stone steps, accessible only to donkeys and foot-passengers; others wind about under arches and vaults, and all are lined with lofty houses of gray, white, rose, or yellow color, with green Venetian shutters and balconies. The groundfloor is invariably occupied by little shops, and the upper rooms are dwellings. Leaving out of the question the apparently luxurious existence of the local aristocracy and of the cosmopolitan population of visitors, the civilization of Naples may be said to have remained stationary since the Middle Ages, and the old town is a net-work of narrow streets scarcely any wider than those of Pompeii. And what a busy, varied, and curious scene one of these typical Neapolitan streets presents! At the corner you invariably find a water-seller installed at a little counter adorned with a greater or less profusion of polished brass ornaments, and sometimes roofed over in the form of an elegant kiosk. On the counter and on shelves at the back of the kiosk are piles of lemons with a few leaves left on the stalks, bottles of absinthe, anisette, and other liquors and syrups, shaded by branches of fig-leaves or fern, brown stoneware demijohns containing ferruginous, sulphurous, and other mineral waters, of which there are innumerable springs in Naples and the neighborhood, and at each end of the counter two slender barrels swinging on pivots and kept deliciously cool by a casing of snow brought from the neighboring mountains. The acqua fresca sold at these innumerable street-stalls is delicious, and, with the addition of two or three drops of absinthe or anisette, forms the favorite drink of the population. Entering the street, we find a most motley crowd of hawkers of all kinds, some carrying their wares on their heads, and others accompanied by donkeys or mules laden with resplendent baskets of tomatoes, green figs, plums, and various vegetables. Overhead between the lines of tall houses you see a streak of brilliant blue sky; before you the street slopes upward and upward between lines of windows and balconies where it is the custom to hang out the family washing to dry; and the view is closed by a glimpse of one of the old fortresses that crown the heights, surrounded by green trees. All along the street you see evidences of the superstition of the population. Every dwelling is full of waxen figures and colored images of saints; on the staircases lamps are kept burning in front of crucifixes and Madonnas or figures of St. Joseph and St. Gennaro; at intervals along the streets are niches in the wall containing a cheap framed print of the Madonna or some saint, before which a lamp is religiously kept burning at the common expense of the neighbors. Sacred banners, too, are suspended across the streets, and every Neapolitan man, woman, and child is provided with a stock of medals worn around the neck and with little horns of bone or coral to avert the influence of the Jettatura, or Evil Eye. The facades of the houses, the shop doors, the roofs, are surmounted by horns, and even the harness of the horses is decorated with the necessary talisman, generally in the shape of a brass hand with the little finger and index extended. Very frequently you will see hung out at a window a black glove, inflated, with the little finger and index placed so as to form the potent horns.
A curious feature of the Neapolitan streets is the marketing. The street-hawker is so deeply-rooted an institution at Naples that he has been able to ruin a company which went to great expense to provide the city with fine iron markets like those of Paris. These markets, situated in various quarters of the town, failed utterly, and are now used as riding-schools, warehouses, and for every other purpose except that for which they were intended. The Neapolitan housewife insists upon being served at her door, or rather at her window. From each balcony a basket attached to a rope is lowered to receive the bread, vegetables, and other provisions, after the price has been settled by loud and furious argument between the housewife on the fourth or fifth floor and the ambulant vender in the
