Star.
London, England, 1831-06-23 00:00:00

LITERATURE AND SCIENCE.

ALBANO,
!RON ♦ TRAVELLER'S JOURNAL.
(From S Englishman's Magazine.)
How delightful to exchange the heat, the dust,
Itt‘ vermin, the villainous smells, and the malaria
•f Rome, in July, for the pure breezes, the shady
.hestnut groves, end the magnificent scenery of
le Aiban 1.1.15. The ancient Romans preferred
ie heights of Tivoli, and the margin of the im-
Anous Tcverone, notwithstanding the variable
eatbEr and the humidity of the atmosphere ; but
te moderns, with better taste, have abandoned
ivoli, and bought the lakes and woods of the
tearer Latin hills, which are now embellished with
legant villas, well shaded walks, and cooling
learns and fountains. The most inviting and fer-
le portion of the Alban hills is the side nearest
the plain, which extends to the sea shore.—
Icre, also, are the pleasant little towns of Albano,
ricia, and Germano, where the Romans pass the
Cason of the Villegiatura in cool and spacious
)artments, and command all the comforts of a civic
:sidenee at a moderate expense, while the traveller,
contemplative or solitary habits, may hire a cell, or
my of the above-named places, in the Capuchin
..ionasteries, or, better still, at Palazzuolo, on the
Lake of Albano. Nowhere, in this district, will
_ find a finer situation than the latter, where the
monks have made arrangements to accommodate
their lodgers, whether catholics or heretics, with
'inner in the refectory, for a moderate remunera-
'on.

The Romans call Albano the Lesser Rome ; and
hen, on Sunday evenings, the streets, walks, and '
)flee-houses, are crowded with Romans of either
x, the name would be truly appropriate, did not
he imposing costume of the Alban women, which
Algid to make the ladies of the antique capital
blush for their adoption of Parisian fashions,
dispel the illusion. When, indeed, will the ladies
of Europe in general, and of England in particu-
lar, reject the absurdities of French fashions,
ingeniously contrived to give apparent bulk
and roundness to the diminutive and scanty fi-
gures of Parisian belles, but supremely dis-
figuring to the full and finely moulded proportions
of British beauty. Commend me to a national
costume, like the provincial garb of Spain and
Italy ; at once graceful, commodious, and pictu-
resque ; and suited, by difference of texture, and
the addition of a cloak, to all seasons of the year, ,
and every class of society.
It is not only in costume that the women of
Albano show themselves to be a peculiar and pri-
mitive race : they are easily distinguishable from
the Romans, as well as from the inhabitants of all
contiguous districts, by the superiority and dignity
of their carriage, by the fine contour and gran-
deur of their countenances, which possess also
the true ' volto sciolto,' of the Italian proverb. The
men are less distinguished in form and feature,
but they are said to possess more sincerity and
good nature than any others in the vicinity of
Rome. Their costume is less elegant than that of
the females, but it is not ungraceful, and is at the
seme time weil suited to the climate and its
changes. A ticket jacket, in summer of nankeen,
in winter of velveteen, with plated, or, if possible,
with silver buttons ; breeches of the same material,
with huge silver knee and shoo buckles ; a broad
sash of coloured woollen around the waist ; often
ear-rings in the ears ; a broad brimmed hut, and
beneath it a cap of net work, which confines the
hair. The cloak, except in wet or cold weather,
is thrown over one shoulder, but rarely left at
home ; hence the proverb, M d' estate ne d' in-
verno, comminar sung mantello. This fine race,
however, compose but a small portion of the inha-
bitants of the Alban hills. They occupy the dis-
tricts between Frascati and Genzano. At Velletri,
a widely different character of features may be
discerned, resembling the people of the Volscian
hills ; in form and expression more pointed and
cunning. These people have also more fire and
quickness in their tempers ; are more vindictive ;
and it is said that most of the banditti in the Ro-
man states are natives of the heights of Cori and
Velletri.
To the philosophical observer it would be an in-
teresting speculation, to trace the primitive causes
of such strong points of contrast in the appearance,
character, and habits of a population, residing for
ages in close neighbourhood and communication.
The Albanese are loud, lively, and sociable ;
and, like the Romans, pursue their avocations out
of doors ; even the attentions of courtship are car-
ried on with amusing publicity, at the house door ;
or the Zitella, leaning out of a first-floor window,

