Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/416

426 the conclusion that it is not so much food for the body which is wanted in this population, but rather food for the soul and moral culture. The most dangerous part of the Neapolitan population is its lazaroni, or facchini, men who live by occasional service, particularly in the carrying of travelers' luggage, for which reason they become the travelers' torment.

Amongst the most dangerous population of Naples, I must not, however, forget one portion—I blush to mention it—but without which my description of Naples would not be complete. There is in this city a quarter, consisting of many streets and rows of houses, to which there is merely one single gate, and except through this, neither ingress nor egress. Its fixed inhabitants are only women,—three or four hundred I have been told. These women receive visits, but do not themselves go outside the gate without permission from the police. After a certain hour of the day, none are allowed to go out. In the evening, a double watch is placed at this gate, and within may be heard wild noises and shouts, sometimes also cries and shrieks of “Help!” and “Murder!” Then the guard hasten within.

I visited this quarter one day, accompanied by two officers of police. It was noon; the inhabitants seemed to be only just up; some of them were platting their hair, others sat idly in the streets. The greater number were neither handsome nor yet young. From the open rooms shone out pictures of the Virgin Mary, surrounded with artificial flowers and other finery. Some young men were to be seen, who were treating the women with liquor. As far as