Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1874-04-18

thirty-nine miles from the City OF
Rome.
But Unjust return to the train en-
route to Naples, the largest city in
Italy. The last eighty miles of the
distance is through exceedingly fer
tile country, watered by the Carl
gliany and Volturno Rivers:
THE FAMOUS CAPA,
the pleasures of which so enervated
the Cathargenia army-who linger-
ed about there several years, that
Hannibal could no longer win victo-
ries with them over the legions of
Rome-is on the banks of the Vol
turno River, within eighteen miles
of Naples. Ifelt curiosity to see
this once renowned city, which as
pired to rival Rome itself. In the
davs of the Caesars, its walls were
6 miles in circumference, and it con
tanned 100000 inhabitants. 1t has
shrunken into town of $4,000 and
contains nothing worth remark, ex
cept the ruins of its ancient Amphi-
theatre, which was of enormous di-
-mensions. The railway trains for
the last ten miles pass through a
plain of continuous gardens, vine
yards, and mulberry plantations and
whicn is thickly studded over with
villages. Naples derives her food, J.
bread, meat vegetables, fruit, and
macaroni-from this campagna, wa
tered by the Volturno, and fruitful
as the Valley of the Nile. The soil
Is black and rich as the prairies of
Central Illinois.
The district of country which is
thus Immediately tributary to Ma
pies is perhaps so miles long, by 25
wide. On the space of 1900 square
miles live 9O7, 752 souls, of whom
$4,000 are huddled and packed in
Naples. This equals a population
of / to the acre, or $40 to the square
mile. Near the south end of this
plain, and about miles from Naples,
towers up
BLACK AND SAVAGE VEsUvIUs,
three quarters of mile high, and
around lis sloping base lives $4,000
souls-part or all of whom may be
overwhelmed by an eruption at any
time, for the crater is as treacherous
as a tiger, and sometimes gives but
slight warning before it belches
forth flood of molten lava. For
several weeks past cloud OF smoke
has risen perpetually from the yawn
ing cavern; and occasionally low,
rumbling sounds are heard, as if the
bowels of the mountain were out of
order. People in the city think
there will be another eruption before
long as severe as that of two years
ago, which DESTROYED several small
villages and a large number of
lives.
THE APPEARANCE OF NAPLES
is tolerably familiar to most rea-
ders, from pictures and descriptions
which they have seen. The inhabi-
tants claim for it the most beautiful
site of any city in the world, not ex
cepting Constantinople or New
York. In panoramic effect it is
probable that the situation of no
other city equals it. The bay of
Napels resembles the letter G, being
a great crescent, or three quarters of
a circle so miles in circuit and 90
across. The city is built on the
north shore, at the foot and up
the slopes of range Of hills, which
shelter it from the cold winds off
the Appennine Mountains. In front
of the city, and at the distance of
% miles southwark, looms up the
dromedary looking Island of Capri,
but which seems not farther than
) or 6 miles off. 1t stretches across
the vision on the horizon, two or
3 miles, and one of the ''humps" is
800 feet high, and the other l, 100.
In the mist of the morning, Capri
looks like huge apparation of a
dromedary with its two humps
The long Promentory of Sorrento in
closes the Eastern side of the bay,
and projects far out INTO the sea;
and it is so high that the crest of the
ridge is covered with SNOW, while
flowers grow and bloom down its
slopes, and every mile of its length
is. studded with a white village. The
other arm or prOmontOry which en-
closes the bay does not project so
far but it is supplemented by a
chain of little islands with navigable
channels between them, which reach
a long way out to sea. The city of
Naples follows the curve of the bay
for a distance of five miles, and, in
one part, it extends back about two
miles. But for the greater portion
of its length, its breadth is much
less, as there was not room to build
a wide city between the sea and the
ridge of hills behind it. The whole
space covered by Naples is not lar
ger than that embraced by the South
Division of Chicago. But upon
that space there is packed popula-
ton which exceeds that of all Chica-
90 by 10000. The streets with a
few exceptions, are mere alleys, or
"CRACKs BETWEEN WALLS"
and the buildings are five to seven
stories high, and partitioned off into
small apartments. The stores and
shops occupy short depth of the
groumd-foor front, and the remain
der of the building is crammed
with. families and dodgers, from
basement to garret. And then
thousands of the lower rabble live
and sleep out of doors, all their lives.
In the day time when the sun shines
and that is generally-the entire
population seems to live out of
doors. The crowds that throng the
streets in every direction are amaz-
ing. There are no sidewalks on
most of the streets, and pedestrians
and pack-mules, donkey-carts and
goats, are all mixed up together,
with the thousands of idle mendi-
cant monks, and tens of thousands
of importunate, ragged filthy beg