The Express.
London, England, 1861-11-09 00:00:00

(Stamped, Id. Additional.)

A RAILWAY ADVENTURE IN THE
CAMPAGNA.

--o—
(nom on on onnuonsrr.)
BOMB, SAMOA; NOV. 2.

There seems to be a fatality for me, as well as
for others, in this mysterious old city. I have just
been thrown back here again, after a futile attempt
to get away to Florence, whither I should have
gone a fortnight or six weeks ago, but for two pro-
longed fits of serious illness, which killed the pre-
sous time. On Wednesday hurt, October 30, we
started, be of us, in the 11..20 train for Civita
Vecchia, intending in due course to embark by
4 o'clock that afternoon on board one of the excel-
lent steamboats of the French Mesaseries. I
There had been very heavy storms of
wind and rain, with thunder and light- I
iiing also, for two or three days before ;
on Tuesday the roofs and gardens of the Vatican
Palace were much damaged by the bursting of a
marine waterspout borne this way by the westerly
pie from the sea, which is but sixteen miles oil.
Hundreds of panes of glass which had protected the
open galleries of the Loggie were smashed by this
visitation ; but I was glad to learn that the beau-
tiful frames of Raphael, representing patriarchal
scenes from the Book of Genesis, which are among
the most exquisite creations of his gracious pencil,
'tiCtbinlll6:. 451tstc- d; sad Rung
weather cheered us when the traiu moved out of
the suburban terminus on Wednesday morning, all
formalities discharged, our luggage paid for and
registered, the police receipts for our passports
regularly inspected, and nothing apparently before
us but a pleasant three hours' ride along a
railway line of sixty miles, previous to a
night's voyage, perhaps not likely to be so
comfortable, on a sea yea heaving with the agitation
of the late tamped. We left St. Peter's mighty
dome behind us, and the fair high Jauieulsa hill,
with its vineyards sadly battered and spoiled by the
wind ; we emerged from the valley of the swollen
Tiber, and began to traverse northwards that
famous tract of country, which but for misgovern-
ment and mismanagement by its mortmain pro-
prietors would be salubrious and fertile—the shore
of the Roman Canipagna. To the left hand stretched
vast level meadows and dry marsh lands, which
should afford some of the richest pasture in the
world. Tu the right, behind low prettily-shaped
hills of light sandstone, miles beyond miles of good
vegetable soil, as I was told, invite the growth
of wheat. All Central Italy, abounding ea it does
in fruit, wine, and oil, yet lacks a sufficient supply
of these homely products of the dairy and the
tilled field. In spite of Nature's bounty, however,
the Campagna, which fed its millions in and around
ancient Ram*, now yields but a moderate quantity
of hay, nourishes a few rare herds of long-horned
whitairxen, sad for want of subsoil draining, but
still more because its trees have been destroyed,
brews the autumnal pest of fever for the inhabitants
and sojourners in Rome. No villages, no cottages,
no pameatry but the hardy men and women who
yearly emigrate from the Sabine mountains or the
Ahmed, to return home at the fall of the year, are
to be seen is this desolate land. The woods, once
planted by the wisdom of those older Romans
to stickup the superfluous moisture through the
porous earth, were long ago cut down because they
had oome to be the haunts of robbers, with whom
the clerical 'rulers had not energy enough to con-
tend. 4 Such were my thoughts, instigated by resent.
painful experiease of the virulent effects of ponti-
fical malaria, as our train passed merrily through
the sunny, though much abused and neglected
country. It was twenty minutes to one when we
arrived at the half-way station of Palo, our first,
and, little as we suspected that, our fluid stopping-
place. On the inland side of us, the dark moun-
Wait around Lake Btkettieso stand neer • a wooden
rick-frame, and one or two of thine round window-
less hovels, resembling the houses of our naked
Britons when Caner invaded their isle, which
now form the summer abodes of the Roman la-
bourers, completed the prospect. On the other
