Ischia

“ Far away northwards, across a space of the loveliest sea imaginable, lay the craggy peak of Ischia, the low reef of Procida, and the mountains of the Campanian coast; while on the hither side of that blue land of cloudy peaks the sun had flung a heavy shadow over Monte Sant'Angelo, and all his towering slopes lay black and lurid. ”

“ But the glory of Italy is in her sunsets, and toward evening sea and mountain, tufa rock and yellow sand, put on a marvellous robe, a veritable "coat of divers colors," and life seems to breathe and sigh in things that before seemed lifeless.
Ischia, like all Italian localities, has its patron saint; they call her Santa Restituta.
When persecution was raging in Egypt, in the third century, says the simple legend, the body of a young [277] maiden, with a millstone tied round her neck, floated across the sea and rested in a creek on the south side of the island. ”

“ Almost adjoining the outskirts of the little capital of the island is Porto d’Ischia, with a deep circular harbour that was once the crater of an extinct volcano, wherein every variety of Mediterranean fishing craft is to be seen at anchor. Close to the port, embowered among groves of orange and lemon trees that in winter time are laden with bright or pale yellow fruit, stands a fine old villa of the Bourbon kings of Naples, once a favourite summer retreat of his Majesty King Bomba. Royalty has long abandoned Ischia, and the villa has now been converted into a bath house. ”

“ As we neared Ischia, the declining sun, casting a rosy light on the noble rock and Castello di Nerone, which stands out like a sentinel to challenge all comers—warned us to lose no time, so we determined to accept the services of the first guide who should offer himself on landing; and committing to him the care of our sacs de nuit, and of hiring donkeys to take us to Casamicciola, indulge our artistic estro by setting off immediately to sketch. ”

“ There is no spot, I believe, that could afford a more ample field for curious observations, than the island of Ischia, called Enaria, Inarime, and Pithecusa, by the ancients. I have visited it three times; and this summer passed three weeks there, during which time I examined, with attention, every part of it. Ischia is eighteen [Pg 152] miles in circumference: the whole of its soil is the same as that near Vesuvius, Naples, and Puzzole. There are numberless springs, hot, warm, and cold [41] , dispersed over the whole island, the waters of which are impregnated with minerals of various sorts ”

“ Such cherries! fair and rosy, plump and smooth as the cheek of a cherub! tender, juicy, and luscious to the taste as they were lovely to the eye.
“The Signori have never been in Ischia,” resumed Michele, who generally kept up a running fire of conversation over his shoulder as he drove along. “I wonder they do not go! they are so fond of fine views and of drawing. They would find so much to draw. Artists often go there. And there is such a good inn. And it is not so hot as Naples. ”

“ Hard by Naples is the island of Ischia, in which there dwelt aforetime with other young damsels one, Restituta by name, daughter of one Marin Bolgaro, a gentleman of the island. Very fair was she, and blithe of heart, and by a young gallant, Gianni by name, of the neighbouring islet of Procida, was beloved more dearly than life, and in like measure returned his love. ”

“ There is no hour of dawn or dusk in which this view is otherwise than exquisite. In the morning light the plain is full of shadows, for the sun has not yet travelled westwards of St. Angelo, and the mighty mountain towers dark over the whole peninsula. It is the evening sun which shines most beautifully here, and no one who has climbed up this road when the plain is full of soft, gold light, when Ischia turns rosy and the jagged peak of Vico Alvano soars up dark against the pale green sky, is likely to forget it when he thinks of Paradise. ”

“ We sailed close in to Ischia and we could see the terraces where the vines grow, beginning at the top of the perpendicular rocks and ascending the hill-sides like a giant's staircase. We pass a big liner flying the French flag, and she dips her stern flag as a salute.
At 8.15 p.m.—We passed Sardinia, but all that was visible was the revolving light of the lighthouse on the south point. There is now a strong gale, and we pitch and roll a good deal. But the wind is soft and warm, blowing from the African desert instead of the snowclad Apennines. ”

