Chicago Daily Tribune Newspaper, April 11, 1874, Page 9

e e e e s e vt e i s Mt M NAPLES. peking the Ascent of Vesu- vius. 7is Difficulties of the Journey—Appear- anto of the Mountain-Sides and the Crater. 4 Visit to Pompeii—The Great Eruption of A. D. 79, fow the Buried City Looks---Articles {hat Have Been Found There. snclent Electioneering Adver- tisements---The Villa of Diomede. Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Sor-~ rento. ‘secial Correspendence of The Chicago Tridune. g Narers, Morch 14, 1574 A visit to Naples without making tho ascent of Yecuvius, or travarsicg tho streets of Pompeii, sould be 28 incomplete 28 the playof Hamlet ith that individnal ignored. The necessary hing 10 o, then, is to climb the mountain, snd |k dowm into ita throat and mell ita breath; 104 next explore the buried city st its baso. YESUVITS ” fies in tbe midst of the great Plain, cresmpagns, from which the City of Naples chiefiy derivos 1ts supplies of food. The cir- emfrencs of the mountam is abont 30 sies, and the dismeter 9 miles. But threo- gartho of the spsce thua occupied by Vesuvins wosints of exceedingly rich land. sloping np- «erds to the Toot of the cone. Turn & soup-dish tttom upward, and on that stand the dinner- 1o, od you bavo s fair idea of the slopo of Yesuvims &s & appesrs al a distance. The asoont of Vesuvius is made in three parts, wetagon. - First, one takes acarriageinthe city, 1 drives about 5 or 6 miles, through a continu- cxvillago fanked by gardens, Then thoascont Vioe, and winds circaitously up & eteep grade fxsbout 5 miles, which brings the visitor to a pot called the * Hermitage,” where & solitary tsase Btads on tho outer end of a jutting prom- clary of lava, 2,000 feet sbovo the level plain idow. This Hermitage is an observatory main- uioed by the Government for observing the satoof the mountain. Part of the way up, the radwinds throngh vinerards and groves of clire-to0s, and then over the horrible-looking Plack lava-streams of the eruptions of 1833, '63, 20a"L. - X had supposed that tho Java Iay with a comparstively smooth surface on the slope of the momntam ; bat, on the contrary, it was IIPCLSTVELY ROUGH AND DISTORTED, thrown 2bout into & thousand forms, twisted sod tossed into crags and knobs, some a hun- el feet high, and with great dark holes and nvines of frightfal aspect. The cause of thess kdeous irregularities in the deposit of the lava <, that the eruptions took place right there- 1t prassure, or uphesal, in the bowols of the nountain, tore a vent through its sides, and tierefrom spewed out the moiten mattor, which cosely resembles in color and substance the ez, or cinder, that flows from ao iron-furnace; ud it was thus thrown into all manner of * thapes, which, in cooling, it retained. It was aly tho part of the overflows which rax below ioge renta that have smooth surfaces. A couple ¢ hundred ncros were covered over by the erup- tm of 1872, in placos to & dopth of several hun- éed feet. THE VIEW FROM THE HERMITAGE imagnificent. The whole Bay of Naples is fread out bofore one like a map, snd visible at sglance for a circnit of 60 miles of undulating ! thore-line, changing from mouatain to valley, ind peuk to glen, with all the islands which fringe I the bay in full view at the same time. In tho { fregronnd, stretching along the side, and swell- * 2g over the shoulder of Aont Posolippo, which izgles off northward into the plain, i8 the great of Noples; its high walls, white, orange, d lemon colored, eparkle in the sun, reflect- g back its rays like a mirror ; while around the iy may be counted a dozen bright villages on zonntain-sides or balf-hidden in valleys ; whilo sy to the northward spreads the great plain on 1hich Naples subeists, studded with white and enoge-colored towns, with the enow-capped pennines for a background, 80, 40, 60 miles sny. Itis a view nowhero to bo surpassed, and not easily to be forgotten. The noxt séage of the ascentis made on horse- back, for about o mile up a steep, difficuit path of Iava and Joose scorie. ‘The tough little sure- footed horses are led by the guides, and itis suprisiag how they can climbap or get down some panis of the rord. We are now at the foot of the which rises up before ane, stcep as * churely] for the height of 1,200 feet. At i seems imposgible to make the SR o i O S AR 3 K e AR AN A { i i 1 [ Alres’y i is colder, and & ebarp Dorth wind whistlos ‘about one's ears at this point,—balf & mi'ealovethe plam below. Chairs, with four wout native earriers to oach, are provided to as— st tho ledies and sach of the gentlemen a3 can- tot malo the sscent unaided. For my own part, { bsd committed the grave mistake of hot en- faging 8 mustang to be at the Hermitage to boar 620 the foot of the cone. From the valley be- %, 1t geemed but a little distance along the cest of a black ridge to tho bottom of the “Fdiup place;” but I found it to be a long mile, THE HARDEST MILE Seundorsigned bad ever walked. The *riso” E that dictance was nearly 1,000 fect.—down k4 but mostly “hup,” a5 an Englishman Vhero the path was not sharp lava it was = vt.ng eand, the grains sbont the size of wheat EW‘--:: tho foot of the cone was reached I was 417 fatigued, and the accent looked perfectly {7alling."Bat'tho guide bad brought slong, un- idn, ‘an extrs chair and carriers, aud, with I am conatrained to eonfess, I was ed to make more than half the ascont borne @ men's ghoulders. An able-bodied young £y, with good knees,—for that is the part which ™t gites out,—can mount Lo the top in an hoar 2dakdf. But our party were fully two hours Deenambling and riding by turns to the edze of T st of thie path is over the sfore® Satioced lava gravel or pand, snd the foot slips 125 balf the distacce of tho step forward, which Felly adds to the distress of the accent, but SSesall the fun in coming down, as cnecan f@ar ol down the soft, yislding stuff, witkout -%F! oz danger. o ugle of declivity is 45 degreos: but, in {lte- Y¥ere the lava-rock protrudes, it is more £ 00 degrees of * steepness ;” and at such itko Iadies miust get out of their chiairs, and wFulled and pushedup by the carriers, who S gure-footed aa gosts, nd 38 noisy and Loserivg as monkeys, 1 w] gy 84y i8 DO Wreimglligible, i ol % W8 are on 1 THE TOP OF VESUTVITS, Lioetortls of a il above the buy, enveloped 23 doul of vapor, gmelling strong of sulphur. Barlh eide of the cone was covered with 4 cutting wind swept past, making one'’s mitle, aad bringing overcoats aud ehawls oy ediate requisition. Wo climbed up the sxherly eide of tho cons, and, thercfore, did e Juch feel the wind or cold until tho crest o Buned. The guides Look us to tho lee sido o g Prdecting crag, where 8 basket mead, cheese, and wine had been deposited Everybody was bungry, tired, and e h;npué‘_“-’t{;f” and nxg ; €0 the contents = T quickly vanished. Aftor resting 1ikle, we started o got a peep into the * bot A ges it Bat the view was not satisfactory. .