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974 THE LEADER. [Saturday, i^^» _, . i i...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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The Landscate 1»Atntkr In Calabria. Jour...
accident . Inns are everywhere monotonously similar ; but individual families present every possible variety of type to the observer , and many of the amusing pages of tbis volume are occupied with the hosts and their families . But we must cease description , and open the volume for some glimpses of Nature and of manners . Here is a glimpse of
BEGGIO . "At sunrise I set out on an exploring expedition , and was soon dodging here and there to find the best views of Reggio among its endless cactus and aloe lanes , fig gardens , and orange groves . Reggio is indeed one vast garden , and doubtless one of the loveliest spots to be seen on earth . A half-ruined castle , beautiful in colour and picturesque in form , overlooks all the long city , the wide straits , and snow-topped Mongibello beyond . Below the castle walls are spread wide groves of orange , lemon , citron , bergarnot , and all kinds of such fruit as are called by the Italians 'Agrumi ; ' their thick verdure stretched from hill to shore as far as the eye can reach on either side , and only divided by the broad white lines of occasional torrent courses . All the fulness of Sicilian vegetation awaits you in your foreground ; almond , olive , cactus , palm tree , aloe , and fig , forming delightful combinations wherever you turn vour steps . "
Here we have a bit of Nature and of ancient womanhood : — " The morning ' s walk was most delicious : at every step its scenery became grander , in vast mountainous extent of distance , and close oak-filled vales . All my hopes of Calabrian scenery are fulfilled . Stopping here and there to make an outline of what most struck us ( though these are landscapes not to be hastily drawn ) , we arrived about ten on a sunny height , where beneath a spreading oak , we halted to draw a glorious seaward view , where rock and ravine , wood and vale and water , were so mingled as to form one of the finest of scenes . The whole atmosphere seemed alive with cicadse , who buzzed and fizzed , and shivered and shuddered , and ground knives on every branch above and around . At eleven we began to descend
towards Condufori , by paths Avhich even the alert and accomplished horse of Ciccio found very unsatisfactory ;—teautiful are those wild oak woods!—and at last we lost sight of the eternal Bova , and were once more threading a fiumara like a furnace between white cliff ' s , speculating on our reception at Condufori , and devoutly hoping our next host might not have dinner ere we arrived . On our asking Ciccio as to the properties and characteristics of the village and its habitants , we could get nothing from him but ' Son Turchi , ' except that we construed into a negative testimonial his volunteering the information * that we had done well to sleep last night at Bagaladi , —dfghi , ddghi , da . ' So we thought too ; for our walk of this morning would have been too much to have added to that of yesterday , not to speak of the loss of such scenery after dusk .
" Condufori , a little village , wedged in a nook between two hills , the torrent at its feet , and the mountain mass of high Apennine threateningly above it , was at length reached , and the house of Don Giuseppe Tropgeano discovered . Alas ! the master was away at the Marina , or Scala , and our appearance threw his old sister into such a state of alarm , that we speedily perceived all hope of lodging and dinner was at an end . We stood humbly on the steps of the old lady ' house , and entreated her only to read the letter we had brought—but not she ! she would have nothing to say to us . ' Sono femmina , ' ' Sono femmina , ' she constantly declared—a fact we had never ventured to doubt , in spite of her immoderate size and ugliness' Sono femmina , e non so niente . ' No persuasions could soften her , so we were actually forced to turn away in hunger and disgust . As for Ciccio , he merely took his short pipe from his lips , and said , ' Son Turchi—doghi , da . '
" Neither man nor horse could proceed further under the broiling heat , and unrefreshed by food ; so we found a most vile taverna , where , for want of better accommodation , we prepared to abide . Ciccio , —the Phoenix of guides , —stowed away the horse and baggage , and set the ' Turchi' to get lots of eggs , which , with wine and snow , made our dinner . It was more difficult to find a place to cat it in , and we truly congratulated ourselves on not having come on to Condufori last night . The wretched hut we wore in was more than half choked up by the bed of a sick man , with barrels , many calf-skins filled with wine , and a projecting atone fireplace ; moreover , it was as ( lark as Erebus ; so in the palpable obscure I fiat < lo \ vii on a large live pig , who . slid jiwuy , to my disgust , from under me , and made
a portentous squeaking , to tho disquiet of a . horde of fowls , perched on every available spot above and below . The little light the place- rejoiced in was disturbed by a crowd of thirty or forty ' Turchi / who glared at us with the utmost curiosity , and talked in their vernacular tongue without ceasing . We had also a glimpse now and then of our Hebe handmaid , tho assistant or ' waitress' in the establishment , a woman with one eye , whoso countenance struck both of us as a model of a Medusa : nor w . 'ts her mistress ( the hostess ) much better . Spite of all this , we never ! heless greatly enjoyed our roasted eggs , and were soon ready to start again ; for although the heat was great out of doors , yet it was nearly as much so within ; besides , Bova was a weary way off , and Dighi Doghi Da made signs of impatience , ho he paid for our lunch , and oil' we went once more into the blazing iiuniitm . "
We rimy , en passant ,, re <; al to jVir . . Lear s memory—as an artist one wonders how it enca / ped him—that the Medusa wjih not nyhj in the hciiho of phymcal deformity ; beautiful nho wan , though terribly beautiful with her lmsNioiileNH face and HerjMMit locks ! We hinted but now tho advantages of escaping from tho monotony of iniiH . iSee how our travellers fared in
RITiKWOIMM HALT ,. " Don Donienico Musitani , the chief in sin of the place , to whom the neverfailing care of the Consigliero < lu Nav : i had recommended us , was Hitting in the Piazza- -mi obese and taciturn man , who read tho introductory letter , and forthwith took us to'his house ; which , among many unpleasing recollections , will certainly ever rank as one of the most disagreeable . 1 / ifo in these ; regions of natural magnificence is full of vivid contrasts . The golden abstract visions of the bunging woods and crags of Pietnipoiniuhi were suddenly opposed to the realities of Don D .
