204 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST . 



keeper of the Padre, a handsome Sicilian brunette, 

 with a well-rounded figure and sparkling black eyes, 

 who examined us with ill-disguised inquisitiveness. 

 Unfortunately, however, she was not consulted on 

 this occasion, and we were compelled to go elsewhere 

 for a lodging. After much useless searching, Artese 

 at length discovered two rooms, lighted by un- 

 glazed casements, and having a perfectly dark closet 

 adjoining to them, which could only be reached by 

 ascending a ladder which was suspended from a trap 

 door. After bringing all the available furniture of 

 the village into requisition, he contrived to secure 

 three chairs and two tables, but not a pair of tressles 

 or a single plank could we procure, and on this oc- 

 casion our mattresses were simply spread upon the 

 bare floor. These first difficulties once overcome, 

 our factotum re-assumed his former functions of 

 cook, and devoted his attention to the matter of pro- 

 visions. Here, however, he was scarcely more for- 

 tunate than in respect to the lodging ; for during the 

 whole time of our stay at Santo- Yito, with the 

 exception of one old hen, which was scarcely rendered 

 eatable by a very prolonged course of boiling, our 

 fare consisted exclusively of eggs and cacio cavallo. 

 It will, therefore, readily be seen that our expe- 

 dition was not one of unalloyed enjoyment. There 

 certainly was no great merit on the part of M. 

 Blan chard and myself in cheerfully supporting the 

 disagreeables inseparable from our mode of life, for 

 we were young and had to win a reputation. But 

 when a man of M. Milne Edvvards's age, who has 

 devoted twenty years of his life to the prosecution 



