brethren that beneath the staircase of the
dwelling which the palsied man. inhabited as
tenant, there had been discovered certain
indications of a hidden treasure. He purchased the
house of the Turkish proprietor, and, with his
wife and two sons, set to work without further
ceremony, digging at the spot which had been
pointed out. They found, some feet below the
ground, a covering of stone, which they raised
with the greatest difficulty; they were then
obliged to delve still lower, and at length they
came upon a coffer, which sank down the deeper
as they more deeply dug. The father directed
one of his sons with all speed to go in search of
ropes and levers, and during the young man's
absence the chest ceased to move, but, being on
the same level as the excavated ground, it
presented no hold. At length, on the return of the
son with the materials necessary, as they thought,
for the elevation of the chest, in order to take
possession of the treasure, they began to remove
the surrounding earth, so that the levers to
which the ropes were attached might be introduced
below— but here the coffer again began to
sink. The father declared with an oath that he
would have the treasure in spite of all the
spirits in the world, and he exhorted his family
to redouble their efforts. The wife and children
also uttered some similar exclamation, when all
at once the chest sank beneath the ground with
a frightful noise, and in its place appeared a
hideous animal somewhat similar to a frog or a
toad, and they all found themselves flung upon
the cushions in the room in that state of paralysis
in which they had been found by Captain Lupi,
and more than six months had elapsed since
they had been reduced to that pitiable condition.

The captain, after having given them such help
as friendship and humanity dictated, asked
permission to tempt fortune in his turn. After
much opposition on the part of the Jew, he at
length obtained his consent. He then went,
accompanied by four sailors, and began digging at
one o'clock in the afternoon. They had scarcely
reached three feet in depth, when they found the
stone covering, which they raised with much
difficulty. They continued to dig, and discovered
the chest, upon which was a great ring, through
which they passed one of the capstan bars of
their vessel. But at the same moment the
ship's cook (named Antonio, whom I know well,
and who has confirmed the fact to me) cried out,
"Per San Antonio non ci scapperá!" (By Saint
Anthony it shall not escape us!) He had not
finished his exclamation, when the bar broke,
and the chest sunk with a horrible noise, as if a
great quantity of tin plates, earthen vessels, and
old iron, had been thrown together into a very
deep well, and a putrid stench forced them to
quit the place.

N.B. The Captain Biagio Lupi is favourably
known at Constantinople, where he had been
residing for nine years when he related this event
to me. He is equally well known at Taganrog,
Odessa, Jaffa, Smyrna, and in the Archipelago,
and all are agreed that he is an honest and
trustworthy man. For myself, who have been
intimate with him for several months at
Constantinople, during a voyage of four weeks, and
also forty days' quarantine at Odessa, I cannot
doubt the truth of his narrative (confirmed, as it
was, by the sailors), since I have always found
him to be reliable, loyal, sincere, and wholly
guiltless of falsehood or fraud.

The uncle of Captain Lupi one day left his
country-house in the environs of Ragusa, on the
borders of the sea, situated at the eighth of a
league from the shore. Night overtook him
while he was still engaged in fishing. At length,
under the favour of a brilliant moonlight, he
returned to his home. When he had accomplished
about half the distance, he met one of his
neighbours, who had departed this life several
months before, but so like was he to what he
had been while living, that for the first moment
he did not remember that he had been numbered
among the dead.

The defunct wished him good morning, and it
was then, his memory being refreshed, that fear
fell upon him; upon which the other reassured
him, and reminded him that he had always been
his friend. Signor Lupi was smoking his pipe at
the moment of the appearance of the spectre,
and in his fright had let it fall; the dead man,
however, begged him to pick it up, and observed
to him that it was a long time since he had
smoked, and that consequently he should be
glad if the captain would supply him with a
little tobacco, which the other did tremblingly.
Then the apparition asked for a light, and Signor
Lupi then kindled a morsel of tinder, and
stretched out his arm to touch the pipe which
the dead man extended towards him, when he
perceived that, instead of a pipe, it was a bone of
which the other made use. Lupi recoiled with
horror, but the defunct, without paying attention
to the fear which he inspired, pretended to
smoke, though no fumes appeared. They walked
together to the door of the house of Signor Lupi,
where the dead man, complaining that he could
not go in, and that he was condemned to ramble
in the fields, disappeared immediately. Signor
Lupi entered his dwelling, was very ill, and no
longer goes out at night.

At Napoli di Romania, I occupied, during
the months of February and March, 1816,
apartments over a coffee-house, the most frequented
in the town. There was at that time in Napoli
a Constantinopolitan idiot named Harif Aga.
This unfortunate man, who was somewhat more
than thirty years old, had been one of the
principal officers in the household of Veli Pasha,
the former governor of the Morea. Harif Aga,
having lost his reason, had chosen for his
domicile the cafe under my apartments.

The Mussulmans treat lunatics with great
respect, believing them to be favoured with
supernatural revelations, so that Harif Aga was
often receiving, from the opulent inhabitants of
the town, apparel, which they frequently took
From off their own bodies, deeming it a
meritorious act, as I myself have been accustomed
to witness; they also sent him food to this café,