Afloat and ashore on the Mediterranean

Front matter

AFLOAT AND ASHORE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN Forward Deck of the "Principe Farnese" AFLOAT AND ASHORE ON THE MEDITERRANEAN fa- LEE MERIWETHER Author of "A Tramp Trip; or, Europe on Fiftv Cents a Day," " A Tramp at Home," Etc "The grand object of all travelling is to see the shores of the Mediterranean. On those shores were the four great em pires of the world: the Assyrian, the Persian, the Grecian, and the Roman. All our religion, almost all our law, almost all our arts, almost all that sets us above savages, has come to us from the shores of the Mediterranean." — Samuel Johnson. LONDON SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON & COMPANY Limited gt. gurtstan's JSotusr Fetter Lane, Fleet Street, E.C. 1892 AU rights reserved. TO MY MOTHER MY TRUEST FRIEND AND WISEST COUNSELLOR THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED EV HER GRATEFUL AND AFFECTIONATE SON THE AUTHOR

Preface

In his " History of Civilization " Buckle speaks rather dis paragingly of the mere narrator of events, remarking that for every original thinker there are a dozen trained observers. Having small claim to being even a trained observer, it would be no easy matter to defend this book before Buckle * to the general reader, however, I shall feel that no apology is due should the perusal of the adventures herein related afford a tithe of the pleasure experienced in the adventures them selves. The manner in which the trip was taken is not without novelty, nor are all the places described visited by summer tourists to Europe. No railroads reach the extreme southwest coast of Italy ; some of the islands of the Ægean are also difficult of access, except in private yachts. These facts embolden me to hope that the chapters of this book, if twice-told tales to the few, may not be devoid of interest to the many, who, even though experienced travellers, may per haps have failed to visit the out-of-the-way places in the Mediterranean reached by the writer in his little craft, the Principe Farnese.

While Commissioner of Labor Statistics for the State of Missouri, I was directed by a resolution adopted by the House of Representatives to investigate the subject of convict labor. My report to the legislature on the Missouri penitentiary is Vll

PREFACE.

VIII embodied in the thirteenth volume of the Labor Bureau, published by my successor in the office of Labor Commis sioner. The interest thus aroused caused me, where oppor tunity offered, to examine the systems of prison labor in Europe. I also noted the condition of workingmen, and the cost of producing such Mediterranean fruits as are ex ported to the United States, in competition with the fruits grown there. These questions, though of interest to students of social problems, are scarcely so to the general reader : in the present volume they are touched upon only here and there to serve as ballast to the lighter part of the pages. LEE MERIWETHER. St. Louis, September, 1892. PAGE CONTENTS

Chapter I

Getting Passports — The Cablegram from Vienna — The Voyage — How Miss Detroit upset the Professor's Calculations — We pass the Azores — Coast of Portugal — Mysteries of Italian Cooking on the Birtnania I

Chapter II

Arrival at Lisbon — Perigarde appears — We find ourselves Millionnaires— The King and Queen — Adventure on Top of a Cathedral — Condition of Portuguese Labor — The Girl, the Maid, and the Garden — Cost of a Trip to Portugal 13

Chapter III

A Gloomy Dungeon — Living Men in Coffins and Shrouds — Perpetual Isolation — How a Nunnery was transformed — A Fat Judge, a Squalling Baby, and a Frightened Family — Miss Detroit invites us to the Theatre — A Visit to Portugal's Dead Royalty — Ghastly Appearance of the Kings and Queens 32

Chapter IV

Perigarde studies Lotteries — How Portuguese Children disappear through a Wall — The Bull Fight at Torres Vedras — Spanish and Portuguese Bull Fights compared— Two Surprises — The Baroness and the Milkery — The Professor disappears 49

Chapter V

The Tobacco Factory of Seville — Six Thousand Girls with Roses and Babies — Spanish and American Tariffs — The Octroi — The Kodak gets us in Trouble — El Sereno — The Civil Guards and the i\ CONTENTS X PAGE Englishman — Twelve Years in Africa — Why Mr. W. threatened to cut down his Trees — Mediterranean Fruits 66

Chapter VI

A Trip to Xeres — How Sherry is made and why it goes to India — Perigarde, the Baroness, and the Baron — The Mosque of Cordova — Mistaken for Burglars — A Kodak Story — Night Journey to Ronda — Why they robbed us — The Ronda Fair — Signorina Cellini changes her Name 82

