that the rich and the great once inhabited them; and even in the fantastic taste of the Prince Palagonia, whose garden was studded with a profusion of the ugliest marble monsters which imagination could suggest, there is some trace of grandeur and of opulence. Although the son of this fanciful prince has very wisely smashed the greater and the uglier distortions, there are still plenty remaining to suggest the idea that the originator must have had more money than wit. It is said that the old prince drew the sketches from which these unnatural monsters were marbled-a proof that his time was his own, and his talents not required by his sovereign. The sketches must have been the result of a nightmare, or a feverish dream, of heathenish imagination. The interior of these villas, their position, their gardens, all confirm what the traveller is willing to admit, that in days now past, when a very different government presided over this island-days gone for ever-some of the Sicilians might have rivalled those great names which are still recorded along the coast of Posepoli. If three or four millions of English capital were thrown into Sicily, and the energy, skill, industry, and talents of those men who possess such wealth could be transferred to this earthly paradise, in a very few years the "Sicania" of the ancients would become one of the richest gems of the modern world. There is no island with more capabilities of improvement, no soil richer, no land more fruitful, no climate more desirable; it has harbours of security, and fields of abundance; but it has inhabitants without energy, and a scanty population, without wealth and without industry. It is a sin to see this garden overrun with weeds; and when the next European war comes, which, perhaps, is not very far distant, a little disregard of the modern meum et tuum might benefit the country which may chance to appropriate this neglected beauty to herself. There is scarcely a mile of ground in the neighbourhood of Palermo which does not recall the age of the Saracens. These people improved the countries they conquered, and have left behind them, even to this remote age, traces of their skill and industry. There are still two castles, built by these people, in the Moorish style, well worthy a visit; one, the Palazzo Zisa, in the Olivuzza, nearly opposite the Prince of Butera's Villa Wilding, be longing to the Prince de la Scherra; the other, the Palazza Cuba, on the Morreale road, now, tempora mutantur, a cavalry barrack. History, perhaps a little poetical, and with a few licences, attributes these buildings to some magnificent Emir, who named them after his beautiful daughter; but I doubt if the Arab inscriptions, still visible on the walls, are in attestation of the assertion; nor does the fountain at the entrance gate, although it bears evidence of its antiquity-and by those well versed in science is declared to be of the time of the Caliphs—confirm in any manner, by any record, the above. The Zisa is well placed, and merits the commendation of Boccacio, who mentions this picturesque position in his "Decameron." But all the glories of the Zisa are vanished, and we must seek on the terrace, which is the roof of the castle, those beauties of nature which seldom fail. The clear atmosphere of Sicily gives to the enchanting landscape a beauty and originality beyond imagination; turn from the structures of men, the city, and remark the fantastic mountains which encircle the luxuriant plains glowing in all the brilliancy of the orange, the citron, the wild. laurel, the aloe, and the wide-leafed fig-treethe scene is the perfection of landscape, it can scarcely be rivalled-it cannot be surpassed; here one might realize the thousand anecdotes of Love, which has, according to almost all sentimental poets, resorted to richly perfumed groves, arcadian sweets, and shaded shrubberies-but we seldom see such Sicilian doves billing and cooing even in these delightful retreats; and it requires another age of independence and chivalry before the "pale regent of the night" would be called upon, as in Falconer's "Shipwreck," to attest the constancy, or the vows, of desponding lovers. If I were to quote from Karaczay, and he only wrote ten years ago, the following might be found, which would sufficiently prove that billing and cooing were general in Sicily. "There exists a great deal of gallantry in Palermo; there are very few ladies who do not intrigue; and this should be attributed to the climate. Love, passion, appetite, are in general infinitely more ardent in the south than in the north. Truth in their sentiments, constancy in their affections (!!), idleness, and a distaste for study, form the character of the Sicilian women." And after this, the Count runs into ecstacies on the beauties of the Princess Tre-Case and her sister, and finishes his complimentary remarks by applying to them the lines of Rinuccini: "Il guardo che ferisce ovumque tocchi Fan dell' anime dolce rapina." It is hard to reconcile the disposition to intrigue, with the constancy in affection; but perhaps the Count meant to say, that they were constant to one-until they took another. There are gardens, and groves, and lulling waters, and perfumed bowers, in the grounds of the Villa Radali Serra de Falco, and other villas, in which an hour or two might be very agreeably passed with a black-eyed beauty o. Sicily, if the malicious gardener did not touch the hidden spring, and cool the amorous pair by a deluge from the deceptive fountain. Let those who delight in the most splendid vivid colours which Nature has bestowed on flowers, visit the Botanical Gardens; in some respects, especially in reference to Brazilian flowers, this well-arranged and carefully-kept garden is not surpassed in Europe. The traveller, cunning in the science, if he has the |