Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/390

Rh to the lofty plateau of Ana-Capri, where, to our surprise, we found an upland, with olive groves, vineyards, maize fields, and many neat, well-built dwellings, with every appearance of prosperity around them. Capri is assuredly the pearl of the neighborhood of Naples, on account of its air and its peculiarity. After having anciently been covered by palaces and villas, the island is now abandoned by the great and the affluent, who only come thither to visit the Grotto Azura.

Mr. S. astonished us one evening by coming in, dressed as a woman, carrying the boiling kettle for our tea, and thereby half-frightening to death some of the ladies in the house, which did not, however, prevent the tarantella from being danced with especial animation in the evening.

On the 13th we all four set off in an open boat to Amalfi. Again the wind was contrary, although not violent. Eight hours rowing on the sea, with rough waves, and under a burning sun, did not render the voyage very agreeable. Psyché lay sick in the boat, and even Hercules suffered from headache. We rowed along the shores, which through the whole extent were composed of lofty rocks, dangerous, naked, and rugged. It made one thirsty only to look at them, and at the villages and towns, which shone out white here and there in the hollows or upon the bare rock, with a few meagre olive-trees for shadow. As we approached Amalfi the green cultivated plots increased in importance, orange groves were intermingled with olive-woods; the character of the rocks changed, they assumed more beautiful proportions