At the particular desire of Herr M., who was well acquainted with all the remarkable points about the volcano, our guide now led the way to the so-called “hell,” a little crater which formed itself it in the year 1834.  To reach it we had to climb about over fields of lava for half an hour.  The aspect of this hell did not strike me as particularly grand.  An uneven wall of lava suddenly rose fifteen paces in advance of us, with whole strata of pure sulphur and other beautifully-coloured substances depending from its projecting angles.  One of these substances was of a snowy-white colour, light, and very porous.  I took a piece with me, but the next day on proceeding to pack it carefully, I found that above half had melted and become quite soft and damp, so that I was compelled to throw the whole away.  The same thing happened to a mass of a red colour that I had brought away with me, and which had a beautiful effect, like glowing lava, clinging to the fissures and sides of the rocks.  We held pieces of paper to the fissures in this wall, and they immediately became ignited.  Herr M. then threw in a cigar, which also burst into a flame.  The heat proceeding from these clefts was so great, that we could not bear to hold our hands there for an instant.  At one place, near a fissure, we laid our ears to the ground, and could hear a rushing bubbling sound as though water was boiling beneath us.  There was really much to see in this hell, without the discomfort of being enveloped in the offensive sulphurous smoke of the chief crater.

After staying for several hours in and about the crater we left it, and returned by the steep way over the cone of cinders.  The descent here is almost perpendicular, and we could hardly escape with whole skins if it were not for the fact that we sink ankle-deep into sand and cinders at every step.

To avoid falling, it is requisite to bend the body backwards and step upon the heel.  By observing this precaution, the worst that can happen to one is to sit down involuntarily once or twice, without danger to life or limb.  In twelve minutes we had reached the spot where our donkeys stood.  We reached Resina during the darkness of night, having spent eight hours in our excursion.

My last trip was to the Castle of Caserta, distant sixteen miglia from Naples, in the direction of Capua.  It is considered one of the finest pleasure-palaces in Europe, and I was exceedingly pleased with its appearance.  The building is of a square form, with a portico 507 feet long, supported by ninety-eight columns of the finest marble.  The staircase and halls in the upper story alone must have cost enormous sums, as well as the chapel on the first floor, which is very rich and gorgeous.  The saloons and apartments are decorated in a peculiarly splendid manner with a multiplicity of frescoes, oil-paintings, sculptures, gildings, costly silk-hangings, marbles, etc.  A pretty little theatre, with well-painted