The next morning, about ten o'clock, after Mr. George had gone to the museum, Rollo and Josie went out to find a carriage. They inquired at the hotel, before they went, how much they ought to pay. When they reached the stand, they looked along the line, and finally chose one with a nice and pretty blue lining, and two jet black horses. They made their bargain with the coachman, and then drove to the door.
[Illustration: THE PUBLIC GARDENS.]
Mrs. Gray and Rosie were ready, and soon the party were driving rapidly along on their way out of town, passing by the gates of the public gardens, which lie in a beautiful situation along the shore, in the western part of the city. You have a view of these gardens in the engraving; and in the distance, over the tops of the houses, you see a long ridge of high land running down towards the sea. It was through this ridge of high land that the famous subterranean passage way, called the Grotto of Posilipo, was cut, to open a way for the road into the country without going over the hill.
After driving along the street which lies between the gardens and the houses on the right, as seen in the engraving, the carriage turned into another street, which runs behind the houses, and thence gradually ascended towards the entrance to the grotto. Just before reaching the entrance, the land seemed to rise to a very lofty height before and on each side of the road; and it was so built up in terraces, and garden walls, and platforms, and staircases of villas, that there seemed to be no way out. Rosie could not imagine, she said, where they could possibly be going, until at length, at a sudden turn between two lofty walls, they saw the immense mouth of the grotto opening before them.
The grotto was wide enough for two carriages to pass, and very high. It was lighted with lamps, and was full of people and of carriages going and coming. Here and there along the walls of rock on each side, near the entrance, there were a great many curious structures to be seen, and openings cut in the rock. On one side was a chapel excavated in the rock, with an iron railing in front of it, to separate it from the road. Within this railing there was an altar, with lamps burning before it, and a priest begging money of the people passing by. On the other side was an ancient monument, with a long Latin inscription upon it. Above were a great many different openings cut in the rock.
Rollo had ordered the coachman to stop at the entrance to Virgil's Tomb, and the carriage accordingly drew up before a gate which seemed to be set in the solid wall of rock which formed one side of the entrance to the grotto. There was a man standing at this gate, and as soon as he saw the carriage stop, he unlocked it. They all got out of the carriage, and went in. The way led up a long and narrow, and very steep flight of stone steps, which brought the party out at last into a sort of vineyard, or garden, on the surface of the ground above.
Here there was a path which ascended some distance higher, among grape vines and fruit trees, until at last it came to a place where there was a beautiful view of Naples and Vesuvius, and all the bay. After stopping a little time to admire this view, the party went on, following the path, which now began to descend again, and to go back towards the mouth of the grotto. Here, after climbing up and down among a great number of caverns and excavations of all kinds cut in the rock, they came down to a place just over the top of the mouth of the great grotto, where the structure which is called Virgil's Tomb is situated. It was a very strange place. Rosie said that it was the strangest place that ever she was in. Far beneath them they could hear the sound of the carriages, and the voices of men who were going in and coming out, at the mouth of the great grotto below.
After remaining here a few minutes, the party all went back down the path through the vineyard to the carriage again.
The coachman then drove on through the grotto. It was full of carts, carriages, loaded donkeys, and foot passengers, all going to or returning from Naples. The floor of it was paved with stone, and at different distances up the sides could be seen the marks made by the hubs of wheels in former ages, when the roadway was at a higher level than it is now. The natural rock is so soft that the wheel hubs cut into it very easily. This is the reason why the floor is paved too, for the rock itself would not stand the wear.
After passing through the grotto, the party emerged into a wide and open country, which presented beautiful views on every side. The road was excellent, being as hard and smooth as a floor, and the coachman drove on at great speed.
The party came at length in sight of a town, which stood on a promontory jutting out into the sea, at a short distance before them. This was the town called in ancient times Puteoli. It was in those days the great seaport of the whole bay, for Naples had not then been built. It was also the nearest good port to Rome, in coming from the south, and it was accordingly here that the apostle Paul landed when he was sent to Rome by Festus, in consequence of his having appealed unto Cæsar, when accused and persecuted by the Jews. There are the ruins of an old mole still to be seen stretching out into the sea, opposite to the port, and Rollo said he thought that it must have been on that mole that Paul landed.[D]
[Footnote D: See Acts xxv, 9-12; also Acts xxviii, 13, 14.]
"Puteoli was a great place in old times," said Rollo; "and that's the reason why they had such an immense amphitheatre here. We are going to see the ruins of it presently; but first, we are going to see Solfatara."
Just at the entrance to Puteoli, or Pozzuoli, as it is now called, the party came to a bridge where there was a small ascent, that made it necessary for the carriage to go slowly; and here a great number of men, women, and children were assembled, some guides, but most of them beggars; and as soon as the carriage arrived, they all broke out at once with such a noise and clamor, that Rosie was for a moment quite alarmed.
"Never fear, Rosie," said Rollo; "I know how to manage them."
Ever so many old ragged hats and caps were stretched out towards the carriage, and three or four men and boys, who all wanted to be employed as guides, began struggling together to climb up upon the carriage, to get the seat with the driver. Rollo looked at them all, with a view of making a selection among them. He chose an intelligent-looking boy of about his own age, that the men had pushed back.
"Do you speak French?" said Rollo to the boy, of course speaking in French himself in asking the question.
"A little, sir," said the boy.
"Then I engage you," said Rollo. Then touching the coachman, he pointed to the boy, and said, "Questo," which means "this one."
So the coachman pushed the other men back, and made room for the boy to get up on the seat with him. He then whipped up the horses, and soon the other guides and the beggars, with all their noise and clamor, were left behind.
"You managed it very well, Rollo," said Mrs. Gray.
"Yes, Rollo," said Rosie, "you did it very well indeed. Next time I shall not be at all afraid."
After riding a little farther, the coachman turned into a sort of lane, and after going on for some way in the lane, he stopped. The boy got down, and said that it would be necessary for them to walk the rest of the way. So the whole party descended from the carriage, and began their walk.
After going on for nearly a quarter of a mile, they passed through a gate which seemed to be connected with some rude sort of manufactory, and then, walking on a little farther, they found themselves within the crater. It was a small, circular valley, surrounded on all sides by a ridge of earth, apparently one or two hundred feet high. The valley might have been about a third or a quarter of a mile in diameter. The bottom of it was level, and was covered with a scanty vegetation. The soil was very white, as if it were formed of substances calcined by exposure to the fire.