SITUATION OF NAPLES.
Naples is situated on a bay which has the reputation of being the most
magnificent sheet of water in the world. It is bordered on every side by
romantic cliffs and headlands, or by green and beautiful slopes of land,
which are adorned with vineyards and groves of orange and lemon trees,
and dotted with white villas; while all along the shore, close to the
margin of the water, there extends an almost uninterrupted line of
cities and towns round almost the whole circumference of the bay. The
greatest of these cities is Naples.
[Illustration: SITUATION OF NAPLES.]
But the crowning glory of the scene is the great volcano Vesuvius, which
rises a vast green cone from the midst of the plain, and emits from its
summit a constant stream of smoke. In times of eruption this smoke
becomes very dense and voluminous, and alternates from time to time with
bursts of what seems to be flame, and with explosive ejections of
red-hot stones or molten lava. Besides the cities and towns that are
now to be seen along the shore at the foot of the slopes of the
mountain, there are many others buried deep beneath the ground, having
been overwhelmed by currents of lava from the volcano, or by showers of
ashes and stones, in eruptions which took place ages ago.
Of course there is every probability that there will be more eruptions
in time to come, and that many of the present towns will also be
overwhelmed and destroyed, as their predecessors have been. But these
eruptions occur usually at such distant intervals from each other, that
the people think it is not probable that the town in which they live
will be destroyed in their day; and so they are quiet. Of course,
however, whenever they hear a rumbling in the mountain behind them, or
notice any other sign of an approaching convulsion, they naturally feel
somewhat nervous until the danger passes by.
Naples is built on the northern shore of the bay You will see by the map
on the preceding page just what the situation of the town is, and where
Vesuvius is in relation to it. Vesuvius, you observe, stands back a
little from the sea, but the slope of land extends quite down to the
margin of the water. You perceive, however, that there is a carriage
road, and also a railroad, passing along the coast between the mountain
and the sea.
Besides the villages and towns laid down on the map, upon this coast,
there are many little hamlets scattered along the way, so that, as seen
across the water from Naples, there seems to be, as it were, a continued
town, extending along the whole line of the shore.
Among the places named on the map you see the sites of Herculaneum and
Pompeii marked. Pompeii lies to the south-east from the mountain, and
Herculaneum to the south-west. Of course the lava, in breaking out from
the crater in different eruptions, runs down the mountain, sometimes on
one side and sometimes on another. It is the same with the showers of
stones and ashes, which are carried in different directions, according
to the course of the wind.
Very near the site of Herculaneum you see a small town laid down, named
Resina. This is the place where people stop when about to make the
ascent of Vesuvius, and leave the carriage in which they came from
Naples. If they come by the railroad, they leave the train at the
Portici station, which, also, you will see upon the map, and thence go
to Resina by a carriage.
At Resina they take another carriage, or sometimes go on in the same,
until they get up to what is called the Hermitage, the place of which
you also see marked on the map. The Hermitage is so called because the
spot was once the residence of a monk who lived there alone in his cell.
It is now, however, a sort of ruin.
There is no carriage road at all beyond the Hermitage, and here,
accordingly, the party of travellers take mules or donkeys, to go on
some distance farther. At last they reach a part of the mountain which
is so steep that even mules and donkeys cannot go; and here the people
are accordingly obliged to dismount, and to climb up the last part of
the ascent on foot, or else to be carried up in a chair, which is the
mode usually adopted for ladies. You will see how Mr. George and Rollo
managed, in the next chapter.
The ruins of Herculaneum can be visited on the same day in which you
make the ascent of Vesuvius; for, as you see by the map, they are very
near the place, Resina, where the ascent of the mountain commences.
Pompeii, however, is much farther on, and usually requires a separate
day.
Besides, it takes much longer to visit Pompeii than Herculaneum, on
account of there being go much more to see there. The reason for this
is, that the excavations have been carried on much farther at Pompeii
than at Herculaneum. Herculaneum was buried up in lava, and the lava,
when it cooled, became as hard as a stone; whereas Pompeii was only
covered with ashes and cinders, which are very easily dug away.
