most picturesque and strange position, while in the midst of the desolation, men and women, old people and children, wander in silence squalor and misery, depicted on their countenances, and all wearing some mourning garb, for they are fathers weeping for their children, brothers for brothers, wives for husbands, children for their mothers, &c.
The appearance of Melfi, although we had already seen Atella, Rionero, Bariele and Rapolla, affected us with indescribable emotion. The reader can acquire an idea of its ruined condition from the faithful sketch of Signor Flauti, junior;[1] but who can describe the sorrow legible in the countenances of those poor creatures, who are wandering round the walls of their former homes, no longer possessed of their domestic hearths, relatives, or friends? How resist the thought of the misery of the poor apothecary, who had lost his all beneath the stones, and was reduced to beggary? Here was the small proprietor, whose sole fortune consisted of a few houses; there, close to the ruins of a café, its former master, deprived of bread and hope. Such was the picture presented to us when we had already wept over the fate of other districts more or less afflicted. Alas! the sole comfort which the mind can feel amid such misery, is the consideration of the clemency of the prince, and the sympathy of those persons who contributed to the relief of the unfortunate people. The victims of Melfi exceeded 700; among these were several prisoners killed by the fall of the prison; others were pardoned by our monarch on his arrival in this region, blessed and thanked by the people for his wise arrangements and liberal succour. Little different from that of Melfi was the fate of Rapolla and Bariele; it is true, that a greater number of buildings were left standing, but if closely observed, they are found with fallen roofs, or tottering walls, or such injuries as render them unsafe, and dangerous. The rock on which they are built is the same, that is, volcanic tufa. About Bariele, many caves are excavated in the rock, the first habitations of an Albanese colony which settled there, and which now serve as a shelter to the houseless. Both these towns stand partly on the summit of hills, or rather hillocks, at the base of Vulture, and partly on the declivity. The houses on the heights are the most injured, perhaps owing to their greater
- ↑ Copper-plate to original Report.
