Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1896-01-29
OUR EUROPEAN LETTER.
A Donkey Ride About Naples In a Rain
StOrm..Trip to vesuvius.
Special Correspondence Herald and Tribune

w.
pointed from Vesuvius. Clothes and our
tempers have been ruined; Cook, the Ok
cursion tiend, has fallen in our estima-
ton, and Vesuvius is simply beneath our
notice. We went to the crater in a rain
that was sufficient to have put out the
volcano. We have jolted miles in a
springless wagon, we have ridden spring
less donkeys, waded in ashes to our ank-
les, and all this in the interest Of pleas
ure.
We left Naples about nine o'clock in
the morning under the supervision Of
Cook and in n of'Cook's Wagons. The
morning was not altogether promising
but "hope springs eternap and we
thought the day would probably be clear.
Naples was just beginning to really
wake up for the day, for the dolce far
niente of the people begins by lying In
bed in the morning, At last we reached
the open country and while tho clouds
gathered overhead our spirits were kept
up by a band Of strolling musicians who
walked along by the carriage and sang
"Santa Lucia" and other delightful Ital-
ian songs, vary them occasionally with
"Daisy Bell" in honor Of our nationality
and seeming disappointed when we fail
ed to look a%ppreciatiye, we stopped at
a little mountain inn where u honest
driver who probably shared profits with
the proprietor, told us we could get the
best wine in all Italy. Atthe next stop
we left the carriage and mounted dom
keys 10 cross the lava fields. At this
moment natures feelings oYercame her
and as il in anticipation of the fate that
awaited US, began to weep. Everyone
commented gleefully on the fact and we
mounted the diabolical beasts, as premier
oliver said when the French started to
Berlin with slight hearts, When we
reached that spot on our return we had
seer Vesuvius but a strange silence had
fallen on all the party, and those who
found voice at all lifted it in declaring
that henceforth their mission would be
to dissuade others from the ascent of the
volcano. An incompatibility had sprung
up between all the members of the COM
pany and eyes that looked love at the
beginning Of the trip were 10Y singu-
larly Inexpensive behind Strengthened
bangs, and under dripping hats.
Probably the donkeys were no worse
than other donkeys, but the road they
dad to travel was but a rough path and
it seemed to me that any self respecting
donkey would not have taken advantage
Of so many rocks in the road for purpose
Of stumbling as these innocent looking
animals did. The saddles were not fas-
tened securely and the guides, one Of
whom accompanied each rider and shout
ed dreadful threats to the donkeys were
expected to hold the saddles on. When
the donkey fell down, the saddle slipped
forward and cuffed the animal on the
head. When he went up a hill it settled
insecurity on his tail and finally when
the guide had grown tired Of holding it
III ~ ullDlCu oh dlOokSthCl.
The rain at last began to pour and the
wind rushed violently down the noun
tain. twas impossible to hold umbrellas
and cold, wetand disheartened the party
reached the station of the funiculaire
road that leads up the steep, yielding
ashy comb to within a few hundred
yards Of the crater Of the volcano.
The only fire in the restaurant was in
the kitchen and the head waiter, who
speaks five languages and probably gets
about $40 a month, invited us to warm
ourselves, an invitation we gladly ac-
copied. When the world had assumed a
brighter hue through the medium of an
omelette and steak we started up the
mountain again. The road is almost
perpendicular and one feels much more
as If the ascent were being made in an
elevator than on q rail track. tits called
a funiculaire, but is really a cable with
double tracks, and the carr are balanced
so they pass each other midway of the
distance. On either side are the great
fields of lava and ashes, the former
Of course, now cooled and in the most
fantastic shapes, in which, as in clouds,
one sees most clearly what his fancy
suggests. Perhaps it was the influence
of the donkey ride and the weather, but
1t seemed to me Dore's illustrations of
Dante,s "Inferno" might have been pho
tographs of these formations.
AT the top Of the f%uniculaire we were
met by a new relay of guides who took
off their big coats and wrapped them
about the drenched women in the party.
Chairs carried by four men were to be
ter. A guide went ahead of each of us
and throwing a strap over his shoulder
told us to hold it tight and lean back.
Ones sympathy for the guide prevents
him leaning back very far at first, but
later sympathy is lost in fatigue, and
resigns himself to being pulled bod
lily up the hill through the deep ashes.
The crater was pointed out to us and we
were warned not to go too close, but we
saw nothing but a place a little more
foggy than the dense mist covering the
mountain; we saw the running lava,
which looked temptingly warm, and the
sulphur, which was a bright yellow, and
smelled like a match factory. Descend
luk Viz I'LL dSdln w Vic lunlCulhlTt tn6
ladies hung Imply on the arms of the
guides, and regardless of best shoes and
silk underskirts, suffered themselves to
be dragged through the fine grey ashes
too weary and wet to protest.
At the lower station a stop of several
hours was made in anticipation of q
clearing up of the weather, a hope that
proved to be vain however. During this
time the registry album, a large blank
book in which tourists may find a place
to relieve their feelings, furnished us di-
version. We were called upon to be
proud Of our eurdite countrymen and
women when we found these inscrip-
tons after the big black u. S. A.: at
must be seen to be appreciated" "Grand
beyond all description III imagined ii
a furnace famed by q hot and raging
goddess to avenge her wrath" Another
had written, awe should have had it for
C~hicago;" and still another, Of a less
practical nature, summed up the descrip-