Chapter VII

On Donkey Back to Gibraltar — How we escaped the Muleteers — Scaling the Sierras — The Posada de la Paz and the Enchanted Castle — Pastoral Scenes — Don Rodriguez saves us from Prison — Gibraltar — Second Impressions — Curious Sea-Eggs — A Trip to Tangiers — The Cadi's Court — Scene from the Arabian Nights — Moorish Wedding — Mack buys Antiquities 100

Chapter VIII

Spanish Prisons in Africa — Remarkable System — Prisoners pay to Work — Convict Life — The Governor of Ceuta — Procession of the Sacred Picture — Off for Malaga — Leviathan Mills — Romantic Notions exploded — Story of the Republicans — Men who die for Freedom — Social Life in Spain 122

Chapter IX

Why we missed the train to Granada — Why the Cabman pursued us — And why we fled to the Consul's — The Alhambra — Youthful Illusions — In Prison again — Convicts in Clover — The Cemetery — Rented Graves — At the Opera — Perigarde finds a "Soul's Mate " j ,7

Chapter X

Along the Spanish Coast — Cartagenian Prisons — Almeria's Remarkable Wall — Peaks and Castles — Alicante and Valencia — Convicts who stay at Home — Roasting Nuts on an Ass's Back — Barcelona — How we were trapped in Jail CONTENTS XI PAGE 212

Chapter XI

The Shoemaker, the Anarchist, and the Editor — Labor Unions in Spain — Troubles of May First — What Monarchies have to fear — Barcelona's Rambla — Spanish Politics — The Anarchist Plan — Excursion to Montserrat — The Virgin's Cave — Pilgrims and Penances — What it costs to travel in Spain 163

Chapter XII

A Jump to Toulon — Bicycling along the Mediterranean — Nice — Monte Carlo — Facilities for Suicide — -The Republic of Andorra — Stopped at the Frontier — Why Windows are Sham in Italy — We run over an Italian — The San Remo Druggist to the Emperor — Wheeling into Genoa 182

Chapter XIII

Genoa — Motieri tells a Story — A Day in the Tyrol — Perigarde reappears — Loss of his " Soul's Mate " — Bicycling to Rome — Monte Oliveto — A. Thirteenth Century Monastery — Triumphal Entry into San Quirico — Radicafani's Peak — Our Bicycles mistaken for Tram Cars — Excitement of the Peasants — Inglorious Conclusion of the Bicycle Trip 196

Chapter XIV

Rome Revisited — Renewing Acquaintances — Visit to the Queen of Heaven — What it costs to live there — House of Correction at Tivoli — San Stefano's Gloomy Ergostola — Terrible Effects of Isolation — Prison Systems compared — Lunatics in Italian Jails. .

Chapter XV

Changes in Naples — How the Poor are housed — Italian Taxes — We hire a Boat — The Principe Famese — Yachting on the Mediterranean — Capri and Sorrento — A Tramp over the Mountain — ■ Mack jvants a Nursery — A Ducking at Scaracatajo — What it costs to run Dr. Kelly's Yacht, and what it costs to run the Principe Farnese CONTENTS PAG! 267

Chapter XVI

Amalfi — Macaroni-Makers — Burden-Bearers on the Via Molini — A Night Cruise to Pæstum — Flow Mack nearly lost his Ear — Puffed Preservers at Policastro — We take a Passenger — Paranzo's Strange Story — Pursued by his Wife — Reception at Fuscaldo — Mistaken for Princes — The Banquet, the Speech, and the Escape 248

Chapter XVII

Curious Asylum at Cosenza — Grave of Alaric the Goth — How Two Rivers guard the Barbarian's Bones and Booty — Life on our Boat — Swimming with the Fish — Midnight View of Stromboli — Volcanoes compared — -Ascent of Stromboli — Lipari — Strange Conduct of the People — The Girl and the Deserted Quarry — Arrested on Angelo's Peak — Mistaken for Manutengoli — Two Nights in Jail — The Cave-Dwellers of Volcano — An Island rises in the Sea

Chapter XVIII

A Sirocco Storm — Running before the Wind — The Principe Farnese weathers the Gale — A Tramp in Calabria — Scilla and Charybdis — Messina's Strait — Sicily — Cruising along the Coast — A Town of Nut-Crackers — How St. Agatha saved Catania — Perigarde meets a Fraiilein — Syracuse — Perigarde astounds us 287

