CAM 



304 



CAM 



Camp, near the Cape of Good Hope, is one of the grand- 

 Campagna. e8t o f poetical fictions, and the invention is com- 

 *"~ " V - pletely his own. We subjoin the translation : 



" Rising through the darken'd air, 



Appall'd, we saw a hideous phantom glare; 



High and enormous o'er the flood he tower'd, 



And 'thwart our way with sullen aspect lower'd. 



An earthy paleness o'er his cheeks was spread ; 



Erect uprose his hairs of wither'd red. 



Writhing to speak, his sable lips disclose, 



Sharp and disjoin'd, his gnashing teeth's blue rows ; 



His haggard beard flow'd quivering on the wind ; 



Revenge and horror in his mien combin'd. 



His clouded brow, by withering light'nings scar'd, 



The inward anguish of his soul declar'd. 



His red eyes glowing from their dusky caves, 



Shot livid fires : far echoing o'er the waves 



His voice resounded ; as the cavern'd shore 



With hollow groan repeats the tempest's roar." 



() 



CAMP. See CASTRAMETATION. 



CAMPAGNA DI ROMA, formerly Campania, is 

 a province of Italy, which comprehends the greater 

 part of ancient Latium. It is bounded on the north 

 by Sabina ; on the east and south east by Abruzzo 

 Ultra, and Lavoro ; on the south west by the Me- 

 diterranean ; and on the north west by the Patrimony 

 of St Peter. 



The Campagna di Roma, which is about 45 miles 

 broad in almost every direction, is, as its name de- 

 notes, a flat and level district, interspersed with but 

 few elevations. In approaching Rome from the north, 

 the sky-line towards the south and south-west has 

 the appearance of one uninterrupted level, except 

 where the dome of St Peter's rises majestically above 

 the horizon, and indicates, at the distance of many 

 miles, the position of Rome. The soil of the Cam- 

 pagna is wholly volcanic, and seems to be com- 

 posed chiefly of the detritus of pumice-stone. It is 

 generally dry, but wherever there is moisture, the 

 vegetation is very luxuriant. 



The elevations of the Campagna, to the south of 

 the Tiber, have commonly the form of great waves, 

 whose summits are very distant from each other, and 

 the intervals between these elevations are valleys 

 which drain to the Tiber or to the sea, and form 

 the richest meadows-. These elevations are all vol- 

 canic, and have a nucleus of hard stone, called 

 peperino, or tuffa, which appears to be only the 

 volcanic matter in a state of higher induration. 

 These hills are pierced in every direction by ca- 

 verns ; and M. Bonstetten, who examined this part 

 of Italy with the greatest care, affirms, that he 

 never could find a rock without numerous excava- 

 tions. Many of them, which were inhabited by rob- 

 ^ bers, have been shut up by the police, and others have 

 been concealed by the falling of the earth. These 

 caverns, in which no marjcs of fusion appear, are 

 almost always round, though they sometimes pass 

 through rocks in a cylindrical form. Some of 

 them in the neighbourhood of the famous brook 

 of Cremera, are of a singular structure. Beds of 

 small calcareous stones are found in the volcanic 

 matter ; and all the hills in the neighbourhood 

 are pierced with caves of a similar structure, which 

 have been used as prisons or tombs. Bonstetten en- 

 deavours to explain these appearances, by supposing 



that the whole of Latium was formerly a gulf of Campagna. 

 the sea, which extended to the base of the moun- 

 tains of Sabina, and that the pebbles were stratified 

 at the time when the submarine volcanoes were in ac- 

 tion. ef Toutes ces cavernes prouvent que 'es eaux 

 qui ont stratifie ces galets ont fait leur ouvrage dans 

 le terns des volcans, qui melant leur ejections parmi 

 les depots des fleuves, ont enfin fait sortir de la mer 

 le sol de cette Rome, destinee comme les volcans dont 

 elle est issue, a deveuir le foyer d'autres bouleverse- 

 mens." 



The highest eminence in the Campagna is Monte 

 Albano; now Monte Cavo, which is about six leagues 

 from Rome, and rises about 2920 feet above the le- 

 vel of the sea. It is united at its base, on one side, 

 to the Algidus of the ancients ; and on the other, to 

 Monte Velletri, and forms an immense insulated mass, 

 situated on an extensive plain, and almost at an equal 

 distance from the sea and the calcareous mountains 

 of Sabina. A chain of hills surrounds the base of 

 Monte Cavo; and on the tops of those which encircle 

 the northern *side of its base, are placed the villages 

 of Compiti, Colonna, Monte Porcia, Frascati, Rocca- 

 di-Papa, Marino, Castel Gandolfo, Albano, Larric- 

 cia, Gensano, and Citta Lavigna. This mountain 

 is composed of volcanic ejections, and the Rocca di 

 Papa consists of tuffa. 



Mount Soracte, which is about eight leagues north- 

 east of Rome, is completely insulated, and nses to 

 the height of about 2119 feet. 



The next principal eminence in the Campagna, is 

 the Villa Millini, which is placed on the summit of 

 Monte Mario, about half a league to the north east 

 of Rome. Its height, above the level of the sea, is 440 

 feet, and as it occupies the centre of the great plain, 

 it commands a most extensive view of the Campagna. 

 The rock of which it consists, is filled with shells, 

 but is slightly indurated, and the base of the hill rests 

 on the volcanic matter which surrounds it. Bonstet- 

 ten supposes that Mount Albano and Soracte have 

 both a calcareous nucleus below the volcanic mat- 

 ter, and that the whole base of the Campagna is 

 likewise calcareous. As a proof of this, he mentions 

 that in the Grotto del Mondo, at Tivoli, large cal- 

 careous stones are found embedded in the volcanic 

 ejections which form the vault of the caverns. The 

 great plain of Rome is completely free of stones, and 

 those which do occur are either brought there by the 

 hand of man, or detached from some neighbouring 

 volcanic rock. The streets of Rome, and all the 

 ancient roads, are paved with hard lava ; and it is only 

 on the side of Palestrina, the ancient Preneste, that 

 calcareous stones appear in the volcanic soil. 



The volcanic ejections seem to have had their prin- 

 cipal direction from north to south, since Monte Ca- 

 vo, the highest elevation, is entirely enveloped, while the 

 Villa Millini is scarcely covered ; and on the cal- 

 careous hills to the east the volcanic soil terminates 

 at the height of 30 or 40 toises above the plain. 



A ridge of hills raised about 300 or 400 feet above 

 the level of the sea, stretch in a direction parallel to 

 the coast, from the Tiber to Torre St Lorenzo, be- 

 yond Ardea. The tongue of land which lies be- 

 tween this range and the sea is entirely formed by 

 the alluvion of the Tiber and of the sea, which throws 



