DISCOVERIES AT POMPEII.

Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 12, 19 December 1862, Page 3

DISCOVERIES AT POMPEII.

Nillcs, Sept. 13th, 1862.— 1t is some time since I pnU a visit to Pompeii. Political ngitations, royal visit/ and Garibaldiau aberrations, have absorbed alfrjy time, and made me a fixture in Naples. As onij' of the political detenues, however, Signor Puiky, lins, by special grace, obtained permission tonsit the city of the dead, I ran down with him nij. his companions in the form of a policeman in pXin clothes. Eight months have made great tuanges in the aspect of the place and of the suiiunding country. Vesuvius then was blowing a iigantic havimna ; Torra del Greco was trembling m hourly fear of destructions, and the panicstricken inhabitants were flung in all directions. Now, the light vapor of the mountain as it ascends spirally is scarcely sufficient to streak the deep blue sky, and the inhabitants of Torre have settled down in their patched-up dwellings, as oblivious of the past as though Vesuvius had been razed to the ground. Followed by the usual procession of soldiers, ciceroni and partanieri, and preceded by some unfortunate individual who twanged a guitar, we entered again this interesting place, and our learned biped began his lesson. "My good fellow, for heaven's sako let us enjoy it in silenne ! We have heard that lesson often. Do pray take ns to the new excavations." Imagine, then, that we have arrived in the Strada Abbondauza, and have entered one of the largest houses in Pompeii, comparatively a recent excavation, though I was present when it was first opened to the light of day. " Still, said our cicerone, "it is only recently that it has been completed." The form of it is precisely that of • all other houses ; it lias its porter's lodge, and the> apartments of the slaves right and left, and the Peristeura, and the passages into the Atrium, around which are the principal apartments, and the dining-room beyond. It must have been a splendid residence, for the frescoes are numerous — well preserved, and of considerable beauty." Nymphs and Fauns thero are in abundance. 'The Judgment of Paris, who is seated, with Mercury standing by his side, and the three rival goddesses before him, is a fine picture ; and following the fancy of the artist, I approve the 'Judgment of Paris.' Achiles, in a female garb, with the royal sisters around hiui, re-coo-nised by Ulysses, possesses 100, great merit. The Europa on the Bull, is a figure which cannot fail to fix the • attention of the visitor, for the beauty and delicacy of her form. 'Daphne and Appllo" is a larger picture and of greater pretensions; and though the hands are destroyed, enough remains to prove the high merit of the artist. Little landscapes are scattered here and there, generally representing fishing scenes, quite Chinese -in their character, from a want of a knowledge of the perspective, and from the peculiar form of the roofs of the houses. There are very elegant borderings in this house, and candelabra surmounted by a globe, adorn the walls of almost every room. The bedrooms, are, some of them, not more than 10 by 7 feet ; but their loftiness was such as to save the sleepers from suffocation. In most of them, and on a level with the ground, is a slight recess or indentation, perhaps 3 or 4 feet in length, which, our learned cicerone divined,was for the head of the sleeper — a point perhaps, which requires confirmation. The Peristeura has a marble table and a piscina; and on one side is a brazier, incrusted with apilli, which fell from the mountain, all now inclosed in a glass case. The composition which, it was hoped, would have saved the frescoes from destruction, has been tried in this house, and in some instances failed ; and I was told that the results were very uncertain. I must not leave tliis house without noting that vulgar scribblers have already begun to leave their marks on the frescoed Walls. M. A. Safford and Kitty Hill, of the United States, have been here. Who are M. A. Saftbrd and Kitty Hill ? The world will never know the names except as representing two individuals who had no respect for art, and -who did their little to deface what time has preserved for centuries The house of C. Cor. ltufus opened about the same time as the last, has just been completed. It is remarkable for two male figures which have puzzled the anf iqarics. Their dresses are modern — one wearing long pantaloons, with a tunic, like a jacket, reaching down to the waist, and the other slashed breeches down to the kneo ; shoes or or short boots, and the stockings or Icg3 bound round with cords. This house, like the last, has suffered much "from superincumbent weight of ashes ; an iron form supports one room, ond the walls o f both houses are fastened with numerous iron pins. After taking some refreshment, which had been provided by the foresight of one of the party, we moved on to a steet yet unbaptiscd and opened very lately. On the facade of ono of the houses on the left, are represented two enormous serpents facing each other, their bodies rolled into large and frequent evolutions., and between them a small altar, on which, are a pine and other fruits. The colours are well preserved, and there is a great predominance of black. Some M. A. Saiford and Kitty Hill of the first century, had written on the wall, " Otiosis locus hie non cst, Piscede morat or; -which may be briefly translated in- modern police language, ''Move on;" and it is not improbable that even in those days the t crpents attracted the curious. There was some point, however, in this scribbling, which is more tnaii can be said of two obscure names.

