aroundworldortra00peebiala-1

380 ABOUND THE "WORLD.
It was our purpose to have visited the plains of Marathon;
the ruins of Corinth;- the isle of Salamis, memorable
for the great battle in which the Persian fleet of Xerxes
was defeated by the Greeks 480 B.C. ; and Eleusis, which
introduced the famous Eleusinian mysteries into Athens as
early as 1356 B.C. ; but brigandage presented a formidable
obstacle. Political outlaws are a perpetual scourge to the
country. The government, though practically absolute,
fails to institute and perpetuate law and order.
we turn from modern to ancient Greece.
NAPLES.
In sorrow
The Bay of Naples hfts the soul in thought to such shimmering
seas as are said to dot the summer-land scenery of
angel realms. The city itself, crescent-formed, is backed by
an amphitheater of hills and mountains, the rocky slopes of
which are covered with sunny villas, and sprinkled with
orange and lemon, with fig and oleander. Fanned by
invigorating sea-breezes, and walled in the distance by the
Apennines, Naples sits
a very queen upon the edge of. crystal
waters, unrivaled for the beauty of her situation.
The streets are paved with lava, and in the winter season
thronged with strangers. Traveling the narrow sidewalks,
one feels continually cramped, and sighs for the roomy
promenades of prairie cities in the West.
Terraced toward St. Elmo, some of the houses seem chnging
to rocky chffs. Certain streets actually lie hundreds of
feet above their immediate neighbors. The dearth of fresh,
handsome buildings, and modern works of art, creates a
soul-longing, for which the magnificent discovery of Herculaneum
and Pompeii, with their matchless treasures of
antiquity, only in some measure compensate. The narrow,
dingy streets, the high, palace-shaped, yet badly constructed
dwelling-houses, with huge iron gates in front, flat roofs, and
balconies projecting from nearly every window ; the neverceasing
noise, the interminable ratthng of wheels during the