4 Travels into the hEv an t. Part 1. 
' r ' 
Eighteen Ca- he told me that there were eighteen ftrong Caftles in Mejfina^ of which the 
ftles in Me[- Spaniards held but four, the reft being in the hands of the Meffmefes^ who are 
The Mejfinek jealous of the Spaniards, that thefe having built a Fort at the end of the Port, 
jealous of the they made another on the oppofite fide of the Water, a Musket (hot only diftant 
Spaniards. from that of the Spaniards. This is a very rich Town, by reafon of the great 
Trade in Silk that is driven there: They have no Inns for Strangers, which 
is a great inconvenience to them, being obliged to lodge in a wretched Taverr^ 
upon the Harbour, which they call the Barraque, where the Entertainment is 
very bad : All things are cheap there ; the Wine is ftrong, but very bad ; and 
this City is an Archi-epifcopal See. 
CHAP. III. 
Of Sicily. 
iflandof Q/c/Lr isanlflandof a Triangular Figure, the point of each Angle ma- 
cm Difaro. v3 king a Cape ; one of thefe Capes is called Capo Difaro, the other Capo 
Capo Pajfaro. PajfaYo, and the third Capo Boco, which in ancient times were called Pelornsy 
Capo Boco. Pachinis and Lilib^erus : Many think that heretofore it was joined to Italy^from 
reionis. which it is but three miles diftant, but that it was feparated from it by the 
LihSrus f°^^^ which made to itfelf a paflage betwixt them ; and others fay 
it was done by an Earthquake. 
The phare of This Streight which is now betwixt the Ifland and Calabria^is called the Phare 
Meffina dan- of Meffina, and is moft dangerous » be pafled, not only becaufe of Charihdis 
gerous. and Scylla, but alfo becaufe the two points of Land of the Continent and Ifland 
are in a manner locked one within another. This is the moft confiderabls 
Ifland of the Mediterranean Sea,as well for bignefs,which is near feven hundred 
miles in circuit, as for its fruitfulnefs ; for it produces all things in abundance, 
and becaufe of its plenty of Corn,excellent Wines, Olives, and many other fuch 
things,it was heretofore caUed one of the Granaries of Rome. It contains a great 
jWoantG/Mo. many very fair and rich Towns, but it is much infefted by Mount GzL//^?, an- 
^("'2' ciently called ^tA-tna^ which continually cafts forth abundance of flames ; it is 
alfo much fubjed to Earthquakes, which make ftrange havock in it : It hath 
been under the Dominion of many Nations, and hath belonged to the Greeks 
Carthaginians-, Saracens, French, and laft of all to the King 0Ï Spain, who has a 
The Vice- Vice-Roy there, that holds his Refidence fix Months of the Year at Palermo, and 
Foy of JzVzTy, other fix at Mefma. This mixture of fo many difi'erent Nations (of whom 
rel^des^^^^ ^^"^'^^ ^^^^ retained fome vice) has made the Sicilians fo ill natured,as they are 
The Manners ^t prefent : they are very haughty and jealous, and there is no vice that comes 
of the sicili' amifs to them 5 Revenge continues in Families therefor hundreds of Years, and 
^ns. as their temper is extremely vindicative, they are fomiftruftful of the Frfw^, 
becaufe of the cruelty of the Sicilian Vefpers, that judging the nature of the 
French by their own, they think that the other can never forget an affront that 
coft fo much blood, and was never heretofore parallel'd. They wear always 
by their fide a Dagger two hands long, and three fingers broad, and you fliall 
not find a Tradefman in his ftiop without his Dagger by his fide, even when they 
are at work : They are of a fubtile and malicious Wit. 
CHAP. 
