814. Wilcox was to have coramanded a party of sea
men upon this service; but the town capitulated that
evening. On the 10th of last July the sea rose along this coast
above three English feet — a circumstance never before
remembered. But it continued flowing and ebbing
irregularly all day. Some violent eruption of volcanic
matter, or some earthquake, must have taken place
somewhere. The mercantile navy of Genoa, at this raoraent, con
sists of 2,000 saU.
Sth. The stearaboat from Naples carae in with,
amongst other passengers, Mr. Arundel, Lord A.'s
brother. He is a cripple, having had a paralytic affec
tion last summer twelvemonth, in consequence of a sud
den chiU after being hot, at Rome, which deprived him.

234 BANK OF ST. GEORGE.
of the use of his lirabs. That of one leg is restored by
the use of the waters of Ischia, but the other is entirely
palsied, and he hangs upon cmtches. His spirits are,
however, good, and he is now going horae to put himself
under Aberneth/s care, being satisfled that his illness
proceeds entirely from the stomach alone. I have him
brought on board ray yacht, take hira on shore, and he
went about seeing sights vrith rae in ray carriage. He
afterwards dined with me, and passed the evening on
board. He has entirely forgot his wife, who died so
young, after living only a few months with him.
Close to the landing-place is the famous old bank of
St. George, which, by its generous confidence in the pro
bity of the merchants of London, deprived Phihp of
Spain of the raoney he wanted to equip the Armada des
tined for the invasion of England, and, by postponing
that attempt, gave Elizabeth time to prepare for the
attack. It is now the custom-house, but a great fresco-
painting of " St. George and the Dragon," which covers
the outside, stiU appears vrith pride to recaU its former
name and importance.
9th. In the morning I went in my barge to the west
ward along Le Riviere di Pinente. The scenery of
tovnis, villas, palazzi, intermixed vrith all the beauties of
orange and ohve groves and vineyards, raonasteries co
vering the lower erainences, and the Apennines forming
the higher and the background, vrith the white and ghtr
tering city of Genoa the proud, hterally covering from
crown to base one entire raoimtain, and spreading its
suburbs of St. Pierre d'Arena on the western side and
Albaro on the east, like the sweeping studding-sails of
an enorraous vessel crowded with a cloud of white saU

ESTABLISHMENT FOR GIRLS. 235
before the wind, presented a picture I believe unequaUed
in Europe.
In the evening I went to an inspection of the garrison
of Genoa by the locum tenens of the Governor. There
were scarcely 3,000 troops on the ground, but theywere
steady, clean, in good order, and raarched by weU.
llth. Took a drive to the estabhshraent of girls
"La Conservatoire des Fieschini," so called after
its founder, Dorainicho Fieschi, patrician of Genoa,
who estabhshed it in 1760. It is raeant for poor
girls, who are provisionaUy nuns untU a certain age,
after which time they may profess, or at any time
marry, and in this case they have a dowry granted them
out of the estate of the founder. They make here the
most beautiful artificial flowers in the world. The Pa
lazzo de Fieschi, where is the establishraent, is an enor
mous buUding, vrithin the old waUs built in the bastion
of Zerbino. The ground falls dovni immediately be
neath it into a gorge of the Apennines, and the convent
commands a view of the heights, and picturesque val
leys, from Fort Diaraante to the sea, which certainly is
not calculated to make the young inhabitants of the
estabhshment less anxious to see more of a world of
which they hourly behold from their windows so beau
tifid and enchanting a specimen.
12th. I went to-day to view an artificial grotto which
I was told was a miracle of art, about five railes out of
town, on La Riviere del Pinente. I found a guinguette
with a long room and two smaU ones, forming a cross,
with a fountain in the middle, fitted up as a grotto, with
wooden imitations of stalactites, and stools and tables
for hot citizens of Genoa to sit on Sundays and holidaysj,

236 LEAVE-TAKING.
to eat fruit and ice in. They told rae that when the
Austrians blockaded Genoa they raade a stable of the
grotto, and carried off, as the man assured me with the
greatest gravity, 30,000 Uvres worth of coral. This, of
course, was a falsehood.
13th. The embroidery and gold work here are famous.
I have bought some for those I love best. I have given
Carphy and Nicholson a sUver coffee or punch pot each,
in token of ray approbation and thanks, and a silver
snuff-box to Ford. They are delighted beyond measure.
To Donati, who takes leave of me here, I have given a
gold snuff-box, ten pounds to carry hira home to Naples,
j)ar diligence, and a letter to Sir Henry Lushington, re
questing him to advance Donati fifty pounds sterhng, to
pay him for his tirae. He is sorry to go, and I am
equally so to lose hira, as he has been a very active,
quiet, unassuming corapanion, and has been of great use
to me. I give my ship's corapany a supper and bowl of
punch as a leave-taking. They were very uproarious
and jolly, and the quiet harbour rung vrith their cheers
until eleven at night.
14th. Wilcox and Radchffe take leave of me — I be
lieve highly pleased with all that I have done with re
spect to them. I have certainly every reason to be
satisfied with them both.
The Piedmontese Governraent has behaved in the
handsoraest way possible. I asked for leave to land my
trunks, in order to travel by land, and they not only did
so, but gave rae an order which I had never asked
for, to pass unexamined and unsearched through the
whole kingdora of Piedmont. The only incivUity which
I have experienced has been from the EngUsh Consul,

ENGLISH CONSUL. 237
Mr. Sterling, who, after the first day when I sent for
him, has never been near me or shown me the slightest
attention. I cannot conceive the reason why.

238

CHAPTER XIII.
Genoese Women — Architectural Freak at Savona — ^Magnificent
View — Ventimigha — Monaco — Trophy of Augustus on the
Mountain La Turbia — Approach to Nice— VUlafranca — As
cending the Maritime Alps — Col de Tende — Dangerous Road
— Mountains and Clouds — Cosi — Approach to Turin.
September 15th. This raorning I took leave of the
"Anna Eliza." My crew parted vrith me; I beheve,
also, vrith regret. They fitred a salute, and cheered
loudly. I went to the Wilsons' lodgings, where my car
riage was, packed, and, after many vexatious delays, got
off frora thence about twelve o'clock.
We passed through Genoa by the Lanterna Road.
Our course lay araongst a succession of viUages, bastides,
palazzi, orange groves, olive woods, and vineyards ; with
every now and then a peep up a fiumara, into a narrow
gorge of the Apennines, whose suraraits, capped ¦with
clouds, forraed the misty background of the picture.
The road kept along the sea-side, and at length we ar
rived at our first stage, Voltri, where we changed
horses — a sraall town with iron-works, where they work

BEAUTIFUL ¦WOMEN. ^39
lip all the old iron which they purchase at Gibraltar,
and elsewhere. The road continued by the sea-side,
gradually mounting upon the comiche overhanging
the sea, where it was extremely good — the descents and
ascents so moderate, as scarcely to be felt — until we
came to the village of Alisano, where it turned into
the Apennines, along a gorge overhanging a romantic
stream, the banks of which were rich -with ohve woods
and vineyards — the former swelling up the sides of the
roots of the Apennines, and cro-wning their suraraits.
After proceeding in this way for about a mile, the road
crossed the stream, and again turned to the sea, the
opening upon which was beautiful.
Thus we proceeded, rising in height above the blue
waters of the Mediterranean, until we rounded this part
of the Bay of Genoa, and, looking back, the -riew of the
sweeping shores of le Riviere del Ponente was magnifi
cent, -with the lanterna of Genoa throvring up its white
tower into the blue sky, and the white city and suburbs
of Genoa variegated the lower sides of the Apennines
with streaks of briUiant white. Here, too, we saw the
" Anna Eliza," ¦with every sail set on the breeze, gaining
an offing under her royals, and raaking her way to dear,
distant England.
The place frora whence we enjoyed this ¦riew is called
Boscoletto ; and from thence to the tovra of Yorea,
where a good deal of trade appears to be carrying on in
a smaU way, and several vessels, amongst which were
two handsome brigs, were building on the beach. All
seemed industrious, and aU employed. What struck me
most, aU along the road from Genoa, was the beauty of
the woraen, the fairness of their complexions, and the
perfection of their shape. Accustomed from their m-

240 PICTURESQUE "VILLAGES.
fancy to carry weights upon their heads vrithout support,
their walk possesses singular firraness, elasticity, and
grace. The contrast between thera and the tanned,
saUow features of the Neapohtan, SicUian, Sardinian,
and Corsican women was raost striking.
Here was a very picturesque palazzo, situated high on
the chff above, ¦with a beautiful, sandy cove of the sea
ending in a sraaU beach, and a bridge of one arch over
the streara, which in ¦winter coraes roaring from the
Apennines. High up in the gorge you see woods of
ohve and evergreen; oak clothing the erainences, and
high pine woods rising above thera. Thus the road runs
on upon the comiche, coraraandin^ -riews of the Bay of
Genoa, and the headlands of Savona and Noh pushing
far into the ocean, vrith raany a sweeping promontory
falling right down into the sea, and covered ¦with ohves
and other trees quite to the water's edge.
We passed through the picturesque ¦riUages of Far-
rosa, Scilla, and Arbitoglio, until the citadel of Savona
appeared, pushing far its mole into the waves, vrith the
old, dusky to^wn sweeping the edge of the shore. We
were high above it, and descended a steep road by the
playground of a serainary of Jesuits, where the boys,.
in cocked hats and soutanes, were playing at ball, until-
at length we plunged deep into the to^wn, the whole
valley belonging to which was dotted all over ¦with bas
tides and orange groves, ha^ring raany of the trees
bursting into flower. We drove straight to the Albergo
Nuovo. I was very much amused ¦with a man who had
built an enormous red brick house, painted on the
outside in fresco, in gigantic flgures, and in aU pos
sible orders of architecture, situated beautifully in

SAVONA. 241
the midst of groves and \-ineyards; but his great and
only pride, evidently, was a huge mis-shapen tower of
alternate white and red bricks, which he had raised on
a httle mound, like a pattfe, to look do^wn his own
chimney. 16th. This morning we left Savona. It is an old
town, surrounded by an old wall, and a gateway, at
which a sentry is still placed; but the greatest part
of the inhabited town is in the suburbs, where the
mns, &c., are. Within the walls Monsieur le Com
mandant, and his sateUites of the Douane, held their
sohtary reign. We drove out iraraediately upon the
sea-shore, along which the road passes, at different
heights, aU the way to Onegha, where we slept. On
lea-ring Savona the road is at first flat, running araongst
mulberry trees, vineyards, and ohve groves. The first
town we came to had the remains of an old fortress,
proudly perched upon a mountain's side, and well
situated for the style of warfare which raged at the
time when this, and many like it, were buUt, but quite
useless now. It is very reraarkable to observe how
aU the heights and suraraits of the Maritirae Alps are
cro-wned -with sraall towers, either built in the days of
the Condottieri, or when Genoa reigned over these fron
tier vaUies ¦with a rod of iron. They are all now, more
or less, in ruins, and add rauch to the picturesque
beauty of the scenery. Sorae of those best suited for
the purpose, on the sea^shore, are stiU kept up as sta
tions for the douaniers.
Here, at the point of the land which forras one side
of the Bay of Noli, is the httle, picturesque island of
Belseri, on which stands a ruined fort. The rocks are
all coraposed of beautiful shades of micaceous schist.
VOL. II. K

242 MARITIME ALPS.
The road rises on the cornice above the sea. It is
well constructed, but too narrow. There is no real
danger ; but the precipice is very steep — sheer down
into the sea. In sorae places there is no guard at
all ; in some, merely stones put up ; in others, a dwarf
wall. On the point of Noli the road runs through a gallery
cut through the rock, of above 100 yards in length.
After we had passed this, a raost roraantic promontory,
covered with ohve-trees down to the water's edge, pre
sents itself, and the road turns into the land, and through
a beautiful olive wood and a small to^wn, we again came
round to the sea, and, passing through the grotto of
Finale — another tunnel like that of Noli — came to the
ancient town of Finale and its castle. Frora thence a
beautiful gorge and fiumara running far into the
Maritime Alps, which is rich vrith woods of ohve and
immense pines and pinasters, and dotted with houses
and -rillages. Across this gorge the road runs, and
mounts by short zig-zag traverses a steep mountain, at
the top of which, above 2,000 feet high, the view
is magnificent.
The whole Gulf of Genoa is under the eye. The
raountains of primitive limestone above Carrara, and aU
the Tuscan raountains beyond the Gulf of Spezzia, pre
sent theraselves on the one hand. A white line, which
designates Genoa, runs along one portion of the picture;
every part of the cornice, and every to^wn we have
passed through lay beneath us hke a raap ; and in the
far horizon were to be distinguished the blue high
lands of Corsica, the island of Gorgona, and that of
Caprara. Here the raountain, which is called Cravaropra, is

ALBENGA 243
composed of different-coloured marbles, consisting of
sulphate of lime in different varieties. Araongst others
a very beautiful black and white sort, a pink variety,
and Ul one place a large cliff consisted entirely of sta
lactitic sulphate of lime.
Descending from this elevation in the same raanner
in which we raounted it, we swept along the sea-shore.
Beautiful passes into the raountains, covered with
wood and steep precipices, below us, feathered down
to the water's edge -with evergreen oaks, raulberries,
carobas, figs, and pinasters, through -rillages and
to-wns, until we reached Albenga, where we changed
horses. This town is situated at the bottom of one
of the thousand beautiful Uttle indented bays which
break in upon this enchanting coast. Off the coast is
another httle island, with a roraantic tower. From
thence we passed into another inlet, where stands
the httle to-wn of Alessia, where we changed again;
and here the Maritime Alps send off a lateral branch
or spar, which connects itself -with the roots of the
high Alps, in the chain which is the grand St. Ber
nard, &c.
The first -riew of this gorge is very fine, as, although
it is far from equalling in height the one it arrives at last
at, it shews chain above chain, untU, in the far
distance, peaks and ridges are discernible, offering
a true Alpine appearance. All the first ranges are
covered vrith forests of ohve-trees, sweeping up to their
summits, and at their bases and in the plain are
embowered convents, churches, towns, and bastiones in
their sUver fohage. In this way, and through this
class of scenery, after passing through two towns,
picturesquely situated on each side of a romantic bay,
r2

244 VENTIMIGLLA..
called Phoebe and Diana — ^why, I know not — ^the road
follows the indents of the mountain above the sea ; and
after carrying us up another precipitous traverse
ascent, carae down into the httle tovsm of Onegha,
where we slept. Oneglia is situated in another
bay, which bears its narae, and is faraous for its
fishery. The inn tolerably good, but the water all
brackish and bad.
17th. Left Onegha this morning at half -past seven
o'clock. The road still foUows the sinuosities of the
shore, which becomes bleak, low, and barren. We
passed through St. Stephano and St. Remo, but nothing
worth looking at occurs untU we come to Ventimigha,
the approach to which is very picturesque. It was
the frontier to-wn between ancient Piedmont and the
state of Genoa. A large fiumara, which in ¦winter
pours do^wn a -wide and deep torrent, separated the
two states. Ventimigha, which belonged to Piedmont,
stands on a high and tremendously steep hill, that
coraraands the river and the gorge that runs up into
the heart of the Maritime Alps, which here begin to
commis and blend themselves ¦with the high Alpine
chain. The to^wn is strongly fortified according to
the plan of the days when its fortifications were
needed. They now serve "only to add to the picturesque
beauty of the scene, as the whole hill is skirted ¦with
ancient waUs and gray towers, forming a large enceinte,
and communicating -with a hill, on which stands the
citadel. The bridge of communication over the river
is so narrow that a carriage can scarcely pass along,
and the hiU up the principal street is so steep and so
slippery that it is -with the greatest difficulty a carriage
can mount to the post-house, where the hUl is again

MONACO. 245
steeper, and is obhged to be raoved by men as weU as by
horses up to the surarait.
After leaving VentiraigUa you corae, always pro
ceeding along the sinuosities of the sea, to Mentone,
which is in the possessions of the potent prince of three
hom-s' extent of territory, the Prince of Monaco. He
stUl retains his nominal sovereignty. The passports are
vish in great force by a Colonel des Carabineers de
S. A. S., &c., who acts as secretary of state and rainister
of pohce. His uiuform is green, and the King of
Sardinia's blue ; but the King of Sardinia is protector
of the principahty, declares war, raakes peace, and
manages the foreign affairs of H. S. H., and levies the
sum of one franc par t^te, which traveUers pay to have
their passports -risee.'
At sorae distance from Mentone, on the shores of the
sea, and even ¦within its spray, I was surprised at
seeing groves of date-trees, all tied up for fruit, and
spreading their feathery foUage amongst ohves, mul
berry, and -vines. It gave an air perfectly African or
Egyptian to the scenery. They have e^ridently become
naturalized to the soU, as I observed raany places
in which they had self-sown theraselves, and forraed
the underwood as weU as the high trees of the
soU. From Mentone you begin to rise graduaUy, and
at length the slope becomes very severe. The indents
of the coast he beautifuUy beneath you, covered vrith
orange-trees, vines, ohves, and mulberries, quite down
to the water's side; and the fairy promontory of Monaco,
¦with its httle fortifications, small towers, trim barracks,
' This principality has recently been absorbed into the French
empire for " a consideration."

