by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XV.
THE ADVANCE FROM REGGIO.
Professor Forli was silent until he and Frank had passed out through thegate of the castle, then he took a long breath.
"The air of freedom," he said, "is no different from that I havebreathed daily on the walls there, for well-nigh three years, and yet itseems different. It is a comfort that my prison lay in this fair spot,and not in some place where I could see but little beyond the walls.Often and often have I thanked God that it was so, and that, even as afree man and with the world before me, I could see no more lovely scenethan this. There was change, too: there was the passage of the ships; Iused to wonder where each was sailing; and about the passengers, and howhopefully many of these were going abroad to strange countries in searchof fortunes, and how few were returning with their hopes fullysatisfied. I smiled sometimes to think of the struggle for wealth andadvancement going on in the world round me, while I had no need to thinkof the future; but my needs, always, as you know, few and simple, wereministered to; and though cut off from converse with all around me, Ihad the best company in the world in my cell. How thankful I was that mymemory was so good--that I could discourse with the great men of theworld, could talk with Plato and argue with Demosthenes; could discussold age with Cicero, or travel with either Homer or Virgil; visit theInferno with Dante, or the Heavens with Milton; knew by heart many ofthe masterpieces of Shakespeare and Goethe, and could laugh over the funof Terence and Plutarch: it was a grand company."
So the professor continued to talk until they reached the shore. Frankwas not called upon to speak. The professor was talking to himselfrather than to him, continuing the habit of which the officer of theprison had spoken. As yet his brain was working in its old groove. Onceon the strand, he stood silently gazing for two or three minutes, thenhe passed his hand across his forehead, and with an evident effort brokethe chain of his thoughts and turned to Frank.
"Strange talk, no doubt you are thinking, Frank, for a man so suddenlyand unexpectedly released from a living grave; but you see, lad, thatthe body can be emancipated more quickly than the mind from its bonds,and I am as one awaking from a deep sleep and still wondering whether itis I myself, and how I came to be here, and what has happened to me. Ifear that it will be some time before I can quite shake off my dreams.Now, lad, once more tell me about my wife and your mother. But no, youhave told me that they are well. You have said naught of your father,save that he is not here. Where is he? and how is he?"
"I can answer neither question, grandfather. He, like you, has been lostto us; he disappeared a few months after you did, and we were led tobelieve that he was killed."
The professor was himself again in an instant. The mood that haddominated him was shaken off, and he was keen, sharp, and alert again,as Frank remembered him.
"He is lost?" he repeated: "you heard that he was killed? How was it?tell me everything. In the early days of my imprisonment, when I thoughtof many things outside the walls of my gaol, one thing troubled me morethan others. My wife had her daughter; no harm would come to her, savethe first grief at my loss and the slow process of hope dying out. Mydaughter had everything that a woman could wish to make her happy; butyour father, I knew him so well, he would not rest when the days passedand no news of me came--he would move heaven and earth to find me; and aman in this country who dares to enquire after a political prisonerincurs no small danger. Is it so that he was missing? Tell me all, andspare no detail; we have the rest of the day before us. We will sit downon this seat. Now begin."
Frank told, at length, how, on the news of the professor'sdisappearance, his father had interested the English government in thematter, and how to all enquiries made the government of Naples hadreplied that they knew nothing whatever concerning his disappearance;and how, at last, he himself started with an order obtained from Naplesfor him to search all the prisons of southern Italy.
"It was just like him; it was noble and chivalrous," the professor said;"but he should have known better. An Englishman unacquainted with Italymight have believed that with such an order he might safely search forone who he suspected was lying in a Neapolitan prison, but your fathershould have known better. Notice would assuredly be sent before hearrived; and had he come here, for example, I should a week before havebeen carried away up into the mountains, till he had gone. He wouldhave been shown the register of prisoners, he would not have found myname among them, he would have been told that no such person as hedescribed had ever been confined here,--it was hopeless. But go on withyour story."
Frank told how his father had visited several prisons, and how he wroteletters, exposing their horrors, that had appeared in the Englishpapers, and had created an immense impression throughout the country.
"It was mad of him," the professor murmured; "noble, but mad."
Then Frank told how the news came of his being carried off by brigands,of the steps that had been taken, of the evidence of the courier who sawhim fall, and of some of his effects being found in the hut on themountain when this was captured and the brigand chief killed, of thereport given by one of the prisoners that his father had died and beenburied shortly after he was taken there, and of the vain search that hadbeen made for his body.
