532 ITALY. 



Through every spot of the kingdom of Naples the traveller may- 

 be said to tread on classic ground, and no country presents the eye 

 with more beautiful prospects. There are still traces of the memo- 

 rable town of Cannae, as Iragments of altars, corn ces, gates, walls, 

 vaults, and under ground granaries ; and the scene of action between 

 Hannibal and the Romans is still marked out to posterity, by the 

 name of fiezzo di sangue, " field of blood." Taranto, a city that was 

 once the rival of Rome, is now remarkable for little else than its 

 fisheries. Sorento is a town placed on the brink ol steep rocks, that 

 overhang the bay, and, of all the places in the kingdom, has the most 

 delightful climate. Nola, once famous for its amphitueatre, and as 

 the place where Augustus Caesar died, is now hardly worth observa- 

 tion. 



Brundusium, now Brindisi, was the great supplier of oysters for 

 the Roman tables. It has a fine port, but the buildings are poor and 

 ruinous ; and the fall of the Grecian empire under the Tusks re- 

 duced it to a state of inactivity and poverty, from which it has not 

 yet emerged. Except Rome, no city can boast of so many remains 

 of ancient sculpture as Benevento: here the arch of Trajan, one of 

 the most magnificent remains of Roman grandeur, out of Rome, 

 erected in the year 114, is still in tolerable preservation. Reggio 

 contains nothing remarkable but a Gothic cathedral. It was destroy- 

 ed by an earthquake before the Marsian war, and rebuilt by Julius 

 Caesar : part of the wall still remains, and was much damaged by the 

 earthquake in 1783, but not destroyed: only 126 persons lost t':eir 

 lives, out of 16,000 inhabitants. The ancient city of Oppido was en- 

 tirely ruined by that earthquake, the greatest force of which seems 

 to have been exerted near that spot, and at Casal Nuova, and To i"ra 

 Nuova. From Trupea to Squillace, most of the towns and villages 

 were either totally or in part overthrown, and many of the inhabitants 

 buried in the ruins. 



Sicily, once the granary of the world for corn, still continues to sup- 

 ply Naples, and other parts, with that commodity ; but its cultivation, 

 and consequently, fertility, is greatly diminished. Its vegetable, mi- 

 neral, and animal productions, are pretty much the same with those 

 of Italy. 



Both the ancients and moderns have maintained that Sicily was ori- 

 ginally joined to the continent of Italy, but gradually separated from 

 it by the encroachments of the sea, and the shocks of earthquakes, so 

 as to become a perfect island. The climate of Sicily is so hot, that 

 even in the beginning of January the shade is refreshing : and chilling 

 winds are only felt a few days in March, and then a small fire is suffi- 

 cient to banish the cold. The only appearance of winter is found to- 

 wards the summit of Mount Mtna, where snow falls, which the inha- 

 bitants have a contrivance for preserving. Churches, convents, and 

 religious foundations are extremely numerous here : the buildings 

 are handsome, and the revenues considerable. If this island were 

 better cultivated, it would, in many respects, be a delightful place of 

 residence. There are a great number of fine remains of antiquity 

 here. Some parts of this island are remarkable for the beauty of the 

 female inhabitants. Palermo, the capital of Sicily, is computed to 

 contain 120,000 inhabitants. The two principal streets, and which 

 cross each other, are very fine. This is said to be the only town in 

 all Italy which is lighted at night at the public expence. It carries on 

 a considerable trade j as als© did Messina, which, before the earth- 



