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LETTERS FROM 
little progress to windward. In the after¬ 
noon our men lowered down the boat, and 
pulled in towards the shore, to meet a fisher¬ 
man, of whom they bought a huge long¬ 
tailed fish, like that which in some parts of 
England is called “ an old maid.” She was 
very disgusting in appearance, but when 
boiled, she proved to be much better tasted 
than we had expected, and we all made a 
hearty meal on her, for the stock of pro¬ 
visions we had brought from Malta was 
almost exhausted. 
We passed a fourth nearly sleepless night, 
during which we had light and variable 
winds, and at daylight we found ourselves 
still within a few miles of Syracuse. In the 
afternoon we were becalmed for some hours 
within a mile of the town, which has a very 
mean and shabby appearance when seen 
from the water. High in the air, over the 
