Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1853-11-17

Naples, gives the following account OF
The recent excavations al Herculaneum:
Months have now elapsed since
called your attention To The TACT that
government had recommended The ex-
cavntlOn oi Herrulan@um. Wonderful
II Is indeed, lhat alter The discovery
lhere oil such miracles oi aris as now
enri h the Museo Barbonico these ex-
cavatlons should have been long sus-
pended and equally wonderful is it
that on being renewed the work should
DC done on SO Parsmonious, so wretch
ed scale. One half Of Herculaneum
may be considered as lying under the
modern city of Reslna, and as therefore
lost 10 the world for the present at least,
the other halt lies under vineyards. The
portion which has hitherto been exca.
waited is hut minnie portion Of mere
concern oi this latter, this accessible
half. To The res toraiion TO the light Of
what may influence so much Oh the
comic IT'S and conveniences OF mankind,
the Neapolnan Government has al
length resolved TO devote 400 or 50O.du-
cats year-a grant equal TO about
iSO, or As. Cd. IA day-enabling the
directors 10 put Oh no more than ten or
twenty men. Still the smallest install
ment OF what is due 10 the world Is bet
ter than nothing. Before, however, l
speak Of what has been done during
this year, shall give hasty glance
at the past.
Ii is Of course as well known in Eng
land as in Naples that all the chejs
d'4nvre OF art and Of antiquity which
have produced such happy revolution
IN the tase Of entI.e Europe, and SO
much atiec ted domestic ornaments, and
even utensils, were found during the
last century in HercuIan9um. Until
very recently the excavations have been
conducted by burrowing rather than
mining; thus enabling the antiquary
q abstract what was interesting or valu-
able IN art, but leaving the city as far
removed from ordinary observation as
1t had been for eighteen centuries. 1t
was at length resolved, IN 1927, TO lit
the cover and expose the city to the
hght-a suggestion Tor which we are
indebted to Cavalier Bonucc, who Tor
many years has been dlrcc tor Of The ex-
cavatIons OF the kingdom OF the Two
Siclies, and who is we'll known to the
world hy the many important discover
| les which he has made. The revolu-
ton OF 1859, was oil course. a death
blow to all proceedings connected with
mere taste Tor The fine arts, and the eX-
cavallons oi Hero culau9um and PompeI
were suspended. The objects OF iuler-
| est which had been discovered in them
and deposited in the Museo Borbo-
! nIco were voted natlondl properly, and,
II party representations can be depended
o., were III danger OF changing hands.
Every hing However. has now return
ed 10 the administration OF the Royal
| House, and one OF the first consequence
es ls, The renewal Of the work both at
Pomp,iI and at HcIculanaum. To
! direct tie latter, Bouucci has N Il more
| particular manner been destined and
though such rallry sum has been de-
| voted 10 so important an object, we Yet
| hope that the iItlle IL At can he done " III
have the effect OF stimulating TO Il great
er effort.
! Ihe new excavations commenced In
January last have already brought to
/ night part Of the OH arsenal near the
Il Port OF Hercuaumunl, so famous IN the
times Of Augustus and THUS. Form,r
1 ly the sea washed the walls il has now
receded lull haIf mile so that the bare
meutpn OF the Port OF uercuIanpum is
enough 10 awaken a smile OF incrcduIi-
| ty Oh The lace of one who is unac luaint-
ed with lie changes that have taken
place on the coast OF the Mediterranean.
! On visiting this spot few days since |
found myself IN series OF small rooms
| or apartments, with kitchens attached
which had just beer Iald open appar-
emily they had been quarters for marines
! The entrance was over a root which is
! on level with the present surface OF the
| ground and. descending lew sIeps on
! The lelt, we found four r five other
| steps, AT the bottom OF which was an
entrance TO probably II cellar, over
! whose roof We had entered. Here there
: was found SO much salt water surgIng
up that the works had been Tor the
moment suspended; our direction, there
, fore, lay straight forward, into the small
rooms Of which | have spoken The
roof is vaoIted, and very lofty willis,
the partition walls are very low, show
ing that one large hall or space had
been hastily or rudely arranged with a
| view To the convenience Oi numbers.
/ In the first small room, which was a
kitchen, still exist the stoves and grales,
| precisely oi the same form as are now
to be seen in every part Of Magma
Gr9cia. Beneath the stove lay irag-
ments of pottery, which slovenIy cook
might have thrown there an hour
teiore, to pat them out OF the way -
whilst the bones OF the poor cook, il
might be, were found mixed up with
ashes and the instruments OF hls trade.
In The same place, also, were iourd
bones and minute fragments OF iron
plates indicating, in the opinion Of
Cavalier Bonucci, that in the awful
moment OF this city's destruction some
men were surprised and overwhelmed
on this very spot. But few remains
could be preserved, so uttelly destroyed
were they by time and SO mangled and
moulded en- niuSsd with the tine ash,
which had no. been perhaps carefully
enough removed. All indeed, that /
could we'll distinguish we're portions OF
ribs and skull bones. Yet what a
melancholy interest have these, espe-
cally Ms connected with history Ii is
sald Of Plihy The elder, who, at the time
ol the eruption OF Vesuvius IN 10, was
admiral of the Roman feet IN the
| Mediielra can, that he went in a
4" liburnica" from Misenum to save some
" classiari." His nephew, writing 10
Taciius, says that all the eiiorts OF his