CHAPTER XVI.
THE CAMPO SANTO—CHURCHES—THE MISERERE—CURIOUS SCULPTURE—AGNANO—GROTTO DEL CANE—FROGS—POZZUOLO—CAVE OF THE SYBIL—HOT SPRINGS—BOILED EGGS—HOT SAND—NO END OF PHENOMENA—BAIÆ—VESUVIUS—RESINA—THE HERMITAGE—FATIGUING ASCENT—THE CRATER—COMING DOWN WITH A RUN—THE “MONGIBELLO”—CIVITA VECCHIA—ROME.
THE CAMPO SANTO—CHURCHES—THE MISERERE—CURIOUS SCULPTURE—AGNANO—GROTTO DEL CANE—FROGS—POZZUOLO—CAVE OF THE SYBIL—HOT SPRINGS—BOILED EGGS—HOT SAND—NO END OF PHENOMENA—BAIÆ—VESUVIUS—RESINA—THE HERMITAGE—FATIGUING ASCENT—THE CRATER—COMING DOWN WITH A RUN—THE “MONGIBELLO”—CIVITA VECCHIA—ROME.
I devoted the remaining three or four days of my stay at Naples to a round of sight-seeing, resigning myself with this purpose into the hands of myciceroneof the “New York.” I made frequent visits to the Campo Santo, wishing to see whether any of the varied accounts of the mode of sepulture there practised might accord with my own observation. I witnessed the interment of some scores of persons, of various ages and stations, and saw but little that could shock even a very fastidious person. About six in the evening, the iron gates of the walled inclosure are thrown open, and then may be seen arriving, either in plain hearses, at a rapid trot, or on the shoulders of some stout porter, the simple wooden coffins containing the dead. These arefirst carried within the little chapel at the gate, where a short mass is said, and then placed contiguous to the mouth of the particular pit about to be opened, there being one for every day in the year. No sorrowing relations are to be seen: they have paid the last tribute of respect to the deceased ere the coffin had left the house of mourning, and do not unnecessarily prolong their grief, by following the remains to the grave. The square stone secured with mortar, which covers the mouth of the pit, is now removed with the aid of a powerful lever, and an attendant drops in the bodies, one by one, never omitting to throw in after them the little wreath of flowers with which each is accompanied. Fresh mortar is then brought, and the stone firmly fastened down for another year; the coffins, which are again and again to serve the same purpose, are then carried away, and the ceremony of interment is concluded.
The churches of Naples are particularly well worth visiting, though to go the round of the whole three hundred, would require a greater amount of patience than I possess, and I succeeded, moreover, so badly in an attempt to hear the famed Miserere in the church of the Conservatorio, that my sight-seeing determination received a severe check. By dintof a great amount of pushing and squeezing through a dense mass of people, I managed eventually to secure standing-room, at a considerable distance from the choir, from which position I was soon compelled to retreat by reason of the suffocating heat, and peculiar Neapolitan odours, having lost nothing, except my handkerchief and the whole of Zingarelli’s sublime composition. For a clever pickpocket, commend me to thegamin de Naples, who will contrive, even in broad daylight, to ease a stranger of every thing worth stealing. After the loss of three handkerchiefs, I found that my only safeguard was to go entirely without one.
But to return to the churches, of which some will be found particularly interesting in the way of pictures and valuable marbles. In the cathedral of San Gennaro, are some matchless columns of Egyptian granite, (covered over by the way for some purpose or other, with a coating of stucco,) besides others of porphyry and cipollino, with bronzes and valuable paintings. The chapel of San Severo is remarkable for some specimens of sculpture, exhibiting a recumbent body covered with a thin veil, so dexterously worked in marble, that the development of the various muscles beneath the gauze is admirably managed, and there is another figure still more extraordinary, of a manentangled in a fine net. Here, the artist must have inserted his chisel between the meshes, which come in contact with the body of the statue only in a few places, the whole production evincing a vast amount both of skill and labour.
