MARSALA. Saturday, 3d.—The sea has become very boisterous, and most of the passengers are sick. We passed Marsala and Mazzara, where an increasing people enjoy comparative abundance, and are happy in consequence. All this benefit arises from the attention paid to the cultivation of the grape for Marsala wine, set on foot by an enterprising Englishman.
At two o'clock the steamer was off Trapani, and many of our passengers landed to visit Selinuntum; more, I believe, with the desire of escaping the horrors of sea-sickness, than for the purpose of searching after ruined temples.
Our course now lay along the shore, which presented a succession of bold mountainous scenery, interspersed with rich and smiling valleys. It was evening when we approached Palermo, and the setting sun shed a flood of golden light over each mountain summit, dark grey rock, and wooded glen: it was a beautiful scene, and reminded me of one of those landscapes which so often employed the immortal pencil of Claude Lorraine.
An unfortunate delay of half an hour in rounding Point Pellegrino, prevented us from getting pratique that night; and we had to endure the mortification of hearing the hum of enjoyment arising from every part of this gay city, without the possibility of being partakers in the amusement going forward. The marina was well illuminated, and the distant sound of music, which ever and anon came softened over the waves, communicated an air of enchantment to the scene.
PALERMO. Sunday, 4th.—We landed in Palermo at daylight; and I established myself in the same hotel where, two years before, I had spent a pleasant fortnight. Here it is that an Italian summer may be truly enjoyed; for pleasure would seem to be the presiding deity of the place. The inhabitants spend the whole night in driving about, eating delicious ices, listening to music, or in wandering among the orange and lemon groves situated in and about the town.
"This is the land where the lemon trees bloom; Where the dark orange glows in the deep thicket's gloom, Where a wind ever soft from the kind Heaven blows, And the groves are of myrtle, and laurel, and rose."
DUCHESS DE BERRI. After visiting every object of curiosity in Palermo, I surrendered myself to that pleasing indolence in which every one appears more or less to indulge. Nevertheless, I could not resist the temptation of making an excursion to Prince Butera's villa, in order to catch a glimpse of her who had soared so high and sunk so low.[22] She came to the window while we were in the garden; and a Carlist, who formed one of our party, seemed to gaze at her as though she had been a deity. A dispute having arisen about some trivial circumstance, she stormed with rage, and her gesticulations were perfectly furious. She is a perfect Neapolitan.
As this illustrious lady had expressed a desire to go to Naples, we were requested to agree to a delay of a few days. Who could resist the temptations of a longer sojourn in the city of the syren pleasure? and it was readily agreed to. It was not, therefore, until the morning of—
SCENE ON BOARD. Friday, 9th—that we bade adieu to Sicily. The Duchess came on board with her husband and suite, Count Menars, and the Prince and Princess——. Her face is by no means a handsome one; and she is very short, thin, and vulgar-looking. Nothing in her personal appearance marks her out for a heroine, or is calculated to inspire her followers with the awe and respect with which they seem to worship her. She soon sat down to whist with her husband, Butera, and the old Princess St. Theodore; but the game received many unpleasant interruptions from the pitching and rolling of the boat. Each time the fit came on, she sprang upon the bench on which she had been sitting, and, after bending her head sans cérémonie over the vessel's side, quietly sat down again to resume her cards. This rather unroyal and unlady-like exhibition occurred repeatedly; and we were impressed with the idea that her manners altogether were very unfitting her rank and station. As it was publicly known that we had the Duchess de Berri on board, she attracted considerable attention; otherwise her carriage would never have distinguished her from the most ordinary passenger. Our Carlist friend appeared on the quarter deck, wearing the colours of his party: at first, she took no notice of him; but at length it occurred to her that he might be a spy in disguise, and she haughtily demanded who he was. His loyalty and devotion were not proof against this affront: in an instant he retreated below, and, having disencumbered himself of the once-cherished badge, reappeared on deck with a countenance glowing with indignation; and, if I am not much deceived, "Louis-Philip" gained a convert from that moment.
We had a great increase of passengers, besides the Duchess and her suite; most of whom, being unaccustomed to sailing, were quickly on their beam ends. The weather, which, at starting, had threatened to be stormy, now cleared up; and, though the evening was calm and beautiful, a heavy swell still continued to render the motion of the vessel disagreeable. The heroine of La Vendée is sleeping in her arm-chair: the faithful Menars reposes at her feet; and her husband, whom she hardly seems to notice, is sitting on a bench beside her.