NAPLES BAT AND FISH-MARKET. 103 



tinge than the rest of the sky ; the pale moon — a very 

 ghost of the bright red sphere of last night — reveals 

 nothing ; the stars, gradually receding, hide their tiny 

 points in prescience of approaching day ; the city lights 

 are gone; the fire-ho&,ts undistinguishable ; the ever- 

 burning entrails of Vesuvius emit but a lurid glow. 

 Strikingly sUent, too, at this hour is the noisiest street 

 of the noisiest capital in Europe : not a sound to be 

 heard ; the repose of the whole city is absolute ; the fish- 

 booths under the window, a few hours ago the crowded 

 scene of perpetual jangle, merriment, and imprecation, 

 exhibit only bare planks, with a few osier traps left over- 

 night for the next day's repair; the Margellina, which, 

 when we went to bed at eleven with a sirocco headache, 

 was thronged with equipages and one diapason of crash- 

 ing discord, is silent now; and all the open lattices, 

 where baUs and conversazioni were then in full activity, 

 have long since been closed. 



The clock strikes five, — convent bells begin to chime ; 

 it is time to start, while the streets are cool and empty, 

 on our projected ramble to the fish-market. The foun- 

 tain of the Lion, which supplies all the PausiUppo side 

 of the town, still pours the limpid stream into the de- 

 serted tazza, unencumbered by a single bucket; no 

 claimant has yet appeared to draw water, nor is the ac- 

 tive and impartial custode, who gives each man his 

 minute, and keeps the women from fighting, yet at his 

 important post ; there is a faint gurgling rife among the 

 rocks, and a monotonous murmur from the tiny wave- 

 lets that run licking the pebbles without breaking on the 

 shore, and then fall back again into the sea; a few boats 

 tied together in a line, rise and sink with gentle motion, 

 as the water swells and subsides noiselessly under their 

 keels. Towards six o'clock, the change is rapid from 

 this state of absolute repose to that of renewed life and 

 activity. The first objects we meet on emerging from 



