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Typhon, who was oppressed by the weight which he was condemned by the gods to endure. :—

"Traxit iners cœlum fluidæ contagia pestis
Obscuram in nubem: tali spiramine Nesis
Emittit Stygium nebulosis aëra saxis
Antraque letiferi rabiem Typhonis anhelant."

"The pestilential waters charge the air

With murky clouds. Thus Stygian vapours crown
The heights of Nesis' rocks; and the fell caves
Of deadly Typhon breathe forth rage."

The air is now considered perfectly pure; whether owing to the trees with which the island was covered having been long since cut down, or the exertions of the giant Typhon having been quieted by the lapse of ages, Nisita is in a perfectly tranquil state at present, and the vines and olive trees which it produces grow to great perfection. It forms the subject of a classical fiction, in which Nisita is supposed to be a nymph, with whom Pausilypo was enamoured, and to escape whom she threw herself into the sea, and is elegantly apostrophised by the poet Sannazarius in his fourth eclogue entitled Proteus.

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Te quoque formosæ, captum Nisidis amore
Pausilype."

"And thou Pausilypo, in whom the charms

Of Nesis woke Love's warm and wild alarms. "

The Lucrine lake so often mentioned by the ancient authors is close to the bay of Puzzuoli. It was formerly celebrated for its fish, particularly oysters, which

were esteemed as the most delicate in all Italy. Before the great earthquake which occasioned such devastation in this region, the Lucrine lake extended almost as far as Baiæ, and, as Strabo relates, to the lake of Avernus, and was separated from the sea by an immense mound, broad enough for two waggons to pass abreast. A communication was opened between the two lakes by means of a canal, by the orders of Augustus, and was called Pontus Julius.

"An memorem portus, Lucrinoque addita claustra
Atque indignatum magnis stridoribus æquor,
Julio qua Ponto longe sonat unda refusa
Tyrrhenusque fretis immittitur æstus Avernis?"

"Or shall I praise thy ports, or mention make
Of the vast mound that bounds the Lucrine lake,
Or the disdainful sea that, shut from hence,
Roars round the structure and invades the fence,
There where secure the Julian waters glide,

Or where Avernus' jaws admit the Tyrrhene tide ?"

Dryden.

is now

The Lucrine lake, so often the theme of poets, little better than a muddy pond, and is indebted to our imagination alone for interest. Pliny gravely relates a story connected with this lake, which, on the authority of so respectable a writer, will doubtless be regarded as a curious fact in natural history; other ancient authors likewise allude to it as having really occurred.

A learned English divine also, commenting on the same story, says: "How incomprehensible soever things or relations appear, yet ought we not to be over hasty in pronouncing them false, except they imply a

manifest contradiction." Whether such be the case in this instance the reader had better judge for himself.

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"In ancient times," says the learned historian,

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amongst the numerous finny inhabitants of this extensive lake, there dwelt a certain dolphin. This respectable fish, when disporting near the banks of the lake, had oftentimes observed a little boy bathing in its waters. Now, as similarity of habits often produces reciprocal esteem, an intimacy soon sprung up between the dolphin and the boy, which in process of time ripened into the most tender friendship. By what means their sentiments were mutually communicated our historian does not say; but, if deeds rather than words prove the test of affection, certain it is that the dolphin exhibited a regard of no common order. child had only to intimate a wish to visit Baiæ, Puzzuoli, or any of the villas with which the banks of the lake were studded, when straightway the dolphin would receive him on his back, and glide with him over the surface of the water, in the same manner as doubtless he had been accustomed of old, when in the service of Tritons, and other native princes of his element. course, the spectacle of the boy thus skimming over the lake without any apparent means, or exertion of his own, astounded the good gossips of Puzzuoli and Baiæ; and their wonder was in no ways diminished when they discovered the secret of his navigation. Immediately the most extraordinary reports were circulated regarding the dolphin and the boy; and many, not contented with adhering to the facts, which were in

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themselves sufficiently wonderful, declared that the boy brought home to his family the choicest fish in the lake, with which the dolphin continually supplied him ; and that this purveyorship was carried to such an extent that the table of the consul, or even that of the Emperor himself, was not so well furnished, which indeed was not to be wondered at, considering who was the fisherman! People, however, flocked from far and near to witness this prodigy; for, even in those times when marvels were not so scarce as now, this was considered wonderful. Chariots and horses were in requisition; while the more humble made their way on foot. Multitudes thronged the road from Naples, and the dark passage through the cave of Pausilypo was almost choked with the curious crowd, all eager to witness the singular effects of this most singular intimacy. But alas! it appears that disappointment was equally rife in those days as in our own degenerate times; for, before the curiosity of the thousands could be gratified, the child died! Some said that this misfortune was to be attributed to a violent cold caught during one of his aquatic morning rambles; while others affirmed it was in consequence of the mortification of a slight wound he sustained from the fin of the dolphin, when in the act of dismounting. However, the child's death destroyed the hopes of the public, as well as of the poor dolphin; for it seems that the too sensitive fish, on learning the fate of his beloved companion, refused to take nourishment, and at last died of a broken heart."

THE CASTLE AND BAY OF BAIÆ.

Nullus in orbe sinus Baiæ prælucet amænis.

HORACE, 1ST EPIS. MECEN.

Tu modo quamprimum corruptas desere Bajas.
Multis ista dabunt littora dissidium:
Littora quæ fuerunt castis inimica puellis

Ah, pereant Bajæ crimen amoris aquæ.

PROPERTIUS.

To the classic and the antiquary, the spot where anciently stood the celebrated and splendid city of Baiæ presents a field for research and conjecture which no other place, if we except the " Eternal City" and her environs, can offer. The whole of this line of coast was once studded with Roman villas, on which was lavished all that wealth and splendour, from the arts of peace or the spoils of war, could furnish. The philosopher, the poet, and the statesman, have each bequeathed to posterity the result of their meditations, while here indulging in delicious retirement; though, if fame be true, they were not always, when enjoying its enviable pleasures, employed for the benefit of their country or of mankind.

The Romans, in gradually departing from the rude but simple character of their ancestors, ceased likewise to imitate their virtues; the lofty spirit, patriotic devotion, that true nobility of the old Romans,-yielded to the increase of refinement, and were succeeded by

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