FOUNTAIN

ST. JOHN. CATACOMBS.

OF

CHURCH OF ARETHUSA. SUPERSTITION OF NATIVES. INN. -LANDLORD. POPULATION. BRITISH CONSUL. EMBARKATION FOR MESSINA. ARRIVAL. DESCRIPTION. -PERSONS HIRED TO COMMIT ASSASSINATION. LETTER OF VIRGIN MARY ΤΟ INHABITANTS OF MESSINA. CHARYBDIS. ARRIVAL AT CATANIA. - DESCRIPTION. EFFECT OF TORRENTS OF LAVA FROM ETNA.

HAVING now formed a resolution to visit Sicily, I set sail from Malta, after procuring a passport from the Sicilian consul, and landed at Syracuse, computed at fifty miles distance, and pointed out as the place where the apostle Paul landed on his way to Rome, in order to meet the converts to the faith at the three taverns of Appii Forum + near that city. I may mention as a striking fact, that taverns do still exist there.

On arriving in the harbour of Syracuse, which is six miles in circumference, affording a beautiful prospect, and where the largest fleets may safely ride at anchor, I was subjected to the laws of quarantine, by which all communication was cut off with the shore, as great apprehension always arises on the part of the Sicilians as to the communication of plague from Maltese vessels. This restriction always proves disagreeable to travellers who wish to push forward on their journey; it may be observed, that the value of liberty can only be properly calculated by those who are placed in a state of captivity.

* Acts xxviii. 12.

† Id. 14, 15.

At this time many other vessels were under the same regulations; and a Sicilian baron, a passenger in one of them, repeatedly visited me, and offered to render any assistance, explained the objects of interest to be seen in the place, and politely invited me, on our liberation, to visit. him "at his palace" in town.

On procuring my release, after the confinement of a fortnight, and paying the fees demanded, I landed. I passed here a few days, and first viewed the antient city, situated on an elevation, a short distance from the present,. and its amphitheatre, which was capable of containing thousands of spectators. I also visited the cavern, or what has been denominated, the Ear of Dionysius, or loquacious grotto, which appears to defy all decay from the operations of time. This is an excavation of great length in the solid rock, nearly two hundred feet in length and seventy in height, where there is a reverberation of sound even from the lowest whisper; but I regretted I had not heard the effect of its echo, either from the discharge of a musket, the crack of a whip, or the blowing of a horn. It was impossible, from its altitude, to get at the chamber of the tyrant. At a short distance from it is shown a church, dedicated to St. John, which is considered the most antient edifice of the kind in existence, where I found an old monk, who had long taken up a solitary residence in one corner of it, and whose subsistence depended on the alms he received from visitors. Contiguous to it are a range of subterraneous catacombs or sepulchral chambers, formed into streets. I entered these, where, on each side, are niches for the reception of antient bodies. The whole of these vast undertakings may enable us to judge of the original grandeur and magnificence of the original city of Syracuse. The fountain, said to be that of Arethusa, in the modern town, may now fall under the description of a filthy place, in consequence of being surrounded by females puddling in, or polluting a stream, when they are employed in the operation of washing and beating clothes.

Having considered it my duty to avail myself of the politeness of the Baron, I discovered his residence, but in

place of seeing him in the palace he had so often rung in my ears, and represented himself as a person of consequence in the town, I found him perched in the meanest lodging, consisting of a couple of rooms, above the shop of a butcher! I was soon satisfied with a view of Syracuse, where the streets are narrow; the population may be calculated at upwards of thirteen thousand, and every thing appears dull. There is a British consul here. The hour of dinner is at mid-day, when the shops are shut, and a dead silence or scene of desolation prevails throughout the whole town, and hardly any person is to be seen in the streets. I put up at an inn distinguished for the want of cleanliness and comfort. I was accommodated with two shabby small rooms, and it appears to have entered into the contemplation of the landlord, that I should pay smartly for the title of "Excellency" he had so lavishly conferred on me at almost every expression he uttered, since, at quitting the house, he charged every article at a most enormous price. On resisting, however, the imposition, and calling for the interposition of the noble Baron, I ultimately forced Boniface, under a threat of publicly exposing his tricks upon travellers, to confine his demand to the particular sum sanctioned by principles of justice.