Chapter XIX

Voyage to Greece — Birthplace of Venus — Milo — A Soldier Passenger — Mysterious Disappearance — Our Greek Sailor put in Jail — The Home of Perseus — Cruising 'mid Classic Scenes — Syra — The Shrines of Delos — Storm on the Ægean — Aristotle's Skull and Tomb — We bid Farewell to the Principe Farnese — Cost of Yachting 29g

Chapter XX

Athens — Curious Costume of the Greeks — Their Prison System The Bay of Salamis and the Hill where Xerxes sat — Rue Byron in Athens — The Corinthian Canal — A Stupendous Work — We climb Pentelicon's Peak — Primitive Ways and Means — How Money is changed ,I2 CONTENTS XIII PAGE 320

Chapter XXI

Smyrna — Imprisoned by the Turks — Barbarity of the Moslem — How Taxes are farmed and Peasants robbed — Mr. McNaughton the Missionary — A Good Samaritan — From a Foul Dungeon to the Deck of the Minerva — I step on an Austrian — Chios and Rhodes — Through the Ægean Sea — Prison Circles of Rhodes.. .

Chapter XXII

Howajani Sulah and the Russian Prince — Fifty Hours' Fast — Marko falls in Love — The Marriage in Cyprus — I receive a Proposal — Russian Jews and Moslem Turks — Horrors of a Deck Passage — Turks capture the Ship — A Day in Syria — First Glimpses of the Nile — Cholera Quarantine at Alexandria — Mr. Abbott proves a Friend 331

Chapter XXIII

Naked Alexandrians — "A.D." Sights in Egypt — The Ride to Cairo — Why Abdullah's Ass is losing his Ears — Fantastic Scenes — Fragments of a King — Rameses at the Bulak Museum — Mahmud jerks me up the Pyramids — Memphis — Under the Libyan Desert — Tombs of Sacred Bulls — Crocodile Pits of Maabdeh — Devoured by Vampires — Suez Canal — Paranzo again — Captured by his Wife — Conclusion LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Forward Deck of the "Principe Farnese" . Frontispiece TO FACE PAGE Market at Alicante 16 Monte Carlo 32 The Trappist Monk 48 An Italian Island Prison 64 Burden Bearer on the Via Dei Molini 80 The " Principe Farnese " ; Amalfi in the Distance . 96 Sicilian Women threshing Wheat near the Greek Theatre, Syracuse .-» 112 Ruins of the Greek Theatre, Taormina 128 Taormina, from Summit of Greek Theatre .... 144 Ruins of the Roman Theatre, Syracuse 160 Street in Syra 176 Harbor of Zea 192 Bay of Salamis, from Hill where Xerxes sat . . . 208 Grape Vendor in Athens 224 Athens 240 The Corinthian Canal 256 Deck of the " Minerva " ; Smyrna in the Distance . 272 Street Scene in Smyrna 284 Scene in Cyprus 296 Abdullah and the Author setting out for the Pyramids 3°8 Climbing the Giseh Pyramid 32° Scene on the Way to Memphis 33^ Egyptian Water Carrier 344 a ÆifcbeF 8 I^euie ON THE MEDITERRANEAN

Chapter I

Getting Passports — The Cablegram from Vienna — The Voyage — How Miss Detroit upset the Professor's Calculations — We pass the Azores — Coast of Portugal — Mysteries of Italian Cooking on the Bir mania En route to New York my friend Mack and I stopped at Washington for passports. On my " Tramp Trip " I neglected this precaution, and many were the occasions when I regretted the lack of some paper to show that I was one of the sixty odd million people who inhabit the " foremost and grandest country on God's green earth." In fact, so many and serious were the difficulties incurred by lack of a passport that finally in Vienna I was obliged to get one from the American Minister, and at greater expense than would have been the case at Washington. I might have felt the need of a passport less had I travelled first class instead of on foot as a Tramp ; nevertheless, I saw enough to learn that the traveller in foreign lands can dispose of a dollar to no better advantage than by giving it to the Secretary of State for the sheet of parchment bearing the picture of an eagle with a shield and the stars and stripes clutched in his talons.

