aunted, they
beat the bells all day with hammers and other implements, and so
produced an indescribable noise which had a material influence on the
nerves of the terrified Neapolitan troops. Being disarmed, the only
other help which the inhabitants could render to their deliverers was
the erection of barricades.

Even after Garibaldi's entry, it is thought that General Lanza could
have crushed him in the streets by sheer force of superiority in
numbers and artillery had he made proper use of his means. However, at
about three p.m., he chose the less heroic plan of ordering the castle
and the Neapolitan fleet to bombard the city. Most of his staff
opposed the decision, and one officer broke his sword, but Lanza was
inexorable. The measure so exasperated the Palermitans that even had
it achieved its end for the moment, never after would they have proved
governable from Naples. Thirteen hundred shells were thrown into the
city. Lord Palmerston denounced the bombardment and its attendant
horrors as 'unworthy of our time and of our civilisation.' The
soldiers helped the work by setting fire to some quarters of the city.
Among the spots where the shells fell in most abundance was the
convent of the Sette Angeli. The Garibaldians escorted the nuns to a
place of safety and carried their more valuable possessions after
them. The good sisters were charmed by the courtesy with which the
young Italians performed these duties.

Fighting in the streets went on more or less continuously, and the
liberators kept their ground, but every hour brought fresh perils. A
Bavarian regiment arrived to reinforce General Lanza, and the return
of the Neapolitan column from Corleone was momentarily expected. The
Garibaldians, and this was the gravest fact of all, had used almost
their last cartridge. The issue of the struggle was awaited with
varying sentiments on board the English, French, Austrian, Spanish and
Sardinian warships at anchor in the bay. Admiral Mundy had placed his
squadron so close to the land that the ships were in danger of
suffering from the bombardment, a course attributed to the humane
desire to afford a refuge for non-combatants, and in fact, the
officers were soon engaged in entertaining a frightened crowd of
ladies and children. The _Intrepid_ in particular, was so near the
Marina that a fair swimmer could have reached it in a few minutes;
nobody guessed, least of all Garibaldi, that her mission in the mind
of the Britis