of Termini had a bad reputation for brigands, though according to Murray, they are a thing of the past. Termini is a military depot, with extensive barracks, and, said my informant, "The authorities, hearing of the expedition, sent a patrol of soldiers, partly as a compliment to the English visitors, and—well, there's no knowing what may happen in Sicily." But I am told that the Brigands, as a rule, were wont to confine their attentions to well-to-do Sicilian proprietors.
The harbour at Termini is the headquarters of a large fleet of boats for anchovy and sardine fishing. One night there was a great uproar, bells ringing, fireworks, gun firing, and singing. The fleet had come in laden with the spoils of the sea. This was the fashion of their thanksgiving, made as a sort of religious function.
Sicilians differ from Italians. You notice distinct types, Greek, African, Roman, and Norman. They are graver people, and I am told their songs show this. In their churches their reverence is noticeable, but they are intensely superstitious. Fortune-tellers abound, and are taken seriously. One Sunday morning, after Mass, in an open space in front of the Cathedral at Palermo, a large crowd gathered round a well-dressed woman, blindfolded, sitting in a chair. On the ground before her lay a stuffed serpent and a figure representing an Egyptian deity,—a long brass tube on supports formed the communication between her and those who wished to consult her. One of them, a woman of middle age, on hearing her fate, went away in deep distress. Palermo is a prosperous city, doing much business in the export of wine, oranges, lemons, and sulphur. Its prosperity is due to the
