It was a magnificent picture,--a "picture" because the colours everywhere were as bright as though laid on freshly by a painter's brush.

The stonework of the buildings, painted to gaudy hues, brought out all the details of column, cornice, and pediment.

Here Demetrius pointed out the Royal Palace, here the Theatre; here, farther inland, the Museum, where was the great University; in the distance the whole looked like a painting in miniature.

Only there was more movement in this picture: a splendid yacht, with the gold and ivory glittering on its prow and poop, was shooting out from the royal dockyards in front of the palace; a ponderous corn-ship was spreading her dirty sails to try to beat out against the adverse breeze, and venture on a voyage to Rome, at a season when the Italian traffic was usually suspended.

The harbour and quays were one forest of masts.