the Syrens, the Groves of Amalfi, the Plain of Pæstum a prospect of incomparable beauty. Thence down by a steep, picturesque path to Scaricatojo (4 miles from Sorrento), on the Bay of Salermo, the nearest place for a boat to the Isles of the Syrens, opposite, 2 miles distant. These uninhabited rocks, otherwise called I Galli, from the qualli, or towers erected by Pedro de Tolledo, to guard the coast. were formerly the state prison of the little Republic of Amalfi (further east), and are the "Sirenum Scopuli," of Virgil, where the Syrens lived, who attracted their victims with a song, and then eat them up. From Scaricatojo it is 4 miles, along the coast, to POSITANO; which may be reached direct from Sorrento, via the picturesque village of Arola and Santa Maria a Castello. Prajano and Furore, in this neighbourhood, deserve notice.

(2.) A round of 10 or 12 miles may be taken from Sorrento to Santa Agata Deserto, a convent on a point commanding an extensive prospect of land and sea; thence down to Crapollo, Nerano, and Punta della Campanella, the ancient Cape Minerva, at the end of the peninsula, where stood a temple to Minerva: now marked by a clock-tower, built in the sixteenth century, to warn the country of the approach of corsairs. Capri is 3 miles from this point, but is best visited by a boat from Salerno (9 miles). Thence round to Marciano, and MASSA, or Massalubrense, a town of 8,413 population, with S. Francesco's Church (on the site of a Temple of Juno), the festa of which is 15th August. From this it is 3 miles to Sorrento.

From Torre dell' Annunziata (Stat.), the rail passes a second

Pompeii (Stat.), and

Scafati (Stat.), on the River Sarno. Population, 9,408. Near this, in 1853, were found the remains of a Villa, 3 or 4 feet below the surface. Except the arcades it had no ikeness to those at Pompeii. It contained ten rooms; skeletons of a man, woman, and bird, with some bronze instruments. Thence past

Angri (Stat.), under the Monte Angelo, and among vineyards and cotton fields. Population, 10,501.

Pagani (Stat.) Population, 12,731. So called from the old Saracen Pagans (as they are callec) -settled at Nocera.

Nocera (Stat.) The ancient Nuceria, in a valley surrounded by volcanic hills. Here Frederick II. settled 20,000 Saracens; and, in the citadel, Urban VI. was besieged for six months by Charles of Durazzo, against whom the Pope thundered a daily excommunication. Nocera (sometimes called Nocera dei Pagani) is divided into Superiore and Inferiore, with a population of 22,915.

S. Clementi (Stat.), where the line enters the hills, close to the road to Salerno, passing through a valley offering some of the most charming scenery about Naples.

Cava (Stat.), among magnificent hills, between Monte Angelo and a branch of the Apennines, which terminates on the Gulf of Salerno. Valery describes La Cara as a Swiss valley, with the sun

and olives of Naples. It is full of the "savage picturesque" which Salvator Rosa loved to paint. Population, 19,500. It consists of a few old narrow arcaded streets; and, among other attractions, it has the ancient Benedictine Monastery of Trinità dell' Cava, on Monte Finestra, founded 1025; remarkable for its Archives, containing above 40,000 parchments and 40,000 paper documents, relative to mediæval history, the earliest dating from 840. Here Filangieri composed his history.

Vietri (Stat), population, 9,350, on the Gulf of Salerno, at the mouth of the La Cava Gorge; a wild and romantic spot, with fine hills, broken cliffs, and splendid sea views. The village is perched on the heights above. From here a visit may be paid to Amalfi, 6 miles to the west, along a picturesque coast, which winds and changes every 50 yards.

[Vietri to Amalfi.- The road passes a succession of gorges or ravines from the Monte Angelo, with a village at the mouth of each, guarded by machicolated castles and forts perched on the cliffs above, in the Norman style. The first place is

CETARA, a picturesque little fishing village, which was a nest of pirates in the last century. It is close to an ancient tower and backed by lofty hills. Population, 2,578. Turn Cape d'Orso, into the lovely Bay of Amalfi, under Monte Falesco and its ruined convent.

MAJORI, or MAIORI, at the mouth of the little River Senna, has paper and macaroni mills, and the old Castle of Santa Nicola on the heights. Population, 4,918.

MINORI (population, 3,096), noted for its oranges,. olives, and vineyards, is near a steep hill, which is terraced up to the top with gardens. There is a fine cavern near it.

