in their rich
luxuriance of foliage, and with their precipitous sides and verdure-clad
depths will recall the wonderful _latomie_, the ancient stone-quarries of
Syracuse. Their depths are filled with orange and lemon trees, mingled
with sable spires of cypress and the tall forms of bays, which here bear
jet-black berries, such as are rarely seen in our northern clime; whilst
the edges of the cliffs are clothed with a serried mass of wild flowers;
red valerian, crimson snap-dragon, tall blue campanulas, the dark green
wild fennel, white-blossoming cistus, and a hundred other plants, gay with
colour and strong with aromatic perfume.

"The quarry's edge is lined with many a plant,
With many a flower distilling fragrant dew
From brightly coloured petals. Almond trees
Give snowy promise of sweet leaves and fruit;
Here all the scented tangle of the South
Covers the boulders, calcined by the sun
To pearly whiteness; thorn or asphodel
Sprout from each cranny of the topmost ledge
To nod against the deep blue sky, or peer
Into the verdure-clad abyss below."

It is not surprising to learn that these romantic glens, filled with
greenery, are reputed locally to be the haunts of fairies, _Monacelli_, as
the Sorrentine inhabitants name them. Like the "good folk" of certain
country districts in England, the pixies of Devonshire, and the "Tylwyth
Teg" of rural Wales, these elfin people of the ravines are not malicious
or unkindly in their nature, but they are particular and somewhat exacting
in certain matters. They appreciate the attentions of mortal men, and
offerings of fresh milk or choice fruit are not beneath the notice of the
Monacelli. Borrowing the idea from the votive offerings they make in the
churches to the Virgin and the Saints, the peasants sometimes place little
lamps in the fern-draped grottoes of these gullies, and to such as
punctually perform these acts of courtesy, the Monacelli frequently show
signs of favour. The _padrone_ of a local inn has assured us that he and
his wife stood very high in the good graces of the little people, who had
on one occasion actually written them a letter, although as the characters
employed were unknown to any person in the village, the object of their
communication by this means seems somewhat of a mystery. Another and a
more practical instance of their patronage was then related, for the
favoured landlord assured us that on one occasion, when he and his wife
d