Billeder på siden
PDF
ePub
[ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][ocr errors]
[graphic]

IL CASTRO LICENTI CAVALLI S.CN ETVA.

bent the slender stems of the mountain ash and the sorb tree, and laid the tangled vines level with the ground. The thunder, as it rolled above our heads in the fearful region of the crater, sounded like a discharge of artillery, and the lightning danced out of the black and gloomy clouds in many a wild and arrowy fork. For two hours we were patient occupants of the hut, thankful for having so tolerable a protection from the pitiless storm that raged with unabated fury around us. By-and-by the heavens grew clearer, the clouds rolled away, and the sky smiled as blue and as serenely fair as though no tempest had ever obscured its arch of brightness, and the wind sank down again in silence as suddenly as it arose. But the wide face of nature underwent a universal change; the drenched flowers raised up their petals, refreshed with the genial moisture; the cicada sang more loudly in the green canes, and every watercourse, that was before parched up and dry, now became a swollen stream, murmuring on its way as it leapt from rock to rock on its downward mission to the sultry plains. As the clouds vanished from the top of the mountain, they disclosed the peak of Etna, clear and cutting sharply against the azure sky; but it had undergone a greater change than any other object. Its lofty summit was crowned by a zone of dazzling whiteness, and its brown sides had already put on their winter mantle of snow. This momentary change in the appearance of so conspicuous an object as that of Etna surprised me not a little, as only the day before I had stood on its loftiest crag, and searched in vain for an extensive patch of snow.

Near the Castagno di Cento Cavallos there are other trees of an enormous growth; but as the delay occasioned by the storm prevented our visiting them, I am unable to say whether any of these are as remarkable as the one in question.

Our ride back to Giarra was unusually pleasant, and the freshened air was delightfully cool. Another shower overtook us, and I was much amused at meeting a number of peasants who had come out to gather up the chestnuts which were blown down from the trees that lined the ravine, with enormous umbrellas of coarse sailcloth, painted red and yellow, in size and shape not unlike those of some of the market-women of Covent Garden. On reaching Giarra we turned down a path that led us around the outskirts of the town, instead of passing through it, as we should have done if we had been returning again to Riposto. Our place of destination being Giardini, this road formed a short cut, leading from the mountain fiumara into the coach-road to Messina, on which Giardini lies, nestled at the foot of the mountain of Taormina, with the blue waves of the Mediterranean kissing the doorsteps of its scattered cottages, and the distant shores of Italy bounding the view to the eastward. To this secluded village we now bent our way; the path behind the walls of Giarra consisted of shining particles of volcanic sand, strewed here and there with the whitening skeletons of mules, that gave the spot the semblance of a deserted charnel-house. White cot

U

tages, with their trellised vines overhanging the doorway, beneath which the inmates sat enjoying the cool pleasant air of sunset; the women spinning their native cotton, and groups of dark-eyed children merry in their evening gambols, chasing each other among the dark foliage of the lemon trees. Fields of the cotton-plant, with its red and yellow blossom, fragrant from the moisture of the genial rain,-hedgerows of aloes and Indian figs, olives with their purple berries, golden vineyards, mulberries, date-palms, and locust trees, were among the varied objects that met our view on this charming coast, as the golden rays of sunset streamed far across the western heavens, busting from behind a barrier of dense and heavy clouds, and producing an effect that even the pencil of Turner might have striven in vain to portray, so wildly beautiful, and yet so evanescent is the evening sky in Sicily. Many of the cottagers greeted me as I passed with a good-natured "Buona sera," that owed much of its charm to the gracefulness of manner, and playful glance that accompanied it; though in this fair land there is much of misery, want, and woe, arising from various political causes, yet traces of beauty and loveliness still exist among its children, and the clear dark eye, and finely moulded form of the half-clad Sicilian boy, may even compete with the rosy cheek and flaxen hair of the blue-eyed Scot.

We reached Giardini at eight o'clock; it was quite dark, and the shrill cry of the cicada, and the plaintive song of the night-bird, had serenaded us from every olive tree during the last hour of our journey. We halted, as before, at the little inn which had afforded me so much amusement; but alas! it was locked up. The landlord, and his amiable partner in life, had retired to rest on the opposite side of the street. My guide, who appeared to understand this state of affairs better than I did, knocked up the old folks, and presently both Punch and Judy came down in dishabille, and unlocking the door of the albergo, commenced making preparations for my supper. In less than half an hour this meal was before me, and I was satisfying my hunger upon coffee, bread and honey, grapes, and fishes of the eel species, with their tails stuck into their mouths, reminding me of the fable of the wise serpent in a similar position, emblematical of eternity. The visitors' book was again duly laid before me, and acted like a dose of nitrous oxide, when just at that moment my illustrious landlord came in with his long red nightcap on, looking more like Punch than ever. As I anticipated a very long and tedious journey on the morrow, I bade him good night, and quickly retired to rest, giving orders for every thing to be in readiness for a visit to Taormina at day-break.

« ForrigeFortsæt »