THE COASTS OF SICILY. 235 



hanging rocks made it necessary to traverse the 

 barren heath which skirted alono- the beach. A few 

 hours' march enabled us to reach the sandy tongue 

 of land at the extreme point of which rises Trapani ; 

 but the rouo'h orait of our mules and the uncouth 

 apparatus which served us in the place of a saddle 

 seemed to double the distance. The feeling of in- 

 tense enjoyment with which we took possession of 

 the not over-soft beds of the Albergo di Napoli will 

 be readily understood by every one who, like our- 

 selves, had been shaken all dav lon^j on the back of 

 a Sicilian mule, or had slept, as we had done, for a 

 month past, between a plank and a sailor's cape. 



Placed at the extreme western point of Sicily, 

 and possessing a tolerably good harbour, Trapani, 

 with its 30,000 inhabitants, still enjoys a certain 

 degree of importance. One may easily see that this 

 town has known better days. Here, as in all the 

 cities of the western part of Sicily which we had 

 already visited, there still remained mournful ves- 

 tiges of former splendour which had long since given 

 place to misery. Grass grew abundantly in the 

 broad straight streets ; on every side were palaces 

 now in ruins, scarcely able to afford shelter to the 

 few beggars who had appropriated them. Trapani 

 is rich in such contrasts between the past and the 

 present. We were especially struck by the remains 

 of a palace which had been erected by William de 

 Porcelets, the only one of all the French nobles 

 whose life was spared in the massacre of the Sicilian 

 Vespers.* The walls are covered, from the base- 



* AYilliam de Porcelets -\A'as lord of Calatafimi and goveruor 



