I inquired of the captain respecting the price of board and lodging, and afterwards made a bargain with a host before leaving the ship.

By following this plan I generally escaped overcharge and inconvenience.
Arrived at the inn, I sent to Herr Schmidt, to whom I had been recommended, with the request that he would despatch a trustworthy cicerone to me, and make me a kind of daily scheme of what I was to see.

This was soon done, and after hurrying over my dinner I commenced my wanderings.
I entered almost every church I passed on my way, and found them all neat and pretty.

Every where I came upon picturesque villas and handsome houses, with glass doors instead of windows, their lower portion guarded by iron railings and forming little balconies.

Here the women and girls sit of an evening working and talking to their heart's content.
The streets of Palermo are far handsomer and cleaner than those of Messina.