CHARLES WATERT0N, ESQ. lxXXlX 



appetites, or to give up all thoughts of leaving 

 the island, as the negligence of the authorities 

 in Naples had subjected me to take out a new 

 passport in Sicily. Thus I had first to pay at 

 one office and then at another ; to wait here, 

 and to expostulate there ; so that, what with 

 the heat of the sun, and the roughness of the 

 pavement, and the payment of fees, I could not 

 have been much worse off had I been sucked 

 into the vortex of the old straits themselves. 

 In a word, there was no helping myself, and no 

 mercy shown, although I cried out most feel- 

 ingly— 



" Solvere quassata? parcite membra ratis." 



The vexations at the passport offices deduct 

 considerably from the pleasure of a tour through 

 the insular dominions of his Neapolitan majesty. 



I can fancy that Sicily must afford a mag- 

 nificent treat to the votaries of ornithology 

 both early in April and at the close of Sep- 

 tember, as the European birds of passage, in 

 coming to the north, and in retiring from it, 

 are known to pass in great quantities through 

 this island. A person with a good telescope, 

 and in a favourable situation, would have it in 

 his power to mark down the many different 



