The Sun.
London, England, 1862-02-17 00:00:00

THE DEVIL FISH.

I have seen what has quite confirmed my 4,iief in the
old story of the diyer drawn under when diving into
Charybdis, by sucking-fish. The sucker, or devil-fish,
which is caught here, is the most disgust:mg animal, and
at the same time the most dangerous in tie seas. His head
and body are like fa toad in shape and colour. His eyes
prominent from his head, with a head somewhat like a
turtle's. This animal is in the centre of a large gelatinous
web, full of suckers and feelers and from this extends long
arms in every direction, which twist and twirl and secure
their prey. The arms are studded with sinkers, from which
it is very difficult to withdraw the finger when applied to
them. By the web this monster adheres to the rocks, and
by its arms it encircles and drags down its prey. It has
the power of crawling with considerable velocity, and of
rising to the surface. They are common here, of a small
size, and I have seen them of four feet in circumference.
But they are to be found much larger. They are the great
terror of bathers. Many stories are on record of men being
drawn under waler by their power. Since my stay here a
dcg belonging to one of the officers of the garrison was
swimming, when one of these animals enveloped its head
in its folds and carried it down. A diver on shore imme-
diately plunged in and brought up both dog and fish, and
rescued the former from otherwise inevitable death. The
animal has the power of throwing out a quantity of black
inky liquor all round him, like the sepia, and thus to hide
itself in the turbid water for the purpose of concealment
from enemies or of avoiding attack. The very idea of being
touched by the devil-fish would throw a swimmer into con-
vulsions and make him quite unable to save himself, and
entirely destroys all my sentimental ideas connected with
Mediterranean bathing.

The Two Sicilies were at that time rejoicing ii the
paternal sway of King Francis 1., the condition of
whose State prisons were so eloquently denounced
by Mr. Gladstone. The disbursement of the na-
tional finances was conducted on very original prin-
ciples.

AN ECONOMICAL HOUSEHOLD.
The King's expenses are dreadful, and he does nothing
for his money, and never gives a dinner. When he Came
to the throne he was offered the Civil List, which Murat
enjoyed, of 100,000 ducats per month—each ducat 3s. 2d.
of our money, which he refused, saying that it was too
little, and that La Casa Resle must be uncherked and
unlimited in its expenditure. Accordingly be draws for
whatever money he wants, and gives no aceo-diat. I have
taken some pains to verity my infornw:ion upon the
point, and I am inclined to believe that I am not deceived.
No one is responsible for the Royal, expenditure. The
Ministre Secretaire d'Etat della Casa Reale is at the head
of the palace, and receives the expenditure money en gres,
and distributes it to the Superintendent and the Major
Domo, who are officers of state, much too important to
look into their own concerns, or those of the King their
master. They distribute it to those under them in their
respective departments ; and at length, after being filtered
and dribbled through all the veins of the body corporate of
the palace, which differs from the human body in this re-
spect, that the blood which flows from the heart does sot
return to it— some of the money in question reaches the
King. But as all take their share of the plunder before it
reaches him, I have reason to believe that he is robbed to
the extent of from 70 to 80 per cent.

The duke tells an amusing story of his dining with.
the Viceroy of Sardinia, at Cagliari, when his host
entertained him during the repast with a discourse
on the liberal institutions of Sardinia and the im-
portance of the oath, which he was compelled to
take, to preserve the constitutional laws inviolate.
The duke, who knew the truth a little better, was,
at length provoked to observe that the taking of
this oath was doubtless very grating to a man of
his religious and liberal feelings after he had taken
the previous oath at Turin to execute the King's
commands, whatever they might be. " I never,"
says the diarist, "saw a formal gentleman so com-
pletely thrown off his balance. He stared at me
for a moment, and then, in a low voice, exclaimed
" Comment diable saviez vous cela ?" And then
bursting out laughing, talked no more about the
liberal institutions of Sardinia." The oath referred
to was regularly taken, the duke tells us, by every'
new Viceroy. Rome and Venice were of couvse
among the places visited by the noble traveller, and
his descriptions of them are amongst the most
interesting pages of his diary. He lingered long
at the Eternal City and mixed freely in its society,
which welcomed him eagerly. There he met many
members of the exiled Bonoparte family, who,
strange to say, notwithstanding his well known
opinions and the shelter his house had given to the
Bourbons, received him most cordially. Queen
Hortense invited him to her home and showed him
every attention. On the chimney-piece of one of
her rooms stood a beautiful white marble bust of a
child. It was the likeness of the young King of
Rome, which had been sent out to St. Helena.
The Duke recognised it, but would not seem
to do so. He admired its beauty, when the
ex-Queen briefly assented to his praises, and then
turned the subject to a neighbouring picture.
Doubtless that bust was fraught to her mind with
many mournful associations of various kinds. The
Princess of Canino (the wife of Lucien) was also in
Rome with her family. The anecdotes then cur-
rent in Roman society are often introduced, and the
Duke's shrewd comments on men and things are
full of interest. He frequently makes a passing
allusion to the aspect of English politics. At the
close of February, 1829, he receives the news of the
King's speech recommending the removal of the
Catholic disabilities, and forgetting all personal
vexations in the triumph of the principles he had
so consistently maintained, he enters the intelli-
gence in his diary, with the Ejaculation, "God be
praised that I have lived to see this day !" We can
understand the Duke's feelings when a King's mes-
senger arrived, charged by Wellington with
orders to collect all the Peers' proxies he could find,
and brought the news that the Iron Duke
vowed the expulsion of any Government official
who voted against the measure. After the Great
Duke's previous conduct such a change was some-
what startling. The election of a new pope to the
tiara gave an additional interest to the Duke 0,1
Buckingham's stay in Rome, and he gives a full
account of the plots and counterplots about theelection. The works of art both above and under-
ground are discussed with much critical ability.
His visited the studios of Thorwaidsen and Canova,
and compares their styles and merits. He fre-
quently met with Taddea, the eelebratel ire
provisatrice, and was much struck by the readiness_
and originality of her talent, which his knowledge
of the language enabled him to appreciate.
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