10 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



Milazzo is never -visited by the few strangers whom 

 the love of travelling leads to Sicily. This little 

 town, which entirely occupies the narrow isthmus on 

 which it is built, is surrounded on the one side by the 

 peninsula which bears its name, and on the other by 

 a small plain which is partially enclosed by the semi- 

 circular chain of the Pelorias mountains, behind which 

 may be seen the distant summit of Mount Etna. 

 Narrow paths, which are only practicable for the 

 mules of the country, communicate with the high 

 roads of Messina and Palermo. 



The inhabitants of Milazzo, who are thus isolated 

 from the rest of the island, appeared to us to exhibit 

 much more energy and activity than the rest of their 

 countrymen. We had nowhere met with so good a 

 mode of cultivation, for not an inch of ground is lost 

 either on the plain or the peninsula. Vines and 

 Olives almost everywhere supply the place of the 

 Cactus or the Agave, and descending to the 

 very water's edge, they afford shade to the simply 

 but elegantly built country-houses, whose terraces 

 overhang the sea. A small harbour, which is well 

 sheltered against the west and north winds, is fa- 

 vourable to the export of the different products 

 of the soil, and this trade is sufficient to keep the 

 population in a condition of ease and comfort. The 

 streets near the harbour are broad and tolerably well 

 built, but they change into winding lanes, as they as- 

 cend the steep hill, which, rising perpendicularly on 

 the west side, is surmounted by a fortress which is 

 manned by a tolerably large garrison. Milazzo was 

 for several years the residence of Louis Philippe, 