246 ROMAN MONUMENT.
and neat parade, vrith a sraaU church and houses to cor
respond, look beneath you like a toy town and establish
ment, set forth for some princely child of the House of
Savoy to play -with. At length you mount a vast
mountain by a very splendid road, caUed La Turbie,
coraposed of secondary Uraestone of beautiful colours,
miU-stone grit, and hmestone strata. The road is
broad and weU-constructed. To the left a collateral
road goes do^wn into Monaco, but the post road goes up
into the clouds, certainly above 2,000 feet, and the
mountain crags are full as much above you. From
the surarait the whole coast frora Lucca, far beyond
Antibes, with Corsica in the distance of the Medi
terranean outline, are distinctly ¦risible. Above Monaco,
on the summit of a smaU raountain, but far beneath you
on the Turbie, is a large coluran erect, and many others
ebauchh, lying on the ground, as if cut out of the hme
stone round them, are to be seen, and no history or tra
dition makes out their meaning. There are no foun
dations of Roraan buUdings; and I incline to think,
as we know they occupied this country, that these
columns were cut either for embarkation, for which
nothing could be more convenient, as they required
only to be rolled do^wn into Monaco and to the sea, or
for sorae buUding on the shore that was never under
taken or carried out.
At the summit of the road, where it tends to the
right, is the village of La Turbie, in which stands the
gigantic remnant of the iraraense raonuraent described
by Pliny, and erected by Augustus, to perpetuate the
achievements of the Roman arms, and the names of the
Alpine nations which he had subdued. It was a large
round tower, standing on a square base — the base itself

VILLAFRANCA. 247
again surrounded by a concentric work of masonry. Re
port says that on the sumrait stood the statue of Au
gustus, that the ascent to the tower was from the west
by two staircases supported by Doric columns, and that
to the north and south it was adorned with trophies.
But aU is now a heap of ruins, began by the Lorabards
and corapleted by Marshal Villars, who considered it,
from its height and strength, capable of being turned
to mihtary advantage by the enemy. Part of the in
scription given by Phny still reraains — enough, at least,
to constitute its identity. It appears gigantic in the
sohtude of the mountains, and the more so because a
church and houses are buUt near it of an ordinary and
usual size, which contrast theraselves raost diminutively
with their stupendous neighbour.
The road now vrinding amongst the defiles of La
Turbie begins to descend very graduaUy and slowly.
Beneath you is the port and estabhshments of ViUa
franca, where the King of Sardinia has a dockyard.
Between it and Nice stands the fort of Montauban,
which equaUy defends ViUafranca and Nice. The
former is the maritime port of the latter. The dockyard
estabhshments on a miniature scale are beautifully neat
and complete. The fortifications were constructed by
Emanuel of Savoy, in the seventeenth century, the city in
the thirteenth by Charles IL, King of Sicily and Count of
Provence. A promontory, consisting of two branches,
one covered with olives to the sea, and the other with
beautiful verdure running far out into the sea, looked
like the ornamented grounds of a gentleman's park upon
a large scale. In one of the gorges of La Turbie is
a town and ancient castle, built on the sumrait of a
conical hiU, far below us ; in forraer days it afforded a

248 VINES.
powerful defence to the gorge, and is now a raost pictur--
esque position.
The road now -winds down the side of La Turbie,
and, turning inland, discovers the vaUey of the river
which runs into the sea at Nice, the Alps rising in suc
cessive ridges beyond, and closing the horizon -with a
serrated outline far distant. The whole valley is beau
tiful. The country is now hea-vy ¦with grapes, and the
¦rintage is just on the eve of coraraencing. The beau
tiful clusters which bound the road terapt the thirsty
traveUer, who can always buy, for almost nothing, more
than he can eat. The vines are not here trained up
on poplars as in Lombardy and the campagna round
Naples, neither are they grown like gooseberry bushes
in that ugliest of countries caUed "la beUe France;" but
are trained, in the most picturesque raanner, over treUises
which forra long erabowered walks beneath, baring
melons, turkey com, or other vegetables in the inter
stices. Thus the whole country looks like a garden,-
especially, too, when the ^dnes are mised, as they
usually are, -with oranges and mulberries.
Far to the left the raountains of Dauphiny were to
be seen in the horizon, and .the sUver line of the Var
— so often and so deeply stained with blood during the
last half century — was beheld running dovm into the
sea. Evening closed upon us before we turned the shoul
der of the mountain which showed us the approach to
Nice. 18th. There is nothing in Nice itself that is very-
picturesque, but it has the air of a neat built half-
French, half-ItaUan town, vrith strong traces of many
Enghsh -risitors, in English shops, broken Enghsh, and

k

NICE. 249
rather dear prices — ^but, thank God, the season is not yet
begun. I went on to the Var, about four miles along
the sea-shore, which is flat, and the country marshy,
meadowy, and raelancholy. The Var is a very broad
stream, which in -winter pom-s down a tremendous flood
from the Alps, bearing with it great floats of fir timber
for exportation. The bridge is of wood, and after see
ing the Sardinian sentries at one end and the French at
the other, we returned.
I found out an apothecary here who has a very pretty
collection of natural history, which he has made hiraself ;
in birds he is the strongest, but he is raaking himself
master of the geology of this branch of the Maritime
Alps, and I got from him several speciraens. Araongst
his birds is a raagnificent ¦vulture of the Alps, which I
never saw before. It is the link between the vulture
and the eagle. Some of his shells are good.
19th. I took a carriage and went to ViUafranca, the
port of Nice. Were a road made round the point on
which stands the hghthouse, half an hour's drive would
take us thither. As it is, you have to toU up the hill on
which Fort Montauban stands, and then creep down it
again, that requires full two hours of very unpleasant
steep dri^ring. Here is a httle arsenal, and a httle basin,
and a httle town, very neat and very like a toy, but de
fended by large works and a large garrison, which
might be pelted out vrith stones. The bay of VUla-
franca is a httle deep inlet quite landlocked, forraed by
the promontory on which stands the lighthouse on one
side, and the promontory de I'Hospice on the other. It
is beautifuUy situated, and protected on all sides, except
where the arsenal stands, by high crags clothed vrith
evergreens, ohves, &c. Here is a wash-hand basin,

250 SCALETTA.
which serves as a dock for the King of Sardinia's small
cruizers, and another in which he buUds them. He has
an anchor wharf, which holds three anchors, a rope-walk,
on which a baU of packthread can be twisted, and a
forge establishraent equal to the production of horse
shoes — ^with a large establishraent of douaniers to pre
vent srauggling. Here are found, and ate as a dainty,
the pholades,' or sea-grub, which live in nests which they
perforate for theraselves in the heart of the hardest
rocks, and in deep water. I find that the Governor
here, Le Marquis de Flaverge, is raarried to an Enghsh-
woman, Miss Windham of Salisbury. She wrote a
note to me this evening, inquiring after my sister, who
is an old friend of hers.
20th. We were in the carriage this morning by six
o'clock, the time appointed by our voiturier to set off,
but he was not ready. At length he came, and we
started off ¦with four horses. The road lays along the
valley of the Paglione, the stream which runs into the
sea at Nice. The vaUey is beautifuUy picturesque,
clothed ¦with trees, and full of bastides and ¦riUages.
The Maritime Alps, as yet but low to what they are
further up, forra the background. After going about
four railes the Paghone runs up to the left, and the
road foUows one of its tributary strearas, and, beginning
to rise, reaches the -rillage of Scaletta, picturesquely
situated in a gorge of the mountains, where we break
fasted. At twelve o'clock, after refreshing our horses, we
proceeded. We now began to ascend the mari
time Alps, and were near four hours traversing in
' Pholas, a bivalve well-known on parts of the English coast,
where the fishermen use it as a bait.

ALPINE CHAIN. 251
zig-zag traverses up a high mountain, which is the
head of the waters that run into the sea at Nice.
La Scaletta was embosomed in ohves, raulberries,
figs, and -rines. The scene becarae wilder as we
mounted, and we soon got into regions where nothing
but the pine flourishes. The rocks are all composed of
secondary Umestone, and as we got higher up the Braus
we found organic remains. We now proceeded along
the ridge of the mountain, and then descended by as
tortuous and as tedious a process as that which attended
our ascent. We were heading all the waters whose
estuaries we had passed in our road along the corniche
from Genoa to Nice. The Paglione rises near Scaletta.
Its tributary streams spring amongst the recesses of the
Braus, but the dry smnmer had stopped all the cascades,
and their stony beds, with a little dribbUng rUl amongst
them, were aU that denoted the places that in -winter
roU floods do-wn, carrying rafts of pine trees to Nice for
embarkation. As we descended the Braus the valleys all dip to the
north-west. Far on our right we saw the abandoned
fortress and castle of CartigUone, high placed on the
summit of the raountain, in the gorges of which run the
streams that meet the sea at Mentone. The Maritime
Alps, increasing in grandeur and importance, were to
be seen rising chain above chain in our front, and ex
tending far to the left. Further on behind us, to our
left, the French Alps, the Isles of St. Marguerite, Hieres,
and the coast of Marseilles, lay beneath us ; and below us
was a lovely valley, full of verdure, fruit, and foliage,
¦with the river running through it, which runs into the
sea at Ventimigha ; and in the valley lay the dusky little
old to-wn of Sospetto, where we were to sleep. It ap^

252 HIGH MOUNTAIN.
peared to be within a stone's throw at our feet, but the
descent was so steep, and the sinuosities of the road so
many and so winding, that we found we had ten mUes
to go before we reached the to^wn. At length we
crept down into this delicious valley, and found a
•wretched inn, but tolerable accoramodation, at Sos
petto. 21st. We left Sospetto at sis o'clock, and began
immediately mounting. At length the rocks almost
closed the passage, and, crossing a bridge, we en
tered on the Col de Bruis, where the road was so
narrow that there was but just room for the car
riage-wheels, the rocks on the left hand rising 3,000
feet above us, and overhanging in one place so much
that the servants could scarcely sit upon the box.
Below us on the right was a rapid and beautifuUy
clear stream, forming one of the branches of the
river, which runs into the sea at Ventimigha. The
difference of climate began sensibly to be felt, and
the air of the morning, until the sun had risen
above the summits of the mountain, was piercing
and chiU. The mountains are now free from snow,
and generaUy are so for nearly four months in the
year. After passing this gorge we continued to ascend a
steep accli-rity, untU we found ourselves at the foot of a
high mountain, which goes by the name of Le Mange
Boeuf. I should fancy this mountain could not rise
less than 4,000 feet above where we were. Lateral
gorges opened into the raountains, and raany. a dis
tant sunlit mountain was seen rising at the far extre
raity of these vistas, affording a strong contrast to
the dark, chiU appearance of the glooray road along

I \
MOUNTAIN PASS. 253
which we travelled, where the light of the sun was
kept off by the near-approaching mountains long after
more open points and peaks were blazing in sunrise.
On the opposite side of the river were the picturesque
ruins of the Castle of Tort, which once defended
this valley, standing on the pointed sumrait of a
sugar-loaf hiU overhanging the streara, now abandoned
to decay.
From the base of Mange Boeuf we began to de
scend, with a beautifully irrigated and pastoral val
ley on our right, untU we came to the little village
of La Giandola, situated at the foot of a high moun
tain of the sarae narae, close to the river side, where
we breakfasted. On our departure frora thence we
continued to foUow the river's course, until we carae
to a grove, or rather forest, of raagnificent chest
nuts, which skirted the vaUeys and the lower parts
of the raountain's side, whilst their upper regions
were covered -with pines and firs.
We continued going through this raagnificent sce
nery untU the raountains again closed upon us, leav
ing but just roora for the road — literally hanging over
the torrent beneath. On first entering it you see a
mountain high in air in front of you at a distance,
and a to-wn perched upon its cliffs like an eagle's
nest. You lose sight of it in the narrow passage,
untU, after pursuing this course for above a raUe,
you suddenly pass to your right hand and find your
self on the banks of the River Roza, -with the Pass
of Saorgio before you, -with the town of the same
name, situated in the shape of an amphitheatre,
amongst ohve woods, nearly on the summit of
a mountain in your front.

254 IMMENSE MOUNTAINS.
The rocks continue to be of secondary slate, but
stained of every colour by the greater or less quan
tity of iron which enters into their coraposition.
Hereabouts they becorae of a dark purple, and the
contrast they make with the vi-rid green of the
giant chestnuts, the dark pines, and the silver foliage
of the ohve, all refiected in the pellucid diamond-
coloured water, forms a picture certainly nowhere
exceeded in beauty. The mountains, too, are fuU of
springs, which, even in this dry season, leap in silver
jets from rock to rock, and keep up a most luxu
riant vegetation.
The road continues along this river's course, and
is constantly rising. Peak succeeds peak, and some
of those under which we passed are, by barometrical
measurement, ascertained to be above 9,000 feet
above the level of the Mediterranean. The road
along which we now travel cannot be less than
3,000 feet above the sea.
In this manner we went on until, suddenly, we
turned a corner of the mountain, and found the
town of Tende in front of us, and the immense
mountains which constitute Le Col de Tend6, and
which we are to pass to-morrow, overhanging it in
all the grandeur of the scenery of the high Mari
time Alps. The day had been beautifuUy fine, and;
warm ; but the sun had long left us, the vapours of
the evening were graduaUy creeping up the moun
tain's side, and the air was very chilly.
We found the to-wn full of people, it being the
day of the annual fair ; but we got tolerable quar
ters at I'Hotel Imperiale, and a good dinner, amidst'
much drinking, singing, joUity, and noise. The wo-

COL DE TEND]^. 255
men's dresses are as gaudy as scarlet and yellow cloth
can make thera — but they themselves are very ugly, and
Alpine. Gaiters here begin to be coramon. Their
hair is hung in a net behind, their jackets are a bright
scarlet, their petticoats yellow, and their stocldngs
blue. The men usually wear bright scarlet caps,
large cocked hats, or very broad-briramed round
ones ; a scarlet waistcoat, and knee-breeches of a
bright blue, with iraraense bunches of ribbands at
the knees. The language spoken is a patois, cora
posed of a mixture of French, Itahan, Latin, and
Spanish ; but the usual language spoken araong the
better orders is French, although the Piedmontese
hate that nation.
22nd. This morning we were in the carriage by
sis o'clock, as we were told that it is always desir
able to cross the Col de Tende by mid-day, as at
that hour frequently tourmentes and snow-storms come
on, which raake the higher part of the road dangerous.
Our course lay along the bed of the river in true Alpine
scenery, araidst overhanging rocks and raountains co
vered -with pine and larch, narro-wing by degrees until
there was but just roora for the road over the tor
rent. The first tints of the sun upon the raountains
were magnificent, and especiaUy as there was a good
deal of cloud hovering about their summits, which
were tinted for a moment -with aU the colours of
the rainbow. After going on in this way about six
miles, admiring the beauty of the vaUeys that
every now and then broke in upon the gorge along
which we traveUed, our attendant stream dwindled
into a rivulet, a brook, and finally a spring-head. The
drought of the weather has dried up the cascades, and

