a

grandly; here one first sees the broad, mere youth, to be taken prisoner by blue gulf of Salerno, and the eye, a corsair, was taken into Tunis and shooting across, rests upon the moun- sold as a slave. He passed through tains of Calabria. On the left, rear- a variety of adventures, and had the ed high in air, is the cloudy peak of pleasure of serving a variety of masSt. Angelo; the ridge is bristled with ters, until at length he contrived to a few pines, but all the slopes seem ingratiate himself with a person of bare : nearer to us starts up Vicar- some consideration who had purvano, lofty, ragged, and abrupt; to- chased him, and who, finding, or fanwards the base he is tufted with cying, many good qualities in the mountain shrubs, but as the eye as- poor Neapolitan sailor boy, who cends they disappear, and long strata could neither read nor write, underof naked rocks stare out rude and took the care of making his fortune, forbidding! still his top is green as and actually furnished him with ema meadow and fringed with trees. ployments in which he amassed no On the right, at no great distance, inconsiderable sum of money. After rises Malacocola, another hill, par- a long time, he was seized with a tially wooded, but in some places desire of revisiting his native plain ; wild and bare ; and towards the his mother and father were dead, his gulf of Salerno broken into preci- family dispersed, and himself forgotpitous cliffs of a tremendous height. ten, when on a sudden he made his In either bay there were many little appearance at Sorrento; he contrivsails flying to and fro, and in the dis- ed to find a brother, and some other tance a large vessel, vexed by a shift- relations, he bought some land, and ing breeze, was slowly maneuvere determined to build a house and fiing into the bay of Naples, her sails nish his days in ease and independwere all in shade, and she passed ence: accordingly our Casino rose across the waters wrapped in a sullen on the crest of the hill, and a large frown.

masseria was inclosed and attached On reaching the summit of the hill to it; here the wanderer retired, and we began to make inquiries about a here discovered that a life of ease lodging; and after some little trou- was not calculated to please him ; ble found one in a casino, which, he had been formed in other scenes ; though almost new, well built, very he grew restless, and at length reconvenient, and standing in an admi- solved to return to that foreign rable situation, which commanded a shore where it is said he had been at view of the surrounding hills and of once a tyrant and a slave. It is said, both bays, had been deserted by its indeed, that a land of liberty was owner, who preferred living in a odious to Stinca, who knew no differsmall, dark, dirty house, in a narrow ence between liberty and slavery, lane at St. Agnolo, surrounded by but that one was to commit wrong poverty, beggary, filth, and a hun- and the other to suffer it; we have dred unutterable abominations. You heard also that he had but little rewill ask, perhaps, what can be his spect for the flame of a wax-candle motive? Oh! Sir! it is nothing or the tinkling of a silver bell; but very occult or very unusual; it is be that as it may, the cause he himsimply that he has an invincible dis- self assigned for his departure was like to his own company, that soli- that he wished to recover some protude is to him an abstract of discom- perty which he had left at Tunis. fort and disgust, and he gladly flies He returned to Africa, carrying back to any thing that will shield him with him the bulk of his property, from the horrors of being alone. and shortly after, in one of those litOur house was dignified with the tle disturbances with which the amiatitle of Villa Stinca ; its history is ble people of those parts occasionally, rather curious : a good many years amuse themselves to keep their blood ago, there lived in the Piano di Sore from stagnating, poor Stinca's head rento a family of the name of Stinca; flew from his shoulders, and at the one of the children belonging to it, as same time his patron's underwent a the family was very poor, at a very similar operation. The farm which early age went to sea to gain his Stinca had purchased, and the house livelihood, and chancing, while a which he had built on the hill, de

« Oh! my

scended to his brother, who imme the cottage behind, and the goats diately became a galantuomo, and scrambling up that path."

