128 
modern invention. The two windows 
which now exift in it were made by order 
of Alphonfo I., who likewife caufed the 
road and the vault of the grotto to be re- 
paired ; but as the light which enters it 
comes from the fummit of the mountain, 
and has long paffages to traverfe, only a 
weak and dubious glimmer pervades the 
cavern. Oncea-year, however, it is illu- 
mioated in a brilliant manner, that Is, at 
the autumnal equinox. The Sun, fetting 
at this feafon exa€tly oppofite the outlet 
of the grotto, which is extremely flraight, 
“throws his rays to the other extremity. 
At this moment the fpeCtator may difcern 
all the fnuofities of the vault, the traces 
of the ancient chariots, fome of which are 
fifteen feet above the prefent foil, anda 
multitude of names, which different tra- 
vellers have infcribed on its walls; but 
this folar illumination las no more than 
five minutes, and re-appears only with the 
revolution of the year. 
“‘ Before we quit this grotto, Tought to 
mention the fuppofed tomb of . Virgil. 
This is the {mall monument above the 
entrance of the cavern, and which, ata 
diftance, refembles a dormar-window 
moie than a tomb. This little vault, 
narrow, and of no great depth, is abfo- 
lutely empty ; and it is, befides, well 
known that Virgil was interred near Sebet, 
that is, at the other extremity of Naples. 
The common peonle, however, infift that 
the remains of that great man are at Pau- 
ilyppo, and from time to time carry into 
the vault branches of laurel, which being 
frequently renewed, induce a belief. of the 
immortality of that-tree. The loweft 
clafs of the people have a great veneration 
for Virgil : you will undoubtedly ima- 
gine that it muft be on account of his po- 
etic genius. By no means: they refpedct 
his memory becaufe he was a great magi- 
cian, who by one ftroke of his wand cre- 
ated the cavern of Paufilyppo. 
<* If you now pafs over the hill that fe- 
parates the Gulph of Naples from that of 
Puzzuoli, your eye will hover over the 
Campi Phlegrai, the environs of Solfa- 
tara, denominated by the Romans Forum 
Vulcani. The protuberance of the moun- 
tain conceals the lake of Agnano and its 
pitturefque barks ; but you perceive the 
cape on which is ftuated Puzzuoli, anda 
portion of that ‘own. It was formerly 
called Puteolum; and at a period fill 
more remote th- Greeks gave it the ap- 
peliation of Dicéarchie. A temple, an 
amphitheatre, and a monument eretted 
to Tiberius by fourteen towns of Afia 
which he rebuilt, are nearly the whole 
Account of the Environs of Naples. 
[ March 1, 
that remains of its ancient fplendour. 
Thofe enormous piles, once joined toge- 
ther by arches, are the ruins of the mole 
which formed its harbour. Here it was 
that Caligula ordered a bridge to be con- 
ftru€ted acrofs the fea, and paffed over it 
to Baie with all the equipage of war and 
all the price of a ridiculous victory. 
‘* From this point follow the coaft, which 
curves off in a femicircle to Mount Mife- 
num. In the hollow which is neareft to 
us was the academy of Cicero ; farther off 
the villa of Hortentius ; farther fill that 
of Servilius Vatia ; and la{tly that belong- 
ing to Pifo, which Nero afterwards occu- 
pied. That elevated caftle on which you 
fee a flag flying is the caftle of Baiz. 
There it was that the exécrable Anicetus, 
in obedience to the orders of a monfter, 
endeavoured to drown Agrippina. Be- 
hind the cape are to be fe:n the remains 
,of Bauli, where that princefS, having 
efcaped the dangers of the fea, was dif- 
patched by the clubs and fwords of the 
fate'lites of a parricide: The modeft 
tomb which exifts at the foot of the hiil, 
and turns obliquely towards the fea, is 
faid to be that of this emprefs, who was 
ftill more unfortunate than fhe was crimi- 
nal. : 
«* Now let us turn back to this laft pie- 
ture, of which you have furveyed only 
the portion that borders the fea. Nature 
has confpired with time to change the face 
of this once gaily fmiling country. All 
thofe little hills of a dufky-white, thrown 
into a group behind the town of Puzzuo- 
h, are the relics of thevolcane which we 
denominate Soifatara. Its cone is deftroy- 
ed. All the combuftible matter it con- 
tained has been confumed by internal fire ; 
nothing is left but the circumference of 
its bafe, formed by a chain of rocks, fo 
calcined as to refemble heaps of lime ; 
but the fire of the aby/fs is {till aétive as 
ever ; and if there are now no eruptions, 
the reafon is, becaufe there is no fuel to 
feed the flame. E 
‘¢ This volcano, after remaining ftifled, 
as it were, for ages, burft forth, fatally 
for Puzzuoli, which it almoft entirely de- 
{troyed. The temple of the Nymphs, the 
magnificent ruins of which are feen near 
the fhore, exhibits an extraordinary fpec- 
tacle. After it had been burned by an 
eruption of Solfatara, it was covered for 
four centuries by the fea, which another 
volcanic fhock again obliged to retire. 
Irs beautiful marble columns, fome of 
which are ftill ftanding, pieces of entabla- 
ture of exquifite workmanfhip, have been 
in many places confumed by the fre; and 
when 