256 DIFFICULT ASCENT.
left their stony channels only to denote where they
ought to be. Still we had two or three runs of
water which were picturesque even now, and in rainy
seasons must be magnificent.
At length the valley closed upon us entirely, and its
terraination was blocked up by a huge raountain, whose
summit was capped by clouds, and up which we were
told we were to ascend ; but how, except on eagles'
¦wings, was to me a mystery. Two sohtary houses " of
refuge," as they were caUed, in cases of tourmente or
snow — one half-way up, the other near the summit —
were shown us as places by which our carriage was
destined to proceed. The upper house, in size and
situation, looked like an eagle's nest. Up this mountain,
where the real pass of the Col de Tende commences,
we began to clirab by short traverses and zigzags,
which, to a certain degree, aided the ascent ; but half
our tirae was occupied in turning sharp corners.
There was no wall or protection whatever against the
precipice ; and, in turning the angles of the traverses,
the carriage was carried, in order to give it a . full,
safe sweep, close to the edge. We had a spare pair
of raules to the carriage, and the pair of horses
which they relieved were sent up the pass before us,
to take the mules' places when we arrived at the top.
The muleteer, trusting wholly to the sagacity of his
mules, left the carriage entirely to them, and them to
themselves. As I knew that a false step, or a muUsh caprice,
would ine^^dtably send us headlong to the bottom, I in
vain harangued the rauleteer, and desired him to re
main at the head of his mules. But he had a bottle
slung behind the carriage, which had more persuasive

\ \

RANGE OF MOUNTAINS. 257
charms than ray objurgations, and ray rauleteer was
always conversing with his bottle. At last I lost
patience, and, taking out a pistol, swore that the
next tirae he left his mules I would fire at him ; and
seeing me in earnest, he left them no more.
In this way we graduaUy ascended for four hours,
leaving the road below us exactly like a twisted snake
¦wriggling do^wn the mountain's side. The -new be
hind us was beautiful. The whole extent of the Maritime
Alps lay beneath us like a raap. At the foot of the
ascent my thermometer stood at 61° of Fahrenheit ;
at the summit it stood at 50°. This was no degree
of cold; but the contrast between our feelings then,
and when the temperature was never less than 80°, and
often much higher, made us very sensible of the
chiU, and we were very cold, and glad to ¦wrap our
selves in our cloaks. The clouds stiU kept hovering
across the breast and surarait of the mountain, and
coUected below us.
At the sumrait, the view of the reverse of the range
of mountains, and of the descent into the plains of
Piedmont, was very magnificent ; but volumes of
cloud and vapour hung over the high Alps, and de
prived us of a fine prospect. Above this mass of
vapour, however, the serrated line of the distant Alps
was visible, with here and there a dark peak, its top
clothed in eternal snow, and with white lines of gla^
ciers streaming down its sides, appeared prorainent
and conspicuous. Mont^ Viso, to our left, was quite
¦risible, and looked very terrific ¦with its immense pre
cipices and glaciers. For a short time I saw Mont
Cenis, and what was told rae was the surarait of the
Simplon ; but Mont Blanc and Mont Rosa had re-
VOL. II. S

258 TALLIES OF PIEDMONT.
tired into the sohtude of their o-wn pecuhar clouds,
and even their outline was not -risible; in a few'
rainutes the clouds of vapour shut out the whole scene
frora our -riew.
But the vapour itself had its beauties, roUing in
immense fleecy waves, like a huge biUowy sea, over
the whole of Piedmont. The black clouds which here
and there strayed across this fleecy mass had a curious
effect, as they evidently were charged with electric
raatter; and, as they carae -within the scope of the
attraction of the raountains, they took the most ex
traordinary forras — soraetiraes they scudded by, hke
iramense castles, pine-trees, &c., and then, having as
it were saluted these giants as they passed, relapsed into
their cloudy shapes and passed on.
We now descended, much quicker of course, but
along the same class of traverse roads as that by which
we ascended ; but the sides of the mountains were not
near so rugged nor so barren as the southern ex
posure. Copse-wood of beech and box skirted the
road, and we soon got araongst chestnuts and walnut-
trees, and the pastoral beauties of the vallies of Pied-
raont. The country people were now making their
fourth crop of hay in the water-raeadows, and the
sraell and scene put rae in raind of England. StUl
the mountains presented a magnificent outhne, but
they were set off by the railder beauties of rural
scenery which did not appear on the other side of the
Col de Tende. The vaUeys were vride, silver streams
glided through thera, farra-houses were dotted about,
and an industrious population were at work.
About half-way dowm the hill we were she-wn the
spot where Napoleon had begun the gigantic project

\
OONI. 259
of driving a tunnel and a road through the Col de
Tend6, instead of over it. I am persuaded the plan
was very practicable — and perhaps the tunnel need
not have exceeded two miles in length, if so much ; but
I don't see how, when finished, he could have kept
it clear of snow, or avoided the dreadful gusts of
wind which at all seasons would have blo-wn a hurri
cane through that compressed channel.
We were two hours descending to Liraone, at the
foot of the raoimtains, where we refreshed ourselves,
and afterwards came on to Coni, through groves and
forests of the most beautiful chestnuts, walnut-trees,
and mulberries. The road was, upon a gigantic scale,
hke one continued passage through a large park in
England. The trees were beautifuUy grouped and
splendid in size, and the verdure beneath them -rivid
and luxuriant. The latter part was a flat plain.
Coni was one of the strongest fortifled places in
Europe; but in 1801, after the battle of Marengo,
the French destroyed the fortifications, of which not
even a vestige now remains, the ditches being fiUed
up and the earth leveUed and planted. The French
would have done well had they destroyed the town
too, as a more raiserable place I never saw, and the
accommodations are worse than any which I have seen,
except in SicUy and Corsica. Up the main street,
however, a curious effect is produced by deep arcades
Uning it on each side, imder which foot-passengers
walk, and at the back of which are glooray shops.
They rather put one in mind of Chester; but in the
present case they are a receptacle for aU sorts of filth
and abomination.
23rd. The clouds were hea-vy on the mountains, and
s2

260 MONT BLANC.
the air very cold ; but, as the day advanced, a beautiful
sunshine by degrees hfted up the veil that concealed
the Alps from us. The country through which we tra^
veiled was a dead flat, and perfectly uninteresting, when
the admiration occasioned by its fertiUty had gone by.
The road runs in straight fines, bounded on each side
by rows of mulberry trees. Nothing could be more
monotonous or duU; but the hope occasioned by the
gradual ¦withdrawing of the mist frora the Alps kept me
awake ; and first Monte Viso, the nearest point to us,
in which the Po takes its rise, appeared, rising its giant
peak in the air, -with glaciers and precipices ; and by
degrees the whole of the scene became -risible, although
only partially so, as the vapours stUl wrapped themselves
round the bases of aU, and the summits of some.
Mont Cenis then uncovered itself, and, at length, the
Sovereign of the whole court, Mont Blanc, gradually
and slowly emerged frora his retreat. He towered
majesticaUy above the whole, although much more
distant frora us than the other peaks. He could not
be nearer than seventy miles. The thing which
struck me raost was the, coraparatively speaking, httle
quantity of snow upon any of the Alps. The fresh
snow of the season has not yet faUen, and the heat
of the summer has been such that the southern
dechvity of these mountains stUl irradiate an iramense
quantity of heat from their sides. Even Mont Blanc
showed but little snow. On the north side I beheve
the case is different, and that their snowy mantle is
close wrapped round them ; but on this they stiU
expose themselves to the latest rays of the Itahan
sun. Turin makes no appearance as you approach it.

TURIN. 261
Being situated in the midst of a woody plain, you
see nothing of it until you are in it. The ground
rises beautifully on the other side of the Po, co
vered with viUages, palaces, bastides, and houses, all
showing the neighbourhood of a great capital. In
the fields the woraen wear the large cottage straw
hat which they have worn for ages, and is becora
ing ; but in the towns they all, young and old, de
form themselves by wearing a full, close, high cap,
ornamented -with quantities of lace, gauze, and bows
of ribband sticking high up behind, and tying under
the chin — such as Mrs. Malaprop wears in the play,
and Lady B  soraetiraes sports in real hfe. We
drove through a handsorae line of streets to the Swiss
hotel.

262

CHAPTER XIV.
Turin — ^Professor BoreUi and the Museum — ^Palais Royal — ^VaU^
d'Aosta — ^VUlages — GUmpses of Mont Blanc — -Cattle Fair at
Morjex — Battle of Marengo — Extortionate Innkeepers — Earth
quake in the Neighbourhood of G«noa — Its Effects.
September 25th. Turin is a handsome-built city,
at the confluence of the Po and the Dora. The
approach to it is imposing, as eveiy road is lined
¦with avenues of mulberry trees. The Po is here
navigable, and roUs a fine streara, but never was
knowm to be so low in its waters as it is at present.
As you enter, aU the ¦rillages and houses which
adom the slopes and summits of the surrounding
hills, have a fine effect. The city is smaU —
about three miles round — ^but compact. It is laid
out in rectangular streets, which are broad and
good ; but there is no variety in the architecture,
which is heavy. All the houses are buUt of dark
brick, and look unfinished. The fronts of some are
stuccoed over, but there are none of those magnifi
cent marble fa9ades of ancient days that adom

TURIN. 2163
Genoa, and caU back historical recoUections. This
proves how rauch effect is caused by imagination.
There are ancient recollections enough, and enough
of glorious history, belonging to Turin and its race
of Princes ; but the spectator is not struck ¦with
the remembrance of thera, or by the feehng that
one is on the spot, raerely because the ancient
part of the city is buUt of brown brick instead of
marble, and the raodern stuccoed over.
The rumour prevails that the King means gradu
aUy to withdraw himself from Turin, which he does
not hke, to Genoa, which he prefers. The city is
divided by its rectangular streets into 147 squares
or contradi. It is amusing to see the etiquette at
the comer of each street, bearing the old French
title, either of one of the Departments of the Po,
or of some one of the French victories, and under
it the saint's name belonging to the more ancient
Piedraontese nomenclature, and now again restored.
The two principal streets are those of the Po and
the Dora Grossa. Where they cross each other is
a large square, in the centre of which is the old
palace. When standing at the gate of this building
one sees the extent of the to^wn on every side —
streets opening to the country, and through the
archway of the palace, in perspective of the scenery
romid Turin. This palace was built in 1416 by
Amadeus VHL, Duke of Savoy. They caU this Le
Palais de Madame. In fact, it is now the palace
where the courts of justice are held. The Royal
palace is on the right hand coraing into the square
from La Rue de Po. It presents nothing particular
in architecture.

264 professor borelli.
Opposite is the theatre which bears its name, and
where operas are performed every night. It was
built in 1752, by Borra, who did some things at
Stowe. The facade is good, decorated ¦with a portico
supported by colurans.
I called at the atelier of Bozanigo, the famous
sculptor in wood and ivory. He is dead, but his
work is still carried on by those who worked for
him. I bought some car-rings, which were quite
beautiful. 26th. I passed the day at the University, and
was introduced to the Professor BorelU, one of the
first zoologists and geologists in Europe. He was
kind enough to show me through the whole Mu
seum in aU its branches of Natural History. The
building was formerly the Jesuits' College. Thank
God, it is now appropriated to much honester and
nobler purposes. The facade is good — the architectj
Guarini. Great part of the collection was originaUy
formed by the celebrated Donati, who travelled to
India and in Egypt in 1759 and 1761, by order of
the King of Sardinia, who died before his return
home. Immense additions have been made to it by
the purchase of private coUections, and by the exer
tions of Professor BoreUi. At present, the mine
ralogical part is arranged after the system of Brog-
niart, by Mr. Borson, who has the care of that par
ticular branch, and lectures upon it. It is very-
rich in minerals, but not so rauch so as it ought
to be, and wiU be. Its coUection of volcanic mi
nerals is paltry, and not separated from the rest.
In sheUs, both existing and fossil, it is extremely
strong. The same in insects and birds, the latter

PALAIS ROYAL,

l^^

especially. In fishes, also, reraarkably so. In beasts
not so strong, but very respectable. The suite of
Comparative Anatomy is beautiful, and this branch
is particularly attended to. In Geology it is very
strong, but, frora want of room, full one-half of the
whole collection is shut up in drawers, and can
not be placed. But a splendid and iraraense hall is
now fitting up for the Zoological collection, which
wUl, of course, hberate a good deal of roora. This
coUection, under the auspices of Professors Borson
and BoreUi, bids fair to be one of the finest in
Europe. The Kmg has no taste for this science,
but the Government contributes Uberally to it. I
was surprised to see how weak they were in Eng
lish minerals and volcanic, and that they had no
correspondents in England, or Naples, or Sicily. I
gave them letters to Mr. Heuland in London,
GemeUaro in SicUy, and Donati in Naples. Pro
fessor BoreUi dined and passed the evening with
me. 27th. I went to see the Palais Royal. You enter
a large gloomy square, looking like that of a great
hospital in England, only there you would not see it
overgrown ¦with grass and weeds as this is. Under
the corridors of this court you pass up a great stair
case of marble, not at aU magnificent, and filthy.
The rooms are vast and massive, carved, with gilding,
fresco-painting, painted ceihngs, and massy decorations,
which, although in bad taste, form altogether a mag
nificent whole, and such as denotes a royal residence.
There is no raodern furniture. The whole is of the
same date ¦with the buUding, and certainly very strik
ing.

266 ITALIAN COMEDIES.
At last, after wandering through vast ancient apart
ments, anciently occupied by the princes of Savoy,
the floors beautifully inlaid in wood, and the walls
covered ¦with glass, tapestry, and gilding, you come to
an apartment entirely wainscoted ¦with beautiful japan,
the gift of the great Prince Eugene of Savoy.
Here is a flne picture of the Prodigal Son, by
Guercino. He has introduced the same grouping of
figures which appears in my picture at Stowe, but in a
much larger picture, and accompanied by other
figures. The chimney-pieces and tables are of beau
tiful marbles from the Maritime Alps. The King's
boudoir and private oratory are forraed entirely of
old japan, beautifully inlaid in raother-of-pearl.
There are two sraaU rooms entirely fitted up ¦with
miniatures of many of the finest Italian pictures, by
I'Abbe Ramelh, beautifully done. Many of these pic
tures were stolen by the French, but have been
brought back. Some, however, of the finest are still
retained, under different pretences ; and some have
been half spoiled by their detestable cleaning.
One side of the palace opens to a garden of par-
terra and orange trees; no beauty. Upon the whole,
the palace pleased me rauch.
In the evening BoreUi carae to rae, and we went
to the theatre of Angennes — so called because it forms
part of the former hotel of the Marquis d' Angennes,
or la Place Carhne. Here they act Itahan comedies
and plays. I was surprised at finding such very good
acting. They acted a play on the old hacknied sub
ject of "Paul and Virginia," which, by dint of good
acting, and the author's sticking to the old story, in
stead of raaking Pdul and Virginia recover from

ST. BERNARD.

