-v 
 
 TRAVELS 
 
 IN THE 
 
 TWO SICILIES, 
 
 B Y 
 
 f 
 
 HENRY SWINBURNE, Efq. 
 
 I N 
 
 The Years 1777, 1778, *779> and 1780. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 QUID VERUM ATQUE DECENS CURO — HOR. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 PRINTED FOR P. ELMSLY, IN THE STRAND. 
 
 M.DCC.LXXXIII.
 
 DQr 
 
 U 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 I CANNOT prefume to print a Tour through the 
 Two Sicilies, without offering an apology for its appear- 
 ance, They have been fo often defcribed, that nothing 
 but novelty of matter can excufe a frefh attempt. Our 
 earliefl: education has made us acquainted with thofe 
 claflic regions ; Poetry and Hiftory have rendered their 
 topography familiar to us, and every fchool-boy can point 
 out the ruins of Magna Graecia and Sicily. No country, 
 Latium alone excepted, has fo frequently employed the 
 pen of the antiquary; and the obfervations made by tra- 
 vellers of a political turn may be fuppofed to have can- 
 vailed fufficiently the advantages as well as inconveniences 
 of its prefent fituation. 
 
 Under the difcouragement arifing from this anticipation, 
 and the unpromifing circumftance of pafiing over ground 
 often and nicely examined, I yet do not defpair of convey- 
 ing fuch information on many heads, as may juflify my 
 boldnefs to the Reader, if, from a laudable defire of 
 improvement, any will venture with me along fo beaten a 
 track. Part of my route is frefh land; and where I fhali 
 be under the irkfome neceility of treading in the footfleps 
 
 A 2 of 
 
 r \
 
 IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 of preceding authors, 1 hope fomething will be {truck out 
 that has efcaped their penetration. Far be it from me, 
 wantonly, to impugn their authority, or detract from their 
 merits ; I only wifli to infinuate, that, as two perfons 
 feldom consider an object in the fame point of view, and 
 are ftill more rarely led by their perceptions to a combina- 
 tion of ideas exactly fimilar, it is but reafonable to hope 
 that many openings may be left for the remarks of fub- 
 fequent obfervers*. When allowances are made for dif- 
 ference of feafons, diverfity of ftudies, occafional informa- 
 tion, and many other accidental helps, we fhall find an 
 ample field (till remain for our curiofity to range in : to 
 fay nothing of the revolutions, moral, phylical and politi- 
 cal, effectuated by the hand of Time, which, however iiowly 
 and imperceptibly it may perform its operations, acts 
 with ifrefiltible force upon the ftate both of nature and 
 of man. In the fouthern parts of Italy, where the elements 
 ferment with more than ordinary violence, where changes 
 in o-overnment have fucceeded each other with uncommon 
 rapidity, the variations are more precipitate, . the effects 
 more ftriking. 
 
 In the courfe of feventeen centuries, the face of things 
 has been fo much altered, that the defcriptions given by 
 the ancient dailies can feldom interfere with thofe of a 
 modern writer. The later Latin and Italian authors, who 
 
 * Jamais deux hommes ne jugerent pareillement de mefme chofe. Et eft 
 impoffible de voir deux opinions femblables exaclement, non feulement de 
 divers hommes, mais en mefme homme a diverfes heures. 
 
 ESSAIS DE MoNTAGNE. 
 
 have
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 have treated thefe fubje&s, are but little known or read in 
 England, and moft of them are rather difcufTers of de- 
 tached points of hiftory and geography, than general 
 circumambulatory obfervers. They were too little acquaint- 
 ed with the laws and cuPcoms of foreign nations, to be able 
 to form juft criticifms upon thofe of their own country ; 
 and without fome folid grounds for comparifon, a writer 
 will bewilder himfelf in his reafonings, and betray in each 
 page that he is blinded and milled by ignorance and 
 vanity. 
 
 How far my endeavours to inftruct may be rendered 
 fuperfluous by any recent accounts is a point which the 
 voice of the Public has alone a right to determine. I wait 
 the deciilon with refpect, but without fear, confcious of 
 having done my utmoft to deferve its indulgence ; for to 
 my own obfervations, and the information derived from 
 bocks, I have added many interefting details communicated 
 to me by learned and curious perfons of the kingdom of 
 Naples *. 
 
 Wherever my opinions deviate from thofe of my pre- 
 deceffors, I have fludied to convey my difTent in fuch 
 diffident terms, as may avoid all appearance of an attack on 
 the literary reputation of thofe from whom I prcfume to 
 differ in fentiment: but this delicacy does not prevail fo 
 
 *■ I am particularly indebted to Monfignor Capectlatro, Archbifhopof Ta- 
 rantoj Counfellor Monfignor Galiani ; D. Filippo Brigante Patrizio di Gal- 
 lipoli •, D. Pafquale Bum; D. Domenico Cirillo; George Hart, Efquire* 
 Pat.rc Antonio Minafi, ol the order of St. Dominick; D. Domenico Miaafij, 
 Acci^reic ci' Molocchio ; ana D. Giovanni Prefta of Gallipoli,
 
 m PREFACE, 
 
 far as to obftruct the liberty of judging for myfelf; the 
 maxim of nutlius jurare in verba, constitutes the very fpirit 
 of my undertaking. In this freedom, and a fcrupulous 
 attention to truth, coniifted the chief, perhaps the only 
 merit of my Spanifh Tour. The fame principle (hall direct 
 my pen throughout the prefent work. By thus purfuing 
 the dull plain track of truth, I fhall, no doubt, run the 
 rifle of diipleafing fome of my Readers ; but, I confefs, 
 1 cannot condefcend to keep their attention alive with 
 fiction, be it ever fo agreeable. According to my plan, 
 the effufions of imagination are debarred all mare in the 
 compofition: I deny myfelf the ufual privilege of working 
 up a trivial event into a fentimental or laughable adventure; 
 the lively dialogue with perfons who never honoured me 
 with their confidence, is excluded ; nor do I allow myfelf 
 to drefs up the trite ftory of an old book of jefts, and pafs it 
 off for the fcandalous chronicle of the day. 
 
 By refuiing the afliftance of fuch ready auxiliaries, I am 
 aware that I weaken my force, and contract the circle of 
 entertainment to a degree many people will difapprove of; 
 but I intreat them to confider, that I am writing the 
 account of a real Tour, and not an imitation of Sterne's 
 Sentimental Journey. 
 
 Some Critics, I am told, have imputed as a blemifh to 
 my Letters on Spain, that I was rather an exact defcriber 
 of ftill life, than an acute delineator of characters and ' 
 manners. To this charge I can only anlvver, that having 
 detected former writers in many errors, which they had 
 
 2 fallen
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 fallen into through haftinefs, mifconception, or credulity, 
 it was natural i mould give into the oppofite extreme, and, 
 by advancing nothing but what I had vouchers for, lay 
 myfelf open to an accufation of exceflive caution, and 
 confequently dulnefs. 
 
 I am apprehenfive the fame cenfure will be pafied upon 
 my prefent publication; but I choofe to imitate the fatif- 
 factory drynefs of an authentic Gazette, rather than, like a 
 fprightly Morning-Paper, amufe and miilead, by inter- 
 weaving a thoufand pleating impoftures with half a dozen 
 real facts. 
 
 The longer any man of candour refides in a foreign 
 country, the greater difficulty he finds in giving a character 
 of its inhabitants. He perceives fo many nice varieties, 
 fo many exceptions to general rules, as almoH: deftroy 
 his hopes of drawing up one comprehenlive defcription 
 of them: he every day becomes more confcious of the 
 prefumption of thofe who run and read; and, what is worfe, 
 write. Unfortunately, it is from fuch rapid obfervations 
 that raoft people are to derive their knowledge of foreign 
 nations ; and I leave it to the impartial to decide upon the 
 probability of any refemblance exifting in fuch portraits. I 
 have read the travels of one of thefe darning writers *, who 
 allots a whole chapter, with a title in capitals, to the 
 character and manners of the Neapolitans, which points he 
 
 * Voyage de France, d'Eipagne, de Portugal, et d'ltalie, par Mr. S - 
 
 (Silhouette) in 17300 
 
 Handles 
 
 VII
 
 wiu PREFACE. 
 
 liandles with as much decifivenefs, as if he -had refided 
 forty years at Naples in quality of fpy. Upon comparing 
 the dates of his Journal, it appears, that his whole ftay in 
 that city was exactly five days and a half, part of which 
 was fpent upon Mount Vefuvius, and among the curiofities 
 of Puzzuoli. 
 
 My ftyle has been by fome thought deficient in elegance 
 and 'refinement ; but until the pofitive ideas we are to 
 attach to thefe words be afcertained and generally agreed 
 upon, I {hall not attempt to emerge out of my humble 
 fphere. They have of late been much ufed, perhaps mis- 
 applied ; and many peifons of tafte and knowledge in our 
 language are of opinion, that the terms elegant and refined 
 have been frequently employed in fpeaking of writings, 
 where the epithets, fuftian and affected, would have been 
 more applicable. They pretend, that many of our modern 
 compositions verge to that fimpering ftyle known in France 
 by the name of precieux, which breaks out in an unne- 
 cessary adoption of foreign and learned phrafes, a fondnefs 
 for founding words to exprefs common ideas, and a con- 
 tinual round of metaphorical and bombaflical imagery. I 
 do not know how far thefe critics may have reafon on their 
 fide, but as I feel no ambition to try any daring flights, I 
 {hall reft contented, if 1 am allowed in this work the fame 
 merits that were granted me in my Spaniih Tour, viz. 
 truth, perfpicuity, and common fenfe.
 
 TABLE of CONTENTS 
 
 O F T H E 
 
 FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 yl CHRONOLOGICAL Table of the Sovereigns of the Two 
 
 ^ ■*■ Sicilies, placed before - - Page xvii 
 
 Tables of Coins, Weights, and Meafures. - - xvii 
 
 A Geographical Vieiv of the Kingdom of Naples. - xxi 
 
 A Short SKETCH of the HISTORY of the 
 KINGDOM of NAPLES, 
 
 I. Fabulous Times — Greeks.— —2. Romans. 3. Goths. - 4. Lower 
 
 Greek Empire. 5. Lombards. 6. Normans. 7. Robert Guif- 
 
 card — Roger — William. 8. Roger, King William the Firfl — 
 
 William the Second — Tancred — William the Third. 9. Szvabians 
 
 — Henry and Conftantia — Frederick the Firfl — Conrad — Manfred. 
 
 • 10. Angevines — Charles the Fuji — Charles the Second — Robert — 
 
 Joan. 11. Durazzians — Charles the Third — Ladi/laus—Joan the 
 
 Second. 12. Aragonefe-~Alphonfus the Firfl — Ferdinand the Firjl 
 
 —Alpbonfus the Second — Ferdinand the Second — Frederick the 
 
 Second. 13. Ferdinand the Third. 14. Aufrians — Charles 
 
 the Fourth — Philip the Second — Philip the Third — Philip the 
 
 Fourth— Charles the Fifth. 15. Philip the Fifth— Charles the 
 
 Sixth— Charles the Seventh— Ferdinand the Fourth. - 1 
 
 a A VOYAGE
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 A VOYAGE from MARSEILLES to NAPLES, 1776. 
 
 SECTION I. Departure from Marfeilles— Arrival at Povto-Ferraio in 
 Elba — Defcription of the JJland — Its Size — Proprietors — Climate — 
 Compofuion — Produclions. Defcription of Porto -Ferraio. Page 29 
 
 SECT. II. Iron Mines of Rio. 35 
 
 SECT. III. Departure from Porto Ferraio. Irregularity of the 
 
 Needle. — Channel of Piombino.'— Arrival at Porto Longone. 40 
 
 SECT. IV. Voyage from Porto- Longone.— Ifle of Pianofa. — Fate of 
 Aggrippa P of humus. — Violent Storm.— Cape Circilli. — View of Vefi- 
 I'ius. — Ponza 1/les. — Vcntotiene. — Illu/lrious Perfons bani/ljed thither. 
 — Procida. — Arrival at Naples. 43 
 
 NAPLES and its ENVIRONS. 
 
 SECT. V. Vefuvius. - - - $0 
 
 SECT. VI. Mufic of Naples. — Dances. — Drefs and Characler of the 
 Women— of the Men. — Police. — Jurifprudence. — Population Mode of 
 
 Life. - 59 
 
 SECT. VII. Extent of the Kingdom — Productions — Exports— Duties — 
 Banks— Imports. - 70 
 
 SECT. VIII. Tour of the Coafl of Sorrento— Stabia. — Ancient Cham- 
 bers opened. — Torre del/a Nunziat a— Manufactures. — Caftelamare — 
 Vico. — Bay of Sorrento.— City of Sorrento, — Villa of Pollius Felix. 82 
 
 JOURNEY from NAPLES to TARANTO. 
 
 SECT. IX. Departure from the Capital. — Aqueducls. — Campo di 
 Lautrec. — Siege of Naples by the French in 1528. — Plague. — Death 
 of Lautrec. — Firfl Appearance of the Lues Venerea. — Santa Maria del 
 Pianto. — Cemetery. — Ruins of P oggio Reale. — River Sebeto. — Plain of 
 JSola. — Culture. — Quarry of Lava. - - 91 
 
 SECT. X. Nola Death of Augufus and Agrippa.— Invention of 
 
 Bells. — Life of 'Brum. - - "97 
 
 2 SECT.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. XI. Cimitile. — Road into Puglia.— Entrance of the Appenine 
 |^ Mountains. — Avella. — Ruins of Abdla.— Adventurous Expedition of 
 Manfred— of Rene— Character of Rene.— Montforte.— River Sabato. 
 
 Page 103 
 
 SECT. XII. Avellino—its Poffeffors.—Htfory of the Family of Carac- 
 cioli—Bank of Monte Ciarletta.—Defcription of AveW.no— Population- 
 Produce — Fruits. - - _ IC 8 
 
 SECT. XIII. Affinity between ancient and modern Cuftoms. — Hair 
 coloured— Funeral Ceremonies. — Story of a difconfolate Widow.— Vine- 
 drejje rs. —Dancing Girls.— Attitudes Difloes— Sailing. - 113 
 
 SECT. XIV. Atripalda. — Convent of Monte Vergine—its Hifory— 
 William of Vercelh.— Miraculous Piclure— Rules of the Houfe.— Monu- 
 ments. - - _ - 1 1 8 
 
 SECT. XV. Volcanical Soil.— Montefufcolo.— Ruins of Eculanum 
 
 Frigcnto.— Hifory of a Prief.—Moffetta ; the Amfancli Valles.— 
 Trevico. - - - _ J2 r 
 
 SECT. XVI. Ariano — Soil— Opinions concerning the original State of 
 this Country— Frequency of Earthquakes accounted for.—Bovino. 
 —Fro] a. - - _ ! 3r 
 
 SECT. XVII. Foggia—its Hifory- Tribunal— Of the Foil on Sheep.— 
 
 Account of its EJlablijhment—Its Produce Death and Char abler of 
 
 Charles the Firf, of Anjou. - - _ x n 3 
 
 SECT. XVIII. Ruins of Arpi.—Aprocina.— Ruins of Sipontum.—Man- 
 
 frcdonia. — Saint Angelo of Garganus. — Cavern. — Apparition of St. 
 
 Michael. - - - - 147 
 
 SECT. XIX. Lucera, its Hi/lory. — EfablifJjmcnt of the Saracens 
 there— their Expufion. — Death and Characler of the Emperor Fre- 
 derick the Second. — Plains and Heats of Pug lia — Hunting Matches 
 
 La Cerignola. — French defeated. - - jcj 
 
 SECT. XX. River Ofanto.—Canufne Bread.— Mode of Fhrefhing 
 
 Ruins of Cannte. — Battle of Canine. - - 165 
 
 a 2 SECT, 
 
 :;i
 
 xn 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. XXI. Ruins of Salapia— Magic Cave—Barldta—Architeclure 
 —Colofal Statue.— -Hi/lory of ' Barletta. - - Page 173 
 
 SECT. XXII. Watch- Houfes.—Trani.—Difpofition of the People — 
 Produclions— Buildings— Duels. - - 179 
 
 SECT. XXIII. Bifceglia. — Death and Char acler of Lewis of An} on.— 
 Blood of St. Pantaleon.— Molfett a.— Giovenazzo.— Decollation of its 
 'Territory by the Pope s Troops. — Produclions. - -185 
 
 SECT. XXIV. Bari— Cathedral— Priory of St. Nicholas— Tomb cf 
 Queen Bona— Miraculous Manna— Coflle— Paintings— Etrufcan Vafes— 
 Trade. - - - 19 1 
 
 SECT. XXV. Hiftory of Bari—Befieged by the Normans— Poffeffors — 
 Hiflory of John Pipino—Mola di Bari—Polignano-Monopo.i. 197 
 
 SECT. XXVI. Ruins of Gnatia— Quality of Stone— exceffive Heat- 
 bad Water — Way of taking Turtle Doves — Ofluni. — Errors in Gea- 
 iphy. - 205 
 
 ?ra 
 
 SECT. XXVII. Reception at Francavilla — Harangues— Defcription 
 of the Town— Foundation — Tenures — Dinner— Tragedy. - 21-2 
 
 SEC r. XXVIII. Oria.—Bonifazi Family.— Culture of Cotton.— Cafal- 
 nuovo. — Dag eaters. — Ruins of Manduria — Extraordinary Well. 218 
 
 TARANTO and its ENVIRONS. 
 
 SECT. XXIX. Lc GrottaglieT—Galefur. — Account of the Tarantihe 
 
 Sheep. - - - - 2155 
 
 SEC T. XXX. Wall offapygia.—Vale of Citrezze.—Visw of Toronto. 
 
 Aqueducl. — Defcription of the City. — Shell-Fijh. - 232 
 
 SECT. XXXI. Ruins of Tarentum.— Fiji) from which the Purple Dye 
 
 •was extra \ed—^ let hod of ext railing. - - 237- 
 
 SECT. XXXII. Mare Piccolo. — Beds of Mufcles — Treatment of them. — 
 
 Oyjlers— Nautilus — Coral — Pinna Marina. - - 242 
 
 SECT. XXXIir. Kinds of Fiflj — Duties — Wine-Grottos— G'trt Ho — 
 
 Bridge. IJlanJs — Outer Harbour — Fruits— Cultivation— Honey. 249 
 
 t SECT,
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. XXXIV. Origin ofTarentum. — Firjl Adventurers — Cretans. — 
 
 Phalantus and the Lacedemonians. — Introduction of Democracy — Pro- 
 
 fpcrity— Traffic—Power— Arch) tas.— -Degeneracy— Learning— Arts. 
 
 Page 255 
 
 SECT. XXXV. Foreign Generals employed — Pyrrhus. — War with 
 Rome. — Subjection of Tarentum. — Taken by Hannibal, vuho draws his 
 Fleet over the JJlhmus .—Tarentum again fubdned by the Romans — 
 Decline. — Its Lords. — Character of the Inhabitants. - 262 
 
 JOURNEY from TARANTO to REGGIO. 
 
 SECT. XXXVI. Departure from Taranto. — River Taras. — Interview 
 of the Triumvirs on the Bafiento. — Remains of Met apontum— lis 
 Hi/lory. — Pythagoras. — Deflate State of the Country. - 271 
 
 SECT. XXXVII. River Agri-Farm of the Jefuits.-Ruins ofHera- 
 clea. — Victory gained by Pyrrhus near the Sinno. — Entrance of Cala- 
 bria. — Rofeto. — Cujloms of the Calabriam — Marriages — Letting of 
 
 Farms — Difrefs from Oppreffion — Fecundity of the Women Odd 
 
 Notions. - - - 278 
 
 SECT. XXXVIII. Game-Latvs— Dogs— Gathering of Manna— Agri- 
 culture — Buffaloes. — River Cofcile. — Scite of Sybaris — Its Hi/lory— 
 Profperoits State. — Defruclion . — Thurium, — Herodotus. — Augitfus, 
 called Thurinus. - — - 2 ^- 
 
 SECT. XXXIX. P^fcige of the River Crati. — Corigl'uno—Qran-e- 
 Groves — Hujbandry — Compofition of the Hills. — Roffano, Account of 
 the Baftlian Monks and St. Nilus.. - - 2 q8 
 
 SECT. XL. Account of the Gypfes.—Cariati. — Cattle of Calabria. 
 
 Ciro-— Story of the Warden of a maritime Tozuer. — Mode of dis- 
 charging Cannon. - - » c . 
 
 SECT. XLI. Strongoli— Breed of Horfes.— Cot rone— Nciv Harbour 
 
 Trade. — Hifiory of Croton—Greatue/s and DoivnfaL - o\z 
 
 SECT. XLII. Voyage round the Capes. -Ruins of the Temple of Juno.— . 
 
 Charms againf Fire- Arms. — Iflaml of Calypfo. — ~ n zi- 
 
 SECT.. 
 
 • • *
 
 XIV 
 
 CON. TENTS. 
 
 SECT. XLIII. Cutro.—Uhieciali BaJJa.—Baliafro.—St. Thomas Aqui- 
 nas. — Cropani. — Hiflory of Don Sebajlian. — Catanzaro. Page 326 
 
 SECT. XLIV. Squillace. — Cajfiodorus — Mode offummoning Debtors. — 
 Pajfages of Horace explained. — Stilo. — Scite of C anion. — La Roccella. 
 
 SECT. XLV. Gerace. — Ruins of Locri. — Hiflory of Locri. — Zalcucus 
 the Lawgiver — Poflfeffion by Evil Spirits. — Story of a Demoniac Bite 
 of a Viper. - - - 340 
 
 SECT. XLVI. Rich Paflures Cape Spartivento — Bova. — Account of 
 
 the Albanefc — their Arrival in the Kingdom — Numbers — Language — 
 Rites — Character. - - - 34.7 
 
 SECT. XLVII. View of Etna— Capo deWAr mi.— Plain of Reggio.— 
 Treatment of Silkworms— Regulations — Taxes. - 354 
 
 SECT. XLVIII. Fruits — Oranges — Olives — Palmtrees — Dates — Figs 
 — Chefnuts. — Silver Mine. — Defer iption of Reggio. — La Fata Morgana. 
 
 359 
 JOURNEY from REGGIO to NAPLES. 
 
 SECT. XLIX. Voyage to Gallipoli.—Defcription of that City— Traffic 
 — Oil Trade — Agriculture — Cultivation of the Olive Tree — Experi- 
 ments on the making of Oil — Species of Olive Trees. — Hunting. 3G8 
 
 Si.CT. L. Nardo. — Otranto—facked by the Turks. — Itinerant Mufi- 
 cians — Specimen of their Mufic. — Lecce — ArchiteQure — Char abler of 
 the People— Leccian Mufic. - - - 375 
 
 SCCT. LI. Brindiji — Antiquities — Port — Bay — Columns of the Light- 
 Houfc -Ruin of the Harbour — Bad Air — Depopulation — Attempts to 
 remedy thefe Evils — New Channel cut. - - 383 
 
 SECT. Lll. Hiflory of Brindiji. — Dance of a Tarantata — Probable Ori- 
 gin of thefe Dances. — Defcription of the Tarantula. - 390 
 
 SECT. LIII. Trajan Way.—Orobanche Bitonto.—Obelijk— Battle. 
 
 — Ruvo. — Combat at Quarata. — Cajlel del Monte. — Anuria Canofa — 
 
 Its Hifory — Antiquities — Monument of Bohemund. — Character of the 
 Norman Adventurers - 396 
 
 SECT.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECT. LIV. Lavello — Death of Conrad— Venofa.— Church of the 
 Trinity. — Suppofed Bufl of Horace — His Bandufian Fountain. — Barile 
 — Mount Volt ore. — Ruins of Herdonia. - - Page 405 
 
 SECT. LV. Benevvito—Arch of Trajan— Antiquities — Cathedral— 
 Hijlory of Benevenfo — Lombards — Dukes — Princes — Divifion into 
 Tivo Principalities — Ruin. - - - 410 
 
 SECT. LVI. Walnut Tree of the Witches.— Battle.— Character of 
 Manfred. — AppianWay. — Montefarchio. — Furca Caudina.—Arienzo. — 
 Acerra. — Arrival at Naples, - - 4.1J 
 
 XV
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page S9, line 21, for ponti. J Ingtrit ccl/a read ponti ingtrit. \Celfa. 
 ioi, 7, for befla read bejlia. 
 
 106, — — 20, for fpirit, had read _^>/Wf ^W. 
 
 107, 13, for rife, at read rife at. 
 
 136, 6, for arbor fuda read arior Juda. 
 
 iqo, 17, for fupplies of corn from other countriei read other countries for a fupply 
 
 of corn. 
 198, — — 3, for bout read About. 
 
 215, 5, for inchtfi'vely, to about read inclu/iiiely, about, 
 
 2 2Z, 7, for /A/'i _/M? read this fue. 
 
 zz6, 5, for at the high read at the end of the high. 
 
 245, — 10, for Lucrene read Lucrine. 
 
 258, 17, for wjfels fly read vejils could fly. 
 
 260, 23, for Tarentorum read Tarentinorum. 
 
 261, 16, for rf^ao read equo. 
 
 274, 5, for properly read prof ufely. 
 
 274, 21, for Metapontorum read Metapontinoruix. 
 
 277, 19, for a few off" miles read a _/>w aw7« oy. 
 
 309, ___ 23, for Carigliano read Corigliano. 
 
 300, 25, for tracks read trafis. 
 
 312, 9, for Philocktes read Philocleles. 
 
 321, 1 1, for £/f£, «fj$/ coarfe. read /-"£<&, /& r«f£r coarfe, 
 
 321, ' 1 6, for fallen read deftroyed. 
 
 325, 6, for Ithican read Ithacan. 
 
 325, » l6, for Itkica read Ithaca. 
 
 330, 24, for Palermo. After read Palermo, after. 
 
 346, ■ 25, for tufted read /«/ftf. 
 
 360, 9, for rhindrezd rind. 
 
 395, 8, for /."£ read /<£*. 
 
 409, — — 6, for 7/v«^ ff« «// read ^««^ Mtf «» «//.
 
 A Genealogical Table of the Sovereigns of the Two Sicilies. 
 
 S,rl, ./ ru.ii. 
 
 TancreJ of Hauteville. 
 J | Putt, ,f Pu S lie. 
 
 E,rl, ./ Suily 
 
 WILLIAM 
 
 r.rapras, ob. 1046. 
 
 DREUX, HUMPHREY, JEFFREY, 
 
 1050. 10:7. 1039. 
 
 WILLIAM, 
 1127. 
 
 K„ t , •/ «'/'"■ 
 CHARLES 
 
 of Anjou, fon of 
 Lei it VIII. King 
 of France, 1283. 
 
 CHARLES II. 
 
 1309. 
 I 
 
 I 
 Walter de Brienne=Albiria 
 
 Charles. King of 
 Hungary. 
 
 Charles. 
 
 Lewis, 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ROBERT, 
 
 "JtJ. 
 
 Charles. 
 
 r__ 
 
 Andrew=JOAN 
 I3+S- j '382. 
 
 Charibert. 
 
 Philip 
 of Taranto. 
 
 John 
 of Achaia. 
 
 , / — ' 1 1 i 
 
 =Lewts. MarytrCharles Lewis. 
 ■J««. I 114S. 
 
 Margaret=CHARLES III. 
 I 1386. 
 
 LADISLAUS, JOAN II 
 
 Lewis II. 
 I 
 
 lewis III. 
 
 I 
 Volande. 
 
 1 
 
 Rene. 
 Duke of Lorraine. 
 
 John. 
 
 Charles VIII. King of France 
 H98. 
 
 Lewis XII. King of France, 
 'S'S- 
 
 ROBERT 
 Guifcard, 108 
 
 ROGER. 
 
 1 11 1. 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 ROGER 
 
 BolTus 1 101. 
 
 JCugt ,f Ibt T-w, S,cilit. 
 
 ROGER, 
 
 I [he Bad, 1166. 
 I I 
 
 TANCRF.D, WILLIAM II. 
 1193. 1189. 
 
 WILLIAM CONST ANTIA = Henry of Swabia, 
 
 1198. I Em 
 
 Emperor. 
 
 FREDERICK, 
 Emperor, i;;o. 
 
 Roger. 
 
 WILLIAM III. 
 
 Hen,,. 
 
 I 
 
 CONRAD. 
 
 1254. 
 
 I 
 
 Conradine, 
 1269. 
 
 » { 1 
 
 Henry. MANFRE 
 
 ,. 11M. 
 
 A'",?' «f S>nh. I 
 
 Conltaocc=PETER. Kit 
 
 [ Aragon 
 
 I I 
 
 JAMES. FREDERICI 
 ■337 
 
 I 
 LEWIS. 
 
 PETER n 
 I 
 
 Lesvii of Anjou. 
 
 fon of John, King 
 
 of France. 
 
 Charles 
 
 Charles, 
 Earl of Maine. 
 
 John, KingnEleanor, Siller to 
 of Catlile. I Martin ad. 
 
 Ferdinand. 
 Pit '/ Bnk Si,ili„. I Ki,p r f Sicily. 
 
 I 
 JOHN of Nat., rre, 
 
 FREDERICS 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 »].iRY = mab: 
 
 MARTIN n. 
 
 Father to 
 
 Martin ill. 1410, 
 
 ALPHONSUS. 
 1458. 
 
 Kits' tf\ ffap/n 
 
 FERDINAND, 
 1494. 
 
 iTiKf If I Bel/, Siti/ia. 
 FERDINAND 
 |hc Catholic, 1516. 
 
 ALPHONSUS II. FREDERICK, JOAN=Philip of Aoltril 
 
 FERDINAND II. | . . 
 
 '*9 6 - CHARLES, Ferdinand 1 
 ' ","•". IJ58. Emperor, jjoVT 
 
 PHILIP II. 
 
 PHIIIP III. 
 1621. 
 
 PHILIP IV. 
 ■ 669. 
 
 I 
 
 Mj niihnn 2. 
 
 1576. 
 
 . I 
 
 Charles. 
 
 Rodolpb 2. 
 
 1612. 
 
 CHARLES II. Mary Thcrera=2Lew;> XIV. King 
 
 '_">■ I of France. 
 
 PHILIP V. 
 
 Matthias. Ferdinand ... 
 1619. l6j . 
 
 Ferdinand j. 
 1657. 
 
 LeopTld, 
 1 70c. 
 
 I 
 
 CHARLES. 
 
 J»6P". CHARLES, 
 
 '7"- Emperor, 1740. 
 
 F.antjs efarMaria'Tcefis. 
 '■""""■ I 
 
 FERDINAND IV.=CaroI
 
 [ xvii ] 
 
 TABLES OF COINS, 
 
 GOLD COINS. 
 
 i. Piece of fix ducats. 
 
 2. Piece of four ducats. 
 
 3. Piece of three ducats, or, Oncia, 
 
 a Sicilian coin. 
 
 4. Piece of two ducats. 
 
 BRASS COINS. 
 
 The piece of 1 grano and 6 calli *, 
 called the Publica f . 
 
 ■ 1 o 
 
 o 9 
 
 o 6 The 
 
 Tornefe %. 
 
 O 
 o 
 
 4 
 3 
 
 SILVER COINS. 
 
 Piece of 1 3 carlini & 2 grana. 
 12 o 
 
 1 O 1 1 O The ducat, very fcarce; 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 2 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 o 
 
 O Very common. 
 O The patacca, fiarce. 
 O Common. 
 O Common. 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 ■ O The Neapolitan tari. 
 
 r> 
 O 
 
 • 2 
 
 J The carlino of Naples, 
 ' O J and tari of Sicily, 
 
 i Oncia 
 
 1 Ducat 
 
 I Carlino 
 
 I Grano 
 
 contains 
 
 3 ducats.^ Accounts are kept at Naples in ducats, 
 
 1 IO carlini. 1 1 , carlini, and grana; but regular mer- 
 
 IO grana. f . chants keep theirs in two columns only, 
 
 12 calli. ! I v ' z ' d " ucats an ^ grana. 
 
 The Neapolitan ducat, upon the fuppofed par with England, is worth 
 forty-five pence, or 3*. gd. fterling, and the carlino 4'-</. but this is 
 no fixed rule, as exchange is continually varying, and occafionally 
 makes a difference of ten or fifteen per cent, higher or lower, and 
 fometimes even more. 
 
 * Calli ought to be written Cavalli, from the horles (lamped on the coin of Ferdinand the Firft, 
 >who, by a wretched quibble, put on it the legend, ^quitas regni. 
 f Publica is fo named from its motto, Publica conmoditas. 
 X A word taken from the French Tovrmis. 
 
 b WEIGHTS
 
 [ xviii 
 
 WEIGHTS and MEASURES. 
 
 2 CantaroT 
 
 I Rotolo > contains 
 
 i Pound 3 
 
 c ioc 
 
 ^ 334 
 
 £l2 
 
 oo rotoli 
 J. ounces 
 
 >< 
 
 N. B. The Neapolitan cantaro is equal to 
 1 96 Englifli ft of Averdupois weight; and 
 the rotolo to 2 Englifli ft. The pound 
 
 lilt* imviv fcv *. JJi'C"iii 1U • * J j^i_»«»»« 
 
 ounces. j is a trifling fraction above noz. Englifli. 
 
 LONG-MEASURE. 
 
 1 Cana contains 8 palmi. It is computed that 24 yards Englifh 
 
 make a Neapolitan canna, and that a palmo is equal to io~ inches 
 Englilh. 
 
 LAND-MEASURE. 
 
 Land is meafured by the moggla, 
 a fuperficial quantity containing 
 goo paffi, each paffo containing 74 
 palmi. 
 
 LAND-MEASURE in Puglia. 
 
 1 Caro "1 
 
 I Vcrfura I 
 
 I Catena ( 
 I Paflb J 
 
 contains 
 
 !20 v 
 6 ca 
 10 r 
 
 verfure 
 catene 
 ■ iO paffi 
 I 7 palmi. 
 
 DRY-MEASURE. 
 
 Wheat is meafured by the tomolo, of which 54 are equal to an 
 Engliih quarter. 
 
 WINE-MEASURE. 
 
 Wine is meafured by the barrel, containing 66 caraffi, equal to 9^ 
 Englifh gallons. — — In the city of Naples, the barrel contains only 60 
 caraffi. 
 
 OIL-MEASURE. 
 
 1 Salma' "7 
 1 Star >con 
 1 Rotolo j 
 
 C161 
 
 ins< 10.'- 
 
 LS3y 
 
 ftars 
 X rotoli 
 ounces, equal to 2 lb Englifh. 
 
 A falma contains about 40 Englifli gallons. 
 
 ROADS
 
 [ xix ] 
 ROADS of the Kingdom of NAPLES. 
 
 Poft-Road from Rome to Naples. 
 
 From Rome to Tcrracina 
 
 Fondi i '- 
 
 Itri i 
 
 Mola t 
 
 Garigliano i 
 
 S. Agata i 
 
 Francolifi i 
 
 Capua i 
 
 Averfa I 
 Naples. Port royal. 
 
 Poft-Road from Naples to Caferta. 
 
 From Naples to Caivano, poft royal. 
 Caferta i 
 
 From Caferta to S. Lucl .1 
 
 From Caferta to the Aqueduct i 
 
 From Caferta to Capua 
 
 Oil 
 
 From Naples toPuzzuoli, poll royal. 
 
 Poft-Road from Naples to Man- 
 fredonia. 
 
 From Naples toMarigliano, p.r. &| 
 Cardinale 
 Avellino 
 Dentecane 
 Grottaminarda 
 Ariano 
 Savignano 
 PontediBovino 
 Lucera 2 
 
 Foggia 2 
 
 Manfredonia q 
 
 Poft-Road from Naples, to Lccce. 
 
 10'- 
 
 From Naples to Ponte Bovino 
 Ordona 
 Cerignuola 
 S. CafTano 
 Barletta 
 Bifceglia 
 Giovenazzo 
 Bari 
 Mola 
 Monopoli 
 Fafano 
 Oftuni 
 S. Vito 
 Mefagna 
 Cellino 
 Lecce 
 
 Poft-Road from Naples to Perfano. 
 
 From Naples to La Nunziata, p.r. ■£ 
 Nocera i 
 
 Salerno 1 
 
 Vicenza 1 
 
 Evoli 1 
 
 Perfano 1 
 
 From Naples to Pefto. 
 
 To Evoli 5 i. 
 
 Pefto 1 « 
 
 Price. 1 1 Carlini each pair of 
 horfes, and 5'- more at the poft 
 royal. 3 Carlini are the due of 
 the poftillioa for each pair of 
 horfes. 
 
 b 2 Poft-
 
 sac 
 
 To EvoH 
 
 La DucheiTa. 
 
 Auletta 
 
 Sala 
 
 Cafalnuovo 
 
 Lagonegro 
 
 Lauria 
 
 Caftclluccio 
 
 La Rotonda 
 
 Caftrovillari. 
 
 Efero 
 
 Celfo 
 
 POST 
 
 -ROADS. 
 
 
 to Reggio. 
 
 To Pantoni 
 
 I 
 
 
 Cofenza 
 
 I 
 
 5i 
 
 Rogliano 
 
 I 
 
 
 Seigliano 
 
 I 
 
 
 S. Biafe 
 
 I 
 
 
 Fondaco del Fico 
 
 i 
 
 
 Monteleone ^ i 
 
 
 S. Petro de Melito 
 
 i 
 
 
 Drofi 
 
 I 
 
 
 Seminare 
 
 I 
 
 
 Paflb di Solatvi 
 
 I 
 
 
 Fiumara di Muro 
 
 I 
 
 
 Catona 
 
 I 
 
 
 Reggio 
 
 I 
 
 t 
 
 ROUTES of CALES 
 
 From Naples to Reggio, by Puglia. 
 
 i. Day, dinner at Cardinale, fup- 
 at Avellino. 
 
 2. Mirabella Ariano. 
 
 3. Ponte di Bovino Ordona. 
 
 Canofa San Cofimo. 
 
 Fontana d'Ogna Gravina. 
 
 4 
 5 
 
 6, 
 
 7 
 8, 
 
 Matera, 
 Vallecupa' 
 Policoro — 
 
 -Torredi Mare. 
 
 -Rocca Imperiale. 
 
 9. Cartel Rofeto Trebifaccia. 
 
 10. Madonna dell' Arma Bufa- 
 
 lara di Cailano. 
 1 1. Torre de Paolini— 
 32. Cariati Capo d'Alice. 
 
 Mini. 
 
 S I, Muleteers and Vetturini. 
 
 17. Monteleone Seminara. 
 
 18. Scilla. 
 
 19. Reggio. 
 
 FronvNaples to Reggio, by Salerno* 
 
 1. Noeera—— Salerno. 
 
 2. Vicenza Evoli. 
 
 3. La DucheiTa Polla. 
 
 4. Sala S. Lorenzo. 
 
 5. Cafalnuovo Lagonero. 
 
 6. Lauria Caftelluccio. 
 
 7. La. Rotonda Murano. 
 
 8. Oria Corigliano. 
 
 9. Roffano Mirti. 
 
 13 
 15 
 
 i5. 
 
 Fa fan o- 
 Cutri — 
 
 ^otrone. 
 
 Taverna 
 Catanzaro 
 
 Megliacane. 
 Nova Cafine 
 
 di 
 
 Carriages can go 
 no farther ; and Litters are ufed 
 from hence. 
 Borgia- — —Fondaco del Fico. 
 
 10. 
 1.1. 
 12. 
 
 13- 
 14. 
 
 15- 
 
 Cariati Capo d'Alice. 
 
 Foflaro Cotrone. 
 
 Cutri Megliacane. 
 
 Catanzaro. 
 
 Borgia Aqua che Favella. 
 
 Pizzo Monteleone. 
 
 16. Seminara.. 
 
 17. Reggio. 
 
 From Naples to Aquila in Abruzzo. 
 To Clavi 23 miles Cartel del Sangro 21 
 Triverno 23 Sulmona 20 
 
 Novelli 
 Aquila 
 
 
 • Here is a road of communication to Catanzaro.— Two polls, 
 t He;e one embarks for Medina.
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW 
 
 OF THE 
 
 KINGDOM of NAPLES. 
 
 HIS Kingdom occupies the moil fouthern extremity of Italy, situation 
 and extends from latitude ■ 42 ^o' to latitude 37*' 50'; and andExtent>l 
 from longitude 14 to longitude 19 Eaft from London. Its greateft 
 length 450 Italian miles; breadth 140; circumference 1,468. Its 
 furface contains 3,500 fcjuare leagues -, or, as fome geographers com- 
 pute, 14,508,973 Moggie, each of which is a fquare of 30 paces on 
 each fide ; every pace of feven palms and one- fifth : — but thefe are 
 rough calculations. . 
 
 The Apennine runs through it from North to South ; a branch of Mountains. 
 the Apennine runs Weft, to form the promontory of Sorrento. 
 Monte Gargano is a promontory on the Adriatic Sea ; Monte Bar- 
 baro, Mifeno, and Vefuvius, are infulated mountains. 
 
 Garigliano and Voltornoi navigable ; Tronto, Aterno, Sangro, R, ver3 , 
 Fortore, Ofanto, Bafiento, Agri, Crari, Metramo, Amato, Silari, 
 and Sarao. 
 
 Celano-
 
 xxn 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW 
 
 tNumber of 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 Provinces. 
 
 Tribunals. 
 
 Lakes. Celano, Agnano, Averno, Licola, Fufaro, Patria, Lefina, Fondi. 
 
 Wands. l n the' Mediterranean, Ponza, Ventotiene, Ifehia, Procida, Nifida, 
 
 Capri, Galli, Licofa, Dino. 
 
 In -the Ionian, the illand of Calypfo, Monte Sardo, S. Andrea, and 
 S. Pelagia. 
 
 In the Adriatic, Tremiti and Pelagofa. 
 
 In 1669, it amounted to 2,500,000; in 1765, to 3,953,098 ; in 
 1773, to 4,249,430; and in 1779, to 4,641, 363, exclufive of the 
 army and naval eftablifhment. 
 
 Twelve ; viz. Terra di Lavoro, Principato citra, Principato ultra, 
 Bafilicata, Capitanata, County of Molife, Terra di Bari, Terra di 
 Otranto, Calabria citra, Calabria ultra, Abruzzo citra, and Abruzzo 
 ultra. Thefe contain 2,067 univerfita, under the denomination of 
 cities, towns, and villages. 
 
 At Naples, — Camera di Santa Chiara, S. R. C. di Santa Chiara, 
 Sommaria, Vicaria, Del Almirante, Confolato, Delia Lana, Delia 
 Seta, Giunta de' Poveri, Degli Allodiali, Del Lotto, Di Sicilia, Di 
 Stato, Del Montiero, Proto Medicato, Azienda, De Prefidij, Udienca 
 dell Efercito, De Caftelli, Di Marina, Zecca de' Pefi, &c. 
 
 Terra di Lavoro is governed by Sopra Intendenti, royal governors 
 of towns, and judges. 
 
 The other provinces have prefidents, viz. Principato citra, Princi- 
 pato ultra, Bafilicata, Bari, Otranto, Abruzzo citra, Calabria citra, 
 and Calabria ultra, have .one each; Abruzzo ultra has two; and 
 Capitanata and Molife one between them. 
 At Foggia is the tribunal Delia Dogana. 
 •Ecclefuftical Twenty-one archbiihoprics, and one hundred and ten bifhoprics : 
 government. ^ ^^j,, e jg| u arc hbifhoprics, and twenty bifhoprics, are in the 
 King's gift ; the reft in the Pope's. 
 
 Azure, feme'e of fleur de luces, or ; with a label of five points, 
 gules. 
 
 Order of St. Januarius, bilhop and martyr, — inftituted by Charles, 
 now King of Spain, in 1738. The number of Knights not pofitively 
 
 2 fixed. 
 
 Arms. 
 
 Orders of 
 Jvi.i^hthood
 
 OF NAPLES. 
 
 xxm 
 
 fixed. They wear a red ribbon, and a ftar on the left breaft, with the 
 image of the Saint in the centre ; and the motto, In Sanguine Fccdus. 
 The King confers the Crofs of the Conftantinian Order, as Duke of 
 Parma. 
 
 Ferdinand the Fourth, by the Grace of God, King of Both Sicilies, Titles of 
 Jerufalem, and Infant of Spain ; Duke of Parma, Placentia, Caftro, tie 
 &c. ; and hereditary Great Prince of Tufcany, &c, &c. 
 
 i. TERRA DI LAVORO; 
 
 anciently, Campania Felix. 
 
 Derived from its fertility, or from the ancient Camp Leborint. 
 
 Azure, over 2 cornucopias ; a crown, or;, 
 
 i>53°>9 6 4 Moggie. 
 
 In 1779, 1,210,989. 
 
 Garigliano, Voltorno, Saone, Clani, Sebeto. 
 
 Agnano, Averno, Fufaro, Licola, Patria, Fondi. 
 
 Ifchia, Procida, Ponza, Ventotiene, S. Maria, Botte, Nifida. 
 
 Naples, Baia, Gaeta. 
 
 Vefuvius, Epomeo, Camaldoli, Barbara, Nuovo, Tifata, Mattefe, 
 3t. Leo, St. Salvatore, Cecubo, Auroneo, Ofellio, Maffico, Caflino, 
 Attico, Nivofo, Cairo, Cefino, Seli, Ortafio, and Azo. 
 
 1. Naples capital, archbilhopric. 
 
 2. Capua fortrefs, archbilhopric. 
 
 3. BifhopricSi Sora ; Aquino, reduced to a hamlet, the bifhop 
 refides at the united fee of Pontecorvo ; Fondi ; Alife, the bifhop 
 lives at Piedimonte ; Venafro ; Sena ; Calvi ; Telefe, the bifhop 
 refides at Cerreto ; Teano ; Caiazzo ; Gaeta, a fortrefs ; Caferta, the 
 bifhop lives at Caferta Nova, where the King has a palace -, Averfa;, 
 Acerra; Nola; Pozzuoli j Ifchia ; Carinola. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Arms. 
 
 Extent. 
 
 Inhabitant? 
 
 Rivers. 
 
 Lakes. 
 
 Iflands. 
 
 Seaports. 
 
 Mountains, 
 
 Principal 
 Places. • 
 
 4, Monte-
 
 XXIV 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW 
 
 4. Monte Cafino, the head convent of the Order of St. Benedict. 
 
 5. Portici, St. Leuci, Cacciabella ; royal refidences. 
 
 6. Pompeii, Herculaneum, Cuma, Baiac, Capua, Formise, Min- 
 turnae, SinuefTa ; ruined cities. 
 
 7. Vefuvius, Solfatara; mountains emitting fmoke or flame. 
 
 2. PRINCIPATO CITRA; or, 
 
 Principality of Sakmo, anciently inhabited by the Picentini and 
 
 Lucani. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Arms. 
 
 Extent. 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 Rivers. 
 
 Iflands. 
 Seaports. 
 Mountains. 
 
 Principal 
 .Places. 
 
 In the year 851, the pofleflions of the Lombards were divided into 
 two parts ; one of which obeyed the Prince of Salerno j the other was 
 fubject to that of Benevento. 
 
 Party per fefs, argent and fable j a failor'6 compafs with 8 wings, 
 argent ; in chief, a mullet, or. 
 
 i.i75»994 Moggie. 
 
 447,465. 
 
 Sarno, Sele, Battipaglia, Alento, Bufento, Calore, Bianeo, Negro, 
 St. Gregorio. 
 
 Capri, li Galli, Piana di Lacofa. 
 
 Caftelamare, Salerno. 
 
 Toro, Canutario, Majano, Collo, Aquarro, Lattario, Sarno, St. 
 Donato, Calpazzo, Lucano, Nero, Alburno, Civita, Calimarco, 
 Cantena, Stella, Novi, Cavallara, Antillia, Bulgaria, Maddalena, 
 Balzater, St. Onofrio, Aquila, Motulo, Cervati, Navarra, Petraro, 
 Centaurino, LagoroflTo. 
 
 1. Salerno prefidency, archbilhopric. 
 
 2. Amalfi, archbilhopric. 
 
 3. Sorrento, archbilhopric. 
 
 4. Bifliop-
 
 .S r 
 
 OF NAPLES. xxv 
 
 4. Bifhoprics t — Nocera, Sarno, Vico, Mafia, Capri, Cava, Let- 
 tere, Caftelamare, Acerno, Campagna cum Satriano, Capaccio, Poli- 
 caftro, Scala cum Ravello, Minori, Marfico Novo. 
 
 5. Paeftum, Stabia, Velia ; ruined cities. 
 
 6. Perfano, Caftelamare ; royal feats. 
 
 3. PRINCIPATO ULTRA; or, 
 
 Principality of Benevento. — Samnites, HirpinL 
 
 Party per fefs, gules and argent ; on the ]ft, a crown. Arms, 
 
 664,280 Moggie. Extent. 
 
 250,136. Inhabitants, 
 
 Calore, Sabato, Tamoro. Rivers. 
 
 Virgine, Taburno, Sabletta, Agnone, Termolo, Guleto, Paflagone, Mountains, 
 Irpino, Rumulo, Jarminio, Divoto, Voltore. 
 
 Anfanto. Lake. 
 
 1. Benevento, archbifhopric ; belongs to the Pope. Principal 
 
 2. Conza, archbifhopric. 
 
 3. Bishopries: — St. Agata de' Goti; St. Angelo de' Lombardi, cum 
 Bifaccia; Ariano ; Trevico, cum Vico della Baronia ; Avellino, cum 
 Frigento j Nufeo ; Montemarano j Lacedogna ; Monteverde, united 
 to Canne and Nazareth. 
 
 4. Montevergine, chief convent of the Verginian order. 
 
 5. Montefufcolo, prefidency. 
 
 6. liculanum, a ruined city. 
 
 BASILICATA. 
 Lttcania. 
 
 From the Greek Emperor Bafil II. Nimt 
 
 Barry wavy, of fix, argent and azure ; in chief, an eagle's head . 
 
 crowned, gules, 
 
 c j,Coj,o47
 
 JSKV1 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW 
 
 Extent. 
 Inhabitants, 
 
 Rivers. 
 
 Lakes. 
 
 .Mountains. 
 
 Principal 
 
 Places. 
 
 i,Goj,047 Moggie. 
 . 3-5.682. 
 
 Bradano, Bafiento, Salandrella, Acri, Sinno. 
 
 I ngonegro, Olmo. 
 
 Cafale, Croce, Funicchio, Pomazzo, Muro, Acuto, Rivezzone, 
 Fondone, Maruggio, St. Martino, C arrafo, Vefpe, Alpi, Raparo, 
 Melaggioto, Sirino, St. Brancato, Noce Trecchina. 
 
 1. Acerenza, archbifhopric, united to Matera, where the prefidency 
 is held. 
 
 q. Bifhoprics : — Melfi cum Rapolla, Montepelofo, Tricarico, Po- 
 tenza, Anglona cum Turfi, Venofa, Muro. 
 
 3. Metapontum, Heraclea ; ruined cities. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Arms. 
 Extent. 
 Inhabitants. 
 Rivers. 
 La' 
 
 Iflands. 
 Seaports. 
 
 Mountains. 
 
 Principal 
 Places. 
 
 5. C A PIT AN AT A. 
 Apulia, Daunia, FrentanL 
 
 A corruption of Catapanata (the diftricl under the Catapan, or 
 Greek viceroy). 
 
 Azure, on a mount, St. Michael, or. 
 
 1,14.1,622 Moggie. 
 
 401,255. 
 
 Biferno, Fortore, Candelaro, CarapeTle, Ofanto, Cervaro. 
 
 Lefina, Varano, Bataglia, St. Giovanni, Salpi. 
 
 St. Domino, St. Nicola, Caprara, Cretaccio, Mergoli. 
 
 Manfredonia, Viefli. 
 
 Granato, Secco, Corvino, Pagano, Auro, Chilone, Bucculo, Li- 
 hurno, Origine, Calvo, Sagro, Saracino, Barone, Condizzo. 
 
 1. Manfredonia, archbifhopric. 
 
 2. Bishopries: — Lucera, prefidency; ' San Severo, Larino, 
 
 Troja, Termoli, Bovino, Volturara ci vlonte Corvino, Afcoli. 
 
 tribunal t r duties on cattle. 
 
 4. Bofco
 
 OF NAPLES. 
 
 4. Bofco di Bovino, royal feat. 
 
 5. Monte St. Angelo di Gargano, a pilgrimage. 
 
 6. Sipontum, Arpi, Salapia, Herdonia ; ruined cities. 
 
 XXVH 
 
 6. COUNTY OF MOLISE. 
 
 Sii7itnium and Pentri. 
 
 From a caftle. Name, 
 
 Gules within a garland of ears of corn, or; a bearded comet, Arms. 
 argent. 
 
 484,898 Mogg'lC. Extent. 
 
 Included in the enumeration of Capitanata.. Inhabitants. 
 
 Biferno, Fortore, Trigno. Rivers. 
 
 Sangra, Janipro, Vallone, Rotaro, Biferno, Caprara, Bifano, Mountains^ 
 Albano. 
 
 1. Bifhoprics: — Bojano, the prelate refides at CampobafTo ; Guar- Principal 
 dia, Alfiera, Ifernia, Trivento. Places - 
 
 2. Campobaflb, chief place of the county; Molife, a burgh, from 
 whence the county takes its name. 
 
 iamc. 
 
 7. TERRA DI BARL 
 Apulia t Peiicetia, and Picdiculi. 
 
 From the principal city. Na 
 
 Party per fahire, azure and argent ; overall, a crozier, or. Arms. 
 
 869,097 Moggie. . Extent. 
 
 2.81,048. Inhabitants, 
 
 (J fan to, Cane. $. lvt 
 
 c 2 Barletta, 
 
 vets.
 
 XXV 111 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW 
 
 Seaports. 
 
 Mountains. 
 
 Principal 
 1'laces. 
 
 Barletta, Trani, Bari, Molfetta. 
 
 Sanazzo, Femina Morta, Lupulo, Franco, St. Agoftino. 
 
 1. Bari, archbifhopric. 
 
 2. Trani, archbifhopric and prefidency. 
 
 3. Barletta, refidence of the archbilhop of Nazareth. 
 
 4. Biihoprics: — Andria, Bifceglia, Ruvo, Bitonto, Monopoii, Gra- 
 vina, Giovenazzo cum Terlizzi, Bitetto, Converfano, Molfetta, Polig- 
 nano (the bifhop's refidence is at Mola), Minervino. 
 
 5. Egnatia and Canne, ruined cities. 
 
 Arms. 
 
 Extent. 
 
 Inhabitants. 
 
 Rivets. 
 
 Lake. 
 
 Seaports. 
 
 Mountains. 
 Hands. 
 
 Principal 
 Places. 
 
 8. TERRA DI OTRANTO. 
 
 Mcjfapia or Japigia> Calabria, Sakntini. 
 
 Paly of 8, gules and or ; over all a dolphin, with a crefcent in his 
 mouth, proper. 
 
 1,377,102 Moggie. 
 
 290,915. 
 
 Bradano, Patimifco, Lieto, Chiatano, Tara, Galefo, Hidro. 
 
 Limina. 
 
 Brindifi, Otranto, Taranto. 
 
 Hidro, Scotano. 
 
 St. Andrea, St. Pelagia, Ifola de Brindifi. 
 
 1. Taranto, archbifhopric. 
 
 2. Brindifi, archbifhopric. 
 
 3. Otranto, archbifhopric. 
 
 4. Biihoprics : — Lecce, prefidency ; Caftellaneta, Gallipoli, Mo- 
 tula, Ugento, Caftro, Nardo, Oria, Oftuni, AlefTano. 
 
 5. Man'durisB, Dupix, Rudii, Salentum ; ruined cities. 
 
 C A L A-
 
 OF NAPLES. xx ; x 
 
 o. CALABRIA CITRA, 
 
 Lucania and Brutium. 
 
 Given by the Greek Emperors, to perpetuate the memory of Name, 
 ancient Calabria, which they had loft. 
 
 Argent, a crofs potent, fable. Arms. 
 
 1,605,463 Moggie. Extent. 
 
 o 1 S'33°' Inhabitants.' 
 
 Calandro, Cerfhiara, Raccanello, Cofcile, Crati, Efaro, Moccono, Rivers. 
 Lucino, Celano, Celenito, Trionto, Fimarello, Aquanile, Fiomenica, 
 Lipuda, Nieto, Savuto, Cleta, Solio, Bato, Lao. 
 
 Mauro, Provizia, Pollino, Cilifterno, Malafpina, Saflb, Caritore, Mountains. 
 Muta, Ifauro, Coruzzo, Calaferna, Gigante, Macalla, Bovi, Scaccia 
 Diavolo, Fumiero, Negro, del Calabrefe, Patiati, Caperofa, Januario, 
 Goliero, Porcina, Ilia. 
 
 1. Cofenza, archbifhopric and prefidency. Principal 
 
 2. Roflano, archbifliopric. 
 
 3. Bifhoprics : Cariati cum Gerenza, Martorano, St. Marco, 
 
 Bifignano, Umbriatico, Strongoli, Caflano. 
 
 4. Sibaris, Pandofia, Petilia ; ruined cities. 
 
 10. CALABRIA ULTRA. 
 
 Brutium. 
 
 Gironnee of 4 ; 1 and 4 Aragon ; 2 and 3 argent ; a crofs potent, Arms, 
 fable. 
 
 1,901,878 Moggie. Extent, 
 
 460,302. Inhabitants. 
 
 Nieto, Efaro, Pilaca, Dragone, Tacina, Nafcaro, Acone, Litrello, Rivers, 
 Alii, Corace, Allefi, Beltrana, Ancinale, Alaca, Calipari, Bruda, 
 
 Pacanito,
 
 XXX 
 
 GEOGRAPHICAL VIEW 
 
 Seaports. 
 Mountains. 
 
 Principal 
 Places. 
 
 Pacanito, Affa, Stilaro, Alaro, Calamizzi, Locano, Novito, Merico, 
 Ciamuti, Bova, Alice, Gallico, Allecio, Sfalaffa, Metauro, Metramo, 
 Mefima, Angitola, Amato. 
 
 Cotrone, Reggio. 
 
 Afpro, Zefirio, Pittaro, Sagittario, Sacro, Efope, Caulone, Sagra, 
 Jeio, Clibano, la Sibilla, Corvaro, Nerbo, Ordica, Pettinella. 
 
 1. Reggio, archbifhopric. 
 
 2. Santa Severina, arcbbifhopric. 
 
 3. Bishopries : — Catanzara cum Taverna, prefidency ; Belcaftro, 
 Ifola, Bova, Oppido, Nicctera, Tropea, Gerace, Squillacce cum 
 Stilo, Mileto, Cotrone, Nicaftro.' 
 
 4. Locri, Plippona, Terina, Caulon, Croton ; ruined cities. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Arms. 
 Extent. 
 Inhabitants. 
 Seaport. 
 Rivers. 
 
 Mountains. 
 
 Principal 
 Places. 
 
 11. ABRUZZO CITRA. 
 Samnium, Peligni, Mdrrucini, Frentanl, Caraceni. 
 
 From the city of Aprutium, the PrcnXutii, or the afperity of the 
 country. 
 
 Or, a boar's head with a yoke, gules. 
 
 917,052 Moggie. 
 
 232,256. 
 
 Ortona. 
 
 Pefcara, Lenta, Foro, Moro, Feltrino, Sangro, Sente, Afinella* 
 Trigno, Merola. 
 
 St. Nicola, Majella, Cavallo, Errnihio, Prata, Morone, Argatone, 
 Longo, Schienaforte, Marfo, Caraccio, Capraro, Sorbo, Scoflcib, 
 Pallana, Policorno. 
 
 1. Chieti, arcbbifhopric and prefidency. 
 
 2. Lanciano, arcbbifhopric. 
 
 3. Bifhoprics : — Sulmona cum Valve, Ortona cum Campli. 
 
 4. Corfmium, ruined city. 
 
 12. ABRUZ-
 
 OF NAPLES. xxxi 
 
 12. ABRUZZO ULTRA. 
 Matfi, Vejliniy PrceUitii. 
 
 Azure, an eagle difplayed, or, on 3 hills, vert. Arms - 
 
 1,311,476 Moggie. Extent. 
 
 345,825. Inhabitants. 
 
 Tronto, Librata, Salinello, Trontino, Vomana, Piomba, Salino, Rivers. 
 Pefcara, Salto, Velino. 
 
 Celano. Lakes. 
 
 Velino, Elvino, Fiore, Corno, Pietra Fiorita, Pietra Solida, Can- Mountains, 
 dido, Nitella, Pietra Gentile, Calvo, Carofa, Pefchiolo, SafTuolo, 
 Gurguri, Rofetta, Mofcie, Seno, Luco, Corbaro, Duchefla, Accerella, 
 Carbonara, Grottolo, Turchio, Lampallo. 
 
 1. Bifhoprics : — Aquila, prefidency ; Teramo, prefidency; Pef- Principal 
 
 i luces* 
 
 cina, refidence of the bifhop of the Marfi ; Civita Ducale ; Atri cum 
 Penne. 
 
 2. Amiterno, Aveia j ruined cities.
 
 SHORT SKETCH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 HISTORY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 KINGDOM of NAPLES, 
 
 i. 
 
 TH I S Country has been celebrated from the earlieft 
 dawn of Grecian literature, and illuftrated by many 
 achievements of gods and heroes ; fome authors even lay 
 the fcene of the Giants' War in Campania, and prove their 
 affertion by the fable of the Titans, who were buried under 
 the neighbouring inlands. As it is not likely that thefe 
 ftories mould have originated entirely in the imagination of 
 the poets, we may reafonably fuppofe fome hiftorical event 
 afforded a canvas for them to work upon j and the moft 
 natural conjecture is, that the fir ft adventurers, on their 
 
 B landing
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 landing in Italy, met with a vigorous oppofition from men 
 of an extraordinary ftature. From their taking refuge in 
 fulphureous vallies and gloomy caverns, among burning 
 mountains, the difcoverers called them fons of the earth, 
 and their abodes the mouths of hell. 
 
 All accounts of thefe primordial inhabitants are extremely 
 imperfect ; moft probably the invaders drove them into the 
 inland mountainous regions, where they became the parents 
 of the Lucanians and other warlike nations. 
 Greeks. Divers tribes of Greeks planted colonies along the mores 
 
 of the Adriatic and Mediterranean feas. Diomed is faid to 
 have founded Arpi, and Idomeneus Salentum, immediately 
 after the Trojan war ; and fo many Greek fettlements were 
 made in the fouthern part of Italy, that it acquired the 
 name of Magna Grarcia. 
 
 Thefe commonwealths experienced a variety of fortunes; 
 fometimes they gave law to the people of the midland 
 countries, at others were obliged to receive it from them. 
 Alexander, king of the MoloiTians, paffed over into Italy 
 to fupport the caufe of his countrymen ; but, after a k\v 
 brilliant campaigns, loft his life in a battle againft the Lu- 
 canians. Not long after, the Bruttians, a people fprung 
 from a fet of outlaws, carried all before them, and gave 
 their name to the province which is now called Farther 
 Calabria, At length Rome turned her ambitious eye to- 
 wards this extremity of the peninfula ; in vain did the 
 Bruttians refift her arms with obftinate valour ; in vain did 
 
 Pyrrhus
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 3 
 
 Pyrrhus from Epirus, and Hannibal from Carthage^ check 
 her progrefs at different periods ; in the courfe of a few 
 years, the fortunes of Rome prevailed over all oppofition, Romans, 
 and thefe countries fubmitted to the yoke of bondage with 
 the reft of Italy, 
 
 u. 
 
 As the Romans divided this diftricl: according to the 
 various nations that compofed it_, the forms of government 
 were as different as its inhabitants ; fome cities were made 
 colonies, others ruled by magiftrates fent from Rome, and 
 a few indulged with their old republican conflitution, fub- 
 ject to a tributary acknowledgment ; but, fooner or later, 
 the mode of deputing governors from the Capital was uni- 
 verfally adopted. 
 
 Hadrian made a great change in the distribution ; and, 
 having divided Italy into provinces, formed four of them 
 out of the prefent kingdom of Naples. 
 
 Some alterations took place under Conftantine, but none 
 very material. 
 
 After enjoying longer and greater tranquillity than any After Chrif 
 other department of the Roman empire, this country was 
 over-run by the Vifigoths, in the reign of Honorius. Upon 
 the retreat of the invaders, who made no fettlement here, 
 thefe provinces were found to have fuffered fo exceffively 
 from the devaluation, that it became neceffary to remit their 
 ufual tribute. They had fcarce recovered their loffes, when 
 
 B 2 Genferic 
 
 400.
 
 * 
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 Genferic the Vandal laid them wafte, and deftroyed many 
 of their mod flourifhing cities. 
 
 III. 
 
 The final diffolution of the Roman empire now drew 
 near, and the convulfions that fhook it, in the lad moments 
 of its existence in the Weft, were too violent not to be 
 feverely felt in parts fo near the centre. They accordingly 
 fhared largely in the common calamity. 
 
 Coths. The long profperous reign of Theodoric, the Oftrogoth, 
 
 allowed fome refpite to their mifery, and was a period of' 
 happinefs in the annals of Italy. After many viciffitudes 
 of fortune, the Gothic fceptre was broken at the battle 
 553. of Nocera ; and Naples, with the adjacent provinces,, 
 returned to the obedience of the emperors of Conftan- 
 tinople. 
 
 Lower 
 Gveek Era- 
 pile, 
 
 IV. 
 
 In the courfe of the century that followed the deftru6Hon 
 of the Goths, a very material change took place in political 
 nomenclature, the fource of many modern names and fub- 
 divifions of countries. In fome degree, the foundation of 
 the feudal fyftem was laid by Longinus the Exarc^i, who, 
 after abolishing the dignity of Confulars and Presidents, 
 appointed in each city a Duke, and in every caftle a 
 Warden. 
 
 V. In
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. < 
 
 V. 
 
 In 5 58, the eunuch Narfes, a difco*ntented general of the Lombard*/ 
 Emperor Juftin, invited the Lombards into Italy, where they 
 made thcmfelvcs mafters of thofe rich plains, to which they 
 gave their own name They did not penetrate into the 
 Neapolitan ftate till the year 589, when their king Autharis 
 marched down the heart of the country, as far as Rhegium, 
 and founded the duchy of Beneventum. The reafon of his 
 making his invafion along the range of mountains that 
 divides Italy into two parts, was, the invincible averfion his 
 nation at all times betrayed for maritime enterprizei 1 . 
 
 The Dukes of Beneventum became formidable potentate?, 
 and extended their dominion over all the fouthern provinces, 
 except a few fea-ports, that remained faithful to the Greek 
 Emperor, and governed themfelves like commonwealths, 
 under his protection. Beneventum furvived the downfal of 
 the Lombards in 774, when their monarchy was annihi- 
 lated by Charlemagne ; and two hundred and twenty-eight 
 years after that event, princes of Lombard blood were ftill. 
 feated on the thrones of Capua, Salerno, and Benevento ; 
 But Puglia and Calabria' obeyed the mandates of the Empe- 
 ror of Greece. 
 
 VI. 
 
 About the beginning of the eleventh century, forty I002 . 
 Norman gentlemen, returning from the Holy Land, a 
 
 pilgrimage
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 pilgrimage then coming into fafhion, flopped at Salerno, 
 where they were received with great hofpitality by Guaimar, 
 a prince of the Lombard line. During their flay at his 
 court, a fleet of Saracens appeared off the harbour, and fent 
 in a threatening melTage, to intimate that, unlefs they were 
 immediately fupplied with a large fum of money, they 
 would land, fack the city, and lay the territory wafte, as 
 they had often done before. Thefe Mahometan rovers were 
 at that time the fcourge of Italy : from ft rong fettlements, 
 formed by them on the river Garigliano, and in Sicily, they 
 were wont to iflue forth, in powerful fleets, to pillage and 
 lay under contribution all the maritime places of a country 
 too little united, and confequently too weak, to make a 
 proper refiftance. Guaimar, confcious of his inability 
 to repel them, fet about collecting the ranfom ; and 
 the pirates landed on the beach, where they abandoned 
 themfelves to every fpecies of riotous intemperance. The 
 Normans, unaccuftomed to behold fuch infults tamely fub- 
 mitted to, and efteeming it an eternal ftain upon their 
 honour, daftardly to ftand by, and fee their benefactors 
 plundered by a fet of ruffians, fnatched up their arms, 
 rufhed out of the gates, and fell upon the Infidels with 
 fuch impetuoilty, that they put the greateft part of them to 
 the fword ; the remainder fled to their /hips, cut their 
 cables, and immediately ran out to fea. 
 
 The grateful Salernitans would gladly have detained their 
 gallant deliverers in Italy, but perceiving them bent upon 
 
 returning
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 returning to their native country, difmifTed them loaded 
 with valuable prefents. 
 
 The fight of thefe treafures, and the rapturous descrip- 
 tion given by the travellers of the Italian climate, excited 
 the cupidity of other Normans, and templed many to fixer 
 their courfe that way, in fearch of fortune. Ranulph 
 headed the hrft emigration ; and, having rendered many 
 fignal fervices to the Greek and Lombard princes, was 
 allowed, for his recompence, to build and fortify Averfa, 
 a fmall town in Campagna. This was the flriT: fettlement 
 his nation made in thefe provinces, and ferved for many 
 years as a rendezvous and refuge for the Normans on every 
 emergency. 
 
 After him came the fons of Tancred of Hauteville, who 
 in military renown left all their countrymen far behind 
 them. Invincible wherever they lent their aid, and terrible 
 to the effeminate Greeks and Italians, they were carefled 
 and fought after by the petty fovereigns, whofe diffentions 
 then diffracted this country. Maniaces, generalifTimo of 
 the Grecian forces^ courted their friendship, and engaged 
 them to affift him in the invafion of Sicily, at that time m 
 the hands of the Saracens. With their help he obtained a 
 complete vi&ory over the MufTulmen, and might have 
 atchieved the conqueft of the iiland, had he checked his 
 national avarice and perfidy ; but, while the Normans were 
 intent upon the purfuit of the routed enemy, the Greek 
 fuzed on all the fpoil, and divided it among his own idle 
 5 foldiers.
 
 8 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 foldiers, without referving any fhare for thofe who "had 
 earned it at the hazard of their lives. The Normans fent 
 Ardvvin to expoftulate with him on the injuftice of his 
 mode of proceeding ; but the meflenger met with moft 
 ignominious treatment from him, was whipped round the 
 camp, and fent back bleeding to his friends. At the fight 
 of his wounds, the adventurers were worked up to a pitch 
 of madnefs, and with loud cries were about to rum upon 
 the Greeks, when Ardwin, whofe deep-rooted refentment 
 difdained a tranfient revenge, curbed this violence, and 
 having explained his projects to their chiefs, perfuaded them 
 to withdraw fecretly acrofs the Faro of Medina. They 
 were no fooner landed in Calabria, than they attacked the 
 principal cities and catties of the Imperial province. In 
 order to purfue their plan with regularity, they elected a 
 chief, and united into one compact confederation. Their 
 firft leaders were of Lombard extraction, but they after- 
 wards placed themfelves under the direction of William 
 Fierabras, the eldeft of Tancred's fons. 
 
 After his death, they were governed fucceflively by his 
 brothers Dreux and Humphrey, who extended the Norman 
 dominions very confiderably ; but the great founder of this 
 dy natty was Robert, the fourth brother, furnamed Guifcard, 
 or Wifcarcl, from his great fkill and cunning. His con- 
 quefts were rapid, and conducted with judgment ; nor was 
 his policy in the cabinet inferior to his valour in the field. 
 
 7 VII. To
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 9 
 
 VII. 
 
 To Robert, Pope Nicholas II. granted what it is hard to Robert, firft 
 
 Duke 
 
 prove he had any right to difpofe of, viz. the title of Duke 1059. 
 of Puglia, with the perpetual fovereignty of that country ; 
 and alfo of Sicily, if he could conquer it. The truth is, 
 thefe piinces flood fo much in need of each other's ailift- 
 ance, to enable them to refift the power of the Emperors, 
 that it is no wonder they endeavoured to fecure their mutual 
 attachment by fo many reciprocal conceflions. Robert, 
 who could not divine the fatal confequences his treaty was 
 to have in future times, promifed to the See of Rome an 
 obedience and homage, which he had no intention of pay- 
 ing any longer than it might fuit the fituation of his affairs : 
 and Nicholas found no difficulty in granting inveftitures of 
 countries he had never been in pofTeilion of, and which he 
 knew mud: fall into the hands of the Normans, whether he 
 oppofed or authorifed their ufurpation. Emboldened by 
 the papal fanction, Robert and his younger brother Roger 
 invaded Sicily, expelled the Saracens, and foon after com- 
 pleted the conqueft of what is now called the kingdom of 
 Naples. A family quarrel* with the Emperor of Conftan- 
 tinople opened a new fcene of action for Guifcard's reftlefs 
 fpirit. After repeated victories, he penetrated into the very 
 
 * His daughter Helen, married to Conftantine, fon of the emperor 
 Michael Ducas VII., had been fent back, and her hufband lhut up in a 
 convent, by Nicephorus III. 
 
 C heart
 
 io HISTORY OF 'NAPLES. 
 
 heart of Greece, and threatened the throne of the eaflern 
 Caefars with immediate deflruction, when he was fuddenly 
 recalled to Italy by the danger of his friend the Pope. 
 Robert flew to Rome, defeated and drove away the Em- 
 peror Henry IV., by whom the Pontiff had been reduced 
 to the utmoft diftrefs, and having fecured his ally from 
 future infults, refumed his favourite fcheme of fubduing 
 Greece ; but there, in the height of his moft promising 
 
 I0 g 5 . fuccefs, his glorious career was cut fhort by a malignant 
 fever. 
 
 Roger. Roger, his fon by a fecond wife, fucceeded to his domi- 
 
 nions, notwithstanding the claims of Bohemund, the off- 
 fpring of a former marriage, who, finding himfelf unequal 
 to a conteft with his brother, fupported by his uncle 
 Roger earl of Sicily, accepted of the terms they offered. 
 It was not long before an accident furnifhed him with an 
 opportunity of being revenged of them both. 
 
 The city of Amalfi having taken advantage of the 
 diflentions among the Normans, and attempted to recover 
 its ancient independence, was inverted by the joint forces of 
 the three princes. To this fiege came Peter the Hermit, 
 to preach the firft crufado, armed with papal benedictions, 
 fired with zeal, and endowed with that ecckfuftical 
 unction, and all-perfuafive eloquence, which men, even in 
 the moft enlightened ages, are feldom able to withftand. 
 At that barbarous sera, fuch a preacher was irrefifdbie ; his 
 call was liftened to, his predictions believed, his crofies 
 
 4 feized
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. u 
 
 feized with eagernefs. Bohemund, whether hurried away 
 by the phrenzy of devotion and enterprize, or feduced by 
 the defire of revenge, feconded the endeavours of the en- 
 thufiaft, and, at the head of the flower of the army, 
 marched off for Paleftine, leaving his two relations before 
 the walls, with fcarce a fufficient force to fecure their 
 retreat. 
 
 Roger was fucceeded by his fon William, on whofe William, 
 demife without iffue, all the Norman poffeflions in the two 
 Sicilies devolved upon his coufin Roger, fon of the firfl earl i l2 j. 
 of Sicily aforementioned. 
 
 VIII. 
 
 This prince, difdaining the ftyle of Duke, which he Roger, firft 
 thought inadequate to the prefent fortunes of his houfe, " § ' 
 aiTumed the title of King. The Pope, ahrmed at the 
 rapid progrefs of the Normans, and apprehtnfive of their 
 proving an obftacle to his own private views of aggrandife- 
 ment, called in the affiftance of the emperor Lotharius, in 
 order to check a power, which, if timely opposition were 
 not made, might endanger the liberties of Italy. Lotharius 
 marched a formidable army into the new-erected kingdom, 
 and carried all before him ; while Roger wifely retired from 
 the ftorm, to collect his ftrength. The fury of the invaders 
 was foon fpent, and they wafted away with inaction and 
 malady. The King harafTed them in their retreat, reco- 
 vered every pofr, drove the Germans out of the kingdom, 
 
 C 2 and
 
 12 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 and having taken Pope Innocent II. prifoner, forced him to 
 recognize his title, and grant him inveftiture. 
 
 Roger then deftroyed the fhadow of independence which 
 ft ill exifted in fome maritime cities, invaded Africa, con- 
 quered Tunis, and afterwards made a fuccefsful invafion 
 into Greece. He did not, however, confine his ambition 
 to military renown, but was alfo attentive to the internal 
 ii 54 . adminiftration of affairs; and at his death left every depart- 
 ment of government in fo flourifhing a ftate, that, as far as 
 the feeble wifdom of man could forefee, he had jure caufe 
 to hope that his throne was fixed upon a moft immoveable 
 balls. The confequence of fupine negligence in his fucceflbr 
 fhewed how fallacious are all human projects, and how 
 eafy it is for mifmanagement to overfet the beft concerted 
 plans. 
 William I ' ^he f econ d King was Roger's fon William, an unhappy 
 prince, though little molefted by foreign enemies. Indo- 
 lence gave him up a willing prey to wicked minifters ; but 
 whenever he was roufed to action by attacks from abroad, 
 the fpirit of his anceftors rofe "within him, and he repelled 
 every hoftile affault with the courage of a Guifcard. The 
 Pope and the Emperor prefled at one time very hard upon 
 him, but he baffled all their attempts ; had he been as fuc- 
 cefsful at home, his reign would make a very different 
 figure in the Sicilian chronicles from what it now does. 
 Majone, his favourite, governed the nation in fo oppreilive 
 a manner, that he provoked the barons to confpire againff 
 
 him.
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 13. 
 
 him. They murdered the minifter, imprifoned the mo- 
 narch, and placed the crown on the head of his infant fen. 
 This unfortunate child being killed by a random arrow, 
 the courage of the rebels funk, William regained the fceptre, 
 glutted his revenge with the blood of the confpirators, and 
 pafTed the remainder of his days in melancholy peace. 
 Depreft with misfortunes, fick of ambition, deftitute of 
 friends, and incapable of any laudable occupation, he arrived 
 at length at fuch a pitch of apathy, as to forbid his attend- 
 ants to inform him of any circumftance that might difturb 
 his quiet. The confequences were, that, under the fan&ion 
 of his authority, his officers exercifed the moft brutal 
 tyranny with impunity ; and William defcended to the j,6 7 , 
 grave, detefted by all good men, and branded for ever with 
 the odious appellation of the Bad. 
 
 The factions among the great vafTals difturbed the firft William IE 
 years of his fon William's reign ; but when he grew up to 
 manhood, all thefe turbulencies fubfided. A mild, prudent, 
 and equitable administration, added to the merit of bound- 
 lefs munificence to the church, and unfhaken attachment 
 to the See of Rome, procured for him the ineftimable fur- 
 name of the Good. The greateft proof that can be given 
 how well he deferved this honourable epithet, is the defire 
 which the Sicilians expreffed, in all fubfequent quarrels with 
 their fovereigns, of having things put upon the fame foot- 
 ing, and the laws exercifed with the fame impartiality, as 
 they were in the days of Good King William. Not having 
 
 any
 
 i 4 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 any heirs of his body, and being defirous of preventing a 
 civil war, he gave his aunt Conftance, a poflhumous i hi!d 
 of King Roger, in marriage to Henry of Swabia, king of 
 the Romans ; and loon after died, having reigned twenty- 
 three years in fuch profound peace and tranquillity, that 
 hiftorians, who delight more in tumultuous and bloody 
 fcenes, have neglecled to tranfmit to us any particulars of 
 1189. the laft ten years of his reign*. 
 
 Tanaed. When this good king died, his appointed fuccefibrs were 
 
 abfent, and the Sicilians, in defiance of the allegiance they 
 had fworn to them, called to the throne Tancred earl of 
 Lecce, natural fon of Roger, elder brother of William I. 
 This reign was fhort and turbulent : but the Germans 
 would in all probability have been completely excluded, had 
 Tancred, who was an excellent and valiant prince, lived 
 long enough to fettle himlelf on the flippery feat Exceflive 
 grief for the lofs of an accomplimtd and favourite fon, on 
 whom he had refted every fond hope of future joy and 
 1192. greatnefs, brought this affectionate parent to an un- 
 timely g r ave, and blafted at once all the budding fortunes 
 of his family. 
 
 William ill. William, his furviving fon, was too young and weak 
 to refift. the power of Henry, now become emperor, and 
 afiifted by the fickle barons. The unhappy youth was 
 
 * Montagne fays, c Les bons hiftoriens fuyent comme une eau dormap.ve 
 c et mer morte des narrations calmes pour regaigner les (editions, les 
 e guerres, ou ils fcavent que nous les appellons.' 
 
 obliged
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. i 5 
 
 obliged to furrender himfelf to his rival, who, contrary to 
 
 his plighted faith, deprived, him of liberty, fight, and "94* 
 
 manhood. 
 
 IX. 
 
 Henry, who was a monfter of cruelty, put to death every Swabians. 
 adherent of Tancred's, not even fparing the traitors, who Henry and 
 had deferted William to join the Imperial ftandard. His 
 mean brutality led him to dig up the body of Tancred, and 
 expofe it to the birds of prey. Sicily was laid wafte, her 
 churches plundered, her wealth tranfported into foreign 
 countries, and her ftreets flamed with the blood of her moffc 
 diftinguifhed citizens. But now the Sicilians perceiving that 
 the Emperor was bent upon exterminating the whole Nor- 
 man race, rumed to arms. An univerfal rebellion broke 
 out, at the head of which appeared Conftantia herfelf, 
 unable any longer to bear with the inhumanity of her 
 hufband. Henry was driven out of the ifland, and forced 
 to fubfcribe to the moffc humiliating terms of pacification. 
 He did not long furvive his difgrace ; and the Emprefs died ,, 9 g. 
 foon after, leaving the crown to Frederick, their only fon, 
 an infant. 
 
 A moft diforderly minority enfued ; but by the good Frederick 
 management of Pope Innocent III., who ruled as regent peror . 
 and guardian to the young king, his dominions were pre- 
 ferved entire : and, as foon as he came of age, Frederick 
 obtained the Imperial diadem by the influence of his kind 
 
 tutor.
 
 rS HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 tutor. This cordiality between the two powers was but of 
 fhort duration ; and their fubfequent animofity was violent 
 in proportion to the warmth of their former attachment. 
 During a long courfe of years, they perfecuted each other 
 with unremitting malevolence ; thefe difTentions embittered 
 the beft part of the Emperor's life, and laid a foundation for 
 troubles and inteftine commotions, which at length brought 
 the houfe of Swabia to utter destruction. In hopes of paci- 
 fying the pontiff, Frederick embarked for the Holy Wars ; 
 but fcarce had he fet foot in Paleftine, when news was 
 brought him that Gregory IX. had debauched many, of the 
 barons from their allegiance, and invaded the kingdom of 
 Naples. The Emperor immediately patched up a peace 
 with the Infidels, and returned to Italy. Surrounded by 
 domeftic enemies, peftered with papal anathemas, and v/orn 
 
 s250# out in counteracting their machinations, Frederick expired, 
 not without fome fufpicion of poifon, faid to have been 
 administered by his natural fon Manfred ; but no fatisfac- 
 tory reafons have been given for fufpecting him of this 
 parricide. 
 Comad. As foon as the Emperor's death was known, the Pope 
 
 renewed his attack, expecting to find the kingdom a de- 
 fencelefs prey ; but the fudden appearance of Conrad, fon 
 and heir of Frederick, overturned his projects. This 
 young Emperor crufhed the infurgents, ftormed Naples, 
 and exerciled great cruelty upon his opponents. He 
 
 1154. reigned only four years ; and his death is alfo afcribed, 
 
 by
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 17 
 
 by the ecclefiaftical writers, to their capital enemy Man- 
 fred. 
 
 Conradine, the only Ton of Conrad, being abfent in Ger- 
 many at the time of his father's death, the pope feized 
 upon the kingdom ; but Manfred, as regent, difpoffeffed Manfred. 
 him, and, a report being fpread of Conradine's death, af- 
 fumed the reins of government in his own name. The 
 Roman pontiffs, finding themfelves foiled in their military 
 attacks by the fuperiof fkill of their adverfary, and their 
 fpiritual thunderbolts of little avail againft an enemy that 
 fcreened himfelf behind the fhield of incredulity, took an* 
 other method, and offered the crown of Sicily to any prince 
 that would drive out the prefent excommunicated pofleflbr. 
 The firft that was found able to put this plan in execution 
 was Charles of Anjou, brother to Lewis the Ninth king of * 
 France. He accepted the offer, whether folely urged by 
 his own ambition, or pufhed on by the vanity of his wife, 
 who longed to be a queen as well as her lifters *. He pene- 
 trated into the kingdom, and gained a decifive victory, at 
 Benevento, over Manfred, who fell in the field of battle. 
 Conftance, daughter of this unfortunate prince, married 1266. 
 Peter king of Aragon f. 
 
 * The daughters of Raymond, Earl of Provence, were Margaret, married 
 to Lewis IX'. King of France; Eleanor, to Henry III. King of England; 
 Sancha, to Richard Earl of Cornwall, and King of the Romans ; and Beatrix, 
 to Charles Earl of Anjou. 
 
 ■f It is remarkable, that their prefent Sicilian Majefties are both defcended 
 by Conftantia from the heroic houfe of Swabia. 
 
 D X.
 
 i8 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 X. 
 
 Angevines. Charles no fooner thought himfelf firmly feated on his 
 
 Firtf. new throne, than he gave a loofe to his natural temper, 
 
 and ruled his fubjedts with a rod of iron. This ufage pro- 
 voked them to invite Conradine to the inheritance of his 
 ancestors, but their good intentions ferved only to complete 
 the ruin of the Swabian family. The unfortunate youth 
 was defeated, betrayed, taken prifoner, and beheaded. His 
 death did not, however, remain long unrevenged : Charles 
 and his Frenchmen rendered their yoke fo galling to the 
 Sicilians, whofe honour, property, and lives were become 
 the fport of the licentious conquerors, that on Eafter 
 Tuefday, in the year 1282, the people of Palermo raifed 
 the ftandard of revolt. The whole ifland followed the 
 example of the capital, and a general maffacre enfued, in 
 which every Frenchman but one * was put to the fword 
 without mercy ; an event known in hi (lory by the name 
 of the Sicilian Vefpers. The infurgents offered the crown 
 to Peter of Aragon ; a long war enfued, in the Courfe of 
 which Charles met with nothing but misfortunes, and died 
 1185. of a broken heart. 
 Charles II. Charles, his eldeft fon, was actually a prifoner at the 
 
 time of his father's death: having recovered his liberty, 
 and made many ineffectual attempts to drive the Aragonefe 
 out of Sicily, he concluded a peace with them, and, being 
 
 * William Porcclet, whole life was fpared in confideration of his virtue 
 and juftice. 
 
 a good
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 a good and moderate man, turned his whole attention to- 
 wards the welfare and improvement of his kingdom of 
 Naples. I3 ° 9 ' 
 
 He was fucceeded by his fecond fon Robert, though Robert. 
 Charles Martel, king of Hungary, who was the eldeft, and 
 died before his father, had left children. Charibert, king of 
 Hungary, put in his claim, upon which it was agreed by 
 both parties, to fubmit to the umpirage of the Pope. The 
 papal decree confirmed Robert in the pofTeilion. Fie has 
 been accufed of having poifoned his brother, in order to 
 pave his way to the throne. 
 
 Being little molcfted by external enemies, his long reign 
 was glorious and fortunate, as far as foreign affairs were 
 concerned ; but, in the circle of his own family, he was 
 completely wretched. He had outlived his only fon, and, 
 with a view of preventing difputes about the fucceflion, had 
 given his grand -daughter and heirefs Joan in marriage to 
 Andrew of Hungary, a worthlefs prince, with whom fhe 
 was likely to be very miferable. Theforeiight of approach- 
 ing difallers oppreiTed his aged fpirit, and haflened his dif- 
 folution. i 343 , 
 
 Andrew foon became fo hateful to his queen and her j oan the 
 fubjects, that a confpiracy was formed to take away his :f ' 
 life : the murder was committed at Averfa. Modern au- 
 thors pretend, that his wife was not privy to it; but 1 do 
 not think their proofs furhcient to refute the aiguments of 
 thofe cotemporaries that lay it to her charge. Her widow- 
 
 D 2 hood 
 
 l 9
 
 20 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 hood was fhort : Lewis of Taranto, of the blood royal, a 
 prince endowed with many good qualities, was her fecond 
 hufband. He and Joan were obliged foon after to fly 
 before the king of Hungary, who invaded Naples, to re- 
 venge his brother's murder, and put feveral nobles to death 
 on that account. The Hungarian being recalled by do- 
 mestic tumults to his own dominions, Joan returned to 
 Italy. Her third hufband was James of Aragon ; and her 
 fourth, Otho of Brunfwick. Being now far advanced in 
 years, and pan 1 all hopes of having children, fhe inftituted 
 her relation, Charles of Durazzo, her heir. This prince, 
 jealous of the defigns of Otho, doubtful of the queen's 
 fteadinefs, and impatient to be in pofleflion of the crown, 
 aflembled an army, attacked Naples, took the queen pri- 
 foner, and is fuppofed to have put an end to her ex- 
 1382. iflence. 
 
 XL, 
 Durazzians. When Charles invaded her dominions, Joan had no 
 commander of eminence to oppofe to him : me therefore 
 called to her aid, and adopted, Lewis of Anjou, fon to John, 
 king of France ; but he came too late to prove of any 
 fervice to his ill-fated benefaclrefs. However, he fecured 
 to himfelf the quiet pofleflion of her French territories, and 
 was in a fair way of conquering the Neapolitan ones, when 
 he fell rick and died. 
 
 Charles, though peaceable pofleflbr of Naples, could 
 not reft fatisfied with his good fortune, but liftened to the 
 
 4 invitation
 
 HISTORYOFNAPLES. zt 
 
 invitation of the Hungarian malcontents, who wifhed to 
 depofe Mary, the only child of his old friend and protector, 
 King Lewis. He agreed to their propofals, went to Hun- 
 gary, and was proclaimed king; but, not long after, the 
 young queen's party recovered from their confternation, and 
 afTailinated him in the palace. i 3 86. 
 
