The luxury indeed of Baia was fo great, that it became a proverb, even amongst the luxurious Romans themselves; and, at Rome, we often find them upbraiding with effeminacy and epicurism, those who spent much of their time in this scene of delights; Clodius throws it in Cicero's teeth more than once: And that orator's having purchased a villa here, hurt him not a little in the opinion of the graver and more auftere part of the fenate. The walls of these palaces ftill remain, and the poor peasants, in some places, have built up their miferable huts within them; but, at prefent, there is not one gentleman or man of fashion refiding in any part of this country; the former ftate of which, compared with the prefent, certainly makes the moft ftriking contrast imaginable. Yesterday we rode over the greatest part of it a fhooting porcupines, a new fpecies of diverfion, which I had never heard of before. We killed feveral of these animals on the Monte 1 Monte Barbaro, the place that formerly. produced the Falernian wine, but now a barren wafte. I don't know if you are acquainted with this kind of fport. To me, I own, its novelty was its greatest merit ; and I would not at any time give a day of partridge for a month of porcupine shooting. Neither indeed is the flesh of these animals the most delicious in the world, though to-day most of us have dined upon it. It is extremely luscious, and foon palls upon the appetite, We are now going to lay in our fea-store, as there is fome probability that we shall fail in a day or two.-Farewell-you fhall hear from me again at Meffina, if we are hot swallowed up by Charybdis. LETTER II. On Board the Charming Molly, off the WE have now begun our expedition with every aufpicious omen. This morning the melancholy firoce left us; and in place of it we have gotten a fine brisk tramontane (or North wind) which in a few hours blew away all our vapours, and made us wonder how much the happiness of mankind depends on a blast of wind. After eating a hearty dinner with many of our friends at Mr. Walter's, and drinking plentifully of his excellent burgundy, we took leave in the highest spirits. Had the firocc blown as yefterday, we should probably have been in tears; and not one of us would have fufpected that we were crying, only because the wind was in the VOL. I. fouth. C fouth. We are not apt to fuppofe.it; but probably a great part of our pleasures and pains depend upon fuch trivial causes, though always afcribed to fomething else; few people being willing to own themselves like a weathercock, affected by every blast. Indeed we should have naturally imputed it to the grief of parting with that excellent family whom you know fo well; which no perfon could ever leave without regret, or fee without pleasure; but the agreeable profpect of foon meeting again, (probably better qualified to amuse and entertain them) abforbed all melancholy thoughts; and even added to that alacrity, which the delightful tour before us had already infpired. * * y c We failed at five; and after firing our farewel fignals to our friends on fhore, (whom we discovered with our glaffes at fome miles distance) we foon found ourfelves in the middle of the bay of Naples, furrounded 1 furrounded by the most beautiful scenery in the world. It fell calm for an hour, on purpose to give us time to contemplate all its beauties. The bay is of a circular figure; in most places upwards of 20 miles in diameter; fo that including all its breaks and inequalities, the circumference is confiderably more than 60 miles. The whole of this fpace is fo wonderfully diverfified, by all the riches both of art and nature, that there is scarce an object wanting to render the scene compleat; and it is hard to say, whether the view is more pleafing from the fingularity of many of these objects, or from the incredible variety of the whole. You see an amazing mixture of the antient and modern; fome rifing to fame, and fome finking to ruin. Palaces reared over the tops of other palaces, and antient magnificence trampled under foot-by modern folly.-Mountains and islands, that were celebrated C 2 |