TARANTO Cosenza is on a line of railway which runs northward up the Crati valley, and joins the long seashore line from Taranto to Reggio.

As it was my wish to see the whole of that coast, I had the choice of beginning my expedition either at the northern or the southern end; for several reasons I decided to make straight for Taranto.
The train started about seven o'clock in the morning.

I rose at six in chill darkness, the discomfort of my room seeming worse than ever at this featureless hour.

The waiter--perhaps he was the landlord, I left this doubt unsolved--brought me a cup of coffee; dirtier and more shabbily apparelled man I have never looked upon; viler coffee I never drank.

Then I descended into the gloom of the street.