RAVELLO (population, 1,502), up the gorge of the Dragone, nearly faces the old town of SCALA, and was founded in the ninth century by the Rufalo family, whose ruined half Saracenic palace is here, commanding a fine view over the Bay of Salerno. The Cathedral of S. Pantaleone, built by Admiral Rufalo, has a marble pulpit, by N. Fugi (1260), and bronze doors. This place was sacked by the Pisans, and is gone to decay. Scala, near it, formerly had 130 churches, of which two remain, with an ancient castle.

Amalfi, a bishop's sec, on the rushing Canneto, among mulberry trees.

Hotels: La Luna; Des Etrangers; Dei Cappucini. It is in a fine situation, on the steep side of a cliff, at the mouth of the gorge, and though having now only 7,693 inhabitants, and full of beggars and dirt, was in the twelfth century a thriving port and republic, with a population of 50,000. It is said to have been founded by some Roman settlers in the fourth century; it embarked in the crusades, and opened a great trade with the East, in common with Venice, Genoa, &c.; had a line of doges, and obtained possession of the Island of Capri. The first hospital of St. John of Jerusalem. in Palestine, from which the Hospitallers took their rise, was founded by the citizens of Amalfi, about 1010. One of its traders, F. Gioja, brought into notice, in

Europe, in 1302, the Chinese invention of the Compass, which figures in the town arms. In the cleventh century it was taken by Robert Guiscard, and made the head of a duchy; and a century later it was sacked by the Pisans, whose discovery here of a copy of Justinian's Pandects contributed to revive the study of civil law in Europe. The ravages of time have swept away most of the signs of its former splendour, its harbour, arsenals, &c.; but the natural beauties of the country, with its cliffs, white houses, ruins, orange and myrtle groves, and caves, are as great as ever. The only building of note is the

Cathedral of S. Andrea, a good specimen of the Norman style of the eleventh century. It is reached by fifty steps, and has a campanile; a portico resting on ancient pillars, from Pæstum; bronze doors with silver ornaments, in the Byzantine style; a fine bronze statue (by Niccarino) of St. Andrew, whose bones are under the altar. He appears as an old man, proclaiming the Gospel, as he walks along. The font is an old porphyry urn; and two Sarcophagi are ornamented with antique basreliefs.

There is a sea Cave here under the cliffs, worth notice, to be visited by boat. Coral specimens are abundant. Several paper and macaroni mills and soap works line the Valle de' Molini; a romantic winding glen, frequented by Stanfield; whose view of it, Miss Catlow says, was painted from a cave near the Capuchin Convent, founded 1212. It leads up to the old Castelle di Pulone, and has a fine view of the distant Calabrian Hills.

From Amalfi, further west to Positano, is about 8 miles, by the beautiful coast passing VETTICA MINORE; CONCA, a small picturesquely seated port; PRAGANO, near VETTICA MAGGIORE, and Cape Sottile. Proceeding inland from Conca, is AGEROLA, under Monte Angelo a Tre Pizzi, with a population of 4,094.]

The next place to Vietri on the rail is

Salerno (Stat.)-Hotels: Europa; Vittoria ; Inghilterra--on the shore of the beautiful Gulf of Salerno, formerly the Gulf of Pæstum, terminating in the Posidium Promontory, now Panta di Licesa, about 25 miles distant. The earthquake of December, 1857, was felt here. Salerno is the ancient Salernum, on the Via Aquilia, the capital of Principato Citeriore, and an archbishop's see, with a population of 22,338. It stands in a fine situation, under an old castle, backed by a spur of the Apennines; but, though once famous for its school of medicine, it is now an unhealthy decayed place, full of narrow and dirty streets. It was one of the chief seats of the Saracens and their Norman successors in this part of Italy, but was ruined in 1193, by the Emperor, Henry VI. Its port, constructed by John of Procida, is almost choked with sand, and allows only small vessels to come up to the quay. Pæstum is mostly visited from here.

The Cathedral of St. Matthew is a Gothic building, founded 1084, by Robert Guiscard, with materials from the ruins of Pæstum. Besides some ancient bas-reliefs, pillars, &c., it contains the tombs of

Pope Gregory VII., the famous Hildeorand, who died here in exile. It was restored in 1578. Also some Norman tombs; with that of Margaret, mother of King Ladislas, in the crypt, near the relics of St. Matthew, whose altar above is the work of D. Fontana. Several early mosaics may be noticed in the pavement and elsewhere.