Musitani ' s rooms , which weni so full of silkworms as to he beyond measure disgnsting . To the cultivation of this domestic creature nil Staiti is devoted ; yellow cocoons in immense heaps are piled up in every possible place , and tho atmosphere may bo conceived rather Mum described ; for there is no more sickening odour than that of many thousand caterpillars confined in the closest of chambers . Almost did we repent , of ever having come into these Calabriun lands ! After the usuiil refreshment of snow imri wine , w « waited wearily for supper ; at times replying to Die interrogatories of our host on ( ho subject of the productions of Inghiltcrra , and right glad when dituuiflHud to wlmtrent might he found in couches apparently clean ,
though odious from the silkworms all around them ; but necessity as well as poverty makes the traveller acquainted with strange bed-fellows . " August 4 . —Long before daylight a troop of pigeons came into our room through the ill-shut door , and after them followed fowls , then dogs ; all of which visitors we rejoiced to leave , and were soon exploring the town . Staiti has its full share of Calabrian mystery in its buildings , caves , and rocks , and employed our pencils far and near till noon , when we returned to our host ' s to find dinner laid out in one of our bedrooms , all among the silkworms as before . The contrast between the condition of this house of discomforts , and . the cleanliness of those of the more northern provincials in the Neapolitan kingdom , is very striking . Donna Angela Musitani , who had not appeared last night , presided at the table , and our
arrival seemed the occasion of a sort of dinner-party in our honour ; for there was the Giudice of the town , besides a Canonico or two . The former , a well-bred man , when speaking of his ' life of exile' here , said , in the saddest of tones , ' O Dio Signori ! Fra Napoli e Staiti ! fra il Paradiso e l'lnferno ! ' and , indeed , barring the out-door picturesqueness of the place , few more uninviting abodes than the odoriferous Staiti could be pointed out . Nor did the annoyances of a tribe of spoiled children and barking dogs add charms to the family dinner . But the ' vermi di seta' were our chief horror ; and so completely did silkworms seem the life and air , end and material , of all Staiti , that we felt more than half sure , on contemplating three or four suspicious-looking dishes , that those interesting lepidoptera formed a great part of the groundwork of our banquet—silkworms plain boiled , stewed chrysalis , and moth tarts . Glad we were to rush out , to sit and draw among the rocks , pondering how we should once more revisit Pietrapennata on the
morrow . Almost all the peasants had some greeting for us as they passed home - ward after sunset . Some gave us pears , which seem the staple fruit of Southern Calabria ; many asked us if we were planning and writing down for our governo ; and one woman begged me to ask my king to ask Tiers to let her have salt cheaper ; while another set forth a claim to her house being re-roofed , on account of her grandfather having been killed in battle . The Archpriest of Pietrapennata also accosted us , and , finding how desirous we were of revisiting that village and its forest scenery , good-naturedly asked us to dine at his house . Lingering as late as we could , we took refuge with the Giudice , Don Antonio Morano , for an hour , whose comfortable clean room ( though not free from the general taint of the town ' s vermicular atmosphere ) was a favourable contrast to our host ' s home . Thither , however , we at length retreated , to endure as best we might its evils ; there we endured more strange food ; the children screamed , the dogs howled ; and the fat hostess amused herself by catching unwary dragon-flies , and holding them in the
candle . " August 5- —An hour before daylight we left the Palace of Cocoons with joy . How exquisite was the sweet morning light and air—the deep ravine full of elix , the mill , and the ascent to the opposite side , where those surpassing woods fringed the park-like glades , or formed magnificent pictures with their grey trunks , and arms flung out over rock and dell ! O rare woods of Pietrapennata ! I do not remember to have seen a lovelier spot than the ' winged rock '—not unaptly named , feathered as it is from base to summit . None of your dense carpet-forests— -your monotonies of verdure , but made up of separate combinations of pictorial effect ,
