The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1877-10-12
Fine Job Work a Speciality
CAPRI,
4 Famous Island Of Romance

4 Famous Island of Romance
Sea ulists are frequent iu the ear.y
summer mornings. swathing the cliffs
of Capri in impenetrable wool. and
brooding en- perfectly smooth water
till the day wind rises. Then they
disappear like magic, rolling in smooth
wreaths from the surface of the SEA.
condeusinS into clouds and climbing
The hiIlsides like cceansides in ques; o.
Pfometheus, or taking their station on
the watch tower of the orii, rs IL the
chorus Of the Nephelia Sucha morn
ing may De chosen for the giro Of the
i>iant. The blue grCtt0 loses 10 hing
of iys beauty, but rather gains by con-
trast, when passing from dense fog,
you find yourself transported 20 = .
world of wavering sub4queouS sheen.
1t is only through the ops ming of the
very topmost arch rhst boat eau
glide into this cavern; tine arch itself
spreads downward through the wa'er.
so that all the light is transmitted from
beneath, and coiored by the sea. The
grotto is 6omed in many chambers.
and the water is So clear that you cal!
see the bottom, silvery with black
tinned fishes diapered upon the blue
white sand. The body of a diver in
this water showed ike the faces OF
children playing at snap drago..; all
around him the spray Iespt up with
living fire; and when the oars struck
the surface it was as though phos-
phorescen' sea had been smitten. a.d
the drops ran from the blades in blue
pearls. | have only once seen any thing
toUiside the magic world of q pantO-
miIue) to equal these effects Of biue
and silver, and that was when I ma,'r
my lay into an ice cave ia the Great
Aletseh giaci-r-not al artificial gai
lery, such as the cut at Griudelwald;
tut Il natural cavern, arched, followed
into fanciful reoesses, and hung with
stalaciites of pendant ice The diff
ference between the glacier cavern and
tiIe sea grotto was that lii the former
all the light was transmitted through
transparent sides, so that the whole
was one uniform azure, except III rare
places where little chincks opened M
ward to the air, and the light Of day
came glancing with a rosaate flush. In
the latter the lights sent from beE cath
through the water played upon a roof
of rock; reflections intermingIed with
translucenee; and a greater variety OF
light and shadow compensated the
lack of that strange sense Of being shirt
within a solid gem
Numberless are the caves at Capri.
The so called green grotto mas the
beauty of moss agate in its liquid floor;
the red grotto shows warmer chord
of cho.or, and where there is no other
charm 10 notice, endless beauty may
be found in the play of the sunlight
upon roofs of limestone, tinted with
yellow, orange aud pale piuk mossed
over, hung with fern, and catching
tones of blue or green from the still
depths beneath.
Sheets of water. wherever found, are
the most subtle heighteners of color
To those who are familiar with Vene-
tian or MaBruen sunsets, or who have
seen the fiocks Of fl1ningoes reflected
on the lagOoDs of Tunis, or who have
watched the stormy red fakes tossed
from crest to crest of great Atlantic
waves on our own coasts, this need be
hardly said. Yet ] can not leave this
beauty of the sea at Capri without
touching oil a melodrama of light or
color ] once saw at Caste llamiDare.
II was fiesta night, when the people
set up rockets and fireworks of every
hue from the naOLo. The surf rolled
oreward like bath Of molten met
ais. all confused of blue, and red, and
green. and gold-dying dolphin tints
that burned strangely beneath the
purple skies and tranquil stars. Boats
at sea hung out their crimson eresets.
Pickering in long lines on the bay; aU6
larger crafts moved slowly with rows
of lamps defining their curves; while
the full moon shed over all her "viJre
oEs pour, just tinged with blue" To
some tastes this niingling of natural
AMI artificial effects would seem un-
worthy of sober notice; but l confess
to having enjoyed it with childish
eagerness like IA rich feast never to be
forgotten.
After a day upon the water il is
pleasant to rest at sunset in the ioggi4
above the sea The Bay of Naples
stretches far and wide in front, bean
tltul Ds fcdcDl2I Dlll' my VI IiAS iC2iS III
line descending from Vesuvius, DIP
ping almost TO a level and then Gid.
il 2 up to join the high lands Of the
north. Now sun and moon begin 20
mingle, waning and waxing splendors.
The cliffs above our heads are still
blushing a deep flame color, ike the
heart OF some tea rose. when 10, the
touch of .he huntress il laid upon those
eastern pinnacIes and the horses glim.
naers with Der rising. Was it on such
a night tina Ferdinand Of Aragon fiej
FROM his capital b3fore the French.
with his eyes turned over 20 the lAud
he loved, chanting, As lie leaned from
his gailery's stern, that melancholy
psalm, Except the Lore keep the city
the wotchman waketh but in vain, "
and seeing Naples dwindle 10 ? white
blot on the purple shorei
PRAYING FOR RAIN IN INDIA.