336 Mr Forbes's Physical Notices of the Bay of Naples. 



the north side of the island, characteristically green. This 

 arises, Mr Scrope supposes, * from an admixture of chlorite, 

 and this is extremely probable, since, as we shall soon see, 

 aluminous and magnesian minerals particularly distinguish this 

 island. Near the summit of the hill it assumes a more purely 

 white colour. 



Monte Epomeo rises to a considerable height above the sea ; 

 the common report is 1800 feet, — but unlike such reports ge- 

 nerally, this is probably underrated ; others have stated it at 

 2000 and upwards, and Tenore, in his lately published 

 *' Essai SU7' la Geographie Physique et Botajiique du Roy- 

 aume de Naples,'''' assigns to it an elevation of near 3000 feet : 

 this probably is too much, but I am disposed to think that it 

 must exceed 2000. In the rocky mass which forms the ex- 

 treme summit is excavated the dreary abode of two hermits, 

 who reside here all the year. This cavern of Eolus, which is 

 exposed to all the blasts of heaven, consists of numerous pas- 

 sages and chambers with several outlets, and contains a chapel. 

 A path hewn in the rock conducts to the top, from whence 

 one of the most splendid panoramic views of the Bay of 

 Naples is enjoyed ; but the morning on which I saw it was 

 not very favourable. On the western side may be seen the 

 distant islands of Santo Stefano, Ventotiene, and Ponza ; the 

 Monte Circello on the confines of the Pontine marshes, which 

 is exactly sixty English miles distant ; the point of Terracina, 

 and the nearer one of Gaeta. Stretching round northwards, 

 we may leisurely trace the marshes of Liternum, the place of 

 exile of Scipio ; the site of Cumae, the lakes, the hills, the 

 craters of the Phlegraean fields, and the indentures of their 

 varied coast. The view is superior to that from the Camal- 

 doli di Napoli, on account of the more beautiful intermixture of 

 sea and land, and the more complete comprehension it conveys 

 of the features of the Bay, the topography of the Cape of 

 Miseno, the irregular form of Procida, and the commanding 

 and very peculiar figure of the island of Capri, which rises to 

 the eastward, beyond which the adjacent promontory of Mi- 

 nerva directs the eye to the rugged range of the Sorrentine 



• Geolofrical Trans. N. 8. vol. ii. He also states that it may perhaps 

 be owing to augite, (which he assigns as the cause in his work on Vol- 

 anos, p. 247,) but in my opinion this is much less probable. 



