LIFE IN AX ISLAXD. 97 



death ? The worst of it is that from those big recol- 

 lections that belong to the world, the solitary muser 

 naturally turns to recollections of his own, which 

 may, heaven knows, be as sad as Pompeii, but are 

 not equally interesting to other men. Wherefore let 

 us take into our heart, as best we may, that soft and 

 abstract compassion of the sea, which is for us and 

 for all. Hush ! What more can anything mortal 

 say? 



And there are the boats skimming like birds to- 

 wards Sicily, which lies yonder lost in the blue 

 heavens ; and here, at our left hand, the white skiffs 

 from Sorrento linger underneath the cliffs waiting for 

 the Forestieri, who have gone to the Blue Grotto, 

 and stay there so long beyond anybody's patience, 

 that the forlorn boatmen shout " Maccaronii ! " to 

 each other as they pass, by way of keeping up their 

 spirits for is not that a specific for all troubles 1 

 " Coraggio a voi, maccaroni a noi" says Feliciello, 

 showing a want of refinement in the use of the 

 second person plural which wounds one's feelings. 

 As we come down the hill, it will be worth your 

 while to step aside to the Salto, and watch the quick 

 seconds whirling round on your watch, while the 

 attendant there makes the usual experiment on your 

 behalf by pitching down a stone sufficiently heavy to 

 be heard as it dashes on the rocks below. The seconds 

 pass quickly, to be sure ; but the sense of time which 

 grows upon the listener watching that noiseless finger 



VOL. VI. G 



