LUGGAGE. No luggage is allowed free, except small articles taken by the passenger into his carriage; the rate of charge is 4.65 c. for 100 kilogrammes per kilomètre. Travellers who intend to make only a short stay at a place, especially when the town or village lies at some distance from the railway, had better leave their heavier luggage at the station till their return (dare in deposito, or depositare; 5 c. per day for each piece, minimum 10 c.) or forward it to the final destination. At small stations the traveller should at once look after his luggage in person. The luggageticket is called lo scontrino; to book luggage is spedire or far registrare il bagaglio. Porters (facchini) who convey luggage to and from the carriage are entitled to 10-20 c. per package by tariff; and attempts at extortion should be firmly resisted.

As several robberies of passengers' luggage have been perpetrated in Italy without detection, it is as well that articles of great value should not be entrusted to the safe-keeping of any trunk or portmanteau, however strong and secure it may seem (comp. p. xv). They may, however, be insured for a small extra fee. Damaged trunks may be secured by leaden seals (piombare) for 5 c. each package.

The enormous weight of the large trunks used by some travellers not infrequently causes serious injury to the porters who have to handle them. Heavy articles should therefore always be placed in the smaller packages.

Italian RAILWAY RESTAURANTS often leave much to be desired. Luncheon-baskets (cestini; 2-4 fr., incl. wine) may be obtained at some of the larger stations.

Passengers by night-trains from the larger stations may hire pillows (cuscini, guanciali; 1 fr., for abroad 2 fr.). These must not be removed from the compartment.

Steamers. The time-tables of the steamer-routes are given in the larger railway-guide mentioned at p. xvii; but changes are so frequent that enquiries on the spot are always advisable.

On the ITALIAN LAKES the tickets are usually issued on board the steamer, except at the larger places. Passengers embarking at intermediate stations receive checks which they show on purchasing their tickets. There is no extra charge for embarking or disembarking at small-boat stations. The railways issue tickets including the lake-journey. Return-tickets do not usually permit of the journey being broken. On Sundays in summer the boats are frequently crowded by excursionists. The steamers occasionally leave the smaller stations as much as 10 min. in advance of the scheduled times, but they are much more frequently late.

In the proper season a steamer trip on the Mediterranean, especially between Genoa, Spezia, and Leghorn, or on the Adriatic, between Venice and Trieste, is a very charming experience. Tickets should be taken in person at the steamboat-agencies. Ladies should travel firstclass, but gentlemen of modest requirements will find the second cabin very fair. The steward expects a gratuity of about 1 fr. per day, or The inadequate more if the traveller has given him extra trouble.

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arrangements for embarking and disembarking give great annoyance. The tariff is usually 1-11 fr. for each person, including luggage; but the passengers are generally left at the mercy of the boatmen, who often make exortionate demands. The traveller should not enter the boat until a clear bargain has been made for the transport of himself and his impedimenta, and should not pay until everything has been deposited on deck or on shore. Small articles of luggage should be kept in one's own hands.

VIII. Motoring and Cycling.

The environs of Milan, Turin, Verona, and Bologna, the neighbourhood of the Italian Lakes, and the Rivera all offer many attractions for the cyclist and motorist. The roads are good on the whole, though often very dusty in summer (especially in the N. Italian plain) and correspondingly muddy in wet weather. The rule of the road in Italy is usually the exact reverse of that in England, but it varies in different districts.

MOTOR CARS entering Italy are liable to pay a customs-duty (varying from ca. 400 fr. to ca. 600 fr. according to the weight of the car), on payment of which a permesso is granted valid for three months, which, however, may be extended to six. The amount paid is returnable at any customs-station when the car quits the country, but this repayment is seldom obtained without some trouble. Members of the Touring Club Italiano (see below), or of clubs affiliated with it, may pay the duty in advance at Milan or have the amount guaranteed by a resident of Italy, in which case they receive a certificate (trittico) obviating the necessity of paying at the frontier. Drivers' licences issued by foreign countries are accepted, but both these and the permesso for the car must be registered within five days at a prefettura. Petrol is easily obtained in North Italy (3-5 fr. per gallon).

The unattached CYCLIST on entering Italy with his wheel must deposit 35 fr. (for a motor-cycle 80 fr.) with the custom-house authorities, which sum is returned to him (though sometimes not without difficulties) when he quits the country. Members of well-known cyclist associations are, however, spared this formality, on conditions explained in the handbooks of these clubs. A certificate of re-exportation (certificato di scarico) should always be obtained, as otherwise the club of which the cyclist is a member, may be called upon subsequently to pay the duty as above. On the railways cycles are treated as ordinary passengers' luggage (p. xix). Valises should not be left strapped to cycles when sent by rail, owing to the risk of theft (p. xix).