The Department of State has issued a cir cular stating that "passports are necessary for the Turkish u Dominions and for some parts of Germany," thus leaving the inference that they are not necessary in other countries. The traveller who acts upon this inference may regret it. My advice is, get a passport whether you are going to Turkey or not. Should you have no occasion to use it in Europe, you will at any rate get value received; the experience gained through a visit to the passport office is worth several times the price of the paper. Mack and I entered the grand build ing on Pennsylvania Avenue that houses the War, State, and Navy Departments, and finally found a door marked "Pass port Division." The sole occupant of the office beyond this door was a pleasant-looking gentleman sitting at a desk covered with official looking papers and long blue envelopes.

When we said we wanted passports he did not make a word of reply, he did not even stop chewing the gum he had in his mouth : he merely opened one of the drawers in the desk, took out a slip of paper, and began deliberately writing. At about every other line he looked up and gave us a sharp glance. Mack thought he was watching to see that we did not walk off with the furni ture, but this was not the reason of his sharp and frequent glances. He was, so to speak, taking mental photographs, and the result showed that the pleasant-looking gentleman was thinking more of his chewing-gum than his subjects. His descriptions were neither flattering nor correct. He described me as having a " square level head, an oblong face, a prominent chin, and a pug nose." My head may be level, but I, deny the "square," and disown the prominent chin and oblong face.

The pug nose I accepted without demur, but felt it unkind to have that unfortunate feature pulled to the front in so conspicuous a way. When I got a passport from the Ameri can Minister at Vienna I had a round head and a respectable nose which was called straight. The American Minister so certified over his signature and over the great seal of the United States. I have that certificate yet; I also have the nose; yet the pleasant-looking gentleman who chews gum and issues passports in the State Department at Washington con demned me to go about the world with a document declaring that I had a square head, an oblong face, a pug nose, and a prominent chin. It is appalling to contemplate the changes a few passports work in one's outside presentment. The State Department should keep a supply of kodaks on hand and start travellers off with their photographs pasted on their passports, and thus spare them the humiliation of being described as dime museum freaks.

After the publication of my "A Tramp Trip; or, Europe on Fifty Cents a Day " I received a number of letters from young men in different parts of the country, asking for hints additional to those contained in my book. Some requested me, in case of a second trip, to accept the company of the writers as travelling companions. Among these correspond ents was a young Creole in New Orleans. Perigarde's letter was so frank, so pleasant, and engaging, that it led to an agree ment on my part to invite him to accompany me on my next trip to Europe. The correspondence dropped, but the agree ment was not forgotten, and a month or so before the depart ure of the Bir mania, I wrote Perigarde an outline of the proposed trip and cordially invited him to join us. As the day of sailing drew near and no reply came from New Orleans, I concluded he had either forgotten me or left the country.

But the morning of our departure the bell boy came to my room with a telegram that explained Perigarde's silence. "Our sailing-boat," I said to Mack, "will be crowded.' "How so? " "Because there will be three of us. You know that while two are company, three are a crowd." "But who is the third party? You have never spoken of any one going with us." B I handed Mack the telegram "Vienna, April 15. " Meet you at Gibraltar. "Perigarde." "Who the mischief is Perigarde?" asked Mack. "He is a handsome young fellow if he is like his picture; and if he is like his letters, he is as bright as he is handsome." Mack thought it hazardous to invite a stranger. "There is no time," said he, "when one's temper is more sorely tried, no time when disagreeable qualities are more apt to develop than when travelling."

I admitted this, and perhaps, generally speaking, it is wiser to travel alone than with one whose congeniality is untried, whose temper is unknown. It did not result so, however, in Perigarde's case; he proved a capital fellow, a trifle senti mental and susceptible to woman's wiles; nevertheless, a jolly companion. I cabled him to meet us at Lisbon, the Bir mania agents having at the last moment ordered the vessel to call at that port before proceeding to Gibraltar. The Italian steamers are not built to carry many passengers, but the accommodations for those they do carry are excellent. The state-rooms are large and commodious, the service good, the table excellent if you happen to like Italian cooking. If you do not like maccaroni al pomi d' oro, arrosto polli con insalata, etc., do not take a Florio Rubattino steamer, where the traveller is expected to relish things Italian, and is kept on a strictly Italian diet.

