General Science. 
S81 
mark of the carriage- wheels in the lava pavement is evident. In 
Murat’s time, 4000 nien were employed in excavating ; and so a 
great number of houses, , perhaps one- third of the town, have 
been uncovered ; but, at present, there are only 1 1 men and a 
few boys at work. I fancy the Neapolitans find the expenee of 
giving 20,000 Austrian troops double pay a little troublesome ; 
and so excavationsf must stand over for the present. The houses 
\vere all small, generally of two stories, but beautifully painted; 
and the figures of animals, such as horses, peacocks, &c. are as 
bright as that day they were painted. There are two theatres 
standing, and one amphitheatre, all nearly perfect ; but I find it 
impossible to give you any idea of the wonders we saw in one 
walk through Pompeii. At one time, we walked up a street 
called the Strada dei Mercantis. On either side of us, the 
shops of Mosaic sellers, statuaries, bakers, &c. &c., with the 
owners’ names painted in red, and the sign of his shop rudely 
carved above the door. The mill in the baker’s shop, and the 
oven, amused us much. At another time, we passed through 
the Hall of Justice, the Temple of Hercules, the Villa of Cicero, 
and the Villa of Sallust. The only villa of three stories I ob- 
served, belonged to a man called Arrius Diomedes (his name 
was at the side of the door) ; and, in the cellar, beside some 
jars for wine, still standing, was the skeleton of this poor fel- 
low, found with a purse in one hand, and some trinkets in his 
left, followed by another bearing up some silver and bronze 
vases, the last supposed to have been his servant. They had 
been trying to escape, by taking refuge in the cellar. .]\Jlany 
other curious things have been discovered here, and a great deal 
may yet be brought to light ; for, from a ticket of a sale stuck 
up on the wall of a house, it would appear that one person had 
no fewer than 900 shops to let. The street of the tombs is the 
most impressive ; they are beautiful and extremely interesting. 
One for the gladiators has a representation of the different modes 
of fighting carved on it ; and, from this it would seem, that they 
occasionally fought on horseback ; which, before the discovery of 
Pompeii, was unknown. Here, however, I must stop, and leave 
you to hear more about the matter from my journal, which is 
very full. 
On the 6th of this month, we made out our visit to the top 
VOLi X. NO. 20. APRIL 1824. c c 
