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paccio, who take their titles from Pæstum, and may look down upon the ruins of their original residence from their windows. That it was not much visited, we know, but this was owing rather to the indifference than to the ignorance of the learned, and perhaps a little to the state of the country, ever lawless and unsafe while under the domination of absent sovereigns. We are too apt to conclude, that nobody had seen what we did not see, and that what travellers have not recorded, was not known to exist; without reflecting that the ignorance of the latter is often the consequence of the little acquaintance which many of them have with the language and natives of the countries which they undertake to describe.

The road to Pæstum leads through Resina, Torre del Greco, Torre del Annonziata, and passing the gates of Pompeii gives a transient glimpse of its solitary streets and lonely theatres, extending at the foot of steeps crowned with vines and mulberries. Continuing our course over the exuberant plains of Pompeii,

Quæ rigat æquora Sarnus.

We traversed the town of Scafati, drove along the banks of that river still the Sarno beautifully shaded with poplars, and entered Nocera, formerly Nuceria, a town of the highest antiquity, but remarkable only for its unshaken attachment to the Romans at all times, and the sad disasters to which it has been exposed in consequence of that attachment *. Its

* Liv. XXIII. 15.

fidelity to the republic during the second Punic war drew down upon it the vengeance of Hannibal, who, after some vain attempts to seduce its inhabitants into his party, plundered and destroyed their city. Its adherence to the cause of a Roman pontiff during the great schism roused the fury of a still more irritable enemy, Ruggiero king of Naples, who again razed its walls, and dispersed its citizens. They instead of rebuilding the town when the storm was over, as their ancestors had done before, continued to occupy the neighboring villages. Hence the appearance of the modern Nocera, which instead of being enclosed within ramparts, spreads in a long line over a considerable extent of ground, and displays some handsome edifices intermingled with rural scenery. It is still a bishopric, and derives the additional appellation dei Pagani, from the circumstance of its having been for some time in possession of the Saracens.

Not far from Nocera we entered the mountains, where the scene improves in beauty, without losing much either in fertility or animation. Various villages, castles, and churches adorn the defile, an aqueduct intersects it, and the town of Cava occupies the most elevated and most picturesque point. Behind this town, the mountain Fenestra swells to a prodigious elevation; its steep sides are covered to the very summit with one continued forest of chestnuts, forming a mass of foliage of the deepest shade, and most beautiful verdure, and presenting to the eye one of the most refreshing views imaginable during the heats of a Campanian summer.

O quis me gelidis sub vallibus Hæmi
Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra

is a wish which often bursts from the lips of a traveller panting up the acclivities of the Apennines under the beams of a meridian sun, and looking round with a longing eye for some hospitable thicket, In such a sultry hour the sight and the fancy repose with delight on the immensity of shade suspended over the defile of Cava. This town is not ancient, at least, not classically so. It seems to have been formed gradually, like many considerable towns, not on the continent only but in England, by the attraction of a rich Benedictine abbey. Its origin is usually dated from the invasion of Genseric, and the destruction of the neighboring town of Marciana, whose inhabitants took shelter in the mountains, and at the persuasion of the abbot settled around the monastery of the Trinity, and built Cava. It has several manufactories at present, and has an appearance of life and prosperity. It stands on the borders of Picenum, and opens a fine view of Salernum, its bay, the opposite coast, the plains around, and the mountains beyond Pastum. The declivity is steep, but the road which runs along the edge of the precipice and looks down upon the sea, is well guarded by a parapet wall, and excellent all the way.

As we had set out very early we entered Salerno about noon with an intention of proceeding to Pastum; but the unexpected want of horses detained us, and indeed obliged us to stop for the night. We had however no reason to regret the delay, as Salernum presents a sufficient number of subjects for observation and amusement. Its antiquity is acknowledged, though the date of its foundation and the names and countries of its founders are equally unknown. It became in its turn a Roman colony, but does not appear to have risen to any conse

quence; the mildness of its air during the winter seems to have been its principal distinction*. It is supposed to have stood formerly on the hills, and is ranked by Pliny among the inland towns of Picenum. But this writer is perhaps more eloquent than accurate in his geographical descriptions, and I doubt whether his authority is a sufficient argument to induce us to conclude with Cluverius that Salernum has changed its original position. It is the see of an archbishop, has an university once celebrated for medicine, and various schools and academies. Its streets are as usual narrow, and the buildings high; some few seem to deserve notice. The court before the cathedral is supported by eight-and-twenty ancient granite columns with Corinthian capitals of good workmanship, but apparently not made for the columns which they now adorn; the church itself though built of ancient materials, and decorated with some good pictures, is a tasteless edifice. The most remarkable objects in it are the two ambones or ancient pulpits, one each side of the nave before the steps of the chancel; they are both of marble, the largest is covered with beautiful mosaic, and supported by twelve Corinthian pillars of granite. The inn stands almost on the beach, and our rooms opened on the bay, which appears beautiful even when compared to that of Naples.

The promontory of Surrentum, which bounds it on the west, increases as it projects in boldness and elevation, presents various craggs crowned with towns, and terminates in a long

* Horat. lib. 1. ep. 15.

lofty ridge covered with a forest. In the centre and half way up the declivity stands Amalfi, once so famous for its skill in the medical art, while the little town of Vitri seems to hang from the rock as if ready to fall into a torrent that tumbles through a deep dell below.

On the opposite side of the bay the coast gradually sinks into a plain, that extends without interruption to Pastum, whose grey temples are dimly discernible, at the distance of fifteen miles. This plain is bounded by a ridge of mountains. In the bosom and centre of the bay, at the foot of a fine ridge of well cultivated hills, stands Salernum, equally well situated for beauty and commerce, if the neighborhood of such a vast mart as Naples did not attract and absorb all the commerce of this coast. There is a mole to cover the harbor and protect the shipping from the south wind, which sometimes raises a considerable swell. During the afternoon some of the party took a boat and rowed about the bay, which in the creeks and windings of the western coast furnishes objects for many delightful excursions. Such are the Capo d'Amalfi, the Punta di Conca, and, above all, the Syrenusa islands, once the abode of the Syrens, famed in ancient story, and proverbial in modern languages. They are three in number, about eleven miles from Salerno, and four from the point of the promontory of Minerva (now of Surrentum) but one only from the nearest land. They are now called Galli, perhaps with a traditional allusion to the form of the Syrens, and are still, as described by Virgil, barren rocks, without other inhabitants than sea-fowls, or other sounds than the murmurs of the waves echoing amid the craggs and caverns.

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