Two or three sorts of wine are served without extra charge, the captain sits at the head of the table and treats passengers as a host treats guests, laughing, chatting, seeing that every one has as pleasant a trip as possible. This is not possible on the Liverpool steamers with their four hundred or five hundred passengers : on the Florio ships, with a maximum of fifty or sixty, and usually not more than fifteen or twenty passengers, they come to feel like a family party, and a spirit of friendly sociability prevails that is not lessened by the greater length of the voyage. The Birmania was advertised to sail at two o'clock, but anchor was not weighed until nearly three. We spent this extra hour taking a farewell look at the charming panorama around us. So far there were no signs of other passengers, and we had come to the conclusion we were to have the Bir mania all to ourselves, when there walked up the gangway a short, sandy-haired man with a Gladstone bag in each hand, and on his rather large head a fore-and-aft steamer cap that caused us at once to set him down as an Englishman.

After depositing his "grips," the sandy-haired gentleman gave us an inquiring glance. "We are glad to see that after all we shall have company," said Mack affably. The sandy-haired man blinked his little red eyes, took off his gold-rimmed spectacles, wiped the glasses methodically, and as he adjusted them to his eyes again, said: — "You are not going on the Birmania, are you? " "That is our intention," replied Mack sharply. "Have you any objections? " " No, oh no : only the agent said there were to be no pas sengers. I selected this route because I wanted to be alone." This was certainly frank : the man was good enough to add, however, that he did not particularly object to male passengers. " You see, " said he, " I am a professor in a female seminary. The girls — there are two hundred of them — have nearly worried the life out of me, and I feel as if I never want to see a woman again."

We told the professor his explanation was satisfactory, though we secretly felt that it would take more than two hundred girls to disgust us with the sight of a petticoat. We knocked about the ship together, looking at the Brooklyn Bridge and the miles of buildings on both sides of the East River, glad to get this last glimpse of our native land, yet grumbling because the steamer did not leave at the appointed hour. When at length the gang-plank was hauled up and the signal for departure given, the professor heaved a sigh of satisfaction. "Thank goodness," he murmured, "the Seminary and the two hundred girls are all left behind." Alas for the poor professor! Not yet were we off, nor was the Birmania destined to afford entire relief from the pres ence of petticoats. A carriage came dashing down the Medi terranean docks, the driver leaped to the ground, two young ladies and an elderly gentleman stepped out of the carriage, and all four, rushing to the edge of the dock, began crying out and waving handkerchiefs.

The gang-plank was thrown out again, the two young ladies embraced the elderly man, — their uncle, — cried " Good-bye," and the next moment were aboard the ship with two good-sized trunks that followed quickly after. The professor's face dropped; he went off sadly and sat down at the far end of the steamer, and seemed to feel as badly as if every one of the two hundred had boarded the vessel. The newcomers were passengers to Gibraltar. The lateness of their arrival was explained by the fact that they had originally taken passage on one of the Anchor Line vessels. The sinking of the Utopia of that line a short time before had disarranged the sailings of the Anchor boats; hence it was that at the last moment these two young ladies secured passage on the Birmania. Both were young, both good-looking, one very pretty.

I think their youth and beauty dismayed the professor all the more : it is an admitted fact that woman-haters hate young women more than old women. "Fate is against me," he groaned, when Mack and I tried to cheer him by saying that we, the masculine portion of the passengers, were in a majority. "It's all the worse for that," he added dismally. "They'll be demanding all kinds of at tentions, and we shall have to pay them — it is the way with women." Mack and I promised to take all that on ourselves; we would martyr ourselves to save the professor. "We shall keep with them all we can," said Mack, cheerfully; "we shall endure the agony of their society every hour to save you, Professor." "That's not exactly it," said the professor, wiping his spectacles. " I wanted to rough it — flannel shirt and all that.

Of course with girls along that is impossible." " Not at all. We mean to lounge around and take it easy just as if there were no girls within a thousand miles. If they are sensible, they will think nothing of it; if they are not sensible, we do not care what they think." "The presence of young ladies," said the professor, solemnly, "necessitates formality. One has to dress for dinner when there are ladies." The professor pulled from his pocket a little book labelled "Etiquette at Sea," and turning the leaves, finally paused at a passage where, sure enough, was the injunction he men tioned. Mack, however, with the breeziness of the West, declared he would put on no dress suit, etiquette or no etiquette. My dress suit being in St. Louis, a thousand miles away, I was obliged to side with Mack.