Besides, Herculaneum was buried very deep, so that, in order to get to
it, you have to go far down under ground. The fact that there was an
ancient city buried there was discovered about a hundred and fifty years
ago, by a man digging a well in the ground above. In digging this well,
the workmen came upon some statues and other remains of ancient art.
They dug these things out, and afterwards the excavations were continued
for many years; but the difficulties in the way were so great, on
account of the depth below the surface of the ground where the work was
to be done, and also on account of the hardness of the lava, that after
a while it was abandoned. People, however, now go down sometimes through
a shaft made near the well by which the first discovery was made, and
ramble about, by the light of torches, which they carry with them, among
the rubbish in the subterranean chambers.
The site of Pompeii was discovered in the same way with Herculaneum,
namely, by the digging of a well. Pompeii, however, as has already been
said, was not buried nearly as deep as Herculaneum, and the substances
which covered it were found to be much softer, and more easily removed.
Consequently a great deal more has been done at Pompeii than at
Herculaneum in making excavations. Nearly a third of the whole city has
now been explored, and the work is still going on.
The chief inducement for continuing to dig out these old ruins, is to
recover the various pictures, sculptures, utensils, and other curious
objects that are found in the houses. These things, as fast as they are
found, are brought to Naples, and deposited in an immense museum, which
has been built there to receive them.
You will see in a future chapter how Rollo went to see this museum.
Vesuvius, Herculaneum, and Pompeii are all to the eastward of Naples,
following the shore of the bay. To the westward, at the distance of
about a mile or two from the centre of the town, is a famous passage
through a hill, like the tunnel of a railway, which is considered a
great curiosity. This passage is called the Grotto of Posilipo. You will
see its place marked upon the map. The wonder of this subterranean
passage way is its great antiquity. It has existed at least eighteen
hundred years, and how much longer nobody knows. It is wide enough for a
good broad road. When it was first cut through, it was only high enough
for a carriage to pass; but the floor of it has been cut down at
different times, until now the tunnel is nearly seventy feet high at
the ends, and about twenty-five in the middle. High up on the sides of
it, at different distances, you can see the marks made by the hubs of
the wheels, as they rubbed against the rocks, at the different levels of
the road way, in ancient times.
On passing through the grotto in a carriage, or on foot, the traveller
comes out to an open country beyond, where he sees a magnificent
prospect spread out before him. The road goes on along the coast, and
comes to several very curious places, which will be described
particularly in future chapters of this volume.
On the afternoon of the day when Mr. George and his party arrived at the
hotel, just before sundown, Rollo came into Mrs. Gray's parlor, where
Mr. George and all the rest of the party, except Josie, were sitting,
and asked them to go with him and see a place which he and Josie had
found.
"Where is it, and what is it?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"You must come and see," said Rollo. "I would rather not tell you till
you come and see."
But Mrs. Gray, being somewhat fatigued with her ride, and being,
moreover, very comfortably seated on a sofa, seemed not inclined to
move.
"Rosie may go instead," said Mrs. Gray, "and when she has seen it, she
may come back and tell me, and if she thinks it is worth while I will
go."
"Well," said Rollo; "come, Rosie."
So Rollo led the way, and Rosie followed out of the parlor into the
hall, and from the hall along a sort of corridor which led to a narrow
and winding stone stair.
"No," said Rosie, as soon as she began to ascend the stair, "I don't
think mother will like to come. She does not like to go up long stairs,
especially stone stairs, and more especially still, stairs that wind
round and round."
"Wait and see," said Rollo.
After going round and round several times,--all the while
ascending,--Rollo came out to a sort of open passage way, paved with
glazed tiles of a very pretty pattern, where there was a door leading
out to a balcony. From this balcony there was a narrow iron stair which
led up on the outside of the house to the roof. Rollo led the way up
this stair, and Rosie followed him, though somewhat timidly. They landed
at length on a sort of platform among the chimneys, from which another
stair led up to another platform, higher still, where Josie was.
"There!" said Rollo, as soon as he reached the first platform, "don't
you think your mother would like to be here?"
