AN EXCURSION.
"Uncle George," said Rollo one morning, while he and Mr. George were
eating their breakfast in the dining room, or, as they call it in
Europe, the _salle à manger_, of the hotel, "how much longer are you
going to be in studying out those things in the museum?"
"Why?" asked Mr. George. "Does your comfort or enjoyment depend in any
way on the decision of that question?"
"Only we want you to go about with us, somewhere," said Rollo.
"Why, you don't need me to go about with you," said Mr. George.
"Contrive some sort of excursion yourself, and take the ladies out and
amuse them. You might take them out to see Pozzuoli and the Solfatara.
Besides, you would be doing me a great service if you would go."
"How?" asked Rollo.
"Why, I shall want to go by and by myself," said Mr. George, "and I
don't want to have any trouble in finding the way. But you like finding
your way about. Now, I wish you would take a carriage, and go and take
the ladies on an excursion along the bay to the westward, and show them
Virgil's Tomb, and the Grotto of Posilipo, and Pozzuoli, where the
apostle Paul landed on his famous journey to Rome, and the temple of
Serapis, half under water, and the great amphitheatre, and the
Solfatara, which is the crater of a volcano almost extinct. All these
things lie pretty near together along the shores of the bay to the
westward of Naples, and you can go and see them in one afternoon, they
say. If you go first, you will find out all about the excursion, and
what we do about guides and custodians at the different places; and
then, when I get ready, you can go again and take me, and I shall not
have any trouble about it."
"Just give me a list of all those places," said Rollo, eagerly.
As he spoke he handed Mr. George a pencil and a piece of paper, which he
took out of his pocket. Mr. George wrote down the list, and Rollo,
taking it, went up to Mrs. Gray's room.
Rollo proposed the plan to Mrs. Gray of making the excursion which Mr.
George had indicated, and she was very much pleased with it.
"We'll study it all out in the guide books this evening," said Rollo,
"and then to-morrow we will go."
Mrs. Gray approved of this plan, and so Rollo looked out in the guide
book the account which was given there of the several places and objects
of interest on Mr. George's list, and read the passages aloud to the
whole party. Rosie sat beside him on the sofa, and helped him find the
places, and also looked over him while he read. The account which was
given of the places was very interesting indeed.
The next morning, about ten o'clock, after Mr. George had gone to the
museum, Rollo and Josie went out to find a carriage. They inquired at
the hotel, before they went, how much they ought to pay. When they
reached the stand, they looked along the line, and finally chose one
with a nice and pretty blue lining, and two jet black horses. They made
their bargain with the coachman, and then drove to the door.
[Illustration: THE PUBLIC GARDENS.]
Mrs. Gray and Rosie were ready, and soon the party were driving rapidly
along on their way out of town, passing by the gates of the public
gardens, which lie in a beautiful situation along the shore, in the
western part of the city. You have a view of these gardens in the
engraving; and in the distance, over the tops of the houses, you see a
long ridge of high land running down towards the sea. It was through
this ridge of high land that the famous subterranean passage way, called
the _Grotto of Posilipo_, was cut, to open a way for the road into the
country without going over the hill.
After driving along the street which lies between the gardens and the
houses on the right, as seen in the engraving, the carriage turned into
another street, which runs behind the houses, and thence gradually
ascended towards the entrance to the grotto. Just before reaching the
entrance, the land seemed to rise to a very lofty height before and on
each side of the road; and it was so built up in terraces, and garden
walls, and platforms, and staircases of villas, that there seemed to be
no way out. Rosie could not imagine, she said, where they could possibly
be going, until at length, at a sudden turn between two lofty walls,
they saw the immense mouth of the grotto opening before them.
The grotto was wide enough for two carriages to pass, and very high. It
was lighted with lamps, and was full of people and of carriages going
and coming. Here and there along the walls of rock on each side, near
the entrance, there were a great many curious structures to be seen, and
openings cut in the rock. On one side was a chapel excavated in the
rock, with an iron railing in front of it, to separate it from the
road. Within this railing there was an altar, with lamps burning before
it, and a priest begging money of the people passing by. On the other
side was an ancient monument, with a long Latin inscription upon it.
