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GE

CHAPTER XIV.

NAPLES.

ET up, Walter, get up," was a cry raised by Minnie, one morning, very soon after the events recorded in the foregoing chapter. "Go away and let me alone," answered the boy.

"Get up, get up; we are entering the Bay of Naples."

"What!

"What? sleepy head; wake up!" "What did you say?"

"We are entering the Bay of Naples - father has been up an hour-passengers all on deck — glorious morning— time you were out of your berth," was the cheerful answer, given in one breath, by the child, as she hurried from the cabin to the deck.

The party had gone from Rome to Civita Vecchia, a very mean town on the coast, and there taken a steamer for Naples, the beautiful bay of which the steamer, the Erculano, was now entering. Walter hurried on his clothes, vexed with

himself for having overslept, and was soon on deck, where he found the passengers expressing their admiration of the enchanting scene.

"Here comes bub, an hour late," was Minnie's salutation, who was glad to have found Walter a little behind herself. But he did not notice her remark. His attention was drawn to what he saw before him the bay and city of Naples, and the surrounding country. "Beautiful!" he repeated, as he reached his father's side.

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Ah, Walter, you here? We have been trying to make out the secret of the beauty of this bay," said Mr. Percy.

"Is there any secret about it?”

"Yes; we know it is beautiful, but what the elements of that beauty are, one does not see at the first glance."

"Have you discovered the secret?"

"Yes. The beauty of the bay arises from a variety of circumstances. Its form is regularly curved, and all around are shining palaces, looking down upon its shores, and off upon its waters. Behind the towns and villages, the hills and mountains rise abruptly, and seem to stand as high towers charged with molten torrents, which they are ready to pour out upon the surrounding country."

"Charming scene! I do not wonder at the

old saying."

"What do you refer to ?"

"See Naples, and die.'"

"Ah, yes, that is an old saying. But we must go ashore. The steamer has come to anchor."

An hour after they were on shore, having escaped from the hungry boatmen, custom-house officials, and policemen. As they were on the way to the hotel, Walter asked,

"How many inhabitants are there in Naples?"

"About three hundred and fifty thousand," replied his father; "but there does not appear to be so many. On approaching the city from the sea, one would hardly imagine how many human beings are huddled together. The streets are narrow; the houses, as you see, rise story on story, until they lose themselves from the view of the gazer, and both streets and houses are crowded with as miserable and dirty a class of beings as can be found in Italy."

"How much territory does the city occupy

??

"It is twelve miles in circuit, with ample fortifications; three hundred churches; forty asylums for the poor and orphans; with a vast

variety of objects connected with the past and the present, to interest the traveller."

Our party spent a few weeks in Naples, and a letter from Walter to his mother will tell wha. they saw in that city.

NAPLES, 1859.

DEAR MOTHER

I wish you were here, so that I could lean my head against your shoulder, and tell you what 1 have seen. But as you are not here I must write to you. My letters from Rome told you all about St. Peter's, the Vatican, the Coliseum, the Carnival, and the Pope. We are now in Naples, where we have been much pleased. I know you would like to have me tell you about the people-how they look, and dress, and live. I will try to tell you, in the best language I can. The better class of the people dress very neatly, and on gala days the crowded streets present a gay and brilliant spectacle. The soldiers in uniform, with waving plumes, and the young women, with their muslin scarfs, and gay, laughing features, give a showy appearance to the whole town. But the lower order of Neapolitans are very meanly clad, and approach a step nearer barbarism than any people I have previously seen. The men wear a coarse crash shirt, with

coarse trousers, which are tied around the waist with a cord. An old straw hat completes the rig. The legs and feet from the knees downward, the arms from the elbows, and the shoulders, brown and sunburnt, are generally uncovered. As to shoes, they are a luxury which the poorer people seldom indulge in. The women dress correspondingly, and are seen moving through the streets singing, with loads upon their shoulders which would almost break the back of a donkey.

Of the many things we have seen, the sheet on which I write would not suffice to tell you. We have been into monasteries and seen the monks; we have been down into the catacombs, which are in three stories or stratums, hewn out of the rock, running under the whole city, and extending as far as Pozzuoli. All along these arched subterranean passages are niches cut in the walls, just large enough for the corpse, whether it be man or child. The ceilings are adorned with mosaics and frescoes. Some of these are pagan, and some are Christian, teaching the lessons of several different ages. Little monuments with inscriptions, one to the god of gardens, are set up here, and they seem to live and speak as the red glare of the torch falls upon them. We have been to the tomb of Virgil. It stands over the