LETTERS FROM ABROAD

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 209, 21 August 1911, Page 11

LETTERS FROM ABROAD

BY T. LINDSAY BUICK.

No. 14

TH E M E 1) ITE RI?A N E AN.

Owing to by dive into “brightest” Africa, and caTro. as de tailed in my l-ast .etier I niu.sed pacing through ti.e Suez Canal and making a prolonged May at Port Said. The former lo*s was to some extent com)>ensated for by the gkmp-ee of De Les&eps' great, achievement which we obtained as we rushed over the desert part of tin* journey, and the latter was in all probability a blousing in disguise, and from what I have heard of the town to which Said Pasha has given his name, sun, sand, and sin appear to be its principal component parts. Our introduction to the Mediterranean Sea was not at al! an agreeble one. and in this connection. I must confess that another of my idols have been smashed. I had always conjured up in my mind an idea that this particular sea was ever blue and delightfully serene. In all probability the notion was born of the visions of it which are .invariably presented to us in the piettire Ixioks and tourists guides, but one must not rely too intplicate’fy upon the freedom of the artist’s fancy or the generosity of the artist's bru.-ii. at k.mt in our ease it proved restless and billowy until we rounded the toe oi Italy when, we obtained the sheier of the laud. Me passed through the straits of Meosina. just after daybreak, and there were many curious eyes turned towards the town of that name on the Sicilian shore which was so trously wrecked by earthquake alxuit 2J years ago. The city’, for such it might almost be called, was elearty visible, beneath the high headlands, and here and there the rugged outline of a ruined building could be made out through the glasses. As a matter of fact, the town looked better than it really was. for the officers of the steamer informed us that the thriftless and indolent people had contributed but Little to the restoration of thoiir homes, preferring to live on tbe generosity of the world so loaig m it lasted. A few hours later a ripple or excitement was created by the peak of Strombol; looming up through the but the haze was too heavy wmtwl its base to permit of any <i»tinat view of the Island itself- For the rest of the day the Italian coast, with its rugged mountains, its vineyards and cultivated slopes, afforded us »nfa.iling interest, while at night we saw the lights of several lange towns gleaming in the distance.

NAPLES.

on the afternoon of Saturday, April 29, we came is* sight of ths Wand of Capri, green with the growth of spring, and an hour later "of Jlapieß opened out before wa The beauty of this world-famed harbor has been the theme of mere poetic pens than mine, and it seems almost as superfluous as “painting HbS IHy and the roee” to add •djectaves which can but faintly echo ail that has already been written regarding it. 1 confess to being caprivsted by its charm of color, and its quaint, not to eay queear, old castellated structures, built upon every promontory, with the symmetrical eone of Vesuvius towering above it yll Would that I could eay the same of the town of Naples. But ptf.rhe.pe it is unfair to censure tine erty too severely, for our stay there was too brief to permit of any coanprehenorve survey of it being made. Owing to what would be styled in diplomatic circles as an “incident ’ with the Health Department, we wore hung up in the harbor until well into the evening, and we got ashore only for a sufficient length of lime to arrive at the conclusion that everything in Naples was dead and dirty. From this time out I am no longer of the opinion that there is anything to justify the well-known aphorism, “See Naples, and die,” but smell it and 1 agree that your

quietus may come at any moment, 'flie salutary liabita of the people are surprisingly retrogressive, and the sanitary arrangements of the town appear to be on a par with those of a Maori kainga before the advent <rf Dr Pomare. Here we got •ome glimmering of what the Comt mental system of standing armlee means, for everywhere men in military drees were to be seen in the streets — loitering burdens upon the taxpayers. We also noticed a very large proportion of people who from their drees appeared to be in the service of the Church, for it is tn Italy that you see the Church triumphant, but the people who attracted our attention most, for the simple reason that they dogged our Htejis in every direction, were the would-be guides and post-card setters. It is doubtful which of the latter is the greater nuisance, and if there ever arise* a Neapolitan Lord High Executioner, whose duty it us to prepare a “little list.” I wouui earnestly recommend him to _ put tlrese gentlemen at the head of it, for their absence would only be appreciable in the sense of a pleasant relief. Doubtless there is something in Naples to admire, but I regret that I was unfortunate enough not to encounter it. and when we cast off from the wharf I experienced the —to me—unusual sensation of being rather glad to get away.

POMPEII

With Pompeii, to which wo were privileged to pay a flying visit on Sunday morning, the position was quite different. There them was a field of deep and al*sorbmg interest, and as we walked through the deserted streets of the city of the dead, with its ruined temples, its vacant wine shops, its houses rich in fragmentarv decoratione 2000 years old. wo felt the sped of the mystery upw us. amd longed for leisure enough to sit- on some broken column and build again in fancy the shattered walls, re-people the streets, replenish the dry fountains, and galvanise into life the theatre wherein contended the { gay gladiators, or perhaps groaned t tire hapless slave. Time, or rather the want of time, did not permit of much reverie, but as we passed out at what was formerly called the “Gate of the Sea,” where the Romain eenthrel woe found by the excavators

standing to his arms, it was with the full resolve to return at the earliestpossible moment that fortune would afford us. GENOA. The day after leaving Naples we reached Genoa, the most important Italian seaport, and which has not .injustly been styled the “Queen ot die Al-direrranean.” When the • latesiik-n of Europe were recasting J:e dlvk-ious of the Continental kingdoms and principalities at Vienna, alter the fall of Napoleon, they elected to transfer what- had been the

