LETTER TO COLONEL IRBY GENOA NAPLES 105 



whom I used to know years ago. This is a 

 perfect place for migratory birds, and as every- 

 body carries a gun, many come into the market, 

 and thence into the museum. I have had great 

 sport in Sardinia at the torch fishing. All this 

 part of the Mediterranean is void of good fish ; 

 here the absence of fish is proverbial : " Montague 

 senza alberi, mare senza pesci." However, it is a 

 most beautiful and interesting old town. 



To Lieut. -Colonel L. Howard Ir%, F.L.S. 



' R.Y.S. " Zara," Naples : February 10, 1874. 



( Querido Amigo, At Genoa I made acquaint- 

 ance with the Marchese Giacomo Doria, an 

 excellent naturalist and most pleasant fellow. 

 He had large collections of his own of local 

 birds, beasts, reptiles, fish, &c., and also a great 

 many collected by himself in Borneo and in 

 Persia. He agreed to present all these to the 

 municipality of Genoa if they would find house- 

 room for them and appoint him curator, which 

 they consented to do. He has a most charm- 

 ingly fitted up museum, with a good garden; 

 the greater part of his foreign collection is in 