The result was, that later, as the Jersey coast was fading into a misty outline, when Giovanni announced "pranzo," — dinner, — the professor was resplendent in a full dress suit, spotless shirt, white silk tie, while Mack and I were in sack coats, blue flannel shirts, and no ties at all. As the professor scanned our unfashionable attire, his face assumed a complacent self-satisfaction at his own superiority. He was as pleased as any solemn peacock could be, made the ladies a profound bow, and, on the whole, seemed as desirous to please them as if he had never been tormented by two hundred of the sex. Before dinner was over we were all acquainted. We told each other something of our plans and settled down on a friendly footing. The professor, as he had already told us, was taking a three months' rest from his seminary girls.

Mack and I were bound for a cruise around the Mediterranean, while the two young ladies were off for a jaunt through Spain. When the professor heard this, he took off his spectacles, wiped the glasses, adjusted them to his eyes again, and muttered one word : — ''Alone?" "Oh no," replied Miss Detroit, pleasantly. "We two intend to travel together." The professor was awestruck. To his English conserva tism, the idea of two young and pretty women travelling through Spain without maternal or masculine protection seemed not only highly improper but highly dangerous. Miss Lebanon and Miss Detroit, however, were two wide-awake American girls, not a bit afraid of English conservatism or English professors. They were blissfully unconscious of his disap proval, and chatted gaily of the pleasant times they expected to have in Andalusia.

The professor's disgust at the two hundred girls he had left behind had made Mack and me think him a woman-hater: he was nothing of the sort. No man ever tried harder to please ladies than he did. Not only did he get himself up in that dress suit every day for dinner, but he took extra care of his red hair, brought the ladies' chairs on deck, arranged their wraps, read poetry to them — in short, seemed to have completely forgotten the two hundred girls he had fled from. Mack and I saw that the vivacity, the winning smile, and pleasant manners, of Miss Detroit were getting in their work on the professor, and putting to rout every one of the tormenting two hundred. Whenever Miss Detroit took a constitutional on deck, the professor seemed to think one necessary for his digestion too. When Miss Detroit played the piano, — which she did often and well, — the pro fessor was there to turn the music.

And if Mack and I happened to go for a walk before turning in at night we were almost sure to find the two ladies leaning over the poop-deck rail, the professor by Miss Detroit's side, gazing at the phos phorescent glow caused by the revolutions of the steamer's screw, and talking poetry- — yes, poetry! The two hundred seminary girls had not absorbed all the poetry of the pro fessor's soul. "Mack and I admire your philosophy," I said to the pro fessor one day. "What do you mean?" retorted the professor, sharply, turning as red as his hair. "Why, you said you came this route to get out of the way of ladies. You gave us to understand you hated women, yet you bear their society with great fortitude." "The fact of the matter is," replied the professor, con fusedly, "the — the — er unprotected situation of these ladies appeal, you see, to — to er a man's gallantry.

You see?" We assured the professor we saw — saw plainly. "The case," added the professor, thoughtfully, "is very different from those two hundred seminary girls — very differ ent indeed." Mack and I readily admitted this and forbore to press the point. Mack went forward one day to photograph the sailors at dinner. They were all eager to have their pictures taken and posed in all sorts of absurd and stiff positions. Fortu nately, the kodak works instantaneously, and we had the views before they knew what we wanted. Before starting on the trip we experimented with a number of cameras, and finally settled on the number four kodak as the most compact and convenient for a traveller. It is light, takes an excellent picture cabinet-size, and is loaded with a spool of sensitive film long enough to make one hundred photographs without reloading.

Extra spools were in our valises, so that we were prepared to take views ad libitum. The illustrations in this book are from photographs taken with our kodak. Colonel Knox, in his interesting book "How to Travel," says there is little danger of starving on transatlantic steamers. On Italian steamers there is danger of stuffing, not starving. They have five meals a day. At seven every morning Celeste brought to our state-rooms a light repast of coffee, fruit, and crackers. This was followed by another hour or two of sleep, then a walk on deck until the main breakfast at ten, an elabo rate, formal affair, more like dinner than breakfast. It begins with soup, followed by half a dozen courses down to fruit and nuts. At one o'clock comes a lunch of beefsteak, potatoes, fruit, and nuts. At five o'clock comes "pranzo" — the great event of the day.