Genoese Republic to the Italian ; Crown, but 1 doubt if the Genoese people have ever considered theniselves Italians. They are something superior to that, and show their sujierioritj' alike in their past history as well as in their present prosper- ■ ity. Here was born the great Christopher Columbus, Guiseppe Maggind, the statesman, and though Garibaldi, the deliverer of Italy, was not . brought into the world at Genoa, he was the son of Genoese parents. But long before these comparatively mod- , en* heroes Genoa was a city which left its impress iqwti the history or Europe, and to-day it is a comnuercial centre with over 300,000 inhabitants. Built at the base of a range of liilis which Skirt the sea. its square white houses rise upon the slope one above the other until there is left only a thin green fringe between the i top-most roof and the forts which line t-iie irregular ridge. The topography of the place has left no room for expansion. and we see the result in an economy of space which can only bo i

described as the art of congestion. The streets are for the most part nothing more than narrow lanes, varying in width from 8 to 10 feet, with buildings towering upon either hand to a height of 50 or 60 feet. Tire ground floors are generally devoted to business and the upper ones to flats, but it would be interesting to know how the internal lighting is arranged, for as if to accentuate the difficulty in this respect, the houses are invariably finished with overreaching eaves, which almost entirely exclude the sun. Excepting the outskirts. where the wealthier classes live, there are neither gardens nor back-yards in Genoa, and the only breathing space which many of the houses appeal* to have is a narrow balcony opposite the window or the door. ~ Under these circumstances the ingenuity of the ladles is often put to a severe test to manage their drying on washing day. There are public laundries where the women go to refresh the household linen, arid it is an odd but nevertheless picturesque sight to see the various colored garments hung upon lines stretched from one side of the street to the other or dangling upon poles thrust out of the parlor window. But crowded and cramped as Genoa is, there is a cleanliness anti sweetness about the place which is exceedingly reassuring and refreshing. lhe jteople, too, are smart and neat in their personal appearance. There are. of course. the few beggars which are inseparable from ail huge communities. but they appeared to be .-omparatively few, and there was none of that shameless and professional ixiverty which had been such a disquieting feature in so many of

| the other towns. The Genoese shops ! are most excellent emporiums, and i there is quite a different code of | commercial morality observed amongst I the people to that which prevailed at Naples, where their chief object in life seemed to be to take the stranger in and do him brown. Genoa ought to be the happy hunting ground of the artist, for there are so many odd types and shapes, ' so much color so many characteristic glimpses that every nook and corner I sin unpainted picture awaiting the I touch of tiie master bfush.

THE CHURCHES. But what I liked about the place more than anything was its living connection with the dawn of civilisation. The origin of Genoa us said to be lost in antiquity, but it je certain that it saw the rise and fall of Rome, Greece and Carthage. It. was early vigilant in the cause of Christianity and sent crusaders out to fight in the Holy Land, and there are to be seen to-day in its Cathedral relics which they are said to have brought back from Jerusalem, including the ashes of John the Baptist. This interest in religion it never lost, and to-day its churches—of which there are forty-four—are its chief glory. Crumbling and blackened structures most of them are from the exterior point of view, but internally there is a. wealth of decorat ion which to an tin travelled New Zealander is truly amazing. Many of these churches have a history extending back from the first, second and third centuries of the Christian era, and their hisiory is often written in their oom-

posite architecture, which clear ly reflects the different periods of religious activity.

In point of age the Cathedral of St. Laurence, dating from the first century, is the most remarkable, but in gorgeous splendor the Church of Annunziata, with its pillars of inlaici marble, its brilliantly painted and richly gilded roof, is the pride of Genoa's Christian achievetment. In secular matters, as well as in sacred, there are abundant evidences of antiquity, and one cannot look upon this dilapidated old tower which once formed a part of a demolished castle, or that massive stone gateway built in the middle ages, without feeling a thrill of interest when thus brought face to face for the first time with something which was the creation or medieval times.

We spent two days looking through the old palaces, the old masters, the Camposanto. the gardens, the cascades and the many* other features which would take weeks to explore and volumes to describe, and when we left the harbor—just as the German Emperor was entering it—it was with a feeling of pleasurable anticipation at renewing the acquaintance with Genoa and the Genoese [wople on our return.

ALGIERS

Two days later we looked in at Algiers. on the African coast, a white city, which rivals Naples in the beauty of its surroundings and the squalor of its people. Thus we turned our faces to the west on our final run to England, but save for the sight of Gibraltar, and the passing of innumerable steamers, there was nothing of unusual moment to note.

Even tire Bay of Biscay was below par, and we had a most enjoyable experience in the English Channel, and reached Southampton early on the morning of the Kith. The process of disembarking 900 passengers is an exjrerience well worth the witnessing, but by degrees everything was straightened out, and we entrained for London. LONDON AT LAST.

We enjoyed the beautiful rural scene through which we passed, the touch of spring being upon the hedges, and the orchards. Where the peaches and the apples were in full flower. Exactly ai. 12 o'clock we steamed into the Waterloo Station, and from that moment we felt we were absorbed amongst the nine million minutae who are momentarily spinning on the hub of the universe—that we were swallowed up in the voracious maw of the relentless city where no one cares and no one counts.