SICILIAN STUDIES..
THERE is an agreeable variety in the contents of this book, for the author knows how to mingle ancient and modern history, poetry and Nature, for the pleasure and edification of his readers. To those of us whose longing for the shores of the Mediterranean is as sharp as the pain of homesickness there is "sweet sorrow" in reading passages like this :— "There pink almond blossom contrasts strikingly with a sky of densest blue ; here a patch of flax in flower—a turquoise jewel set in russet brown, the colour of the earth—insets the eye . . grey rocks of limestone rise precipitately from the valley.. .. The road, cunningly contrived and ably hewn zigzags in lazy gradients, or bends in graceful curves to the arched bridge giving access to the upper town. Great tufts of euphorbia, cactus, and aloes spring from crevices. The shimmering silver leaves of the olive, and bright foliage of fruit trees, protrude from among the yellow lichen-covered stones, or hang in giddy poise over preoipices, giving ever-varying tones of green, and vying with the brighter tints of moss and grass in vivid contrast to each other."
This is taken from the chapter on "Ragusa in Sicily," but it will help to call up other well-loved Mediterranean views to eyes grown weary of the paler colours of the North. After a prologue "To Apollo," Mr. Hood gives us an interesting account of "the great disaster," the earthquake "which razed Messina and Reggio to the ground, and destroyed many other towns and villages of Sicily and Calabria." In this and in the description of the ravages of "Unbridled Floods of Fire" we are brought face to face with danger and calamity * SiçWnnSPailia. By AlexanderNelson. Hood (Duke of Bronto). London:
Allen and Trnwin. net.j
of an appalling magnitude. The fleeing, pania-stricken people; the sudden death, the desolation of all things, form a picture of deep tragedy, which we naturally compare and contrast with the accounts, so sadly familiar to us all, of those who have found refuge with us from another and far more devouring flood of horror. One curious fact, however, is common to the crime of Germany and to the earthquake : the figure of Christ remains as visible in the dome of the ruined Cathedral of Messina as do the wayside crosses of Flanders or the little shrines in the trenches. Mr. Hood has much of interest to tell us about the Mafia. It is, he says, "no elaborate secret society with its written code of laws and solemn initiation into its mysteries. . . . It is better defined as a sentiment of opposition to social and moral obligations, to legal restraint." He also calls it "a growing force arrayed against the progress of the country," and it is one of the obstacles in the way of those who would consolidate the work begun by "Victor Emanuel and the rest of that noble band of patriots." The chapter called "A Sicilian Murder" unfortunately repeats passages from that called "The Spirit of the Mafia." This is a blemish which sometimes occurs when magazine articles are reprinted, but this collection is so attractive that we hope the error will be put right in another edition.
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