There is so much to see and admire in Naples and its neighbourhood, that I hardly knew which way to turn. I had yet to visit Baiæ, and the western shore of the Bay, whilst each time that my eyes rested on Vesuvius, I was reminded of an additional obligation. These, however, were scenes which I had no desire to visit alone, having always been of opinion, that the pleasures of travelling are materially enhanced by agreeable society, and though it may be all very pleasant to shoulder a knapsack, and walk a hundred miles on end with no other companion than one’s own thoughts, the charms of lake and mountain are not the less fully appreciated when shared by an intelligent fellow-traveller. Such was my friend P——s, upon whom I stumbled one evening in the Toledo, and a proposal on his part to visit Baiæ on the morrow, was hailed by me with pleasure.
The carriage of my host of the “York,” was again put in requisition, and quitting Naples,di buon ora, we rattledmerrily through the Grotto of Posilipo, and then taking the dusty road to the right, reached the simmering lake of Agnano. Close by its shore is the famed Grotto del Cane, where of course we paid the fee, entitling us to reduce an unlucky hound to a state of syncope. Indeed, the poor animal seemed so habituated to the cruel infliction, that he sneezed and kicked himself back into life in the most good-humoured way imaginable, and ran away with a big bit of bread in his mouth to keep up his spirits until the arrival of some other party. The gaseous vapour, which has the same effect upon the nasal organs as when a bottle of soda-water is swallowed too hastily, rises to a height of eighteen inches above the floor of the little cavern. The poor dog is firmly held by the feet within the gas until he has ceased to move, and is then laid upon the grass outside, where the fresh air speedily restores him. The ground in the immediate neighbourhood of the lake is alive with small frogs, which jump about by hundreds at every foot-fall, and appear to thrive wonderfully well upon the noxious vapours with which the region abounds. Here are also some vapour-baths of great efficacy in chronic cases, and I believe they are much resorted to.
Returning to the road, we reached anon the ancientPozzuolo, or place of wells, romantically situated upon the shore. The ruins of the city may be clearly observed beneath the blue water of the bay, which would seem to have encroached upon it suddenly, whilst on the other hand the earthquake has not been idle, the whole of the town having been more than once laid in ruins. Here are the remains of an amphitheatre of prodigious dimensions, with ruined villas, bridges and temples. As we passed through the town, our vehicle was besieged by a clamorous posse of young ruffians, laden with antiques of all sorts, both genuine and modern, who clambered upon the steps and wheels, and got up behind and before in their anxiety to relieve us of a few carlini in return for their terra-cottas. Our coachman’s whip was the only argument they would listen to, and having thus got quit of them, we skirted once more along the Gulf. Each fresh turn in the road disclosed views of the most enchanting character, saving where the beauty of the landscape was marred by the unsightly presence of an immense gang offorzati, or galley slaves, working at the repairs of the roadway. On our right arose the bare volcanic hill of 1538, with the vine-covered mountains embosoming the once dismal Avernus, now famed for the excellence of its trout, whilst sky-larks,and others of the feathered tribe, “warble o’er” it with impunity. Beneath us, Procida and Ischia, rising from the blue and motionless bosom of the bay, glittered in the noon-day sun.
A little bye-road leads to the lake and the Grotto of the Sybil, a spot deservedly celebrated by Virgil, inhisday, but now infested by a lot of lazy fellows, who gain their livelihood by showing the subterranean chambers of the rock. Here we fell in with a party of our fair country-women, who for the last half-hour had been splashing about under-ground, in the brawny grasp of these uncouth ruffians, stifled with the smoke of torches, and sorely frightened at the echoing sound of the dark waters through which they had been hurried. It is needless to add that they hadseennothing, and indeed their report of the expedition was so very far from tempting us, that we regained our carriage with what haste we could.
Within a quarter of a mile of this spot, in the face of a high cliff overhanging the road, is another remarkable cavern, forming the entrance to a series of hot springs. Owing to the heat pervading the several corridors, which increases in intensity the farther you penetrate inwards, we found it impossible to get any great distance, but theold fellow in charge, who seemed to have sweated himself down almost to a skeleton, took in with him a couple of raw eggs, and returned with them very nicely boiled! not at all appearing to mind having undergone a similar process in his own person. We agreed, however, that the poor old man had well (not to sayhonestly) earned the trifling present we gave him, and begging him not to expose himself to the risk of catching cold, by showing us out into the scorching sun, we left him to his eggs anddripping. And now we fondly hoped that we had seen the last phenomenon of this sulphureous district; but no, we were again mistaken. On making our exit from Nero’s ovens, we were escorted by a party of juvenile exhibitors down to the margin of the sea, where, forcing our hands through the cold water into the sand beneath, we founditalso at boiling point! This, with the distribution of a fewgrani, closed the entertainments of the morning.