 The kingdom of Naples alone defcended to his infant Ladiflaus. 
 fon Ladiflaus, during whofe non-age every thing was in 
 perpetual ferment. On coming of age, he found the An- 
 gevines matters or three- fourths of the realm ; and to re- 
 cover them out of their hands, required all his courage and 
 good fortune*. He afterwards took a leading part in the 
 troubles of Italy, tyrannized over Rome, dictated to moft 
 of the petty potentates, and attempted to conquer Hun- 
 gary. The pope, alarmed at his profperity, called in 
 Lewis the Second, of Anjou, who defeated the Durazzians 
 at Ceparano, and, had he known how to make ufe of his 
 victory, would have ruined their party beyond redemption ; 
 but, having loitered away his time, inftead of purfuing 
 his advantage, he gave his adverfary an opportunity of col- 
 lecting frem forces, and gaining fuch a fuperiority as was 
 no longer to be refifted. Ladiflaus, delivered from ene- 
 mies at home, and an over-match for thofe abroad, gave 
 himfelf up to pleafure, and fhortened his days by excefs of 
 debauchery. I4 * 4 * 
 
 His only filter, Joan, fucceeded him : a woman more j oa n the- 
 noted for her lafcivioufnefs than any princefs fince MeiTa- 
 
 lina,.
 
 az HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 lina, without one virtue "to balance her vices; a flave to 
 luft and vile favourites, her life was a continual round of 
 riot, diftrefs, and civil turmoils. At the age of forty- 
 fcven, and much againff, her will, the clamours of the 
 people forced her to contract a fecond marriage, and take 
 to her bed the Count of La Marche, who aimed at abfo- 
 lute dominion, and ufed her with great feverity. She 
 plotted with Sforza, an adventurer, recovered the reins of 
 government, and fent her hufband back to France. Joan 
 was fcarce rid of this incumbrance, when another oppo- 
 nent ftarted up. This was a third Lewis of Anjou, who 
 carried on his attack with fuch vigour, that the queen was 
 under the neceflity of applying for fuccour to Alphonfus, 
 king of Aragon and Sicily, whom fhe adopted. No fooner 
 had the Spaniard deprived the Angevines of the power of 
 giving her uneahnefs, than the fickle old woman grew tired 
 of her adopted ion, revoked the deed of gilt, and bellowed 
 the reverfion upon Lewis, her former antagonist. Al- 
 phonfus was driven out of the kingdom, and feemed to 
 have laid afide ail thoughts of adding Naples to his here- 
 143;. ditary dominions, when the death of Joan and Lewis left 
 the kingdom once more open to his attack ; but it was 
 not without a long druggie, and much bloodfhed, that 
 he achieved the conqueft. 
 
 XII. 
 
 Aragontfe. The crowns of the two Sicilies being thus re-united upon 
 one brow, thefe defolated provinces were by degrees re- 
 
 flored
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 23 
 
 ftored to peace and opulence : blefTings to which they had 
 been long Grangers. This great prince died without legi- 
 timate iflue, having furvived Joan twenty three years. Si- 
 cily and Aragon devolved to his brother John, king of 
 Navarre ; and Naples, by virtue of a previous agreement, 
 fell to his natural fon Ferdinand. , 45 8, 
 
 The reign of Ferdinand the Firft was long, but not Ferdinand I. 
 happy, being difturbed by two dangerous rebellions, which 
 (hook his throne to the centre, though he triumphed over 
 them both. By every method, which victory and breach 
 of faith could enable him to purfue, he exterminated the 
 principal families engaged in thofe revolts ; but their fpirit 
 furvived, prepared, and enforced the blow that fo fud- 
 denly and irrefiftibly overwhelmed his fuco (Tor. Ferdi- 
 nand, however, died in peace, and was fucceeded by his I494 , 
 fon, 
 
 Alphonfus the Second, a man of great military fame, Aiphonfus 
 
 1 r r\ r • 1 • n 1 ^ tne Second, 
 
 but or a moft ianguinary temper, the lnltigator and actor 
 of all the treacheries and cruelties that iullied 'his father's 
 annals. Chaftifement was not tardy in overtaking him ; 
 for he had fcarce held the fceptre a lew months, before 
 Charles the Eighth, king of France^ as heir to the houfe 
 of Anjou, marched to Naples at the head of a formidable 
 army. On his approach, Alphonfus was ftruck with fuch 
 a panic, that, forgetful of honour and intereft, he abdi- 
 cated his crown, left his fon to make the beft defence he 
 1 could,
 
 24 
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 ■1495. 
 
 Ferdinand 
 the Second. 
 
 1496. 
 
 Frederick 
 the Second. 
 
 1504. 
 
 could, and fled to Sicily, where he foon died of fhame 
 and defpair. 
 
 Ferdinand the Second retired before the enemy, while 
 Charles made his triumphal entry into the capital. This 
 blaze of French glory was, like a wintry fun, glaring and 
 tranfitory. Charles returned to France, and Gonfalvo, the 
 great Spanim captain, reinftated Ferdinand in all his pof- 
 feflions. Unfortunately he did not live long enough to 
 reftore any degree of firmnefs to the tottering fortunes of 
 his family. 
 
 Upon his deceafe, his uncle Frederick fiicceeded : a 
 
 learned good prince, and worthy of a better fate. He was 
 
 overpowered by a confederacy entered into by Ferdinand 
 
 the Catholic, king of Spain, and Lewis the Twelfth, king 
 
 of France, to feize upon and divide the kingdom of Naples 
 
 between them. 1 he execution of the project was eafy 
 
 for two fuch powerful monarchs ; and Frederick, bereft of 
 
 friends and hopes, furrendered up his perfon to Lewis, 
 
 expeding better treatment at his hands, than at thofe of 
 
 his perfidious coufin of Aragon. But he had little reafon 
 
 to rejoice at the truft he had repofed in French generofity ; 
 
 for he was confined the few remaining years of his life at 
 
 Tours, while his wretched family was left to wander about 
 
 the world hopelefs and unbefriended. 
 
 XIII. The
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 25 
 
 XIII. 
 
 The unnatural com pad between thefe kings could not Ferdinand 
 
 i ° the 1 hird. 
 
 long hold together, as fraud and violence were its founda- 
 tion. Matters were foon embroiled, and war enfued ; the 
 French were expelled, and both {hares irrecoverably fecurcd 
 to Ferdinand. At his death, Naples, with all his other 
 dominions, paffed to his grandfon 
 
 1516. 
 
 XIV. 
 
 Charles of Auftria, afterwards emperor of the Romans, £" ft ' !ans ; 
 
 ' t Charles the 
 
 the fifth of the name. |°?' th< ,, 
 
 ririh astm- 
 
 During this, and every fucceeding reign of the Auftrian per ° r - 6 
 family, thefe kingdoms were governed by viceroys, and Philip king 
 
 ' of Spain the 
 
 feldom honoured with the prefence of their fovereign. Second. 
 The oppreflions of the governors, the complaints of the p hi!ip the 
 people, and outrages of the barons ; the depredations of the "(,' 2 i. 
 Turks, French, or banditti, were the only interruptions Philip the 
 to the public peace, till the year 1647, when a famous Fw m\. 
 infurrection broke out. Mafaniello, the leader of the fe- 
 dition, ftirred up the mob of Naples, on account of fome 
 duties laid upon fruit, drove the viceroy into the caftle, 
 and, for a few days, ftrutted the dictator of the Neapolitan 
 republic. On his being murdered, things returned quietly 
 to their wonted channel. About this time, the duke of 
 Guife came to Naples, and endeavoured to make himfelf 
 
 E king ;
 
 i6 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 
 
 king ; but his enterprize failed for want of fupport from 
 France. 
 Charles the Thus fatigued with every difquiet and inconvenience 
 1700. incident to a delegated adminiftration, Naples continued to 
 obey the Spaniards with a heavy heart, until the extinction 
 of the Auftrian line in 1700 opened a new field for liti- 
 gation. 
 
 XV. 
 
 Bourbon. The great conteft for the inheritance of Charles the 
 
 Fifth. Second changed the whole political fyfeem of Italy. Naples, 
 
 at firft, was occupied by Philip of Bourbon ; but, in 1706, 
 was conquered by the Auftrians, and at the peace of 
 Utrecht, in 17 13, confirmed to the emperor Charles the 
 Sixth. 
 
 Auftrians. 
 les the 
 
 Sixth. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 Bourbon. j n 1734, Elizabeth, fecond wife of Philip the Fifth, 
 
 Charles the . . . - . 
 
 Seventh. kino- of Spain, being ambitious or procuring a lettlement 
 for her fon Don Carlos, caufed Spain to engage in a war 
 with the emperor ; the event of which was, that the Infant 
 conquered Naples, and, by the treaty of peace, was left 
 in full poiTeflion, with the title of King of the Two Sicilies. 
 
 Ferdinand In 1759, on the death of Ferdinand the Sixth of Spain, 
 
 Charles fucceeded to the Spaniih crown, and refigned his 
 Sicilian dominions to his third fon, Ferdinand the Fourth, 
 now reigning. Philip, the eldeft, was fet afide for idiot- 
 
 ifm ; 
 
 the Fouith.
 
 HISTORY OF NAPLES. 27 
 
 ifm ; and Charles, the fecond, taken by his father to 
 Madrid as prince of Afturias, and heir apparent to the 
 Spanifh monarchy. 
 
 N. B. As any difcufGon of chronological doubts would have been abfurd 
 in an abridgment of hiflory, I have fixed all epochas at the molt 
 probable dates. 
 
 E 2
 
 A 
 
 VOYAGE 
 
 FROM 
 
 MARSEILLES 
 
 T O 
 
 NAPLES, 
 
 1776. 
 
 SECTION J. 
 
 H E feafon of the year being far advanced, and the 
 Alps covered with fnow, I thought it imadvifeable 
 with a family to undertake, a journey into Italy by land ; 
 and therefore, in company with S. T. G., hired a French 
 polacre at Marfeilles, and embarked for Naples on the 
 1 7th of December 1776. 
 
 The getting under fail was tedious, as the currents ob- 
 liged us to tow out from buoy to buoy ; but when once 
 clear of the land, we went at a prodigious rate, before a 
 
 5 brifk
 
 3 o VOYAGETONAPLES. 
 
 brifk north-weft wind, which in the evening increafed to 
 a ftorm. 
 
 All that night, and the enfuing day, the gale continued, 
 and drove us on very faft. As the Tea was rough, and the 
 waves fhort, the irregular jerks and toffings of our fhip 
 kept us in perpetual alarms; but fortunately it was tight 
 and well built. The Alps, immerfed in fnow, appeared 
 on the left hand, about four leagues off, riling out of the 
 waters to a wonderful height : the fea ran fo high, that we 
 could difcern nothing near their bafe. About fun-fet, we 
 got under the fhelter of Cape Corfo, the N. E. point of 
 Corfica, and lay-to all night in ftill water. By this delay, 
 we loft the opportunity of palling through the ftraits of 
 Piombino ; for, before morning, the boifterous Maestral 
 fank into a very dull zephyr, which faintly brought us to the 
 ifland of Elba, and there left us in a dead calm. We were 
 towed into the harbour of Porto-Ferraio, where Monf. de 
 Lanores, the governor, a native of Lorraine, received us 
 with great politenefs, and contributed every thing in his 
 power to make our involuntary viiit to his port lefs irk- 
 
 fome. 
 
 The ifland of Elba, known to the Greeks by the name 
 of Aithalia, and to the Romans by that of Uva, has been 
 renowned for its mines from a period beyond the reach of 
 hiftory. Ariftotle fpeaks of them as opened from time 
 immemorial, and Virgil brings a fuccour to ./Eneas of three 
 hundred men from 
 
 Uva,
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ 
 
 te 
 N 
 ^ 
 
 N 
 
 §
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 41 
 
 -II 
 
 va. 
 
 Infula inexhauftis chalybum generofa metallis*. 
 
 It lies about ten miles S. W. from Tufcany, in latitude 
 42° 50'. Its figure is that of an equilateral triangle. Pliny 
 gives it a circuit of an hundred miles. Late geographers 
 allow only fixty to its circumference ; but, as no map has 
 yet been made upon exact, obfervations, and as the circuit 
 would be much more confiderable, if every creek and inlet 
 were meafured, perhaps the Roman menfuration may come 
 nearer the truth than the modern one. The difference 
 might even be accounted for by the encroachments of the 
 fea, and by the tumbling in of the rocks, which are, in 
 many places, of a mouldering contexture. 
 
 Being extremely mountainous, Elba affords but fcanty 
 room for cultivation, and produces little more than fix 
 months provifion of corn for its feven thoufand inhabitants. 
 It is faid to have been peopled from Volterra, in very an- 
 cient times, the capital of Tufcany, and perhaps of all 
 
 Italy. 
 
 The property is at prefent divided between the Prince of 
 Piombino, who poflefTes the largeft mare ; the King of 
 Naples, to whom Porto-Longone belongs ; and the Great 
 Duke of Tufcany, who is matter of Porto-Ferraio. 
 
 The climate is much milder than that of the adjacent 
 continent; for Elba produces many plants and fruits that 
 cannot ftand the Tufcan winters. 
 
 * " Elba, an ifland rich in inexhauftible mines of fteel." 
 
 6 The
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 The fouth-weff. part of the ifland is the moft elevated, 
 and confifls of lofty unfruitful mountains, compofed of 
 black and white granite fufceptible of a fine polifh. In an 
 old quarry, on the fouth fhore, may be fcen feveral pillars 
 and bafons roughly hewn, and left unfinifhed. The co- 
 lumns of the cathedral of Pifa are faid to have been cut out 
 of thefe rocks. Under this granite is a ftratum of flate. 
 
 The N. E. and S. E. parts are chiefly argillaceous flate 
 and iron-Hone, with a quarry of grey marble, and fome 
 veins of ferpentine. Amianthus is frequent among the 
 fhivery rocks. Near the N. E. point is the hill, or mine 
 of iron ore, belonging to Rio, which fupplies mofr. of the 
 forges of Italy. At the S. E. cape is the Monte della Ca- 
 lamita, fo called from the loadftone with which it abounds. 
 This is the magnss colore fufco rubente of the mineralo- 
 gifts, and appears to be a ferruginous fubfbnce that has 
 paffed through a very violent fire without vitrification. The 
 efficient of magnetifm ftill remains in the unfathomed 
 depths of nature's firfl: caufes. Monf. de Buffon defines it, 
 a conftant effecT: of electricity produced by the interior heat, 
 and the rotation of the globe ; but if it depended on no 
 other caufe, we fliould not experience fuch variation in 
 the compafs. The beft magnets in Elba are found near 
 the fea ; but to come at ftrong ones, the ground muft be 
 dug into: becaufe the air, or the rays of the fun, eat out? 
 the force of thofe that lie long expofed to them on the 
 furface. The earth, mixed with thefe (tones, is full of 
 
 martial
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 33 
 
 martial particles, which ftick to the pick-axe in the fhapc 
 of little tufts of briftles. The layer that fupports the 
 magnetic heaps is a blue whetftone Hate, with a fmall 
 mixture of calcareous (tones. At the bottom of the 
 mountain is found a bole, vulgarly named white loadftone> 
 not from any real attractive virtue, but from a roughnefs 
 that caufes the tongue to adhere to it. It was formerly 
 much worn as a charm by lovers, and fuppofed to draw, 
 with great force, the affections of the beloved object: to- 
 wards the wearer. 
 
 The foil of Elba is very mallow, with few places level 
 enough for corn. The wine is good, if made with care, 
 and properly kept ; the fruit of its ftandard trees is faid 
 to be exquifite ; orange and lemon trees feem to thrive 
 very well in the (heltered vallies and narrow plains near 
 the fea. 
 
 About four thoufand tons of fait are made near Porto- 
 Ferraio, which has likewife a tunny fimery, worth annu- 
 ally to the Grand Duke one thoufand three hundred pounds 
 Sterling. The Prince of Piombino has another at Mar- 
 ciana, that clears one thoufand pounds per annum. 
 
 Porto-Ferraio * is a very pretty town, built on a (helv- 
 ing rock that clofes in a large circular bay ; the land all 
 
 * It was called Portns Argous from Argo, the fhip of Jafon, which the 
 confuted traditionary legend of the ancients brought out ir.to the Mediter- 
 ranean, that Medea might have an opportunity of communing with her 
 fitter forcerefs Circe. Homer, in his OdyfTey, informs us, that, by the 
 •particular favour of Jove, this celebrated fhip palled unhurt through the 
 Straits of Scylla and Charybdis. 
 
 F around
 
 34 
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 around is high and woody ; the entrance of the bay wide, 
 and eafy to hit; but fo open to the N. E. winds, that, 
 when they blow with violence, there are few anchcring- 
 places where a fhip can ride in fecurity. The ftrects and 
 fortifications rife one above another, like rows of feats in 
 an ancient amphitheatre, and prefent a moil beautiful 
 fpeclacle to thofe that approach by water. To the fea, 
 nothing appears but the two citadels, Stella and Falcone. 
 All the upper range of works is cut out of the rock into 
 vaults and intricate communications. In the centre of the 
 femicircle, is a fmaller port or darfena for boats and gallies, 
 defended by a couple of baftions, and {hut up every 
 evening with a boom. A commodious quay communicates 
 with all the ftreets, by means of large flights of fteps, 
 
 Elba was held with Piombino by the Appiani as a fief 
 of the empire, till Charles the Fifth thought proper to 
 transfer it to Cofmo the firft duke of Florence, that he 
 might fecure it and the adjacent coaft from the infuks 
 of the Turks and French, which the preceding feudatory, 
 was not in a condition to repel. The duke built Ferraio 
 in 1548 ; but it was not brought to the prefent ftate of 
 perfection before the reign of Cofmo the Second, who 
 completed thefe fortifications in 1628, with a magnificence 
 equal to that difplayed by the old Romans in their public 
 undertakings. The gates are decorated with :ulpture, 
 and the rings for fattening cables to are of car cd bronze. 
 The garrifon is fmall, and the artillery trilling, for fo 
 
 large
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 large a fortrefs ; but the neutrality of its mafler is its 
 prefent fecurity, and renders a ftronger force unneceflary. 
 
 3S 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 np HE RE being no appearance of a favourable change 
 in the wind, we made an excurfion to the iron mines. 
 We croffed the bay, and afcended the mountain by a 
 very rugged path. The gullies that feam its fides are full 
 of orchards, with fome few orange- trees, cut to pieces and 
 ftunted by the N. W. wind. The wafte is covered with 
 myrtle, lauruftinus, lentifcus, arbutus, and many other 
 flowering fhrubs. The fummit of thefe mountains is bare 
 of wood, but not of verdure. 
 
 On a maggy rock ftands the Tower of Voltoraio, where 
 fix foldiers defend the frontiers of the Tufcan ftate, marked 
 out by (tones placed in angular directions along the top 
 of the ridge that encompafles the bay of Porto- Ferraio. 
 The view from this Tower is wonderfully fine every way, 
 as the eye overlooks the whole ifland, that of Coriica, 
 many fcattered iilets, the channel of Piombino, and a great 
 range of continent. 
 
 We defcended on the eaft fide of the mountain to Rio, 
 a poor village inhabited by miners. Under it breaks out 
 the only rivulet in Elba, which does not run above a mile 
 
 F 2 before
 
 3 6 VOYAGETONAPLES. 
 
 before it falls into the fea ; but the water gumes out of the 
 reck in fuch abundance, that it turns feventeen mills in 
 that fhort courfe. We followed this pretty ft ream down a 
 narrow vale, cultivated with great nicety, and planted with 
 orange and other fruit-trees, till it brought us to the cele» 
 brated iron mine. 
 
 This mine is not, like moft others, coinpofed of ferru- 
 ginous ftrata, or of pieces of ore difperfed among hetero- 
 geneous fubftances, in horizontal ftreaks or accidental 
 lumps, which are come at with difficulty, by means of 
 galleries, engines, and deep pits ; on the contrary, it forms 
 one large hill of folid ore, worked in three terraces, after 
 the manner of a fine quarry of ftone, by clearing away the 
 top, and hewing or blafting the rock, till it drops in 
 fbivers into the area, from whence it is wheeled to the 
 place of fale. The circumference of this iron hill is near 
 three miles, and the depth of the ore to the ftaty founda- 
 tion about three hundred feet. Where it has not yet been 
 touched, or has lain undifturbed many years, vines and 
 other plants grow tolerably well on the furface, and are 
 faid by Koeftlin * to contain particles of iron in their 
 leaves and ftems, as may be difcovered by calcination. If 
 this were really the cafe, which I very much doubt, it 
 would give a greater degree of credibility to the ftories told 
 in Hungary, where bits of gold are fhewn adhering to the 
 
 * A German phyfician, who publilhed an account of Elba in 17S0. 
 
 .ftalfcs
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 flalks and grapes of the Tokay vines, fuppofed to have 
 been drawn out of the ground by the plant in the cogrfc 
 of vegetation. 
 
 The place where the prefent works are carried on re- 
 fembles a funnel with one fide broken down. About feven 
 hundred pounds weight of gunpowder are confumed annu- 
 ally in blafting, and one hundred and fix men conftantly 
 employed with the pickaxe or barrow, From a fcarcity 
 of wood, none of the ore is fmelted on the ifland, but is 
 fold to the agents of the Tufcan, Roman, Corfican, and 
 Neapolitan furnaces, at the rate of fifty-one crowns per 
 cento; a weight confifting of thirty-three thoufand three 
 hundred and thirty-three pounds and an half each. The 
 Corficans and Tufcans have a right to pick the ore, for 
 which they pay an additional price. All others take it 
 unforted, and, with every parcel of large ore, are obliged 
 to take a tenth part of the refufe : the two privileged traders 
 have a fifth. 
 
 This ore is beautiful, abounding in rainbow fhoots and 
 chriftallifations ; but although it appears to the eye and 
 the feel to be almoft one folid mafs of iron, it is by no 
 means fo rich as many iron ores in the north of Europe, 
 and hardly yields half its weight in pure metal. 
 
 It is a doubt, whether this mine of Rio be the lame 
 mentioned by Ariftatle, and other ancient authors, to haie 
 been open in their time, but it is generally believed to be 
 fo. Pini, who in 1777 gavea difiertation on Liba, makes 
 
 a catr 
 
 37
 
 ~ 
 
 8 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 a calculation to prove, that it is poftible thefe mines may 
 have been continually wrought fince that very diftant period, 
 without being more exhausted than we fee them. He fup- 
 pofes the prefent area, where the ore is dug, to be a 
 c] Under of live thoufand feet in circumference, upon a depth 
 of two hundred feet, canable of containing three hundred 
 
 9 i O 
 
 and ninety-feven millions feven hundred and twenty-feven 
 thoufand cubic feet of earth or ore, of which only one 
 third part, or one hundred and thirty-two millions five 
 .id red and feventy-five thoufand fix hundred and fixty- 
 fjx two thirds is to be afiigned to the folid mineral; that 
 each cubic foot of ore weighs four hundred and eight 
 pounds ; and therefore, that the whole weight of the ore 
 hitherto dug out amounts to fifty-four thoufand and ninety 
 millions eight hundred and feventy-two thoufand pounds 
 Now, for many years back, the annual exportation has not 
 exceeded forty-one millions fix hundred and fixty fix thou- 
 fand two hundred and fifty pounds weight ; by which com- 
 putation it appears, that it would require one thoufand two 
 hundred and ninety-eight years to work out a quantity 
 equal to what may be contained in the above-mentioned 
 area. But as the Steward affured me, he did not fell, upon 
 an average, more than thirty-five millions of pounds weight 
 a year, the allowance made by Pini is too great by near a 
 feventh. Befides, much more copper was ufed anciently 
 in arms and utenfils than at prefent ; gunpowder was un- 
 
 4 known,
 
 voyage to Naples: 
 
 known, and confequently greater difficulties attended the 
 miner's art. The ore of Flba was probably fmelted at no 
 other place than that from which it derived its name, 
 Popnknium; and therefore we may believe, that a much 
 fmaller quantity than thirty-five millions was annually ex- 
 tracted ; confequently the mine could not be worked down 
 to its actual ftate in fo fhort a term as one thoufand two 
 hundred and ninety-eight years. The extent of the part 
 yet untouched will afford employment for many ages to 
 come, notwithftanding the greater expedition ufed in mo- 
 dern metallurgy. The Prince of Piombino, to whom thefe 
 treafures belong, receives from the fale, commumbus anms y 
 about forty thoufand Roman crowns (nine thoufand five 
 hundred and twenty- three pounds Sterling), clear of all 
 expences. 
 
 The ancients were of opinion, that the ore was re- 
 produced in a courfe of years by a fpecies of vegetation ; 
 and fuch has been the fentiment of Come moderns, who 
 allege, that many pickaxes, and other implements, have 
 been found in old workings, covered with an incruftation 
 of iron. As none of thefe tools have been met with in 
 the heart of the viigin rock, but always in the trenches, 
 where the fhiver of old grooves has been thrown, the cruft 
 gathered round them is no proof of the regeneration of iron, 
 It is plain, that this coat is not produced by the fame caufes 
 that create an incrcafe of bulk in plants, viz. the aeceffion 
 of proper food and juices affimilating themfelves to the 
 
 plant, 
 
 39-
 
 40 
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 plant, and becoming part of it. This incruftation is no 
 more than the junction of innumerable minute particles 
 of iron difperfed in the rubbifli of the works, which run 
 together, and by length of time confolidate into a mineral 
 mafs. 
 
 SECTION III, 
 
 /^\ N the twenty- fecond, a faint breeze carried us out 
 of the harbour of Porto- Ferraio, into the channel that 
 divides Elba from the Tulcan coaft. 
 
 The captain affined me, that the compafs was of no ufe 
 in fleering a iliip within four leagues of Elba, as the 
 needle veered about continually with great irregularity. 
 Some authors deny the exigence of any fuch attraction in 
 the ifland, or even its pollibi'ity ; others are of opinion, 
 that if this attractive power exift, it can be perceptible only 
 on the fide where the mines lie, and that a veflel raufl be 
 very near the ifland to be within the reach of its magnetic 
 action. Without attempting to argue the point, I mall 
 content myfelf with mentioning, that I perceived the ut- 
 mofl confufion and variation in the needle molt part of 
 the day, though we conitantly kept at the diflance of a 
 leao;ue from Elba. 
 
 The wind was low and unfettled, and twenty- four Lours 
 paiTed in tacks. This delay, and the rinenefs of the wea- 
 ther,
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 4* 
 
 ther, afforded leifure to examine the coaft of Tufcany, 
 which is flat and woody, backed at a great diftance by the 
 mountains of Sienna ; thofe of Montenero, near Leghorn, 
 bound the horizon to the north ; and on the fouth quarter, 
 the ridge behind Orbitello, with the infulated promontory 
 of Monte Argentato, clofes the profpecl:. The channel is 
 about ten miles wide ; but, from the clearnefs of the 
 atmofphere, does not appear to be more than five. Some 
 fmall iflands difperfed in the palTage, the high lands of 
 Elba, the city of Piombino, and a great variety of vefTels 
 failing in all directions, compofed a moft delightful marine 
 piece, worthy of the pencil of a Claude or a Vernet. 
 
 Piombino, built on the point of a little bay, is the ca- 
 pital of a principality formerly belonging to the republic 
 of Pifa, and on the deftruclion of that commonwealth, 
 occupied by private ufurpers. From the fifteenth century, 
 it was poffefTed by the Appiani family, which became ex- 
 tincl: in the reign of the Emperor Ferdinand the Second. 
 He feized upon it as an imperial efcheat ; and in 1634, 
 fold it to Nicholas Ludovifi, nephew to Pope Gregory the 
 Fifteenth. A grand- daughter of Nicholas carried the eftate 
 and honours into the houfe of Buoncompagno, Duke of 
 
 Sora. 
 
 Not far from hence flood the ancient city of Populonia, 
 a colony of the Volterrans, and one of the firfl; cities built 
 in Italy near the fea-coaft. After the fall of the Roman 
 empire, this place became a prey to the Goths and Lom- 
 
 G rds ;
 
 4* 
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 bards ; and at laft, Charlemagne made the Pope a prefent 
 of it, who did not long enjoy the advantages of the do- 
 nation ; for in 809, fome lawlefs tribes of mountaineers 
 levelled Populonia with the ground. 
 
 In the morning of the twenty- third, fo ftrong a gale 
 fprang up in the S. E. that we were glad to run into 
 Porto Longone, to avoid being blown through the channel 
 back to the coaft of France. 
 
 Porto Longone is a confiderable fortrefs, begun in 1606, 
 and completed in thirty years. Cardinal Mazarin, with a 
 view of difturbing the Spaniards in their communication 
 with Italy, and of mortifying the Pope, whom he knew 
 to be a zealous partifan of Spain, fent the Marechal de la 
 Meilleraie, in 1646, with a fleet and army, to attack 
 Piombino and Porto Longone. The former was carried 
 in a few days, and the latter obliged to capitulate after a 
 fortnight's fiege. Both places were retaken, in 1650, by 
 Don John of Auftria. 
 
 It is now garrifoned by Neapolitan troops, as being an- 
 nexed to the crown of the Two Sicilies, with the reft of 
 the Tufcan Prefidii, fince Philip the Fifth ceded to his fon 
 Don Carlos all his claims upon that kingdom. It ftands 
 upon the north-eafi promontory of a large bay. At the 
 bottom of this bay, a projecting rock, with a fmall caftle 
 upon it, defends and hides the entrance of the harbour, a 
 pleafant and well-iheltered cove. At the foot of the hills 
 are fmall vallies full of cottages and vineyards, interfered
 
 c 
 

 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 by gravel paths, and inclofed with hedges of arbutus, 
 which, at this feafon of the year, are rendered particularly 
 beautiful by the fcarlet berries that almofi: cover the bufhes. 
 On the fouth fide is a fine well under the rock, where mips 
 fend their boats to take in water. 
 
 43 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 
 /~\ N the twenty-fourth, the wind coming about to the 
 northward, and the weather fetting-in fine, we hoifted 
 anchor and failed, much againft the will of our crew, 
 who had promifed themfelves a pleafant trip on more, to 
 hear midnight mafs, and make a Chriftmas fupper. There 
 does not exift a more dilatory race of mariners than the 
 Provencals. If they were not prevented by fupercargoes 
 and pafTengers from indulging their loitering difpofition, 
 they would call at every port in their track, and wafte 
 time in each of them. The captains of thefe vefTels eat 
 out all their profits in harbour, and not one in a hundred 
 dies worth a groat. 
 
 In the afternoon, we defcried to the weft the little 
 ifland of Pianofa, the ancient Planafia, remarkable for the 
 exile and death of Agrippa Csefar, the poft humous fon of 
 Marcus Agrippa and Julia. His indifcretion and rough 
 behaviour furnifhed Livia with the means of ruining him 
 
 G 2 in
 
 44 VOYAGETONAPLES. 
 
 in the opinion of his grandfather Auguftus. who annulled 
 his adoption, conhTcated his eftates, and fent him into this 
 place of banifhment. At the end of eight years, Auguftus 
 paid him a fecret vifit, which being made known to Livia, 
 roufed her fears left Agrippa mould be recalled, and ap- 
 pointed fucceflbr to the Imperial throne. To avert fo 
 fatal a blow to her hopes, fhe haftened the end of the 
 fuperannuated Emperor, and fent a centurion to murder 
 the exiled Prince. Agrippa, naturally intrepid and robuft, 
 made an obftinate refiftance, though attacked unawares, 
 and fell covered with wounds, the firft viitim of the 
 bloody reign of Tiberius. 
 
 We foon after failed between the mainland and the iflands 
 of Giglio and Giannuti *, fmall granite rocks, covered 
 with bullies and uninhabited. 
 
 The wind was now very fair, and we might have made 
 much way, had not our captain been fo terrified with an 
 appearance of bad weather to windward, that he inftantly 
 put the helm about, and ran in towards the road of Tela- 
 mon ; but as foon as we perceived his intention, we ob- 
 liged him to refume his original courfe, having learnt from 
 one of the failors, who was perfedly acquainted with the 
 navigation of thefe feas, that if we reached that bay, and 
 a ftorm came on, we mould have the vexation of toiling 
 about at anchor, in imminent danger, for feveral days, 
 
 ? Igillium & Dianium. 
 
 without
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 45 
 
 without a poffibility of landing. All thefe manoeuvres 
 took up a great deal of time, and made us lofe the benefit 
 of the breeze. During the next thirty hours, we were 
 under the neceflity of flanding out to fea in a heavy fwell, 
 in order to keep clear of the Spiaggie Romane, a lee-fhore, 
 extending thirty-fix leagues to the fouth, and extremely 
 dangerous with a wefterly or S. W. wind, as it is not dis- 
 cernible at a diftance, and the fands are faid to reach out 
 near feven leagues from the land. 
 
 We fleered a S. W. coaft from Giglio, with a very hard 
 gale and a terrible fea, for at leaf! twenty-four leagues, a 
 very unnecelTary elbow. The night was fqually, the 
 waves fhort and furious ; our polacre rolled like a barrel, 
 with fuch violent, uneven, and fudden fhocks, that it was 
 impofiible to be prepared againft them. The confidence 
 we had in the foundnefs of her timbers fupported our fpirits 
 in fuch a tremendous fituation ; but two alarming cir- 
 cumftances happened in the night, that would have ftartled 
 older and bolder feamen than we were. Our horfes, that 
 flood in flails upon deck, broke loofe, and were with diffi- 
 culty fecured ; our kitchen took fire, but we luckily ex- 
 tinguished the flames before they got a-head. The return 
 of day-light aflorded but a dreary profpecl : a raging 
 tumbling fea, a rolling fhip, fcarce able to carry any fail, and 
 no land in fight. We parTed twelve hours very unplea- 
 fantly, beating back in a S. E. direction for the coaft of 
 Italy j and I think I never heard a found more grateful . 
 
 to
 
 46 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 to my ears, and relieving to my fpirits, than the voice of 
 the boy, who about funfet called out from the maft-head, 
 that he faw Cape Circelli*. We were now paft all danger 
 from the Roman coaft ; the wind was fallen, and though 
 it was extremely cold, and fnowed all night, the fight of 
 land made us quite happy and reconciled to every incon- 
 venience. 
 
 Before day-break, we were called up to behold the 
 flames ifluing out of Mount Vefuvius, a new and ftriking 
 fcene to us all. This welcome to Naples was doubly 
 agreeable, as being unexpected ; for at this time of the year, 
 we did not imagine there would be an eruption. Snow 
 and hazinefs foon deprived us of the view. Jt fell a dead 
 calm off a clufter of iflands, called, from the largefl: 
 among them, the Ponza Ifles. There is tolerable anchor- 
 age and a town at Ponza, which was a Roman colony, 
 where Tiberius caufed Nero, fon of Germanicus, to be 
 ftarved to death. The afhes of this unfortunate Prince 
 were removed to Rome by his brother Caligula, who, not 
 long after, banimed his fifters Julia and Agrippina to the 
 fame fpot. Among the writers of martyrology, Ponza is 
 famous for the exile and death of Flavia Domitilla, a re- 
 
 * This is a high infulated mountain, at the fouthern extremity of the 
 
 Pomptine Marflies, in the Ecclefiaftical State, renowned in table for having 
 
 been the refidence of the Enchantrels Circe, who transformed men into 
 
 brutes, and whofe connections with Ulyfies are defcribed by Homer in the 
 
 tenth and twelfth books of his OdyfTey. 
 
 * lation
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 47 
 
 lation of Domitian, and one of the raoft diftinguifhed 
 profelites of the infant church of Chrift. 
 
 Moft part of the day was fpent in weathering Vento- 
 tiene, a fmall ifland at fome diftance E. of Ponza. It is a 
 rock formed of vulcanical matter thrown up by fire, as the 
 obfervations of Sir William Hamilton fufficiently demonstrate. 
 The layers of its cliffs are tinged with very remarkable 
 red and yellow ftreaks. The ancients called it Pandataria, 
 and made ufe of it as a receptable for criminals of an exalted 
 rank. Julia, the daughter of Auguftus, was confined 
 here with her repudiated mother Scribonia, who, from mere 
 maternal tendernefs, followed her daughter to this defert, 
 a voluntary exile. After ten years miferable exiftence on 
 this rock of defolation, the unhappy Julia was removed to 
 the coafr. of Rhegium, where fhe died of hunger. 
 
 Pandataria, which had been the prifon of the wanton 
 Julia, became, not many years after, the place of con- 
 finement allotted to her virtuous daughter Agrippina. The 
 fpotlefs reputation of this matron, joined to the memory of 
 her injured hufband Germanicus, had rendered her and her 
 children objects of love and hope to the Roman people, 
 and confequently of jealoufy and hatred to Tiberius. To 
 quiet his apprehenfions, and crufh at once all the expecta- 
 tions Rome might cherifh of feeing better days, the tyrant 
 caufed the young Princes to be murdered, and their mother 
 to periili in Pandataria, through ill ufage, and the want of 
 every necefTary or life. Caligula, her only furviving fon, 
 
 brought
 
 4 3 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 
 
 brought her allies from the ifland, and depofited them with 
 great folemnity in the Auguftan Maufoleum. 
 
 At the inftigation of Poppxa, Nero fent hither his wife 
 Oclavia, daughter of Claudius, and ordered her to be put 
 to death, by opening her veins in a bath. 
 
 The deflination of Ventotiene is at prefent fomewhat 
 fimilar to what it was in the time of the Caefars ; for it is 
 now inhabited by a coniiderable number of felons con- 
 demned to banifhment on this rock, where they are forced 
 to work and improve the fcanty foil, in order to form a 
 fettlement that may prevent the corfairs of Barbary from 
 rendezvousing here. 
 
 There was fo little wind, that our pilot was afraid we 
 fhould not get under the fhelter of Procida before niojit, 
 which would have been an unpleafant circumflance, as the 
 wind might have rifen again while we were at its mercy 
 in the open fea, and driven us down to the coafls of Sicily 
 or Sardinia : fortunately the breeze fufficed to carry us into 
 the channel of Procida, where we came to an anchor. 
 The night was Hill and mild, and we pafled great part of 
 it in contemplating Vefuvius, which we now diilinguimed 
 very plainly. An immenfe river of blazing lava ran down 
 the fide, fupplied by ftreatus of red hot matter vomited at 
 intervals out of the fummit of the mountain. The whole 
 atmofphere was illumined, and a long train of light re- 
 flected from it acrofs the gulph upon the tremulous furface 
 
 of
 
 VOYAGE TO NAPLES. 4? 
 
 of the waves, was as beautiful, if not more fo, than the 
 real fiery torrent. 
 
 The twenty-eighth was a heavy damp day, and our 
 failors were fo difpirited with the rain, which feems to be 
 as contrary to their conftitution as it is to that of the ne- 
 groes, that it required the promife of an extraordinary 
 recompence to prevail upon them to hoift their anchor. 
 We were the whole day in failing ten miles ; the celebrated 
 views of the gulf were hidden from our eyes by impenetrable 
 fog and drizzling rain ; Vefuvius alone fometimes reared 
 his burning head above the clouds, and, to our great afto- 
 nifhment, was covered with fnow to the very verge of the 
 flaming tip of the cone. At ten at night we entered the 
 port of Naples. 
 
 H NAPLES,
 
 [ 50 ] 
 
 NAPLES, and its ENVIRONS, 
 
 section m 
 
 TH E unavoidable hurry upon our arrival prevented 
 me from vifiting Vefuvius while the eruption con- 
 tinued. As foon as I was at liberty, I hired a hackney 
 two- wheeled chaife, called a Caleflb; which is no more 
 than a very uneafy triangular feat, gilt and bedaubed with 
 gaudy colours, fixed upon an axle-tree, and drawn by a 
 fingle horfe. Some of thefe horfes fell very dear, and go 
 at a prodigious rate, always in a high trot. The driver 
 ftands behind, and with the whip and voice directs the 
 horfe's motion. The hirer holds the reins ; but is not 
 refponfible for any mifchief the carriage may do, unlefs 
 he alfo take poiTeflion of the lafh. The reins are fattened 
 to a cavefTon, without a bit, and the more the animal is 
 pulled, the fafter he goes : a hifs flops him. 
 
 One
 
 VESUVIUS. 
 
 One of thefe chairs conveyed me about eight miles from 
 Naples, to the place where the lava ceafed to run, after 
 filling up a road, overturning fomc cottages, and con- 
 fuming a wide tract of vineyards. The poplars, to which 
 the vines were tied, were burnt or crufhed beneath the 
 weight of the cooler lumps that tumbled off on each fide 
 from the fiery mafs. The furface of this black and now 
 fhgnant river is very uneven, full of points and protube- 
 rances, and broken into chafms. It anfvvers the idea I 
 have of a rocky mountain overturned into a valley, and 
 fhattered to pieces by an earthquake. In colour, the lava 
 refembles flag, or the firfl clearings of an iron mine. The 
 intenfe heat that frill iffued from it, though the flames 
 were not vifible by day- light, kept me at a diftance. By- 
 night, fire may be feen through the crevices of the dufky 
 cruft. It had run clofe to a lava of feventeen years date, 
 which is not yet fufficiently triturated by the action of 
 air, to afford hold to the feeds of any plant, except a long 
 hoary mofs, commonly the firft fettler on thefe cinders, 
 which are infinitely fofter, and fooner crumbled to duft 3 
 than the Sciarras of iEtna. 
 
 After Satisfying my curioflty with an attentive examina- 
 tion of thefe objects, I returned to Portici, hired a guide 
 and mule, and rode up through the vineyards to the foot 
 of the mountain, where vegetation terminates in a lonnr 
 coarfe grafs, the only plant that can bear the vicinity of 
 the hot allies and fulphureous exhalations, I afeended 
 
 H 2 the 
 
 S*
 
 S2 VESUVIUS. 
 
 the fteep cone of cinders in a dire£t line, up to the ancles 
 at every ftep in purple lukewarm afhes. The heat was not 
 very powerful till we came within a few yards of the fum- 
 mit, and there fmoke breaks out through many crannies. 
 On the Portici fide there is very little lava, except a {ew 
 fcattered ftones that ferve to reft upon. It is impoflible to 
 give a juft idea of the fatigue of this climbing. Before that 
 day I had mounted fome very exalted points of the Alps, 
 and clambered up the higheft peak of the Pyrenees, with- 
 out feeling fuch oppreffive wearinefs and exhauftion of 
 fpirits and ftrength as I experienced on Vefuvius. Perhaps, 
 the mephitic effluvium, which attacked my refpiration, 
 may alio have had a debilitating effect upon my nerves and 
 mufcles. I mould hardly have been able to proceed, had I 
 not held by my guide, who went before with a handker- 
 chief tied round his waift. 
 
 I confefs I was a good deal difappointed on reaching the 
 fummit ; for the defcriptions I had read had raifed in my 
 imagination an expectation of every thing that could be 
 glaring and ftriking in colours, pompous and tremendous 
 in a fcene of igneous phenomena ; but the late eruption 
 had, for a time, laid all the mountain's fury aOeep, and 
 every thing was dull and dark. The vent, by which the 
 lava ran out, is much below the top of the mountain, and 
 on that ride the fulphureous fteams are very pungent. I 
 was on the point of returning rather fruftrated of my 
 hopes, when a curling column of fmoke and flame rofe 
 
 flowly
 
 VESUVIUS. 
 
 flowly out of the gloomy abyfs, and brought up with it 
 a thick white cloud, that had hitherto rendered the crater 
 impervious to my fight. The wind quickly caught hold 
 of this column, and whirled it round the immenfe caldron 
 feveral times with inconceivable noife and velocity, till 
 it forced part of the fmoke to fly off horizontally from the 
 mountain, and darned the remainder back into its original 
 cavern. During this conflict, on the oppofite fide to that 
 where we ftood, I had a peep very far into the crater. The 
 fides feemed all lava and fcoria, with very little variety in 
 the tints, clofed at bottom by an impenetrable fcreen of 
 fmoke. I have feen old ruined coalpits, that afford a 
 tolerable idea of this volcanic kettle. As foon as the 
 fmoke was driven away, the roaring below grew loud, 
 and frequent explonons were heard with a hollow found ; 
 and at every throe, which caufed a very confiderable 
 commotion in the thin arch on which we flood, a mower 
 of red-hot ftones was mot up ; but not riling many feet 
 above the mountain, they did not come within the fweep 
 of the wind, and fo fell back perpendicularly into the 
 rumbling gulf. 
 
 I fhall not prefume to inveitigate minutely the origin, 
 compofition, or operations of the mountain, as we have 
 ample information on this fubje£t in the works of Sir 
 William Hamilton. His knowledge of the volcano is fo 
 complete, and reputation on that head fo firmly eftablifhed 
 at Naples, . that more than once the court has waited to. 
 
 regulate 
 
 53
 
 54 
 
 VESUVIUS. 
 
 regulate its ftay at Portici, or removal from thence, till he 
 had declared, when he thought the eruption would begin, 
 and what direction the lava was likely to follow. Many 
 writers of difiertations on ignivomous mountains have been 
 led into a labyrinth of miftakes, falfe pofitions, and falfe 
 confequences, by fruiting folely to the relations of others, 
 and not being at the pains of examining the phenomena 
 with their own eyes. Whoever has not had the advantage 
 of infpecling an active volcano, fhould not prefume to 
 write upon that fubjedt, as he muft unavoidably fall into 
 error, in fpite of all the learning, combinations, and faga- 
 city the wit of man is fufceptible of. Indeed, fome au- 
 thors, who have had Vefuvius before their eyes for forty 
 years, have likewife fallen into ffrange indefensible opinions 
 concerning its component parts, original formation, and 
 modes of operating. Attachment to fyftem mifleads us 
 all, and frequently caufes us to fee things, not as they are, 
 but as we wifh to find them. Nothing but the defire of 
 proving Vefuvius to be a primordial mountain, and not 
 the produce of eruptions, could have brought Padre della 
 Tone to believe, that he faw regular, original, calcareous, 
 and granite ftxata, far down in the bowels of the mountain; 
 where, if he faw any thing, it was probably ftreaks of ful- 
 phureous and mineral efliorefcences adhering to the coats 
 of the funnel. Nothing but fyftem could have fo blinded 
 Richard, as to prevent his finding a fingle pumice (tone, 
 or other mark of fire, in the rocks of Pofilipo, where any 
 
 trivial
 
 VESUVIUS. 
 
 trivial obferver may meet with innumerable black calcined 
 ftones, though he may not be fufficiently converfant in the 
 fubject to difcover, that the whole rock owes its birth to 
 workings of volcanic fires. Without prejudices of this 
 kind, could other authors have feen nothing in Monte 
 Somma, and the hills of Naples, but primitive fubftances, 
 unaltered fince the deluge ; when, in reality, every flone 
 befpeaks a fiery origin ? 
 
 To be convinced that Vefuvius has been raifed from the 
 level of the plains, or, more properly fpeaking, of the fea, 
 by the fole action of fire contained in its bowels, requires, 
 methinks, nothing but an eye accuftomed to obferve, and 
 a found judgment unbiafled by party. I own I cannot 
 entertain a doubt of it, after having confidered the infulated 
 pofition, and apparent compofition of the mountain, to- 
 gether with the foil of all the adjacent country ; after hav- 
 ing reflected upon the birth of Monte Nuovo thrown up 
 to the perpendicular height of two hundred feet, in the 
 fhort fpace of forty eight hours ; and upon the apparition 
 of many iflands raifed out of the bofom of the waters by 
 fubmarine fires, of which both ancient and modern hiftory 
 afford examples. The ifland of Afcenfion, and many in 
 the Archipelago, one of which rofe out of the fea in 1707, 
 completely prove this affertion. The origin of the ifle of 
 Rhodes, as related in Pindar's feventh Olympic, feems to 
 be of the fame clafs. This poet calls Rhodes a native of 
 the floods, and tells us, " that ancient tales of men relate, 
 
 I " that 
 
 55
 
 5 6 VESUVIUS. 
 
 if that when Jupiter and the gods divided the earth, 
 " Rhodes was not vifible amidft the marine waves, but 
 " lay hid in the briny deep *." Apollo, being abfent, was 
 left out of this partition- treaty, and, on his appearance, 
 Jupiter would have proceeded to a frefh divifion ; but the 
 God of Day declined the offer, contenting himfelf with 
 dominions that did not interfere with any god's (hare : " for 
 " (fays he) I behold in the frothy fea a fruitful land riling 
 " from the bottom." And accordingly, as he fpoke, 
 " Lo! the iiland fhot up out of the waters." It is eafy 
 to trace this fable to its fource, the heaving up of the foil 
 at the bottom of the fea by the vehemence of fire. 
 
 Whatever may have been the origin of Vefuvius, whether 
 as a mountain it be coeval with the firft- created protube- 
 rances of this globe, or whether it be an irregular produc- 
 tion of ages fubfequent to the creation, this we may fafely 
 affirm, that it has been a volcano beyond the reach of 
 
 'Pyitrteg knta ojs 
 
 XQovoc, SajiovT7 Zsug ti Kctt, uBctvtxjoi 
 
 $>ccvspciv sv -zrsXccyei 
 
 »n '5* " ' 
 
 -S7T£» -mo'hiu.q 
 
 EtVe t\v ccvlas opai/ tvSov BuXccrtrag 
 'Aujrouevotv ■mtaoBiv 
 T\c'hu£,o<rKOV, youuv avS'pw 
 
 B>i«Vt£ [JLtv £,? «Ao; vy^%; 
 Nucroj • 
 
 hift 
 
 ory
 
 VESUVIUS. 
 
 hiflory or tradition. Long before it laid Herculaneum 
 wafte, it was defcribed by authors as bearing the marks 
 of fire on its fummit. Some even fay, the report of its 
 having vomited flames went fo far back into antiquity as 
 to border upon fable. A mod animated defcription of its 
 ravages in 79 is left us by the younger Pliny, who was a 
 woeful witnefs to all he relates. From that time, it now 
 and then burft out, and alarmed the neighbouring country; 
 but feemed by degrees to lofc its vigour, till, in the lower 
 ages, it fcarce gave fufficient alarm to merit a place in 
 the chronicles of the times. In 1631, it broke out again 
 with accumulated fury, and fpread fuch devaluation around, 
 as almoft equalled the horrors of the firft year of Titus. 
 Since that epocha, it has had its periods of turbulence and 
 repofe ; and of late years it has fo redoubled its violence, 
 as to emit fmoke continually, and every year, at leaft, a 
 torrent of lava. Whence it draws its immenfe fupplies of 
 combuftibles, and how long its prefent cone will be able 
 to bear thefe unremitting efforts, exceeds the power of all 
 human calculation. I believe, however, that with all its 
 terrors, Vefuvius, open and active, is lefs hoftile to Naples, 
 than it would be, if its eruptions were to ceafe, and its 
 ftruggles were to be confined to its bowels : then undoubt- 
 edly would enfue moft fatal fhocks to the unliable founda- 
 tion of the Terra di Lavoro. 
 
 The day being clear, I made fome ftay on the top, to 
 obtain a juft idea of the topography of this curious coun- 
 
 I 2 try. 
 
 57
 
 5 S VESUVIUS. 
 
 try. There cannot be a more advantageous ftation for 
 
 examining Naples and its environs, as Vefuvius ftands 
 
 finale, at a diftance from all other mountains, and corn- 
 to ' 
 
 mands the plains of Nola, Capua, and Sarno, the chain 
 of the Apennines, the promontory of Sorrento, the hills 
 and gulf of Naples, with all its iflands. I obferved, that 
 the ridge extending weftward from Poggk> Reale to Monte 
 Gauro, is entirely feparated by the plains from every other 
 eminence, and conftitutes a vaft detached promontory, full 
 of lakes and hollows, the craters of extinct vulcanos. On 
 furveying thofe regions from this elevated pinacle, it ap- 
 peared to me, that, in times of the remoteft antiquity, 
 there may have exifted an enormous flaming mountain, 
 with its centrical point between Ifchia and the Camaldoli, 
 and that Solfatara, Aftruni, Barbaro, &c. may be but the 
 excrefcences and montagnnole of one gigantic mafs, which, 
 after exhaufting its force, and wearing out the furface, till 
 it grew unable to fupport its own weight, may have funk, 
 and been overwhelmed by the waves. The gulf of Baia, 
 and the channels of Ifchia and Procida, may have been 
 formed by this cataclyfm. The fize of JEtna. renders fuch 
 an extent no objection to my hypothecs, and fhews to 
 what a monftrous bulk a mountain can fwell itfelf. Monte 
 Epomeo in Ifchia, and the Camaldoli, are both abruptly 
 broken down facing each other, and both flope off very 
 gradually different ways, till one is loft in the Campi Lebo- 
 rinij and the other finks into the fea. 
 
 SEC-
 
 NAPLES. 59 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 
 T N Chriftmas time, all quarters of Naples refound with 
 Pajlorali or Siciliane y a kind of fimple rural mufic, 
 executed by Abruzzefe or Calabrian fhepherds, upon a 
 fpecies of bag pipes, called in Abruzzo, Zampogna, and 
 Ciaramelli in Calabria. The tunes vary according to the 
 provinces : in the fouth, they have three different airs ; 
 the northern fhepherds know only two, to which they 
 add what variations the boldnefs of their own genius in- 
 fpires. The boys learn of their fathers to play upon this 
 inftrument as the means of fubiiftence*. At other fea- 
 fons, it is rare to hear any agreeable founds in the ftreets 
 of Naples, though it is the nurfery of muiical profeflbrs : 
 a fchool, where the greateft matters have imbibed their 
 principles, and acquired that knowledge of compofition, 
 which has enchanted the ears of all Europe. There is 
 no fuch thing as a national mufic, unlefs we pive that 
 name to a monotonous drawling feguidilla, that ferves the 
 nurfes f as a lullaby to put their children to reft, and 
 
 * The waits ft ill kept in the pay of fome corporations in England, are 
 counterparts of thefe (hepherds. 
 
 ■f- To fecond its narcotic influence, they adminifter to them copious doles 
 of Venice treacle, of which fuch quantities are uled, as render it a material 
 article of importation. The Neapolitans have tears at command, and are 
 Tery eafily moved to fhed them. Neither blows nor carefles can flop their 
 children when once they begin to cry : they mud roar till they re tired. 
 
 3 ft cms
 
 60 NAPLES. 
 
 fccms borrowed from the Spaniards, who, I believe, learnt 
 it of the Moors. I never refided in any Italian town 
 where there was a lefs mufical turn in the populace : few 
 fongs, guittars, vielles, or organs, enliven the evenings, as in 
 the northern ftates of Italy, unlefs they be fent for to entertain 
 the parties that in fummer fup on the more of Pofilipo*. 
 
 They do not even dance to mulic, but perform the 
 Tarantella to the beating of a kind of tambourine, which 
 was in ufe among their anceftors, as appears by the pic- 
 tures of Herculaneum. The Tarantella is a low dance, 
 confiding of turns on the heel, much footing and mapping 
 of the fingers -f. It feems the delight of their foul, and 
 a conftant holiday diversion of the young women, who are, 
 in general, far from handfome, although they have fine 
 eyes and ftriking features. Their hands and feet are clumfy, 
 their mapes neglected, their necks flabby, and their fkins 
 difcoloured by living fo much in the fun without bonnets. 
 Amongft them we may find almoft every mode of hair- 
 drefling feen on the Greek and Roman coins j. 
 
 * I have been told, that before the famine and calamities of 1764, the 
 populace of Naples was more cheerful and mufically inclined than at prefent. 
 
 -f- Perfons of all ranks here dance very low, but mark the time as per- 
 fectly with their fteps, as other nations do by fpringing from the ground. 
 
 £ The coiffure of the yonnger Faullina, with the coil of plaited hair upon 
 the crown of the head, occurs frequently in the old town-: that with the coil 
 lower down, which may more properly be filled Lucilla's head-drefs, is 
 common among the younger part of the lex in the fuburbs of Chiaia, and 
 Plotina's among the women more advanced in years. I do not recollect to 
 have feen any with the roll of trefles fo high up as it appears on the head of 
 Fauftina the elder. 
 
 The
 
 NAPLES. 6l 
 
 The women are always fighting and fcolding, but 
 never refill: their huibind's authority, when he comes to 
 feparate the combatants, and carry home his difhevelled 
 fpoufe, who feems to ftand as much in awe of her confort, 
 as the Ruffian wives do of theirs, and fuffers herfelf to be 
 beaten by him with as little murmuring. I was fhevvn a 
 woman here, who, during the life of her firft huiband, was 
 a pattern of modefty and evennefs of temper to the whole 
 parifh; but upon contracting a fecond marriage, furprized 
 and fcandalized the neighbourhood with her perpetual riots 
 and obftreperoufnefs. On being reprimanded for her beha- 
 viour by the curate, fhe very frankly acknowledged that her 
 former huiband underftood the management of a wife, and 
 ufed to check her intemperate burfts of paflion by timely 
 correction ; but that her prefent helpmate was too mild, to 
 apply the proper chaftifement which every wife requires 
 more or lefs. Men feldom interfere in feminine brawls ; 
 and if they do, generally content themfelves with abufing, 
 threatening, or making a cudgel or pitchfork at their anta- 
 gonist, till the crowd comes in to part them. Sometimes 
 a man is (tabbed, but this is a rare event among the 
 fimermen, the clafs of inhabitants I have had mod constantly 
 under my eye. Manners vary with the diftricls , in fome 
 they engage with bludgeons, and thofe are the true lazaroni 
 of MafTaniello ; in others the attack is made with knives 
 and other deadly weapons ; but the Neapolitans are by no 
 means fo bloody and revengeful a people as they are repre- 
 i fen ted
 
 q 2 NAPLES. 
 
 fented by many travellers. It requires more than a flight 
 provocation to lead them to extremities. During the pro- 
 digious hurry and confufion of the races in carnival, not 
 the leaft tumult or quarrel was heard of; and even in the 
 cruel famine of 1764, the only act of violence committed 
 by a hungry populace, increafed to double its number by 
 the concourfe of peafants from the provinces, where all 
 crops had failed, was to break open and pillage a fingle 
 baker's (hop. Can as much be faid for the temper of the 
 mobs at London and Edinburgh ? Drunkennefs is not a 
 common vice at Naples, and therefore quarrels, its ufual 
 confluences, are rare ; befides, the Neapolitan rabble allow 
 each ether a great latitude of abufe and fcolding before they 
 are wound up to a fighting pitch. It is alfo uncommon to fee 
 anv thing in public like gallantry among the people ; no 
 fbidiers are met leading their doxies, or girls going about in 
 qut f lovers ; all which are, in other countries, fources of 
 riot and blood fhed. At Naples there is nothing but a mere 
 nominal police ; yet burglaries are unknown, riots ftill more 
 fo, and the number of aiTaflinations inconfiderable : it bears 
 no proportion to that of the murders committed in the dis- 
 tant provinces, where, I am credibly informed, no lefs than 
 four thoufand perfons are killed annually. Mori of thefe 
 crimes are perpetrated with guns in the mountainous coun- 
 tries, where a great ferocity of character, and wildnefs of 
 manners prevail, and where the inhabitants are more wan- 
 dering, and lefs expofed to the purfuits of the law, which is 
 
 indeed
 
 NAPLES. 63 
 
 indeed far from formidable in any part of the realm. It 
 would require a prudent, inflexible, and long exertion of 
 impartial criminal juftice, to reduce to order the fierce un- 
 traceable aflaflln of the mountainous regions of Calabria, 
 who being driven by the oppreflion of the barons and offi- 
 cers of the revenue to penury and defpair, lets little value 
 upon his life, and braves danger to the laft drop of his 
 blood. The execution, however cruel, of a few bandittij 
 would ftrike but little terror into their affociates, and pro- 
 duce no effedr. but that of ridding fociety of one or two bad 
 members ; nor will any meafures of police ever prove effec- 
 tual, unlefs government adopt and purfue, with fteadinefs, a 
 fyftem that may leffen the grievances of the poor, reftrain 
 the defpotifm of the petty tyrants, and, by providing the pea- 
 fant with more means of fupporting himfelf and family by 
 honefl: labour, guard him againft the temptation of taking 
 up a lavvlefs line of life. The cafe is different in the foft 
 and fertile plains of the happy Campagna ; there the well- 
 timed prompt execution of a criminal^ without allowing 
 him any unneceffary refpite to prepare for death, and with- 
 out fuflering priefta to affemble round him, to excite the 
 devotion, compailion, and almoft admiration of the crowd, 
 would operate with great energy on the daftardly minds of 
 the docile race that inhabits this charming climate ; the ter- 
 ror of active juftice would prove a powerful check to mur- 
 der, and violent outrages. 
 
 K At
 
 <*4 NAPLES. 
 
 At prefent, the forms of criminal jurifprudence are here 
 fo ill ordained, fo multiplied and fo complex, that if the 
 king were to infift upon a villain, who was taken in the 
 fadt, being tried, and if found guilty, hanged before the 
 end of three days, the difpatch would almoft kill the judges 
 with fatigue ; for the trial and procedures would employ 
 them eighteen hours out of each twenty-four : Firft, the ac- 
 cufation muft be laid according to rule, and witneffes exa- 
 mined ; next the council for the prifoner pleads a couple of 
 hours ; then the advocate for the ffco replies during one 
 hour, and after him the advocate of the poor makes a re- 
 joinder, which he has a right to fpin out for two hours : 
 this done, every one of the four judges harangues ; then all 
 the notifications are made, examinations canvafled, proofs 
 debated, and a thoufand trifling formalities obferved, which 
 occafion fuch fhameful, infunnountable delays, as eternize a 
 criminal procefs. It happened lately, that upon the final de- 
 termination of the trial, and condemnation of a malefactor, 
 a mefTage was fent to the jailor to bring the culprit into 
 court in order to receive fentence ; when, behold ! the turn- 
 key appeared, and made affidavit that the prifoner had died 
 of a lone* fit of ficknefs the Chriftmas twelvemonth before. 
 As the falary of a judge in Naples is only fifty ducats a 
 month (^9:7:6), he cannot afford to be honeft or ex- 
 peditious : but the cafe is ftill worfc in the provinces, where 
 the judges have but twenty-five ducats, and with that mirft 
 keep a coach and proper houfehold eftablifhment. The fcri- 
 8 vani.
 
 NAPLES. 6$ 
 
 vani, or commiflaries, who have the department of warrants, 
 arrefts, and police, are allowed no pay, though they muft 
 keep thirty bailiffs a-piece under them ; fo that they are na- 
 turally very active in taking up an offender, where there is a 
 probability of extorting any money out of him ; when once 
 in durance, the prifoner ceafes to be an object of confidera- 
 tion to them, and therefore they take no pains to forward 
 his trial, or bring him to juftice : there are at this day 
 above twelve thoufand criminals rotting in the different pri- 
 sons of the kingdom, whofe maintenance cofts the ftate 
 above two hundred thoufand ducats a year (thirty-feven 
 thoufand five hundred pounds). 
 
 The fifhermen of Santa Lucia are the handfomeft men in 
 Naples ; they have the true old Grecian features, and fuch 
 well-proportioned limbs, that they might ferve for models in 
 any academy of defign ; they are the moft fubftantial and 
 beft lodged portion of the Neapolitan populace. It is true, 
 as moft writers affert, that the houferoom of this metropolis 
 is very inadequate to the population, which, according to au- 
 thentic accounts, amounted, at the clofe of the year 1776, to 
 three hundred and fifty thoufand fixty-one fouls ; and that 
 numbers of-thefe are deftitute of houfe and property. But it 
 is not equally a fact, as they affert, that winter and fummer 
 thefe houfelefs inhabitants pafs their lives in the open air, and 
 fleep in all weathers in the ftreets. In fummer it is very 
 pleafant fo to do, but in winter not even a dog could bear 
 the inclemency of the weather, not fo much on account of ' 
 
 K 2 cold
 
 66 N A P L E 5. 
 
 cold, as of wet. When the rainy feafon fets in, it com- 
 monly lafts feveral fucceflive weeks, falling, not in fuch 
 mowers as we are acquainted with in England, where we 
 have rain more or lefs every month in the year, but by pail- 
 fuls, an abfolute water-fpout, that carries all before it, and 
 almoft drowns the unfortunate paffenger who is caught out 
 of doors by the ftorm. The quantity of rain at Naples is 
 much more confiderable than that which falls on the fame 
 fpace of ground in England. Whole months of drought are 
 compenfated by the deluge of a day : and befides, the fouth 
 winds are frequently fo boifterous in winter, as to burft open 
 the bolts of both doors and windows. At that rainy time 
 of the year, few are fo wretched and helplefs as to lie in the 
 ftreet, but moft of the vagrants refort to the caves under 
 Capodi Monte, where they fleep in crowds like flieep in a 
 pinfold. As they are thus provided with a dwelling, for 
 which no rent is exacted, they alfo procure food without 
 the trouble of cooking or keeping houfe : the markets and 
 principal ftreets are lined with fellers of macaroni, fried and 
 boiled fifti, puddings, cakes> and vegetables of all forts; 
 where, for a very fmall fum, which he may earn by a little 
 labour, running of errands, or picking of pockets, the la- 
 zaro finds a ready meal at all hours : the flaggon hanging 
 out at every corner invites him to quench his third with 
 wine ; or if he prefers water, as moft of them do, there are 
 flails in all the thoroughfares, where lemonade and iced wa- 
 ter are fold. The paflion for iced water is fo great and fo 
 
 general
 
 NAPLES. 67 
 
 general at Naples, that none but mere beggars will drink it 
 in its natural ftate ; and, I believe, a fcarcity of bread would 
 not be more feverely felt than a failure of fnow. It is brought 
 in boats every morning from the mountains behind Caftela- 
 mare, and is farmed out at a great rent ; the Jefuits, who 
 pofleffed a large capital, as well as the true fpirit of enter- 
 prize, had purchafed the exclusive privilege of fupplying the 
 city with it. 
 
 Very little fuffices to clothe the lazaro, except on holi- 
 days ; and then he is indeed tawdrily decked out, with 
 laced jacket and flame -coloured ftockings : his buckles are 
 of enormous magnitude, and feem to be the prototype of 
 thofe with which our prefent men of mode load their in- 
 fteps. The women are alfo very fplendid on thofe days of 
 (hew ; but their hair is then bound up in tiffue caps and 
 fcarlet nets, a fafhion much lefs becoming than their every 
 day (imple method. Citizens and lawyers are plain enough 
 in their apparel, but the female part of their family vies 
 with the firft court ladies in expenfive drefs, and all the va- 
 nities of modim fopperies. Luxury has of late advanced 
 with gigantic ftrides in Naples. Forty years ago, the Nea- 
 politan ladies wore nets and ribbons on their heads, as the: 
 Spanifh women do to this day, and not twenty of them; 
 were porTciTed of a cap ; but hair plainly dreft is a mode 
 now confined to the lovveft order of inhabitants, and all dif- 
 tinch'on of drefs between the wife of a nobleman and that of 
 a citizen is entirely laid alide, Expence and extravagance 
 
 are
 
 cS NAPLES. 
 
 are here in the extreme. The great families are oppreft with 
 a load of debt ; the working part of the community always 
 fpend the price of their labour before they receive it ; and 
 the citizen is reduced to great parfimony, and almoft pe- 
 nury, in his houfekeeping, in order to anfwer thefe demands 
 of external fhew : fhort commons at home whet his appe- 
 tite when invited out to dinner ; and it is fcarce credible 
 what quantities of victuals he will devour. The nobility in 
 general are well ferv.ed, and live comfortably, but it is not 
 their cuftom to admit Grangers to their table ; the num- 
 ber of poor dependants who dine with them, and cannot 
 properly be introduced into company, prevents the great fa- 
 milies from inviting foreigners : another reafon may be, their 
 fleeping after dinner in fo regular a manner as to undrels 
 and go to bed : no ladies or gentlemen finifli their toilet 
 till the afternoon, on which account they dine at twelve or 
 one o'clock. The great officers of ffate, and minifters, live 
 in a different manner, and keep fumptuous tables, to which 
 Grangers and others have frequent invitations. 
 
 The eftablifhment of a Neapolitan grandee's houfehold is 
 upon a very expensive plan ; the number of fervants, car- 
 riages, and horfes, would fuffice for a fovereign prince ; and 
 the wardrobe of their wives is formed upon the fame mag- 
 nificent fcale ; yet it is a fixed rule, that all ladies whatever, 
 be the circumftance of their hufbands affluent or circum- 
 fcribed, have an hundred ducats a month, and no more, 
 allowed them for pin-money. At the birth of every child, 
 
 the
 
 NAPLES. €9 
 
 the hufband makes his wife a prefent of an hundred ounces, 
 and fome valuable trinkets, according to his fortune. Mar- 
 riage portions are not very great in general ; it does not 
 coft a nobleman more to marry a daughter than it does to 
 make her a nun • for a thoufand pounds will not defray the 
 expence of the ceremonies at her reception and profefTion : 
 me mutt have a penfion fettled upon her, and referves, be- 
 sides, a power over her inheritance, in cafe fhe fhall arrive 
 at any dignity in the convent, and wifh to enrich it with 
 buildings, plate, or veftments. 
 
 Servants and artificers of the city give from fifty to an 
 hundred ducats with their- daughters ; peafants and country 
 workmen go as far as three hundred. Females at and 
 near Naples are etteemed helplefs and indolent, and there- 
 fore have always twice or thrice as much fortune as their 
 brothers, who have greater refources in, their ttrength and 
 activity. A girl would fcarce get a hufband, if her lover 
 did not expect to be reimburfed by her portion the fum he 
 had paid away with his own fitters. In the plains, it is 
 cuftomary for a peafant, on the birth of a daughter, to 
 plant a row of poplar trees, which are cut down and fold at 
 the end of feventeen years, to make up a fortune for her. 
 The proverbial benediction of Figlij tnafchi^ Male children, 
 which a Neapolitan gives a woman when me fneezes, is 
 founded on the great facility with which the common 
 people provide for their fons : as foon as they can run about 
 they are able to earn their bread, while their fitters remain 
 
 idle
 
 7° 
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 idle at home, or beg till they are old enough to attrad the 
 notice of the men. 
 
 SECTION VII. 
 
 *TpHIS kingdom confifts of twelve provinces, of which 
 the fuperficies meafures fourteen millions five hundred 
 and eight thoufand nine hundred and feventy-three mog- 
 gie. In two thoufand and fixty-feven cities, towns, vil- 
 lages, or hamlets, it contains about four millions five hun- 
 dred thoufand inhabitants, which is not more than half the 
 population that fo fertile a country might fupport. A duty 
 is levied upon landed property, partly by a land tax, and 
 partly by impofitions on confumption, taxes for roads, bridges, 
 repairs, and other public exigencies, in the perception of 
 which infinite abufes are committed *. 
 
 Upon a calculation of ten years, the average quantity of 
 wheat fown in the kingdom amounts to little more than 
 two million five hundred thoufand tomoli ; a tomolo is a 
 fufficient quantity for a moggia. Six hundred and twenty- 
 
 * In fome parts of the kingdom an afTefiment is made by the king's offi- 
 cers, and thofe parts are governed by gabella. Others are upon a freer foot- 
 in», and regulated by acatafto; this is a regifter kept in each diftricl, or 
 univerfitii, wherein are marked the incomes of all the inhabitants, who are 
 taxed in proportion to the number of ounces they pofiefs, towards completing 
 the fum demanded of the diftrift by the king. This ounce contains three car- 
 lini. A fuoco implies a family, or five perfons. 
 
 /l five
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 five thoufand moggie are fovvn with barley and lent grain, 
 and two hundred and fifty thoufand with Indian corn and 
 pulfe; but it is fuppofed by good judges, that one million 
 feven hundred and fixty four thoufand, five hundred and 
 eighteen moggie more might be fovvn with wheat, five 
 hundred and eighty-four thoufand and eighty-one moggie 
 with barley, oats, and other lenten corn, and with pulfe 
 and Indian corn, one hundred and twelve thoufand, feven 
 hundred and twenty-four moggie, or thereabouts. 
 
 The ufual produce of wheat, on an average, of the lafl 
 ten years, comes to about twenty-two millions tomoli, rec- 
 koning it about eight tomoli per moggia per annum between 
 the more and lefs fertile lands* 
 
 Tomoli. 
 
 For feed there go - - 2,500,000 
 
 For the consumption of the inhabitants, in num.- 
 
 T * 
 
 ber 4,4.87,^28, at five tomoli a head, - 22,438,140 
 
 2 4 3 93 8 > I 40 
 
 But four tomoli a head being a jufter calculation, be- 
 caufe in feveral provinces the common people live upon 
 bread made of Turkey wheat, barley, cheitnuts, &c. 
 the necefiary confumption in wheat ought to be Mated 
 only at - - 1 7>950,5I2 
 
 Add for ked - - 2,500,000 
 
 76 
 
 20,450,512
 
 ft NAPLES. 
 
 Confequently there remain for exportation, one year with 
 another, about one million and a half of tomoli. 
 
 In fome grounds, where beans and Indian corn have been 
 gathered, it is ufual to fow wheat the fame year, and thofe 
 lands are called Maggifi. It is thought that four millions of 
 Moggi are fit for the reception of wheat, but two thirds of 
 them are not fown, through the bad ceconomy of govern- 
 ment, impofitions, vexations, &c. In the territory of 
 Foggia, part of Puglia, there is reckoned to be an extent of 
 one hundred and fifty thoufand verfure proper for corn ; 
 each verfura will take three and a half tomoli of wheat to 
 fow, or four and a half tomoli of barley. However, till the 
 year 1767, no more was ever fown than fifty-three thou- 
 fand verfure, not even in 1764, at the time of the famine, 
 though, in order to fecure an ample fupply for the next 
 year, the tenants threw upon the lands more feed-corn than 
 ufual, and exerted themfelves to the utmoft of their abili- 
 ties. Abufes in adminiftration, and rapacity in the tax- 
 oatherers, defeat all fchemes of improvement in hufbandry. 
 In 1767, one hundred and eleven thoufand verfure were 
 fown in the territory of Foggia. If the three million moggie 
 of land fit for the plough, more than the quantity actually 
 in tillage, were fown with corn, the kingdom might pro- 
 bably produce thirty-two millions tomoli of wheat, inftead 
 of twenty-two millions ; and the exportation of grain might 
 then be always kept open without danger, and to the great 
 advantage of the cultivators. 
 
 It
 
 NAPLES. ;j 
 
 It is calculated that the culture of corn employs ten per- 
 sons, that of the vine at lealt twenty. 
 
 The chief exportation of corn is made from the provinces 
 of Capitanata, Bari, Otranto, Abruzzo, Molife, Calabria, 
 and Bafilicata : they fupply the internal confumption of the 
 kingdom and foreign markets. The product of the Terra 
 di Lavoro, and Salerno, is referved for the ufe of the 
 capital. 
 
 The exports of the kingdom of Naples are, wheat, bar- 
 ley, legumes, Indian corn ; hemp, line, cummin, fennel, 
 and annifeeds ; wool, oil, wine, cheefe, fifh, fait flefh, ho- 
 ney, wax, frtfh. and dry fruit, manna, faffron, liquorice, 
 feccia brucciata, gums, locuft beans, capers, lupins, pajle^ 
 macaroni of various forts, falt 3 potafh, brimftone, nitre, ar- 
 gal, pitch, tar, fumach, fkins, cattle, oranges, lemons, brandy, 
 vinegar, metals, minerals, marble, filk, hemp, flax, cot- 
 tons, and divers forts of manufactures. All thcfe products 
 might be fent out in very great quantities, if proper encou- 
 ragement were given ; and both horfes and cattle might be- 
 come valuable articles of exportation, if the breed were at- 
 tended to. 
 
 The provinces moll abundant in oil are, Bari, Otranto, 
 Calabria, and Abruzzo. The product, upon ten years aver- 
 age, has been efteemed at fix hundred thoufand falme. The 
 confumption of the whole kingdom, including the capital, 
 rarely exceeds three hundred thoufand falme, yet the ex- 
 portation of late years has feldom amounted to forty thou- 
 
 L 2 fand
 
 74 
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 fond falme, except in the year 1767, when it was greater,, 
 on account of the general failure of olives throughout 
 
 Spain. 
 
 The city of Naples confumes annually thirty-feven thou- 
 fand five hundred falme of clear oils, and about three thou- 
 fand of dirty oils. 
 
 The duties upon a falm of oil exported from Gallipoli or 
 
 Taranto are, 
 
 Due. Gr. 
 
 For the treafury, - - 10 
 
 Farm of oil and foap, called Arrendamento, - 3 30- 
 
 Cuftomhoufes of Puglia, for extraction, - o 75 
 
 The cuftomhoufe's valuation of faid oil in the ports 
 
 fhould be D. 1 2 per falm, on which fhould be 
 
 paid at the rate of 67 G. per ounce of D. 6, 
 
 which comes to - - 2 34, 
 
 D. 6 39 
 
 But this varies, and is now got up to near D. 8 per falm.. 
 Oil imported into Naples bears a Duty of D. 1 32^ per 
 
 falm. 
 
 The high excife and farm upon brandies prevents the 
 diftillation of that commodity from the immenfe quantity 
 of wines that are produced. Moft of thefe wines would bear 
 long fea voyages, if the proprietors could afford the expence 
 of good brandy to mix with them. From the high duties a, 
 fmall exportation only takes place of coarfe wines for Hol- 
 land, and of the Greek wine of Vefuvius for other places. 
 6 The
 
 NAPLES. 75 
 
 The produce of filk in the kingdom is computed at about 
 eight hundred thoufand pounds weight annually, of which 
 half is fuppofed to be worked at home, and the other half 
 exported raw. Double the quantity might be fold un- 
 wrought, and double might be manufactured, were it not 
 prevented by the high duties on exportation, and on im- 
 portation into the capital, together with the tyranny and 
 exactions of the excife officers of the provinces. 
 
 The exportation of thrown filk, upon an average of many 
 years, amounts to one hundred and forty-eight thoufand two 
 hundred and feventeen pounds. 
 
 The exportation of raw filk from the Calabrias, through* 
 the cuftom-houfe, is about fifty-three thoufand pounds ; 
 but perhaps double that quantity is fmuggled to Leghorn* 
 and other parts. 
 
 Among the many vexations and impofitions on raw filk : 
 produced in the kingdom, may be reckoned the unjufr. pro- 
 ceedings of the deputies of the royal farms, and adminifcra- 
 tors of the excife, who, as foon as the filk is drawn off by 
 the poor people from the pods, out of the caldron, weigh 
 it, and note down the weight in a book. When the filk is- 
 fold, they oblige the vender to pay the duty upon the faid 
 weight, though the filk was heavy with water, on a cruel- 
 fuppofition that they have fmuggled the difference; fo that 
 the poor creatures actually pay duty- for a portion of water. 
 
 A gabel of a grain a pound is even laid upon the refufe* 
 pods, which formerly were untaxed. The duties upon: 
 
 filk
 
 7 6 NAPLES. 
 
 {ilk in Calabria come to forty-two and a half grains per 
 pound, including feven grains per pound for a duty called 
 di Bifignano. That of the Terra di Lavoro, Baii'icata, Sa- 
 lemo, and Abruzzo, is forty one grains per pound : but 
 then there is another duty of twelve grains and feven tenths 
 per pound on the exportation of raw liik lefs ten percent, 
 for package, and about ten grairs for thrown {ilk lefs 
 twenty per cent, for package, and five per cent, for wet. 
 
 No fmall quantity of cotton is gathered in the Terra di 
 Bari, and the diftricts of the cities of Turfi and Gravina ; 
 but the beft is in the province of Lecce. Venice takes off a 
 wood deal annually, as alfo of the wool. 
 
 Almonds abound in the territories of Bari, Lecce, and 
 the Abruzzi ; but the beft come from Bari, where they are 
 exported to Venice and Triefte. A duty of three ducats 
 ninety four grains per canto ruins this trade. 
 
 In Calabria there are natural mountains of fait, ftrong-er 
 and more active than fea fait ; but the mines are fruit up, 
 not to hurt the revenue, which reaps great benefit by the 
 high duties upon that article. At Naples the gabel is almoft 
 five times more than the firft coff. of the commodity in Sicily. 
 
 All manufactures fent from the capital into the provinces, 
 and all that are exported out of the kingdom (though the 
 firfl: fpecies with which they were fabricated had already 
 paid the cuftomhoufe duties) are neverthelefs lia'le to a 
 charge of fixteen to twenty per cent, called Miglioria. No- 
 thing is excepted but fweetmeats and chocolate. 
 
 The
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 The duties levied upon the Miglioria or Minutillo, amount 
 annually to feventy-iour thoufand nine hundred and nine 
 ducats, of which fourteen thoufand belong to the city of 
 Naples, upon the impolition of twenty-three grains per 
 ounce, and the reft goes into the cuftomhoufe, paid upon 
 manufactures. 
 
 Confumption of corn in the city of Naples. 
 
 Tomoli. 
 
 In bread for the public, - - 400,000 
 
 Maccaroni, - - 160,000 
 
 Taralli, or little bifcuits, - - 50,000 
 
 Meal at the great market, - - 300,000 
 
 Meal at twelve other (tails in the city, - 300,000 
 
 Fine fkur, 95,000 cantara, - - 300,000 
 
 For i"he land and fea troops, - - 120,000 
 
 Charity- fchools and convents, - 1,200,000 
 
 Per annum, 2,830,000 
 
 Horned cattle, - - 25,000 
 
 Sorrento calves, - - 3,000 
 
 Hogi, between the market and other places,, 45,000 
 
 Eggs from the neighbourhood, befidcs what are 
 
 produced in the city, 60,000 per diem. 
 Oil, ftars of ten and one third rotoli each, - 600,000 
 
 There is in the kingdom of Naples a fund of more than 
 fifty millions of ducats belonging to the exchequer, duties, 
 and other public effects. It ought be converted into a 
 
 public 
 
 77
 
 7 S NAPLES. 
 
 public bank, bearing proper intereft ; but, inftead thereof, 
 the produce is in a great meafure abforbed by the falaries 
 and peculation of the fubaltern financiers, to the great dis- 
 advantage of the public. 
 
 According to the befi: authenticated accounts, the current 
 coin of the kingdom of Naples, in gold, filver, and brafs, is 
 between eight and nine millions of ducats, which is not Suf- 
 ficient for the circulation of a very extenfive commerce : 
 for although the notes of feven public banks, eftablifhed in 
 the city of Naples, circulate even down to the value of the 
 fmallefr, fums, yet the equivalent is paid into thefe banks by 
 the proprietors, or by creditors, in money, as into bankers 
 hands in London, without any allowance of intereft : and 
 therefore this mode of payment only ferves for the readier 
 difpatch of bufinefs, and faving of fome trouble, but does 
 not increafe the circulation ; nor is there any paper iflued 
 out that bears a premium. 
 
 All bills of exchange, court tranfactions, civil, military, 
 ecclefiaftical and mercantile payments, are made either by 
 bank-bills, called fedi di credito, or by drafts on the faid 
 banks, explaining the caufes at length of faid payments, for 
 which reafon no receipts are taken. The perfon who is in 
 pofTeiTion of a bank-bill or draft, is in rigour obliged to pafs 
 it as his own in the fpace of twenty-four hours ; otherwife 
 fhould the bank fail, the holder of the bank-bill has no re- 
 drefs againft the perfon who paid it him. In this century 
 there has been an inftance of the failure of a bank. viz. 
 
 that
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 that of L'Annunziata. There is a law ftill exifting, though 
 not enforced, which declares, that no payment above fix 
 ducats mall be valid, unlefs made by one of the banks. 
 Thefe banks are at prefent feven in number, viz. S. Gia-- 
 como, S. Eligio, S. Salvatore, Poveri, Pieta, Spirito Santo, 
 and Popolo. They ferve as public depofitories of money ; 
 more or lefs they all take in pawns to an immenfe value, 
 at ftated interefts, and lend money alfo upon proper fecurity 
 of lands, houfes, &c. 
 
 There is a company of aflurance, with a jus privativum, 
 which is contrary to the intereft of commerce. The profits 
 of this affociation, in the flrft ten years after its inftitution, 
 were upwards of ten per cent, and at the end of the next 
 five years, in 1766, rofe to twenty per cent. It would 
 therefore be an advantage for the ftate, if the number of in- 
 furance- offices were increafed, as the gains on the whole, 
 though divided, would increafe alfo. The rifc begins from 
 the moment the goods are put on board, and continues till 
 the arrival of the fhip, and her total difcharge of the goods, 
 which is a good cuftom for the infured. 
 
 Merchandise imported into Naples. 
 
 From England — Woollen goods of all forts, filk and wor- 
 ked ftockings, hats, tanned hides, lead, tin, pepper, hard- 
 ware, linens, handkerchiefs, fans, canes, gums, dying- 
 woods, drugs, watches, clocks, mathematical inftruments, 
 
 M houfehold 
 
 79
 
 8o 
 
 NAPLES. 
 
 houfehold furniture, fait cod, pilchards, herrings, coffee,. 
 tea, cocoa, fugar, and occafionally calicoes and Eafi India 
 
 goods. 
 
 Holland — Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, pepper, medicinal 
 clrucrs from the Eaft and Weft Indies, fine cloths, particu- 
 larly the black, called Segovia, linen for Hurts and other 
 ufes, muflins, chintz, callicoes, feveral forts of cocoa, whale- 
 bone, tobacco, filk (luffs and velvet. 
 
 France — An immenfe quantity of fugar, indigo, coffee, 
 dying-woods, verdigreafe, Levant drugs, cocoa, hardware, 
 filk fluffs, geld and filver, fays of Le Mans, du roy, cloths 
 cf Elbeuf, and all forts of women's apparel. 
 
 Spain — Sugar, cochineal, dying-woods, cocoa, hides 
 faked and in the hair, medicinal American drugs, Jefuits 
 bark, falfapariglia, jalap, balfam of Peru, hippecacuana,. 
 cloths of divers forts, wine, tobacco, fnuff of Seville and Ha- 
 vanna, lead, gun-barrels, honey, &c. 
 
 Portugal — Brazil fugars, tobacco, cocoa of Maringan, 
 drugs, hides, &c. 
 
 Venice — Books, cordavans, looking glafies, chryitals and 
 crlaffes of all forts, luftres, coach and window glaffes, Padua 
 cloths, called Venetian fays, for the confumption of the 
 provinces, fine Verona cloths, equal to Englifh fcarlet, 
 ftockings, caps made of wool, fine hats ufed in the pro- 
 vinces, wax candles, white loaf (ugar, fine linen, medicinal 
 and Levant drugs, all forts oi paints, fublimate, cinnabar, 
 auickfflver, turpentine, dragon's blood, copper, iron of 
 
 divers
 
 NAPLES. Si 
 
 divers forts of the manufactures of Germany and Brefcia, 
 excellent paper, much ufed in the provinces. 
 
 Genoa — American goods from the Spanifh main and 
 the Portuguefe Ealt Indies, velvets, iron in great quantity, 
 nails, ordinary hats, wax from Tunis and the African coaft. 
 
 Leghorn — All forts of goods, at fecond hand, from the 
 Levant, Barbary wools, linens of Egypt, wax, and many filk 
 manufactures. 
 
 Petersburg — Hides, wax, iron, furs, 8cc. 
 
 Sardinia — An immenfe quantity of tunny fim, and white 
 cheefe. 
 
 Germany — Silefia linens of all forts, white and painted, 
 iron of divers manufactures, vitriol of Hungary, chryllals of 
 Bohemia, large glaiTes for coaches and windows, hats and 
 goods of the new Vienna fabrick, turpentine, quickfilver, 
 hardware, manufactures of Ofnaburg and Nuremberg, cop- 
 per, tin plates, boards, cloth, &c. 
 
 The duties in general upon goods imported into the city 
 of Naples amount to about twenty-five per cent, upon the 
 cu.ftomhoufe eftimation, paying fo much per ounce ad valo- 
 rem : which ounce is regulated at fix ducats value. Sdgars 
 and wax, by the new impofitions, pay forty or fifty per 
 cent, upon the market price. The duty upon fugar pro- 
 duces about eighty thoufand ducats annually. 
 
 Ma SECTION
 
 [ 82 ] 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 March 1 TTAVING received an invitation to be prcfent at 
 * the opening of fome lately difcovered rooms 
 
 at Stabia, I went thither with a party. On our way we 
 vifited Herculaneum and Pompeii *. We then traverfed the 
 rich plain that lies between Vefuvius and the Sorrentine 
 branch of the Apennines, and came by a gentle afcent ta 
 the excavations. Stabia was a long firing of country houfes, * 
 rather than a town ; for it had been deftroyed by Sylla, 
 and before the reign of Titus, all its rebuilt edifices were 
 overturned by an earthquake. In the cataftrophe of feventy- 
 nine, the wind blowing furiouily from the north, brought 
 the afhes of Vefuvius upon it; all the country was covered 
 with cinders and rapilli, or fmall pumice-ftones, many 
 yards deep. Towns, houfes, and trees, were buried, and 
 their fituations remained marked in the plain by hillocks. 
 like barrows. Stabia, though fix miles from the mountain, 
 was overwhelmed and loft, till it was carnally difcovered 
 about twenty-eight years ago. The earthquake had fo da- 
 maged the buildings, that none of them can be preferved, 
 and therefore as foon as every thing curious is taken out, 
 
 * I fhall referve for the fecond volume what I have to fay concern- 
 ing them. 
 
 the
 
 COAST OF SORRENTO. 83 
 
 the pits are filled up again. The afhes penetrated into all 
 parts, and confumed every thing that was combuftible. 
 
 On our arrival, the workmen began to break into the 
 fubterraneous rooms, and, as the foil is all a crumbling, 
 cinder, very little labour was requisite to clear them. When 
 opened, the apartments prefented us with the mattered 
 walls, daubed rather than painted with gaudy colours in 
 compartments, and fome birds and animals in the cornices, 
 but in a coarfe ftyle, as indeed are all the paintings of 
 Stabia. In a corner, we found the brafs hinges and lock, 
 of a trunk ; near them, part of the contents, viz. ivory 
 flutes in pieces, fome coins, brafs rings, fcales, fteel-yards, 
 and a very elegant filver ftatue of Bacchus, about two 
 inches high, reprefented with a crown of vine leaves,, 
 bufkins, and the horn of plenty. 
 
