The greater part of the campagna or open country about the city is kept waste by the malaria or unwholesome air of summer. What is the cause or nature of this noxious vapor, no one has yet been able to discover. The soil is perfectly dry, and there is no marshy land or stagnant water in the neighborhood which can impart unhealthy moisture to the atmosphere. The sky is beautifully clear in almost every season, and each breeze that blows seems to savor of nothing but balmy purity. Nevertheless, the country for miles is uninhabitable, and shows a desolate plain, with a field of wheat here and there, or a few scattered willow trees and thickets of bramble. Shepherds feed their flocks among the ruins during the healthy season; but there are no villages till you come to the hills of Albano, Frascati and Tivoli, in which neighborhood the Romans have their country seats.
The malaria also infests the city, particularly the ruinous portion. Strangers seldom pass the summer in Rome on this account, although I was told there is no danger of sickness for any one who does not go out at night, and takes care to sleep with the windows shut. The unhealthy season is from June to September. During the remaining months Rome is thought to be as healthy as any spot in the world. The winter is delightful, being mostly like the finest October weather in New England.
I could fill a book with stories about this wonderful place; but the brief space allotted to me makes it necessary to pass on in my story.
The Deluge.
This event, described in the sixth and seventh chapters of Genesis, is one of the most wonderful that is recorded in the history of the world. It was a judgment sent upon the earth by the Almighty, in consequence of the great wickedness of mankind. His purpose was to destroy not man only, but the animal tribes, except a pair of each species, so as to repeople the earth, after having thus set before the world, for all future time, a fearful warning against disobedience of his commands.
This great catastrophe occurred 1656 years after the creation, and more than 4000 years ago. We have not only the testimony of the Bible to assure us that this event actually occurred, but most nations, particularly those of high antiquity, have either historical records or traditions of such an occurrence. The account given of it in Genesis is one of the finest pieces of description that has ever been penned; but it is very general, and gives us few details, or minute incidents. Yet the imagination can easily portray many affecting scenes that must have been witnessed in the fearful overthrow of the great human family.
Noah, who was a good and wise man, was forewarned of the coming destruction, and, by the command of God, he built an ark, of vast dimensions, and which cost him the labor of a hundred years. It was a sort of bark, being shaped somewhat like a chest or trunk. It was larger than the largest vessels of modern times. It is a large ship that measures a thousand tons, yet Noah’s ark measured forty-two thousand tons!
Into this ark Noah collected his family, and a pair of each kind of bird, each kind of quadruped, and each kind of reptile. Under the guidance of the Almighty, this vessel and its numerous inhabitants floated safely on the water for a whole year. Here they were fed, and here the lion was made to lie down with the kid. When, at last, the waters had subsided, and the ark rested upon the land, then they all came forth.
This story of Noah and his family is not only interesting as a wonderful piece of history, but it conveys to us an important lesson. It teaches us that wisdom is imparted to the children of God, which is not enjoyed by the wicked; that there is an ark of safety provided for the true believer, while the scoffer is left to work out his own destruction.