CHAPTER XV.

Palermo--Oriental aspects--Historical facts--Royal Palace--Count Roger--The Piazzi Planet--The Palatine Chapel--Walk to Monreale --Beauty of the Peasantry--Prickly pears--"The Golden Shell"-- Monreale Cathedral--Abbey and Cloisters--English church--Palermo Cathedral--Churches--Catacombs of the Capuchins--Gardens--Palermo aristocracy--The Bersaglieri--Sicilian life and characteristics --Climate and general features 191