Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1861-01-05
Catacombs of Palermo.

| In the Independent, George Allen Butler
thus describes one OF the strange sights ut
Palermo, the Sicilau city which has just come
into the possession of the victorious legioDs
| OF Garibsldi:
"The strnngest Of all the strange sights OF
Palermo ore the catacombs Of the CspuchiDs.
We are familiar with the character Of the
Roman and Napolitan catacombs, under.
ground excavations, remarkable for their own
extent and for their associations with the his
tory Of the eary Church. The Palermo cat
acombs have u frightful peculiarity Of their
| own. You descend from the little church.
just outside the walls, not ieto deep subteira.
mean passages, but into SUGGESTIONS of vaults
well lighted, and Of no greater depth than an
ordinary cellar. These vaults are long and
narrow corridors, on either side Of which, in
inches cut out Of the wall, ranging in gbastly
ranks are preserved the bodies Of the dead,
not confined out Of sight, but each 10 the garb
appropriate to it while living. or else in
long robe OF winding sheet. Below these
inches are wooden collins, with windows at
the sides to show the faces Of the occupants.
Overhead, near the ceiling, are skeletons of
children sitting, or men reclining all per.
fectly preserved, some with the skins still
covering the bones, others have nothing left
but skull. and shoulders and hip bones, with
the arms in front, piously crossed. Some
popularity Of the soil prevents the ordinary
decomposition, and men buried nearly two
hundred years ago still survive in this skele.
ton company. Strange to say, they ore not
permitted to rest in peace. On the I'd Of
November in every year, the jrur des mortis,
or festival of the dead, their relatives flock to
this dismal place, the well known mummies
are taken out Of their glazed cofius and
dressed in gala costume. They number not
less than six thousand in oil and know of
nothing more fearful than for living man to
lind himself, as | did, Unexpectedly among
this army of dry bones
"'Fbe most horrible feature of the whole
exhibition is, that nearly every face wears in
Its fossil decay and ruin dreadful ludicrous
and comic gaze down upon you, have o sort
OF grim vitality of their own, and through
the entire array it seems as if there was o
dumb intelligence-a mute correspondence
and sympathy-in the sinister and almost
wicked way in which they return the curious
stare Of the intruGers. Yet you cannot help
staring in spite Of all this, and the eye wan.
ders from one group to another, with a strange
and morbid fascination.
"Some are large limbed, thick-skuled,
complacent in their successful preservation
others. with worn aud weary looks, as if tired
of such stiff, calcareous compauionship
others, who seemed to have twisted and
wrggled their joints loose, and mus: stand
perpetually still, or fall to pieces others,
with their ruined beads hung down, as if in
contemplation Of their ended earthly life aud
others, Indifferent and idle, some indignant,
like the ghosts that Dante saw in hell, with
scowls and grns sarcastic-all silent, Sc.
puchral, almost Internal.
zone such sight is sufficient for n life time
AS write, recall those spectral forms with
a thrill of horror-the monks and priests in
scarlet and black, the children in full holiday
garb. and the women, most hideous of ul in
capes and shawls. on d satins"