"And was this tale believed?" Signor Forli exclaimed, leaping to hisfeet. "No Italian would for a moment have thought it true--at least,none who had the misfortune to be born under the Neapolitan rule. Surelymy wife never believed it?"
"In her heart I know now that she did not," Frank said, "but she kepther doubts to herself for the sake of my mother. She thought that it wasfar better that she should believe that father was dead than that sheshould believe him buried in one of the foul prisons he had described."
"She was right--she was right," the professor said: "it was certainlybetter. And your mother--did she lose hope?"
"She told me that she would not allow herself to believe that he mightstill be alive, and I believe that she and the signora never said oneword on the subject to each other until just before I started." He thenrelated how the courier had been brought over, how he had been installedin the house in Cadogan Place, and how no suspicion of his being a spyhad been entertained until after the receipt of Garibaldi's letter, andhow they were convinced at last that he had overheard all thearrangements made for his leaving for Italy.
"And you are alive, Frank, to tell me this! By what miracle did youescape from the net that was thrown around you?"
This part of the story was also told.
"It was well arranged and bravely carried through, Frank. So you took upthe mission which had cost your father either his life or his liberty?It was a great undertaking for a lad, and I wonder indeed that yourmother, after the losses she had suffered, permitted you to enter uponit. Well, contrary to all human anticipations, you have succeeded in onehalf of it, and you will, I trust, succeed in the other. What seemedhardly possible--that you should enter the castle of Reggio as one ofits conquerors, and so have free access to the secrets of itsprison--has been accomplished; and if Garibaldi succeeds in carrying hisarms farther, and other prison doors are opened, we may yet find yourfather. What you have told me has explained what has hitherto been apuzzle to me: why I should have been treated as a special prisoner, andkept in solitary confinement. Now I understand it. England had taken thematter up; and as the government of Naples had denied all knowledge ofme, it was necessary that neither any prisoner, who, perhaps, some daymight be liberated, nor any prison official should know me, and be ableto report my existence to the British representative. You may be surethat, had your father come here, and examined every prisoner andofficial, privately, he would have obtained no intelligence of me.Giuseppe Borani would not have been here, he would have been removed,and none would dream that he was the prisoner for whom search was made.And now tell me briefly about this expedition of Garibaldi. Is allEurope at war, that he has managed to bring an army here?"
"First of all, grandfather, I must tell you what happened last year."
> He then related the incidents of the war of 1859, whereby France andSardinia united and wrested Milan and Lombardy from the Austrians; thebrilliant achievements of the Garibaldians; the disappointment felt byItaly at Nice and a part of Savoy being handed over to Napoleon as theprice of the services that he had rendered; how Bologna and Florence,Palma, Ferrara, Forli, and Ravenna, had all expelled their rulers andunited themselves with Sardinia; and how, Garibaldi having been badlytreated and his volunteers disbanded, he himself had retireddisappointed and hurt to Caprera.
Then he related briefly the secret gathering of the expedition; theobstacles thrown in its way; its successful landing in Sicily, and theevents that had terminated with the expulsion of the Neapolitan forcesfrom the island.
"Garibaldi began with but a thousand men," he said in conclusion. "He isnow at the head of twenty thousand, and it will grow every hour; for wehave news of risings throughout southern Calabria. If a thousandsufficed for the conquest of Sicily, twenty thousand will surely besufficient for that of the mainland. The easy capture of this place willstrike terror into the enemy, and raise the enthusiasm of the troops andthe Calabrians to the utmost. Garibaldi has but four thousand men withhim now; but by this time to-morrow ten thousand at least will havecrossed, and I think it is possible that we shall reach Naples withouthaving to fight another battle. At any rate, one pitched battle shouldbe enough to free all Southern Italy. The Papal States will come next,and then, as Garibaldi hopes, Venice; though this will be a far moreserious affair, for the Austrians are very different foes from theNeapolitans, and have the advantage of tremendously strongfortifications, which could only be taken by siege operations with heavyartillery, and certainly could not be accomplished by troops likeGaribaldi's.
"Now about my father. Supposing him to be alive, where do you think hewould most probably be imprisoned?"
