Rollo in Naples Part 16

Mr. George seemed at first quite unwilling to accept this proposal. He said he would go with Mrs. Gray to any part of the museum that she pleased, and remain there with her as long as she desired; and that, far from being any inconvenience to him to do so, it would be a pleasure.

But Mrs. Gray said that it was on her account more than on his, that she made the proposal.

"Because," said she, "if you are with us I shall be thinking all the time that perhaps it would be better for you to be somewhere else; whereas, with Rollo and the children, I can stroll about wherever I please."

In this view of the case, Mr. George consented to her proposal.

Accordingly, after breakfast, he left Rollo to engage a carriage and take Mrs. Gray and the others to the museum, while he went to find his two friends, the students, at another hotel, where they were lodging.

They were all to meet in the hall of the museum at ten o'clock.

At half past nine Rollo had a nice carriage at the door. Josie sat in the carriage while Rollo went up to Mrs. Gray's room to tell her that it was ready. Rosie, who was still far from being strong, leaned on Rollo's arm coming down stairs.

"I am very glad that you are going to have the care of us to-day, instead of Mr. George," said she.

"So am I," said Rollo. "I am very glad indeed."

"I don't care any thing at all about his old learned inscriptions," said Rosie.

"Nor do I much," said Rollo. "Still they are very curious, when once we understand them."

"Perhaps they may be," said Rosie, "but I don't care about them. What I want is, to see the pretty things."

"Yes," said Rollo, "and I will show you all the pretty things I can find."

Rollo a.s.sisted the two ladies into the carriage, and then, after getting in himself, he ordered the coachman to drive to the museum. The way lay first through one or two open squares, bordered with churches, porticos, and palaces, and then through a long, straight street, called the _Toledo_. This is the princ.i.p.al street of shops in Naples, and is said to be the most populous and crowded street in Europe. It was so thronged with people every where, in the middle of the street as well as upon the sidewalks, that the carriage could scarcely pa.s.s along.

At length, however, it arrived at the museum. There was a s.p.a.cious stone platform before the building, with a broad flight of stone steps ascending to it. Rollo a.s.sisted his party to descend from the carriage, and then he stopped to pay the coachman, while they went up the steps.

Rollo joined them on the platform.

The doors of the museum building, which were immensely large, were open, but they were guarded by a soldier, who walked back and forth before the entrance, carrying his gun with the bayonet set. Rollo paid no attention to him, but walked directly in. Josie walked by his side, and Mrs. Gray and Rosie followed them.

"Now," said Rollo, "we must wait here until uncle George comes."

The hall into which they had entered was very large and very lofty, and the columns and staircases that were to be seen here and there adorning it were very grand. On different sides were various pa.s.sages, with doors leading to the several apartments and ranges of apartments of the museum. These doors were all open, but the entrance to each was closed by an iron gate, and each gate had a man standing near it to guard it.

Over each of these doors was an inscription containing the name of the particular department of the museum to which it led.

By the side of the great door of entrance was a small room in a corner, kept by two men in uniform. This was the place for the visitors to deposit their canes and umbrellas in. It is not safe to allow people in general to take such things into cabinets of curiosities, for there are many who have so little discretion, that, in pointing to the objects around them, they would often touch them with the iron end of the umbrella or the cane, and so scratch or otherwise injure them.

Rollo took Mrs. Gray's parasol from her hand and gave it to one of the men. The man put a strap around it. The strap had a ticket with the number 49 upon it. He gave another ticket, also marked 49, to Rollo, and Rollo put it in his pocket.

At this moment Rollo saw Mr. George and the two students coming in at the door. The three gentlemen deposited their canes at the little office just as Mrs. Gray had done with her parasol, and then the whole party advanced into the great hall.

Mr. George and the students went with Mrs. Gray and the children into the first room, but they soon left them, and after that Rollo was the sole guide.

Each department of the museum was contained in a separate suit of apartments, at the entrance to which, as I have already said, there was a small iron gate across the doorway. This little gate was kept shut and locked; but there was a man who stood by it, inside, always ready to open it whenever he saw any visitors coming. He always shut and locked the door again when the visitors went in. Then, finally, when they were ready to come out, he unlocked the gate for them, and it was then that they were expected to pay the fee for visiting that part of the museum.

Rollo had taken care to inquire about this beforehand, and he had provided himself with a sufficient number of pieces of money of the right value, so as not to have any trouble in making change.

In most of the rooms there were men who had pictures for sale, ill.u.s.trating the objects contained there, for visitors to buy, in order to carry them home as souvenirs of their visit, and to show to their friends at home. Mrs. Gray bought quite a number of these pictures, and Rollo himself bought several.

The rooms that interested the young persons most were those which contained the tools and household implements, and the various utensils found at Pompeii. In general these things were much more similar to the corresponding articles of the present day than one would have expected to find. But yet there were many differences, both of form and structure, which made them extremely curious to see.

For instance, there was a _bell_ found in one of the houses; but instead of being hollow, and having a clapper inside, as is the custom at the present day, it consisted simply of a large, flat ring, like a plate, with a hole through the centre of it. This ring was hung up by means of a short chain, and by the side of it there was hung a sort of hammer. To ring the bell it was necessary to strike it with this hammer.

An attendant in the room did this while Mrs. Gray and Rollo were there, to let them hear how the bell sounded.

"It sounds very well indeed," said Rollo.

"Yes," replied Rosie; "but I don't think it is quite so musical as one of our bells."

