Part 22 (1/2)
All these articles spoke of so connected with an extinct civilization, and told, too, of human life, with all its hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows Some spoke of disease and pain, others of festivity and joy; these of peace, those of war; here were the eion, there the sy wasthan the manuscript scrolls which had been found in the libraries of the better houses
These looked like anything rather than manuscripts They had all been burned to a cinder, and looked like sticks of charcoal But on the first discovery of these they had been carefully preserved, and efforts had been made to unroll them These efforts at first were baffled; but at last, by patience, and also by skill, a ht be done The yptian papyrus--a substance which, in its original condition, is about as fragile as our modern paper; the sheets were rolled around a stick, and were not over eight inches in width, and about sixteen feet in length The stick, the ornaments, and the cases had perished, but the papyrus remained Its nature was about the same as the nature of a scroll of paper h the fire Each thin filament, as it was unrolled, would cru over it a coating of tough, gelatinous substance, over which a sheet ofalso upon the charred sheet in such a way as to detach it from the rest of the scroll In this way it was unrolled slowly and carefully, two inches at a ti unrolled a facsimile copy was at once made Of course there was no attempt to preserve the manuscripts; they were, too perishable; and after a short exposure, just long enough to ad made, they shrank up and crumbled away
There were other places of attraction in this beautiful city--the Villa Reale, the chosen pro the shore, filled with trees, and shrubbery, and winding paths, and flower-beds, and vases, and statues, and sculptures, and ponds, and fountains, and pavilions There was the Castle of St El walls; the Cathedral of San Francisco, with its lofty doether with palaces and monuments
But at last all this came to an end, and they left Naples far Roe to themselves, which they had hired for the journey, and the weather was delightful The road was smooth and pleasant, the country was one of the fairest on earth, and as they rolled along they all gave themselves up to the joy of the occasion
They passed through a region every foot of which was classic ground
Along their way they encountered amphitheatres, aqueducts, tombs, and other monuments of the past, sorandeur Capua invited them to tarry--not the ancient Capua, but the h several miles distant from the historic city, has yet a history of its own, and its own charhts which they encountered, the one that impressed them most was Cicero's tomb It is built on the spot where he was assassinated, of immense stones, joined without cement In shape it is square, but the interior is circular, and a single column rises to the vaulted roof Of course whatever contents theresince been scattered to the winds; no reat orator and patriotic statesman is visible now; but the name of Cicero threw a charh they were drawn nearer to the past The boys expressed their feelings in various ways, and David, as most alive to the power of classical associations, delivered, verbatiainst Catiline He would have delivered the whole of it, and more also, beyond a doubt, had not Frank put a sudden stop to his flow of eloquence by pressing his hand against David'shim if he didn't ”stop it”
On the afternoon of the second day they arrived at Terracina This town is situated on the sea-shore, with the blue Mediterranean in front, stretching far away to the horizon Far out into the sea runs the promontory of Circaeuil,--while over the water the white sails of swift- vessels passed to and fro The waves broke on the strand, fishi+ng-boats were drawn up on the beach, and there onderful briskness and animation in the scene
Terracina, like all other towns in this country, has remains of antiquity to show Its Cathedral is built from the material of a heathen tenificent edifice, but is now in ruins But it was the modern beauty of the town, rather than this or any, other of its antiquities, that most attracted the boys,--the sea-beach, where the waters of the Mediterranean rippled and plashed over the pebbles; the groves and vineyards, that extended all around; the wooded hills; the orange trees and the palm, the thorny cactus and the aloe; and above all, the deep, azure sky, and the clear, transparent at beauty they gave themselves up, and wandered, and scrambled, and raced, and chased one another about the sluht, lolled to rest by the long roll of the Mediterranean waters, as they dashed upon the beach, and on the following h the Pontine Marshes, and they all entered upon this part of their journey with strong feelings of curiosity
The district which goes by the name of the Pontine Marshes is one of the most fa, and varies in breadth froin of these es of the republic of Ro here But all these gradually becae remains of any one of them From a very remote period numerous efforts were put forth to reclaim these lands When the fah, them, they were partially drained Afterwards a canal was formed, which ran by the road-side; and of this canal Horace speaks in the well-known account of his journey to Brundusiureat works, to enter upon the task of reclai them; but his death prevented it Under various successive emperors, the atten of Trajan, nearly all the district was recovered
Afterwards it fell to ruin, and the waters flowed in once es, down to modern times Various popes attempted to restore them, but without success, until at last Pope Pius VI achieved the accohty task in the year 1788, ever since which time the district has been under cultivation
The road was abeen built on the foundations of the ancient Appian Way It was lined on each side with trees, and was broad and well paved It is considered one of the finest in Europe Along this they rolled, the blue sky above theht hand the mountains, on the left the sea The air was damp and chill; but at first they did not feel it particularly, though Uncle Moses coainst his insidious ene himself up war to work in the fields These peasants lived in the hill country on the right, and had to walk a great distance to get to their place of labor,--for to live on the marshes was impossible Men, women, and even children were there; and their pale, sickly faces and haggard looks showed how deadly were the effects of the noxious exhalations from this marshy soil
At about midday they reached an inn, which stood about half way over the marshes, by the road-side David speculated ht not be the Foru-place of St Paul on his way to Rory to take any interest whatever in the question They re to eat, and then resumed their journey
CHAPTER XXI
_The Pontine Marshes--A Change comes over the Party--The foul Exhalations--The Sleep of Death--Dreadful Accident--Despair of Frank--A Break-down--Ingenuity of the Driver--Resumption of the Journey_
For the first half of the day the boys had been in great spirits
Laughter, noisy conversation, jests, chaff, and uproarious songs had all been intere was a e at the wayside inn a change took place, and on resu their journey, they seemed like a very different coan to act upon theeneral feeling of discoloom pervaded all of theain the jollity which they had felt before For a long tith his fun grew fainter, and his nonsense rew less hearty and th the fun, and the nonsense, and the laughter ceased altogether
Frank felt upon hiree He was only a feeeks older than David, but he was far stronger and more mature in many respects David was a hard student, and perhaps a bit of a book-worained from books; but Frank had seen more of the world, and in all that relates to the practical affairs of common life he was immeasurably superior to David For this reason Frank often assuuardianshi+p of the party; and so appropriate was this to him, that the rest tacitly allowed it As for Uncle Moses, none of thearded him as their protector, but rather as an innocent and si, who himself required protection fro the whole party, above all things, not to let theo to sleep He had heard that the air of the Pontine Marshes had a peculiar tendency to send one to sleep; and if one should yield to this, the consequences ht be fatal Fever, he, said, would be sure to follow sleep, that ed in under such circumstances The anxiety which was created in his own mind by his sense of responsibility was of itself sufficient to keep hiies to the task of trying to keep the others awake also, and thus save thehed at hi over hi They kept up this for soger songs, patriotic songs, songs sentiing was not a very striking success; there was a lack of spirit in it; and under this depressing sense of languor, the voice of h, the one who felt this drowsinessat all likely to fall asleep; but whether it was that his mobile temperament made him more liable to extremes of excitement and dullness, or whether the reaction froreater than that of the rest, certain it is that Bob it ho first showed signs of sleep His eyes closed, his head nodded, and lifting it again with a start, he blinked around
”Come, Bob,” said Frank, ”this won't do You don'tHe rubbed his eyes, and yawned
”Bob,” said Frank, ”take care of yourself”
”O, I'ht,” said Bob, with a drawl; ”never fear about me
I'm wide awake”