The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1853-10-01
New Disqoyeriesst Hcrcuiancum

mendel the excavation of IIerculan.um. Wan
deriu it is indeed that. after the discovery there
of such miracles Of Art az now enrich the Musec
/ DoIbonicu, these excavation. should have been SO
long suspended, aud equally wonder rul is il that
on being renewed the work should be done ON so
/ par,imonious-so wretched a scale. One half OF
uerculaueum NAV be considered as lying under
! the modern city of Resna, and a. therefore lost
to the world, for the present at least the other
half lies under vineyards The portion which
has hitherto been executed is but a minute Dor.
ton. mere cIrncr of the l,,ter-thi. accss,ibI.
bali To the restoration to the hght of what
may influence to much the taste and bear so much
on the comforts and conyeuences of mank nd
the Neapolltan Government has, at length, re.
solved to devote 400 or 900 ducats n year--a
grant equal to about SQl, ur As ca a day-ena
bling the directors to put on not moro than ten
or twenty men. Sail, the smallest n.tslment OF
what is due 20 the world is better than nothing
before, however, speak Of what has been done
curing 'hiS year, shall give hasty glance "a,
the past
IL Is, oi course rs well known in England as
W NapIes that all the ch'efs GuVre Of Art and
oi antiquity which have produced such happy
revolution IN the taste OF entire Europe, aud so
mueh affected domestic ornaments and even utsn.
sis, were iOund during the last century in Her.
CuaneuH' ohtii very recently, the excavations
! nave oeeh conducted oy burrowng rather than
INNING mus enabling the aHtlquary to abstract
what was interesting or yaluGble in Art. but
| iea'ihg the city as far removed from ordinary
observation as 1t had been for eighteen centuries.
II was at length resolved, in 1921 To lift The GOV.
er ana expose the city to the light "a sugces.
i'oti Tor winch We are Indebted to Cavalier Bon.
uech VINO Tor many wears has been director of the
excavations oil tue Kingdom Of the Two Sicles,
ana WHO ls wen to the world by the many
important discoveries which lie has made. The
| tt'oluIoh OF leiS-9' was, Of course, death
| o'ow 10 All proceedings connected with mere
ia''o or 'he hne atts,--and the excavations Of
| nercuianeum and fompei were suspended.-
Inc Objects OF interest which had been discover.
ed IN theIn aud deposited il the Musco Borbor.
ico were voted national property aud, il par,y
representations can be depende. on, were in dan.
ger Of changing hands. Every tlling however, has
now returned To the administration Of the Royal
house-and one of the first consequences il, the
renewal of thc'wurk bplh to Pumr,iI and at Hen.
cniWeum. is Itost the latter Bpuuccl has 10 u
muie particular manner been destined; and
though such pIltry sum has been devoted to So
important an object, We yet hope that the little
that can be done will have the effect of stnula.
ting to greater effort,
The new excavations. commenced in Jlnrary
last, have already brought 30 lht a part of the
old arsenai, .pear the port of Hercuaneum. SO IA
nous in the times Of Augustus and Titus. For
merly the sea washed the WALL it has now re-
ceded full half a mile,-so that the bare men,iuu
Of The Por. of Herculan,un is enough to awaken
q smile Of incredibly OF the face uf one who IL
unacguainted with the changes that have taken
place on the cOa& OF the Mediterranean. Ga Visit.
my this spot few DAYS since. found myself in A
series Of small rooms or apartments with kitch.
ems attached, which had lust been laid open -
apparently they had been quarters for marine.
The entrance was over roof which is on lev
el with the present surface OF the ground and
descending a few step. on the left, we found four
or five other steps at the bottom Of which was an
entrance TO probably cellar over whose roof
We had entered Here there was fouad .o much
salt water surging up, that the work. had been
for the moment Suspended our direction there.
fore, lay straight forward, into the small rooms
Of which have spoken The roofis vaulted and
very l"fIN; whilst the partition walls are very
low showing that one large hall or space had been
hastily OF rudrly arranged with n view to the
convenience of number, In the first small room
which was kitchen, still exist the stoves and
CRATES, precisely oi the same form a. are nav to
be seen III every part of Magma GrBcia, Be.
meath the stove lay fragments of pottery, which
sl'Venly cook might have thrown them there
an h"ur before, TO put them out OF the way,
whilst tie bnnes of the poor cook, 1t might be,
were found mixed up with ashes ami the in,tru
monts "f his trade.
In the same place also, were found bones and
minutes fragments, OF iron plates. indicating III
the opinion Of Cavalier Brnnucci, tha: In the aw.
ini moment "i tins city. destruction some men
were s.rprised and overwhelmed on thi. very
spot. But few remains could be preserved-so
utterly DESTROYED were they by time and so min.
gItd and moulded en- ma''e with the line ash,
which had not been perhaps crreiully enough re.
moved All, indeed, that could well dIstln.
eulsh were portions OF rlts and skull bones. Yet
what u melancholy interest have these, especial.
ly as connected with history, 1t is said Of Plimy
the Elder, who, at the time Of the eruption of We
sivln' ~, was admiral of the Roman fleet in,
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