o friend among the officers of the bersaglieri
and cavalry regiments then engaged in brigand-hunting in the Capitanata
and Basilicata to whom I could apply for an invitation to join them.

Under these circumstances I determined to trust to the chapter of
accidents; and, armed with a knapsack, a sketch-book, and an air-gun,
took my seat one morning in the Foggia diligence, with the vague idea
of getting as near the scene of operations as possible, and seeing
what would turn up. The air-gun was not so much a weapon of offence
or defence as a means of introduction to the inhabitants. It had the
innocent appearance of rather a thick walking-cane, with a little brass
trigger projecting; and in the afternoon I would join the group sitting
in front of the chemist's, which, for some reason or other, is generally
a sort of open-air club in a small Neapolitan town, or stroll into
the single modest cafe of which it might possibly boast, and toy
abstractedly with the trigger. This, together with my personal
appearance,--for do what I would I could never make myself look like a
Neapolitan,--would be certain to attract attention, and some one bolder
than the rest would make himself the spokesman, and politely ask me
whether the cane in my hand was an umbrella or a fishing-rod; on which
I would amiably reply that it was a gun, and that I should have much
pleasure in exhibiting my skill and the method of its operation to
the assembled company. Then the whole party would follow me to an open
space, and I would call for a pack of cards, and possibly--for I was a
good shot in those days--pink the ace of hearts at fifteen paces. At any
rate, my performances usually called forth plaudits, and this involved a
further interchange of compliments and explanations, and the production
of my sketch-book, which soon procured me the acquaintance of some
ladies, and an invitation as an English artist to the house of some
respectable citizen.

So it happened that, getting out of the diligence before it reached
Foggia, I struck south, and wandered for some days from one little town
to another, being always hospitably entertained, whether there happened
to be an _albergo_ or not, at private houses, seeing in this way more
of the manners and customs of the inhabitants than would have been
otherwise possible, gaining much information as to the haunts of the
brigands, the whereabouts of the troops, and hearing much local gossip
generally. The ignorance of