THE LIVES AND EXPLOITS OF BANDITTI AND ROBBERS IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD. BY C. MAC FARLANE, ESQ. AUTHOR OF "CONSTANTINOPLE IN 1829," AND "THE ROMANCE OF ITALIAN HISTORY." IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. PUBLIC NEW-YORK: PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY J. & J. HARPER, AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES. 1833. LIVES OF BANDITTI, &c. SICILIAN BRIGANDS. THE beautiful island of Sicily, which has generally had the fortune to be as badly governed as Southern Italy-almost as often subjected to foreign invasion and conquest, also abounds, like Calabria, on the opposite side of the Faro, in mountains of most difficult access, and wild swamps, once fertile plains, that aided the island in its acquisition of its proud title of "The Granary of Rome," and has consequently abounded with banditti and men of the most desperate characters. Save in one solitary instance, there is little, however, in the lives of Sicilian robbers, different from those of their near neighbours the Calabrians. Their mode of plundering, their places of retreat, their general habits of life were the same; but they have not been so fortunate as the continental freebooters in having good narrators of their exploits, nor have I been so lucky as to find one good eyewitness account of them. The first of the two anecdotes 1 have selected came to me in the way of oral tradition, and the name of the hero has escaped me. The peculiarity of this Sicilian robber's case is, that he did every thing single-handed-he commanded no band, but mannequins, or large puppets the size of life, made and dressed up by himself, were his passive but effective satellites. He must have been an artist of considerable ingenuity, for his figures were perfect as far as brigand costume and ferocity of expression went. Their eyes were large and staring, their whiskers most tremendous, and their mouths, of course, were never seen to relax with a smile of good-nature. |