, in old
Nice, in the ports of the western islands, and in the sections of the
African coast occupied by Maltese and Sicilians.

Over the town, lined up along the Marinela, the churches of Naples
reared their domes and towers with glazed roofs, green and yellow,
which appeared more like pinnacles of Oriental baths than the roofs of
Christian temples.

The barefooted _lazzarone_ with his red cap no longer existed, but the
crowd,--clad like the workmen of all ports--still gathered around the
daubed poster that represented a crime, a miracle or a prodigious
specific, listening in silence to the harangue of the narrator or
charlatan. The old popular comedians were declaiming with heroic
gesticulations the epic octavos of Tasso, and harps and violins were
sounding accompaniments to the latest melody that Naples had made
fashionable throughout the entire world. The stands of the oyster-men
constantly sent forth an organic perfume from the spent wave, and all
around them empty shells scattered their disks of pearly lime over the
mud.

Near to the ancient Captaincy of the port, the palace of Charles
III,--blue and white, with an image of the immaculate conception,--were
assembled the unloading trucks, whose teams still preserved their
ancient hybrid originality. In some instances the shafts were occupied
by a white ox, sleek with enormous and widely branching horns, an
animal similar to those that used to figure in the religious ceremonies
of the ancients. At his right would be hooked a horse, at his left, a
great raw-boned mule, and this triple and discordant team appeared in
all the carts, standing immovable before the ships the length of the
docks, or dragging their heavy wheels up the slopes leading to the
upper city.

In a few days the captain grew tired of Naples and its bustle. In the
cafes of the Street of Toledo and the Gallery of Humbert I, he had to
defend himself from some noisy youths with low-cut vests, butterfly
neckties and little felt hats perched upon their manes, who, in low
voices, proposed to him unheard-of spectacles organized for the
diversion of foreigners.

He had also seen enough of the paintings and domestic objects excavated
from the ancient cities. The lewdness of the secret cabinets finally
irritated him. It appeared to him the reverse of recreation to
contemplate so many childish fantasies of sculpture and painting having
the antique symbol of masculinity as its principal motif.

One morn