The superstition of the Sicilians, and the confidence entertained by them of deriving supernatural power from the supplications offered to saints, is most extraordinary. This could not be more strongly exemplified than in the following anecdote, imparted to me by the Baron with the greatest possible gravity, and under a firm conviction of its authenticity. At one particular period the French fleet appeared off this town, which threw the inhabitants into the greatest alarm. Apprehensive it might be captured and pillaged, the whole of them turned out, and walked in formal procession to one particular spot, where they solemnly invoked the assistance of St. Lucie, the tutelary saint of Syracuse, to avert a landing of the French. In consequence of this she saved the whole town by raising a violent storm, which had

the effect of blowing the whole fleet off the island of Sicily.

I embarked at Syracuse and sailed to Messina. This town is built something in the form of a crescent, and is surmounted by an irregular wall in a state of dilapidation, where 14,000 of the British army was so long stationed, watching the operations of 38,000 under Murat on the opposite shore of Calabria, preparing for invasion. This is at so short a distance, that I was informed in calm weather the word of command might be heard on both its sides. The harbour is excellent and commodious. The whole line of quay may be computed at nearly two miles in length, and about sixty in breadth, in the centre of which is a statue of Neptune. Such is the rigour of the quarantine laws, or rather the ingenuity exercised to raise money, that even persons in small fishing boats are not permitted to leave this port without previously obtaining passports. Several of the principal buildings are formed in a range in front of the sea, in which direction, in particular, are to be seen wrecks of that devastation which was created by an earthquake in 1743.

There is a cathedral, which appears a gloomy edifice, and also suffered under this calamity. Among the extraordinary relics shewn, or rather specimens of gross fraud and imposition, is a letter addressed by the Virgin Mary to the tutelary patroness of this city, approbatory of the faith of the natives of Messina. The terms in which this document is conceived, dated from Jerusalem, and in the forty-second year of his age, is too ludicrous to transcribe here.

It may in general be observed, that the scenery about Messina is extremely beautiful, and the whole of it, with the mountains, villages, and monasteries, is viewed to the best advantage from the sea. There is a piece of ground set apart exclusively for the interment of Englishmen.

The landlord of the house I was recommended to was extremely loquacious, and mentioned the dissatisfaction which prevailed throughout Sicily, with the proceedings of the king, and the anxiety of the Sicilians to be placed as an independent state, who would prefer to be under the

protection either of England or America than under the present dynasty. Among other relations he informed me, that a certain description of vagabonds here were occasionally employed to commit acts of assassination; and gravely added, that if there was entertained on his own part any ill will against me or other guests in his house, he could hire them to way-lay, and strike the blow of death for a couple of dollars. He further mentioned, that the expence of an act of this diabolical nature, was always regulated according to the rank and circumstances of the persons who were the objects of attack. This was a pretty broad hint to me to be particularly on my guard, when I informed him I hoped I should never commit any act that would excite his displeasure.

I embarked here with the view of proceeding to Catania, sailing through the gulf of Charybdis, which is in the centre of the sea. It is about one hundred and fifty feet in circumference, and arising, in all probability, from different currents coming at one time into contact, whose "greedy whirlpool," according to the language of the poet, "sucks the tides." The navigation proves extremely dangerous through the gulf, where the brave Nelson led a British fleet. After passing it I soon had a clear and very distinct view of Etna, with that torrent of lava which at one time poured down this mountain, carrying frightful destruction, when it was lost in the sea.

I landed at Catania, distinguished for its fisheries in coral and amber; the view of which from the sea, at the base of towering Etna, is prodigiously grand and striking. I proceeded to a pretty comfortable inn in the great square, where I joined two travellers, one of them a countryman and the other a French general. This city is perhaps as much distinguished for beauty as any in Sicily, containing about 80,000 inhabitants, and is encircled with enormous masses of red lava, from an irruption in 1669, which hurled down an overwhelming flood of fire in terrible confusion. In appearance it is similar to vast sheets of ice on a river from thaw, but of a black and brown colour, with furrows. This frightful visitation continued