NOTES  OF  TRAVEL  IN  EUROPE. 
25 
possess  great  interest,  as  grand  works  of  his  art,  representing  a  type 
almost  peculiar  to  this  region  ;  but,  apart  from  the  pleasure  always  de- 
rived from  contemplating  such  objects,  our  interest  in  the  Cathedral  cen- 
tred in  the  old  hanging  lamp  or  chandelier  which  centuries  back  gave  to 
Galileo  the  idea  of  the  pendulum  ;  and  it  hangs  there  yet  as  it  did  then  ! 
Noble  old  man  !  Laborer  for  the  intellectual  emancipation  not  only  of 
Italy  but  of  his  race.  May  the  old  lamp  continue  to  hang  and  swing  until, 
under  her  political  Galileo,  civil  and  religious  emancipation  shall  extend 
through  every  city  and  hamlet  from  the  Alpine  wall  of  free  Switzerland 
over  the  whole  peninsula  and  islands  ! 
We  next  ascended  the  tower,  A  stone  dropped  from  the  depressed  side, 
the  air  being  quiet,  struck  the  earth  nearly  14  feet  from  the  base,  about 
the  alleged  inclination  of  this  remarkable  structure,  which  evidently  was 
once  perpendicular,  as  indicated  by  the  stairs  and  the  base.  It  is  187  feet 
high  and  52  feet  in  diameter,  and  seems  as  firmly  bound  together  as  when 
built.  The  Baptistery  is  remarkable  for  the  echo  under  its  dome,  and 
when,  rather  heretically,  we  slowly  repeated  a  couplet  of  one  of  our  national 
airs,  the  effect  was  most  strikingly  exhibited.  The  Campo  Santo  is  chiefly 
remarkable  as  a  relic  of  the  age  of  the  Crusaders,  when,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  their  initial  idea,  53  vessel  loads  of  earth  from  the  Holy  City  were 
transported  to  this  vast  marble  enclosure  as  a  burial  place  par  excellence 
for  Christian  warriors  and  pilgrims. 
Returning  to  Leghorn,  we  re-embarked.  Thus  far  our  acquaintance 
with  the  Mediterranean  had  been  marked  by  an  uninterrupted  calm,  but 
Neptune,  well  known  all  along  these  classic  shores,  seemed  displeased  at 
the  tardiness  of  our  offerings,  so,  in  a  manner  not  unusual  in  this  sea,  he 
stirred  up  the  waters  until  nearly  all  on  board  were  glad  to  pay  his  de- 
mands and  be  quit  of  his  presence.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  we 
hove  in  sight  of  the  heights  of  Ischia,  with  Cumae  on  the  east.  All  were 
now  alert.  Steering  eastward  we  passed  between  the  island  of  Procida 
and  Misenum,  and  were  in  the  far-famed  Bay  of  Naples.  Every  spot 
before  us  teemed  with  classic  memories.  Baise  and  Misenum,  the  great 
naval  depot  of  ancient  Rome  in  her  height  of  power,  were  nearest.  Here 
it  was  that  Pompey's  fleet  lay  when  Augustus  and  Antony  went  aboard  to 
concert  with  him  the  second  triumvirate,  and  all  along  the  top  and  side  of 
the  promontory  were  the  luxurious  villas  where  the  patricians  of  Rome 
were  wont  to  spend  their  time.  Across  the  little  bay  is  Pozzuoli,  and  its 
ruined  temple  and  amphitheatre,  whilst  in  the  back  ground  Monte  Nuovo 
raises  its  diminutive  head.  Meanwhile  our  good  vessel  had  brought  us 
within  view  of  the  cone  of  Vesuvius,  unmarked  by  even  the  lightest  traces 
of  visible  volcanic  exhalations,  the  chiefest  point  in  this  cluster  of  land- 
scape  beauty  extending  from  Capri  and  the  heights  of  Sorrento  on  the  south 
along  the  bay  shore,  where  lie  Castellammare,  Pompeii,  Torre  del  Greco, 
Herculaneum  and  Portici,  to  the  outskirts  of  Naples,  not  yet  visible,  behind 
the  promontory  of  Posilipo.     But  in  half  an  hour  all  had  been  revealed, 
