Connecticut western news., 1872-04-26
OUR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENCE,

1Loh6NG1s A1AL1, 04AR. IS7S,
 Friend Pease-It may appear to you DOS
 sibly. and to your readers also, if an,
 trouble themselves to follow us in our me
 anderings, that one cannot weary of the
 magnificent and historic scenes which sur
 round us like an atmosphere in this beauti
 ful land of Italy, so celebrated for sun, and
 song, and story. But eyesight and brain
 yield to the pressure of constant and novel
 excitement. ss we'll as the physical frame,
 hence, we are constrained from time to
 time to eschew effort, and adopt the Indian
 custom of taking life more easily. This is
 not congenial to American taste or impulse,
 but we have found benefit to result from
 the practice, for many whom we know
 have come up to this beautiful city from
 Rome and Naples" only to be cast upon
 beds of sickness, and some of them, alas,
 npon beds of death. Rome and Naples
 are both pervaded by an atmosphere which
 IS quite enervating to a northern constitu.
 tlon. Nothing but extreme prudence and
 the care ot kind Providence As enabled
 us to escape the malady which has prostra.
 ted SO many of our fellow travellers. called
 here the Roman fever. The young and
 lmprudent have been the sufferers generally,
 but we all came from those cities some.
 what enervated. The bracing atmosphere
 or cooler climate and mountain breezes
 have proved to be the tonic which we need.
 cd, and we are grateful for renovated
 health. think wrote to you from Rome
 and from Naples also. If I did not you
 will fnd better descriptions of both of these
 wonderful cities in books, than can give
 you. But no one can communicate ade.
 Qustely, the impression made upon an
 American mind by view of the ruins of
 gigantic structures, whose origin date be.
 yond the christian era. Words will hardly
 convey any proper idea of the emotions
 one experiences on beholding unfolded to
 view, the streets, dwellings, monuments and
 temples of cities buried nearly two thou
 sand years ago. Pompeii is one of these:
 and on one of the lovliest of Italian days,
 we wandered through it's exhumed streets
 to see dwellings. temples. forums, ampi-
 theatres, &c., with a wonder and astonish-
 ment that we cannot well describe. This
 city lies about thirteen miles from Naples. on the curve of the bay, and about five miles from the fearful crater of Vesuvius,
 ont of which poured the fatal stream of mud and ashes that engulfed the fated city some 1900 years ago. Only about one half of the city has been exhumed. hut this portion of it has been thoroughly done and the streets, sidewalks, (where there are sny,) and uncovered buildings, &c., are Kept as neatly as though it's inhabitants were expecting to resume its occupancy at the present day. Indeed, it is more clean | y, because there are no daily avocations | going on there to render them otherwise.
 The buildings were evidently in the main.
 only two stories high, and the avalanche
 crushed the roofs, and generally broke
 down the second story. but the remaining
 story indicates very clearly the style of
 building then in vogue. The floors, then as now, in all Italy, were always of marble.
 brick or mosaic, and the walls of the same,
 Wealth covered brick walls with marble veneering outside and in, while the want of 1t led te the substitution of stucco ard paint. 4 was marvellous indeed, to see uncovered portions of acqueduct pipes, that were laid there fifteen centuries or more before our -eeHn.sy was known to ex- lst Some of the fountains into which water was discharged from these pipes. still stand as firmly and erect as on the day they were planted. The streets are usually narrow, and where there are sidewalks they correspond. These narrow streets render ed It necessary to drive the carts principal. y in the same track, hence, there are ruts worn in large and solid blocks of paving stone, from two to four inches deep. There are indications in many of the buildings and their adornments, of great wealth and luxurious living. and We know from it's history, that Pompeii was dissolute in the { extreme. Other beautiful days enabled us to visit Mount Vesuyius, the Blue Grotto. and the island of Capri. This island is of { volcanic formation, thrown up at it's high , est point about 1900 feet, chiefly of rock, though there are cultivated valleys upon it, i and it may be ten miles in circumference. It was favorite resort for the old Ro. { man emperor. Augustus built palaces l upon it, and subsequently, Tibenus built , twelve villas there in honor of the twelve { gods. Landing from our steamer from Naples, in small boats at the island, we | took donkeys, and ascended about a thou. I sand feet to the Hotel Tiberius to dine and I to enjoy one of the finest views in Italy. l But fearing that EmaY be repeating what l have before written, will only add in regard to our visit of some twelve days in ( Naples, that much of it was delightful, [ notwithstanding the generally enervating [ influence of the climate. We left Naples ] to return to Rome under 8 brilliant sky. ] and for the first fifty or sixty miles of the ( l6o, between them, we rode through gar ( lien of beauty unsurpassed in any country. l Indeed, the whole country between Naples and Florence, some five hundred miles, IS a ( garden in fertility, and much of it is culti- S vated like garden. The railway passes through two or three short mountain passes, a it is as beautiful country | through which to build railroad as Illinois. r But mountains, Alps or Appenines, are al- q ways in view, and sometimes not far dis il ant. 1t is wonderful to see how many old c cities are hung on these rugged mountain t tides, and how many of their tops are v with convents or monasteries. f put the days of monasteries are nearly r numbered, probably, for since United Italy | aas come under one government with King t Emanuel at its head, much of the church g property has been appropriated to the use a 'f the public. The wealth of these estab- v