Page images
PDF
EPUB

CHAPTER XV.

THE PONTINE MARSHES.

TERRACINA.

AN OLD ACQUAINT

ANCE. FRA DIAVOLO'S NATIVE CITY. -THE ORANGE-GARDEN AT MOLO DI GAETA. THE NEAPOLITAN SIGNORA. NAPLES.

M

ANY people imagine that the Pontine Marshes are only a dreary extent of stagnant, slimy water, a melancholy road to travel over: on the contrary, the Marshes have more resemblance to the rich plains of Lombardy; yes, they are like them, rich to abundance; grass and herbage grow here with a succulence and a luxuriance which the north of Italy cannot exhibit.

Neither can any road be more excellent than that which leads through the Marshes, upon which, as on a bowling-green, the carriages roll along between unending alleys of limetrees, whose thick branches afford a shade from the scorching beams of the sun. On each side the immense plain stretches itself out with its tall grass, and its fresh, green marsh-plants. Canals cross one another, and drain off the water which stands in ponds and lakes covered with reeds and broad-leaved waterlilies.

On the left hand, in coming from Rome, the lofty hills of Abruzzi extend themselves, with here and there small towns, which, like mountain castles, shine with their white walls from the gray rocks. On the right the green plain stretches down to the sea where Cape Cicello lifts itself, now a promontory, but formerly Circe's Island, where tradition lands Ulysses.

As I went along, the mists, which began to dissipate, floated over the green extent where the canals shone like linen on a bleaching-ground. The sun glowed with the warmth of summer, although it was but the middle of March. Herds of buffaloes went through the tall grass. A troop of horses

galloped wildly about, and struck out with their hind feet, so that the water was dashed around to a great height; their bold attitudes, their unconstrained leaping and gamboling, might have been a study for an animal-painter. To the left I saw a dark monstrous column of smoke, which ascended from the great fire which the shepherds had kindled to purify the air around their huts. I met a peasant, whose pale, yellow, sickly exterior contradicted the vigorous fertility which the Marshes presented. Like a dead man arisen from the grave, he rode upon his black horse, and held a sort of lance in his hand with which he drove together the buffaloes which went into the swampy mire, where some of them lay themselves down, and stretched forth only their dark ugly heads with their malicious eyes.

The solitary post-houses, of three or four stories high, which were erected close by the road-side, showed also, at the first glance, the poisonous effluvia which steamed up from the Marshes. The lime-washed walls were entirely covered with an unctuous, gray-green mould. Buildings, like human beings, bore here the stamp of corruption, which showed itself in strange contrast with the rich luxuriance around, with the fresh verdure, and the warm sunshine.

My sickly soul presented to me here in nature an image of the false happiness of life; thus people almost always see the world through the spectacles of feeling, and it appears dark or rose-colored according to the hue of the glass through which they look.

About an hour before the Ave Maria I left the Marshes behind me; the mountains, with their yellow masses of rock, approached nearer and nearer, and close before me stood Terracina in the fertile, Hesperian landscape. Three lofty palm-trees, with their fruit, grew not far from the road. The vast orchards, which stretched up the mountain-sides, seemed like a great green carpet with millions of golden points. Lemons and oranges bowed the branches down to the ground. Before a peasant's hut lay a quantity of lemons, piled together into a heap, as if they had been chestnuts which had been shaken down. Rosemary, and wild dark-red gillyflowers, grew abundantly in the crevices of the rock, high up among the

peaks of the cliffs where stood the magnificent remains of the castle of the Ostrogothic king Theodoric,1 and which overlook the city and the whole surrounding country.

My eyes were dazzled with the beautiful picture, and, quietly dreaming, I entered Terracina. Before me lay the sea, which I now beheld for the first time—the wonderfully beautiful Mediterranean. It was heaven itself in the purest ultramarine, which, like an immense plain, was spread out before me. Far out at sea I saw islands, like floating clouds of the most beautiful lilac-color, and perceived Vesuvius where the dark column of smoke became blue in the far horizon. The surface of the sea seemed perfectly still, yet the lofty billows, as blue and clear as the ether itself, broke against the shore on which I stood, and sounded like thunder among the mountains.

My eye was riveted like my foot; my whole soul breathed rapture It seemed as if that which was physical within me, heart and blood, became spirit, and infused itself into it that it might float forth between these two, the infinite sea and the heaven above it. Tears streamed down my cheeks, and I was compelled to weep like a child.

