Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1817-06-10
OF THE MEDITERRANEAN.
TFrom The Providence Pnt,fot.l

The subsequent extracts from the f.
| mitiar letter of a young and subordinate
officer Of our Mediterranean squadron,
| (although ofan old date) will be found
| highly amusing, ifnot instructive. They
! were not intended for the public eye, but
| they will not suffer on comparison with
| the epistles of many protested tourists.
"U. S. ship w,sHINoroN,
Gibraltar Bay, February 4, 1917.
My Dear Sir,
I thought it would be
pleasing TO YOU TO have some account of
my cr,dze in the Mediterranean. / will
| commence with the good quaiiiies of
this ship: she made passage of22 days
from Cape Henry to this place but this
is not 10 be compared with the one from
DAYS, distance of twelve hundred miles
this speaks for itself We have receiv-
ed visits from English, French and Dutch
officers, who proclaim her TO be the most
perfect man ofwar they ever saw afiOat
she sails superior to any in the squadron,
and is a fine sea boat. s&.-.
visited the principal posts Of this
great garrison, which is no doubt the
strongest i'm the world. Ii is manned
with about three thousand English soldi-
ers, and am informed they keep seven
years provisions here constantly. Gov.
DoNNis commander in chief. The prin-
| cipal natural curiosity is St. MichaePs
| Cave. / visited it with several officers,
who told us that some years since two
English officers attempted to explore this
enormous Cave, but never returned. The
petrified water hangs in icicles (apparent-
ly) from the roof, which have formed
some elegant pillars. In the streets you
meet people ofeyery mutton, but the ma
joritv are Turks. ..,.
Naples was our next port. Nothing
can be compared to the grandeur of this
noble city-it is, however, much altered
since Napoleon placed his brother upon
the throne. Tile Italians informed us,
that while Murat was at The head olaf
fairs, every thing fiourshed the poor
were employed, and all grades were hap
py-- but the poor weak old man who ROW
reigns, is more fit for a monastery than
throne the height OF his ambition is to
shoot pheasants-lie ordered OUT one of
his finest frigates 10 scour The Baibary
coast from Tripol TO Tangiers, and not TO
return until she had collected so many
thousand wild fowl for his park Murat
made many improvements in d out 9th
city here is one of the most beautiful
public walks in Europe; it extends one
mile and a quarter, perfectly level, with
| two excellent fountains, with marble sta
tues. He also built splendid palace at
| the city of Portico, five miles from Ma
| pies it contains two hundred rooms
| one of which cost halt a million sterling
| here are full length portraits Of Murat az
Joseph Bonaparte. Orr informant and
| guide was the Lord Chamberlain, who
! treated us with the utmost polteness. So.
| while here Visited the principal GU
RIO nt Vlfa
us, and its victims, the famous cities of
| Pompeii and iIerculaneum, which were
| buried in 70 by a terrible eruption.----
| There is an entire street laid open at
| Pompeii, and at Bercuaneum The thea
| ire has been entirely freed from the lava.
| The city of Portico is directly over Her
! culaneum, so that when YOU enter the
subterrauean passage which leads TO the
| theatre, you pass directly under the
streets of the new City. | visited the Ca
tacombs, which are entirely under
! ground, and very extensive-they have
| abolished this method OF burying the
| dead
There are many antiquities in the
| Bay OF Baia ; amongst which are the hot
baths OF Nero the principal one went
| INTO we had TO strip off all our clothes,
| II produces so violent a perspiration at
| the bottom is 4 boiling spring, where we
| boiled eggs. At Puzzoli, little town on
one side ofthe bay, is the famous temple
| OF Jupiter Scraps the roof was support
ed by forty marble pillars, sixty leet high
| and hive feet in diameter; they are all
broken except five. I'm this bay are some
I OF the piers still standing of the celebra-
| ted bridge of Caligula, which was seven
miles long here are also The river SfVx
| and the Elysian fields. Not FAR from Ma
| pies is the Grotto del Cane, which has
the remarkable quality of destroying ami
NAL life almost insiaHtaneOusIy.
| The Washington was at Messiua, Tri-
| poll, Tunis and Algicrs. While at Tunis
| was extremely anxious TO tread on the
ruins of ancient Carthage, but was not a.
bic TO gain permission. We arrived at
Algiers shortly after the English and
Dutch fleets made the attack Their ac-
count was much exaggerated 1.-THE fortif
cations were, with a very little eXnencc.
made as strong as ever-vcry few build
ings were injured. The Dey is brave
and intelligent man, and would have en-
gagged them the next day If his people
would have permitted HIM he is remark
ably fond Ofthe Americans has no navy
except gun brig. The country about
this place is the most beautiful ! ever
saw II is IN the highest state of cultiva.
ton; the trees on the 25th Of January
were in full bloom every thing wore the
appearance Of spring. The houses look
well from tire hsrbor they are connect
ed at the top, which makes The streets
very gloomy, and. being extremely dirty,
they are rather disagreeable. The inha-
bitanis arc aniGle, dirty set Of miserable
wretcheS; yO see u c sitting from o.. J.
ming till night on stone seats. OF each
- l.. 80 Ill 4