, landing at Orico, recaptured
the island, which had been taken from the French two years and a half
before (May, 1806) by Sir Sidney Smith.

Through a low wide arch in the piazza is the approach to the principal
hotels. There is a tiny English chapel. An ascent of half an hour by
stony donkey-paths leads from Capri to the ruins called the Villa
Tiberiana, on the west of the island, above a precipitous rock 700 feet
high, which still bears the name of Il Salto....

The visitor who lingers in Capri may interest himself in tracing out the
remains of all the twelve villas of Tiberius. A relief exhibiting
Tiberius riding a led donkey, as modern travelers do now, was found on
the island, and is now in the museum at Naples. Capri has a delightful
winter climate, and is most comfortable as a residence. The natives are
quite unlike the Neapolitans, pleasant and civil in their manners, and
full of courtesies to strangers. The women are frequently beautiful.

POMPEII[14]

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

We have been to see Pompeii, and are waiting now for the return of
spring weather, to visit, first, Paestum, and then the islands; after
which we shall return to Rome. I was astonished at the remains of this
city; I had no conception of anything so perfect yet remaining. My idea
of the mode of its destruction was this: First, an earthquake shattered
it, and unroofed almost all its temples, and split its columns; then a
rain of light small pumice-stones fell; then torrents of boiling water,
mixed with ashes, filled up all its crevices. A wide, flat hill, from
which the city was excavated, is now covered by thick woods, and you see
the tombs and the theaters, the temples and the houses, surrounded by
the uninhabited wilderness.

We entered the town from the side toward the sea, and first saw two
theaters; one more magnificent than the other, strewn with the ruins of
the white marble which formed their seats and cornices, wrought with
deep, bold sculpture. In the front, between the stage and the seats, is
the circular space, occasionally occupied by the chorus. The stage is
very narrow, but long, and divided from this space by a narrow enclosure
parallel to it, I suppose for the orchestra. On each side are the
consuls' boxes, and below, in the theater at Herculaneum, were found two
equestrian statues of admirable workmanship, occupying the same place
as the great bronze lamps did at Drury Lane. The smallest of the
theaters is