“ Epomeo became tranquil after Vesuvius resumed its eruptions; and for long series of years the island of Ischia had no other outlets for the escape of the gases generated in its depths than its thirty or forty thermal springs, which have contributed, together with the pure air and the beauty of the situation, to increase every year the crowd of visitors. ”

“ Learned tutors and gifted artists gave the Duchess their aid; and thus the tranquil days glided on till they were nineteen; the bloodshed and anarchy which distracted unhappy Italy never troubling this charmed islet.
Bishop Berkeley said of Ischia, in a letter to Pope: "'Tis an epitome of the whole earth! containing within the compass of eighteen miles a wonderful variety of hills, vales, rugged rocks, fruitful plains, and barren mountains, all thrown together in most romantic confusion. The air is, in the hottest season, constantly refreshed by cool breezes from the sea ”

“ The most ancient of the recorded eruptions in Ischia was that of Montagnone, to which is ascribed the origin of the vast crater of regular form that still existed before the recent earthquake, in a state of perfect preservation, in the northwestern part of Ischia. About 470 B. C., successive eruptions at Point Comacchia gave rise to the vast flows of Manecoco and Bale, which extended far into the sea and prolonged the point to the north. Numerous efforts have been made since these ancient times to plant colonies on this unstable land, even then fertile and covered with a luxuriant vegetation. ”

“ Castle of Ischia.
“Signori miei,” said Michele, looking back at us from the driving-seat of his calessino, “if we meet any men with Ischia cherries, shall I stop for you to buy some?”
We were bowling along the dusty road to Pozzuoli, after passing through the Posilipo tunnel, under a burning Midsummer sun; and the idea of cherries rose refreshingly before our minds. Besides, we made a point of attending to Michele’s suggestions, which generally proved to be valuable: so we readily acceded. ”

“ In Ischia, a small island near Naples, composed in like manner of marine and volcanic formations, Dr. Philippi collected in the stratified tuff and clay ninety-two species of shells of existing species. In the centre of Ischia, the lofty hill called Epomeo, or San Nicola, is composed of greenish indurated tuff, of a prodigious thickness, interstratified in some parts with marl, and here and there with great beds of solid lava. ”

“ Its fantastic peaks and ridges, sulphur-coloured, dusty grey, and tawny, with brushwood in young leaf upon the cloven flanks, form a singular pendant to the austere but more artistically modelled limestone crags of Capri. Not two islands that I know, within so short a space of sea, offer two pictures so different in style and quality of loveliness. The inhabitants are equally distinct in type. Here, in spite of what De Musset wrote somewhat affectedly about the peasant girls—
Ischia! ”

“ But such is the burden of man's life, of modern life especially. United Italy demands of her children that by this discipline they should be brought into that harmony which builds a nation out of diverse elements.
FROM ISCHIA TO NAPLES
Ischia showed a new aspect on the morning of our departure. A sea-mist passed along the skirts of the island, and rolled in heavy masses round the peaks of Monte Epomeo, slowly condensing into summer clouds, and softening each outline with a pearly haze, through which shone emerald glimpses of young vines and fig-trees. ”

“ It is the time of my life, and I can write letters (at {202} all events to you, to whom they write themselves) anywhere. But this voyage—it is the dream of a lifetime! I have sailed the enchanted Mediterranean with our rapturous callings at Algiers, rising on terraced hills in her unspeakable beauty; at Naples, with all the Neapolitan coast a very vision of the ethereal realms; I have sailed on to Genoa, with Ischia, dream-haunted by Victoria Colonna, Italy's immortal woman-poet, and made my pilgrimage to the island and over the ancient Castel d'Ischia by local boats from Naples ”

“ The town of Ischia, from whence it derives its present name, is situated in a small bay, which is protected by a castle, built on a rock projecting into the sea, and separated from the main island by a ridge of sand.
Sentinella is a single house, standing on a rock which overhangs the sea; it belongs to a public notary, who receives visitors that come to the island for the benefit of its baths, and who are accommodated with board and lodging at the rate of a dollar per day ”