such as one can hardly fancy—Claude and Salvator . Rosa at every step ! All the morning we drew in this beautiful place , and little enough could our utmost efforts make of what would occupy a regiment of landscape-painters for years , if every one of them had as many arms and hands as Vishnoo . At noon , a constant breezo plays among these umbrageous groves , making even the heat of the day p leasant , and we moved reluctantly to the top of the hill , whose crown o f foliage spread away in unmeasured lines to the north ; hence the forest slopes conduct your eye eastward to Brancaleone and other villages , starry bright against the blue waves . At the hamlet of P ietrapennata we found our acquaintance the archpriest , Don Domenico Luciano , waiting for us in his rustic dwelling , the divine himself clad in in
an undress of corduroys and a shooting-jacket , the like of which was never seen the grave Roman States . As all and everybody of the village thronged to see ua , we were fain to allow our reverend host to shut us up in a small dark room , where our homely dinner of beans , eggs , and salad was soon ready , and tho old gentleman not being of an interrogative turn , his uimple hospitality was very agreeable ; and although his wine was very abominable , yet we had had the forethought to load Ciccio with a basketful of snow , four rotoli of which , wrapped in cloth , hud incited but little , and served to nullify our " host ' s fluid . " About three we set oil" for Silkworm Hall , taking new paths through tlioso most glorious scenes , but so continually distracted by fresh groups of wondrous beauty that we worked but very little , und arrived lato ( the Inter tho better ) a Staiti , well pleased sit having once more seen a place which must always dwell in my memory as the beau-ideal of Calabrian park or forest scenery . Supper iin < silkworms once again ; screaming children and howling dogs ; the fiit lady should and scolded , and anathematised the daddy-longlegs who flew into the candles ; an mine host wus ssivago at our having visited ' quel pro to di rietnipennaUi . Ono must not leave without reading at least one pago of CAIiAUUTAN KOMANCIC . " For centuries tho families of these two feudal possessors of the towns of . 1 ontcdatilo and Montebcllo had been deadly foes , and they ruled , or lough * ' for , Uio adjoining country from their strongholds in persevering enmity . The Haron o ^ Montebello , a daring and ferocious youth , was left heir in early life to his anws i . estates and rights , and fell in love with Hid only daughter of the Marches 1 e >> ¦«¦ " datilo ; hut , although the young lady had contrived to acquaint her lover that it heart was his , her hand was steadfastly denied him by tho M archcse , wion > , memory of long injuries mid wars burdened in his refusal . Opposition , howeve , did but increase the attachment of the yotmg lady , and she at length " " " t > Ill " ' leave her lather ' s house with her lover ; an arrangement being niiu o tha ^ > ^ certain night sho should open a door in the otherwise impenetrable vock-lor my _ Pentedatilo , and admit young Montebello with a sunicicnt force of his reta . nei cuKiire the success of her elopement . < ,,,, i <\' is ' " The Baron accordingly enters the castle , but finding that rqiud opport u . ^ -J ^ presented him for vengeance on his feudal enemy , and for possessing hunse - ^ object of his attachment , ho resolves to make tho most of both ; ho goes ins ¦ ^ chamber of the Mareheso of Pentedatilo , and finds him sleeping by t > o Hl "" ,, Marcliesa , with a dagger at his pillow ' s head . Him he stabs yet ! lot M ' , "¦ / j , iH to prevent his placing his left hand on the wound , and with his rigin . w . ¦ h ^ stiletto , and plunging it into tho heart of the innocent Marches ,.,, """ I *™ ^ htiH 0 tho author of his death . Tho Huron Montebollo repeating Ins blows , Hie « falls forward on tho wall , and his five blood-atuincd fingers leave traces , eu »
974 The Leader. [Saturday, I^^» _, . I I...
974 THE LEADER . [ Saturday , i ^^» _ , . i in ' — - r ^ r -- i--- ^ irirw ^ T - - r- r ' »— ii ¦ ¦ ¦ i —¦^* . ^^^*^*^*^ 1 ^^^ ' *^ ''^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ¦ - ¦¦ ~—— ¦— - ^———^¦^* a ^^ . ^^ . ^^^ a **^^^^^^^^*^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^*^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ i ^ M ^^^^^ wi ^^ B ^^^^^^^^^^— ^^^^^^^^^\ a
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 9, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_09101852/page/18/
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