268 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



and many houses. Leaving our horses at the foot of the cone, 

 in a kind of valley which was no doubt the former crater, now 

 shut in by Somma and Vesuvius, which at the time of the 

 eruption probably were united in one peak, we had to climb 

 the steep and ashy cone on foot, a feat of no small difficulty, 

 owing to the want of foothold in the loose debris which con- 

 stantly gives way under the feet. But we got up at last, and 

 looked down into the frightful crater. From the top of Vesuvius 

 the prospect is most grand and beautiful, embracing many a 

 point of great historical interest. 



Another excursion took us to Pozzuoli, in the opposite direc- 

 tion from Naples, after we had visited the Lago d'Agnano and 

 the Grotto del Cane, a region alive with volcanic action. At 

 the grotto the hot sulphurous vapors rise with such force, that 

 a few seconds only are sufficient to kill a dog, an experiment 

 which was tried in our presence, when the poor fellow was 

 thrown into such convulsions that he was long in coming to life 

 again. Li the pond near by myriads of frogs appeared to suffer 

 from the same cause, the impurity of the water, for they con- 

 stantly leaped up from the surface of the water, as if to get a 

 breath of air. Immense loads of flax and hemp were being 

 rotted in the old fashioned way along the shores. On the way 

 to Pozzuoli we pass also large fields of hemp growing in the 

 shade of trees. 



Pozzuoli is an ancient city of much interest, containing a 

 vast amphitheatre, now in ruins, a magnificent temple of Jupiter 

 Serapis, and many other antiquities. Here is where Saint Paul 

 landed on his way to Rome. Lake Avernus, which Virgil and 

 the old poets represent as the descent into hell, is near by, and 

 so are tlie classic shores of Baiae. We passed by the tomb of 

 Virgil, both in going and coming. It is in a lovely spot, 

 overlooking the bay. 



Another drive took us to San Elmo, and the convent of San 

 Martiiio, adorned with the most costly paintings. They had 

 been offered, as the monk who showed us through said, no less 

 than eighty thousand dollars for a single painting. I will not 

 .atterai)t to describe the splendid museum of Naples, the richest, 

 in some respects, in the world. We visited it several times, 

 ibut could not see enough of its anticjue works of art and 