On reaching Baiæ, we deemed it advisable to make a call at its little road-side Osteria, where we lunched on a queer-coloured omelette, and some Capri wine, our table being spread in a little raised gallery outside the house. From hence the view over the bay was very lovely, so much so indeed, that we were loth to quit the spot, and decided uponfinishing our day’s ramble in exploring the ruins hard by, and climbing the hills above us, for the sake of a more extended prospect. In the cool of the evening we returned to Naples.
Being now anxious to proceed towards Rome, I determined that the last night but one of my stay at Naples should be devoted to the ascent of Vesuvius. Three of us quitted the city at dusk in a carriage, which was engaged to take us to Resina, and there await our return. Old François bore us company, in order to take care of our provisions and over-coats, which are both essential to the comfort of the undertaking. By the time we arrived at the little hostelry, where our vehicle was to give place to a set of saucy mules, it was quite dark, and the disposition of the little party, as we equipped ourselves by torch-light in the court-yard, formed a striking picture. We took plenty of guides, more perhaps than were necessary, but there is nothing like being upon the safe side, and sufficient light is a great desideratum whilst picking your way in the dead of night, over the execrable road worn amid the broken masses of lava and scoriæ, which cover the base of the mountain. A few hours of weary riding, of which the monotony was only broken by the stumbling of somesleepy guide, and consequent extinction of his torch, or by our own exclamations of surprise and wonder, as a more than ordinary shower of stones was discharged with a rushing noise from the still distant crater, brought us to the little halting-place, called the Hermitage. The night was bitterly cold, and there was a considerable breeze stirring, so that we hailed the welcome shelter with a shout of pleasure, and jumping off our mules, were soon extended on the homely couches in its little supper-room, whilst François busied himself in boiling a dozen or two of eggs. I was so tired by the rough jolting pace of the animal that had fallen to my lot, that I was no sooner seated than I sank into sleep. My companions, however, had possessed themselves of the visitors’ book, replete, as usual, with all manner of absurdities, and their merriment effectually spoilt my nap.
Our supper finished, we again summonsed our guides, who armed us each with an iron-shod pole, and thus equipped, we commenced the long up-hill walk, which leads to the more immediate base of the mountain. It required extreme caution to avoid coming in contact with the blocks of broken lava, and as we neared the steeper ground, we discovered that we had a severe task to accomplish, the flaring beacon above shedding upon us, at intervals, a faint bluish light,reminding us most unpleasantly of the amount of labour we had still to undergo. My guide now took hold of one end of the pole, bidding me to hold on tight at the other, and in this way we scrambled over a mile or more of outrageously large cinder-heaps, among which I pitched and floundered about in a way that threatened to dislocate every joint in my body. All this while we were rapidly ascending (barring the many falls we got,) and daylight began to break upon us as we approached the outer edge of the crater. Hearing a sort of joyous shout from the advanced guard of our party, I made a desperate stagger onwards, and fell suddenly into a charming little gully between two enormous cinders. Never did rest upon a feather-bed appear more welcome, than did mine at that moment upon the rugged spot where I had fallen. My attentive guide now approached his flaring torch to within six inches of my face, and finding that I was in a state of profuse perspiration, he insisted upon putting me on my legs again, promising me a fair time for recruiting a little further on. To have suffered me to lie there, would indeed have been a mistaken kindness.
I now joined the rest of my party, and found that we were at the summit, or in other words, on a level with theinternal surface of the crater, leaving only the edge of the basin to be surmounted. The glorious spectacle which now greeted us, was one which we must ever remember. From the cone, there poured forth a continuous stream of fire, with every now and then a terrific discharge of red-hot stones, bursting upwards with a fearful rushing sound. This treble, if I may so term it, was accompanied by a rumbling bass like thunder, from the very bowels of the mountain, forming a combination of sounds wonderfully grand and awful. The red-hot masses of lava fell for the most part upon the outer surface of the cone, from which we were distant about a furlong, and rolled downwards into the crater. We were of course upon the windward side of Vesuvius, a precaution always borne in mind by the guides. As it was, some of the stones fell very near us, whenever the wind shifted to an opposite quarter, which was often the case, and at such times, their clatter as they fell upon the surface of the crater, was sufficiently alarming.
