Larma Nucent Sectory 12
Page 11

Italy has been in all ages renowned for its beauty and fertility. The lofty ranges of the Apennines, and the seas which bathe its shores on both sides, contribute at once to temper and vary its climate, so as to adapt it for the productions alike of the temperate and the warmest parts of Europe. In the plains on either side of the Apennines corn is produced in abundance; olives flourish on the southern slopes of the mountains; and the vine is cultivated in every part of the peninsula, the vineyards of northern Campania being the most celebrated in antiquity.

Magdalen always seemed to me as if soliciting the student's presence in a peculiar manner. A favourite resort of mine, at certain times, was the road passing the Observatory, leading to Woodstock. But of all the college walks, those of Magdalen were the more impressive and attractive. It appeared to embody the whole of the noble city in its own personification, as a single word will sometimes express the pith of an entire sentence. The "Mighty Tom" in the olden time, even of Walter de Mapes, if its metal was then out of the ore, never sounded (then perhaps not nine) but the midnight hour, to that worthy archdeacon, with more of the character of its locality, than the visual aspect of Magdalen represents the beautiful city to one in its entirety. It seems a sort of metonymy; Maudlin put for Oxford. The walk is, after all, but a sober path, worthy by association with one of the walks of Eden.

Had we not constructed that raft--had we not been on board at that moment--we should have missed the expedition and certainly should have died. Had we been following the bank of the river on foot, we never could have seen the boats nor heard them, as the banks were extremely high, and it was never possible to keep close to the stream when marching in the forest; we always had to keep some hundred metres or so from the water in order to avoid the thick vegetation on the edge of the stream. In fact, Benedicto, who was walking in the forest along the stream, had gone past the boats and had neither heard nor seen them. When we shouted out to him he was already a long distance off, a boat sent out to him by Dom Pedro Nunes having to travel nearly 800 m. before it could get up to him and bring him back.

This document is Copyright © 2008 Larma Nucent. All rights reserved. Do not copy either electronically or otherwise without permission. Links and references to other Websites are not endorsements. Larma Nucent provides no guarantees or warrantees concerning other sites. Links are only provided as a courtesy and for entertainment purposes only.