JOURNEY ON MULES TO CATANIA.

"The blue

Bared its eternal bosom, and the dew

Of summer night collected still to make

The morning precious-Beauty was awake!"

ON retiring to bed I had, as usual, put the windows wide open to render the room sufficiently cool and airy; but here I was unprovided, as in Malta, with mosquito curtains, and I soon heard those nightly intruders come sallying in through the open window, with their well known and much dreaded humming sound, and in another moment they found me out and were commencing their unmerciful attacks. It was totally useless to bury my head completely underneath the clothes, for they knew where I was, and follow me they would, until being neither inclined to bear the suffocation nor the bites, I jumped up and began to drive them out in good earnest ; when I imagined that I had got entirely clear of them, I closed the windows and returning to bed managed to go to sleep, but all my attempts had been in vain, and when I awoke in the morning my whole forehead was covered, and my eyes nearly blinded, with their venomous bites. I would advise every one who may happen to go to Siragusa, not to think of sleeping without mosquito curtains closely drawn, particularly in the autumnal season.

Before sunrise old Giuseppe Alosco was at the door of the Albergo del Sole, waiting with the mules, ready to accompany me to Catania. It was not long before we were again passing the solitary pillar of the temple of Ceres, in the outskirts of the city, with my baggage slung on Alosco's mule, and enjoying the fresh and balmy air of early day. The gold and crimson clouds soon began to gather in the east, and the bright beams of the morning sun shone along the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, bathing our path in its glory, as we bade farewell to Siragusa.

Our road for the first ten miles was tolerably good, commanding fine views of the sea, the Scala Græca, and the Campo Romano, with the promontory of Tapsos, (Mag

nesia,) stretching out before us, and the town of Augusta, (pronounced Aousta,) in the distance. Etna, like a beacon, far beyond, pointed out the place of our destination; for the city of Catania lies at the foot of the mountain, close to the sea-shore, at the end of the broad plain over which we were to travel for many miles. About six miles from Siragusa, on the left hand side of the road, stand two pillars, which I understood from my guide, mark the spot where some robbers were formerly executed. To the right, and farther on, are the remains of a trophy erected in honour of the Roman general Marcellus. It consists of a ruin sixteen palmi high, on the top of which is a fragment of a fluted column. By-and-by, we arrived at a new village, consisting of

a number of detached cottages on both sides of the way, and presenting a neater appearance than Sicilian villages do in general. At this place we halted for a few moments to purchase some black grapes; and as the road terminated soon afterwards, we struck off into a narrow mule-track that led across a barren country, scattered with olive and locust trees. Here we met an armed courier mounted on horseback, bearing the Government letters to Siragusa. He accosted us with the usual salutation of "Buon giorno," and passed on. In the days of Brydone, travellers thought it not safe to pass along this road without an armed escort of guards, to protect them from the attacks of the numerous banditti, who infested the woods and mountain-passes of this picturesque land. But now it is only the couriers, who travel alone, and by night, having important despatches, that make use of the sword and pistol; and to speak from my own observation, I should imagine it safer for a traveller to stroll among the hills and valleys of Sicily, and lie down to sleep at night with his baggage unsecured by lock or key, as was the case with myself, than it would be for him to do the same under similar circumstances in this country. I placed the utmost confidence in the people; and though quite alone, and oftentimes at their entire mercy, a single fear either for person or property, never once entered my mind for a moment. Their vivacity and quick perception immediately discovered my feeling towards them, and instead of abusing the confidence I placed in their kindness and protection, they every where treated me with the greatest attention and hospitality. Perhaps my being so young, and quite alone, might, in some measure, engage their good feelings; and I also attribute my reception, in a great measure, to always taking notice of them, and treating them in a free and friendly manner, which has oftentimes won for me the hospitality of these warm-hearted and sensitive people. I also found it necessary to remember the adage, "He who goes to Rome must do as Rome does;" which I am sorry to say is little attended to by many of our countrymen who visit distant lands, and who, instead of making friends of the people, excite their dislike and contempt by their haughty and overbearing carriage: this, of course, subjects them to frequent insult, pillage, and opposition; and hence they return with a very unfavourable account of the inhabitants of a country, who, if they had altered their own con

duct towards them, they would have described under very different feelings and impressions.

After watering our mules at a purling stream, over which was thrown a rustic wooden bridge, shaded by gigantic and spreading walnut trees, we travelled on through vineyards, and fields of pulse, and cotton, until we reached a wide barren track of rugged lava, which appears to have issued from the mountain in some dreadful eruption of past ages. We travelled over the rocky beds of this volcanic matter for some miles, and at length reached the summit of an extensive sandy common which commanded a fine view. The soil was covered with various prickly and aromatic shrubs; and in the centre of this heath rose a solitary palm tree, that had, apparently, borne the blasts and winds for centuries. At every step of our mules, a little flock of grasshoppers rose into the air, and spreading their green and crimson wings, settled down again as soon as the alarm had passed by. Beneath a flowery bank I saw basking in the sun a very large and brilliantly-coloured lizard; it was about seven inches long, and of the most exquisite shades of golden green imaginable. I tried to catch it, but the bright-eyed lacerta was too quick for me, and his shining and slender form shrank silently beneath the brambles with the rapidity of lightning. Shortly after, we crossed another stream, bounded with rose-coloured oleanders in full blossom, that grew luxuriantly as far as the vivifying influence of the moisture extended. The dark green dragon-flies were darting around every leaf, and the little birds had come down to drink of the cooling stream, where we also halted to slake our thirst.