listens complacently to the loud and passionate
pleadings of her inamorato in the street below.
The following popular Ritornello, a Romanza
for two voices, is commonly sung in the streets of
Albano. A young man in the street begs his mistress
to come down to him, and assures her that he has
seen her mother walking with a neighbour towards
the sea-shore. She refuses, because her mother
might return. The lover still urges his request,
and the maiden, growing angry, exclaims
Che pretensione a quells !
Sappi, ch'io son 'hells !

This dialogue-ballad is worth recording, not
only as a specimen of the street ballads of Albano,
but as a compendium of the moral code which rules
the conduct of all the unmarried females in Rome
and its environs. A free translation is given for
the benefit of those who may be unacquainted with
the language of the South.

RITORNELLO.
He.

O why, Bettino, fear me
0 why not venture near me?
This is the morn to hear me
Discourse sweet tales of love.
Come down, unkindest, dearest;
A lover the sincerest,
With sufferings the severest,
Thy icy heart would move !
She.

Young man, you vainly tease me,
Ycur idle talcs displease me;
Besides my mother sees me,
(At least she shortly may.)
I am an honest maid, sir,
Of arta like yours afraid, air,
Whatevees to be said, sir,_
I'm at the window—say.
He.

Your mother ►as been gone, love,
Of hours more thao one, hive,
With the iistuwife she passed on, love,
(I saw her) to the shore.
The dame, for once, looked sprightly,
Tripped toward the Castle lightly ;
I'm cettalti I guess rightly ;
Her walk L not half o'er.

You make extremelifree, air,
Am I your slave to be, sir,
An honest girl like me, sir,
Must not be talked to so;
Pray, think of what the town, sit,
Would say, if I went down, sir,
And then my mother's frown, sir—
I will not go below.
Young man, you're a deceiver,
Should maiden trust you ever,
You'd flatter first, then leave het;
Your wicked ways I know.
He.

Deceiver I am none, love!
This breast beau but for one, love ;
And I shall be undone, love,
If she shall answer, no !
She.

If you're sincere, in proof, sir,
I beg you'll stand aloof, sir,
From this respected roof, air,
(Some tell.tale may be near.)
Your love says, don't forget hcr ;
Expect an early letter ;
And, meanwhile, study bettor
Behaviour when you're here.
SUBSTITUTESSIAN HEMP.

The following arc the indigenous plants of this
climate, which may serve as a substitute for Rus-
sian hemp in our navy, as well as the gums and ve-
getable juices requisite to render the ropes service-
able made of those substances ; and any quantity of
either may be purchased on application at the Ga-
zette office :

The fibre of the curagua is of great strength,
and is as three to two stronger than the best hemp:
lines and linen have been made with it ; and it re-

mists the action of water better than the annual
hemp or flax. With the gum solution spun in with
it, the ropes are perfect. Sooner or later, it must
put millions annually into the pockets of English-
men settled in the West Indies.

Neither must it be imaginal that the cumgua
is the strongest of the vegetable fibrous tribe,
though a superior article ; for la pita (or silk-
grass) is still better : also the fibres from the leaves
of the musa tribe, viz. the banana, plantain, and
the palm, are equal : but, the best of all, is the
fibre contained in the husk of the coco-nut.

All leaf fibres are to be extracted by pressure,
beating, and drawing through a split bamboo, im-
mediately after cutting ;—that from the coco-nut
must be steeped in water some dayP, say four or
five, and then beaten ; and many tons might be
readily got of these admirable fibres. All of them
must be washed by anchoring them in a stream, or
otherwise ; then well dried, and packed at full
length, pressed so as to take less room, and not
made into bundles.