2^

drowning and marry and live very happy after, they
made exceeding affecting and impressive. The theatre
is smaU, but well decorated.
28th. Professor BoreUi dined with rae. Gave hira
letters to Donati at Naples, and GeraeUaro at Milan.
It is extraordinary how ignorant those phUosophers
are of everything out of the immediate range of their
pursuits. Many of the most interesting locahties
BoreUi did not even know by narae.
29th. Set off this morning for Y-vrea, on my way
to Aosta. The country quite flat at first, and unin
teresting. We foUowed the vaUey of the Doire, and
crossed two of its tributary streams over bridges of
boats. At Chivasa I observed an ancient and hand
some portal to the church, and a pointed arch, -with
good old tracery. At Santhia the road begins to be
picturesque. The flat, unvarying alternation of corn
and ¦rineyard-ground, -with a straight road between
two rows of mulberry trees, begins to give way to
slopes planted ¦with chestnut trees and picturesque
copsewood. On the right the eye stretches far over
the plains of Piedmont, and to the front and left
ought to have been a magniflcent amphitheatre of
Alps ; but although the weather was beautifully fine
towards the middle of the day, and the dense fog vrith
which the morning began to clear away, the clouds
hung hea^vy on the mountains, and it was only by
occasional fits and starts that we saw the snowy range
of the great St. Bernard and some of the high peaks
raising themselves above the clouds. To our right
lay a broad lake, and we entered Y^vrea at the en
trance of the VaUe d'Aosta, which was most pictur
esque and fine. A ridge of high table-land runs

268 MOUNTAIN GORGE.
along the Doire for raany railes, precisely paraUel td
the level of the river. This must have been occa
sioned at the original subsiding of the waters. On
each side of this great headland flows a stream, both
of which join below and forra the Dora.
At Santhia are the picturesque reraains of an old
castle upon a hiU, and a chapel and calvaire upon
another hill above the town. Yvrea is a picturesque
old tovra, -with an old castle in the raidst of it, and
you enter it by an old bridge, over the river Dora,
which runs foaming under it dovra from the Alps.
In the middle of the stream were picturesque corn-
mills ; and mountains closed the -riew. The inn room
hangs over the river.
30th. This morning at six o'clock left Yvrea. On
lea-ring the to-wn to descend into the vaUey of the
Dora, I had the opportunity of seeing more closely
the table-land. This gorge is formed by two high
mountains — one called St. Andr^, and the other Ar-
nona. Where the river rushes into the plain of Pied
mont, these two mountains rise on each side of the
valley in a slope of 100 degrees. At the time the waters
originally subsided, they must have rushed vrith great
force out of this narrow deflle, and do^wn the rapid
slope which they now fall do^wn, and must have car
ried ¦with them vast raasses of debris. When the
waters overspread the plain of Piedmont, these debris
subsided, of course, but stUl were carried on, though
slowly, and in a gradually diminishing velocity, along
the course of the river. Thus, as the waters sunk, this
table-land was formed ; and although the theory is an
old one, and its principles obvious, yet I never saw it
iUustrated so plainly or satisfactorily as in this instance.

!69

ST. MARTIN. 26
The Castle of Yvrea is roinantically situated above
you as you leave the town. The formation of the
vaUey begins thus early to be perceptible, and con
tinues in aU the varieties of these rocks, mica, and quartz,
with shght admixture of granite rocks, aU the way to
Aosta. The road begins by passing through lovely mea
dows and woods of chestnut and walnut. The valley is
large and broad, but bounded by high raountains on
either side, strongly partaking of Alpine character,
and covered here and there -with woods of larch and
fir. But no snow yet appears, and we are not pro
perly vrithin the range of the high Alps until we
come to a pass in the mountains, near the -riUage of
St. Martin, where the plain of Italy is closed behind
you, and the high Alps begin to show themselves in
aU their grandeurj ¦with here and there a snowy
peak throvring itself high up in the distant horizon,
whUst all the intervening space is occupied by
ridge rising over ridge. At St. Martin you pass
by a very handsome bridge, over a very picturesque
gorge running high up into the Alps on the right
hand, and containing a roaring torrent. All the
waters of these Alpine strearas are white as railk, yet
perfectly pure to the taste. Whether this arises from
their proceeding out of glaciers, and being thus coloured
by the snow, or whether frora the granite and earthy
particles which they coUect in their course, I know
not. But the Arve is of the sarae colour when it
issues frora its cavern of ice, and so is the Rhone
when it enters the Lake of Geneva.
From St. Martin we come to Donax, at the ex
tremity of which is a road originaUy cut by the Ro
mans, near forty feet deep, m the sohd rock, and

270 MRS. RADCLIFFE.
through a natural arch in the rock — or, at least, an
arch cut in the natural rock — which, when closed by
a gate, entirely shut up the vaUey from any attack
that could be raade upon it by the mihtary means
of that day, as the river roars far beneath the road
on one side, the precipice rises to an iraraense
Alpine height on the other; and the opposite side of
the river is quite inaccessible. Much of the beauty
of this valley consists in the picturesque ruins of the
ancient castles which in Roman, and afterwards in feu
dal times, constituted its defence. Many of them stand
jutting out into the river on the points best calculated
to oppose the passage of an eneray along its borders,
their rear being secured by the inaccessible mountains
above them. One, also, is to be seen in alraost every
gorge running do^wn from the flanks into the valley ;
and one or two appeared quite large enough to have
realized Mrs. RadcUffe's scenes of Montoni's Castle.
She would have done rauch better to have laid the
scene of her novel in the Alps, where such castles as
she describes reaUy do exist, instead of the Apennines,
where they don't. Near the natural arch which I have
mentioned, stands a Roman miUtary coluran, about ten
feet high and three diameter, ¦with the cypher XXX.
cut upon it.
The next ¦vUlage is Verrex, where considerable iron
works are carried on. The charcoal is fumished from
all the chestnut woods around, and for many railes we
raet mules and carts loaded ¦with it proceeding thither.
Up the stream, which here runs into the Dora, gold
is sometimes found, and a raine of gold and copper is
worked high up in the mountains.
From thence we passed under a very high rock, on

CHATILLON. 271
which stands the ruins of a great castle called St.
Germam, and come to the village of Mont Jovet.
The streets of aU these vUlages are so narrow as
barely to adrait a carriage ; the ascents and descents are
steep and slippery and paved with rough pebbles. But
the road is perfectly good throughout, wide and in
no pai-t steep or in the least dangerous. Along
different parts of this road the torrents and avalanches
of forraer times have raade dreadful havoc, covering
acres of ground ¦with land and stones, and destroying
vegetation almost entirely. The road beyond Mont
Jovet is cut through the h-ring rock, originally by
Roman hands, and is a wonderful work.
From thence through groves of raagnificent chestnuts
we proceeded to ChatiUon, where we breakfasted. A
rivulet runs do-wn the principal street, and keeps up at
least a serablance of cleanliness; but I never saw a
race where the reahty of cleanliness is so little prac
tised as by the Alpine peasantry. They are all that is
ugly and filthy. ChatiUon has a beautiful bridge,
passing over a tremendous gorge, do-wn which rushes a
torrent, from a high mountain on the right, called Mont
Cervin; below are the reraains of a Roman bridge.
The first view of the to-wn of ChatUlon is magnificent :
the river raaking beautiful reaches', and the sno-wy
mountains in the neighbourhood of Mont Blanc form
ing the background ; the foreground consists of forests
of chestnut and walnut trees, -with larch and fir as the
mountains get higher, and -riUage spires and chMets
are beautifuUy interspersed amongst the trees near the
piargin of the river. Nothing can exceed the verdure
under the trees. The vines are trained along trellises
about six feet high above ground. MUes of ground

272 MONT BLANC.
are thus covered with thera, laid horizontally, so that
the sun and the weather never can reach the ground
beneath, and one would think the ripening of the
grapes would be affected by the roots being thus exposed
to darkness — ^yet in this extraordinary chmate crops
of Turkey com and esculent vegetables grow beneath
the shade of these arbours, under which a man raay
pass for miles without ever seeing his way or being seen
on the surface of the earth.
From hence along a succession of the same scenery,
and never leaving the left bank of the Dora, we
approached Aosta, the high pointed suraraits covered
-with snow, and fianked by the glaciers, those of La
VaUe de la Regence closing the scene. They form
part of the base of Mont Blanc; but the mysterious
mountain is stiU concealed amongst the distant recesses
of his attendant mountains, and I ara now persuaded
that we have never seen him from Turin, or at all.
Frora the top of a high raountain on the right hand
of the Dora, covered with snow, and about two miles
on this side of Aosta, close to the river, falls a smaU
glacier, the first we have seen near, the last to be seen
in this gorge of the Alps by those who proceed towards
Italy. Although at an iraraense height, its blue walls
contrasted with the white snow above are distinctly
visible. A small cascade falls from it into the
Dora. On approaching Aosta, you pass through a very fine
Roman triumphal arch, erected in honour of Augustus.
It is of beautiful architecture, of the Corinthian order.
It has been covered vrith marble, which has disappeared,
but the interior walls are constructed of a pudding-
stone found at no very great distance.

PASTORAL VALLEY. 273
It is dreadful to see the number of goitres and
cretins that are to be found along this valley. The
latter are all idiots, in the most dreadful sense of the
word: they can hai-dly speak, and can do nothing,
but stare and slabber.
"V\1ien entering the town of Aosta, and not tiU then,
you see the vaUey; turn to the right, and you behold the
immense precipices of Le Grand St. Bernard closing up
the gorge with eternal waUs of granite, snow, and ice.
In the front are the glaciers of La Regence high in the
air, and at their feet we pass to-morrow.
October 1st. We set off this morning for Courme-
geur. The morning was not propitious, and the clouds
hung hea-vy upon the mountains ; but it iraproved as we
went on, and aU but the highest Alps were quite clear,
and of thera we had glimpses and a cursory -riew every
now and then. The vaUey at the beginning of the
journey was -wide and beautifully pastoral. Our voi
turier had driven so ill, and his leading horse was in his
hands so unraanageable, that I gave hira the choice
either of himself hiring a boy to ride the leader, or of
getting a horse and postUion at the post to put into the
team, he being to pay for either himself. He chose the
latter, so we set off with four horses. We soon came
to groves of chestnuts and walnuts, which accompanied
us in magnificent profusion and beauty, quite until we
rose at the end of our- journey into the higher regions,
where nothing but fir and larch flourish. Before we
arrived at ViUeneuve we saw a singular triangular castle
on a rock in the raiddle of the vaUey coraraanding the
Dora, -with a circular tower at each angle. At present
it belongs to La Baronne de Rocca.
At Villeneuve we passed the Dora by a bridge. The
VOL. II. T

274 LA SALLE.
river ran foaraing very far beneath us. The road here
began to rise very rapidly, and led us over comiches
where it was certainly safe but narrow, and the waU not
always as high or as strong as one could -wish. The
raountains on either side of the Dora were immensely
high, thick -with pines and larch, whilst the finest chest
nuts and walnuts fringed the road ; but in some places
the view was treraendous, do-wn steep precipices.
We knew, by the sound of the wheels, that we were
traveUing over a wooden gaUery covered ¦with stones
and gravel but supported by timbers driven into the
rocks. In sorae places so deep was the precipice,
and so abrupt, that we could hear the river roar beneath
us, but we could not see it. Do^wn the sides of the
raountains marks of the ravages of avalanches were ap
parent araongst the pines and larches lying prostrate
before thera. There used to be drawbridges and gates
upon this timber road, but they are now taken away as
useless. The labour of half an hour of twenty men
would throw the road into the Dora, and effectuaUy
block the passage against any army however numerous.
The side torrents that we also passed, and which come
down from the different glaciers in the raountains situ*
ated behind the hne along which we traveUed, are
crossed on wooden bridges equaUy easUy reraovable.
The ¦riews up sorae of these glens and below, as their
torrents fell flashing through the dark pines above, and
rushed into the Dora far below, were raagnificent, and
the woods that clothed thera very rich.
In this way we at last reached the town of La SaU^
were we were to breakfast; but the house where we
stopped was so filthy that we preferred, to the indigna
tion of the hostess and the astonishment of our courier,

MONT BLANC.

m

a beautiful raeadow covered vrith the finest turf, shaded
by magnificent walnut trees, and comraanding a pros
pect of Mont Blanc, the AU^e Blanche, and all its sub
limity, to the filth which awaited us. Here we had a
table and chairs conveyed from a neighbouring cottage,
and, ¦with the aid of my cantine and sorae rautton chops,
we made an excellent breakfast — to the amazement of
the world, which fancied we could not eat except at a
dirty table, in a room covered vrith all raanner of filth.
On our left, as we fronted Mont Blanc, and rather
behind us, was a very high raountain ; we could only
see the top covered -with snow and with a fine glacier
running down, out of which feU a beautiful cascade into
the Dora. Here we enjoyed ourselves for an hour and
a-haH. The clouds intercepted the whole of the view of
Mont Blanc, but at times its highest peak was -risible,
."with the AiguiUe du Mont Rouge and I'All^e Blanche, or
the vast glacier which runs do-wn from the sumrait to
the Itahan side of the mountain. The AiguUle du
Gout^ was also to be seen on our left. Aiter leaving
this we traversed a -wide vaUey, lea-ring the picturesque
earth of La SaU^ on our left. The vaUey is fuU of
.-rineyards, and here the ¦rintage is just in full force.
But we soon leave this pastoral scenery, and the road
again becomes raountainous and dreary, very steep, and
in some places too narrow to be safe, as there is scarcely
any protection against the precipice; and a spring break
ing, or the carriage overturning, owing to a horse fall
ing, inight at once prove fatal.
When near the top of the rise we met three friars,
one of them a monk of Le Grand St. Bernard ; and
here we saw the road diverge and go to the left to Le
T 2

276 COURMAGEUR.
Petit St. Bernard, over which carriages can pass in
safety to Charaouny. The passage is six hours. We
saw the road ¦winding far amongst the mountains like a
thread along their sides. After toUing up the hUl we
beheld on our left, far do^wn in the valley, the picturesque
village of St. Didier, where are raedicinal waters in con
siderable repute, and where the Prince de Carignano
has just built a palace, to enable him to take them every
year, which he does. St. Didier hes on the right bank
of the Dora, and the road leads down to it from that
along which we traveUed.
At a sharp tum over a very deep ra^rine the road was
torn up by a torrent, so we got out ; and well we did, as
our rogue of a postilion took too sharp a turn and aU
but overset the carriage do-wTi the precipice. Had we
been in the carriage I think that we should very likely
by our weight have carried it over.
The needles and glaciers of Mont Blanc now were
from their ¦ricinity quite subhme, and we descended into
the village of Courraageur to the hotel, which for the
sins of travellers has been erected since the place has
been cursed by the discovery of raineral waters. Reck
oning upon this being the only hotel, they were so in
solent and extortionate that I would not enter the house,
the charges demanded being rauch higher than those
I paid at Turin. I sent for the Syndic, but this grave
magistrate, dressed in a short coat and a jockey cap,
and looking hke a tailor, either could or would do
nothing. I then demanded to be taken to St. Didier,
but this the voiturino refused, his contract being to take
me on to Courraageur and back, I then sent to the
Cur6 : he was at Aosta pleasuring. At length I learnt
that ten rainutes further on, at the end of the to^wn, was

SAUSSURE. 277
an auberge, whicli they never told rae of, caUed "Le
Mont Blanc." I insisted on being driven there, as the
contract did not express any particular inn. Thither I
went, the people at the hotel being convinced that I
must return there, as I never could take up with the
second-hand accoraraodation of the "Mont Blanc."
But I disappomted thera, as I found very decent ac
commodations, and remained there. The Dora runs
under the windows, and Mont Blanc rises close to the
bank on the other side. But unfortunately it rains.
According to ^Monsieur Saussure's measurement, the
¦riUage of Courraageur is 525 French toises, or 3150
French feet above the level of the sea.
2nd. I ¦risited the museum, which is formed by
the guides, of the minerals and crystals of the adjoin
ing mountains, and bought some speciraens. I had
much conversation ¦with the guides here. Mons. de
Saussure's old guide only died three years ago. They
pointed out to rae the place under 1' AiguUle du Geant
where Saussure reraained on the glaciers fifteen
days and nights. His cabin of stones stiU exists. The
day appearing to clear a httle, I walked, as I could
not get a char-d-banc, gently up the valley to the sul
phureous springs and -riUage of La Saxe, where there
is a bathing-house. The springs sraell extremely strong
of sulphur. From thence I crossed the Dora at a saw-
miU, and saw the Aiguille du Geant, de Monte Rouge,
and de Monte Brogha, which rise hke giant sentries to
protect their master, whose head was entirely hid in
clouds and vapour. The glaciers which run down frora
these aiguiUes are very magnificent. Although these
needles are only partially granite, and are for the most
part calcareous, their strata are entirely vertical, and

