June 29th – Visited two churches, that of St. Genaro where the ________ of blood takes place twice a year. Here we saw a number of silver busts and statues of the different saints and bishops. They were very handsomely wrought. They are paraded through the churches and streets during a festival every May. In the San Sevaro chapel we saw some most beautiful statuary – one a beautiful veiled female figure of exquisite workmanship; also a male one, twice caught in a net, as he struggles to extricate himself gets deeper into its meshes, the latter are perfect. The entire chapel is full of marble statuary with the sarcophagi of the different members of the San Severo family in niches. This chapel is in the church of St. Maria della Pieta.
Left at three in the afternoon for St. Vesuvius. Rode as far as we could in a carriage and then tool horses and rode up to the cone. We crossed beds of lava of several different eruptions. It was as black as coal and lying in various forms just as it had cooled. When we arrived at the cone the men had chairs ready for us. We tried to walk at first, but finding it too difficult, neither of us feeling well, we surrendered to the chairs. Mr. M. walked up with little trouble, but the weather being so warm we find we are not as strong and cannot go through with what we did in Syria.

Every now and then we had a fine view of the bay and country around. It was too hazy to see well for any distance over the country. On that account, the sunset was nothing worthy of comment.

Upon reaching the summit of the grand crater we walked along side of it and had a view of the two cones which were in motion. These are in the center of the great crater – one is smoking and the other budges forth at intervals of a few minutes volumes of smoke and melted lava which falls red hot down the side of it, two or three ejections of lava we saw looked like the flower pot fire works we have at home on a grand scale. We all went down into the grand crater. N. and Mr. M. crossed over the melted lawn. I preferred reclining on the warm cinder and debris above. N. and Mr. M. looked as if they had been standing over a hot stove for an hour, infernal regions, _______, lava, etc. Coming down not funny – moonlight ride home – no brigands, etc.

June 30th – Went to see the ____ Natural – Saw numbers of busts and statues from Herculaneum and Pompeii, mosaic floors and tablets; quantities of bronze statuary, bronze ornaments, cooking utensils; a room devoted entirely to glassware, dishes, bottles, glass windows, goblets, etc. etc. A skull of one of the guards encased in a helmet, showing that he was true to his post to the last. Numbers of etruscan vases and dishes; also some Greek and Egyptian, black are etruscan red figures Greek, etc. _____ bottle, vases and gold ornaments found in tombs; a room full of Papyrus, the MS. of libraries in Pompeii as black as coal. Some have been partially restored; bread with the bakers name, honey, meat in a pot, fruit and olives in dishes, all just as they had been found; numbers of gold rings, necklaces, cameos and other ornaments, etc. etc. etc.

July 2nd – Went to Baic. Passed through the grotto of Rosilino and went along a portion of the old Roman Road from Naples to Putebli to the tunnel or grotto 2244 ft. long and is lighted night and day lamps. At Putebli saw the ruins of the temple of Jupiter Serapio. The action of the sea on many of its columns is very curious. From thence we went to Lake Aremus and the cave of the Sybil. The minerals rings in the temple of Jupiter are very interesting, especially the hot spring. The country all around Cumea, Lake Aremus and Baic is volcanic. Saw the Temples of Venus and Mercury. The latter is round and is a regular whispering gallery. While here, two women came in and ______ the Tarentilla to the music of the tambourine and castanets. Baic and its castle are beautifully situated. In going to the cave of the Sybil we passed through two grottos, through which we were lighted by the torches carried by the Guide. We visited the crater of Somi, extinct volcano of Solfatara where was saw a great volume of steam issuing from a large aperture, the noise of which, caused by the section within sounded like a boiling caldron. The ground and sided of the stone wall were covered with sulphur for many feet around. The scenery around Lake Avernus and the Cumoan Lake is beautiful. After this excursion we went into Sorrento, where we remained all night, having delightful rooms looking out on to the sea.