The Governor's palace is worth notice. A large September fair is held here. The Medical School of Salerno, or Scola Salernitana (or Psalernitana), was founded by Judæo-Arabic physicians in the ninth century, and revived by Constantinus Afer, or Africanus, a Carthage refugee, suspected of magic in his own country; who settled here in 1060. One of its members was the famous John of Procida, the adviser of the Sicilian Vespers. In 1137 a Medical University was established here, from which issued the oldest medical statutes in Europe. It took St. Matthew for its patron, and published a popular "Regimen Sanitatis," in rhyming hexameters, which had a great circulation. Here the trick mentioned under Eboli (Route 40), was played, 1860, which resulted in the recall of a corps d'armée and their being sent to the Volturno, when they might have seriously arrested Garibaldi's progress; and from here he started on 7th Sept., and took Naples with a special train of four carriages.

From Salerno the rail passes to Pontecagnano (Stat.), Montecorvino (Stat.), Battipaglia (Stat.), and Eboli (Stat.) From Battipaglia there is a rail, 13 miles, to Pæstum, passing through S. Nicola, Albanello, and Capaccio, across a large plain, bordered by forests and Monte Alburno in the Calabrian Mountains. Like the Campagna, it is swampy, and divided into large farms, with fine grey oxen, black buffaloes, sheep, goats, pigs, and fierce dogs. Malaria is only to be feared at certain seasons and at night. The line crosses the River Sele, or Silarus, which turns everything it touches into hard silicate of lime. At Persano is a thickly wooded hunting forest of the king's, 30 miles round. Between this and Pæstum, Crassus defeated Spartacus, in the Servile War. The solitary ruins of

Pesto, the ancient Pæstum, consist chiefly of the remains of two Temples and a Basilica, and are doubly interesting, as specimens of the earliest style of Greek-Doric architecture, of a simple and massive character, corresponding in age with the Pantheon at Athens. They stand on a deserted spot, near the Fiume Salso, which has a petrifying quality like the Sele. Pæstum was at first a Greek city and port, called Hycla and Poseidonia, founded at the outlet of the "Pastane valles," which were celebrated for their natural fertility, and though now marked by many sulphureous springs and stagnant pools, are under cultivation; tobacco, &c., being grown here. There is a little tavern, with a small house belonging to the bishop. It was in this neighbourhood that Mr. Moens, the artist, was captured by banditti, and kept nearly two years. The nearest town is Capaccio (population, 2,000).

Pæstum was partly inhabited till the eleventh century, when Robert Guiscard made use of its stones to build Salerno. The larger temple, called the *Temple of Neptune, was 195 feet long by 79

wide, and open to the sky. Its raised cella or inner court has seven Doric columns on each side supporting an architrave, on which stood a second row of smaller columns. The external colonnade, which is what first meets the eye, consists of six columns in front, and fourteen down the sides (ie., fourteen counting the end columns in the front), or thirty-six in all. They are fluted, but are massive, and somewhat stumpy in appearance, from the disproportion between their diameter and height. The height (including the capital) of each is 29 feet 10 inches; diameter at the base, and below the capital, 7 feet and 4 feet 9 inches. The capital and abacus have an unusual spread; and the entablature above them, which remains with the pediments, corresponds in depth and solidity to the massiveness of the columns. The floor of this, as of the other building, is heaped with blocks of stone and rubbish.

The Temple of Ceres, or Vesta, or smaller temple, is 107 feet by 47, with six columns in front, and thirteen in the sides (counting the corner ones in the front, as above), or thirty-four in all, some of which are fluted. There are some slight differences of arrangements internally. Height of column and capital, 20 feet 4 inches. The pediments at each end, and the entablature all round, remain.

Another building usually called the *Basilica, is 177 feet by 75, in the style of a temple, with nine columns at each end, and eighteen down the sides (counting the corner columns), or fifty in all. Three columns remain of an inner row, which divided this temple down the middle, and made a double temple of it, as some suppose. The pillars fall in suddenly at about two-thirds of the height, which gives them a bulging appearance. Height, including capital, 20 feet 10 inches.

All three temples are elevated three steps from the ground; their columns are without bases, springing directly out of the topmost step, and stand closer than usual. The temples are built of the brown grey petrified stone, or travertine, found on the spot, hard and brittle.

Only the vaults and the shape of a small Amphitheatre can be made out; but the massive walls of the city are plain enough on three sides, especially on the east, where pieces of towers exist. At the Porta della Sirena, so called from a dolphin carved over the arch, are remains of an aqueduct. Some tombs, with Greek vases, and paintings, have been discovered. Pæstum was celebrated for its "bifera rosaria Pæsti," double-bearing roses, which bloomed twice a year, in May and September.

