OLD WORLD SKETCHES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1853, 27 May 1887, Page 32

OLD WORLD SKETCHES.

, By FABIAN BELL,

Author of " Becollectfons of Belgium," •'In Two Hemispheres," "The Big Nugget," " Forgotten," &c, ' Ac, &c. \ No. 17.— RECOLLECTIONS OF ITALY. Genoa La Supebba— lts Situation— Contb&sts — Fine Palaces and Narrow .Stbeets— The Climate— .GikE of ' Mora — Female Dress —The Panni— Number op Monks— OhUBCHES — ChUBCH OB" THE ANNUNoiata— Day Theatre— Strangeness of the Performance — Losing Oneself. "Genoa La Superba" — well named indeed ; for a grander view of sea and shore, of mountain and valley it is impossible to imagine. The town lies in an amphitheatre at the crest of the bay ; and the buildings, whether in connected streets or isolated villas, rise tier above , tier against a rich background of verdure and a crown of snowy mountains. We made some stay in Genoa and learned to love it well, though at first on a somewhat superficial acquaintance we were slightly disappointed, and this because it is essentially a city of contrasts—poverty and wealth, splendour and misery, abject squallor, and the delicate refinements of cultured taste jostle each other. It is but a step from the " street of palace's" to the dirtiest, filthiest hovels which it was ever my ill luck to see. or Bmell. Vice, disease, and beggary haunt the streets, and one shivers, at the extremity of the misery thus freely displayed. The dirt ■which we had seen at Alassio was to be be noticed in Genoa and all the other Italian cities. It seemed to me that there were actually no scavengers, or anyone of that sort, fot I never saw them at work, or beheld any signs of their having been at work. Many of the fine old palaces had descended to baser uses, and were let out in floors to private individuals, shopkeepers, and small traders. The front door and large entrance hall jwere the common property of all the lodgers, and it appeared to be no one's duty to help to keep them clean, or it was a duty altogether neglected. Many of these palaces were of enormous size and beautifully decorated, and the contrast between the house and its occupants was all the more striking. The streets are nearly all narrow, and the houses high, and it was not difficult to realise Dickens' absurd description of the old lady whose carriage stuck fast in one of the narrow lanes, and as neither of the doors would open, she had to be hauled through the front windows " like a harlequin," though, doubtless, in a much less graceful fashion. The narrow streets and tall houses detract much from the brightness of the Italian street view, and here I may perhaps mention that the climate of Italy is by no means so perfect as some people fondly imagine, rain and fog are not unusual even at midsummer, and a recent traveller declares that he did not see the sun eight times in as many weeks. In the winter and spring the bitter cold of the mistral is to be feared, and in the summer and autumn the intensly hot sirocco blowing from the deserts of Africa and carrying with it whole clouds of sand, is an equally unpleasant visitor, so that even in this lovely land there is still a crumpled rose-leaf in the Sybarite's corich. In Genoa we first saw the national game of rnora ; it is the simplest game, and yet, practically, one of the most difficult. Men play at it for hours and days, and apparently never tire, reclining in sheltered corners in the hot suii; shine ; two play, and others look eagerly on. For this truly gambling game neither cards nor dice are needed, only the ten fingers of the players. A number never exceeding ten is called, a player throws out part of the number, say six or seven, and his opponent at the same moment throws out another. If the sum of the two numbers is exactly 10, the second man wins and pockets the stake ; if more or less than 10, the first man wins. When thus explained it seems at once a childish and an absurd game, but such is not the case, and the interest it excites is really considerable ; while the rapidity of the players, their gestures and excitement, and the eager, interested features of the bystanders form a most characteristic picture of Italian life. Although the stakes, are individually small, the gross sum, both of time and money, thus squandered is very considerable.

The women of Genoa and most of the towns of Northern Italy wear the characteristic " panni," or flat head-dress, with light gauze veil depending from it. The effect is very pleasing, the pure white forming a fine contrast to their clear olive skins and raven hair. The young Italian women are, as a whole, pretty, or at least engaging, and decidedly picturesque, although the national dress 6f the different districts is rapidly becoming a thing of the past, and it is only in some out-of-the-way village that one sees the laced bodice, the full white chemisette, short skirt with many coloured stripes, and dainty apron, which are so familiar on the stage and in every fancy dress ball. It is a great pity that these characteristic costumes should be no longer worn, and that pride or false shame, or the prevailing modern desire to get rid of all originality, whether of dress or character, should tend to reduce us all to one dead level of mediocrity. To this end it seems to me that all the much praised modern progress tends, and it is to be feared that the end, even if it be attained, will not prove very satisfactory. The streets of Genoa are full of monks of different orders, and these form at least a fourth of the

passers-by,' bo that' Ofte ' fSels "'anxious 'concerning the future' of V eouHlry "where the unproductive', classes are numeridally so strong* ' Of all' the orders the 1 'Cap'puccini seem 1 most beloved by the people^' and may be seen in their coarse brown dress in all parts of 'the' city and at all hours begging alms from the charitab.e. The Jesuits are less conspicuousj and glide noiselessly about "like cats."

The churches in Genoa are numerous and splendid, but the Church of the Annunciata is perhaps the most magnificent. It certainly struck us the most, its profusion of ornament both in gold and colour have well earned for it Simond's simile of "a great enamelled snuff-box," ' Most of the churches contain beautiful pictures, and the ' safne treasures in vessels and Vestments which I noticed when speaking of/ the French churches, and which are carefully preserved under lock and key, and only sparingly produced on rare occasions.

There are three or four theatres in Genoa, but the one which is the most' original and striking is the Day Theatre, where plays are, acted in the open air, commencing generally in the cool of the afternoon and lasting for about three hours. It is curious to look around from the stage and see the familiar landscape and the people at their windows, peeping from time to time at the stage and the performers ; to hear the sounds from the adjacent streets and the ringing of bells from the convents and churches. But the acting was poor and the plays dull, and, as a rule', we preferred to spend our time walking or driving, or enjoying the luxury of "losing ourselves " in the strange, tortuous, narrow 1 streets, and coming out suddenly upon some curious or beautiful spot which we had never seen before. The longer we remained, the more there was to see, and we often had cause to change or modify our first impressions as we became better acquainted with the country and the people. '