~mflw. cloudy vapor impregneted witl: sul- [)s, Foge from tho chaem, and hid the hideons i, This cloud rolled down the southeasterly e 3t b s i A s i e =0 “THE CHICAGO NDAILY TRIBUNE: SATURDAY, APRIL 11, 1S74. into the chasm, which could be heard rattle and rovorberate for a long timo,—proving the GREAT DEPTH OF THE PIT. As tho time approsches for an oruption, the crater fills up; and it is deepest just after ona. There is & very narrow margn, or lip, botween the outer edgo of tho cono sad tho crater. In soms places it was a rod wido; at others, scarcoly a yard,—barely room to welk gafely along tho creat, single filo. As nearly 28 I could judgo in walking about half round this narrow rim, the distance acrosa the cha#m was not to exceed a few bundred feet. The noxious fumes and dense cloud prevented such an exploration as I was ausious to make, by cutting off the view and stifling the breath. The depth of the chasm at this time i3 perhaps 800 to 1,000 fect; o tho guides said. : Tho descent of the cone was quickly and easily made, down tho eoft, yielding ashies or sand,— the ladies of the parfy mpuing races with tho gentlemen to sce 5ho could reach tho beso first. A fat fellow—that is, a stont, portly, obese traveler—was etriding down the inchno as we were laboriously climbing up, when he tripped and rolled down a considerablo distance, like o hogshead, amidst tho nproarions laughter of the carriers, who finally stopped his gyratory mo- tion. How they ever got him to the top of the mountain must remain a mystory. _ What appears at a distanco ae s clond of smoke :’I‘z!umg from tha crater of Vesuvius is simply 0 P YATOR OF WATER impregnated with the fumes of sulphur. No smoke such as that produced by the combustion of any carbon-substances ever ifsues from the mountsin. The seeming ‘‘smoke” i3 always steam or aqueons vapor, more or loss dark as it happens to be charged with ashes, Whon this vapor condenses in the atmoephero, it de- scends- in tho form of rain; and, if much mixed with ashes, it falls in a paste or muddy shower. During great eruptions, when enor- mous quantities of ashes are ejected with thick clonds of vapor, they fall in torrents of mud and water. This is exactly what happened years ago,;when Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabim, and eeveral other towns wero destroyed by that awfol eruption of A.D.79. The tremondous heat in the bowels of the mountain, coming in routact with a great bodyof water from tho Ffediterrancan Sea, which hsd percolated through the fissures of the _stratifiod lime- stone and other rocks, with the iternal fires, ipstantly acting on it like furnace-heat, converted it iuto stesm. The sudden conversion of millions of cubic feet of water into high steam by the subterrancan fires produced tho phe- nomens of exploding steam ona vast scale. ‘The sudden and resistless expansion of water in- to 1700 times its original bulk tore great rents and fissures in tho sides of the mountain, through which, as thelowest points of exit, flowed heavy streams of fluid lavs; snd from the crater ifself, being the highest part of the mouutain, and acting like & chimnoy, issued forth vast clouds of stesm, mixed with sulphur- vaporand enormous quantities of cshes and showers of stones, which wers flng out_by tho explosions of the water into steam. The fire that is seen above the crater during an eruption 18 NOT FLAX but is the reflection of the molten lava within the crater upon the clonds of aqueows vapor aud ashes suspended over it. The lighting which ig geen darting from the edges of the black cloud is producea by the clectricity which is produced Dby the rapid condensation of vapor into water, and of water into steam, under tho effeot of tho hes radiated from the crater. Provions to the great eruption of A. D. 79, which destroyed DPompeii, there had been passivo period extending back beyond recorded history. The Greeks had settled around the Bay of Naples 1,000 years before that event, and their early writers had never heard of an erup- tion of Vesuvius. Bat the ancient geograpliers recognized tho voleanic character of the monn- tain from its similarity of form to Etna. Tho pregent cone was not_created_previous to the great eruption of A. D. 79. Tho mountain was only 3,000 feet high, and bad a broad, eraggy top, 2 miles in diameter, among the Lollows of which grew the wild vino and the pine-trees. There was no erater in those days. During tho early civil wars of Rome, contending factions built fortresses over where tho crater snbso- quently appeared. Suddenly. ons des, Fob. 5, in the year . 63, there was a great esrthquake nround tho base of Vesuvius, which convulsed the whole neighbor- hood, and tumbled down many of the buildings in Pompeii snd in other towns in the vicinity. This premonitory symptom of returning activity after so many centuries of dormance, was fol- lowed by s number of other shocks during the next sixteen years, until the day of THE MEMORABLE KROPTION £0 graphically deseribed by the younger Pliny in his Jatters to Tacitus. Tho placo where he was during tho eatastrophe was at Misenum, a small port on the bay a fox miles from Naples, and abont’ 14 or 15 from tho mountain in a northwest direction, while Pompeii lay on the plain pear the sea-shore, 5 or G miles to tho southesst of Vesnvius, in which direction the wind seems to have blown, as the greatest fall of ashes, rsin, snd mud was on_that side of the mountain, Bat the ashes fcll in immense quantitics all around the bav sad plain, for a dis- tance of 50miles from the crater. Pliny sagsthat, after sovoral shocks of esrthquake in’ quick suc- ression, which did not much alarm people, bocause thero had Iatcly beon experienced many shocks, 4 A black and dreadful cloud, bursting forth with igneous, serpentina vapor, ‘aarted out a long train of fire, resembling flashes of lightning, but much larger and more terrific. The black clond rose high in the heavens, and quickly spread out in every disection, rolling liko a torrent in vast, frightful folds, until it overepread the wholo bay and surrounding country, shutting out the Light of dsy. Wo were immersed in thick darkngs, and a heavy shower of mud and sshes rained upon ua, which we wera oblized to shake off, otherwise we sbould have been crushed aod buried in 3 heap.” He then described the light~ nings, the shocks, and tho terror among the people,—* some _lifting their hands to the ods in supplication ; some wishing to die from the very foar of dving; but tho greater part,” among whom was Pliny himeelf, *‘imagined that the InAt eternal night was come which was to destroy the gods and the world _together.” Finally, towards evening, “*A glimming of light appecrod. and the darkness was dispersed by degrees, lilie a clond of smoke; tho real dayre- tarned, bat the sun itsclf appeared very faintly, and like when an eclipso is going off. After day- light was fairly restored, the whole country in every direction was thickly covered over with white ashes, 88 with & deep enow; snd many cities and towns wore BURIED OUT CF FIGHT.” The uncle of this Pliny—the celebrated nat- uralist of the samo name--lost his nife in at- tempting to rescuo some of his friends who lived on the opposite shore of tho bay, neur Tompeii. When the cloud and eruption com- menced, he took s galley and rowed ewiftly scross the bay, and landed at Stabiw; but the ‘mephitic vapor; blowing in that direction, caused his death. The sailors with him fled back to tho boat and escaped with their lives, loaving him whero ho fell, and where his body was atter- wards found by the nephew. Tt is no wonder that Pliny thought the Dsy of Judzment had come. Tho cyes of mortal never beheld s more frightful convulsion of nature. Fire, smoke, lightning, rain, mud, ashes, falling stones, thick, black darkness, dreadful explosions, Jouder than claps of thunder, togotbor with hundreds of fearful shocks of earthquake, were enough to appsll the beart even of s Roman, who was snoposed to be impervious to the sen- gstion of fear. Aftor refreshing my memory of that eventful eruption by readicg I'liny’s and other accounts ofit,I - VISITED THE DURIED CITY with feelings somewhat akin io those which an eyc-witness of the dreadful occurrence might Liave who returned to Pompeii some yeary after- wards to sce how it Jooked. In the first place, something more than Lalf tho original limits of tho city within tho walls ste oxhumed,—say 100 scres of the 160 which it covered. Pompeii was & Greco-Roma city of tho third clasa, and con- tained perbaps 30,000 inhabitants at the date of its destruction. Herculancum was not moro then balf as large. Pompeii was inno danger of destruction from an eruption of