The country all round Naples is full of strange and interesting objects for the curiosity of a traveller. Vesuvius is commonly the first among these to entice him upon an excursion. One fine morning I took my trusty stick in hand, and set out on a pedestrian jaunt towards the mountain. The roads were crowded with country people driving their little donkeys to the city, with panniers of greens, oranges, lemons, and all sorts of fresh eatables for the market. The beautiful country-seats of the rich Neapolitans excited my admiration, with their finely ornamented gardens, lawns, and pleasure-grounds. But all these delightful spots are surrounded by stone walls, ten or fifteen feet high, often bristling at the top with sharp iron spikes, broken glass, and such formidable defences. These things reminded me, perpetually, that I was in a country where a wide distinction existed between the poor and the rich, and where property has little security from public opinion, or the moral habits of the common people, but must be maintained by force. In fact, the owners of these beautiful dwellings, have far less comfort in their possession than one would imagine. They are surrounded by a poor, ignorant, immoral, and degraded population, against whom they must be constantly on their guard, for nothing but walls and watchmen can insure the rich man against depredation and robbery. A few miles from the city, my course brought me in front of a splendid palace where the road appeared to terminate. I thought I must have mistaken my route, but on inquiring of an old friar, who happened to be passing, I was told to go straight on. I now found the road to pass directly under the palace, which hung over it upon lofty arches, wide enough for several carriages to pass abreast. This was the royal palace of Portici, the place where the antiquities of Pompeii were formerly kept; but they are now removed to Naples. At a little distance beyond this town I came to a village called Resina, under which, at the depth of seventy or one hundred feet, lies the ancient city of Herculaneum. Nothing of it is to be seen but by going down a dark pit, like the shaft of a mine; and as I meant to devote this day to Vesuvius, I deferred my visit to these subterranean regions till another time.