POMPEII-ASCENT OF VESUVIUS. 43 overflowing its brim, and daring licentiousness was at its height, that the wrath of God descended in the burning streams of Vesuvius. And the discoveries which have been the result of laborious excavation, most distinctly shew, not only the general habits and character of the people, but exhibit them in their very pursuits and occupations, at the moment when the tempest of divine fury burst over them, and engulphed their city in rivers of liquid and scorching lava. The streets of Pompeii are still as fresh as if they had been in use but yesterday; the track of chariot wheels is every where to be seen; while on the walls, and over the door-ways of houses and shops, are to be read inscriptions-notices-advertisements, and other indications of activity and enterprize, of amusement and indulgence, of idleness and depravity. The temples, amphitheatre, and private residences convey a distinct idea of the manners and habits of the Roman people eighteen centuries ago; while the articles of domestic furniture and ornament of luxury and ease, still preserved in the museum, shew that, at that distance of time, human nature in its tendencies and pursuits was much the same as it is now-in the nineteenth century. What gives so peculiar an interest to this remarkable scene, is the fact, that instead of being a Roman habitation evacuated of its inhabitants, and left to ruin and decay, it presents, as it were, a petrified reality of men and things as they existed in their day-a synopsis of Rome in the first century of the christian era. It is like a city of the dead, arousing itself to give testimony concerning the living who have passed away, as if they had never been. Every stone is admonitory; and every marble utters a homily to the men of the present generation, whose footsteps break the silence of this scene of death and awful devastation. Looking upwards from Pompeii to Vesuvius, the picture is still alarming. The mountain yet threatens; while the indurated streams of lava which are incrusted on its sides, present a lasting memorial of terror. Preparatory to making the ascent of Vesuvius, we proceeded from Pompeii to the little town of Resina, and took up our abode at a rude Albergo, from whence guides and all other needful matters are obtained, for visiting the terrific mountain. Here we procured a homely evening refreshment, with a bottle of wine produced from the vineyards which skirt Vesuvius. We lay down for a few hours of repose in a miserable apartment, awaiting the promised summons of our guide, who undertook to be in readiness at two o'clock in the morning, with torches, in order that we might reach the crater before the beams of the rising sun should diminish, by their admixture, the effect of the volcanic fires. We commenced the ascent soon after the hour appointed. The morning was very favourable, and not too warm. We had resolved to perform the whole expedition on foot, though both our guide and host strongly urged us to take a supply of mules as far as animals could be of service; and assured us that the ascent would occupy three hours at the least. For the first two hours the road was not by any means difficult. It is a circuitous and gentle ascent, though rough with loose stones and rocky incrustations of lava-rendered often inconvenient by the darkness, and the uncertain flickering light of the torches. At the expiration of the two first hours. we reached the base of the crater, when the real difficulty and labour of the journey commenced. Our guide assured us that the ascent to the summit would not occupy more than an hour if we could but keep ourselves braced up to the undertaking. This part of the affair is usually performed on foot, being impracticable for mules. We made a pause of a few minutes for rest; and then fairly gave ourselves the task. The ascent of the crater is almost perpendicular, over a succession of sometimes loose and sometimes substantial and solid lava. There is no regular path. We were therefore obliged to select our footing with the greatest care. The labour of ascending was very great, and at times almost discouraging. Again and again we paused to take breath, while our guide repeatedly cried out in English, “Come on-courage-courage;" and at length, jaded and worn, at the expiration of another hour, or thereabouts, we found ourselves on the brink of the crater. Folding my cloak about me, I lay down for a few minutes upon the warm lava, and soon recovered myself. We arose, and proceeded; and from the mouth of the crater into which we were enabled to look down, flame and smoke were issuing abundantly, rendered more strikingly visible by the dim twilight before sunrise in which we viewed it. The scene which now presented itself was awfully grand, wild, and savage. The whole surface about the crater seemed ready at any moment to burst forth with its wonted terror, and was covered with sulphur and pummicestones. On one side of the edge, looking towards the remains of Pompeii, our guide began to agitate the sulphurous material with his walking staff, which soon emitted sparks, and then broke into a vivid flame. There was a hideous and suspicious aspect about the whole, which made a deep impression on my mind; and when I recollected the fearful devastation which this volcano had occasioned in other days, and saw how the secret work of combustion was still actively proceeding, I felt, to a degree most difficult