The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-23 00:00:00

effect of so many large prisons, where the worst and most
desperate characters always acquire the greatest influence,
and keep the others in a state of terror and servitude.
But I have tarried long enough in the sown of Foggia, so
let us start. Our convoy consisted of five carriages, three of
which were heavy mail coaches. The contents were a mix-
ture from all parts of the universe, which did not diminish
the interest of the journey—on the contrary. The sun shone
out brightly, the postillions had theorthodox costume which
you see on the stage when " Fra Diavolo" is acted, and
which you see in every picture that represents a desperate
encaunter with brigands in large beards and pointed hats.
The six ponies which were attached to the carriages stepped
out merrily, and off we went in good humour even with the
town of Foggia.

As you get out of the town you see before you what seems
one large plain, as oven as a billiard table, up to the moun-
tains in the distance. In many places the green crops are
peeping out of the loam, the white oxen are labouring in
the heavy soil, here and there a large white farm buildiag
is visible, and the two-wheeled carts of the country, drawn
by two or more mules, are going towards the town. It
looks a perfect picture of peace, and you can scarcely be-
lieve that you are in the vicinity of the brigand district.
After three or four miles, which you have been travelling
south-west, you observe a change ; that plain which
looked so even begins to rise in gentle curves, which all
take their direction towards the plain—the signs of culti-
vation cease abruptly, and as far as the eye can see there is
nothing visible but coarse grass and weeds, not a tree, and
scarcely a bush a foot high, You have reached the Tavo-
lierre dello Puglie (the table-land of Apulia). An old law
forbids the ploughing up of any portion of it or even the
planting of a tree—the whole tract, which is many miles in
extent, is reserved for pasturage. It is the breeding grout d
of the small but wiry Apulian horse, mostly black or dark
bay, a little long in the legs, high in the withers, with the
Roman nose—all signs that he descended from the barb.
They are all left to run about loose in troops under charge
of the herdsman and his dog—the famous white sheepdog
of the Appennines, strong enough to be a match for a wolf.
Besides horses, sheep are bred on the Tavoliere—not the
small black sheep of the mountains, but a tall animal re •
sembling the Cheviots. Next to horses and sheep the
Tavoliere produces brigands. It is a mistake to suppose
that this produce is new—it has always existed more or
less, only the:world did not know it. No better ground for
preparing a razzta on some farmhouse in the plain can be
imagined than this table-land, which slopes so gently that
from the higher parts you can discern every object in the
distance, while its undulations, which are no impediment to
a gallop, are still sufficient to hide the movements of a
small body of horsemen who are in ambuscade.

As you proceed the ground becomes higher :and
rougher, little bushes begin to show, the undulations be-
come by degrees greater, and by the time you have
passed the first station of Pozzo d'Albeto you go up and
down steep inclines covered with oak coppice. and a
good number of young trees standing out among it. As
the Tavoliere is the ground for the offensive, these hill
spurs, covered with dense young woods, are the ground
for the defensive operations of the brigands. They are ex-
clusively inhabited by wood cutters and charcoal
burners, who, together with the shepherds, form the
classes from which the brigands are usually recruited.
This ground is of considerable extent, for from the
road where you are these woods stretch towards the north
in one line for at least 60 miles, where they reach the sea
near the river Frontone.:They pass in the vicinity of I roya,
Lucera, and San Severn, three towns which have acquired
a certain notoriety,of late on that account. You hove only
to look at the place round you to understand the difficulty
following people who know every inch of the ground. A
few steps are enough to lose all trace.

Already before we left the plain we met a squadron of
Hussars, who were going back towards the town. The sta-
tion-house of Pozze d'Albeto was garrisoned by a company
of regulars, and as wa proceeded we found almost every
'Argo building on the road similarly tenanted, and detach.
meats of foot and, above all, horse patrolling along the road.
Passing at Ponte Boxino over one of the feeders of the
Cervara you come into a new country, You are in the
valley of the main stream of the Cervara. The mountains
rise in steep slopes, and you wind your way upwards on the
left bank towards the pass of Ariano. There is little trace
of life, except one or two towns perched on the mountains,
which appear and disappear at every turn of the road,
From all these out-of-the-way places the National Guards,
and in some instances even the population, had come to
greet the King on his passage, and they were still there to
cheer us on our passage.
At Montagato the real ascent of the pass begins, and with
it began our miseries. The horses, which had already
served for the King's passage, began to show signs of dis-
tress, besides which many of the hired horses, all of which
were restive and not accustomed to work in company,
seemed inclined to jib, so that when we got to Ariano at
nightfall one of the carriages had remained behind in a
quagmire, and horses had to be sent to fetch it. This was
so much the more awkward as there was a lady in the car-
riage, and as about Ariano the nnsafest part of the road
begins,

Ariano can boast of having been the first tow n which
planted the standard of reaction. Two days after the entrance
of Garibaldi into Naples the news arrived that Ariano and

