he burning sun upon the glittering ocean
absolutely blinded us. We had not gone many yards, however,
before the eye recovered itself, and all that we had seen in
the azure grotto had the consistency of a dream."

From Capri our travellers proceed to Sicily. We have a long story and a
violent storm upon the passage, and are landed at Messina. Here M. Dumas
enlarges his experience by an acquaintance with the _Sirocco_. His
companion, M. Jadin, had been taken ill, and a physician had been called
in.

"The doctor had ordered that the patient (who was suffering
under a fever) should be exposed to all the air possible, that
doors and windows should be opened, and he should be placed in
the current. This was done; but on the present evening, to my
astonishment, instead of the fresh breeze of the night--which
was wont to blow the fresher from our neighbourhood to the
sea--there entered at the open window a dry hot wind like the
air from a furnace. I waited for the morning, but the morning
brought no change in the state of the atmosphere.

"My patient had suffered greatly through the night. I rang the
bell for some lemonade, the only drink the doctor had
recommended; but no one answered the summons. I rang again, and
a third time: still no one came; at length seeing that the
mountain would not come to me, I went to the mountain. I
wandered through the corridor, and entered apartment after
apartment, and found no one to address. It was nine o'clock in
the morning, yet the master and mistress of the house had not
left their room, and not a domestic was at his post. It was
quite incomprehensible.

"I descended to the portico; I found him lying on an old sofa
all in tatters, the principal ornament of his room, and asked
him why the house was thus deserted.

"'Ah, monsieur!' said he, 'do you not feel the sirocco?'

"'Sirocco or not, is this a reason why no one should come when
I call?'

"'Oh, monsieur, when it is sirocco no one does any thing!'

"'And your travellers, who is to wait upon them?'

"'On those days they wait upon themselves.'

"I begged pardon of this respectable official for having
disturbed him; he heaved such a sigh as indicated that it
required a great amount of Christian charity to grant the
pardon I had asked.

"The hour arrived when the doctor should have pa