 The brow of this hill affords a rich and varied profpect 
 towards Vefuvius and the gulf- 
 
 The company returned to Naples; but I remained all 
 night at Torre della Nunziata, a large village belonging to 
 the princes of Valle and Dentici, and a hofpital. It was of 
 little note while the high road from Naples pafled between 
 Vefuvius and Nola, the communication by land along the 
 more being impeded by repeated eruptions. All that tract 
 was for many ages one dark foreft, fuccefii vely confumed 
 by fiery torrents, and fpringing up again upon the old 
 cooled lavas. As foon as a road was opened over Hercu- 
 laneum, the Torre became populous. A manufacture of 
 
 fire-arms
 
 8 4 COAST OF SORRENTO. 
 
 fire-arms was eftablifhed here by the prefent King of 
 Spain, who attempted to introduce feveral others into the 
 kingdom ; but every branch that required nicety, patience, 
 and fine touches, failed : that of arms fucceeded wonder- 
 fully ; and, in three years, the German artificers, he had 
 fent for to inftrucl: his fubjects, returned to their own 
 country : for their pupils were become as fkilful as them- 
 felves. 
 
 Early next morning, I hired a fix- oared barge, and 
 rowed along the coaft. We pafTed before the ifland of 
 Revigliano, a fine object, that has been introduced into 
 many pictures. My firft flation was Caftelamare di Stabia, 
 a long town lying at the bottom of the bay, flickered to 
 the fouth by high mountains, that come fo near the water 
 edge as to leave only a very narrow flip for the buildings, 
 many of which are boldly and beautifully placed on the 
 lower points of the hills. The King has a charming villa 
 above the city, formerly a farm of the Jefuits. The port 
 is fm all and entirely artificial, more frequented by Latin 
 fail-barks than fhips. This place rofe by the ruin of the 
 inland towns. In 1654, the French, under the Duke of 
 Guife, took it by florin, and meant to pufh their con- 
 quells from hence into the heart of the kingdom. Their 
 hopes were foon blafled by a defeat on the banks of the 
 Sarno, which obliged them to reimbark, and abandon even 
 Caftelamare, but not before they had flripped it of every 
 thing valuable. I continued my cotirfe wefhvard under a 
 
 bold
 
 COAST OF SORRENTO. I; 
 
 bold more : new beauties of landfcape opened upon me at 
 the doubling of every promontory. The iirft change of 
 £cene was to an uninhabited foreft, where white cliffs rife 
 perpendicular out of the deep blue waters : behind them, 
 lofty mountains overgrown with wood. Thefe rocks are 
 calcarious, and fuinifh Naples with lime. The ftones are 
 burnt in the creeks, and the fire fupplied with faggots cut 
 in the hills, and flung down on ropes. Along the fhore 
 are many ftrong fulphureous fprings. 
 
 Vico was my next flage : a little city, in a delightful 
 pofition, on the brow of a hill, backed by an amphitheatre 
 of mountains. The ftrata of thefe eminences incline con- 
 trary ways to one centrical point, as if there had origi- 
 nally exifled a fimilar mafs in the centre, torn afunder and 
 (wallowed up by one of thofe mocks, which muft have 
 often overturned this unliable country. Charles the Se- 
 cond and Joan the Firfl: raifed Vico out of obicurity, on. 
 account of the charms they found in its fituation. 
 
 On doubling the next projecting rocks, we entered the 
 fpacious bay of Sorrento, three miles wide. A femicir- 
 cular chain of woody mountains inclofes a rich and beauti- 
 ful plain, rather Hoping towards the fea, full of white 
 buildings peeping out of the groves. This hair- moon ter- 
 minates in a ftraight line to the fea, by a bold coaft of 
 black perpendicular rocks. It probably formed a portion 
 of a circle, half of which broke off and funk into the 
 waves. This I believe to have been the cafe, and that the 
 
 3 whole
 
 g$ COAST OF SORRENTO. 
 
 whole was once the crater of a volcano. All the foil of 
 the plain is cineritious, and its rocks a ftrong blue lava, 
 except near the eaft end, where they are of a fofter piperino 
 kind. The encircling mountains are compofed of regular 
 calcareous layers, that do not join or intermix in the lead 
 with the others, but are broken off abruptly all round, 
 as if a place had been fcooped out for the reception of the 
 heterogeneous mafs, riling fuddenly out of the bofom of 
 the earth or waters. Many of thefe limeftone rocks are 
 twifted, as it were, into ropes, exactly in the fame man- 
 ner as fome Vetuvian lavas : they have befides fo many 
 peculiarities, that correfpond with thofe of the productions 
 of burning mountains, that were it not directly repugnant 
 to the common fyftems of philofophy, which decide all 
 calcareous fubftances to be a fediment of the ocean, I 
 fhould be tempted to believe, that fire had a greater fhare 
 in the formation of thefe rocks than is generally allowed. 
 The materials of the lower grounds are beyond doubt 
 volcanical ; however, I am confident that, as yet, we are 
 but imperfectly acquainted with the powers of fire, and 
 the metamorphofes it is capable of producing. As we 
 have difcovered, that the fumes of fulphur and vitriol can 
 change hard black lava into foft white clay, perhaps we 
 may find onr, that fome other operation of natural chy- 
 miftry can convert fubftances into limeftone. 
 
 I landed at Sorrento, a city placed on the veiy brink of 
 the fteep rocks that overhang the bay, in a moll enchant- 
 ing
 
 COAST OF SORRENTO. 87 
 
 ing fituation. It contains fifteen thoufand inhabitants, 
 half the population of the whole plain. The ftreets are 
 narrow ; but this is no inconvenience in a warm climate, 
 where carriages are not ufed, nor any communication with 
 the metropolis practicable by land. Of all the places in 
 the kingdom, this is bleft with the moft delightful climate. 
 It was renowned for it in ancient times : Silius Italicus 
 extols its foft and wholefome zephyrs*. At prefent, it 
 enjoys fhady groves, excellent water, fruit, fidi, milk, 
 butter, the fined veal in the world, good wine, and al- 
 mofr, every neceflary of life at an eafy rate. Mountains 
 fcreen it from the hot autumnal blafts. The temper of 
 the inhabitants is faid to refemble the climate in mildnefs. 
 A [qw infcriptions and refervoirs of water are all the rem- 
 nants of antiquity it can mew. It derives its name from 
 the residence or worfhip of the Syrens +. Jn this bay, the 
 Prince of Salerno, foil to Charles the Firft, was, in 1283, 
 taken prilbner by Lauria, the admiral of Peter of Aragon : 
 a naval viclory that infured the pofleffion of Sicily to the 
 conquerors. Kcre Torquatus Taffo drew his firft breath 
 in 1544: a bard undoubtedly intitled to rank id the 
 foremoft line of modern poets, notwithflanding the farcafm 
 of Boileaui', who, from his ignorance of the Italian 
 
 * Zephyro Surrentum molle falubri. 
 ■f Surenetum. 
 
 j Le clinquant du Tafle a tout Tor de Virgile. 
 Prefers Taflb's tinfel to Virgil's gold. 
 
 N language,
 
 8S COAST OF SORRENTO. 
 
 language, and the coldnefs of his heart, was a very im- 
 proper judge of the flights of genius. In 3558, the 
 Turks facked this city, and carried off twelve thoufand 
 captives ; but, preferring money to fuch a quantity of 
 • flaves, they fent to Naples to afk a ranfom. Diftruft, con- 
 firmation, or infenfibility, caufed their offer to be re- 
 jected, and the infidels failed away with their prifoners.. 
 Soon after, by an acT: of generofity fcarce to be paralleled 
 in any hiftory, the remaining Sorrentines fold their lands 
 and goods, and redeemed their fellow-citizens. Had fuch 
 an effort been made by Greeks or Romans, it would have 
 been a common-place example for fchool-boys, and every 
 differtator, ancient and modern, would have enlarged with 
 enthufiafm on this trait of heroifm ; but at Sorrento it is 
 fcarce remembered, and, I believe, it is entirely forgotten 
 in the reft of the kingdom. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth, I continued my coafting voyage 
 to Capo di Terra, or Puolo, the point that divides the bay 
 of Sorrento from that of Maffa*. Here are the ruins of a 
 villa mentioned in Statius's Sylvae : it belonged to Pollius 
 Frelix, whofe name is ftill preferved in the modern ap- 
 pellation. I admired the exa&nefs with which the poet 
 has defcribed the fpot ; for however altered and disfigured 
 the minuter features may be, the great outlines of the 
 
 * Eft inter notos Syrenum nomine muros, 
 Saxaque Tyrrhene templis ornata Minervse. 
 
 place

 
 COAST OF SORRENTO. 8$ 
 
 place are ftill difcernible. On the very extremity of the 
 Cape, impending over the fea, (lands a row of vaulted 
 chambers, before which appear the veftiges of a portico *, 
 or hall. Its form is that of an obtufe angle. Thefe rooms 
 commanded a double view : one of Sorrento and Vefuvius ; 
 the f other, of Naples J, Puzzoli, and Ifchia§, Part of 
 the painting remains upon the walls. Behind thefe build- 
 ings, the promontory narrows into an ifthmus, pierced in 
 the middle with a deep round bafon, into which the fea 
 has accefs by a paflage under the rocks. As the waves 
 have no force left when they enter it, and its opening is 
 furrounded by ruins, this was no doubt the fituation of 
 the baths || . Three arched conduits brought frefh water 
 to them ** from a large rcfervoir at the foot of the moun- 
 tain ; high rocks, covered with olive-trees, defend f f this 
 place from the boifterous fcirocco, and boats find a fafe 
 
 * Per obliquas erepit porticus arces 
 
 Urbis opus, longoque domat faxa afpera dorfo, 
 ■f Una Diastis 
 
 Parthenopen directo limite ponti. 
 J Ingeric 
 
 Celfa Dicarchasi fpeculatrix villa profundi. 
 § Hasc videt Inarimen, ill i Prochyta afpera paret. 
 || Gemina teftudine fnmant 
 
 Balnea. 
 ** E terris occurrit dulcis amaro 
 
 Nympha mari. 
 f| Monti intervene imum 
 
 Littus et in terras fcopulis pendentibus exit. 
 
 N 2 retreat
 
 00 COAST OF SORRENTO. 
 
 retreat in a circular creek, which divides the Cape into 
 two peninfulas*. From hence I failed along the woody 
 coaft of Mafia, a diocefe without a town ; for all the 
 dwelling-houfes are difperfed in fmall clufters along the 
 verdant declivity. We lay upon our oars a few hours to 
 take fbme refrefhment, and then failed to Naples, where we 
 arrived by moonlight. The evening was warm and mild, 
 and the fea fmooth as glafs ; the lights of the fim-markets 
 reflected on its furface, formed a raoft fplendid illumination* ■ 
 
 * Placido lunata receflu, 
 
 Hinc atque hinc curvas prorumpunt asquora rupes— ■- 
 
 Ponunt hie lafla furorem 
 
 iEquora. 
 
 Nulloque tumultu 
 
 Stagna modefta jacent. 
 
 JOURNEY
 
 ( 9' ) 
 
 J O . U R N E Y 
 
 FRO M 
 
 NAPLES to TARANTO, 
 
 SECTION IX. 
 
 ON the twelfth of April 1777, I fet out with 
 S. T. G. from Naples by the Porta Capuana. We 
 rode our own horfes, but had a chaife to carry our bag- 
 gage and ourfelves occasionally. A broad avenue of 
 poplars renders this outlet more regular than any other. 
 On the left hand are the aqueducts that convey water to 
 the city, and fupply feveral fountains erected by the 
 Viceroys, in the laft century, for ornament and the relief 
 of travellers. Above is a beautiful ridge of woody hills, 
 called 11 Campo di Lautrec, from Odet de Foix, Martcha! 
 7 de
 
 9 2 JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. 
 
 de Lautrec, who, in 1528, at the head of the French 
 army, invaded the kingdom of Naples, fubdued the north- 
 ern provinces, and drove the Imperialifts into the capital. 
 On the twenty-ninth of April, he pitched his camp on this 
 eminence, and by his approach threw the Neapolitans into 
 the utmoft confternation. Their terrors redoubled on the 
 failure of their ufual miracle, the liquefaction of the blood 
 of St. Januarius : a difappoiiitment, in their opinion, the 
 certain forerunner of fome weighty calamity. The horrors 
 of famine foon began to be feverely felt in fo populous a 
 town, and the difixefs was enhanced by the enemy's break- 
 ing down the aqueducts ; but what was intended for its 
 ruin proved its falvation, and the contrivance turned 
 againtt, the befiegers : for the waters, thus diverted from 
 their channel, and obftaucled in their paflage, ran wafte 
 over the low grounds, ftagnated in pools, and, through 
 the exceflive heat of the feafon, corrupted. The putre- 
 faction was accelerated by the fermentation of a great 
 -quantity of corn, which Virticillo, a famous outlaw, 
 purpofely threw into the ditches as he paiTed along with 
 a fupply of provifions for the city. From the malignant 
 vapours exhaled by thefe putrid fwamps, a peftilential 
 difeafe arofe, which, in a fhort time, deftroyed the greater!: 
 part of the French army, and, on the fifteenth of Auguft, 
 died their brave commander. His remains were interred 
 under his own tent, the ficge was raifed, moft of the 
 French that furvived the contagion were taken or put to 
 
 5 the
 
 JOURNE7 TO TARANTO, 93 
 
 the fword, and few efcaped to carry an account of the 
 cataftiophe to their ovvrr country. 
 
 Y\ ere it becoming a rcafonablc man to adopt the Neapo- 
 litan idea of St. Januarius's blood being endowed with the 
 gitt of prophecy, one might fuppofe, that its obftinate 
 induration had not in view the mere event of the fiege, 
 but rather pointed to a cruel difeafe, which made its firft 
 appearance in our hemifphere at that period, and in that 
 camp. It is faid, that this tremendous fcourge of de- 
 bauchery was flrft imported by the companions of Chrifto- 
 pher Columbus from the Charibbee iflands, where it was 
 an aboriginal malady ; and that women infected by them 
 were designedly fent out of Naples to fpread contagion 
 among the French, by whom the infernal poifon was 
 communicated to the reft of Europe. But authors differ 
 in their opinions concerning the introduction of this dis- 
 order : fome incline to give it an eaftern or Egyptian, 
 not an American origin, and ground their notion upon the 
 infeription of a tomb in the church of S. Maria del Popolo 
 at Rome*. This monument is erected to the memory cf 
 a noble Roman, who died pejie inguinarid in 14.85, 
 which is fix years before Columbus's return from the 
 New World. The difficulty lies in proving this pel 
 inguinaria to be really the difeafe in queflion, and not a 
 
 * Marco Antonii equitis Romani filio ex nobili Albertonum familia cor- 
 pore animoque infigni, qui annum agens xxx pefte inguinaria interiit an. 
 falutis Chriitiance MCCCCLXXXV. die xxii Julii hsredes B. M, P. 
 
 plague
 
 94 
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 plague that had its ulcer in the groin, as others have theirs 
 under the arm, in the fide, or el fe where ; for it is an ob- 
 fervation made by many medical praditioners in the Levant, 
 that each plague throws out its mortal tumour in one par- 
 ticular part of the body upon all patients. Jf this fcnti- 
 ment of the lues coming from the Baft, were incontroverti- 
 ble, it would follow, that to all the accumulated horrors 
 of tyranny, rapine, and murder, exercifed by the Europe- 
 ans upon the innocent Americans, we might add the in- 
 troduction of a fital and loathfome difeafe, which com- 
 pleted the defolation of that continent, by deftroying the 
 few wretches their fword had fpared. 
 
 On the declivity ftands the church of Santa Maria del 
 Pianto, or of Tears, erected over the mouth of fome deep 
 excavations, where the bodies of many thoufand perfons, 
 carried off by a plague in 1656, were brought in. carts 
 from Naples, and walled up. This peftilence far ex- 
 ceeded in devaluation that of 1528 ; for, in the fpace of 
 fix months, it difpatched 400,000 people in the king- 
 dom of Naples, although the provinces of farther Cala- 
 bria and Otranto efcaped the infection. 
 
 An avenue of cyprefles, Sloping up the hill, gloomily 
 points out the Campo Santo, or Cemetery of the Hofpital 
 for Incurables. It ftands loftily 5 and remote from all ha- 
 bitations of the living, and is moft admirably contrived 
 for its melancholy purposes. Divine fervice is performed 
 under a fpacious portico at the entrance, and a high wall 
 
 inclofes
 
 JOURNEY TOT A RANT O. 9>- 
 
 inclofes a flagged court, about two hundred and flxty feet 
 fquare. Under it are three hundred and flxty-flve very 
 deep vaults hewn in the rock, one of which is in its tura 
 opened each day of the year, to receive the bodies of fuch 
 as died the preceding evening in the hofpital. The firft 
 tenants of this repofitory were the wretches who periflied 
 in the great famine in 1764. The tufa, of which the 
 rocks of all thefe hills are compofed, has a mofl powerful 
 drying quality, and foon parches up the corpfes that are 
 consigned to its bofom. 
 
 At the diftance of one mile from Naples, we pafled by 
 the ruins of Poggio Reale, a villa built by Alphonfus the 
 Second, while Duke of Calabria. He caufed to be painted 
 in the apartments the principal occurrences of his father's 
 reign, and took great delight in embellidiing this palace, 
 which, neverthelefs, does not appear to have been pof- 
 feffed of any natural beauties worth cherifhing. It was 
 vilely fituated at the foot of the hills, on the very edge 
 of the marfhes that lie between Naples and Vefuvius. The 
 waters of the Sebeto, an infigniflcant brook, dignified 
 with the title of river, make thefe lands extremely fruitful, 
 and proper for kitchen -fluff; but, in fummer, aguifh and 
 dangerous to inhabit. In ancient times it may have been 
 more considerable, and received many fupplies, which the 
 eruptions of Vefuvius have dried up or turned off; but its 
 
 O flze
 
 9 6 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 fize has Ion? been very trifling. Boccaccio, who favv it in 
 the days of King Robert, pleafantly ftiles it a river, 
 
 Quanta r'icco donor, tanto povero cfacque. 
 As rich as it is in fame, fo poor is it in water. 
 
 We foon after left the hilly grounds to defcend into the 
 immenfe plains of Nola, one entire grove of tall elms and 
 poplars, planted in rows to fupport the vines growing at 
 their feet, and ftretchinp- their branches from tree to tree 
 in beautiful garlands. Between the lines, the hufb.indman 
 fows corn and pulfe without any fallow ; and, to prevent 
 the land from being exhaufted, raifes early crops of lupins 
 and beans, which he hoes up before they fru&ify, and 
 buries for manure. The harrowing and rolling is per- 
 formed by oxen. This fcene for a while aftoniilies and 
 fills the eye ; but, from the extent of the plantation, the 
 famenefs of objects, and the total exclufion of all profpecT, 
 it loon becomes unpleafant and fatiguing. The ioil is a 
 iandy volcanic loam, in a high degree rich and vegetative. 
 The clofe fhade of fo much wood preferves it in a due 
 ftate of moifcure, without which its fertility would be 
 greatly diminifhed by the heat of the climate; but this 
 {hade gives the whole country a difagreeable damp fmelL 
 
 Near a village called Cinema, we found mafons at 
 work in a quarry of dark- blue lava, fimilar to the pave- 
 
 tent of Naples. This place is exactly fituated fo as to 
 
 have
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 97 
 
 have Monte Somraa in a line between it and the cone of 
 Vefuvius, of which nothing appears but the column of 
 fmoke : a clear proof, that thefe layers of lava cannot 
 have run out of the prefent crater, as the height of the 
 ridge of Somma would prevent any matter from being 
 poured over it, unlefs the actual volcano firft filled up and 
 levelled to the brim the intermediate valley, called Atrio 
 del Cavallo. Every naturalift, that is not blinded by the 
 prejudices of fome fyftem formed in his clofet, and im- 
 plicitly adhered to in all his refearches, muft allow, that 
 it is impoflible to account for thefe quarries, without fup- 
 pofing Somma to have been, in former ages, one of the 
 lides of a much larger volcano than the prefent ignivomous 
 mountain ; and that, upon the falling in of that enormous 
 mafsj fubfequent eruptions mud:, out of one of the fides, 
 have heaved up Vefuvius as we now behold it. 
 
 SECTION X. 
 
 TTir E turned off to the left to fee Nola, a city that 
 affords little fcope for obfervation, as the ruins of 
 its ancient edifices are almoft obliterated. Nothing re- 
 mains of the two amphitheatres but fome brick walls, the 
 marble cafing having been taken away by an Earl of Nola 
 to build his palace. 
 
 Some anecdotes render its hiftory interefting. Aucmftus 
 died here at the age of feventy-five years, faid to have 
 
 O 2 been
 
 9 8. JOURNEY TO TARANTO, 
 
 been poifoned in a difh of figs by Livia, upon his betray- 
 ing a return of tendernefs towards his own family ; but,- 
 methinks, old age and infirmities were fufficient caufes 
 for the death of a man worn out with the fatigue of a long 
 reign over a nation of conquerors, whom his cruelty and 
 policy had reduced, from the haughtieft of republicans, 
 to the mofr. abject ilaves that ever crouched beneath the 
 iron rod of defpotifm. His faithful friend and fortunate 
 general, Marcus Agrippa, was furprifed by death a few 
 years before him in the fame place. 
 
 Saint Paulinus, a native of Bourdeaux, died Bilhop of 
 Nola in 431. He was an ingenious poet, and had been 
 Conful. He is faid to have been the inventor of bells by 
 the Nolans, who arrogate to themfelves the merit of 
 having furnimed fociety with this ufeful inflrument ; but I 
 rather fuppofe him to have been the firft who introduced 
 them into churches, and hung them up in fteeples, for 
 the purpofe of fummoning the faithful to prayers. Before 
 his time, Chriftians made ufe of wooden rattles, facra 
 ligna, to call the congregation together, no bells being 
 allowed by government to a profcribed feci. The ancients 
 had bells both for prophane and facred fervice. Poiybius 
 mentions them, and we learn by a tale in Strabo, that 
 market-time was announced by them *. 
 
 Pliny 
 
 * He relates, that at Jafficum, amufician, who had drawn a great crowd 
 of auditors about him, was iudaenly delated by them all, except one man, 
 
 who
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 99 
 
 Pliny allures us, that the tomb of Porfena, Kino; of 
 Tufcany, was hung round with bells, and the Lebetes of 
 the temple of Dodona were certainly a fpecies of them. 
 The hour of bathing was made known at Rome by the 
 found of a bell - 3 the night watchman carried one, and it 
 ferved to call up the fervants in great houfes. Sheep had 
 them tied about their necks to frighten away wolves, or 
 rather by way of amulet. In our days, this cuftom, like 
 many other ethnic ones, ferves as a wild ftock to graft a 
 devout ceremony upon. Bells are now placed under the 
 protection of St. Anthony and others, blefTed and flung 
 round the necks of cattle and fheep, to preferve them from 
 epidemical diforders. Shepherds alfo think the found 
 pleafes'the bead, and makes it eat its meat with more 
 cheerfulnefs and benefit ; at leaf!:, this facilitates the find- 
 ing of thofe who have ftrayed from their pafture. 
 
 We are told by Lucian, that the priefts of the Syrian 
 goddefs had beds, which they tinkled by way of awaking 
 the charity of bigots. I have feen many counterparts of 
 thefe beggars in Italy, hermits and mendicant friars, who 
 warn you with a bell, that they are about to make a de- 
 mand upon your purfe. 
 
 who was nther hard of hearing. The performer paid him a compliment 
 xipon his cafre for harmony, which detained him after the foiind of the bells 
 had caufed all the reft of the audit ry to 41m the place. " What (fays the 
 " deat man) has the bell rung ? then the nth-market is open, and I mull 
 " run away too." 
 
 Zonaras
 
 T ^ JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 Zonaras writes, that criminals going to execution had a 
 bell tied to them, to give notice to all paiTengers, that no 
 one might unawares crofs their v/ay, and by the accidental 
 touching of them become unclean. This fuperftition may 
 be the real origin of the cuftom in England of parifh bells 
 ringing while a malefactor is on his way to the gallows ; 
 though it is generally fuppofed to be meant as a fignal to 
 all hearers, admonifhing them to pray for the pafling 
 foul. Moft of our religious practices date higher than we 
 are willing to allow ; and, at all events, I cannot be blamed 
 for hazarding an opinion, which, by mewing the cuftom 
 to be of heathenifh extraction, tends in fome degree to 
 relieve many tender confciences, who daily lament, that 
 fo many relicks of popery are fuffered to fubfift in this pro- 
 teftant country. 
 
 According to Suetonius, Auguftus having built, on the 
 edge of the Capitoline hill, a temple to Jupiter the 
 Ihunderer^ where he was remarkably conflant in his de- 
 votions, dreamt that the Capitoline Jupiter appeared to him, 
 and chid him for debauching all his votaries from him ; and 
 that he had anfwered the god by declaring, He had placed 
 the Thunderer fo near only by way of porter. In order to 
 make good the afiertion, the fuperftitious Emperor fixed 
 bells under the roof of the new temple, within reach of 
 the door. We may infer from hence, that Grangers rang 
 
 for
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. ioj 
 
 for admittance at the gates of grandees in thofe days, juft 
 as they do in ours*. 
 
 Giordano Bruni, born at Nola in the Sixteenth century, 
 made a great noiie in the theological world, by means of 
 a fmall book, mentioned with contempt by the Spectator}, 
 who, in his 389th number, gives an account or ic. This 
 pamphlet, under the title of Spauio uella befta trionjante, 
 treats all religions tqually as human inventions; 1; ughs at 
 miracles and revelations as fo many impoflures re acred. 
 milchitvous by the arts of an inttrefled prieithood : it de- 
 clares the plain law of nature to be the only rule of life 
 worthy to be followed by a being endued with reaion ; be- 
 fides many other opinions, which the whole church of 
 Chrifl; holds in utter abhorrence, and unanimoufly anathema? 
 tizes. Bruni refided long at. the court of Queen Elizabeth,, 
 under the protection of feveral great men ; but venturing 
 back to Italy in 1600, was fuzed by the inquifition, and 
 burnt at Venice. 
 
 It is impoflible to afcertain who were the firn 1 people 
 that fettled at Nola ; but its coins prove it to have been at 
 
 * Bells appear to have derived their Latin appellations of Nola and 
 Campana from this city and its province, either on account of its- mines of 
 copper (if any fuch there were), the celebrity of its founderies, or the e.:- 
 pertnefs of its bell -carters. Qnintilian is the firil author that makes ule of 
 the term Nola ; before him, Tint* as the e-mmon name; and in 
 
 St. Jerome's time was the firft appearance of the word I ampana. 
 
 The modern Nolans can boaft of little fkill in the founding art; and, in- 
 deed, a good ring of bells is a thing unthcught of in the kingdom : it does 
 not enter the head of a Neapolitan, that any (kill can be - J in a bell- 
 
 ringer. 
 
 one
 
 to3 JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. 
 
 one time inhabited by Greeks. They differ in nothing but 
 the legend from thofe of ancient Naples*. 
 
 No!a feems to have been a city of confequence under 
 the firft. Emperors, and to have had a navigable cut that 
 communicated with the Sarno, or the fea. What makes 
 this idea lefs paradoxical is, that anchors, rings, and other 
 appurtenances of navigation have been dug up near the 
 town. Vefuvius has overwhelmed fo many more con- 
 siderable objects, that it ought not to excite much 
 wonder, if, at this day, all traces are loft of any fuch 
 canal ; but, perhap-, thefe fragments of fhipping ought 
 to be afcribed to thofe very remote ages, in- which the fea 
 flowed up to the foot of the Apennine, and fpread itfelf 
 over the whole intermediate plain. 
 
 This lordfhip was included in the grants made by 
 Charles or Anjou to Guy + de Montfort, the companion of 
 his vi&ories, and one of the fons of our famous Earl of 
 Leicefter. His only daughter married Raymond Orfino, 
 the firft of that illuftrious Roman family that fettled in 
 
 * Numm. Nol. — i. Caput Dianas. — Minotaurus gradiens victoria fuper- 
 volitante NHAArxiN. Arg. Ex Cimel. meo. 
 
 2. Caput Palladis galeatum cum lauro et noctua. — Minotaurus fub. i£.— 
 NUAAIiiN— Mr. 
 
 •f- This Guy was the man, who, in revenge of his father's death, mur- 
 dered Henry, ion of the King of the Romans, in the church of Viterbo. 
 Alter a fliort retreat from court, and a mock penance, he was reftored to 
 favour by Charles, whole character luffered much in the opinion of all o- od 
 men for this partiality to an aflafiin. Guy was at laft taken prifoner in a 
 fea- fight by the Aragoncfe, and call into a dungeon, where he died. 
 
 2 the
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 103 
 
 the kingdom of Naples, where his pofterity afterwards 
 became Princes of Taranto and Salerno, and ftill remain 
 Dukes of Gravina. Orfo Orfini, Earl of Nola, made a 
 great figure in the wars between the Kings of the Arago- 
 nian line and their Barons. His branch failed in 1533; 
 and fince that time this honour has remained veiled in the 
 crown. 
 
 SECTION XI. 
 
 XKT E joined the road again at a village belonging to the 
 Albertini. It is called Cimitile, by corruption from 
 Ccemeterium, the real name, which it received from a 
 great number of martyrs buried here in the funx-ring 
 ages of Chriftianity. Here begins the road through the 
 mountains into Puglia, opened in 1593, and repaired by 
 the prefent King of Spain. The late learned Canon Maz- 
 zocchi compofed elaborate Latin epigraphes in honour of 
 the undertaking, which are placed upon fcreens or pieces 
 of wall ornamented in a very bad tafte. 
 
 We now entered a pleafant valley that winds up between 
 hills into the very bofom of the Apennines. Thefe hills 
 advance into the plain like bold promontories, and feem 
 to indicate that, in fome remote century s they were warned 
 by the waves of the fea, till the foil at their foot was Co 
 raifed by the increafe oC marine fubfidences, the workings 
 
 P of
 
 io|. JOURNEY TO T A RANT 0. 
 
 of underground fires, or the accumulation of cinders vo- 
 mited out of Vefuvius, as at length to confine the waters 
 to the bounds of the prefent gult. Cinerated fubftances 
 compofe the interior ftrata of thefe eminences ; but it is a 
 debateable point, whether they were call: hither in mowers 
 by the neighbouring volcano, or thrown up by particular 
 eruptions of their own. The furface is covered with thick 
 woods of cheftnut- trees, a plant I have obferved to delight 
 in this fort of foil : it grows luxuriantly on Monte Somma, 
 the heights of the Camaldoli near Naples, the Pyrenees 
 near medicinal fprings, and, in general, in the neighbour- 
 hood of fubterraneous fires ; not to mention the gigantic 
 trees that for ages have darkened the fides of Etna. 
 
 On the fkirts of the plain appear the caftle and town of 
 Avella, in a delightful fituation, commanding a view as 
 far as Naples. They gave name to a family defcended 
 from the ancient Dukes of Auflria. Rinaldo Avella com- 
 manded the army of Charles the Second in Sicily, and 
 gained great honour by his gallant defence of Augufta. 
 In the reign of Joan the Firft, the heirefs of the Avelli 
 married into the houfe of Baux, or Del Balzo *. By a 
 grant of Ferdinand the Firfr, Avella went to Orfo Orfini, 
 
 then 
 
 * It paffed for being a branch of the Vifigothic Balti, a family that boafted 
 of having given a long line of monarchs to the Weltern Goths, with the 
 formidable name of Alaric at the head of the lift. The Ue Baux accompanied 
 Charles the Firft from Provence, where they had once poficflcd an inde- 
 pendent fovereignty. From his liberal hand they received ample infeudations 
 
 of
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 105 
 
 then pafled through the Spinelli and Cataneo lines, and 
 now gives the title of Prince to Doria of Genoa. 
 
 Not far from hence are the ruins of Abella, a place, 
 as Virgil informs us, celebrated for the quality of its 
 apples : - 
 
 Et quos maliferce defpedant msenia Abellse *. 
 
 Some editions read mellifercc. Either reading is character- 
 iftical ; for the environs are ftill as remarkable for the 
 abundance and perfedion of their fruit, as for the flavour 
 of their honey. The ancient walls remain in many places, 
 and inclofe a circuit of near three miles. In the middle 
 are the fragments of an amphitheatre, with fome dens and 
 fubftrudtions. 
 
 At a large village, called Cardinale, we came to the 
 head of the valley, and began to climb up a very lofty 
 ridge ; the afcent eafy, and the road good, overhuno- with 
 fine woods that ftretch from the top of the mountain to 
 the bottom, now and then leaving openings for bold rugged 
 cliffs to rife up in fhaggy horror along the fummit 1 hefe 
 mountains are rendered famous in Neapolitan hiftory by 
 the adventurous journey of Manfred, who, after making 
 his efcape from the Pope, wandered over thefe rocky 
 
 of the conquered country ; but marriage proved a fource of much greater 
 riches, and enabled them to vie in wealth, rank, and power, with the San- 
 feverini, Marfans, and Orfini. Their race ended with the Earl of Caftro 
 in Charles the Fifth's reign. 
 
 * " And thofe whom the walls of apple-bearing Abella look down upon." 
 
 P 2 wilderneiTes,
 
 106 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 wilderneffes, in order to penetrate into Puglia, where he 
 expected to meet with partifans; and by the ftill more 
 hazardous paffage of Rene of Anjou, who, in the middle 
 of winter, in the darkeft night, travelled through deep 
 fnows and pathlefs forefts, to avoid being flopped in his 
 way to Abruzzo, where he was obliged to make his 
 appearance in perfon, to roufe Anthony Caldora, his mod 
 powerful adherent, from a fatal political lethargy. Rene 
 was the father of Margaret, wife of our Henry the Sixth. 
 He was one of the mod amiable of men ; he not only 
 patronized learning in others, but cultivated letters him- 
 felf, with no contemptible fuccefs for the times he lived in, 
 when ignorance and barbarifm ftill reigned in France, 
 though Petrarch and Boccaccio had already carried Italian 
 literature to a wonderful degree of perfection. Rene ftrug- 
 gled long with Alphonfus of Aragon before he gave up 
 the conteft ; and, when deprived of every means of fup- 
 porting the war, ftill kept a large party together by no 
 other tye than the veneration and love with which his 
 affability, courage, and noble fpirit, had infpired all that 
 approached his perfon. 
 
 Montforte, a village with a ruinous tower, wildly fitu- 
 ated on the point of a rock, commands the pafs, and an 
 extenftve view into the heart of the Principato Ultra. 
 This infignificant place, from the lingular advantages of 
 its pofition, has more than once flopped whole armies. 
 Charles the Firft beftowed it on the Montforts, more 
 
 on
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 107 
 
 on account of a fimilarity of name, than the value of 
 the fief. 
 
 The defcent on the eaftern fide is fhorter than that into 
 Terra di Lavoro, as the plains of the latter lie much below 
 the level of the valley we were entering. The landfcape- 
 before us was extremely beautiful, being embellifhed with 
 great variety of culture, enlivened by the whitenefs of the 
 houfes, and the waters of the Sabato, a clear ftream, that 
 winds its way through woods and orchards ; dark folemn 
 mountains overfhadow it on every fide, except where a 
 large opening lets in a view of the diftant hills, and of the 
 pafTage to the Adriatic. 
 
 The Sabato takes its rife, at no great diftance up the 
 vale, from numberlefs fprings bubbling up through a bed 
 of pebbles, and running together into a pool full of trout. 
 The fcenery round the pond, and down the courfe of this 
 pleafant rivulet, is exceedingly romantic, as the wild beau- 
 ties of nature melt gradually into the more regular features 
 of art and cultivation. 
 
 An avenue, near a mile in length, conducted us to the 
 gates of Avellino. The trees are poplars, remarkable for 
 their height, bulk, and clofenefs of foliage. 
 
 SECTION.
 
 kol JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. 
 
 SECTION XII. 
 
 ^"p H E prefent city of Avellino mod probably owes its 
 foundation to the Lombards. The firft of its lords 
 that I find mentioned in hiftory is Ranulph, who floti- 
 ridied in the twelfth century, was a baron of mighty 
 power, and brother-in-law to King Roger. This alliance 
 did not prevent his heading a party againft that monarch, 
 whofe forces he defeated in feveral encounters : had not 
 death put a Hop to his progrefs, he would undoubtedly 
 have ftripped the King of many rich provinces, and formed 
 to himfelf an independent ftate, as the Pope and the Em- 
 peror had already granted him inveftiture of the Dutchy 
 of Puglia. Roger dell' Aquila was Earl of Avellino in 
 1 1 60. It was granted by Charles the Firfr. to Simon de 
 Montfort ; but he being killed in a duel by Fulk RufTo, 
 the honour returned to the crown. 
 
 The family of Baux was afterwards poflefied of it. 
 The Filangeri had it next by a donation from Charles the 
 Third ; and their heirefs having married Sergianni Carac- 
 ciolo, the famous favourite of Joan the Second, the eflate 
 came into the family of Caracciolo, in which it remains to 
 this day with the title of Prince. However, it appears to 
 have been forfeited, as Marino Caracciolo purchafed it 
 
 long
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. ic 9 
 
 long after. It is not clear whence the Caraccioli came, 
 nor can much confidence be placed in the ftories pro- 
 mulgated by fome authors, who make them out to be 
 descendants of the ancient Greeks, Romans, or Goths. A 
 learned friend of mine is of opinion, that they came firft 
 out of Germany with Frederick or Henry, and thefe are 
 his reafons; They are never mentioned in any public tranf- 
 a&jon before the time of the Swabian princes. An ancient 
 chronicle fays exprefsly, that the Emperor Frederick the 
 Second never entrufted the command of his armies or fort- 
 relies to any but Germans or Saracens ; and in the next 
 page fpeaks of a Caracfoh as leader of a divifion of the 
 Imperial forces. Matthew Spinelli of Giovenazzo, a co« 
 temporary writer, furnifhes a ftill ftronger proof, by af- 
 furing us, that Peter Pignatelli rendered himfelf very ■ 
 odious to many families, particularly to the Caraccioli, by 
 advifmg Charles of Anjou, on the approach of Conradine, 
 to banifh all the nobles of German extraction,, as being 
 men of doubtful loyalty. The foundation of their grandeur 
 was laid by the unfhaken fidelity of John Caracciolo, who, 
 being btdeged by rebels in the caflle of Ifchia, of which 
 he had been appointed governor by the Emperor Frederick, 
 chofe rather to periili in the flames that confumed the 
 fortrefs, than furrender his truft. His mafter was not in— 
 fenfible to fuch a proof of attachment, but exprefled the 
 warmed fentiments of gratitude for his memory ; and con- 
 ferred luch honours and riches on his fons, as raifed them 
 
 2 tO
 
 110 
 
 JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. 
 
 to great confequence in the ftate. The family has ever 
 fince been much confidered by its fovereigns ; and the 
 branches fent off from the main ftock have become as 
 wealthy and powerful as itfelf, and are at this day upon a 
 par with the nobleft and richeft houfes in the kingdom. 
 Five of thefe branches are proprietors of a very fingular 
 Bank, called // Monte Ciarletto, which fecures a noble 
 portion to their daughters, and of late to their younger 
 fons. The ftory of its foundation is as follows : — Charles 
 Caracciolo had an only daughter, whom he was determined 
 to marry to one of his kinfmen, that his rich inheritance 
 might remain in the family. This match was contrary 
 to the inclinations of the young lady, who pofitively re- 
 fufed to acquiefce in it. Her enraged father {hut her up 
 in a convent, where me took the veil by compulfion ; but 
 foon after, in a fit of defpair, put an end to her exiftence. 
 Charles, diftracled with remorfe and grief, did not long 
 iurvive the child he had ufed fo cruelly ; and by way of 
 atonement determined, if poffible, to prevent any Carac- 
 ciola from becoming a nun, at leaft from a want of for- 
 tune : he therefore eftablifhed a fund to accumulate for 
 them. When any daughter of the family marries, me re- 
 ceives the inter-efts and favings accruing from the bank 
 fince the lafl: perfon was endowed. It never fns been 
 more than an hundred thoufand ducats (^18,^50). A 
 change has lately taken place, through the addrefs and 
 management of a lady married to one of thefe Caraccioli. 
 4 The
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. in 
 
 The marriage portion of the women is limited to 70^000 
 ducats, and the remainder of the produce is to be appropri- 
 ated to the education and maintenance of the younger fons. 
 The director of this Bank has a houfe, table, and equi- 
 page, provided for him. Several fimilar funds have been 
 eftabiifhed by aflbciated families, in imitation of the bank 
 of the Ciarktto. 
 
 Avellino is a confiderable city, extending a mile in 
 length down the declivity of a hill, with ugly ftreets, but 
 tolerable houfes. The churches have nothing to recom- 
 mend them, being crowded with monftrous ornaments in 
 a barbarous flyle, which the Neapolitans feem to have 
 borrowed from the Spaniards. The cathedral is a poor 
 building, in a wretched fituation, with little to attract the 
 eye, except fome uncouth Latin didichs, and fhapelefs 
 Gothic fculpture. The good people of this town need not 
 run to Naples to fee the blood of St. Januarius ; for they 
 have a ftatue of St. Laurence, with a phial of his blood, 
 which for eight days, in Auguft, entertains them with a 
 fimilar miraculous liquefaction. Their only edifice of 
 note is a public granary, of the Composite order, adorned 
 with antique flatues, and a very elegant bronze one of 
 Charles the Second, King of Spain, while a boy, can: by 
 Cavalier Cofimo. 
 
 The number of inhabitants amounts to eight thoufand, 
 fome fay ten thoufand. The Bifhop's revenue is about 
 fix thoufand ducats (£1,125) a vear « The rnagiftracy 
 
 Q confifls
 
 1J2 JOURNEY TO TARANTO, 
 
 confifts of a Syndic and four Eletti, all annual ; which 
 offices are engrofled by .a certain number of families of fome 
 diftinclion, that neither intermarry nor aflbciate with the 
 reft of the burghers. 
 
 The Prince has eftates here to the yearly value of twenty 
 thoufand ducats (£35750), of which two thoufand arife 
 from duties on the dye of cloth, which is made of various 
 qualities and colours, but chiefly blue. The flnefl: fells 
 for thirty carlini a canna, and pays twenty-fix grana duty 
 of entrance into Naples. This tax is a piece of blundering 
 management, but too common in the kingdom ; the ofF- 
 fpring of fhort-fighted rapacity, foftered by government at. 
 the expence of all home-trade, and to the difcouragement 
 of every fpecies of induftry. Many wealthy merchants 
 have a concern in this cloth bufmefs, fome with a capital 
 of eighty thoufand ducats (£15,000). The poor women, 
 
 who fpin the wool, muft work very hard to earn above 
 
 four grana a day. 
 
 The fecond article of trade is maccaroni and paftc of 
 
 many kinds, which, being of an excellent quality, are in 
 
 high repute all over the country. Wooden chairs are alfo 
 
 made and fold here in great quantities. 
 
 Avellino abounds with provifions of every fort ; cr.ch 
 
 ftreet is fupplied with wholefome water ; the wine is but 
 . indifferent. The foil of this diftricl, which confifts chiefly 
 
 of volcanic fubftances, produces little corn, but fruit in 
 
 abundance, of which the apple is dekivedly held in great 
 
 efteerrio
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. *i 5 
 
 cPteem. The moil profitable, however, of all its fruit- 
 trees is the hazel. Nut bufhes cover the face of the valley, 
 and in good years bring in a profit of fixty thoufand ducats 
 (£11,250). I enquired into many particulars concerning 
 the nuts, and believe they are moftly of the large round 
 fpecies of filbert, which we call Spanifh. Thefe bufhes 
 were originally imported into Italy from Pontus, and known 
 among the Romans by the appellation of Nux Po?itica y 
 which, in procefs of time, was changed into that of Nux 
 Avellanci) from the place where they had been propagated 
 with the greateft fuccefs. The proprietors plant them in 
 rows, and by drefiing, form them into large bufhes of many 
 items. Every year they refrefh the roots with new earth, 
 and prune off the draggling moots with great attention. 
 
 SECTION XIII. 
 
 *"T^ H E women of this neighbourhood are handfome, and 
 take great pains to deck out their perfons to ad- 
 vantage. Once a week they wafli their hair with a lye of 
 wood-ames, that changes it from a dark brown colour to a 
 flaxen yellow of many different tints in the fame head of 
 hair. This I take to be the true JIava cccfaries of the Latin 
 poets. Experience has taught me to difcover many traces 
 of ancient cufloms in the modes and habits of the modern 
 
 Q_ 2 Italians,
 
 U4 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 Italians* Attentive obfervation will make a perfbn, to 
 whom the claflic writings are familiar, fcnfible of this re- 
 femblance every day he pafles in the fouthern parts of 
 Italy, efpecially if he has opportunities of ftudying the 
 manners of the lower clafs of inhabitants, vvhofe character 
 has as yet received but a flight tinge from a mixture with 
 foreigners. He will recognize the Prceficce of the ancients, 
 in the appearance and actions of old women that are hired 
 in Calabria to howl at burials. The funeral behaviour 
 and meafure of grief in the Calabrefe are regulated by the 
 ftricteft etiquette. The virtues as well as vices of a deceafed 
 father of a family are recapitulated by the oldefr. perfon in 
 company. The widow repeats his words, adds comments 
 of her own, then roars out loudly, and plucks off hand- 
 fuls of her hair, which (he ftrevvs over the bier. Daughters 
 tear their locks, and beat their breafts, but remain lilent... 
 More diftant relations repeat the oration coolly, and com- 
 mit no outrage upon their perfons. When the kinfman of 
 a baron or rich citizen dies, a number of old women are 
 hired to perforin all thefe ceremonies for the family. 
 
 At Naples, the forms are rather different. I was one 
 day witnefs of the funeral of an old fifherman. The actions 
 of his widow were fo ovei (trained as to be truly ridiculous : 
 {he tore off her hair and clothes, and yelled in the moil: 
 hideous manner, till her Hep-foes appeared to take pop- 
 fcfTion of the goods : lhe then turned her fury upon them, 
 and beat them out of the houfe. The priefts now came for 
 
 the
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 115 
 
 the body, and fhe oppofed their entry for a decent length 
 of time ; but at laft, fuffering herfelf to be overpowered 
 by numbers, flew to the window with her daughters and 
 her mother (who, from having outlived many relations, had 
 fcarce a hair left on her head , and there beat her bread, 
 fcratched her cheeks, and threw whole handfuls of hair 
 towards the bier with the frantic geftures of a demoniac. 
 The proceflion was no fooner out of fight, than all was 
 quiet ; and in five minutes I heard them laughing and 
 dancing about the room, as if rejoicing to be rid of the 
 old churl. 
 
 In fome parts of the country, it is a rule to fa ft the 
 whole day of the interment. Two women, in a village 
 near Salerno, mother and daughter of a farmer, at whofe 
 removal from the houfe they had acted their parts with 
 great applaufe, locked themfelves up, and, in order to re- 
 cover ftrength after the fatigue they had undergone, began, 
 in defiance of cuftom, to fry fome pieces of tripe for their 
 dinner. As ill luck would have it, a couple of relations, 
 who, living at a great difrance, had come too late for the 
 ceremony, knocked at the door to pay their refpecls to the 
 difconfolate widow. Great was the difficulty they found 
 m gaining admittance : all the parade of grief was again 
 difplayed, the dinner flipped into a- napkin, and hid under 
 the bed, and nothing heard in the room but groans and 
 lamentations. The ftrangers entered with .compofed mien, 
 
 and
 
 n6 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 and were endeavouring, with little fuccefs, to adminifter 
 comfort to their unhappy kinfwomen, when, behold! a 
 dog they had brought with them winded the fry, and 
 dragged it out into the middle of the floor, to the great 
 fcandal of the vifitors, and the utter confufion of the 
 mourners, whofe reputation was irretrievably ruined in the 
 efteem of the whole parifli. 
 The verfe in Virgil, 
 
 * Hinc alta lub rupe caiiet frondator ad auras, Ecl. i. 
 
 naturally occurs, when, in our walks under the rocky 
 cliffs of Pofilipo, we fee the peafant fvvinging from the top 
 of a tree on a rope oftwifled willows, trimming the poplar, 
 and the luxuriant tendrils of the vine, and hear him make 
 the whole vale ring with his ruflic ditty. 
 
 A clafllc fcholar cannot {troll under the groves of the 
 plain, without calling to mind Horace's 
 
 *h Durus 
 Vindemiator et invi&us, cui fepe viator 
 Cefliflet, magna compellans voce cucullum. Sat. 7. 
 
 if he attend to the vine-drefTer fitting among the boughs, 
 laming raw lads and bafhful maidens, as they return from 
 market, with the fame grofs wit and rough jokes that 
 gave fuch zed of old to the farces of Atella. 
 
 * '« The lopper fhall fing to the winds under the lofty rock." 
 t A rough and invincible vine drefler, before whom the traveller often 
 xetired, calling him with a loud voice Cuckovv." 
 
 3 The
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i ( i ? 
 
 The Neapolitan girls dance to the mapping of their 
 lingers and the beat of a tambourine, and whirl their petti- 
 coats about them. With greater elegance in the pofition, 
 and more airinefs in the flow of the drapery, flriking like- 
 nefles of them may be found among the paintings of 
 Herculaneum. 
 
 A young fifherman of Naples naturally throws his 
 limbs into moft graceful attitudes ; and it was, no doubt, 
 from the ftudy of fimilar figures, that the Grecian Actua- 
 ries drew their nice ideas of beauty and perfection of forms. 
 
 If an antiquary longs for a Roman difh, Sorrento will 
 fupply him with the paps of a fow, drefl in the antique 
 tafle, by the name of Verrina ; and I believe Peregrine 
 Pickle's learned friend might, with a little attention, dis- 
 cover Sufficient remnants of ancient cookery in the environs 
 of Naples, to make out a tolerable bill of fare. 
 
 To this day, the rigging of fmall velTels on the Neapo- 
 litan coaft anfvvers the defcriptions left us of ancient fail- 
 ing. I doubt whether it be an eafy matter to compre- 
 hend the manoeuvres of Ulyfies or iEneas in their various 
 navigations, without having examined the trim of one of 
 t?hefe boats ; nay, I believe it fcarce poffible to enter into 
 the fpirit of the claffic authors, without a previous vifit 
 to Italy or Greece. I am certain at leaft, that my travels 
 on claffic ground have rendered me infinitely more kn- 
 fible of their beauties, than I ever mould have been had I. 
 remained at home.
 
 lit JOURNEY TO TARANTO, 
 
 SECTION XIV. 
 
 ~\\T E made an excurfion, two miles to the right, to 
 Atripalda, a fmall town built upon the ruins of 
 Abellinum Marficum, as a great number of mutilated bafTo- 
 relievos, altars, and inferiptions attefb. The inhabitants 
 are fuppofed to have retired from it in the middle ages, and 
 to have founded the prefent city of Avellino, a fituation 
 more convenient for traffic. Atripalda, which drives on 
 fome trade in paper, cloth, and hardware, Hands upon an 
 eminence compofed of ftrata of a foft- coloured tufo. This 
 kind of petrifaction has been produced by the cementation 
 of allies, earthy particles, and water, thrown out of burn- 
 ing mountains ; is generally of a yellow cart, with fiiTures, 
 xind marked with horizontal wavy ftreaks. I faw here a 
 very delicate fpecies of knot-grafs, called Finello, which 
 grows in the woods, is (ilky, and ufed in fluffing pack- 
 faddles and chair-bottoms. 
 
 In 1501, when the French and Spaniards divided the 
 kingdom between them, the former held their courts of 
 juftice for the principality of Benevento at Avellino ; and, 
 upon a difpute ariling between the two nations concerning 
 their claims to the pofTeffion of the province, the Spaniards 
 fent their law-officers to hold an affize at Atripalda. The 
 French immediately attacked them there, and by this act 
 
 of
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. n 9 
 
 of hoftility provoked a war that ended in their own ex- 
 pulsion out of the realm. 
 
 This town was firft held in fee by the Montforts ; it was 
 afterwards granted by Ferdinand the Firfb to George Caf- 
 triot, known by the name of Scanderbeg, Prince of Epirus, 
 as a reward for his timely afliftance in 1460, when he 
 came from Greece with a flrong force, raifed the liege of 
 Barletta, and difcomrited the army of John of Anjou : it 
 now gives title of Duke to the Prince of Avellino's eldefr. 
 fon. 
 
 The road was thronged with mules, pigs, fheep, and 
 cattle of a large grey breed, going to the fair of Atripaida. 
 The current price of a good mule is lixty ducats 
 (11/. 5*.); of a pair of bullocks, a hundred ducats 
 (18/. 5 *.). 
 
 As we returned very early, it was agreed to fpend the 
 afternoon in a vifit to the Convent of Monte Vergine, 
 which our guide pointed out to us on a wild mountain, 
 hanoino; over Avellino, every now and then hidden from 
 our fight by white clouds that drove along its fide. The 
 journey to it was rather fatiguing ; but the incompa- 
 rable view it afforded made us pay little regard to the 
 trouble of climbing. We unluckily arrived at an undue 
 hour, which deprived us of the pleafure of converting 
 with any of the monks, except an ignorant lay- brother, 
 who mewed us the church, Not having had an opportu- 
 nity of procuring information on the fpot, J fhall give a 
 
 R fummary
 
 j 20 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 fummary of what I have fince learnt concerning this mo- 
 nastery. 
 
 In Pagan times, this mountain was facred to the Mother 
 of the Gods, who had here a fumptuous temple, of which 
 four columns of Portafanta marble * are employed in the 
 prefent fabric. In the mufaeum of the convent is preferved 
 a baiTo-relievo, reprefenting a boy with a cornucopias, a 
 ferpent twined round a fig-tree, and a tripod, emblems of 
 the worfhip of Cybele ; fhe was fuppofed to wander through 
 the woods, in fearch of medicinal herbs for the cure of dif- 
 orders incident to little children, and was therefore looked 
 upon as the univerfal mother ; Atys, her high-pried, pro- 
 nounced oracles, or gave out prcfcriptions, from a three- 
 legged ftool. Tradition fays, the mountain took its name 
 from one Virginius, or Virgilius, a great necromancer, 
 who had a garden full of medicinal herbs, with which he 
 compofed his magical drugs ; there is ftill a level fpot of 
 ground called l'Orto di Virgilio, and the mountain abounds- 
 with vulnerary plants. 
 
 Lonpr after Chriftianity had feated itfelf on the throne of 
 the Cssfars, long after the inhabitants of mo ft cities had 
 conformed to the fovereign's mode of worfhip, the wild 
 mountainous parts of Italy remained obfcured by the clouds 
 of idolatry. The Apennine was full of heathens, and from 
 their refiding in pagi, or villages, the name of Pagani came 
 
 * A fpecies of marble, fo named from the Jubilee-door of Sc. Peter's atr 
 Rome, which is compofed of it. 
 
 2 tO
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 12* 
 
 to be fynonimous to that of Believer in the ancient deities of 
 the empire*. The miiTionaries fent among them to preach 
 the faith of Chrift, found no means of converiion fo eafy 
 and efficacious as thofe of admitting fome of the names and 
 ceremonies of the old church into the ritual of the new one. 
 By thus adopting many tenets and forms of Paganifm, they 
 reconciled their profelytes to the idea of exchanging Jupiter 
 for Jehovah, and their lares and penates for faints and 
 guardian angels. To this expedient of prieftcraft muft be 
 afcribed many firange devotions and local fuperftitions, fti!l 
 prevalent in Roman Catholic countries, which ought not to 
 be confounded by the adverfaries of that church with its 
 real doctrines. All the truly learned and fenfible perfons of 
 that communion reject, abhor, and lament fuch deprava- 
 tion ; and, were it poflible to reafon rude minds out of 
 hereditary prejudices, would long fince have abolifhed 
 them. 
 
 It was no doubt in compliance with the above concilia- 
 tory method, that in 1119 the mountain was refcued from 
 the patronage of the mother of the falfe gods, and dedi- 
 cated to the Mother of Chrift, by William of Vercelli. 
 He retired into thefe folitudes to exercife upon his youthful 
 fleiht all manner of holy barbarities ; and when zeal and 
 
 * From an infeription found at Atripalda, in 1712, we learn that the 
 pagan religion flouriihed in the Neapolitan provinces after the death of Con- 
 ftantine the Great. It relates that the fenate and people of Abellinum erected 
 a Itatue to C. J. Tatianus, Conlular of Campania, Prieft of Vefta and Her- 
 cules. He was in office during the reigns of Conllancine's children. 
 
 R 2 farting
 
 122 JOURNEYTOTARANTO. 
 
 fafting had well heated his imagination, was favoured with 
 an apparition, that enjoined him to erect a convent on the 
 fpot. In obedience to the command, he founded this 
 abbey, the mother church of a reform of the Bcnenicline 
 order. The monks are dreft in white, and had once fprcad 
 themfelves over feveral countries ; but are at prefent con- 
 fined to one houfe in the Roman ftate, and twenty-feven in 
 the kingdom of Naples. Frederic of Swabia was very 
 partial to the Verginians, and inftituted a confraternity of 
 knights aggregated to their fociety. Charles of Valois intro- 
 duced the order into France ; but all traces of it have long 
 been loft there ; and we fhall probably foon hear of its abo- 
 lition in Naples, fuch a project having been in contempla- 
 tion. 
 
 In 1124, William finifhed his monaftery, which was 
 foon enriched with relics fit to attract the notice of pious- 
 believers ; but it loft a moft capital jewel of its treafure in 
 1467, when Ferdinand the Firft, under pretence of oppo- 
 fing it to the fury of the plague, obtained leave to tranfport 
 the body of St. Januarius to Naples. The roguifh Neapo- 
 litans, having once got pofTeflion, refufed to return it to- 
 the right owners, who are obliged to comfort themfelves 
 under this misfortune with the coIofTal portrait of the Virgin 
 Mary. It was formerly venerated in Antioch, and prefented 
 to this fanctuary by Catherine, wife of Philip of Anjou,. 
 titular emperor of Conftantinople. The head of this picture 
 is very old, but the buft was added by Montano d'Arezzo,. 
 
 a cele-
 
 JOURNEY TO TA-RANTO. 123 
 
 a celebrated artift, to whom Philip gave land near Nola, as 
 a recompence. This image is of gigantic or heroic propor- 
 tion, and paffes for the work of St Luke the Evangelifr, 
 though the very fize is an argument again ft its being a por- 
 trait from the life, had we even the ilip-hteft reafon to 
 believe that he had ever handled the pencil. There are in 
 Italy and elfcwhere fome dozens of black, ugly Madonnas, 
 which all pafs for the work of his hands, and as fuch are 
 revered *. 
 
 The concourfe of votaries is prodigious on the eighth of 
 September, the feaft of the nativity of the Patronefs. The 
 rule of the Order allows neither frefh nor fait meat, eggs, 
 milk, butter, nor cheefe ; and furely nobody will venture 
 to bring up any of thefe prohibited viands, if he be ac- 
 quainted with an infeription in the court, relating the cata- 
 ftrophe of four hundred pilgrims, burnt in their beds in 161 r,. 
 becaufe one of them had brought up a luncheon of cheefe in 
 
 * The origin of this fable, or rather miftake, appears to be, that, about 
 the time that paintings of holy fubjecls came into fafhion, there lived at 
 Conftantinople a painter called Luke, who, by many reprefentations of the 
 Virgin, acquiied a very tranfeendent reputation. He was a man of exemplary 
 life, and on account of his piety, and the edifying ufe he made of his talents, 
 was generally known by the name of Holy Luke. In procefs of time, when 
 the epocha and circumftances of his life were forgotten by the vulgar, and 
 his performances hid acquired by age a fmoky, dufky caft, fufficient to per- 
 plex the fliort-fightcd c nnoifleurs of thole days, devotees afcrioed his pictures 
 to the Evangelift, who was pronounced a painter, becaufe ihey knew of no 
 other faint of the name, and becaufe, if he had been a painter, no one could 
 have had fuch opportunities of examining and delineating the features of the- 
 Holy mod«l. 
 
 his
 
 I24 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 his pocket. Our guide hinted to us, that if any one were 
 to eat meat here, or even have a little greafe about his per- 
 fon, it would caufe a mod tremendous hurricane, and 
 overwhelm the whole mountain with a deluge of rain. 
 Charles, King of Hungary, Prince of Salerno, fon of 
 Charles the Second, granted to thefe fathers a patent, by 
 which he forbade all fait filh to be expofed to fale in the 
 fair of Salerno, till the agents of Monte Vergine had made 
 their provifion ; a privilege they enjoy to this day. 
 
 The moft ancient monument in the church is a large 
 farcophagus, which was made to contain the a(hes of 
 Minius Proculus : King Manfred intended it ftiould be the 
 repofitory of his own, and placed it in a chapel he had 
 founded in this religious houfe ; but his bones are left to 
 blanch in the fields unknown, while the urn remains with- 
 out a tenant. John di LionefTa, marfhal of the Angevine 
 army, obtained a grant of the chapel, which became the 
 fepulture of his family. Here alfo lie the bodies of the 
 Emprefs Catherine, Mary her daughter, and Lewis her fon, 
 married to Queen Joan the Firft. 
 
 On the fccond of Auguft, 1629, the nave of the church 
 was thrown in by an earthquake, and moft of the monu- 
 ments beaten to dufl:. The Verginians rebuilt it in nine 
 vears, and over an arch of the court placed a pompous 
 mfcription, which contains an epitome of their hiflory, and 
 may ferve as an epitaph to their expiring Order.
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. \2$ 
 
 SECTION XV. 
 
 'T^ H E traces of fire are ftill very ftrong for feveral miles 
 beyond Avellino, though here and there the burnt 
 matter is intermingled with blocks of breccia, or coarfe 
 pudding- ftone, which is a conglutination of pebbles. Per- 
 haps, even thefe have undergone the trial of fire, as it is 
 not uncommon for volcanos to caft up fmali ftones in their 
 natural ilate, with a quantity of water full of grofs vifcous 
 particles ; all which together may confolidate into mafles 
 of breccia. This fort of foil extends as far as La Serra, a 
 (haggling hamlet pleafantly fituated near Monte Fufcolo. 
 
 Benevento being in the poffeiTion of the Roman fee, the 
 refidence of the prefident and civil officers belonging to the 
 Principato Ultra is fixed at Monte Fufcolo, as being the 
 moft centrical place among the demenial towns. Its pri- 
 fons are noted for being conftantly full of malefactors,, 
 which gives but a poor idea of the moral character of the 
 neighbouring inhabitants. They are indeed in very bad. 
 repute for robbery and afTaflination ; but a confiderable 
 portion of the delinquents are confined for fmuggling, to* 
 which the vicinity of the papal territories is a great encou- 
 ragement. The fituation of Monte Fufcolo is exceedingly 
 bleak, and. the profpect grand over an immenfe tract o£ 
 
 mountainous
 
 12G JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 mountainous country. Charles of Anjou gave it to Henry 
 de Vaudemont, of the houfe of Lorraine. It has long been 
 reunited to the crown. 
 
 The hills are jfteep, but the road broad and well made. 
 Upon a riling ground, near the inn of Mirabella, it pafTes 
 through the ruins of Eclanum, an ancient city, now 
 called by the peafants La Colonia *. In the early ages of 
 Chriftianity, here was a bifhop's fee, fince removed to 
 Frigento, and from thence to Avellino. Julian, chief of 
 the Semipelagian heretics, was one of its prelates. It is 
 not known by whom, and at what period, this city was 
 deftroyed ; at prefent, the only remains are fome mounds, 
 brick walls, fragments of marble columns and entablements 
 of the Doric and Corinthian orders. A little folitary farm- 
 houfe has been added to an antique brick front, orna- 
 mented with brick pilafters, that have capitals with one 
 row of leaves. As it ftands at a diftance from the other 
 ruins, and much refembles fome monuments near Rome, I 
 take it to be a maufoleum. We purchafed here a few 
 cornelians and medals of the lower empire, dug up by the 
 hufbandmen. 
 
 In the afternoon, we rode fix miles fouth to Fiigento, 
 by a deep valley, where our horfes were almoft: up to the 
 
 * From Benevento the Appian way pafled through Eclanum (where the 
 Via Trajana branched off to the left), and from thence through Frigento, 
 Venufia, and Tarentum, to Brundufium. 
 
 girths
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO, 127 
 
 girths in clay, though the weather had been long dry. 
 The country for the moft part arable, and poorly cul- 
 tivated. Frigento is a ruinous place on a hill, moft 
 wretchedly built, and fcantily provided with the necef- 
 faries of life. Its inhabitants, in number two thoufand, 
 fubfift by the fale of (heep, hogs, and corn. In the whole 
 town there was not a tolerable inn, where we could ven- 
 ture to pafs the night; and fhould have fared very ill, if 
 we had not accidentally met with an old pried, who car- 
 ried us to his houfe in the neighbourhood, where he gave 
 us board and lodging, and entertained us after fupper with 
 a relation of his own adventures. 
 
 He was born in this province, and educated at Rome. 
 He there attached himfelf to a prelate likely to rife in the 
 church, and accompanied this clergyman to feveral courts 
 in quality of fecretary to the nunciature ; but, on his re- 
 turn to Italy, was fupplanted by the artifices of a col- 
 league, turned out of doors, and reduced for a maintenance 
 to copy writings in a public office. His enemies, not fa- 
 tisfied with having ruined his fortunes, caufed him to be 
 fufpected of being the author of a libel againft a cardinal ; 
 for which offence he was fhut up in the caftle of St, 
 Angclo, and, after fix months confinement, banimed the 
 Roman ftate. At Naples he entered into a nobleman's 
 family as fecretary, and unfortunately becoming the con- 
 fidant of the eldefl fon, a mean profligate youth, was en- 
 gaged in a nocturnal riot, where he faved his patron's 
 life at the expence of two dangerous wounds. The un- 
 
 S grateful
 
 I2 3 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 grateful nobleman took no further notice of him, but left 
 him to languifh for many months in a hofpital. As foon 
 as he was cured, he fet out on foot, pennilefs and in rags, 
 for the place of his nativity ; where, after many years 
 humble attendance on an old relation, he inherited an 
 eftate, and obtained a benefice, fufficient to fupply him 
 with all the necefTaries and comforts of life that fo retired 
 a part of the world admits of. This good old philufopher, 
 who faw but little of the people of the neighbourhood, was 
 delighted to fpend an evening with company that could 
 converfe of Paris, Rome, and other places which he had 
 feen in his juvenile days, a pleafure he feldom tafted ; but 
 he could not help exprefllng, with a figh, his appre- 
 henfions that our vifit would cofl: him a few bitter reflec- 
 tions, as it revived fenfations that had been long lulled to 
 reft in the bottom of his foul. 
 
 Next morning he accompanied us four miles to the 
 Moffetta, fuppofed to be the fame as the Amfancti Valles, 
 through which Virgil makes the fury Alecto defcend to 
 hell. His dark hanging wood, rumbling noife, and curling 
 vortex, agree perfectly well with the prefent appearances *. 
 
 We were led into a narrow valley, extending a con- 
 fiderable way to the fouth-weft, and preft in on both fides 
 by hi°"h ridges thickly covered with copfes of oak. The 
 
 bottom 
 
 * Eft locus Italia medio fub montibus altis 
 Amfan&i valles : denfis hunc i'rondibus atrura 
 Urget utrimque latus nemoris, medioque fragofus 
 Dat fonitum faxis ettorto vortice torrens. JEneid. lib. 7. 
 
 " There
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 129 
 
 bottom of the dell is bare and arid : in the loweft part, 
 and clofe under one of the hills, is an oval pond of muddy 
 afh-coloured water, not above fifty feet in diameter : it 
 boils up in feveral places with great force in irregular fits, 
 which are always preceded by a hilling found. The water 
 was feveral times fpouted up as high as our heads in a dia- 
 gonal direction, a whirlpool being formed round the tube, 
 like a bafon, to receive it as it fell. A large body of 
 vapour is continually thrown out with a loud rumbling 
 noife. The ftones on the riling ground that hangs over 
 the pool are quite yellow, being ftained with the fumes 
 
 w There is a place in the centre of Italy under lofty mountains, called the 
 «« Valley of Amlanftus. On each fide a bank, of wood, black with thick 
 " foliage, prefles upon it ; and in the middle a thundering torrent whirls 
 " about the ftones, and curls up its waves " 
 
 The Abbe Chaupy, author of an ingenious eccentrical diflertation on 
 Horace's country-houle, is of opinion, that Virgil meant the fulphureous 
 ponds of Cutilia^ near Rieti, becaufe they are more truly in the center of 
 Italy, and furrounrkd by higher mountains ; and becaufe, when Alecto 
 blows her horn to call the fhepherds to arms, he fays, it (book the river 
 Nar, and the fjurces of the Velihus, both which are in-the neighbourhood 
 of Cutilias ; nev.rthelefs, as Chaupy exhibits no proof that Cutiliae ever 
 bore the name of Ami'anclus, and as the mountains of the Principato are 
 certainly lofty enough to juftif;. the expreflion of " fub montibus aids," I 
 rather incline to leave the Hirpini in quiet pofleffion of this pafiage into the 
 infernal regions. 
 
 Venuti, in Monaldini's folio edition of Virgil, gives a diflertation and 
 print to prove, that the fury went down in a hole at Monte Catino, though 
 he acknowledges there is no ptrilii mtial vapour, nor much wooJ, in that 
 place. The boundaries of Italy have fo often varied, that the middle of it 
 cannot be fixed in any precile fpot •, and I fee no reafon why a place, equi- 
 diftant from both feas, may not be laid to be in the middle of the country. 
 
 S 2 Of
 
 j 3 q JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 of fulphur and fal ammoniac. A moft naufeous fmell 
 rifmg with the fleam obliged us to watch the wind, and 
 keep clear of it, to avoid fuffocation. The water is quite 
 infipid both as to tafte and fmell ; the clay at the edges is 
 white, and carried into Puglia to rub upon fcabby fheep, 
 on which account the lake is farmed out at one hundred 
 ducats a year. 
 
 On a hill above this lake ftood formerly a temple de- 
 dicated to the Goddefs Mephitis; but I perceived no re- 
 mains of it. 
 
 Having taken leave of our kind conductor, we re- 
 turned to the great road, and travelled eight miles farther 
 to Ariano, over very high naked hills, not unlike thofe of 
 Upper Andalufia. Near Grotta Minarda, the Roman, 
 road, which Horace followed, ftaikes off to the right 
 hand to Trevico *, a baronial town on an eminence,, 
 which recommended itfelf to our notice, by holding a, 
 place in that poet's journal ; for, fince that of the journey 
 from Rome to Reggio, faid to have been written by the 
 fatirift Lucilius, has not reached us, we may confider 
 Horace's fifth fatire as the prototype of all tours and. 
 travels ; and therefore every ftage of it is an objecl of 
 curiofity and veneration. 
 
 * Trevico is a marquifate of the Loffredi, a family of Lombard or Nor- 
 man origin. Of this houfe was Francis, who harangued Charles of A njou 
 on his triumphal entry into Naples, and was employed by that prince id. 
 many embaffies and negociations.
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. lji 
 
 SECTION XVI. 
 
 A R I A N O is an ugly city, built upon the uneven Turn- 
 mit of a mountain, with an extenfive look-out on all 
 fides, but expofed to every blafh that blows. We found the 
 feafon very backward here, when compared with the fpring 
 we had left in the Terra di Lavoro. It does not appear to 
 be fo old as the time of the Romans, therefore may be fup- 
 pofed to owe its rife to the demolition of fome neighbouring 
 town, and to the advantages its fituation afforded for difco- 
 very and defence*. 
 
 The firft Earl of Ariano I find recorded in hiftory, was 
 Roger, a perfon, no doubt, of Norman extraction : he re- 
 belled againft King Roger, was taken, ftripped of his pofTef- 
 fions, and fent prifoner to Sicily. Charles the Firft gave it. 
 to Henry de Vaudemont ; the Sabrans were afterwards its. 
 lords ; and then the Caraffas, the Gonzagas, and, under 
 Alphonfus the Firft, the Guevaras. In 1466 it became part 
 of the demefne of the Crown. 
 
 It is but a poor place, without trade or manufactures ;; 
 having declined ever fince the defolation caufed by an 
 earthquake in 1456. It reckons about fourteen thoufand- 
 inhabitants, and no lefs than twenty parishes and convents,, 
 befides an ill-endowed cathedral. 
 
 * Cluver places iEquotuticus here, without proof or probability. 
 
 The.
 
 i 3 2 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 The wine of Ariano is pale, like red champagne, which 
 it alfo refembles in a certain tartnefs, exceedingly refrefhing 
 in hot weather. 
 
 The foil here lies upon a foft argillaceous ftone. At a 
 fmall diftance to the eaft, is a bank confifting of layers of 
 volcanical earths, interfperfed with thick ftrata of oyfter- 
 fhells. The partizans of a watry fyftem will account for 
 thefe oftracites by the fubfiding and gradual depofitions of 
 the fea. Theologifts will feize upon them as proofs and 
 memorials of a general deluge. Others again, inclining to 
 attribute more to the agency of fire, will infift upon thefe 
 fhells having been pumped out of the fea by the force of 
 an eruption, in fome very diftant age, when the fait waters 
 came much nearer the heart of Italy than they do at 
 prefent. It is the opinion of many learned obfervers of the 
 operations and progrefs of Nature, that moft parts of Italy 
 owe their origin to fire, and that at firft, only the chain of 
 calcareous mountains called the Apennine, towered above 
 the level of the waters, which then covered all the lowlands. 
 Others carry it dill farther, and afiert, that nothing fouth of 
 the Alps exifted ab origine above the furface of the waves, 
 but that the firft eruptions began between the gulphs of S. 
 Eufemia and Squillace, from whence they fpread gradually, 
 till they had completed the production of all Italy. Ac- 
 cording to them, after the firft dry point was fixed, hills 
 rofe upon hills, volcanoes fhot up in clufters, and formed 
 an invincible barrier, which for ever ftiut out all return of 
 2 the
 
 JOURNEYTOTARANTO. 133 
 
 the Tea. Man defcended from the Alps to cultivate the new 
 exuberant foil ; and the mountains being now far removed 
 from the warm fleams of the waters, to which they were 
 indebted for their fertility, were abandoned to the wild 
 beafts of the foreft. The very name of Italy is by fome 
 faid to imply a fiery origin, or an elevation above the 
 ocean. 
 
 One paradoxical writer affirms, that the coins of Magna 
 Grsecia allude to thefe revolutions. In the bull of Sybaris 
 he fees a fmoking mountain, or a river choaked up by an 
 eruption. The Hercules of Heraclea fignifies a volcano ; 
 his arrows lightning : the aquatic plant, the ftagnated watry 
 (tare of the country before the efforts of fire divided and 
 dried it; the fhell reprefents the crater; the upright vale, 
 a lake; the falling jug, an overturned country; and a vefTel 
 with the bottom upwards, the draining of it. 
 
 We procured a lodging at the Dominican convent below 
 the town. Within thefe lafl: hundred years, their houfe has 
 been thrice rebuilt, having been as often thrown to the 
 ground by earthquakes. The lafl and moft deftructive 
 happened in 1732, fatal to all the country that lies along 
 the eaftern verge of the Apennine. In order to fecure a 
 retreat, in cafe of future accidents, which from their fitua- 
 tion they have every reafon to expect, thefe fathers have 
 conftrucled a fmall building of wood, the parts of which 
 being joined together with ftrong iron chains, are contrived 
 fo as to have a proper play, and by yielding to the ofcilla- 
 
 tory
 
 134 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 tory motion of the earth, return eafily to their equili- 
 brium. 
 
 It is remarkable that Abruzzo, Puglia, and Calabria are 
 repeatedly laid wafte by earthquakes, while the mores of 
 Terra di Lavoro, though expofed to the fury of Vefuvius, 
 are feldom damaged by fimilar concufTions. The iffue that 
 is given by that mountain to the fubterraneous fires and 
 vapours, no doubt preferves the neighbourhood from all 
 violent mocks, and the want of fuch a vent-hole on the 
 eaftern coaft, is the probable caufe of the convulfions that 
 fo often overturn its cities. A paflage in Strabo corrobo- 
 rates this opinion, by informing us that in his time Cam- 
 pania was fubjecl to frequent and deftructive earthquakes ; 
 and we know that, fixteen years before the firft recorded 
 exploiion of Vefuvius, Pompeii, Stabia, and many neigh- 
 bouring towns, were thrown down, and only in part rebuilt, 
 when the great cataflrophe of 79 buried them in lava and 
 allies. From the fcanty chronicles of the lower ages, 
 during which k\v eruptions are mentioned, we may gather 
 that Naples and its diftndt were continually torn to pieces 
 by earthquakes ; except in the firft. efforts of an eruption, 
 they are now feldom felt there, fince the mountain has 
 enjoyed free and conftant exhalation. Buffon thinks the 
 vicinity of the fea fo effential to the operations of a volcano, 
 that without the convenience of water, a fufficient effervef- 
 cence cannot be obtained in its bowels, and all its efforts to 
 burfl the earth, in order to give paffage to the fiery con- 
 
 4 tents,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i S5 
 
 tents, become of courfe feeble and ineffectual. According 
 to this hypothecs, the retreat of the fea from the Apennine 
 diminished by degrees the force of the volcanoes which once 
 abounded in that chain of mountains ; but, by their impo- 
 tent ftruggles, they (till are able to fhake the foundations 
 of the whole country, and extend their ravages to a much 
 greater diftance than Vefuvius ever does in the molt terrible 
 paroxyfms of its rage. 
 
 From Ariano we defcended very rapidly towards the 
 Adriatic, having hitherto been continually mounting from 
 the level of the Mediterranean fea j and being affured that 
 many robbers were lurking in the forefts, we took an efcort 
 of cavalry, not to appear obftinate and foolhardy, though, 
 we gave very little credit to the report. Thefe detachments 
 of troopers are ftationed by order of government at proper 
 difiances, to take travellers and merchants under their fafe- 
 guard. 
 
 After palling over a very high champaign country, the 
 roud falls into a deep valley of confiderable length ; at the 
 end oi which the Puglian plains and the Adriatic fea appear 
 like horizontal (tripes of different (hades. 
 
 Two fmall towns, Savignano and Greci, itand loftily on 
 each fide of the defile. The latter is a colony of about 
 one thoufand four hundred Albanefe, who ftill fpeak a 
 mixed jargon between Italian and the Epirote language. 
 Till i -31 they followed the Greek rite; but then, by 
 royal mandate, exchanged it for the Latin liturgy. 
 
 T Our
 
 ,„6 TOURNEY TO TARAN TO. 
 
 Our ride now became more agreeable, as we travelled 
 down the pleafant banks of the Cervaro. Handfome woods 
 clothe the mountains on each fide from the fummit to the 
 water edge. Our fmell was refrefhed by the fragrance 
 rifing from thickets of flowering flirubs ; and our fight de- 
 lighted with the gay bloom of the arbor fuda, which grows 
 abundantly in this wildernefs. There is but little timber of 
 any value, mofr. of the oaks having been lopped for fuel. 
 The inn at the bridge of Bovino is placed in a cheerful 
 Situation ; but from the lownefs of its pofition, and the 
 proximity of the woods and water, in the fummer feafon is 
 fubjecl: to malignant fevers. 
 
 The city of Bovino ftands very high on the fouth fide of 
 the river. This is a dutchy belonging to the Guevaras, 
 one of the Spanifh families that followed the fortunes of 
 Alphonfus the Magnanimous *. 
 
 We continued our journey on the north fide of the river, 
 through an immenfe woody plain covered with low Hunted 
 oaks and very coarfe benty grafs. On the edge of this 
 foreft the King has a hunting feat, to which the public is 
 indebted for the noble road his father made from Naples 
 hither. It is a pity the prefent fovereign does not honour 
 Bovino now and then with a vifit, as repairs begin to be 
 very neceffary for the roads. Their covering is quite worn 
 
 * There are (till three other Aragonian houfes in Naples, viz. Cavaniglia, 
 Cardines, and Avalos, which, with Guevara, walk in folemn procefiion 
 through Naples, on the o&ave day of Corpus Domini, and vifit four altars 
 magnificently decked out at their joint expence. 
 
 out,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARAN TO. 137 
 
 out, and cut through to the very foundations. Their dc- 
 flruction is haftened by the wade waters of the fountains 
 erected by King Charles. The conduits are broken or 
 choaked up, and the water runs down the highway, where 
 it forms quickfands and dangerous Houghs. 
 
 We croffed an ancient Roman road, Hill difcemible among 
 the bu flies*. 
 
 A few miles to the left, is Troja, built on an eminence out 
 of the ruins of JEcas, a city deftroyed by Con flans the Se- 
 cond. Eagianus, Catapan or Viceroy of the province, is faid 
 to have founded Troja in the eleventh century, by order of 
 the emperors Bafll and Conftantine, to ferve as a bulwark 
 againft the inroads of the Norman adventurers, and to have 
 given it that name in commemoration of the famous city 
 which by its fall has immortalized the heroes of Greece. It 
 was long accounted a key to the Apennines, and as fuch was 
 expofed to many affaults and fleges. The very year of jts 
 foundation it was ftormed by the Germans, and King 
 Roger alfo took it very foon after. Scarce a rebellion hap- 
 pened under the Normans, but this place was a principal 
 fufferer. It is memorable for the overthrow of John of 
 Anjou by Ferdinand the Firft. Under Robert and Joan 'the 
 
 * It was the .ZEquotutican, which came through Trajan's arch at Benevento, 
 where it branched off from the Via Appia, palled by the Ponte Valentino, 
 under Forum Novum now La Padula, by iEquuftuticus now Buon Albergo, 
 iEcas now Troja, and crofiing the prefent road from Foggia, ran to Herdonia 
 now Ordona, and at Canofa joined the way that came from Grotta Minarda 
 and Afcoli. 
 
 T 2 Firft,
 
 133 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 Firfl, I find Trqja was a fief of the Capuas ; in the reign 
 of Charles the Third, Perotto of lvrea had it ; Cavanilla 
 poffeffed it after the acceflion of the line of Aragon ; and 
 now it is in the houfe of Avalos. 
 
 SECTION XVII. 
 
 \\T E foon after left the woods, climbed up the laft ridge, 
 and then, through a wafte covered with wild pear- 
 trees, defcended into the extenfive plains of Puglia, which 
 afford a profpedt curious from its novelty, but difagreeable 
 after the furvey of a few minutes. 
 
 In the centre (lands Foggia, without walls, citadel, or 
 gates, though a principal town of the province of Capita- 
 nata. It is neatly built of white (tone, and has two or 
 three good ftreets. The cuftom-houfe is a handfome 
 edifice. 
 
 This town, with many others on the coaft, was ruined 
 in 1732 by an earthquake, which has occafioned its being 
 rebuilt with greater neatnefs and regularity. In fummer 
 the air is unwholefome, and all perfons, that can afford to 
 remove, defert it during the hot months. In winter it is 
 computed to contain about twenty thoufand inhabitants, 
 including ftrangers. All the large ftreets and open fquares 
 are undermined with vaults, where corn is buried, and pre- 
 ferved found from year to year. The orifices are clofed 
 
 up
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTQ. 139 
 
 up with boards and earth ; the fides within faced with 
 ftone *. 
 
 I find little mention made of this place before the coming 
 in of the Svvabians. Frederick built a fortrefs here, to 
 overawe the Puglians, and took great delight in this refr- 
 dence. His fixth wife, Ifabella, daughter of John, King of 
 England, died here in 124.1. Here, according to moft 
 hiftorians, was murdered, by order of his brother Conrad, 
 Henry, fon of Frederick and Ifabella, to whom that empe- 
 ror had bequeathed the kingdom of Jerufulem, with large 
 pofleflions in Europe, reannexed in 1253, by this abomina- 
 ble fratricide, to the crown of Sicily. In 1254., Foggia was 
 fackcd by the foldiers of the regent Manfred, and hither fled 
 the Pope's legate and army before the victorious troops of 
 that prince. The papal general demolished the imperial 
 palace, and em ployed the materials to Strengthen his en- 
 trenchments ; but was neverthelefs foon obliged to capitu- 
 late. In 1268, the Angevines pillaged this town, with 
 every circumitance of cruelty and licentioufnefs. Here 
 Philip, the fecond fon of Charles the Firfr, was married 
 v\ ith great folemnity to the Princefs of Morea, and here 
 a!fo he foon after died. A general of the King of Hungary 
 abandoned it in 1350 to his foldiers, who found in it 
 immenfe booty, as Foggia was at that time the moft opu- 
 lent place in Puglia. Its confequence, both in ancient and 
 modern times, has been, and ftill is, owing to its being a 
 
 * From thefe holes, orfojfe, comes the word Foggia. 
 
 ftaple
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 flaple for corn and wool, and to a tax or regifter office, 
 known by the name of the Tribunate della dcgana della 
 men a delle pecore di Puglia \ i. e. " The cuftom-houfe for 
 the toll of the fheep that pafs to and from Puglia." It is 
 managed by a governor, auditor, and two advocates, and 
 has the diflribution of a fixed afllflment upon all fheep that 
 defcend in autumn from the mountains of Abruzzo, into 
 the warm plains of Puglia, where they yean, and in May 
 return to the high country. 
 
 We have the authority of Varro and others for afcribing 
 the invention of this duty to the ancient Romans ; who, on 
 fubduing the Italian ftates, were wont to allot the improved 
 lands to colonies of their own citizens, while they left the 
 original pofleflbrs the ufe of the waftes and lefs cultivated 
 tracts, under the obligation of paying a tenth of the produce 
 of the corn-lands, and a fifth of all other fruits. Breeders 
 of cattle and fheep were to compound with the cenfors, 
 who every year hung out a table of the conditions on which 
 they propofed to leafe out the public paflures, A lift of 
 the fheep intended to be fent to graze thereon was given in, 
 and a proper allotment of land afligned, according to their 
 number and the goodnefs of the pafturage : this was called 
 • Scriptuarius Ager. In later times, the Emperors appropri- 
 ated :all filch common lands to themfelves, and caufed them 
 to be confidered as their peculiar royalties. Varro fays, 
 iheep were driven out of Apulia into Samnium before fum- 
 nycr, and on their pafTage were obliged to be declared 
 
 (profiteri)
 
 JOURNEY TO TAR AN TO. , 4 j 
 
 (profiteri) to the publican. We gather from Odofredus of 
 Beneventum, a writer of the thirteenth century, that this 
 duty was not loft in that age ; but in the two following 
 ones the pafTage feems to have become quite free, and the 
 paftures of Puglia open without fee to all fliepherds that 
 chofe to bring down their flocks. 
 
 Alphonfus the Firft, forefeeing an immenfe accetfion to 
 the royal revenue from the proper management of fuch 
 cuftoms, but at the fame time being defirous cf avoiding 
 every fhadow of coercive legiflation and tyranny in the re- 
 eftablifhment of them, deputed Francis de Montubler to 
 treat with the graziers and fheep-mafters of Abruzzo, and 
 the land-owners of Puglia. This intelligent minifter dif- 
 pofed the minds of thofe he had to deal with fo favourably, 
 that he brought them to terms of great advantage to the 
 crown, and prefent profit to themfelves. The King en- 
 gaged to fupply the breeders with a new fine race of fheep 
 imported from Spain * ; to provide winter pafturao-e for 
 feven months, and a convenient road, called the Tratturo, 
 fixty paces wide, for the palling and repaying of the 
 flocks; freedom from all royal tolls, and other dues 5 
 
 * It is affirmed by the annctator on Delicis Tarentirue, that they were 
 propagated from fome fheep fent as a prefent by Edward of England 
 to a John of Aragon. Rapin fays, Edward the Fourth was blamed by the 
 nation for giving away fheep, and thereby improving the Spanifh wool, to 
 the detriment of the Englifh fale •, bur Edward the Fourth reigned after the 
 death of Alphonfus, and thcrefoie it is likely Edward the Third was the 
 donor, as he was acotemrorary and in league with John the Firft of Arag'on. 
 
 I guards
 
 i 4 2 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 guards and protection from all afTaults and difturbances, 
 and materials for their huts and folds at reafonable prices, 
 and on credit. He bound himfelf to compel all barons 
 and bodies corporate, on the route, to furnifh herbage for 
 the fheep during twenty-four hours, and to compound 
 moderately for all demands at bars and bridges. 
 
 The Crown not being poffefled of a fufficient range of 
 pafture for the great flocks expected down from Abruzzo, 
 Montubler purchafed of the Puglian proprietors as much 
 more as was deemed adequate to the purpofe. The pur- 
 chafe, or rather perpetual leafe, was only made for feven 
 months in the year, during which time no other fheep or 
 cattle are allowed to feed in the plains ; and in cafe of 
 failure of herbage, the Crown referved a power of com- 
 pelling all fubjecls to let a leafe of fuch grafs lands as 
 might be wanted to make up the deficiency, and to abide 
 by the evaluation of its officers. The ancient owners Mill 
 continue abfolute matters of the foil, and may difpofe of 
 the fummer herbage as they think proper, and at all times 
 turn fwine into the woodlands. For all thefe leafed 
 grounds, the King agreed to pay for ever thirteen thoufand 
 nine hundred and tvvelve ducats a year, to ftand all rifks 
 and lofTes, and to defray all expenccs attending the col- 
 lection, which are computed at about fourteen thoufand 
 four hundred and thirty-four ducats more. Thefe royal 
 paftures are bounded by (tones, and known by the name 
 of Tavoliere. They extend fixty miles in length, and thirty 
 
 2 in
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 in breadth, divided into twenty- three old lots, and twenty- 
 new ones, capable in all of feeding one million two 
 hundred thoufand fheep. 
 
 In return for all thefe attentions on the part of the King, 
 the fhepherds of Abruzzo bound themfelves for ever, to 
 defcend from the mountains every year, to fubmit to the 
 jurifdiction, parcelling powers, and penalties pronounced 
 by the Dogana, and to pay, for every five fcore of fheep, 
 the fum of eight Venetian crowns, equal to eight Neapo- 
 litan ducats and four taris. The Crown has fince, by a 
 ftretch of prerogative, raifed the duty twice; once, in 
 1556, to twelve crowns; and a fecond time, in 1709, to 
 thirteen ducats and twenty grana. The allotment for each 
 flock was to be declared in November, and no agreement 
 to be for a longer term than one feafon. The fhepherds 
 were to provide themfelves with every necelTary, and not 
 to have a power of felling any wool, lambs, cheefe, or 
 other commodity produced during their winter refidence, 
 in any fair but that ot Foggia, where they were to be 
 depohted in the royal magazines, and not touched with- 
 out a permit. By way or compenfation, no wools in the 
 kingdom were to be fuffered to be brought to market, 
 till thofe at Foggia were vended, the duties paid, and the 
 tribunal fatisfied for all its demands. 
 
