Above The Ascent A
Long Tunnel, After Which The Line Falls Again Towards The Sea.
The
landscape took a nobler beauty; mountains spread before us, tenderly
coloured by the autumn sun.
We crossed two or three rivers - rivers
of flowing water, their banks overhung with dense green jungle. The
sea was azure, and looked very calm, but white waves broke loudly
upon the strand, last murmur of the storm which had raged and
renewed itself for nearly a fortnight.
At one of the wayside stations entered a traveller whom I could not
but regard with astonishment. He was a man at once plump and
muscular, his sturdy limbs well exhibited in a shooting costume. On
his face glowed the richest hue of health; his eyes glistened
merrily. With him he carried a basket, which, as soon as he was
settled, gave forth an abundant meal. The gusto of his eating, the
satisfaction with which he eyed his glasses of red wine, excited my
appetite. But who was he? Not, I could see, a tourist; yet how
account for this health and vigour in a native of the district? I
had not seen such a man since I set out upon my travels; the
contrast he made with the figures of late familiar to me was so
startling that I had much ado to avoid continuously gazing at him.
His proximity did me good; the man radiated health.
When next the train stopped he exchanged words with some one on the
platform, and I heard that he was going to Catanzaro. At once I
understood. This jovial, ruddy-cheeked personage was a man of the
hills. At Catanzaro I should see others like him; perhaps he fairly
represented its inhabitants. If so, I had reason for my suspicion
that poor fever-stricken Cotrone regarded with a sort of jealousy
the breezy health of Catanzaro, which at the same time is a much
more prosperous place. Later, I found that there did exist some
acerbity of mutual criticism between the two towns, reminding one of
civic rivalry among the Greeks. Catanzaro spoke with contempt of
Cotrone. Happily I made no medical acquaintance in the hill town;
but I should have liked to discuss with one of these gentlemen the
view of their climate held by Dr. Sculco.
In the ages that followed upon the fall of Rome, perpetual danger
drove the sea-coast population of Calabria inland and to the
heights. Our own day beholds a counter movement; the shore line of
railway will create new towns on the old deserted sites. Such a
settlement is the Marina of Catanzaro, a little port at the mouth of
a wide valley, along which runs a line to Catanzaro itself, or
rather to the foot of the great hill on which the town is situated.
The sun was setting when I alighted at the Marina, and as I waited
for the branch train my eyes feasted upon a glory of colour which
made me forget aching weariness.
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