k 



No. VI. — District of the Bay of Baja. 93 



«* qu^on y penetre, tant le chemin, qui a une pente tres ra- 

 pide, est etroit et glissant, et tant la chaleur devient insup- 

 portable plus au descend vers la source ou bain dont Peau est 

 toujours houillant?^ An eminent topographical writer, Rei- 

 chard, in his larger work upon Italy, has added a newly in- 

 vented feature to increase the horrors of the place, and, as he 

 did not go to the bottom himself, was probably put upon him 

 by the egg-boiler to enhance the merit and risk of his servi- 

 ces. This writer records that there are sometimes united 

 " traits defeu avec ses bouillans T 



One of the guide books published in Naples says, " Gli uo- 

 mini practici vanno con facilta sino al fondo, e prendono Pac- 

 qua sorgente ch'e quasi bollente : vi entrano essi quasi nudi, 

 ed in due minuti escono tutti grondanti di sudore, e colJa faccia 

 infiammata, come se fossero usciti da un forno. Chi poi non e 

 assuefatto, dopo died passi di cammino, si senti suffocare, e 

 mancar le forze per andar piu avanti."* But a still more in- 

 excusable perversion is by an author of learning and some cre- 

 dit, who, though living within a few miles of the spot, seems 

 never to have formed experimentally just ideas on the subject. 

 " Badi bene il forestiere,"" says he, " non farsi trasportare 

 dalla sconsigliata curiosita, di calare per quelle tortuose grotte 

 fino al basso, ov'e Tacqua bollente, perche potrebbe rischiarvi 

 la vita''' f 



These authorities, selected from many others of the same 

 character, show sufficiently the mistaken notions which have 

 been so long circulated from hand to hand. The very simple 

 description of Breislak is the only one I have seen deprived of 

 this mysticism ; but though he is obviously one of the few au- 

 thors who have gone to the bottom themselves, he has not 

 given us any lively description of the appearances or phe- 

 nomena. In fact, the quackery of guides and guide-books 

 seems to have deterred our natural observers from inspecting 

 this curious spot, so near approached to that surprising 

 focus which has maintained its intense temperature so many- 

 centuries, with unabated vigour, without any indication, 

 direct or indirect, of that mysterious fuel by which it has 



Ferrari. t De Jorio, Guida di Pozzuoli, 138. 