278 UGLY WOMEN.
appear to split off from the central pyraraid, forraing,
in fact, fleurons of pyraraids. I went on as far as
the meadows of Peteret, and under the mountain of
the sarae name, when the rain came on, and I returned.
This year has been reraarkably unfavourable for ex
cursions on the raountains. Such a succession of
rains and storras, all the suramer, was never before
known. The baths of La Victoire, the waters of which are
also taken internaUy, are on the other side of the Dora
frora Courraageur. Towards the south-east another
set of raineral waters is called La Margueriti. Their
principal ingredients are, fixed air, magnesia, and iron.
They are purgative, and are considered sovereign in
raany coraplaints. This last suramer above 300 persons
came to use thera.
I asked the head guide to-day whether he thought
the weather would hold up ? He said, " Yes, because
I'air se bien purg^ hier." I found that he raeant that
so much rain and snow had faUen in the night it
probably would now be fair. The air, however, does
not think its purgative sufficient — ^it blows a complete
tourmente on aU the raountains round.
Sth. At Morjex, and another town on our road, were
large cattle fairs, which gave us the opportunity of
seeing all the population of this part of the Alps. The
raen are a fine, active race — short, but very strong,
well-hrabed and featured ; but, in my hfe, I never saw
a coUection of such extraordinary ugly woraen. They
were all old, too, and wizen. Either the young women
were not allowed to come to the fairs, or women are
never young in this country. In truth, the women
labour so hard, and are so much exposed to the severity

NAPOLEON.
of the weather, that very few years entirely obliterate
all appearance of youth.
When Napoleon descended the Alps, previous to
the battle of Mai-engo, he raade a dash into the to-wn
and occupied it. But he was not a bit nearer getting
Fort du Bard. The coramandant sent to Wurmser to
teU him that infantry inight pass through the to-wn with
great loss ; but, he would answer for it, no cannon
should go by. Napoleon assaulted the fort three times
ia one day from the to-wn, and was repulsed every time.
In the course of the next day he cut do^wn an iraraense
quantity of trees ; in the night he strewed the branches
thick over the main street of the to-wn, and galloped his
artiUery and cavalry over the street thus muffled by the
boughs, so that the wheels and horses made no noise.
The Austrians heard a bustle, but httle guessed that
the enemy's cavalry and artiUery were gi-ring them the
shp. They kept up a fire upon the town, by which the
French lost a few men ; but in the morning Napoleon's
object was gained. He left a corps to blockade the place,
and marched on -with the rest of the array to the victory
of Marengo. After that event he destroyed the fort, of
which not a vestige reraains.
On our return to Turin we found that the bad wea
ther had driven everybody into the city, and that the
inns were fuU. At I'Hotel de I'Europe they had the
modesty to ask me thirty francs ar-night for an apart
ment, and seven francs ar^head for dinner. I ordered
the carriage to be driven to a second-rate inn, which I
had heard of, where Giovanni assured me none but
voituriers ever went. There, however, I found a per
fectly clean, well-furnished apartment of three rooms,
at twelve francs per night, and four francs ahead for

280 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES.
dinner. John BuU has spoilt all the hotels on the
Continent ; and now the only chance of being reason
ably well treated is to go to a second-rate inn. If the
English would do this, instead of being contented to be
cheated by the innkeepers, who are the greatest set of
rascals under heaven, and would persevere in it, they
would soon bring such fellows as the keeper of the
Hotel de I'Europe here, and M. Schneider at Florence,
and M. Dejeans at Geneva, to reason. But when one
foolish John Bull sheep leaps a ditch, the whole foolish
fiock must follow.
7th. My landlord, in spite of having made a contract
-with rae, sent in a ridiculous bill. Got ray passport -ris6,
and ray order for post-horses, and set hira at defiance —
telling him that I would pay his contract, and not a sou
raore. He angry, more so at ray laughing at him.
I went to the museura of antiquities at the Academic.
A very fine collection of Egyptian antiquities, formed
by Drovetti, and bought by the King of Sardinia. It
is remarkably strong in papyri. A raost beautiful statue
of Sesostris, in basalt; it is e-ridently a portrait. The-
nose is aquihne, and the comers of the mouth turned
upwards. It is the size of hfe, and beautifully sculp
tured. There are a great variety of instruments of
surgery, cutlery, mechanical arts, and ladies' work in
beads, just like the bugle bead-work of the present day ;
and, amongst other things, a set, in a case, of pipes,
precisely the sarae, in every respect, as those used in
Sardinia at the present tirae. Mummies -without end —
very few have yet been opened ; one which has is of a
woman. The director, upon my inquiry whether he had heard
of the female mumray opened in Paris during last year,

ALFIERI. 28 1
in the body of which was found a phallus, told me that
several instances had occurred of it — that it had not
been much talked about, as it was an unpleasant sub
ject ; but that they had had instances of it in their own
collection. I observed that there was not a single in
stance in the collection of the Egyptian Mercury which
I have at Stowe, neither is there any mention made of
it by Drovetti. The conducteur had never heard of it.
Here I found two raagnificent sphinxes. It is reraark
able that aU the Egyptian statues of gods, kings, or
heroes wearing beards, have the beards confined in a
pyramidical case, which is strapped under the chin,
round the head, and joins the skuU-cap. After I had
¦risited the museum, I took my leave of the Professor
BoreUi. I arrived at night at Poirino, where I found a com
fortable inn, dinner, and bed. We had a magnificent
view of the whole hne of Alps, the day being perfectly
clear. Mont Blanc and Monte Rosa most conspicuous
and beautiful in their snows, which have very much
increased along the whole line of the mountains since
we were at their feet.
8th. Started at six o'clock, a.m. ; passed through
Asti, the birth-place of Alfieri, once strongly forti
fied. The River Tanaro runs slowly through the
plain, the road alongside of it untU it approaches
Asti, when it rises a little amongst sand-hUls, of ter
tiary marine formation. The country quite flat to
wards Alexandria, once one of the strongest places in
Europe. About three EngUsh miles from Alexandria, we
passed through flats covered vrith young mulberry
and arbutus trees, untU we came to a stragghng vUlage

^82 MARENGO.
-with a ruined tower, and an albergo, hanging a sign
over the road -with the portentous narae of " If
Torre de Marengo" on it, and we found ourselves on
the spot where this great victory was won, equaUed
only in modem times by our o-wn Waterloo. We
stopped and viewed the details of the scene with
the interest which belonged to it. Here the great
struggle was raade which decided the -rictory. The.
French had lost the battle. It had begun in the
rear of the vUlage of Castel Ciriolo on the French-
extreme left, and that of Spinetto on their extreme
right. They were repulsed, and these -rillages be
came the flank positions of the Austrian army. The.
French then were accuUs on the Bormida, on which
also their right rested, the -riUage of Marengo to
wards their centre, and their left flank en Vair.
Napoleon had began his retreat frora his left. The
Bormida offered him but one bridge in his rear to
pass his army over, which raust have been cut to
pieces in the passage. His intention was to have
retreated upon Valenca, where he hoped to have
crossed the Po. He himself had left the fleld.
Mihtary men say that he raade a great raistake in the
action. His great exertions were directed against the
-riUage of Castel Ciriolo, which then supported the
Austrian right, and where they had 300 pieces of
cannon. In this he was completely foUed. Had he
directed his efforts against Spinetto, and taken and
maintained it, he would have accule the Austrians in
the angle between the Tanaro and the Po, and would
have made all who survived prisoners.
A fatality, however, gave hira the -rictory out of
the hands of the Austrians. Desaix was rao-ring up

MARENGO.

28^

a division of cavalry frora Asti along the public
road. He overtook a division of French infantry
mo-ring along the same road, but knocked up, and
unable to raarch on. The battle was heard raging
in their front, but of its details or of its probable
result neither Desaix's cavah-y nor the infantry knew
anything. Desaix, at a venture, ordered every one of
his cavalry to take up an infantry soldier behind
him, and thus trotted up with 5,000 cavalry and the
same number of infantry.
By the time he arrived at the ¦riUage of Marengo
the French were in fuU retreat, and a di^rision of
Austrians were mo^ring upon' Marengo in pursuit.
Desaix immediately formed his line of cavalry on the
road and in front of the -viUage, -with his infantry
pUhon-riders in his rear. The Austrians never saw
the latter. It was reported to Melas that a di-ri-
sion of French cavalry were mo-ring on Marengo.
"E! sono troppo tardi!" exclaimed the Austrian
general. " The -rictory is gained ! "
The Austrian corps forraed a soUd square to re
ceive Desaix's cavalry. Desais ordered it to make
a flank movement on the gaUop, and thus uncovered his
infantry ; and himself charged the Austrian flank, whilst
the infantry enveloped the Austrian sohd square, which
broke and fled, and were cut to pieces by the cavalry.
The whole Austrian army was panic-struck by the
appearance of the infantry, which they thought had
sprung out of the earth, so httle did they know of
its existence. They knew not the extent of this un
expected reinforcement, and the panic that before
had seized the French in its tum penetrated the
Austrian ranks, and the rout and slaughter of the

284 MARENGO.
latter were, as we all know, decisive. Thus was the
¦rictory torn out of Melas' grasp, and the destinies of
Europe for raany years whoUy changed.
Desais, who had ordered the movement, never even
saw it executed. His cavalry was scarcely formed
in front of his infantry, when a cannon-shot kiUed
him just in front of the inn where the plain opens,
on the edge of a sraaU pit about 200 yards from
the high-road, and where some young trees planted
by the French raark the spot. He was killed out
right, and never spoke. It was Kellerman who
charged -with the cavalry which Desais had thus
moved up.
The whole battle was fought upon plain and even
ground, like a bowling-green — not a tree nor an
irregularity to hide a man behind. It was all fair,
dovmright fighting, vrithout raanoeu-vring of any kind.
It is singular that two fields, so bloody and so im
portant in their consequences as Marengo and Wa^
terloo, should thus have been fought on plain ground,
when there was not the power on either side to
manceu-vre, but when everything depended on the
courage and firmness of the parties engaged. Open
as the field was, for thirty miles and more, the army
which was the strongest in cavalry ought to have
won the day, and the advantage was clearly on the
side of the Austrians. The dead were buried on the
third day after the battle.
Far on our right, about four mUes off in the
rear of the line, is a large convent, where Napo
leon established en pension the men who were in
valided at Marengo. There were above 400 of them,
who thus passed the remainder of their days on the

EARTHQUAKE.

28^

scene of their glory and then- wounds. This was a
fine mUitary idea. A column was built close to Ma
rengo to celebrate the event by the French army ;
but the Austrians afterwards pulled it down, broke it
into pieces, and buried the stones.
We moved into Novi, once a fortified town also,
but the works are destroyed. This, too, was the
scene of a bloody battle, in which the French were
defeated by the Austro-Russian army under Suwarrow,
and General Joubert kUled.
We met a string of the King of Sardinia's car
riages, which had been sent to Genoa for the use
of the httle Queen of Portugal, Maria Gloria, who,
as the postUion informed us, had been "taken" by
¦the Enghsh, and obUged to go into England. The
carriages were moving back to Turin, raournful,
slowly, and empty.
9th. This morning at half-past three o'clock, as
I was lying in my bed awake, I felt a great shake
in my bed. My first idea was, as there was an
archway into the inn under my bedroora, that a
hea-vy carriage coining in had run against the side
•of the house; but in a moment I found it was an
earthquake. The bed cracked, timbers of the roora
groaned, and the floor heaved hke the waves of the
sea. I jumped np and ran under the arch of the
door of my roora, kno-wing that under an arch I was
safest. I counted four regular heaves frora west to
¦east. The house literaUy bent like a -wUlow, and
overhung the street. I expected the last heave would
have throvpn it down — two seconds raore I ara con
vinced would have done so. I think the shock
lasted about nine or ten seconds. The furniture of the

286 EARTHQUAKE.
roora flew against the wall and fell do-wn : the noise
was treraendous. But how rauch was occasioned by
the earthquake itself, and how much by the clashing
of glass, the cracking of beams, and the clatter
through the whole house, I of course could not tell.
Those, however, who were out of doors said that the
roar and rushing of a subterranean -wind were very
a^wful. As soon as the shock was over I threw open the
window, and there saw a bright, clear, starUght night,
quite serene, and in repose. The day before had
been fine and clear, but not hot, and towards eve
ning it had got cold, and we expected rain in the
night ; but there was nothing that designated the
proxiraity of a convulsion of nature. I certainly felt
a more awful and appalling sensation than even when
in the presence of a volcano. There one saw visible
causes, tremendous indeed in their nature, producing
natural and visible effects ; but here was an unseen
hand laying its hea^vy weight upon the world and all
that it contained — working in silence, obscurity, and
unseen. It was very curious, but certainly true, as I
felt it myself, and every one else ¦with whom I con
versed bore testimony to the same fact, that, whether
from electrical causes or other I know not, a feehng
as of approaching sickness, giddiness, and headache
came over us all after the shock was gone by.
The whole population of the to-wn turned out
instantly in the streets, and such a commotion and
confusion I never heard before. The women screamed,
the men shouted, all talked together, the dogs howled,
and the drums of the garrison beat to arms. A
regiment had raarched into the to-wn in the evening,

EARTHQUAKE. 28V
and its quarters not being prepared, the raen were
for the night put into a church. The sentries saw
the lamps in the street waving backwards and for
wards, and alarraed their corarades, who rushed out
naked into the town. Many of the people, belie-ring
that a band of robbers had forced its way into the
town, arraed theraselves.
After the shock was over I went out of my room
to see if the house was injured or any one hurt, and
the whole interior population of the inn was assembled
in shirts and chemises on the staircase, some praying
and aU screaming. One fat Frenchman in his shirt,
and vrith stockingless, unshppered, and dirty feet,
-with a red nightcap on his head, as I opened
my door, feU dovm in a fainting fit. The house
had several cracks in it, but no mischief was done,
and I went to bed again ; the clamour in the streets
and on the inn stairs continued all night, and defied
sleep. In the morning when I got up I found that some
chimneys had faUen, and some houses were cracked,
but none had faUen. A carriage carae in frora the
MUan road, and the traveUers described the earthquake
as coraing in that direction.
After an early breakfast we proceeded on our jour
ney along the banks of the Seri-ria across the Apen-
nraes. We traced the earthquake rmming towards
Genoa the whole way. At Arguala it had damaged
a church and thrown down chimneys, as at Novi.
At Ronco, where we entered the Apennines, it had
thro-wn dovvnn part of a ruined castle. The reaches
of the river were picturesque, and the sides of the
mountains beautifully covered with wood up to the

288 EARTHQUAKE.
suraraits. If we had not seen the Maritime Alps the
¦riews would have had a greater effect. As it was,
they were lovely and pastoral, but never subhme.
The road follows La Seri^ria, which rises out of the
mountain that forms the highest ridge of the chain
over which we passed.
At Pontedecimo the pitch of the hiU is rather
steep for about a raile, and certainly requires an ad
ditional horse ; but from thence the road descends, and
you go on the gallop to Genoa.
Frora the summit of the Apennines above Ponte
decimo the ¦riew of the Mediterranean, the fortified
heights of Genoa, and the valley along which the
river flows, are very beautiful. The descent is steep
and winding, after which we galloped into Genoa by
the Lanterna, and along the banks of the harbour.
I flnd the earthquake has been very strong here,
and has thro-wn do-wn two steeples and cracked many
houses. An iraraense nuraber of people rushed out
upon the public walks and reraained there all night.
At Sestri it has thrown down a house — at Turin it
has been felt very severely. In short, it appears to
have extended along the whole of the plain of the
north of Italy, and to have gone under the Apen
nines. 10th. Last night there were three smaU shocks,
and one of them has cracked Mr. WUson's lodging,
in which I am. The alarra here is excessive. The
English and raany of the natives have left the city,
or are leaving it. Great nonsense this, as the -risita^
tion is so extensive, one place within a day's journey
of this city raust be as dangerous as another. I
reraain, and shall abide it. The priests are taldng

PROPHETS.