A bop, skip and a jump across the street, and we enter another house, where we are welcomed by the inscription in the mosaic floor, of Salve lucnim, or freely translated, " Gold, a salve for everything." Who lived here? a banker or a usurer ? Tho burning ashes of Vesuvius have hidden all. It is one of the most highly ornamented houses of Pompeii, and exclamations of admiration were frequent. There are really beautiful pictures, of course in fresco — as, for instance, Appollo aud Neptune superintending the building of the walls of Troy — workmen are running up and clown an incline plane etfervit opus ; Hercules drunk and Love stealing his club— Ornphalc with, her handmaidens is seated above on the left, whilst in the upper part of the picture on the right are a number of other female figures. Thetis, receiving from Vulcan the arms of Achilles — the helmet is in the back ground ready for presentation—the goddess looks trisle, as if she had a presentation of the fate of her sen. But the capo lavoro of the house is the head of Vulcan— it is magnificent, and the street of the building mightwell be called after the god. The interval between the pictures are filled up with Corinthian columns exquisitely defined, and various other ornaments. Above and below run broad beautiful borders., painted with scroll and annimals. Birds are perched in bushes, clucks are diving for insects and fish, and above the higher borders, are the remains of an upper floor of tho house. In another loom of this very splendid building, the walls are divided into compartments. in the centre of which on a black ground, are danzatrici, with cymbals or tambours, or cups, aud one with a serpent twisted round her arm. Some of the figures are perfectly new; various animals and fruits adorn the borders, two birds [pecking at an car of corn, and another is pursuing butterflies. There is a freshness about tlie paintings, as if they had been executed yesterday, and the great prdominance of black gives a relief to the figures weich is extraordinary. In one of the walls is a large interval occasioned by the removal of one of the pictures in consequence of the novelty of the subject, a warrior undergoing a surgical operation. This house is not yet entirely completed, Workmen were still in it, aud bottles of mastic and varnish lay in the corners, with which tho paintings are to be touched up.

Before discontinuing my description of art, let uic remark on the resemblance of Titian's beautiful Venus in the Florence gallery (o the representations of the goddess in the house I have visited to-day. One might imagine that the illustrious painter had crept in at some hole and examined them ; at all events, it is clear that there must have been some great celebrity who, as the fashionable painter of the . day, was summoned to all the great houses of Pompeii in the first century. Another scene now presents itself, and we go and visit the house where so recently was discovered the bread, a narrative of which has been already so admirably given in your pages. We enter a large house, belonging to a tradesman evidently, from the absence of ornament. At the back of it is a large oven, in which were found 80 loaves and one tortora, as it is called, a large circular loaf which you put on your arm, and the fellow of which you may find to day in every shop in Naples. They were perfect, and might have been burnt only 'yesterday. Close to the oven is a large vase for water, and the remains of a leaden pipe show that some mechanical means were used to keep up the supply and save time and labor, contrivances you will not find in this' retrograde city from which I write. By the side of the oven is a narrow staircase leading up to the roof or to an upper iloor. On one side of this roof is another where is a mill, and where the baker ground his conl — 1 1C must have been a thriving and prudent man ; and in another room, on the right, were found the 885 pieces of silver and bronze money already described. "This house" said the cicerone, " has been opened only fifteen days," but must be at least a month. Still the excavation is so very recent that some rooms are yet uneleancd and are reserved to astonish some small Duke or miloi-d Inglese. From this spot we walk over heaps of debris where workmen are removing the soil; and mount up to height of forty feet, and look down on what has already been 'brought to light, and marvel at what may yet be under our feet. The turf or herbage is being cut away as the preparatory step, and the curious antiquary would have a rich treat in watching during the winter the various stages of the process. As the surface is uneven, the buried city lies at a depth varying from

40 to 80 feet, and 200 workmen are usually engaged on the works. A trararail was laid down on the highest part, to which I ascended, and the debris is being carted off rapidly. " To-day there are fewer workmen," said my conductor, " as many are down with the annual fever." The poor fellows live ntsotne ahort distance, in the low ground where tnalftria is rife. It is impossible to visit Pompeii without remarking the fresh energy which is infused into everything. The work is now serious. The wealth of the past is no lunger to lie buried, nor is the present to bo prohibited from mounting on_ the past. In every direction, too, there are indications of greater order and care ; all intelligent and loving mind watches over this unique and interesting city, and Cay. Fiorelli well merits the confidence which has been reposed in him by an enlightened and energetic government.