 This Dcgana is one of the richer! mines of wealth be- 
 longing to the crown of Naples, and with proper economy 
 is capable of a great annual increafe, provided no epidemi- 
 
 U cal 
 
 '43
 
 I 4 4 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 cal diftemper attack the flocks. Its advantages were (o 
 well known in 1500, when Lewis and Ferdinand made a 
 partition of the kingdom, that it was agreed to halve the 
 profits between them ; and when the French attempted to 
 evade this contract, by flopping the fheep and cattle at 
 San Severo, before they reached the ufual place of en- 
 regiflering, the Spaniards thought themfelves juflifiable in 
 attacking the French tax-gatherers, and difperfing both 
 colle&ors and flocks. Soon after its inftitution, the Do- 
 gana cleared feventy-two thoufand ducats. In 1536, one 
 million forty eight thoufand three hundred and ninety-fix 
 fheep, and fourteen thoufand four hundred cattle, pro- 
 duced feventy-two thoufand two hundred and fourteen 
 ducats. In 1080, the profits were one hundred fifty- 
 five thoufand eight hundred and fixty-three. In 1700, 
 they amounted to two hundred feventy-two thoufand 
 and feventy-feven. In 1730, the tax produced two hun- 
 dred thirty-five thoufand and feventy-two. At prefent, 
 the net profit arifing to the King from the letting of the 
 pa-lures is about forty thoufand ducats ; but, with the 
 duties upon wool, tallow, 6cc. amounts to four hundred 
 thoufand. The produce did not exceed two hundred and 
 eighty-one thoufand before the late Governor, the Marquis 
 Granito, was fent thither ; and all the increafe is owing to 
 his talents in financiering. Competent judges have allured 
 me, it would be no difficult matter to raife it to half a 
 million of ducats. 
 
 The
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i 4J 
 
 The commodities of Foggia are corn, cheefe, and wool. 
 The wool is bought up by the French and other foreigners ; 
 and therefore but a fmall advantage accrues to the pro- 
 vince in comparifon with what it might reap, were the 
 materials employed at home. With judicious management, 
 this country might carry on a very extenfive trade, and at- 
 tain the profperity intended for it by the aU-bounteous 
 views of Providence, whofe partiality has been counteracted, 
 as much as poflible, by the blunders and tyranny of man. 
 
 In the famine of 1764, inftead of encouraging the 
 farmers of Puglia to throw a feafonable fupply of corn into 
 Naples, by the offer of a good price and fpeedy payment, 
 the miniftry fent foldiers into the province to take it by 
 force, and drive the owners before them, like beafts of 
 burden, laden with their own property. Such as were un- 
 willing to part with it by compulfion, and upon fuch hard 
 terms, carried their corn up into the hills and buried it. If 
 any were detected in thefe practices, they were hanged. 
 
 On account of the great variety of field fports to which 
 the adjacent hills and plains are peculiarly adapted, this 
 town was a favourite habitation of the German princes; but 
 (till more fo of their enemy Charles the Firft, who erected 
 here a fumptuous palace, with gardens and orchards, in 
 which he was fo curious, as to keep a lift of all the fruit- 
 trees planted in them. Here he died on the feventh of 
 January, 1285, as he was on his way to Brindili, to haften 
 an armament againft Sicily. Charles was long accounted, 
 
 U 2 with
 
 146 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 with reafon, the mofl fortunate of men ; but the lafl: years 
 of his life were darkened with fuch a cloud of difafters, as 
 rank him among the molt miferable. They broke his 
 proud heart, and caufed him to exclaim, in the bitternefs of 
 his foul, " O God ! thou who haft carried me up to the 
 <{ pinnacle of glory and profperity, withdraw not thy. hand ! 
 " or if I am to be precipitated, let not my fall be fo rapid 
 " and headlong, but humble me by degrees !" — A fever 
 put an end to his anguifh, but not without fome fufpicions 
 of his having haftened his death by laying violent hands 
 upon himfelf. This fovereign was endowed with great 
 qualities, overbalanced by moft crying vices. In his perfon 
 he was tall and robuft ; a dark complexion, and prominent 
 nofe, gave his countenance an air of ferocious majefty. 
 Undaunted courage, profound knowledge of the military 
 art, inviolable attachment to his word, unbounded genero- 
 iity, watchful nefs and patience under fatigue, form the 
 outlines of his portrait on the fair fide, and juftify the title 
 given him by his rival Don Pedro, King of Aragon, of the 
 Mejor caballero del mundo. But if we turn the canvas, we 
 (ball behold a man four and gloomy in his difpofition, un- 
 bridled in his paflions, unjuft in his purfuits, devoured by 
 ambition, rapacious in the acquifition of wealth, vindictive, 
 bloody, and fteeled againft every fentiment of humanity : 
 in one word, a great bad prince, mean enough to treat 
 with indignity the mangled remains of the gallant Manfred, 
 and juridically to murder the innocent Conradine, whofe 
 
 tender
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i 47 
 
 tender years and amiable faculties would have excited pity 
 in almoft any other breaft. 
 
 We were for fome time at a lofs for lodgings, as all the 
 inns, which are but forry places of accommodation, were 
 occupied by people drawn hither by the approaching Fair. 
 On this occafion Foggia becomes a place of great refort and 
 gaiety, even for the Neapolitan nobility. They come hither 
 to exercife their dexterity at play upon the purfes of the lefs 
 expert, country gentlemen, whom they 'commonly fend 
 home dripped of the favings of a whole year. This paflion 
 for gaming rages with wonderful violence over all the king- 
 dom, and is a plague that never dies, though it may inter- 
 mit, nor is there any lazaretto to check its progrefs. 
 
 SECTION XVIII. 
 
 f~\ U R next fiage was to Manfredonia, twenty miles 
 through a flat pafture covered with afphodels, thiftles, 
 wild artichokes, and fennel-giant; of the laft are made 
 bee-hives and chair-bottoms : the leaves are given to afles, 
 by way of a ftrengthener, and the tender buds are boiled 
 and eaten as a delicacy by the peafants. This plant covers 
 half the plain, and rifes to fuch a height, that there is an 
 inftance, in one of the wars between France and Spain, of 
 the Spaniards having marched through it undifcovered clofe 
 
 7 . U P
 
 S4 8 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 up to the French entrenchments. The artichokes are given 
 to buffaloes. 
 
 A few miles from Foggia are fome faint traces of walls 
 faid to be thofe of Arpi or Argyripae, once the capital 
 of a kingdom founded by Diomed after the fiege of Troy. 
 The ftory of this hero was univerfally admitted by the 
 ancients, and adopted by Virgil : 
 
 Ille urbem Argyripam, patriae cognomine gentis, 
 
 Vidtor Gargani condebat Japygis arvis*. iENEiD. lib. IX. 
 
 The coins f of this city, which are of Greek type, are not 
 very rare : they ufually bear the imprefTion of a wild boar, 
 perhaps an allufion to that of Calydon, the place their 
 founder came from. 
 
 On the left lies AprocinaJ, a poor ruinous hamlet, that 
 owes its origin to a frolic of the Emperor Frederick. 
 He was paflionately fond of the chace, and happened one 
 day to kill a wild boar of extraordinary magnitude upon this 
 very fpot. He had it immediately cut up and drefled, and 
 
 * " Being victorious, he built, in the fields of the Japygian Garganus, a 
 " city, and called it Argyripa, from the name of his native country." 
 
 j- Nummi Arpanorum. 
 AUR. i. Caput Cereris. fpica. APnANnN.=Equus. ftella et luna, AAEOY. 
 ARC i. Cap. galeat.=:Tres fpica:. APnA. 
 
 2. Cap. Cereris diota.:=Equus. galea, ftella AAEOT. 
 iER. i. Cap. Jovis. fulmen. AAEOT =Aper currens. hafta APnANjQN. 
 
 2. Equus APnANOT.=Taurus nOTAAI. 
 
 3. Fquus. APnANXiN.=Taurus AAEOT. 
 
 4. Spica.=:Aper. 
 
 J Zannoni marks this place among the mountains of Garganus ; but the 
 Chronicle fays exprefsly it was in the plain. 
 
 fat
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 149 
 
 fat down with his company to fup upon the noble game. 
 The flow of fpirits, infpired by the fuccefs of the day, and 
 heightened by wine and good fellowship, made him wifh to 
 perpetuate the remembrance of his convivial pleafures by 
 erecting a palace here, which he called Apricena, from the 
 two Latin words that fignify a wild boar, and fupper. In- 
 habitants gathered round the imperial refidence, and formed 
 a fmall town, which flouriftied and fell with the fortunes of 
 the houfe of Swabia. 
 
 On our approach to the fea, we came to a more barren 
 foil, a mere heap of pebbles, except fome fmall patches, 
 where labour and perfeverance have forced vines and corn 
 to grow. A mile from the more flood the city of Sipon- 
 tum, of which, except a part of its Gothic cathedral, fcarce 
 one ftone remains upon another. 
 
 Diomed is fuppofed by Strabo to have been the founder 
 of this piace, called by the Greeks EHniOTNTOE, from the 
 great quantity of cuttle fifri that are caft up on the coaft. 
 In the early ages of Chriftian hierarchy, a bifhop was fixed 
 in this church ; but, under the Lombards, his fee was 
 united to that of Beneventum. Being again feparated, 
 Sipontum became an archi^pifcopal diocefe in 1094, about 
 which time it was fo ill treated by the Barbarians, that it 
 never recovered its fplendcur, but funk into fuch mifery, 
 that in 1260, it was a n.ere defert, from ilie want of inha- 
 bitants, the decay of commerce, and the infalubrity of the 
 air. Manfred having taken thefe cii cum (lances into confi- 
 3 deration.
 
 i 5<3 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 deration, began in 1261 to build a new city on the fea- 
 fhore, to which he removed the kw remaining Sipontines. 
 His colony was named Manfredonia, and people were encou- 
 raged to fettle in it by many effential privileges and exemptions. 
 In order to found it under the mod favourable aufpices, he 
 called together all the famous profefTors of aftrology (a 
 fcience in which both he and his father placed great confi- 
 dence), and caufed them to calculate the happieft hour and 
 minute for laying the firft ftone. He himfelf drew the 
 plans, traced the walls and ftreets, fuperintended the works, 
 and by his prefence and largeffes animated the workmen to 
 finifli them in a very fhort fpace of time. The port was 
 fecured from ftorms by a pier, the ramparts were built of 
 the mod folid materials, and in the great tower was placed 
 a bell of fo confiderable a volume as to be heard over all the 
 plain of Capitanata, in order to alarm the country in cafe 
 of an invafion. Charles of Anjou afterwards removed 
 the bell to Ban, and offered it at the fhrine of Saint 
 Nicholas, as a thankfgiving for the recovery of one of his 
 children. 
 
 In fpite of all the precautions taken by Manfred to fecure 
 a brilliant deftiny to his new city, neither his pains, nor the 
 horofcopes of his wizard?, have been able to render it opulent 
 or powerful. At prefent, it fcarce mutters fix thoufand 
 inhabitants, though nioffc of the corn exported from the 
 province is fhipped off here, and a direct trade carried on 
 with Venice and Greece, for which reafon there is a laza- 
 retto
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 151 
 
 retto eftablimed ; but from fome late inftances we may 
 gather, that if the kingdom of Naples has for many years 
 part: remained free from the plague, it is more owing to 
 good luck, and the very trifling communication with Turkey, 
 than to the vigilance or incorruptibility of the officers of 
 this port. 
 
 In 1620, the Turks landed and pillaged Manfredonia. 
 
 All forts of vegetables abound here, for flavour and fuo- 
 culency infinitely fuperior to thofe raifed by continual 
 waterings in the cineritious foil of Naples ; lettuce in par- 
 ticular is delicious ; fidi plentiful and cheap ; the rocky 
 fhore covered with ffiell-fim, alga, and balls called pila 
 marina^ which are nothing more than a conglomeration of 
 the finer fibres of fubmarine roots detached from their 
 plants, and rolled up by the undulating motion of the 
 water ; of thefe fibres a delicate paper has been obtained by 
 an experimental phiioiopher, whofc ftudies in natural hiftory 
 are always dire&ed by patriotic views, and the hope of ftrike- 
 ing out difcoveries of public utility. 
 
 April the nineteenth, we rode along the more to the 
 north-eafr, for three miles, through a well cultivated tract 
 of good land, till we arrived at the foot of Mount Garganus. 
 This ridge of mountains, almofr. entirely compofed of breccia, 
 forms a very large promontory advancing into the Adriatic 
 fea, and feparated from the Apennines on the weft by the 
 plains of Lucera and San Sevcro. Moft geographers make 
 it a continuation of the great chain of mountains that runs 
 
 X down
 
 ,p JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 down the middle of Italy, but in this point, as well as in 
 many others concerning thefe provinces, I have had oppor- 
 tunities of difcovering errors in the beft maps ; nor am I 
 acquainted with one that can be implicitly relied upon with 
 regard to the Neapolitan dominions. Few perfons travel to 
 make obfervations on the fpot, and therefore moft of them 
 are under the neceflity of adopting the miftakes of their 
 predeceffors, as they have no means of coming at better 
 information. The four-meet map of the kingdom of Naples, 
 drawn at Paris by Zannoni, under the direction of the 
 counfellor Abbate Galiani, is certainly the beft and moft 
 ample of any yet publifhed ; but as it was put together from 
 memory, combination of different obfervations, and old 
 maps, it is not furprifing that it fhould not be exempt from 
 errors*. It is to be lamented, that with fuch a numerous 
 body of engineers in times of profound peace, the Neapolitan 
 miniftry mould not employ a few of them in the ufeful 
 tafk of making topographical and marine charts of their 
 own country and coafts. The public fpirit of a Dominican 
 friar -f, who, at his own rifk and expence, has caufed the 
 whole extent of coaft from Reggio to Naples to be drawn 
 and engraved, fhould methinks excite the emulation, and 
 pique the pride, of thofe that prefide over the affairs of this 
 realm. 
 
 * Zannoni has lately been prevailed upon to come to Naples, and is 
 actually employed in furveying the kingdom. We may, therefore, expect a 
 better map of the Two Sicilies, 
 
 f F, Antonio Minafi. 
 
 4 For
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. ^ j 
 
 For more than an hour we climbed up a very rugged 
 rocky path, through thickets of pine, juniper, cyftus, len- 
 tifcus, and other ftrong fcented plants; at length we 
 reached the top of the mountain that overhangs the bay of 
 Manfredonia, and arrived at the dirty ill built city of Sant* 
 Angiolo, which contains about fix thoufand favage- looking 
 inhabitants. We were accommodated with lodgings at the 
 Carmelite friars, who very politely procured us refrefhments 
 in great abundance ; we found the flavour of their mutton 
 exquifite, and were told that meat of all kinds was equally 
 delicate in this diftricl:. 
 
 After dinner one of the friars conducted us to the fane- 
 tuary, which is a cavern in the face of the rock ; a grove of 
 aged trees overfhades the approach, and on their boughs are 
 flung flat ftones drilled through, and hung up by the 
 pilgrims, either as proofs of their having fulfilled their vow, 
 ^or in confequence of fome whimfy of devotion, as the Pagans 
 ufed to fufpend little mafks or images on the branches of 
 trees in honour of Bacchus. 
 
 Ofcilla ex alta fufpendunt mollia pinu *. Virg. Geor. 2. 
 
 Through a gothic porch we were led down a flight of fifty- 
 five fteps of coarfe-grained marble, on which votaries have 
 traced the outlines of their hands and feet. At the bottom, 
 we pafTed into a damp gloomy grotto, the chapel of the 
 Archangel Michael ; his ftatue is of the common foft ftone 
 
 • ** They hang waxen mafks upon the lofty pine." 
 
 X 2 Of
 
 1^4 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 of the country, and, with all the reft of the decorations, 
 below criticifm. 
 
 The hiftory of this church is as follows : In the days of 
 Pope Gelafius the Firft, about the year 491, St. Michael is 
 faid to have appeared to one Laurence in the caverns of 
 Mount Garganus, and to have fuggefted to him meafures 
 for obtaining a complete victory over the enemies of his 
 country, and delivering Sipontum, then beleaguered by the 
 barbarians. The viiion made a great noife in the Chriftian 
 world, and foon gained fuch credit with the pious part of 
 it, that altars and churches were erected in numberlefs places 
 in honour of this Generalifiimo of the celeftial hoft; but 
 none was reforted to with fo much fervour, none fo enriched 
 with the prefents of the faithful, as the chapel confecrated 
 upon the identical fpot where the fpirit was faid to have 
 flood. The riches lavifhed upon it by the Greeks allured 
 the Lombards, who took the town and ftripped it of all its 
 treafures. In 1460, Ferdinand the Firft flormed this place 
 (the inhabitants of which had joined his adverfaries), and 
 plundered the church of an incredible ftore of wealth be- 
 longing to the fanctuary, or to the rebels of the neighbour- 
 hood, who had depofited their valuable property here, as in 
 a place of inviolable fecurity. The King carried it off, and 
 coined the {ilver into crown pieces of St. Angelo, which, on 
 one fide, bore his image, and on the reverfe, that of Su 
 Michael, with the legend Justa tuenda. Pontanus, his 
 fecretary, who muft be allowed to be good authority,. 
 
 though,,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 15; 
 
 though, from the known character of the Prince, the fact 
 is rather improbable, afTures us, that at the peace every- 
 thing was reftored to the chapel exa&ly in the fame form 
 and to the fame amount. Since that epocha, this fancluary 
 has been little talked of beyond the circuit of a few miles, 
 and only pilgrims of a mean rank now frequent Monte St. 
 Angelo; for great and munificent votaries have for thefe two 
 laft centuries flocked to Loretto. 
 
 In the firft partition of the Norman conquefts, Garganus 
 and Sipontum were afligned to Ranulph of Averfa. Joan 
 of England, wife to William the Good, had this manor 
 fettled on her as a jointure, and afterwards it formed part of 
 Manfred's appanage. 
 
 It was beftowed upon the famous Scanderbeg by Fer- 
 dinand the Firft, and at prefent belongs to Grimaldi Prince 
 of Gerace. 
 
 Next morning we took a pleafant ride into the heart of 
 the mountains, through fhady dells and noble woods, which 
 brought to our minds the venerable groves that in ancient 
 times bent with the loud winds fweeping along the rugged 
 fides of Garganus, There is flill a refpe&able foreft of 
 evergreen and common oak, pitch pine, horn beam, chef- 
 nut and manna-afh ; flill 
 
 * Aquilonibus 
 
 Querceta Gargani laborant r 
 
 Et foliis viduantur orni. Hor. 
 
 * The oak woods of Garganus groan beneath the northern blafls, and the 
 aOies are (tripped of their leaves by the tempeft. 
 
 The
 
 j 3 6 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 The meltered vallies are induftrioufly cultivated, and feem 
 to be bleft with an excellent foil, and luxuriant vegetation; 
 the grafs is fhort and fine. 
 
 After a delightful wandering excurfion, we fat down to 
 dinner on the mofs by the fide of a clear brook that tumbles 
 down the rocks, and lofes itfelf among the bu flies f. Our 
 repair, finifhed, we returned to St. Angelo, and next morn- 
 ing crofTed the plain to Lucera, which (lands on a knoll 
 detached from the Apennine, commanding an almoif. 
 boundlefs view of fea and land. 
 
 f Not many miles north of this place is Ifchitella, a town, that in 1676, 
 gave birth to Peter Giannone, the moil celebrated writer of Neapolitan 
 hiftory. He was an advocate at Naples, and intended his work rather as a 
 diflertation on the laws and civil tranfactions of his country, than as a chronicle 
 of its wars and revolutions •, but even, according to this plan, it is imperfect 
 in the execution, for he pafTes over many capital points in filence, or at bed, 
 touches upon them in a very fuperfkial manner : he too frequently tranfcribes 
 the words of other authors, and, from a want of recourfe to original documents, 
 decides without warrantable authority. His reputation arofe from the vigor- 
 ous attack he made upon ecclefiaftical power ; and he is fuppofed to have 
 been the firfl: that freed the Neapolitans from the flavifh terrors, with which 
 the menaces of Rome had for fo many ages imprefTed their minds. The fuccefs 
 of his book roufed the Pope's partifans, who foon contrived to render him 
 an object of execration, and an exile. He dragged on a life of poverty and 
 mifery for many years, and was at laft fliamefully decoyed into Savoy, and 
 thrown into prifon by the King of Sardinia, who having then in view a 
 treaty with the court of Rome, hoped to carry his point by this unjuft treat- 
 ment of a man, over whom he could not poflibly pretend any dominion. 
 Giannone died in 1748, after thirteen years captivity.
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i 57 
 
 SECTION XIX. 
 
 npHE origin and etymology of Lucera are equally matter 
 of conjecture ; its antiquity and former importance are 
 proved by the teftimony of many hiftorians. It was a city 
 of the Daunians, and an ally of the Romans, who efteemed 
 it a place of the utmoft confequence to their views of 
 aggrandifement. In the year of Rome 433, the confuls T. 
 Veturius Calvinus and Spurius Pofthumius, were marching 
 from Campania to its relief, when they were circumvented 
 and made prifoners by the Samnites in the defile of Cau- 
 dium. The epithet noble *, beftowed upon it by Horace, 
 can allude only to its antiquity, for Strabo fays it was much 
 decayed in the Auguftan age ; the only remnant of Roman 
 building is a tower in the centre of the caftle. The coins 
 of Luceria are in moft cabinets f. 
 
 In 663, Lucera was facked by Conftans the Second, and 
 lay in ruins till Frederick the Second conceived an affection 
 
 * Telanse prope nobilem 
 Tonfas Luceriam. 
 
 f Nummi Lucerinorum. 
 MR. I. Cap. Herculis imb. pelle leonina teftumrrClava, pharecra ec 
 arcus Lovceri. 
 
 2. Cap. Pallad. gal.=:Rota ofto radiorum Lovceri. 
 
 3. Cap. imb. laur. 2 glob. zzCap. bov. Lovceri. 
 
 4. Cap. barb. laur. 3 glob.^Delphin Lovceri. 
 
 5. Cap. mul. velat. laur. 2 glob. =;Concha Lovceri, 
 
 for
 
 158 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 for it, and ere&ed on one of its hills a fpacious Gothic 
 fortrefs ftill exifting. He foon after tranfported hither the 
 Saracens of Sicily to remove them from the dangerous neigh- 
 bourhood of Africa, and break their pernicious connexions 
 with that continent. Under the protection of the Swabian 
 kings, their numbers increafed to fixty thoufand ; their info- 
 lence role in proportion to their numbers, and from Lucera, 
 as from a den, they rufhed forth into the plains, where they 
 exeicifed all forts of violence upon the inhabitants ; the 
 hiftories of thofe times abound with traits of their cruelty, 
 perhaps a little exaggerated on account of the inviolable 
 attachment which thefe MufTulmen profefTed and maintained 
 towards the houfe of Swabia, a mod odious and unpardon- 
 able crime in the eyes of the fucceeding princes and their 
 partifuns. Spinelli* tells us of one Phocax, a Saracen cap- 
 tain, who being in love with the wife of Simon Rocca of 
 Trani, broke into his houfe by night, turned him out of 
 
 * Matthew Spinelli, a gentleman of Giovenazzo, wrote a journal of 
 events that happened, in his time, under the three laft Swabian and the 
 firft An°evine princes. We have his work both in Latin and Italiin: 
 Muratori and others try to perfuade us, that the latter is the original ; but 
 the language is fo widely different from the modern Puglian dialect, and 
 from any idiom we can iuppofe in ufe there five hundred years ago, that it is 
 quite abfurd to think Spinelli wrote it as the language now ftands : either the 
 Latin is the original, or the prefent Italian is a tranflation of the ancient 
 Puglian copy. There are fome anachroniims and interpolations in this very 
 curious diary ; but the former arife from the old Puglian method of begin- 
 ning the year in September, and the blame of the latter may be laid upon 
 the'eopifts, who had a political intereft in falfifying the text. This is a fhort 
 and valuable work, relating with (implicity the tranlaftions of the times, and 
 throwing great light upon the characters of many principal perfonages of that 
 »uiy period, 
 
 2 his
 
 JOURNEV TO TARANTO. 15* 
 
 his bed, and took pofTeffion of his place : a complaint of this 
 outrage was lodged before the Emperor; but he treated it 
 lightly, and anfwered, that where there was compulsion, 
 there could be no difhonour. If the Infidels were licentious, 
 we learn from the fame chronicles, that the Chriftians were 
 not behind hand in revenge. 
 
 After the battle of Benevento, where the Saracens 
 fignalized their fidelity, and acquitted themfelves with 
 honour of the laft duty to their benefactor Manfred, they 
 were obliged to fubmit to the conqueror. In 1300, Charles 
 the Second, aware of the danger of fuffering them to remain 
 any longer in the heart of his kingdom, and zealous to re- 
 eftablifh the worfhip of Chrift in a place, where it had been 
 for fo many years treated with indignity, iffued an edict, by 
 which all Mahometan?, refident in his dominions, were to 
 embrace the Chriftian relipion, or be liable to be killed with 
 impunity wherever they fhould be found. Mod of them 
 fled beyond fea, and Charles reftored Lucera to the Chriftians, 
 built a magnificent cathedral, caufed a bifhop and chapter, 
 with ample revenues, to be appointed, and endeavoured to 
 obliterate even the memory of all pafl: abominations by 
 abolifhing the ancient name, in lieu of which he fubftituted 
 that of Santa Maria ; but it happened here, as at Man- 
 fredonia, which his father had new named, the old deno- 
 mination prevailed. 
 
 Jn 1590, Mark Sciarra, a captain of banditti, furprized 
 and plundered this city. The bifhop, who had taken re- 
 
 Y fuge
 
 «6o JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 fuge in the fteeple of his cathedral, was fhot at the window, 
 as he was peeping out to watch the motions of the robbers. 
 The tribunal of the Prefident of Capitanata and Molife, 
 and an annual fair in November, are at prefent the chief 
 fupport of the town. 
 
 From the walls, Ferentino or Cartel florentino was pointed 
 out to us about fix miles to the north. It is now a ruinous 
 hamlet, but was once an epifcopal city, and remarkable for 
 being the place where the Emperor Frederick the Second 
 breathed his laft. To form a juft character of this monarch, 
 it is neceffary to fteer a middle courfe between the invectives 
 of ecclefiaftical writers, and the eulogies of the Ghibellines. 
 It is from a comparative review of the great events of his 
 reign that I fhall fketch the outlines of his portrait. He was 
 a warrior of confummate prudence and undoubted courage, 
 by the help of which he weathered the flo r ms of half a 
 century. In profperity he was not elated ; adverfity did not 
 deprefs his fpirit ; born at an unhappy period, when the 
 popes were (Training every finew to attain temporal as well 
 as fpiritual defpotilm, when the empire was exerting its laft 
 efforts to check the growing power of Rome, and preferve 
 a footing in Italy, Frederick was early involved in difpules 
 with the Guelph faction, which continued with very little 
 intermiiTion during his whole life. In the courfe of thefe 
 diilurbances, all fentiments of relpect for the triple crown, 
 which he always found on the head of his inoft inveterate 
 enemy, vanifhed from his bread, and, when once they dif- 
 
 appeared,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 161 
 
 appeared, it was natural he mould confound the principles 
 of the religion with thofe of its chief; from hating the 
 pontiff he came to defpife the faith; fentiments enforced by- 
 Frederick's ftyle of life and ftudy : he was the moil learned 
 fovereign of the age, a poet, and author of fome treatifes on 
 veterinarian fubjecls, the raoft fashionable a prince could 
 employ his talents upon ; he founded academies, protected 
 men of letters, inftituted good laws, and proved himfelf a 
 ftrict obferver of juftice ; but cruel and vindictive in the in- 
 fliction of its penalties. He was a dupe to judiciary afcro- 
 logy, abandoned to fenfual pleafures, and, notwithstanding 
 all Giannone fays in his defence, a latitudinarian in his 
 religious opinions. He is faid to have obferved with a fneer, 
 as he marched through the Holy Land, that if the God of 
 the Hebrews had ever feen the Terra di Lavoro, he would 
 not have fet fuch a value upon his land of promife. 
 
 From Lucera, we continued our journey fouthward to La 
 Cerignuola, through an immenfe flat watered by the Cara- 
 pelle and the Cervaro ; the firfr. of thefe torrents is the 
 Daunus, from which the whole country derived its ancient 
 name. On the north-eaft our horizon was bounded by the 
 fea, on the north by Monte St. Angelo ; the Apennine runs 
 along the weftern fide as far as the eye can difcover ; between 
 it and the fea, the infulated ridge of Canofa erodes the plain, 
 and clofes the view to the fouth. As the weather was dry, 
 we found the road tolerably good ; but in winter it muft be 
 impaffable. From the warmth I felt, I conceived an idea 
 
 Y 2 of
 
 i6z JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 of the excefTive power of the fummer fun in thefe low lands, 
 where neither fhade nor fhelter is to be found for many 
 miles ; there is then no breathing in them through intenfe- 
 nefs of heat and want of ventilation. Horace, who was 
 well acquainted with all the qualities of his native country, 
 has more than once made mention of parched-up Puglia*, 
 and in modern language, the following adage is not lefs ex- 
 preffive of the idea the Pugliefe themfelves have of its infuf- 
 ferable fummer weather: 
 
 Le pene fi fofTrifcon dell' inferno 
 L'eftate in Puglia, all' Aquila finverno f . 
 
 We met crowds of people returning from the feafr. or 
 wake of 1'Incoronatar this is an image of the Madonna iound 
 in a tree, and held in great veneration. They were all gay 
 and frolickfome, efpeeially the women, who feemed 
 mightily pleafed with the day's diversion. At the place 
 where this feftival is kept, was formerly a hunting feat of 
 Manfred. In 1265, being defirous of ftrengthening his 
 doubtful title by popularity, he fummoned a general court 
 of his barons, at Foggia, and made a grand hunting match 
 in the forefl: of Incoronata, to which above one thoufand 
 
 * iEduofe grata Calabria armenta- 
 Pauper aquas Daunus 
 
 Perufta folibus uxor Appuli— — — • 
 
 Siticulofas Apulia? • 
 
 f " The pains of hell are felt in Puglia during the fummer, and at Aquila, 
 during the winter." 
 
 o 
 
 fi 
 
 ve
 
 JOURNEYTOTARANTO. 163 
 
 five hundred perfons of consideration were invited. After 
 the chace, the fpoil was divided among the company, and 
 the hunting of that day remained long memorable in Puglia 
 for the concourfe of nobility, the great quantity of game 
 taken, and the magnihcen.ee of the King, who fuffered 
 none to depart without fome token of his generofity. Al- 
 phonfus the Firft inclofed eighteen miles of this country 
 with toils, and took fo many flags, that, befides what was 
 carried away by the hunters, he fent four hundred head to 
 be faked for the ufe of the garrifons of Trani and Barletta. 
 In later times, Puglia continued to be remarkable for 
 abundance of deer. We have the authority of Pontanus, an 
 eye-witnefs, for a very extraordinary proof of their num- 
 bers ; he informs us, that his mafter King Ferdinand hav- 
 ing marched out of Barletta before daybreak with a view of 
 furprizing his enemies, was flopped by the appearance of a 
 cloud of dull: rifing in the plain from a great crowd in 
 motion ; on the report of the advanced parties, he thought 
 it prudent to return to his camp, left his retreat fhould be 
 cut off by that body of troops which feemed to move with 
 prodigious rapidity. As foon as the fun rofe, this formidable 
 hoft was difcovered to be a herd of flags. The fame author 
 tells us, that fome years before, Sforza, the mod experi- 
 enced general of the age, had been deceived in like manner, 
 fo as to draw up his forces to receive the charge. At prcfent,. 
 game is not wanting, though kings now feldom drive it. 
 acrofs thefe plains i or by their refidence on the royal chace^ 
 
 contribute
 
 1 64 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 contribute to its prefervation and increafe. It appears rather 
 paradoxical, that however eager, expert, and indefatigable, a 
 prince may be in the chace, yet wild beafts, and game of all 
 forts, mall flock round him and multiply near his palace ; 
 they feem fafcinated and hurried by an irrefiftible itiftinci: 
 towards this royal butchery. But the concourfe is eafily 
 accounted for, when we confider the impunity with which 
 they ravage the hopes of the hufbandman, and the undif- 
 turbed fecurity they enjoy under the protection of the foreft 
 laws during their feafons of pairing, producing, and nurfmg 
 their progeny. 
 
 The Puglian fportfmen run down hares with greyhounds, 
 and purfue the wild boar with one large lurcher, and two 
 or three maftifFs ; the hunters ride with a lance and a pair of 
 piftols. 
 
 La Cerignola is a town of twelve thoufand inhabitants, 
 fituated on a rifing ground without tree or bufh near it. 
 About forty years ago an earthquake almoft deftroyed it, 
 and it is not yet thoroughly rebuilt ; the ftreets are crooked 
 and dirty, the houfes all low, as the owners dare not raife 
 them high for fear of another fhock. The eighty -nrft 
 Golumna Milliaria, infcribed with the name of Trajan, was 
 the only fragment of antiquity I found here. The com- 
 modities of the place are fheep, horfes, and corn y the bread 
 is black and gritty, but well tafted. In 1363, James fyr- 
 cucci, great Chamberlain of Naples, was lord or this manor: 
 it afterwards belonged to the Palagoni, from whom Ladif- 
 $ laus
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. tf s 
 
 laus took it to give to the Caraccioli; Pignatclli, Count of 
 Egmont f, refident in France, is the actual pofTeflor, and 
 farms it out at fifteen thoufan.i ducats a- year (£. 2,3 oj. 
 In 1503, the great captain defeated the French near this 
 town, in an attack they made upon his camp. Their 
 general, Lewis of Armagnac, Duke of Nemours, was killed. 
 in the engagement. 
 
 SECTION XX. 
 
 •Aprlli XirE fet out early to examine the fields of 
 Cannas, famous for the vidlory obtained over 
 the Romans by Hannibal in the 536th year of Rome J he 
 refult of our obfervations fhall be given in as few words as 
 the defire of being intelligible will admit of. 
 
 From Cerignola to the bridge of Canofa are reckoned fix 
 miles of open country, arable and pafture. The Oianto 
 (anciently the Aufidus) flows under this bridge ; its courfe 
 is ferpentine, and various in its direction, fometimes run- 
 ning due eaft, at others, rather to the fouth, but in general 
 inclining to the north-eaft. There was but little water in it, 
 an\d that whitifli and muddy ; but from the widenefs of its 
 
 ■\ The Pignatellis give three pots 01* pignatte for their arms, and pretend 
 they bear this coat in memory of one of their anceftors having entered Con- 
 ftantinople fvvord in hand, penetrated into the market-place, and brought off 
 the three pots as a trophy. They are rich and puifiant Barons, Princes of 
 Belmonte, Strongoli, and Dukes of Monteleone, &c. Of this family was Pope 
 Innocent the Twelfth, elected in 1691. 
 
 bed,
 
 1 66 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 bed, the fand banks, and the buttrefTes eredled to break the 
 force of the ftream, it is plain that it frill anfvvers Horace's 
 epithets of fierce, roaring, and violent *. It flows from 
 two fources that embrace the conical Mount Voltore, and 
 join at the foot, being the only river f t as Polybius obferves, 
 that rifing on the weftern fide of the Apennines, empties 
 itfelr into the Adriatic. This double origin is exprefTed by 
 the appellation Tauriformis J, having two branches or horns 
 at the head ||. 
 
 Except a few fcattered poplars, I faw no wood near its 
 banks; the Roman road from Benevento, through Afcoli, 
 appears here raifed above the level of the fields, and paries 
 fouth in a line to Canofa. We breakfafted at an inn near 
 the bridge, and regretted our not having followed Horace's 
 example, in bringing a fupply of bread from fome other 
 place §, for what we got here was as brown as mahogany, 
 
 * Aufidus acer — longe fonantem — violens obftrepit. Hor. 
 
 ■f This exprefiion of Polybius is not eafy to be underftood ; for there are 
 certainly many high mountains farther weft than the head of the Ofanto ; it 
 is probable, he meant that it rofe weft: of the middle ridge : the Sele (Silarus) 
 rifes verv near it, and discharges itfelf into the Tirrhene lea. 
 
 j Sic Tauriformis volvitur Aufidus. Hor. 
 
 || Perhaps Horace intended no more by this title, than an allufion to the 
 bulls, genii with horns, minotaurs, or animals with human face and horns, 
 by which it was ufual to reprelent rivers on coins ; for, in reality, the Ofanto 
 may be faid to flow from fifty fprings as well as two, if we take in all the 
 brooks that fall into it. 
 
 § P.! his longe pulcherrimus, ultra 
 
 Callidus ut ioleat humeris portare viator, 
 m Canufi lapidofus.-— — 
 
 2 and
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. ,6 7 
 
 and (6 gritty that it fet our teeth on edge to craunch it. 
 The friable incompact contexture of the ftone with which 
 the millers grind their corn, rather than the fand of the area 
 where it is trodden out, can alone have perpetuated this defect 
 in the Canufian bread for nineteen centuries. I believe their 
 millftones are of the foft concreted rock, which conftitutes 
 the greateft part of the coaft. The corn is feparated from 
 the ear by the trampling of a great number of mares tied in 
 a firing by their tails, and whipped round and round. 
 This operation is performed, in the Terra di Otranto, by a 
 pair of oxen, who drag between them a very heavy 
 rough ftone, that breaks the fheaves, and makes out the 
 grain. 
 
 We were too much occupied with the evolutions of Han- 
 nibal, to think of any deviation from the direct route to 
 Cannae, fo referving Canofa, and its antiquities, for another 
 opportunity, (truck into the Earletta road at the corner of 
 the inn, down the fouth fide of the Ofanto. A ridge of 
 low hills, bare of wood, and laid out in grafs or corn land, 
 confines the river on that fide for four miles, at the end of 
 which we came to a plain bounded by the Knolls, whereon 
 flood the city of Cannae *. For the next mile the Ofanto 
 flows again clofe under the hills, till, upon their finking 
 with a gentle Hope into the plains of Barletta, it winds on 
 
 * The Latins made the name of this city of the plural number, probably 
 from its confifting of < iftinct parts, built on different eminences. The Greeks 
 named it in the fingular. 
 
 Z fome
 
 iGS JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 fome miles farther through a dead flat, and empties it- 
 felf into the gulph of Venice. On the north fide, the 
 riling grounds are much more remote from the fea, and all 
 between is an uninterrupted level. 
 
 The traces of the town of Cannas are very faint, con- 
 fitting of fragments of altars, cornices, gates, walls, 
 vaults, and underground granaries. It was destroyed the 
 year before the battle ; but being rebuilt, became an 
 epifcopal fee in the infancy of Chriftianity. It was again 
 ruined in the fixth century, but feems to have fubfifted in 
 an humble ftate many ages later j for we read of its con- 
 tending with Barletta for the territory, which till then 
 had been enjoyed in common by them; and in 1284, 
 Charles the Firfr. iffued an edict for dividing the lands, to 
 prevent all future litigation. The profperity of the towns 
 along the coaft, which increafed in wealth and popula- 
 tion by embarkations for the Crufadoes, and by traffic, 
 proved the annihilation of the great inland cities ; and 
 Cannae was probably abandoned entirely before the end of 
 the thirteenth century. 
 
 At the foot of the hill is a large arch over a marble 
 trough, which receives the waters of a copious fpring. 
 Here we found a camp of Abruzzefe fhepherds on the point 
 of departing for the mountains. Rough in afpecl, dialect, 
 and drefs, but civil and hofpitable, they offered us milk, 
 cheefe, and cold meat. The chief of them gave us fome 
 
 T brafs
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. ^ 
 
 brafs coins of Zeno and Leo, found among the ruins ; and 
 feemed aftonifhed at our offering to pay him for fuch 
 baubles. 
 
 The hill above the well being rather higher than the reft, 
 ferved as a reconnoitring poft, where I inlpe&ed my notes, 
 and took drawings of the country, before I entered the field 
 of battle. My eyes now ranged at large over the vafl 
 expanfe of unvariegated plains. All was filent ; not a man, 
 not an animal, appeared to enliven the fcene. We flood on 
 ruins, and over vaults ; the banks of the river were defert 
 and wild. My thoughts naturally alTumed the tint of the 
 dreary profpedt, as I reflected on the fate of Rome and 
 Carthage. Rome recovered from the blow fhe received in 
 thefe fields ; but her liberty, fame, and trophies have long 
 been levelled in the duft. Carthage lies in ruins lefs dis- 
 cernible than thefe of the paltry walls of Cannas : the very 
 traces of them have almofl: vanifhed from the face of the 
 earth. The daring projects, marches, and exploits of her 
 hero, even the victory obtained on this fpot, would, like 
 thoufands of other human atchievements, have been long 
 ago buried in oblivion, had not his very enemies configned 
 him to immortality ; for the annals of Carthr.ge exift no 
 more : one common ruin lias fwallowed all. 
 
 The Roman Confuls, JEmilius Paulus and Terentius 
 Varro, being authorized by the fenate to quit the defenfive 
 plan, and flake the fortunes of the republic on the chance 
 
 Z 2 Of
 
 176 JOURNEY TO TARANTO, 
 
 of a battle, marched from Canufium, and encamped a kw 
 miles eaft, in two unequal divifions, with the Aufidus 
 between them. In this pofition they meant to wait for an 
 opportunity of engaging to advantage ; but Hannibal, 
 whofe critical fituation in a defolated country, without 
 refuge or allies, could admit of no delay, found means to 
 inflame the vanity of Varro by fome trivial advantages in 
 fkirmifhes between the light horfe. The Roman, elated 
 with this fuccefs, determined to bring matters to a fpeedy 
 conclufion ; but, finding the ground on the fouth fide too 
 confined for the operations of fo large an army, crofTed the 
 river, and refting his right wing upon the Aufidus, drew 
 out his forces in the plain. Hannibal, whofe head quarters 
 were at Cannas, no fooner perceived the enemy in motion, 
 than he forded the water below, and marfhalled his troops 
 in a line oppofite to that of his adverfaries. 
 
 Polybius, who had examined the place, was a mili- 
 tary man, and may have been acquainted with perfons that 
 were prefent at the battle, was the guide I followed, as he 
 is the original from whom fubfequent hiflorians took their 
 accounts, and whofe authority feems incontrovertible. He 
 obferves, that one of the armies faced the north, and the 
 other the fouth ; by which pofitions the rifing fun incom- 
 moded neither. The difficulty lies in deciding which way 
 each of them was turned ; as the expreflions of Polybius 
 are faid by fome to admit of a double meaning, though I 
 
 confefs
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 171 
 
 confefs I think nothing can be more explicit *. Chaupy 
 taxes Livy with having mifinterpreted the pafTage of the 
 Greek hiftorian, who, according to his opinion, did not 
 mean that the Romans ftood with their faces to the noon- 
 tide fun, but only that they were drawn up to the fouth of 
 the enemy f. He affirms that the topography of the plain, 
 and the courfe of the river, agree with this explanation, and 
 that if the legions had faced the fouth, the runaways could 
 not, after the defeat, have reached Canufium and Venufia, 
 without palling through the whole victorious army. Sa- 
 lapia, Arpi, Luceria, would have been their places of 
 refuge. 
 
 However, as I cannot but think Livy well enough verfed 
 in the Greek tongue, not to miftake the meaning of an 
 author he ftudred and followed fo clofely, I am inclined to 
 trufi to his explanation ; efpecially as, according to my 
 ideas, the fituation of the ground is in his favour ; for, 
 exactly in that part of the plain where we know with moral 
 
 * Kat rag y.lv sx tS peifyvog ya.^a.xog ottx,£i£-x'£uv tov ■srojau.ov svBsug 
 ttou^tv'tfLotXhi. rag ex Bctjepov o-uvci,7f}uv Ttsjoig I'm tyjv ctvjvjv evBeTotv e^s]cerle t 
 XapCdvuv Txa.fTot.v Tr t v tTriQxvtiuv T'qv -wpog p,etnj[x.&pla.v' Et hos quidem majo- 
 rum caftrorum ducens trans flumen, confeitim in acie locabat. Illos vero 
 minorum jungens cum prioribus recta linca appofuir, faciens totam apparitio- 
 nem verfus meridiem. — B\e7ns<rr,g SI Tijg ftev tuv Pwpotiuv TccPtyg srpog pevrift- 
 Cptccv Trig dt tuv Kapffldonuv argoj t«; a,px\vg° sxajepoig d^KccCri trui/iScavs 
 yivetrBott Tijv xtxjoc, tov 'i\\wv dvoijoXrlv' Speftante meridiem Romanorum acie, 
 Carthaginienfium vero feptentrionem, ambobus inoffenfis contigit efie ab folis 
 ortu. 
 
 t Livy's words are, ** Romanis in meridiem, Pasnis in feptentrionem 
 ^ verfis." Lib, xxii. 46". 
 
 certainty
 
 i 7 z JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 certainty that the main effort of the battle lay, the Aufidus, 
 after running due eaft for fome time, makes a fudden turn 
 to the fouth, and defcribes a very large femicircle. I he 
 Romans, we are to fuppofe, forded it at the angle or 
 elbow, and placed their right wing on the banks ; while 
 the legions extended themfelves due eaft, till the whole line 
 came to face the fouth. The Carthaginians crofled in two 
 places within the femicircle, and were drawn out in a line, 
 that formed the chord of which the river was the arch : 
 the way to Canufium was therefore open for the fugi- 
 
 tives *. 
 
 The fcene of action is marked out to pofterity, by the 
 name of Pezzo di Sangue, M Field of Blood." The pea- 
 fants fhewed us fome fpurs and heads of lances, lately 
 turned up by the plough ; and told us, horfe-loads of 
 armour and weapons had been at different times carried off 
 from thence. 
 
 Thefe plains have more than once, fince the Punic war, 
 afforded room for men to accomplish their mutual destruc- 
 tion. Melo of Bari, after railing the Standard of revolt 
 againft the Greek Emperors, and defeating their generals in 
 feveral engagements, was at laft routed here, in 1019, by 
 the Catapan Bolanus. Out of two hundred and fifty Nor- 
 man adventurers, the flower of Melo's army, only ten 
 
 * All the maps are inaccurate in this province. D'Anville places Canu- 
 fium on the northern bank of the river, and the battle feveral miles fouth of 
 the Aufidus. 
 
 efcaped
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. j 73 
 
 efcaped the /laughter of the day. In 1201, the archbifhop 
 of Palermo and his rebellious aflbciates, who had taken 
 advantage of the nonage of Frederick of Swabia, were cut 
 to pieces at Cannae by Walter de Brienne, fent by the Pope 
 to defend the young King's dominions. 
 
 We returned to Cerignuola acrofs the fields. 
 
 SECTION XXI. 
 
 T^T EXT day we hired a guide ; or, to fpeak more 
 corredUy, a very talkative buftling fellow offered to 
 conduct us acrofs the plains to the ruins of Salapia. Our 
 ride was pleafant for nine miles, over a fine down, with 
 little corn or wood, but a great deal of lentifcus. We 
 were brought at laft. to the edge of a long lake, feparated 
 from the fea by a narrow neck of land, cut into feveral 
 ponds for making fait, which is piled up in heaps, and; 
 carried off by boats to the mips that ride at anchor in the 
 road. We faw fome lying a mile or two off, not being 
 able to come nearer to take in their cargoes. The fvvamps 
 are overgrown with fea purflain and dwarf withy, with 
 which the fhepherds and fifhermen make their huts and 
 bafkets. Near the lake are the ruins we had come fo far 
 out of our way to fee. They coniift of a fquare fortification- 
 of earthen ramparts, with many divifions and forT;?* I 
 mould have taken it for a camp rather than a town, S3 
 
 tllL ,
 
 i;^ JOURNEY TO TAR ANTO. 
 
 there is not a (tone left near it, had not the tradition of the 
 country, and the coins that have been found here, marked 
 with the name of Salapia*, determined the fituation of that 
 place. In the Punic war, Salapia was a poft of conftquence, 
 which the Romans and Carthaginians were equally defirous 
 of poflefling. After the death of Marcellus, Hannibal 
 affixed that Conful's feal to fome forged letters, in hopes 
 of gaining admittance into Salapia ; but intelligence, acci- 
 dentally conveyed to the garrifon, defeated his pnrpofe. 
 
 Salpi was a city and biihoprick till 1547, when the fee 
 was united to that of Trani. 1 believe it flood at La Trinita, 
 fome miles from the old town. 
 
 Our conductor, who during the whole journey had 
 entertained us with wonderful ftories of apparitions and 
 miracles, at laft difclofed the fecret caufe of his eagernefs to 
 accompany us thus far. This was no lefs than the hopes of 
 difcovering, among the many cavities in thefe ancient 
 mounds, the entrance of an enchanted grotto, which con- 
 tains a column of maffive filver, and other precious things. 
 It was, he allured us, the belief of the whole country, 
 that whoever was pure enough from fin, and fo favoured 
 
 * Nummi Salapinorum. 
 iER. 1. Cap. Apollinis laur. SAAAniNHN. — Equus. tridens. nYAA. 
 
 2. Cap. Jovis ZAAAntNnN = Aper nAI2TIOT. 
 
 3. Cap. Jov. 2AAAniNJTlN=Aper. tridens nTAAOT. 
 
 4. Cap. Apoll.=Equus. ftella SAAniNXIN. 
 
 5. Equus A. AAK>r=Pifcis ONinA. 
 
 6. Equus SAAniNrzN=:Pifcis EAAMAIPEAAEEN. 
 
 7. Cap. imb. diad.=Equus. ftella. ZAAniN^N, 
 
 7 h Y
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 171 
 
 by Heaven, as to penetrate into this myfterious cavern, 
 
 would undoubtedly become pofleffed of treafure fufficient to 
 
 buy up all the flocks of Puglia Piana. Our honed: guide 
 
 was fure of obtaining the preference, becaufe he had been 
 
 a few days before to pay his devoirs to the Madonna dell' 
 
 Incoronata, and had taken every ftep enjoined by the church 
 
 for purifying his foul from all ftain ; however, he could not 
 
 avoid being daggered, when, upon examining the whole 
 
 place, not one of us could find a hollow above a foot deep ; 
 
 and, with a look expreftive of diftre/s and confufion, he 
 
 told us, he now recollected that many good men of his 
 
 acquaintance (among the reft a capuchin friar of moft 
 
 exemplary life) had proved unfuccefsful in their attempts to 
 
 come at this bewitched cave. As he feemed to think our 
 1 
 
 prefence adverfe to the influence of his ftars, we took our 
 leave, gave him for his trouble the only money he was 
 likely to earn that day, and purfued our journey by the fea- 
 fhore. As long as our eyes were capable of difcerning 
 objects of that fize, we could perceive him running up and 
 down very bufily, hunting after his imaginary grotto. 
 
 We rode through a rich arable country to the mouth of 
 the Ofanto, and crofted the bridge into the Terra di Bari. 
 There is a tide very perceptible about half a mile up the 
 river. Three miles farther, we arrived at Barletta, through 
 a narrow flip of an inclofed vine country, taken off" the 
 extenfive corn lands of Cannae ; the foil (hallow, planted 
 with almond trees. 
 
 A a Barletta
 
 17 6 JOURNEY TO TARANTO, 
 
 Barletta has, from without, a ruinous afpect ; its walls 
 tumbling down, and its ditches filled with rubbim. But 
 the infide of the city is magnificently built, though thinly 
 peopled. It conveys the idea of a capital of fome mighty 
 ftate reduced to the condition of a conquered province, or 
 depopulated by a raging peftilence. Frequent changes of 
 matters, bad adminiftration, and decay of commerce, 
 blafted the profperity of Barletta. Its ftreets are wide and 
 well paved ; the houfes large and lofty, built with hewn 
 ftone, which, from age, has acquired a polifli little inferior 
 to that of marble. Some of thefe venerable manfions have 
 the flones cut after the Tufcan manner, in angular fhapes. 
 The ftyle of building fixes their date at the firft emergence 
 of the arts out of the chaos of barbarifm, many of the 
 houfes ftill retaining pointed arches, fhort twifted columns, 
 and other remnants, of Saracenic tafte ; while others are 
 decorated with pillars, entablatures, and members character- 
 iftic of the ancient Grecian architecture. This cky owes, 
 its embellifhments to the policy of the Aragonian kings,, 
 who refided here to fecure the allegiance of the Pugliefe, 
 
 In the cathedral, which is remarkable for its antique 
 granite columns, Ferdinand the Firft caufed himfelf to be 
 crowned, in hopes that the folemnity of the ceremony 
 would infpire the people with awe and refpect for his perfora 
 and family. 
 
 In the market-place ftands a coloflal bronze ftatue, 
 feventeen feet three inches high, reprefenting, as is fup- 
 
 pofed 3
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i 77 
 
 pofed, the Emperor Heraclius, who began his reign in 
 6ro. He is ftanding dreft in a military habit, crowned 
 with a diadem, a fhort cloak hanging from his left fhoulder 
 acrois his breaft, and thrown over his left arm, which holds 
 a globe ; his right is raifed above his head and grafps a fmall 
 crofs ; the drawing is rude and incorrect, the attitude awk- 
 ward *. According to fome hiitorians, Heraclius was par- 
 ticularly attached to the worfhip of St. Michael, for whofe 
 church, on Mount Garganus, he intended this mafly repre- 
 fentation of himfelf, with many other valuable prefents; the 
 Hup that brought them from Constantinople was cait away 
 on the Puglian coaft, and the ftatue thrown on the fands, 
 where it lay many ages much damaged, and half buried. 
 In 1 49 1, it was dug up, and the hands and feet being 
 reftored, was placed in the great fquare of Barletta. Pon- 
 tanus thinks this coloflus flood originally at the head of the 
 mole, which Heraclius had carried out into the fea for the 
 convenience of navigators, and that the extended pofition 
 of the hand denotes the protection he afforded to com- 
 merce. It long paffed for the figure of Rachis, King of 
 
 * The i'moothnefs of the chin makes me hefuate whether to afcribe this 
 ftatue to Heraclius, who is the fecond eaftern Emperor that appears on the 
 coins with a beard, or to fome prior monarch. Till the time of his prede- 
 ceflbr Phocas, fovereigns ftiaved their chins, though their oriental fubjefts 
 cherifhed a length of beard. Cedrenus, indeed, allures us, that Heraclius 
 conformed to that Imperial cuftom •, but on his medals, he is drawn with a 
 l'quare beard, not unlike that of our Henry the Eighth. If this image be his, 
 1 fufpeft it was not imported from Greece, but caft in Italy, and conle- 
 quently dreft after the Roman faihion. 
 
 A a 2 Lombardy,
 
 178 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 Lombardy, who, in 749, refigned his crown, and took the 
 habit of a Benedictine monk at Monte Cafino. 
 
 The citadel is fpacious, and commands the port, which 
 is at prefent a mere labyrinth, confifting of feveral irregular 
 piers, where fhips are moored ; but without any fhelter 
 from the north wind, which fweeps the whole bafon. The 
 exports here are fait, corn, almonds, and liquorice, a root 
 that grows fpontaneoufly in the fwamps. This air is ac- 
 counted unwholefome during the hot months. 
 
 Barletta is faid by Baccius, to have been at flrfl: no more 
 than a tower, or drinking-houfe, on the road to Cannae, 
 which had for its fign a barrel, barilletta ; when the cities 
 of Cannae and Canofa fell to decay, and the advantages of 
 trade drew people to the coaft, a numerous colony in- 
 fenfibly gathered round this tower, and in 484 Pope 
 Gelalius came down from Garganus to confecrate a church, 
 for the fettlers, which, in time, became the cathedral of 
 the united fees of Nazareth, Cannae, and Monteverde. The. 
 Emperor Frederick added greatly to Barletta, and is by 
 fome called its founder. Other authors affign higher anti- 
 quity to the place, and fuppofe it to be the Barduli of the 
 Itineraries. In 1291, the Barlettans rebelled againft the 
 houfe of Swabia, and fet up the papal ftandard, for which 
 they were feverely punimed. Manfred, who had a great 
 partiality for this part of his dominions, held a general par- 
 liament here, in which he put in practice every endearing 
 art, likely to win the hearts, and fix the wavering affections of 
 1 his
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 179 
 
 his vallals. In the fifteenth century, Barletta was efteemed 
 one of the four ftrongefr. fortrefTes in Italy *. It was mort- 
 gaged to the Venetians by Ferdinand the Second, and re- 
 taken from them by Gonfalvo de Cordova, who here col- 
 lected his forces, and made his firft ftand againft the French, 
 in 1503. 
 
 SECTION XX I. 
 
 /"\N leaving Barletta, we faw before us, on a peninfula, 
 the city of Trani, at the diftance of fix miles j the 
 road to it is one of the rougheft ever trodden by man or 
 beaft y it runs partly along the rocks impending over the 
 beach, and partly in narrow lanes, through vineyards, 
 between dry fione walls. In every inclofure is one, and 
 often two hovels, built in a fpiral form, with the ftones 
 picked off the land after digging. Thefe conical towers ferve 
 as watch-houfes for the perfons that attend before vintage, 
 to prevent the depredations of quadruped and biped pil- 
 ferers ; when old and overgrown with climbing weeds and 
 fig-trees, they become very romantic obje&s, and appear 
 like fo many ancient maufolea. The fhape of thefe piles 
 of rude ftone, covered with mofs and brambles, has 
 deceived a writer of travels into a belief of their being 
 Roman tombs ; but I am furprifed the prodigious multi- 
 
 * The other three were, Fabriano in the Marca, Prato in Tufcany, and 
 Crema in Lombardy. 
 
 tude
 
 t$o JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 tilde of them did not raife fufpicion ; for if they were really 
 depofitories of the dead, the afhes of the whole Roman 
 people would fcarcely have fufficed to fill the columbaria of 
 the fingle province of Bari. 
 
 As foon as we arrived at Tram, we waited upon the Pre- 
 fident, with a letter from the Secretary of State, and obtained 
 from him, an order for all convents, in his diftridr, to receive 
 us civilly, and afford us lodging : we were provided with 
 fimilar recommendations for every province, and except 
 letters for private families, there is no better method to be 
 purfued in a tour through a country [o ill provided with 
 inns. Our evening was fpent with the Archbimop, a 
 worthy converfable prelate. He told us, he had taken great 
 pains to introduce a tafte for ftudy and literature into his 
 diocefe, but hitherto without fuccefs, as the Tranians were 
 a very merry race, gente molto allegra, but unfortunately born 
 with an unconquerable antipathy to application. The col- 
 legians, though under his immediate infpection, were above 
 his hand, and often, when he thought the whole feminary 
 buried in filence, wrapped up in ftudious contemplation, or 
 deep in theological lucubrations, he has been furprifed, on 
 entering the quadrangle, to find all ring again with gigs 
 and tarantellas. We were well fatisfied that he fpoke 
 without exaggeration, for never did I hear fuch incefTant 
 chattering, and fo dunning a din, as was kept up the whole 
 day under our windows. It is a rule eftablifhed by the 
 cuftom of time immemorial, that no work (hall be done in 
 2 Tram
 
 • • 
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 181 
 
 Trani after dinner; the whole afternoon is to be fpent 
 in dozing, chatting, or fauntering : we could not prevail 
 upon the blackfmith to fhoe one of our horfes in the 
 evening. 
 
 The exportation of corn is confiderable, but little other 
 bufinefs is ftirring ; and I am afraid induftry has taken a long 
 farewell of moft of the cities on this coaft. The great 
 number of towns along the Adriatic, jealous of each other, 
 fhackled with honourable but baneful privileges, and averfe 
 to all friendly intercourfe and coalition of interefts, is an 
 almoft infurmountable bar to improvement ; a province fo 
 blefled with articles of prime neceility might fpeedily 
 rife to opulence, were trade properly underftood and en- 
 couraged. 
 
 The bread of this place is white, light, and fpungy, 
 baked after the French manner, which is contrary to that 
 of the Capitanata, where the bakers are ignorant of the very 
 rudiments of their trade, and knead and bake their dough 
 in fuch an imperfect manner, that a ftaanger is almoft 
 choked in attempting to fwaltow it. 
 
 Vegetables are here fo exquifitely flavoured, that, for the 
 firft time of my life, I ate raw unfeafoned lettuces with 
 relifh : pulfe of all kinds are large and pulpy ; the market 
 people fell peafe and beans by weight, and make ufe of 
 pebbles in lieu of weights •> a rude mode of dealing, which 
 muft expofe the vender to great temptation of impofing. 
 upon his chapmen, efpecially as the {tones, being of a foffc 
 
 kind;
 
 i8s JOURNEY TO T A R A N T O. 
 
 kind, mufr. in time lofe part of their hcavinefs by frequent 
 rubbing. 
 
 The wine of the diftricl fouth of the Ofanto is fweef, 
 ftrong, and tawny. It is mixed with raofto cotto; that is, 
 a certain proportion of rich wine boiled down to a jelly. 
 This is, ho doubt, a trick of the vintner's art, handed down 
 from the ancients, who treated their moft precious wines in 
 a fimilar manner, as we learn from. many pafiages in the 
 daffies. The grapes have a fine flavour, and might pro- 
 duce excellent liquor, bat from inveterate and rooted ig- 
 norance the proprietor brews with them a muddy unpo- 
 table mixture, that will fcarce keep a twelvemonth without 
 turning to vinegar. 
 
 Tram is tolerably well built of flone, upon uneven ground. 
 The harbour is incircled by the town, and has fcarcely depth 
 of water enough to fet a boat afloat ; the corn fhips are 
 obliged to come to an anchor a couple of miles off, and 
 take in their lading from lig »ters. 1 he city has been at 
 great expence.. in building aquav, on a peninfula that ad- 
 vances (o far as to embrace the haven j but this flip of land, 
 mftead of being occupied by the warehoufes and flores of 
 merchants, is entirely taken up by two or three overgrown 
 monafterics. We need look for no other criterion of the 
 fr,atc of commerce at Trani. 
 
 The cathedral flands on the oppofite fide of the harbour, 
 and was erected fix centuries ago, in a very mean tafte; the 
 ornaments prepofterou?, and, except a few pieces of 
 
 foliage,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 1&3 
 
 foliage, clumiily defigned and executed ; the pillars fhort 
 and thick, refembling thofe of our oldeft Englifti churches, 
 which were built after the Saxon manner, and before the 
 introduction of that lighter fort of architecture, which we 
 diftinguifh by the name of Gothic, and admire in the ca- 
 thedrals of York, Lincoln, Weftminfter, &c. The columns 
 of the nave are folid blocks of granite, the diflocated fpoils 
 of fome ancient edifice. Philip, Prince of Morea, fecond 
 fon ©f Charles the Firft, repofes in a marble coffin, without 
 infcription or ornament, except the crofs of Jerufalem. In- 
 nocent the Third made Frani an archbifhopric. 
 
 Weft of the cathedral is the caftle, confining of fome 
 gloomy towers, built by Frederick of Swabia, who, in re- 
 venge for the depredations committed on his coafts by the 
 Venetians, hanged Peter Tiepolo, the Doge's fon, on the 
 Keep, in fight of the Venetian gallies that were then cruiz- 
 ing ofT the port. 
 
 The monaftery of St. Clare is a fumptuous inclofure ; its 
 great gate is built in that ftile of architecture which the 
 Puglians learnt from the Saracens during their long refi- 
 dence in the country. Thofe Africans, however ferocious 
 they might be in war, were certainly well fkilled in the arts 
 of peace, and excelled in many branches of fcience, which 
 Chriftians of thofe dark ages defpifed, or defpaired of at- 
 taining. 
 
 In the iirft diviilon of the conquefts made by the Norman 
 adventurers, and before any chieftain had acquired fuch a 
 
 B b fuperiority
 
 184 JOURNEY TO TARAN TO. 
 
 fuperiority over the reft, as to deftroy the original equality of 
 their ariftocratical confederacy, Trani was afligned to one 
 Peter, from whom the family of Capece deduces its pedi- 
 gree, but, I think, on questionable grounds *. 
 
 Under Jthe walls of Trani was fought, in 1502, a trial of 
 fkill between eleven Spaniards and as many Frenchmen, in 
 
 * Francis Capectlatro, in his Origin of Nobility, in fids upon ic, that Peter 
 
 bore the name of Capece by inheritance, and was of the blood of the Gothic 
 
 princes. More moderate genealogifts believe the Capeci to be Normans by 
 
 extraction, and to have fettled at Sorrento, where they recommended them- 
 
 felves to notice by their fkill as naval officers; they frequently are called 
 
 Cacapece in old chronicles, a name that an ingenious friend of mine thinks 
 
 the original one, and allufive of their profeffion. They were raifed early to 
 
 an exalted rank in the ftate, and honoured with the confidence of many fove- 
 
 reigns. Marino Capece fuperintended the building of Manfredonia. Conrad 
 
 fignalifed himfelf in the Swabian caufe, which his family had always fup- 
 
 ported, and probably owed its fortunes to: after the battle of Benevento, he 
 
 cut his way through the thickeft fquadrons of the enemy, headed a party in 
 
 Sicily in favour of Conradine, and maintained to the laft an unfliaken fidelity 
 
 to his old mafters. This conduct rendered the Capeci extremely odious to 
 
 the conqueror, who deprived many individuals of their lives, and many of 
 
 their eftates ; he obliged the furvivors to tack ignominious additions to their 
 
 furname, fuch as Latro, Galeota, Pifcicelli, Zurolo, Minutolo, Tomacelli, 
 
 &c. which, in time, became honourable diftin&ions of the feveral branches 
 
 of this numerous fcpt. In Naples, a family that fpreads itielfout into many 
 
 branches, acquires thereby an increafe of dignity and influence : in fome 
 
 countries, fuch a divifion contributes more to the deftrudion than the pro- 
 
 fperity of a houle. That of Capece was at one period divided into fixteen 
 
 branches, but half of them are now extinct. It gave to the chair of St. Peter, 
 
 one pope, viz, Boniface the Ninth, elected in 13S9, extolled for his chaftity, 
 
 and blamed for his avarice and nepotifm. Of this race was James Galeota, 
 
 who, in 148S, commanded the French army, and defeated the Dukes of 
 
 Britanny and Orleans at the battle of St. Aubin du Cormier. One of its molt 
 
 refpectable prefent members, is the learned and amiable archbilhop of 
 
 Taranto. 
 
 fupport
 
 JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. 185 
 
 fupport of the honour of their refpeclive nations ; the Vene- 
 tians fat as umpires. The combatants fought till there re- 
 mained only fix Spanifh and four French knights ; the latter 
 then alighted, and defended themfelves behind their horfes 
 as behind a rampart, till night put an end to the conteft. 
 
 SECTION XXIII. 
 
 T> ISCEGLIA is four miles diftant from Trani. The 
 road is very rugged, and being worn with wheels, and 
 the courfe of rain water, is cracked into figures not unlike 
 an ancient pavement ; and fuch it has been deemed by fome 
 writers, but 1 could not difcover any traces of a Roman 
 way ; the great Brundufian road never came near the coaft 
 till it reached Bari. 
 
 The face of this country is delightful, and much more 
 diversified than the neighbourhood of the Ofanto. We rode 
 under the made of fruit trees, of a fize and vigour of 
 growth unknown in more northern latitudes. The olives of 
 this province are not inferior in bulk to the largeft Seville 
 ones. 
 
 Bifceglia is a pretty town, fituated in the midfl: of 
 orchards and villas. Its walls are of (lone, and very lofty. 
 I was unfuccefsful in my refearches after the antique build- 
 ings mentioned in an account of this place. I met with no 
 
 B b 2 remains
 
 1 86 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 remains of baths or cellars, but hundreds of fubterraneous 
 refervoirs and ciflerns, of all fizes and fhapes, cut into fteps 
 in the folid rock, and arched over with ftones and ftucco, 
 in order to collect and preferve the rain-water, which is the 
 only fort they have to drink, in a diifxict fo totally deftitute- 
 of fprings. 
 
 This little city was granted by Charles the Firit to the 
 Bruneforts ; but its inhabitants feem to have had a great 
 diflike to baronial government, by the tender they made to 
 the Emperor Charles the Fifth, of fourteen thoufand golden 
 ducats, a large fum in thofe days, provided he would 
 render them for ever a royal corporation, fubjcct only to 
 the jurifdiction of the King's officers. In the wars between 
 Durazzo and Anjou, the Bifceglians, being diiTatiified with 
 the behaviour of King Charles's garrifon, fent to offer the 
 keys of their town to his rival.. The Angevines marched 
 from Bari ; but, having met with an unexpected refiftance 
 at Bifceglia, were obliged to make their entry by main 
 force. This appearance of double dealing in the citizens 
 exafperated the foldiers, and gave them a plea for plunder- 
 ing it as a place taken by affault. They would have laid 
 it wafte, had not Lewis of Anjou, their chief, curbed their 
 fury by extraordinary activity and dint of authority. Thefe 
 generous exertions colt him his life, for they threw him- into 
 a fever, of which he died. He was a younger fon of John, 
 King of France, and, during the minority of Charles the 
 Sixth j Regent of that kingdom ; a trufl: which he did 
 
 2 not
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 187 
 
 not difcharge to the fatisfaction of the nation : his proceed- 
 ings were arbitrary, and the extortions he committed, or 
 fuffered to pafs unpunished, brought great odium upon 
 him. It was the defire of accumulating funds for his 
 Neapolitan expedition, and not innate avarice, that put him 
 upon rapacious mcafures ; for he pofTerTed a liberal and 
 munificent fpirit, which attached to his caufe the partizans 
 he had gained by his eloquence and winning behaviour. 
 His wit was lively, and his head clear for bufinefs ; but 
 he was not endowed with military talents, and by no 
 means a match for his antagonist Charles the Third, one of 
 the beft generals of the age. Joan the Firft adopted Lewis, 
 in oppoiition to Durazzo ; but he came too late to fave 
 her. « 
 
 The clergy offer to the devotion of the Bifceglians the 
 liquefied blood of St. Pantaleon, and two other martyrs ; a 
 miracle performed annually at Naples, and in feveral other 
 places of the kingdom. This fpecies of prodigy was known 
 to the Greeks of the Lower Empire, who introduced many 
 opinions and religious practices into this part of their domi- 
 nions. But miraculous liquefactions are of older (landing 
 in Puglia *. 
 
 * Dein Gnatia 
 
 ■ • dedit rilufque jocofque, 
 
 Dum rlammis fine thura liquefcere limine facro 
 
 Perfuadere cupit. Hor. Sat. 5. Lib. r, 
 
 " Next, Gnatia afforded fubjett for laughter, while fhe endeavoured to 
 " perfuade us, that incenfe would melt on the threfhold of her temple, with- 
 M out the help of fire.'' 
 
 Three
 
 s88 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 Three miles more of the fame wretched road, through 
 olive woods and patches of vineyards, brought us to Mol- 
 fetta. I did not enter the walls, but paffed on through a 
 well-built fuburb. The outward appearance of the town is 
 handfome ; but the peep I had through the gate, mewed 
 me nothing but lofty old-fafliioned houfes, and narrow dirty 
 ftreets. It is faid to contain twelve thoufand inhabitants, 
 and to carry on fome trade in almonds and oil. The lord- 
 fhip belongs to the Spinolas. 
 
 In or near all thefe towns are convents of a ffcupendous 
 bulk. At Giovenazzo is a moll: enormous fabric, belong- 
 ing to the Dominicans ; an order of friars that enjoys very 
 large pofle (lions in this realm, and in almoft every city has 
 a monaftery, generally the beft in the place. St. Thomas 
 of Aquino, one of the great luminaries of the Latin Church, 
 and a capital Saint of the Dominican Order, was a native 
 of this kingdom ; confequently a very natural impulfe of 
 national pride and affection led his countrymen to revere 
 his memory, carefs his brethren, and help them to increale 
 in wealth and importance. 
 
 Giovenazzo is an ugly defolate city, on a rock hanging 
 over the fea, containing about two thoufand fouls. It is 
 now vefted in the Crown, after having been a barony of 
 the Giudici. 
 
 The only lingular anecdote I meet with in hiftory con- 
 cerning Giovenazzo, is the devaluation of its territory in 
 1437 by the Pope's general, Vitellefchi, Patriarch of Alex- 
 andria,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 139 
 
 andria, who invaded Puglia in fupport of the Angevine 
 caufe. His hatred to the Aragonefe was moft virulent ; 
 and he feemed afraid left his troops mould be deterred from 
 doing mifchief, by motives of compaflion or Chriftian 
 charity. To quiet their fcruples, and roufe their de- 
 ftructive zeal, he published an indulgence of an hundred 
 days for every olive tree any of his foldiers mould cut down. 
 Strange perverfion of the mild religion of Chrift, who for- 
 bade his difciples to avenge his wrongs, and prayed for his 
 enemies, while tormented by their malice ! Our aftonifh- 
 ment ought to be great, not that fo many nations have 
 feceded from the communion of the Pope, but rather that 
 fo many have remained faithful to him, amidft fuch horrid 
 abufes committed by his minifters, in direct contradiction to 
 the doctrine they were appointed to teach *. 
 
 Our afternoon's ride of twelve miles was cold and damp, 
 the wind blowing fredi from the fea, and the way lying 
 upon a bare rugged rock, high above the water, expofed to 
 
 * To efface the bad impreffions of this contradictory conduct, the Romans 
 are fond of citing a tale from Boccaccio. — A Jew goes from Paris to Rome, 
 in order to acquire a juft idea of the Chriftian religion, as at the fountain 
 head. There he beholds fimony, intrigue, and abominations of all forts; 
 and, after gratifying his curiofity in every particular, returns to France,, 
 where he gives a detail of his oblervations to a friend, by whom he had been 
 long folicited to abjure Judaifm. From fuch a recital, the Chriftian ex- 
 pected nothing but an obftinate perieverance in the old worfhip ; and was 
 ftruck with amazement, when the Jew acquainted him with his refolution of 
 requefting baptifm upon the following grounds of conviclion : That he had 
 feen at Rome every body, from the Pope down to the beggar, ufing all their 
 endeavours to fubvert the Chriftian faith, which neverthelefs daily took 
 deeper and firmer root, and muft therefore be of divine inftitution. 
 
 t ever j
 
 ipo JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 every blaft. The country flat, and divided by (lone walls. 
 The foil is naturally poor, and would fcarcely afford nourifri- 
 ment for a blade of grafs, had not the hufbandmen found 
 means to improve and fertilize it by copious manurings of 
 rotted fea-weed, of which there is an ample proviflon in 
 every cove. The active difpofition of the cultivators has 
 converted their flubborn unfavourable land into the bed: 
 tilled diRridl in the province, and rendered its appearance 
 luxuriantly rich and cheerful, It yields in abundance cot- 
 ton, wine, oil, almonds, cummin, and fruits of numberlefs 
 kinds and delicious flavour. The mod efteemed are the 
 grape, fig, pear, and pomegranate : want of fkill in the 
 gardeners prevents the other forts from attaining that per- 
 fection they might be brought to. It has very little {Ilk, and 
 boafls of no mines ; but there are falt-ponds, of great profit 
 to the crown, the fole proprietor of all fait, foflile or factitious. 
 A valuable breed of horfes may be reckoned among its ftaple 
 commodities, but how inferior in numbers and renown to 
 the fluds of ancient Japygia ! I do not believe the whole 
 kingdom now breeds as many horfes as were to be found in 
 this fingle province at the time it offered to fupply Rome 
 with an auxiliary force of fifty thoufand foot and iixteen 
 thoufand horfe. — What fvvarms of men, what droves of 
 animals, then fubfifted in a tract of land, where at this day 
 a mere handful of human creatures, and a few beafts, find 
 it difficult to fubfift, and almoft every year are indebted to 
 fupplies of corn from other countries I 
 
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 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i v i 
 
 Bari makes a great figure at a diftance. We lodged at 
 the Dominican convent, where the good hofpitable Prior 
 gave us his own cell, as the repairs then in hand rendered 
 the apartment for flrangers abfolutely uninhabitable. A 
 plentiful fifh fupper was provided for us by our kind hofr, 
 anxious to fupport the reputation of Bari in that article. 
 The abundance and delicacy of the fifh vouch for Horace's 
 knowledge of the peculiar excellencies of his own coun- 
 try *. 
 
 SECTION XXIV. 
 
 "D A R I is defended by double walls and an eld caftle ; it 
 occupies a rocky peninfula of a triangular form, about 
 a mile in circumference, The houfes, which are in general 
 mean, and without any pretentions to ornamental archi- 
 tecture, are built upon a foil raifed by the ruins of former 
 edifices near thirty feet above the level of the fea. Pieces 
 of old pavement have been frequently difcovered by digging 
 feveral feet below the prefent flreets, which are uneven, 
 narrow, crooked, and dirty. The new rampart above the 
 harbour, is the only clean walk, and few are more pleafant ; 
 at every turn you catch a different view of the fea and coafr, 
 ftretching from the mountains of Garganus to the hills of 
 Ofluni. The towns that rife along this line, in various 
 
 * Pifcofi masnia Bar'. 
 
 C c degrees
 
 i 9 2 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 degrees of made, have a beautiful effect ; and nothing 
 can be more pi&urefque than the fleets of fifhing-boats 
 fleering for their refpeclive harbours on the approach 
 of night. On fhore, the full bloom of Spring and lively 
 foliage, contrafted with innumerable white cottages, form 
 an enchanting rural fcene. 
 
 There is fome reafon to fuppofe that ancient Barium 
 extended farther into the country than the prefent city. 
 Ifabella of Aragon, Dutchefs dowager of Milan, began to 
 cut a canal through the Ifthmus, about half a mile from 
 the gates : bridges were to correfpond with the principal 
 ftreets, and the intermediate fpace to be built upon. But 
 this grand work, which would have redounded to her 
 immortal honour, and the commercial profperity of Ban, 
 was deftroyed by a fudden inundation in a rainy feafon, and 
 never afterwards attempted to be refumed. 
 
 The Cathedral has no external beauties ; its infide has 
 lately been modernized, ftuccoed, and painted, at the 
 cxpence of the Archbifhop, whofe revenues do not exceed 
 fix thoufand ducats (£1,125). Under the choir is a chapel, 
 fupported upon fhort columns, which give it a great refem- 
 blance to the infide of the Mofque at Cordova. It is 
 incruftated with party-coloured marbles-, after a barbarous, 
 fantaftic deflgn ; and contains the bones of St. Sabinus, a 
 patron of the town. The fteeple is remarkable for being 
 one of the higheft in the kingdom * : a fecond was begun 
 
 * It is about two hundred and fixty-three feet high. 
 
 * in
 
 JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. 193 
 
 in 1 61 7, but the apprcheniion of earthquakes flopped the 
 work. The Barian writers pretend that the Norman kings, 
 and fome of their fuccefTors, were crowned in this church 
 with an iron diadem, which is kept among its treafures ; 
 but Giannone and others treat the matter as a mere fable. 
 
 The royal Priory of St. Nicholas is an ugly Gothic 
 edifice, erected by Archbifhop Elias and King Roger. It 
 is a celebrated fanctuary, whither thoufands of pilgrims 
 refort to offer up their vows at the fhrine of this Bifhop of 
 Myra, the patron of orphans. His relics are faid to have 
 been brought from Lycia in 1087 by fome merchants; 
 though the legend allures us they floated hither of their 
 own accord. The lands and immunities with which it was 
 endowed by the Norman princes, were very considerable ; 
 and one of its earlieft privileges was an exemption from 
 every jurifdiction except the papal. Charles the Firft held 
 the Saint in great veneration, and gave many folid proofs of 
 his munificent devotion. But Charles the Second put the 
 finifhing hand to its eflablifliment ; for, imagining that he 
 owed his deliverance from imprifonment and death to the 
 interceflion of his fpecial protector, St. Nicholas, he thought 
 himfelf bound in gratitude to confer upon his church an 
 increafe of wealth and fplendour. Accordingly he obtained 
 from the Pope many honourable diftinctions ; augmented 
 and fettled its pofleflions ; and inftituted for himfelf, and 
 the fucceeding Kings of Naples, the office of Treafurer, in 
 which he was inftalled with great folemnity. The church 
 
 C c 2 is
 
 194 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 is rich in marble columns, and ornaments aukwardly 
 arranged. Behind the high altar is a very fumptuous 
 monument, erected by Anne Jagellon, wife of Stephen 
 Battori, King of Poland, to the memory of her mother 
 Bona, who was daughter and heirefs of John Galeas, Duke 
 of Milan, by Ifabella of Aragon, widow of Sigifmund the 
 Firft, King of Poland, and Dutchefs of Bari by inveftiture. 
 In 15563 Queen Bona came with a fplendid retinue to 
 refide at Bari, where me died the following year. Her 
 effigy is placed on its knees, and at the corners ftand four 
 ftatues, reprefenting Poland, Lithuania, St. Staniflaus, and 
 St. Nicholas. Here alfo is a dirty, dark, fubterraneous 
 chapel, the original place of worfhip, over which King 
 Roger raifed the prefent fabric. Underneath its altar is a 
 hole, through which devout and curious perfons thruft their 
 heads, to behold a bone or two fwimming below in water : 
 This liquid is drawn up by the priefts in a filver bucket, 
 and diftributed, under the name of Manna, as an infallible 
 cure for fore eyes and difordered ftomachs. The chaplains 
 were fo bufied in their refpeclive functions, that I could 
 not obtain a fight of this tomb, and mufr. therefore content 
 myfelf with the accounts I received from others. In this 
 lower chapel Urban the Second alTembled a general council 
 of the Latin Church, which in 1097 decided in favour of 
 the proceflion of the Holy Ghoft, and anathematized the 
 "Greek doctrine. 
 
 The
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. i 95 
 
 The cattle is fpacious and gloomy, inhabited by the 
 Governor of the town, and a fmall garrifon. Bona repaired 
 it in 1554 for the reception of her court. 
 
 Religious Orders abound in Bari ; and fome of them have 
 rich gaudy churches, with good paintings. The beft are, 
 a Noli me tangere, by Pietro da Cortona, at Santa Chiara ; 
 a Defcent of the Crofs, by Carlo Cignani ; and an Invention 
 of it, by Paul Veronefe, at the Capuchins : in the Cathe- 
 dral, fome large pieces by Luca Giordano and his fcholars. 
 The convent of the Jefuits is converted into a college for 
 young gentlemen *. 
 
 I faw no monuments of antiquity, except a milliary 
 column, fome infcriptions, and a lion, of barbarous fculp- 
 ture, placed in the great fquare, by the citizens of Bari, in 
 1002, as an offering of thanks to the republic of Venice, 
 and its Doge, Peter Vefcolo, who came with a powerful 
 fleet, and obliged the Saracens to raife the fiege of this 
 city. 
 
 Not far from the town, at a place faid to have been the 
 general cemetery of ancient Barium, chance has brought to 
 light great quantities of funeral pots, known among the 
 virtuofi by the name of Etrufcan vafes ; though for one 
 that was moulded in Tufcany, thoufands were baked in 
 Campania, where the fame fort of ware was in conftant 
 ufe. They are greatly admired for the lightnefs of the clay, 
 
 * There are twelve convents for men, five for women, and three 
 hofpiuls. 
 
 the
 
 ioG JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 the elegance of their forms, and the profound learning fup- 
 pofed to lie hidden beneath the ambiguous characters and 
 various groups, painted upon them in tawny yellow colours, 
 on a dark ground. Thefe figures, and the ffiape of the 
 urns, have been of great fervice in improving the tafte, and 
 multiplying the ideas, of our artifta and porcelain manu- 
 facturers ; but have contributed little to the advancement of 
 hiftorical or antiquarian knowledge, as fcarce a fingle group 
 has been explained to the univerfal fatisfa&ion of the 
 learned. The great vogue thefe vefTcls have had among the 
 rich and curious collectors of the age, has fet the ingenious 
 Italians to work in counterfeiting them ; and it is now no 
 unufual thing for a young dilettante to have a modern jar, 
 with proper cracks and dirt, palmed upon him for a real 
 antique. A Barian citizen, lately poffefled of a noted 
 ailbrtment of thefe curiofities, told me that the moft beau- 
 tiful of them had been found in a large fepulchre, about a 
 yard below the furface of the earth ; it contained a fkeleton 
 inclofed within a (tone coffin, round which thefe vafes were 
 placed empty. Encouraged by this difcovery, he dug in 
 feveral other vineyards, and met with fimilar vaults, but no 
 urns of a fine grain or finimed workmanfhip. 
 
 At the fouthern corner of the peninfula, is a kind of 
 harbour, affording tolerable fhelter to veffels of fmall bur- 
 den. As Bari had formerly gallies of its own, I prefume it 
 had a fafer place for them to ride in. Its traffic was once 
 very flourifhing, being a mart for the Dalmatians and Le- 
 vantines ;
 
 JOURNEY TO TARAN TO. 1 97 
 
 vantines ; but the exorbitant duties, and ill-judged reftaic- 
 tions with which the commerce of this kingdom is ham- 
 pered, have long ago driven merchants to other markets : 
 however, the Barians, whofe number amounts to fixteen 
 thoufand feven hundred, are an active pains-taking race, and 
 carry on no defpicable trade in oil and almonds ; befides 
 thefe two capital obje&s, they fend a coniiderable quantity 
 of potafh, foap, anifeed, and even garlick, to the Ve- 
 netian iilands. 
 
 I 
 
 SECTION XXV. 
 
 FIND little mention made in ancient authors of Barium, 
 its foundation or hiftory ; coins ftruck by its municipal 
 magiftratesftillexiftf. The Lombards, Greeks, and Sara- 
 cens, difputed the poffeffion of this city in the ninth cen- 
 tury. In the tenth, it rofe to diftinction, on becoming the 
 refidence of the Greek Catapan or Viceroy, and of a metro- 
 politan Bifhop. In 1 08 g, the archiepifcopal dignity was 
 confirmed by the court of Rome. The book of conftitu- 
 tions, compiled for the juridical government of the pro- 
 
 •j- Nummi Barinorum. 
 
 ARG. 1. Cap. MercuriimGryps BA 
 
 JER. 1. Cap. Jovis laur.=Prora navis in qua Cupido fcans arcum 
 tend, fubtus delphin BAPINX2N. 
 
 2. Cap. Palladis gal.=Navis & Cupido coronam impon. 
 
 trophseo. 
 
 3. Cap. Jovis=:Prora BAPI. JE, 
 
 vince,,
 
 tgt JOURNEY TO TAR AN TO. 
 
 rince, and ftill in ufe, is a refpe&able voucher for the im- 
 portance and policy of Bari, during the middle ages. 
 
 bout the year 1000, Bari became the fcene of con- 
 spiracies and revolutions : here Melo formed the project of 
 the rirfl: confederacy again (l the Grecian Emperors, and 
 though he did not live to fee any great fuccefs attend his 
 fchemes, yet it was owing to his fagacity in pointing out 
 the way, that the Normans were enabled to expell the 
 Greeks from Italy ; out of refpeel: for his memory, 
 thofe conquerors raifed his fon Argirius to the fupreme 
 command over their league. Bari did not fteadily adhere 
 to Melo's plans, but foon returned to the obedience of the 
 eaftern Emperor, and was one of the laft and iirmeft fup- 
 ports of his dominion. 
 
 In 1067, Robert Guifcard inverted it by fea and land, 
 and to prevent fuccours being thrown in, inclofed it with a 
 femicircle of mips joined together by chains and booms, 
 each extremity having a bridge of communication with the 
 camp, which completed the line of circumvallation. This 
 blockade lafted four years, during which, both parties ex- 
 haufted every art of attack and defence practifed in thofe 
 ages, when the machines for demolifhing fortifications were 
 clumfy and feeble, and when famine, more frequently than 
 force, compelled towns to furrender. The Barians, rinding 
 themfelves worn out with hard fare and inceffant alarms, 
 and forefeeing that the obftinacy of their adverfary would at 
 length overcome their powers of defence, endeavoured to 
 avert their ruin by cutting off the chief of the befiegers; 
 
 5 with
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 199 
 
 with this intent, one Amerinus ftole out of the city by 
 night, and drawing up to the quarters of Guifcard, at- 
 tempted to kill him, by thrufting a poifoned lance through 
 the wattles of his hut ; but the weapon proved too fhort, 
 and Robert, as we are told by his honefl biographer Mala- 
 terra, took care to have the wickered walls of his cabbin 
 well plaftered over, to prevent fuch attacks for the future. 
 
 Earl Roger foon after joined his brother with a ftrong 
 fleet, and helped him to carry on his afTaults with fuch 
 vigour, that the befieged were on the point of capitulating, 
 when their hopes were revived by the appearance of an Im- 
 perial fquadron coming to their relief, under Jofceline 
 d'Avranches, a Norman gentleman, who had fought his 
 fortune in Greece, and ingratiated himfelf with the Emperor. 
 The Greek mips were no fooner defcried, than Roger flip- 
 ped his cables, and ran out to fea to give them battle. Jof- 
 celine was true to his truft, and bore down gallantly upon 
 the Earl : the engagement was fharp, but very fhort; for 
 the Greeks were no match for the Norman veterans. The 
 Imperial vefTels were taken, funk, or difperfcd, and their 
 admiral made a prifoner. Roger returned triumphant, and 
 Bari opened its gates to the conquerors. 
 
 To fecure the allegiance of fo capital a town, a citadel 
 was afterwards erected by King Roger ; but it was fcarcely 
 finimed, when the Emperor Lotharius razed it to the 
 ground. Upon the retreat of the Imperialifta, Jacinthus 
 ailumed the title of Prince, and refufed to fubmit to the 
 King, who laid (lege to the city. Bari was then a populous 
 
 D d place,
 
 20 o JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 place, and made an obftinate refiftance. The capitulation 
 was honourable, but rendered invalid by a claufe, ftipulating, 
 that all the Royalifh, taken during the fiege, were to be 
 delivered up fare and unhurt. When the King made his 
 entry into Bari, a Norman captive, who had been deprived 
 cf hh fight, and otherwife cruelly treated by the orders of 
 Jacinthus, was led through the crowd to the feet of his fo- 
 vereign, to claim juftice and vengeance. Roger, willing to 
 ieize any pretext for annulling the capitulation, alTembled 
 his council, declared the treaty void, and caufed Jacinthus, 
 with his principal adherents, to be hanged. 
 
