The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1878-06-29
For The Cecil Wing.
NOTES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL.
Genoa and Heidelberg,


city of Genoa, opposite the grand hotel
d'ltalia. This dance is known as the
Tarantella," and pronounced, in Italian,
the " Tarantel.' 1t can be danced by any
number of ladies and gentlemen, the more
the merrier; but partners do not intermin-
Gle or change off during the dance, but
dance to and with each other, aud perform
the various evolutons throughout the whole
dance without change. The word "Taran-
tella is the Italian for hideOus and
poisonous spider. The movements of the
dancers are said to resemble the frantic
movements of person who has been so
unfortunate as to have been bitten by one
Of them. 1t is d very common dance in
Italy. The music of the dance is gener-
ally performed on the harp and violin. and
commences with 2 slow, melancholy strain,
increasing in motion until the dancers ap-
pear to be almost frantic and wild The
music is charming. Any person who has
" Tarantella." Whenevera strolling band
of Italian performers comes around with
harp and violin, ask them to play the
Tarantela," pronouncing it Tarantel, !"
and you will then hear the music of this
famous Italian dance. The name, as
said before, is derived from a huge, villain
Gus looking spider, called the "Tarantula,"
whose bite is very poisonous, but not nee.
essariy fatal, though exceedingly painful.
These spiders are quite large, about the
size of a tea plate, brown in color, with
black stripes down their back, and with
two of the most vixenish eyes imaginable.
l saw one which boy was exhibiting upon
the streets of Genoa, encased in glass
box, and which he would occasionally stir
up, and the spider would look mad, cross
and wicked, as though it would like to try
its sharp claws in some persons flesh. The
dance of the "Tarantela y is free from any
looseness or impropriety. 1t differs, there
fore, from the French "Can- Can" 1t is
graceful in movement, and does not call
for the indecent exposure and wild and I'M
becoming gestures incident to the dancing
of the French. In order to see this dance
in perfection, person should 60 to the
beautiful island of Capri. which is about
sixteen miles south of Naples, in the bay.
did not go there myself, but have heard
of it. am very sorry that l did not visit
the island, for then | could have given
description Of the famous blue grotto.
The houses of Genoa are built of stone
or brick, and rough casted. They are
about four stories in height, and sometimes
reach the height of seven stories. The
private houses have no entrance directly in
front, but the door is invariably at the side
of the building, which is reached by going
up a narrow alley. Four of the streets are
narrow, and no carriages are allowed in
them. The city is, therefore, very quiet
and not disturbed 10y the heavy rumbling
dress similar to Americans. The ladies'
the better class of ladies-dress differently
from any others | have seen, and they all
dress alike. The style is uniformly as fol-
with train. fitting close to the person, and
with a long veil of the same material
thrown back from the forehead and extend
ing loosely down the back, until it nearly
touches the ground, and fastened at the
forehead by a silver arrow, with small
black bows of velvet ribbon on each Shout
der and at the throat. These ladies, thus
attired, walk the streets of Genoa every
afternoon, and they walk on unmindful of
the gaze of foreigners, and no gentleman
of Genoa will dare to speak to them or
even recognize them in public upon the
street. even though the lady may be his
own wife, sister or mother. This is the
custom of Genoa. In no other town
throughout the whole of Italy is such a
custom observed The ladies are undoubt-
eddy beautiful. They are generally tall,
graceful in bearing, have raven black hair,
olive complexions and with the tinge of
health suffusing their cheeks like the deli
cate coloring of a peach. | am told that
they are well educated; that most of them
have private tutors, and can converse in
two or more foreign languages and are
skilled in the art of playing OH the guitar
harp and piano. Every afternoon, the
streets of Genoa are flooded with a freshet
of lovelness. In the principal street of
Genoa the sunlight does not penetrate for
more than an hour during the middle of
the day, because the buildings are so high
and the street runs directly north and
south.
Directly opposite the depot is monu-
ment erected to the memory of Christopher
Columbus, in the year 1862. This monu-
ment is built entirely of pure white mar
bic, and up to the present day stands pure,
distinct and clear as the day upon which
it was erected. Directly opposite the mon
ument is the palace of Columbus, bearing
the following inscription: Christctoro
Colombo, Gen0aese, sc0pre LAmerica,"
which, being translated into the English
language, means: Christopher Columbus,
Of Genoa, the discoverer of America. -
Around this statue of Columbus is small
park, in which benches and chairs are
placed, and where the people of Genoa as
semble every evening, and are famed by
the cool breeze that sweeps across the
Mediterranean. In this town of Genoa,
Columbus was born; and here he received
a portion of the money which assisted him
in preparing his small fleet for the perilous
voyage, which resulted in the discovery of
this country. In the Palazzo del MUM
cipio-or the municipal PALACES an ex-
cellent bust Of Christopher Columbus
And my guide went into ecstacies over
TINS beautiful piece of workmanship. IT'S
beautiful, and no mistake. lsuppose there
were about fifteen or twenty persons in that
room on the day | was there, consisting of
all nationallties, and from the expression of
their countenances, could easily see that
this piece of statuary was heartily APP
proved. The guide, after a great deal of
fumbling, produced key and proceeded to
unlock a small recess in the pedestal under
the statue. He produced piece of paper,