668 Mr. Ra's 
feen a' great Stone perforated, and jetting out to tie 
Veffels to. Certain it is, as well from the Manner of 
its Arches, as from the Bricks, that it was an ancient 
Roman Work. From hence we pafsM crofs the Gulph 
to Baja., to defcribe the Antiquities of v/hich Place, 
would require a Volume alone, for which Reafon we 
will refer the Reader to fuch, both Latin and Englijh 
Authors, as have given us a full Defcription of them. 
I will content myfelf with giving you fome Account of 
the Grots or fweating Places, call’d by them Eagne 
(Baths) de Lritoli. 
This is a ftrait and long Paflage, like a long Entry, 
the upper Part whereof is fo hot, that fliould a Man 
walk long upright, he muft be ftifled by the hot Va- 
pours which fill up the upper Part of this Vault, where- 
as the lower Part is pafiable enough, fo that every one 
is obliged to ftoop. What I obferved chiefly was, 
that the lower Part of the Vault, as far as it is tolera- 
bly cool, was covered on the Sides with a very folid 
Stone, whereas the upper Part was an undluous friable 
Kind of Clay or Plailter ; and . what is more obfer- 
vable is, that at the very Partition of the Stones and 
the Clay, on the Sides of the Bath, the Difference of 
the Degrees of Heat is very perceiveable j fo that where 
you find the Clay reach lower, you muft rule the In- 
clination of your Body accordingly. V/e found a watry 
Vapour contained in thefe fulphureous Steams, as was 
fufficiently manifeft from the Drops, which notwith- 
ftanding the great Heat, were condenfed on the Sides 
of the Vault. 
In our Return from thence, we took a View of the 
JSlew Mountain.^ called by fome Monte di Cenere., (Cin- 
der-Mountain) raifed by an Earthquake in 1538, Sep- 
tember the 29th, its whole Altitude being now about 
an hundred Foot perpendicular. . We were told that it 
produced Nothing, yet Vv'e found Myrtle., MaJiiekTit&s, 
and fome other Shrubs there. It is compofed of a fpongy 
Earth, which makes a great Sound if you ftamp hard. By 
the fame Earthquake the Lacus Lucrinus was fill’d up with 
Stones and Earth, and turned into a fenny Meadow. 
As we were coming back from Pozzuolo, we viewed alfo 
the Mountain czWdSolfatara (anciently Campi Fhilegrai) 
which burns continually. On the very Top of it is a ve- 
ry large excavated Hole, of an oval Figure, 1500 Foot 
long, and 1000 broad, where is the Burning ; befides 
which, there are divers other Holes, which convey the 
Smoke as out of a Furnace. Out of thofe Vents I ga- 
thered a kind of Flores Sulphuris, and Sal Armoniac, which 
ftuck to the Mouths of thofe Holes, and thrufting a 
Sword into them, or any other Iron, you will find it 
all bedewed with Drops of Water, an evident Sign 
that there is a confiderable Share of Water mixed with 
thofe fiery Exhalations •, and what confirmed me the 
more in this Opinion, was, that thofe Flores would not 
burn or melt, by reafon of the heterogenous Particles 
mixed with them. The Inhabitants have a Way of fe- 
parating them from the Brimftone, which lies as thick 
as a Cruft all over the Mountain. As you walk, you 
hear the Earth found every Step you make, as it were 
hollow underneath and what is more, if every Thing 
be quiet, you may hear the very boiling and bubbling 
of the Minerals or other Liquors. 
About five Miles diftant from Napks, is the famed 
Mount Vefuvius, where we found the Ground all about 
the Sides of it covered with Cinders and porous Stones, 
which had been call thus far during the Conflagration : 
We alfo perceived great Channels, ftich as are com- 
monly left after ftrong and fudden Floods, which they 
told us were the Efifefts of the W aters, which at the 
Time of Burning are thrown out of the Mountain. We 
found fome Acstofa ovilla near the Top, and a little 
lower Collutea fcorpioides, and fome Shrubs of Poplar. , 
It was very fteep getting up to the Top, where is a 
vaft hollow Pit of a Mile in Compafs, occafioned by 
the breaking out of the fiery Subftance, at feveral 
Times with great Violence. We obferved alfo fome 
fmall Vents or Paflages for the Smoak, but were fcarce 
confiderable enough to threaten an Irruption. 
