Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-03-05
Vesuvian Tips.

At the cone of Vesuvius one general.
~ finds the same class of men seen at
AvernO, and threats are often EMPLOYED
to extract money. At Vesuvius an able
bodied man requires no help. Ascend
ing by carriage to the plateau where the
Observatory stands, he has simply to
walk on t. the base of the cone, and
then climb the mountain of ashes as
he best may. He is sure, however, of
being followed by the frightful.looking
creatures who haunt the scene, and
sometimes half q dozen attend him,
pointing out the rough but beaten path,
aud enlarging upon the necessity of their
valuable services. Arriving some
morning before the throng of visitors
come to drink the ria0 loco, and make
Vesuvius merry, the solitary visitor is
impressed by the loneliness and DESC
latlon of the scene. The path to the
foot of the cone lies through pillows of
black lava, resembling frozen mud,
while in threading tortuous gnllies no
prospect meets the eye but the sky over
head and the dark pyramid of ashes
rising In front, crowned with its cloud
of vapor. popularity supposed to be
smoke. There is an Undesirable solem.
nifty in the view, especially when it is
remembered that but thin crust lies
between ones feet AMI seas of liquid
fire. Horeb itself offers no such scene
of desolation. 1t is, therefore, with a
sense of relief that the foot of the cone
is reached, and the ascent commenced.
Here every foot gained enlarges the
vision, which ere long takes in the
TANKS OF the mountain, sweeping down
and away toward Herculaneum and
Pompeii, while beyond is the blue Bay
OF Naples, formed by the promontories
Of Sorrento and Misene, and islanded
by Capri, Procida, and Ischia. But
who could enjoy anything here while
the importunate Vesuvian is at hand,
insisting that the tourist shall have
four men to carry him up on chair, or
at least two men to haul with a rope,
which they try to make fast around
your waist? Ii you do not know them
thoroughly, you may give them tip
to 60 away but the uninitiated finds,
to his dismay, that the only effect of a
fee is to make them hold on, the appe-
title for lire growing with what it feeds
upon. Thus the villains pursue you
to the summit, where you look into the
crater, and perhaps walk on its edge
for quarter of mile, roast an egg on
the rhinestone rocks, and burn the
end of your staff, TO prove to the world
that you have actually been there. In
making the descent, even the guides
will not pretend that you need help,
since it is simply swift slide down an
ash heap hundreds of feet high, in
Ginning at an angle of fifty degrees.
Your tormentors, however, will greet
you at the bottom, and renew their
clamors for tips, which they often
brighten out of strong men. With Ital-
ians the tip is An essential, and must be
had. If necessary, resort is made to
cruelty, as when the wretches at Sor-
rento come daily before your hotel,
tormenting birds in order that English
and Americans may purchase their ex-
emption from suffering by dispensing
small coins. An appeal to the police
was of no use but we beard with sat
isfaction. a few days after, that at Flor
ence branch of Mr.. Bergh's society,
the first in Italy, had been established
by the Italians themselves. The cruelty
of the common people in Italy is some
thing remarkable. Everywhere in the
villages we found the peasants putting
out the eyes of birds to make them
sing.-B. f. DE COSTA, in Harper'S
Magazines.