Note 1834 — Chapter VI · PASTORAL LIFE.
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An equal degree of contentment to that which in this recital we find exhibited by the Eubœan herdsmen, is still in our own times displayed by the rough peasants of the Lipari islands, in the midst of far greater privations:—“It is incredible at the same time how contented these islanders are amid all their poverty. Ulysses perhaps cherished not a greater love for his Ithaca than they bear to their Eolian rocks which, wretched as they may appear, they would not exchange for the Fortunate islands. Frequently have I entered their huts which seem like the nests of birds hung to the cliffs. They are framed of pieces of lava ill-joined together, equally destitute of ornament within and without, and scarcely admitting a feeble uncertain light, like some gloomy cavern.” Spallanzani, Travels in the Two Sicilies, iv. 147.