Mezzoni the Brigand — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

6 MEZZONI THE BRIGAND. act in this capacity, they dare not, as the savage re- venge of the outlaws would be sure to follow. . Thus the government is in the worst possible situation as it regards protecting travelers from abroad, who are attracted to-these classic spots in considerable num- bers annually. Until the advent of Victor EKmmanuel, the bold- ness of the banditti in this region often led them into ‘the very streets of Naples, and robberies were fre- quent under the very shadow of the king’s palace, while a passage at night through the long and lofty erotto of Posilipo, near the heart of the city, was a risk that few travelers cared to encounter. ‘To reach the beautiful shores of Baie, or return from thence, the Posilipo passage is the direct route, so that great inconvenience was realized by the visitors to Naples. | This standing disgrace upon the government has been a great source of mortification to Italy, and the aggravating cases of complaint arising therefrom has caused more than one foreign nation to make it the subject of official reproach through the medium of its local consul. Though this pest is not even yet entirely removed, still comparative safety is insured to ordinary travel. | How well we remember visiting the beautiful Baize region some years ago, when our party dined _.on the terrace of an Italian inn, looking down upon the loveliest bay the sun ever shone upon. In the distance was purple Vesuvius, emitting the only smoke wreaths that dimmed the transparent atmos- phere with Procida and Ischia rising through a gold- en mist in the west. A couple of Italian men-of-war and numerous coasting vessels lay at our feet, with every spar and line of cordage duplicated in the blue comicbhoo - . (S.coOm