238 EAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



We were doomed to experience at Trapani the 

 same disappointment which we had already felt at 

 Castellamare. A single glance sufficed to show us 

 that we had nothing to hope from the bare and 

 rugged rocks which bounded the town to the north ; 

 and still less, perhaps, from the immense salt marshes 

 situated to the south, which were then being worked 

 with extreme industry. We at once determined to 

 try our luck elsewhere. The ancient ^Egades, now 

 known as the Islands of Favignana, were situated at 

 about nine miles distant ; and, owing to the trans- 

 parency of the atmosphere, we were actually enabled 

 with the naked eye to trace the rocks and the deep 

 indentations of the coast line which were indicated 

 on our charts. This little archipelago promised to 

 afford us all the conditions which were most favour- 

 able to the prosecution of our researches. A cursory 

 examination confirmed these conjectures ; and, as 

 soon as the Santa Rosalia joined us, we lost no 

 time in embarking, hopeful of better success in this 

 new station. 



Lying altogether out of the ordinary routes, and 

 possessing scarcely any sources of commerce, the 

 Islands of Favignana have very rarely been visited 

 by foreigners. From time to time they had been 

 visited by some Englishman who was engaged in 

 buying up Sicilian wines, but no Frenchman had 

 landed upon any of the islands within the memory 

 of the oldest inhabitant. It may, therefore, be 

 easily understood what an immense sensation was 

 produced on the arrival of letters from the Dukes of 

 Serra di Falco and of Cacamo, which announced the 



