es is covered
with it. Clusters of foliage and shrubbery of a pale green, bordering on
blue, occupy intermediate spaces. The rosy blossoms of the peach, so
tender and delicate, bloom on its naked branches. The walks are of
bright blue porcelain, and the terrace displays its round verdant
masses overhanging the sea, of which the lovely azure fills all space.

I have not yet spoken of my impressions after leaving Castellamare. The
charm was only too great. The pure sky, the pale azure almost
transparent, the radiant blue sea as chaste and tender as a virgin
bride, this infinite expanse so exquisitely adorned as if for a festival
of rare delight, is a sensation that has no equal. Capri and Ischia on
the line of the sky lie white in their soft vapory tissue, and the
divine azure gently fades away surrounded by this border of brightness.

Where find words to express all this? The gulf seemed like a marble vase
purposely rounded to receive the sea. The satin sheen of a flower, the
soft luminous petals of the velvet orris with shimmering sunshine on
their pearly borders, such are the images that fill the mind, and which
accumulate in vain and are ever inadequate. The water at the base of
these rocks is now a transparent emerald, reflecting the tints of topaz
and amethyst; again a liquid diamond, changing its hue according to the
shifting influences of rock and depth; or again a flashing diadem,
glittering with the splendor of this divine effulgence.

CAPRI[13]

BY AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE

The Island of Capri (in the dialect of the people Crapi), the ancient
Capreae, is a huge limestone rock, a continuation of the mountain range
which forms the southern boundary of the Bay of Naples. Legend says that
it was once inhabited by a people called Teleboae, subject to a king
called Telon. Augustus took possession of Capreae as part of the
imperial domains, and repeatedly visited it. His stepson Tiberius (A.D.
27) established his permanent residence on the island, and spent the
latter years of his life there, abandoning himself to the voluptuous
excesses which gave him the name of Caprineus....

The first point usually visited in Capri is the Blue Grotto (Grotta
Azzurra), which is entered from the sea by an arch under the wall of
limestone cliff, only available when the sea is perfectly calm. Visitors
have to lie flat down in the boat, which is carried in by the wave and
is almost level with the top of the arch. Then they sud