to describemy dependance upon the mercy and compassion of God, in whose hand alone is lodged the power of controling and restraining, as well as of making actively destructive, the terrible apparatus by which we were surrounded, and whose unfathomed mysteries lay beneath our feet. The sun rose magnificently, and bathed in its early light the snow-clad Apennines, touching every part also of the surrounding landscape, including the city and bay of Naples, and the silent desolation of Pompeii. And how terribly did. it exhibit to us the broad current of lava which had poured downwards to the plain in which that devoted city was placed. Perhaps it is not easy to find a scene more terrific in its general character than this, when coupled with a full idea of the extent of devastation connected with it, and when looked upon as likely at any time to pour forth the fierce streams of destruction on the surrounding and defenceless population. Having satisfied our curiosity in reference to Mount Vesuvius, we commenced our descent by a route different from that by which we ascended, and it was not 46 PROCESSION OF THE HOST." without some fatigue and difficulty that we accomplished it. It is very curious to see the vineyards skirting the dread mountain, connecting at once the idea of cultivation and fertility with the utmost development of aridity and desolation. The brief period which we had allotted to Naples was now expired; and we were anxious to be on our way for Alexandria as soon as circumstances would admit. It was the sixteenth of April, when a messenger announced that the steamer on which we depended, was in sight, in her course from Genoa and Leghorn, and would be in port in about an hour. This was between six and seven in the morning. On the arrival of the vessel, we learnt that she would not resume her course till about noon. We had time left for a little further examination of the externals of Naples. While sitting at the window of our hotel, after breakfast, suddenly I saw the crowd in the street stand still, as if preparing for some interesting scene. One put down his bucket, another his water jars, a third his itinerant merchandize. The business of Neapolitan life seemed for a moment to be all checked, and the mass of the people were immediately on their knees in the dust of the broad highway. A dead silence soon pervaded the whole. I guessed at once what it was. A procession of the "host" was in sight. It was the first and only occasion I met with, of seeing a ceremony so common as this in Roman Catholic countries. The procession consisted of ecclesiastics, followed by many of the laity, and was passing along a side street in sight of those who were in the main one. As soon as the procession had passed, the silence was broken; the pursuits of daily life were resumed; and men, women, and children again jostled together, apparently forgetful that any thing deemed sacred had for a moment occupied their attention, or suspended their activity. It was about noon when we embarked on board the Scamandre. We were soon under weigh, and had for our companions a motley group of English, French, Italians, and Greeks, with a considerable allowance of priests, a Franciscan SICILY-SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. 47 monk, and four sisters of charity. The view of Naples and its superb bay, with the Isle of Capri on the right, was indescribably beautiful, as we bade farewell to this spot of the earth on which so much of nature's treasure has been lavished. A few hours, and Naples had vanished in the distance. A lovely moonlight night kept me on deck to a late hour; and on the following morning, by about eight o'clock, the coast of Sicily was in sight; and at length the eye rested on the snowy peak of Mount Etna. In the foreground, towards the right, was Stromboli, emitting smoke and a small quantity of fire, though but slightly visible in the light of the early morning. We made our way at an easy rate over a placid sea, towards the straits of Messina, and soon were sailing between Scylla and Charybdis, the former of which is a rock of no very large dimensions, on the coast of Italy; the latter a supposed whirlpool on the Sicilian side of the channel. Scylla and Charybdis, according to the fables of the poets, were two sea monsters, whose dreadful jaws were continually distended to swallow unhappy mariners. But, foregoing any particular reference to the fictions of poets, I rather present the following more interesting particulars, selected from the narrative of a visit made to this celebrated spot by the Abbè Lazzaro Spallanzani, of Pavia. "I first proceeded," says the Abbè, “in a small boat to Scylla. This is a lofty rock, distant twelve miles from Messina, and rises almost perpendicularly from the sea, on the shore of Calabria, and beyond which, is the small city of the same name. Though there was scarcely any wind, I began to hear, two miles before I came to the rock, a murmur and noise, like the confused barking of dogs, and, on a nearer approach, readily discovered the cause. This rock, in its lower parts, contains a number of caverns, one of the largest of which is called by the people there, Dragara. The waves, when in the least agitated, rushing into these caverns, break, dash, and throw up frothy bubbles, and thus occasion these varied and multiplied sounds. I then perceived with how much truth and resemblance of nature Homer and Virgil, in |