"There is no saying. That he is alive, I feel confident--unless, indeed,he died in prison from the effect of the wound given him when he wascaptured. That he did not die when in the hands of the brigands, we maytake to be certain, for his grave must in that case have beendiscovered. He must have been handed over to a party of police sent tofetch him by previous agreement with the brigands, and would have beenconfined in some place considered especially secure from search. Ishould fancy that he is probably in Naples itself,--there are severallarge prisons there. Then there would be the advantage that, if theBritish government had insisted upon a commission of their own officerssearching these prisons, he could be removed secretly from one toanother, so that before the one in which he was confined could beexamined, he would have been taken to another, which had been previouslysearched.
"His case was a more serious one than mine. Although I was a naturalisedBritish subject, I had gone of my own free will to Italy, in the vainbelief that I should be unmolested after so long an absence; andprobably there would have been no stir in the matter had not your fathertaken it up so hotly, and by the influence he possessed obtainedpermission to search the dungeons. But, as I said, his case was a farmore serious one. He went out backed by the influence of the Britishgovernment; he was assisted by the British legation; he held the orderof the Neapolitan government for admission to all prisons. Thus, had itbeen found that he had, in spite of their own so-called safe-conduct,been seized and imprisoned, the British fleet would have been in the Bayof Naples in a very short time--especially as his letters, as you tellme, created so much feeling throughout the country. Therefore it wouldbe an almost vital question for the government to maintain the storythey had framed, and to conceal the fact that, all the time they wereasserting that he had been captured and killed by the brigands, he wasin one of their own prisons.
"I may say frankly that they would unhesitatingly have had him killed,perhaps starved to death in a cell, were it not that they would have putit in the power of some official or other to betray them: a discoverythat would have meant the fall of the government, possibly thedethronement of the king. Had he been an Italian, he would assuredlyhave been murdered, for it would not have paid any prison official tobetray them; whereas, being an Englishman of distinction, in whose fatethe British government had actively interested itself, any man who knewthe facts could have obtained a reward of a very large amount indeed forgiving information. That is the sole reason, Frank, that leads me tobelieve that he may still be alive. He was doubtless imprisoned underanother name, just as I was; but at least it would be known to the menthat attended upon him that he was an Englishman, and these couldscarcely have avoided suspecting that he was the man about whom such astir had taken place. The government had already incurred a tremendousrisk by his seizure; but this would have been far greater had foul meansbeen used to get rid of him in prison.
"In the former case, should by any extraordinary chance his existencehave become known to the British legation, they would have framed somedeliberate lie to account for their ignorance of his being CaptainPercival. They might, for instance, assert that he had been takenprisoner in the mountains, with a party of brigands; that his assertionsthat he was an Englishman had been wholly disbelieved, for he wouldnaturally have spoken in Italian, and his Italian was so good that anyassertions he made that he was an Englishman would have been whollydiscredited. That is merely a rough guess at the story they might haveinvented, for probably it would have been much more plausible; but,however plausible, it would not have received the slightest credit hadit been found that he had been foully done to death.
"It is difficult, Frank, when one is discussing the probable actions ofmen without heart, honour, or principle, and in deadly fear ofdiscovery, to determine what course they would be likely to take in anyparticular circumstances. Now, the first thing that I have to do is tocross to Messina, and to telegraph and afterwards to write to my wife.Can I telegraph?"
"Yes, but not direct: the regular line is that which crosses the straitsto this town and then goes up through Italy. That, of course, we havenot been able to use, and could not use it now. All messages have beensent by the line from Cape Passaro to Malta, and thence through Sardiniaand Corsica to Spezzia. You can send a message by that. There will be nodifficulty in getting a boat across the straits. You see the war-shipshave steamed away. As soon as the castle was taken they found that theiranchorage was within range of its guns. They fired a few shots into thetown when the castle was bombarding it, and then retired. I believe thatall through the men of the navy have been very reluctant to act againstus, except, of course, at Palermo."
"Then I will go at once. It is strange to me to be able to say I willgo."
"Very well, grandfather. Of course you have no money, but I can supplyyou with as much as you like. I have plenty of funds. I can't say whereyou will find me when you come back, but you will only have to enquirewhere Garibaldi himself is: I am sure to be with him."
"I shall stay a couple of days there. After that hard pallet and prisonfare I cannot resist the temptation of a comfortable bed, awell-furnished room, and a civilised meal, especially as I am not likelyto find any of these things on the way to Naples."
"By the way, I should think you could telegraph from here," Frank said."Garibaldi sent off a message to Messina directly the castle was taken."
"Then let us do so by all means."