8^

advantage of the convulsion, and are fiUing the people's
heads with all sorts of superstition.
llth.- Last night all Genoa almost slept out on the
pubhc walks and on the roads in the neighbourhood
of the tovFn. But the earth was quiet. There could
not be less than 30,000 people on the walks and
ramparts, the greater part of whora slept upon their
beds in the air on the ground. Every horse in
Genoa has been engaged to convey fugitives away.
Capuchins and Franciscans are preaching at every
comer, that the end of the world is at hand.
They prophesied that last night Genoa would be de
stroyed. If. any raischief had happened they would
have had the credit of truly prophesying : it has not,
and now they say the danger was averted by their'
prayers — so they are right either way. The people
were singing the "De Profundis" and the "Miserere"
aU night. Many slept in carriages. My courier —
whom I believe to be a veritable poltroon, but has
more sham courage than I ever saw in raan, evinced
by eternal talk and boasting — slept, I find, in ray
caliche, and did the honours of my fourgon to a
married couple of his acquaintance, who passed the
night in it, stretched at length on their bedding, which
they stuffed into it, and then crept in as if into a
hearse. An Enghsh master of a vessel is arrived, and says
that the agitation and noise caused by the earthquake
on the night of the 9th was felt five mUes out at sea.
12th. The earthquake has subsided. The probable
cause appears to be, that the wet and cold weather
coming upon the earth heated and dried up by un
usual heat and drought, have raade the earth expand
VOL. II. u

290 LADY HOWARD.
and open, and probably the water has come into con
tact with a raass of pyrites and has caused combus
tion somewhere.
19th. I found out quite by accident that Lady
Howard, of Effingham,' was here alone, ha-ving lost
her youngest child, eight years old, as they say here,
owing to the misraanageraent of the English raedical
raan. I drove off at once to where I heard she was,
to offer ray services, but she had left Genoa for
Rorae this morning. I met General Eustace, just
arrived from Svritzerland.
' Charlotte, daughter of Neil, third Earl of Roseberry. Her
husband. General Baron Howard, G.C.B., was created an earl in
,1838, and died in 1845.

291

CHAPTER XV.
Lovely Scenery on the Road to Chiavari — The Holy Hermit of
Sestri — Tricks upon TraveUers — A Waterspout — Spezzia by
MoonUght — Passing the Ferry — ^An Appeal for an Archduchess
— Marble Quarries at Carrara — Bust of the King of England's
Brother — Tales of Brigands — Suspicious Appearances — Lucca —
Approach to Leghorn.
October 20th. I leave Genoa before two o'clock,
P.M. The road leads to the Levante along the sea
shore, in the sarae manner that it does to the Po
nente. But I think the former is raore beautiful and
romantic than the latter. It is quite a new road, and
in exceUent order. There was no other communication
between Genoa and Spezzia than on horseback.
After passing some way along the shore amongst
-riUages and country houses, the road passes through
Nervri, a beautiful, long, straggling town, faraous for
its raanufacture of sUk, seated at the foot of the
Apennines, araongst orange and olive woods, inter
spersed -with palazzi of the Genoese raerchants and
decayed nobihty. Before us lay the lovely bay in
U2

292 BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.
which the to-wn hes, and the fine calcareous raountain
promontory, caUed II Monte del Fino, running far
into the sea. Rounding the bay, and passing through
the little town of Recco, the way begins to ¦wind up
a steep ascent across the neck of the proraontory;
and frora thence looking back is a splendid view,
coraprehending the entire sweep of the whole bay of
Genoa, with its raountain background, until the eye
rests upon Nice and the hne of Maritime Alps.
After ascending sorae way you proceed through a
tunnel of about 100 paces in length, which penetrates
the raountain, and lets you mto a new scene of a
magnificent sweeping valley of the Apennines, that
are clothed with olives and -rines half-way up their
sides ; whilst the valley, along which a beautiful
stream wanders, is one immense wood of ohve,
orange, and -vines, thicldy interspersed vrith towns,
¦riUages, palazzi, and country people's cottages, that
here are not collected into -rillages, but stand each in
its own ohve-grove, vineyard, or garden.
Winding along the side of the hiU which overlooks
this lovely scene, you take a sudden tum to the
right, and again meet the Mediterranean far below
you, with the indents of the bays of Chiavari, Sestri,
and Spezzia, backed by the mountains of Carrara,
before you. Below, on the right, are the lovely shores of
the sea, beautified with the sarae sort of sceneiy and
palaces, quite do-wn to the waves. On almost every
jutting rock is a ruined watch-tower, and in every
inlet a picturesque fishing to-wn, carrying on its own
httle business, apparently shut out from the rest of
the world by the cliffs, which just retire from the sea
sufficiently to let in the httle colony. On every

CHIAVARI.

2§^

steep are ohves, oranges, and -rines, and weeping
birch drooping into the waters. It is impossible, on
viewing these fairy inlets and enchanting pictures, to
wonder at the enthusiastic effect of Italian poetry
and rausic amidst such scenes, where mermaids and
the fabled di-rinities of the deep alraost raight be ex
pected to show themselves, and complete the picture
amidst sohtary bays overshadowed by trees, and lonely
capes washed by the blue waters.
On a sort of ridge commanding a succession of
views such as these, and on the other side the range
of towering Apennines, separated frora you by the
lovely valley which I have mentioned, the road runs
untU it descends into the to-wn of MapaUo, situated
ia one of these inlets I have described. From
hence the road rises over another mountain, forming
the promontory it separates this bay frora that of Chi
avari beyond it. Passing through, another tunnel,
the road runs on a cornice, high above the Medi
terranean, through a succession of such -riews as
I have described; then through a thick wood of
pines and ohves, until another sweeping valley of the
Apennines opens to your left, and the picturesque bay
and tovra. of Chiavari is at your feet. Frora a
church on the hUl, before you descend to Chiavari,
the -riew is the finest. From thence you descend ra
pidly into the town. It is handsorae and clean, the
houses buUt on arcades.
21st. Left Chiavari, and passed sorae way along
the sea-shore, amongst gardens and vineyards, until
we carae to the httle straggling -vUlage of Lavanza,
where are the great slate-quarries which supply Genoa.
Above 6,000 people are eraployed in these works.

294 SESTRI.
Here, also, is a raanufactory of reraarkably elegantly
formed light chairs, fly-tables, and bed-room furniture,
of cherry wood.
From this place the road begins to rise amongst
the Apennines, and you open on your left the beau
tiful vaUey of the river Quaglia. The Apennines
stretch in beautiful horizon beyond; and the verdure
of their valhes and acchvities, although of course not
so grand to the eye as the Alps, are raore cheerful.
The innuraerable quantity of white cottages, palazzi,
and churches dotted about in the olive woods, add
great briUiancy to the scene. The mountains are aU
calcareous and schist, which latter is of all colours,
and gUtters in the sun.
After again descending to the edge of the sea, you
see the beautiful wooded promontory of Sestri della
Levante, with a ruin picturesquely seated in the
woods, and its town at its foot, forraing one of the
indented bays which constitute the beauty of this
coast. At Sestri, which was a Roraan port, many
different coloured raarbles are found. Leaving Sestri
to the right, you tum your back on the Mediter
ranean, and vrind, continually rising, araongst the
raountains, until at last the sea opens again upon you,
but at least 2,000 feet below.
The soil begins here, I suspect, to be magnesian,
as it is very barren, and nothing but stunted firs
appear. But the scene below is superb. In front
is a high conical hiU or rather mountain, on the top
of which is a herraitage. This post coraraands aU
the vrindings of the road for sorae raUes on both
sides ; and here, about six years ago, hved a holy
hermit. From his ceU he could distinguish the ap-

A POST MASTER. 2'^5
proach of travellers sorae railes off, and was always
to be found by the road side, with his rosary in his
hand, begging, in the name of la ^ladonna, for money
to release souls from purgatory. At length robberies
and murders becoming rather frequent, the police got
on the alert, and soon caught hold of the holy hermit
as the perpetrator. They hanged hira ; and his herrait
age reraains, but desolate. The raountain goes by
the narae of La Montagna deUa Poveri.
To-day I had a pleasant fellow, who carae up
to my carriage side, vrith his hat off and nose in
the mud, to say that doubtless my "altesse" meant
to take four horses to ray carriage, and as raany to
my fourgon, as the raountain was very steep, &c.
I said I was very sorry, but raeant to do no such
thing ; the bolletone frora Genoa gave rae three horses
for that stage, and three horses I would have to each
carriage, and no more. My post-master arched his
eyebrows, displayed the two open palms of his hands,
and declared that my " altesse " must be in a mistake,
for that no one had ever gone it except ¦with four.
I only appealed to my bolletone, and said that I was
under the direction of the Government on that sub
ject. He requested to see my bolletone. I showed it
him. He then said that, to be sure, it was very
extraordinary, but it was a mistake of II Signor
Direttore at Genoa, which doubtless my "altesse"
would correct. I laughed in his face ; where
upon he began to get saucy, and vowed he would
appeal to the Direttore in his own town, who pro
bably was his own brewer or ¦wine-grower. I said I
would appeal to no one, that I demanded the horses
specified in the bolletone, and that, if he refused, I

296 ¦WATER-SPOUT.
would go to II Judice della Pace and have him put
into prison, and, if he gave rae raore, that I would
not pay hira for more .than six. He pulled raany
Italian faces, and vrithdrew.
It was with infinite arauseraent I then saw him
put four horses to each carriage. When this was
done, and the boys just ready to raount, I called
the post-raaster, expressed how much obliged I was
to hira, and asked hira if he did not mean to put
four more to each carriage ; that if he did, I would
take thera all, or twelve more, but would pay only
for the three to each carriage. He then, quite pur
ple -with rage, took off the horses, and, in about
five minutes, he sent an ambassador to me, to wHs-
per in ray ear that, if I would be content, and
would pay an extra price for two horses to each
carriage — that, in fact, the third horse would be
found useless.
I was reading a book at the tirae, -with which I
gave the fellow as violent a blow as I could in the
face, and bade hira give that as my answer to his
master ; whereupon I had ray three horses quietly
put to my carriage, and we jogged merrily on toge
ther. Between Materana and Borghetto I found the ra
vages of a water-spout, that had fallen on the 6th
instant, and the effects of which had lasted two
days. The sides of the moimtain on which it broke
were covered with rocks, stones, and earth. Miles of
the road had been effaced, and hundreds of work
men were eraployed in restoring it. Trees had been
torn up by the roots, arid meadows destroyed. In
parts it really looked as if a volcano had sent down

APENNINES AT NIGHT.

29\r

torrents of fluid mud. All this raust have been
part of the convulsion which in other parts showed
itself in earthquake To the eastward of Genoa
the earthquake was felt, but shghtly. We to-day
overtook sorae people from the VaUey of Aosta and
Courraageur, where I had been, and I found that
the earthquake had been felt very severely there.
The reports state it to have originated on the other
side of the Alps, to have been severe in France,
and even in the north of Eui-ope. Of the truth of
this I, of course, can know nothing; but frora the
Alps to the sea, and through the Apennines, I have
traced it.
Between Borghetto and Spezzia we were obliged
to leave the road, thus broken up, and not suffi
ciently repaired, and proceed by the bed of the
large stream called La Margon. The passage here
was very rough, the water in some parts rather
deep, and the road not quite safe. These delays
caused us to be overtaken by the night amongst the
Apennines; and their mighty suraraits, ht up by a
fuU sUver moon, their gloomy shadows and deep
vaUeys, made a most roraantic, gloomy, and yet
beautiful picture.
At length we came to a high ridge, which showed
us depths of wood-embowered vaUeys beneath us ;
beyond, a misty plain, -with the shadowy outhnes of
a town in the distance, or the moonlit shores of
the Mediterranean; and this was Spezzia, into which
I descended by a zig-zag road.
The effect of thus going gradually do-wn from
bright moonht summits of the Apennines into dark,
lonely dells, the moonbeams gradually lea-ring us as

298 PORTO -VENERE.
we descended into what imagination might have
deeraed an unfathoraed abyss, was very grand.
22nd. I left Spezzia this morning. The beauty of
this bay has been much celebrated, and not overrated^
It was now much heightened by a lovely raorning
sun. For some tirae we went along the sea-shore.
There is a very pretty proraenade which runs along
it, and permits a -riew of all the fine scenery of
the gulf. Napoleon had taken a great fancy to this
place, and meant to have enlarged its port and
harbour by thro-wing out a mole. To the westward
is II Punto di Venere, where was a Roraan port.
In the bay rises a very large stream of fresh water
from the bottora of the sea, so powerful as entirely
to prevent the salt water frora raixing -with it, and
it is dehcious.
On the surarait of the raountain which comraands
both seas, overhanging Porto Venere, is a strong fort
built by Napoleon. It is quite unattackable, but
requires only 300 raen to hold it. It is easy to
raask it if any eneray is in force, and if he is not
he has no business here. There is only cistern-
water in the fort.
The road rises very gradually araongst beautiful
cultivation, until at length you descend to the river,
which is here very broad — at least, its bed is so;
but the streara is irapetuous in winter, and tarae
and shaUow at this season, and narrow withal.
The post-raasters, however, are in league with a
ferry over this river, and, in spite of the evi
dence of one's o-wn senses, the postihons wanted to
persuade me that it was very broad, very deep,
very rapid, and that the sands were dangerous,

FERRY,

299

and the fourgon would stick. The ferrymen re
iterated these appeals, which I knew were aU lies.
My courier had passed it several times, and my eyes
showed me a clear shallow streara, running over
pebbles, about 100 yards over. There being no
tariff fiixed for the ferry, the ferrymen raay charge
you what they please, and usually breed a riot. The
last tirae ray courier passed it his raaster was obliged
to have recourse to his pistols. I therefore insisted
on their taking rae over -with the horses; and when
they did so, the water never passed over the naves
of the wheels.
As soon as I got to the other side I told the
postihons that, in order to teach thera "not to tell
hes to traveUers in future, I would give thera no
thing a boire. This put thera into a furious passion,
but they had no reraedy.
In floods and -winter it is better to wait until the
waters subside. They never last above three hours, and
where it is dangerous for horses to go, it would be
equaUy so for the ferry, as the bed of the streara is fuU
of banks, on which the boat would necessarily be driven.
The water never rises above six feet, and the space frora
bank to bank is only half a nule. It would be no great
job for the country to build a bridge of tiraber over it.
This river in ancient tiraes was the boundary of Liguria.
It is no longer so. Sarzana, the next town, is still in
Piedmont. But the banks of the river afford evidence
of former boundaryship and ancient warfare. The hills
at the feet of the Apennines, that form a sort of
series of outworks to the immense corps de place which
the Apennines form, are aU cro-wned with castles, to
most of which old to^wns have been attached ; and the