We alfo took a View of the Grotto di Cane, or Dog’s 
Cave, near the Lake of Agnano : It is both narrow and 
■’s 'Lravels Book II. 
fhort, and (whatever forire rnay have pleafed to tell 
the World) you may go into it, and continue there 
for a long Time without Prejudice, fome of us ftayino- 
at the further End of it. above an Hour %, becaufe the 
Vapour, whether fulphureous or arfenical, afeending 
not above a Foot from the Ground, which you may per- 
ceive plainly by the Heat in your Feet and Legs, fo 
that if you bend your Head towards the Ground, you 
will be immediately fenfible of a Smell like burning 
Brimftone, which feizing your Head, makes you ftag- 
ger, and may ftifle one'. We took a Dog, and hold- 
ing his Nofe down near the Ground, almoft killed him ; 
then throwing him into the Lake to recover him, we 
found him too weak to fwim, and fo was drowned. 
We try’d. the fame Experiment with a Pullet, which 
was killed immediately •, and afterwards with a Frog, 
which likewife did not live long ; and Jaft of all, with 
a Serpent, which did not hold out above half an Hour. 
If you hold a Candle below the Part where the Va- 
pours are, it is extinguifhed immediately. I am of 
Opinion, that many more fuch Grots might be di?o-ed 
hereabouts. 
As we were going to this Grot, we pafied through 
the artificial Paffage or Vault, through Mount PaufilF 
pus, performed by one Cocceius in fifteen Days. We 
judged it about half an Englijh Mile long, though 
fome will have it as long again. Where it is loweft, 
which is in the Middle, it is twelve Foot high, and 
broad enough for two Carts to pafs conveniently by 
one another. As it is fo dark in the Middle (no Light 
coming in but at the two Ends) that no body can fee 
one another, fo thofe that pafs through it, cry always 
Alla Marina if they go to the Sea-fide, and Alla mon- 
tagna if they go towards the Country ; fo that each 
taking the Left Hand, they prevent the running upon 
one another. 
We obferved the Fifh-boats out at Sea with Lights at 
one End, to draw the Fifti after it, and fo they ftrike 
them with a Mole-fpear, 
19. April 29. We . continued our Voyage in the fame 
Veffel, that had brought us hither, to Sicily, and arri- 
ved, May the 2d, at MeJJina : We failed by the ^0^ 
lides ox Vulcanise infulce, two ot which, viz. Stromboli zx\di 
Vulcano, ftill burn •, we faw the firft all in Flames as we 
pafs’d by in the Night time. It being no eafy Matter 
to make the Mouth of the Streight, by the Faro of 
MeJJina, by Reafon of the Current, which is very violent 
here, fometimes running towards Calabria, fometimes 
towards Sicily ; our Mafter was forced to hire a Pilot 
for ten Pieces of Eight, who eondufted us fafely 
through it. 
The Harbour of MeJJina itfelf is very good, being 
enclofed by the City on one Side, and on the other by 
a Neck of Land. As the fioufes along the Sea-fide 
are loftily built of Stone, they make a noble Show at a 
Diftance, but are but indifferent within, and the Streets 
narrow and ill paved, which verifies the Italian Proverb, 
At Meffina you have Fuji, Fleas, and Whores in Plenty. 
This City ftands in Competition with Palermo, both 
pretending to the Title of being the Metropolis of Si- 
cily, which is the Reafon that the Viceroy refides eigh- 
teen Months in each, during his Government. The 
MeJJmeJe boaft. of great Privileges granted by Charles V. 
the Emperor, and pretend to the Monopoly of Silk, 
which was indeed formerly vended at MeJJina, but the 
Palermitans having got a confiderable Share of that 
Trade into their own Hands fince, this caufed great 
Jealoufies between thofe two Places, which affedts 
the whole Kingdom, fome taking Part with one, and 
fome with the other of thofe Cities. The Inhabitants 
of MeJJina are none of the moft poliffi’d, haughty in 
their Converfation, and very prone to Rebellion. The 
Spaniards are in PoffelTion of four Caftles in and about 
the City, and the MeJJmeJe of as many ^ for the reft, the 
City Gates are open at all Times. The Government of 
this City is adminiftred by fix Perfons, whom they call 
Jurats, four of which are chofen out of the Gentry, and 
two out of the common Citizens. Their Government 
is annual, and though the firft have the Majority of 
Votes, yet can they tranfacl Nothing of Moment with- 