side lay the sea, a quarter of a mile distant, with
two or three large buildings, a ruinous old castle, a
huge farm-house shut up, I believe, at this season,
and a dirty little street of twelve or twenty houses.
Such is Palo, the only town, village, or hamlet on
the high road from the metropolis to the seaport,.
I knew, indeed, that the R011111•11k went there fur sea-
bathing in the summer, and that there must be
something of au hotel. After half-an-hour's deten-
tion, the sky lowered suddenly as fury, and torrents
of rain began to fall. Another half hour passed,
and the railway guard informed us that the line
was broken down between Palo and Civite Vecchia,
and that we could only go forward on condition of
walking some quarter of a mile through mud and
slush, in which, as all might see, the legs plunged
at once above the knees. This was encouraging for
the ladies, and scarcely less so for a man just raised
from his sick-bed, who had not yet found strength
to walk a hundred yards, and whose feet, swollen
and sore with much application of blisters, were I
clad in soft slippers instead of the masculine
boot. I declared at once for passing that night
in the inn at Palo, with the companion (why not
say, my wife I) who bad nursed me and helped me
out. But the road down to that miserable village,
short as it was, seemed impassable from the
water pouring over it ; and on inquiry at
the station-house, we were told that no sort of car-
riage or cart could be procured at any price, to con-
vey those who wished to stay as far as the " Grand
Hotel." Our fellow-passengers, being iu good health
I and hope, cheerfully discussed the chances of the
evening. An agreeable English couple, besides the
well-known editor of a London literary journal
and his lady, shared our second-class compartment,
and in one corner fidgeted a queer restleasboy, half
creole, half Indian, the page, as we afterwards
learnt, of a Peruvian lady travelling to Paris
first-class, . with her sou-in-law and the Minister of
that republic at the Papal court. Besides, there
were in the same carriage a Manchester gentleman,
with a son and daughter, as it seemed tome; three or
four young Englishmen, of good spirits and fun ;
a Pole from Warsaw, who roused my commisera-
tion by telling we that his nation looked fur their
deliverance to Napoleon 111., and half a dozen
I French, two or three women with elderly male pro-
tectors. To while away the tedious hours the
English youths got out a peek of cards, and com-
menced a game of cribbage. It was understood
that a telegraphic message had been sent to Rome,
to ask the Ammiuistrazioue " what we were to du.
Four o'clock came, the weather growing darker and
fiercer, and then we were promised the speedy aid
of a fresh locomotive, which had already started to I
bring us back to Rome. This was comfort amidst
our disappointment ; for though we must all give
up every hope of going, as the case might be, to
Naples or to Leghorn by the next boats, we
might expect a snug supper and bed in some
good hotel of this city. But short was our anx-
iety's relief. Before five o'clock the wretched truth
was officially communicated from carriage to car-
riage that the rail was broken up behind us, be-
tween Palo and Rome, as well as in flout towards
Civita Vecchia, and that we must remain as we
were for the night. At the same time the tremen-
dous storm, which had played no more than its
prelude up to that hour, crashed over the prostrate
earth with such terrible magnificence as I had never
witnessed in our temperate native clime. Sheets of
rushing water, sheets of dazzling flame, thunder
now rolling far round us over land and sea, now
cracking violently against us like the noise of rifled
cannon, made up an awful concert and spec-
tade of the mighty elemental forces as they
I rage at certain seasons under this soft southern
sky. Futile attempts were made by the railway
men to light our carriage lamps ; we sat in dark-
,
nesa, and soon, when the rain got through the roof
' of our second-class carriage, some of us were sitting
in the damp. Presently, the more knowing and
active of our companions dropped out of the oar-