300 REMEMBERING A DUCHESS.
towers of the castles ha^ring long been useless in war,
form now picturesque and beautiful ruins, backed by
the serrated lines of the Apennines of Carrara, that
present beautiful primary forras, and rise high in air and
white up to their suraraits, as if they were streaked with
snow. The colour is that of the white raarble of which
the whole range is composed.
Turning to the right, and skirting the base of the
mountains, you come at last to the barrier of Piedraont,
and you see high cocked hats on the heads of green-
coated douaniers, awaiting your approach. I had a
lascia passare to pass through Piedraont unsearched, so
I had no fee to pay and no words to waste. But I here
entered a sUp of the Duchy of Parraa, and an humble
douanier, after I had passed the Piedmontese frontier,
came and hoped I would remeraber " La Grande Du
chesse," (Marie Louise,) hterally suggesting that he was
ordered, par son ministere, to raake this appeal "aux
personnages corarae V. A. qui travaurent ses etats."
However extraordinary it raay appear, this hteraUy took
place ; and on ray asking my courier what it was right
to give Marie Louise, he shrugged his shoulders and
said, " Donnez un franc." I did so, and the man in the
Cocked hat bowed dovm to the ground, and wished mon
altesse a good journey. Thus are the raighty faUen.
At the other end, where you enter Lucca, the same
ceremony takes place, vrith the same results, and Marie
Louise hteraUy collects for her revenue two one-shiUing
turnpikes from traveUers. I had a lascia passare
through Tuscany, so that I entirely avoided aU dis
cussion with douaniers, which is a great blessing.
Frora Levanza I went to Massa, by the way of Car
rara, in order to see the marble quarries. The old road

CARRARA,

sii

used to go to Massa and you might avoid Carrara — but
now the Grand Duke of Modena has ordered the post
to run through Carrara, in order to terapt traveUers to
buy his marble. The road, which had hitherto ran
along the foot of the Apennines, here entered it, and
with the marble raountain in your front, and going
along a narrow, woody, roraantic glen, like what one
meets in North Wales, you come to the neat stragghng
viUage of Carrara. The quarries are about a mile
further, and only different from any others inasmuch as
the whole face of the mountain is of beautiful white
compact statuary marble. The entire town is built
of it.
Princess Elise, Napoleon's sister, when she was sove
reign of this duchy, estabUshed an Academia here, which
has been encouraged since. Here they have in dif
ferent ways collected all the models of the best statues
in Italy, ancient and raodern; and students are per
mitted to study and raodel off upon the roUgh block.
Premiums are given for drawings, &c., and the estab
lishment is certainly a very useful one. Young men
now who study at Rorae corae here and roughly cut out
of the marble their works, which they can do at very
triffing expense, and then take them to Rorae and flnish
them. I found a modest young Englishman here, a
student under Thorwaldsen, the Danish artist, doing this.
There are about seventy students in the place, whose
works are done on commission. In the first studio
which I entered I had the pleasure of seeing ray own
bust. After looking about me, I very innocently asked
who that fat gentleraan was? — I was inforraed that
it was the bust of the King of England's brother, I
said nothing, but shortly after, as I was walking about

302 THOR"?VALDSEN.
the town, my courier came up to rae and said that a
raan had whispered in his ear that I was the King of
England's brother incognito. He assured him I was no
such thing, only il duca, &c. The first speaker said he
knew better, for that he had made ray bust by commis
sion for a Signor ComoUi. Upon inquiry I found that
this was the case, and that Coraolh had never touched
any of the busts which he pretended to work wholly
hiraself. The rogue was at this vfery time in Carrara
gi^ring coramissions, but ¦wisely for himself kept out
of my way. He had sold several of my busts as
those of our King's brother, by whora I found the
Italians raeant the Duke of York, of whose death they
knew nothing. <
After visiting aU the studu, and in^riting ray Enghsh
ar|ist to visit rae at Rorae, taking his address and those
of sorae of the other artists, I proceeded to Massa.
Thorwaldsen has done a colossal figure of our Saviour,
a raagnificently grave and weU-executed performance.
I never saw anything more simply fine than the attitude
and drapery. It is now copying in the studio of my
friend, and the whole is finished as far as it can be done
by another hand. But Thorwaldsen is coming to give
it the last touch. It is destined for the great church at
Copenhagen, which is buUding in the place of that
which Lord Nelson burnt. The idea is a fine one. Our
Saviour is to form the altar-piece, and the statues of
the twelve Apostles are to be ranged on each side of the
great aisle conducting to the altar.
At Massa I was met by a loud and long story of a
carriage being stopped by banditti only last night, on
the mountain between this and Lucca, and plundered.
As great pains were taken to assure me that I should, if

BUYING AN ESCORT. 308
I went on, reach La Montagna precisely at the sarae
hour of the evening as that on which the event hap
pened last night, I concluded it was an atterapt to raake
me remain at Massa, where the inn was not at all good-
looldng. We were three, myself and two servants, well
armed, and so we went on. At the foot of the Mon
tagna we were stopped by a brigadier of gendarmerie
at a farmhouse, who, repeating the same story of the
brigands, &c., offered rae an escort over La Montagna,
if we would pay for it. I was so enraged at this manner
of bargaining for protection, that I told him I sup
posed his reason for not patrolhng the road as it was his
duty to do, and protect travellers instead of bargaining
for their blood, was, that he apprehended his men would
run away, and that he was also afraid himself — that I
had much greater confidence in my own arms and those
of ray servants than in those of persons thus offering
their sovereign's arraed force for hire — and we pro
ceeded. The mountain is two mUes in ascent ; and, I must
confess, that a better suited place for a sanguinary deed
I never saw. A steep precipice on one side ; rocks,
covered vrith brushwood, on the other ; and thick woods
behind them. We were told that the banditti were four
in number. The moon rose upon this scene, and cast its
broad hght and broader shadows across the Apennines.
I never saw a raore lovely, roraantic scene. My pos
tUion, and he of ray fourgon, when the road became
steep, got off their horses to walk up. I thought this
was too good a joke, if there was any truth at aU in the
story. I therefore told the men to raount, and assured
them that if we were attacked, and they stopped or
left their horses, I would shoot them first. To raise

304 ROBBERS.
our spirits the rascals pointed to our notice a cross,
newly put up, and inforraed us that a courier had been
murdered there not a month ago. Giovanni was on the
box, ¦with a carbine ; I in the caleche, ¦with three brace
of pistols ; and Sharp on the box of the fourgon, also
-with a carbine. Just in the darkest part of the pass
the postihon said — " Ecco excellenza — this is the very
spot !" The words were scarcely out of Ids raouth when,
about 100 yards before us, we beheld four men, in the
moonUght, in the raiddle of the road. The moment
they saw us they divided, two on each side of the road,
and advanced, singing together a sort of -wild chorus.
The postUion, to do him justice, flogged manfully on.
I said to Giovanni — " There they are. Do you take the
right hand birds, and I -will take the left." The men
advanced, singing, one before the other. I fully ex
pected the rear man would have made a spring at the
horses' bridle, and the front man at the carriage door,
especiaUy as I observed the front man tend, or swerve,
in his walk towards the carriage, instead of making
roora for it, as a person on foot, in that situation, at
night would naturally have done. The raoment, there
fore, the fellow nearest me came abreast of me, I cocked
ray pistol, and put it to his head, and, if he had put out
his hand towards the carriage, I should instantly have
shot hira dead. At the same moment Giovanni cocked
his blunderbuss in the other fellow's ear. Upon hearing
and seeing these hostile preparations the fellows ducked
— " Their song broke short, the warblers flew." They
shd by the carriage, encountered Sharp, blunderbuss
en avant, standing up, like Mars in his chariot, on the
seat of the fourgon. They made another duck, and were
in a moment lost in the gloora of the rocks and the road.

LUCCA, 30I5
Now, most certainly, these men had done nothing,
and were not, apparently, armed. They might have set
up their song to shew that they were not afraid ; they
might have been labourers retm-ning home. But they
were not dressed as such. They, naturaUy, might have
ducked, seeing pistols and blunderbusses put to then-
heads ; but all one can say is, that under every circum
stance the thing had a suspicious air ; and we aU agreed
that, probably, we had had an escape. However, we
were quite frightened, and so, perhaps, were they.
On reaching the sumrait of this hill, the -riew in the
misty moonhght, all over the plains of Lombardy, was
lovely. The gates of that treraendous fortress, the
tovsn of Lucca, were shut ; but were opened to our caU.
Sentries, pohce, and doganieri raet us ; but our pass
port settled the two first, and ray lascia passare the
last, and Lucca and ourselves were consigned to repose.
23rd. I took a carriage, and drove about Lucca. It
is an odd-looking, old town — very sraaU and compact,
with httle compact fortifications, and httle compact
trees inside, and little corapact towers overlooking
them — so much so, that it gave rae the idea of a httle
toy to-wn and fortifications put together for children;
and I expected the soldiers on the ramparts (for there
are sol6iers even in Lucca), and the inhabitants, to be
little and compact too. The fortifications are regular,
and old — just of the date when bastions began to super
sede round towers. It has a regular corps de place,
and a ravelin in the face of each curtain. But the
French very -wisely turned the raraparts into very pretty
walks, planted thera, and fiUed thera with benches ; the
ravehns, not being revets, are faUing into the ditch;
and thus the town is fast getting rid of "two d— d
VOL. II. X

306 NATURAL HISTORY.
things .at once " — the raveUn and the ditch — and there
is not a gun on the whole place, which is three railes in
circuraference. There is also the word, "libertas," in great stone
letters, over every gate ; and odd, iron cages, -with up
right spikes in thera, at the comer of every street, on
which heads were used to be stuck — both strongly de
noting that Lucca was once a Repubhc. Since it has
been despotized the cages and spikes have remained
-without tenants — a sad proof of the diminution of the
liberty of the subject ! Lucca is weU paved ; but its
streets are about four feet broad. A carriage can but
just squeeze through ; and the pole of mine, in turning
a corner, carried off a shutter from a shop before it.
There is a palace, two sides of which are unfinished ;
but it is called royal. Here the Intendant, who has a
natural history turn, and was kno-wn to my courier,
who had been in " Marie Louise's " service, has a really
very good coUection of natural history, in aU its
branches, coUected and prepared by himself. There
is no attempt at arrangeraent; and he knows nothing
of the matter. But it is his hobby-horse, as well as
mine, and we ambled together thereon very pleasantly
for above an hour. Thus I took ray leave of Lucca.
In going to Pisa, we carae to the foot of a raountain,
where are the baths of Pisa, and a pretty water
drinking-place, with handsorae baths and very dear
lodging-houses, as in England. Before we reached this
we came to the boundary of the Grand Duke of Tus-
cany's dominions, where our passports were examined,
and the baggage would have been, but for my lascia
passare. This was given for the whole Tuscan
dorainions, which I owe to the civUity of Lord

LEGHORN.

1

Burghersh, but it makes the doganieri stare and look
blue, as they lose their fee.
The valley here is very narrow, and the old, warklike
times of Condottieri, Guelphs, and Ghibelhnes, &c.,
erected across it from mountain to mountain, a line of
old towers, and an old castle, which are now very pic
turesque as ruins. Nothing can be flatter than the
country between Leghorn and Pisa. Indeed, well it
may, as history remembers it a stagnant marsh, and
tradition states it to have been once aU sea.
Night closed in before we reached Leghorn ; but, as
we drove to our inn, the briUiant Ughts of the shops,
the display of riches in thera, the crowded and busy
streets, so unhke an Itahan to-wn in general, but raore
like Birmingham, proved the influence of coraraerce
over man. The prices demanded at the hotels for lodg
ing prove it too.

x2

308

CHAPTER XVI.
Whim of a Chaplain at Leghorn — Sienna — The Cathedral — Ap
pearance of the Neighbouring Country — Cold at Radicofoni —
Bolvent — Etruscan Remains.
October 24th. The English consul caUed upon rae, and
conducted rae round the to-wn. It is extreraely weU-built.
The shops are remarkably fine. He first took me to
see the statue of Ferdinand, in white marble, which
stands in the dockyard : it is the work of Giovanni del
Opera. Round the pedestal are four colossal statues
in bronze of four slaves chained. Those of the
African and Asiatic slaves are pecuUarly weU done.
In the dockyard is a 74-gun ship building, for the
Pacha of Egypt. We went dovm to the English
burying-ground, fuU of the tombs of those who, sent
to Pisa for pulmonary coraplaints, have found then-
graves. SraoUet's tomb is there, and that of ray poor
friend Horner. Margaret RoUs, Lady Orford, and
Lady Co-wper have also monuraents. This ground is
the property of the English factory, but is open to

LEGHORN.

30*

aU Protestants. It is surrounded by an iron railing,
and planted with cypresses and -wiUows.
A former chaplain of the factory took a strange
whim into his head, the execution of which the then
existing Consul ought to have prevented. There are
in the burying-ground a good many torabs of one
particular form, pyramidical, and this man fancied
that the torabs in this shape, instead of being scat
tered over the burying-ground, would look rauch
better together; and so he reraoved them from all
parts and set them in rows on one side of the ground,
forgetting that he left the bodies where they were
originaUy buried; consequently the memorials reraain,
but the traces of the graves are gone — posterity, there
fore, may come to weep over the raarble, but not over
the reraains of their friends.
There are three great quarantine grounds and
lazzaretti, for cargoes and passengers of different
classes of contagious danger. They are iraraense
enclosures, weU surrounded by ditches, and high
walls and draw-bridges, and secured in every respect.
They seem admirably quahfied for their object. The
Duke and Duchess of Bedford,' sorae years ago, having
touched at Gibraltar on their way out, had the plea
sure, as there was a rumour of a contagious fever
there at the tirae, of passing a raonth in one of these
lazzaretti. The best-buUt part of Leghorn is inhabited exclu
sively by Jews, who form a powerful body here. In
Napoleon's time they prayed him to let thera have
¦ John, sixth duke, who died in October, 1839. The duchess
was his second wife, Georgina, daughter of Alexander, fourth
Duke of Gordon.

310 PISA.
the little island of Tino, near Spezzia, exclusively
their property, engaging to hold it in fief under hira,
to fortify and garrison it at their own expense.
The Enghsh trade is daUy faUing off, and the
tonnage of the shipping between this port and Eng
land is the sarae as it was. If, therefore, the
nuraber of ships eraployed has faUen off, the ton
nage has done so in the sarae proportion. When
the Consul came here in 1816 the number of ships
from England here was soraewhere above 700 : this
year it is about 150.
27th. I left Leghorn this raorning, and returned to
Pisa. The forest of Arno, which skirts the road,
belongs to the bishop. It did extend to the other
side of the road; but the French cut that part do-wn
and grubbed it up, adding thereby much to the health
of the country.
Leghorn is, as is weU kno-wn, a free port, but
it is free only to the walls. Everything which passes
thera pays immense hea-vy duty, and the search of aU
carriages leaving Leghorn is very strict. The doua
niers looked -with a -wistful eye at my fourgon; but
ray lascia passare set thera at defiance.
The Duorao is iraposing from its size and the
splendour of its marbles and ornaraents, and it stands
in a raagnificent eraplacement, unencumbered by
buildings of any sort, so that at one coup d'ceuU you
see the cathedral, its campanile, the baptistry, and the
Campo Santo. But, although beautiful as a whole,
the architecture of the Duorao is not good. It is of
that which they here call Gothic, where innumer
able httle round arches, surrounded by little round
pillars, break the raass into filagree work, and teaae

LEANING TOWER. 31 \
the eye wdth endless repetitions. But the Italians are
proud of these little candlesticks, and count them
over, and astonish theraselves and travellers with tell
ing thera that the facade alone is supported by
"cinquante colonne, signore!" The principal door is
supported by what they choose to call Grecian pillars,
which are, however, to ray raind Saracenic. They
are of white marble, most beautifully and elaborately
carved in fohage and arabesque frora base to capital.
The bronze gates form compartments, representing the
hfe of the Virgin, the passion of our Sa-riour, &c.
The cathedral is in the shape of a Latin cross. It
is now under repair, and it wUl be three years before
the repairs are completed. They appear to be repair
ing judiciously — renovating, but not iraproving. The
columns which support the church are of granite,
some Oriental and others Sardinian.
Although the general effect of this building is
fine, the architecture is very faulty. The outside of
the cupola consists of two orders of colurans, the
upper order of double the nuraber of pillars as that
below; consequently two stand over those beneath
thera, and two others are in the air, supported
by nothing in the intercoluraniations. The reUe-ri
round the eight sides of the font are very rich. I
suspect that the whole interior basin forming the
octagon was once a bath for the baptism of adults.
The campanUe, or belfry, of the cathedral is the
famous leaning tower — famous for nothing that I can
see, except for being the ughest building in Europe,
and for ha-ring been built for a city which preferred
a crooked tower to a straight one. That it was begun
upright is e-rident : first, because the shortened colurans