The line is continued to Agropoli, 5 miles, and Castelnuovo-Vallo, 13 miles, and is intended to pass along the coast line of the 'Instep" to Bagnara (page 273.)

Naples to Posilippo, the Lucullus Villa, Grotto del Cane, Solfatara, Pozzuoli, Baiæ, Cape Misenum, Cumæ, &c.

This excursion embraces a circuit of 20 or 30 miles, and may be extended over two or three days. By starting early it can be done by carriage in a Guides may be hired at Naples, for 10 to 12 Tini; or may be found on the spot. The guar

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dians or custode of different places expect 1 or 2 carlini cach. The carlino is about 4d.

This corner of the bay appears to have been the most favourite of any with the wealthy Romans, whose villas lined the coast in thick succession, and rendered it one of the most populous spots in Italy. It also embraces an interesting volcanic district, including the Phlegræi Campi or Burning Plains, Styx, and Acheron, the Elysian Fields, Tartarus, Lethe, the Cimmerian Shades, and other apparatus of the Roman poets.

(1.) At the west end of the Chiaja and Mergellina, where the roads divide off, one called Villanuova, made in 1812, follows the coast, passing several modern villas, the Punta di Posilippo, and the Gajola rock, at the end of the point which divides the Gulf of Naples from that of Pozzuoli. Here are extensive remains of the Villa of Vedius Pallio and Lucullus's Villa; with a theatre, baths, fishponds, &c.; a grotto called Scuola di Virgile; and the Palace of Queen Joanna, now a glass-house. Pausylipus, the old name for this promontory, is derived from a Greek word equivalent to Sans Souci. Here is the chapel of N. D. Pietra Grotta. Farther on, in the Gulf of Pozzuoli, is another tunnel, through the hill near Punta di Coroglio, called Grotta di Sejano or Grotta di Pozzuoli, about 2,750 feet long, and wider than that of Posilippo, nearer the city. It was cut in the time of Augustus, by Cocceius the engineer. Opposite this is the Lazaretto Harbour, where ships find shelter when the libeccio or south-west wind blows; inside the Island of Nisida, the ancient Nesis, which is the crater of an extinct volcano, and celebrated for its asparagus, figs, grapes, &c., and as the retreat of Brutus, after the death of Cæsar. Bagnoli and its warm springs are farther along the coast towards Pozzuoli.

(2.) Leaving Naples by the Grotto of Posilippo, we come to Fuorigrotta, where roads strike off to the Lazaretto, Bagnoli, and Lake Agnano or Anguiano, made by the crater of a volcano of comparatively modern date, which gives out much sulphureous gas. It is used for linen bleaching, and is called Anguiano from the number of snakes found here basking in the heat. The old Norman town of Anglano is said to be at the bottom of the lake. On the south bank near the road are the sulphur and alum vapour baths, called Stufe di S. Germano, after a bishop of the sixth century, which are useful in rheumatism, gout, consumption, &c.; and the

Grotto del Cane, or Dog Grotto, a cave in which sulphur fumes issue from the floor, mixed with carbonic acid gas, and are fatal to any one breathing them near the ground. Its name is derived from the dogs kept by the custode to experiment upon, to those who are thoughtless enough to allow it, for which 2 carlini are charged. In a few seconds the dog falls senseless, and is revived by being pulled out and dashed into the water; but as a lighted torch is quite enough to prove the wellknown fact that this gas stops combustion, the exhibition of its effects on a miserable clog is un

necessary and cruel. To the north-west of Lake Agnano is the

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Monte Astroni, a fine regular specimen of an extinct volcano, about 4 miles in circuit, the crater of which is turned into a royal forest preserved for deer and boars. It contains three small lakes. road runs round it. Entrance, 2 to 4 carlini. 1452, Alphonso I. gave a grand fête here on the marriage of his niece to the Emperor Frederic III. All about here is part of the Phlegræan Fields; and about 1 mile west is another conspicuous volcanic cone, called Monte Barbaro, the ancient Gaurus, now covered with vineyards.

Between Monte Astroni and Pozzuoli is

Monte Solfatara, another volcanic hill, the ancient Forum Vulcani, which poured down lava in 1198, and still throws out fumes of sulphuretted hydrogen and other gasses; flames even may be seen at night. It produces sulphur and alum in the crevices of the rock, and sounds hollow in some parts when struck with a stone. At the foot is the Acqua della Bolla, or Pisiarelli: being hot alum springs, called Fontes Leucogai by Pliny, from the white colour of the rock. They are found useful in diseases of the skin. Excellent red wine may be got here, and there is a fine view from the cliffs above.