Above were a great many different openings cut in the rock.
Rollo had ordered the coachman to stop at the entrance to Virgil's Tomb,
and the carriage accordingly drew up before a gate which seemed to be
set in the solid wall of rock which formed one side of the entrance to
the grotto. There was a man standing at this gate, and as soon as he saw
the carriage stop, he unlocked it. They all got out of the carriage, and
went in. The way led up a long and narrow, and very steep flight of
stone steps, which brought the party out at last into a sort of
vineyard, or garden, on the surface of the ground above.
Here there was a path which ascended some distance higher, among grape
vines and fruit trees, until at last it came to a place where there was
a beautiful view of Naples and Vesuvius, and all the bay. After stopping
a little time to admire this view, the party went on, following the
path, which now began to descend again, and to go back towards the mouth
of the grotto. Here, after climbing up and down among a great number of
caverns and excavations of all kinds cut in the rock, they came down to
a place just over the top of the mouth of the great grotto, where the
structure which is called _Virgil's Tomb_ is situated. It was a very
strange place. Rosie said that it was the strangest place that ever she
was in. Far beneath them they could hear the sound of the carriages, and
the voices of men who were going in and coming out, at the mouth of the
great grotto below.
After remaining here a few minutes, the party all went back down the
path through the vineyard to the carriage again.
The coachman then drove on through the grotto. It was full of carts,
carriages, loaded donkeys, and foot passengers, all going to or
returning from Naples. The floor of it was paved with stone, and at
different distances up the sides could be seen the marks made by the
hubs of wheels in former ages, when the roadway was at a higher level
than it is now. The natural rock is so soft that the wheel hubs cut into
it very easily. This is the reason why the floor is paved too, for the
rock itself would not stand the wear.
After passing through the grotto, the party emerged into a wide and open
country, which presented beautiful views on every side. The road was
excellent, being as hard and smooth as a floor, and the coachman drove
on at great speed.
The party came at length in sight of a town, which stood on a promontory
jutting out into the sea, at a short distance before them. This was the
town called in ancient times _Puteoli_. It was in those days the great
seaport of the whole bay, for Naples had not then been built. It was
also the nearest good port to Rome, in coming from the south, and it was
accordingly here that the apostle Paul landed when he was sent to Rome
by Festus, in consequence of his having appealed unto Cæsar, when
accused and persecuted by the Jews. There are the ruins of an old mole
still to be seen stretching out into the sea, opposite to the port, and
Rollo said he thought that it must have been on that mole that Paul
landed.[D]
[Footnote D: See Acts xxv, 9-12; also Acts xxviii, 13, 14.]
"Puteoli was a great place in old times," said Rollo; "and that's the
reason why they had such an immense amphitheatre here. We are going to
see the ruins of it presently; but first, we are going to see
Solfatara."
Just at the entrance to Puteoli, or Pozzuoli, as it is now called, the
party came to a bridge where there was a small ascent, that made it
necessary for the carriage to go slowly; and here a great number of
men, women, and children were assembled, some guides, but most of them
beggars; and as soon as the carriage arrived, they all broke out at once
with such a noise and clamor, that Rosie was for a moment quite alarmed.
"Never fear, Rosie," said Rollo; "I know how to manage them."
Ever so many old ragged hats and caps were stretched out towards the
carriage, and three or four men and boys, who all wanted to be employed
as guides, began struggling together to climb up upon the carriage, to
get the seat with the driver. Rollo looked at them all, with a view of
making a selection among them. He chose an intelligent-looking boy of
about his own age, that the men had pushed back.
"Do you speak French?" said Rollo to the boy, of course speaking in
French himself in asking the question.
"A little, sir," said the boy.
"Then I engage _you_," said Rollo. Then touching the coachman, he
pointed to the boy, and said, "_Questo_," which means "_this one_."
So the coachman pushed the other men back, and made room for the boy to
get up on the seat with him. He then whipped up the horses, and soon the
other guides and the beggars, with all their noise and clamor, were left
behind.