They went at once to the telegraph office, and from there the professorsent the following message: "Dearest wife, Frank has found and releasedme. Am well and in good health. Shall write fully this evening. Shallaccompany him and aid in his search for Leonard. Love toMuriel.--FORLI."
Having handed this in, they went down to the shore again, and had nodifficulty in hiring a boat. Frank took twenty sovereigns from his belt.
"You will want all this, grandfather, for indeed you must have anentirely new fit-out."
"I suppose I must. There has not been much wear-and-tear in clothes, butthree years is a long time for a single suit to last, and I have latelyhad some uneasiness as to what I should do when these things no longerhung together; and I certainly felt a rep
ugnance to asking for a prisonsuit. I must decidedly go and get some clothes fit to be seen in beforeI present myself at an hotel. No respectable house would take me in as Iam."
"Will you have more, sir? I can let you have fifty if you would likeit."
"No, my boy, I don't want to be encumbered with luggage. A suit besidesthat I shall wear, and a change of underclothes, will suffice. These canbe carried in a small hand-bag, and whether we walk, or ride, I can takeit with me."
After seeing Signor Forli off, Frank returned to the castle.
"Where is the professor?" Garibaldi asked, when he reported himself asready for duty.
"I have just seen him off to Messina, general. He is sorely in need ofclothes, and he wants to write a long letter home, and he could scarcelyfind a quiet room where he could do so in Reggio. He will rejoin us aswe advance."
"That is the wisest thing he could do; for although he looks wonderfullywell, he can hardly be capable of standing much fatigue after taking noexercise for three years. He will have a great deal to learn as to whathas taken place since he has been here, for I don't suppose theprisoners heard a whisper of the great changes in Northern Italy."
"I told him in a few words, sir, but I had no time to give him anydetails."
At Reggio twenty-six guns, five hundred muskets, and a large quantity ofcoal, ammunition, provisions, horses, and mules were captured. On thefollowing morning, Major Nullo and the Guides with a battalion werethrown out towards San Giovanni. There was no other forward movement.The general was occupied in receiving deputations from many towns andvillages, and there were arrangements to be made for the transport ofsuch stores and ammunition as were likely to be required. TheGaribaldians had crossed in large numbers. Cosenz and Medici, with aconsiderable portion of their commands, were already over, and theformer had gone up into the hills. The next morning Garibaldi with twothousand men and six captured field-pieces moved forward. It waspossible that they would meet with opposition at San Giovanni, and theyhad scarcely started when a messenger arrived from Nullo. Believing fromthe reports of the countrymen that the Neapolitans were retiring, he hadridden on with six of the Guides, till to his astonishment, at a bridgecrossing a ravine close to that town, he came upon two squadrons ofNeapolitan Lancers. With great presence of mind, he and his men haddrawn their revolvers and summoned the officers in command to surrender.
"Surrender to whom?" the latter asked.
"To Garibaldi: he is ready to attack at once, if you refuse."
"I will take you to the general," the officer said.
To him Nullo repeated his command.
"I have no objection to confer with Garibaldi himself," the generalsaid, "and will go with you to him."
"I cannot take you," Nullo said: "my instructions are simply to demandyour surrender; but I will go myself and inform him of your readiness tomeet him. In the meantime, I demand that you withdraw your lancers fromthe bridge, which must be considered as the boundary between the twoforces. You can leave two men on your side, and I will leave two onmine."
To this the general agreed; and posting two of his men at the bridge,another was sent back to beg Garibaldi to hurry up the troops.Messengers went backward and forward between General Melendis andGaribaldi, who was marching forward with all haste. But, as the termsthe latter laid down were that the troops should give up their arms andthen be allowed to march away, no agreement was arrived at, and theNeapolitans evacuated the town and took up a very strong position on thehill-side above it. They were two thousand five hundred strong, withfive guns. In the evening Garibaldi with two thousand men arrived nearthe place, and sending forward two companies to the bridge, made acircuit through the hills, and took up a position above and somewhat inrear of the Neapolitans. A messenger was sent to Cosenz, who wasseventeen miles away, ordering him to start at once, and, if possible,arrive in the morning. A body of Calabrian peasantry undertook to watchthe enemy, and the Garibaldians, wrapping themselves in their blankets,lay down for the night.