Rosie looked around, and saw that a magnificent panorama presented
itself to her view.
"She would like to _be_ here very much, if she only dared to come," said
Rosie.
On looking towards the east, Rosie could survey the whole shore of the
bay in that direction, with the continuous line of towns and villages
along the margin of the water, and the immense green slopes of Vesuvius
rising beyond. Among the green fields and groves, far up these slopes,
white hamlets and villas were scattered, and above, the double summit of
Vesuvius was seen, with dense volumes of white smoke ascending from one
of the peaks. The children, too, could look from where they stood far
out over the bay, and see the ships and steamers in the offing, and
great numbers of small boats plying to and fro nearer the shore.
Rollo had an opera glass in his hand, which he used as a spy-glass. He
let Rosie look through this glass at the mountain, so that she might see
the smoke coming out more distinctly. With the glass, besides the
general column of vapor, she could discern several places, near the
summit, where small, separate puffs of smoke were issuing.
Farther down the mountain, Rollo directed her attention to a white
building, which was seen very distinctly in the rays of the setting
sun. This building, he said, must be the Hermitage.
"How do you know it is the Hermitage?" asked Rosie.
[Illustration: VIEW THROUGH THE GLASS.]
"I know by the situation of it," said Rollo. "Look through the glass and
you will see that it is the highest house on the mountain side. Besides,
it stands on the end of a ridge or spur, projecting from the mountain,
just as I know the Hermitage does, with a deep valley on each side of
it."
"I should have thought that they would have built it in one of the
valleys," said Rosie. "It would have been more sheltered then from the
wind."
"No," said Rollo. "That would not have been a good plan at all, for then
it would have been in the track of the streams of lava. The lava comes
down through the valleys."
"I can see the zigzag road leading up to the Hermitage," said Rosie.
"Yes," replied Rollo; "and I think it probable we could see people going
up or coming down, if there were any there now."
"I mean to watch," said Rosie.
Rosie watched, but she did not see any thing moving. The truth was, that
the people who had been up that day had all come down. They usually come
down early in the afternoon. And yet parties sometimes make arrangements
to stay up there until after dark, so as to see the glow of the fires
that are continually smouldering in the chasms and crevices of the
crater, and sometimes breaking out there.
Mrs. Gray was so much pleased with Rosie's report of what she saw on the
roof, that she went up herself immediately after Rosie came down. Mr.
George went up too. As for Josie, he staid up there all the time.
When Mrs. Gray and Mr. George reached the first platform, Josie called
to them. "Mother," said he, "come up here!"
"No," said Mrs. Gray; "this is high enough for me. I can see very well
here."
Mrs. Gray was very much interested in the view of the mountain, and of
the column of smoke issuing from the summit. She had not seen the summit
before, as all the upper part of the mountain had been enveloped in
clouds during the time while they were approaching the town.
She was also much pleased with the view of Naples itself, which she
obtained from this platform. The hotel was built out over the water, so
that from the lookout the town was spread out in full view, with all the
great castles and towers which crowned the cliffs and headlands above,
and the various moles, and piers, and fortresses, that extended out into
the water below.
In coming up the iron stair, on the outside of the building, Mrs. Gray
had been a little afraid; but in coming down she found the steps so firm
and solid under her tread that she said she should not be afraid at all
a second time.
"Then, mother," said Rosie, "let us come up here this evening after
dark, and then on the top of the mountain, instead of smoke coming out,
we shall see fire."
"Shall we, Rollo?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"I believe so," said Rollo. "At any rate they do sometimes see fire
coming out; and I don't know why we should not to-night."
It was finally agreed that after it became dark, Rollo and Josie should
go up alone first, to see if there was any fire, and if there was, then
Mrs. Gray and Rosie were to go up.
Accordingly, about eight o'clock, Rollo and Josie went up. They very
soon came running down again, and reported that there was quite a bright
fire. So Mrs. Gray and Rosie went up. Taking their stations on the
platform, and looking towards the mountain, they could see distinctly a
bright glow playing over the summit, with brighter flashes beaming up
from time to time. The sight impressed them all with an emotion of
solemn awe.