St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-01-16


ing. AS we traversed the shore of tie
blue Mediterranean from Rome tb
Genoa, we had the finest of Italiai
skies, and glorious sunsets ended botb
OF these days of travel. The first nigh
we spent at Pisa, and had enough o.
the next day there to see the chief OBJ
jects of interest. The Cathedral is ac-
counted one of the best examples OF
ROmanesque architecture in Italy. The
material is of black and white marble
and the facade has several stories OF
arcades and galleries on the outside
Within, the roof is supported by sixty
eight ancient Roman and Greek col
umns captured by the Pisans in war,
the coffered ceiling of the nave is ri,h hly
gilded, and the whole is terminated
above by an elliptical dome. The
swinging of the bronze lamp in the nage
is said to have suggested to GalileeS L,Ns
idea of the pendulum. The Baptistery
hundred yards from the cathedral, is
a circular edifice 100 feet in diameter,
surrounded by half columns below, and
a gallery of detached columns above,
and crowned by a dome 100 feet in
height. The whole is of marble and is
one of the most elegant and tasteful
structures we have seen. In the centre
| of the interior is an octagOnal marble
font very richly adorned with sculpture
and mosaics, and, about midway be-
| tween it and the external wall, stands
Oh seven columns a hexagOnal pulpit
ornamented with reliefs by Niccolo
Pisano, representing scenes in the life
of Christ.
On the side of the cathedral opposite
the Baptistery is the Campanile, or
clock tower, generally known as the
Leaning Tower, which, with height
| of 179 feet, is l3 feet out of the per-
pendicular,-probably, owing to the
settling of the foundations. Here Cali
leo experimental concerning the laws
of gravitation. 1t will be seen from
this description that these three build
ings are separate parts of one mag
nificent church. Not infrequently in
Italy do we find the bell-tower, church
and baptistery thus distinct, but not
elsewhere, except perhaps at Florence
are the three so harmoniOusly related
and so finely completed. Generally one
is finished, and the others built long
years after on plan and scale entirely
different from the original design.
Pisa has an Academy of Art with its
full share of those sickly-pale Madonnas
of the Pre- Raphaelite days, a university
attended by 600 students, and besides
many other churches, on the left bank
of the Arno, beautiful little chapel fol
sailors, called Maria della Spina. be-
cause bit of the real ''crown of tliorns,'
it is said, is here preserved.
From Pisa to Genoa there is con-
tInuous alienation of sharp promOnto-
ries,-spurs of the Apprentices project
ing boldly into the sea,-and narrow
valleys. During the day our train
passes through eighty tunnels, over
numberless ravines and gorges, aud
sometimes underneath the beds of con-
siderable streams whose waters are con
Quoted by artificial aqueducts over the
road-bed that they, when swollen,
would otherwise destroy. 1t was ex-
ceedingly tantalizing so often to get
glimpses of the most charming scenery,
the waters of the sea sparkling in the
sunlight, the "white- winged" voyagers
in the distance, the pebbly beach and
sparry caves at the foot of the rocks,
OIL, above, vineyards, olive orchards,
ragged cliffs, and high-towering noun
tain peaks, old castles perched on lofty
pinnacles, or freshly outside-frescoed
modern villas with trees and shrubbery.
statues and tiowers,-and the next in
stant to be whirled into utter darkness.
1t was Il ''thOusand and one nights" in
two senses of the term.
From Genoa through Turin-where
we tarried till another day,-to the
Mont Gents tunnel there is little to be
seen which merits special mention. We
pass near the famous battle fields of
Novi and Marengo, but nothing now
distinguishes these from other fertile
plains. Turin is modern, or rather has
nothing old that attracts the traveller
Its collection of pictures is of recent
date, its museum of antiquities meagre
compared with several others in Italy i,
but it has some fine monuments and
statues in its public squares,-among
them, one to Count Cavour, the states >,
man who secured Italian unity. The
tunnel through which we come from
Italy into France is eight miles long
twenty-six feet wide, nineteen high
and is the longest in the world excerfI
the st. Gotthard which is not uuitsI
completed. The passage at slow rate
of speed takes about thirty minutes,
but it seems longer. Lanterns hang d
the tunnel at intervals of 500 PAGES
and the cars, as on many European rail-
ways, are lighted with gas. The vel-
tilation is very good, and, but for tie
Oppressiveness of ones imaginatioa,
there is no more discomfort than in ary
night travel. If we may trust the dah
of our guide books, the grade of the
railway for the ten miles next east Of
the tunnel is I50 feet nor pn;Ja U,LL