As soon as daylight had fairly dawned, we ventured upon the sea of hot lava which lay before us, sufficiently encrusted and cooled at the surface, to admit of our doing so with safety, though the placing of one’s feet required care, as any slipon our parts might have been attended with unpleasant consequences. Every now and then we had to cross some narrow fissure in the molten lava, produced by the contraction of the surface. Into these we thrust our poles and sticks, which came out again in a blaze. Being disgusted with the heat and sulphurous odours which assailed us on all sides, we were meditating a return to the point from whence we had started, when a change in the wind sent a shower of combustibles so alarmingly near us, that we retreated as quickly as we could, scrambling and falling about among the uncouth masses of lava, in a manner that under other circumstances, would have been highly amusing. In the present case, however,sauve qui peut, seemed the order of the day, and no one looked back to help his less fortunate companion.
At the edge of the crater we sat down to rest ourselves, preparatory to once more descending to the level of our fellow-mortals. I had, in my ignorance, supposed that we should return by the same path which we had taken in making the ascent, and was therefore surprised when our guides conducted us to the top of an immense cinder-shoot, looking like the combined siftings of all the cinders we had ever seen. Having deliberately given us our instructions,guideNo.1 made a sort of plunge forward, and with one single gigantic stride, cleared a space of some twenty feet of ground, and repeating this novel species of step, was presently out of hearing.No.2 followed in his wake, and we after him, and once fairly started, pulling up was a difficult matter. After near a quarter of a mile of this work, I became aware of something wrong in the region of my boots, which had long been filled with fine cinders, productive of much uneasiness. There was no help for it however. Downwards we all went, with a gradually accelerating motion, and I was beginning to calculate on the certainty of losing my equilibrium in the course of another dozen strides or so, when I was suddenly brought up hard and fast against the broad back of one of the guides, and congratulated by my companions upon my safe arrival. Now for the first time I was able to look upwards, and certainly was greatly astonished at the quantity of ground we had traversed in so short a space of time. Here we emptied our shoes of the cinders accumulated in our progress, but as for myself, I was spared half the trouble of this operation, by finding the ample calf of one of my Maltese boots, lodged at my knee-cap, having been separated from the corresponding portion, now transformed intoa shoe, by the unfair ordeal to which it had been subjected. As we had descended by a more distant part of the mountain, our walk to the Hermitage was proportionably longer, and I believe we were all heartily wearied by our nocturnal expedition. The mule-ride back to Resina seemed interminably long, and it was only after a warm-bath and an interval of refreshing sleep, that I could overcome the effects of my unwonted exertions.
Having engaged a berth in the “Mongibello” steam-packet, for Civita Vecchia, I got my passport properly signed, and repaired on board, taking care to see that my portmanteau was carefully consigned to the hold. This done, I stole away to my berth to secure a nap, and avoid the bustle and confusion of starting, and was already busily dreaming of cinders and lava, when I was rudely awakened and summonsed before a party of police on deck, to answer to my name, which had been repeatedly called without eliciting any reply. This formality over, I turned in once more, and at ten o’clock the next morning found myself in the harbour of Civita Vecchia. At the Dogana here, my effects wereplombés, and again had my passport to undergo a visè, whilst my pocket contributed its mite to the coffers of his Holiness the Pope.
I found a diligence about to start for Rome, and had just time to swallow a hot omelette, before squeezing myself in with the conductor in front. This was a highly amusing fellow, and although I could scarcely put together ten words of Italian, we managed to keep up a tolerably animated conversation. He was particularly pleased with my Egyptian sword, which he insisted on keeping constantly drawn, flourishing it now and then out of the open window, to intimidate certain imaginary banditti, at times skirmishing with the driver aloft, who showed fight with his whip-handle. About dusk, we reached the Holy City.