 Majone, prime minifter to William the Bad, was born at 
 Bari, the fon of a notary; but the affection, we may 
 prefume, this favourite retained for the place of his nativity, 
 did not prevent William from treating it with the utmoffc 
 feverity. The Barians had joined in the grand rebellion 
 againft: him, had demoliflied his caftle and palace, and 
 given the furniture as plunder to their foldiers ; therefore, 
 when the chief citizens fell on their knees before him, fuincr- 
 for mercy, he anfwered all their Amplications with thefe 
 words : " You did not fpare my houie, how can you ex- 
 41 pect I mould fpare yours?" They were ordered to dis- 
 lodge within the fpace of two days, and their dwellings to 
 be levelled to the ground. The city mult have rifen very 
 fpeedily out of its ruins, as the Emperor Frederick eftablifh- 
 ed an annual fair here in 1233, and in 1248, ordered the 
 town to be deflroyed 3 to punifh the inhabitants for treafon- 
 ^able practices* 
 
 2 The
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 201 
 
 The firft perfon enfeoffed with the honours of Bari was 
 Bohemund of Antioch, who accepted of thefe and other 
 demefhes in lieu of his birthright. The fecond was Tancred 
 fon of King Roger ; Jacinthus had them next. The Princes 
 of Taranto, defcended from Charles the Second, held them 
 afterwards. Their heirefs carried this barony into the houfe 
 of Baux, which was difpoiTefTed by Joan the Firft. During 
 her reign, John Pipino Earl of Minervino, ufurped this fief 
 for a fhort time. He was the fon of an officer of the re- 
 venue, who, having amafTed great riches by the manage- 
 ment of the public money, or by treafures found at Lucera, 
 where he fuperintended the expulfion of the Saracens, pur- 
 chafed large eftates for his children. John was an empty 
 vain-glorious man, deceived into a high opinion of his own 
 confequence by the flattery of mifcreants and parafitcs, who 
 flocked from all parts to (hare the prodigal bounty of this 
 new-made nobleman. The fuccefs that attended an expe- 
 dition againft Nicholas Rienzi, the famous tribune of 
 Rome, completed his intoxication. The Orfini and Co- 
 lonna factions, being overpowered by that demagogue, 
 craved affiftance from Minervino, who always entertained 
 a formidable band of foldiers ready for mifchief. Pipino 
 embraced the opportunity of employing his troops, defeated 
 Nicholas, and returned to Puglia mad with joy and pride. 
 His infolence,. rapacity, and excefles now difdained all 
 bounds; and half the neighbouring provinces were defolated 
 by his lawlefs freebooters. The royal anger was at laft 
 roufed, and a complete overthrow, near Afcoli, crufhed all 
 
 D d 2 his
 
 ao2 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 his glories; his adherents fled, and Pipino himfelf, aban- 
 doned and betrayed, was taken and hanged at a window of 
 the caflle of Altamura; his brothers fhared his unhappy 
 fate: and thus one generation faw the rife and fall of this 
 powerful family. 
 
 Ladiflaus granted Bari to the Orfini Princes of Taranto, 
 who afterwards enjoyed it almoft as a free fovereignty, 
 having extorted from Alphonfus the Firft the privilege of 
 exporting all manner of commodities without paying any 
 duties to the crown. This exemption brought in great riches, 
 and rendered them very formidable, as Ferdinand the Firft 
 found to his forrow, in his wars with the Barons. While 
 Aragon and Anjou were contending, James Caldora, a 
 famous Abruzzefe chieftain feized upon Bari, and his fon 
 Anthony affumed the title of Duke. 
 
 Upon the extinction of the houfe of Taranto, Bari re- 
 verted to the King, and was fettled by Alphonfus the 
 Second, upon the family of Sforza, in confederation of the 
 marriage of his daughter Ifabella with the Duke of Milan. 
 According to treaty, thefe eftates became the property of 
 Bona Queen of Poland, at whofe death this duchy re- 
 turned to the crown ; to which it has ever fince remained 
 annexed. 
 
 Our flay at Bari was prolonged by my fellow-traveller's 
 being feized with a feverifh complaint, which at firft wore 
 an alarming appearance, but foon took a favourable turn : 
 however, he did not think it fafe to continue his journey 
 
 farther
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 203: 
 
 ferther fouth, as the weather was growing very warm; and 
 therefore determined to return to Naples as foon as poflible. 
 I continued our original route on the 29th of April. 
 
 The firft place I came to was Mola di Bari, a town con- 
 taining fix thoufand fouls, prettily fituated on rocks, and very 
 fhewy from afar : what it may be on a nearer view I know 
 not, as I rode paft without flopping, my memorandums 
 making no mention of any thing remarkable in it. I next 
 pafTed by the Francifcan convent of Cape San Vito, delight- 
 fully feated among the olive groves, on a neck of land jut- 
 ting out into the fea. Here travellers ufually dine or fleep ; 
 but as it had been reprefented to me as a very bad place of 
 baiting, I rode a mile farther for dinner to Polignano, a 
 fmall city, perched, like a bird's neft, on a crag riling per- 
 pendicularly out of the water. The bimop refides at Mola; 
 The Caraccioli, Rodolvich, Toraldi, Stendardi, Boffa, and 
 Lietoj have been fucceflively lords of this place. 
 
 The foil of the whole tratl I travelled through this 
 morning is fhallow and rocky, covered with olive trees, which 
 are the principal object of the cultivator's- care, as oil is the 
 main fupport of commerce in this province. The rocks 
 abound with pedlinites of a large fize. 
 
 While my dinner was preparing, I amufed myfelf with 
 
 looking at fome peafants cafting wooden balls with their 
 
 feet; they are extremely dextrous at the fport, lifting the 
 
 ball up with their toe, and toiling it a confiderable length, 
 
 along a high road as rugged and full of protuberances as. 
 
 the Glaciers of Switzerland. 
 
 4 lap
 
 204; JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 In the afternoon, I had a pleafant ride of five miles, 
 through noble olive woods, to Monopoli. This city, like 
 mod others on the coaft, deceives one by its outward 
 appearance into an opinion of extent and magnificence, 
 which vanifh.es on clofer inflection. The environs are 
 neatly planted with fig, almond, and fome few lemon and 
 orange trees. I faw but one garden that had any fhew of 
 thofe evergreen fruit-trees to boaft of, Olives are the 
 grand concern. The extent of the plantations of this 
 valuable tree is really aftonifhing. I was aflured that the 
 olive woods reach from Monopoli twelve miles, on three 
 fides, without interruption. There are no great Barons 
 in its immediate neighbourhood ; and every burgher has his 
 maflaria or farm, which he cultivates on his own account. 
 This territory is faid to yield annually twenty thoufand falme 
 of oil. 
 
 Monopoli is a dark difagreeable town, with narrow, 
 crooked ftreets, and very lofty flat-roofed houfes. It is 
 fuppofed to have been originally a ftation called Egnatiolum, 
 and to have grown to the fize and dignity of a city, by the 
 ruin of Gnatia. In the firft Norman partition, it fell to 
 the (hare of Hugh. The Capeci were for fome time its 
 poffeffors.
 
 JOURNEVTOTARANTO. 505 
 
 N 
 
 SECTION XXVI. 
 
 EXT morning I was on horfeback before fun-rife, in- 
 tending to make a very long day's journey ; and being 
 appreheniive, from the heavy feel of the air, that I fhould 
 fuffer from intenfe heat in the noon- tide hours. My pro- 
 gnoses were but too juft ; for a hotter fun, and a more 
 ftifling fultrinefs, could not be felt in the dog-days. 
 
 The foil of the country is a reddifh petrifaction, evidently 
 the fame as the rocks upon the fhore. As I rode along, the 
 huge piles of fea-weed, which almoft form a rampart on the 
 coaft, appeared to be equally unaffected either by wind or 
 waves. I alighted feveral times to examine thefe heaps, and 
 found different degrees of hardnefs in them. Some were 
 quite moift and mucilaginous ; others already petrified on 
 the furface, but foft and pliable within ; others again tho- 
 roughly pervaded by the ftony humour. 
 
 The fwarth on the fands is very poor, and produces few 
 uncommon plants. One is a beautiful poppy, of a bright 
 yellow colour. 
 
 At a mile's diftance from Monopoli, the landfcape ex- 
 pands itfelf, and on the right hand difcovers a long range of 
 woody hills. The olive grounds in the plain are remarkable 
 for their great extent, thicknefs of foliage, and fize of trees.. 
 
 They
 
 »o<5 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 They are pruned into the form of a cup, by cutting out the 
 centric upright branches, in the fame manner as gardeners 
 trim goofeberry bullies. This treatment lets in an equal 
 fhare of fun and ventilation to every part, and brings on an 
 univerfal maturity. 
 
 Six miles farther are the ruins of Gnatia, the laft ftage 
 but one of Horace's journey to Brundufium, and now called 
 Torre d'Agnazzo. Little remains except part of the ram- 
 parts, which, near the fea, are entire as high up as the 
 bottom of the battlements. Sixteen courfes of large ftones 
 are ftill complete ; and the thicknefs of this bulwark is 
 exactly eight yards ; an extaordinary breadth, which I 
 afcertained by repeated meafurements. The town feems to 
 have been fquare, and its principal ftreets drawn in ftraight 
 lines. On the moft elevated part is a watch-tower; and 
 probably this was the fituation of the ancient citadel. Near 
 it are fome arches and vaults. The view towards Monopoli 
 is extremely beautiful. 
 
 Want of water caufed the deftru&ion of Gnatia ; a 
 fcarcity I had an opportunity of being made fenfible of, and 
 which naturally explains Horace's phrafe of 
 
 Gnatia lymphis 
 
 Iratis exftrudta." 
 
 The few paftoral inhabitants of thefe ruins have no temples 
 left to melt incenfe in without fire, for the diverfion or 
 aftonifhment of pafTengers. But the art is not loft in the 
 
 kingdom ;
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. so? 
 
 kingdom ; and, whether preferved by tradition or revived 
 by ingenuity, is flill pra&ifed with fuccefs. 
 
 The flone employed in building along this coaft, is cut 
 with great eafe in every part of the country. It is a foft 
 whitifh concretion, that hardens by being expofed to the 
 air. The method ufed by the quarrymen is extremely 
 fimple : they clear away the foil from the level parts, and 
 then hew out regular cubes, which leave vacancies in the 
 rock exadtly refembling ponds, baths, or refervoirs, with 
 flights of fleps all round leading down to the bottom. 
 Thefe holes are frequently filled up with earth, and olive 
 fets planted in them. 
 
 The cyftus, which grows in great abundance on thefe 
 wafte lands, exhaled (b powerful an effluvium, when the 
 fun had been rifen fome time, that I was overcome with it. 
 One of the fervants, already half dead with heat and 
 fatigue, had the additional ill-fortune of being frightened 
 almofl out of his wits. As we were trotting along the 
 burning fands, he on a fudden gave a loud fliriek, and 
 threw himfelf from his horfe, crying out that he was a 
 dead man, for either a fcorpion, a tarantula, or a ferpent 
 had flung him on the inftep. On pulling off his boot, I 
 found that his terrors and pains were caufed by the rays of 
 the fun, which had penetrated through a hole in the upper 
 leather, and raifed a blifler on the fkin. The prepoflcrous 
 ge flu res and expreflions of this lazzarone fupported my 
 fpirits till we arrived at a fmall fingle houfe, confifling 
 
 E e of
 
 ao8 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 of a kitchen, loft, and ft able, lately erected for the conve- 
 nience of travellers, by the agents of the Order of Malta, 
 to which the land belongs. The kitchen was too hot for 
 me to breathe in, and the other two apartments as full of 
 fleas as Shakefpeare's inn at Rochefter ; fo that my only 
 refuge was the narrow made of the houfe, which was con- 
 traded every minute more and more, as the fun advanced 
 towards the meridian. Behind the houfe then I fat down, 
 to dine upon the fare we had brought in our wallet. Un- 
 luckily I had not thought of wine or water, neither of 
 which were now to be had tolerably drinkable ; fo that I 
 was obliged to content myfelf with the water of a ciftern 
 full of tadpoles, and qualify it with a large quantity of wine, 
 that refembled treacle much more than the juice of the 
 grape. While I held the pitcher to my lips, I formed a 
 dam with a knife, to prevent the little frogs from flipping 
 down my throat. Till that day I had had but an imperfect 
 idea of thirft. 
 
 As foon as we had recruited our ftrength and fpirits, we 
 left the inn, and retired gradually from the fea, drawing up 
 towards the hills, through olive groves that afforded us a 
 very welcome (hade. Flocks of turtle doves fkimmed acrofs 
 the road ; but, though they frequently fluttered near me, I 
 refpected the virtues afcribed to them by the poets too much 
 to think of mooting at them : — young ones are efteemed a 
 great dainty. The mode of killing them is very fmgular : 
 When the fun is vertical, and the fky clear, a couple of 
 
 8 fportfmen
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. «o* 
 
 fportfmen drive into the olive grounds in an open chaife, 
 and move flowly, but continually, round the trees, till they 
 Ipy a dove fitting upon the boughs. The poor bird, ftruck 
 with the unufual fight, or giddy with the rotation of the 
 wheels, fixes its eyes upon them, and whirls its head 
 round in imitation of their motion. When the eye of 
 the turtle is thus fafcinated, one of the fowlers flips out of 
 the carriage, and fires his piece. Little ftone bafons full of 
 water are alfo frequently placed for the doves to drink at, 
 while the mooter lies in ambufcade behind a bum. 
 
 At the end of fix miles we rode up to Oftuni, a poor 
 epifcopal city, on a fteep rocky brow, overlooking a whole 
 foreft of olive trees, and a long range of coaft. In the 
 fourteenth century it belonged to the Sanfeverini, and after- 
 wards to the Zevallas *. 
 
 * On a green before the church of the Capuchin friars, the Duke delle 
 Noci was killed in fingle combat by the Duke of Martina in 1664 •, at which 
 time the fury of fafhionable murder raged with great violence among the 
 proud ungovernable nobles. 
 
 A molt famous duel was fought the fame year between Don Francis 
 CarafFa and Don Julius Aquaviva, who, after many bootlefs arbitrations, 
 finding themfelves under an indifpenfable neceffity of deciding a family quar- 
 rel by the fword, fought for a proper place to engage in. No Roman 
 Catholic ftate would allow of a public duel, becaufe fuch combats are 
 anathematized by the ecclefiaftical canons-, they therefore applied to the 
 imperial city of Nuremberg, and obtained leave to draw regular lifts, and to 
 come to action, under the fafeguard of that magiftracy, in prefence of the 
 nobility of the country. Don Francis was difabled by a wound in the arm, 
 and the victory adjudged to his antagonift. — The doughty knights embraced 
 on the field of battle, and returned together very good friends to Naples. 
 Such an adventure as this caft a ridicule upon the practice, and co-operated 
 with the growing effeminacy of manners in (lifting the fpirit of duelling. 
 
 E e 2 We
 
 2I0 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 We now entered a more agreeable atmofphere, where the 
 heat was tempered by a gentle breeze. The appearance of 
 Oftuni was fo far from inviting, that I determined to travel 
 to Francavilla that night. The road was ftony, and conti- 
 nually up and down hill, through a poor defert country, 
 much covered with thin woods of unhealthy flunted oaks. 
 Thefe hills are the fouth-ealt extremity of a ridge that runs 
 out from the Apennines, at a point many miles to the 
 north-eafr. of our road : we never came in fight of any 
 mountains. From hence to the cape of Santa Maria di 
 Leuca *, there is not a fingie eminence of any confequence ; 
 the whole tract is rather an uneven plain than a hilly 
 country. Without rivers, and almoit without rivulets, yet 
 from fome extraordinary quality in the foil, and the vapours, 
 of fubterraneous lakes, this province is furprifingly fertile 
 and vegetative. The exiftence of underground refervoirs is 
 proved by the fhallownefs of the wells, and by the pools 
 that appear wherever the level is low. All the rain that 
 falls is fwallowed up, before it can reach the fea, by large 
 cracks in the rocks, called Voraggini, or AbyiTes, marked 
 down in the maps as lakes. In this corner of Italy every 
 geographer, except Zannoni, draws, from the Apennines 
 near Venofa to the Capo di Leuca, an uninterrupted diagonal 
 chain of lofty mountains, upon which is written, Branch of 
 the Apennines. This line is engraved of a fize that would, if 
 
 * The ancient Promontorium Salentinum, which terminates the peninfula 
 of Japygia, at the tip of the heel of the boot, to which geographers have 
 likened the fhape of Italy. 
 
 it
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. ail 
 
 it exifled, render the communication between Bari and 
 Taranto, as difficult as the pafTage of Mount Cenis or 
 Sempion in the Alps. Had thefe geographers vifited the 
 country they were about to delineate, or even enquired of 
 the common carriers how they pafs this imaginary Cordil- 
 lera, they would foon have been made fenfible of their 
 error ; for fo little is the whole trad: aforefaid raifed above 
 the level of the fea, that, from the round Knolls of Oria, 
 a centrical point between Taranto and Brindiii, there are 
 few rifings high enough to prevent the eye from command- 
 ing a view as far as the fea, in each direction. Had they 
 attended to the idea conveyed by Virgil, in his defcription 
 of the diftant appearance of this peninfula, they might have 
 fufpecled fomething of the truth. That fenfible poet plainly 
 indicates the lownefs of the Salentine fhores, in the third 
 book of the iEneid, where his Hero relates the voyage 
 fouthward, from that point of Epirus called the Acroce- 
 raunian mountains, now Monti della Chimera, which are 
 not fixty miles from Otranto : 
 
 Provehimur pelago vicina Ceraunia juxta ; 
 Unde iter Italiam, curfufque breviffimus undis— 
 ****** * * 
 
 Jamque rubefcebat ftellis Aurora fugatis, 
 Cum femel objcuros colks, fjumikrnque videmus 
 Italiam *'. 
 
 * " We are carried on the waves near the Ceraunian cape, from which 
 
 " point is the fhorteft paffage to Italy. And now Aurora rofe blufhing, 
 
 " after- putting the ftars to flight; when fuddenly we behold the dufiy bills 
 ** and hwfoeres of Italy." 
 
 Could
 
 2iz JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 Could they fuppofe fo exa& a defcriber would have called 
 Italy low, and fpoken only of hills, lighted up by the rifing 
 fun, if there had been any mountains in the Salentine terri- 
 tory, where, from the narrownefs of the land, they muft 
 have reached to the very edge of the water ? Every one 
 that knows any thing of the Italian atmofphere, muft 
 recollect that fixty miles is not a fufficient diftance to hide 
 fuch mountains as the Apennines from the fight, if they 
 really did extend their branches fo near to Greece ; and 
 that to navigators their tops would be vifible in the morn- 
 ing, long before the low country at their feet. 
 
 Towards dufk, we left the high lands, and traverfing a 
 well-cultivated champaign country, arrived at Francavilla, 
 where, by the Prince's orders, I was received and treated 
 with extraordinary refpect. 
 
 SECTION XXVII. 
 
 OUGHT to efleem the next day as one of the moft 
 brilliant of my life ; for I received honours fufficient to 
 turn the head of a plain Englifh gentleman. As foon as I 
 was dreft, an audience was demanded by Don Domenico, 
 the Steward, who having formerly officiated in the capacity 
 of Clerk of the Chamber to the Princefs, was perfectly 
 qualified for the poft of Mafter of the Ceremonies. Being 
 admitted in his gala fuit of many colours and antique 
 
 cut,
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 213 
 
 cut, he expreffed his difappointment on finding he had the 
 honour of receiving but one Nobik Signore inftead of two, 
 as his mafter had notified. After I had explained the 
 reafon of my friend's abfence, he launched out into pathetic 
 compliments of condolance, and promifed me, that the 
 chaplain mould offer up prayers for his fpeedy recovery. 
 And now the Rector of the College, the Father Guardian 
 of the Capuchins, and the Magiftrates, entered in great 
 form. The firft addrefTed me in a fhort, polite fpeech, 
 which he uttered with fome embarraflment. My introducer 
 of Ambafladors whifpered in my ear, that the Rector had 
 compofed a very eloquent harangue for two illuftrious 
 travellers ; but on finding only one, had been obliged to 
 lay it afide, as he could not at a minute's warning adapt to 
 the fingular all the figures of rhetoric which were ad- 
 drefTed to the dual number. What I loft in his difcourfe, 
 was made up to me by the friar, who, with a nafal tone 
 and many bows, beftowed upon me every poflible virtue, 
 and ftruck out fuch wild metaphors, as quite enchanted his 
 auditors, and almoft threw me ofT my guard. He ac- 
 quainted the company, that I travelled into foreign parts to 
 collect oil for the lamps of fcience in my own country ; 
 that my mother wit was the wick, and my eloquence the 
 flame. — I was happy to difmifs the orators, and was ac- 
 companying them to the door, when my Mentor flopped 
 me fhort, left I mould make too great a conceflion. 
 
 I was
 
 si^ JOURNEY TO T ARAN TO. 
 
 I was afterwards conducted to the chapel, where the 
 town-muficians played, and a cloud of incenfe darkened the 
 place during the whole fervice ; after which Don Domenico 
 led me out to fee the town, or rather to be feen, for we 
 had a mob at our heels all the way, I was heartily lick of 
 my glory, and mould have fled from it, had I not been 
 fenfible how great a mortification it would have been to my 
 holts. 
 
 Francavilla is large and regularly built ; the ftreets wide 
 and ftraight ; the houfes fhewy, though in a heavy ftyle of 
 architecture. Since the year 1734, when a considerable 
 part of the town was thrown down by an earthquake, the 
 inhabitants are fo afraid of another vifitation, that they dare 
 not raife their dwellings more than one ftory above the 
 ground-floor. The main ftreet would be thought hand- 
 fome even in a capital city. The avenues to the gates are 
 well planted, and afford a pleafant made. The inhabitants, 
 in number twelve thoufand, fubfift by the fale of oil and 
 cotton, of which laft they make very fine ftockings. A 
 great quantity of tobacco is raifed in the lordfhip, which, 
 by a compofition entered into with the farmers of the reve- 
 nue, is allowed to be cured and manufactured here into a 
 fpecies of InufT, in colour, flavour, and foftnefs, not a bad 
 imitation of the Spanim. 
 
 The Capuchins have a fpacious convent, and a new 
 church, airily and fantaflically fitted up : the pulpit and 
 
 5 confeffionals
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 5I5 
 
 confefllonals are of inlaid wood, worked by the hands of a 
 friar. 
 
 The college, directed by priefts of the Scuolepie, is a 
 large edifice, with many handfome halls and galleries. 
 They teach, as far as philofophy inclufivcly, to about half 
 a dozen boarders, and a considerable number 01 day- 
 fcholars. 
 
 The principal pariQi- church is new, gay, and well 
 lighted ; but fo fcuccoed, feftooned, and flowery, that the 
 whole decoration is a mere chaos. The plan was drawn at 
 Rome, but executed by a Puglian architect, who from 
 caprice or blunder reverfed the difpofition of the parts, and 
 opened the chief door at the head of the Latin crof^ a 
 place ufually allotted to the altar and choir. This altera- 
 tion is no improvement in the art, but, on the contrary, 
 an experiment productive of very aukward effects. In a 
 fide chapel is a dark portrait of the Madonna, which was 
 the caufe of the foundation of the town. 
 
 In 13 10, as Philip of Anjou, Prince of Taranto, was 
 hunting in the forefts, which then covered the face of the 
 country, a flag was driven into a grotto, where the huntf- 
 men difcovered this wonder-working image. It was re- 
 moved with great folemnity to a chapel, and, in order to 
 encourage people to fettle round it for its defence, Philip 
 granted lands to all comers, with ten years exemption from 
 taxes ; and, as a pledge of the fincerity of his intentions, 
 named the colony Frojtcavilla^ or Freetown ; and gave it 
 
 F f an
 
 216 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 an olive tree, the emblem of peace and fertility, for its 
 armorial feal. 
 
 The number of thefe devout paintings extant in the 
 Neapolitan dominions, and faid by their legends to have 
 been accidentally difcovered in caverns, woods, or wells, 
 need not furprife us, if we recollect that the Saracens 
 frequently over-ran thefe provinces. On the approach of 
 the Barbarians, it is natural to fuppofe that the Greeks, 
 who were undoubtedly the painters of fuch portraits, would 
 hide what was moft precious to them, and moft obnoxious 
 to the infults of the infidels. The hiding-places were for- 
 gotten, either from the long refidence of the invaders in 
 the kingdom, or the deftruction of thofe who fecreted the 
 holy treafures. 
 
 The Prince's manfion is a quadrangular caftle, furrounded 
 by a dry ditch. The apartments are fpacious ; but, as the 
 owner has been abfent above fourteen years, every thing 
 wears the face of neglect and decadency. 
 
 This and the adjoining manors were purchafed, about the 
 middle of the fixteenth century, by the Imperiali of Genoa, 
 from St. Charles Borromeo, archbifhop of Milan ; who, if we 
 may believe his biographers, diftributed in one day the whole 
 purchafe-mcney to the poor of his diocefe, at that time 
 afflicted with the joint fcourges of peftilence and famine. 
 
 The Marquis of Oria, grandfather to the prefent proprie- 
 tor, redded conftantly on his eftate ; and being an adept in 
 rural economy, managed all his concerns himfelf, received 
 
 his
 
 JOURNEY TO TAR ANT O. *t 7 
 
 his rents in kind, and, by his great (kill in difpofing of his 
 commodities to advantage, made every article turn to 
 account. At prelent, very little remains unlet; the rents 
 are paid as the crops are got in and fold, not at ftated days 
 of payment. All tythes belong to the Lord of the Manor, 
 who is the lay impropriator ; for the Church has only its 
 glebe. Many gentlemen of a fecondary rank hold their 
 lands of the Prince, as under-tenants, by the payment of a 
 fixed fine for their inveftiture, nearly in the fame manner as 
 our copyholders make furrenders, and hold eftates by copy 
 of court-roll. There are befides many owners of land, not 
 of noble degree, who pay the tenth of all their crops to the 
 Prince. 
 
 After my walk, I fat down to a pompous repaft ; but as 
 the cook, who was never very fkilful in his profeiTion, and 
 had been twenty years retired upon half-pay, chofe to exert 
 all his abilities on fo grand an occafion, it was fcarcely poffi- 
 ble to get down any of his ragouts, and out of the reach of 
 all guefling to name a fingle difh. 1 could not prevail on 
 Don Domenico, or any of my company, to partake ol the 
 feaft ; fo that I fat, like Governor Sancho, furrounded by 
 all my officers, doctor, fteward, chaplain, and mufi- 
 cians. In one point my cafe differed from that of 
 the Yquire errant ; for the phyfician, inftead of con- 
 juring away the plates, was very attentive in recom- 
 mending and preffing me to eat of every dim, though I 
 
 F f 2 obferved
 
 2i8 JOURNEY TO TAl^ANTO, 
 
 obferved he durft not venture to fix a name upon any one 
 of them. 
 
 After this long and tirefome meal, I was left to take my 
 afternoon nap, and in the evening entertained with the 
 tragedy of Judith and Holofernes, acted by the young 
 people of the town, in a theatre belonging to the caftle. 
 Their rude accent, lorced geftures, and ftrange blunders in 
 language, rendered their difmal drama a complete farce. 
 When the heroine murdered the general, the whole houfe 
 (hook with thundering burfts of applaufe ; the upper part 
 of his body was hidden by the fide fcenes ; the lower parts 
 lay on a couch upon the flage, and in the agonies of death 
 were thrown into fuch convuliions, kickings, and writh- 
 ings, as melted the hearts and ravifhed the fouls of the 
 attentive audience. Judith then came forward, and re- 
 peated a long monologue, with her fword in one hand, 
 and a barber's block, dripping with blood, in the other. 
 Never was tragedy-queen fent off the flage with louder or 
 more fincere acclamations. 
 
 section xxvnr. 
 
 Mayl T TOOK a ride to Oria, a city romantically fituatcd 
 
 J upon three hills, in the centre of the plains. The 
 
 caftle and cathedral ftand boldly on the higheft points. 
 
 This is a place of great antiquity, a colony of Cretans ; on 
 
 its
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 2i 9 
 
 its coins a minotaur *. Servilius, an officer of Octavius 
 Caviar, was here furprifed by Mark Antony. In the 
 lower ages it became part of the rich patrimony of the 
 Baux. The Bonifazii were afterwards poiTcfTed of Oria; 
 but about the year 1540 the laft male heir of the family 
 renounced his country and fortune with his religion, and 
 retired to Geneva. The caufe of this renunciation was the 
 iiiamelefs conduct of his fillers, who, by living in public 
 concubinage with the Viceroy and the Nuncio, brought 
 difgrace upon their brother. The Marquifate now belongs 
 to the Prince of Francavilla. 
 
 I continued my ride a few miles fouth, to another eftate 
 of the Imperiali, called Cafalnuovo, through an open 
 country, abounding with corn and cotton, prettily divided 
 by rows of olive and almond trees. The cotton was juft 
 coming up, with two yawning lobes, exactly like the coty- 
 ledones oi the common bean. It is of the fhrubby kind, 
 and, when full grown, refembles the rafpberry plant. The 
 pods of cotton are at top, and, when ripe, burft, and 
 difclofe a tuft of down, the wings deftined to convey the 
 feed through the air. The land intended for this crop is 
 very neatly dreft, and laid down in flat narrow ridges : the 
 feafon for ploughing, between January and April. The 
 cotton is then fovvn ; and, as foon as the moots appear, the 
 
 * Nummi Hyrinseorum. 
 
 ARG. 1. Cap. Palladia gal. no£lua.=Minotaurus gradiens TPINAI. 
 
 2. Cap. Pallad.^rMinouurus IANIAT. 
 
 3. Fades plena imb. = Minotaurus ANIAT. 
 
 3 field
 
 220 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 field is hoed, and weeded with a fmall mattock. After a 
 crop of cotton, it is ufual to take one of wheat, then one 
 of barley or oats ; afterwards the land is Suffered to lie 
 fallow, or is ufed as a pafture for fheep during twelve 
 months, and the enfuing year it is again fit for cotton. 
 Thefe grounds are tilled in partnerfhip : the proprietor 
 ploughs it the firfr. time ; the tenant gives it four fubfe- 
 quent ploughings, and furnifhes feed ; the expence of the 
 harveft is born equally by both, and the profits halved 
 between them. Hoers earn a carlino a day, and a good 
 ploughman four carlini, or five grana and his victuals. 
 
 Cafalnuovo is a confiderable town, without any buildings 
 of note, except a large baronial manfion in the centre, 
 begun by the late Marquis, and left unfinished at his death. 
 The fuite of apartments is grand, but the Situation uncom- 
 fortable, without garden or profpecl:. He chofe to remove 
 to this place, becaufe the rocky foil affords a folid founda- 
 tion for a houfe, and the air is remarkably wholefome ; 
 whereas Francavilla is the very reverfe, being built on a 
 marfhy, unfound foil, where it is even difficult to find a 
 bottom, and all the water has a brackifh tafte. 
 
 This town contains about four thoufand inhabitants, 
 noted for nothing but their tafte for dogs flefh, in which 
 they have no competitors that I know of, except their 
 neighbours at Lecce, and the newly difcovered voluptuaries' 
 of Otaheite. We did not fee one animal of the canine 
 fpecies in the Streets j and woe be to the poor cur that fol- 
 lows
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 211 
 
 lows its matter into this cannibal fettlement ! I could not 
 prevail upon my conductor to own whether they had any 
 flocks of puppies, as of fheep ; or took any pains, by 
 caftration or particular food, to fatten and fweeten the 
 dainty before they brought it to the fhambles. I have fince 
 procured fome information on the fubjecT: from impartial 
 perfons, and find that the people of this neighbourhood are 
 looked upon by the reft of the kingdom as dog-eaters ; and 
 that it is certain that, both at Lecce and Cafalnuovo, many 
 of the lower fort relifh a flice of a well-fed cur. At both 
 places tanners kidnap dogs, and tan their hides into an 
 imitation of Turkey leather, with which they fupply the 
 gentlemen of the neighbouring cities, who are nice in their 
 flippers This demand lor falfe Morocco occafions the 
 flaughter of many dogs, and no doubt the cuftom of eating 
 their flefli began among the needy tanners : hunger and 
 experience have taught their countrymen to confider the 
 d.fcovery as a very beneficial one. At Bari and Francavilla, 
 horfe-flefh is faid to be publicly fold in the market ; and 
 the tail lett on, to (hew the wretched purchafers what beaft 
 the meat belonged to. The wits among the populace nick- 
 name thefe fhamble horfes Caprio ferrato^ i. e. a fhod 
 Deer. 
 
 The Bailiff of the Manor informed me, that it contained 
 fix convents of men and two of women ; and that the 
 Belles Lettres flouriihed extraordinarily ; for, befides himfelf, 
 he could reckon up twelve men of great learning in the 
 
 place,
 
 222 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 place, who formed an academy; viz. two doctors of phyfic, 
 two apothecaries, and eight men of the law. A tremendous 
 junto for the poor Dcg-eaters ! There is neither trade nor 
 manufactures here; the fruits of the earth are confumed on 
 the fpot ; if any remain above the confumption, they are 
 fent to Taranto for fale. 
 
 On this fide flood Manduria, a city of the Tarentines, 
 deftroyed by Fabius Maximus in the fecond Punic war. 
 Its coins are faja to have been dug up lately, but I never 
 faw any; traces of the old name exifi: in fome fields called 
 II Campo Mandurino, and in a chapel dedicated to St. Pietro 
 Mandurino. The Cafalnuovians being defirous of reluming 
 the original appellation, have lately petitioned the King for 
 leave to quit the name of Cafalnuovo, and to take that of 
 Manduria in all public deeds. 
 
 At a fmall diftance from the town, the old walls are very 
 difcernible, raifed feveral feet above the ground ; they are 
 double, except on the fouth fide, where the fortifications 
 appear to have been left incomplete, The outer wall and 
 its ditch meafure eight yards in breadth ; behind this bul- 
 wark is a broad ftreet, and then an inner wall, which to- 
 gether meafure fourteen yards. The ftones are oblong, 
 laid in courfes without mortar, and cut out of the ditch ; 
 the rocky itratum, which comes to the furface with very 
 little covering of mould, is a concretion of fea fand and 
 fhells : thefe exuviae of marine bodies, when decompofed by 
 the action of the atmofphere, are converted into a moil: fer- 
 tile
 
 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. C23 
 
 tile foil. It is truly wonderful that fuch fruitfulnefs mould 
 exift in a country to all outward appearance as deftitute of 
 water as Arabia Petrasa. 
 
 The greatefr, curiofity here is a well, mentioned by Pliny 
 in his fecond Book*. In a field within the ancient in- 
 clofure, we defcended feveral fteps into a large circular 
 cavern, lighted from above by a fpacious aperture ; the 
 water comes from the north- weft, and may be heard very 
 diftinclly under the rock; it ifiues out with force, and after 
 running along a fhort channel, lofes itfelf in a round bafon 
 by fome fubterraneous conduits. What excites the admira- 
 tion of the neighbours, as it did that of their forefathers, is, 
 that at no time the water ever rifes or fails above a certain 
 mark ; if you throw in as much rubbifli as will fill it 
 half-way up, this accefiion will neverthelefs have no effect 
 upon the level ; even fhould you heap up the dirt above the 
 mark, -the water will not rife, but remain totally hidden; 
 clear away the mud to the bottom, you will come to a hard 
 fmooth floor, without any figns of a chafm for the water to 
 run off by. As too much curiofity, if indulged in examin- 
 ing the construction of this well, might endanger the lofs of 
 the only fupply of good drinking water in the townfhip, all 
 experiments and removals are itrictly forbidden. The rock 
 is of a very porous nature, and the water carried off by a 
 
 * Juxta oppidum Manduriam lacus ad margines plenus, neque exhauitis 
 aquis minuitur, neque infufis augetur. 
 
 G g quick
 
 224 JOURNEY TO TARANTO. 
 
 quick filtration : as the ftream is no doubt formed by the 
 overflowings of fome underground lake or river coming 
 from -the vaft refervoirs in the bofom of the Apennines, and 
 has other paffages for its difcharge, the well is probably filled 
 with the backwater only, and therefore the dirt thrown in 
 muft, of courfe prevent the water from entering the bafon*. 
 
 * Thefe eftates have fince efcheated to the Crown, by the death of Michael 
 Imperiali, Prince of Francavilla, without heirs. No collateral heir beyond 
 the third degree of confanguinity is capable of inheriting a fief in the king- 
 dom of Naples.
 
 ( =25 ) 
 
 TAR AN TO, and its ENVIRONS. 
 
 SECTION XXIX. 
 
 May 7 Y LEFT Francavilla, efcorted by four well-mounted 
 3 ' J JL and well-armed guards in the Prince's pay. 
 Every great Baron* keeps a certain number of trufty deter- 
 mined fellows to protect his vaffals, convoy his rents, and 
 prevent depredations on his game and forefts ; they travel 
 by the iide of his coach to defend his perfon and baggage ; 
 but as I was under no apprehenfion of an attack, I difmifled 
 thefe attendants as foon as poflible, and fending the fervants 
 on to Taranto to prepare my reception, fauntered flowly 
 after them, that I might enjoy the pure morning breeze, and 
 examine the country. Near Francavilla the foil is deep, and 
 
 * Our old Englifh Barons had their Rod-knights or Radmen, who held 
 lands of' them on the condition of attending their perfons in their travels, and 
 going wherefoever they pleafed to fend them. 
 
 G g 2 cultivated
 
 22<S T A R A N T O. 
 
 cultivated with fome degree of neatnefs ; but I faw neither 
 fpring nor rivukt. Thefe farms are bounded by extenfive 
 waftes, where the rocks are fcantily covered with a mofly 
 fwarth. At Le Grottaglie, a large village belonging to 
 Cicinelli Prince of Curli, I arrived at the high plain of 
 Oria, and by a fteep defcent entered the low one of Ta- 
 ranto; the fcparation is not gradual, but fuddenly made by 
 a barrier of perpendicular rocks, that run from the mountains 
 quite acrofs to the gulf. Le Grottaglie owes its origin to a 
 concourfe of inhabitants from many towns and villages laid 
 in allies by the Saracens ; finding no other place of fafety* 
 the fugitives took refuge in thefe grottos and caverns, and 
 by degrees recovering from their difmay, ventured out and 
 built dwellings above ground. By one of thofe monftrous 
 contradictions, of which the feudal fyflem of Naples affords 
 many examples, the criminal jurifdiction of this lordfhip ap- 
 pertains to the Archbifhop of Taranto, while the civil 13 
 veiled in its Prince. The people of this town are faid to 
 underftand the bufmefs of a fhepherd better than any of 
 their neighbours, among whom their ci eam-cheefes are in 
 great repute. The country abounds in corn and wine, but 
 of late years they have treated their vines with fo little care, 
 that the wine is quite fallen in the public efleem ; they 
 make pottery-ware of a red colour, like that of the antique 
 cups, but they fail in the art of tempering the clay, nor can 
 they attain the fame degree of lightnefs and tranfparency. 
 After riding through a fine tract of orchards 3 I came in fight
 
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 T A R A N T O. 22? 
 
 of the Mare Piccolo, or Little Sea, beyond which rifes the 
 city of Taranto : the banks that inclofe the bay are fo gently 
 floped off as to create no very ftriking effect ; there is a 
 Umenefs in the profpecl: not unlike the infipidity of the arti- 
 ficial lakes and elegant fwells in our fafhionable gardens in 
 England, totally different from the bold beauties of Italian 
 landfcape. The country leading down to its verge is wild 
 but agreeable ; a fhallow foil and mofly turf, covered in 
 many places with tufts of aromatic fhrubs, and clumps of 
 Carob trees that appear to be indigenous. Through this 
 heath runs the Cervaro, a fmall brook of whitifh water, that 
 falls into the bay at the north-eafi: corner, believed by fome 
 authors to be the Galefus, becaufe it correfponds with the 
 diftance of five miles from Taranto affigned by Polybius : 
 an additional proof might be alleged in the epithet white, 
 given to the Galefus by Martial, as agreeing with the pre- 
 fent ftate of the rivulet, the waters of which are ftrongly 
 tinged with the chalky or marly particles of the foil it runs 
 over ; this foapy quality may be fuppofed to have rendered 
 them peculiarly efficacious in purifying- and bleaching the 
 fleeces that were warned in them. When Virgil applied 
 the diftinctive term Niger* to this ftream, he is thought to 
 have alluded to the thick pine groves that then fhaded its 
 banks. Propertius, by the following lines addrefkd to the 
 Mantuan bard, 
 
 * Some commentators read Piger^
 
 j 2 8 T A R A N T O. 
 
 Tu craii? umbfofi fubter pineta Galefi 
 Thyrfin et attritis Daphnin arundinibus *. 
 
 feems to infinuate, that Virgil compofed his Eclogues at Ta- 
 rentum, or in fome neighbouring villa; perhaps the fame, 
 where he fays, he took leffons of agriculture from Cprycius 
 the Illyrian pirate, tranfported by Pompey to thefe vallies. 
 
 Namque fub Oebalia: memini me turribus altis, 
 Qua. niger hume&at flaventia culta Galefus 
 Corycium vidifle fenem *j". 
 
 Whilft I was combining the foregoing circumftances in my 
 mind, and endeavouring to fatisfy myfelf that I was then 
 actually {landing on the banks of fo celebrated a river, an 
 aged fhepherd came up with his flock, and freely entered 
 into converfation ; I was glad of an opportunity of learning 
 fome particulars concerning the Tarentine fheep, and the 
 commonly received opinion that no white ones would now 
 live in thefe paflures, becaufe they foon would poifon them- 
 felves with the leaves of the fumolo (a fpecies of hypericum 
 crifpum, or St. John's wort of Linnzeus's polyadelphia polyan- 
 dria), though black fheep may brovvze upon it with fafety; 
 for this reafon, it is faid, no white fheep are to be feen in the 
 flecks, and no wool but of a black or dark brown colour. 
 
 * Thou fingeft, under the pine-groves of fhady Galefus, the loves of Thyrfis 
 an.i Daphnis en thy fmooth reeds. 
 
 ■f For I remember to have feen the aged Corycius near the lofty towers of 
 balia, where dark Galefus waters the yellow fields. 
 
 2 The
 
 T A R A N T O. 22? 
 
 The old man fmiled at my queMions, and pointing to many 
 white ewes in his flock, anfwered, that it was not in confe- 
 quence of its colour, but of its fpecies, that the animal fuf- 
 fered from thole noxious herbs ; the pecore gcntili, or delicate 
 race of fheep, are fo much more liable to periih by thefe 
 and other accidents, than the pecore mofcie> or carfi.gnc-> a 
 wilder and coarfer breed, that the former kind is alrrroft 
 deftroyed. 
 
 To explain this matter fatisfactorily, it is neceflary I 
 fhould enlarge upon the fubjecl, and recapitulate what we 
 read of the flocks of the ancient Tarentines ; the attempts 
 made in latter times to revive the credit of the Puglian wool, 
 with the caufes which have defeated the intention, and ren- 
 dered the fcheme abortive. Columella informs us, that the 
 Tarentines crofTed their delicate breed with fierce foreign 
 rams of a beautiful tawny colour, and that the fleece of 
 their lambs had the ftrong glofiy hue of the fire, with the 
 downy filknefs of the dam. To increafe this luftre and 
 foftnefs, they ufed to buckle round the fheep a fort of 
 leathern coat, which they took off occafionally, left the bead 
 mould fuffer from exceflive heat; then bathed and foaked 
 the wool in wine and oil, till it was quite faturated with 
 the rich fomentation. Before (hearing time, the fheep were 
 wafhed in the Galefus, and at all feafons penned up in clean 
 folds, and kept free from filth ; they were never led out to 
 feed till the fun had dried up the dew, as the fpirting of the 
 drops from the grafs was apt to give them fore eyes, This* 
 
 procefs*
 
 2 3 T A R A N T O. 
 
 procefs, and the filence of the ancients concerning any par- 
 ticular whitenefs in the wool of Tarentum, prove how much 
 Sannazar, and other moderns, have confounded times and 
 ideas, in praifing it merely for its milky hue. The darknefs 
 of colour was by no means a hindrance to the imbibition of a 
 deep purple dye, which was the tint moft efteemed by the 
 Tarentines. 
 
 After the fall of Rome, a long train of wars and devalua- 
 tion deprived this country of all its acquired advantages, and 
 even operated fo direfully upon its climate and productions, 
 as to vitiate thofe it held of the bounty of nature. When 
 the manufacturers as well as manufactures were destroyed, 
 the prime commodities of courfe loft their value, and it 
 ceafed to be worth the fhepherd's while, even had the nicer 
 arts of his calling been handed down to him, to take any 
 pains in preferving a purity of blood, or delicacy of covering 
 in his breed of fheep ; thofe perfections had no longer any 
 admirers or chapmen, and confequently the race very foon 
 degenerated. 
 
 Frederick of Suabia took fome fteps towards retrieving 
 this branch of traffic; but the misfortunes of his family ren- 
 dered all thofe projects vifionary. The introduction of 
 filkworms from the Eaft by King Roger, proved a fatal 
 check to the demand for fine wool, and the heavy load of 
 taxes impofed upon this commodity by the Angevine Pni;_s, 
 after they had loft Sicily, completed the deftruction of the 
 finer breed. On account of their tender conftitution, they 
 
 required
 
 T A R A N T O. 231 
 
 required expenfive houfing and conftant attendance to make 
 them turn to profit, and therefore the Puglian {hepherds, 
 being from indigence unable to procure fuch conveniences, 
 abandoned the delicate race, and attached themfelves to a 
 rougher variety, which are generally black or brown, hardy, 
 and able to feed with impunity on many plants and fpecies of 
 grafs that blind and weaken, if not poifon, the Pecore gentili. 
 
 The breed was fo debafed in the fifteenth century, and 
 the farmers reduced to fuch mifery, that Joan the Second 
 chofe rather to remit the taxes laid upon wool by her bro- 
 ther, than attempt any method of amelioration, for which 
 fhe wanted both fkill and fteadinefs. 
 
 Alphonfus the Firft, who had greater views, and was bleit, 
 with more peace and leifure than his predeceflbr, refolved to 
 procure for his Neapolitan dominions fome of the fubftantial 
 advantages which his kingdom of Aragon had experienced 
 from an improved breed of (beep, fent as a prefent to one of his 
 anceftors from a King of England. To obtain this end, he 
 caufed a proper number of ewes and rams, the progeny of 
 thofe Englim fheep, to be tranfported into Puglia. Ferdi- 
 nand the Firft, ambitious of fupporting his father's {yftem, 
 encouraged the woollen manufacture, by inviting workmen 
 from all foreign parts where that trade flourifhed: but the 
 duties impofed by thefe two Kings produced ultimately very 
 pernicious effects, for they lay heavy upon the poorer clafs 
 of farmers, and the fale of wool was not fufficient to indem- 
 nify them for loffes fuftained by bad years and accidents. 
 
 H h The
 
 232 
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 The oppreflions of needy and ignorant Viceroys^ who were 
 obliged to anticipate and mortgage every revenue to fupply 
 the continual demands of the Spanifh miniflry, increafcd 
 the evil to fuch a height, that at laft the white breed was 
 entirely forfaken, and at this day the number of Pecore 
 gentili is extremely inconfiderable within the diftrict of Ta- 
 ranto. Very little nicety is now obferved in the choice of 
 rams, or in proper crofTes, by which means the wool is not 
 io fine as it might be, though it be ftill of a good quality. 
 Better management and employment of the raw materials at 
 home, might create an inexhauftible fund of wealth for the 
 flate. The flefh of the Pecore gentili is more flabby, 
 ftringy, taftelefs, and therefore cheaper than that of the 
 Mofcia ; and there is a penalty upon any butcher that mail 
 pafs off the mutton of the former for that of the latter. 
 
 SECTION XXX. 
 
 QOON after I left the fhepherd, I palled near fome rub- 
 bifh which antiquaries call a remnant of the wall of the 
 Tapygians. Jt was forty miles long, and erecled by that 
 ancient people from fea to fea, in order to divide their terri- 
 tories from thofe of the Meflapians. I next reached a delicious 
 
 vale, called Le Citrezze *, where a ftream rifes in a bafon 
 
 about 
 
 * The Tarentines call this the Galefus; D'Anville and Zannoni give that 
 name to a river that dilcharges itfelf into the Mare Grand. The fpring of" 
 
 the
 
 T A R A N T O. 23.3 
 
 ■about three hundred yards from the fea. The waters orca- 
 flon a perpetual verdure in the meadows, and groves of aged 
 olive trees defend them from the fcorching ray, and from all 
 winds but the foft zephyrs that play upon the furface of the 
 Mare Piccolo. I alighted to enjoy the charms of this fvveet 
 fequeftered fpot, and while my eyes ranged over the beautiful 
 landfcape, fufTered my imagination to wander into a chain 
 of melancholy reflections on the general viciflitudes in the 
 fate of empires, and on the deftiny of Taranto in particular. 
 All was then ft ill in that port, where the trading veflels of 
 half the world rendezvoufed. One fingle fifhinp- boat 
 difturbed the bofom of thofe waters, where the mighty navy 
 of Carthage once difplayed its flag. Of all the temples, 
 gymnafia, theatres, and other monuments of glory and 
 opulence, not fo much as a fingle column rifes upon the hill 
 where Tarentum once flood : the paultry building of fome 
 mean convents, inhabited by the moft infignificant of friars, 
 mark its ancient fituation ; while the modern city, crowded 
 into a narrow ifland, holds the place of the old citadel, and 
 flill refembles a fortrefs more than an emporium of trade. 
 But in defpite of this change in its fortunes, the appearance 
 of Taranto is replete with wonderful beauties. At my feet, 
 
 the Citrezze is deep, and therefore anfwers Virgil's epithet of black. The 
 very little extent of its courfe correfponds with the ancient opinion of it's beino 
 the fborteft of all rivers ; but flill I cannot underftand how fo trifling a rill 
 could be deemed a river, and be called Eurotas by the Parthen ; i from its re 
 femblance to the river of Lacedemon j or how numerous flocks could wander 
 en its banks, and be wafhed in its waters. 
 
 H h 2 the
 
 234 T A R A N T O. 
 
 the Mare Piccolo rolled its gentle waves, ftretching from eaft 
 to weft, in the fhape of an oval lake, divided into two unequal 
 bays by a narrow promontory; olive woods clothe the fore- 
 ground on both fides, and the oppofite hills appear rich in 
 orchards and corn fields. Over the city, the Mare Grande, 
 or outer port, fome fhips at anchor, iflands, capes; and be- 
 hind, all the blue mountains of Bafilicata complete the 
 proipecl. A long bridge of feven arches joins the city to 
 the continent on the north fide; through them the tide 
 flows with great impetuofity, and nothing now but fmall 
 boats can be admitted by this paflage, which was formerly 
 the entrance of the harbour. But even in the time of the 
 Romans, I think it evident from what Appian fays, that 
 there were drawbridges, by which the garrifon of^the citadel 
 preferved a command over the vefTels in port. Had the 
 mouth been quite free, the Tarentine fleet in the fecond 
 Punic war could not have been fo completely blocked up, 
 as to render all attempts to break through utterly fruitlefs. 
 At each arch is fixed a frame for hanging nets to intercept 
 fifti as they run up into the little fea with the flow, or fall 
 back with the ebb; and upon this bridge is carried the 
 aqueduct that fupplies the town with water. 
 
 Tolita King of the Goths is faid to have been the firft 
 that erected an aquedud on this north fide; others attribute 
 it to the Emperor Nicephorus. It was built in the prefent 
 form and direction in 1543. The fources lie twelve miles 
 diftant from Taranto in the mountains of Martina, where 
 
 many
 
 T A R A N T O. 335 
 
 many grooves and cuts in the heart of the rock collecl: the 
 ftraggling rills and filiations, and bring them together at a 
 fpot called Valdenza ; from thence the waters run to Triglio, 
 where they fall into immenfe refervoirs, and then pafs under 
 ground to the deep citterns at Tremiti. At La Follia they 
 rife to-day, and keep an open courfe for feven miles, till 
 they enter an arcade of two hundred and three arches in 
 very bad repair, overgrown with ivy, and oozing at every 
 joint ; the water is conveyed through hollow (tones, each of 
 which has a fpout that fits into the next. 
 
 The fhape of Taranto has been likened to that of a fhip , 
 of which the caftle at the eaft end reprefents the ftern, the 
 great church the mall, the tower of Raymund Orfini the 
 bowfprit, and the bridge the cable. It ftands upon the fite 
 of the ancient fortrefs, but I believe occupies rather more 
 room : — it was formerly joined to the continent by a nar- 
 row neck of fand, which occasioned William of Puglia to 
 fay, That Tarentum would be an iiland, but for a fmall 
 riling ground. 
 
 Infula mox fieret modicus ni collis adeflet.. 
 
 Ferdinand the Firft being apprehenfive of an attack from 
 the Turks, ordered the iflhmus to be cut through, and the 
 fea to be let in. Fhilip the Second caufed the pafiage to be 
 widened and deepened fo as to admit vefTels ; but it was after- 
 wards choked up with fand and filth, and, by the fiagnation. 
 of its waters, became a great nuifance. The air of Ta- 
 ranto
 
 2 3 6 T A R A N T O. 
 
 ranto was grievoufly affected by it till 1755, when it was 
 again cleared out by the King's directions. The ftreets are 
 remarkably dirty and narrow, efpecially the Marina, which 
 runs along the Mare Piccolo, and is, without difpute, the 
 moft difguftful habitation of human beings in Europe, ex- 
 cept, perhaps, the Jewifh Ghetto at Rome. The only 
 tolerable ftreet is a terrace above the fteep rocks that hang 
 over the Mare Grande, and prevent all accefs on that 
 quarter. The cathedral, dedicated to Saint Cataldus, whom 
 the Legend calls a native of Raphoe in ireland, has little 
 merit: it is a melancholy confederation, that the chapel of 
 the patron has been decorated at the ex pence of almoft 
 every monument of the ancient city. The granite columns, 
 taken from its ruinated fanes, are aukwardly crowded under 
 the ill-proportioned roof of this church. The fquare near 
 the bridge is the only opening of any extent, and the general 
 refort of the citizens in fummer, when they lit round the 
 fountain to enjoy the foft evening breeze, and refrefh them- 
 felves with the fanning of the balmy air. But modern Ta- 
 ranto cannot boaft of that degree of falubrity at all feafons, 
 which rendered the ancient city the delight of voluptuaries 
 and valetudinarians. A failure of cultivation, and of atten- 
 tion towards keeping the parTages for water free, caufes fome 
 degree of malignity in its climate during the hot months; 
 but there is great reafon to hope theie inconveniencies will 
 be removed by the patriotic and judicious endeavours of 
 the prefent Archbifhop Monfignor Jofeph Capecelatro, who 
 
 has
 
 T A R A N T. O. S37 
 
 has abandoned the road that leads to the purple, and other 
 objects of ecclefiaftical ambition, in order to devote his life 
 and talents to the welfare of his flock, and the improvement 
 of his native country. 
 
 I was lodged at the Celeftine convent, a neat houfe, built 
 upon the ruins of a temple. The Prior received me with 
 great politenefs, and at fupper treated me with the moft 
 varied fervice of fhell-fifti 1 ever fat down to. There were 
 no lefs than fifteen forts, all extremely fat and favoury ; 
 efpecially a fmall fpecies of mufcle, the fhell of which is 
 covered with a velvet fliag, and both infide and outfide is 
 tinged with the richeft violet colour. I tafted of all, and 
 ate plentifully of feveral forts, without experiencing the leaft 
 difficulty in the digeftion. 
 
 SECTION xxxr. 
 
 *HpHE day no fooner appeared than my impatience hur- 
 ried me out of the Porta di Lecce to examine the 
 ruins of Tarentum, a city fo often the fubjecT: of my mofc 
 favourite reading, and fo truly interefting by its glory and 
 misfortunes. Not to leave any part unobferved for want 
 of method, I directed my fttps along the fhore of the Mare 
 Grande, which gradually draws off to the fouth, towards 
 Cape San Vito. The flight remains of an amphitheatre did 
 not detain me long, as the opus retkulatum proved it to be 
 
 Roman
 
 2 *8 T A R A N T O. 
 
 -.-> 
 
 Roman work ; and at that moment my enthufiafm was all 
 directed towards monuments raifed by the Tarentines, while 
 they were a free Grecian ftate, not thofe they erected in 
 fervile compliance with the fanguinary tafte of their con- 
 querors. In vain did I run over fields and gardens, and 
 examine with nice attention every ftone that had any thing 
 of the venerable appearance of antique workmanfhip ; to 
 my utter aftonimment not a (ingle ruin occurred, fcarce a 
 mark was left that fuch a city ever exifted on the fpot ! 
 Never was a place more completely fwept off the face of 
 the earth than Tarentum. Its fplendid annals need be as 
 well authenticated as they are by hiftorians, who had ocular 
 or at leaft circumftantial evidence of its exiftence, for us to 
 believe that a rival of Rome once raifed her proud towers, 
 and arrayed her numerous armies, along thefe now lone- 
 fome hills. About two miles and a half from the gate, I 
 difcovered veftiges of aquedufts, and had fome reafon to 
 think I had found the point where the city- wall made a 
 returning angle, and crofled the ifthmus in a north-weft 
 direction, in order to join the Mare Piccolo, leaving an 
 inclofure within, of the form of an equilateral triangle. 
 But, as even ruins were wanting to aflift me in my fearch, 
 it was impoffible for me to determine the extent with any 
 degree of certainty. The hints given in the writings of 
 ancient hiftorians are too vague to lead us with any preci- 
 fion to the true topography of the place. 
 
 4 
 
 Ire-
 
 T A R A N T O. 239 
 
 I returned to town by the banks of the Mare Piccolo, a 
 pleafant walk, and mod delightful view. 
 
 Near the Alcanterine convent is a fmall hillock, wholly 
 formed of the fhells of fifh employed by the ancients in the 
 compofition of their celebrated purple dye; and not far 
 from it are the remains of fome refervoirs and conduits 
 appertaining to the works. My readers may not be forry 
 to meet with a defcription of the teftaceous fifties that 
 furnifhed the precious ingredient, and of the methods ufed 
 in extracting and preparing it, taken from the accounts 
 extant in the claffic authors, and the differtation of modern 
 naturalifts. 
 
 Purple was procured from two forts of mell-fifh, the 
 Murex and the Purpura, both belonging to the Teftacea, or 
 third genus of Linnseus's fixth clafs. 
 
 From the former a dark blue colour was obtained ; the 
 latter gave a brighter tint, approaching to fcarlet. The 
 body of the animals that inhabit thefe fhells, confifts of 
 three parts. The loweft, containing the bowels, remains 
 fixed in the twirled fcrew at the bottom, for the purpofe of 
 performing the digeftive functions : it is flefhy, and tinged 
 with the colour of its food. The middle divifion is of a 
 callous fubftance, and full of liqi or, which, if let out of its 
 bag, will ftain the whole animal and its habitation. The 
 third and upper part is made up of the members neceflary 
 for procuring food, and perpetuating the race. The Murex 
 generally remains fattened to rocks and ftones. The Pur- 
 
 I i pura,
 
 240 T A R A N T 0. 
 
 pura, being a fifh of prey, is by nature a rover, and one of 
 the moil voracious inhabitants of the deep. The proper 
 feafon for dragging for this fhell-rifh, was in autumn and 
 winter. To come at the liquor, the fhell was broken with 
 one fmart blow, and the pouch extracted, with the greateft 
 nicety, by means of a hook. If the fhells were of a fmall 
 iize, they were thrown by heaps into a mill, and pounded. 
 The veins being laid in a ciftern, fait was ftrewed over 
 them, to caufe them to purge and keep fweet, in the pro- 
 portion of twenty ounces of fait to a hundred pounds of 
 fifh. They were thus macerated for three days ; after 
 which the mucilage was drawn off into a leaden cauldron, in 
 order that the colours, by being heated therein, might acquire 
 additional luftre and vivacity, as all marine acids do by a 
 mixture with that metal. To keep the veffel from melting, 
 eighteen pounds of water were added to a hundred and fifty 
 pounds of purple, and the heat given horizontally to the 
 kettle, by means of a flue brought from a furnace. By this 
 procefs, the flefhy particles were carried off, and the liquor 
 left pure, after about ten days fettling. 
 
 The dye was tried by dipping locks of w T ool in it, till 
 they had imbibed a dark blue colour. As the colour of the 
 Murex would not ftand alone, the dyers always mixed a 
 proportion of Purpura juice with it. They fteeped the wool 
 for five hours ; then (hook, dried, and carded it ; dipped it 
 again and again, till it was faturated with the dye. The 
 proportion requifite for ftaining fifty pounds of wool with 
 
 the
 
 T A R A N T O, 2 4 t 
 
 the fineft deep amethyft colour, were twenty pounds of 
 Murex to a hundred and ten of Purpura. To produce the 
 Tyrian purple, which refembled the colour of congealed 
 blood, it was neceiYary firft to fteep the wool in pure un- 
 boiled Purpura juice, and then let it lie and fimmer with 
 that of the Murex. By different mixtures of thofe two 
 dyes, varieties were obtained, according to the changes of 
 fafhion, which ran into violet till the reign of Auguftus, 
 when it inclined to the Tarentine fcarlet; and this foon 
 after made way for the Diabafa Tyria, the mod extrava- 
 gantly dear of all the tints. We read of fleeces being dyed 
 upon the backs of the fheep ; but remain in the dark as to 
 the method and advantages of that procefs. 
 
 The Greeks, who were never at a lofs for an ingenious 
 fable to cover their ignorance of origins and caufes, attri- 
 buted the difcovery of purple to the dog of Hercules, 
 which, in a range along the more, met with a fhell-fim, 
 and greedily crufhed it between its teeth. Inftantly an 
 indelible purple ftained its muzzle, and by this accident 
 fuggefted the hrft idea of dying cloth. The art was moft 
 undoubtedly practifed in times of very remote antiquity. 
 Mofes and Homer mention compound colours ; the wife of 
 Alcinous is defcribed as fpinning wool tinged with marine 
 purple. 
 
 Below the ruins of thefe refervoirs, the more is thickly 
 ftrewed with fragments of Etrufcan vafes, fimilar in colour 
 and defign to thofe depofited in the cabinets of the" curious. 
 
 I i 2 Clofe
 
 24 2 
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 Clofe by this place, the beach is covered with bits of plain 
 red ones. A little nearer the city is the Argentaria, a bank 
 fo called from a tradition of the gold and filver fmiths 
 having had their (hops there. It flili deferves the name, 
 from a number of medals, rings, chains, and other trinkets, 
 that are constantly dug out of it. 
 
 SECTION XXXII. 
 
 T DEVOTED the afternoon to a water party, taking 
 with me one of the oldeft and moft intelligent of the 
 Tarentine fimermen, to fhew me the fiming and fpawning 
 places, and explain the different feafons and methods of 
 catching fifh. We took boat, and rowed up the fouthern 
 fhore of the Mare Piccolo, with an intention of meafuring 
 the whole circumference, which Strabo fixes at one hundred 
 ftadia, or twelve Engliiri miles and a half. According to 
 my calculation, the circuit of the weftern part is not more 
 than half as great as that of the eaftern one ; and both to- 
 gether, by a rough eitimate, are about fixteen miles. This 
 increafe may be accounted for by the destruction of all the 
 parapets and walls of the old city, the wearing away of the 
 banks, and overflowing of the low grounds. A tide is very 
 perceptible, efpecially when the moon changes, and ftill 
 more fo at the folftices and equinoxes ; but very feeble in 
 comparifon of the tides in the ocean; however, it ferves to 
 2 Jkeep
 
 T A R A N T (X 245 
 
 keep the waters of this land-locked bay Tweet, and to bring 
 in caravans of fim, that fatten and breed in its quiet pools. 
 When the Scirocco blows hard, the waves are driven up 
 with great violence, and navigation becomes perilous for 
 lmall veffels. 
 
 The firft objects of my curiofity were the beds of Cozze- 
 nere, or mufcles, the greater! and moft conftant fupply of 
 the market. Their fpawn is dropt in the mud. About 
 the twenty-firft of March, little mufcles begin to rife up, and 
 cling to long flakes driven by the fifliermen into the water 
 under the city wall, and in the caftle ditch. There they 
 thrive and grow in frill water, while the warnings of the 
 ftreets fupply them with rich and copious nutriment. In 
 Auguft they are as big as almonds, and are then drawn up 
 with the poles, and fown on the oppoilte fide of the Mare 
 Piccolo, among the frefh-water fprings. 
 
 About the middle of October they are again dragged up,, 
 feparated, and fcattered over a larger fpace. In fpring, they 
 are brought to market, long before they arrive at their full 
 growth. This hafte proceeds from the avidity of the officers 
 of the revenue, who receive a duty of four carlini a cantaro 
 for them, whether old or young. 
 
 When a long continuance of heavy rains fwells the little 
 ftreams that difcha-rge themfelves into this gulf, the waters 
 become muddy, and thefe iifh are then obferved to grow 
 diflempered, rotten, and unwholefome. The caufe of this- 
 xnalady lies in the noxious fragments of animals, putrid 
 
 vegetables,.
 
 2-14 
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 vegetables, oily, bituminous, 'and fulphureous particles, 
 warned from the earth by the mowers. They cut the 
 tender fibres or fingers which the fifh ftretches out, miftak- 
 in<r them for wholefome food. The wounded parts fetter, 
 and poifon the whole body. It is an obfervation made here, 
 and confirmed by long experience, that all the teftaceous 
 tribe is fuller, fatter, and more delicate, during the new and 
 full moon, than in the firft and laft quarters. The differ- 
 ence is accounted for by the tides and currents, which fet 
 in ftronger in the new and full moon, and bring with them 
 laro-e quantities of bruifed fifhes, infects, fruits, . and other 
 fattening nurture. I was allured that nothing caufes fifh to 
 fpoil fooner than leaving them expofed to the beams of the 
 moon ; and that all prudent fifhermen, when out by night, 
 cover what they catch with an awning. If they meet with 
 any dead fifh on the ftrand, or in the market, they can 
 always difcern, by its colour and flabbinefs, if it be alhmato^ 
 moon-ftruck ; and, except in cafes of great neceflity, abftain 
 from it as unwholefome. Not having an opportunity of 
 verifying this affertion, I give it as doubtful ; for I know 
 the Italians are apt to attribute to the baneful influence of 
 the moon many ftrange effects, which philofophers of other 
 nations do not afcribe to it. No Italian will lie down to 
 fleep, where moonfhine can reach him. 
 
 The Cozze Pelofe, or velvet mufcle, is firft dragged for in 
 
 the Great Sea, and then fcattered to breed on Sciaie, or heaps 
 
 4 of
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 of -Hones funk by the fifliermen at every head-land of the 
 Mare Piccolo. 
 
 Under the Piano, or eaftern fhore, are the oyfter-beds : 
 no coaft affords a more exquiflte fort. In winter, large 
 hampers of them are fent over land to Naples. The feafon 
 is confined by law to a term between the 25th of November 
 and Eafter Sunday. 
 
 Brundufium was the great fupplier of oyfters for the 
 Roman tables. From that port, the fpawn was carried to 
 flock their public refer voirs at the Lucrene Lake, near Baije^ 
 and no mention is made by the ancients of the excellence of 
 any Tarentine mell-fim except the fcallop*. It is therefore 
 not unlikely that oyfter fpawn has been brought to Taranto 
 from Brindifi, and better preferved than at the original bed, 
 where the obftruclions in the mouth of the harbour have 
 ruined all the fimeries f .. 
 
 The 
 
 * Pectinibus patulis ja&at fe molle Tarentum. Hor. Sat. 
 
 f I received from my friend, F. Ant. Minafi, the following Lift of 
 Shell-fifh found in the Tarentine waters. He drew it up according to the 
 Linnasan fyftem from a large aflbrtment of fpecimens, which he was commif- 
 fioned to clafs, before they were prefented by the Archbifhop of Taranto to the 
 Infant Don Gabriel. Had my learned correfpondent had an opportunity of 
 vifuing thole leas, it is more than probable that his piercing and experienced- 
 eye would have dilcovered other fpecies, if not genera, of fifties. 
 
 1. Chiton fquamofus et cinereus 7. Solen enfis 
 
 2. Lepas balanus 8. Solen legumen 
 
 3. Lepas anatifera 9. Solen ftrigilatus 
 
 4. Lepas teftudinaria — altera radiis 10. Tellina anomala 
 
 6, et altera 5. 11. Tellina carnaria 
 
 5. Pholas dactylus cum cardine re- 12. Tellina roftrau 
 
 curvato connexoque cartilagine 13. Tellina Punicea 
 
 6. Mya pictorum 14. Tellina fragilis 
 
 j 5. Tellina 
 
 245
 
 24$ 
 
 R 
 
 N 
 
 O. 
 
 The papyraceous Nautilus is fometimes, but very rarely, 
 feen fpreading the wonderful mechanifm of its fail and oars 
 
 15- 
 
 Tellina planata 
 
 ss- 
 
 Bulla aperta 
 
 16. 
 
 Cardium aculeatum 
 
 56. 
 
 Bulla Naucus 
 
 i7- 
 
 Cardium edule 
 
 57- 
 
 Bulla hydatis 
 
 18. 
 
 Cardium rufticum 
 
 58. 
 
 Voluta cancellata 
 
 19. 
 
 Maftra ftriatula 
 
 59- 
 
 Voluta glabella 
 
 20. 
 
 Donax trunculus 
 
 60. 
 
 Buccinum echinophorum 
 
 21. 
 
 Venus \stn 
 
 61. 
 
 Strombus pes pellicani 
 
 22. 
 
 Venus Paphia 
 
 62. 
 
 Strombus lentiginofus 
 
 2 3- 
 
 Venus callypige 
 
 63. 
 
 Murex faxatilis 
 
 24. 
 
 Venus deflorata 
 
 64. 
 
 Murex reticularis 
 
 25. 
 
 Spondylus Gsederopus 
 
 «5- 
 
 Murex coftatus 
 
 26. 
 
 Chama antiquata 
 
 66. 
 
 Murex cutaceus 
 
 27. 
 
 Area Nose 
 
 67. 
 
 Murex pufio 
 
 28. 
 
 Area barbata 
 
 68. 
 
 Murex cornutus 
 
 29. 
 
 Anomia ephiffium 
 
 69. 
 
 Murex erinaceus 
 
 SO- 
 
 Mytilus edulis 
 
 70. 
 
 Murex pileare 
 
 3 1 - 
 
 Pinna nobilis 
 
 7'- 
 
 Murex triqueter 
 
 3*- 
 
 Argonauta Argo 
 
 72. 
 
 Murex fulcatus 
 
 33- 
 
 Buccinum galea 
 
 73- 
 
 Trochus teffulatus 
 
 34- 
 
 Buccinum maculatum 
 
 74- 
 
 Trochus umbilicaris 
 
 35- 
 
 Buccinum Tritonis 
 
 75- 
 
 Turbo cochlus 
 
 36. 
 
 Echinus Cidaris 
 
 76. 
 
 Turbo pullus 
 
 37- 
 
 Echinus efculentus 
 
 77- 
 
 Turbo nod->lofus 
 
 38- 
 
 Echinus faxatilis 
 
 78. 
 
 Helix picta 
 
 39- 
 
 Echinus mamillaris 
 
 79- 
 
 Neiita littoralis 
 
 40. 
 
 Echinus placenta 
 
 80. 
 
 Ncr ta c*nr£ena 
 
 41. 
 
 Serpula anguina 
 
 81. 
 
 INerita rufa 
 
 42. 
 
 Oftrea edulis 
 
 82. 
 
 Hali'uis Midas 
 
 43- 
 
 Oftrea Jacobea 
 
 H* 
 
 Patella finuata 
 
 44- 
 
 Oftrea bullata 
 
 84. 
 
 Pateila lutea 
 
 45- 
 
 Oftrea pufio 
 
 85. 
 
 Patella ruftica 
 
 46. 
 
 Oftrea fanguinea 
 
 86. 
 
 Patella fufca 
 
 47- 
 
 Oftrea varia 
 
 87. 
 
 Patella puftula 
 
 48. 
 
 Oftrea lima 
 
 88. 
 
 Patella Gra?ca 
 
 49. 
 
 Oftrea radula 
 
 89. 
 
 Dentalium dentalis 
 
 50. 
 
 Cyprea talpa 
 
 9c 
 
 Dentalium corneum 
 
 5>- 
 
 Cyprea lurida 
 
 91. 
 
 Serpula arenaria 
 
 52. 
 
 Cyprea caput ferpentis 
 
 92. 
 
 Serpula vermicularis 
 
 53- 
 
 Cyprea pediculus 
 
 93* 
 
 Serpula contortuplicata. 
 
 54' 
 
 Conus monachus 
 
 
 
 in
 
 T A R A N T O. 217 
 
 m the fmooth bays of the Mare Grande; and fometimes 
 fifhermen furprife trumpet-fhells of a prodigious bulk 
 afleep, floating on the furface of the water in a fultry day. 
 
 Very fine branchy coral is found along the coaft eaft of 
 the city. The places are kept a profound fecret. Marks 
 are fet up on land, by which the Tarentines fleer their 
 courfe, and fink their hooks and crofs-beams exactly in the 
 middle of a coral bed, while ftrangers muft row about the 
 whole day dragging, without a guide, or certainty of bring- 
 ing up a fingle twig. There was, a few years ago, fuch 
 abundance of coral near thefe fhores, that a boat's crew 
 was once known to draw up in one day as much as fold for 
 five hundred ducats (93/. 15 s.). Large pieces may be had 
 for about five ducats per rotolo, which at Taranto contains 
 only thirteen ounces. 
 
 Under Cape St. Vito, once famous for an abbey of Bafi- 
 lian monks, and in moft parts of the Mare Grande, the 
 rocks are ftudded with the Pinna Marina. This bivalved 
 fhell of the mufcle tribe frequently exceeds two feet in 
 length. It fattens itfelf to the (tones by its hinge, and 
 throws out a large tuft of filky threads, which float and 
 play about to allure fmall fifli : amidff. thefe filaments is ge- 
 nerally found, befides other infects, a fmall fhrimp, called 
 by the ancients, Cancer Pinnotheres, by the modern Ta- 
 rentines, Caurella. This little cruftaceous animal was ima- 
 gined to be generated with the Pinna, and appointed by- 
 nature to act as a watchman, in apprizing it of the approach 
 
 K k cf
 
 248 T A R A N T O. 
 
 of prey or enemies ; and that, upon the leaft alarm, this 
 guard flipt down into the fhell, which was inftantly clofed: 
 but more accurate obfervers have difcovered, that the poor 
 fhrimp is no more than a prey itfelf, and by no means a 
 centinel for the mufcle, which in its turn frequently falls a 
 victim to the wiles of the Polypus Octopedia. In very calm 
 weather, this rapacious pirate may be feen ftealing towards 
 the yawning fhells with a pebble in his claws, which he 
 darts fo dexteroufly into the aperture, that the Pinna cannot 
 fhut itfelf up clofe enough to pinch off the feelers of its 
 antagonifr, or faveits flefh from his ravenous tooth. The Pinna 
 is torn off the rocks with hooks, and broken for the fake of its 
 bunch of filk called Lanapenna, which is fold, in its rude flate, 
 for about fifteen carlini a pound, to women that warn it well 
 with foap and frefh water, When it is perfectly cleanfed of 
 all its impurities, they dry it in the made, ftraiten it with 
 a lar?e comb, cut off the ufelefs root, and card the re- 
 mainder; by which means they reduce a pound of coarfe 
 filaments to about three ounces of fine thread. This they 
 knit into ftockings, gloves, caps, and waiftcoats ; but 
 they commonly mix a little filk as a ftrengthener. This 
 web is of a beautiful yellow brown, refembling the bur- 
 nifhed sold on the back of fome flies and beetles. I was 
 told that the Lanapenna receives its glofs from being fteeped 
 in lemon juice, and being afterwards preflcd down with a 
 taylor's goofe.
 
 R 
 
 N 
 
 O. 
 
 249 
 
 SECTION XXXIII. 
 
 HpHE Teas of Taranto are as copiouily flocked with the 
 fcaly and finny tribe, as with the cruftaceous and tefta- 
 ceou- 1 . The quantity and varieties are very confiderable ; 
 but fifh caught in the lefTer Tea bears the liighcft price, as 
 furpa fling in delicacy and firmnefs that taken in the larger. 
 This is contrary to what we experience in other countries, 
 and rauft be owing to fome peculiar quality in the water 
 and fituation; for, in general, fifh found in ftill bays, and 
 near the fhore, is inferior in tafte to that which is captured 
 farther out, and in places where the currents beat it about, ' 
 and feem to keep it firm and wholefome by conftant 
 
 motion 
 
 ;;-• 
 
 The 
 
 * I do not pretend to be acquainted with every fort of fi(h brought to this 
 market, as at leaft a year's flay on the fpot would be requifite to acquire that 
 knowledge; but it may be a fatisfaction to many Readers to have a Lift of 
 trivial names, fucii as it was roughly made out to me by the fifhermen, and 
 fince compared widi fome imperfect catalogues I have had a fight of. 
 
 Tarentine Name. 
 
 Aguglia 
 tilla 
 Arciola 
 Alice 
 Abraiz 
 Cefalo 
 Caftaudielli 
 Calamais 
 Cheppia 
 Culinudi 
 Dentice 
 
 Latin Name. 
 
 Sudis 
 Anguilla 
 
 Halex 
 
 Rhombus 
 
 Mugil 
 
 Acus 
 
 Loligo 
 
 Thryfla 
 
 Engraules 
 
 Dentatus 
 
 Tarentine Name. 
 
 Fraio 
 
 Faloppje 
 
 Gugione 
 
 Goiciclo 
 
 Linguaco'.e 
 
 Lutrino 
 
 Lucerna 
 
 Murena 
 
 Minchiarelb 
 
 Mofa 
 
 K k 2 
 
 Latin Name. 
 
 Gob'o 
 
 Mormyris 
 
 Solea 
 
 Rubellio 
 
 Lucerna 
 
 Murena 
 
 Mullus 
 
 Tarentini
 
 25° 
 
 11 
 
 N 
 
 O. 
 
 The people of Taranto depend upon their fifhery for 
 fubfiftence, and pay very heavy duties to the Crown, and 
 rents to private perfons, for the right of fifhing. The 
 king receives from them annually three thoufand feven hun- 
 dred and thirty-five ducats (700/. 6s. 3d.) for rent, and 
 five thoufand four hundred and thirty ducats (10 18/. 2 s. 6d.), 
 for the exclufive privilege. They purchafe the beds for 
 fhell-fifii of monafteries and individuals, at the yearly ex- 
 pence of fix thoufand one hundred and fixty-eight ducats 
 (1160/. 1 3*.); and befides, all fifh fold to be carried out 
 of the city is fubjecr. to a toll, farmed out at five thoufand 
 fix hundred and fifteen ducats (1052/. 16s. $d.) a year. 
 An old regifter book called 11 Libro Roflb, kept with great 
 care and veneration in the cuftom-houfe, points out the 
 
 Tarentine Name. 
 
 Latin Name. 
 
 1'arentine Name. 
 
 Latin Name. 
 
 Mazzoni 
 
 Afellus 
 
 Scorfano 
 
 Scorpio 
 
 Orato 
 
 Aurata 
 
 Samagliaflro 
 
 Sargus 
 
 Occhiata 
 
 Melanurus 
 
 Seccia 
 
 Ssepia 
 
 Orva 
 
 
 Sarde 
 
 Chalcis 
 
 Polpo 
 
 Polypus 
 
 Spigola 
 
 Lupus 
 
 Palamiti 
 
 Pelamydes 
 
 Sario 
 
 Saurus 
 
 Pefce zaffiro 
 
 Scarus 
 
 Sparitielli 
 
 Sparulus 
 
 Pefce ipada 
 
 Xiphias * 
 
 Traulo 
 
 Lacerta 
 
 Ruonghi 
 
 Conger 
 
 Tonno 
 
 Thynnus f 
 
 Ricciola 
 
 Glaucus 
 
 Tremola 
 
 Torpedo 
 
 Storione 
 
 Acipenfer 
 
 Triglia 
 
 
 Spina 
 
 
 Vopa 
 
 Boops 
 
 Soliole 
 
 
 Urigoli 
 
 Chelones. 
 
 Sarpa 
 
 Pifcis virgatus 
 
 
 
 • This fifh feldom makes its appearance fo 
 
 far north. 
 
 
 f No Tunny filhery 
 
 is allowed here, left th 
 
 at boifterous fifh fhould 
 
 be driven up into the 
 
 little fea, and there diftuib and deftroy the f 
 
 mall fry. 
 
 
 
 
 
 proper
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 proper feafon for each fpecies of fifti, the method of propa- 
 gating them, the nets allowed, and the duty to be exacted. 
 The directors of the cuftoms are very alert and rigorous in 
 inforcing thefe regulations. They take care to clean the 
 {pawning places, and weed the mouths of the rivers that 
 empty their waters into the Mare Grande. They rent 
 thole ftreams of the Barons in order to complete the mono- 
 poly, and prevent any disturbance being given to the fim. at 
 improper times. 
 
 To return to my tour, which the fifh had caufed me to 
 lo r e f'ght of, we palled under the banks of the Piano, 
 where the ancients kept their wines in grottos called Diulcs. 
 The mouths of thefe excavations are now almoft clofed up 
 with rubbifh. Some perfons crept in lately, and found the 
 floor ftrewed with fragments of Amphore. During the ca- 
 nicular feafon, there ifTues in the night-time from thefe 
 caverns a moft impetuous piercing wind. 
 
 From the Piano we rowed to the mouth of the Cervaro, 
 and from thence to the promontory of Penna, which divides 
 the little fea into two unequal bays, As fomething like 
 the foundations of piers may be obfcrved under water, it 
 has been fuppofed by fome authors that a bridge formerly 
 exifted, reaching from this cape to the Pizzone in the old 
 city. It is pofTible there may have been a boom laid acrofs 
 for greater fecurity, or a palTage made for the convenience 
 of the citizens ; but it is clear from Strabo, that anciently 
 the port was fhut up with a bridge in the very place where 
 
 4 Lwe 
 
 251
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 we now fee one. He fays that the harbour is * clofed up 
 with a large bridge ; a line drawn from the Penna would 
 only fecure half of it, and no efforts of the Romans could 
 have confined the Tarentine gallies, had not the garrifon 
 of the citadel been in poffefiion of ftrong works and draw- 
 bridges at the mouth of the harbour, which effectually 
 commanded the paffage. 
 
 Not far from the Penna istheCitrello, a fpace of thirty-five 
 yards by eight, where four ftrong fprings and feveral fmall 
 ones of frefh water force their way up, and preferve their 
 fweetnefs amidfl: the brine of the waves. Shoals of fifh may 
 be feen fwimming over thefe Occhi or fountains, as it were to 
 cool and cleanfe themfelves. Thefe boilers are onlv a con- 
 tinuation of the fpring that produces the brook of the 
 Citrezze. 
 
 From hence we pafkd under the bridge, where the cur- 
 rent fets in very ftrong, and in boifterous weather the navi- 
 gation is hazardous. On the left hand, near the city wall, 
 lies the (hipping in tolerable fafety, notwithstanding the 
 great expanfe of the Mare Grande. The force of the waves 
 is broken by the iflands of Santa Pelagia and St. Andrew, the 
 (helves called Pietre Sizzoie, and the two capes which complete 
 the circle. Thofe iflands were known to the ancients by 
 the name of Elect rides or Charades; and if we may judge 
 by fome ruins dill difcernible near the water, were cer- 
 tainly inhabited. At prefent their only inhabitants are rab- 
 
 * KAtio/z^ej. 
 
 bits
 
 T A R A N T O. 253 
 
 bits that burrow in the fand, and under the bufhes, with 
 which their whole furface is overgrown. In 1594 Cicala Bafla, 
 anchored at St. Pelagia for feveral days, to the great terror of 
 all the people along the coaft. The intelligence he received 
 of the country being alarmed, and troops marching to give 
 him a warm reception, determined him to weigh anchor, 
 and fail for Turkey, without attempting to land, 
 
 I rode next morning into the country to fee how far its 
 actual fertility came up to the idea ancient authors have left 
 us of it, and returned fatisfied, that nature is ftill ready to 
 fhew the fame partiality, when called upon by the fame in- 
 duftry and arts that tend to facilitate and improve her 
 efforts. The early feafon of the year prevented my formino- 
 any judgment of the fruits of the earth. Columella, PJiny, 
 and Macrobius fpeak highly of the pears of Tarentum, and 
 praife its figs, cheftnuts, walnuts, and ambrofial almonds, 
 At prefent the moft delicate of its figs is the Neapolitan, a 
 fmall black fort that hangs on the tree till January. 
 
 The farmers take great care of their olive-trees; they 
 manure and water the roots, plough the ground about 
 them, and fovv it with corn, but never with oats ; the- 
 ftubble is cut off clofe, and fvvept away, to make room for 
 the fruit to fall, but is never fet on fire for fear of darnaainor 
 the trees ; the boughs are not beaten, but the olives gathered. 
 
 The vines, which are kept lew and upon pales, are the 
 moft healthy and vigorous I ever beheld ; the wine is car- 
 ried in {kins as in the days of paganifm, when it was a re- 
 ligious ceremony, as well as a gambol, to tumble over 
 2 the
 
 254 T A R A N T O. 
 
 the oiled leathern budget. I tailed no wine at Taranto that 
 pleafed my palate, or deferved any commendation. Ho- 
 race's Amicus Aulon, which critics have tranfported to 
 every hill within ten miles of Taranto, nay even fo far as 
 Caftelvetere in Calabria, feems to have been about fix miles 
 from the prefent town to the eaft, at a part of the coall 
 where a well -watered valley, fuli of orange and other fruit- 
 trees, is fheltered from every rude blaft by an amphitheatre 
 of low eminences, mod happily adapted to the growth of 
 the vine. 
 
 The arable lands are well cultivated, and produce wheat, 
 oats, barley, and cotton in great abundance, and of an 
 excellent found quality. The cotton manufacture employs 
 thofe poor Tarentines who are not able to follow the pro- 
 fefllon of fifhermen. The wages of a labourer in the fields 
 is a carlino a-day. The ufual method is to divide the crop 
 equally between the owner of the land and the farmer that 
 tills it ; but the extent of wafte grounds is immenfe, and 
 whatever pains may be bellowed upon corn land, nobody 
 here has an idea of doing any thing to improve paflures or 
 meadows ;— - not a feed is fovvn, weed destroyed, or barren 
 bum grubbed up. 
 
 The honey I tailed was fo good, that I may affirm no 
 degeneracy is perceptible among the modern bees of Ta- 
 ranto j and, that the poet might flill compare their produce 
 to that of the bees of Hymettus *. 
 
 * «» — Ubi non Kynnetto 
 Mella decedunt. - »
 
 R A N T O t 25; 
 
 SECTION XXXIV. 
 
 A SITUATION, bleft with fo delicious a climate, 
 and fo fine a haven, mud have attracted the early 
 notice of the Eadern navigators, who, like Columbus, 
 Drake, and Cook, of modern times, failed from home in 
 queft of new worlds and unexplored coafts. Some of them, 
 no doubt, ventured up the Adriatic, in hopes of difcovering 
 unopened fources of wealth, and commodious fettlements 
 for the colonies, which excefs of population obliged the 
 mother country to fend forth. Let us confider Taras in 
 the light of another Cortez; but, inftead of making him the 
 captain of a troop of bigoted aflaflins, let us fuppofe him 
 to have headed a fet of civilized, humane men, deilrous of 
 procuring a good eftablifhment in a ftrange country, but 
 unwilling to cement the foundations of their new ftate with 
 the blood of the natives. The wifdom and moderation of 
 the adventurers gain the affedions of the native favages, and 
 a fenfe of mutual intereft unites them both into one body. 
 The chief of the new-comers panes in time for a being of 
 godlike race, and his companions are too fenfible of the 
 utility of the deception, not to encourage the belief. All 
 leaders of maritime expeditions, and indeed all rulers of 
 nations dwelling near the fea, were, in the oriental figura- 
 
 L 1 tive
 
 ; 2i 6 T A R A N T 0. 
 
 tive language of thofe ages (vvhofe mod Ample expreflions 
 are complete riddles for us), denominated Sons of the 
 Ocean, of Neptune, or of fome other marine Deity. Vef- 
 fels of a lar^e fize bore the name of fome monfter of the 
 deep, or formidable quadruped of the earth. Europa's Bull 
 was a (hip of the firfl magnitude ; Phryxus's. Ram was one 
 of the fecond rate ', and we may prefume that the Dove, 
 fent by Jafon to furvey the paflage of the Dardanelles, was 
 a light fluff, proper for difcovery ; the Dolphin on the 
 coins of Tarentum, with the naked man fitting upon its 
 back, was perhaps ftruck in remembrance of Taras and his 
 fhip. There feems to be very little reafon for imagining 
 that Arion is reprefented by the figure with a lyre in its 
 hand. It was indeed on his paflage from hence to Lefbos 
 that he was thrown overboard, and taken up by a dolphin, 
 or a fhip of that name ; but we cannot fuppofe that the 
 Tarentines were very eager to perpetuate the memory of an 
 event that redounded fo little to their honour. 
 
 About a century before the fiege of Troy, a colony of 
 Cretans founded Uria, and obtruded themfelves upon the 
 Tarentines, who, after a long conteft, were obliged to 
 admit them into their fociety. 
 
 In the twenty-firfl Olympiad, {o powerful a body of 
 emigrants arrived under Phalanthus from Laconia, that it 
 may almoft be called a fecond foundation. This general 
 was marked, from the firft moment of his exiftence, for an 
 outcaft and an adventurer. He and all his followers were 
 7 the
 
 T A R A N T O. 257 
 
 the fpurious iflue of the Spartan women, whofe hufbands, 
 on marching againft MefTenas, had made a vow not to 
 return to their families till they had fubdued their enemies. 
 The war drawing out to a much greater length than they 
 had imagined, thefe warriors began to be apprehenfive left 
 the race of fighting citizens fhould become extinct, on the 
 failure of that generation. In order to preferve their oath 
 inviolate, and yet fave the commonwealth from difTolution, 
 they fent back all fuch as had joined the army after the 
 firft campaign, to keep the women company. The off- 
 Ipring of thefe temporary unions were called Parthenii ; 
 and, when grown up, were driven out to feek their fortunes 
 in diftant climes. Being received into Tarentum, they 
 acquired a fuperiority over the natives, new-modelled the 
 government upon an ariftocratical plan, enlarged the fortifi- 
 cations, and transformed the city into a mere copy of 
 Sparta. The very places were new-named ; and among 
 others, the Galefus took the name of Eurotas. 
 