lava, 24 it was built oo an oblong-shaped pieco of rising ground, which was considerably higher than tho plain between it and the mountain, distant sev- aral miles to the northwest. It was submerged at the timo to about the depth of 25 fect, as I Sbeerved by the excavations still going on; sud utsequently, in A D. 472, there was anothor 1ol of ashes of aboutafool. Several lighter falls of sshes can be traced, in all to the depth of 2or 3feet, in addition to the great deluge : and the whole is now covered by a foot desp of rich vegetablo mold. ) A Tho reascn that Pompeii was buried ont,of sight is, that the houses were nearly all OSLY ONE STORY LIGH ; 2 few were two stories, and soms of the templesy and public buildings 3 little bizher, but none to oxceed three stories. The general height of the wallg 88 they stand is 18 to 20 feet ; I sar none %o oxceed 35 feot; but they 2ro exceedingly thick, and_bound with a cement ag atrong as the lavn-rock itself of which tacy aro built. I wish 5;3!?1' the cone for some distancs, and com- {id o kot out of sight tho location of Pempeii im fln'llfi Dlin around it. Occasionally a sud- b nge in the direction of tho wind, or a ! fim Ward hirl of air, would afford a short i nfi,‘f"’ iuto the erater. 'There wore no flames 4 eg Sl —nothing but jattiog crags, fo- 3 g m& white and yellow brimstone, tinted £ Lo suide tuhled RS socky | | % our Chicago builders could inspect the :glez? ‘mortar nsed in thoso days. They would feal reproaches of conscience, if they have any, for the weak and dangerous stuff they nse in 'hiv‘-f." é’e'nmx appearance of Pompeii bears gimilan! the cities and towns of Bt Ty o 450 prvem T, Q38 everywhero the same narrow, crooked streets,— G to 12 wide (there aro only two streets in Pompeii wider than that) ; the same very thick walls of stone snd brick, covered with stucco outside a5 woll 88 in ; the same kind of irregular or octagonal-shapod flag-pavement ; the same little, pluzas, or public squares,~mero widen- ings of tho streot ; the same stylo of court- yarde, orarcasin the middle of Louses, con- nected by an archway with the street. Th¥se courts, of which bundreds msy be seen in Pom- peii, were called alriums ; and in the contre of each wns an impluvium, or square aperturo for catching and holding water. This impluvium is not in use in modern Italan towns. Often thero was a fountain in tho_atrium, with water-god and other statuary. Tho same may be scen atill in the cities of Italy. The favorite and prevailing colors of the stucco walls wero rod and yellow, or rather orango and lomon,—the former for the dining- rooms, and the latter for the parlors. Pictures of mythological subjects, of every conceivablo kind, were painted on those stucco walls; and oxsctly tho same thing and the same designs may be seen_ all over Italy. There has been little change in the tasto of the people in respect to the arciutecture of their towns; for stuccos and frescoes, for colors and designe—the Greek models,—have beon perpetuated in almost every Tespact for these eightoen centuries. Tho chief differonco_observable is in the height of the Lonses. The modern Italian houses are three to six stories; those of the days of Pompeii appear to havo been only one or two. Perhsps it was not so of all other cities. Pompeii is A ROOFLESS CITT; Dot a dozen buildings are covered, and the roofs of these are brick arches,—the most notable one boing the Thermm, or pablic bath-houso, which had a frontage of throe streets, its principal entrance being from the street of Fortune. The woight of the mud-sshes crusbed in all the roofs not made of arches, and tumbled down more or less the partition-walls, which gives tho city a ragged, ruinons mspect when viowed from the stroots. But thero 18 no mark of fire. The walls are not cracked and blackened, or calcined, but look aa new and natural as they did the day be- fore the eruption. Tho stucco walls and the fresco pictures appear a8 fresh as thoss of mod- ern Itslian towns. & The city evidontly has been overtvken by some great misfortune, a8 is attested by its roofless, doorless, windowless, ompty houses, and silent, deserted streots. Dut the dis- astor’ which _bas bofallen it seams to bo the work of yesterday, or last month at longest, and it is imply impossiblo to believe that 1,300 vears have passed since the calamity. On thousands of chamber-walls may bo scen ornamenal frescoes, and mosnics, and pictures of every kind, malo and fomale figures i all fanci- ful attitades and attires, chiely nudo; animals, fishes, serpents, birds, flowers, landscapes, fruit- picces, classical and gladiatorial scones, and mythological rcenesand groups,—many of them of great beanty and EIQUISITE FINISH AND DESIGN. I shall not attempt to describs the temples, pantheons, theatres, circus, amphitheatre, courts of justice and jail, City-Coancil Chamber, with the Forum and market-places. The guide- Looks are full of these, and gfinnla who have not seen them have either road all about them, or may do so at their loisure. The amphic theatre, however,was a huge boilding, 400 feet b 300, and would sent 12,000 spocistors. It wasin fu.fi blast on the day of the destrnction of Pompeii ; and, when the great black cloud rolled its dark- ness over the doomed city, amidst fiorco flashes of lixhtning, lond bursts of thunder, and con- vulsive shocks of earthquake, the 12,000 specta- tora of “the combats in tho srcns between the gladiators and the lions and tigers, fled in terror from the city, hall-suffocated with noxious fumes, pelted by & downZall of sud, and deluged by a torrent of rain. From the lknowledge gained by the excavations, it is belioved that NOT MOIE THAN OKE THOUSAND PERSONS were caught in the volcanic storm in the city and perished thers. How many lost their lives wandering in the thick darkpess beyond the walls, can never bo known. Thonsands escaped. by the vessels in the harbors, and other thou- sands, undoubtedly, by the roads along the bay. After the cotastrophe was over, and the moun- tain had resumed its repose, the survivors ven- tared back to look for their pleasant homes, now buried ont of sight, with only here and thore the top of a pillar or tho arch over high walls projecting above the surrounding embank- ments of groy sshes and pumice-mud. They tarried to search for buried treasures, statuary, s0d other valuables. ¢ is obeczved by the ex- cavators that hundreds af pits had been dug down into the atria of houses, and trenches therefrom wero cut into the chambers, in search of personal effects. Comparstively little of the precions metals have beca found in cloaning away the dobris and ashes from housessnd shops, and it is thus sccounted for, that so little hos been diecovorod. The owners would naturally prolong the search whilo thore was s prospect of rocovering any_ of thoir valusbles. Tho work was not dificalt, as the matenals to excavate were light and casly handled, and the inhabitants of course knew whero to look for property worth the trouble of tho search ; for nothing was burned, bat ooly crushed or buried down undor the weight of feot of wet, sticky nshes and gravelly pumice. Yet, after they bad finished their search and abandoned the site of the cicy forover, AN ENOIMOUS QUANTITY of things have been exhumed during the Isst 100 years. The Royal Museum of Naples con- tains fally 10,000 articles, of every imaginabls description, taken from the ruins. It requires wholo days to go through the rooms of tho Mu- seum, meroly glancing at. the things found in Tompeii ; and these are but a small part of what worerecovered. Everymuseum in Europeismore orless stocked with curiosities from Pompeii; and hundreds and thounsands of privato persons have sccured many valusble and besutiful articlos. A score or two of painters may be seen continuslly making