Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1886-06-09

HEAT-THE EVER CHANGING ASPECT OF
THE VOLCANIC cLoUD-A VISIT TO THE
GRoTTo OF CAPRI-THE PHILOSOPHY OF
ITS UNEARTHLY BEAUTY-THE QUAIL AND
WINE OF CAPRI-THE RUINED VILLA OF
TIBERIUs--FIsHING AT soRRENTo-THE
DEcAYED TEMPLES EsATPEsTUM-THENE AT NEW
ROUTE BY RAIL-BooKED FOR PoMPEIl
AND vEsUvIUs.
Correspondence of Journal Of Commerce.
HOTEL TRAMoNTANo,
SORRENTO, Italy, May, 'S6.
Snow on Vesuvius in May! The weather
here flies in the face of all tho authorities.
We have been warned hundred times not
to visit Southern Italy during the s'hot
month" Of May. We are now burning lit
tie sticks of wood at the rate of quarter of
cord day in the vain effort to keep our
sitting-room comfortable. Our English
| friends have misled us in the kindest man
ner possible. They call the weather warm
at 60 degrees Fahrenheit, and hot at TO-
| Americans, accustomed to broiling Sum-
mers at home, find this climate barely ge-
nial at the very time when Englishmen are
roasted out of it. Wherefore, say, put no
faith in their statements where temperature
| is concerned. Men who never wear over
coats and who walk twenty miles before
breakfast are no guides for people less har-
dened With the exception of one day
(strangely enough) in London, and another
in Naples, we have not stopped at hotel
where fire was not necessity as well as
an expensive luxury. Of course, the thick
ofk h. Iu SO <>f
the coldness. At Naples / looked down
some masons at work just across the mar
row street. They were laying outside walls
three feet thick and walls of two feet be-
tween the rooms. The rising structure
seemed to be a. jail or bank. I inquired
and found it was designed for an elegant
private residence. Yet, for the exclusion
of heat, it might as we'll be prison, and
would look like one if the walls were not
papered and frescoed.
Vesuvius is an ever-fascinating subject of
study. / observe it fifty times day from
the window at which 1 am now writing
The changed position of the sun and every
passing cloud, and especially the shifting
directions and forms of the ''smoke," make
new picture of the mountain every time.
The natives for twenty miles around look
upon Vesuvius at once as barometer and
weather-vane. When the vapor-for such
it is for the most part-drifts, they know
from what quarter the wind is blowing
The capricious shapes it suddenly assumes
at times foretells them of coming storms or
calms. 1 am not yet deep in this lore. But,
| all the same, it is pleasure to note the
protean changes of the escaping steam
Sometimes it goes straight up to the sky in
a long, slender shaft, and at the extreme
height opens out like palm tree. Then,
again, it looks like a mushroom with a
thick stem and s'chunky" top. Often it
streams out horizontally at great length
like the smoke of steamer at sea. When
| the wind is out of the North or East, ac-
eompanied by slight rain, then notice
that the vapor rolls down the mountain like
it's own lava. At other times Vesuvius
makes huge cap Or turban for itself-the
vapor settling down on the peak and re-
naming stationary. Frequently this en-
larges into a shroud and gradually covers
the volcano from head to foot. At night
when the sky is clear there is only one thing
to be seen on Vesuvius This is the dull red
| light which crowns its dark outlines. 1t is
now in a state of unusual activity. 1t
| "works," as the phrase is.
| One morning "Old Vesuve'' (for so one
| finds himself calling the volcano after a
short acquaintance indicated a change Of
wind from the Northeast to the Southwest
This favored an expedition to the famous
blue grotto of Capri, which cannot be en-
tered when the wind is driving the water
against and into the narrow opening
| through which the little boats must pass
l made the trip from Sorrento to Capri by
steamer, and was then transferred to a
| fro.1 I<<,1r hr,<e Hc1r
| fully handled. The waves were pretty
high-the effect of storm which had last
ed two days. As we neared the portal of
the grotto it seemed impossible to shoot
| through it, for it is not more than three
feet high and three wide, and the water was
constantly rushing in and out of it with a
deafening roar and showers of spray. At
times more than half of the opening was
filed with the current, which threatened to
dash the fragile bark into splinters and
drown the passengers. The boatman him
self hesitated. The conditions were much
worse than those which he usually over
came with ease. But he watched his
chances, and, seizing moment when the
current was setting outward. he caught
hold of a jutting point of rock and by a
sudden jerk swung us in. had been ly-
ing fiat in the boat, drenched with spray
Responding to his call, sat up and looked
| around.
My first feeling was of disappointment.
The grotto is not blue. The wonderful
color, of which one hears so much, is in the
water. The vault rises to graceful arch
in the centre and covers space-irregular
in shape-equal, perhaps, to 1875 feet square.
| Its point of greatest height is 30 or 40 feet
above the water. The stone is of dirty
h. g. ofI I.,-1,4
its concave surface doubtless has something
to do with the production of the phenom-
enon which gives the grotto its name. The
water of the Mediterranean is beautiful
under all conditions. One need not PEN
citrate grottoes in order to admire its tints
ever varying on a background of blue. But
here the relations of the water to the light
of day are unique. l tried to study the
thing in cold blood. Here are my conclu.
sions about it:-In the first place, some OF
the diffused daylight enters the cave through
the only opening above the water-line.-
This light irradiates the water to certain
depth, and causes the white roof to be re-
1ected in it. In the second place, great
deal of light enters beneath the surface of
the water, through the opening which de-
scends to the floor of the grotto. This flool
also seems to be white las observed by me)
at it's depth of (say) so feet. 1t therefore
sends back the reflection which the water
has already received from the limestone
roof. This double effect gives brilliant
silver tone to the inclosed mass of blue wa.
ter. One hunts in vain for some compari
son to convey a clear idea of the unearthly
beauty of the spectacle. Sky-blue satin
with the sun shining on it would resemble
the surface of the water as I saw it. Bu
that simile fails to describe the extraordina
ry effects of the blue grotto. These are
mainly derived from the depths. and are
best compared to the sheen of silver ano
blue which are noticed in the heart of 9
sapphire held up against a strong sun
light.
I was rudely aroused from these cogita
tions by boat humping against mine. A
man in it apologized and thrust card into
my hand. Inspecting it by the faint light,
saw that it was the menu of dejeuner
which would be held hot in waiting for al
corners on the arrival of the steamer at th,
Marina GrGnde, or chief landing place O
the island, farther on. Feeling hungry,