VINE IN ITALY. 91 



To this circumstance was the discovery due, as 

 in one of the Sirroccos, common to the Bay of 

 Naples, the ashes were so blown away 33 to ex- 

 pose to view the top of a chimney, leaving it a 

 foot or two above the circumjacent ground. It 

 does not belong to our subject to enter on a de- 

 tail of the curious incidents unfolded in the un- 

 covering of the forgotten city; the feverish ex- 

 citement on the subject is inflamed rather than 

 allayed by the disentombing of Pompeii, as the 

 antiquary wanders amongst her majestic ruins, or 

 pauses to admire the exquisite touches of the 

 chisel, with which "by gone days," have in- 

 flated ephemeral dignity, or patrician pride. 



To our present purpose, her chief importance 

 arises from the circumstance that she lies beneath 

 the ashes producing the Lachrymas Christi. 

 The two wines, the white and the red, differ con- 

 siderably in character, though each is esteemed 

 among the cherished productions of the Italian 

 vine. I consider the former as possessing the 

 more delicate flavour, being free from the astrin- 

 gency common to the red wines of Italy, and 

 bearing a slight resemblance to a light old Ma- 

 deira, though with less body. I found the red 

 Lachrymae so slightly imbued with the astrin- 

 gency spoken of, as scarcely to be detected on 

 drinking the first glass. The best specimen of 

 that wine available to the stranger visiting that 

 country is probably at the Hermitage, a monas- 

 try of Friars, inhabiting a position about midway 

 as you ascend to the crater of Vesuvius, and in 

 the centre of the extensive vinegrounds. It is 

 there that it is to be drunk in the highest perfec- 