Members of the Touring Club Italiano (Milan Via Monte Napoleone 14; 90,000 members; entrance fee 2 fr., annual subscription 6 fr., for foreign members 8 fr.) or of clubs affiliated with it command advantageous terms at numerous hotels, and in the purchase of benzine and other motoring and cycling requisites, maps, etc. Membership cards are accepted as proofs of identity by the post office (comp. p. xxix), The club's map of

Italy (1:250,000), in course of publication, may be highly recommended (75 c. per sheet); one of its best guides is L. V. Bertarelli's Guida Itinerario delle Strade di grande Comunicazione dell' Italia (Milan, 1901; three parts), with numerous profile-maps and plans.

IX. Hotels. Pensions. Private Apartments.

FIRST CLASS HOTELS, comfortably fitted up, are to be found at all the principal resorts of travellers in Northern Italy, many of them under German or Swiss management, and most of them having fixed charges: room 4-10 fr. for each person, luncheon (colazione, déjeuner) 3-6 fr., dinner (pranzo, dîner) 5-8 fr. The charges for light and attendance (exclusive of the portier and frequently also of the 'facchino' or boots) are now almost always included in the price for rooms. Sitting-rooms and rooms with baths naturally cost more. The charge for dinner does not include wine, which is usually dear and often heady. For a prolonged stay an agreement may generally be made with the landlord for pension at a more moderate rate. Visitors are expected to dine at the table-d'hôte; otherwise the charge for rooms is apt to be raised. The charges for meals served in private rooms or at unusual times are much higher. Other 'extras' also are dear. The cuisine is a mixture of French and Italian.

During the chief tourist season (March, April, in the Riviera Jan.March) it is always advisable, especially for families, to engage rooms beforehand. When a long stay is contemplated this should be done before leaving home, so that a choice may be made according to the answers received. To simplify telegraphic orders for rooms the Hotelkeepers Association has agreed upon the following code: alba, one room one bed; albaduo, one room with double bed; arab, 1 R., 2 B.; abec, 1 R., 3 B.; belab, 2 R., 2 B.; birac, 2 R., 3 B.; bonad, 2 R., 4 B.; ciroc, 3 R., 3 B.; carid, 3 R., 4 B.; calde, 3 R., 5 B.; caduf, 3 R., 6 B.; casag. 3 R., 7 B.; danid, 4 R., 4 B.; dalme, 4 R., 5 B.; danof, 4 R., 6 B.; dalag, 4 R., 7 B.; dirich, 4 R., 8 B.; durbi, 4 R., 9 B.; kind, child's cot; sal, sitting-room; bat, private bathroom; serv, servant's room. The style of the rooms may be indicated by best, bon, or plain. The day and hour of arrival must be given (granmatin, between midnight and 7 a.m.; matin, between 7 a.m. and noon; sera, between noon and 7 p.m.; gransera, between 7 p.m. and midnight) and the length of stay (pass, one night; stop, several days). The telegram should be signed with the name and address of the sender. To cancel the order, only the word cancel and the name are necessary.

Gentlemen travelling alone may leave their luggage at the station until rooms have been secured. The charge for the use of the hotelomnibus from the station to the hotel is so high (1-2 fr. each pers.), that it is often cheaper to take a cab. It is also easier for those who use a cab to proceed to another hotel, should they not like the rooms

offered them.

The SECOND CLASS HOTELS (Alberghi; in the S. districts called also Locande), though Italian in their arrangements, have lately become much more comfortable and modern in their equipment. The charges are little more than one-half of the above: room 2-6, omnibus 1/2-1 fr. They have no table-d'hôte, but there is generally a trattoria connected with the house, where refreshments à la carte or a din

ner a prezzo fisso may be procured. Fair native wines, usually on draught, are furnished in these houses at moderate prices. Morning coffee is usually taken at a café and not at the inn. It is customary to make enquiries beforehand as to the charges for rooms, not forgetting the servizio e lucie; and the price of the dinner also (if not à la carte) should be agreed upon (2-4 fr., with wine 21/2-41 fr.). The terms offered may often be reduced by bargaining. These inns will often be found convenient and economical by the voyageur en garçon, and the better houses of this class may be visited even by ladies, when at home in Italian; the new-comer should frequent hotels of the first class only.

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HÔTELS GARNIS are to be found in most of the larger towns, with charges for rooms slightly higher than those in the secondclass hotels.

As matches are rarely found in hotels, the guest should provide himself with a supply of the wax-matches (cerini, flammiferi) sold in the streets (5-10 c. per box). Soap also is a high-priced 'extra'.

Money or objects of value should either be carried on the traveller's person or left with the landlord in exchange for a receipt.

