From this place we crossed by sea to Baiae, where at one time many of the rich people had their villas.  Their proceedings here are said, however, to have been of so immoral a character, that at length it was considered wrong to have resided here any time.  Every visitor must be enchanted with the fertility of this region, and with its lovely aspect.  A castle, now used as a barrack for veterans, crowns the summit of a rock which stands prominently forth.  A few unimportant traces can still be here discovered of an ancient temple of Hercules.  Some masonry, in the form of a monument, marks the alleged spot where Agrippina was murdered and buried by order of her son.

The immense reservoir built by order of the emperor Augustus for the purpose of supplying the fleet with fresh water, is situate in the neighbourhood of Baiae; it is called Piscina.  This giant structure contains several large chambers, their roofs supported by numerous columns.  To view this reservoir we are compelled to descend a flight of steps.

Not far from the before-mentioned building we come upon the “Cento Camarelle,” a prison consisting of a multitude of small cells.

On our way back we visited Solfatara, the celebrated crater plain, about 1000 feet in length by 800 in breadth, skirted by hills.  Its volcanic power is not yet wholly extinct; in several places brimstone-fumes (whence the plain derives its name,) are still seen rising into the air, which they impregnate with a most noxious odour.  On striking the ground with a stick a sound is produced, from which we can judge that the whole space beneath us is hollow.  This excursion is a very disagreeable one; we are continually marching across a mere crust of earth, which may give way any moment.  I found here a manufactory of brimstone and alum.  A little church belonging to the Capuchins, where we are shewn a stone on which St. Januarius was decapitated after the bears had refused to tear him to pieces, stands on a hill near the Solfatara.

Towards evening we reached the “Dog’s Grotto.”  A huntsman from the royal preserve Astroni accompanied us, and fetched the man who keeps the keys of the grotto.  This functionary soon appeared with a couple of dogs, to furnish us with a practical illustration of the convulsions caused by the foul air of the cavern.  But I declined the experiment, and contented myself with viewing the grotto.  It is of small extent, about eight or ten feet long, not more than five in breadth, and six or eight high.  I entered the cave, and so long as I remained erect felt no inconvenience.  So soon as I bent towards the ground, however, and the lower stratum of air blew upon my face, I experienced a most horrible choking sensation.