SICILY 



431 



climate and the soil. This process is still going 

 on, and little is done in the way of reafforesting ; 

 yet magnificent relics of the primeval forests of 

 oak ana ilex are left on the Madonie and else- 

 where, and in some districts beeches clothe the 

 mountains to their very summits, and chestnuts, 

 pines, and enormous holly-trees flourish ; on the 

 other hand, wide tracts have been reduced to abso- 

 lute sterility by the destruction of the woodlands. 

 Malaria is endemic in many parts sometimes more 

 so in the uplands than urwm the coast. Nearly all 

 the rain falls in the winter months, when the 

 rivers are swollen to destructive torrents ; in the 

 long summer there are usually three months of 

 drought, most of the streams dry up, and the hill- 

 sides and plains are turned to brown, sunburnt 

 deserts. Nevertheless the soil is naturally so fertile 

 that even these causes and the ignorance and prim- 

 itive methods of the people have not vet destroyed 

 ite marvellous productive power. Vegetation is 

 everywhere luxuriant. Dwarf-palms abound, in 

 the south-west especially, and dates, Indian figs, 

 agaves, prickly pears, oranges, lemons, olives, 

 almonds, pomegranates, mulberries, and grapes are 

 all largely grown. Sicily's wheat still represents a 

 seventh of that of all Italy ; and of the kingdom's 

 barley, though the figures are much smaller, it 

 raises one-half. Formerly corn was grown and 

 exported at a profit ; but of late years this can no 

 longer be done, and to-day the island's chief agri- 

 cultural products are grapes, oranges and lemons, 

 and sumach. It sends out two-thirds of Italy's 

 wine, which till the rupture of the commercial 

 treaty with France (see ITALY, Vol. VI. p. 244) 

 was mainly exported thither for mixing purposes ; 

 of ' green fruit it yields nearly nine-tenths of all 

 the Italian crop, and sends large quantities to the 

 United States and to Britain ; and sumach, for 

 tanning, is exported to the value of nearly a million 

 sterling. But the Sicilians will change neither the 

 methods nor the implements of their fathers. In 

 many districts the soil is enfeebled by being per- 

 petually cropped with wheat, and only the rich 

 supply of sunshine saves it from exhaustion ; arti- 

 ficial manures are unknown, and good systems of 

 irrigation and of rotation of crops are even more 

 needed than the introduction of agricultural 

 machinery. At present ploughs of rough-hewn 

 branches, the wooden share thinly shod with iron, 

 are in use, and the corn is usually threshed on the 

 smoothest spot in or near the field trampled by 

 oxen and horses, who drag heavy stones after them 

 and winnowed by being thrown into theair. Cattle- 

 rearing, in the usual sense of that term, is not 

 attempted. Oxen and cows are bred for purposes 

 of labour, not for the market or the dairy, and are 

 sent old from the cart or plough to the batcher. 

 But indeed in the interior little meat is eaten at 

 all. Sicilian mutton is as tough as the beef, and 

 has besides a very rank, woolly flavour. Goats 

 are much more common than sheep, and pigs are 

 reared in great nnmliers in the mountainous tracts, 

 and in the small towns overrun the streets and act 

 R scavengers. There is no regular pasturage for 

 (locks anil herds, which live entirely in the open 

 fiir, and usually gather a subsistence as they can ; 

 when straw and cactus-leaves fail they are in some 

 part* fed on the rinds of oranges and lemons. 

 Butter, mostly imported in tins, is known only in 

 the large towns, and the cheeses of the island, 

 chiefly made from goats' and ewes' milk, are hard 

 and bitter. 



After agriculture the production of sulphur is 

 the most important occupation. This is the only 

 mineral product obtained on a large scale, and 

 forms the essential resource of Sicily ; but it too is 

 separated from the ore by a very primitive process. 

 There are some 300 mines in the island, and 350,000 



tons have been exported in a year ; in 1888, how- 

 ever, when the lowest record was touched, the 

 export fell to about half this amount. The rich 

 deposits of rock-salt are scarcely worked at all, 

 though bay-salt is largely made in the salt-pans on 

 the east and west coasts. Fishing, especially for 

 the sardine and tunny, occupies a Targe number of 

 the people ; the coral-fishery has greatly declined. 

 Amber is found and worked in Catania. Manu- 

 factures are few and of little consequence some 

 machinery, cement, crockery, gloves, macaroni, 

 and soap nearly exhaust the list. Commerce is 

 mainly in the hands of English, Germans, and 

 Swiss. Over 30,000 vessels yearly enter the sixty 

 ports, and trade as a whole lias developed rapidly 

 since 1860. It is, however, much hampered in the 

 interior by the scarcity of good roads the whole 

 island in 1889 boasted only 3200 miles; 611 miles 

 of railway were built between 1863 and 1890. 



As a consequence of the successive foreign settle- 

 ments on the island the population is rather a con- 

 glomerate one ; in the east the Greek element pre- 

 vails, and the people are superior to those in the 

 west, where Arab blood is strongest. In some 

 places in the interior the dialect of the Lombards 

 survives in their descendants, and near Palermo 

 (Piana dei Greci, &c.) lx>th Greek usages and 

 Greek costumes are to be found. The general 

 dialect of the island differs markedly from that of 

 the mainland, as does also the appearance of the 

 country. Most of the farms are small ; but in any 

 case the traveller cannot but be struck with the 

 absence of farm-buildings and houses. The 

 labourers as a rule herd in the small towns, walk- 

 ing wherever possible to their work every morning, 

 and otherwise, in spring and harvest, sleeping dur- 

 ing the week in temporary conical huts of straw. 

 The crops are guarded, and the losses of tenants 

 from preaatory animals, &c. certified, by mounted 

 guards in the pay and uniform of the chief pro- 

 prietors. Wages range from Is. to 2s. per day, with- 

 out food ; the peasant seldom tastes even goat's flesh, 

 and lives on black bread, onions, beans, herbs, 

 prickly pears, bitter cheese, and weak wine ; the 

 boy swineherds receive only bread, and find water 

 for themselves. The houses of these labourers con- 

 sist usually of one room in a town perched on the 

 top of a hill or mountain, shared with such poultry 

 and pigs as they may have ; the place is dirty, cold, 

 with a tiled roof through which the smoke escapes 

 and the rain enters, the bed being, when possible, 

 sheltered by a strip of matting. The roadway in 

 front commonly serves for latrine and dressing- 

 room. The houses of the craftsmen are no cleaner, 

 but possess tiled floors and more decent furniture. 

 As for the better classes, they are confined to the 

 cities : there are proprietors in Sicily, but no 

 country gentlemen, nor any houses for them ; 

 country life there is absolutely none. Even 

 market-towns are unknown ; only sometimes fairs 

 are held in the interior. But in spite of his 

 wretched life, labouring from sunrise to sunset all 

 through the year, and steeped in poverty to the 

 lips, the Sicilian is manly and independent, good- 

 humoured and obliging, prudent and steady in his 

 habits. Under proper direction he will work hard 

 and cheerfully, and his patience and resignation to 

 his lot are truly Oriental : ' come Dio vuole ' is but 

 the ' kismet ' spirit localised. He is also, however, 

 deceitful, taking pride in his cunning, is heartlessly 

 cruel to animals ('they are not baptised,' he ex- 

 plains), and can be sullen and treacherous and 

 vindictive. In homicides, which occur almost 

 daily, Sicily leads the rest of Italy ; and robl>erieg 

 and thefts are very frequent. Brigandage on the 

 grand scale has been put down, but cases of less 

 note do occur still from time to time, and bands of 

 highwaymen occasionally attack even carriages 



