The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1867-03-04
L t A l. n
The Tiber-.RailPOad- d-Castles-The
Journey from Nlce-GenOa-FIOF-
ence.

Here am on the banks of the
muddy Tiber-muddy, yes, muddy as
the Mississippi river below the mouth
OF the Missouri, but not as wide or
as deep Where you first strike the
( river coming by rail from the north. IL
is little more than an ordinary sized
creek, and here, in Rome, it is no
wider than Green River at its first
lock. The railroad from Florence
here, has only just been completed.
and is certainly means of inestimable
convenience and comfort to the trav-o
eler. Formerly ly most of the way had
to be made by stage coach, vetterino,
or private conveyance. The road lay
close under the Western slopes of the
Apprentices, passing in its course the
beautiful little Lake Bolsena, twenty
six miles in circumference, whose fish,
or'more especially eels, eaten by Pope
Martin Nv. to excess-according to
Dante-killed the said ecclesiastical
glutton, thence across the rance
of hills or mountains on the borders
of Tuscany and the Papal States, di-
giding in the early days Etruria from
the then limited possessions of the
Roman Kings. Not always did trav-
elers get through here unmo-
Tested by banditti These mountains
are full of Etruscan monuments and
remains, together with the ruins of
later period, that of the feudal CEN
turies. Here towns, ragged and partly
in ruins, generally crown the top of an
almost inaccessible hill, or hang upon
the step side of mountain, surround
ed by massive walls and ramparts, now
showing the effects of the decaying
tooth of centuries. The ravines and
passes of the mountains are command
ed by castles and strongholds, once
menacing, but now only picturesque
as they perch high'up in the air,like
eagles nests Atone ofthese castles,a
elevated nearly twenty-five hundred
feet above the plains, aBoccacio,a
says the Robber Knight, fGhino dio
Tacco,a caught the Abbott, Cluny,
who was ON his way towards the min
eral lawatering places of Tuscany, to-
cure himself of the effects of too gen.
erous living. The Abbott's ailments
appeared to the Knight capable of a.
simple remedy, and he put him on a.
regimen of bread and white .wine,s
which so effectually cured him that he
found It quite unnecessary to use the
waters. AS we rolled along under
the mellow light of full moon,
| could not help but reflect
upon the ephemeral existence
of man, and the short span of SINGLE
generations, as compared to the eter-i
nifty of matter and unrecorded time
of existing forms. While 1 was con-
scious that these very valleys spanned,
and these very mountains, pierced and
tunnelled by the modern railway, have
witnessed the life and doings of un-
cultivated multitudes for nearly forrp
thousand recorded years; have seen
the iPelasgian give way to the
Etruscan, and the latter yield to the
Roman; have had upon them towns
and cities grow and flourish and COM
pletely disappear, while generations,
dynasties and nations have come, and
have gone, and are still continu-o
ing to come and go, these
mountains and valleys unceas-
ingly now as then, roll their
muddy waters into the Tiber, which
carries it through the Campagna and
the walls of Rome to the tideless Med
We left Nice on the 14th by Dill
gence, and endured this mode of trav-1
cling for twenty-six consecutive hours,
at the end of which time we arrived at
Genoa. The Corniche road is one of
the bestas well as the most picturesque
highways in Europe, and no amount
of hardships can destroy the enjoy
ment realized from the scenery as you
wind around the precipitous sides of
the mountains, which here are washed
by the Mediterranean Sea, now plung-
ing into deep valley, and then la
boriously climbing steep height.
The distance is about 120 miles, and
the horses are changed fifteen times
during the journey. While daylight,
/ occupied a seat on the banquet
the place up on high with the driver