There were several pairs of steelyards in the room, too, which were very much like the steelyards of the present day, only they were made of a more ornamental form. The weights were quite pretty little pieces of sculpture and statuary.

There were some very curious and pretty little cooking fireplaces, one of which, in particular, the young people admired very much indeed.

Rosie said that she should have liked it very much herself, when she was a child, to play with. In the centre was a sort of pan for the coals, or embers, and all around was a raised border, made double, with a s.p.a.ce between to contain water. In one corner there was a raised part, with an opening to pour in the water, and in front, below, there was a small faucet for the purpose of drawing the water out. Of course the embers or coals in the centre of the pan kept the water in the reservoir around it always warm.

There was also a little place on one side where a kettle or a saucepan could stand on two supports, with an opening below to put the coals under.

A great many of the floors in Pompeii were found to be in mosaic; that is, they were formed of various colored stones, arranged together in a sort of bed of cement, in such a manner as to show a picture, or some other ornamental design. In many cases there were only two kinds of stones used, black and white; and these were arranged so as to form borders, scrolls, and pattern work,--as it is called,--of various kinds.

In some places a border was formed around the room, and the figure of some animal was placed in the centre. In other cases groups of animals, or of men, were represented, in a very perfect manner. It has always been considered wonderful that such spirited and beautiful designs could be so well represented by a method apparently so rude as the arrangement on a floor of bits of different colored stones.

The best of these mosaics were taken up and removed to the museum. You would think at first that it would be impossible to remove them in any other way than by taking them all to pieces and putting them together again, each little stone in its proper place, on the floor of the museum, where the mosaic was intended to go. But the artists contrived a way to take them up without all this labor, and thus several of the best ones have been removed without disturbing the arrangement of the stones, and have been laid down on the floors of the museum.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MOSAIC.]

One of the most curious of these mosaics is a representation of a dog, which was placed just _within_ the entrance of a house, and just _at_ the entrance were the words, also in mosaic, CAVE CANEM, which is the Latin for LOOK OUT FOR THE DOG. On the preceding page is a representation of this mosaic.

This mosaic was curious rather than wonderful; but in another house there was one which has always been considered a most marvellous production, on account of the complicated character of the design, and the immense number of stones composing it. It represents a battle scene, and contains a great number of men and horses, all mingled together in great confusion on the field of battle. The number of pieces of stone used in making this mosaic is almost incalculable.

Although it was originally made as part of a floor, it is now very carefully guarded, and no one is allowed to walk upon it. It is surrounded by a railing, and along one side of it there is a raised platform for visitors to stand upon in order to see it to advantage.

There were one or two large rooms that were filled with beautifully-formed jars and vases, of a brownish color, and ornamented upon the outside with figures and devices of all kinds. These devices represented all sorts of scenes, and they are considered extremely valuable on account of the light they throw on the manners and customs, and the modes of life, which prevailed in those ancient days. Some of these vases are of very great value. They are very large, and to enable the visitor to see them on all sides, without danger of breaking them, a great many of them are mounted in the museum on stands fitted with a revolving top, so that they can be turned round, and made to present all the sides successively to the spectator. In addition to this, some of the finest specimens are protected by a large gla.s.s bell placed over them.

Mrs. Gray and the children found Mr. George and the two students in this room, when they first came into it. Mr. George said that they were going to stay there nearly all that day. They wished to examine the drawings on the vases in detail. Rollo looked at a few of them, but he could not understand them very well.

"You will understand them better," said Mr. George, "when you have learned more about the ancient mythology."

"But then I shall not be here to see them," rejoined Rollo.

"True," replied Mr. George, "but they have all been copied and engraved, and you will find them exactly reproduced in books in all the great libraries of the world. All that you can do now is to take a general view of them, and of the room containing them, and to examine one or two in detail, and then, by and by, when you wish to study them more particularly, you must do it from the drawings. You will find that the interest that you will take in the drawings will be greatly increased by your having had this opportunity to see the originals."

Mr. George conducted Mrs. Gray and Rosie to one of the vases which stood near a window, on one of the revolving stands; and while an attendant turned it slowly round, so as to exhibit the successive sides to view, he explained to them the meaning of the figures, and showed them what the different people were doing.

After remaining a short time in this department, Rollo and his party went on, leaving Mr. George and the two students still there.

But the room which interested Mrs. Gray and Rosie most, was what is called the _Gem Room_. It contains all the gems and jewelry, and other personal ornaments, that were found at Herculaneum and Pompeii, as well as a great many other very curious things. There were rings, bracelets, and necklaces, made of gold, and adorned with precious stones; and there were a great many signets and other gems engraved in the most delicate and exquisite manner. These things were all arranged in gla.s.s cases, so that they could be seen to great advantage, but they could not be touched. There were a great many other curious things in this room; and there were also a great many other very curious rooms, all of which Mrs.

Gray and the children walked through, though there were so many things to be seen in them, that, in the end, they became quite bewildered. In the mean time the hours pa.s.sed away, and at length Mrs. Gray, looking at her watch, said it was nearly four o'clock, which was the hour for the museum to be closed. So they did not go into any more rooms, but concluded to go home. They went down the great staircase, towards the entrance door, and then, after stopping to get Mrs. Gray's parasol, they took a carriage and drove home. Mrs. Gray said that she had seen the museum, but not the things that were in it.

"We have scarcely seen one in a thousand of them," said she.