such as Naples, the best of ambassadors is a line-of- battle ship; there is always some citizen in a row, and to be protected; and the stars and the stripes are now an uncomfortable sight in a Neapolitan telescope. The English flag is so rare, excepting from the peak of a merchantman, that it is almost forgotten. Continue sweeping the sea until Cape Zafarano marks the eastern limit of the bay, and then survey the chain of mountains which begin from the Bagheria, and between two of which, early in the morning, before the sun has increased the haze, Mount Etna, with its eternal snow, is visible; continue the view round the bay until you come to the Marina, the public beautiful sea-skirting walk, and you will admit that, although Naples has a greater extent, and many advantages, Palermo seems worthily to bear the honour of her title, "La Felice. They are both lovely, both beautiful; but with all their charms, they have both some blights; for instance, the Sirocco.

The climate of Sicily, generally speaking, is considered very healthy; but the Sirocco exercises a very detrimental influence, and has a great effect upon the human body. This is a southerly wind, the "Khamsin

of the desert; some authors pretend that "the breeze, unhealthy and enervating, is born in the burning sands of the great Lybian Desert, where the sterility occasions a deficiency of oxygen. Notwithstanding the distance it traverses, it sweeps over Sicily, borne onwards by the south-east winds, and spreads over this delightful island, and particularly Palermo, its fatal influence. It paralyses both moral and physical faculties, and produces the same lowering effects as fever." I have seen it carry the dust far away to sea, and I have felt, even under the excitement of sightseeing, its lowering effect. The inhabitants, by sea-bathing, carefully remaining in doors, and observing a particular diet, ward off some of its effects. Strangers reside too short a period to care much for this unhealthy breeze; and the upper classes keep their windows closed, and remain in-doors until the wind has passed.

Such is a general outline of Sicily, its health, wealth, and prosperity; and we will now look into Palermo itself, and its surrounding country.

CHAPTER III.

PALERMO.

I HAVE spoken generally of Palermo, its streets, and its inhabitants, but have left its twenty principal churches, its sixty-seven convents for both sexes, its fifteen retreats for women and female children, its four great hospitals, its Monts de Piété, five barracks, two theatres, university, eight public seminaries of education, one public library, and the observatory, which latter forms a part of the royal palace, for future remarks. Here is an ample field for a "Murray's Guide-Book," and plenty of reflection for the religious, charitable, and learned.

The cathedral merits particular attention; it has existed nearly seven hundred years. Santa Rosalia, whose intercession delivered

Palermo from the plague, has this splendid specimen of the Norman Gothic architecture under her especial protection. It must be confessed, although it would be a heresy in Palermo to doubt it, that the bones of Santa Rosalia are as difficult to establish as those of St. Januarius at Naples. This pious, exemplary lady was a princess of the blood-royal, who, when very young, retired from the world and the court of Roger, to lead, as a sober, steady author asserts, "la vie contemplative." She lived in the twelfth century. Five hundred years after this contemplative princess died, some human bones were found in a grotto nearly at the summit of the Monte Pellegrino: there could be no doubt but that these bones were those of the princess. She was known to have followed her contemplative life on the summit of that mountain: nobody knew when she died, or how she died; but here were bones, and they could be nobody else's bones; and, as a proof of it, these sacred relics were brought down that confounded slippery, zig-zag road, in 1624, to Palermo, when the plague was raging. The bones arrived, and the plague ceased. Santa Rosalia was voted the guardian saint of Pa

The honours

lermo, a chapel was built on the Monte Pellegrino, which, of course, takes its modern name from modern pilgrimages (the ancient name was the Mons Eveta); and you may go tomorrow and gaze upon the form and feature of this exemplary young princess, as Tedeschi has sculptured her in marble. and glory of the saint remain every year, on the 15th July, a regular procession takes place, in spite of the heat and sirocco; and great are the public rejoicings. The bones of saints are wonderfully efficacious in cases of plague. St. Spiridion, after the plague has worn itself out at Corfu, invariably stops it.

It is sincerely to be regretted that Santa Rosalia, who has taken such care of the exterior of the cathedral, has somewhat omitted her duty in regard to the interior; and considering that her faithful votaries, on the day of her fête, light up this vast church with five hundred chandeliers, laden with wax candles, and which throw forth so splendid a brightness, that Brydone, years ago, as is mentioned in his work, was nearly struck with blindness -she might have been more attentive to her duty. I think the generality of protective saints go to sleep whenever a modern artist is