nd his palace to make silk and satins for his court and the Pope,
the present king spends his money in _gunpowder and soldiering_. They
accuse him of having less compassion for the misfortunes of the poor
than even his father Francis, or his grandfather Ferdinand of blessed
memory. The view from this spot of the huge palace itself, with
Vesuvius smoking to our right, and Capri shining before it, is one of
those not to be forgotten.

THE SNAKE TAMER.

Behold the old snake-finder with his sack! "_Ola! vecchio, che cosa
avete pigliato quest' oggi?_" was a question put from our one-horse
cart, till then going at a great rate through the village of Somma, to
a little old man, with a humpback, a sack, and a large shallow box. He
was dressed in a queer costume, had a wolf's brush in his hat, and
remarkably tight-fitting leather leggings. "Tre! fra altri una vipera
meschia." "Oh! oh! aspetta," added we--we must see the viper. Upon
which there was a broad grin all round the circle; but the driver
stopped, and down we got. The old man, seeing our intention to be
serious, got a chair for us from a cottage, and putting his box on his
knee, looked knowing, and thus began.

"Gentlemen, you have all seen a viper, _basta feroce_--a reptile that
every one runs from _except_ me, and those who know, as I do, how to
humour him. I have a viper in this box whom I have so perfectly tamed,
that he lives with two others, and never quarrels with them. I will
open the box, and, as you will see, they will all lie as if they were
dead, until I notice _one_, when he will put up his head that I may
take him out."

He opened the box, where lay coiled, and perfectly still, a spotted
viper, an immense black snake, and one very light and silvery like an
eel.

"Here's my family," said the old man; and catching the viper round the
middle, brought him out, while the others wriggled a little, as if in
expectation of being caressed in their turn. "This animal, signor, is
not so bad in his temper as you have been told. It is only when he is
making love that he is poisonous--to all but his females; but in this,
gentlemen, he is scarcely worse than many of yourselves, whom it is
not safe then to approach."

"Bravo, bravo, _vecchaccio_! ancora! Go it again!" sounds every where
from the circle collected round the old snake-charmer.

"If you tread upon his tail, gentlemen, what can you expect but a
bite? Would not _you_ bite if you had your tails trodden