 Moft of the nobles having perifhed in a war with the 
 Japyges, democracy was introduced. About the feventieth 
 Olympiad, the Pythagorean philofophy gained a footing at 
 Tarentum, and worked wonders in polifhing the manners, 
 opening the understanding, and enlarging the ideas of this 
 people, who were naturally difpofed to traffic, arts, and 
 fciences. The improvements of its trade was the grand 
 object that engaged the attention of its legiflators. They 
 knew full well, that to the fofrering influence of commerce, 
 
 L 1 2 as
 
 •58 T A R A N T O. 
 
 as much as to fuccefs in military exploits, Egypt", Phoenicia,, 
 and Greece owed the very tranfeendent degree of glory and 
 power which they had attained. Every nerve was therefore 
 firained to excite emulation in the citizens, to create a ma- 
 ritime force, to allure traders to the mart, and to render 
 the city a centrical point of traffic for all parts of the mer- 
 cantile world. The nature of its fituation feconded their 
 endeavours ; for no place lay more conveniently for the 
 trade of Italy, Ulyricum, Greece, Afia, and Africa, than 
 Tarentum. We mud cennder that, to moff. of the ancient 
 mariners, the Mediterranean was an ocean; Spain, a Peru; 
 Tyre, and fome other ftates on the fea-coaft, what Britain 
 and Holland have been fince, the great maritime powers ;. 
 while Egypt and Perfia were the type of the prefent formid- 
 able inland monarchies. In all the long range of fhore 
 from Rhegium to Sipontum, Tarentum was the only port 
 where vefTels fly for refuge in tempeftuous weather. Brim- 
 dufium is not fuppofed to have exifted at fo early a 
 period ; and Croton was no better than a road where fhips 
 could not venture to lie in winter. Every department of 
 the Tarentine government had an eye to commerce ; and 
 even its religious games and feafts were inftituted to encou- 
 rage barter, and attradl Grangers. In procefs of time, when 
 abufes crept into the adminiftration of affairs, and giddy 
 pleafure with unmeaning riot took the place of politic 
 amufement, it was remarked that the Tarentine calendar 
 contained more feflivals than there were days in the year* 
 
 The
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 The fame thing may be faid of modern Rome, where no 
 day pafles without bringing with it the feaft of a patron, 
 anniverfary of the confecration of a church, or removal of 
 fome relic, if not feveral the fame day, excluiive of gene- 
 ral proceflions and folemnities. The different complexion 
 of the two religions prevents the modern feafts from de- 
 generating into as much gaiety and intemperance as thofe 
 of Pagan ifm. 
 
 With their wealth, the power of the Tarentines rofc 
 above that of all the colonies of Magna Grsecia ; their land- 
 forces were eftimated at thirty-two thoufand foot and three 
 thoufand horfe*, in conftant pay; the number of citizens 
 amounted to three hundred thoufand f, and thirteen con™ 
 fiderable cities acknowledged their dominion; at fea their 
 fleets rode triumphant and unrivalled. The moft brilliant 
 epocha of their hiftory was during the government of 
 Archytas, whofe profound learning as a philosopher, and 
 fkill as a mechanician, were no clog upon his political abi- 
 lities. His virtues were of the nobleft kind, exalted to as 
 great fublimiry of excellence as the plain morality of the 
 the law of nature is capable of attaining. He is faid to have 
 invented many ufeful inftruments, and to have improved 
 upon thofe already known. He frequently led the Taren- 
 
 * The horfe and rider fo frequent on the coins of this republic allude, per- 
 haps, to the great dexterity of the 1 arentines in horfemanfhip. They went to 
 battle with two horfes to each cavalier, who, when one fell or grew fatigued, 
 -vaulted upon the other. 
 
 ■f The prefent city does not contain above eighteen thoufand fouls. 
 
 tines 
 
 259
 
 2 6o T A R A N T O. 
 
 tines to battle, and always returned crowned with frefh 
 laurels. To ftrengthen the finews of the Grecian confede- 
 racy, he appointed general alTemblies to be held at Heraclea, 
 a dependence of Tarentum, where every thing relative to 
 the common intereft might be difculTed and determined. 
 He appears to have been murdered in fome civil commotion, 
 and his body thrown into the fea. 
 
 With Archytas ended the true profperity of his country. 
 In the one hundredth Olympiad, luxury and corruption had 
 gained fuch power as to pervert all original good prin- 
 ciples, both of morals and government; to enervate the 
 minds and bodies of the citizens, and thereby to expofe the 
 republic, feeble and defencelefs, to the infults of the hardy 
 Barbarians that furrounded it. The liberal arts did not 
 flourifh the worfe for this degeneracy ; luxury and foftnefs 
 of manners are as favourable to their advancement, as a 
 rich mellow foil is to the vegetation of a beautiful flower- 
 ing plant. Though the rude conquerors of the Tarentines 
 have deprived us of the fight of their admirable per- 
 formances in painting, fculpture, and architecture, we may 
 ftill form an idea of the exquifitenefs of their tafte by their 
 
 coins*. The number of learned men born at Tarentum, 
 
 or 
 
 * Nummi Tarentorum. 
 AUR. i. Caput muliebre comptis capillis, delphines duo, TAPA2.=Puer 
 nudus equo infidens fupra volitante victoria, delphin, fydus 
 
 SA. 
 
 2. Cap. puellae cum monili E TAPANTlNflN.=Puer nudus delphi- 
 
 num inequitans excensa dextera delphinum, laeva tridentem 
 tenens TAPAE. 
 
 3. Cap.
 
 T A R A N T O. *6i- 
 
 or educated in its fchools, is a fufficient proof of the efteem 
 in which fcience and polite literature were held. Ariftoxe- 
 
 nus 
 
 3. Cap. imb. laureatum.=Aquila TAPANTIN". 
 
 4. Cap. imb. laur. delphin ZA TAPAZ,=Hercules cum leone decer- 
 
 tans, arcus KN. 
 
 5. Cap. gal. NL=Noc~t.ua apertis alis infiftens fulmini. 
 
 6. Cap. imb. pelle leonina tectum, rrjuvenis nudus delph. ineq. dex:, 
 
 extensa diotam, lasva haftam tenens TAPAZ. 
 
 7. Cap. imb. tectum pelle leonina.mBigse aurigante Neptuno dext. 
 
 habenas la?, tridentem. TAPANTINI2N. 
 
 8. Cap. Jovis barbae laur. fulmen.=Aquila alis expanfis fulm. inf,- 
 
 ante avem Pallas hafta minax TAPANTINX2N. 
 
 9. Cap. imb. laur. ff.=Aquila fulm. inf. TAPANTINX2N AE. 
 
 10. Cap. Minerva gal. TAPANTINIlN.=Vicloria in curru a duob. 
 delphinibus. trac. NIK. 
 
 ARC I. Mulier <equo inf. <M-*IAHMENOZ.=Homo delp. inf. d. tripodem.- 
 f. trid. cap. bovinum TAPAZ. 
 
 2. Eques sr-ATKINOS.=Homo delp. inf. d. trid. 1. pallium noctua 
 
 TAP AS. 
 
 3. Cap. mul. cliad. = Mulier equo inf. TA cornucopias, delphin. 
 
 4. Cap. mul. diad. — mul. equo inf. delphin. dimidium caprse TA. 
 
 5. Eques. — Homo nud. delp. inf. TAPAZ. 
 
 6. Eques.=Homo nud. del, inf. facem tenens Z. 
 
 7. Eques.=Homo delp. inf. tridentem ten. fubt. undas K. TAP. 
 
 8. Eques tripus ZAAA sn.zr Mulier colum. ten. delp. inf. TAPAZ. 
 
 9. Eques galeatus cum clypeo et hafta. = Mulier delp. inf. velata d. 
 botrum 1. colum. TAPAZ AMO. 
 
 10. Eques hominem calcans.=Homo fupra delp. genu flexonixuc- 
 clyp. ten. TAPAZ. NOS. 
 
 11. Duo equites, alter cum clava, alter cum lancea £ENO$IAA.= 
 Homo delp. inf. cum clypeo d. victoriolam, 1. duogacula LQ. 
 
 12. Concha.zr Homo delp. inf. d. facculum I. tridentem TAEAZ. 
 
 13. Cap. Palladis. -Hercules infans duos ferpentes fuftbeans. TA. 
 
 14. Cap. mul.— Hercules leonem trucidans. 
 
 15. Cap Jovis. — Delphin. 
 
 16. Eques, victoria equum ducente.=Homo delp. inf, 
 
 17. Homo delp. inf.=Equus marinus. 
 
 iS. Cap*.
 
 2$$ T A R A N T O. 
 
 nus is, I believe, the only author of whofe works even a 
 fragment has been preferved. He was a philofophical 
 writer upon mufic, for which he feems to have felt extra- 
 ordinary enthufiafm, as he afferts that the efTence of the 
 human foul is harmony. 
 
 A 
 
 SECTION XXXV. 
 
 BOUT three hundred years before Cbrift, the Taren- 
 tine republic, confcious of the effeminacy and incapa- 
 city of its own citizens, began to employ foreign general 
 and mercenary troops to fight its battles. Being hard 
 preiTed by the Lucanians, the Tarentines called to their aid 
 Alexander King of Epirus, who fecured them againfi: the 
 enterprizes of thofe barbarians at the expence of his own life. 
 Fifty-feven years after his death, Pyrrhus, alfo King of Epi- 
 rus, came over to defend them againft the Romans. That 
 ambitious people had levelled almoft all the barriers that 
 
 18. Cap. Minerva;. — Nodtua TAP. 
 
 19. Cap. Cereris TAPA£.:r Eques haftam vibrans. 
 
 20. Vir nudus equo inf. cap. rad. haft. vib. API.=Vir delp. inf. d. 
 vaf. f. temonem. TAPAi. KA. En. 
 
 21. Eques haft. vib. —Vir delp. inf. cum vicloriola hafta et clypeo. 
 
 22. Eques victoriam calcans.:^ Vir delp. inf, HOP. 
 JER. 1. Cap. Herculis.zz bques A. r. 
 
 2. Cap. mulieb.=-Concha. delphin. 
 
 3. Cap. imb. — Delphin. 
 
 4. Figura delph. inf. d. cor. 1. cornuc. — Concha. 
 
 5. Caput, barb. diad. '&. — Pifcis. 
 
 2 protected
 
 T A R A N T O. 263 
 
 protected the foft Tarentine nation, and nothing was want- 
 ing but a tolerable pretext for commencing hoftilities, which 
 could not fail to add thefe rich coafts to their other ufurpa- 
 tions. Rome had never fhewn herfelf very fcrupulous or 
 nice in the choice of her reafons for affaulting a neighbour ; 
 but, on the preient occafion, Tarentum furnifhed her with 
 a caufe of war, which, if we may truft the very fufpicious 
 teftimony of the Latin hiftorians, would be deemed fuffi- 
 ciently weighty by the mofc rigid cafuift. A Roman fleet 
 bringing corn from Apulia, and pafTing within light of 
 Tarentum, was attacked by the inhabitants of that city, 
 the fhips deftroyed, and the crews maffacred. The am- 
 baffadors, fent to demand fatisfaclion, were treated with 
 the utmoft indignity, and the refentment of the Romans 
 fet at defiance. But if we pay proper attention to what we 
 read in Livy and Dionyfius Halycarnaffieus, we mail dis- 
 cover fomething that may clear the Tarentines; I will not 
 fay of the guilt of mifbehaving to perfons ufually accounted 
 facred, but at lead of having been wantonly the aggreffors. 
 By a treaty entered into fome years before, the Romans 
 had engaged not to navigate to the north of the Lacinian 
 Cape, or interfere with the commerce of the Adriatic. A 
 Roman conful had rejected with fcorn the mediation of 
 the Tarantines in behalf of the Samnites ; and the emiflaries 
 of Rome had fomented infurreclions among the fubjects 
 of Tarentum. Whichfoever of the parties might have 
 juftice on its fide, it is but too obvious, that the weight of 
 
 M m power
 
 2&4 T A R A N T O. 
 
 power preponderated in favour of Rome ; therefore the 
 only refource of her foe was to feek defenders wherever 
 money could purchafe them, fince the degeneracy of the 
 citizens of Tarentnm had deprived them even of the idea 
 of becoming foldiers themfelves. Pyrrhus, the firft Gre- 
 cian general of the age, was the perfon applied to. Al- 
 lured by avaricious and ambitious motives, he landed in 
 Italy, and defeated the Romans in two engagements ; but 
 finding the war likely to prove too heavy a burden for his 
 moulders, and his government irkfome to the people he came to 
 fight for, he feized a frivolous pretence, and failed to Sicily, 
 which he alfo abandoned for fimilar reafons. He returned 
 to Tarentum ; but being defeated by Curius Dentatus 
 near Beneventum, ftole away to Greece, and left his allies 
 to make the bell: terms they could with the victor. 
 The Tarentines, roufed from their lethargy by defpair and 
 the approach of danger, continued for fome time to make 
 an obftinate defence. They even perfuaded the Carthagi- 
 nians to fend a fleet to their fuccour; but being at length 
 obliged to yield to the fuperior force of Rome, they experienced 
 the mildeft treatment at her hands, were ranked in the num- 
 ber of her allies, and fufFered to govern themfelves by their 
 own laws, under the control of a Roman garrifon. 
 
 We hear no more of the Tarentines till Hannibal pene- 
 trated into their country, and by the affifhnce of Phileme- 
 nes furprifed their city. Livius, the Roman Governor, 
 remained in pofTeflion of the citadel and entrance of the port, 
 • by
 
 T A R A N T O. 265 
 
 by which means the Tarentine fleet was blocked up and ren- 
 dered ufelefs. But the active genius of the African general was 
 not to be cramped by apparent difficulties. He caufed the 
 galleys to be brought afhore, placed upon carriages and 
 rollers, and thus drawn over the ifthmus, through the city, 
 into the outer bay, where he aftonifhed the enemy with the 
 appearance of a formidable fleet. This naval arma- 
 ment, under Democrates, defeated the Roman convoy off 
 Croton. 
 
 It is a doubt among antiquaries which is the place where 
 the fhips were hauled over. The expreflions of Polybius 
 appear to indicate the hollow of the prefent ditch or cut 
 made by Ferdinand the Firft, as it anfwers to the fpace 
 between the wall and rampart erected by Hannibal, to 
 prevent the Romans from {allying out of the citadel upon 
 the town. Gonfalvo de Cordova did the very fame thing 
 in the fame place. A fimilar expedient was practifed by 
 Dragut, a Turkifh admiral, in efcaping from the Genoefe 
 gallies of D'Oria, who had blocked him up in one of the 
 bays of Greece. 
 
 The weaknefs and difunited councils of Carthage having 
 obliged Hannibal to evacuate Italy, his allies were left at 
 the mercy ot a republic not always prone to clemency. 
 But, before the departure of the African chief, Fabius 
 Maximus had retaken Tarentum by the treachery of the 
 garrifon, and plundered it of an immenfe treafure. 
 
 M m 2 From
 
 266 T A R A N T O. 
 
 From this period Tarentum ceafed to be known in the 
 world as a ftate of any political importance. The tide of 
 commerce was infenfibly averted into other channels, and 
 its hiftory, as well as its citizens, funk into an inglorious 
 obfcurity ; perhaps a happier fltuation than it had ever 
 enjoyed during the moft mining periods of its annals. It 
 retained a great amenity of manners, the effect of Greek 
 inftitutions, mild climate, and fertile foil, where no very 
 rough exertions were required to earn a fubfiftence, and 
 where the very air feemed to breathe the foftnefs of its own 
 character into the fouls of all the inhabitants. From the 
 defcriptions and encomiums of Horace, we may judge how 
 high an opinion the ancients had of its temperature. 
 
 A Roman colony was fent hither ; but this city appears 
 to have returned very fpeedily to the ftate of a municipium, 
 aoverned by its own laws and ufages, under the obligation 
 of furnifhing to the Roman navy a certain quota of fhips. 
 The liberty it enjoyed muft have been very ample ; for it 
 was looked upon in the light of a Greek city, where Roman, 
 exiles might reftde, as in a foreign country ; a privilege it 
 enjoyed in common with Naples. 
 
 In the Auguftan age, it ftill retained the Grecian man- 
 ners and language; though, except Rhegium and Naples, 
 all the reft of Magna Grascia had loft every trace of the 
 features of its mother- country, utterly obliterated by an 
 intercourfe with barbarians. In the fourth century after 
 Chrift, Tarentum yielded to the fame baneful influence, 
 
 and
 
 T A R A N T O. i6 T 
 
 and the language of Homer ceafed to be the vulgar tongue ; 
 but Greek no doubt gained a fuperiority over Latin, during 
 the tenth and eleventh ages, while Puglia obeyed the Em- 
 perors of the Eaft. Its final banifhment was the confequence 
 of the Norman conqueft. 
 
 The deftruction of Tarentum's independence appears to 
 have caufed an early emigration of its citizens. Their 
 numbers were fo reduced about the time of Auguftus, that 
 the greater! part of the old inclofure was deferted, and mod: 
 of the inhabitants fettled near the caftle. Here they laid 
 out their forum, in which they placed a coloflal ftatue of 
 Jupiter, of a fize inferior only to that of the Rhodian 
 Apollo, and the only memorial left them of the fplendour 
 of their ancient commonwealth. 
 
 This fituation near the citadel, was of particular advan- 
 tage to the Tarentines, in fecuring them from the inroads 
 of the Goths, who, being deftitute of a maritime force, 
 could make no attack but on the land quarter. 
 
 After the death of Conftans the Second, in 668, Rq~ 
 muald, Duke of Benevento, conquered this province ; and 
 the Greek Patrician, who had hitherto refuted at Taren- 
 tum, removed his tribunal to Reggio. On the decline of 
 the Lombard power, the Grecian emperors recovered pof- 
 feffion of this country, and' kept it till Robert Guifcard 
 drove them for ever out of Italy. 
 
 In the year 927, or in the preceding century (for the 
 chronology of thofe times is miferably confufed), the Sara- 
 
 4 ecus
 
 ;6S T A R A N T O. 
 
 cens or Hungarians deftroyed the city of Tarentum ; but its 
 fituation rendered it of too much confequence not to be 
 fpeedily rebuilt. It was probably on this re-eftablimment 
 that the defertion of the old lite was completed. Nice- 
 phorus built the bridge, and made the Marina, for the 
 purpofe of fecuring the entrance of the haven, and affording 
 more fpace for building within the walls. 
 
 Duke Robert, the Norman, after the total expulfion of 
 the Greeks, created his fon Bohemund Prince of Taranto ; 
 on the failure of whofe iffue, it was beftowed on Henry, 
 fon of King Roger : and afterwards on William, a baftard 
 of that King. From him William the Firft refumed it, as 
 being too great an appanage lor an illegitimate branch of 
 the royal family. It was part of the fortune of Manfred of 
 Swabia, who long bore the title of Piince of Taranto. The 
 principality was next conferred by Charles the Second upon 
 his fon Philip, titular Emperor of Conftantinople, whofe 
 daughter, and at length fole heirefs, carried it into the 
 houfe of Baux. This family foon failed, and Raymund 
 Orfini, a younger fon of the Earl of Nola, obtained it. 
 He had raifed his fortune by his own adventurous valour ; 
 and, taking advantage of the circumflances of the times, 
 affumed an almoftabfoluteand independent fwayover thecoaft 
 of Puglia. Upon his death, his fon was dripped of all his 
 pofTeilions by King Ladiflaus, who, by marrying Raymund's 
 widow, made himfelf at length matter of Taranto, the only 
 place that flood out in defence of the infant proprietor. 
 
 Queen
 
 TARANTO. zCj 
 
 Queen Joan the Second gave it to her hufband, the Earl of 
 La Marche ; but he, being in diftrefs for money to carry 
 him out of the kingdom, when he fled from his wife, fold 
 the principality to John Anthony Orfino Balzo, the right 
 owner. This Prince, who was a very powerful Baron, 
 made a great figure in the troubles that attended the firft 
 eftablifhment of the Aragonian Kings, and became almoft 
 an independent fovereign. On his demife without ifflie, 
 Taranto efcheated to the Crown. Ferdinand the Firfr. made 
 it a provifion for his fccond fon Frederick ; after vvhofe 
 expulfion Taranto ceafed to be feudal. It is now no longer 
 even the fhadow of that proud democratical republic, which 
 dared to cope with Rome ; nor is it the princely feat of a 
 tyrannical feudatory. Poor and languishing, both as to trade 
 and manufactures, it foothes its vanity with the confciouf- 
 nefs of regal immunities, and immediate vaiTalage under the 
 King. 
 
 The inhabitants neglect the culture of their fields, and 
 turn all their attention to fllliing ; a profefllon hampered 
 with fewer incumbrances, lefs continual labour, and afford- 
 ing greater certainty of fuccefs. Their lands are cultivated,, 
 their corn reaped; by Calabrians ; their paftures covered 
 with Abruzzefe fheep and fhepherds ; while the modern 
 Tarentines, as much at leafr. as their poverty will allow 
 them, feem to copy the gentle, indolent manners of their 
 forefathers, citizens of Mclle 'Tarentujn. They are ftill 
 paffionately fond of amufements, and eager only in the 
 
 purfuit
 
 IJO 
 
 T A R A N T O. 
 
 purfuit of pleafure. Their addrefs is affable, and pleafing 
 to Grangers ; their pronunciation lifping, and fofter than 
 that of the -natives of the neighbouring provinces. Here 
 women bring forth children with little difficulty ; and treat 
 as a flight inconvenience thofe dangers and pains, which 
 are fo dreadful to their fex in moft other countries. Here 
 it is impoflible to cite an inftance of a perfon's dying in 
 childbed.
 
 ( *7> ) 
 
 JOURNEY 
 
 FROM 
 
 TARANTO to REGGIO. 
 
 SECTION XXXVI. 
 
 /^N the fixth of May, I hired a guide, and proceeded on 
 my journey towards Calabria. About four miles from 
 Taranto we eroded a river, fuppofed by fome geographers 
 to be the Taras. It runs through marfhes and thickets 
 of tall reeds, is deep, and much reforted to by wild boars, 
 who in fummer defcend in droves to cool themfelves and 
 wallow in the mud. If diftuibed, they fvvim acrofs ; but 
 foon return, unlefs it prove a very wet autumn, and then 
 they retire up to the drier woods on the banks of the 
 Bradano. 
 
 N n We
 
 272 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 We rode all day along the fea friore, between the beach 
 and an immenfe foreft of low pitch-pines ; the underwood, 
 juniper. At the mouth of the Lieto, the fea runs a great 
 way up into the land, and forms falt-ponds, which in fum- 
 mer exhale infectious vapours ; in May, they were only 
 beautiful objects in this wild and grand view of wood and 
 water. The whole foil is fandy, and bears evident marks 
 of its having been lately recovered from the fea, either by 
 the voluntary receflion of the watery element, or by the 
 accumulation of earth hurried down in floods from the high 
 lands. At the river Bradano * we left the province of 
 Otranto, and entered that of Bafilicata. It was alfo the 
 boundary of ancient Lucania, and indeed of Italy ; for in 
 very early times that name was confined to the country 
 fouth of this limit. 
 
 After a long but agreeable ride of twenty-four miles, we 
 flopped at Torre di Mare, a poor place near a ruinous 
 tower, built by the Angevine kings, as a fafe-guard to the 
 coaft ; but, by the retreat of the fea, now at fuch a diftance 
 from it, as no longer to ferve that end. The wafte round 
 it is fenny, damp, and unwholefome. After dinner we 
 ferried over the Bafientof, whereon O&avius Czefar and 
 Mark Antony had an interview, brought about by the gene- 
 rous mediation of Octavia. Thefe triumvirs came with 
 their troops to oppofite banks of the river. Antony jumped 
 
 * Anriencly Eradanus. 
 
 f Anciently the Metapontus,. or Cafuentum. 
 
 into
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 273 
 
 into a boat, and pudied off unattended towards the other 
 fide ; but Caefar met him, in another fluff, half-way, and, 
 after mutual endeavours to mew excefTive confidence in 
 each other, Antony was perfuaded to give up the point, 
 and fuffer Csfar to accompany him to Tarentum, where 
 they were to agree upon a plan for fettling the Roman 
 empire *. 
 
 Near the mouth of this river, fome columns, riling out 
 of the fandy hillocks, mark the fituation of Metapontum. 
 Thefe pillars of coarfe marble ftand in two rows, which are 
 about eighty feet afunder, ten in one row, and five in the 
 other ; their diameter five feet, their height fifteen, the 
 interfaces ten. Part of the architrave is all that remains of 
 the entablature. They are of the ancient Doric order, 
 tapering regularly with a large cyathiform capital f, and no 
 bafe but a kind of plinth that belongs to the whole row. 
 They are channelled into twenty {harp deep flutes, now 
 much corroded by the fait fpray, and the action of the 
 air. 
 
 This ftyle of architecture has fomething in it folemn and 
 majeftic, adapted to the dignity of divine worfhip, or the 
 gravity of an affembly of fenators. Were I to build a city, 
 
 * Alberti places this meeting on the Bradano ; Joan. Juvenis, on the 
 Tara. But, as Appian exprelsly fays it was on the river of Metapontum, it 
 can be no other than the Bafiento. 
 
 f I cannot convey to die reader a clearer idea of the fhape of this cup- 
 form capital (which is to be feen at Paeftum, Segefta, Selinunte, Syracufe, 
 Girgenti, and St. Peter ad vincula in Rome), than by comparing it to a 
 fiiallovv bowl, covered with a thin fquare (tone. 
 
 N n 2 I fhould
 
 274 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 I mould appropriate this noble order to the great churches, 
 town-hall, and exchange, whilft I embdliihed the palaces and 
 theatres with the gay Corinthian. I do not allow the fame 
 auguft appearance to the modern Doric, which is much 
 lighter, and more properly enriched with ornaments. 
 
 Thefe are all the veftiges of Metapontum, a city once 
 admirably calculated by fituation for attaining the fpecies of 
 profperity that leems to have been the end conftantly pro- 
 pofed by its citizens, viz. opulence arifing from agriculture 
 and exportation of corn. It flood on the flcirts of a plain 
 twenty-five miles in length, which, two thoufand years- 
 ago (when Metapontum was in the zenith of its refpectable, 
 becaufe mod innocent, glory), was well peopled, full of 
 towns and villages, attentively cultivated and fertilized, not 
 defolated by the waters, as they were then confined to 
 proper channels. 1 he rich crops that waved upon its. 
 furface, were the bafis on which this colony of Py Hans- 
 grounded their power and importance. The honour they 
 attached to the profeiTion of hufbandman, and the fruitful-* 
 
 nefs of their territory, are attefted by their coins*, marked 
 
 with. 
 
 * Numrr.i Metapontorum. 
 AUR. I. Cap mulieb. fpicis redim.= Spica figura virilis META.. 
 
 2. Cap. Martis T©.z:Dus fpicae, apis META. 
 
 3. Nodtua ramo inf. = Spica & caduc.-META. 
 ARC 1. Hercules nud. flans clav. ger.^ Spica META. 
 
 2. Cap. Martis, canis AETKinnor. = Spica avis— META. 
 
 3. Homo nud. bovino capice d. paceram — s. Arundinem.=:Spica— • 
 
 cicada META. 
 
 4. Cap. mul. f|ic. redim.r: Spica forceps AOA— META. 
 
 5. Spica
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 275 
 
 with the head of Ceres and an ear of corn, and by the 
 magnificent offering which thev made at the fhrine of the 
 Delphic Apollo. This prefent confiHed of an emblematical 
 r,eprefentation of Summer in maflive gold, and was efteemed 
 one of the richeft offerings in the temple. 
 
 Pythagoras fpent the laft years of his life at Metapon- 
 tum. After his deceafe, the houfe he had dwelt in was 
 converted into a temple of Ceres, and reforted to with the 
 greatefr, veneration by the Metapontines, who were truly 
 fenfible of the advantages they had derived from his in- 
 fix udl ions** 
 
 This philosopher was one of the molt exalted charade:; 
 of antiquity ; one of the ftw fages who did not confine their 
 
 5. Spica — META.— Incufius. 
 
 6. Cap. Palladis.=Spica, clava 
 
 7. Cap. Jovis Ammonis.=Spica tiipus ME. 
 
 8. Cap. mulieb. diadem. =.Spica META. 
 y. Cap. bovinum.— Spica .META. 
 
 10. Cap. Mariis HPAKAEIAQN. = Duas fpicas, apis META. 
 
 11. Cap. Cereris. = Spica— Ciconia METAno. 
 
 12. Galea — Circiilus int. duse tsdse META — radii ex granis kordeat,. 
 
 13. Noc~r.ua ramo inf. £ .— Spica, caduc. MET. 
 JER. 1. Cap. Pailad. = Spica. METAnONT. 
 
 2. Tripus luna. gran. hord.rzSpica META. 
 
 3. Cap. imb. cornut. =: Spica MET. 
 
 4. Cap. Jovis —Spica META. 
 
 5. Cap. Apoll. -- Spica m: . . 
 0. Cap Cereris zzSpica META. 
 
 7. Aquila fulrrr. inf. rzSpica META. 
 
 8. Cap. Cereris. --Dus fpica; META. 
 
 9. Cap. Minervas.= Due Ipicas META. 
 
 ic. Cap. Mercur. alar.- 3 gr. hord. caduc. META. 
 
 * Some authors write that he cied, and that the temple was dedicated at 
 Croton. 
 
 2 views
 
 276 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 views to private and partial objects, but made their learning 
 of ufe to nations at large, whom they inftructed, enlighten- 
 ed and directed in the paths of moral virtue and real glory. 
 Many ridiculous ftories are related of his opinions and 
 doctrines, which give us the idea of a viGonary or impoftor; 
 but we mould be cautious how we admit implicity anec- 
 dotes refpecling the great men of diftant ages, when we 
 find them clam with what is allowed to have been their 
 general line of conduct. Perhaps Pythagoras found it 
 necefifary, in order to captivate the veneration and con- 
 fidence of a credulous fuperftitious people, that he mould 
 propagate ftrange and marvellous figments, and thereby 
 allure them to liften attentively to the leflbns, and obey 
 the injunctions of a lawgiver. He was the legislator, the 
 reformer of Magna Grascia. To him and his difciples the 
 little ftates that compofed it owe a celebrity which they 
 were not entitled to from extent of dominion or conquefts. 
 Their ruin may be attributed to the neglect of his precepts; 
 or, indeed, in fome fhape to the very great fuccefs attend- 
 ing his inftitutions, which raifed thofe republics to fuch an 
 uncommon pitch of profperity, as intoxicated and finally 
 corrupted their citizens. 
 
 The Metapontines were warm partifms of Hannibal, 
 who, during many winters, made this city his head- quarters. 
 On the retreat of the Carthaginians, it was puniihed by the 
 Romans for that attachment with the lofs of its liberty. 
 We are informed by Strabo, that this little commonwealth 
 i of
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 277 
 
 of farmers was deftroyed by the Samnites. It remained 
 in ruins, becaufe it could no longer hold out the fvveets 
 of freedom, or die advantages of trade to entice inhabitants 
 back to its defolated walls ; and the want of cultivators 
 fpeedily converted its once happy plains into a dreary de- 
 fert. At this day there cannot be a more melancholy 
 fight, or one more mortifying to the pride of man, than this 
 wide-ftretched tract of land, almoft without an inhabitant ; 
 fcarce difturbed in any part by the plough, full of brown 
 marfhes and ftagnated pools : noifome fogs and poifonous 
 vapours hang over them, and when fet in motion bv the 
 power of the fun, carry difeafe and death into the blood of 
 the wretches doomed to breathe their venomous atmofphere. 
 Inftead of a navigable river, in whofe deep and capacious 
 bofom whole fleets might moor with fafety, the Bafiento 
 now has the appearance of a draggling torrent, impeded by 
 fand-banks that fhift at every fhower, and drive the waters 
 back over half the plain, where they putrify*. 
 
 I flept a few off miles to the weft at a farm-houfe, where 
 my friends of Taranto had previously fecured a comfortable 
 lodging for me. 
 
 * When the fhepherds are obliged to pafs the night in the open air durino- 
 the bad feafon, their method of guarding againft the infection is as follows : 
 A fire is lighted, on which they put a large pot of milk. As foon as it boils, 
 they fup up the hot liquor; cuftom having fufficiently hardened their throats 
 and llomachs. This throws them into a profufe fweat; they then cover their 
 heads with warm woollen caps, and lie. down to fleep with their fctt clofe to 
 the fire. 
 
 SEC-
 
 a 7 8 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 SECTION XXXVII. 
 
 'TpHE next day we travelled eleven miles in the plain, 
 all one wild pafture ; ferried over the Agri*, once a 
 navigable river, now a rapid irregular torrent, and baited at 
 Policoro, a very considerable farm lately belonging to the 
 Jefuits, at prefent in the hands of the Crown. I believe 
 thefe pofleflions do not yield to his Sicilian Majefty fo 
 great a revenue as they did to that intelligent fociety. 
 Thofe fathers had a noble eftate here, bounded by the fea, 
 the rivers Agri and Sinno-f; and the mountains, containing 
 all kinds of land, pafture, wood, arable and falt-marfh. 
 The buildings that were raifed to contain the produce of fo 
 large a firm, to houfe the numerous herds and flocks, 
 and to lodge the ftewards and fervants requifite for the 
 conducing of fuch an eftablifhment, are all laid out upon 
 tie great fcale that marked every undertaking of that politic 
 congregation. Not many years before the diflolution of 
 their order, they had a (lock of five thoufand fheep, three 
 hundred cows and oxen, four hundred buffaloes, four hundred 
 goats, and two hundred horfes, under the care of three hun- 
 dred fervants. At prefent things wear a different afpeel, 
 . I feem verging to ruin rather than advancing towards 
 greater perfection. During the hot feafon, when the air is 
 
 * Anciently, Achis. f Anciently, Siris. 
 
 all
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 27?. 
 
 all on fire and very feverifh, the Jefuits were wont to 
 retire into the mountains to Latronico, another of their 
 eftates. 
 
 At the wood near the banks of the Agri, and about three 
 miles from the fea, are fome heaps of rubbifh, that fix the 
 fituation of Heraclea *. And according to the moft probable 
 conjectures, near the mouth of the Sinno was Siris, the port 
 of that city. At prefent there is nothing but an open road, 
 where mips may lie to take in a cargo of corn and other 
 commodities, of which liquorice is one, a root that grows 
 wild in great quantities along thefe fwamps -f > allowing for 
 
 * Nummi Heracleas. 
 AUR. 1. Cap. Palladis.=Hercules Icon, ftrangul. 1$. HPA. 
 
 2. Cap. Palladis. =Hercules clava leon. feriens HPAKAHKIN. 
 
 3. Cap. Muli. delph. 2A.=Fig. vir. nud. delph. inf. d. avem. f, trident. 
 
 r-H. fubrus undae. 
 
 ARG. 1. Cap. Palladis cum monft. mar. in galea.=Hercules nud. ftans d. 
 clavam f. arcum & fpol. leon. HPAKAHLQN. 
 
 2. Cap. Palladis. c= Hercules leon. ftrang. clava. noclua flip. hum. 
 
 leonis hHPAKAH. 
 
 3. Cap. Palladis.=Noclua ramo inf. HPAKAHI. 
 
 4. Cap. Pallad.=Hercules nud. ftans clav. nixus fpol. leon. tectus 
 
 mi <I>IAIi J-HPAK. 
 
 5. Homo nudus delp. inequ. d. diotam. f. trident, fub. undse hHP.= 
 
 Eques nudus fupervolitante viftor. IT. 
 
 6. Cap. Herculis.=:Leo gradiens HE. 
 
 7. Cap. leonis. =Pharetra hHPA. 
 
 7ER. 1. Cap. imb. laur. ftella.=Clava pharetra. Arcus l-H. 
 
 2. Cap. Pall. laur. & gal.=Hercules ftans d. pat. f. clav. hHPA- 
 
 KAEIilN. 
 
 3. Cap. Herculis = Clava pliaretra r-HPAKAEiriN. 
 
 4. Cap. gal.nTrophasum t-HPAKAEinN. 
 
 t The fale of this root is laid to produce 700/. a-year to the Duke of Co- 
 rigliano. 
 
 O o all 
 
 "D
 
 280 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 all the alterations that fo many revolving ages may have 
 made in this abandoned more, it is a great matter of doubt 
 with me, whether there ever was any good harbour here ; or, 
 even in the Agri, a much larger river, becaufe the fhape 
 and expofure of the coaft reprobates that idea; efpecially as 
 all ancjent authors agree, that no bay between Rhegium and 
 Tarentum was tenable after the autumnal equinox. It is 
 therefore more than probable that mips of burden feldom 
 anchored in this place. 
 
 Siris * was a very ancient city, founded by Trojans, and 
 renowned for its college of priefts fkilled in cabaliftic lore. 
 It became a dependance of Heraclea, to which the principal 
 inhabitants of Siris were obliged to remove. Heraclea was the 
 point of rendezvous agreed upon by the whole Greek con- 
 federacy, where their general interefts and difputes were to 
 be fettled. Upon its medals, many of which I purchafed of the 
 peafants, is the figure of Hercules tearing open the jaws of the 
 Nemaean lion. It is probable that Zeuxis, one of the moft: 
 celebrated painters of antiquity, was a native of this place 
 rather than of any other Heraclea, as his moft capital per- 
 formances were placed in the cities of Magna Graacia. The 
 banks of the Sinno are famous in Roman hiftory for the 
 vi&ory gained by Pyrrhus over the Conful Levinus, in the 
 
 * Nummi Sirinorum. 
 MR. I. Prora navis CElRlZ.=Vas folium pamp. KOTN. 
 
 2. Cap. Mercurii petafatum. AA.=Aquila. corona EEIRL 
 
 3. Cap. Mercurii pet. CEI.=Vas. 
 
 1 year
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO, 2 8i 
 
 year of Rome 473. This was the firfl: encounter the 
 Epirote had with the Romans. He purchafed the honour 
 of the day at the expence of the flower of his army, and 
 thereby became fenflble of the difficulties that awaited the 
 profecution of his enterprize. He was indebted for his 
 fuccefs to his own perfonal intrepidity, and to the panic 
 which the firft, fight of elephants ftruck into the legions. 
 
 The neighbouring hills are compofed of calcareous to- 
 phus, replete with (hells incrufted over, or petrified. Whole 
 fkeletons of the larger tribe of quadrupeds have been dug 
 out of thefe ftony ftrata. At Rocca Imperiale, or near it, 
 was the town of Lagaria, a colony of the Phoceans, noted 
 in antiquity for a fweet and foft wine much efteemed by 
 phyiicians as a cordial. 
 
 At Monte Giordano we entered the Upper or Hither 
 Calabria. The inn wearing the face of dirt and poverty, I 
 rode four miles farther to Rofeto, where my guide afTured 
 me he had an acquaintance that would be happy to accom- 
 modate me with a room. The high lands approach very 
 near to the fea, and are tolerably cultivated : much of the 
 land fown with cotton. 
 
 At Rofeto, which is but a poor place, I was very hofpi- 
 tably received by a prieft. The old man plied me with 
 many queftions concerning Naples, England, and America; 
 and, in return for my readinefs in gratifying his curiofity, 
 entered with great good fenfe into a detail of the manners 
 and cuftoms of his own country, and informed me of many 
 
 O o 2 particulars
 
 2 82 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 particulars I was an entire Granger to. I learned from him, 
 that population is daily decreafing within the circle of his 
 knowledge, from many caufes arifing out of the general 
 government of the kingdom, of which he acknowledged 
 himfelf an incompetent judge; and alfo, from many others 
 that were within his fphere, and were daily felt by him. 
 He attributed, but methinks without fufficient ground;-', 
 this progrefs of depopulation to the cuftom followed by the 
 Calabrians, of never marrying beyond the limits of their own 
 townmip, which he thought perpetuated defe&s and dif- 
 orders among them, and from a want of proper crofTes in 
 the breed, ended in barrennefs and the extinction of fami- 
 lies. By thefe means all the peafants of a village are nearly 
 related. The marriage-portion of a girl depends upon the 
 wealth and numbers of the family, and generally confifts of 
 a piece of vineyard, or a fingle fruit-tree, among which the 
 mulberry holds the firft rank for honour and profit. 
 
 The common mode of letting farms of baronial or eccle- 
 fiaftical eftates throughout Calabria, is by a leafe of two 
 years, with many claufes and reftrictions. Proprietors of land 
 of plebeian rank extend the term to fix years, and allow the 
 tenant the liberty of cutting a fiipulated quantity of wood, 
 on condition of his fencing off an equal portion to fpring 
 up again. 
 
 The Barons are in general very far from considering 
 themfelvcs as the protectors, the political fathers of their 
 vaffuls, but encroach fo much on the commons and the 
 
 cultivated
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 283 
 
 cultivated grounds, for the fake of extending their chace, 
 that the peafants have neither room nor opportunity to raife 
 fufficient food for their fupport ; they therefore fly to the 
 mendicant and other orders of friars, and take the religious 
 habit to procure a fubfiftence. The father of a family, 
 when preffed for the payment of taxes, and finking beneath 
 the load of hunger and diftrefs, va alia montagna^ that is, 
 retires to the woods, where he meets with fcllow-fufferers, 
 turns fmuggler, and becomes by degrees an outlaw, a rob- 
 ber, and an aflaiTin. 
 
 However, matters are not yet in fo defperate a Situation, 
 as to preclude all pofiibility of reftoring thefe provinces to a 
 ftate of opulence and populoufnefs. If government were 
 more attentive to the general good than particular interefts ; 
 if juftice were administered with more honefty and impar- 
 tiality by the fuperior magiftrates, and lefs rapacioufnefs 
 by the fubalterns; if taxes were more equally and judici- 
 ouily impofed, and more tenderly exacted; if the aggrieved 
 peafant had a refuge to fly to in the day of oppreflion, 
 thefe fertile countries might emerge from their prefent ftate 
 of defolation, and rich flourifhing towns might again rife 
 along the now deferted mores. The women are endowed 
 by nature with fufficient fecundity, and bring forth their 
 offspring almofi: without a groan. It is a common thing 
 for a woman, far gone with child, to go up to the foreft for 
 fuel, and to be there furprifed with the pains of childbirth, 
 perhaps battened by her toil : She is novvife difmayed at the 
 
 folitude
 
 2 S 4 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 folitude all around her, or the diftance from home, but 
 delivers herfelf of the infant, which fhe folds up in her 
 apron, and, after a little reft, carries to her cottage. It is a 
 proverb much in ufe in the neighbouring provinces, Che una 
 ferva Calabrefe piu ama far un figlio ehe un bucato^ i. e. 
 " A Calabrian maid-fervant prefers the labour of childbirth 
 " to that of a wafh." 
 
 The Calabrians have fbme very capricious notions deeply 
 rooted in their minds. One is, that every child, whofe 
 mother has been true to her marriage vow, muft neceflarily 
 refemble the father. It is no doubt an eafy matter to per- 
 fuade a peafant, who feldom confiders the lineaments of his 
 face in a glafs, that the features of the infant are miniature 
 copies of his ; but if he were to become thoroughly con- 
 vinced that no fuch refemblance exifted, he would never be 
 perfuaded to pardon his wife, or look upon the child in any 
 other light than that of a baftard. 
 
 It is thought a reproach to have been fuckled by any but 
 one's own mother. This cafe feldom happens, for the wo- 
 men recover with fo much eafe after lying-in, that kw 
 children are expofed to the neceflity of fucking a ftrange 
 bread. 
 
 They repofe great confidence in judgments, and expect 
 to fee eveiy perfon that jeers at another's defects, afflicted 
 with the fame ; but have a milder idea of the penalty 
 •attending paflionate oaths and hafty curfes; if the party 
 offending repent, they fuppofe all danger is blown over. 
 
 Inocu-
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 285 
 
 Inoculation has been attempted in one place only, near 
 Reggio ; but from ill fuccefs in fome inftances, and the 
 fuperftitious averfion of the vulgar, thofe who have under- 
 gone the operation are held in utter contempt, and marked 
 by fbme opprobrious nickname. 
 
 If a perfon dies in the fields by a violent or accidental 
 death, it is believed that his fpirit will appear in the fame 
 place in white robes, and that the only way of laying it, is to 
 fend out young boys to approach filently, and cover it with 
 a volley of ftones. Not long ago a Dominican prieft, fittino- 
 in his white garment on a hill near Tropea, employed in 
 taking a fketch of the country, was miftaken for the ghoffc 
 of an old mad woman who had dropt down dead fome time 
 before on that identical fpot. The apparition brought out 
 the youths of the neighbouring village, and the friar had his 
 brains almoft knocked out before he could convince the 
 little exorcifts of their error *. . 
 
 SECTION XXXVIII. 
 
 ^TpHE territory of Rofeto produces olives, capers, corn 3 
 fafTron, and cotton. Good wine is faid to be made 
 on the hills to the weft, but my hoft was not able to pro- 
 cure me any that was palatable. He told me that the 
 
 * All thefe particulars have been fince confirms' to me by perfons whom 1 
 know to be well acquainted with the ftate and manners of the country. 
 
 mountains
 
 *S6 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 mountains abounded with very fine oak timber fit for fhip- 
 building, and that the woods were well flocked with game, 
 which is a great annoyance to the farmers, whatever diver- 
 lion it may afford the landlord. 
 
 By the Roman law, every perfon was at liberty to 
 fifh and hunt on the lands of another, unlefs formally pro- 
 hibited by the owner ; and, according to the Lombard infti- 
 tutions, no penalty was incurred by trefpafs without proof of 
 damage. In the kingdom of Naples, the Emperor Frede- 
 rick feems to be the firft that forbade nets and fnares, ex- 
 cept when employed againft: bears, wolves, and other noxi- 
 ous animals. His paffion for the chafe di&ated this law, 
 which has been revived by many of his fucceffors. It is 
 a doubt among the Neapolitan lawyers, what right 
 the Barons have to an exclufive chafe in their manors, 
 where they cannot fhew a precife grant in their invefliture, 
 or plead immemorial poffeflion ; and it has been the prac- 
 tice of the courts to difcountenance their pretentions : much 
 depends upon local cuftom. The ufe of guns is contrary 
 to law, which the crown difpenfes with at a regular price. 
 A licence for fowling in the plains of Naples with bird- 
 calls coils ten carlines a year- in the plains and woods, 
 twenty-four; and fixty, with nets, in thefe and in the high 
 lands. At a diflance from the capital, it is only five ; but 
 the fportfman is not allowed either calls or nets, nor to 
 enter inclofures and referved baronial chafes, if walled in. 
 Overtures have been made to adrniniftration by feveral 
 
 under-
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 237 
 
 undertenants for the purchafe of a general leave of (hoot- 
 ing ; but a difference in the price has prevented an agree- 
 ment. The Cacciator Maggiore of the realm being a great 
 Baron, we cannot be furprifed if he coincide in fenti- 
 ment with his fellow-nobles, and, in an ariftocratical 
 monarchy, be deflrous of extending all reftrictive laws ; fince. 
 we behold, in our land of liberal ideas and boated freedom, 
 the country gentlemen eagerly bent upon curtailing the 
 privileges, and thwarting the inclinations, of the inferior 
 clafs of citizens. 
 
 Calabria is too hilly to admit of hunting ; all game is 
 brought down by the gun, or taken in the net. The beft 
 kind of fpaniel is the Bracca focata y a ftrong dog of a black 
 or deep brown colour, with a tawny belly, and fpots over 
 the eyes. It is fo excellent, that the king has taken parti- 
 cular pains to increafe the breed. 
 
 The lower parts of the mountains abound with the Ornus, 
 or fmall-leaved flowering manna am, which grows fponta- 
 neoufly and without any culture, except that the woodmen 
 cut down all the ftrong ftems that grow above the thick- 
 nefs of a man's leg. Towards the end of July, the gather- 
 ers of manna make an horizontal gam, inclining upwards, 
 in the bole of the tree. As the liquor never oozes out the 
 firfl: day, another cut is given on the fecond, and then the 
 woodman fixes the ftalk of a maple leaf in the upper 
 wound, and the end of the leaf in the lower one, fo as to 
 form a cup to receive the gum as it ex tils from each flam, 
 
 P p The
 
 288 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 The old man told me, that vipers and martens were re- 
 markably fond of manna. He had himfelf frequently fecn 
 the little quadruped at the tree ; but never the reptile, 
 though many of his acquaintance had. — I he tyranny exer- 
 cifed over the peafants, on account of this native production 
 of their wilderneffes, ftands in the foremoft line of their 
 numberlefs and abominable grievances. All manna bi longs 
 to the King, who gives it in farm to a fet of contractors. 
 To gather it, a certain number of countrymen are furnifhed 
 by the feudatory, who receives five carlini for every man. 
 During the feafon, which continues about a month, thefe 
 fellows are not allowed to abfent themtelves a fingle day, or 
 undertake the leaft work, of any other kind, however indif- 
 penfable for the prefervation of their own little private har- 
 veft. Their fcanty wages are a poor compenlation for this 
 involuntary fervice. Their greedy employers give them 
 only three carlines * for every rotolo of manna ; which 
 quantity, containing thirty- three ounces and a third, is fold 
 for twenty-four carlini and three quarters : if it be in tubular 
 pieces, the price rifes one-third. The peafants are punifhed 
 with the utmofr. feverity, if detected in burning, destroying, 
 or damaging any of thefe trees, that caufe to them fo much 
 vexation ; and are fent to prifon, if the fmalleft quantity of 
 the juice be found in their houfes. They may eat as much 
 as they pleafe n the woods; and moft of them take this 
 phyfic once a year. 
 
 • In the Salernitan diftrift, chey pay the gatherers five carlini a rotolo. 
 
 Some
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 289 
 
 Some time ago eight hundred poor labourers of the pro- 
 vince of Salerno, no longer able to fupport this oppreflive 
 tafk, clubbed two carlini a-piece, and bribed a perfon of the 
 court to prefent a memorial from them to the King, at 
 Perfano ; hut, whether their agent deceived them, or the 
 petition fhared the fate of fo many other petitions in all 
 kingdoms, no manner of notice was taken of it ; and their 
 flavifh work returns every year, without any profpect of 
 abolition or remittance. Indeed, throughout the realm, 
 the fituation of the huibandmen is truly deplorable ; every 
 thing is excifed, and the modes of collecting, wantonly 
 cruel and pernicious. All live animals in Calabria are 
 taxed. Six carlini are paid for an ox, four grains for a 
 fheep ; it is therefore no wonder if the graziers be in indi- 
 gence, if the cottagers keep no beafr. of any kind, and live 
 upon cafual and unfubftantial nutriment, inftead of milk, 
 cheefe, and other wholefome diet, which the rich pafturage 
 of the country ought to afford them in as great abundance 
 as that which the Flemings enjoy in their fat foil. 
 
 Arable land here is ploughed four times : the firft in 
 May. But the labour is in general remifsly and languidly 
 performed ; and, inftead of laying down their fallows with 
 hay-feeds, clover, or any of thofe rich artificial gralles 
 which are fov/n in England to create fine meadows and 
 paftures, the Calabrian farmer thinks he does his farm am- 
 ple juftice, if he ceafes to plough it for two or three years, 
 and leaves the good grafs, accidentally produced there, to 
 
 P p 2 make
 
 290 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 make its way, as well as it can, through the matted fibres of 
 all manner of rank weeds. There is nothing to encourage 
 the countryman to make any vigorous exertions, or try 
 improvements in agriculture ; which require both greater 
 capital and courage than he is pofTefTed of. He can forefee 
 no amelioration in his (ituation of life, from any efforts he 
 can make : and woful experience has perhaps taught him 
 to apprehend, that an increafe of adivity and produce 
 would only draw on his moulders an additional weight of 
 taxes and oppreilion. 
 
 I rofe before day, that I might have leifure to examine 
 the fite of Sibaris, and reach Corigliano before fupper ; as 
 there was no tolerable lodging to be expected fliort of that 
 place. 
 
 We rode part Trebifaccio, a very ill- built town, on a 
 hill, and within fight of fome others of no confequence, 
 fituated on the right hand, upon little eminences prettily 
 planted with olive and almond trees. One of them is called 
 Amendolara, from the abundance of almonds ; and is 
 remarkable for being the birth-place of Pomponius La?tus, 
 a celebrated critic and hiftorian of the fifteenth century* 
 The component parts of thefe hills are a calcareous tophus, 
 with fea-fhells, and other foflile fubftances. The plains 
 along the fhore are very boggy, and interfered by a great 
 number of fmall rivulets, one of which is ftrongly impreg- 
 nated with fulphur, and, as I was told, flows from fome 
 baths among the hills. The drier fpots produce very rich 
 
 crops
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 291 
 
 crops of corn. Near the banks of the Racanello, we met 
 great droves of buffaloes, belonging to the Duchcfs of Caf- 
 fano : I think the number of beafts exceeded a thoufand 
 Thefc rank, wet paftures are very proper for the breeding 
 of this fpecies of horned cattle, which are of a heavy yet 
 laborious difpofition, and delight in marfhes. During 
 the broiling heats of fummer, they lay themfelves down in 
 the water, and leaving only the end of their nofes above the 
 furface, defy the affaults of the myriads of infects that fvvarm 
 in thefe low grounds. We repofed, during the middle of 
 the day, on the ftraw of the great barn. Caffano, a fief of 
 the Serra Aragona family, is an epifcopal city, about twelve 
 miles from the fea : it has mineral waters, fulphureous 
 baths, and a very fruitful territory. 
 
 After dinner we croffed the river Sybaris, now the Cof. 
 cile, and entered the peninfula formed by that river and the 
 Crathis, where a few degraded fragments of aqueducts and 
 tombs indicate the fpot on which flood the city of Sybaris, 
 noted to a proverb in ancient hiftory for the luxury and 
 effeminacy of its inhabitants. 
 
 No pofition could have been more judicioufly chofen for 
 commerce or agriculture, as long as an extenfive population 
 and induflry kept the rive ^ under controul. Irrigation is, 
 in fo dry a climate, the life of hufbandry ; but unleis flrong 
 quays and embankments confine the waters to their due 
 courfe, and prevent their coming down upon the country at 
 improper feafons and in fuperabundant quantities, ruin and 
 1 peftiience,
 
 2 9 a JOURNEY TO REGGIO, 
 
 pefiilence, inftead of riches and health, are the neceflary 
 confequences. Attention to the management of thefe two 
 large dreams enfured fertility to the lands, and deep, fafe 
 channels for trading fleets. Many ages, alas ! have now 
 revolved, fince Man inhabited thefe plains in fufficient 
 numbers to fecufe falubrity. The rivers have long rolled 
 lawlefs and unreftrained over thefe low defolate fields, leav- 
 ing as they fhrink back to their beds, black pools and 
 (linking fvvamps to poifon the whole region, and drive 
 mankind Mill farther from its ancient pofTeilions. Nothing 
 in reality remains of Sybaris, which once gave law to four 
 nations, reckoned twenty- five cities among its fubjects, and 
 could mufter three hundred thoufand fighting men. I do 
 not think any remnants, now to be feen, date fo far back as 
 the old Sybaritan republic*. 
 
 Sybaris was one of the moft ancient of the fettlements 
 formed by the Greeks on the Italian fhore. The natural 
 richnefs of its foil encouraged agriculture, which produced 
 abundance of articles of commerce ; and the convenience of 
 the fituation, between two confiderable rivers, naturally led 
 to a oreat exportation. — From thefe fources wealth flowed 
 copioufly into the flate, and with it brought fuch luxury 
 and degeneracy of manners, as have excited the aflonimment 
 and indignation of all ancient writers. Many anecdotes are 
 
 * The materials of the ruins being brick, argue Roman rather than Gre- 
 cian workmanfhip. I never met with bricks, in any undoubted Greek ruin, 
 throughout Magna Gratia or Sicily. 
 
 told
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 295 
 
 told us of the foft Sybarites ; fome fcarcely credible, and all 
 tending to (hew how much that people facrificed every 
 conlideration to the enjoyment of the prefent moment, and 
 how eafy a conqueft they afforded their more needy and 
 warlike neighbours. But Sybaris, before its hour of misfor- 
 tune, had numbered many of glory and dominion. It had 
 founded the ciry of Pseftum on the Tyrrhene fea ; its armies 
 had been numerous and formidable ; its authority refpe&ed 
 over a large range of country ; and the wifdom of its coun- 
 cils admired by the furrounding nations. The walls of the 
 capital inclofed a fpace of fix miles and a half, and its fub- 
 urbs extended near feven miles along the Crathis. What a 
 noble light ! what beauties this country muft have difplayed, 
 when the impetuous torrents were kept under command, 
 and only let off cautioufly and regularly, to convey frefhnefs 
 and fertility to the well-tilled thirfty fields! — -when the banks 
 of the river were adorned with warehoufes, wherein the mer- 
 chant depofited his riches ; and with elegant villas, and 
 perfumed gardens, whither he retired to enjoy the fruits of 
 his industry ! — when its fpacious plains teemed with har- 
 vefh, that, according to the teftimony of Varro, repaid the 
 hulbandman an hundred fold, and annually loaded large 
 fleets of vefiels that crowded the mouths of its rivers ! 
 
 After retracing all thefe circumftances in my mind, I 
 looked round me, and could not help thinking myfelf in a 
 dream, or that the hiftojrians muft have been dream; 
 
 * 
 
 whi •
 
 294 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 when they wrote of Sybaris. Seventy days, as Strabo fays, 
 fufficed to deftroy all this grandeur and profperity. Five 
 hundred and feventy-two years before the Chriftian aera, the 
 Crotoniates, under their famous Athleta Milo, defeated the 
 Sybarites in a pitched battle, broke down the dams that 
 kept out the Crathis, and let the furious ftream into the 
 town, where it foon overturned and fwept away every 
 building of ufe or ornament. The inhabitants were mafla- 
 cred without mercy ; and the few that efcaped the {laugh- 
 ter, and attempted to reftore their city, were cut to pieces 
 by a colony of Athenians, who afterwards removed to fome 
 diftance, and founded Thurium *. The coins of Sybaris are 
 among the moft ancient known ; being of the fort called 
 Incuji, i. e. convex on one fide, and concave on the reverfe. 
 They bear a Bull, which I take to be an emblem of their 
 fubdued river, fo long their friend and purveyor, but in the 
 end an instrument of their deftrudion. The great works 
 undertaken to drive back its waters, are probably exprefTed 
 by the head of the animal being turned back on its 
 flioulder f. 
 
 * Modern authors place it at Terra Nova, four miles up the river ; but 
 Livy fays exprefsly it was on the fea-fhore. 
 
 -j- Nummi Sybaritarum. 
 ARG. I. Taurus flans retroflexo capite TM = Altera pars incufTa. 
 
 2. Cap. Palladis=:Taurus 2TBA. 
 
 3. Taurus = Vas incuffum. 
 
 4. Taurus-- Quatuor Glob. ML 
 JER. 1. Taurus cap. refiexo TM=Incuffus. 
 
 I have
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 2?5 
 
 I have often wondered why the moft outrageous barba- 
 rians, the moft blood-thirfty conquerors, have found more 
 favour at the hands both of their cotemporaries and of 
 pofterity, than the foft indolent Sybarites, who feem to 
 have done harm to nobody, and whofe faults originated 
 in the affluent ftate of their affairs, and the mild tempera- 
 ture of their climate, rather than in any mifchievous bent 
 of character. I fufpect this virulence of abufe fprang, from 
 the defire their enemies, and the partifans of thofe enemies, 
 had, of giving a plaufible excufe for the cruelty with which 
 the Sybarites were treated ; perhaps alfo from a fpirit of 
 envy at their enjoyments ; or from the common character, 
 of philofophical declamations. Thefe being the production 
 of a fet of men of great poverty, four tempers, auftere 
 morals, and much polemical irafcibility, were more fre- 
 quently employed to lafh the indulging voluptuary, than 
 the bloody tyrant or ferocious ravifher ; efpecially as there 
 was more danger in an attack upon the latter. Were the 
 cafe otherwife, bow fhould we account for their fpleen 
 againft thefe Epicures ? for what comparifon is there be- 
 tween the culpability of a wealthy citizen, revelling in love 
 and wine, pampered up with high feafoned viands and 
 delicious liquors, repofing in eafy carriages and beds of 
 down ; and the guilt of an exterminating conqueror, who 
 cmbrues his hands in the blood of thofe half- {lumbering 
 debauchees, that he may poffefs himfclt of their fpoils, 
 
 Q^q and
 
 2p( 5 [OURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 and perhaps, in time, add their vices to his own native 
 cruelty ? Hiftorians, and orators of all ages, have been 
 guilty of this partiality. For my part, I cannot help feeling 
 a degree of pity for the hard fate of the Sybarites, to whom 
 we are indebted for the difcovery of many mod ufeful 
 pieces of chamber and kitchen furniture. They appear 
 to have been a people of great tafte, and to have fet 
 the fafhion, in point of drefs, throughout Greece. Their 
 cooks, embroiderers, and confectioners were famous over 
 all the polite world ; and we may fuppofe their riding- 
 mafters did not enjoy a lefs brilliant reputation, fince we 
 are told of their having taught their horfes to dance to a 
 particular tune. Alexis of Sybaris paffes for being the 
 inventor of fables or dialogues, in which the fpeakers 
 are all rational beings ; — the prototype of the Drama : 
 whereas iEfop and others had put their morality into the 
 mouths of animals only. 
 
 After the deftrudtion of Sybaris, Thurium became a con- 
 siderable ftate under the difcipline of Charondas, who died 
 a martyr to the fpirit of his own laws. Having fixed the 
 pain of death upon any citizen that mould enter the fenate- 
 houfe armed, and being reminded that in his hurry he had 
 brought a fword with him into the aflembly, he immedi- 
 ately plunged it into his breaft, and fealed his decree with 
 his own blood. Thurium flourished long even under the 
 dominion of Rome, till falling to decay, it was judged 
 
 expedient
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 297 
 
 expedient to fend a colony thither; after which event it 
 aflumed the name of Copia*. 
 
 Herodotus, the father of hiftory, died at Thurium. 
 Auguftus Caefar was nicknamed Thurinus in his youth, 
 either from his father's having governed this province, or 
 from his family's deriving its origin from hence. 
 
 Suetonius made Adrian a prefent of a ftatue of Auguftus, 
 with this name infcribed on the bafe. Cicero and Antony 
 both reproached him with the lownefs of his origin, and 
 aflerted that his father, the firft of the race who had 
 attained any honours in the republic, was, in the beginning, 
 no better than a money-fcrivener ; yet it is the common 
 opinion, that this fortunate heir of Julius Csefar fprang from 
 a rich equeftrian family of Veletri. 
 
 * Nummi Thurinorum. 
 AUR. 1. Cap. Palladis cum monftro marino. = Taurus ©OYPinN. 
 ARG. 1. Cap. Pall.=Taurus cornupeta. pifcis ©OYPIIIN. 
 
 2. Cap. Pallad. datum, zr Taurus cornup. vict. fupervol. cor. impon. 
 
 oorpmN. 
 
 3. Cap. Pall. laur.=Taurus gradiens, pifcis — QOTPinN. 
 
 4. Cap. Pall. ^ Semi bos 0. 
 
 iER. 1. Cap. Pall. gal.=Taurus corn, pifcis ©OYPinN. 
 
 2. Cap. Apoll.=:Tripus ©OYPinN. 
 
 3. Cap. Apoll.=Lyra ©OYPmN. 
 
 4. Cap. imb. diad. = Homo nud. ftans KAEHN ©OYPIUN. 
 
 Nummi Copienfium. 
 MR. 1. Cap. Pallad. 4 globuli.=Cornucopia2 4 glob. COniA. 
 
 2. Cap. Herculis3 glob.=Cornuc. 3 glob. L. CAIO COPIA. 
 
 3. Cap. Mercurii petafat.=:Cornuc. 3 glob. Q^ P. C. COPIA.
 
 29 g JOURNEY TO REGG 10. 
 
 SECTION XXXIX. 
 
 TirE ferried over the Crati, a fine broad river, clear and 
 rapid. The ancients were of opinion, that its waters 
 were medicinal, and had the faculty of tinging, of a fair or 
 yellow colour, the hair of all who drank them conftantly ; 
 and that thofe of the Sybaris turned it black. They deemed 
 it imprudent to drive cattle to drink at the Sybaris, as the 
 water was apt to excite dangerous fneezings and convul- 
 sions, being ftrongly impregnated with mephitic gas. 
 
 For the next three miles, our evening ride was up a mofl 
 beautiful Hoping hill, thickly planted with orange, lemon, 
 citron, olive, almond, and other fruit-trees, which, by their 
 contrafted (hades of green, and the variety of their fize and 
 fhape, compofed one of the richeft profpects I ever beheld, 
 even in Italy, that country of enchanting landfcape. I was 
 enraptured with the beautiful fcene, and almoft intoxicated 
 with perfumes. The river Crati iflues out of a chafm in 
 the chain of mountains, forcing its boifterous way to the 
 Ionian fea, which, though four miles from the place where 
 1 flood, appeared, in that bright atmofphere, to lie clofe to 
 the foot of the hill, juft edged with a flip of verdant 
 paflure. The little town of Corigliano rifes boldly on the 
 jeak of the richly clothed knoll, like the watch-tower and 
 fafeguard of all thefe natural treafures. It is a dutchy be- 
 longing
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 29? 
 
 longing to the Saluzzi, a Genoefe family, which has been 
 for fome years paft annexed to the Seggio or ward of 
 Porto at Naples. The buildings are rather better than 
 thofe of the other Calabrian towns I had pafTed near, and 
 contain about eight thoufand inhabitants, who have an 
 appearance of extreme poverty, and, like Tantalus, frarve 
 in the midft of plenty, though their lord has the reputation 
 of being one of the moft humane, as well as opulent, feuda- 
 tories in the province. He has taken fome pains to pro- 
 mote agriculture, and the breeding of horfes and cattle; but 
 his fuccefs has hitherto been inconiiderable. 
 
 It was a pleafing and refrefhing circumftance to meet 
 whole droves of mules and affes laden with oranges juft 
 plucked. They were carrying them to the fea-fhore, to be 
 embarked in fmall boats for Taranto and Gallipoli. The 
 evening fea-breeze, ftrongly fcented with the grateful effluvia, 
 fanned me fo delightfully, that with reluctance I entered the 
 town, where I found the inn a very pitiful one, and infected 
 with fuch difagreeable odours, as formed a woeful contrail: 
 with the perfumed air I had lately breathed. I never 
 entered a Venta in Spain that was not preferable to this, 
 for fmell, cleanlinefs, and provifions. The route given me 
 at Naples having made no mention of Carigliano as a fleep- 
 ing-ftage, I came, without any letter, to the Duke's agent, 
 and therefore was refufed a bed in his manfion. Upon 
 this denial, I took up my lodging at the houfe of a dealer 
 in oil. The mailer was abfent, and we fcw nobody but 
 
 aii
 
 3 oo JOURNEY TO REG G I O. 
 
 an old woman fervant : the reft of the family kept them- 
 felves locked up. I was fo ill accommodated, that, as foon 
 as it was pofllble next morning to get ready, I rode down 
 to the plains through a mod delightful country, which I 
 cannot pretend to defcribe in a manner to do it juftice. 
 On every fide, fruits and flowers rofe in clufters, freshened by 
 the morning air ; the round heads of the orange-trees 
 glowed with the rays of the fun that was juft rifing, and 
 darting his beams along the furface of the fea : the whole 
 neighbourhood was enlivened by crowds of men and women 
 finging as they defcended the hill to their daily labour. 
 Every production here is in the higheft perfection it can 
 pofTibly attain when unafTifted by art. The hufbandry of 
 this province is flovenly, and the fkill in gardening very 
 fuperficial. Both betray a want of emulation and intelli- 
 gence. Climate and foil do more than half the work, and 
 the hand of difpirited man is fluggifhly applied to the talk; 
 partial Nature empties the horn of plenty on his head, but 
 from many fatal caufes, her bounty contributes little to his 
 welfare; whilft we fee, in more northern and lefs happy 
 regions, the active enterprifing labourer able to extort fa- 
 vours from her, and, with the leafr. gawdy of her riches, raife 
 himfelf to comfort and independence. 
 
 The road in the plain is very pleafant, under the made 
 of olive-trees or evergreen oaks, and through many tracks 
 of very fine corn-fields ; but at the end of fix miles, it grows 
 ftony, fteep, and rough, up to the very gates of RofTano, 
 
 which
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 301 
 
 which (lands in a hollow, furrounded by fertile hills. There 
 is nothing in this archiepifcopal city that claims much 
 notice; the buildings are mean, the ftreets vilely paved 
 and contrived. The number of inhabitants does not exceed 
 fix thoufand, who fubfift by the fale of their oil, the prin- 
 cipal object of their attention, though the territory produces 
 a great deal of good wine and corn. 
 
 The lower parts of the hills that encircle this town are com- 
 pofed of Breccia, or pebbles, particles of marcafites, mica, and 
 lead, united together by means of a red bolar earth. There is 
 no regularity in the ftrata, nor appearance of any gradual fub- 
 fidence; the upper parts are a tophus full of petrified pectinites, 
 and other exuvize, of which the analogous fhell-fifh dill exifts 
 in thefe feas. From the numerous fragments of lead, and 
 fome bits of filver ore picked up in the torrents, I conjecture 
 that the mountains to the we ft ward contain mines of thofe 
 metals ; though I have been aiTured by a judicious mine- 
 ralogift of this country, that the accounts given by many 
 writers of the Calabrian mines are vague exaggerations, 
 and that nothing has yet been difcovered but {lender veins 
 of ore, not likely to turn to any account in the working. 
 
 RoiTano probably owes its origin to the Roman Emperors, 
 who confidered it as a poft equally valuable for drench 
 and convenience of traffic. The Marfans, a family of 
 French extraction, polTeiled this territory, with the title of 
 Prince, from the time of Charles the Second to that of 
 Alphonfus the Second, when the lad male heir was, by that 
 3 Prince's
 
 3 i>2 JOURNEY TO REGGIO, 
 
 Prince's order, put to death in Ifchia, where he was con- 
 fined for treafon*. 
 
 Rofiano afterwards belonged to Bona, Queen of Poland, 
 in right of her mother Ifabella, daughter to Alphonfus the 
 Second, and at her deceafe returned to the Crown. It was 
 next in the poffefTion of the Aldobrandini, from whom the 
 Borghefi inherited it. 
 
 So late as the fixteenth century, the inhabitants of this city 
 {poke the Greek language, and followed the rite of the 
 Eaftern church. Here was formerly the moil: celebrated 
 rendezvous of the Bafilian monks in Magna Grzecia. Of that 
 body, the moft confpicuous member was Nilus, a faint of a 
 very extraordinary character ; for, during his whole life, 
 he perfifted in refufing donations of lands, rents, and tene- 
 ments, though he was the founder of many monafteries. 
 Dominichino, by his admirable frefco paintings in the 
 
 * This illuftrious Houfe poffeffed extenfive domains in almoft every 
 province, and made that ufe of their power and wealth, which is but too 
 common in kingdoms diftra&ed by civil diflentions and litigated titles. The 
 Marians were principals in all disturbances, and took an aclive part in every 
 commotion. Of thefe Princes, the moft potent was Marino, long the in- 
 veterate foe, but finally the dupe of Ferdinand the Fird ; a King who was 
 far from being fcrupulous in the means he employed to over- reach his 
 enemies, or to rid himfelf of them when once in his power. In his treatment 
 of Marino, the law of retaliation feems to plead his excufe, as that giddy 
 nobleman had, fometime before his ruin, enticed the King to a conference near 
 Teano, and there attempted to murder him. The plan failed in the execu- 
 tion, from the confirmation and cowardice of the confpirators. Marfan was 
 kept twenty-five years in prifon-, and then, to complete the extermination of 
 the whole rebellious baronage, was, with many other noblemen, fecretly exe- 
 cuted, his fortunes for ever loft, and his family annihilated. 
 
 8 church
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 church of Grotta Ferrata, near Rome, has made his legend 
 more familiar to the dilettanti, than it is to the common 
 run of devotees ; for this faint, being a Greek, is in no 
 very high repute in the Latin rubric : the numerous 
 founders and reformers of orders in fubfequent times, have 
 engrofTed to themfelves almofi: the whole (lock of homage; 
 and I believe very fevs Romans ever heard his name, though 
 he died in their neighbourhood. The Greek monks were 
 the prefervers of books and literature in the fouth of Italy; 
 for the Lombards defpifed and negle&ed the fciences, 
 Charles the Bald invited learned men from Greece to in* 
 ftruct his fubjecls, and revive a tafte for learning among 
 them. Thefe priefts opened, in the convent of St. Nicholas, 
 near Otranto, a famous fchool, to which great numbers of 
 fhidents flocked, and received inftruclion gratis. The mo- 
 naftery even fupported thofe fcholars that wanted the means 
 of providing for their own maintenance. The aufterity of 
 life and profound learning of the Bafilian Cenobites, gained 
 them the efteem of princes and people, and procured them 
 eftablifhments in the kingdom to the number cf five hun- 
 dred. They maintained their ground to the flxteenth cen- 
 tury, ufing the Greek idiom, but the Latin rite. 
 
 Pope John the Seventh, who was chofen in 705, was a 
 native of RolTano. Theologians blame him for his weak- 
 nefs, in yielding too much to the requeils of the Emperor 
 and the Eaftern prelates. 
 
 R r 
 
 S°3
 
 3 ©4 JOURNEY TO REGGIO, 
 
 SECTION XL. 
 
 T\ /T Y ftay at RofTano was very fhort ; as the guide was 
 eager to fet out, left we fhould be benighted before 
 we reached Cariati, between which place and RofTano he 
 affured me we fhould find very indifferent accommodations. 
 We rode all the afternoon in a moft beautiful vale, cultivated 
 with great neatnefs, and abounding with pulfe and vege- 
 tables of various forts. We pafTed feveral rivulets that water 
 and fertilize thefe fields. The Trionto alone * deferves the 
 name of river, though not a navigable one, as fome geogra- 
 phers ftyle it. One of our horfes falling lame, we were obliged 
 to take up our abode for the night at Mirti, a fingle houfe, 
 or Fondaco. This inn was better than I expected, and the 
 hofi: very civil. He earneftly recommended to the fervants 
 to leave nothing out of doors, as there was an encampment 
 of Zingari, or gypfies, in the neighbouring fields, who 
 would lay their hands upon any part of the baggage that 
 was not watched with ftricl attention. His caution led me 
 to an enquiry into the ftate of this ftrange tribe of vaga- 
 bonds, of whom I had feen great numbers in Spain. The 
 refult of his accounts, combined with thofe I have received 
 from other hands, is as follows : 
 
 * Anciently the Traeis. 
 
 The
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 3 o T 
 
 The gypfies of Calabria do not contract alliances with 
 any other clafs of inhabitants, but marry among themfelves. 
 It is not pofTlble to fay where they refide, as they have no 
 fixed habitation, confequently poflefs neither houfe nor land; 
 but wherever they think proper to make any ftay, pitch 
 their tents. They fupport life by the profits of little handi- 
 crafts, but more by thofe of fwopping aftes and horfes, 
 which they will do for the fmalleft trifle to boot ; nay, one 
 has been known to truck his afs with another for a glafs of 
 wine. They generally work in iron, and make trivets, 
 knitting-needles, bodkins, and fuch baubles. Their drefs 
 is extremely fhabby; they (have their chins, but indulge a 
 great length of hair, which they feldom diflurb with either 
 comb or fciflars. As to their religion, it is a fecret they 
 keep locked up in their own breafts. They feem to have 
 no great veneration for the Virgin Mary ; but are fuppofed 
 to believe in Chrift. All the proof we have of their belief 
 depends upon appearance, and an occafional conformity to the 
 ceremonies of the Roman Catholic church in marriage, burials, 
 &c.; but ifthe priefts ffart any difficulties, they manage the 
 matter without their interference, and perform the functions 
 according to their own cuftoms ; which in many points 
 refemble thofe of the heathens. At their weddings they 
 carry torches, and have paranymphs to give the bride away, 
 with many other unufual rites. It is in reality almoft an 
 abfurdity to talk of the religion of a fet of people vvhofe 
 moral character is fo depraved, as to make it evident they 
 
 R r 2 believe
 
 306 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 believe in nothing capable or being a check, upon their 
 paflions. They are univerfally accounted to be pilferers, 
 cheats, faithlefs, fhamelefs, and abandoned to all manner of 
 diflolutenefs. The following anecdote will fhew how little 
 they are under the control of modefty, or fear of fhame. 
 A gang of gvpfies affembled at the fair of MarGco Nuovo , 
 with an intention of robbing the (hops, for which purpofe 
 a proper number of them were difperfed in the throng. 
 To draw off the merchants by fome very extraordinary 
 incitement to curiofity, was the next point to be considered ; 
 and with this view they adopted an expedient that would 
 have mocked the moft hardened libertine. Some of their 
 men and women went into the adjacent fields, and there 
 proceeded to fuch indecent liberties, as foon brought moft 
 of the people of the fair about them, and left their mops a 
 prey to the confederate thieves. 
 
 Contra&s and plighting of faith are by them efteemed 
 mere empty forms ; and whenever the breach promifes more 
 advantage than the obfervance, they never hefitate a mo- 
 ment. No cheats can be more artful or impudent. When 
 they bring their affes to fa'e, they prick their moulders with 
 very fmall needles fet in a piece of cork, which makes the 
 poor animals bound like deer. The unfufpecling chapman 
 thinks he buys the fleeter! of beads, and perhaps finds, 
 upon trial, that he has purchafed a dull, reftive, foundered 
 grizel. The gypfles have a way of throwing down the 
 mules and affes they wifh to buy, and thereby depreciating 
 2 their
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 307 
 
 their merit*. They tell fortunes, and play juggling tricks, 
 as they do in all other countries where they are tolerated. 
 In 1560, they were banimed the kingdom as thieves, cheats, 
 and fpies for the Turks. In 1569, and 1585, the order 
 was renewed, but not being enforced, had little effect. 
 
 A gypfy being brought to trial for larceny, declared, 
 That his law allowed him to take from others as much every 
 day as fufliced for his maintenance. Thefe people make 
 ufe of two languages, one Calabrian, with a foreign accent 
 and pronunciation; the other, a peculiar one of their own; 
 which, in found, feems to bear a great affinity to the Oriental 
 tongues, and is fpoken when they have fecrets to impart to 
 each other. 
 
 One of the mofi: intelligent of the crew being afked, 
 Why his nation was a wandering one? replied, That they 
 cannot remain in a place above a few days without being 
 over-run with lice. This propenfity to breed vermin pro- 
 ceeds from their exceflive filthinefs. They fleep like dogs 
 in a kennel, huddled altogether, men. women, and children, 
 taking up no more room afleep than if they were dead and 
 buried, which crowding muO; caufe a heat and fermentation 
 extremely favourable to the multiplication of naufeous 
 infects. 
 
 On the ioth of May we travelled along the more, 
 having high land on our right. The numberlefs beds of 
 
 * When they travel through a country where herds of horfes and afFes art 
 fuffered to wander without a keeper, they Ileal them, by calling over their 
 aecks a ball of lead fattened to a thong. 
 
 torrents,.
 
 3o8 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 torrents, which we were obliged to crofs, made the road 
 very unpleafant. The firft place we came to was Cariati, 
 a principality belonging to the Spinelli, one of the mod 
 opulent feudatory families, divided into feveral branches, 
 and poffeffed of very capital fiefs in Calabria *. This city 
 is fmall, and thinly inhabited,, on account of the weaknefs 
 of its fituation, and dread of the Turks, who, before a 
 treaty was concluded with the Porte, were continually 
 ravaging this coaft. Its cathedral is a very heavy Gothic 
 ftruciure, dedicated to St. Peter, and the only parim. The 
 furrounding hills are gay, and pleafingly covered with fruit- 
 trees ; the woods behind them produce manna of excellent 
 quality ; much Turkey wheat is cultivated in the lands be- 
 low, and extenfive paftures afford luxuriant and wholefome 
 fuilenance to a great dock of oxen, buffaloes, fheep, goats, 
 and fwine. In Calabria, all the oxen are white, large, and 
 long-horned, except thofe of the red breed, which have 
 been introduced from Sicily by the Princes of Cariati and 
 Geraci. I never law buffaloes of any colour but black; 
 and moft of the goats, fheep, and hogs are of that hue. 
 The laft fpecies have no hair, but are as fleek in the hide 
 
 * This family came from Somma, and is not mentioned in the chronicles 
 before the year 1224. The man who laid the foundation of this wealth was 
 John Baptift Spinelli, confervator of the royal patrimony under Ferdinand 
 the Catholic, to whom he recommended himfelf by the vigilance with which 
 he watched the motions of the Viceroy Gonialvo de Cordova. Ferdinand, on 
 his arrival at Naples, diftinguillied John very much, and gave, or enabled him 
 to purchafe, Cariati and other confiderable eftates, fince augmented by the 
 prudence of his defcendants. 
 
 8 as
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 309 
 
 as an elephant. This country abounds with game of the 
 leffer feathered tribes, fuch as doves, quails, nd other 
 birds of paflage. Dormice are here accounted delicate 
 game, as they were in ancient Rome, where they were 
 kept in warrens, and fatted for the tables of the mod refined 
 epicures. The hair of thefe animals is here more generally 
 grey than ruflet. They are fmoked out of their nefts in 
 hollow trees, and caught with fharp hooks. Their fkins 
 make very fine leather. — The fea of Cariati abounds with 
 fifh. At a place called Terra Vecchia, eaft of the city, arc 
 the flight remains of Paternum. 
 
 After dinner, we travelled four miles through arable lands 
 of a ftrong clayey foil, where the courfe of hufbandry is, to 
 take a crop of wheat, and then to leave the field fallow 
 two years for pafturage. We afterwards croffed hilly olive 
 grounds, covered with loofe ftones, under which I found fome 
 ftrata of compact grindftone, and lumps of whetftone, of a 
 good quality. At the foot of thefe hills runs the Aquanile, 
 which, both from name and pofition, I take to be the 
 Hylias, anciently the limit between Sybaris and Croton. 
 On its banks the Crotoniates gained the victory which made 
 them matters o£ the Sybaritan territory. They were led to 
 battle by Milo the wreftler, equipped like Hercules, with 
 club and lion's fkin, and crowned with the prize-wreaths 
 he had won at the Olympic games. 
 
 My intention was to have flept at the town of Ciro ? 
 which feems to ftand on the fite of Crimifla, a city founded 
 
 by
 
 3 io JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 by Philoctetes, the friend, and, to his coft, the heir of 
 Hercules. But being allured that I fhould meet with 
 neither accommodations nor provifions at that place, I pre- 
 ferred remaining below in the plain, at a (ingle houfe, 
 where my apartment was none of the beft ; but I had feen 
 worfe ; and the civility of the people made amends for 
 inconveniences. Ciro is a very poor place, containing 
 about fix thoufand inhabitants; it belongs to Spinelli, 
 Prince of Tarfia, who monopolizes all the fiik made by his 
 vaflals. The territory produces alfo very fine oil and corn, 
 execrable wine, but good water. This town, though by no 
 means in an unhealthy fituation, affords a livelihood to fix 
 doctors in phyfic. The evening was mild and ftill ; I fpent 
 it in a folitary walk along the beach of Cape Alice, the molt 
 eaftem point of the Calabrian coaft, except the Lacinian 
 or Crotonian promontory. It was famous for a temple of 
 Apollo Halyus, of which I could not difcover the fmalleft 
 veftige ; the waves of the fea having covered, or the hand 
 of man removed, every flone of it. During fupper, the 
 keeper of the neighbouring watch-tower came to pay me a 
 vifit. A glafs or two of wine reftored that liberty to his 
 tongue which refpect had retrained ; and, after endeavour- 
 ing to imprefs me with a high idea or his courage, and the 
 havoc he would make with his fingle gun in an army of 
 Algerines, he entertained me with feveral anecdotes or 
 his brother-warders ; one of which I noted for its Angula- 
 rity. Part of the crew of a Barbary veffel had landed near 
 
 a mari-
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 3 „ 
 
 a maritime tower, with an intent of plundering a village on 
 the coaft ; when their progrefs was impeded, and their 
 fury diverted, by the watchman's {hooting their Reys 
 through the head from the battlements. The Infidels flew 
 to the foot of the tower, and attacked it with great fury. 
 In fpite of the fire and other efforts of the defender, they 
 had almoft reached the top ; when the poor Calabrian, 
 finding his ammunition gone, and his cafe defperate, be- 
 thought himfelf of a fingular engine of defence. He 
 fnatched up fome bee-hives that ftood on the platform, and 
 running round the parapet, fhook out the angry infects 
 upon the afTailants ; who, flung to the quick, and terrified 
 with this incomprehenfible, miraculous attack, were glad 
 to relinquifh the fcalado, and plunge into the water, to 
 deliver themfelves from their cruel antagonifts. It is not 
 every warder that can ftrike out fuch refources in general- 
 fhip ; and without them his poft is fcarce tenable ; for 
 the towers are but indifferently conftrucled, or provided for 
 refinance : they are fquare and bulky, and not very lofty. 
 The door is about half-way up, with a ladder, which is 
 taken in at night j over this is a terrace, on which is placed 
 a cannon, more for the purpofe of alarming the coaft, than 
 finking the boats of an enemy. I was told at Rome, by an 
 infpe&or of thefe forts, that, in the courfe of his vilitation, 
 he came once to a tower, where the guard, in anfwer to 
 the ufual queries concerning his fkill and care of the artil- 
 lery, led him into the room under the battery, and pointing 
 
 S £ to
 
 312 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 to a packthread fteeped in brimftone, that hung through a 
 crevice in the cieling from the touch-hole of the cannon, 
 informed him, that he had found out that to be the fafeft 
 and raoft expeditious method of difcharging the piece. 
 
 SECTION XLI. 
 
 flp H E next day we arrived at Cotrone for dinner ; 
 having baited in the plain below Strongoli, a city on 
 a rugged mountain, fuppofed to be the ancient Petelia*. 
 Philocletes firft fettled a colony at Petelia, which afterwards 
 became the capital of the Lucanians, and made a confpi- 
 cuous figure, in the fecond Punic war, by its obftinate 
 refiftance to Hannibal. Marcellus, the illuftrious rival of 
 that hero, perimed in a fkirmifh near its walls. Strongoli 
 belongs to a Pignatelli, who keeps a large ftud of horfes in 
 the wafle lands near the fea. The Calabrian horfes are 
 pretty, fpirited and brilliant in their motions, but in general 
 
 * Nummi Petelinorum. 
 iER. i. Cap. barb. galeat.=Vi6toria gradiens d. coron. nETHAINIiN". 
 
 2. Cap. imb. rad.=Tripus. T. nETHAINI2N. 
 
 3. Cap. mul. velat.=Jupiter fulminans nETHAINXlN. 
 
 4. Cap. Jovis=Jup. fulm. tripus. nETHAINHN. 
 
 5. Cap. Jovis. = Fulmen. 'F. nETHAINHN. 
 
 6. Cap. Apoll.=Figura mulieb. grad. d. ftyl. nETHAINflN. duo 
 
 glob. 
 
 7. Cap. Herculis=Clava nETHAINHN. 
 
 8. Cap. mul.=Canis. nETHAINXiN. 
 
 low,
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 313 
 
 low, and feldom free from vice. I know by experience that 
 they can go through fevere fatigue, having rode a fmall 
 one, in hot weather, five fucceflive days, at the rate of fifty 
 miles a day. This breed is not attended to with all the 
 care it deferves j for the prohibition of exportation renders 
 the owners much more indifferent about the perfection of 
 their horfes than they would be, if there were a demand 
 from other countries, and a brifk fale allowed, to excite 
 their emulation. Another caufe of neglect lies in the ex- 
 cefllve badnefs of the roads in this mountainous country, 
 where mules, being much more hardy and enduring, are 
 fitter for fervice, and confequently more marketable. They 
 carry upwards of three cantara, through the moft difficult, 
 dangerous ways imaginable, without ftumbling. — The 
 Barons have no exclufive feudal right to breed horfes, 
 though fome of them arrogate to themfelves a monopoly by 
 violence. We palled the Nieto* in a boat. The air is 
 unwholefome on the banks of this river, which divides the 
 two Calabrias ; but the herbage muft be incomparable, if I 
 may judge from the delicacy and fweetnefs of the milk and 
 cream cheefes, for which this canton is renowned. 
 
 Cotrone has fucceeded to the Greek city of Croton, but 
 does not cover the fame extent of ground. I was allured 
 that in fummer this climate is unhealthy ; a misfortune that 
 cannot proceed from local caufes ; for the falubrity of 
 
 * Anciently Necethus. 
 
 S f 2 Croton
 
 S r 4 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 Croton was famous to a proverb among the ancients. The 
 Efaro, which flowed through the very centre of the old 
 town, now runs in a fhallow ftony bed, at a considerable 
 diftance north of the gates. 
 
