AN EXCURSION.
MANY a nice walk about the streets of Naples did our dear happy little
couple take with Mamma and Papa, and into many a shop did they go,
completely fascinated with the pretty goods displayed there. They longed
to buy up everything they saw, and, if they had been allowed a larger
portion of coin than Papa good-naturedly gave them each day, I don't
know how many wonderful things they would have purchased.
They enjoyed the street scenes, too, as they walked along. The
long-eared donkeys, which carried on either side of their short round
backs such enormous and heavily loaded paniers that sometimes all you
could see of the little animals were their slender legs, their long
wagging ears, and their tails. But they didn't seem to mind their
burdens at all, and plodded along thinking their own donkey thoughts,
and no doubt wondering what Teddy and Polly were laughing at them for!
And then there were the little shops where fruits were sold, and over
the doorways of which were hanging great branches full of oranges and
lemons, just as the boughs were broken from the trees (as we in our
country, you know, like to break a bough hanging full of cherries from
our cherry-trees).
It was wonderful to Polly and Teddy to see such a sight, and to see, as
they had seen at their meals in the hotel, those large oval lemons and
the golden round oranges served to the hotel guests on the stems, with
the clustering leaves adorning them. (You don't see such things as those
in New York, do you?)
Well, and then there were the beautiful gardens, rising one above the
other in a bewildering mass of foliage of orange, lemon, and olive trees
rich in fruit. Those gardens belonged to the wealthy class of
Neapolitans, and their pretty dwelling-houses stood amongst the gardens
on their terraces, overlooking the city like sentinels on the hills.
There were queer streets--_side_ streets they were--which consisted only
of a series of stone steps running straight up hill, like steps dug out
of a steep cliff-side; and along the sides of those "step-streets," as
Teddy called them, were little bits of houses and shops scooped out of
the walls of the terraces and made comfortable, after a fashion, for
those who lived in them, and who kept their tiny stores.
Polly and Teddy looked up at them as they passed, and noticed that the
stone steps--from top to bottom--were swarming with children, men, and
women, and nearly all of them, even the wee little people, carried
baskets and various burdens as easily on their _heads_ as in their
hands; and the strange part was that some of those bundles, which were
poised so safely on the heads, would have made a fair load for a horse,
so large were they.
Another funny thing the little couple were greatly interested in was the
sight of those peculiar decorations each horse, donkey, and cow, and
even the oxen were wearing when in harness. It consisted of a long
feather, as though from a rooster's tail, which was stuck securely over
the animal's forehead, and waved and waggled to and fro as the animal
walked along.
When there was no feather to be seen, there was always a _tuft of hair_
or a _tuft of fur_ fastened in place either between the animal's ears or
on the harness, and it was considered a very wrong thing if either of
those peculiar decorations was forgotten when harnessing.
Why? Well, because, unfortunately, the lower classes of Italians have
many foolish superstitions, and that is one of them, for they fancy that
"_ill luck_" is kept off and the "_evil eye_" of misfortune turned aside
by the use of the feathers, the hair, or the fur in the manner I have
described.
Polly and Teddy agreed that it was a very silly idea, and I'm afraid
they didn't have much respect for the drivers of the animals they saw
decorated in that absurd style.
One day Papa and Mamma took the children to the island of Capri. They
had seen the island from their windows rising out of the bay in the
distance, and the guide-book told them that it would be a fine excursion
on a fair day. So they started off one lovely morning in the little
excursion boat that takes passengers to and fro between Naples and the
island of Capri and other points of interest in the bay.
[Illustration]
I cannot take time to give all the particulars of the _boat_ trip and
its delights, but must tell you about the famous "_Blue Grotto_," which
they reached before arriving at Capri.
The "Blue Grotto" is a cave in the rocks of one of the cliffs, and when
the water is smooth a row-boat can be paddled through the low opening
which makes the mouth of the cave; but in rough weather no boat can make
the passage, as the opening is so very small.
The rock on one side of the cave does not go to the bottom, but is only
sunken a little way below the water. So the sunlight strikes down under
the rock, as well as under the entrance hole, and is reflected upwards
again through the water in the cave, which causes a wonderful silvery
light, and a beautiful pale blue tint to the water and the roof of the
cave.
Visitors to Capri always stop at the "Blue Grotto" on the way, and when
the big boat--the excursion boat--stops at that part of the cliff there
are a crowd of men in little row-boats, waiting to take passengers who
wish to go into the cave and show them the wonders of it, for a small
coin each passenger. So of course our little couple must see it, and so
must Mamma. Papa, who had seen it all once before (when he and Mamma had
taken a trip alone, before _Polly_ could remember), did not go, for the
boatman would only carry three passengers on the trip.
You may imagine how they enjoyed it, and when they saw a boatman from
another boat jump over into the water and splash about to show his
passengers how like a silver blue water-sprite he could look the
children gave one of their delighted whoops right there, and then nearly
fell out of their own boat with fright at the loud strange echo the cave
gave back at their shout.
Well, after the passengers returned from the cave, the steamboat went on
its way, and in due time the landing at Capri was made, and the
passengers were told that they would have two hours of time in which to
see everything of interest on the beautiful island, before the boat
should start on to _Sorrento_ (which is another charming resort not far
from Capri).
Such a crowd of donkey boys and donkey girls as were on the dock when
the steamboat stopped! They were all yelling at one time, trying to coax
passengers to use their donkeys or their cabs, and pay them so much per
hour.
[Illustration: "The Blue Grotto of Capri."]
Now, you see, Capri is a funny sort of island, for it is "taller than
it is broad," as people say. It rises right out of the bay in a lot of
terraced cliffs, and as far up as you can see it is just a mass of green
gardens and woods.
At the base of the island are the village streets, and odd little
houses, and shops and hotels, and at one of the hotels our party of four
ate a good dinner, before taking a carriage up the mountain road to
Anacapri, a funny little bit of a village right at the very top of the
island.
When the dinner was finished Mamma and Papa took the back seat in the
open little "victoria" (as the carriage was called, though it was very
small and crampy in its proportions), and the little couple, gay as
larks, and wide-eyed with wonder, sat close together on the small
footstool of a seat in front of the "grown-ups," and with a crack of the
whip (which the horse didn't even jump at, because he is so used to it,
and best of all, because the "crack" is only in the air and not against
his bony sides) they all started off for "Anacapri."
I could tell you of a great many things they saw on the way, and of the
natives they passed, who bobbed and curtsied to the travelers, and
showed their white teeth, and held up their little brown babies, hoping
for the gift of a coin or two. And I would like to describe the
magnificent sight of the olive-gardens, and of the trees hanging full of
lemons and oranges, and of the beautiful flowering vines which grew by
the roadside, and the shade trees, and particularly of the _grand_ sight
which greeted their eyes with every turn of the winding road which
brought the Bay of Naples (stretching itself far and wide and dotted all
over with odd little ships and boats) into view. But I must skip all
those things, and get you at last with the dear little couple to the
mite of a village mentioned as "Anacapri."
From there our friends looked right down upon the bay and over at
Naples, and if they had been little birds they would have spread their
wings and taken a good fly into the blue sunny space before them--at
least, that is what Teddy whispered in Polly's ear he would _like_ to
do.