ano, we began to distinguish dimly the base of
Ischia; for the summit was plunged in a mass of black clouds. Then a
doubtful outline of rocks struggled through the vapor to the left; and
at length we got into the pass, guessed at the form of the promontory,
obtained a vague glimpse of Procida, and fairly entered the famous bay.
All the elements of its beauty showed faintly through a moving vapor
that thickened aloft into driving clouds. Capri looked like a cone of
dark mist lingering to the south: the island we had passed dimmed away
in our rear. Bays and creeks innumerable ran in, to the left, between a
strange mixture of rocks and vegetation. This was all we could see at
first; but the lower half of Vesuvius soon showed itself; and presently
the curtain of mist was drawn hastily aside, just to give us a glimpse,
as it were, of the giant peak, faintly penciled against the leaden sky,
into which its wreath of smoke faded away, and of the reaper of Castel a
Mare, and the craggy promontory of Sorrento. Then all was covered again;
and a thin driving shower filled the air. Not a single gleam of sunshine
gilded the scene; but I once distinguished the orb, "shorn of its
beams," poised over the depths of the bay.

First impressions are every thing. Whenever I try to recall the
all-famous site, it always begins by presenting itself under this
aspect--not without its grandeur, it is true--but far inferior to the
bright and sunny scenes I witnessed, when, proceeding farther under more
favorable auspices, I made acquaintance with the coasts of Calabria, and
the immortal Straits of Messina. With a little patience, however, I can
figure to myself the Bay of Naples in all the loveliness which it
afterward displayed; and when the operation is complete, the contrast
becomes interesting.

I shall say nothing about the castles of St. Elmo and Del Ovo; nor of
the useless fuss about granting _pratique_; nor of an attempt made to
entrap us into smuggling by a worthy who had some silks to land; nor of
the annoyances of the custom-house. It is not my intention to take the
bread out of the mouths of the tourists. These are their legitimate
topics. I have to relate a little incident which does not happen to
every one who visits Naples; and I can not therefore be accused of
trespassing upon any body's ground. What I say about scenery and manners
must merely be considered as a setting to the diamond. I am willing to
concede superiority in this r