[TWOPENCE

riage door, and holding by one hand whilst they
supported their wives or carried their baskets and
railway rugs with the other, made their way into
the first-class compartments. Few ventured to
step on the slushy ground. I and mine were
• obliged to stay, for sheer weakness, and with the
awkward probability of my taking a chill, that
would infallibly lead to a renewal of the fever,
from which I bad barely escaped with life. This
went on till eight o'clock. At that hour the brave
railway porters, holding their great torches alight
II in all the pouring shower, pushed beak the heavy
train, with its human cargo, till it lay opposite the
little station-house. There we alighted, and walked
across a bridge of
_planks to the station-house. A
clever dark-eyed Italian dame appeared to be the
mistress both of railway and domestic management
there. She made her blue-bloused serving men
hustle about her errands ; she found chairs
for all the ladies, and the gentlemen sauntised
now rather gloomily in the two small ground-floor
rooms, which were soaked with wet. There was a talk
of bread and wine having been sent for, but I know
not when they arrived. The kind Manchester gen-
tleman, who saw my drooping condition, gave ae
bread from his private store, and another fellow-
traveller poured me out some of his mellow Orvieto,
the little stuck contained at starting in my pru-
dent tionipinion's basket having been long 1111008
• sesames& Wife all this, a nigh* In the
damp carriages, and in such weather, in
a spot so notorious as Palo is for the
marina, was not very commendable reginien for
a person intensely susceptible of new infection after
his recent attack. We therefore tried, and happily
succeeded, to persuade the notable station-mistress
to make up a "shakedown" before her kitchen fire.
There, covered with many coats and rugs, I lay
safe and warm, escaping by this means, I am
assured, the pains and perils of a new assault of the
old enemy laying me low, remote from medical
advisers and friends. The morning dawned, bright
and fair. We talked with our friends below, and
found that, sustained by the excitement, none
was a whit the worse. After coffee and bread,
and a little slow pacing of the sunshiny platform,
we found that a man ha I come riding post hate
from Rome, to say that the directors would send
omnibuses for all of us, at two o'clock, to convey
us at our choice either on to Civita or beck to
Rome. This was good news, and when two
o'clock approached we were ordered to walk to the
hotel at Palo, to await the coming of the carriages
promised. All went, easept, I think, a Swiss
woman going home to St. Gall, who had her baby-to
suckle and carry, and she waited for a countryman,
under whose care she travelled, to help her to the
inn. That establishment we found to be a ram-
bling ramshackle sort of decayed roadside public-
house, with an upper and lower saloon, a tolerable
mune, sad more bed-rooms than one would have
supposed. All that afternoon and evening we
waited in vain. Once, a breathless official messen-
ger ran in, declaring that the diligenoes would be
there in a moment, and that they would take us
to Maccaress, fourteen miles from Rome, whence
the railway train would take us home. eeeptien
all ; the wind and rain came back at nightfall, but of
coaches not • sign. All that fine dry day, on Thurs-
day, I believe rot a pickaxe was lifted to repair the
damage, where, as we saw, the loose earth washed
away in sundry places had left rails and sleepers in
the air. The train from Civits on Thursday had
run off the rails, that is, the engine and tender
only, but only a few slight personal hurts were the
result to the passeugers themselves. At night,
having secured our bedrooms or " shake-
downs" in various apartments of the large
building, we supped and turned in. Rocked
by the waves that beat against the house walls and
wind that shook my chamber windows, I for one
slept soundly enough. Next morning, breakfast
and the welcome omnibus at last. Some, bound
for Naples, chose to proceed to Civita Vecchia. We
took leave of them as if we had known them long.
Others, of whom I was one, having to look only fur
the next Messagdries boat to Leghorn, which starts
on Wednesday next, and trusting by that
time to have a gentler sea, chose to return
to Rome. Four or five hours, without accident,
brought us well here, with our luggage, and of
course nothing to pay. The line will not be re-
paired in less than three weeks. Hear this, ye
English navvies, contractors, and engineers ! It is
a line made, or jobbed, by Mires, beefily finished
in 1859, when the war broke out, and now managed
by a board of Spaniards, with G. B. Salamanca at
their head. Enough of this. I only add, that a
hundred fine trees are blown down in the gardens
of the Villa Borghese, and the noble viaduct at
Castellano is utterly destroyed. Here ends my
chapter of disasters.