"You managed it very well, Rollo," said Mrs. Gray.
"Yes, Rollo," said Rosie, "you did it very well indeed. Next time I
shall not be at all afraid."
After riding a little farther, the coachman turned into a sort of lane,
and after going on for some way in the lane, he stopped. The boy got
down, and said that it would be necessary for them to walk the rest of
the way. So the whole party descended from the carriage, and began their
walk.
After going on for nearly a quarter of a mile, they passed through a
gate which seemed to be connected with some rude sort of manufactory,
and then, walking on a little farther, they found themselves within the
crater. It was a small, circular valley, surrounded on all sides by a
ridge of earth, apparently one or two hundred feet high. The valley
might have been about a third or a quarter of a mile in diameter. The
bottom of it was level, and was covered with a scanty vegetation. The
soil was very white, as if it were formed of substances calcined by
exposure to the fire.
An old man met them at the gate, and led the way in towards the middle
of the crater, along a sort of cart road. After a while he stopped, and
took up a large stone--as large as a man's head. This stone he threw
down with great force upon the ground two or three times, to show how
hollow the ground sounded. It did sound very hollow indeed, and the
peculiar resonance which is produced here by this experiment is
generally considered as proving that there is a great void space below
the surface, and that the bottom of the crater may some day or other
fall in.
At a little distance farther on, on the other side of the crater, and
close at the foot of the ridge of earth that surrounds it, there was to
be seen a column of dense smoke, or rather of vapor, coming up out of
the ground.
The guide led the way towards this place, and all the party followed
him. As they approached it, they heard a roaring sound, which grew
louder and louder as they drew near. When they arrived at the spot, they
saw that the steam was issuing from the mouth of a cavern that opened
there; and as it came out, it made a noise like the roaring of a steam
pipe when the engineer is blowing off steam.
Mrs. Gray and the three children stood gazing at this phenomenon for
some time in silence. At length Rollo said, "What an astonishing blast
that is, to be coming up out of the earth, day and night, continually
and forever!"
"The ground is very hot all about here," said the boy. "See!"
So saying, he pointed to the old man, who was at work not far from the
mouth of the cave, digging into the ground a little way with a sharp
hoe. He dug down a few inches, and then took up a hoe full of the earth,
and held it out to Rollo to try it with his fingers, that he might feel
how hot it was. Rollo put his fingers upon the earth, but he could not
hold them there an instant.
It seemed to Mrs. Gray that it must be dangerous to remain long in such
a place; and so she prepared to move away, and Rollo and Josie, as they
had now seen all that there was to be seen at this place, followed her.
They went on by the road, round to another part of the crater, where
there was some sort of manufactory of alum. The alum was made from the
saline earth which was found there, and the evaporating basins used in
the process, instead of being placed over a fire, were simply set in the
ground, so that the process of evaporation was carried on by the natural
heat of the soil.
After leaving this place, the party followed the circuit of the road
still farther, until at last it brought them back to the place where
they had entered the crater; and here, after paying the old man who had
conducted them around, they passed out through the gate, and went down
the lane to their carriage.
"Now to the amphitheatre," said Rollo, addressing the coachman.
So they all got into the carriage again, and the coachman drove down the
lane; and after going back towards the town a little way, and making
various turns, he stopped at last before a great wooden gate. A man in a
certain uniform appeared at the gate and unlocked it, and they all went
in.
They saw before them the walls of an immense ruin. The wall was of a
curved form, and there were vast openings in it, like arches, below. The
man in uniform, who was the custodian, as they call him, of the ruin,
led the way along a path into one of these arches, and thence ascended a
massive flight of old stone steps, to a place which commanded a view of
the interior.
They saw that the amphitheatre was of an oval form, and was built with
seats rising one above another, all around, to a great height. The seats
were all of stone, and at regular intervals between them were flights of
steps for going up and down. In the centre, below, was a large level
space, called the _arena_. All around the arena, and under the seats,
were immense galleries or passage ways among the arches, some of which
were below the level of the ground. Some of these galleries were for the
spectators to use in passing from one part of the building to another,
and others were used for the dens and cages of the wild beasts that were
kept there to fight in the arena, for the amusement of the people.
