Delaware inquirer. (Wilmington, Del.) 1859-18??, 1859-08-27

ateu ueihSeNeS "ohB WIN me unuer tlle iii-
lacious covering, and appeared to sting me
more at their ease. So, giving up all hope
of sleep, and of remission from torment, there
lay, uttering all sorts of imprecations, till
the dawn. Then, however, as il by magic,
every little winged devil took its flight, and
enjoyed two or three hours of delicious sleep.
When, very late in the morning, the chamber
maid came 10 call me, she uttered a lond ex-
clamation on seeing the state of my face, and
begged thousand parions. n had been all
her fault, she said, for, not remembering that
I was stranger, she had omitted to pull down
the mosquito curtains, which had hung use
lessly over my head all digit. She desired
me, however, to remain quietly in bed and
left the room. Returning presently, she
brought along with her cup of delicious cof-
fee, and thin, white, warm liquid, in ba
sin, in which she dipped small bit Of muslin,
and bathed my forehead and face, which We're
dicadfully swollen. Iforgot to inquire what
the liquid was but it almost Immediately re-
lieved the pain, and, in the course of half an
hour, reduced the swelling considerably, so
that ! was, at least, fit to be seen. then
got up and dressed. and, by eleven o'clock,
wins seated in cotfee-room smoking n cigar.
A little, withered old man, who sat there
smoking also, asked me if had ever been in
Genoa before. Ireplied in the negative.
Then" said he, ''let me tell you of the
only curiosity worthy of notice which This
city contains. n is the portrait of Christie
pler Columbus the most extraordinary man
produced in these latter ages. ! have ira
vcrsed the Atlantic in his track Ihave ex-
plored every island in the Gulf of Mexico VI
havesailed from Cape Horn to Hudson's Bay;
and my mind has all the while been filled with
the image of Columbus, whose genius gave
the new world to the DID,
Thanked him sincerely forhis information,
and asked him where the portrait was to be
found.
81 will take you to the house, said he
sit is at present in the possession of priest,
a very old friend of mine, who will have great
pleasure in showing it to you
"shall we go at once 2" I inquired.
"With all my heart 20 cried the old sailor.
And forth we issued, putting our cigars as
we went. lie inquired in what direction n
was travelling and, when mentioned Greece
and Egypt, he said he had been in both coun-
tries, had smoked cigar on the Acropolis
bathed in the waters Of Castalia, spent n
night in the Catacombs, and drank from
bucket at the bottom of Josephs we'll lie
was now on voyage to the Bermudas but,
as the ship would not sail in less than three
days, he said it would afford him infinite
pleasure TO be useful to me in the mean time. |
When we had reached our point of destna-
ton, he handed me over to the priest and
went away to transact some business in a dis
tant quarter of the city. The priest, Jolly |
old fellow, whose ample, portly figure formed
a complete contrast with that of his friend /
took me straight up stairs, whore he with
drew curtain from picture, which found
to be portrait of woman.
"Why," said !, ''this is not Christopher
Columbus, but the blessed Virgin"
IN is all one, " answered lie ''and for the /
rest have sold the picture of the great nav
igator, long ago, but thought you would Ike
to see this fine work of art, which is also for
sale
~ don't buy pictures," said |.
at is all one, . answered he; ''you may
see all have, as, if Fdiushissimo signor does
not purchase himself, he may know some one
who dOes.''
had gone to see Columbus, and not the
Virgin Mary who smiled on me, nevert he
less, from the canvas, and in some sort recon-
ciled me to my disappointment. experienced
at that moment, the full fascination of art
A setond look at that divine countenance
shed calm over my whole mind. 1t was full +
of sweetness, full of tranquil beauty; and
light beamed from the eyes which nothing
hut the touch of genius could bestow. |
wished, from the bottom of my soul, | had
been picture-buyer, and could have afforded
TO take that gem with me to Egypt. l could
have held converse with it by the way. 1t
would have raised and purified my thoughts.
and done me good in all respects. Icongratu-
lated the priest on his possessing so fine pic
ture, and asked him il he knew the artist
He said he did not, but supposed it must be
by some great master. entirely agreed with
him. The price he required for it, however,
was very moderate. ether pictures he had,
which, though not equally beautiful, were no
less valuable, perhaps, in a commercial point
Of view. We conversed on his treasures for
some time and when took my leave, he in
vited me to come again. lie observed more
over, if the sight of works of art delighted
me, he would show me a church in which, to
use his own expression, there was a picture
worth all Genoa.
"Come to me tomorrow" said lie, "and |
will go with you. To-day have some little
business TO transact, but | shall then be en-
tirely at your disposal.
"What is the subject 2" inquired.
"Artemis bathing in an Arcadian fountain, -
said he.
looked in his face to observe the express
sion of it. 1t was full of calmness and dig
nifty. He thought of Artemis as of a saint.
1 promised to call on him next morning, and
went down to take a stroll on the Mola, and
enjoy the fresh breeze from the Mediterrane-
an. The view of the city--
But no ! will not describe il now ano-
tller time will do better, when shall have
seen it from all points, and have studied al,
its aspects. Genoa stands alone among Italian
capitols, for the nature of It's site and the
u,,Iandar ,of ita ,,aIooac IL ..,.1.a.a