« And wore a coat ever afterwards. * that bare legged girl-" “ Why, yes,

We soon completed our little ar- that's very true, but still —” But still rangements with respect to our mode what? “ Why, if we begin to deof living, &c. engaged the parsonale, viate from our plan” or farmer, who lived in a little house dear fellow, don't be bothering for on the masseria, to furnish our hum- everlasting about our plans ; for let ble table, and to perform other little me tell you, it will be a very bad plan necessary offices; and when those indeed to make ourselves the slaves important preliminaries were settled, of any particular arrangement-in and we were established in our short, I say--I say, in short —" mountain home, we coolly laid out “Well, come, let us go on and say regular plans for making excursions no more about it.” And on we went. to every point in the neighbourhood The morning was. cheerful, and in where any thing might challenge re- a little time the heat grew extreme ; mark. Our plans were really most so that we were very glad when we judiciously contrived, and included reached a gorge in the hill, where a every advantage in the narrowest bushy dell and green sward invited compass imaginable, but we suppress us to rest; for we were thoroughly the details, for somehow, “what will tired with clambering up the rough you have o'nt,” we never carried one steep road, which conducted us up of them into execution. The first the hill. We sought out a place from time we sallied out to make an ex- which we could look down upon the cursion we struck by accident into a plain, and enjoy the beautiful view: path that swept up the hills on our wherever we turned our eye we saw right; and we walked on a little plain, or mountain, or copse ; and the while in silence; it was the musing breeze from the sea swept along hour of morning, the hour when na- the uplands, bringing sweetness with ture seemed yet scarcely roused from every gust. After we had well restrepose ; before the breeze is heated, ed, we began once more to ascend, before the shadow is chased away, and had a hard scramble up the rocks and while the birds are still twitter to a lone farm house, which stands on ing in their nests—in short, precisely the highest peak of the hill; it is in the hour when

fact insulated on the topmost crag ; Morn

the slopes around it are stony and Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain's top.

barren, except where a few hardy

mountain shrubs shoot out from beWe had walked on about a quar- tween the rocks, and cover them with ter of an hour, and began to approach tufts of green. Opposite the farm the hills, when it was observed, house, at a few paces distant, stands “ we are beginning at the wrong end a chapel; this, with the house and of our plan." « Ah! so we are, so the land around, had once belonged to we are; this won't do at all, but a monastery, which is down in the there's a fine rock! eh? and the plain, and hither in former times the wood behind it !” “ Yes, and the monks were accustomed to repair gorge opening below; and the old during the hot weather, or when the tower on the hill! eh?" “ By Ju- harvest required their attendance. piter, we must see that a little near- The whole property was seized by

But then, the plan, the plan!" the French, but was not sold until “Why, aye, to be sure, the plan, the return of Ferdinand, when that, as you say--but then, you know, it with other fine tracts of land, consistwon't signify much, if we come here ing of copse, vineyard, orchard, &c. twice, will it? and then there's a which had belonged to different relifine clump of trees." “Yes, and gious fraternities, being sold by public

a

er.

• A coat is quite a distinctive of gentility among the vulgar in this kingdom. 02 un galantuono, porta la sciarnberga (O he is a gentleman, he wears a coat); but they have some nice distinctions; a man who wears a sort of coat continually, is a gentleman ; one who wears a coat now and then, is a mezzo galantuomo, or a specie di galantuomo. Jackets enjoy a very bad reputation.

anction, was bought by a Swiss, and lightful ramble we repaired to the let out in large farms to different per- farm house, the owner of which we sons. From a little seat behind the knew, and here reposed and refreshchapel, the eye roams over an ex- ed ourselves, and passed the rest of tensive landscape; the principal ob- the day. We were entertained with jects are, Ischia, Procida, Cape Mi- rude but abundant hospitality, and senum, Baja, Posilippo, Naples, the were pleasurably reminded more than long slopes of Vesuvius, the distant once of the little farmers of our own Appenines, nearer to us S. Angelo, country. We consumed several hours lofty and bare, and wreathed round in conversing with our worthy host and round with clouds, the bay of on the rural economies of Sorrento, Salerno, the whole plain of Sorrento, and as it was evening before we set the cottages scattered among the out, night overtook us in the woods hills, and the wooded slopes imme- on our return. We had wisely stopdiately below us. The two bays are ped to watch the declining sun, as the most striking objects; that of he sunk behind Ischia, becoming Salerno is more grand and more ex- more and more glorious as he detensive, but that of Naples is far scended; we observed that the last more beautiful, from its islands, its lights of day were vanishing from the undulating shores, its frequent sails, intricacies of the thicket; we saw and, perhaps, in a great measure, that fine but fugitive blush which acfrom its comparative smallness, which companies the twilight in southern brings it all within the reach of the climates, fast fading into darkness, eye, and makes it a perfect whole. and before we could rouse ourselves While we stayed to enjoy this view, from our reverie night had closed the bays were as peaceful as the blue upon us. Presently the copse began sky which they reflected, not a breeze to sparkle with lucciole (fire-flies) ruffled them, their waters stretched which grew more and more bright out broad, tranquil, and magnificent, and numerous, until the whole hill and mixed peacefully in the main. seemed to swarm with wandering From this height Vesuvius looks sparks of fire. We have always admore grand than usual, more lofty, mired the poetical effect produced by more lonely, and more threatening ; the glow-worm's little lamp, but the its cone is not here rivalled by the glow-worm contrasted with the luccone of the Somma, for the latter is ciola would “pale his ineffectual fire;" hid by the former, and from the so- being very far inferior in brightness litary peak rises that dark cloud and beauty; but the chief inferiority which is the index of the strife with of the glow-worm consists in his bem in. On going round to the other side ing confined to the ground, and in of the farm house we obtained a view his dilatory motion, whilst the chief of the rugged summit of Santa Cos- beauty of the lucciole, perhaps, contanza, and we looked down into the sists in the irregular vivacity of their valley in which stands the ancient motion, of their rising into the air, city of Sorrento. Even from this of their flitting from shrub to shrub, height we could see the deep gulph and tree to tree, and of their occawhich runs almost round it, forming sionally assembling in little troops. a natural defence, which in ancient The paths by which we had to detimes must have been almost im- scend, to our great discomfort, were pregnable. We could discern also for the most part precipitous, and all the line of walls flanked with towers, along rough with large stones and which gives the city, when one is broken by fosses ; however, by means near to it, an air of feudal strength of great precaution, by frequently and gloom.