THE BISHOPRIC OF NASSAU.—DOWNING-maserT,
Nov. 6.—The Queen has been pleased to separate the
Bahama Islands sad their dependeucies, together with the
Turks and Caicos islands, from the See and Diocese of
Jamaica, and to constitute the said islands and their depen-
descies into • separate see and diocese to be called the
Bishopric of Nassau. Her Majesty his also been pleased to
appoint the Venerable Charles Caulfeild, D.D. (29w
Archdeacon of Bahamas), to be ordained and consecrated the
first bishop of the said sea of Neasen.—Gozel te.
ROYAL COLOBSEUL—Dr. liachhoffuer is now lec-
turing at the above institution on " Paper : its sources,
manufacture, and numerous applications. The lecture is
illustrated by dissolving views, working models, and nu-
merous specimens of paper in all its stages of manufacture,
together with a collection cf articles in which paper forms
either the whole or part of the material. We rosy cordially
recommend the doctor's lecture on paper to all who seek in-
formation on this subject, more partumlarly the young.
A New Comm—The following notice of a newly
observed comet appears in the Edinburgh Scotsman of
Thursday:—" West Linton, Peebleshire Nov. 6, 1e61.
Sir,—List night, about half-pest 11 o'cl:ick, while riding
home to West Linton from Carlon., I discovered in the
eastern horizon a large and very conspicuous comet. At
that hour it occupied a point of the horizon due oast, and
was but a few degrees above the earth's seeming level. It
is situated immediately bezeath those three stars which
used to be moat popularly known es the " Lady's Ellwand,"
and a short way distant froin the eastern rest of the Milky
Way. Professional duties so occupy my time and attention
now (indeed always) that I am totally unable to give the
stranger any investigation in an astronomical way, or to give
any particulars regarding him. Would you, then, be kind
enough to give this note insertion in your columns, in order
that those able and willing to do so any let me and others
know the history and intentions of this (to me) new denizen
of the skim! Is he the long expected comet of the fifteenth
century come at last ?—I am, die., ANDIZIV BONTURON,
M.D.

•••••-•
WILIS AND BEQUERTS.—The•wiII of Sir William
Cobitt, civil engineer. formerly of Great George.
street, Westminster, residing at Clapham Common, Surrey,
was proved in the London court on the 2,ith ult., by hie ROL
Joseph Cobitt, Eaq., and Francis T. Bircham, Esq., solicitor,
Parliament-street, the executors. The penonalty was
sworn under 90,0001. The will was executed on the 9th of
January, 1652, and Sir William died on the 13th of last
month, aged 76. Sir William has bequeathed bin fortune to
his relict and family. To bin widow, Lady Cubitt, be has
left an annuity of 1,0001., with other specific bequests. To
his son and two daughter, each of whom take certain ',pa-
cific bequests, be has bequeathed one•third each of the en-
tire residue of the estate. The above bequests, with the
exeeptiou of a few small legacies to his brothers, side's,
sod executors, are the contents of the will —lllustrated
Landow News.

SHOCKING ACCIDENT AND WONDEIIPTL RECOVERY.
—On Saturday, the 19th October, a fine little girl, about
ten years old, the daughter of a farmer of the name of
O'Connor, at Ballyhooley, incautiously stepping over the
shaft of a threshing machine in motion, had her clothes
caught by a hook, sod was dragged wider the shaft and fear-
fully mangled and braisei. The left thigh was fractured
and the muscles extensively lacerated, the femoral artery
laid bare, but fortunately not wounded ; the bone pro-
truded six inches, bare, and denuded of its coverings of soft
puts. She was also severely bruised in other limbs, and
several puts of the body. In this state she was brought in
on a door to Fermoy, and at once admitted to the workhouse
hospital, where she was promptly attended to, and, to save
life, attiputeitiou performed in a masterly manner by Dr.
James M. Roche, medical officer of the establishment,
assisted by his father, Dr. Roche, RN. The little sufferer
was put completely under the influence of chloroform, and
the operation terminated within twenty misules. The
brave little patient, who has not lost an hour's rest since
the Incident, is now nearly well enough to return to her
friends, who no doubt am rejoiced tt her miraculous
esape.—Cork lassiiser.