decreed a congratulatory address to the Virgin Mary at her residence in Jerusalem. This embassy, conducted by the apostle himself, having been most graciously received, was dismissed with a profusion of compliments and a most comfortable letter from the illustrious personage addressed. The copy now extant is unfortunately only the translation of a translation; for the original Hebrew was turned into Greek by St. Paul for the use of his new converts; and the celebrated Constantine Lascaris, in the year 1467, did into Latin the Greek of the apostle. Among the archives is kept a register of the wonderful cures this epistle has performed, especially in driving out devils, and in cases of difficult parturition. Even queens have carried it round their necks on such occasions. picture of the Virgin, which adorns the Cappella della Lettera, is supposed to have been painted by St. Luke; and a model of the galley which brought so precious a charge to the Sicilian shores is kept to accompany it in procession.

πυρευτική,

summer months.

A

That method of fishing which the ancients called TUPEUTIKη, is still practised in these straits during the On these occasions, the numerous boats, while following their nocturnal occupations, are, each of them, provided with an iron crate, attached to the prow, in which a bright flame is kept up by a constant supply of dry wood. The boatmen are armed with harpoons, and the fish, which appear to be attracted by the fires, are speared as they glance by the boat. The harbour and quay of Messina, when thus lighted up, make a most brilliant and imposing spectacle.

A more attractive sport, however, is the fishing for the pesce-spada, which begins about the middle of April, and continues till the middle of September. From the commencement of this fishery till the end of June it is carried on upon the shore of Calabria; and from this latter period till the middle of September on that of Sicily. The reason is, that, from April till June, the sword-fish— either for the sake of food, or from some other unascertained cause-entering by the Faro, keeps along the shore of Calabria without approaching that of Sicily; while, from the end of June to the middle of September, it takes the opposite side. The sword-fish weighs generally from one to two hundred pounds. The formidable weapon to which it owes its name varies from three to four feet in length, projecting from the end of the upper jaw and terminating in a point.

The pesce-spada is taken either with the palimadara, a kind of net with very close meshes, or with the harpoon. In the latter case the fishermen make use of a boat called luntre, from the Latin word linter, a vessel about eighteen feet in length by seven or eight in width— the prow being wider than the stern, in order to give the harpooner more room. The boat is furnished with a mast, called gariere or fariere, about eighteen feet in length, on the round top of which is placed one of the crew, whose business it is to descry the fish and watch its motions. The mast, near the bottom, is crossed at right angles by a yard called la croce, to the extremities of which the oars are attached by means of loops, to enable the rowers to turn the boat with the greater ease

and celerity. The harpoon, which is about twelve feet long, is made fast to a rope something more than half an inch in diameter and two hundred yards in length.

While the fish coast along the Calabrian shore, two men are placed on the rocks or cliffs to give notice of their approach. A similar practice is adopted on the Sicilian side; but there, as the shore is less precipitous, two vessels are moored near it, at the distance of a stone's throw from each other, and on the masts of these the men are stationed.

On the approach of a fish, which is said to be indicated by a change of colour in the water, the signal is given by the men stationed at the mast-head or on the cliffs, as the case may be, and the foremost luntre then bears down upon it in the direction pointed out, till the spy on the round top of the luntre itself has also descried it. The vessel is then steered to one side or the other according to his direction, while the harpooner stands ready at the prow, anxiously watching an opportunity to hurl his weapon, which he does with almost unerring aim; taking care at the same time to let the fish have rope enough to run. The men now row with all their might, following the track of the wounded fish, till at length, exhausted with the loss of blood, he rises to the surface of the water, and is easily dragged into the boat. It must not be supposed, however, that this sport is altogether without danger; for sometimes the pesce-spada, when of large size, has been known to turn upon his suers, to pierce the side of the boat with his weapon, and even to upset it.

pur

No city of Sicily that occupies an ancient site contains so few remains of antiquity as Messina; a circumstance perhaps to be attributed to its situation, which has ever subjected it to the attacks of foreign invaders*.

The Greeks are still numerous in this cityt, where they have been in possession of various privileges ever since the time of the Saracens, to whom they surrendered it on advantageous terms. In the square of San Giovanni there is a small church, in which, service, according to the Greek ritual, is still performed by a Protopapas or high priest, appointed by the Pope.

* Messina is surrounded by an old irregular wall finished by Charles V., and commanded at almost every point; but there are two strong and well-built forts above the town, the one called Gonzaga and the other Castellaccio, which would considerably retard the progress of an enemy, and annoy him during any operations against the citadel. The citadel itself, a regular pentagon, with a fausse braye and several outworks, is executed on the strict rules of Vauban; but as it was erected to keep the city in awe after a rebellion, the chief strength is rather directed towards the land than the sea-side. It is moreover greatly exposed in several places.-Smyth's Memoir.

† Over the door of a café on the Marina, might be seen, in the year 1826, the following inscription:-Kape Newv Twv 'EXλŋvwv.

243

JOURNEY TO PALERMO.

Qua via difficilis, quaque est via nulla.—OVID.

AT Messina we hired mules, in order to make the tour of the island. On quitting the suburbs we soon began to wind up a steep acclivity, where the many beautiful points of view rendered us almost insensible of the ascent. The canal of Messina, inclosed on all sides by the mountains of Sicily and Calabria, viewed from this road, presents a striking resemblance to some of the larger lakes of Switzerland. At the highest point of the road the view is still more varied and beautiful, commanding-towards the south and east, the town and port of Messina, the Straits, and the Calabrian shore from Reggio to the rocks of Scylla-towards the north, a long sweep of coast, with Lipari and its dependent isles—and in the foreground, a range of magnificent mountains, with the ruins of a solitary castle crowning one of their most elevated summits.

In our descent, we found on the declivities of the hills an abundance of fig, mulberry, and other fruit-trees; till, on approaching nearer the sea, the plain widened, and the fields were covered with corn. The mountains on the left, well wooded and sprinkled with villages, presented a varied and picturesque appearance.