"And yet, up to a short time ago, there was no emigration
from this place. Then a change came about: I'll tell you how it was.
There was a guardia di finanze here - a miserable octroi official. To
keep up the name of his family, he married an heiress; not for the sake
of having progeny, but - well! He began buying up all the land round
about - slowly, systematically, cautiously - till, by dint of threats and
intrigues, he absorbed nearly all the surrounding country. Inch by inch,
he ate it up; with his wife's money. That was his idea of perpetuating
his memory. All the small proprietors were driven from their domains and
fled to America to escape starvation; immense tracts of well-cultivated
land are now almost desert. Look at the country! But some day he will
get his reward; under the ribs, you know."
By this purposeful re-creation of those feudal conditions of olden,
days, this man has become the best-hated person in the district.
Soon it was time to leave the friendly shelter and inspect in the
glaring sunshine the remaining antiquities of Petelia. Never have I felt
less inclined for such antiquarian exploits. How much better the hours
would have passed in some cool tavern! I went forth, none the less; and
was delighted to discover that there are practically no antiquities
left - nothing save a few walls standing near a now ruined convent, which
is largely built of Roman stone-blocks and bricks.
