16 
A GIRA THROUGH SICILY. 
verily believe that had I been a person of blood-thirsty dis¬ 
position I could have slain them all with a bodkin. Such, 
however, was not my nature. The poor little fellows looked 
so forlorn, so small and dirty, so sorry they were going to an 
unknown country, twenty hours distant from their native 
land ; so unlike men who would ever kill any body, that 1 
was exceedingly moved, and took occasion, when the cap¬ 
tain of the boat was not looking, to give one of them a pinch 
of snuff. My natural impulse was to give them snuff all 
round, but they were so piled up over the decks, the heads, 
and heels, and mustaches, and arms, and legs in such a 
state of confusion that it was utterly impossible to move 
without stumbling over a misplaced limb, and falling upon a 
sick man. 
Thank heaven, the hills of Bagheria at last hove in sight. 
I was glad enough to see land, as well on my own account 
as that of the soldiers, who certainly could not have survived 
the horrors of the sea another night. The voyage from Na¬ 
ples to Palermo is usually performed in twenty hours. Owing 
to the rough weather, and the want of additional horse-power, 
it took us twenty-four. We were six hours more getting 
ashore, which made it thirty. The reason of this delay was, 
that the soldiers had to be landed first. Then the captain 
had to go ashore and have a talk with the officers of the 
port; then he had to come on board again and walk up and 
down the deck and smoke his cigar; then the passengers 
had to get certain cartes , and some of them, who were going 
beyond Palermo, their passports under certain restrictions; 
then the officer of the customs had to come on board and 
have a talk with the captain; then he had to go on shore 
again, and the health officer had to come on board; then, 
after all the officers were done going on shore and coming 
on board, the baggage had to be properly distributed ; and, 
after the baggage was distributed, and every thing appar¬ 
ently all. right, there was an additional delay of two hours 
for the purpose of showing the passengers that they were in 
the hands of persons high in authority, who would permit 
them to land, as a matter of favor, whenever it became ap- 
