shod, and sends him to B, the Secretary of State. B sends him to C, whose peculiar department it is. Cremarks that they are too cheap, and he is sure he cannot afford to sell at that price; thereby astonishing A, who imagines he knows something about his own business, and insists on selling at the original price. C ultimately dismisses him on some frivolous pretext. A calls again and again; and at last, anxious to get rid of his shoes and be off, bluntly demands what C is driving at, when C tells him that if he will add £500 to his little bill, the State will trade with him. A, in desperation, agrees, and C draws on the treasury for the price of the boots + £500, which he does not present to A.

Imagination will fill up the rest.

Anxious to verify the turgid reports concerning the prisons, I went to the Vicariato, a sort of half-fortified prison and barrack; but beyond evidences of uncleanliness, I saw little to complain of. Posting off to Monreale, however, a different scene presented itself; and some of the dens, when crammed with humanity, and an utter contempt of what we deem cleanly necessities of existence, must have been foul in the extreme; but I am inclined to disbelieve those thrilling stories which have found their way into Britain, of living crucifixions, immurings, &c. Not that I doubt the brutality of the irresponsible police, with which Ferdinand, of

F

pious memory, and his irresolute offspring, blessed this unhappy island; but I know from experience that a Sicilian, as a rule, is gifted with a fertile imagination, and if he can get any one to listen to him, will fabricate a story worthy of the Arabian Nights.

I could trace nothing to an authentic source when I was here in '48, neither can I now-not that I did not hear many examples quoted in either case. But, for all that, there is little doubt that Maniscalco and his myrmidons exercised a system of torture in these Monreale prisons to extract evidence from political offenders, and that these operations were characterised with a brutality and barbarity more worthy of the Inquisition or a Chinese administration than a government with which France and England had chosen to renew amicable relations.

Hastening back, I found the expedition to the eastward on the eve of departure.

CASTLE OF MELAZZO.

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CHAPTER VIII.

ADVANCE ON MESSINA.

MELAZZO, July 25.

ON the 12th of July Medici assumed the military governorship of the province of Messina, as well as the insurrection in the eastern portion of the island, whose headquarters were at the town of Barcelona. The Neapolitan garrison of the neighbouring town and Castle of Melazzo being too weak either to attack Medici or check his advance-consisting of only one regiment of rifles and a company of artillery-Marshal Clary sent Colonel Bosco with four picked battalions of riflemen, each over 1000 strong, a battery of fieldartillery, and a squadron of dragoons, to reinforce that garrison, and at the same time, if a favourable opportunity afforded, to attack Medici.

The Castle of Melazzo occupies a position of great natural defensive capabilities. The promontory on which it is situated is four miles in length, varies from a mile to a quarter of a mile in breadth, and is, on an average, about 600 or 700 feet above the sea. It is connected with the mainland by a low and narrow

84

FORTIFICATIONS OF MELAZZO.

isthmus, on which stands the town, immediately under command of the guns of the castle. This fortress of Melazzo is, nevertheless, overlooked by the higher cliffs beyond, but it completely defends the promontory from a land attack. On the western side, overhanging the sea, are the oldest portions of the fortifications, consisting of a Norman tower and heavy massive walls ; the more modern works, however, surround this, and extend over about half the isthmus, enclosing the site of the ancient town, little of which has been allowed to remain, save the cathedral. The English, in the early part of the present century, strengthened Melazzo, when, after a six months' siege, they took it from the French; and the Neapolitans have subsequently added much to the side overlooking the town-a very general measure throughout their dominions, as if they considered themselves safe from all comers save their own

subjects. The works mount forty guns of heavy calibre, chiefly long 24-pounders, nearly all of which face the town.

A succession of loose irregular fortifications, extending down the slopes in that direction, have been lately abandoned as useless. The modern town is generally massive and well built, containing about 10,000 inhabitants, and in itself affords considerable advantages for defence from a land attack-the country in the immediate vicinity being very low, and thickly

SURROUNDING COUNTRY.

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belted with cane-brake, vineyards, and olive groves, as well as intersected with numerous ditches, embankments, and detached houses, all admirably adapted to impede the advance of troops. The view from the cliffs at the back of the castle, looking towards the island, is very picturesque; the tall spine of mountains which traverses its northern shores forms the background, with the crater of Etna just peering over their summit. Away west we have the wild fantastic outline of the coast stretching down to+ wards Termini, and in the opposite direction the Faro of Messina. The plains, or rather slopes of Sicily towards Melazzo, are teeming with cultivation, and studded with villages and towns, amongst the most conspicuous of which is Barcelona. Seawards we have Lipari, Volcano, Stromboli, and other islets dotting the blue Mediterranean. That small town about four miles due south is Meri, to which, on the arrival of Bosco from Messina, Medici advanced his column from Barcelona. There the land rises towards the mountains of the interior, and between it and Melazzo flows a very broad "fiumara "* coming down from the neighbouring heights of S. Lucia, and emptying itself into the sea a couple of miles west of the town. Meri thus forms a position, easily defended, upon a spur of the mountains bearing towards Melazzo. Upon another

* Watercourse formed by the melting of the winter snows.