The Redwood gazette., 1902-04-30

tries are fishing and the manufac-
tures of macaroni. The entire ride
is most delightful, the road lying
half way up precipitous mountain
side, with the sheer rock reaching
to unseen heights above one IS head,
and the sea, the blue sea Of, the south |
lying at our feet. Allthe slopes are
terraced and on the terraces growl
the orange, lemon, or olive. It must
take great industry to cultivate so
difficult a situation and the country
folk Of Italy surely do not deserve
the epithet, slothful. Delicious or
anges can be bought for a cent
apiece, and when one realizes the
labor, it is not difficult to see why
Italy is so poor. AtSalerno we took
the train for Paestum, where lie the
ruins of three Greek temples, the
best Greek ruins outside of Athens.
These temples were built in the
sixth century B. c., and one of them,
that Of Neptune, is wonderfully well
preserved. The simple stately col
umns fttingly represent the relig-
ion of Greece, though they seem
cold when they are used in Chris
tian temples. Standing as they do
in unassuming majesty, in the midst
OF vast plain, haunted now only by
herds Of buffalo, and the fatal germ
of fever, with the waters of the
sunny sea rolling almost to their
doors, they are an eloquent voice
speaking to ears that can hear of the
"glory that was Greece. One can
fancy.Neptune rising from the foam
OF the waters and hear the rustic of
the white-robed priests as they lay
fruit and wine upon the altar to do
him homage. Worshippers throng
the great broad steps, paying their
tribute to the gods they worshipped,
and over all is the classic serenity
of the past.
But the art loving inhabitants
were long since conquered people,
and with their conquerors have
slept for centuries. Neptune and
all the gods are dead, and their
temples are the home of the green
lizards and all manner of creeping
things, while the surrounding soil
exacts it's penalty for all the slaugh-
tered multitudes OF by gone days,
in the ath-bringing malaria so
much to be feared in all this broad
Campagna.
| One feels all the beauty and all
! the sadness, for glimpses Of the
past are always sad.
! We returned to Salerno by rail,
and may say that Italian trains
I! are trial on the patience of the or
Idinary American. Two hours ane
forty minutes to 20 seventeen miles
!. is a trifie exasperating, at the
best, but over a stupid country i
becomes positive boredom.
Driving back from Salerno t
Amalf we passed through Majort
where we saw the annual Holy
Thursday procession. It was
quaint scene, just at sunset, ane
close to the sea shore, with the
waves rolling their endless chant o
1 sorrow or of mirth as one S mood is
i That evening it was melancholy
and SO was the figure of the Chris
bearing a heavy cross under whose
weight he was bent almost double
and stumbled at every step. The
i thieves on either side we're SINH.
!. larly afflicted. Following came the
disciples, dressed in white with
white cloths on their faces with
holes cut for the eyes. Then the
Virgin, carried on raised chair.
| Tears were rolling down her cheeks,
land she was dressed in deep mourn.
ling. Crowds of people followed.
many of them seeming awe struck
I br tho connp Ruf IL does not affect
j them as it would have done three OIL
four hundred years ago. The world
even among those simple fisher folk.
has grown too wise for realism te
| hold much power. We saw also the
famous Good Friday procession il
tSorrento. It has been held there
'Isince the time of Tasso. and is