SOOMBEEIDiE. 207 



the carcase was salted and pickledj and sold under vari- 

 ous names, as Krjrrjfia,* fifjKa, TrovTiKa,'f Ovvvaia Tapl')(7].\ 

 The best part for pickling was the belly, already men- 

 tioned as the best part fresh. § The next in esteem was 

 the ' omotarichum,' or pickled shoulder ; lastly came the 

 dry parts, ' cybias, melandrias, and urteas :' the first and 

 last were lumps, generally in cubes, cut out of the back 

 or tail ; the other, yet served in oil by dirty stewards on 

 board Mediterranean steamers, we had long ago (before 

 reading Pliny's etymology of the word melandria, which 

 confirms it) described in ' Blackwood' as ' like veneers of 

 mahogany in appearance, and tasteless as any wood.' 



The eating of these coarse scombers is so associated 

 in our mind with one of those provisionless Sicilian lo- 

 cande, boasting 'nuovi mobili e buon servizio' (which 

 means, a thunny supper and a buggy bed), that we can- 

 not dismiss the fish till we have attempted to give our 

 readers a sketch of it : the Magpie of Calatafimi and 

 the manes of Theocritus forgive us, if, in a paroxysm of 

 indigestion, we have done it any injustice. 



Lodged for the niglit, O Muse ! begin 

 To siag the true Sicilian inn, 

 Where the sad choice of six foul cells 

 The least exacting traveller quells ; 

 (Though crawling things, not yet in sight, 

 Are waiting for the shadowy night, 

 To issue forth when all is quiet, 

 And on your feverish pulses riot :) 

 Where one wood shutter scrapes the ground, 

 By crusts, stale bones, and garbage bound ; 

 Where unmolested spiders toil 

 Behind the mirror's mUdew'd foil ; 

 Where the cheap crucifix of lead 

 Hangs o'er the iron tressel'd bed ; 



* Ath. t Q-al. X Ath. 



§ This is still largely sold throughout Italy as the prime out ; 

 it is called tarentello. 