Pozzuoli (Hotel: Grand Bretagne), on a peninsula in a small gulf, is the ancient Dicæarchia, or Puteoli, formerly the chief Roman city on the Bay of Naples, and a port carrying on a large commerce with the Levant. Here, after his voyage and shipwreck, St. Paul landed in a trader from Alexandria, bringing home wheat, and found brethren-Jews engaged in business-with whom he tarried 7 days before proceeding to Rome. It has suffered not only from the Goths, Saracens, Turks, and other invaders, but also through eruptions from the Solfatara and Monte Nuovo behind it, especially that of 1538. At present it is an old half-ruined town and bishop's see (population, 12,801), abounding in remains of temples, villas, theatres, baths, and other antiquities, as well as in sham relics, lamps, sibyls, &c., which are manufactured here in great numbers. Its water, with a strong sulphuric taste, is drunk by the Naples people in hot weather. Here a noted brigand, Manzi, was killed, 1873.

On a plot of 250,000 square yards on the sea shore, Sir W. Armstrong is erecting a steel works, armour plate and gun factory, which will employ 5,000 workmen.

The Cathedral of S. Proculo is on the site of a Roman temple to Augustus, built by L. Calpurnius, and contains some of its ancient columns, with tombs of a duke of Montpensier and of Porgolese, the composer. In the Piazza Grande are statues of a Roman consul and a bishop. Among the other antiquities, one of the best preserved is the

*Amphitheatre, or Colosseo, a picturesque ruin, under Solfatara, built of reticulated masonry, in three rows of arches, made of layers of thin bricks and square ones laid diamond fashion, and ornamented with stucco, bits of which are still perfect.

It is 480 feet by 380, with four entrances; being somewhat larger than that at Verona and older than that of Rome. Nero performed here as a gladiator. Near this relic are two reservoirs; one, called the Piscina Grande, large enough for a boat to row in; the other, called the Labyrinth of Dædalus. There are remains of Baths, formerly called the Temple of Diana and Neptune; also tombs and Columbaria, on the ways which led to Naples and Rome, and a cemetery which was overSkeletons, as

whelmed with lava from Solfatara. well as vases of glass, marble and earth, from the ashes, have been discovered in these graves.

A Mole or Ponte (usually called the Bridge of Caligula, who made only a bridge of boats here for a freak) was built out from the point, to shelter the harbour, constructed of open arches; of which only a small piece is left, 16 feet long, and 13 above water. It is 2 miles across the bay to Baia; beyond which Monte Procida and Cape Misenum are seen.

From Pozzuoli there are roads to Cuma and Baiæ, the latter winding round the bay.

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Passing down hill from the town we come to the remains of Cicero's Villa, called Academia and Villa Puteolana, once close to the sea, but since put back from it by the earthquakes of Monte Nuovo. portico and some other parts are left of this villa, in which the great orator wrote his Academical Questions and other works. Hereabouts are seen remains of a Theatre, and of a Temple of Antinous; but those of a Temple of Neptune and another of the Nymphs are submerged by the sea, though partially visible. But the most curious relic is part of a

*Temple of Jupiter Serapis, dedicated to Osiris, which tells a remarkable tale upon the face of it, of the alternate rise and fall of the coast line, occasioned by volcanic action, of which so much is made in Lyell's Geology. It was a round building of sixteen plain cipolino columns; three of which remain standing, 40 feet high, with fragments of others; the floor being under water.

"For some distance above the pedestal these columns are smooth, probably owing to having been buried to that height in ashes or rubbish. Above this is a breadth of about 9 feet, which is eaten away by the action of water, and bored into by the Lithodomus modiola, a boring mollusc, the shells of which may still be seen in the holes. Above this, again, the columns are quite smooth. To account for these marks, it is supposed that the ground on which the temple stood had gradually sunk, even before the building was abandoned, as there are two pavements, one above the other, at a distance of some feet. The sea then encroached, covering the columns for many years, whilst these diminutive creatures used them for their secure habitations, little aware what a tale their small perforations would tell to after ages. In the sixteenth century there were many earthquakes on this coast; and in 1538, the Monte Nuovo was raised in a few days by the great quantity of ashes and burning matter thrown out, which formed a hill between 400 and 500 feet high; the whole coast being elevated, and