In one of the tanks where we previously rested, I found a number of leeches, and some curious aquatic beetles; but as Alosco appeared shocked at my desire to catch them, I for once yielded to his feelings, and we went on without either the beetles or the leeches, although the latter would have proved serviceable to me afterwards when at Giardini. About noon we passed a lettiga, which is the national travelling carriage in the more rugged and mountainous parts of Sicily; it is made to convey two persons, and is in shape like the body of a vis-a-vis. It is also provided with strong poles, which are carried between two mules; a third mule goes before accompanied by a muleteer on foot, armed with a stick ten feet long to guide the mules, and another muleteer mounted and riding at the head of the cavalcade to pioneer the way. It is gaily lined, and painted outside with a variety of gaudy colours, often the representation of some favourite saint. It goes up and down over every hill, however steep, and makes the whole neighbourhood resound with the tinkling of thirty-two bells, which are fixed to the harness and trappings of the mules. I should imagine the motion to be very unpleasant and fatiguing, and the jingling of the numerous bells prevents the muleteers from hearing when called to, and of course renders conversation very difficult.

We had now proceeded twenty-four miles on our journey, and a steep and winding descent through an olive wood brought us to the little village of Scaro d' Agnuni, consisting of six or seven fishermen's huts, near the sea-shore, at the southern extremity of the vast plain over which the remainder of our journey lay, and which stretches northward beyond the river Giaretta, to the hills that skirt the base of Etna. The olive trees that formed this straggling wood were large and branching, and the myrtle bushes were as abundant as the blackberry and hawthorn in more northern climates. Beneath the trees the bright autumnal crocus lifted its starlike and leafless form, bordering our path with its lilac petals.

We halted at the village, and my guide, who seemed well acquainted with the place, entered one of the miserable looking huts, and presently came out again smiling, and significantly pointing to his mouth, said to me, "Mangé Seigneur,-mangé you, mangé me, mangé moolos," in his broken English. Now old Alosco felt very proud of his English, and it would have offended him highly to have appeared unable to comprehend the whimsical jargon he used to address to me during the whole of our journey;-nevertheless he was a quiet and good-natured man, so I let him have his own way, and assented to all he said by a very gracious "Ce," repeated two or three times in a quick conversational manner, which satisfied him admirably. This, accompanied with an occasional smile, and a nod of assent, was sufficient to ensure the esteem of old Alosco; and he would go on chattering about every place and every thing in a language intelligible only to himself, whilst I was mechanically uttering the C note, and giving a nod every three minutes. When he came out of the cottage, he appeared in high spirits, and I conjectured he had met with something excellent to provide me with for my dinner.

Imagine my astonishment when I found that they were beans-horse-beans-that had so raised the old man's pleasant sensations respecting the meal; a large plateful of them, swimming in oil, was presently brought outside the cottage door, and two

broken chairs, one of which served as a table, were set down under the shady side of the wall. Alosco was mightily surprised to find that I could not eat the beans; and after they had ransacked the cottage a second time, I made a tolerable repast on some little anchovies, which, like the beans, were swimming in oil, and out of which I was compelled to drag them with my fingers. Besides these, there was black bread, and lastly eggs, broken and beaten up in a plate, which I ate with a wooden fork. This reminded me of the Devonshire proverb of "eating whitepot with a knitting needle," and was certainly no easy matter. But this was the least annoying part of the feast, for the bees and mosquitoes swarmed around me so numerously, that I was every instant in dread of being stung by some of them. Good Syracusan wine was next measured out and brought to me in one of the strangest jugs I ever saw. Old Alosco drank my health, and I poured out a cupful, and offered it to the host, who was standing by, according to the custom of the peasantry. Before my worthy guide had finished his beans, a smart lettiga arrived with two gentlemen of Siragusa, and their muleteers, bound on the same road as ourselves. Observing that I was a foreigner, they bowed politely to me, invited me to partake of some refreshments which they had brought with them, and offered me a seat in the lettiga. This latter favour I declined, but I accepted a piece of goat's cheese and some sweet fennel, which the Sicilians use as we do celery. I soon became acquainted with the new comers. When the mules had rested for

a sufficient time, the lettiga was suspended, and by mutual consent we agreed to travel together to Catania.

We were now a rather formidable cavalcade. A muleteer rode before, carrying a long stick as pioneer; then came the two mules with their thirty-two bells jingling their music till its echo died away among the distant hills; the lettiga with its gay colouring, and the two gentlemen vis-a-vis; and lastly, old Alosco and myself on our brave mules. We occasionally made slight deviations from the road to pluck some attractive blossom, and then galloped back to join the equipage and to present the flower to the occupants of the lettiga. It was a bright and lovely afternoon; all the broad plain seemed bathed in sunlight. Etna was before us. The Saracenic domes of the fair city of Catania, glittered like white specks at its feet, and the blue waves of the sea, gently met the yellow sandy bank that lay to our right, along which I occasionally strayed away from the party to gather the purple shells that strewed its surface. And far away to the left were the hills of Enna, (now Castro Giovanni,) and the slowly flowing Giaretta winding its way through flowery meads, and intersecting the broad plain till its waters mingled with the sea. In many places among the sands, I noticed a prickly species of Solano, bearing round seeds of a bright golden colour. These, my guide informed me, were the "pomo del' amo," and pointing to the projecting knob in his throat, commenced