Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1880-02-11

VEsUvIAN rIPS.--At the cone of Vesu-
vius one generally finds the same class ol
men seen ut Averno, and threats are often
employed TO extract money. At Vesuyius
an able bodied man requires no help. AS
cending by carriage to the plateau where
the observatory stands, he has simply to
walk on to the base of the cone, and then
climb the mountain of ashes rs he best
may He is sure, however, of being fol
lowed by the frightful looking creatures
who haunt the scene, and sometimes half
dozen attend him, pointing out the
rough but beaten path and enlarging upon
| the necessity of their valuable services.
Arriving some morning before the throng
of visitors come to drink the vino loco
and make Vesuvius merry, the solitary
visitor is impressed by ihe loneliness and
desolation of the scene. The path to the
foot of tho cone lies through pillows oi
black lava, resembling frozen mud, while
in threading tortuous gullies no prospect
meets tie eye but the sky overhead and
the dark pyramid of ashes rising in front,
crowned with its cloud of vapor, popular
| ly supposed to be smoke. There is an
indescrbable soemnty in the view, espe-
cially when it is remembered that but II
| thin crust lies between ones feet and seas
of liquid fire. Horeb itself offers no such
scene of desolation. Ii is, therefore, with
u sense of relief that the foot of the conc
| is reached. and ,he ascent commenced.
Here every foot gained enlarges the Wis
ion, which ere long takes in the flanks oi
the mountain, sweeping down and away
toward Herculaneum and Pompeii, whi lie
beyond is the blue bay of Naples formed
bv the promontories of Sorrento and
Misene, and islanded by Capri, Procida,
and Ischia. But who could enjoy anything
here while the importunate Vesuvian is ut
hand, insisting that the tourist shall have
four men to carry him up on chair, or at
least two men 10 haul with II rope, which
they try to make fast around your waist?
If you do not know them thoroughly, you
may give them tip to 90 away; but the
unintiatcd finds, to his dismay, that the
only effect of fee is to make them hold
on, the appetite 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 u quarter of a mile. roast an
egg on the birthstone 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, inclining at an
angle of fifty degrees. Your tormenters,
however, will greet you 1T the bottom.
and renew their clamors for tips, which
they often frigbten out of strong men.
With Italians the tip is an essential, and
must be had. If necessary, Il resort is
made to cruelty, as when the wretches at
Sorrento come daily before your hotel,
tormenting birds in order that English
andAmericans may purchase their exemp.
ton from suffering by dispensing small
coins. An appeal to the police was of no
use; but we heard with satisfaction, few
days after, that at Florence Il branch of
Mr.. Bergh's society, the first in Italy, had
been established by the Italians them
selves. The cruelty of the common peo-
Pile in Italy is something remarkable.
Everywhere in the villages VIC found the
peasants putting out the eyes of birds to
make them sing.-B. Z. De Costa, an
Huper's Magazine for February.