“ Island after island was approached and left during the day; barren rocks with only a lighthouse to redeem their nakedness: and in the evening at sunset we were in sight at Ischia, the towering isle in the bosom of the bay of Naples. The band had been called as usual at seven, and were playing a delightful waltz upon the quarter-deck; the sea was even, and just crisped by the breeze from the Italian shore; the sailors were leaning on the guns listening; the officers clustered in their various places ”

“ The first four years after their marriage were chiefly spent in a delightful retreat in the island of Ischia, where Pescara had a palace and domain. Here, far from the world, and devoted to each [Pg 66] other, and to the most elegant pursuits, they seem to have revelled in such bliss as poets fancy and romancers feign. Hence the frequent allusions to the island of Ischia, in Vittoria's later poems, as a spot beloved by her husband, and the scene of their youthful happiness. One thing alone was wanting to complete this happiness: Heaven denied them children. ”

“ For some time I amused myself making excursions to all the places of interest; but growing tired, deeded to cross to Ischia, and spend the summer on the island.
Boats leave twice a day for Procida and Ischia, and though they only take two and a half hours doing the trip, in fine weather it is delightful. ”

“ Isauria, in ancient times this name was given to the northern slopes of the Taurus in Asia Minor, what is now Karamania; the Isaurians were a wild, savage people; from the 1st to the 4th centuries they were the terror of neighbouring States, and gave Rome herself considerable trouble; but from the 5th century they disappear from history.
Ischia (22) , a beautiful volcanic island 6 m. off the Bay of Naples; its scenery, climate, and mineral springs make it a health resort; it produces excellent fruits and wines; it is liable to severe earthquakes ”

“ Far ahead, in the direction of our course, lay one or two dim, cloudy masses, too faint and shadowy to be detached as yet from the grey skyline which bounded the crystalline sparkles of the sea. And so, having strained my eyes in vain effort to discover the high peak of Ischia, I fell to wondering 2 why any man who is at liberty to choose his route should dream of approaching this Campanian coast otherwise than by the sea. ”

“ It is true that many a landing-place lay nearer at hand for the Greek mariner, but none were so well protected from storms and from barbarians as the island of Ischia, upon which the town was originally situated; and that such were the prevailing considerations that led to this settlement, is evident from the very position which was subsequently selected for it on the mainland—the steep but well-protected cliff, which still bears to the present day the venerable name of the Anatolian mother-city. ”

“ Up in this mountain, in caves, partly natural and partly the work of man, lives a hermit, of whose history romantic circumstances are related, but who, himself, has no longer a romantic appearance.
Several boats were lying on the sea, along the southern coast, belonging to the coral-fishers, who rake up from the deep, with iron hands, these precious growths of the ocean. The shores of the island are rich in these as well as in every kind of frutti di mare. We saw, at the city of Ischia, the magnificent Marine Reale, beautiful plantations of trees, and the King of Naples with his court. ”

“ Since the great eruption of 1302, the effects of which can still be traced among the large pine woods near Porto d’Ischia, the mountain has been quiescent, and the population of the island has increased considerably, although the constant shocks of [pg 291] earthquake have always made a permanent residence in Ischia somewhat insecure. Nor can we rest assured that Typhoeus himself is truly dead, not merely sleeping, but ready to renew his fierce efforts after his long spell of slumber, and to change the face of nature as unexpectedly as did the Demon of Vesuvius in the reign of Titus. ”

“ The central feature of Ischia is the great crater of Epomeo (a, Fig. 14) . On the south side, and partly also on the east, the crater-wall has been broken down and removed; the portion remaining is about 11⁄2 mile in diameter from east to west, and reaches a height of 2,600 feet above the sea-level. All the upper part of the mountain is composed of a pumiceous tufa, rich in sanidine and of a characteristic greenish colour. At two points, to the west near Forio and to the north between Lacco and Casamicciola, this tufa is seen reaching down to the sea ”