Little weight should be laid on the landlord's recommendation or disparagement of hotels in other places.

The PENSIONS of the larger towns and resorts also receive passing travellers. The charge is about the same as that of the secondclass inns and usually includes table-wine. As, however, the price of déjeuner is usually (though not universally) included in the fixed daily charge, the traveller has either to sacrifice some of the best hours for visiting the galleries or to pay for a meal he does not

consume.

For a prolonged stay in one place families will find it much cheaper to hire PRIVATE APARTMENTS and do their own housekeeping. A rent lower than that first asked for is often accepted. When a whole suite of apartments is hired a written contract on stamped paper should be drawn up with the aid of someone acquainted with the language and customs of the place (e.g. a banker), in order that 'misunderstandings' may be prevented. A payment of part of the rent in advance is a customary stipulation; but such payments should never be made until after the landlord has redeemed all his undertakings with regard to repairs, furnishing, etc. For single travellers a verbal agreement with regard to attendance, linen, stoves and carpets in winter, a receptacle for coal, and other details will generally suffice.

WASHING LIST. A list of the Italian names of the ordinary articles of underclothing (la biancheria) will be useful in dealing with the washerwoman: Shirt (linen, cotton, woollen), la camicia (di tela, di cotone, di lana); night-shirt, la camicia da notte; collar, il solino, il colletto; cuff, il polsino; drawers, le mutande; woollen under-shirt, una flanella or giubba di flanella or maglia; petticoat, la sottana; camisole, il copribusto; peignoir or dressing-jacket, accappatoio; stocking, la calza; sock, la calzetta, il pedalino; handkerchief (silk), il fazoletto

(di seta). To give out to wash, dare a bucato (di bucato, newly washed); washing list, la nota; washerwoman, laundress, la stiratrice, la lavandaia; buttons, i bottoni.

The popular idea of cleanliness in Italy is behind the age; but the traveller in the N. part of the country will rarely suffer from this shortcoming even in hotels of the second class, though those who quit the beaten track must be prepared for privations. Iron bedsteads should if possible be selected, as they are less likely to harbour the enemies of repose. Insect-powder (polvere insetticida or contro gli insetti) or camphor may be found useful.

The zanzare, or mosquitoes, are a source of great annoyance, and often of suffering, during summer and autumn and, on the Riviera, even in winter. Only a few parts of N. Italy (e.g. Piedmont, the W. lakes, and Bologna) are free from this pest, which is always worst in the neighbourhood of plantations, canals, or ponds. Between June and October the night should never be spent in malarial districts (Colico, Casale Monferrato, Mortara, Pavia, Mantua, Ferrara, Ravenna), where the female of the Anopheles Claviger frequently conveys the infection of malarial fever with its sting. Small doses of quinine may be used as a prophylactic. Windows should always be carefully closed before a light is introduced into the room. Light muslin curtains (zanzarieri) round the beds, masks for the face, and gloves are employed to ward off the attacks of these pertinacious intruders. The burning of pastilles (fidibus contra le zanzare, zampironi; in Venice, chiodi), which may be purchased of the principal chemists, is efficacious, but is accompanied by a scarcely agreeable odour. A rag soaked in petroleum and hung at the head of the bed, and anointing the face with citronella oil are other more or less successful remedies. The so-called Bengue ointment, consisting of menthol, methylated salicylic acid, and lanoline, is efficacious in allaying the discomforts occasioned by the bites, but care should be taken that none of it gets into the eyes.

X. Restaurants. Cafés. Birrerie. Cigars.

Restaurants (Ristoranti, Trattorie) give the visitor a much better chance of making himself acquainted with the characteristic Italian cuisine than he receives at hotels of the first rank. They are frequented, mainly by men, between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. for luncheon (colazione) and between 7 and 8.30 p.m. for dinner (pranzo). Those who eat alla carta and are content with the 'plats du jour' (piatti del giorno) and other local dishes may lunch or dine comfortably, including wine, for 2-4 fr. The meals at fixed prices (a prezzo fisso; 21/2-5 fr., wine extra) are less usual and neither so good nor so cheap as those à la carte. When there is no bill of fare the waiter (cameriere) will recite the list of dishes. If too importunate in his recommendations or suggestions he may be checked with the words 'grazie, basta'. The price should always be ascertained before ordering. Bread (pane) and the couvert (coperta) are often charged for separately. The diner calls for his bill (which should be carefully scrutinized) with the words 'il conto'. The waiter expects a gratuity of 20-30 c. for each person (comp. p. xvi). The so-called 'bars' are sometimes convenient for a snack or 'quick luncheon'. Residents for some time in a town should arrange to pay a fortnightly or monthly subscription ('pensione') at a lower rate.

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