 Great works have been conftructed, in the prefent reign, 
 to form a harbour for this town. Time will fhew whether 
 the exertions of miniftry have been directed by fkill and 
 judgment ; and whether the obftacles, that heretofore pre- 
 vented vefTels from riding in fafety before Cotrone, have 
 been fufficiently removed and guarded againft for the future. 
 The entrance of the new haven is open to the north and 
 north-eaft winds ; points of the compafs from which very 
 boifterous blafts rufh down the Adriatic, acrofs the Taren- 
 tine gulph, though perhaps lefs tremendous than the Sci- 
 locco and foutherly winds. As the hills and projection of 
 the capes protect Cotrone from florins on the fouth quarter, 
 I am furprifed the engineers did not direct the mouth of 
 the haven more eafterly : the entrance would have been 
 eafier, and the veflels lefs difturbed while in port. How- 
 ever, as I pretend to no technical knowledge in the 
 engineering line, but fpeak from rude guefs and curfbry 
 obfervation, I am willing to believe there were fufficient 
 reafons for proceeding on the plan that has been adopted. 
 Perhaps the weight of water rolled up the gulph might 
 create a dangerous fwell, or fands might in time accumulate 
 at the pafTage, if the harbour lay open to the eaft. But it 
 is the opinion of many fenfible obfervers, that greater 
 
 6 advan-
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. jj 5 
 
 advantages might have been procured for the money, and 
 that very great additional expence is requifite to complete 
 the undertaking. I mould no doubt have judged more 
 favourably of an enterprize, which, like the hand of a Cre- 
 ator, forms a port, where the ancient mariners defpaired of 
 procuring fecure anchorage, — had I not been informed that 
 the venerable fragments of the old city, its fuburbs and 
 temples, had been dilapidated, to furnifh materials for the 
 piers and buttrefTes. This was a very trifling faving, in fo 
 expenfive a concern ; and appears a piece of extraordinary 
 barbarifm in minifters, that plumed themfelves upon their 
 excavations at Herculaneum, and the care with which they 
 preferved the precious monuments of antiquity *. Cotrone 
 is fortified with fingle walls, and a cattle erected by Charles 
 the Fifth. Its private buildings are poor and fordid ; the 
 ftreets difmal and narrow : ill-humour, mifery, and de- 
 fpondency were ftrongly depicted in the countenance of 
 every inhabitant I met. There is very little buifle ; little 
 commercial hurry ; cheefe and corn are the principal com- 
 modities. For the ftowage of corn, there are ranges of 
 granaries in the fuburbs ; and the annual export is about 
 two hundred thoufand tomoti. The cheefe is tolerably 
 good ; but has a great deal cf that hot, acrid tafte, fo 
 common to all cheefe made with p-oats milk. The wine 
 
 CD 
 
 * The harbour is capable of containing a confiderable number of merchant 
 fhips, but none above the tonnage of a Polacca. The mouth of the port is 
 marked by two light-houfes. 
 
 is
 
 3 i6 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 is not unpleafant, and appears fufceptible of improvement, 
 by better management in the making and keeping. 
 
 This being the actual ftate of the town, let us caft a 
 view back upon its fituation in thofe ages, when four 
 republics, founded by Grecian refugees, gave the law to 
 the fhores of the Tarentine, Ionian, and part of the Tyrrhe- 
 nian feas ; when neither the Lucanians nor Bruttians had 
 affembled together in fufficient numbers, amidft their 
 mountainous recedes, to difturb or oppofe the dominion of 
 thefe colonies. I fhall form no conjectures concerning 
 Hercules or Myfcellus, the fuppofed founders of Croton ; 
 but take for granted that it was occupied by navigators 
 from Achaia • and that their pofterity rofe by virtue and 
 valour to the higheft eminence of fame among the fons of 
 Greece, But this valour, this virtue, appear to have been 
 called forth by the wholefome precepts and fevere inftitutes 
 of the Pythagorean fchool. ■ Pythagoras, after his Jong 
 peregrinations in fearch of knowledge, fixed his refidence 
 in this place, which fome authors think his native one, 
 at leaft that of his parents, fuppoflng him to have been 
 born in the ifle of Samos, and not at fome town of that 
 name in Italy. This incomparable fage fpent the latter 
 part of his life in training up difciples to the rigid exercife 
 of fublime and moral virtue, and inftructing the Crotoni- 
 ates in the true arts of government, fuch as alone can 
 infure happinefs, glory, and independence. 
 
 Under
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 317 
 
 Under the influence of this philofophy, the Crotoniates 
 inured their bodies to frugality and bardmips, and their 
 minds to felf-denial and patriotic difintereftednefs. Their 
 virtues were the admiration of Greece, where it was a 
 current proverb, that the laft of the Crotoniates was the 
 firft, of the Greeks. In one Olympiad, feven of the victors 
 in the games were citizens of Croton ; and the name of 
 Milo is almofi: as famous as that of Hercules. The vigour 
 of the men, and beauty of the women, were afcribcd to the 
 climate, which was believed to be endowed with qualities 
 peculiarly favourable to the human fyftem. Their phyficians 
 were in high repute; and among thefe, Alcmeon and De- 
 mocides rendered themfelves raoft confpicuous. Alcmeon 
 was the firft who dared to amputate a limb, in order to 
 fave the life of a patient ; and alfo the firft writer who 
 thought of inculcating moral precepts under the amufing 
 cloak of apologues. This invention is more commonly 
 attributed to iEfop, as he was remarkably ingenious in this 
 fpecies of compofition. Democides was famous for his 
 attachment to his native foil. Though careffed and en- 
 riched by the King of Perfia, whofe queen he had fnatched 
 from the jaws of death, he abandoned wealth and honours, 
 and by ftratagem efcaped to the humble comforts of a 
 private life at Croton. — The Pythagoreans are faid to have 
 difcovered that difpofition of the folar fyftem, which, with 
 fome modifications, has been revived by Copernicus, and is 
 now univerfally received, as being moft agreeable to nature 
 
 and
 
 3 i8 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 and experiment. Theano, the wife of Pythagoras, an d 
 many other women, emulated the virtues of their huf- 
 bands *. 
 
 In thofe fortunate days the (late of Croton was moft 
 flourifhing. Its walls inclofed a circumference of twelve 
 miles. Of all the colonies fent out from Greece, this alone 
 furnifhed fuccour to the mother-country when invaded by 
 the Perfians. By its avenging arms the Sybarites were 
 punifhed for their fhameful degeneracy; but viclory proved 
 fatal to the conquerors, for riches, and all their pernicious 
 attendants, insinuated themfelves into Croton, and foon con- 
 
 * Nummi Crotonorum. 
 AUR. i. Cap. Mul.= Hercules fedens aquam verf. KPOTX2NIATAN. 
 ARG. i. Tripus 9E>o. IncufTus. 
 
 2. Idem cum ave. 
 
 3. Tripus <?I>o. avis.=Aquila capite reverfo. 
 
 4. Facies plena diad. cum monili.=Hercules fed. fup. exuvias leon. 
 
 d. vas. fupra arcus clava & pharetra KPOTONIATAN. 
 
 5. Fac. pi. diad. cum mon. — Hercules te&us pelle leon. aquam 
 
 fundens ex vafe in tripodem — clava KPOTON. OS. 
 
 6. Cap. Apollinis diad.— Hercules ftrang. leon. 
 
 7. Cap. Apoll. laur. KPOTnNlATAN.zzCivicas murata. fupra fulmen 
 
 in muris victoria et eques. 
 
 8. Aquila fulm. inf.=Tripus, cornucop. KPO. 
 
 9. Tripus. II. KPOTONIATAN. — Aquila volans ung. palma; ramum 
 
 tern. 
 
 10. Saspia.=Tripus cum ave <?E>o. 
 
 11. Cap. Apoll. nLyra. 
 
 12. Avis=Taurus <? — v. ftella cochlea. 
 MR. 1. Herculis cap. KPO.=Tripus qy. 
 
 2. Cap. Jovis.=3 lunae et ftellas. 
 
 3. Cap. Cereris.=Tres lunse KPO. 
 
 4. Cap. imb.=3 lurue KPO. 
 
 taminated
 
 JOURNEY TO REG G 10. 319 
 
 taminated the purity of its principles. Indeed, the very 
 conftitution of human nature militates againfl: any long 
 continuance in fuch rigid practices of virtue; and therefore it 
 is no wonder if the Crotoniates fell by degrees into the irre- 
 gularities they once abhorred. Not long after, the Locrians, 
 who were lefs corrupted, defeated them on the banks of the 
 Sagra, and reduced the republic to diftrefs and penury. 
 This reftored the remaining Crotoniates to their priftine 
 vigour of mind, and enabled them to make a brave, though 
 unfuccefsful refiftance, when attacked by Dionyiius of Syra- 
 cufe. They fuffered much in the war with Pyrrhus, and, 
 by repeated misfortunes, decreafed in ftrength and numbers, 
 from age to age, down to that of Hannibal* when they 
 could not mufter twenty thoufand inhabitants. This fmall 
 population being incapable of manning the extenfive works 
 erected in the days of profperity, Croton was taken by the 
 Carthaginians, and its citizens tranfported to Locri; The 
 Romans fent a colony hither two hundred years before 
 Chrift. In the Gothic war, this city rendered itfelf conspicuous 
 by its fidelity to Juftinian, and Totila befieged it long in 
 vain. In one of the campaigns, during the war between 
 Charles of Anjou and Frederick of Aragon, the latter not 
 only drove his rival out of Sicily, but purfued his advantages 
 into Calabria, where his fortunate admiral, Roger Lauria, 
 obtained a complete victory over the Provencal party. The 
 next ftep taken by the conqueror was to inveft Cotrone, 
 which made no long defence, but fent out commifli oners 
 
 T t to
 
 3 2o JOURNEY TO REG GIO. 
 
 to propofe a capitulation. During the negociation, the 
 Sicilians, taking advantage of the fecurity and negligence of 
 the befieged, entered the city by furprife, and plundered it 
 without mercy. 4 The admiral iniifted upon reftitution being 
 made ; but Frederick could not prevail upon himfelf to re- 
 linquish a prize already won, and by this refufal to da 
 juftice to Lauria's warranty, provoked him to join the An- 
 gevines, and become a moft formidable opponent. 
 
 A branch of the Houfe of Rufo was long in pofleflion of 
 the fief of Cotrone. Henrietta, their heirefs, was deflined, 
 by Alphonfus the Firft, to be the wife of his favourite, Inigo 
 de Avalos; but fhe fell in love with, and married Antony 
 Centeglia, who had been fent by Alphonfus to fettle the 
 preliminaries of the match. Centeglia foon felt the weight 
 of royal vengeance ; was befieged in Catanzaro, and 
 obliged to furrender at difcretion. The King confined both 
 him and his wife in Naples, where they fpent many years 
 in poverty and obfcurity. On the demife of Alphonfus,. 
 Antony efcaped to Calabria, and excited that province to 
 revolt. The beginning of his enterprize was fuccefsful; but 
 upon his being worfted and taken prifoner, all the hopes of 
 his party vanished, and his family fank again into mifery.
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 32I 
 
 SECTION XLII. 
 
 TN order to vary the fcene, I hired a boat to carry mc 
 round the capes, while my horfes* proceeded the morteft 
 way to Catanzaro. By this plan I had an opportunity of 
 feeing fome places that lie out of the direct route by land. 
 
 We foon doubled Cape Nau, and darting through a 
 (hallow bay full of {helves and iilets, landed at Cape delle 
 Colonne, known in ancient geography by the name of the 
 Lacinian Promontory, which, with the promontory of Sa~ 
 lentum, or St. Maria di Leuca, forms the mouth of the 
 Tarentine Gulf, feventy miles wide. The land is very high, 
 rocks, coarfe granite, and breccia. On a point impending 
 over the waves, are fome feattered {tones, and a few regular 
 courfes ol building, faid to be the ruins of the fchool of Pytha- 
 goras, and of the temple of Juno Lacinia. About forty years 
 ago, two columns of this edifice were {till ftanding. One has 
 long been fallen, the other ftill remains ftanding upon a 
 foundation of large {tones cut into facets, and ferves as a 
 landmark for navigators. Its order differs little from that 
 of the columns at Metapontum ; but fome bricks, ]which 
 appear intermixed with the {tone-work, create a doubt in 
 my mind, whether thefe fragments appertain to any build- 
 ing fo ancient as theCrotonian republic. It may have been 
 rebuilt by the Romans, and the old columns made to ferve 
 
 T t 2 again.
 
 322 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 again. This conjecture acquires weight by what hiftory tells 
 us of the Cenfor Fulvius Flaccus having ftripped the roof of 
 its marble flags, to cover a temple he had dedicated in 
 Rome. The covering was fent back by order of the fenate; 
 but from a want of flaters able to replace it properly, the 
 edifice remained unroofed, and was probably deftroyed by 
 the weather. Reidefel fuppofes thefe ruins to have been 
 part of Croton ; but that is not pofiible, as they are feven 
 miles from- the Efaro, which we know divided the town 
 into two parts. In my opinion, they are more likely to be 
 remains of the college of Juno's priefts, or of the ftalls for 
 her numerous herds and flocks, that ranged undifturbed 
 over the lawns and under the groves. Few places of wor- 
 fhip drew fo many pilgrims as this temple. At ftated fea- 
 fons, the roads of Italy and Greece were thronged with 
 parties of devotees marching, with expiatory prefents and 
 votive offerings, towards the fhrine of the goddefs. Such 
 a conflux of facrifices fwelled the holy treafure to an in- 
 credible value. Among heaps of ornaments of the mod 
 precious materials, was diftinguifhed a column of folid gold. 
 In a word, this wealth was the prototype of the golden 
 wainfcot, mafllve lamps, and diamond crowns of Loreto. 
 But Loreto has been hitherto more fortunate, or better pro- 
 tected than Lacinium, which frequently excited the cupi- 
 dity, and became the prey, of facrilegious conquerors. This 
 temple was the fcene of a barbarous adion committed by 
 Hannibal, if we are to believe the Romans, who, by de- 
 
 ftroying 
 
 Of
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 323 
 
 ftroying all records of Punic hiftory, have taken care to 
 prevent our bringing any proof againft their afiertions. 
 They write, that Hannibal, finding himfelf under the necef- 
 fity of obeying the fummons of the Carthaginian fenate, affem- 
 bled all his Italian allies in this temple, and there caufed fuch 
 as refufed to embark with him for Carthage, to be maffacred 
 by his African foldiers. 
 
 The view from this headland is very extenfive. I re- 
 turned to my boat, and kept under the more till we had 
 paffed three other capes, when night coming on, we were 
 obliged to run into a cove on the fouth-eaft fide of Capo 
 Rizzuto, the northern head of the Squillacean gulf, as Capo 
 di Stilo is the fouthern one. My boatmen were very 
 anxious to draw the felucca on fhore, and fhelter themfelvcs 
 from danger under the gun of a watch-tower. They were 
 much afraid left any Barbary rovers mould be lurking 
 among the iflands and creeks; though, from all their 
 accounts, I could not find that they were often troubled 
 with their vifits. The crew fet up an awning, and pre- 
 pared fupper, perfectly fatisfied with the fafeguard of the 
 tower, though ten Algerines would have been an overmatch 
 for us and our protectors. I took a moon-light walk by 
 the fea-fide, and fpent an hour very agreeably. When 
 I returned to my company, they expoftulated with me 
 on the rafhnefs of my venturing out alone ; and feein^ me 
 laugh at their apprehenfions, nodded at each other, and 
 agreed together, that I could not be fo bold, unlefs I had a 
 
 4- charm
 
 5 2 4 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 charm about me. This remark excited my curiofity, and 
 upon enquiry I learned that in Calabria there are certain 
 old women who fabricate talifmans on bits of parchment, 
 which they fell for eighteen ducats to the bravos that can 
 afford to lay out fo much money. This charm is fuppofed 
 to render the wearer invulnerable; and as a preliminary 
 fecurity, a piflol is fired at it : but care is taken to qualify 
 the charge fo as to drive the ball but feebly againft, the mark. 
 The purchafer, confident of fafety, lays the amulet upon his 
 breaft, attacks his adverfaries without fear, and generally, by 
 his daring appearance, ftrikes them with a panic*. 
 
 Before day-break we pumed off our boat, and rowed over 
 to an iiland marked in every map as the habitation of 
 Calypfo. Things muft have changed wonderfully fince the 
 
 * I have fince procured one of thefe pieces of witchcraft from a prieft, who 
 had obliged a penitent of his to give it up, as belonging to wicked practices 
 ftriftly forbidden by the church. 
 
 It was couched exattly in thefe terms: 
 
 + 
 + Anna Pariote 
 
 Incanto la tua perfona ardente da parte di Chrifto 
 
 innipotente da parte del ciorno di natale per 
 
 le tre mefie chefi difino in cielo fi fcriffino 
 
 4-lunedi fanto+marte difanto+mercodifanto-}- 
 Ciovedifanto+Vennardifanto+Sabatofanto da tutte 
 Magarie fia yuardata cirieleifon Chriftoeleifon 
 corpo di Chrifto falvate+Aglio+taglio et faglio 
 
 -f lega mane piede e core a chi ofFennare mi uoli 
 Sangue di Chrifto commoglia metu-f-. 
 
 time
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGI a 225 
 
 time of UlyfTes, or the goddefs have daily worked a miracle 
 in providing food, without which fupematural aflillance the 
 fhipwrecked hero had died of hunger : at prefent this rock 
 would fcarcely maintain a fheep. Some thickets of lentifcus, 
 and other brufliwood, are the only reprefentatives of the 
 tall trees which the Ithican chief felled for the conflruclion 
 of his veflel. Scholiafls have fixed Calypfo's ifle at Cape 
 Rizzuto, becaufe it is directly eafl of Corfu, whither 
 Ulyfles fleered with a weft wind ' y but unlefs Homer talked 
 of imaginary land, hidden from mankind, as the etymology 
 of the words Ortygia and Calypfo imply, or, from the fcarcity 
 of geographical helps in that age, was ignorant of the true 
 diftances of places, it is difficult to reconcile matters to proba- 
 bility, I wont fay truth, becaufe a poet is not fuppofed to 
 be flrictly bound to it. Corcyra or Corfu, the land of the 
 Phsacians, which is not a night's fail from Ithica, is fcarce 
 one hundred miles diftant from Italy, and therefore could 
 not require feventeen days failing with a profperous gale. 
 Homer, in the opinion of Strabo and the mod enlightened 
 critics, had travelled much, and did not raife his epic build- 
 ing merely upon the fhadowy bafts of fiction ; — the voyages of 
 UlyfTes had been handed down by tradition, and to fome 
 well-known (lories he added poetical embellifhments. Per- 
 haps the fea has covered large tracts of land near this cape, 
 and the rocky iflets we ftill perceive above the waters, may 
 be no more than the tops of the hills that rofe upon the 
 beautiful plains where Calypfo and her nymphs were faid to 
 
 8 wander.
 
 3-6 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 wander. When, on confidering Homer's narrative with 
 attention, I find Ulyfles is driven back into Charybdis by a 
 fouth wind, gets again upon the wreck, and congratulates 
 himfelf upon his palling unnoticed under the jaws of Scylla, 
 which was north of the whirlpool, I think it evident he was 
 not carried into the Ionian, but the Mediterranean fea, or, 
 perhaps the ocean, where he was hurried away before the 
 wind during nine days and nine nights, till he reached the 
 ifland of Ortygia. The Ealeares in one, or the Fortunate 
 liles in the other, afforded room enough for the goddefs's 
 eftablifhment ; and from thence he might very well be 
 feventeen days before he faw Corfu rife like a buckler on 
 the fea. 
 
 I found no charms on the ifland powerful enough to 
 detain me ; and therefore, after a breakfaft on prawns and 
 limpets, caught and dreffed by my fleerfman, I put off, 
 and doubling the cape, entered the Gulph of Squilacce. 
 The rocks are compofed of pebbles, fand, and fhells, united 
 together. 
 
 SECTION XLIII. 
 
 np HE fky was overcaft, and threatened rain, which made 
 us keep clofe to the more. We rowed rcund the little 
 harbour of Caftelle, probably the place formerly called Caftra 
 Hannibalis,from which that able, but ill-feconded general, em- 
 barked
 
 JOURNEY TO R EG GIO. 327 
 
 barked for Carthage*. As we failed along, the man at the 
 helm pointed out to me federal inland towns of little note, 
 but beautiful objects from the fea. Cutro was one, re- 
 markable for having given birth to Galeni, a renegado, 
 who, in the fixteenth century, rofe to great honour at the 
 Ottoman Porte, and, by the name of Ulucciali BalTa., com- 
 manded the Turkifh fleet, was Viceroy of Algiers and 
 Tunis, and became one of the greateft fcourges of Chriften- 
 dom. In the height of his profperity, he was defirous of 
 beftowing a part of his wealth upon his aged mother, who 
 lived in poverty at Cutro; but that fpirited old woman re- 
 fufed to accept of the fmalleft token from a fon, who had 
 forfaken the religion of his fathers, and profefTed himfelf the 
 fworn enemy of ChrifHanity. 
 
 Belcaftro was another town in view, diftinguimed by the 
 birth of Saint Thomas di Aquino, whofe father was Lord of 
 this city. The good Calabrefe think the ftain of having 
 produced ten thoufand Uluccialis, perfectly wiped away by 
 the glory of having one fuch Doctor of the Church for their 
 countryman f. 
 
 Cropani 
 
 * D'Anville places ic near Squillace, from a perfuafion that Pliny and Soli- 
 mis fix Hannibal's camp in the narrowed fpot of the whole iftmus ; but it 
 appears to me they only meant, that the port from which he took his depar- 
 ture was fituated in the Gulph of Squillace, between which and that of St. 
 Eufemia, Italy is not quite twenty miles broad. The name of a tower called 
 Torre d'Annibale, a little to the welt of this bay, is fome proof that d'Anville 
 miltook. the fenleof the above-mentioned authors. 
 
 f This Dominican faint was full as good a gentleman as the founder, St. 
 Dominick de Gufman. The Houfe of Aquino derived its pedigree from the 
 
 U u Lombard
 
 ; 2 $ JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 Cropani was alfo in fight, once a flou riming town, but 
 reduced by earthquakes to a ruinous village. The country 
 about it, is a gay mixture of bean and corn fields, vineyards, 
 and tufts of walnut and mulberry trees, a rich variety very 
 unufual in a marine profpect. Several rivers, emptying their 
 waters into the fea, make bold breaks in the hills, and 
 produce charming accidents of light and fhadow. 
 
 On the banks of the Litrello, one of the many ftreams 
 we faw, is a little village called Malifano, fixed upon by 
 the Spaniards for the birth-place of a man who, in 1600, 
 gave the Court of Madrid a great deal of uneafinefs. Par- 
 rino, one of the molt fervile flatterers among the court- 
 writers, gives us, in his Theatre of Viceroys, the following 
 curious account of this extraordinary perfonage : " This 
 " year there came to Naples a famous impoftor, who pre- 
 lt tended to be the King of Portugal. This man was a 
 " Calabrefe of Malifano, a village near Taverna, by name 
 4< Marco Tullio Cotifone, who went to Padua in a pil- 
 <c grim's drefs, and faid he was Don Sebaftian. He was feized 
 •* by order of the ftate, fent to Venice, and formally inter- 
 " rogated. To the queftions put to him he made anfwer, 
 " That the ftory of his death had been vamped up by the 
 " Spaniards; that he had efcaped from the battle, and tra- 
 
 Lombard Princes of Capua, one of whom, in the tenth century, granted the 
 county of Aquino in Terra di Lavoro, to his ion Adinolf. When it became 
 again cuftomary to diftinguifh families by furnames, the descendants of 
 Adinolf afiumed that of their earldom. 
 
 " veiled
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 323 
 
 " veiled to Jerufalenij to fulfil a vow he had made in the 
 " moment of danger. As a proof of the identity of his 
 " perfon, befides the likenefs of features, fimilarity of fta- 
 " ture, and Portuguefe language, which he fpoke in perfec- 
 " tion, he (hewed one arm longer than the other, a 
 " remarkable and uncommon defect that had been ob- 
 " ferved in the King. What moft aftonifhed the fenate, 
 tc was his quicknefs of repartee, judgment in political 
 " matters, dignity of behaviour, princely carriage, and 
 " the minute account he gave of the private propofals, 
 " anfwers, and negociations between that Prince and the 
 " Venetian Ambafladors at Lifbon. However, as it was 
 <c well known Don Sebaftian could not be alive, fince King 
 " Philip had redeemed his body of the Moors for an hun- 
 " dred thoufand ducats, the Senate fufpected this man to 
 " be, what in reality he was, an infamous forcerer; and 
 ** therefore, after two years imprifonment, baniflied him 
 il out of their territories. The Portuguefe refiding in 
 *' Venice clothed him, and forwarded him to Florence in 
 " the difguife of a friar; but there the Duke, who was 
 <{ attached to the Spanifh intereft, caufed him to be feizcd, 
 " and fent in chains to Naples. When he was brought 
 " into the prefence of the Viceroy Count de Lcmos, who, 
 " on account of the heat, was ftanding without his hat, he 
 " haughtily bid him be covered. Being afked by the 
 " Viceroy, What authority he had for giving him fuch an 
 '* order ? he replied, That although the Count could not 
 
 U u 2 " have
 
 33 o JOUR NT Y TO REGGIO. 
 
 " have forgotten the bufinefs which had carried him twice 
 " to Lifbon in the time of the late King Philip, he would 
 " refrefh his memory with fome particulars of the affair. 
 " The minute detail he gave came fo near to truth, that 
 " the Viceroy was f truck with amazement; but, upon re- 
 u collecting himfelf, declined all farther conference, and 
 " ordered him to prifon. He remained there clofely con- 
 " fined till the arrival of the next Viceroy, when he was 
 t( brought to trial. His low birth was proved upon him, 
 " the fraud difcovered, and the impoftor condemned to the' 
 " gallics. While on board, he gained the love and refpect 
 c< of all his fellow- Haves, and was conftantly treated by 
 < c them as if he had really been the perfon he wimed to 
 " pafs for. He was afterwards fent to the fleet of Sicily, 
 * c and there examined by the Duke of Medina Sidonia, 
 " who had vifited Lifbon during the reign of Don Sebaftian. 
 il The prifoner addreffed the Duke as an inferior, and' 
 " aiked him what became of an African boy he had given 
 " him twenty-two years ago? Medina was confounded; 
 " and burfting into tears, retired from the galley, very 
 " much undecided what to think of the bufinefs. The 
 ' c court, at laft, thought it fafeft to rid themfelves of 
 " him; and he was accordingly put to death on the ifland 
 " Delle Femine, near Palermo. After he had been ftretch- 
 " ed on the rack, where he confeffed that he had carried 
 <{ on the cheat by the afliftance of the Devil ; and, in fact, 
 « all thofe marks which had rendered his lies {o plaufible^ 
 2 " difappeareel
 
 JOURNEY TO. REG G 10. 331 
 
 u disappeared from his body the moment he was dead/' 
 Giannone, who wrote under the patronage of an Auft.ian 
 prince, affects to treat this affair as a foolifh trick ; but 
 many authors give more credit to the Slave's (lory. Par- 
 •rino's abfurd recourfe to magic and diabolical illufion, is 
 rather an argument in favour of this unhappy man's pre- 
 tenfions ; for ii the court of Spain could have devifed better 
 means cf refuting his claim, it would certainly have em- 
 ployed them. 
 
 It was fo late before we reached the place fixed upon (ot 
 our landing, that I preferred Sleeping in the boat, to walk- 
 ing Six miles up to Catanzaro, in the dark, without 3 
 certainty of finding lodgings. A (e\v hours, next morning, 
 "fu Sliced to examine every remarkable object in this capital. 
 of Nether Calabria. 
 
 Catanzaro was built in 963, by order of the Emperor 
 Nicephorus Phocas, as a pofl: of ftrength againft the Sara- 
 cens. Its Situation on an eminence, in the pafs between 
 the mountains and fea, fcems judicioufly chofen for the 
 purpofe of repelling thofc Infidels, who, from Africa or 
 Sicily, were wont to make good their landing at Reggio. 
 Increafe of inhabitants and of Size caufed it to be deemed a 
 proper reSidence for the officers who compofe the provin- 
 cial tribunal; and,, in »593, it arrived at the dignity of 
 capital, formerly the right of Reggio. At prefent, Catan- 
 zaro contains twelve thoufand inhabitants, who live by the 
 law, and the fale of corn, filk, and oil ; of the laft they 
 
 export.
 
 OO' 
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 export annually about ten thoufand falme. The water of 
 this place has an unpleafant tafte, and a great deal of 
 earthy fediment : the wine is very rough. The college of 
 the late Jefuits is a handfome building, and porTeffes a 
 good ftatue of St. Ignatius, by Fonfeca ; and a very fine 
 picture, reprefenting St. Bruno diftributing bread to the 
 poor. The firfl feudal inveftiture of Catanzaro, was from 
 King Roger, to his fon-in-law Hugh de Molines, Earl of 
 Molife. The next, from the firft Charles to Peter RufTo, 
 whofe family was in pofTeffion down to the Aragonian 
 reigns, when their eftates went to Centeglia, and by him 
 .were forfeited. — Chaifes can go no farther fouth than this 
 ftage ; and indeed I do not comprehend how they can 
 penetrate fo far. From hence to Reggio, the generality of 
 travellers are conveyed in litters, by a route which crofles 
 the country, and runs along the fhore o( the Mediter- 
 ranean. 
 
 In the afternoon, I rode ten miles to Squillacce, through 
 a level, well- cultivated country, abounding in corn, pulfe, 
 maize, mulberries, and olives. The wages of a labourer 
 are fifteen grana per diem ; the foil, a fertile loam, full of 
 broken {hells. My guide led me, with an air of triumph, 
 to admire what he called a Temple of the old Saints of 
 Calabria. Upon infpe&ion, it proved to be an edifice 
 of Norman or Angevine times, with fquare towers at the 
 corners.
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 333 
 
 SECTION XLIV. 
 
 Q QJU ILLACCE is built on the verge of a rocky 
 mountain, Hoping to the eaft, about three miles from 
 the fea. I do not know why Virgil gives this city the 
 epithet of Navtfragum^ " Breaker of Ships ;" as there are 
 no hidden or apparent dangers attending the approach of 
 vefiels. It is impoffible this exact poet could be fo carelefs, 
 as to confound the attributes of the capacious bay of 
 Scyllacaeum, with the narrow pafs of Scylla in the Faro of 
 Medina. Perhaps thofe who explain the epithet by a tra- 
 dition, that the firft habitations of the place were built with 
 fragments of the (hip of Ulyffes, may have ftumbled upon 
 a method of clearing up the difficulty. 
 
 In forming the body of Grecian commonwealths on the 
 Italian mores, Athens furnifhed emigrants for Scyllacaeum 5 
 but this fettlement never made any rlgure in the confede- 
 racy *. Rome fent a colony hither. In the year 982, the 
 Emperor Otho the Second was defeated under its walls, by 
 the forces of the Greeks ; who, from this victory, conceived 
 delufive hopes of compelling Italy once more to refume 
 their yoke. Montfort obtained this lordfhip in fee from 
 Charles of Anjou ; but in the next reign it was given to 
 the Marfans. This powerful houfe being overturned by the 
 
 * Num. Scyll. — JER. 1. Cap. Merc. *=Prora navis SKTAAATinN. 
 
 Aragonefe, 
 3
 
 .3S4 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 Aragonefe, the fief was beftowed upon that of Borgia, and 
 is now veiled in the Marquis Gregori, who, from being a 
 commiffioner of the victualing-office at Meflina, rofe to be 
 Prime Minifter of Naples, and afterwards of Spain. Though 
 he knew how' to fecure the partiality of his fovereign, he 
 ■was not able to conciliate the affections of the nation. A 
 revolt in Madrid drove him out of the Spanifh territories ; 
 and he has ever fince reiided at Venice, as Ambaffador from 
 •the Court of Spain. The Neapolitans attribute many per- 
 nicious meafures to his counfel, and deteft him as the caufe 
 of their heavieft griefs and oppreflions. We muff wait for 
 his death, and the fubfiding of party-anger (the recentia 
 odia of Tacitus), before we decide upon his criminality. 
 
 Squillacce prides itfelf on having given birth to Caflio- 
 -dorus, a ftatefman of great abilities; and, considering the 
 times he lived in, a very refpeclable author; beloved and 
 honoured by Theodoric, and other Gothic monarchs. After 
 •palling through many high cflices in the ftate, he fixed 
 upon his native city for the retreat of his old age ; and, in 
 compliance with the then reigning fafhion, took the habit 
 of a monk, and fpent the lad years of his liie in a cloifter. 
 In his letters to Maximus, he has left us many tokens of 
 his attachment to Squillacce ; and enlarges, with feeling and 
 triumph, on its beauties and advantages. I walked to the 
 mouth of the river Alleii, where this patrienn had made a 
 refervoir, or riihery, into which, by means of a canal, he 
 introduced the lea-water. But I could find no diftindl 
 
 traces
 
 c ft; « 
 
 ^3 ^ *V 
 t 1 *1 si 
 
 C ^ ^ -C "«5 "*■' 
 
 ■v N j- "> ^'*
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 traces of any fuch work, which probably has been filled up 
 by floods, or eaten away by the darning of the waves, 
 during fo long a period as one thoufand two hundred 
 years. 
 
 In the evening, I was difturbed by a violent noife ; 
 which, upon enquiry, 1 found was cccafioned by the 
 Marquis's bailiff kicking furioufly at the door of the neigh- 
 bouring houfe. This is the ufual method of giving the lafr. 
 fummons, without any farther hope of mercy, to a debtor 
 or tenant that refufes to pay, and fhuts himfelf up in his 
 houfe for fafety. If the defaulter be a friend, and indul- 
 gence intended in the profecution, the officer ftrikes the 
 door with his hand only. In any fray, if one of the com- 
 batants run away and lock himfelf up, and his adverfary 
 beat for entrance with his feet, it is underftood that he is 
 incenfed beyond meafure, and means to give no quarter : 
 even children, in their little broils, obferve the fame dif- 
 tinc"tion. This explains Horace's meaning*, when he fiys, 
 that Death beats with impartial foot the doors of palaces 
 and of cottages : he thereby implies, that he is inexorably 
 bent on exacting the debt of nature, and not, as fome 
 commentators fuppofe, that he makes ufe of the foot, 
 merely becaufe his hands are employed in holding the fcythe 
 and hour-glafs. 
 
 Other allufions in that Poet may be elucidated by 
 reference to cuftorns flill in force throughout Calabria, 
 
 o 
 
 * Pallida mors asquo pulfat pede paupcrum tabernas 
 Regumque turres. 
 
 X x His 
 
 335
 
 ^6 TOURNEY TO REGG 10. 
 
 CO 
 
 His account of the hardy education and filial obedience of 
 the Roman youth*, in former times, is ftill exa£t with 
 refpecl: to the young Calabrian peafant. After hoeing the 
 ground all day, with no better fare than bread and water, 
 feafoned with a clove of garlic, an onion, or a few dried 
 olives, he does not prefume to prefent himfelf before his 
 mother, without a faggot of lentifcus, or other wood, 
 which he throws down at the door, ere he offers to pafs the 
 threfhold. A wife adminiftration, under an ambitious 
 monarch, might train up this race to be once more the 
 conquerors of nations. Patience under penury, hardfhip, 
 and hunger, — fymmetry and ftrength of limb, and an 
 ardent, fierce fpirit, ftill exift in the mountains of the 
 kingdom ; but it would require a very fortunate combina- 
 tion of circumftances, with great judgment and refolution, 
 to bring thefe qualities properly into adtion. 
 
 Horace's animated defcription of a mother longing for 
 the return of her fon f, may ftill be applied to the Cala- 
 brian matrons. If the feluccas do not appear at the ufual 
 
 * Rufticorum mafcula militum 
 
 Proles, Sabellis do&a ligonibus 
 Verfare glebas, et fevers 
 Matris ad arbitrium recifos 
 Portare fuftes. 
 
 ■f Ut mater juvenem, quern Notus invido 
 Flatu Carpathii trans maris jequora 
 Cun&antem fpatio longius annuo 
 
 Dulci ditlinet a domo, 
 Votis omnibus hunc et precibus vocat, 
 Curvo nee faciem littore demovct.— — — • 
 
 term
 
 JOURNEY TO REG G 10. 337 
 
 'term of their annual voyage, the mothers and wives of the 
 failors offer up incefiant vows and prayers, call upon the 
 beloved perfon by name, and remain at their windows, 
 with eyes fixed on the Cape which the bark is to double. 
 The inftant a boat is feen coming round the Point, the 
 whole town refounds with joyful cries of a Barca, Barca !'* 
 The boys ring the bells, and, as foon as they can diftin- 
 guifh what felucca it is, run to the relations, to claim 
 beverage for the good news. 
 
 Dionylius of Syracufe, in hopes of difuniting the confe- 
 derates of Magna Grsecia, attempted to build a wall or 
 rampire acrofs the ifthmus ; but troubles in Sicily called 
 him away before he could complete the work. 
 
 We paffed below Stellati, a town of one thoufand two 
 hundred fouls, on a hill compofed of pebbles and mineral 
 particles, glued together by a vifcous earth : — it contains 
 fome fine fpecimens of marcafites. As we advanced fouth- 
 ward, the country fell off in beauty, and the foil in rich- 
 nefs, from a mellow loam to a poor blue clay. The cotton 
 fields have not the wholefome appearance of thofe farther 
 north. The landfcape, however, revives near the banks of 
 the Calipari or Eloris, where Dionyfius defeated the allied 
 Greeks. We flept at Monaflerace, a poor village on an 
 eminence. The road to it was good, except near the 
 torrents, which, in great numbers, roll down from the 
 mountains, and tear the plain to pieces. The defolate 
 cafpect of the country may be afcribed at leaft as 
 
 X x 2 much
 
 33 8 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 much to the fcarcity of cultivators, as to the badnefs of the 
 
 foil. 
 
 On the feventeenth, we came to Gerace, through a very 
 unpleafant tract of land along the coaft. A bare, ugly- 
 ridge of hills clofes in the plain on the weft, and frequently 
 comes quite down to the beach. We croffed innumerable 
 ftreams, the banks of which were no doubt marked, in 
 ancient times, by many a bloody encounter between Greeks 
 and barbarians, or between the different Grecian ftates, 
 who were continually undermining their common fabric by 
 intefline diffentions. It is now very difficult to afcertain 
 the precife pofition of ancient rivers and towns ; but it 
 misfit certainly be accomplished with more accuracy than 
 has yet been done by any geographer whatever. 
 
 We left Stilo on our right, remarkable for a rich convent 
 of Carthufians ; an Order which, in its very infancy, ftruck 
 a good root in this kingdom, by the favour of Roger, the 
 great Earl of Sicily, a very particular friend of their founder 
 St. Bruno. Thefe roots fpread vigoroufly, and grew to an 
 enormous fize, as to riches and extent of pofleffions ; but 
 the fpirit of the times threatens them with a fpeedy lopping, 
 if not a total eradication. Not far from this place is a 
 mine of iron, now quite abandoned. 
 
 On our left was Cape di Stilo, a promontory which, 
 with Cape Spartivento, forms the bay of Locri. Caftel- 
 vetere, in a lofty fituation, three miles from the fea, occu- 
 pies the fite of Caulon, of which fome veftiges are faid to 
 
 exift.
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 exift. I favv none that have any claim to fuch remote 
 antiquity. — Caulon was one of the earliefl: Greek fettle- 
 ments, as its coins evince, being incufi ; which was un- 
 doubtedly a mode of coining of very ancient date *. This 
 city was demolished, and its inhabitants removed to Sicily, 
 by Dionyfius, four hundred years before the Chriftian asra. 
 Nearer the fea is La Roccella, a fief of the Caraffa family f, 
 
 * Nummi Caulonorum. 
 ARG. I. Figura virilis nuda diadem, ftans d. fupra caput elata telum 
 vibratura 1. extensa, cui fuperftat icuncula genuflexa ; fubtus 
 cervus KATAO.=rIncufTus. 
 
 2. Eadem figura, &c. fine epig. = Cervus. laurus. fup. dorfum ATA3. 
 
 3. Vir nud. fulmin. 1. monilia ten. <$> = Cervus KATAONIATAN. 
 
 4. Vir fulm. cervulus KAT.=.Cervus. vas. $. KATAONIAT. 
 
 5. Cervus. ramus P£ KAT.=Vir fulm. cervulus KATAO. 
 
 6. Vir fulm. cervulus. KATA.^Cervus. arbor ATA3. 
 
 f This family came originally from the Caraccioli, and is equal to any in 
 the realm in riches and confideration. It is divided into two branches ; one 
 of which gives a fteelyard for its badge ; the other, a bufh of thorns. The 
 laft emblem was adopted in confequence of a tournament held by Charles 
 the Second, in the fuburbs of Naples. The fon of that Prince, who was 
 King of Hungary, took great offence at the Caraffas, for giving a fliield 
 barry, argent and gules, which are the Hungarian coat of arms ; and infilled 
 upon their being excluded the lifts, unlefs they altered their bearing. To 
 obviate all difficulties, the knights of this family cut fome branches out of a 
 hedge, and tied them acrofs their bucklers; a diftinction which has been 
 kept up by their defcendants. Antonio Caraffa, furnamed Malizia, made 
 himfelf very confpicuous as a politician, in the reign of Joan the Second. 
 In 1680, Gregory was elected Grand Mailer of Malta. But the Caraffa 
 that made the greateft noife in the world, was Pope Paul the Fourth ; one 
 of the moll turbulent, haughty priefts, that ever afcended the chair of St. 
 Peter fince the days of Gregory the Seventh, that famous trampler on all 
 pretenfions of kings, and liberties of people. Paul and his nephews were, 
 during the courfe of a few years, the difiurbers of Europe, and continually 
 employed in exciting fovereigns and fubje&s to fome bloody and fanatical 
 aft of violence. At his death, he was declared an enemy to Rome ; and all 
 his ftatues and coats of arms were broken and thrown into the Tyber. 
 
 3 built 
 
 339
 
 S4 o JOURNEY TO REG GIG. 
 
 built on a rugged eminence overgrown with the Opuntia, 
 or African fig. The natives eat the fruit, and plant out the 
 flips as a fence to their gardens. 
 
 No author has clearly determined the fituation of the 
 river Sagra fo renowned for the defeat of the Crotoniates by 
 a handful of Locrians. Thofe who take it to be the Alara, 
 feem to come neareft the truth. 
 
 SECTION XLV. 
 
 /^ERACE is poorly built, on a hill of coarfe granite 
 rocks and ftifF clay ; the road to it fteep and difficult ; 
 the vale below is well cultivated, and yet does not produce 
 corn enough to anfwer the demands of the Geracians, 
 though their number amounts but to three thoufand. They 
 make good wine, which has the valuable quality of recover- 
 ing its flavour and fpirit by proper keeping, long after it 
 feems to have loft both. This city is fuppofed, by moil 
 writers, to Hand upon the identical fite of Locri, the capital 
 of the Epizephyrian Locrians. Some antiquaries place the 
 old town nearer the fea at Pagliapoli, where many fcatter- 
 ed ruins ftill remain. The brick materials with which they 
 were built, pronounce them of a later period than the happy 
 days of Magna Grascia. One large well-preferved room 
 difringuifhes itfelf above the reft, but no part has any in- 
 fcription, column, or ornament. I was at firft inclined to thinkj 
 
 that
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 34 i 
 
 that Locri had been fituated in the plain, which afforded 
 greater convcniencies for bufinefs, and that the citadel had 
 been built on the hill of Gerace ; but as Strabo fays ex- 
 prefsly, that the city {food on the brow of a hill called 
 Efopis, the buildings along the fhore can only have been 
 fuburbs, magazines, and habitations for fifhermen. In thofe 
 early days of navigation, every angle of a coaft, projecting 
 rock, ifland, or river's mouth, conftituted a port; and there- 
 fore we muft not be furprifed, if we are often at a lofs to 
 difcover any traces of the ancient harbours we read of. 
 Locri had, no doubt, fome fafe retreat for gallies and row- 
 boats, though nothing now appears but an open road. 
 Without a kw remarkable monuments to guide us, it is not 
 eafy to difcover the true pofition of any ancient town on 
 this coaft. The difficulty arifes from a progreflive change 
 of dwelling. Adventurers, on their firft landing, provided 
 for their fecurity by feizing upon fome elevated inacceffible 
 rock, where they could bid defiance to the natives, as well as 
 to any ftrangers that might venture to land on the coaft. 
 As foon as increafe of numbers gave them fufficient powers 
 for an attempt to enrich themfelves by conqueft or com- 
 merce, they defcended from their mountainous faftnefTes,. 
 and erected commodious cities in the fertile plains along the 
 fhore. The full tide of human profperity lafts but a 'moment; 
 and every ftate, when once it has reached the higheft point 
 of glory and power, muft, by the natural courfe of things, 
 be hurried back with the ebb to its original obfeurity. This 
 
 2 .ilitud .
 
 342 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 viciflitude was experienced by the Grecian cities of Italy. 
 Deprived of liberty by the Romans, they foon faw the 
 number of their citizens dwindle away ; and then they 
 found, that a too extenfive circuit of walls in an open coun- 
 try expofed them to continual infults by fea and land. 
 Unwholefome vapours, the effects of depopulation and ne- 
 glected hufbandry, completed their ruin ; and the feeble 
 remnants of their inhabitants retired for health and fafety to 
 the tops of the neighbouring mountains, where they built 
 towns that refembled aeries of birds of prey, rather than 
 manfions of the human race. As peace and fecurity return, 
 as agriculture and trade meet with encouragement, we be- 
 hold the inhabitants forfake their ufelefs caftles, and venture 
 once more into the plains. 
 
 A colony from Locris in Greece founded the common- 
 wealth of Locri in Italy, to which Zaleucus gave a code of 
 laws, efteemed by all the Greeks a mafter-piece of lcgiila- 
 tion. He was the fir ft that committed his inftitutions to 
 writing, and fixed certain bounds to penalties and punish- 
 ments, which, in all laws promulgated before his time, 
 were left to the difcretion of the judges. Like all the fol- 
 lowers of Pythagoras, he fupported the fimplicity of his 
 decrees by unalterable inflexibility, of which he is faid to 
 have made his own family feel the effects, rather than de- 
 rogate from the letter of the law. Jealous of innovation, 
 he enacted, that whoever had a new law to propofe, ftiould 
 appear in the afTembly of the people with a rope round his 
 
 neck,
 
 JOURNEY TO REG G ID. 343 
 
 :neck, :to be ftrangled immediately, if the propofals were 
 rejedled. The Lccrians entered into an alliance with the 
 Sicilian tyrants, and received the younger Dionyfius into 
 (their city when he fled from Syracufe. The villain repaid 
 their hofpitality with the blackeft ingratitude. By artifice 
 and force, he acquired an abfolute dominion over them, 
 and exercifed it in a brutal manner, by infulting their wives 
 and daughters, and plundering their property. Upon his 
 departure for Sicily the Locrians vindicated their rights, and 
 wreaked their vengeance on his wife and children. This 
 commonwealth pofTeffed an ample territory, and refpectable 
 force, in proportion to the reft of the Greek ftates ; but 
 after it was fubdued by Rome, faded away like a plant 
 wounded at the root, opprefled and ruined by the cruelty 
 -and avarice of its governors *. 
 
 I cannot 
 
 * Nummi Locrenfium. 
 ATJR. 1. Caput Jovis laur. AOKPHN.=Aquila leporem difc. AOKPHN. 
 LA.RG. 1. Cap. Jov. laur = Aquila lep. difc. AOKPH\ r . 
 
 2. Fulmen-caduceus AOKPX2N.=Aquila lep. difc. 
 
 3. Cap. imb. diad. ta2da.= Aquila fulm. inf. ramus. IT. AOKPHN. 
 
 4. Cap. barb. laur. M.zzFigura dans ftolata coron. impon. cap. figure 
 
 urbis fedent. AOKPHN — FflUA niZTIS. 
 
 5. Cap. Palladis gal. arc-us AOKPHN. = Pegafus A. 
 JER. 1. Cap. Palladis gal. = Raccmus AOKFHN. 
 
 2. Caput mul. fpica.^- Pallas ftans d. haft. f. clypeum. cornuc. ftclJa 
 
 AGKPHN. 
 
 3. Cap. V'iril. laureat.ir Pallas ftans d. haf. f. cly. A. AOKPHN. 
 
 4. Cap. Pall. gal. AET.=Fig.j mul. fedens d. pat. f. fceptium tripus 
 
 AOKPfiN. 
 
 5. Cap. Pall. gal.=Pegafus AOKPHN. 
 
 6. Cap. Mul. diad. = Aquila fulm. inf. corona AOKPHN. 
 
 Y y 7. Cap,
 
 344 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 I cannot learn at what precife time the prefent name 
 was given to the city, but as its Bifhop is called Hieracenfis 
 in the eighth century, I fuppofe it became common about 
 that period. Gerace was always a place of ftrength. In 
 the courfe of a family quarrel among the Norman Princes, 
 Guifcard was betrayed and taken as he attempted to furprife 
 it ; and had the Geracians been fuffered to follow their in- 
 clinations, would have loft his life ; but Roger, though his 
 enemy, refcued him out of their hands, and by this fignal 
 fervice regained his brother's friendmip. 
 
 This was one of the numerous baronies lavifhed by 
 Charles of Anjou on the Montforts. Under the Durazzian 
 line, it was acquired by the Carraccioli, and is now held by 
 the Grimaldi of Genoa, with the title of Prince. 
 
 In the evening I joined a crowd that was dragging a wo- 
 man to church, in order to have the devil driven out of her 
 by exorcifms. She was a middle-aged perfon, and feemed 
 to be in very ftrong convulsions, which every body prefent 
 firmly believed to proceed from a demoniacal pofTeilion. 
 The prieft refufing to come, fome of the affiftants grew im- 
 patient, and pulled the woman about fo very roughly, that 
 
 7. Cap. Jovis laur. AIOI. = Fulmen A0KPX1N. 
 
 8. Cap. Pall, duo glob.=in coron. cornu. AO. 
 
 9. Cap. Cereris fpic. coron. fpica.=Pallas ftans d. haftam f. clyp. 
 
 cornuc. ftella. AOKPX2N. 
 
 10. Capita Diofcur. jugat.= Jupiter fed. d. avem f. baculum. cornuc. 
 
 A0KPf2N. 
 
 11. Cap. Pall.=Fulmen A0KPX1N. 
 
 12. Cap. vir. laur.=Mars ftans d. haft. f. clyp. A0KPX2N. 
 
 Belzebub
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 345 
 
 Belzebub thought proper to decamp. The patient rofe up, 
 and though confufed and panting for breath, very fooa 
 recovered her fenfes, and ran away full fpeed to her own 
 houfe. From which circumftances I inferred, there was 
 more roguery in her cafe than real diforder. 
 
 All convulsions of the kind are attributed to aflaults of 
 malignant fpirits. Near fifteen hundred women, pretending 
 to be tormented by thefe imps, go up annually to Soriano, 
 to be cured of the pofTeflion by looking at a portrait of St. 
 Dominick, fent down as a prefent from the celeftial gallery. 
 By thefe pretexts, they obtain from their tyrannical fpoufes 
 leave to make this pleafant pilgrimage, and a pair of holi- 
 day fhoes, without which it would be highly difrefpectful to 
 prefent themfelves before the holy picture. A prieft of 
 that convent told me a ftory of a female demoniac, who, 
 after going through the ufual courfe of cure, was fent tocon- 
 fefs her fins to him. As he was perfectly well acquainted 
 with the common tricks, he ordered her to give him the 
 true reafon of her acting that farce, and threatened her, in 
 cafe of obftinacy, with a viiit from a real devil, who would 
 torment her in good earneft. The poor woman, terrified 
 to death at the menace, frankly acknowledged, that having 
 been married by her parents againfr. her inclinations to a 
 goatherd, who flank intolerably of his goats and cheefes, me 
 abhorred his approach, and feigned pofTeflion to avoid coha- 
 biting with him. Having thus wormed the fecret out of 
 her, the prieft, in hopes of alleviating her misfortune, fent 
 
 Y y 2 for
 
 34-6 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 for her hufband, and as he knew it would be in vain to 
 attempt to argue him out of a belief of the devil's being in 
 his wife, he planned a different mode of attack, and in- 
 formed the fimple fellow, that he had difcovered what 
 particular kind of fpirit it was; that this daemon was re- 
 markable for an outrageous antipathy to goatherds, and that 
 no exorcifms could prevent him from plaguing them. The 
 poor man, whofe fir fb profeflion had been gardening, and 
 whofe fuccefs in the other line of bufinefs had not been 
 very great, readily confented to return to his old way of 
 labour, if that would keep Satan out of his houfe. The 
 friar procured a garden for him, and a chapman for his 
 flock, and foon had the happinefs of feeing the married 
 couple well fettled, and perfectly fatisfied with each other. 
 
 We rode next day twelve miles, through a difagreeable 
 low country, which, from the poomefs of its clayey foil, 
 and the bad look of its corn, may be pronounced unfavour- 
 able to the purpofes of agriculture. The next fix miles 
 were over hills of wretched afpecl, compofed of hungry clay 
 laid upon beds of round pebbles, minerals, fand, and fhells 
 cemented together. After a weary ride through execrable 
 roads, we flopped at one of the worft-looking villages I ever 
 beheld. It is called Bianco, from the chalky hill it ftands 
 upon, and confifts of houfes built of ftone and mud, cover- 
 ed with tufted boughs. The appearance of every thing 
 about it was fo dreary, the looks of the villagers fo fquallid, 
 and the evening fo ftormy, that I was glad to remain in my 
 
 2 fmoky
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 347 
 
 fmoky cribj and comfort myfelf with fome white-wine of a 
 ftrong body and flavour, though rather too great a decree 
 of roughnefs. My quiet was difturbed by the danger of my 
 guide, whofe hand was bitten by a viper, as he was climb- 
 ing over an old wall. The fymptoms were very quick and 
 violent ; but the landlord removed them by applying a red- 
 hot iron to the wound, and thoroughly fcarirying round it. 
 He faid the coldnefs of the weather had benumbed the 
 ferpent, and rendered the venom lefs virulent than it would 
 have been in a hot day. He mentioned a relation of his, 
 whofe head had fwelled to a prodigious fize from his having 
 fucked the place where a viper had bit one of his children ° y 
 but the fwelling went off with fomentations. 
 
 S E C T I ON XLVL 
 
 Ma y\\\T^> defcended the mountain at the hazard of 
 our lives, by a miry narrow road, buttrefTed 
 up with pofts, over which are laid wooden bridges that 
 quiver with the preffure even of a foot traveller. As it had 
 rained very hard all night, our 4eader prudently preferred a 
 longer way by the fands, to a fhort cut through the moun- 
 tains. We crofTed the ifthmus of Cape Bruzzano, where 
 the Locrians firft landed, and remained four years before 
 they moved northward. The low grounds are extremely 
 iich in herbage, and produce fpontaneoufly thick crops of 
 
 fainfoio.,
 
 34S JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 fainfoin, which are not turned to proper account; half the 
 grafs is fuffered to rot on the ground for want of cattle to 
 confume it. Oleander, and many other beautiful fhrubs, 
 line the banks of the torrents, near fome of which I found 
 roots of the Calamus Aromaticus, Acorus, or fweet Flag, 
 befides many other rare plants; but in the hurry of a 
 journey, which had not botany for its fole object, their 
 names have efcaped my memory. I am confident a regular 
 fearch in thefe waftes, would afford botanical obfervers a 
 treafure of curious and medicinal vegetables. I dined at 
 Brancaleone, a fmall village; and afterwards rode to examine 
 Cape Spartivento, the mod foutherly point of Italy. It is 
 furrounded by fmall iflands, and numerous rocky fhelves, 
 on which the waves break with great fury as they are driven 
 down the ftreights. From this angle we ftruck into the 
 mountains; and after much fatigue reached the city of 
 Bova, where a letter procured me a very polite reception 
 from one of the Canons. 
 
 Bova is placed on the brow of a hill, and being out of 
 the way of trade and thoroughfare, can boafi: of neither 
 wealth nor agriculture. Moft of the inhabitants are of 
 Greek origin and rite. I do not mean that they can trace 
 their pedigree up to the old republicans of Magna Grascia, 
 for all fuch filiations have been cut off, and confounded in 
 the darknefs of many revolving ages. Thefe people are of 
 a much later importation, having emigrated from Albania 
 only a few centuries ago. I was defirous of obtaining every 
 
 5 pofHble
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 349 
 
 pofiible information about them, and fhall bring into one 
 point of view all I have learned at different times concerning 
 their hiftory. 
 
 When we recollecl, that a very large portion of the king- 
 dom was once inhabited or governed by Greeks, and under- 
 ftand that the Grecian rite has been in force in many parts 
 of it, and ftill is fo in fome, we naturally incline to fuppofe 
 a continued poiTeflion, and the Greek church eftablifhed 
 here by prefcription ; but the fallacy of our conclufions will 
 appear upon reflecting, that, when Chriftianity began in Italy, 
 fcarce the fmalleft trace could be difcovered of Grecian laws, 
 cuftoms, or language. Polybius, two hundred years before, 
 fpeaks of them as old or former eftablifhments. Cicero 
 mentions them as being already obfolete ; and we learn 
 from Strabo, that except three cities which retained fome 
 faint idea of them, all the reft of Magna Grsecia was become 
 completely Roman in tongue, habits, and jurifprudence. 
 The infcriptions found in the Neapolitan ftate clearly prove it. 
 If any veftiges might be difcerned during the reign of Au- 
 guftus, they were certainly very foon after obliterated by the 
 introduction of colonies, and a feries of domeftic wars. 
 From thefe premifes it follows, that when a patriarch was 
 eftablifhed at Conftantinople, there exifted no particular 
 connexion between this country and Greece; but the Nea- 
 politan provinces formed, with the reft of Italy, part of the 
 immediate jurifdiction of the Bifhop of Rome. They fol- 
 lowed the Latin rite till the eighth century, when Leo Ifau- 
 
 ricus
 
 35 o J U R N E Y TO R E G G I O. 
 
 ricus compelled the fubjects of his Italian dominions to 
 renounce all obedience to the fee of Rome, and join in 
 communion with the Conftantinopolitan patriarch. The 
 Norman conquerors, through zeai and policy, reftored this 
 province to the Pope's authority, thereby the better to anni- 
 hilate all union with the Greek, intereft. In the fifteenth 
 centurv, almoft every trace of the Greeks was loft, except 
 fome faint traditions and refemblances of cuftoms, when 
 the following feries of events brought a new colony into 
 Italy.. 
 
 George Caftriot, Prince of Epire or Albany, better 
 known among us by the name of Scanderbeg, the bulwark 
 of Chriftendom. againft the Turks, received a confiderable 
 and timely fuccour from Alphonfus the Firft. In return, 
 he ten years afterwards, in 1460, eroded the Adriatic, de- 
 feated John of Anj )u, and eftablifhed Ferdinand the Firft 
 on the Neapolitan throne. That grateful King prefented 
 him with many large fiefs, and invited the Epirotes to fettle 
 in his dominions. The death of Scanderbeg removed every 
 obftacle to the Turkifh conquefts, and John his fon fled to 
 Naples for refuge. He was received with open arms, lands 
 were affigned to his followers, and exemption from taxes 
 
 inted them, with many other privileges, of which fome 
 fhadow ftill remains. Thefe ftrangers fixed their abode in 
 various provinces, but chiefly in Calabria, from a profpect 
 cf fuperior advantages, by being under the protection of 
 Irene Caftriota, married to San Severino, Prince of Bifig- 
 
 nancu
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 35 , 
 
 nano. The Albanefe continued to come over fo late as the 
 reign of Charles the Fifth, and their numbers increafed very 
 fenfibly. At prefent, they amount to a hundred thoufand 
 at leaf!:, difperfed in a hundred villages or towns ; but many 
 of thefe fettlements are wretchedly poor, and much decayed: 
 thofe in the neighbourhood of Bova remarkably fo. The 
 villagers carry corn, cheefe, and cattle to Reggio ; but that 
 being a poor mart, has but fmall demands, and little circu- 
 lation of money. Their common language is Albanefe. 
 The men can fpeak Calabrefe ; but the women, who 
 neither buy nor fell, underftand no tongue but their own, 
 which they pronounce with great fweetnefs of accent. This 
 Albanian dialedl: is quite different from the modern Greek 
 and Sclavonian languages, though they are fpoken by all the 
 nations round Albania. It is worthy of remark, that this 
 jargon, which has been known in Europe upwards of a 
 thoufand years, mould be fo little attended to, that it ftill 
 remains without an alphabet, and many of its founds are 
 not to be accurately expreffed either by Latin or Greek 
 letters. From this fingularity we may infer, that it is a 
 mixture of the dialects of thofe Tartarian hordes that over- 
 ran Macedonia and Greece in the eighth century; to which 
 medley the intercourfe with Germans, Italians, and Cru- 
 faders, has added a variety of foreign terms. The roots of 
 this language are unconnected with thofe of all other Euro- 
 pean ones, but it abounds with words borrowed from old 
 and modern Greek, Latin, Sclavonian, Italian, French, 
 
 Z z Gjrman,
 
 35 2 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 German, and, what is very extraordinary and pad: account- 
 ing for, many English terms employed in their native iigni- 
 fication, with fome variation in the declenfion and pronun- 
 ciation *. 
 
 The Greek rite is now obferved in the province of Co- 
 fenza alone, the Miniftry and Bifhops having, by degrees, 
 perfuaded or compelled the other Albanefe to conform to 
 the Roman liturgy and difcipline. The Latin Diocefans 
 found it, no doubt, inconvenient to be charged with the 
 direction of a foreign nation, of whofe cuftoms, language, 
 and ceremonies they did not choofe to confefs their ig- 
 norance. Moreover, a total want of inftruction had plunged 
 the Epirotic colonifts into fuch a flate of barbarifm, that at 
 laft there was not a prieft to be found among them, who 
 knew Greek enough to perform divine fervice in that 
 language. To remedy thefe diforders, and preferve his 
 native wormip, Monfignor Rodata, Librarian of the Vatican, 
 prevailed upon Clement the Twelfth to found a college at 
 
 • Thefe words 
 
 among others : 
 
 
 
 Aunt 
 
 Crab 
 
 Let 
 
 Rip 
 
 Boor 
 
 Door 
 
 Leg 
 
 Sea 
 
 Breeches 
 
 Dream 
 
 Lofty 
 
 Sheep 
 
 Bread 
 
 Feather 
 
 Lofe 
 
 Stir 
 
 Cow 
 
 Grumble 
 
 Milk 
 
 Sight 
 
 Cool 
 
 Gape 
 
 Mu fh room 
 
 Shame 
 
 Chimney 
 
 Hunt 
 
 Meal 
 
 Tickle 
 
 Chide 
 
 Hunger 
 
 Mud 
 
 Uncle 
 
 Cough 
 
 Knee 
 
 Open 
 
 Wood 
 
 Can 
 
 Leave 
 
 Run 
 
 You. 
 
 This Catalogue was given me by D. Pafquale Baffi, an Albanefe. 
 
 St. Bene-
 
 JOURNEY TO R EG GIO. 353 
 
 St. Benedetto Ullano, in Upper Calabria, for the education 
 of the young Greeks who wifhed to dedicate themfelves to 
 the fervice of the church. He was himfelf confecrated an 
 Archbifhop in fartibus^ and fent to lay the firft ftone of 
 this Italo-Greco-Corfinian feminary. Diplomas, immuni- 
 ties, and privileges were heaped upon the eftablimment, 
 the property and jurifdiction of many villages purchafed for 
 it, iixteen thoufand crowns expended upon the buildings, 
 and a thoufand ducats a year fet apart for the provifion of 
 the Bifhop. He acts as prefident of the college ; but in his 
 epifcopal powers is fubordinate to the Latin Prelate of 
 Biiignano, without whofe licence he cannot confer orders 
 on his ftudents. There is, befides, a parim-prieft and a 
 fchoolmafter. The reft are boarders at twenty crowns a 
 year. Two Dominican friars read lectures of moral philo- 
 sophy and fcholaftic divinity ; but whenever they touch 
 upon the five famous propofitions in difpute between the 
 two churches, the zeal of their anceftors breaks out in the 
 fcholars, who feldom hear them inforced without betraying 
 fome tokens of difguft. Rodata died too foon for the good 
 of his fettlement - 3 — abufes crept in, and the temporal con- 
 cerns of the houfe have, of late years, been egregioufly mis- 
 managed. . 
 
 Thefe Albanefe are a quiet induftrious people, and their 
 women remarkable for regularity of conduct. In their 
 drefs they preferve the coftume of Illyricum, from whence 
 their forefathers came. The raoft beautiful women are 
 
 Z z 2 generally
 
 354 
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 generally given in marriage to clergymen, and are exceed- 
 ingly proud of their hufbands ; for among them priefthood 
 is the higheft nobility. When an ecclefiaftic dies, his 
 widow never enters into a fecond engagement, becaufe none 
 but a virgin can afpire to the hand of a prieft; and any other 
 is beneath her acceptance. 
 
 F 
 
 SECTION XLVII. 
 
 ROM Bova I travelled thirty miles along the more to 
 
 Reggio. As foon as the morning mifts were difpelled 
 
 by the rifing fun, I had a view of Sicily, where JEtna 
 
 towered above all other mountains, with a flender line of 
 
 fmoke flying from its top in a horizontal direction, as far as 
 
 the eye could reach. We breakfafled at a farmer's houfe 
 
 in a poor, but well-fituated village, called Amendolia. 
 
 Here we defcended into the plain, and croffed the river 
 
 Alice, the ancient boundary of the Locrian flate. Immenfe 
 
 quantities of anchovies frequent the mouth of this ftream 
 
 and the adjacent coaft; it is therefore very likely, that either 
 
 the fim derived its Latin name Halec* from the river, or 
 
 the river was called after the fifh. At Pentedattolo, a 
 
 pretty village, I found the ftate of agriculture much better 
 
 than what I had hitherto feen in this province. The 
 
 * The Italian name of both is Alice. 
 4. ground
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 35J 
 
 ground is managed with more fkill and neatnefs, and con- 
 fequently productive of greater crops. Its hemp is the bed 
 in Calabria. The hills that border upon thefe flats, con aft 
 of chalk and clay, mixed with rocks, formed of ferruginous 
 particles, talk, and fmal! pebbles. The farmers were bufy 
 with their harveft,but feemed to lofe much time from a fcarcity 
 of hands. Near Montebello, we pafTed over the lair. Point of the 
 Apennines, at the Capo dell' Armi, where the mountainous 
 ridge finks into the fea, to rife again on the Sicilian (hore 
 at Taormina, in an oblique line. The opinion which was 
 generally held by the ancients, that Sicily was formerly part 
 of Italy, torn from it by fome violent concuflion of the 
 globe, has been rejected by Cluver and others, upon their not 
 being able to trace any correfponding angles and congenerous 
 ftrata on the different fides of the ftreights. Their ill fuccefs 
 in this fearch arofe from their miftaking; the direction of 
 of the mountains. They denied the original juncture, be- 
 caufe they found no traces of it between Capo dell' Armi and 
 the heights behind Cape Peloro; but, upon a more accurate 
 furvey, they would have difcovered that the mountains of 
 Taormina correfpond, in composition and fhape, with the 
 extremity of the Apennine, and that the high lands of Cape 
 Vaticano point towards the eminences north of Meflina. 
 
 The foil of this promontory is light, and the (lone white, 
 which is, no doubt, the origin of its Greek name, Leueopetra, 
 white rock — The afpedt of the country is wild, and bare of 
 trees, but covered with lentifcus, the common fuel of the 
 
 neighbourhood.
 
 3i G JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 neighbourhood. The face of the rocks is divided by narrow 
 ftreaks of pebbles inclining to the horizon. The road is 
 excellent for horfes ; the profpects enchanting. The tra- 
 veller has under his eye the beautiful Faro of Medina, and 
 the fertile plains of Reggio, contrafted with a bold chain 
 of mountains that ftretches away to the north-eaft. On 
 defcending to the weft, we entered upon a fcene utterly 
 different from what I had been long accuftomed to. In- 
 ftead of hills and marfhy mores, with little population, or 
 appearance of induftry, I now came to a rich delicious 
 oarden, fhaded by groves and avenues of poplars and mul- 
 berry-trees, divided by hedges of pomegranates, inclofing 
 vineyards and orchards of orange, citron, and various other 
 kinds of aromatic fruit. Vegetables of all forts abound under 
 the made of thefe perfumed plantations; but hemp is chiefly 
 cultivated, as being the mod lucrative, though its emana- 
 tions are fuppofed to be pernicious. Copious ftreams 
 meander through thefe agreeable plains, and diftribute life 
 and vigour to every plant. On each fide of the road are 
 houfes erected for the accommodation of filk- worms, upon 
 a particular plan of confiruction. The windows are long, and 
 not above fix inches wide. This narrownefs prevents too 
 great a quantity of air being admitted at a time, which would 
 overpower the tender infects. When the eggs are on the 
 point of being hatched, thefe holes are (hut, and a moderate 
 fire kept up in the rooms. The worms, as foon as they 
 come out, are placed upon beds of reeds, and there fed 
 
 with
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 357 
 
 with leaves of the mulberry- tree, which, in this diftricT, is- 
 invariably of the red fort. It is preferred to the white- 
 fruited kind, as being a later mooter, and better adapted to 
 the periods of the worm's life, which would be endangered 
 from late changes of weather, if forced out of its mell at the 
 time the white mulberry produces its leaves; beildcs, it is 
 the opinion of the filk- workers, that worms fed with the 
 red mulberry, produce a more compact heavy filk, than 
 thofe that live upon the leaves of the white one. I am 
 apt to think this a vulgar prejudice, unwarranted by expe- 
 rience, as the Chinefe, Piedmontefe, and Languedocians pre- 
 fer the white fort. I was furprifed to fee the Calabrefe 
 bring up their filk-worms fo tenderly; for 1 mould have 
 thought their climate warm and conflant enough to allow 
 them to leave the worms upon the trees, as they are treated 
 in the fouthern parts of China ; but I was told, that many 
 experiments had been made, without fuccefs, to difcover a 
 method of preferving them in the open air. In order to pro- 
 vide food for them in cafe of a blight among the mulberry- 
 trees, other leaves have been tried, and bramble tops have 
 been found the beft fuccedaneum. In the management of 
 this produce, the Calabrefe are much inferior to the Tuf- 
 cans, who, though many degrees farther north, contrive to 
 have two hatchings, or feafons, in a year. Thefe lilk-worm- 
 houfes are the property of reputable families in Reggio, 
 who furnifh rooms, leaves, eggs, and every necefiary imple- 
 ment; take two-thirds of the profit, and leave the other for 
 
 the
 
 358 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 the attendants. A fucceffion of eggs is imported from 
 Leghorn, and other places, to renew the breed, and by 
 frequent changes keep up the quality of the filk. Great 
 care is requifite to prevent lizards from entering thefe 
 apartments. If they get in while the worms are employed 
 in their functions or transformations, they will deftroy great 
 numbers, by running to and fro along the fhelves. — The 
 natural and powerful enemy of the lizard, is the large black 
 fnake fo common in Italy. The fight of one of them will 
 fcare away all lizards, and therefore is very agreeable and 
 ferviceable to the (ilk-dealers, who accept it as a happy omen, 
 and fcream out, Good luck! good luck! whenever they fee 
 one of thefe reptiles creep into their houfe. To fecure a 
 good filk year, they ofler a part of the produce to the faint 
 of the parifh, who fometimes gets a fifth (hare from thefe 
 zealots. Mariners, employed in exporting this commodity 
 in barks, lay afide a bale of filk for their particular patron; 
 but if there fall any rain to fpoil the cargo, the faint is 
 fuppofed not to have fulfilled the reciprocal agreement, and 
 accordingly lofes all claim to his portion. 
 
 All the pods mud be carried to public caldrons at 
 Reggio, and there pay a duty for boiling and winding off". 
 As the winders work by the pound, they perform their ta(k 
 in a more (lovenly, carelefs manner, than they would do 
 were they paid by the day. After the filk is drawn off, 
 foity-two grana and a half per pound are exacted, even 
 though the owner (liould keep it for his private ufe. 
 
 Nothing
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 359 
 
 Nothing can be more unfair than this tax, as the weight is 
 fet down while the merchandife is wet and heavy. The 
 tyranny of excife is ftill carried greater lengths, for the 
 poor wretches are forced to pay one grana a pound for the 
 refufe and unprofitable pods, and two carlini a year for 
 every mulberry-tree growing in their grounds. This 
 odious, abfurd impofition was planned, by the Marquis of 
 Squillace, contrary to every wife principle of adminiflration, 
 and with many other vexations has checked this advantage- 
 ous branch of commerce, difcouraged the farmers, and 
 caufed hundreds of valuable trees to be cut down to fave 
 the duty. In general, the profits of the lilk trade in this 
 country centre in the Barons and Revenue-officers. The 
 former by monopoly, and the latter by exactions, oblige the 
 poor merchants to fmuggle for a livelihood, and, to the 
 great detriment of the royal receipt, the excifemen find it 
 their interefl to connive at the pra&ice. 
 
 SECTION XLVIII. 
 
 'HpHE approach to Reggio is charming; for every cottage 
 of the fuburb is fhaded with a beautilul arbour of vines, 
 loaded with cluflers of grapes, that produce a very good 
 fort of wine. 
 
 Oranges, and their kindred fruits, arrive at great per- 
 fection in thefe plains, which are faid to be the firft fpot in 
 
 3 A , Italy
 
 ■6o JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 Italy where their culture was attempted, and from which it 
 was extended over the country. They are found to be 
 much hardier than was at firft fufpecled, many large plant- 
 ations thriving at the foot of the Apennines, twenty miles 
 from the lea, where in winter there is often froft enough 
 to congeal water. The Rheggians carry on a lucrative 
 traffic with the French and Genoefe in effence of citron, 
 orange, and bergamot. This fpirit is extracted by paring 
 off the rhind of the fruit with a broad knife, prefling the 
 peel between wooden pincers againft a fpunge; and, as 
 foon as the fpunge is faturated, the volatile liquor is fqueezed 
 into a phial, and fold at fifteen carlines an ounce. The 
 caput mortuum is eaten by oxen, and the pulp ferves to 
 make fyrup. There is a fmall fort of citrons fet apart for 
 the Jews of Leghorn, who come every year to buy them for 
 three tornefi a piece. As they are deftined for fome reli- 
 aious ceremonies, the buyers take great care not to pollute 
 them by a touch of the naked hand. 
 
 The olives of Reggio are large and pulpy. They are 
 much admired by thofe who relifh a high flavour; but to 
 thofe who have been accuftomed only to eat the Provence 
 fort, they appear too ftrong. The exportation of oil brings 
 into Calabria-ukra half a million of ducats annually. 
 
 Before the Saracens were driven back to their original 
 habitations on the Arabian and African fands, the environs 
 of this city were adorned with ftately groves of palm-trees. 
 Many of thefe trees were felled by the Chriftians out of a 
 
 whimfical
 
 JOURNEY TO REGG10. 361 
 
 whimfical hatred to the plant, as if it had been an appur- 
 tenance of Mahometifm. The Infidels themfelves, on their 
 retreat, deftroyed all the male- palms, except fuch as grew 
 within the walls. There are fome tiees ftanding in the 
 city which annually produce feveral pounds of dates ; but 
 mod of them fall off before they ripen, and are eaten by 
 the hogs. It has been remarked, that in feafons wherein 
 the Scirocco, or other foutherly winds blow for a long con- 
 tinuance, the dates ripen better and fooner than ufual. 
 Perhaps the great quantity of warm moiflure and durt 
 fcattered over them by thofe winds, refolves the natural re- 
 fraclorinefs of the fruit, by caufing an uncommon heat and 
 fermentation. A fimilar precocity is obferved in figs grow- 
 ing near a dufty road. It is fuppofed that the fprinkling of 
 lees of oil would haften the maturation both of figs and 
 dates. 
 
 Figs here have a fine flavour ; thofe of Felugafo and 
 Mammola are the beft. The gardeners of this province do 
 not follow the Levantine method of caprification, which is 
 performed by carrying an infedt from the wild tree to the 
 cultivated one, in order to procure impregnation by the 
 duft or pollen that flicks to the feet and body of the fly, 
 as the wild fig alone bears male flowers : nor do the^ 
 ripen this fruit as the Neapolitan cultivators do, by touch- 
 ing the eye of it vVith a feather dipt in oil. The Calabrian 
 figs come on very well without thefe helps, though the 
 wild plant, abounding every where 3 affords opportunity for 
 
 3 A 2 caprification,
 
 3 6a JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 caprification, if required. When the Calabrefe are defirous 
 of raifing fig-trees from feed, a method lefs in ufe than flip- 
 ping, they gather a quantity of wild figs, firing them upon 
 pack-thread, and hang them over the cultivated ones on the 
 tree, till both are half-dried by the fun. In October they 
 fplit the garden fruit, and rub it very hard upon a rope. 
 When the rope is covered with feeds, they bury it a kw 
 inches under ground ; and in a fhort time a plentiful crop 
 of feedlings appears, which mufl: be grafted, as they are all 
 wild, or at leaft of a mongrel breed. 
 
 The firft Platanus ever feen in Italy was brought from 
 Sicily by Dionyfius the tyrant, and planted in his garden at 
 Reggio. The Mufa and Ananas grow very well out of 
 doors here. The Prince of Scilla was, I believe, the firft 
 in this part of the world that cultivated the pine-apple. He 
 treated it in the beginning with great charinefs and pre- 
 caution; but, upon trial, found a bolder management fuit 
 it better. 
 
 The hills, that fkirt the great chain of mountains, abound 
 with chefnut- trees, producing very large and fweet fruit, 
 which the inhabitants dry, grind, knead into a parte, and 
 ufe in lieu of bread. 
 
 Between Reggio and Scilla a filver mine was opened by 
 the prefent King of Spain; but the vein lying in a granite 
 rock that dips confiderably towards the fea, as if dragged 
 down by the finking of the ftreights, was not fufficient to 
 cover the expences, and therefore abandoned. I believe 
 
 this
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 363 
 
 this bad fuccefs may alfo be attributed to the unfkilful- 
 nefs and lazinefs of the miners. Large quantities of ore 
 were ftolem and at laft all the works deftroyed, by the 
 negligence of the overfeers, who left the furnaces lighted 
 when they went away. The buildings took fire, and were 
 entirely confumed ; and the whole ftock reduced, by the 
 violence and continuance of the flames, to a ftate of vitrifi- 
 cation or calcination. 
 
 Reggio can boaft of neither beautiful buildings nor 
 ftrong fortifications. Of its edifices the Gothic cathedral is 
 the only finking one ; but it affords nothing curious in 
 architecture. The citadel is far from formidable, according 
 to the prefent fyftem of tactics ; nor could the city walls 
 make a lon'g refinance againft any enemy but Barbary 
 corfairs : — and even thefe they have not always been able 
 to repel ; for, in 1543, it was laid in afhes by BarbarofTa \ 
 Muftapha facked it fifteen years after ; and the defolation 
 was renewed in 1593, by another fet of Turks. Its 
 expofed fituation, on the very threfiiold of Italy, and front- 
 ing Sicily, has, from the earlieff. period, rendered it liable to 
 attacks and devaluation. The Chalcidians feized upon it ; 
 or, according to the ufual Greek phrafe, founded it, and 
 called the colonv Rhe<non, from a word that means a 
 break or crack ; allufive of its pofition on the point where 
 Sicily broke off from the continent. Anaxilas opprefTed its 
 liberties. Dionyfius the Elder took it, and put many of 
 the principal citizens to death, in revenge for their having 
 
 reiufed
 
 364 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 
 
 refufed his alliance. The Campanian legion, Tent to protect 
 the Rhegians, turned its fword againft them, maffacred 
 many inhabitants, and tyrannized over the remainder ; till 
 the Roman fenate thought proper to punifh thefe traitors 
 with exemplary feverity, though at the fame time it entered 
 into league with the revolted garrifon of Meflina. This 
 union with a fet of villains, guilty of the fame crime, 
 proved that no love of juflice, but political reafons alone, 
 drew down its vengeance on the Campanians *. 
 
 I en- 
 
 * Nummi Rheginorum. 
 
 ARC i. Facies leonis=Fig. vir. fed. in cor. ONI33.S. 
 
 2. Fac. leo.=Cap. mul. bur. PHriNHN. 
 
 3 . Fac. leo.=Cap. vitulinum. RECINON. 
 
 4. Fac. leo. = Flos PH. 
 
 iER. 1. Cap. mul. averfa niodio coron.— Jupiter fed. d. haft, tfipus 
 PHriNXlN. 
 
 2. Cap. Jovis lanr. = Mulier ftans d. patera ferpentem pafcit. Iir. 
 
 PHriN. 
 
 3. Cap. Dianas = Fig. vir. ftan. in brach. avem. d. ramum. f. bacu- 
 
 lum. cornucop. PHTINfiN. 
 
 4. Cap. Dia.= Leo graciiens PHriNIiN. 
 
 5. Cap. Apoll. laur. — Tripus PHriNXlN. 
 
 6. Cap. Apoll. & Dian Jug. = Tripus PHriNnN. 
 
 7. Cap. Dian. p.. nTripus PHriNftN. 
 
 8. Cap. Dian. — Lyra PHriNXlN. 
 
 9. Fac. leonis=:Lyra. luna PHTINIiN. 
 ic. Fac. leon. — Tripus PHriNXlN. 
 
 11. Cap. Pall. gal. gryps in gal. = Minerva ftans d. Vicloriam. f. haft. 
 
 & clyp. fulmen n. PHHNXlN. 
 
 12. Cap. imb. = Fig. vir. nuda fed. d. fagittam f. arcum. n. FH- 
 
 riNHN. 
 
 13. Cap. Apoll. K. PHriNnN=Leon. facies. 
 
 14. Cap. Apoll. =Vir nud. ftans d. ramum flip, tripod, f. haftam. 
 
 15. Cap. viri.l. Jugata = Vir ftans avem d. arborem f. PHriNflN. 
 
 16. Cap.
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 3 Gj 
 
 I enjoyed feveral delightful walks along the beach. 
 Wherever a hole is made in the fands, though within a foot 
 of the fea, frefh water bubbles up. The views on every 
 fide are enchanting, equal to the charming ones of the 
 Neapolitan gulf, and fuperior to all others that I have ever 
 feen. Meflina rifes out of the waves like a grand amphi- 
 theatre ; and the Faro, lined with villages and towns, 
 feems a noble river, winding between two bold mores. 
 
 Sometimes, but rarely, it exhibits a very curious phseno- 
 menon, vulgarly called La Fata Morgana *. The philoso- 
 phical reader will find its caufes and operations learnedly 
 accounted for in Kircher, Minaii, and other authors. I 
 mail only give a defcription of its appearance, from one 
 that was an eye-witnefs. Father Angelucci is the firft that 
 mentions it with any degree of accuracy, in the following 
 terms : 
 
 " On 
 
 i6. Cap. Jug. Dicfcura:r Mercurius ftans d. ramum. f. caduc. ill. 
 PHriNHN. 
 
 17. Cap. Jug. Diofcur.==Vir nud. ftans d. avem & ramum. f. arbo- 
 
 rem. IIII. PHriNfiN. 
 
 18. Cap. vir. laur. idolum PliriNXlN.=Cap. vir. bur. clava. PH- 
 
 riNXiN. 
 
 19. Cap. Jug. Apoll. & Dianje=Mul. ftol. ftans d. duas fp>icas f. 
 
 bacul. luna. IIII. PHTINI2N. 
 
 20. Fac. leon. — Corona RECI. 
 
 21. Fac. lcon. = RECINON. 
 
 * The name is probably derived from an opinion, that the whole fpeclade 
 is produced by a Fairy or a Magician. The populace are delighted when- 
 ever the vifion appears, and run about the ftreets, fhouting for joy, — calling 
 every body out to partake of the glorious fight.
 
 •■>;, 
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO, 
 
 " On the fifteenth of Auguft, 1643, as I flood at my 
 window, I was furprifed with a moft wonderful, deleg- 
 able vifion. The fea that wafhes the Sicilian fhore 
 fwelled up, and became, for ten miles in length, like a 
 chain of dark mountains ; while the waters near our 
 Calabrian coaft grew quite fmooth, and in an inftant 
 appeared as one clear polifhed mirror, reclining againft 
 the aforefaid ridge. On this glafs was depicted, in 
 chiaro /euro, a firing of feveral thoufands of pilafters, all 
 equal in altitude, diftance, and degree of light and fhade. 
 In a moment they loft half their height, and bent into 
 arcades, like Roman aqueducts. A long cornice was 
 next formed on the top, and above it rofe caftles innu- 
 merable, all perfectly alike. Thefe foon fplit into 
 towers, which were fhortly after loft in colonnades, then 
 windows, and at laft ended in pines, cyprefTes, and 
 other trees, even and fimilar. This is the Fata Mor- 
 gana, which, for twenty-fix years, I had thought a mere 
 fable." 
 
 To produce this pleafing deception, many circumftances 
 rauft concur, which are not known to exift in any other 
 fituation. The fpectator mult fiand with his back to the 
 eaft, in fome elevated place behind the city, that he may- 
 command a view of the whole bay ; beyond which the 
 mountains of Meflina rife like a wall, and darken the back- 
 ground of the picture. The winds muft be hufhed ; the 
 furface quite fmoothed ; the tide at its height ; and the 
 
 waters
 
 JOURNEY TO REGGIO. 367 
 
 waters prefled up by currents to a great elevation in the 
 middle of the channel. All thefe events coinciding, as foon 
 as the fun furmounts the eaftern hills behind Rcggio, and 
 rifes high enough to form an angle of forty-five degrees on 
 the water before the city, — every object exifting or moving 
 at Reggio will be repeated a thoufand fold upon this 
 marine looking-glafs ; which, by its tremulous motion, is, 
 as it were, cut into facets. Each image will pafs rapidly 
 off in fuccelTion, as the day advances, and the ftream carries 
 down the wave on which it appeared. 
 
 Thus the parts of this moving picture will vanim in the 
 twinkling of an eye. Sometimes the air is at that moment 
 fo impregnated with vapours, and undifturbed by winds, 
 as to reflect objects in a kind of aerial fcreen, rifing about 
 thirty feet above the level of the fea. In cloudy, heavy 
 weather, they are drawn on the furface of the water, bor- 
 dered with fine prifmatical colours. 
 
 3B
 
 ( 363 ) 
 
 JOURNEY 
 
 FROM 
 
 IEGGIO to NAPLES. 
 
 SECTION XLIX. 
 
 TH E heat I had experienced in Calabria determined 
 me to defer my voyage to Sicily till the enfuing win- 
 ter. I therefore took my paffage for Gallipoli in a French 
 fhip ready to fail from the Straits ; and on the tvventy-fecond, 
 about funfet, we got under way. A heavy Scirocco, that 
 rofe in the night off Cape Spartivento, rendered the paffage 
 unpleafant ; but carried us brifkly and fafely to our deftined 
 port, where we arrived on the twenty-fifth. 
 
 Gallipoli ftands on a rocky ifland, joined to the Con- 
 tinent by a bridge, near which flows a fountain of very 
 
 pure 

 
 JOURNEYTONAPLES. 369 
 
 pure water. From the remoteft antiquity this was a Station 
 fo favourable to commerce, that every maritime power 
 wifried to fecure it ; and it is certainly a reproach to 
 Government, that nothing has been done to improve its 
 natural advantages ; — at prefent it has neither harbour nor 
 Shelter for (hipping. Charles the Second demolished Galli- 
 poli, for its adherence to Frederick of Aragon. The 
 Venetians treated it with great cruelty in the fifteenth 
 century; and, in 1481, it was pillaged by the Turks. To 
 preferve it from future calamities, Charles the Fifth repaired 
 and Strengthened its fortifications ; and, fince that period, 
 it has enjoyed the benefits of peace and trade, which have 
 rendered it the moft opulent and gayeSt town upon the 
 coaft. Its inhabitants do not exceed fix thoufand in num- 
 ber ; but they are eafy in their circumStances, lively, and 
 merry, and in general well-informed. Confumptions and 
 /pitting of blood are rather frequent here, occasioned by the 
 great fubtilty of the air, which is ventilated from every 
 quarter. The buildings are tolerable, and fome of the 
 churches have good paintings. 
 
 The cotton trade brings in about thirty thoufand ducats 
 a-year. Good muilins, cotton Stockings, and other parts 
 of apparel, are manufactured here, and purchafed by the 
 Provencals ; for Gallipoli has no diredt, trade with the 
 metropolis. Silk and Saffron were formerly objects of traf- 
 fic ; but heavy duties and oppreflion have caufed them to 
 be abandoned. The wine of this territory is good ; but 
 
 3 B 2 from
 
 370 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 from drynefs of climate, and fhallownefs of foil, the vintage 
 frequently fails in quantity ; and then the Gallip litans have 
 recourfe to Sicily for a fupply. Oil is the great i ippOrt of 
 this place : — two-thirds of the produce of its olive planta- 
 tions are exported to France, and the north of Italy ; the 
 remainder is fent to Naples, and other ports of the king- 
 dom. It appears by the books of the Cuftom-houfe, that 
 in 1766*, eleven thoufand four hundred and fifty-nine 
 falme were fhipped off for national markets, and thirty-five 
 thoufand four hundred and ninety-three falme for foreign 
 ones. This quantity cannot be valued at lefs than a mil- 
 lion of ducats ; but the profits to the venders are much 
 curtailed by a duty on exportation. 
 
 Neapolitan merchants, by means of agents fettled at 
 Gallipoli, buy up the oils, from year to year, long before 
 an olive appears upon the tree. The price is afterwards 
 fettled by public authority ; a mode of evaluation extremely 
 favourable to the traders, and prejudicial to the land-owner, 
 who is attached to the foil, and indeed feldom confidered 
 by Government. The Neapolitans fell their oil to the 
 merchants of Leghorn ; and, if faithfully ferved by their 
 factors in Terra di Otranto, ought to double their capital 
 
 * I fix upon 1766, as being the year mentioned in Reidefel's evaluation, 
 which I have good authority for corre&ing. His accounts are, one thoufand 
 three hundred and ninety-five lafts, or thirteen thoufand nine hundred and 
 fifty falme, for home trade; and feventeen thoufand three hundred and 
 twenty-three lafts, or one hundred feventy-three thoufand two hundred and 
 thirty falme, for foreign countries > 
 
 m
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 371 
 
 in two years. But, to balance this advantage, they run 
 great rifles, pay exorbitant intereft, and have frequent 
 bankruptcies to guard againft. 
 
 About three miles clue weft, is a fmall ifland, level with 
 the water, almoft barren. Wherever the foil is deep 
 enough, it produces fhort grafs, renowned for giving a moft 
 exquifite flavour to mutton. This rock is a very conve- 
 nient ftation for fifhing, and is reforted to by flocks of fea- 
 fovvl. 
 
 On the twenty-feventh, I fet out for Naples ; making a 
 little deviation from the direct road, to fee Nardo and 
 Otranto. Near Gallipoli, cultivation is in a flourifliing 
 ftate ; though the rocks are very fhallowly covered with 
 earth. In this province, the rent of arable ground varies 
 prodigiously ; rather according to the degrees of population 
 than thofe of fertility. For example,— Brindifi pofTefTes a 
 fpacious territory, rich in foil and natural advantages, free 
 from baronial tenures and burthens : yet the bed of its land 
 does not let at ten millings an acre ; while the rocky but 
 well-peopled Salentine peninfula, hampered as it is with • 
 feudal claims and drawbacks, gives at leafl: double the 
 rent. 
 