312 CAMPO SANTO,
on the inclining side are evidently buried in the
earth; secondly, because in one of the ancient paint
ings in the Campo Santo the tower is represented
upright. The architect, had carried up his work
four stories high when the accident happened which
gave it its lurch. Instead of pulling it down, he
has been permitted, most inartificially, to endeavour
to recover its equilibrium by lengthening the columns
on the depressed side, so as graduaUy to get the gal
leries to a level; so that not only he cobbled his
work, but by carrying eight gaUeries of httle columns
round it he left eight rules by which to raeasure his
foohsh endeavour to raake a straight tower out of a
crooked one. It was buUt in 1190 by two architectsj
one a Gerraan and the other a Pisan, who clubbed
their -wits on this notable occasion.
The Carapo Santo is the raost interesting thing in
Pisa. It is a large paraUelograra, in which a cloister
is formed round all its sides by beautiful and really
Gothic arches of white marble.
In this raagnificent burying-place, and in the open
ground contained within it, the faithful are buried —
none under the arcades, except by order of the Grand
Duke. The open ground is coraraon to all. Six
hundred noble famihes of Pisa have a right of burial
under the arcades. There are sisty-two Gothic arches.
Under the arcades are placed all the sarcophagi and
antiquities which have been at different times dug up
in the neighbourhood of Pisa; so that it forms a kind
of museum. But I regretted seeing some monuraents
allowed to be built in the wall, to the utter destruc
tion of the fresco paintings, which constitute the
great curiosity of the place; especially that of a

\
SIENNA. 313^
Russian Princess Schuvallow, whose Scythian pos
terity have celebrated her decease upon half an acre
of white Carrara marble, in a truly Scythian taste.
They are very curious, as preserving the costume,
and, in raany cases, raost interesting portraits of that
period. Comit Algarotti is buried here, and Frederick
the Great, of Prussia, erected his raonuraent.
From Pisa, after passing the whole morning, I
proceeded to Pozzibonzi, along a raost uninteresting,
flat, poplar country.
28th. I came on to Sienna. On the Arno, at
Pisa, is a very small, square, low, odd-looking church,
of black and white marble in bands, caUed Santa
Maria della Spina, part of the cro-wn of thorns being
sho-wn there as a rehc. It is surmounted by pedi
ments, obehsks, and fret-work, hke an old-fashioned
salt-ceUar. The inchnation of the leaning tower is
fourteen feet from the perpendicular. The earth of
the Campo Santo is said to destroy the huraan body
in forty-eight hours. A horrid representation of this
is given in one of the fresco paintings, where a fat
monk is decomposing, to the horror of the standers-
by ; and even the horse rode by one smeUs the stench,
and backs from it.
Frora Pozzibonzi the road is somewhat raore pic
turesque, the country being broken into pastoral vallies.
On a hUl stands the town of Colle, whose walls, as
weU as those of Monte MiccioU on another hill, are
very picturesque. Sienna stands on a high ridge, or
three small hiUs separated by vaUies, and its approach
is handsome. The soU is tufa.
29th. The fa9ade of the cathedral is fine and im
posing, but faulty throughout in architecture, being a

314 cathedral.
composition of little ornaments of the tirae when the
Gothic, Saracenic, and Grecian architectures were all
afloat together, and before they had settled into their
separate and distinct forras. Thus, little clustered
Saracenic piUars are placed upon hons' backs, and
surmounted by overloaded Corinthian capitals. It
consists of three noble arches, containing three deep
and elaborately worked portals. Over the centre is a
very handsome circular -window of painted glass.
The ascent to the cathedral is by a broad esplanade
of raarble, -with steps. The whole effect is spoiled by
the entire structure being buUt of white and black
marble in alternate stripes ; by the campanUe, a broad,
unsightly, pointed square tower attached to one side
of it, that suits strangely vrith the dome, close to
which it sticks up hke a feather attached to a round
bonnet; and by nuraerous bronze and raarble statues
and busts of saints aud raartyrs, which raay be strik
ing likenesses, but certainly have no other raerit —
even if they have that. On entering the cathedral
you are struck by the gloomy, splendid magnificence of
the aisle ; but, after the first impression is over, you see
how frittered away in little ornaments is the effect.
The ceihng throughout is azure, covered -with golden
stars. Under the cornice is a row, on each side,
frora one end of the aisle to the other, of busts,
sticking out 'their chins over the aisle, of aU the
popes that ever existed, each -with his tiara, and a
label under his chin with his name. They reaUy
gave rae the irapression of a whole street-fuU of
" Peeping Toras of Coventry." The columns are
fine, and Corinthian, -with heavy round arches, not
springing, but lounging out of them. Springing is

ROMAN ALTAR. 315*
too hght a terra for such ponderous, clumsy gentle
men. John Pisano was the architect. Awkwai-d
white marble statues, of the school of Bernini, of
apostles and saints, who appear to be scratching
themselves in different attitudes, lead up on each side
the great aisle to the high altar. The high altar
is massive, and in marble, but is loaded with heavy
bronzes, and has nothing to recommend it. Behind
the high altar are frescoes, by Dominico Beccafurai, of
some merit. The stalls are all in marqueterie, and
are curious.
The pavement of the cathedral is very fine. It is,
unfortunately, obUged to be covered by a boarded
flooring, parts of which are lifted up by rings, to
shew the principal subjects ; but the effect of the
whole is lost. It consists of a sort of inlaying — ^not
strictly mosaic, but of grey marble marking the shades
on white raarble. The subjects are Scripture history,
and the designs are by Beccafurai. Two subjects
are clearly the best — ^the sacrifice of Isaac by Abra
ham, and the striking the rock by Moses in the
desert ; and of thera the latter is rauch superior to
the former. The pulpit, by Nicolas Pisano, of white
marble, stands on columns of porphyry, and is covered
with beautiful alto-rehevos of Scripture subjects.
At the great door is a holy water vase, raost incon
gruously hoisted upon an ancient Roman altar, co
vered -with bacchanahan emblems and foliage, dis
covered in the foundations of the cathedral at the
same time -with a group, in marble, very beautiful, but
mutUated, of the three Graces, which is stuck upon
a pedestal in the centre of the chapter-house, for the
benefit of the asserabled canons of the cathedral.

316 PIAZZA PUBLICA.
On the left hand is a very fine altar-piece, after
the designs of Michael Angelo. Further on is
the Ghigi chapel, where there is a mosaic of a
painting, by Carlo Maratti. The illusion is perfect,
and the performance beautiful. I forgot to say that
araongst the busts of popes there was one which Ca^
tholic prudery has taken way, entitled, "Joannes 8 —
Fseraina de Anglise."
In the Ghigi chapel there are two statues, by Ber
nini, of the Magdalen and St. Jerorae, which are
much admired, but which I think detestable. St.
Jerome is represented writhing under the effects of a
pain in his bowels, and the Magdalen of a severe
tooth-ache. There are sorae statues of popes, one of
which is not bad. Under this cathedral is a church
dedicated to St. John the Baptist, which is the
baptistery of the city.
The Piazza Pubhca is curious. The fall of the
ground, and the shape of the buildings, give it the
exact form of a concave sheU or fan. The ribs are
marked in stone paths, and the bar of the shell
is formed by the censistorio, where the council for
merly assembled, and the tribunals now sit.
The church of La Madonna, under whose especial
protection Sienna is, contains a very rich and splen
didly adorned altar, with a profusion of silver plate
and lamps. They offered to show me where our
Saviour married St. Catherine de Sienna, where her
body now lies, and where it even in death performs
miracles; but I was disgusted -with the blasphemy of
the whole story, which I am sorry to say the church
of Sienna endeavours stiU to make the people beheve,
and I would not go.

SIENNA.

317*

The city is dark, gloomy, and prison-like, with
steep, hiUy streets, nai-row and dirty. An antique
bronze figure of the wolf suckhng Roraulus and
Remus, on an ancient piUar, denotes the ancient Re
public of Sienna; but if, as history teUs us, 100,000
armed citizens once raarched out of its walls, all I
can say is, that they raust have been very glad when
they got out; for they must have squeezed each other
to suffocation vrithin.
31st. Sienna is very singular in its ugliness. It
is situated on a bed of tufa. AU the country round
is a mass of barren mud. To judge of it from its
appearance, I should say that it had been over
whelmed about twenty years before by a flood of
liquid mud, issuing either from a volcano, or the
deposition of a mountain of mud by the effect of
water. It extends for mUes to the right and left,, form
ing enormous capes, headlands, and slopes, more or
less abrupt. The surface is full of immense ravines
with perpendicular sides, or crevices narrow and
deep. SmaU eminences cover it like a vast nuraber
of burrows or tumuh. If they are not turauh
(which they cannot be), they are either the
bubbles of an immense boiling-pot, or of a flood
which has subsided at once and settled, lea-ring
these accumulations standing. No tree grows upon
its surface. In the vUlage a few stragglers are seen,
but serve only by their scantiness to render dreari
ness more dreary.
In this manner we proceeded through a dull
day and a uniformity of this dull scenery, untU we
came to the foot of the mountain of Radicofani,

318 RADICOFANI,
At Sienna the therraoraeter was below temperate in
ray bedroora. Here, after raounting all day, the
vrind, which was frora the north-east, was so strong
that the postUions could scarcely sit upon their sad
dles, and the cold so severe as scarcely to be borne.
Here we found a voiturier who had been seized
by the cold, and confined to his bed by a severe
fever, in consequence. Four nights ago I slept with
ray bedroom window open all night.
Radicofani is situated at the top of a basaltic moun
tain. Its flanks are on aU sides covered -with the
eruption of mud which I have before mentioned. Li
terally, its surarait is cro-wned by an ancient fortress
situated on a rock of prismatic basalt. Immediately
below it is the viUage, and iraraediately below that again
is a vast, glooray, whisthng building, constituting post-
house, inn, custora-house, pig-sty, and stable. It is
better- than in Horace Walpole's time, but still dis
mally bad. I got one room, the best in the house,
but through it the -wind roared louder and colder
than, I think, I ever felt or heard anywhere, except
in La Casa Inglese, on the top of Etna; but there
I could have no fire. Here I made one of every
corabustible that I could lay ray hands on ; but still
— except by hterally hanging over it — one was
frozen. November 1st. Weather stUl dismally cold, but
clear. From Radicofani the road descends through
basalt, tufa, and mud, to the edge of the river Paglia,
which, in fact, separates Tuscany from the States of
the Church. You pass a handsome bridge, on the
centre of which you see the Papal arms. Previous to
this, about a league from the roadside, are the sulphu-

LAKE OF BOLSENO. 3 Iff
reous baths of St. Philippi. The deposit of the water is
so powerful, tliat sulphm- moulds ai-e placed under the
stream, which is directed upon them through rainute
channels, like the nose of a watering-pot. In a short
time this deposit fiUs the moulds, which are broken
off, and leave the alto relievos, raade of the deposit of
the earthy and sulphureous matter. I bought two sraall
medaUions, ovals, about three inches the longest way.
Each of them was a month forming. When formed
they look hke statuary marble, are as hard, and ring
hke a bell.
After passing this river, you enter the httle post-
house vaUey of Ponte Oentino, which is the first stage
of his Holiness's post, and where his douaniers await
you ¦with a most strict and inquiring eye. My lascia
passare dehvered me from the douaniers at once.
Nothing can be more beautiful in its way than the
approach to this to^wn, and its situation. A range of
cliffs of tufa and volcanic matter runs along in slope
rising above slope, thickly wooded; and on the sum
mit of this range, overhanging the river, stands the
to-wn. So I came on to St. Lorenzo Nuova; and there,
from the top of the hiU, opened a splendid view of
wooded vaUeys and scenery below me, and the Lake
of Bolseno, a magnfficent sheet of water, fuU thirty
mUes round, -with fine, woody, mountam banks. The
Lake of Bolseno was the crater of a volcano. Pris
matic basalt is found upon its banks. The raoun
tains are aU of basalt and tufa ; and here was, in the
depths of earliest days, the scene of a vast operation
of nature. Going down into these beautiful and ro
mantic vaUeys, you come to nests of caverns in the

)320 ROBBERS.
tufa cliffs, supposed to have been the dwelhng-places
of the aboriginal inhabitants. They, and the woods
which overhang thera, are now often the hiding-places
of banditti. In the gorge of the principal valley lead
ing to the lake is a hiU, on which stand the ruined
works of the ancient town and castle of St. Lorenzo,
depopulated by that scourge of the most beautiful
parts of Itahan scenery, the malaria — fallen into ruins
and deserted.
Frora thence, skirting the borders of the lake, you
corae to Bolseno, picturesquely situated upon its bor
ders — the ancient Vulsiniura, and the capital city of
Etruria. The voituriers, who had conveyed some pas
sengers to Rome, and are now on their return, and
who were stopped by the banditti on the mountains
above Lucca, are now here. From the description
which we have given thera of the raen we inet the
night afterwards, I am satisfied, and so are they, that
they were the banditti. The description answers ex
actly the appearance of the raen. Just in that very
spot they met and plundered the voituriers — just as
they met us they met them, di^riding two-and-two on
each side of the road, advancing singing a rude chorus,
and they sprung at once on the voituriers, as they would
upon us, had they not seen our arras. The voituriers
don't hesitate in saying that the gendarraerie below were
in league vrith them ; that, had we accepted their escort,
they would have betrayed us into their hands, firing a
random shot or two, and then riding off ; and that the
gendarraes, seeing rae arraed and deterrained to pro
ceed, sent a raan across the raountains to give notice
to the robbers not to attack us. However this may
be, it is clear that we had an escape, and that nothing

ETRUSCAN CITY.

32f

saved us but the sight of . our arms, and the knowledge
that we were ready to use thera.
2nd. There are two islands on this lake — one inha
bited ; but the extraordinary thing is, that beautiful as
is the scenery, and deUghtful as the lake must be in
summer, there is not a single boat upon it, except a few
wretched flat ones, used for fishing, but perfectly use
less to navigate the lake, which is very broad, and very
rough sometimes. There are no means of getting round
any part of it, except the very smaU portion which the
post road skirts in its way to Monte Pulciano, and from
St. Lorenzo, unless on foot. The cliffs and woods reach
down to the water's edge, I beheve it never has been
explored, Phny mentions the islands as ha^ring once
floated. The Etruscan City is said, also, to have been
destroyed by fire from heaven. All this has it origin in
the trtotions remaining of the volcanic origin of the
lake ; but \ never found a place where there was so httle
interest taken either in the surprising features of natural
history that surround the lake, or in the local history
which attends the city.
In the year 1821 a violent flood of rain brought a
deluge do^wn the mountain's side, and laid open parts of
the ruins of the Etruscan City. These remains were
picked up and arranged in the market-place, where they
now stand ; but no excavations were ever made here —
no researches . ever thought of. The whole city hes
¦within a few feet of the inhabitants of the present vU
lage, but no one has ever dreamt of inquiring about
them. "Are any coins ever found ?" " Oh, yes ! the pea.-
sants sometimes dig them up in the -rineyards." " Well,
what became of them?" "Chi sa." "Are vases ever
found?" "Yes." "Where are they?" "Chi sa."
VOL. II. V

322 "CHISA."
" Does any one ever go on the lake ?" " No, except the
fishermen." " Has anybody been in the islands, except
the fishermen ? " " No." In short, "no" and "chi sa" are
the answer to aU inquiries. A small river runs out of
the lake direct to the sea, which is about forty raUes off ;
and a very few thousand scudi would raake a canal, vrith
out a lock, which would drain the country, make it
wholesome, increase the comraerce, and improve the
agriculture of the country. But no one dreams of these
things here.

END OF VOL. II.

R. BOKN, PKISTEB, QLOUCESXEli STKEET, KEGEST'S PAItK.

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 02438 8168

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