CHAPTER X. 
THE BREACH. 
On our arrival in Messina we lost no time in securing the 
best rooms at the Vittoria for Doctor Mendoza and lady ; and 
it was a source of great pleasure to behold him when he came 
down to the dinner-table, with the Madam on his arm. He 
was shaved and oiled to the extremest point of nicety ; his 
brows were unclouded for the first time within a week; he 
smiled pleasantly over his soup, and discoursed eloquently of 
the hotels at St. Petersburg over his salad and salmis. The 
Madam was charmed; she was radiant with smiles ; she 
never stopped looking with admiration at her husband, and 
evidently thought he was rather the handsomest man in the 
world, when the dust of travel was rubbed off his face. 
Next morning we set out, all bright and smiling, accompa¬ 
nied by Mr. Clements, to explore the city of Messina. There 
is not much in it to attract attention, but what there is we 
ferreted out with uncommon ingenuity. 
The foundation of Messina (according to a translation from 
the Italian) extends to times so remote that the precise epoch 
is not known. It once boasted many precious monuments, 
among which mention is made of a splendid temple of Nep¬ 
tune, and another of Hercules. There was also the Palace 
of Cajo Ejo, from which was taken the celebrated statue of 
Cupid made by Praxiteles; but the many sieges sustained by 
this city and the frequent earthquakes by which it has been 
desolated, have not left any vestiges of its ancient edifices. 
The population of Messina was once very numerous ; in 1575 
the plague destroyed 65,000 persons, and civil wars and 
other calamities have since reduced it to a mere remnant. 
