MESSINA (Sicily), _March, 10, 1841_.
In my last, from Naples, I promised, after having visited Mount
Vesuvius and the entombed cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, to
describe them. On arriving at Resina, about five miles distant from
Naples, our party took mules and donkeys and ascended to the hermitage
by a good mule path, occupying about two hours time. Here we were
compelled to leave our animals, and ascend slowly and cautiously
through masses of lava for about an hour--an exceedingly fatiguing
task. At times we were almost suffocated with the sulphurous smoke
which seemed to burst forth in different directions. The most
difficult task was in returning from the mouth of the crater after
having descended about twelve hundred feet. It is rare that persons
descend to the verge or the mouth of the crater, and our guide was
quite unwilling to attempt it, but our party persisted, and it was
accomplished with great labor. The top of the crater is computed at two
and a half miles in circumference, and at the bottom the opening is
about thirty feet in diameter, and ejects forth sulphurous smoke, with
a loud rumbling noise, resembling the escape of steam of a Mississippi
steamer.
The distance from Naples to Pompeii is about twelve miles. The city
of Pompeii was buried under ashes and pumice stones, and deluged with
showers of boiling water, in the year 79 of the Christian era, and
accidentally discovered in 1775 by a peasant while planting a vineyard.
On arriving at the gate we were conducted by a guide through part of
the town, already excavated. The streets are straight and well paved
with lava, which prove an eruption previous to the destruction of the
city. Traces of carriage wheels still remain in the pave. The houses
were generally two stories high, and had flat roofs. The walls of most
of the rooms were stuccoed, painted and polished; many of the paintings
and frescoes are in a good state of preservation. The apartments were
paved with mosaic, some very magnificently executed. On many houses are
seen the name and occupation of the owner, written in deep red; on the
walls of some public buildings advertisements of gladiatorial shows,
festivals, &c.
Here are seen remnants of public baths, theatres, amphitheatres,
the Basilica, the houses of Sallust, Diomede, the temples of Isis,
Hercules, and other gods.
We also visited Herculaneum, which lies about five miles from Naples.
Some portions of the city were buried six feet deep, others one hundred
feet. The towers of Resina and Portici are built over the city, which
prevents much excavation. We descended by torchlight a narrow and
winding staircase a considerable depth below the surface, where part of
the theatre is exhibited. It is said that it was capable of containing
ten thousand persons. After having visited most of the objects of
antiquity in the city, I made an excursion along the coast, visiting
the tomb of Virgil, and passing through the grotto of Posilippo, which
is two thousand three hundred and sixty feet long, twenty-three feet
broad, and eighty-nine feet high, to the small town of Pozzuoli, where
St. Paul landed and remained seven days before commencing his journey
to Rome. I also visited the ruins of the ancient city of Baiæ, near
which are the ruins of Nero’s villa, and the hot vapor baths, which
will boil an egg in two minutes. One of my most interesting excursions
was to the ruins of Pæstum, about forty miles from Naples. The disease
called malaria, which exists to an alarming extent in the vicinity of
this ruined city, prevents travellers from visiting it at all seasons
of the year. Persons should not sleep there, nor approach until an hour
after sunrise. We took our supplies with us, as nothing can be obtained
in this land of solitude and silence. Our sympathies were excited
and charity exercised by seeing many squalid and wretched objects of
malaria lying in huts upon the bare ground. This city was supposed to
have been built seven hundred and twenty years before Christ, and to
have been destroyed in the tenth century by the Saracens. Here are
some of the finest ruins of temples in Europe. One, called the temple
of Neptune, is very majestic. Its shape is quadrilateral, length one
hundred and ninety-four feet, and breadth seventy-eight feet; and it
has two fronts, with six minute fluted columns of the Grecian Doric
order. The exterior columns, thirty-six in number, are twenty-seven
feet high, and there is a Doric frieze and cornice all round the
building. The situation of the high altar, and those on which victims
were sacrificed and offerings made, is still visible. Fragments of
sea-green and dark blue mosaic are still found on the spot. The temple
of Ceres and the Basilica are still quite perfect and very beautiful.
On our return through this gloomy tract of country and pestilent swamps
we saw herds of buffalo, which are the only animals that inhabit it.
I next visited the towns of Salerno and Amalfi, situated along the
shores of the Mediterranean. The latter is bounded by lofty mountains
on three sides, with beautiful cascades running through the town. The
front opens on the sea. On the summit of a lofty wall is the Capuchin
convent, which we visited, and then crossed the mountain of St. Angelo,
over a height of four or five thousand feet. The route was difficult,
but we were compensated for the fatigue by the many picturesque scenes
constantly presented. At times the ascent was so rough among the craggy
rocks I was compelled to dismount my donkey; at other times he would
wind his course along the brink of a frightful precipice, where one
mis-step would launch me into eternity. He proved as sure-footed as
the herds of goats we frequently passed, jumping from one crag to
another on the verge of a precipice.
I left Naples by steamer, stopping at Tropea, in Calabria, for a
short time; then, passing down through the straits of Messina, we
saw Scylla and Charybdis, which have been the dread of mariners so
long, and about which so much has been said and sung. It is said that
during tempestuous gales, the noise of the waves dashing violently
against Scylla, and then precipitating themselves in the cavern,
still resembles the howl of dogs and beasts of prey. The rapidity of
the current here is very great, and the boiling eddies very strong.
On passing the mountain of Stromboli, not far distant from Scylla,
situated in the sea, I was struck with the beautiful eruption and
ejection of fire, smoke, and red-hot stones, thrown up at intervals of
fifteen minutes--a beautiful sight in the night.