The guide led the way through all these places, and it was not until
after walking about through them for some time that Mrs. Gray and the
children obtained a full conception of the magnitude of the structure.
The guide told them that it contained room for forty thousand people.
"What a dreadful place it must have been!" said Rosie, as she followed
the guide round through the subterranean chambers.
"They used to hoist the cages that contained the wild beasts up through
these openings," said the guide, pointing to some large circular
openings in the masonry above, "and then open the gates, and let them
out into the arena. The cages were so contrived that when the keeper
opened the door to let the beast out, by the same motion he shut himself
in, so as to be safe out of his way. He then, afterwards, got out
behind, by another door."
There was a very wide and deep canal open in the centre of the arena,
with a communication for water connected with a vast reservoir a little
way off. By means of this canal the whole of the arena could be flooded
with water, so as to form a little lake for naval battles. The guide
took the party down to the bottom of this canal, and showed them a
large, circular opening in the masonry below, for drawing off water.
This opening connected with a conduit, which ran off towards the sea.
The spectacles which were exhibited by the ancients in such buildings as
these were real combats of beasts with one another, or of beasts with
men, and sometimes of men with one another. At first, the men who were
compelled to maintain these combats were convicts, who were condemned to
them as a punishment for their crimes. The beasts were lions, tigers,
and other ferocious animals that were caught in the forests in Africa,
or in other remote parts of the Roman empire, and brought to the great
cities for this special purpose.
A great many of the early Christians were compelled to meet these beasts
in such conflicts, in the persecutions which they endured. The rulers of
the country chose to consider them as criminals for being believers in
Jesus, and so doomed them to this dreadful punishment.
It was shocking to think of the scenes that had probably been enacted in
this very amphitheatre; and Mrs. Gray and Rosie, after they had examined
it in every part, were not sorry to go away.
Rollo next directed the coachman to drive to the Temple of Serapis. The
curiosity of the Temple of Serapis, which stands on the shore, just at
the entrance of the town, is, that it is partly under water. It seems
that from the effects of earthquakes, or from some other similar agency,
the whole coast in this region rises and falls in the course of ages,
and that at the present time it is several feet lower than it was in the
days of the Romans. The consequence is, that many structures which were
originally built upon the land, are now partly or wholly submerged in
the sea. In passing along the coast in a boat, you can see a great many
of these ruins in the water. There is one, however, which can be seen
without going out in a boat at all. It is a temple called the _Temple of
Serapis_.
It stands on the margin of the shore, and the floor of it is now about a
foot or two under water. This floor is very extensive, and a great many
columns and other superstructures are still standing upon it, the whole
of which can be easily explored by the visitor, by means of a raised
stone pathway, made by the government, which traverses it in all
directions. It is a very curious place indeed.
Rollo and his party were admitted to the ruin through a gate, kept as
usual by the custodian appointed by the government; and then they walked
all over the ruin upon the raised stone path. They looked down through
the water, and saw the marble floor of the temple below, and the columns
rising up from it with their bases submerged. There is proof that at one
time these ruins were fifteen or twenty feet lower than they are now,
and that they have since come up again. The next earthquake may depress
the whole coast again, in which case the floor of the temple will be
once more deep under water; or it may raise it so as to bring the ruins
all up once more, high and dry.
Rollo wished very much to take a boat, and go out and see the ruins that
lie under water along the coast; but he knew very well that Mrs. Gray
would not like to go out in a boat, nor to have Rosie go, at least
unless Mr. George were with them, and so he did not propose the plan.
He, however, only reserved it for the time when he should come again to
see the ruins, in company with his uncle.
After concluding the visit to the Temple of Serapis, Rollo paid the boy
whom he had taken for the guide when he first arrived at Pozzuoli, and
then the party drove home.
Mrs. Gray insisted on paying the whole expense of this excursion; and
she was so much pleased with Rollo's management of it, that she said she
wished that he would plan another excursion as soon as possible.