4806.] 
when they were afterwards overwhelmed 
by the billows, the madrepores and fhell- 
fihh adhered to them ; fo that the precious 
fragments of this admirable monument 
bear the two-fold impreffion of both the 
elements that con{pired to deftroy the fa- 
oric. 
“<* Between the bottom of that Gulph 
and the Caftle of Baiz, but farther in- 
land, you fee a lofty mountain, denomi- 
nated by the Latins Mons Gaurus, and 
which the Italians call I] Monte Barbaro. 
This place is celebrated for the battles 
fought there between the Romans and the 
Samnites: but between that mountain 
and the fea you obierve another of a coni- 
cal form, whofe fummit appears to have 
been lopped off. That we call Monte 
Nuovo ; and the name indicates that its 
formation is of recentdate. This volcanic 
cone, in fact, iffued on the 29th of Septem- 
ber, 1538, from the earth, vomiting forth 
a deluge of fire and afhes: it ingulphed 
the village of Tripergola, fituated on that 
{pot : it dried up the Lucrine lake, for- 
merly famous for its excellent cytters : it 
obliged the fea to retire, and caufed the 
relics of the Julian port, celebrated by 
Virgil, to difappear. . 
‘* This Monte Nuovo prevents the 
view of the lake of Avernus, which is be- 
hind it. On the banks of this lake are 
the ruins of atemple, fuppofed to have 
been erected in honour of Apollo; and on 
the oppofite fide is the entrance of a grot- 
to, very abfurdly imagined to be that of 
the Sibyl of Cume. Virgil diftin&ly 
defcribes two grottoes: that of the Sibyl, 
which he places at.Cumez, and that of 
hell, on the banks of Avernus. We ac- 
tually find at Cumez a large cavern, 
which ferves as an entrance to a grotto. 
fimilar to that of Paufilyppo, but much 
longer. Itis to this that the following 
verfes mutit be applied ; 
Excifum Euboicez latus ingens rupis in an- 
trum 
Quo lati ducunt aditus centum, oftia centum 
Unde ruunt totidem voces, refponfa Sibyllz. 
‘© Thefe hundred mouths and hundred 
fubterranean caves {till exift in the mul- 
titude of galleries conftru&ted under 
ground, and many of which are in fuch 
prefervation, that you may proceed along 
them to a confiderable diftance: but the 
giotio of the lake of Avernus is very dif- 
ferent. Of the latterthe fame poet fays, 
Spelunca alta fuit, vaftoque immanis hiatu 
Scrupea, = lacu nigroy nemerumgue tene- 
T1S6 
Account of the Environs of Naples. 129° 
“© There you ftill find the lake, formerly 
putrid and brackifh, but now pure and: 
limpid. You likewife fee the wood that 
covers it, and the vaft mouth of the ca- 
vern, at the bottom of which a fpiral pa@ 
fage defcends into the bowels of the earth. 
6*Tn the dir@étion of Monte Nuovo calt 
your eyes on the plain that ex ends to the 
fea: the little eminence which appears at 
the extremity bears the ruins of the town 
of Camz, which was a rich and power- 
ful place before the building of Rome. 
A gate of a beautiful conitruction is fill 
ftanding : you may alfo fee the pavement 
of feveral ftreets, and a great number of 
arches covered with buthes, which afford 
a retreat to the birds of night and to rep. 
tiles. Farther on is an amohitheatre al. 
moft entirely in ruins, and the fub-bafe- 
ment of a temple formed of enormous 
blocks, that remind the fpectator of this 
expreffion of Virgil :— 
ARB Nala Poiuitque immania templa. 
‘© Let us now furvey the caftle of Baize, 
and follow the curvature of the coaft ter~ 
minated by the promontory of Mifenum, 
Ancther gulph of acircular form indents 
the land, and extends to the marfhes of 
the Acheron. It was there that Pliny 
commanded the fleets of Rome ; it was 
there that he fet out to obferve the firft 
eruption of Vefuvius, and facrificed his 
life to his curiofity. Weare at laft ap- 
proaching that mountain of ereater ceie- 
brity then magnitude, Mount Mifevum, 
where the pious A®neas pertormed the ob- 
fequies of the moft able trumpeter in his 
army. 
‘* Near that fpot Lucullus, who was 
called Xerxes Togatus, pofliffed thofe 
maonificent gardens, that (plendid palace, 
which were looked upon as a prodigy in 
an age when every object was gigantic 
and prodigious. 
‘« Beyond the cape which terminates 
that gallery of ruins, two iflands have 
the appearance of being joined to the con- 
tinent : they are the ancient Pythecufe, 
now Procida and If{chia. The former Je- 
vel aad uniform, fcareely rifes above the 
furface of the fea : you cannot perceive it. 
The fecond is that high mountain, whofe 
peaked fummit is loft in the clouds, and 
refembles a coloffal pyramid dettined for 
the boundary between the dominions 
Ceres and of Neptune. 
‘© Here the fea checks our courfe, and 
terminates half of the circle which we have 
to traverfe. To examine the other half, 
Jet us return to the point whence we fet 
out, and finith from left to right the «xa- 
’ mination 
