THE COASTS OF SICILY. 167 



of the customs and the quarantine, the Duke of 

 Serra cli Falco and the Duke of Cacamo, Director 

 General of the Sanitary Commission, had also sent 

 a circular to all their subordinates, Informing them 

 of our arrival, and instructing them to afford us all 

 the assistance in their power. We were expected 

 at all the stations along the coast, and from the very 

 outset we exj^erienced the favourable effects of these 

 powerful recommendations. Following our aged 

 guide, we therefore at once proceeded towards the 

 village, wdiere we were met by the cure of this little 

 congregation, who eagerly pressed us to take up our 

 abode in his house, an offer which we gratefully 

 accepted. 



The villao;e of Torre dell' Isola is a sort of fief 

 appertaining to the Count of Capaci. The houses, 

 of which there are about a hundred, are low and small, 

 but outwardly clean. They have almost all been 

 built at the expense of the proprietor, who lets them 

 to his tenantry for a trifling rent. The village num- 

 bers about 1200 inhabitants. Living upon a tongue 

 of land, covered with sand and rocks, among w hich 

 nothing but the wild cactus can take root and thrive, 

 the population Is of necessity entirely devoted to 

 fishing. At the time of our arrival, almost all the 

 men w^ere absent, and were not expected to return 

 until after the season of the Sardine fishery, for the 

 sea like the land, has its harvest seasons, which 

 come almost on a fixed day, with this advantage, 

 however, Avhlch is entirely in the favour of the 

 maritime harvests, that they require no preliminary 

 expenditure of labour in sowing or planting. 



M 4 