One acre of such plants will grow where sugar
will not, and would annually produce three times
the worth of an acre of sugar.
As to the highly-important rsticle of gum, the
best is the ficus elastica ; next, ortocarpus, or
breadfruit. If incisions are made in these trees,
conducting them into a vessel, or copper, placed a
slow fire under it, and mixing about two er three
gallons of oil, (coco-nut, palm, or even linseed,)
to about twenty of the concrete juice, keeping it
simmering, it will acquire the consistence of a bird-
lime.—Port of Spain Gazette.

Dr. Wilkinson, in his Pamphlet on Barbadoes
Tar, states that in some excavations he lately made
in Abbey-street, for the foundation of the Kingston
Pump Room, which is situated direct on the on
Roman springs, he came into the original marsh
Iwhich formerly covered the lower part of Bath, and
found it replete with decomposed rushes, many por-
tions of the hazel, and numerous unbroken nuts.
ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE —This So-
ciety always appeared to us among the humbugs of
the day, and, except for the one hundred a year
allowed ten men, should have been long since held
up to the ridicule its pretensions so justly de-
served ; but charity is a redeeming virtue ;—the
government of this country does little enough for
science and literature, and we were therefore con-
tent that, the Society should drivel on at the price
of a thousand a year : but a suspension of pay-
ments is the day of its dissolution.—Atheneum.
SWEET LIPAFIAN MELON.—Mr. Knight says,
tho taste and flavour of the fruit, under the mode
of culture which he has adopted, appear to be now
quite as perfect as when the variety first came into
his possession. The weight of the largest fruit in
the last season exceeded by more than 2lbs. the
weight of the largest fruit raised under the same
mode of culture from the first seeds, it having
weighed 101 b. 6 ounces. He cultivates this variety
generally in a brick pit surrounded by hollow
walls, through which warm atmospheric air at all
times enters abundantly ; putting each plant in a
separate large pot, and suffering it to bear one me-
lon only. But the fruits set and succeed suffici-
ently well in a common hot-bed ; and the impor-
tant point fcr the attention of the gardener is, the
weight of fruit which any given extent of glass
roof is capable of producing in high perfection; 13
inches square of glass roof will afford 115. of fruit.
This quantity will probably appear small to many
who are in the habit of cultivating some other va-
rieties ; but, if the roof of a vinery were seen with a
bunch of grapes of Ilb. weight, at 13 in. distance
from each other over the whole extent of its roof,
Idle crop would be thought extremely great. The
rind of the Ispahan, as of other Persian melons,
being very soft and thin, the fruit is apt to sustain
injury upon its under side, if it be not properly
supported ; therefore, when he raises any of those
varieties in a hot-bed, always place the fruit,
whilst very young, upon a little machine it the
form of a short broad ladder. This, which has
four slender cross bars, is supported at its corners
by four forked pegs, which are stuck into the mould
of the bed ; and the fruit is thus raised some inches
above the surface of the mould of the bed, and ex-
posed to light, whilst the air is permitted to pass
freely under it.

Tuesday morning a young woman, of highly re-
spectable family in the neighbourhood of Ches-
hunt, was found under one of the arches of the
New London-bridge, by a policeman of letter M
division. She seemed to be so excessively ill, that
the policeman, with the assistance of another man,
carried her to St. Thomas's Hospital, and it was
there discovered that she had taken poison. Active
I remedies having been resorted to, her life was
saved, although she still continues ♦ery much de-
bilitated from the effects of the dose she had taken.
From-a letter found in her possession, it appeared
that she had been seduced in the country by a young
man, who had immediately afterwards left the place,
and she came to town in search of him, without the
unction of her family, and disappointed in her ex-
pectations of meeting him, she had, in the bitter-
ness of the moment, resolved on self-destruction.