Avellino had declared against the new state of things, and
a small force had to be sent there to put down the move-
ment, which the bishop headed. The movement was insig-
nificant, but had to be dealt with at once, on account of the
position of Ariano, which, being situated on the watershed
of the Appenines, commands the only practicable road which
leads from the eastern provinces of the Capitanata and the
Terra di Bari to Naples. It is the very type of a town in
the Appenines—Ferched up like an eagle's nest on the side
of the mountain, most of the houses being partly cut into
the rock. The population derives considerable benefit from

the traffic between the eastern plains and the western slopes,
and has a reputation for not being among the weakest of
mortals. Certain it is that it seems quite a race apart from
all those dwelling east and west; for, while these latter,
both in Apulia and in the Terra di Lavoro and the Princi-
pato Ultra, are but wretched specimens of humanity, the
people of Ariano arc a fine race—the women reminding one
rather of the Roman than the Neapolitan type.
While we were waiting for the carriage which had re-
mained behind I amused myself talking to some women who
were about the place where we changed horses. They were
at first a little shy, but were soon made confident by a shin-
ing silver coin, and vied with each other to tell me their
impressions of the King's passage. They had seen him
well, as he had to pass close by, and thought his mous-
tachios very long. But of what they thought and spoke
most were the choice refreshments which the bishop had

prepared in his palace in the upper town. Again and again
they came back to the subject, lamenting that they had
been thrown away, and evidently thinking they had
suffered a kind of slight. It was the same all along the
road. Those who had succeeded in inducing the King to
take something were quite proud, while those who had not
been equally fortunate were sorely disappointed.
Before even the horses were put to, 10 carabineers made
their appearance. They were our escort. We were ap-
proaching the worst part of the road. Caruso was last heard
of in the neighbourhood of Benevento, the old Papal pro.
vince enclosed within the Neapolitan territory, and which
has been conspicuous for brigandage above all other points.
Benevento lies on the main stream of the Volturno, and
this main stream, as well as most of its feeders, takes its
rise on the western slopes about Ariano, and has to be
passed on the road to Naples. For the next three stations
Grotta Minardi, Dentecani, and Avellino—extra precautions
had to be taken to guard against a possible flank march of
Caruso. The apprehensions must have been greatest about
the last two of these stations, for instead of ten carabineers
we had a squadron of cavalry for our escort.
We had lost about two hours at Ariano, and it was past
8 o'clock before we started in military order, with all the
precautions usual in face of the enemy—two carabineers
ahead as eclaireurs, four on the sides, and four behind as
arriere guard, together with the brigadier. The postilions
were told to keep together. This was easier said than done,
for we had E carcely moved 100 yards when the heavy mail
coach, in which 1 was, came to a dead stop. One pair of
horses would not go on. All the coaxing and " ah's'' pro-
duced no more effect than beating, for when we moved a
few yards we soon came to a stop again. The postilions
got down and changed the horses, but all to no purpose ;
we were steadily remaining behind the other carriages.
And all this was down hill, which was a pleasant lookout
for the steep incline we had before us to surmount. Time
after time the other carriages had to stop, and by dint of
united exertions we kept up again for a time. At lag we
were but a mile from the station, but one half of that mile
was a hard pull, and after having got up halfway we came
to a decided dead stop. The other carriages had gone on,
and there we were in the middle of the road, and at the
bottom of the slope on the other side was the bridge over
the main source of the Volturno, one of the haunts of
Caruso, However, there was nothing for it but patience.
A carabineer was despatched to the post-station to
fetch horses, and we were left the choice to make
our reflections or to talk with a talkative carabineer
whose very first word left no doubt about his being a
"Nabolidan."
The said carabineer being what is called a blagueur, and
not an amusing one either, my reflections took me back to
the struggle we had to make the horses go on. It was a
picture in miniature of the great struggle to make the
Southern districts go on. There were the Neapolitan pos-
tilions indulging from time to time in a frantic effort, shout-
ing their "ale's" in all keys, whipping the horses which
were drawing, and forgetting those which did draw, and
after a few seconds giving up the job in despair, and stand-
ing there silent pictures of despair. On the other hand there
were those who had to command, suspecting that it was ill-
will on the part of the postilions and horses, and that possi-
bly it was a prearranged thing, cursing and swearing at the
postilions and at all the race in the country indiscriminately;
and there were, finally, the carabineers, with the exception
of the talkative one all strangers, showing an apathy which
seemed at first difficult to understand.
It is the same in the great struggle to civilise the South.
There are the people expected to emerge as if by magic out
of the abjectness in which it has lived for centuries. It
makes a short effort, and, of course, does not succeed. The
authorities try to show their energy by storming, which
makes matters worse, for it produces Obstinacy on the other
side. At last, exhausted by the useless effort, the autho-
rities take the view of the carabiheera, and give up the