104 PROSE HALIEUTICS. 



the Palazzo are a flock of goats driven ia from the Vo- 

 raero, impatient to unload their full udders ; a mmute 

 afterwards, a detachment of agUe lazzaroni from Baise, 

 with pyramids of figs on their heads, stride panting by, 

 in haste to get their freight cool to market ; and pan- 

 niered donkeys, heavily laden with finit and vegetables, 

 are urged on with equal speed for the same purpose. 

 The earliest barcaroles now appear ; we accept the offer 

 of a boat ; and, after a delicious row in the cahn, grey 

 morning, arrive near the markets just as the sun is be- 

 ginning to break cover, and early enough to find every- 

 thing in perfection. Traversing two boats from Sorrento, 

 one fragrant with a cargo of peaches and melons, the 

 other redolent of pecore cheeses, which are certainly not 

 fragrant, we land almost within a stone's throw of our 

 destination. 



The fish-market is in the oldest part of old Naples, 

 where the narrow streets more resemble alleys, or the 

 Scotch wynds, than our so-called thoroughfares ; vary- 

 ing in breadth from sufiB.cient space to allow two caratelli 

 to pass abreast, to that which is only carozzabile for 

 one. These caratelli are made to measure (like the Yar- 

 mouth carts), and so exactly, that the wheels nearly 

 scrape the walls on opposite sides. It is dangerous to 

 stand still when they are coming, as the mode of driving 

 at Naples is like Jehu's, of the kind called furious ; and 

 but for the ready retreat of an open doorway, a pas- 

 senger might qmckly be crushed. The skill of meeting 

 drivers is shown, not so much in avoiding a collision — 

 which is often impossible — ^but in so dividing the shock 

 between the two vehicles and the houses on either side, 

 that they fracture neither their own nor their neigh- 

 bour's panels. In some places the walls are rubbed 

 away by these constant hard knocks, and afford a chan- 

 nel in which the wheels fit as they roll on. Looking up 

 from the pavement at the strip of blue sky above, is like 