copies of the Pompeiian froscoes, and pictures, and bas-reliafs, in the ghl- lerica of the Royal Aluseum. The walls of the houses of tho wealthy clussea swere preparoed with & stucco of great excellenco, oqually adapted to receive pictorial embellishments, or to be modeled nto bas-reliefs. This stucco seems to Lavo been made of calcined gypsam mixed with pulverized stone or powdered marble. On walls and ceilings thus propared, the best Grocian artists displayed their skill in designs of landscapes, mythological figures, processions, triumphs, battloy by land and wes. gods sod oddcuses, animals, gardens, and ideal subjects. Some of these fresco-paintings aro of the most exquisite beauty nund grace, and may ba seen imitated in ~all tho palaces and galleries of Europe, and copied in engravings and reproducad in statuary or bronzo, in which latter-named arta the Pompeiians also excelled. The collection of statusry in marble and bronze in the Naples Musoum is hardly equaled in variety or excellence by the vast col- lection of the Vatican in Rome, znd many of those in tho Vaticen, in the Louvre of Paris, and tho British hfuseum of London, cams from Pompeii. Pompeii was a FAVORITE WATERING-FLACE for wealthy Roman familios, several hundred of whom had residences there, and spent portions of tho year in it. This accounts for the exquisite statuary, bronzes, frescoes, mosaica, and other works of art there found. The Greek artists furnished the skill, and tho patrician Romans the ‘Toney, for their production. s But I wes greatly intorested in inspecting the domestic articles in tho Mnsoum, taken from the dead city, whereby the daily lifo and habits, and degree of civilization of the Romans of that age may be ascartained and compared with the present times, It is astonisaing how muny Things in common uso mow were in use then. Hero you will soo almoat every kitchen-utensil, portablo cooking-stoves, jelly-cake, and butter- molds in tbo imitation of birds and flowers; pots, kottles, crocks, dishes, cups and saucers, Epoons, knives aud forks, dippers, skimmers, eauco-pans, 1rvig-pans, lamps, lamp-stands, flesh-hooks, braziers for ebarcoal In a word, presty much every kitchen, dining-room, or chamber article found in modern use entered into the economy of the daily life of Roman an- tiquity. All the arsicles of a lady's toilet, includ- ing jowelry of every description, were fouad in bouses in Pompeii, and msy bs seen at the Mu- seum. AN ABSUED NOTION has long prevailed amoug some people that the nncienty were ignorant of glase and terra-cotta. 1f they will visit the Naples Mussum, they witl be undeceived by seeing 4,000 specimens of such wares, nono of them less than 1,600 years old. There are Juminous, transparent vases of glass of the most equisite form and finish, with all Kkinda of frost-work theroon; and every gort of glans-waro below that, down to common ‘window- glass and glaas-pottles. In terrs-cotta_the an- Ccionts seemed to bave excelled the moderns in beuaty, boldoess of design, and finish. Hers ars Glagant votive statucttes, and sopulchral turas of many designs, embellished in bas-relief ; Doro is the amphorsa-bottle, in which ** fine old crusty wino " was preserved ; the money-box in which the child stored its gift-coins: tho dishes which held the choice visnds at table ; and other clegaat terra-cotta exticles too numerous to mention. In gold and gilver ornaments, corals, and of procions stones, there is averything to b found pow in 8 first-class Paris jewelry-shop. Takon from tho retail shops were stealyards, balances, weights, and measures. From a doc- tor's office was recovercd & foll set of surgical instruments, including * pullikins * for extract- ing Wb 499 Lepeps for drlling holes in e sknlls of patients. Thero is any quantity of shoemaker, tailor, carpenter, and 111ulumith tools, and, indced, imploments of almost esery present mechanical occupation. Taken alto- gether, the collection was & surprising revelation to me, 2 it has beon to others,—ehowing that the ancionts had invented and perfected ten thonsand implements and srticles of common life which we still use with littlo improvement }hemon, and without giving them credit thero- or. Returning to Pompeii for another glance be- fore we took our departure, I noticed over tho shop-doors signs in large and ornamental lottors, painted on the walls. naming the business car- ried on. Stone hitching-posts for horses were in froot of many of them. On some of themost frequented stréets, tho hard travestine rock pavements were deeply worn into ruts by the cart-wheels, and the sidewalks aleo wers much worL by the tread of human feet. The stair- ways of public buildings exhibited the same ef- foct of friction. ELECTIONEERING ADVERTISEXENTS were froquently met with on walls of honses, pointed in red lotters, calling on the citizens to vote for this or that porson for some offico,— generally Aldermen, Justices, Sheriff, or Troas- urer,—perhaps because thoy paid best, althongh no salaries were attached to the firat numed. Ono inscription runs: **The Scribe Issus re- quests you to support M. C. Vatia sy ZEdill. Ho is worthy and well qualifiod.” Avother, translat- ed, rends: “ Phillipus boaceches of you to cre- ate M. Halconius a Decemvir of Justice,”—Po- Tlice Magistrate, such as “ Chief-Justice” Uan- ¥on usod to be. Many of the recommendations proceed from trade-guilds, or unions, which Beom to have been numerous in Pompeii. Some of the inscriptions on the walls were lampoons of rival candidates, with caricatures of their faces or any personal peculiarity. In the vestibule of the High School the following in- scription is scratched on the smooth stucco of the'yollow wall: * Ofiosis hic locus non est; discide moralor "—** This is no place for idlers ; lot thom begone,” or somothing to that effect. Another inseription is still sbatper; it reads: “Aul disce, aut discede, aut memet suo lertia ceedi ;" which, freoly translated, signifies as fol- lowa: *“Study, or leave, or take a confounded good licking.” Both insu’il}fions are evidently tho work of schoolboys, Love-sentiments and dittis are scratched on the walla, One of them reads, in translation, * Mothe, the slave of Cor- ninis, loves Chrestus with all her Leart. May the ' Pompeiian Venus [the tutelary goddess of th dity] be propitious to both, and may they be bapry togother! ™ It was probably a lampoon. entering the vestibulo of the House of tho Tragic Poet, the firat object which greots the oye ia that of a large, fierce dog preparing to spring at tho -ntrnder. Look again at the alarming canine, and you sco that it is bat a de- vice wronght in mesaic on the pavement, with the inscription benoeath. * Cate canini” (*¢ Be- ware of the dog”). Sume of the finest fresco- %-.iming found in Pompeil, is in this building. ut most of its treasures have been moved to tho Naptes Museum. Of course I visited the VILLA OF DIOMEDE, . and found it to correspond in appesrance very closely with the descriptions contained in the “ Lost Daysof Pompeii,” by Bulwer. Aronnd two sides of the building wero the wine-vaults ; and in one of the angles were fouud cightoon kelotons of persons who had sought refuge there. but wero saffocated by the ashes snd mud which drifted in on them; and on the wall and floor can still be traced the shadow-looking outling of their figures whero bhey lay down and died. When they were exhumed, s golden necklace was found en- circling the throat of one of the ekeletons, with tho pamo of tho ownor engraved thereon: Julia de Diomede, gold ear-rings and gold broco- lets wers found on the remains; sud Sving Deside others were pursos containing gold €dins. Several skelotons found elsewhere aro on exhi- bition under glass cases in a building in Pompoii. Some died with their handa over their mouths, trying to