given at the hotels.) The entrance is not above 3 ft. in height, and passengers are compelled to stoop or lie down in the boat. In the interior the roof is 40 ft. above the water. The length of the grotto is 165 ft.; its greatest width 100 ft. The effect of the blue refraction of the light on every object is very fine, and, at first, dazzling to the sight. The boatmen who, for a small fee, swim about the boats, assume a silvery hue. The best hour for visiting the grotto is from 10 to 1.

SALERNO AND PESTUM.

Five trains daily from Naples to Salerno. Fares: 5.90 francs, 3.85 francs, and 1.80 francs. The route passes Pompeii, Pagani, Nocera, La Cava (a favourite summer resort), Vietri (a beautifully-situated town, with charming villas).

From Salerno (Hotel: Vittoria) to Pastum, a two-horse carriage costs 25 francs, besides gratuities. The distance is 24 miles. The traveller who spends the night at Salerno may, by leaving at 4 or 5 in the morning, visit Pæstum and return in time for the last train to Naples. The region about Pæstum is not healthy; it should be visited between October and March, and passing the night there should be avoided.

PESTUM, a colony of Sybaris, founded B.C. 600, was called before the Roman times, Poseidonia. Attention was called to its ruins in 1745. Besides some remains of the walls and an amphitheatre, they consist of three Doric temples, which have remained standing for 2,000 years in this now wild and solitary place. The most remarkable is the TEMPLE OF NEPTUNE or Poseidonium. This temple, which after those of Athens is con

sidered the finest example of genius manifested by the Greeks in architecture, forms from east to west a parallelogram of 199 feet by 83 feet, including the steps. It has six columns on each front and fourteen on the sides, counting those of the angles. These columns, of the Doric order, elevated upon three steps, surround the temple in one continuous portico. They are 6 feet 9 inches in diameter at their lower part, and 14 feet 8 inches high, by which an effect of greater massiveness than that of the Parthenon, and of the temple of Theseus at Athens, is produced. They have no base, are fluted and conical, the upper diameter being one-third less than the lower; an excessive diminution, as the difference in the temples at Athens is but two-ninths. They are formed of five or six cylinders of variable heights, and are perfectly jointed. The other two temples are: the one improperly named the Basilica, and a small temple of Ceres.

The invariable object of tourists in visiting Catania is to make the ascent of MOUNT ETNA, which rises nearly 11,000 feet above the sea. On the east side of the mountain is an extensive valley called the Val del Bove, surrounded on three sides by abrupt precipices rising from 1,000 to 3,000 feet. Above it is a plain called Piano del Lago, on which are two buildings, one called the Casa Inglese (English Lodge), built by the subscriptions of English tourists; another called Torre del Filisofo (the Philosopher's Tower), said to have been the residence of Empedocles, who threw himself into the crater. Above this plain rises the great cone of the crater. The ascent can be made in about ten hours. The journey is usually commenced at night, in order to enjoy the magnificent view, which extends to Malta, and to the island of Pantalaria in the direction of Africa-the former being 130, the latter 180 miles distant.

ROUTE 137.

NAPLES TO PALERMO. The distance is 193 miles; the fares are the same as to Messina. Steamers leave at 8 P.M. on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.

ALERMO (Hotels: Trinacria, de France) is a town of upwards of 200,000 inhabitants, situated on the north coast of Sicily. As we approach, the gulf and town present a most delightful prospect. The latter is partially encircled by groves of orange and citron trees, behind which rises a range of magnificent hills. shape is an oblong square, of which one of the small sides abuts on the coast. Its circumference

Its

is about fourteen miles, and its principal streets are terminated by fifteen gates. Two large and regular streets, intersecting at right angles, form an octagonal. space, called the Piazza Vigliena, or Quattro Cantoni, adorned with handsome buildings, porticos, fountains, and statues, among which last are those of Charles V. Philip II., III., and IV. of Spain. By the sea-side runs the beautiful promenade called Marina, ending at a public garden called the Garden of Flora.

The Cathedral, erected in 1170, is externally in the Norman style with Moorish decorations; the western façade is a beautiful specimen of the pointed style of Sicilian architecture; a lofty cade, with pointed arches, joins the belfry to the Cathedral. The interior contains several monuments, paintings, sculptures, and frescoes.

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The Palazzo Reale contains the Palatine Chapel, an interesting specimen of art of the 12th century. There are some good collections in the palace of the Prince of Trabia, and in the University.

About 3 miles from Palermo is Monreale, a town of 15,000 inhabitants. The Cathedral, surpassing in size that of St. Mark at Venice, is ornamented with beautiful mosaics. In the Convent is an interesting fresco of Daniel in the Lions' Den.

From Palermo an excursion may be made by rail to

Termini (23 miles), (Hotels : San Domenico, Concordia), population about 20,000. Here are to be seen numerous ancient ruins; the churches and convents are rich in mosaics and ancient columns. A beautiful view is obtained from the platform behind the Cathedral.