Before daybreak they were on their feet, and moved down the hill. Theenemy opened fire with shell, but only two or three men fell, and thefire was not returned. On arrival at a spot where they were shelteredfrom the fire, Garibaldi sent in a messenger with a flag of truce,renewing the offer of terms. The Neapolitans shot the bearer of the flagas he approached them, but afterwards offered to treat. Garibaldi,however, greatly angered at this violation of the laws of war, repliedat first that he would now accept nothing but unconditional surrender.An armistice was however granted, to enable the general to communicatewith General Braganti. This afforded time, too, for Cosenz to arrivefrom Salerno, and for Bixio, whose brigade had remained at Reggio, tobring up some guns; these were posted so as to entirely cut theNeapolitan line of retreat.
At five o'clock Garibaldi sent an order to the Neapolitans to lay downtheir arms within a quarter of an hour, or he would advance. Theirgeneral, seeing that he could not now hope to be reinforced, and that hewas completely surrounded, assented to the demand. His soldiers piledtheir arms and soon fraternised with the Garibaldians, many of themshowing unconcealed pleasure that they had not been called upon tooppose those who had come to free their country. The greater portion ofthem threw away their accoutrements, and even their caps, and thendispersed, a few starting to join the main force under Viarli, thegreater portion scattering to their homes. The fort by the water's edgebelow the town had also surrendered.
This was an important capture, as it possessed several heavy guns; andthese, with those of Faro on the opposite shore, commanded the Straits,consequently the Neapolitan ships could not pass on their way up towardsNaples, but were forced to retire through the other end and to maketheir way entirely round the island, thus leaving the passage betweenMessina and the mainland entirely open. At daybreak Garibaldi started atthe head of Cosenz's column for Alta-fiumara, which the first party ofGaribaldians that landed had failed to capture. This, after a shortparley, surrendered on the same terms as those granted the day before,and the men, throwing away their shakoes and knapsacks, started fortheir various homes. Three miles farther, the castle of Scyllasurrendered, the national guard of the town having taken up arms anddeclared for Garibaldi as soon as they heard that he was coming. Bagnarahad also been evacuated, Viarli having withdrawn with his force andmarched to Monteleone.
A halt was made here. The strictest orders had been given by Garibaldiagainst plundering or in any way giving cause for hostility among thepeasantry. Sentries were posted, and one of the soldiers found stealinggrapes was shot--an example which prevented any repetition of theoffence.
That evening Frank, who was down on the shore, watching the men fromMessina being landed from several steamers, saw Signor Forli.
"It is lucky indeed that I was down here," he said, "for every house inthe town is full of troops, and you might have searched all nightwithout finding me. It is quite useless to look for a bed now, and,indeed, the houses are so crowded that I had made up my mind to sleephere, and I should recommend you to do the same. I see you have got ablanket with you. It will be much cooler and more pleasant thanindoors."
"I will do so gladly, Frank. It will be a fresh luxury for me to see thestars overhead as I lie, and the sand is quite as soft as any of theseItalians beds are likely to be."
Frank had indeed slept out every night since the Garibaldians firstlanded. It saved the trouble of endeavouring to find accommodation, andenabled him to have a swim every morning to refresh him for his day'swork.
Day after day the Garibaldians marched on without encounteringresistance. It was indeed a procession rather than a military advance.The country was lovely, the weather superb. At each village they weresaluted by numbers of the country people, who had come down to greetthem. They were all armed, and numbers of them joined the Garibaldians.They were, for the most part, of fine physique, with handsome faces, andthe women of this coast were famous for their beauty. The Greek elementwas still predominant, and in many of the villages no other language wasspoken. In
the towns, the national guard were drawn up to receive theirdeliverers with all honour, and the inhabitants of all classes vied witheach other in their hospitality. Frank had been unable to buy a horse,but had succeeded in purchasing a donkey, on which the professor satplacidly smoking as they went along, with one marching column oranother. Cosenz's division generally led the way, followed by those ofMedici and Ebers, while Bixio followed in the rear, his division havingalready had their share of glory in Sicily and at Reggio.
The main Neapolitan army, retiring from Monteleone, passed through eachtown only a few hours ahead of the Garibaldians. The people reportedthat great insubordination existed among them. General Braganti had beenshot by his own men at Bagnara; the other generals were accused by theirmen of treachery, and great numbers of these had deserted; and theGaribaldians felt that if they could but overtake the retreating foevictory was certain. Orders had been sent round by Garibaldi to all thevillagers that the men were to meet him at Maida; and leaving the armyat two o'clock in the morning, he, with a few of his staff, rode acrossthe mountain to that town. The Calabrians, eager to fight, had obeyedthe order, but with some disappointment; for had they been left tothemselves they would have occupied the terrible gorges through whichthe retreating Neapolitans would have to pass, and taking their postsamong inaccessible hills, would have almost annihilated them. ButGaribaldi was on all occasions most anxious to prevent bloodshed, andwould never fight unless his foes forced him to do so; and it was forthis reason that he had ordered the Calabrians to meet him at Maida,thereby preventing them from occupying the pass.