pausing, by treading cautiously, and The valley is very small and very winding about, we at length reachfertile; the hills which enclose it are ed our solitary casino in safety, and covered with vines half way up, and after our supper of curdled milk, we corn, legumes, and copse, extend to retired to bed and slept most protheir summits. After a long and de- foundly.

THE OLD MARGATE HOY.

listeners. His dreaming fancies had transported us beyond the "ignorant present." But when (still hardying more and more in his triumphs over our simplicity), he went on to affirm that he had actually sailed through the legs of the Colossus at Rhodes, it really became necessary to make a stand. And here I must do justice to the good sense and intrepidity of one of our party, a youth, that had hitherto been one of his most deferential auditors, who, from his recent reading, made bold to assure the gentleman, that there must be some mistake, as "the Colossus in question had been destroyed long since: to whose opinion, delivered with all modesty, our hero was obliging enough to concede thus much, that "the figure was indeed a little damaged." This was the only opposition he met with, and it did not at all seem to stagger him, for he proceeded with his fables, which the same youth appeared to swallow with still more complacency than ever,-confirmed, as it were, by the extreme candour of that concession. With these prodigies he wheedled us on till we came in sight of the Reculvers, which one of our own company (having been the voyage before) immediately recognising, and pointing out to us, was considered by us as no ordinary seaman.

not many wise, or learned, composed at that time the common stowage of a Margate packet. We were, I am afraid, a set of as unfledged Londoners (let our enemies give it a worse name) as Thames or Tooleystreet at that time of day could have supplied. There might be an exception or two among us, but I scorn to make any invidious distinctions among such a jolly, companionable ship's company, as those were whom I sailed with. Something too must be conceded to the Genius Loci. Had the confident fellow told us half the legends on land, which he favoured us with on the other element, I flatter myself, the good sense of most of us would have revolted. But we were in a new world, with every thing unfamiliar about us, and the time and place disposed us to the reception of any prodigious marvel whatsoever. Time has obliterated from my memory much of his wild fablings; and the rest would appear but dull, as written, and to be read on shore. He had been Aid-decamp (among other rare accidents and fortunes) to a Persian prince, and at one blow had stricken off the head of the King of Carimania on horseback. He, of course, married the Prince's daughter. I forget what unlucky turn in the politics of that court, combining with the loss of his consort, was the reason of his quitting Persia; but with the rapidity of a magician he transported himself, along with his hearers, back to England, where we still found him in the confidence of great ladies. There was some story of a Princess-Elizabeth, if I remember, -having entrusted to his care an extraordinary casket of jewels, upon some extraordinary occasion-but as I am not certain of the name or circumstance at this distance of time, I must leave it to the Royal daughters of England to settle the honour among themselves in private. I cannot call to mind half his plea--he produced none, and seemed to sant wonders; but I perfectly remember, that in the course of his travels he had seen a phoenix; and he obligingly undeceived us of the vulgar error, that there is but one of that species at a time, assuring us that they were not uncommon in some parts of Upper Egypt. Hitherto he had found the most implicit

All this time sate upon the edge of the deck quite a different character. It was a lad, apparently very poor, very infirm, and very patient.

His eye was ever on the sea, with a smile; and, if he caught now and then some snatches of these wild legends, it was by accident, and they seemed not to concern him. The waves to him whispered more pleasant stories. He was as one, being with us, but not of us.

He heard the bell of dinner ring without stirring; and when some of us pulled out our private stores-our cold meat and our salads

want none. Only a solitary biscuit he had laid in; provision for the one or two days and nights, to which these vessels then were oftentimes obliged to prolong their voyage. Upon a nearer acquaintance with him, which he seemed neither to court nor decline, we learned that he was going to Margate, with the