NAPLES AND POMPEII

Southland Times, Issue 21274, 20 December 1930, Page 11

NAPLES AND POMPEII

A SOUTHLANDER’S VISIT. MR J. C. DAKIN’S IMPRESSIONS. The Southlandian, the magazine of the Southland Boys’ High School, contains some interesting extracts from letters written by Mr J. C. Dakin, the Rhodes scholar, and a former pupil of the Southland Boys’ High School, while en route to England in September last. Describing his visit to Naples, Mr Dakin writes: —< “I awoke too late to take particular notice of our entry into the Bay of Naples except that I gazed through the porthole, while shaving, at the smoking cone of Vesuvius. The harbour seemed badly arranged and generally unimpressive. Italy seems to be over-run by people in uniform —police, Customs men, railway officials, and young men evidently serving a period in the army. Everywhere one sees the dark green uniform and plumed sombreros incongruously associated with an unshaven chin and a savour of garlic. Altogether the uniformed people seem to be a good type with features not unlike ‘Il Duce’ himself. Great deference is shown to a uniform by the people. Two other types, also, seem fairly common, viz., the fat, prosperous man of trade, and commerce with his straw boater, and the lean, vulpine, keen-eyed, man-about-town type, always ready to pick up his pourboire, and quick to pick out the inexperienced stranger. Cook's car, a Fiat, was awaiting us at the wharf, and a voluble Cook’s agent, obviously very proud of his fluent English, welcomed us to Napoli. The Italians, by the way, are ardent supporters of national industry, especially in the matter of motor cars. The Fiat is almost universal, the Isoldo comes a bad second; we saw one Chrysler only. “Our driver honked his way through the main streets and then made for the great Autostrada (motor road) through a slummy quarter of Napoli, which resembled in filth and haphazard architecture the native quarter of Colombo. The smutted facades of the houses were decked with variegated and tattered washing, and the unevenly flagged streets, unswept and broken, were blocked by a motley traffic of donkey carts, rickety out-of-date cabs, primitive drays and gutter merchants. The majestic public buildings of a town are always impressive and historically interesting, but the gay shops and emporiums of yesterday become the slums of to-morrow. Issuing from this unsavoury quarter, we passed through a toll-gate into the Autostrada. ‘Tenere la Destre’ is the rule of the highway in Italy. We sped along past market gardens, vineyards, and more market gardens, while the dial indicated 120 kilos. We skirted the southern horn of the bay, keeping about a mile inland and tending in the direction of Sorrento (Surrentum). Beyond the headland lay Capri (the Capreal of Tiberius’s retirement), now a popular seaside resort, advertised loudly on shrieking placards along the autostrada. Vesuvius on our left kept pouring forth a drifting column of wreathing smoke, richly contrasted against the blue of the Italian sky, which is all the poets claim it to be. “About 9.30 we reached the Hotel Suisse at Pompeii and went straight into the ruined city, where we stayed two hours. We entered through the Porta Marina and were shown the two types of architecture in the city—Greek and Roman. The most common Greek style of structure was the opus incertum —a sort of terracotta work. The Romans seemed to use the opus reticulatum. Traces of three civilizations— Greek, Roman and Samnine —are distinguishable, but the Greek influence is everywhere evident. By the Porta Marina was a handmill (pistrinum), which made me wish I had my Terence handy. Then the stepping stones (pondcra) to enable pedestrians to cross the street made me wish I had Horace with me. To appreciate Pompeii properly' one would need to spend a week camped in the ancient city with a library of Latin- texts. Throughout the houses were paintings on the walls of surprising artistry' of design and execution. In the streets we came across what had been dispensaries, restaurants (coquinac), wayside altars, and so on. At the back of the public baths was a gymnasium (palaestrum) encircled by a neat colonnade and in the middle of this lay a ball of about 251 b weight, which, the guide assured us, the muscular young Pompeians used to toss about like a shuttlecock. “Leaving the ruined city, we went to a lordly dinner at the Hotel Suisse, First item, spaghetti. We waited for some of the natives to show us the way to engulf the troublesome dish, and were agreeably affected on finding that they did not perform the operation w'ith any great degree of dexterity and charm. Certainly one tries to entangle most of the mess on the prongs of a fork, but having made an honest effort to achieve this, no one is expected to persevere in spearing the hanging remains, once contact is established between the plate and the mouth, the remainder of the feat is accomplished by powerful and, if possible, noiseless suction. Then followed a very palatable meat with s-weet potatoes, french beans, and some nameless vegetable. Then came fruit—fresh figs—which are delicious compared w’ith the wizened bits of leather we know —water melon and grapes. “Leaving Naples, we sailed north-west, gradually veering away from the Italian coast. This morning Elba was visible on the starboard bow, and a few minutes previously' we had passed the romantic isle of Monte Cristo—a conical peak of solid rock. We are due at Toulon at 11 p.m. to-night. Needless to say, I am looking forward to my New Zealand mail.”