Ossian Collection > Gentleman's magazine, and historical chronicle > Volume 66, Part 2

66S
Review of Neiv Publications,
[Auj
cax'erns, formerly inliabited, now pro-
tiucing faltpeire. This whole province
is enveloped in );;norance and barba-
rifna, filth, criiries of evt-ry fort, and
many bodily diforders and deformities.
The Lupi Mattveri, rufhing out of their
fiibierianeous holes during the nij^hr,
fend forth the nioit terril-ying howls,
wallow in the mud and in the heaps
(jf filth and ounire, and defperatcly
attack fuch as chance to fall in their
xvay. In the (ummer are feen a num-
ber of men and women, called Taran-
tuluti, wuo, decked out in vine-leaves
and red ribbands, are fulTcred to dance
unmolefied about the ilrcets. A dif-
c;'.fe calltd the monaallo, or iticube, is
common among men and women, who
are delivere<l over to exorcifm, and
other impofifons of the priefls ; when
the difeale is only a fpecits of hyfteric,
occafioned bv the heat of the climate,
the mode of life, and 'he dirt ; and.no
medical afliftance is to b-: founl. Near
Akamura, which was founded 1232,
are remains of an antiert c;tv, not Pni-
iia. The road from Naples to Portici
paflTes between uninttn uptsd rows of
villas, almoll to the Tone del An-
nunziat;!, between which nnd Torre d:l
Greco ene palfes over a fiream of lava,
that flowed out of Vrfuviu-, 1769, to
the fea. The lava from this volcano
differs from that of Etna, in that it foon
becomes earth, and vukivated. '* They
who judge of the age of lava by its
progrcfs in dtcompofi ion mull be al-
ways liab'e to error, unlefs they at the
fame time take into the account its va-
rious component parts. They alio have
been greatly vvhie of the truth, who
have j'ldged r.f the periods in which
the lava hath floued by the thicknefs
of the layers of earth between dreams
of lava that lie one above ar.oditr 5 for,
allowing that ths date of one or two
curieiits be given as a foundation upon
which to proceed, one (ort of lava will
in ten years have a (Iratum of earth a
foot deep upon it, and another fort
have fcarctlv the lame quantit 7 in 200
years" (p, 252, 253).
Notera, 19 mucs trom Naples, is not
ill-bui t, and inhabitsd by inhabitants
of wild and atiabi'arian countenances,
wliem e r.aicely a day palfes without
an afiT'lTination. On the North fide of
the fea, Sorrento flands in an amphi-
tbei.ri-, on a vo'canic foil. One is
afloniihed at the firuation of negle8ed
A'oaiti: M-nduri, famous for macca-
roni ; and the fifliful Gjifari. TJie
road to Salerno paflTes through the peace-
ful and enchanting valley, La Cava, ■
highly cultivated, and filled with houles
of the king and nobility, of whom
our traveller gives a favourable charac-
ter. Salerno, with all its advantages of
fituadon, extent, and handfome edi-
fices, is fpoiled by narrow (Ireets and
mod unwholcfome air, and appears
like a defart, except at the great an-
nual fair for hoifes and cattle. The
buffaloes harl)our in the fwamps here,
which gives their flefli a rancid tafte ;
but their milk, and the fmall new
cheefes made of it, are veiy pleafan:.
Though apparently eafily tamed and
driven, thele bealts bear maliije. Tiic
female is f.'.id to have periodical difor-
ders, like m.enfes. The fagacity of tlie
buffalo is attefted by the inllance of
one trained to carry a mail over a li-
ver ; he came from his paflure to fetch
it, and, if the mail was tco heavy to
take the man with it, would refufe and
puffi av/ay the man, and come again for
him alone.
Upon tlie tops of fomC of the builvr
hills rouiui La Cava are fmall circuljt
turrets, ufed in catching the wild pi-
geons, in their flight through the val-
leys, towaids the latter end of Sep-
tember. A man is ported upon each
turret; and, as foon as the pigeons i^
entciing the valley approach the t^r:;
tower, he flings a flat ttone over then,.
\vi:h luch force that thebird^, deceived
by tl.e wliiilling noifc of the ftone, fan-
cy it a bird of prey, and haften their
fligiit toward? a place of refuge ; the
fl;ng is repeated at every tower, until
the birds are thus driven to the laft
turret in the valley, where a large net
is fpread in the hollo'As among the,
bufljes, in which the affriglued pigeons
arc taken in great numbers. This di-
verfion requires much praftice and
dexterity in flinging the ftone, but is
faid to be ex:remely entertaining (p.
265, 266). This may b: true, but it
founds rather wonderful. The coun-
try near Salerno is well cultivated,
chiefly with rice; but five miles be-
yond is I'wampy, and too unhealthy to
fi:ep in. The three temples of Pffiilumi
command a full view of the (ea, and
the fui rounding couniri', and have
Ijecn notici^ almoft in every age. Tae
fite of the city was very happily chofen,
according to the pradice of the an-
ticnts. The Sancens are faid to have
deilroyed the greater part of it in the
tenth century, cxccot tiie temples. Ro-
bert