kéep out the ashes. One male figure was found in .a street near the Stabim gate, Iyiug prone o his face, with n large key in ono hand sad a quantity of gold coins in the other. Searching for his money he had tarried too long, and was caught in the tempest. In some cnsos the victims sppesr Lo have sought o vaulted chamber, and lying on their sides, with their heads resting on their srms, awaited their fate. Terror could be trnced in the distorted features of other skeletons. Bat I shall not longer dwell on thia part of the subject. It is unpleasant. NEROULANEUM can be best seen in the Royal Mussum in Naples, in the articles oxtracted from thd excarations. During the oruption which destroyed Pompeii, it also was overwh by torrents of volcanic tafa-mud, which filled all the buildings to the roofs, and which Lardened, as it dried, into a coarse tufa-stone. In subsequent oruptions, showers of ashes and streams of lava covered it up to the depth of 90 to 112 feet. Honce it is excoedingly difficnlt to mako cxcavations, as the depth is groat, aud the substance is hard o cut through. ~ What is dooo is to work as in s coal- mine, and the material taken ont of one roum or bouse is thrown into the last ono that has been explored, instead of being hoisted to the surfaco snd earied away. o is nothing to sce by pgoing down _into tbo shafts. Two towns aro built over the aucient site, and great care must be taken lest they are destroyed by sinkiug of sho ground over the excavated placos. Vory many bosutiful pieces of marble statuary and works in bronze have been discovered, bceides other objects of interest. But they are o repatition, in_form, do- sign, and material, of tho things fonnd in Pom- peii. STABLE, acity as large as Herculaneum, was also de- stroyed by the great eruption, but was not cov- crod more than half as deep ns Pompeii, s it lay 4 or 5 miles further away from the volcano, ou the shoro of the bay. Excavations were made upon the site of the ancient city 100 yosrs ago, aud many frazments of scalpture, gomo Ulogible books and paitings, aud 3 fow skeletons, to- gether with a quantity of domesticutonsils, were fouud. But the inhabitants had evidently re- turned aftor the destruction of the place, aad ex- lored and carried away most of thoe valuables. t was here tho Elder Pliny perished daring tho oruption. Having been unable to land nearer Pompeii to rescue his frionds there, he came ashore at Stabim, and wont to the villa of a friend, but was unable to remain oa account of the tremendous showers of stoues, mud. snd rain which deluged the town; and, while en- desvoring to escape back to his gailay, waa suffo- cated by the noxions fumes that filled the air. The considerable modern town_of Castellemare covers the site of the ancient city, and it is one of the pretticst and most pictarceque spots for a town on the shcres of the Bay of Naples. Right behind it, to the northward, towers up 3ount d'Auro, 4,000 feet high, with its slopes, ravines, and dells, covered with orange, lemon, fig, and olive trees, while the crest i’ coverad with snow and enveloped in rolling clouds, and in the foreground is the bright Bay of Naplea. But = still more beautiful spot, which did not escapo tho fiery shower on that memorable dey, is SORRENTO, sitnated nearly at the extremity of the promon- tory which forms the lefc arm that encircles tho Tovely bay. It is noted for its enchanting sito and Bcenery ; its balmy winter aud breezy summer clmato; its excellent hotels; as the place where Tasso was born,—tho house being still erfect; and it was herethe Dake of Edinburgh, [t winter, wooed sad won the great Czar's lovely, blue-esed daughter,—going about the business just like any other young fellow : courts ber assiduously, pops the question in fall view of Vesuvius, is sccepted, aska tho consent of Ma and Pa, receives it, subscquently follows her to her father's home, marries her there, and now *all England” is merry-meking oa thoreturn of the bride to her future home, Ard thisis as good a place as any to close this lottar. J. 3. s WHAT THE WIND-ELVES KEARD AND SAW. The Weat Wind : The saddest sound that I ever heard g the wailing plsint of 2 mother-bird For the Gbe Woe nestling that cheered her nesty Dead, with & thorn n ita pretty breast. The South Wind: T have known s aight that was sadder still ; There's o grave up yonder, upon the hil, And » mother woeps at her poor boy's name, For his ruined soul, and his guilt and shame, The Weat Wind : The sweeteat sight that I ever know Was the kiss of two lovers whose lova was trne, As they pledged themselves, come weal or woe, One path in life they would heaceforth kuow, The South Wind: Once, when a weary old man dicd, Ieaw Heaven's gates swung opea wide, ‘And his wife, who an angei long bad been, Bretched welcoming bands, and cried, #Dear, come in? And the look on her face ]—~I A sight that was grander I nove: . The West Wind: Last night, when the atars wore out in the bius, Like a dead white-lily kissed by dew, T saw s baby of two short years Wet with ita mourning mother's tears, The South Wind: 1 saw a mother go in one day Through the gates of Heaven, and besrd her may, 4415 my baby here?” And they put in her arms A woe child, swoat with a babs’a charms ; ‘And she cried aa she kised ki, her face aglow, T have found my bae) Tas i Kssecn, bew 1" THE SECRET CF THE SPRING. L The tnermsl waters of Spinbronn, eituated in the Hundsrack, saveral leaguee from Pirmsscns, formerly enjoyed a magnificent reputation. Tho savage aspect of the country did not prevent people afilicted with disease from coming from all parts of Germany to test the eflicacy of its springs. They lodged in the pretty cottages at the bottom of the defile; they bathed in the cascade, which fell in large clouds of foam from the summits of the rocks; they drank onaor two glasses of mineral water a day, and the doctor of the plage, Daniel Haselnoss, who distributed his prescriptions Gressed 1n a peruke and in chest- nat-colorad clothes, did an excellent business. To-day the waters of Spinbronn figure no onger in tho dispensatory; in this poor village only miserable wood-cntters are to be scen, 2nd, sad thing to say, DR. HASELNOSS HAS DEPARTED ! All this resulted from asaccession of very singular events, which the Councillor Bremer, of Pirmasens, rolated to me the othar avening. . “Yon know, Master Frantz,” said he to me, “that the source of the Spinbroun comes from akind of cavern about five feet high and from twelve to fiftoon feet wide; the heat of the water is sixty-seven degrees centigrade; it is salino. As regards the cavern, which is covered on the outside with moss, stones, sud brush- wood, the depth of it is not known, since the thermal exhalations which come from it effoct- ually prevent any one from penetrating it. « However, a singular thing had beea remark- ed, that since the last contury birds of the sur- rounding districts had dissppeared in grest num- bers,—thrashos, doves, hawks,—and people wers in donbt to what mysterious intlnences tius should be attributed. “1In 1801, during the season of the watars, by some inexplicable Teason tho source became more_abundant, and the bathers who were one ‘morning walking below upon the greon turf saw falling from the cascado A HUMAN SKELETOX, whito as the driven soow. “You may_judge, Master Frantz, of the gen- oral fright ; it was naturally belioved that wmar- der had been commitéed sowme preceding year at Spinbronn, avd that the body of tho victim had been thrown into the spring. DBut tho skeleton did .ot weigh more than twelva pounds, and Husclnoss concluded from this that it must Lavo boen buried in the sand mors than thres centuries to have become reduced to this state of desiceationt “Thig very plausible ressoning did not pre- vent a numbec of bathers, disgusted with having drank of the saline water, from departing at the close of tne day. Thoas who were seriously ill consoled themselves. Bat tho downfall con- tinued; all that which the cavern contained of debria, of lime and of detritus, was disgorged in the following days ; a veritablo cssuary descend- ed from the mountain ; skeletons of animais of all sorts,—of quadrupeds, of birds, of reptiles,— in sbort, all that whach & borzible faucy could conceive. z « Haselnoss immediately wrote an - article demonstrating that all theso bones belonged to an antediluvian period; that they wero fossils which had been accumalated since tho universal deluge—that is, 4,000 years before the birth of Christ—and that consequently they should be regarded as veritable stoues, which indeed they really were, Scarcely had the remaintog invalids become reassured by this explanation, when the body of & fox and then that of a dove, WITH ALL ITS FEATIHERS, fell from the caseade. “ Impossiblo to assert that theso remains were anterior to the deluge! The disgust was now o great that all hastened to propare for a final departure. “tHow horrible!’ cried the fine Iadies. ¢Shocking! This is what causes the virtue of those mineral waters! Ah! sooner die than be cured by such a remedy.’ *At the end of cight days there remained at Spinbronn only 3 largo Englishman aflicted with the gout in both hands and feot, who was called Sir Thomas Hawerburch, Commodore, and who lived in moch atyle and with a great rotinus of ssrsants, according to the eustom of British sub- jects in 3 strange country. This person, large, corpulent, with » florid complexion, but with his_ bands literally knotted up with the gout, had drank of the decoction de skeloton for the bonefit of his health He laughed much at the desertion of the other invalids, aud, install- ing himself in the pretticst chalet, half way down the hill, announced his intention of passing the wintor at Spinbronn.” Hore the Councillor Bremer absorbed slowly a large pieca of tobacco in order to quicken his recolicctions, and, shaking out the rufles of his shirt with the end of his fingers, ho continaed : * Fivo or six years before tho revolution of 1789 a yonug physician of Pirmasens, named CIIRISTIAN WEBER, bad departed for Santo Domingo in the hops of making a fortuno thera. Ho had amassod about 100,000 frauca in the exercise of his profossion whon the revolt of the negroes broke out. * Tt is annecessary for mo to recall tc your mind the barbarons treatment which our un- fortunate compatriots endurcd at Hayti. Dr. ‘Weber had the good lusk to escape the massscre and to Bavo portion of his fortune. In 1801 he roturned to Pirmasens and _established himself nt Spinbronn, where Dr. Hasolnoss sold to him his house and his practice. . “ Christian Wober hsd brought with him an old negress callod Agatha,—a frightful cresture, with & broken nose, lips s large 2s vour hand, and her head envoloped in a friple fold of the most gorgeous colored silk. This poor old woman =adored red. Sho wore earrings in links which fell upon bor shouldors, sud the mountaineers of Hundsruck came to see her from Bix loagues acound. As for the Doctor, he was aman largo ond thin, inyarisbly dressed in a bluo coat and breeches mado of deerskin. Ho worea bt of flexible straw and top-boots of bright yellow, npoa the front of which hung two tacsels of silver. Hosnid littlo, langhed ner- vously, and his gray_eyes, usually calm and thoughttal, besmed with a singular light at the loast appearance of contradiction, Every morn- ing he took o walk in the mountadas, leaving his horse to follow on behind him at will, and chanting, slways_in the samo tone, somo air of nogro molody. This original man brought from ‘Hayti » number of boxes filled with al sorts of ODD INSECTS— some black and soma brown, large as hon's eggs; othors small and brilliant as sparks of hght. e sesmed to be more interested in tnem than in his patients, sud oftentimes roturning from his walks ho would have the brim of his hat filled with butterfliea. “Bo moon as he was established in the large houso of Heeelnoes, he stocked tho lower—court with strange fowls—with Barbary geese, with their scarlet gills ; with Guinea bens, aad with » white peacock, perched usually apon the wall of the garden, and who shared, with the negress, tho admiration of the mountaineors, # I I have entered too muchinto details, Mas- ter Frantz, it is because they bring to my mind the days of my youth. Dr. Weber was at once my cousin and my_tator, and upon his return to Gormany had installed me with him at Spinbronn. Tho black Agaths inspired me at first with somo fear: her irregular featurcs in- terested but repelled me. Howover, she was 5o good-natured, she knew 80 well how to mako swect-cakes, she hummed with hor guttural voico such 'straoge littlo songe, clapping her hands and keeping time with her large limbs, that I ended by taking her into my confidence and regard. “Dr. Weber was naturally attracted towards 8ir Thomas Hawerburch, who was hig most profitable, if not his only, patient ; and I soon observed that these- two singular mon held often long conversations together. They talked of MYSTERIOUS THINGS— . of the transmission of Auids: and they gave vent to odd geatures which thay had observed, the one and the other, in their travels,—Sir Thomas in the East and my tutor in South America. This puzzled me much. As it often happens to children, I wasalways on the watch for that which they seemod_to wish to conceal from me; bat finally, despairing of discovery, I took occa- sion to interrogate Agaths, and tho poor old woman, after having made me promise to say nothing, confeassd fome thatmy tutor wass sorcazor. ) Certainly ths Doctor exercised a singular in- flueace upon tho miud of the negress, and this womsn, usually 8o gay and slwaye ready to bo amused st anything, trembled like a leaf when the gray cyes of her master accidentally rested upon her. R All this, Master Frantz, scems to you to have no connection with the wsters of Spinbroom. But wait, wait! You will sce by what a singular courso of circamatance my history is connected with them, 3 4.1 iave told you that birds wers drawn into the cavern. snd even larger animsls. After tho final departure of tho batbers some old inbabi- tanta of the village remembered that a yodog girl named Louiss Muller, who lived with an in- bad wme d ther in a cottage up o S ES Vikiinsy duaypenced wame | In s hosss, £ty years sgo, Sho started oat one morning in tho scarch for herbs in the farest, and since then no news boon beard of her. Only thres or four days later some wood-cutters -who were desconding the mountain found, a fow Btaps from the cavern, her aickie and apron. *+1t was evident to every one that the skele- ton which had fallen from the cascade, and con- cerning which Haselmoss had descanted so elo- quently, was no other than that of Loniea Mal- Jer. The poor young girl had andoubtedly boen drawn inoto the gulf by the eame mysterions intluence which acted daify npon wesker beings! “What was the influeace? No ous knew. Bat the inhabitants of Sptobronn, superstitious, like all mountaineers, asserted that THE DEVIL DWELT 1IN THE CAVERY, and terror was accordingly experienced by all who lived near. B ur. One afternoon in the month of Jaly, 1802, my cousin was making a new classification of lus inocts, among which were several new ones he had caught tho day befora. I was near Lim, bolding in one the lighted taper, and in the other ncedles for piercing the specimens. 