ROYAL YACHT CLUB LIST,
COIMICTED TO :WM, 1831.
• THE KING.
THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER.
Vessels. Class. Tons
Anglesey, Marquis of Pearl Cut 113
Ashbrook, Viscount
Belmore, Earl of
Chine°, S. Esq Nora Cut
Curtis, Sir W. ban Emma Seh
Coventry, Earl of AHel Cut
Grantham, Lord Nautilus Cut
Guinan, Joseph, esq • Nelson Cut
Halifax, T. esq
Hamond, Rear Admiral Sir G. E. ban. C.B.
Hare, Hon. W.
Harman, T. esq
Lindegren, J. earl
Melville, Lord Via.
Newman, R. W. esq
Peget, Rt. Hon. Sir A.
Peach, S. P. esq
Yarborough, LII(Com)
Puleston, Sir R. bert
Sliedden, Colonel
Smith, Jaraes, esq
Thomas, Sir G. but
Thomond, Marquis of
Vernon, Lord
Weld, Joseph, esq
Weld, James, esq.
Williams' O. esq
Perkins, H. esq
Williams, T. P. esq
Masse, James, esq
Powell, J. P. esq
White, Hon. William
Saunders, W. H. esq
Mackenzie, LL-Gen. K.
Leeds, Sir G. ban.
Norfolk, Duke of
Talbot, C. R. M. esq.
Pare, Rev. Frederick
Wyndham, Capt. G. R.N. Janette Sch
Herrington,Capt.W.A. R.N. Will o' the Wisp Cut
Allen, Thomas, esq. Erin Sch
Reynolds, J. esq.
Seale, Colonel Lord of the Isles Cut 45
Belfast, Earl, Vice Com. { Emilyis Cut 162
!Ship 33
Puget, John Hey. esq. Osprey Yawl 45
Gower, Lord F. L.
Corbct, Andrew, esq, Hebe Cut 68
Kirkwall, Lord Viscount
Browne, Capt. P. R.N.
Fullerton, G. A. esq. Zephyr Cut 55
George, Rev. Denis Vampyre Cut 49
Scott, James, esq. Bereaford Cut 26
Greville, Hon. Capt. R. F. Dauntless Cut 81
Symonds, J. L. esq. Emerald Cut 58
Durham, Lord
Campbell, John, esq.
Listowel, Earl of
Sheraton, I'. Davis, esq.
Rivers, Sir Henry, ban. Earl St. Vincent Cut 41
Ilchcster, Earl of Petrel Cut 85
Garland, Capt. J. G. R.N.
Thorold, Henry, esq. Coquette Brig 150
Compton, Henry, C. esq. Union a Cut 48
Johnson, ltlajor.fien. Mary Cut 53
Portland, Dukc of Clown Ketch 156
Martin, Vice Ad. Sir T. B. K.C.B. Navy Baud Yacht
Best, T. Fairfax, esq. Georgians Cut 36
Richardson, Alborough, esq. Zebra Cut 51
Mills, John, Esq.
Lyon, Janice, esq. Blue-Eyed Maid Cut
Moore John, esq. Elisabeth Cut
Rowdier, Charles, esq. Merlin !Cut
Groahrell, John, esq. Zadors Cut
Ward, Charles, esq. Guerilla Cut
Stewart, Sir James, bast. Sappho Sch
Byrne, Edward H. esq.
Heneage, G. W. esq. Harriet Cut
I Cut
Donegal, tl, Marquis of i
ZCoearo line Cut
Chesterfield, Earl of Secret Cut
Wilson, Sir T. M. ban. Syren Cut
Garth, Capt. Thos. R.N. Eliza Cut
IVyke, George, esq. Poetess Sch
%Vest, Frederick, esq. Owen Glendower Cut
Markham, William, esq. Mary Sch
Gower, John L. en.
Light, William, esq. (Janus Cut
Gibson, Thomas, esq. Therese Cut
Murray, John I)lgby, Esq. Peri Cut
Errol, Earl of
IVoohnore, J. esq. Trinity Yacht Cut
Kingscote, Robert, esq. Nettle . Cut
Newborough, Lord Sapphire Cut
Saunderson, J. esq. Neuha Cut
Clonbrock, Lord Scorpion Cut
Kean, Ce.ptain, J. R.N. Turk Cut
Ackers, George, esq. Arrow Cut
Ruding, Clement, esq. Isabella Cut
Brett, Charles, esq. Gem filch
Challen, Rev. J. G. Giulia Cut
