Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1855-09-29

portico Of fourteen columns was found the skel-
eton Of a soldier who did not fly from his post
when the storm came. We went down into
the basement, where the family, doubtless, took
refuge; for seventeen skeletons were discover.
ed there, most of them females, as the bracelets
and necklaces Of gold would Indicate. The
ashes that settled on them became caked, and
we saw impressions or casts that preserve the
forms, and even the texture of the dress. One
Of these was against the wall in a crouching
posture-an image Of terror, and mournful
monument of the night of woe. The amphoe
of jars for wine are still standing here, mbedded
in the volcanic alluvium, which penetrated even
these recesses.
As we came up from these saddening scenes,
that impaired a sense of the real to the place,
felt as il in dead city on the morning of tho
resurrection, for the few travellers like ourselv
es walking among these desolations, appeared
to have suddenly come to life in the midst of
mighty sepulehre. Along the melancholy
streets we wander, looking in at the shops,
where the counters on which business was done
are still standing; here is a bakery, as we learn
from the ovens and the troughs, in which the
corn was found; here an oil store here the
house of surgeon here tavern. In front Of
il is a fountain and here are the public baths
We enter the courts of one Of these houses for
they do not open at once from the street, but
are built around an open square. This is the
house Of Salust, and evidently the abode of one
of the wealthiest of the men of Pompeii. The
entrance, with lis pilasters and stucco capitals
the atrium, with its fountain and impuvum
in the shape of a shell its beautifully frescoed
walls, its gardens, paved pathways, and spaci-
GUS area, show that it m1st have been splendid
mansion in its day. On the wall Of a range Of
apartments secluded from the rest is painting
of Acteon punished for his discovery OF Diana
in her bath picture that initiates the mys-
terious uses OF these chambers. The sleeping
rooms in all these buildings we entered were
small but these were on larger scale than
many others, and near them was found the skel-
eton loaded with gold bracelets and rings, and
supposed to be the remains OF her who once was
the mistress ofthese halls.
We pass on and the lascivous paintings we
find on the walls, and the disgusting insignia
which sculpture has affixed to the door-posts
OF the houses, continually remind US that this
city could not have been better than Sodom,
and deserved is fate. Stepping into the por-
tai Of another house, we find the figure Of dog
in the mosaic pavement, and the words Care
Cdnsm. 'Beware of the dog; y giving the
same caution which we meet with in our own
/; times. In one house, most beautiful white
marble fountain stands, with elegant shell-work
about it, and the most delicious tracery of the
chisel is seen in the fIish of the Structure
Statues which once adorned it have been re-
moved 10 the Museum In another fountain
were marble statues with open mouths, from
which the jets had leaped, Here the cornice
and frieze were exquisitely perfect and the
small columns supporting the gallery were SO
light and easy, that they seemed TO be pleased
with their burdens.
Another fountain and similar statues in bronze
with swans and Cupids in marble, and curious
] frescoes on the walls around. In the house oi
J Castor and Pollux, fish pond was in the cen.
tre of the court the walls were covered with
: fruit and flowers, with Apollo and Daphne
Venus and Adonis and other nude figures. A
glass had been put over one Of the must volup.
; tuons pictures, to preserve il from further ex'
posure to the air, not the eye. In Casa Apollo
the bed rooms were painted down to wha, might
be the height of the bed, with frescoes, whose
colors are still brilliant and the figures perfect
! picked up some of the broken plaster, and the
/ guide remarked that all Pompeii would go 10
J America, if travellers were allowed to carry of
what they wished. In another stood marble
table Of exceeding beauty, and wine-coolers un-
| derneath it; a splendid court in front, and a
dancing saloon with futed columns Of fine finish
. a r = A..