Frank, as one of his aides-de-camp, rode with him, the professorpreferring to move forward at the more comfortable pace of the marchingcolumn. Ordering the Calabrians to follow, Garibaldi went on from Maidato Tyrola, situated on the backbone of the Apennines, and commanding aview of the sea on either hand. Arriving there, he found that theNeapolitans were but a mile ahead. He therefore halted for an hour, andthen rode seven miles farther to Samprotro, where he saw the rearguardof the enemy not more than half a mile ahead. Leaving a few armedpeasants to watch them, Garibaldi and his staff went quietly to bed. Inthe morning they again started in pursuit, at the head of two thousandCalabrians. The peasants brought in news that the enemy had halted at avillage seven miles ahead, and were endeavouring to obtain food. TheCalabrians, when they approached the place, were sent forward asskirmishers; the head of Cosenz's column was now but a short distancein the rear. Colonel Peard, who had ridden with Garibaldi, was inadvance, with three Calabrians, when, at a turn of the road, he cameupon seven thousand infantry, cavalry, and artillery, huddled togetherwithout any appearance of regularity.
He rode up at once to the nearest officers, and called upon them tosurrender. They took him to Ghio, their general, who, saying to Peardthat it was not customary to talk so loud before the soldiers, asked himto step aside; and on being told that he was surrounded, and had nochoice between surrendering and being annihilated, he agreed at once tosend an officer to Garibaldi. While the officer was absent, thedisposition of the troops manifested itself: many of them at once threwdown their arms and accoutrements and started on the road, or made theirway up the hill. In a few minutes the officer returned with Garibaldi'sconditions, which were surrender and disarmament, when the troops wouldbe allowed to leave, on their promise not to serve again. In an hourthere was not a Neapolitan left in the place; and the Garibaldians, whohad marched thirty miles that day, halted to allow the rest of thetroops to come up.
There was, indeed, no further occasion for haste. It was morally certainthat no battle would be fought before they reached Naples. TheNeapolitan troops were hopelessly dispirited, and the greater part wouldgladly have thrown away their arms and returned to their homes; theminority, who were still faithful to their oath, were bitterlyhumiliated at the manner in which large bodies of men had surrenderedwithout striking a blow, and at the way in which the main force fled, ashastily as if it had suffered a disgraceful defeat, at the approach ofthe Garibaldians. Already Naples was almost in a state of insurrection;and in the other towns the whole populace had risen, and the Neapolitanauthorities were powerless.
"It is wonderful," Signor Forli, who arrived on the following morning,said to Frank, "that the Calabrians should have remained passive for acouple of centuries under the rule of a people so much inferior tothemselves. That Sicily should do so, I am not surprised. Its populationis not to be compared in physique with these grand fellows. Among themountains of Sicily, no doubt, there may be a finer type of people thanthose of the plains and sea-coast; but, as you have told me, although aspleased as a crowd of children at a new game, they did little to aidGaribaldi to free them, and Messina once taken, the number that enlistedwith him was small indeed. Here the population have joined to a man; andwhat splendid men they are! Had they all risen together before, therewould have been no need for a Garibaldi. What could an army, howevernumerous, of the frivolous population of Naples have done against them?
"There are hundreds of passes and ravines. We have ourselves marchedthrough a score that might have been held by a handful of determined menagainst an army. I believe that it is the fear of cannon rather than ofsoldiers that has enabled a decaying power, like that of Naples, tomaintain its hold. Cannon would be useful in a mountainous country forthose who have to defend the passes, but it is of little avail to aninvader: it is notorious that, even on the plains, vastly more men arekilled by bullets than by shell. One thing that no doubt has kept theCalabrians from rising, as a body, is that blood feuds exist among them,as in Corsica. The number of crosses that you have seen by the roadsidemark the number of the victims of these quarrels. Each little villagestands apart from the rest, and there has been no centre round which thecountry could gather. There has been, in fact, a community of interest,but no community of feeling; and the consequence is, risings have beenalways partial, and there has been nothing like one determined effort byall Calabria to win its freedom."