The diversions of Lucca during the last summer were judicially limited
to rides and quiet tea-parties, and it may be said, that before eleven
o'clock every social reunion breaks up. About ten o'clock, in fact,
the shawling processes commence; and servants are seen escorting home
their _padroni_, holding lanterns carefully near the ground, to guard
against the contingency of their stepping on the toads, which disport
themselves in all the lanes at night, and are of the size of
respectable tortoises.
Then gradually the lights in every window disappear, fewer and fewer
voices are borne upon the breeze, and ere the midnight bell has
tolled, all is darkness and repose.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS OF A SAILOR'S LIFE AT SEA.
One of the visions of youth is, that the life of a sailor is all fun,
frolic, and happiness. Can there be anything more delightful, they
think, than sailing about on the wide ocean, visiting far-distant
regions of the earth, and seeing the strange manners of different
countries? Little are they aware of the constant toil to which the
poor mariner is exposed--the perils he encounters, the thankless life
he is generally doomed to lead.
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