 The olive-tree is here attended to with the niceft care,, 
 and no trouble fpared to increafe its fruitfulnefs, or revive 
 prolific vigour in plants that begin to feel the decay of 
 age. In winter, the peafants bare the roots of the old trees, 
 lay upon them a thin coat of litter, and leave them thus, 
 
 during
 
 3 72 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 during four months, to imbibe the reftorative falts of the 
 atmofphere. Few of them have any principal bole ; for all 
 predominant moots are early cut out, that every part may 
 derive equal benefit from the influence of the fun. Some 
 huibandmen only Rir the earth near the tree ; others plough 
 all the interfaces, and raife profitable crops, though perhaps 
 to the detriment of the olive plants. In this province, the 
 fruit is neither beaten off the tree, nor gathered ; but 
 remains till it falls through ripenefs. 
 
 Don Giovanni Preita has proved himfelf a zealous and 
 valuable citizen of Gallipoli, by a long and attentive 
 courfe of experiments upon the olive-tree, its fruit, and the 
 method of making oil, with a view of increaiing its quan- 
 tity, and improving its quality. The common mode of 
 making oil, is to crum the olives to a parte, with a per- 
 pendicular mill-ftone running round a trough. This pafte 
 is put into flat round bafkets, made of rufhes, piled one 
 upon another under the prefs. After a firft preflure, 
 fcalding water is poured into each bafket, its contents 
 flirred up, and the operation repeated till no more oil can 
 be fkimmed off the furface of the tubs beneath. This 
 method is liable to inconveniences; for the oil is feldom 
 pure — keeps ill — and foon grows rancid. Don Giovanni 
 employs other ways of extracting the liquor, which, though 
 feemingly lefs effectual and more laborious, he thinks 
 practice will prove to be full as expeditious as the mill, and 
 much more advantageous to the vender, by the goodnefs of 
 
 3 tne
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 373 
 
 the oil. He recommends a procefs, performed by pounding 
 the fruit in a mortar. He throws a handful of the crufhed 
 fubftance into a long woollen bag, which he rubs very hard 
 upon a Hoping board ; he then wrings it j afterwards adds 
 hot water, and continues to prefs, as long as a drop of oil 
 can be drawn from it. This he fuppofes to have been the 
 original mode of extraction, adopted by the difcoverers of 
 oil ; and, if performed by a fkilful, (tout workman, to be 
 much more effectual than the common one. He has exa- 
 mined the different fpecies of olive-trees planted in his 
 country, and appreciated their refpeclive merits. The kind 
 molt commonly cultivated, and of oldeft [landing in the 
 province, is by him called the Salentine Olive, — by the 
 peafant, Ogliarola, — from the quantity of juice yielded by 
 its fruit. A fecorid fort, vulgarly named Faule, of which 
 only a few are planted, bears a fmall olive kept for eating. 
 The third is known by the names. of Cellina, Scuranefe, 
 and Cafcia : — its olives give lefs oil than the Salentine kind, 
 in a proportion of two to three ; but the tree grows to a 
 greater fize, refills weather better, and is alfo more fruitful, 
 — for which reafon it obtains the preference amonc the 
 planters. He tried alfo a fourth fpecies; but of which only- 
 one tree exifts in his neighbourhood, and that a wild one. 
 Contrary to the nature of all other olives, its fruit grows 
 white as it ripens : — the ancients fpeak of fuch a kind. 
 He has alfo procured fcions of the beft flocks from Tufcany. 
 I am forry to add, that as yet his efforts have been merely 
 
 fpeculativc,
 
 374: JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 fpeculative, for want of encouragement from thofe who alone 
 can promote the public good to any extent. In Puglia, which 
 abounds with cities and villages belonging to the Crown, 
 and therefore more wealthy and independent than Baronial 
 manors, — thefe trials may excite emulation, augment the 
 cultivation ot this valuable tree, and improve the manner of 
 making oil, to the great emolument of King, planter, and 
 merchant. I have little doubt but, with (kill, the olives of 
 this province may be made to give as line oil as thofe of 
 either Provence or Lucca. In Calabria the cafe is more 
 defperate j — there feudal tyranny reigns paramount, and 
 effectually clips the wings of induftry : — there the cuftom 
 of the manor obliges all vaffals to grind their olives at the 
 lord's mills*, though their number is not equal to the 
 bufinefs. The unfortunate wretches behold their fruit rot, 
 and their oil evaporate from the fermenting heaps, while 
 they muft wait the preiling of the olives belonging to the 
 Baron and his leflees, or to fuch proprietors as can afford 
 to bribe the millers. 
 
 At the diftance of a few miles from the town, there 
 is a good deal of woodland, where fportfmen find very 
 good diverfion. Gentlemen hunt hare, fox, and fometimes 
 wild boar, with hounds or lurchers, and fometimes with 
 both. In autumn, fowlers ufe nets, fpringes, or birdlime; 
 in winter, guns. All the country is free to whoever buys 
 
 * They pay for every grinding, or Macina, two carlini. A Macina con-" 
 fills of eight bafkets, of thirty Neapolitan rotoli each. 
 
 2 the
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 375 
 
 the King's licence, except fome few inclofures, where the 
 Barons endeavour to preferve the game. Hawking has of 
 late years been quite laid afide. 
 
 N 
 
 SECTION L. 
 
 A R D O lies nine miles north of Gallipoli ; the road 
 to it good and pleafant, with a fine view of the fea. 
 In this little city are eight thoufand inhabitants. The 
 fteeple of its cathedral is built in a very uncommon, but 
 {hewy ftile of Gothic architecture. Luca Giordano and 
 Solimeni have adorned the church with fome agreeable 
 paintings. This place was part of the Balzo eftate. The 
 Aquavivas were the next poffeflbrs : — they are thought to 
 have come from the Marca di Ancona. In 1401, in con- 
 sideration of their relationiliip to Pope Boniface the Ninth, 
 Ladiflaus erected their manor of Atri into a dukedom ; an 
 honour till then feldom granted to any but princes of the 
 blood royal *. Claudius Aquavira, a famous general of 
 the Jefuits, who died in 161 5, was of this family. 
 
 * Since that period, honours have been fo lavifhly beftowed, that, about 
 the beginning of the laft century, the Tingle kingdom of Naples reckoned 
 fifty Princes, fixty-three Dukes, one hundred and fix Marquiffes, and fixty 
 Earls ; befides Barons, who all held of the Crown in aipile, and took their 
 titles from their fiefs. — In 1703, the numbers were, one hundred and 
 twenty-four Princes, two hundred Dukes, two hundred Marquifles, and 
 forty-three Earls. 
 
 3 C The
 
 37 6 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 The breadth of the peninfula, from Nardo, is about 
 thirty-five miles : the road through an open country, inter- 
 fperfed with fome coppices of a fmall jagged-leaved oak. 
 We paiTed near many villages ; but I faw nothing in any of 
 them worth my attention. As we approached the Adriatic, 
 the landfcape grew dreary, from the great quantity of loofe 
 ftone walls, by which the fields are divided. Near Otranto, 
 the gardens, being full of orange-trees, have a more 
 pleafing appearance. A rivulet, running into the fea, clofe 
 to the walls, ftill retains its ancient name of Hydro. 
 
 Otranto is fmall, (lands on a hill, and contains only three 
 thoufand inhabitants. Its little harbour is not fo bad, but 
 it might induce more people to fettle here ; as no port on 
 the coafl: lies fo convenient for traffic with Greece. The 
 Adriatic Gulph is here but fixty miles wide. I climbed to 
 the top of a tower, to get a fight of the Acroceraunian 
 Mountains ; but a vapour hanging over the fea, along the 
 horizon, hid them from my view : in a clear morning., 
 their fnowy tops are faid to be very vifible. 7 he cathedral 
 of Otranto is Gothic, and, according to the Puglian fafhion, 
 has its fubterraneous fanctuary. The columns are of beau- 
 tiful marbles and granite ; the pavement, a rude fpecies of 
 Mofaic, commonly called Saracenic. As it is to be met 
 with in all churches founded by the Norman Kings of 
 Sicily, the artifts who laid it were probably Saracens, or at 
 leaft Greeks, their fcholars. — Thefe mofaics are compofed 
 of pieces of porphyry, ferpentine, and cubes of gilt glafs, — 
 8 difpofed
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES, ~ os 
 
 dlfpofed in ftars, circles, or checquers. The compartments 
 of the flails are bordered with them ; and the fmall twifted 
 columns, which fupport the pulpits and canopies, are 
 ornamented with a fpiral ftripe of the fame work. It 
 is a pity fo much durability, compaclnefs, and beauty of 
 materials, mould have been laviflied on fuch barbarous 
 defigns. — Otranto was a Roman colony, as is certified by 
 an infcription, almoft the only monument of antiquity left 
 there *. In the tenth century, it was made an archbimop's 
 fee. In 1480, Laurence de Medici, to deliver himfelf 
 from the attacks of the King of Naples, perfuaded Maho- 
 met the Second to invade the realm ; and Otranto was the 
 unfortunate place where the Turks landed. It was in- 
 verted, ftormed and pillaged. Its Prelate was flain at the 
 door of his church ; eight hundred principal citizens 
 dragged out of the gates, and butchered ; their bodies left 
 twelve months unburied, till the Duke of Calabria retook 
 the city, and committed them to hallowed earth. About 
 a hundred years after, a devout perfon affirmed, that thefe 
 bones had appeared to him in a dream ; and, upon the 
 flrength "of his viiion, they became, for the vulgar, objects of al- 
 moft equal veneration with the relics of the primitive martyrs. 
 I was entertained in the evening with the mufic of fome 
 of thofe itinerant performers, that play at Chriftmas in the 
 ftreets of Rome and Naples. Their native country is 
 Baftlicata, where the inhabitants of the Apennines learn 
 
 * Num. Hydr.— 7ER. Caput barb. & laureat. rAPONTlNflN.-= Trjdensj 
 cum duobus ddphinibus. 
 
 3 C 2 from
 
 pff JOURNEY TO NAPLES, 
 
 from their infancy to wield the mattock with one hand, 
 and the flageolet or bagpipe with the other. In thefe 
 favages of Italy, mufic is not merely an art of paftime or 
 luxury, but a talent awakened by neceflity. Their ufual 
 employment is hoeing out drains, to draw the water off the 
 land ; but as there is not every year, nor in all feafons, a 
 fuperabundance of rain, they take up their mufical inftru- 
 ments for a maintenance, and, in fmall parties, travel over 
 Italy, France, and Spain. Some have penetrated even into 
 America, and returned from thence with great comparative 
 riches, earned by their paftoral melody. Their concerts are 
 generally compofed of two muficians, who play on very long, 
 large bagpipes, in unifon : — I mean as to the tone, becauie 
 one is always an oclave higher than the other ; while a third 
 muncian founds a kind of hautboy, and, at the end of each 
 ritomel, chants a rural ditty, to which the bagpipes play an 
 accompaniment. The airs are all nearly alike, upon the 
 model of the following Paftorale or Siciliana. 
 
 Largo. 
 
 Ml Ml 
 
 -K-M-F-M-iF-lf 
 
 E£EfcB 
 
 m mmtsmm 
 
 I 
 
 mMmmmm 
 
 ■A 
 
 jy 
 
 j* i 
 
 im&Mibm^sm 
 
 iHiiiiil 
 
 The
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 379 
 
 The trifling differences depend upon a greater or lefler 
 vivacity in the performers, who are wont to embellifh the 
 common tune with variations, out of their own fancy. 
 Every air, however, is compofed of two characters ; the 
 ritornel is cheerful ; the vocal part, flow and mournful. 
 The inftruments are all made by the fhepherds them- 
 felves, in thofe forms and iizes which tradition has 
 handed down to them, and experience has taught them to 
 imitate. 
 
 My route to Lecce lay by the fide of a large pond, that 
 communicates with the fea. All around, for many miles, 
 reigns one entire wafte, productive of nothing but the 
 holme oak, or ilex cocci/era. Thefe bufhes were in full 
 beauty, covered with the fcarlet kermes, or falfe cochineal, 
 which abounds in the fame fort of country, in Andalufia 
 and Languedoc. The Puglians feem ignorant that any ufe 
 can be made of this fhrub, except feeding their cattle with 
 the leaves in winter, when other fodder fails. The villages 
 on the road make a handfome fhew, being built of white 
 ftone ; but their churches are ornamented in a very bar- 
 barous ftile. The face of the country is too rocky, and too 
 bare of trees, corn, and grafs, to be agreeable ; and the 
 prodigious number of (tone walls would disfigure a much 
 more fruitful one. Near the end of our ride, which was 
 about twenty-four miles, the landfcape became more lively^ 
 from a great quantity of gardens. 
 
 Lecce,
 
 So JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 Lecce, the capital of Terra di Otranto, the feat of its 
 tribunal, and the fecond city in the kingdom, — is better 
 paved and built than any town in the province. If its 
 architects had been pofTefTed of the fmalleft gleam of tafte, 
 the buildings would have made a noble figure; for the 
 ftone of the country is of a fine white, fo foft, when taken 
 out of the quarry, that it may be moulded like wax, and 
 will receive any form the flighted: Itrckes of the chiflH 
 imprefs it with ; yet, by remaining expofed to the air, very 
 foon acquires a proper degree of confiftency. No mate- 
 rials, therefore, can be more deferable for ornamental 
 mafonry, or more fufceptible of regularity and nicety of 
 juncture. But the fronts of the principal edifices are 
 crimped into fuch crowded uncouth decorations, that I 
 lamented that the Grecian arts ever returned into this 
 country : for the architecture of the Goths and Saracens, 
 with all its oddities, is the very perfection of beauty and 
 crood fenfe, when compared with thefe Corinthian and 
 Compofite extravagances at Lecce. The cathedral was 
 erected by Tancred, before he afcended the throne; it is 
 dedicated to Saints Cataldo and Nicholas, one of which is 
 placed on a mutilated antique column in the great fquare. 
 This fragment was brought from Brindifi, where its com- 
 panion is ftill ftanding. Many of the paintings in the 
 churches, and houfes of the nobility, are by Verrio, a 
 native of Lecce, long employed in England, — where his 
 ftaircafes and cielings are admired for their perfpedtive 
 
 deception,
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 3S1 
 
 deception, and variety of figures, though deficient in cor- 
 rectnefs, choice, and other requifites of the art. He died 
 in 1707. — The number of inhabitants does not reach 
 thirteen thoufand, very inadequate to the extent of the 
 city. It has the reputation of being, to the reft of the 
 kingdom, what Thebes was to Greece ; and a native of 
 Lecce is faid to be diftinguimable from his fellow-fubjecls, 
 by the heavinefs of his manner, and the dulnefs of his 
 apprehenfton. I dare not be fo rafh as to pronounce upon 
 this point ; having had, during my fliort ftay among them, 
 very little opportunity of converting with the Leccians, or 
 appreciating their parts and learning. But I cannot ftifpect 
 a city to be the feat of ftupidity, that has an academy of 
 Belles Lettres, and where fome of the Mufes at lead meet 
 with very fincere and fuccefsful admirers. Though the 
 academy, from a want of royal protection, and proper 
 directors, has of late confined its exertions to fonnets, and 
 other abfurd ebullitions of fancy ; yet mufic is here culti- 
 vated with a degree of enthufiafm. Many of the nobility 
 are good performers, and proud of exhibiting their fkill on 
 fblemn festivals. The Leccian mufic has a very plaintive 
 character, peculiar to itfelf. The Dilettanti fing ftanzas to 
 the following tune, which is a fpecimen of their ftyle ; and 
 I have frequently heard Improvifatori chant their extempore 
 vcrfes to it . 
 
 * Don Luigi Serb of Naples is a very great genius in that line^ and 
 much fuperior to the celebrated Corilla, fo well known to all the Englifa 
 that have been at Florence.
 
 5 H 
 
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
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 iSiiiiiiiiiiiiii 
 
 At or near Lecce, was the Roman colony of Lupise. 
 Some geopraphers confound it with Rudise, the birth-place 
 of Ennius, who flourifhed about two hundred years before 
 Chrift, and compofed feveral poems, of which only frag- 
 ments have efcaped the ravages of time. 
 
 Very foon after the eftablifhment of the Normans, Earls 
 were enfeoffed with the manor of Lecce. The daughter of 
 one of them bore to the eldeft fon of King Roger a natural 
 fon, called Tancred, who came at length to be King of 
 the Two Sicilies. Before his election to the crown, he 
 enjoyed the eftate of his maternal anceftors, and was a great 
 benefactor to this city. His daughter Albiria transferred 
 the earldom to her hufband Walter de Brienne, and the 
 heirefs of the Briennes married C. de Engenio. Mary, the 
 laft of that family was given in marriage by Lewis of Anjou, 
 to Raymond Orfino the fortunate adventurer, who after- 
 wards became Prince of Taranto. On the failure of his 
 7 pofterity,
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 383 
 
 pofterity, Lecce fell, with the reft of their property, into 
 the hands of the Crown. 
 
 From Lecce it is twenty-four miles to Brindifi, through 
 an ugly traft of land, thinly peopled and poorly cultivated. 
 The unfilled part is over-run with beautiful fhrubs. As 
 we advanced, the country rather improved upon us, but 
 ftill bore the marks of mifery and depopulation. 
 
 SECTION LI. 
 
 "OR1ND1SI is a great city, if the extent of its walls be 
 confidered ; but the inhabited houfes do not fill 
 above half the inclofure. The ftreets are crooked and 
 rough, the buildings poor and ruinous ; no very remarkable 
 church or edifice. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Theodore, 
 is a work of King Roger, but not equal in point of archi- 
 tecture to many churches founded by that monarch, who 
 had a ftrong paffion for building. The canons of this 
 church retain the ancient cuftom of having handmaids ; 
 but as they take care to choofe them of canonical age and 
 face, we may fuppofe thefe Focaria? to be only chafte repre- 
 fentatives of the helpmates allowed to the clergy before 
 Popes and Councils had reprobated them. Thefe women are 
 exempted from taxes, and enjoy many privileges. When 
 they die, they are buried gratis, and the funeral is attended 
 
 3D by
 
 384 JOURNEYTONAPLES. 
 
 by the Chapter with great folemnity ; which is a mark of 
 refpect it does not pay to any relations of the canons. 
 
 Near the port ftand the walls of a palace erected by 
 Walter de Brienne, in a very bad tafte. Its materials are 
 grey ftone, divided at regular diftances with broad courfes of 
 black marble*. Little remains of ancient Brundufium, 
 except innumerable broken pillars, fixed at the corners of 
 ftreets to defend the houfes from carts; fragments of coarfe 
 Mofaic, the floors of former habitations; 'the column of the 
 light-houfe; a large marble bafon 3 into which the water runs 
 from brazen heads of deer; fome infcriptions, ruins of aque- 
 ducts, coins, and other fmall furniture of an antiquary's 
 cabinet. Its caftle, built by the Emperor Frederick the 
 Second to protect the northern branch of the harbour, is 
 large and ftately. Charles the Fifth repaired it. 
 
 The port is double, and the fineft in the Adriatic. The 
 outer part is formed by two promontories, that flretch off 
 gradually from each other as they advance into the fea, 
 leaving a very narrow channel at the bafe of the angle. The 
 ifland of St. Andrew, on which Alphonfus the Firfr. built a 
 fortrefs, lies between the capes, and fecures the whole road 
 from the fury of the waves. In this triangular fpace, large 
 mips may ride at anchor. At the bottom of the bay the 
 hills recede in a femicircular fhape, to leave room for the 
 inner-haven, which, as it were, clafps the city in its arms, 
 
 * Thefe walls have been fince pulled down, and employed in the facing of 
 the new canal. 
 
 or
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 385 
 
 or rather encircles it, in the figure of a flag's head and 
 horns. This form is faid to have given rife to the name of 
 Brundufium, which, in the old Mefiapian language, fignified 
 the head of a deer. I think it probable that this harbour 
 was produced by an earthquake, which caufed the ground 
 to fink, and the waters to run into the chafm ; for all the 
 hills round it are on an exacl level, and have parallel cor- 
 refpondent ftrata. Nothing can be more beautiful than this 
 interior port, or better adapted to every purpofe of trade 
 and navigation. It is very deep, and extends in length two 
 miles and a half, in breadth twelve hundred feet in the 
 wideft part. The hills and the town fhelter it on every fide. 
 The north ridge is prettily cultivated and planted, but that 
 to the fouth is bare of wood, and all fown with corn. In 
 ancient days, the communication between the two havens 
 was marked by lights placed upon columns of the Corin- 
 thian order, ftanding on a riling ground, in a direcl: line 
 with the channel. Of thefe one remains entire upon its 
 pedeftal*. Its capital is adorned with figures of Syrens and 
 Tritons, intermingled with the Acanthus leaf, and upon it 
 is a circular vafe, which formerly held the fire. A mo- 
 dern infcription has been cut upon the plinth. Near it is 
 another pedeftal of fimilar dimenfions, with one piece 
 of the fhaft lying on it. The reft of the column was fold 
 to the people of Lecce after the earthquake of 1456, which 
 
 * It is of the fort of green and white marble called Cipollino. 
 
 3 D 2 threw
 
 3 35 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 threw it down, and deftroyed great part of the city. The 
 fpace between thefe pillars anfwered to the entrance of the 
 harbour. The whole kingdom of Naples cannot {hew a 
 more complete iituation for trade than Brindifi. Here 
 goodnefs of foil, depth of water, fafety of anchorage, and a 
 centrical pofition, are all united; yet it has neither com- 
 merce, hufbandry, nor populoufnefr. From the obftruc- 
 tions in the channel, which communicates with the two 
 havens, arifes the tribe of evils that afflict and defolate this 
 unhappy town. Julius Casfar may be faid to have begun its 
 ruin, by attempting to block up Pompey's fleet. He drove 
 piles into the neck of land between the two ridges of hills; 
 threw in earth, trees, and ruins of houfes; and had nearly 
 accomplifhed the blockade, when Pompey failed out and 
 efcaped to Greece. In the fifteenth century, the Prince 
 of Taranto funk fome mips in the middle of the paflage, to 
 prevent the royalifts from entering the port, and thereby 
 provided a refting- place for fea- weeds and fand, which 
 ibcn accumulated, choked up the mouth, and rendered it 
 impracticable for any veflels whatfoever. In 1752, the evil 
 was increafed, fo as to hinder even the waves from beating 
 through; and all communication was cut off, except in vior 
 lent eafterly winds, or rainy feafons, when an extraordinary 
 quantity of frefh water raifes the level. From that period 
 the port became a fetid green lake, full of infe&ion and 
 noxious infects ; no flfh but eels could live in it, nor any 
 boat ply except canoes made of a Angle tree. They can 
 
 hold
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 387 
 
 hold but one perfon, and overfet with the leaft irregularity 
 of motion. The low grounds at each end were over- 
 sowed and converted into marfhes, the vapours of which 
 created every fummer a real peftilenee, and, in the courfe 
 of very few years, fwept ofF, or drove away, the large!} por- 
 tion of the inhabitants. From the number of eighteen 
 thoufand, they were reduced in 1766 to that of five thoufand 
 livid wretches, tormented with agues and malignant fevers. 
 in 1775 above fifteen hundred perfons died durin? the 
 autumn; — A woful change of climate! Thirty years ago, 
 the air of Brindifi was efteemed fo wholefome and balfamic, 
 that the convents of Naples were wont to fend their coa- 
 fumptive friars to this city for the recovery of their health. 
 This ftate of mifery and deftrudlion induced the remaining 
 citizens to apply for relief to Don Carlo Demarco, one of 
 the King's minifters, and a native of Brindifi. In confe.- 
 quence of this application, Don Vito Caravelli was ordered 
 to draw up plans, and fix upon the means of opening the 
 port afrefh. Don Andrea Pigonati was laft year fent to 
 execute Ms projects ; and by the help of machines, and the 
 labour of the galley- flaves, has fucceeded in fome meafure. 
 The channel has been partly cleared, and has now two 
 fathom of water. It can admit large boats, a great ftep 
 towards the revival of trade; but what is of more imme- 
 diate importance, it gives a free pafiage to the fea, which 
 now ru flies in with impetuofity, and runs out again at each 
 tide; fo that the water of the inner port is fet in motion*, 
 
 and-
 
 ■ S8 TOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 and once more rendered wholefome. The canal, or gut, 
 is to be feven hundred yards long, and drawn in a (trait 
 line from the column. At prefent, its parapets are defend- 
 ed by piles and fafcines ; but if the original plan be purfued, 
 ftone piers will be erected on both fides. Don Andrea, 
 who received me with great politenefs and hofpitality, has 
 the fuccefs of this undertaking extremely at heart ; and as 
 he fpares no pains, has money enough for his calls, and 
 feems to be very well verfed in his profeflion, it is to be 
 hoped the patriotic wifries of his employers will not prove 
 vain and delufory. If the defence againft the fea be fuffi- 
 cient, and a proper method be followed for turning off the 
 load of fand which every tide brings in, and naturally tends to 
 depofit where the current draws it, this work will remain 
 an honour to the Minifter by whofe direction it was under- 
 taken, and to the engineers who have fuperintended it j but 
 it appeared to me, upon examining every thing very atten- 
 tively, rather doubtful whether the work be properly fecured 
 againft accidents, and whether a very confiderable annual 
 expence will not be neceffary to keep it in order *, 
 
 When the canal fhall be fcooped out to a proper depth, 
 and its -piers folidly eftabliflied, veffels of any burden may 
 once more enter this land-locked port, which affords room 
 
 * I am forry to find, by the laft accounts I have received from that country, 
 that the parapets have proved too weak to refift the violence of the fea; that 
 much damage has already been done, and great part of the channel once 
 more choked with fand. 
 
 for
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 389 
 
 for a whole navy. Docks wet and dry may be dug, goods 
 may be fhipped at the quay, and convenient watering- 
 places be made with great eafe. If merchants fhould think 
 it a place of rifing trade, and worthy of their notice, there 
 is no want of fpace in the town for any factory whatever. 
 Circulation of cadi would give vigour to hufbandry, and 
 provifions would foon abound in this market. The fands 
 at the foot of the hills, which form the channel, are to be 
 laid out in beds for mufcles and oyfters. Some eccleiiaftics 
 are railing nurferies of orange and lemon trees ; and other 
 citizens intend introducing the cultivation of mulberry-trees, 
 and breeding of filk-worms. 
 
 The Engineer would have done very little for the health 
 of Brindiii, had he only opened a paffage, and given a free 
 courfe to the waters ; the marfhes at each extremity of the 
 harbour would ftill have infected the air ; he therefore, at 
 the expence of about a thoufand ducats, had the fens filled 
 up with earth, and a dam raifed to confine the waters, and 
 prevent their flowing back upon the meadows. The people 
 of Brindifi, who are feniible of the bleflings already derived 
 from thefe operations, who feel a return of health, and fee 
 an opening for commerce and opulence, feem ready to 
 acknowledge the obligation. They intend to erect a ftatue 
 to the King, with infcriptions on the pedeftal in honour of. 
 the Minifter and Agents. 
 
 The workmen, in cleaning the channel, have found fome 
 medals and feals, and have drawn up many of the piles that 
 
 2 were
 
 39 o JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 were driven in by Caefar. They are fmall oaks dripped of 
 their bark, and ftill as frefh as if they had been cut only a 
 month, though buried above eighteen centuries feven feet 
 under the fand. 
 
 The foil about the town is light and good. It produces 
 excellent cotton with which the Brindifians manufacture 
 gloves and flockings. 
 
 S E C T I ON LIL 
 
 TT is impoflible to determine who were the founders of 
 Brundufium, or when it was firft inhabited*. The Ro- 
 mans took early pofieflion of a harbour fo convenient for 
 their enterprizes againft the nations dwelling beyond the 
 Adriatic. In the five hundred and ninth year of Rome 
 they fent a colony hither. Pompey took refuge here ; but 
 finding his poft untenable, made a precipitate retreat to 
 Greece. In this city Oclavianus firft aflumed the name of 
 C?efar, and here he concluded one of his fhort-lived peaces 
 with Antony. Brundufium had been already celebrated 
 for giving birth to the tragic poet Pacuvius, and about this 
 time became remarkable for the death of Virgil. The Bar- 
 
 * Nummi Brnndufmorum. 
 JER. i. Cap. Herculis imb. pel. leon. tecl.— Homo nudus delp. inequ. d. 
 delp. f. lyr. ten. BPENdHSINftN. 
 
 2. Cap. barb. laur. i glob. = Homo nud. dclp. ineq. b. lyram. i glob. 
 
 BRTN. 
 
 3. Cap. barb. laur. pone vi£t. cor. imp. tridens 1 glob.=Homo nud. 
 
 delp. ine. d. Victor, f. cornuc. chva. 1 glob. BRTN. 
 
 barians,
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 39 , 
 
 barians, who ravaged every corner of Italy, did not fpare (6 
 rich a town ; and in eight hundred and thirty-fix, the 
 Saracens gave a finifhing blow to its fortunes. The Greek 
 Emperors, fenfible of the necefiity of having fuch a port as 
 this in Italy, would have reftored it to its ancient ftrength 
 and fplendour, had the Normans allowed them time and 
 leifure. The Greeks itruggled manfully to keep their ground ; 
 but, after many varieties of fuccefs, were finally driven out 
 of Brindifi by William the Firft. 
 
 The phrenzy for expeditions to Paleftine, though it 
 drained other kingdoms of their wealth and fubjects, con- 
 tributed powerfully to the re-eftablimment of this city, one 
 of the ports where pilgrims and warriors took fhipping. It 
 alio benefited by the refidence of the Emperor Frederick, 
 whofe frequent armaments for the Holy Land required his 
 prefence at this place of rendezvous. The lofs of Jerufa- 
 lem, the fall of the Grecian empire, and the ruin of all the 
 Levant trade after the Turks had conquered the Eaft, 
 reduced Brindifi to a ftate of inactivity and defolation, from 
 which it has never been able to emerge. 
 
 As I was now in the country of the Tarantula, I was 
 defirous of inveftigating minutely every particular relative 
 to that infect ; but the feafon was not far enough advanced, 
 and no Tarantati * had begun to ftir. I prevailed upon a 
 woman, who had formerly been bitten, to act the part, and 
 
 * Perfons bitten, or pretending to be bitten, by the Tarantula. 
 
 3 E dance
 
 39 2 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 dance the Tarantata before me. A great many muiicians 
 were fummoned, and me performed the dance, as all pre- 
 fent aflured me, to perfection. At firft:, me lolled ftupidly 
 on a chair, while the inftruments were playing fome dull 
 mufic. They touched, at length, the chord fuppofed to 
 vibrate to her heart, and up fhe fprang with a mod hideous 
 yell, ftaggered about the room like a drunken perfon, 
 holding a handkerchief in both hands, railing them alter- 
 nately, and moving in very true time. As the mufic grew 
 brifker, her motions quickened, and fhe fkipped about with 
 great vigour and variety of fteps, every now and then 
 fhrieking very loud. The fcene was far from pleafant; 
 and, at my defire, an end was put to it before the woman 
 was tired. Wherever the Tarantati are to dance, a place is 
 prepared for them, hung round with bunches of grapes and 
 ribbons. The patients are drefled in white, with red, 
 green, or yellow ribbons, for thofe are their favourite colours; 
 on their moulders they cafl: a white fcarf, let their hair fall 
 loofe about their ears, and throw their heads as far back 
 as they can bear it. They are exact copies of the ancient 
 prieftefTes of Bacchus. The orgies of that God, whofe 
 worfhip *, under various fymbols, was more widely 
 fpread over the globe than that of any other divinity, were, 
 no doubt, performed with energy and enthufiafm by 
 
 * I {hall fay nothing more on the fubjefl of this univerfal worfhip, as it 
 is treated in a mod ingenious and fatisfadory manner by Mr. D'Ancarville, 
 •who will foon favour the Public with his Work. 
 
 the
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 the lively inhabitants of this warm climate. The intro- 
 duction of Chriftianity abolimed all public exhibitions of 
 thefe heathenifli rites, and the women durft no longer act a 
 frantic part in the character of Bacchantes. Unwilling to 
 give up fo darling an amufement, they devifed other 
 pretences; and pofTeflion by evil fpirits may have furnimed 
 them with one. Accident may alfo have led them to a 
 difcovery of the Tarantula; and, upon the ftrength of its 
 poifon, the Puglian dames ftill enjoy their old dance, though 
 time has effaced the memory of its ancient name and insti- 
 tution ; and this I take to be the origin of fo ftrange a 
 practice. If at any time thefe dancers are really and in- 
 voluntarily affected, I can fuppofe it to be nothing more 
 than an attack upon their nerves, a fpecies of St. Vitus's 
 dance. I incline the more to the idea, as there are num- 
 berlefs churches and places throughout thefe provinces dedi- 
 cated to that faint. Many fenfible people of this town 
 differ in opinion from Doctor Serao and other authors, 
 who have ridiculed the pretended diforder, and affirmed, 
 that the venom of this fpecies of fpider can produce no 
 effects but fuch as are common to all others. The 
 Brindifians fay, that the Tarantulas fent to Naples for the 
 experiment were not of the true fort, but a much larger 
 and more innocent one; and that the length of the journey, 
 and want of food, had weakened their power fo much, as to 
 fuffer the Doctor, or others, to put their arm into the bag 
 where they were kept, with impunity. They quote many 
 
 3 E 2 examples 
 
 593
 
 3 9 4 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 examples of perfons bitten as they flept out in the fields 
 during the hot months, who grew languid, ftupid, deprived 
 of all courage and elafticity, till the found of fome favourite 
 tune roufed them to dance, and throw off the poifon. 
 Thefe arguments of theirs had little weight with me, 
 for they acknowledged that elderly perfons were more fre- 
 quently infected than young ones, and that moft of them 
 were women, and thofe unmarried. No perfon above the 
 loweft rank in life was ever feized with this malady, nor is 
 there an inftance of its caufing death. The length of the 
 dance, and the patient's powers of bearing fuch exceffive 
 fatigue in the canicular feafon, prove nothing; becaufe every 
 day, at that time of the year, peafants may be feen dancing 
 with equal fpirit and perfeverance, though they do not 
 pretend to be feized with the Tarantifm. The illnefs may 
 therefore be attributed to hyfterics, exceflive heat, ftoppage 
 of perfpiration, and other effects of fleeping out of doors in 
 a hot fummer air, which is always extremely dangerous, if 
 not mortal, in moft parts of Italy. Violent exercife may 
 have been found to be a certain cure for this diforder, and 
 continued by tradition, though the date and circumftances 
 of this difcovery have been long buried in oblivion ; — a 
 natural paflion for dancing, imitation, cuftom of the 
 country, and a defire of railing contributions upon the fpec- 
 tators, are probably the real motives that infpire the Tarantati. 
 Before Serao's experiments, the Tarantula had been proved 
 
 to
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 395 
 
 to be harmlefs, from trials made in 1693 by Clarizio, and 
 in 1740 at Lucera by other naturalifts. 
 
 The Tarantula is a fpider of the third fpecies of Lin- 
 nasus's fourth family, with eight eyes placed four, two and 
 two ; its colour commonly a very dark grey, but varies 
 according to age and food. The bulk of its fore- part is 
 almofl: double that of the hind part; the back of its neck 
 raifed high, and its leg fhort and thick. It lives in bare 
 fields, where the lands are fallow, but not very hard; and, 
 from its antipathy to damp and made, choofes for its re- 
 fidence the riling part of the ground facing the eaft. Its 
 dwelling is about four inches deep, and half an inch wide; 
 at the bottom it is curved, and there the infect fits in wet 
 weather, and cuts its way out, if water gains upon it. It 
 weaves a net at the mouth of the hole. Thefe fpiders do 
 not live, quite a year. In July they fhed their ikin, and 
 proceed to propagation, which, from a mutual diftrufr, as 
 they frequently devour one another, is a work undertaken 
 with great circumfpeclion. They lay about feven hundred 
 and thirty eggs, which are hatched in the fpring ; but the 
 parent does not live to fee her progeny, having expired early 
 in the winter. The Ichneumon fly is their moft formidable 
 enemy. 3
 
 396 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 SECTION LIU. 
 
 (~\ N leaving Brindifi, I paffed by the well at the head of 
 the haven, which fupplies the town with water. The 
 view from this point takes in the port, column, a large 
 palm-tree, churches, and caftles, all objects of great pic- 
 turefque beauty. 
 
 At a few miles diftance, the Trajan way is eafily 
 traced as it croffes a hollow. It is raifed to a level 
 upon arches, built in the reticular or lofengy manner. 
 Moft of this day's journey to Monopoli, although forty- 
 three miles long, was near the coaft, through a wild 
 country covered with varieties of ever-green fhrubs. The 
 fmall portion of ground in cultivation is fown with 
 beans; but there is a cruel enemy that every year deftroys 
 the beft part of the crop: this is the Orobanche or 
 Broom Rape, a parafite weed that moots up with beans, 
 and other leguminous plants, mixes its roots with theirs, 
 and, by drawing out all the nutriment, caufes them to 
 droop, pine, and die. The Pugliefe call it La Sporchia. 
 All their efforts to eradicate it have hitherto proved in- 
 effectual ; but I fufpect they have gone very fuperficially to 
 work. 
 
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 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 397 
 
 At Bari I took the inland road by the ancient Via Egna- 
 tiana, which Horace travelled upon. We flept at Bitonto*, 
 a fine town of fixteen thoufand inhabitants, much eafier in 
 their fortunes, and more polifhed and improved in their 
 manners, than thofe that dwell in the cities along the coaft; 
 its markets are well fupplied, and an air of affluence reigns 
 in the place. The country between it and Bari, which is 
 nine miles diftant, is very much inclofed; and, though ftony, 
 fertile in corn, almonds, olives, wine, and fruit of all kinds. 
 I found there was a general cry of famine throughout the 
 country ; but it was a want of fnow, not of bread, that was 
 complained of. Near this city an obelifk was erecled by the 
 prefent King of Spain, with four fulfome infcriptions in 
 praife of himielf, his father Philip, his foldiers, and the 
 Count of Mortemar, who was honoured with the title of 
 Duke of Bitonto for having defeated the Auftrians on this 
 fpot in 1734-. The engagement was a very trifling one; 
 but as it cleared the kingdom of Germans, proved of effen- 
 tial fervice to the Spaniards. If the King wifhes to tranfmit 
 this event to pofterity by a monument, he muft build fome- 
 thing more durable, for the prefent one is already disjointed, 
 and crumbling to ruin. A moft difagreeable flony road 
 brought us to Ruvo, through a vine country. The pome- 
 granate hedges in flower, and the holme oak loaded with 
 
 * Nummi Butont. 
 JER. 1. Cap. Palladis = Arifta BTTONTINX1N. 
 
 a. No&ua ram. inf. = Fulmen BTTONTINHN. 
 
 2 kerrr"
 
 5 9§ JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 kermes, enlivened the profpect, which otherwife would have 
 
 been very dull. Near Quarata, another monument is to 
 
 be feen, commemorating a victory gained there in 1503 by 
 
 thirteen Italians over an equal number of French. They 
 
 fought in lifts upon a formal challenge, in confequence of 
 
 fome contemptuous expreftions made ufe of by the latter. 
 
 Each of the vanquished party was to forfeit one hundred 
 
 ducats, his horfe, and armour. The conteft was not very 
 
 obftinate ; one Frenchman was killed ; the reft made pri- 
 
 foners, and led away to Barletta, becaufe they had not 
 
 brought their ranfom with them. The Italian authors extol 
 
 this action as a moft glorious atchievement : the French 
 
 accufe their adverfaries of having difplayed more trick and 
 
 cunning, than valour, in the combat. — I here quitted the 
 
 Roman way, and rode fifteen miles weftvvard to Caftel del 
 
 Monte. The country I traverfed is open, uneven, and dry. 
 
 The caftle is a landmark, and ftands on the brow of a very 
 
 high hill, the extremity of a ridge that branches out from 
 
 the Apennine. The afcent to it is near half a mile long, 
 
 and very fteep ; the view from its terrace moft extenlive. 
 
 A vaft reach of fea and plain on one fide, and mountains 
 
 on the other ; not a city in the province but is diftin- 
 
 guifhable ; yet the barennefs of the fore-ground takes oft a 
 
 great deal of the beauty of the picture. The building is 
 
 octangular, in a plain folid ftyle; the walls are raifed with 
 
 reddifh and white ftones, ten feet fix inches thick ; the great 
 
 aate is of marble, cut into very intricate ornaments, after 
 
 the
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 399 
 
 the manner of the Arabians; on the baluftrade of the fteps 
 Jie two enormous lions of marble, their bufhy manes nicely, 
 though barbaroufly, expreffed ; the court, which is in the 
 centre of the edifice, contains an octangular marble bafon of 
 a furprifing diameter. To carry it to the fummit of fuch a 
 hill rauft have coft an infinite deal of labour. Two hun- 
 dred fteps lead up to the top of the caftle, which confifts of 
 two ftories. In each of them are fifteen faloons of great 
 dimensions, cafed throughout with various and valuable 
 marbles ; the cielings are fupported by triple cluftered 
 columns of a^fingle block of white marble, the capitals 
 extremely fimple. Various have been the opinions con- 
 cerning the founder of this caftle; but the bell: grounded 
 afcribe it to Frederick of Swabia *. I dined and fpent the 
 hot hours with great comfort under the porch, which com- 
 mands a noble view of the Adriatic. 
 
 In the evening I defcended the mountain, and rode nine 
 miles to Andria. a large feudal city, eaft of the Roman 
 road. • Andria ftands on the edge of the inclofed country, 
 and its environs being rather hilly, are far from unpleafant, 
 though without any running water. This town was built 
 
 * A Neapolitan gentleman found, in one of thefe rooms, a baflb relievo re- 
 prefenting this Emperor and his Chancellor Peter de Vineis, of which he had 
 a copy taken in plafter. This fettles the matter beyond a doubt. I did not 
 ilifcover this i'culpture, nor hear of it till long after my return to Naples j but 
 I faw another baffo relievo of fome warriors in Norman habits meeting a wo> 
 man dreffed after the Greek fafhion. — As this ftone appears to have been 
 inferted into the walls fince their firft building, and bears the date of 152C, 
 it cafts no light on the hiftory of the place. 
 
 3 F by
 
 4co JOURNEY TO N A I .3. 
 
 by Peter the Norman, and acquired its name from the 
 antra or caverns in which the firft fettlers abided. Con- 
 rad the Fourth was born at Andria, where his mother, the 
 Emprefs Iole Queen of Jerufalem died in childbed of him ; 
 and here alfo lies buried Ifabella of England, another wife 
 of the Emperor Frederick. Beatrix, daughter to Charles 
 the Second, had Andria for her portion on marrying Azzo 
 D'Efte Marquis of Ferrara. This Prince dying, flie took 
 for her fecond hufband Bertrand Del Balzo, progenitor of 
 the Dukes of Andria, who were long at the head of the 
 Neapolitan Nobility. In 1370, Francis Del Balzo, by a 
 quarrel with the powerful Houfe of Sanfeverino, and his 
 obftinate refiftance to the royal mandate, drew upon him- 
 felf the vengeance of Queen Joan the Firft, who confifcated 
 his eftate. On the acceilion of Charles the Third, he was 
 reinftated. This family failing, Fabricio CarafTa purchafed 
 the Dutchy of Andria in 1525 for one hundred thoufand 
 ducats. 
 
 From hence I travelled twelve miles to Canofa, over a. 
 pleafant down, where the Roman road remains entire in 
 many places, paved with common rough pebbles. Canu~ 
 fium, founded by Diomed, and afterwards a Roman colony, 
 became one of the molt confiderable cities of this part of 
 Italy for extent, population, and magnificence in building. 
 The sera of Trajan feems to have been that of its greateft 
 fplendour ; but this pomp only ferved to mark it as a capi- 
 tal objed for the avarice and fury of the Barbarians. Gen- 
 
 feric,
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 4 or 
 
 ieric, Totila, and Autharis, treated it with extreme cruelty. 
 The deplorable (late to which this province was reduced in 
 590 is concifely, but ftrongly, painted by Gregory the Great 
 in thefe terms; " On every iide we hear groans! on every 
 " fide we behold crowds of mourners, cities burnt, caftles 
 tc rafed to the ground, countries laid wafte, provinces be- 
 " come deferts, fome citizens led away captives, and others 
 " inhumanly mafTacred." No town in Puglia fuffered 
 more than Canofa from the outrages of the Saracens ; the 
 contefts between the Greeks and Normans increafed the 
 meafure of its woes, which was filled by a conflagration 
 that happened when it was ftormed by Duke Robert, In 
 1090, it was alligned, by agreement, to Bohemund Prince 
 of Antioch, who died here in 11 11. Under the reign of 
 Ferdinand the Third this eftate belonged to the Grimaldis, 
 On their forfeiture, the AfTaititi acquired it, and ftill retain 
 the title of Marquis, though the Capeci are the proprie- 
 tors of the fief. 
 
 The ancient city* flood in a plain between the hills 
 and the river Ofanto, and covered a large trad: of ground. 
 Many brick monument, though degraded and ftripped of 
 their marble cafing, ftil] atteft its ancient grandeur. 
 Among them may be traced the fragments of aqueducts, 
 tombs, amphitheatre baths, military columns, and two 
 
 * Nummi Canuf. 
 iER. 1. Cap. Juv. imb.=fc;ques gal. haftat. KANTZINn. 
 
 3 F 2 triumphal
 
 402 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 triumphal arches, which, by their pofition, Teem to have 
 been two dry gates. The prefent town ftands above, on 
 the foundations of the old citadel, and is a raoft pitiful rem- 
 nant of fo great a city, not containing above three hundred 
 houfes. The church of St. Sabinus, built, as is faid, in the 
 fixth century, is now without the inclofure. It is artonifh- 
 ing, that any part of this ancient cathedral fhould have 
 withftood fo many calamities. Its altars and pavements are 
 rich in marbles; and the fix Verde Antico columns that 
 fupport its roof, are the largeft and fined I ever faw of that 
 fpecies of marble. In a fmall court adjoining, under an 
 octagonal cupola, is the maufoleum of Bohemund, adorned 
 in a minute Gothic ftyle. Round the cornice runs a firing 
 of barbarous rhymes ; and upon the door are other infcrip- 
 tions, with an embofled reprefentation of warriors kneeling 
 before the Madonna. In 1461, the Prince of Taranto, 
 among the many ads of barbarity pra&ifed by him in 
 Canofa, broke open this fepulchre, and difturbed the afhes 
 of a hero whofe memory fhould have been held facred, at 
 leaft by a foldier : for Bohemund was a warrior of moft 
 exalted fame, the fharer and the rival of his father Guif- 
 card's glory ; who, by his victories, was enabled to fhake the 
 throne of the Eaftern Emperors : when, by the intrigues 
 of his mother-in-law Sigelgaita, and the partiality ol his 
 uncle Earl Roger, Bohemund found himfelf deprived of his 
 Italian inheritance, he turned his arms againft the Saracens, 
 and formed a new fovereignty for himfelf in Paleftine. As 
 1 Prince
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 403 
 
 Prince of Antioch, he became one of the firmer! ramparts 
 of the Crufado againfl: the Infidels. 
 
 The provvefs of thefe Norman conquerors was fo much 
 greater than that of their cotemporaries, their bodily 
 fcrength and feats of arms were fo wonderful, that it is 
 probable they were the originals from whom the writers 
 of romance drew their heroes. Giants cloven to the faddle; 
 armies routed by a fingle warrior ; caftles and bridges de- 
 fended by one perfon alone; knights travelling over the 
 world in fearch of kingdoms, princefles, and adventures, 
 are no more than the real events of the lives of William 
 Fierabras, Robert Guifcard, Earl Roger, and their compa- . 
 nions. Malaterra, their cotemporary, friend, and hiftorian, 
 furnifhes ample materials for a complete romance, with 
 the addition of a few enchanters and dragons. Jn the firft 
 Sicilian campaign, William flays a gigantic champion in 
 fingle combat. At Melfi, to fhew the Greek herald what 
 he could do, Hugh Tudextifem feizes his horfe, and kills 
 it with a blow of his fift. In another affair, Fierabras 
 fprings from his bed, where he lay fick of a fever, rallies his 
 troops, kills the general of the enemies, obtains the vi6tory, 
 and returns to his couch. W T e read frequently of Robert's 
 being obliged for food to fally out of his cattle by night to 
 furprife and carry off the cattle in the neighbourhood ; and 
 once he called out the commander of a fort to parley, 
 caught him by the middle, and rode off with him in fight 
 of his whole garrifon. I do not know which to admire 
 
 mod,
 
 4 o 4 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 molt, the franknefs of the prince who dictated his own 
 ftory ; or the honefl: piainnefs of the hiftorian who wrote, 
 that Earl Roger was once fo poor as to be obliged to fteal 
 horfes, and plunder travellers for a fupport. At the fiege 
 of Reggio, Roger hews a mighty giant down with his two- 
 handed fword. In a fally he makes from a caftle in Sicily, 
 where he and his wife were befieged by the Saracens, his 
 horfe is killed under him ; but the hero cuts his way through 
 their battalions ; and, left he fhould be thought to have left 
 the field out of fear, marches off with the faddle upon his 
 /boulders. In 1063, Serlo defeats an army of thirty thou- 
 fand men with only thirty-fix knights armed cap-a-pee. 
 What a fund of marvellous fldions would not fuch fads 
 give birth to! Kow many fupernatural circumftances 
 might not a bard create out of the fingle one of Roger's 
 defeating the Mahometans at Mifilmeri, taking all their 
 carrier-pigeons, fmearing them with the blood of the fiain, 
 and letting them fly to announce the difafter at Palermo, 
 which he was marching to inveft. The idea of thefe 
 extraordinary men certainly remained long imprefled on the 
 minds of the Italians, whole lively imagination muft have 
 embellifhed tradition with fo many additional wonders, 
 that the old romances had little more to do than to commit 
 to writing, and drefs up in rhyme, the common tales of 
 every evening aflembly. In thefe the eafy brilliant genius 
 of Ariofto revelled, and flruck out the moft delightful, but 
 moil eccentrical defcripiions ever ferioufly attempted by a 
 poet.
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 405 
 
 SECTION LIV. 
 
 LEFT the bridge of Canofa early on the 7th, and 
 travelled up the fouth-fide of the river for twelve 
 miles, without meeting with any object worthy of re- 
 mark. The city of Minervino, feated on an eminence, 
 was the only place I faw during the ride; — the country 
 bare and difagreeable, till I entered the heart of the moun- 
 tains, where I found a more wocdy and pleafant landfcape. 
 I dined at Lavello, a fmall city belonging to Caracciolo 
 Prince of Torella. Some Roman infcriptions, and many 
 Jewifh epitaphs of the ninth century, are the amount of its 
 antiquities. The aera of its foundation is unknown. 
 Mention is made of it in the Lombard Chronicles, Sicard 
 the eighteenth Duke of Beneventum having been aflalTinated 
 at Lavello. Conrad the Fourth was encamped under its 
 walls, when he was feized with the diforder that carried 
 him off, poifoned, as is faid, by his brother Manfred. His- 
 torians fpeak of a ftrange kind of poifon adminiftered on. 
 the occafion, viz. powder o^ diamonds mixed with fcam- 
 mony, which being given in a clyfter, brought away 
 the Fmperor's bowels by piece-meal. This Prince was then 
 in the zenith of his glory, having routed his enemies, 
 punifhed the rebels with feverity, and effectually crufhed 
 their power. Had he been allowed to live longer, the 
 
 Houfe
 
 40 G JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 Houfe of Swabia would not have been fo eafily overturned ; 
 for though bloody and cruel to excefs, Conrad was poffeffed 
 of the bold manly qualities requifite for fixing his dominion 
 on a permanent bafis. 
 
 From Lavello I pafTed over rugged mountains to Venofa, 
 which ftands on a high level of nine miles in circumference, 
 furrounded by precipices, that form on every fide a natural 
 ditch and fortification. The whole mafs has been raifed 
 by the force of fubterranean fires, as the nature of the foil, 
 and a forum vulcani, or folfatara, diftant a mile from the 
 city, clearly evince. This folfatara is not encircled by hills 
 like that of Puzzuoli, which it refembles in every other 
 particular, of colour, fulphureous productions, and internal 
 rumblings. Numberlefs ftreams flow out of its fides ; and, 
 what is extraordinary, vary much in their colour and mine- 
 ral qualities. 
 
 Venofa was a very confiderable place in ancient times, 
 and a fteady ufeful friend to Rome in her ftruggles with 
 Hannibal. The remnant of Terentius Varro's army fled 
 hither from Cannae, and obtained of the generous Venufians 
 both protection and fupplies of all forts. When the Nor- 
 mans fudued Puglia, Dreux had Venofa for his £hare of the 
 fpoil. The San Severinos enjoyed it afterwards ; then 
 palling through the family of Balzo, the honour devolved 
 upon a fon of Raymund Prince of Taranto. A brother of 
 Pope Martin the Fifth, was for a few years inverted with 
 this fief j but on the Pontiff's demife, was deprived of his 
 
 Neapolitan
 
 JOURNEYTONAPLES. 407 
 
 Neapolitan grants. Caracciolo, Prince of Torella, is the 
 prefent proprietor. 
 
 Nothing is now to be feen at Venofa that can recal an 
 idea of its ancient magnificence, except pieces of marble 
 containing parts of inferiptions, fixed in the walls of houfes 
 and churches. The Gothic edifice belonging to the Mai- 
 thefe order, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, affords the 
 greateft quantity of fragments, and even entire monuments, 
 torn by the hands of its barbarous founders from ruinated 
 theatres, baths, and temples. This church was eredted 
 upon the foundations of a temple confecrated to Venus, 
 from which goddefs the city is fuppofed to have taken its 
 name. The Benedictine monks were in poffeflion of this 
 abbey till the reign of Boniface the Eighth, who endowed 
 the Knights of Saint John with it. Its architecture offers 
 nothing lingular or beautiful in the Gothic line. Solidity 
 appears to have been more ftudied by the Norman archi- 
 tects who rebuilt or repaired it, than elegance or lightneis, 
 which became the principal objects of thofe builders that 
 fucceeded them. The remains of Dreux, Robert Guifcard, 
 and Albarade his wife, whom he divorced to marry a Lom- 
 bard Princefs, repofe under its roof. From the number of 
 Hebraic monuments, which bear the fame date with thofe 
 of Lavello, I infer that the Jews flocked to this coun- 
 try about the time that the Saracen power was predo- 
 minant in Puglia. The piece of antiquity of highefr, re- 
 putation, and upon which the inhabitants of Venofa plume 
 
 3 G themfelves
 
 4 o8 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 themfelves mofr, is a marble buft placed in the great fquare 
 on a column. This they mew as the effigy of their fellow- 
 citizen Horace ; but the badnefs of the defign, and the 
 mode of drefs, render this opinion very problematical. I 
 take it to be the head of a faint. The reflect paid to fo 
 diftinguifhed a genius does honour to the tafte of the Veno- 
 fians ; but I am aftonifhed they have not canonized their 
 poet, for the vulgar at Naples have made a faint of Virgil. 
 
 I made an excurGon fix miles along the Tarentine road 
 to vifit the Bandufian fountain, celebrated by Horace in the 
 thirteenth Ode of his Third Book, and fo long a point in 
 litigation among critics and commentators. The common 
 opinion placed it at his Sabine farm ; but Abbe Chaupy has 
 inconteftibly proved, that it can be no other than a fpring 
 near Palazzo, in the principality of St. Gervafio. I dis- 
 covered it by the defcription given by Chaupy ; and was 
 forry to find him fo faithful a painter of the prefent de- 
 plorable ftate of this once charming fountain. No fhady 
 oroves now hang over its banks to fhut out the burning 
 mid-day fun ; its gelid waters no longer tumble down the 
 rocks in beautiful cafcades, but, choked with dirt, and loft 
 in bogs, are forced to feek their way under ground to a 
 vent at the foot of the hill. 
 
 I returned to Venofa, and paflfed the night at Barile, at 
 the bottom of Mount Vol tore, which I propofed to afcend 
 the next day. Barile is a large burgh, fituated on a hill, 
 that appears to owe its exiftence to an eruption, as the foil 
 
 is
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 409 
 
 is entirely volcanical, and the ftone, employed in buildings, 
 a dark- coloured compact lava. A line of circumvallation 
 of thirty miles, marks the extent of this caft-up foil. The 
 inclofed fpace is covered with every fpecies of ftone, earth, 
 and mineral, ufually found on or near ignivomous mountains. 
 Medicinal waters break on all fides, and are prefcribed by 
 phyficians in many cafes. The fummit of Mount Vol tore 
 is like that of all volcanoes, broken on one fide, and hollow 
 in the middle. In the crater are two lakes of great depth ; 
 one near a mile, the other almoft two in circumference. 
 The water is clear, fweet, and cool, at leaft near the 
 furface; but I was aflured that it is infupportably ftrong, 
 both in tafte and fmell, if drawn up from a confiderable 
 depth. 
 
 A change of weather obliged me to leave the mountain 
 in a hurry, and make the beft of my way to Lavello*. 
 
 On the icth, I pafTed the whole day in crofling the 
 plains of Puglia to the bridge of Bovino, almoft fuffocated 
 with duft, and parched up with heat. We dined at 
 
 * Had the weather been more favourable, I mould have flopped at Melfi, 
 remarkable for being the firft place that was feized by the Normans, and 
 appointed a common rendezvous for all the chiefs of the league. Hirher they 
 brought their booty, and threw it into a joint flock. Hither they retired on 
 any reverfe of fortune. In 1059, Nicholas the Second called a Council of 
 one hundred prelates at Melfi, and confirmed the Normans in the poflefllon 
 of their ufurped dominions. Upon this confirmation Canonists reft all the 
 rights to the Crown of the two Sicilies. Frederick of Swabia held a Parlia- 
 ment here for the purpole of promulgating the conftitutions compiled by his 
 Chancellor Peter de Vineis. 
 
 3 G 2 Ordona,
 
 4io JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 Ordona, near the ruins of Herdonia, a place of importance 
 in the Punic war ; at prefent fome brick walls, veftiges of 
 baths, aquedu&s, and gates 3 are all that remain. About a 
 mile off is a farm of the late Jefuits, called L'Orta, a Itu- 
 pendous pile of buildings. From Ariano, we turned off to 
 Benevento, where we arrived through an unremitting deluge 
 of rain, with inceffant claps of thunder and flafhes of 
 lightning. Every gutter became a brook, and every brook 
 a river j fo that we were obliged to make great hafte to get 
 there, before they fhould fwell to fuch a height as to flop 
 our paflage. 
 
 SECTION LV. 
 
 T5ENEVENTO is fltuated on the flope, and at the 
 point of a hill between two narrow vallies, in one of 
 which runs the river Sabato, in the other the Calore ; be- 
 low the city they unite into one flream. 
 
 We entered through the arch of Trajan, now called the 
 Porta Aurea, which appears to great difadvantage from the 
 walls and houfes that hem it in on both fides; however, it 
 is in tolerable prefervation, and one of the moil: magnificent 
 remains of Roman grandeur to be met with out of Rome. 
 The architecture and fculpture are both fingularly beautiful. 
 This elegant monument was erected in the year of Chrifi: 
 114, about the commencement of the Parthian war, and 
 
 after
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 411 
 
 after the fubmiftlon of Decebalus had entitled Trajan to the 
 furname of Dacicus. The order is compofite ; the mate- 
 rials, white marble; the height, fixty palms; length, thirty- 
 feven and a half; and depth twenty-four. It confifts of a 
 {ingle arch, the fpan of which is twenty palms, the height 
 thirty-five. On each fide of it, two fluted columns, upon 
 a joint pedeftal, fupport an entablement and an Attic. The 
 intercolumniations and frize are covered with baffo -relievos, 
 reprefenting the battles and triumph of the Dacian war. In the 
 Attic is the infcription. — As the fixth year of Trajan's confu- 
 late, marked on this arch, is alfo to be feen on all the milliary 
 columns he erected along his new road to Brundufium, it is 
 probable that the arch was built to commemorate fo bene- 
 ficial an undertaking. 
 
 Except the old Metropolis of the World, no city in Italy 
 can boaft of fo many remains of ancient fculpture, as are to 
 be found in Benevento. Scarce a wall is built of any thing 
 but altars, tombs, columns, and remains of entablatures. 
 The moft confiderable are in the upper town, which I take 
 to be the fite of the old one. The cupola of St. Sophia 
 refts upon a circular colonnade of antique marble,, in the 
 fame manner as thofe of Santa Maria near Nocera, Saint 
 Sebaftian, and St. Agnes at Rome, — and. other buildings 
 ereded under Conftantine and his family, when the arts 
 were declining. In the court is a fine relievo of the Rape 
 of the Sabines : the other remarkable fragments are, the 
 Death of Meleager,— a Meafurer of Corn, — 'fome fepulchral 
 
 buf^
 
 4 i 2 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 bufts, — a large boar, covered with the ftole and vitta for 
 facrifice, which antiquaries call the Caledonian Boar, left 
 by Diomed as a badge to his colony of Benevento, — and, 
 Hercules ftealing the Hefperian Apples. This laft piece 
 {truck me very much, from the refemblance it bears to our 
 common mode of depicting the Fall of Man. A woman 
 lies at the foot of a tree, and a huge ferpent is twined 
 round the trunk, ftretching out its head towards the fruit, 
 which a man leans forward to pluck. The club he holds 
 in his hand, and a Greek infcription *, mark him out for 
 Hercules -f-. A volume might be filled with infcriptions 
 collected here, relative to every fubjecl, on which the 
 ancients, who recorded every trifle, were wont to fet up a 
 lapidary memorial. The chriftians have alfo contributed a 
 confiderable variety of monuments. I remarked one, in 
 particular, reprefenting a man rifing out of the waters, and 
 purfued by a fim : this alludes to the ftory of Jonas, and 
 was fometimes carved upon the tombs of the primitive 
 chriftians, to exprefs myfterioufly their belief in the refur- 
 redtion. 
 
 The cathedral is a clumfy edifice, in a ftile of Gothic, or 
 rather Lombard, architecture. This church, dedicated to 
 the Virgin Mary, was built in the fixth century, enlarged 
 
 * HPAKAH CflTHPI n IOYNIOC IANOTAPIOC AlfTOTC ANE0HKEN. 
 
 •f Some ingenious writers have endeavoured to prove, that the fable of the 
 Hefperides is built upon the fcriptural account of our Firft Parents ; and 
 this Ex Veto to Hercules, mews that there are good grounds for the com- 
 panion. 
 
 in
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 413 
 
 in the eleventh, and altered confiderably in the thirteenth, 
 when Archbifhop Roger adorned it with a new front. To 
 obtain a fufficient quantity of marble for this purpofe, he 
 fpared neither farcophagus, altar, nor infcription ; but fixed 
 them promifcuoufly and irregularly in the walls of his bar- 
 barous ftructure. Three doors (a type of the Trinity, 
 according to the rules eftablimed by the myftical Vitruvii 
 of thofe ages) open into this facade. That in the centre is 
 of bronze, emboffed with the life of Chrift, and the effigies 
 of the Beneventine Metropolitan, with all his fufTragan 
 Bifhops. The infide offers nothing to the curious obferver 
 but columns, altars, and other decorations, executed in the 
 moft inelegant ftile that any of the church-building barba- 
 rians ever adopted. In the court ftands a fmall Egyptian 
 obeliflc, of red granite, crowded with hieroglyphics. In 
 the adjoining fquare, are a fountain, and a very indifferent 
 flatue of Benedict the Thirteenth, long archbifhop of 
 Benevento. 
 
 The writers of the Beneventine hiftory unanimoufly claim 
 Diomed, the Etolian chief, for the founder of their city ; 
 and confequently fix its origin in the years that immediately 
 fucceeded the Trojan war. Other authors affign it to the 
 Samnites, who made it one of their principal towns, where 
 they frequently took refuge, when worried by the Romany 
 In their time, its name was Maleventum, a word of uncer- 
 tain etymology : however, it founded fo ill in the Latin 
 tongue, that the fuperftitious Romans, after atchieving the 
 
 8 conquefL
 
 4 i 4 JOURNEY TO NAPLES, 
 
 conqueft of Samnium, changed it into Beneventum, in 
 order to introduce their colony under fortunate aufpices. 
 Near this place, in the four hundred and feventy-ninth year 
 of Rome, Pyrrhus was defeated by Curius Dentatus. In 
 the war againft Hannibal, Beneventum fignalized its attach- 
 ment to Rome, by liberal tenders of fuccour, and real 
 fervices. Its reception of Gracchus, after his defeat of 
 Hanno, is extolled by Livy ; and, from the gratitude of 
 the Senate, many folid advantages accrued to the Bene- 
 ventines. As they long partook, in a diftinguiihed man- 
 ner, of the glories and profperity of the Roman empire, — 
 thev alfo fcverely felt the efTecls of its decline, and fhared, 
 in a large proportion, the horrors of devaluation that attended 
 the irruption of the northern nations. 
 
 The modern hiftory of this city will appear intereHing to 
 thofe readers, who do not defpife the events of ages, which 
 •we ufually and juftly call dark and barbarous. They cer- 
 tainly are of importance to all the prefent dates of Europe ; 
 for at that period originated the political exiftence of moffc 
 of them. Had no northern favages defcended from their 
 fnovvy mountains, to overturn the Roman colofTus, and 
 break afunder the fetters of mankind, few of thofe powers, 
 which now make fo formidable a figure, would ever have 
 been fo much as heard of. The avengers of the general 
 wrongs were, no doubt, the deftroyers of arts and litera- 
 ture, and brought on the thick clouds of ignorance, which, 
 for many centuries, no gleam of light could penetrate j but 
 
 it
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 4r/ 
 
 it is to be remembered, alfo, that the Romans themfelves 
 had already made great progrefs in baniming true tafte and 
 knowledge, and would very foon have been a barbarous 
 nation, though neither Goths nor Vandals had ever ap- 
 proached the frontier. 
 
 The Lombards came the lafl: of the Scythian or Scandi- 
 navian hordes, to invade Italy. After fixing the feat of 
 their empire at Pavia, they fent a detachment to pofTefs 
 itfelf of the fouthern provinces. In 571, Zotto was ap- 
 pointed Duke of Benevento, as a feudatory of the King of 
 Lombardy ; and feems to have confined his rule to the city 
 alone, from which he fallied forth to ieek for booty. The 
 fecond Duke, whofe name was Arechis, conquered almoff. 
 the whole country that now conititutes the kingdom of 
 Naples. His fuccefTors appear long to have remained fatif- 
 fied with the extent of dominion he had tranfmitted to 
 them. Grimwald, one of them, ufurped the crown of 
 Lombardy ; but his fon Romwald, though a very fuccefsful 
 warrior, contented himfelf with the ducal title. The fall 
 of Defiderius, la ft King of the Lombards, did not affect the 
 (rate ot Benevento. By an effort of policy or refolution, 
 Arechis the Second kept poiTeilion ; and availing himfelf of 
 the favourable conjuncture, aflerted Ins independence, — 
 threw oil all feudal fubmiflion, — afTumcd the Mile of 
 Prince, — and coined money with his own image upon it; a 
 prerogative cxercifed by none of his predecefibrs, as Dukes 
 of Bjnevcnto. During four reigns, this flatc maintained 
 
 3 H itfelf
 
 4 i6 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 itielf on a refpeclable footing ; and might long have con- 
 tinued fo, had not civil war, added to very powerful 
 
 aflaults from abroad, haftened its ruin. Radelchis and 
 * 
 
 Siconulph afpired to the principality ; and each of them 
 invited the Saracens to his aid. The defolation caufed by 
 this conflict is fcarcely to be defcribed. No better method 
 for terminating thefe fatal diffentions could be devifed, than 
 dividing the dominions into two diftinc~t fovereignties. In 
 851, Radelchis reigned as Prince at Benevento; and his 
 adverfary fixed his court, with the fame title, at Salerno. 
 From this treaty of partition, the ruin of the Lombards 
 became inevitable : a want of union undermined their 
 ftrength, — foreigners gained an afcendant over them, — 
 irrefolution and weaknefs pervaded their whole (yftem of 
 government. The erection of Capua into a third princi- 
 pality, was another deftructive operation ; and now the 
 inroads of the Saracens, — the attacks of the eaftern and 
 weftern emperors, — anarchy and animofity at home — 
 reduced the Lombard ftates to fuch wretehednefs, that they 
 were able to make a very feeble refinance to the Norman 
 arms. The city of Benevento alone efcaped their fvvay, by 
 a grant which the Emperor Henry the Second had made of 
 it to the Bifhop of Rome, in exchange for the territory of 
 Bamberg in Germany, where the Popes enjoyed a kind of 
 fovereignty. From the year 1054 to this day, the Roman. 
 See, with fome fhort interruptions of poffeffion, has exer- 
 cifed temporal dominion over this city. Benevento has 
 
 "t given
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 417 
 
 given three Popes to the chair of St. Peter; viz. Felix the 
 Third, Victor the Third, and Gregory the Eighth ; and, 
 what it is much prouder of, reckons St. Januarius in the 
 lift of its Bimops. 
 
 SECTION LVI. 
 
 T TOOK a walk in the evening to the field of battle, 
 where Charles of Anjou defeated Manfred ; and in the 
 way would gladly have perfuaded my condu&or to fhew 
 me the fpot where the famous walnut-tree grew, round 
 which the witches were fuppofed to aflemble and keep their 
 Sabbath. He denied having any knowledge of the place, 
 though he confeffed he believed that many old women of 
 the neighbourhood were very well acquainted with it, and 
 that feveral of his friends had heard the noifes the forcerefies 
 make in the air, as they ride along en their broomlticks. 
 This refort of witches, which was believed by all writers 
 upon doemonology, and is (till fo among the peafants here- 
 abouts, is founded upon a very old tradition. The Lom- 
 bards, vvhofe creed differed little from that of other nations 
 of Celtic origin, had a great veneration for trees, and were 
 wont to perform, under particular hallowed ones, fuch rites 
 as were enjoined them by their ancient institutions. At 
 Benevento, the place of meeting was under a large walnut- 
 tree ; and it was cuftomary to hang on the branches the 
 
 3 H 2 figure
 
 4l 3 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 figure of a viper, with two heads, coiled up. A ring of 
 this kind was found fonie years r.go. This fymbol, which 
 is expreiiive o£ the vital principle, is among the oldeft 
 emblems invented by man, and may be traced through the 
 religion of all nations, from Japan to Iceland. When St. 
 Barbatus converted the Beneventine Lombards to Chriflianity, 
 he caufed the tree to be cut down ; but the Legend gravely 
 informs us, that the Devil found means to raife fuckers out 
 of the root, round which he and his fultanas from LaplancL, 
 and other feminaries of magicians, flock by night to cele- 
 brate their infernal orgies. 
 
 The plain, where the battle was fought, lies about two. 
 miles down the river. Neither commander feems to have 
 difplayed any great military flail* but to have refted the 
 event upon the valour of his troops. Charles, indeed, had 
 an advantage in the known treachery of the Neapolitan 
 Barons in the Swabian army ; as mofr. of them had been 
 gained over by his promifes, or the Pope's fpiritual threats. 
 Manfred feeing the traitors refufc to charge, rufhed with his 
 faithful adherents into the thickeft of the fray, where he. 
 was llain. His body remained above a day undilcovered,, 
 till a peafant, who was well acquainted with Ins perfon, 
 found it, and laying it acrofs his afs, called out in deridon^ 
 Who will attack Manfred ? The French officers fued in vain 
 to their chief for leave to depofit the. corpfe in holy ground.. 
 Pignatelli, the Pope's Legate, infixed upon its being thrown 
 into a ditch : every foldier in the army caft a flone upon 
 
 the
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 4 r 9 
 
 the grave, and thus raifed a barrow over it. But this fana- 
 tical Prelate, vvhofe revenge nothing could fatisfy, caufed 
 the bones to be taken up, and fcattered on the banks of the 
 river Verde in Abruzzo, where no friend or humane perfon 
 might find them, and again commit them to earth. Thus 
 ended Manfred. — No Prince has been more virulently tra- 
 duced by the Guelph writers, vvhofe intereft and hatred 
 combined to fet his character in as bad a light as poflible, 
 in order to ftrengthen the claim of his opponent, and to 
 fupport the high pretentions of the church. Some Ghibel- 
 lines have attempted to do him juftice. It would be no 
 difficult tafic, with the documents that may be obtained 
 from the chronicles of the thirteenth century, to draw ud a 
 fair ftate of the queftion, and vindicate Manfred from many 
 ol the heavy charges brought againfl: him. An ingenious 
 Author, in his hiftoric doubts concerning our King Richard 
 the Third, has pointed out the way of proceeding in fuch a 
 redintegration of character. Thoie unfortunate monarchs* 
 refembled each other in many particulars; but undoubtedly 
 the Neapolitan greatly deferves the preference. Manfred, 
 was beautiful in his perfon, accomplifhed in all arts then, 
 becoming a gentleman ; affable, magnificent, liberal, great:. 
 m his views, and anxious for the welfare of his people ; 
 inflexible and impartial in the diitribudon cf juftice ;: 
 learned, for the times he lived in ; and a protector of thofe 
 who cultivated fcience. On the other hand, I mult not 
 diflemble his contempt for religion, — but I impute the £auk
 
 4 2o JOURNEY TO -NAPLES. 
 
 to the complexion of the times in which he lived, — when 
 the temporal dictates of the Pope were fo artfully inter- 
 woven with the fpiritual dogmas of the church, that who- 
 ever dared to difpute the former, was apt to reject the 
 latter, — at leaft was fuppofed fo to do. 1 believe him to 
 have indulged a paflion for the fair fex ; but, had he been 
 permitted to live longer, age would no doubt have brought 
 on repentance, and he might have died in as good repute as 
 Charlemagne, Lewis the Fourteenth, or any other great 
 and amorous monarch. Manfred was ambitious, — and, to 
 obtain a crown, infringed the laws of inheritance ; but a 
 defence of his conduct, on that point, would look like a 
 fatire on his numberlefs fellow- culprits, from Ca?far down 
 to Kouli Khan ; — and I mud have better proofs than any 
 yet alleged, to convince me of his having been a murderer 
 and a parricide, if we had not examples, in all ages, of 
 the like weaknefTes in other great men, I mould be afto- 
 nifhed to find Manfred fuch a believer in aflrology and 
 omens. He gave an inflance of this credulity, as he was 
 marching to battle, by being fo fhccked at the falling of a 
 filver eagle from his helmet, that he turned pale, and cried 
 out, " This is a fign from God !" 
 
 On leaving Benevento, I eroded the Calore, and travelled 
 to Montefarchio, up hiil mod of the way, by a very fine 
 road. Three bridges, built of immenfe blocks of ftone, are 
 the only remains of the Via Appia. The foil varies, but is 
 in many places volcanical : one fmall hill is an entire lump 
 
 of
 
 JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 43* 
 
 of lava. Montefarchio, a large town belonging to the 
 Prince of Troja, (lands at the head of a plain furrounded 
 with lofty mountains on every fide, except the north-weft 
 corner, where the chain is broken. This plain is of an 
 oblong fnape, and has, in my opinion, been originally the 
 crater of a very large volcano, and afterwards a lake. The 
 fediment of the waters may have levelled and filled up the 
 bottom ; and at laft a fhock may have broken down fome 
 part of the environing hills, and let out the water. Tor- 
 rents warning down the foil of the mountains, may have 
 continued to raife the level, and cultivation completed the 
 drainage. This feems to me, from its fize and pofition, to 
 be the place where the Roman Confuls, and their army of 
 thirty tlicufand men, were enveloped and captured by the 
 Samnites, who pofTeffed themfelves of the high grounds, — 
 blocked up the pafs that leads eaftward to Benevcnto, — 
 and, as foon as the Romans had entered the valley, clofed 
 up the way from Arpaia, by which the legions had entered. 
 I know it is ufual to call the narrow dell below Arpaia, or 
 that which leads to Durazzano,. by the name of the Cau- 
 dine Forks ; and differtations have been written to prove 
 and explain this idea. But thofe vallies are fo mort and 
 narrow, that I cannot conceive how fo many thoufand 
 armed men, in marching array, could be fqueezed into the 
 fpace. It is clear that the vanguard rauft have marched out 
 at the head of the defile, before the rear could arrive at the- 
 bottom ' x which* would effectually have fruflrated the- 
 
 fcheme. 

 
 4 ;z JOURNEY TO NAPLES. 
 
 fcheme of the Samnites. The flatnefs of the plain of 
 Montefarchio is not a fufficient reafon for rejecting my fup- 
 pofition, becaufe earth warned from mountains, ruins of 
 houfes, and fall of wood — muft, in the procefs of ages, 
 have raifed the foil confiderably, and changed the whole 
 face of the country. At the Forchia d'Arpaia, the ancient 
 Caudium — the pafs is ftill fo narrow, the hills on each fide 
 fo bold and fteep, that even now it would be eafy to throw 
 in fuch an abattis as could not be forced, though defended 
 only by a handful of men. 
 
 From hence the defcent is rapid to Arienzo, by a beau- 
 tiful winding valley, well (haded with hanging woods of 
 chefnut-trees ; — the road excellent. Arienzo is a large 
 burgh, in a low but delightful fituation, furrounded with 
 vineyards and gardens. It belonged to Etendart, one of 
 Charles the Firft's generals, — then to Boffa, — and now to 
 Caraffa, Duke of Madaloni. 
 
 Here I left the hills, and travelled to Acerra, a neat city, 
 walled round after the old manner, in a very flat, wet 
 fituation. Large drains prevent the river Lagno from being 
 fo deftru&ive to its territory as it was in the time of the 
 Romans, when its pofition was bad to a proverb. This 
 fief was firfl. held by a branch of the Aquino family, which 
 failed in 1292. Ctho of Brunfwick received it from his wire 
 Joan the Firh 1 , and fold it to Orhno. In Charles the 
 Third's reign, Protogiudice had it ; and, under Joan the 
 Second, it pafTed to Origlia : Alphonfus the Firft inveftcd 
 
 Cardines
 
 J O U R N E Y T O N A P L E S. 423 
 
 Cardines with it. — Acerra is called the country of Punchi- 
 nellos, becaufe that comic character, which is to the Nea- 
 politan ftage what Harlequin the Bergamafque is to the 
 other Italian ones, is always underftood to be a native of 
 this little city. Punchinello is the wit, the droll of Neapo- 
 litan comedy,' — fpeaks the provincial jargon, and has the 
 exclufive privilege of faying good things and double en- 
 tendres. He is fuch a favourite, that, in carnival time, 
 the ftreets of Naples are crowded with 'mafks in his 
 drefs, all acting inimitably a part, for which they are 
 fo exactly formed by nature. From Acerra to Naples, 
 the road is fandy, through one continued wood of vines 
 and poplars. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME, 
 
 3 1
 
 I 
 
 N 
 
 D 
 
 E 
 
 X 
 
 O F 
 
 Remarkable PLACES, PERSONS, and THINGS. 
 
 A BELLA Ru 
 •^■*- Acerra 
 
 ins 
 
 m 
 
 Page 105 
 
 - 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 42 a 
 
 Agri River 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 278 
 
 Agriculture 
 
 - 
 
 
 167 
 
 289 
 
 Albanefe 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 248 
 
 Alphonfusl. King< 
 
 )f Sic 
 
 Hy 
 
 141 
 
 • 2J 1 
 
 Amfanctus 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 128 
 
 Andria 
 
 
 
 
 399 
 
 Aprocina 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 148 
 
 Aquino Family 
 
 V 
 
 
 - 
 
 3 2 7 
 
 Ariano 
 
 
 k» 
 
 
 ^31 
 
 Arpi Ruins 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 148 
 
 Archicas of Tarentum 
 
 - 
 
 
 *59 
 
 Avcllino 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 108 
 
 Auguftus 
 
 4J- 
 
 97- 
 
 171 
 
 297 
 
 3. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bandufia Fountain 
 
 
 - 
 
 
 408 
 
 Banks 
 
 
 
 - 
 
 79 
 
 Bari 
 
 * 
 
 
 - 
 
 191 
 
 Barletta 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 175 
 
 Bafiento River 
 
 - 
 
 
 - 
 
 272 
 3l 
 
 Battle of Benevento - 
 
 of Bitonto 
 
 ■ ■ - of Canna; 
 1 of Sinno 
 
 Baux Family- 
 Bells 
 
 Benevento 
 Bifceglia 
 Bitonto 
 Blood of St. Januarius 
 
 ■ St. Pantaleon 
 
 Bohemund of Antioch 
 
 Bona Queen of Poland 104, 
 
 Bova - - 
 
 Bovino 
 
 Brindifi 
 
 C. 
 
 Calabrian Cuftoms 
 
 1 Horfes 
 
 Opinions 
 
 Cattle 
 
 Calypfo's Ifle 
 
 Page 418 
 
 397 
 
 169 
 280 
 104 
 
 98 
 410 
 
 - 185 
 
 397 
 
 93 
 187 
 
 201. 401 
 
 202. 302 
 348 
 
 3*3 
 
 2S3 
 
 " 3*3 
 
 284 
 
 289 
 
 - 325 
 
 Canna:
 
 I N 
 
 D 
 
 E X. 
 
 
 Cannae Ruins - Page 
 
 163 1 
 
 Duties on Merchandize - 
 
 Page 73 
 
 Canofa 
 
 400 
 
 Duels 
 
 184. 209 
 
 Cape Colonne 
 
 321 
 
 E. 
 
 
 Capece Family 
 
 184 
 
 
 Caraffa Fairs ily 
 
 108 
 
 Earthquakes 
 
 133 
 
 Caraccioli Family 
 
 339 
 
 Eculanum Ruins 
 
 - 126 
 
 Cariati 
 
 3°7 
 
 Elba Ifland 
 
 30 
 
 Caflelamare di Stabia 
 
 84 
 
 Etrufcan Vafes 
 
 192 
 
 Cafalnuovo 
 
 220 
 
 Explanations of Horace 
 
 - 335 
 
 Cafiiodorus, Minifter to Theodoric 
 
 Exports 
 
 79 
 
 King of the Goths 
 
 3 ? 4 
 
 F. 
 
 
 Cartel del Monte 
 
 393 
 
 
 Cafiano 
 
 291 
 
 Fata Morgana 
 
 - 365 
 
 Catanzaro 
 
 331 
 
 Ferdinand I. King of Naples 
 
 »37- 1S4- 
 
 Caulon Ruins 
 
 339 
 
 163. 
 
 i?6- 235 
 
 Caudine Forks 
 
 421 
 
 Fitli of Taranto 
 
 242 
 
 Charles I. King of Naples 148. 
 
 150. 
 
 Foggia - 
 
 - 138 
 
 168. 
 
 1 93 
 
 Frederick II. Emperor 
 
 132. 148. 
 
 . .11. King of Naples 159 
 
 ■ 193 
 
 369 
 
 157. 160. 178. 200. 
 Frederick II. King of Sicily 
 
 230. 399 
 3*9 
 
 
 Fruits of Calabria 
 
 ' 358 
 
 - 2 53 
 
 Charms ngainft Fire-Arms 
 
 3 2 4 
 
 ofPuglia 
 
 Characler of Neapolitans 6 
 
 3j 62 
 
 Funeral Ceremonies 
 
 ■J %J 
 
 114 
 
 Cotton Trade 
 
 369 
 
 
 
 . Culture 
 
 219 
 
 G. 
 
 
 Cotrone 
 
 3*3 
 
 Gallipoli 
 
 368. 
 
 Conrade IV. Emperor 139, 400 
 
 • 405 
 
 Game 
 
 163. 174 
 
 Corigliano 
 
 298 
 
 Game Laws 
 
 
 Grati River 
 
 ibid. 
 
 Gerace 
 
 - 34^ 
 
 Cuftoms of the Neapolitans 
 
 113 
 
 Giannone, Peter 
 
 - 156 
 ■ 188 
 
 Criminal Jurifprudence 
 
 63 
 
 Giovenazzo 
 
 • 
 
 
 Gnatia Ruins 
 
 - 206 
 
 D. 
 
 
 Gonfalvo de Cordova 
 
 179. 265 
 
 Dogana delle Pecore 
 
 140 
 
 Gypfies 
 
 305 
 
 Dogs of Calabria 
 
 2S7 
 
 H. 
 
 
 Dog-Eaters 
 
 220 
 
 
 Duties on Fifh 
 
 251 
 
 Hannibal 165. 170. 174 
 
 • 264. 323 
 
 ■^ ..-- on Silk 
 
 355:: 
 
 Heraclea. 
 
 279 
 He radius,
 
 I N D 
 
 X. 
 
 Heraclius, Statue of, 
 
 Hunting 
 
 I. 
 
 Jacinthus of Bari 
 Imports 
 
 Iron Mine 
 
 Ifabella Duchefs of Milan 
 
 Lavello 
 
 Lawria, Roger de 
 
 Lautrec, Marechal de 
 
 Lewis of Anjou 
 
 Lecce 
 
 Locri Ruins 
 
 Lucera -j 
 
 M. 
 
 Page 177 
 162 
 
 199 
 79 
 
 3* 
 192 
 
 87 
 
 405 
 
 3*9 
 
 9i 
 186 
 
 380 
 
 34i 
 156 
 
 Manfred King of Sicily 105. 139. 
 
 149. 
 
 162. 178. 268. 415 
 
 Manfrcdonia 
 
 147 
 
 Manna 
 
 194. 287 
 
 Manduria Ruins 
 
 222 
 
 Manufactures 
 
 84 
 
 Marfano Family 
 
 301 
 
 Mafia 
 
 50 
 
 Meloof Bari 
 
 172. 198 
 
 Melfi 
 
 409 
 
 Milo of Croiona 
 
 294 
 
 Montfort Family 
 
 IC2 
 
 Monopoli 
 
 2O4. 
 
 Montevergine 
 
 119 
 
 Montefufcolo 
 
 I25 
 
 Mufic 
 
 378.382 
 
 N. 
 
 Nardo 
 Nola 
 
 Ofanto River 
 Oil 
 
 Olives 
 Oria 
 
 O. 
 
 Pa g«375 
 " 97 
 
 175-401 
 204. 370. 372 
 
 371.373 
 
 218 
 
 p. 
 
 Pipino of Minervino 
 
 Pignatelli Family 
 
 Piombino 
 
 Poggio'Reale 
 
 Ponza Iflands 
 
 Porto Ferraio 
 
 Porto Longone 
 
 Pofiefiions by Evil Spirits 
 
 Purple 
 
 Puolo Ruins 
 
 Pyrrhus of Epire 
 
 Pythagoras 
 
 R. 
 
 Raymond Orfino 
 
 Ranulph of Avellino 
 
 Reggio 
 
 Rene of Anjou 
 
 Roger King of Sicily 
 
 Robert Duke of Pu^Sia 
 
 O 
 
 Roger Earl of Sicily 
 
 Roffano 
 
 Rofeto 
 
 201 
 
 1 6. 5 
 
 41 
 
 " 95 
 
 46 
 
 30 
 
 4* 
 
 344 
 
 " 2 39 
 
 83 
 262. 280 
 217. 316 
 
 102. 260 
 
 icS 
 
 ? 5 6 
 iq6 
 
 '37 
 
 193 
 198 
 199 
 
 301 
 
 281. 
 
 Sa:acens.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 S. 
 
 Saracens - - 
 
 Salapia Ruins 
 
 St. Thomas of Aquino 
 
 St. Charles Bjrromeo 
 
 St. Paulinus 
 
 St. Nilus 
 
 St. William ofVercelli 
 
 St. Angelo di Gargano 
 
 Scanderbeg 
 
 Sebeto River 
 
 Sebaltian Kir,g*'of Portugal 
 
 Sheep 
 
 Sipontum Ruins 
 
 Silk 
 
 Sorrento 
 
 Spinclli Family 
 
 Squillacce 
 
 fitilo 
 
 Stabia Ruins 
 
 Strongoli 
 
 Summons, Mode o f , 
 
 Svbaris 
 
 Page 158 
 
 188. 327 
 
 - 216 
 - 98 
 
 302 
 121 
 
 119. 155 
 
 - 95 
 
 328 
 
 228 
 149 
 
 357 
 86 
 
 3° 1 
 333 
 338 
 82 
 312 
 
 335 
 291 
 
 141 
 
 T. 
 
 Taranto 
 
 - 
 
 Pag, 
 
 3 180 
 
 Tarantula 
 
 «■ 
 
 - 
 
 395 
 
 Tavoliere 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 142 
 
 Tancrcd King 
 
 of Sicily 
 
 - 
 
 •3 Hi 
 
 Temple of Juno Lacynii 
 
 - 
 
 321 
 
 Thurium 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 294 
 
 Trani 
 
 - 
 
 - 
 
 180 
 
 Troja 
 
 •at 
 
 - 
 
 '37 
 
 V. 
 
 Venereal Difeafe, Introduction of gj 
 Venofa - - 406 
 
 Ventotiene Ifland - - 47 
 
 Vcfuvius, Mount, - 46. 50 
 
 Voltore Monte - - 408 
 
 W. 
 
 Walnut Tree of the Witches 
 William I. King of Sicily 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zaleucus of Locri 
 
 * K 
 
 4'7 
 
 200 
 
 343
 
 DIRECTIONS for pacing the PLATES. 
 
 Map of the Two Sicilies, fronting the Title Page. 
 
 A Chronological Table of the Sovereigns of the Two Sicilies, to 
 be placed before — — Page xvii. 
 
 View of Porto Ferraio, to front — "—30 
 
 View of Porto Longon — — 42 
 
 Villa of Pollius — — — 88 
 
 View of Bari — — — 1 9 r 
 
 View of Taranto — — — 227 
 
 Plan of Taranto ~ — 2>S5 
 
 Plan of Brindifi "- — ;-* 384 
 
 View of Brindifi — — 396
 
 yuji Publified) 
 Handiomely printed in Quarto, 
 
 TRAVELS through SPAIN, 
 
 In the Years 1775, and 1776. 
 
 In which feveral Monuments of Roman and "Moorish 
 Architecture are illuftrated by accurate Drawings 
 taken on the Spot. 
 
 By HENRY SWINBURNE, Efq. 
 Printed for P. Elm sly, in the Strand.
 
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