NAPLES. 141 



northwest we come to Salerno, and then to Amalfi, where the 

 compass was not invented, but to which it may have been 

 brought by the Crusaders ; for the Chinese knew it, but knew 

 little about it, 4000 years ago. 



And so at last to the true Bay of Naples, with the Rocks 

 of the Sirens on the right. Still moving on — against the 

 hands of the watch — we pass Sorrento, Pompeii, Hercula- 

 neum, the foot of Vesuvius. By this time we are in Naples 

 proper and must drive for many a mile through scenes 

 renowned, but not greatly renowned in history, before we 

 reach the Grotto of Posilippo, where the Tomb of Virgil is 

 said to be. It did not flash conviction on me, somehow, and 

 I never went to see it. 



If there be one thing that I respect, it is an undoubted 

 landmark. If there be one that I neglect with fury, it is a 

 doubtful one. 



But I passed the place, nevertheless, all the time. For, 

 first, the " Grotto," as it is called, is a great work, an ample 

 tunnel through a quarter of a mile of solid tufa. Second, it 

 is due east and west — so due that at the equinoxes, morning 

 and evening, the sun shines right through it ; as I saw with 

 m\' own eyes. And, third, because it is the way to the 

 mouth of hell. 



I mean, of course, that a little farther on, and to the west- 

 ward, are Cape Misenum, the Sibyl's Cave, the birdless Lake 

 Avernus, and the huge opening through which ^neas was 

 conducted by his statel}^ and little talking, but much saying 

 guide, down to the City of Dis and the Elysian Fields. 



I did not stop on the way to speak of the Temple of Diana 

 — or if not of Diana of some other heathen diety — which 

 stands near the road along the sea for everyone to look on. 

 It has been repeatedly submerged by the sea and raised again 

 by the throes of geology. Its columns are honeycombed by 

 marine animals to prove the fact. The interest attaching to 

 it is scientific whollj'. 



The Dog Cave near the L,ake Avernus, where a poor beast 



