158 EAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



this kind ; it was only by sea that we could fully 

 carry out our plans, and we resolved to circum- 

 navigate the island in a boat of our own. 



There were, however, many difficulties in the 

 way. We carried with us, amongst other apparatus, 

 a double forcing-pump, intended to aid in the 

 submarine explorations which M. Milne Edwards 

 purposed conducting. This pump could not be 

 properly worked without being securely fixed with 

 sufficient space around it to move a balance beam 

 resembling those used in fire engines. The common 

 fishing boats of the country were too small and 

 fragile for this purpose, while a speronare was, on 

 the other hand, too large to suit our views, as it 

 would have been unable to enter shallow bays, or to 

 follow all the irregularities of the rocky coasts ; and, 

 lastly, it was indispensably necessary that we should 

 procure the services of sailors who could speak 

 Italian, for the Sicilian idiom, which is an incoherent 

 mixture of all the various tongues spoken by the 

 numerous powers who have in turn ruled Sicily, was 

 wholly unintelligible to us. 



After many fruitless visits to the harbour, we at 

 length discovered the kind of boat we wanted. It 

 was thirty feet long and six feet across, and carried 

 fore and aft a sort of false deck about a yard square. 

 Along either side there ran a board about a foot 

 across, to which the seats of the rowers were secured. 

 This boat had made several trials of her speed and 

 strength in the passage from Naples to Palermo. 

 Finally, her name possessed a certain local charm, 

 which was quite irresistible, for she bore the graceful 



