The appearance of bodies, sitting upright in the water, was no deception, though it contributed by its horror, to the illusions of the ear. This terrific visitation has occasioned much alarm, under similar circumstances, even in modern times. We are told, that after the executions which took place, in the bay of Naples, by order of that court, in 1799, the body of Carraccioli[27] was seen floating, in an erect position, several days after his death, near the vessel on board of which he had suffered. In a certain stage of putrefaction, the bodies of persons which have been immersed in water, rise to the surface, and in deep water, are supported in an erect posture, to the terror of uninstructed spectators. Menacing looks and gestures, and even words, are supplied by the affrighted imagination, with infinite facility, and referred to the horrible apparition. I insert a striking instance from Dr. Clarke. “One day, leaning out of the cabin window, by the side of an officer who was employed in fishing, the corpse of a man, newly sewed in a hammock, started half out of the water, and continued its course, with the current, towards the shore--Nothing could be more horrible: its head and shoulders were visible, turning first to one side, then to the other, with a solemn and awful movement, as if impressed with some dreadful secret of the deep, which, from its watery grave it came upwards to reveal. Such sights became afterwards frequent, hardly a day passing without ushering the dead to the contemplation of the living, until at length they passed without observation.”[28] LUCIAN has treated this malady of the mind with his usual severe ridicule, in one of his most entertaining dialogues, the _Philopseudes_. The stories of the statues, which descended at night from their pedestals, and walked about the court, are well told. But that of the inchanted stick is the best.