Not far from the place where I stood was a large white building, against the foundations of which the waves broke. Its lowest story, which lay to the street, consisted of an open colonnade, within which stood the carriages of travellers. It was the hotel of Terracina, the largest and the handsomest upon the whole way between Rome and Naples.

The cracking of whips reëchoed from the wall of rocks s; a carriage with four horses rolled up to the hotel. Armed servants sat on the seat at the back of the carriage; a pale, thin gentleman, wrapped in a large bright-colored dressinggown, stretched himself within it. The postilion dismounted and cracked his long whip several times, whilst fresh horses were put to. The stranger wished to proceed, but as he desired to have an escort over the mountains where Fra Diavolo and Cesari had bold descendants, he was obliged to wait a quarter of an hour, and now scolded, half in English and half in Italian, at the people's laziness, and at the torments and 1 Diderik of Born. - Author's Note.

sufferings which travellers had to endure, and at length knotted up his pocket-handkerchief into a night-cap, which he drew on his head, and then throwing himself into a corner of the carriage, closed his eyes, and seemed to resign himself to his fate.

I perceived that it was an Englishman, who already, in ten days, had travelled through the north and the middle of Italy, and in that time had made himself acquainted with this country; had seen Rome in one day, and was now going to Naples to ascend Vesuvius, and then by the steam-vessel to Marseilles, to gain a knowledge, also, of the south of France, which he hoped to do in a still shorter time. At length eight well-armed horsemen arrived, the postilion cracked his whip, and the carriage and the out-riders vanished through the gate between the tall yellow rocks.

"With all his escort and all his weapons, he is, however, not so safe as my strangers," said a little, square-built fellow, who played with his whip. "The English must be very fond of travelling; they always go at a gallop; they are queer birds - Santa Philomena di Napoli!"

"Have you many travellers in your carriage?" inquired I. "A heart in every corner,” replied he. "You see, that makes a good four: but in the cabriolet there is only one. If the signor wishes to see Naples, that he can the day after tomorrow, while the sun still shines on Saint Elmo."

[ocr errors]

We soon agreed, and I was thus relieved from the embarrassment in which my entire want of money had placed me.1 "You will perhaps wish to have earnest-money, signor? asked the vetturino, and held out a five-paolo piece between his fingers.

"Reserve the place for me, with board, and a good bed," replied I. "Do we set off in the morning?"

"Yes, if it please Saint Antonio and my horses," said he, “we shall set off at three o'clock. We shall have twice to go

1 When people travel with vetturini, they pay nothing beforehand; but, on the contrary, receive money from them as an earnest that their honesty is to be relied upon. The vetturini also provide board and lodging for the whole journey. All these expenses are included in the agreement which is then made. Author's Note.

to the Pass Bureau, and three times to be written in the papers; to-morrow is our hardest day." With these words he lifted his cap, and, nodding, left me.

They showed me to a chamber which looked out to the sea, where the fresh wind blew, and the billows heaved themselves, presenting a picture very dissimilar to the Campagna, and yet its vast extent led my thoughts to my home there, and the old Domenica. It troubled me now that I had not visited her more industriously; she loved me with her entire heart, and was certainly the only one who did so. Excellenza, Francesca, yes, they also had some affection for me, but it was of a peculiar kind. Benefits bound us together, and where these could not be mutual there must always remain, between giver and receiver, a gulf, which years and days indeed might cover with the climbing plants of devotion, but never could fill up. I thought upon Bernardo and Annunciata; my lips tasted salt drops which came from my eyes; or, perhaps, from the sea below me, for the billows actually dashed high upon the walls.

Next morning, before day, I rolled with the vetturino and his strangers away from Terracina. We drew up at the frontiers just at dawn. All dismounted from the carriage, while our passports were inspected. I now for the first time saw my companions properly. Among these was a man of about thirty, rather bland, and with blue eyes, who excited my attention; I must have seen him before, but where I could not remember; the few words I heard him speak betrayed him to be a foreigner.

We were detained a very long time by the passports, because most of them were in foreign languages, which the soldiers did not understand. In the mean time, the stranger of whom I have spoken took out a book of blank paper, and sketched the place where we stood; the two high towers by the gate, through which the road passed, the picturesque caves just by, and, in the background, the little town upon the mountain.

I stepped nearer to him, and he turned my attention to the beautiful grouping of the goats which stood in the largest At the same moment they sprang out; a great bundle of fagots, which had lain in one of the lesser openings of

cave.

« PreviousContinue »