The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1904-03-24
away. We had to go down to the shore
to the main road: it is three miles down

to the main road; it is three miles down
the hill, for the road zigzags down to
avoid the steep pitches. The sea was
that bright blue that only the Mediter-
ranean can be; and the sky was the sky
of Sicily. We rode number of miles
by the side of the sea. Sometimes it
was a smooth, sandy shore, but oftener
huge rocks were scattered along the
| beach. 1t is along this shore that the
seven huge rocks stand, that it is said
the blind Polyphemus hurled after the
crafty Ulysses. After leaving the sea,
we rode through lemon and orange Or
chards, where they were gathering the
lemons, and the ground was carpeted
with flowers. Cape Allessio is a high
promontory jutting out into the sea,
and is crowned with an old Norman
fort and castle. The old Norman keep
in the castle is as perfect as if it had
been built within the last hundred
years.
From Taormina we went to SYRIA
cuse Our way lay along the shore,
and over the immense lava beds that
Etna has made by her different erup-
tions. 'Catama is a large city, prosper
Gus and enterprising, but it has been
many times destroyed by earthquakes.
Syracuse in ancient times was a very
important city. 1t is small now, but
rich in ruins and in the fertility of the
soil, as are all places where the soil is
made. from lava | should think there
were lemons enough between Mesina
and Syracuse to supply the whole
world. Syracuse was founded more
than seven hundred years before
Christ. 1t has passed through the
same vicissitudes as the rest of Sicily,
but now better days have dawned and
it is recovering some of its old i'm
portance. There are many attractions
there for the tourist. The old Greek
and Roman theaterS, the ruins of the
old forts, the fountain of Arethusa,
and others. The Latomeias or old
quarries, which were also used as
prisons, were to me as full OF interest
as anything We stopped at the Hotel
Villa Politi, for the sake of its wonder
full garden. | counted over fifty differ
ent kinds of flowers in bloom. They
were the flowers we should prize in a
dollhouse and here they grow to an i'm
mense size. Hedges of geraniums
higher than my head were i'll full
bloom. l shall say nothing of the
temples of Syracuse, for they faded
from my memory after visiting Cir
GENT, and seeing the ruins of the
Greek temples there. l like much bet
ter to view Greek ruins than Roman
amphitheaters, for the latter bring
back with all their horrors the fights Of
men with wild beasts and all the other
cruelties which took place there for
the amusement of that cruel people.
In the garden Of which l have spoken
is the most wonderful of the old
quarries, La Latomia de Cappuccini.
1t is many acres in extent, and the day
we went down friend lost his way in
the windings of the endless labyrinth;
SO we took boy from the hotel as a
guide. You could hardly realize that
you were more than a hundred feet
below the surface of the earth when
you wandered through the series of
halls and galleries with no covering but
the blue Sicilian sky. All vegetation
tlourishes here in wild luxuriance, ex-
posed to the sunshine and rain, and
where no cold rain can mar the beauty
of the growth. The walls are all COW
cred with ivy, from top to bottom, and
olive trees, many hundred years old,
flourish and bear fruit. The orange
and lemon trees are covered with fruit,
the almond trees are pink with bloom,
and the fig and pomegranates are in
full leaf. Wisteria, roses, honey
suckles, lilacs and other flowers, too
numerous to mention, are in full bloom,
and the ground beneath our feet is COW
cred with the accanthus, from which
the ancients copied their beautiful
Corinthian capitals. l could hardly
realize that here, as history tells us,
seven thousand Athenians languished
for seventy days, crowded together in
these pits, until most of them died
from their wounds, hunger, thirst and
disease.
We went from Syracuse to Girgenti
through the mining district. 1t is a
dirty old city, situated on hill many
hundred feet high. We stopped at the
Hotel of the Temples. 1t is situated
on hill out of the city, and the seen
cry is so beautiful as to be indescrib-
able. The land slopes gradually down
to the valley, covered with almond
trees in full bloom; and just beyond,
on a strip of tableland, stand the
wonderful heather temples that people
come from so many countries to visit
Beyond them is the sea, with its blue
and amethyst shades, and over all the
deep blue sky. The air is heavy with
the scent Of the flowers and the birds
are singing in the trees and meadows