8ir Thnmnal. seated xiea.r the window, his feet npon & stwol, was smoking & cigar and regardin, 15 with a thogttfal air & e **1 was a great favorite with Sir Thomas Haw- erburch, and often accompanied bim in s walks and drives over tho mountain; he was amused with my childish attempts to chatter in English, and ho woald make of me in time, he said, & veritable gentleman. ““Whon he had ticketed all his butterflics, Doctor Weber opened tho case of bis largest in- Bects and ssid: ‘I captured yestorday s mag- nificent horn-bectle, the nd lucanys cervus ; it has this singularity, that the right side is bifurcated in five branches. Itis a rare speci- men.’ **At the samotime I gavo to him the needle, and as be picrced the insect before fixing it upon the cork, Sir'Thomas, until then immova- al:; arose and, approaching a case, perceived CELEERATED CRAD-FISH OF GUIANA, which he regarded witha feeling of horror, which was inprinted in a striking manner upon his florid countenance, 4*Behold!" he cried, ‘the most frightfal thingin the world. Only look atit! Itmakes me shudder! “Indced he was trembling, and a sudden pal- lor overspread his face. ‘**Bah!’ said my tutor, ‘thisis the prejudies of a child. Your nurse frightened you in child- hood, and the impreasion remains. Butif you consider this crab-fish with a large microscope you will bo amazed at tho perfect finish of its organs, at their admirablo disposition—at,their elegance, oven.’ “*It disgusts me!’ interrupted the Commo- dore, grufily. ‘Pah!’ *‘Ho turned it aboat on his hand. *¢*Oh! I don’t kuow why,' he said. It slways makea my blood run cold! “Dr. Weber began to laugh, and I, who shared the feolings of Sir Thomas, L cried: 4 Yes, cousin, you should throw this villain- ous thing awsy. It is sickeming—it spoils all the others.” “s Little bonst! * he said to me, while his eyes shone. ‘Who obliges you to look atit? Ifit does not please you, yon may go elsewhero.” “ Evidently he was angry; and Sir Thomas, who had gone to tho window and was lookiug out, turned quickly around and, taking me by the baud, eaid in the kindest of taues: ¢+ Let vour tutor, Frantz, keep bis crab-fish ; wo love tha trecs better—tho green grass. Let us go and take a walk!" i Yes," eried the Doctor, and return for sup- per at 6 o'clock.’ Then, raisiug his voice: * You are not offended, Sir Hawerburch 2" * The Commodors turned around and smiled gasly; then we mounted his carringe, which awaited him as usual at the gate. Sir Thomas wished todrive himsolf; 80, dismissing his servant, ho saated me beaide him upon the same eeat, and wo started for Rothalps. As f.h:dun'ilga moved slowly slong tho sandy ro A BTRANGE MELAKCHOLY seized upon my soul. Sir Thomas also was gravo. Ho perceived my sadness and said : “*Youdomnot love thoss horrible fish any moro than I, Fraatz. But, thank Heaven, thers are none of them in this country. The ono which your tutor bLasin his cese came from Guisna. 1t lives in largo marahy forests, which are constantly fitled with hot vapons, with barn- ing exhalations ; this temperatura i necessary forita hfe. Itswob, or ratherits vastsweep- pet, wholly envelopes a thicket. It catches birds a8 our spiders catch fles. But chaso from vour mind these _disgusting images, and drink a cap of my good Bargundy.” “ Then raising the top of the second seat he took from the straw a sort of gourd, from which he turned into a leather-cup & full bump- er. When I had drank my courage returned and I wasready to laugh st my former fear. ‘The carriage, drawn by a small horse of the Ar- dennes, slonder and nervous, crept along tho sandy road, which lay beforo ns almost porpen- dicular. Milliona of insccts buzzed in the bushes. At our right, not a hundred steps from us, tho darl edgo of the forests of Rothalps extended. lighted by occasioaal patchos of bright-colored trees and shrubs. At our left fell tne waters of Spinbronn, and the higher we mounted the ‘more distinctly could we seo the silver fosm, which, as it dropped into the abyss was painted s doep azuro. Thenoise of the falling wators {)fiombled the noise of tho striking of the eym- s. “I was faccinsted by this spectacle. Sir ‘Thomaos, losning forward in his seat, his kncos on a level with his chin, abandoned himself to his habitual reverics, whilo the horse, slowly picking his way aloag and laying his head upon his chest to sorve as & counterpoiss to tho car- riage, suspended us in a measare in mid-air. Soon'we atsained a less dangerous summit. Tho view wan magnificent ; tho Immonse perspective dazzied our Gves. ing our hesds, we saw, Dot far off, the TIE CAVERN OF SPINBROSN. The brushwood overhanging it was of & vivid green, and the water, which before falling upon the platean below flowed over a bed of sand and flat pobblos, wns 8o limpid that wo might bave belioved it to be glass if misty vapors had not coverad its surfaco. “The horso stopped a moment to breathe. Sir Thomas, arousing himself, looked for soms ‘momonts upon the surrounding country. “sAllis quiet,’ gaid be. Then, after an in- stant of silence: _* If you were not hero. Frantz, I think I should Iiko to batho in this basin, ‘¢ But, Commodore, why do yon not doit? I shonld enjoy & ramble about hare. I sece some flowers—I will gather & bouguet for my cousin. In an hour I will roturn.” 4 Very well, Frantz, that is a good idea. Doc- tor protends that I drink too mnch Bargundy— this mineral water will counteract its effects. This littlo bathing place pleases mo.’ * Then jamping to the groand and fastoning Ris horse to tho trunk of a birch treo, be waved his hand aa if to eay to me, ‘ You may go.' 4t § gaw him seat humself apon the moss and draw off his boots. As I withdrew, he turned and criod : 4 ¢In an hour, Frantz.' « These wero his last words. Iv. “ An hour after I returned to the place. The horwe, the carringe, aud the clothes of Sir Thomas alono met my gaze. sun had zone down. Darkness was gathering around. Not & song of bird under tho leafaga; not the hum of an insect in the sarubs. THE BILENCE OF DEATH ‘brooded over the solitude. Tho stillnoss fright- onod me. I mounted tha rock which overlooked the cavern: I scarched rightand lett. No one! I called. No response! The sound of my voico, repeated by tho ocho, made mo tremble. The night fell slowly. An indefinable anguish op- prossed mo, Suddenly the story of tho young girl who had disappeared returned to my mind, and I hastened to descend ; but arriving before the cavern 1 arrested myself, seized with an in- explicable terror. Glanciug into the dark ahadow I could just discover two red, immov- able points; then ilmweuse lines of somo- thing which wero moving in s strsDge mannor in thig darkness, the depths of which no human eye hed yot penetrated. Fright 5o to my gight, 0 all my senses, @ wondorfal subtilty. For some ecconds I heard very distinctly a grasshopper uttering his complaint in the edge of tho wood, s dog barking at soma distance off in the valley. Then my heart, oo instant stifled by emotioh, begana horrible beating. Crying out, I fled, ‘lesving horse and carnago. In less than twen! minntes, lesping over rocks, bushes, and underbrush, Ireached the door of our bouse, trembling and overcome with fear. “ ¢ Hasten! hasten! Bir Hawerburch is dead ! 8ir Haworburch 18 IN THX CAVERN! # Aftor these words, pronounced in the pres- ence of my tator, of the old Agatha, and of two or thros persons invited by the Doctor to pass the evoning, I fainted away. I efterwardslearn- od thet for s hour I was scnsoless. Al the village tarned out in the search for the Commodoare, Christian Weber leading them. At 10 o'clock that evening tho parly rernroed, bringing with them the Lorsc_s0d certisge, and in the earriage the clothes of Sir Hawerburch. Thoy bad discovered nothing! Imposible to take two steps into the cavern without being suffocatod. * During the _absence A&:fiu sod X remained Gtting by tha chimney-X stam- ‘mering out my torror in incoberant words; ehs, her Lauds crossed upon her knees, ber large eyes wide open, going from time to timo to tho window to observe that which was paasiug. for wo could sce from the foot of the mountain the torches flashing through the wood. We could hear their gruff voices afar off, calling the one to the other in the night. “ Upon tho approach of her master Agaths bo- gan to tremble. The Doctor entered bastily, pale, his lips pursed togetber, despair imprinted upon his face, A score of wood-catters fol- lowed him in tumault, with their large-brimmed bats, their sun-burnt features, wsving tho dobria of their torches. Scarcely was he within the room when the shining eyes of my tator secmed 1o geek sometlung. Ho perceived tho megress, and, withont a word being exchanged botween them, the poor woman cried out : *¢Xo! no! Ido not wish it!" “¢And I— 5 Twism !’ replied the Doctor, in a sharp tons. _** It seemed as though she recognized an fn- vincible power. She trembled from head ta foot, and, Christian Weber motioning her to & scat, sho seated berself upon it with. all the rigidity of dead body. “All'the assistznts, witnesses of this moving spectacle, good men with corse and primitive manners, but full of pious sentiment, crosssd themaelves, snd L who did not even know the name of this terriblc magnotic power of the will, 1 b:f,m to trembie, believing that Agatns was dea * Christian Weber spproached tho megross, and passing his band over hor forehcad with & rapid gesture, aaid : 4+ Are you there " ' Yes, master.’ * ‘Sir Thomas Hawerburch?” ** At these words she shuddered violently. 4+ You see him ?' « Yes, yes,” sho said, in a strangled voice 3'*X 8o him I * ¢ Whero ig he ?' *¢ ¢ Below, in the bottom of the cavern—dead.I” ‘Dead !" gaid the Doctor. - How?' 4 *TuE sPIDER! Ob, the spider-like crab-fish! Oh! * ¢ Calm your agitation,' said the Doctor, now very pale; “tell me plainly—" “'Tho ‘crab-fish drew him to the gorge. He is there, in the corner, under a rock, enveloped in hernet. Ah! “ Chnistian Wober cast acold look mpon the aasistants, who, drawn up in & circle, their eyes starting oat of their sockets, listoned, and I heard him mormur: ¢t is borrible! horrible!" « *“Then ho returnod : v . ¢+ You see him 2’ # ¢ see him.” ¢ And the fish—is it large " **‘Oh! master, never, never have I gseen it so Iarge. It is as large as my hosd !’ “Thero was a long silonce. All the assistants regardod the negress, her livid faco and her bristling hair. Christian Webor alons appeared calm ; baving passed his hands many timas over the forehead of the woman, he said : ¢t Agatha, relawe how death occurred to Six Hawerburch.” i ¢+ He wag bathing in tho bagin. 'Ths fish saw him—sa' hia naked back, bis arms floating on the water. Suddonly she darted oat e light- ning sod put her claws around the nock. of {he Commodose, who cried, *Oh! oh! my [ Sho stung lim aud fed. " Sir Hagerbarch faint- and DIED IN THE WATER. Then the fish returned, and surrounding him with her net, pulled him eoftly. softly- into the cavern. Sue had sucked his biood, 3 now he is quite black.’ 4 The Doctor, turning toward me, wito felt ng longer =ny fright, said : *Ia jt true, Frantz, that the Commodors war bathing ?' 44 Yes, cousin.’ et At what hour 7 s+ ¢About 4 o'clock.’ “¢ About 4 o'clock,—was it not very warm?' 4 Qh, yes." “ ¢ Tlat accounts for it. She struck him apon. tho forehesd, sod tho heat provented resiat- ance. 2 + Ho muttered some unintelligiblo then, glmcins 2t tho mountaineers, 1 4 ‘My frionds. behold whence conien this masa of debris—of skeletons—which has {1} own ter- ror among the bathers. Behold thit Shich hat wholly ruin=d you—it is the spider:fisls! She is i there, gloatin in her web and fhr,wing het prey into the bottom of the cavera #'Who can’ teil the number of her victims ?"” < * And, filled with s sort of rage, he railied oufy erying: “tracoTs! FAGOTE! « All the wood-cutters followed hfn in tae malt. * Ten minutes afterwards two large wagons filled with fagots moanted slowly ap the sids of the mountain. A long file of wood-catters, their backs bent and their hatchots upon thoir shoulders, followed tbem in tho midst of the darkness. My tutor and I walked on in advance, leading the horses by their bridles, while the melancholy moon dimly lighted this funeral march. From time to ume the wheels would grato ; then the wagons, elevatod by the rocky esperitea of tho road, would fall back into the beaten track with rough joltings. ¢ Near tho cavern our cortogo halted. Tho torches were lighted, and the party advancod towards the galf. Tko limpid water, flowiny ovor tho sand, reflected tho bluish light of tho resinous torches, tho rays of which lighted np the topsof the fir-trocs growing upon the rock. *41¥e will unload hero,’ said tho Doctor; ‘the entrance to tha cave must be filled.? It was not without & fecling of terror that each one sot about executing his orders. Some pickets, planted below. prevented the water from carrying the fagots away. Towards mid~ night the opening of the cavern wes literally closed. The water bubbling below escaped at tho right and left over the mass. The upper fagots wore perfeotly dry; than Dr. Weber. seizing a torch, lighted the fire himself, and the flame, haetening from twig to twig with cracklings of anger, soon shot towards heaven, chasing befora it clouds of smoke. It was & i STRANGE AND SAVAGE SPECTACLE which those woods, twinkling in the shadows witnessed. “*The cavern continued to disgorge a blach smoke. All around stood the wood-cutters, serious, mmmovable, waiting, their eyes fixed upon the opening ; and I, even aithough fear made me trembls from héad to foot, could not detach my regard from it. ¢ It might bavo been a quarter of an hour that +we had waited, and the Doctor had begun ta grow impatient, when a black object with long, crooked feot appeared saddenly in the shados and precipitated itself towscd the cpening. “A goneral cry came from the wood-cutters. The fish, chased by the flame, entered agamn inta ita cavern ; then, without doubt stifled by the smoke, she returncd to the charge and threm horself into the midst of the fire. Her lon; claws curled up. She was largor than my he: and of o violent red. She looked like a bladder filled with blood. Ono of the wood-cuttars, fearing shio might cecapo from the fire, threw bis ax at her, and aimed 8o well that her blood for o moment qnénched the flamo, but, soon breaking out agsin, it CONSUMED TIE HOBRIBLE INSECT ! V. “Sach is, Master Frantz, which destroyed the fins rc waters of Spinbrona formerly possns: certify to you the scrupulous’ cxactitude of my rocital, but as for giving_you aa oxplanstion of it, that would bo impossible. Permit ma to sa7, howaver, that it docs not seom to me absurd to admit thet zome insects, subjected to tho elo- vated temperature of some thermal waters, which procure for them the game conditions of existenco and development that the burning climates of Africa and South America do, may attain to fabulous propostions. It is this samo oxtreme heat which will account to us for the unparalleled exuberance of tho antediluvian crestion, “ However it may be, my tutor, jndging that it would be impossible to resuscitate the fzme of the watezs of Spinbronn, sold_his house and returned to South America with his negress and hio collections. I was placed in school ¢ Stras- burgh, where I remained til! 1809, “Tha great political ovents of the period absorbing then the attention of Germaoy and of France, the occurrence which I have just related passed unnoticed."—English Magarine. LIFE. We sre born ; wo laughs wa weep | W love; we droop; w die{ Ab 1 wherefore do we langh oz weep? Why do we live or die? Wlio knows that secret dsep? , not X1 Why doth the violet sprisg. Unsosn by human eyo? Why do tho radian: seasons bring ‘Sweet thougite that quickly 0y 7 Way do our fond hearts cling To things that dio? We tofl—through pain and wrong; e sgbiandy: PO 9 o lova; we lose © oot ia 3 thy g i Iifal “Endure uLdn | e