The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-02 00:00:00

GARIBALDI .)11 CAPRERA.

Alexandre Dumas publishes in his jourßal, tie
Indipendente, the following details of Garibaldi at
Caprera

General Garibaldi left Naples with only 10
piasters in his pocket, or to speak more correctly,
in the pocket of 13 isso, his secretary. Gene' al
Garibaldi's pocket, quite the contrary to nature,
which has, the horror of a vacuum, has a horror of
a plenum. On the observation made to him by
Basso and his son, that the sum he was taking with
him could not last long, the general answered :
" The harvest has been good, we shall therefore
have some corn ; and the kitchen garden was very
promising in the spring. I left seven horses with
Trecchi to sell, we can wait then for the next cam-
paign. Be satisfied." They embarked on the faith
of these words—confidence in the mission ended,
confidence in the mission to come. So he started.

On arrivingat Caprera, instead of that pretended
palace and rich gardens of Armida presented to him
by the French journals, and even the official jour-
nal of Naples, he found the mason who in his ab-
sence had repaired his house, and was waiting for
him ht the landing-place of the steamer to present
him with a paper. Garibaldi took the paper,
opened it, and found a bill to pay. The bill was
more than ten piastres ; the general found himself
compelled to confess his poverty and asked the man
for time, but the latter refused to believe in the
poverty of the modern Cincinnatus:
"You have bun the dictator, which is more than
than a king, of the two kingdoms," said he to him ;
" it is not possible you have not put apart two and
.twenty piastres." The General assured him of the
contrary, and offered him his ten piastres as an in-
stalment. The mason would not accept them, and
summoned the general before the tribunals. The
affair is still coram judice. Do not let it be ti-fought
we are joking; it's the simple truth. In the
meantime the general entered the house. The
work for which the mason asked payment of him
was so badly done that in his sleeping room it
rains as it does in the street. The general took
advantage of one of the steamers from Rubattino
to send for another mason from Genoa, as the first
would not work for him without being paid for
his previous job.
If any details are wanted about the general's
house and furniture, we can give them. The
house consists of a ground floor, divided into
nine rooms. In the hall, used as a dining-room,
the general's room is to the right ; the cis-
tern is over this room, so that the general is be-
tween the dampness'of the ceiling and the rain
pouring in from the roof. He is very fond of his
room, and no human power could make him give it
up. To the left is Menotti's and Frascianti's room;
after which comes Gusmaroli's, then that of the
farmer and his family, consisting of father, mother,
and two children. From the farmer's room you
pass into the kitchen behind, from the kitchen into
the storeroom, into Basso's room, which is used by
other guests also. In the middle there is a dark
chamber with a spiral staircase, up which you
ascend to the terrace. The furniture in the general's
room consists of a wooden bedstead and two mat-
tresses, a small wooden table placed near the bed,
and covered with an old piece of green baize.
Before the table there is a chair, which has only its

legs left, for the rungs are wanting. Two chests of
drawers, and a library containing some works on
history and military matters, complete the furni-
ture. This library will be increased by a " Manual
of Agriculture," consisting of seven or eight illus-
trated volumes. A portrait of the general's
daughter, taken when she was four years old, is the
principal ornament of the room. Above the general's
head is a locket, containing some of Anita's hair,
and some of Garibaldi's mother's. Near it is
Veccbi's picture ; a nail, extracted from a box,
keeps the frame close to the wall, and also
serves the general to hang his watch on.
Near the window hangs a looking-glass that once
belonged to his mother. 'the chests of drawers con-
tain bed-sheets, towels and napkins, as well as flags
rent by bullets, presents to the general from several
regiments. The other bed-rooms merely contain
iron bedsteads.
The animals on the island are seven or eight
cows, a bull, and some calves. The general's
favourite cow is called Brunette, and was brought
from Sardinia. Five asses and two horses form the
eavairy.