Fares: 1st class, 4.15 francs; 2nd, 2.90 francs ; 3rd, 2∙10 francs.

PAIN is bounded on the north by the Bay of Biscay and the mountain-chain of the Pyrenees; on the east and south by the Mediterranean and Atlantic, and on the west by Portugal and the waters of the Atlantic.

Its greatest length is 560 miles, its greatest breadth about 650 miles. Its area, including the Canary and Balearic Islands, is 182,758 square miles.

The interior of the country presents great physical diversity, more so than that of any other country in Europe of equal extent. The central regions consist of an immense plateau, which rises to the height of from 2,000 to 3,000 ft., and occupies upwards of 90,000 square miles. This plateau, or table land, is bounded on two sides by mountainous tracts -on the north-east by the valley of the Ebro, and on the south by the valley of the Guadalquivir. The Pyrenean peninsula is divided

by geographers into seven mountain ranges, of which the chief are: 1. The Cantabrian Mountains and the Pyrenees, forming the most northern range; 2. The Sierra de Guadarrama; 3. The Montes de Toledo; 4. The Sierra Morena, between the upper waters of the Guadiana and Guadalquivir; 5. The Sierra Nevada running parallel with the shores of the Mediterranean, through Southern Murcia and Andalusia.

The several mountain-ridges, or, as they are called, Cordilleras of Spain, have a general east and west direction, and between them run, in the same direction, the nearly parallel valleys or basins of the great rivers of the country, the Douro, Tagus, Guadiana, and Guadalquivir. The valleys enclosed among the mountainranges, as well as the plains, or vegas, that spread out from their bases, are in general distinguished by extreme beauty. The former almost uniformly clothed with a luxuriant vegetation, and

are

the latter form rich pasture grounds.

The climate, owing to the physical configuration of the surface, varies much in different localities. On the elevated table-land it is both colder in winter and hotter in summer than is usual under the same latitude.

In Madrid the mean temperature of winter is about 47 degrees and of summer 86 degrees. In the north-west, in severe and rainy winters, the cold is occasionally extreme, and in Gallicia, a piercing wind, which the Castilians call gallego, often blows. In the south-east districts a kind of perpetual spring prevails; on the contrary, in the south-west, in Granada, and other parts of Andalusia, the climate is almost African, and a wind called solano, which withers up vegetation, enfeebles the animal frame, and spreads epidemic diseases, often blows for two weeks in succession.

In the west the climate is mild but variable; the summer, however, is often very hot, and in Estremadura in particular, withering droughts are not unfrequent. In the east the climate resembles that of Asia Minor and Syria.

The principal rivers, in addition to those above named, are the Ebro, Xucar, and Minho. The rivers on the northern coast of Spain are numerous, but of short courses: they serve to irrigate the land, but are not sufficiently deep for navigation. Spain has no lakes of any magnitude. Some of small size occur in the high valleys of the Pyrenees.

The mineral productions are rich and varied, though, owing to the general decay into which almost all the industrial interests of the kingdom have fallen, they are less extensively worked than they formerly were. They include

gold, silver, quicksilver (the mines of which at Almaden, are among the richest in the world), copper, iron, zinc, in limited quantities, and coal. The total value of the minerals, ores and metals raised in 1863, amounted to £4,428,389.

The kingdom of Spain, inclusive of the adjacent islands, is divided into 49 provinces. The total population is 16,301,851.

It has been calculated that, about the time of Julius Cæsar, Spain must have contained 78,000,000 inhabitants, and yet, in 1688, it did not possess more than 8,000,000. In 1768 the population had risen to 9,307,800; in 1820, to 11,000,000; and, in 1842, to 12,054,000 souls. The population of Spain in 1866 was estimated at 16,516,949, giving a density of population, at this period, of 90 per English square mile, or considerably less than half that of Italy.

MONEY. By a decree made in October, 1868, a new currency was established on the basis of the franc, viz., 100 centimes = 1 peseta 10d. English, or 20 cents, money of the United States.

The old currency, still in use, is, 100 centimes = 1 real = 2}d. or 5 cents; 10 reals 1 escudo 2s. 1d. or 50 cents.

GOLD COINS. Onza (320 reals) £3 6s. 8d., or 16 dollars; onza £1 13s. 4d., or 8 dollars; Isabel (100 reals) = 20s. 10d., or 5 dollars; onza = 16s. 8d., or 4 dollars; 40 real piece =8s. 4d., or 2 dollars; dollar (20 reals) = 4s. 2d., or 1 dollar.

SILVER COINS. Dollar 4s. 2d. =2 dollars; escudo (10 reals) = 28. 1d., or 50 cents; Peseta de Columnas (5 reals) 1s. Od., or 25 cents; Peseta (4 reals) — 10d., or 20 cents; 2 real piece=6d., or 12 cents; 2 real piece = 5d.,

=