Pratt, Charles, esq. Psyche Cut
Gehl, Philip, esq. Arrow Sch
Meikiam, James, esq. Fanny Cut
Vivian, Maj -Gen. Sir R. Hussey
Day, Richard, esq. Gulnare Cut
Fleetwood, rein H. esq. Lancaster Rose Cut
Bualeugh, Duke of Flower of Yarrow Cut
Cosway, Sir William
Call, George C. eq. Hind Yawl
Raikes, Richard 51. esq. Dove Cut
Suckling, Rev. A. Ruby Cut
Pakington, John S. esq. Liberty Cut
Scott, Lord John Ada Cut
Ormsby, Sir T. ban. Witch Cut
Courteaay, Geo. esq. Dolphin Cut
Delafield, Wm. esq. Heron Cut
Latham, Wm. esq. Druid Cut
Ross, Horatio, esq. Peg a Ramsay Sch
Hornby, William, esq. Forest Fly Cut
Christie, John, esq. Zephyr Cut
P.aCy, Capt. A. Ida R.N.
ker, Sir Hyde Rob Roy Cut 52
Greg, Thomas, esq. Iris Cut 76
Greville, Algernon, esq. Phantom Cut 56
Kennedy, John, esq. Water Witch Cut 44
The new Yacht Club signals presented last year
by the Commodore appear to meet general appro-
bation, more particularly from naval officers, and
it is presumed will this season be brought into
general use by the club.
On Thursday, the Falcon, bearing the Noble
Commodore's Broad Pendant, arrived from Spit-
head, and was saluted with 15 guns .by the shore
batteries, which the Falcon returned. Lord Yar-
borough was received on his landing by the mem-
bers of the Royal Yacht Club, and a large con-
course of inhabitants, who gave evident expression
of their joy on his return. At eight in the evening
his Lordship weighed for Spithead, and yesterday
anchored in our roadstead, and entertained the
members at dinner on board the Falcon. which is
now completely equipped and ready to join his
Majesty's squadron under Sir Edward Codrington,
whom his Lordship intends accompanying.
The Royal Clarence Regatta will take place this
year on the 7th, instead of the 21st July as here-
tofore. This is done with a view to give a suffi-
cient interval between the different regattas, to
enable the members of the Royal Yacht club and
yachts generally to attend them without inconveni-
ence ; and we trust other regatta clubs will make
their regulations accordingly.
The Cherbourg regatta is attracting the atten-
tion of our sea amateurs, and it is likely to be
attended by such an assemblage of yachts, steamers,
and pleasure vessels, as must alike gratify and
astonish the inhabitants of that port and neigh-
bourhood.
YACHT. AT Tll2 RENDEZVOUS.—FaIcon,
Commodore Lord Yarborough; Mary schooner,
Nelson, Emerald, Hebe, Frisk, Rob Roy, Ga-
latea, Juverna, Ann, Arundel, Gem. Arrow cutter,
and Ondine, and several in the harbour fitting
out.—Hampshire Advertiser.

34
132
71
103
93

Wombyru Cut 33

Sylph Cut 52
Nymph Cut 31
Ellen Cut 46
Falcon Sblp 351
Juverna Sat 64
Frisk Yawl 25
Amethyst Cut 21
Leonora Lug 20
Rostellan Sell GO
Harlequin Brig 292
• J Lullworth Cut 127
I Alarm Cut 193

Cut 87

Hussar &h 120
Miranda Cut IG4
Briton Soh 92
Ondine Cut 57

Altiaidora Cut 28
Highland Lass Yawl 25
Arundel Cut 188
Galatea /3eh 190

Dream
Ann

Cut 66
Cut 42

43
121
69