The Neapolitans were driven into a number of strong positions round the royal palace, to the southwest of the town, and to the northwest toward the Mole, their line of retreat, and, not being able to do anything more, the ships opened their fire, always the last remedy. Almost all the civilized nations had representatives of their fleets on the spot to witness and approve by their presence this noble proceeding—English, French, American, Sardinian, Austrian—none of them were wanting; nay, they anchored in a way which might not hinder the movements of the brave Neapolitan fleet. The young King of Naples, though only twenty-three years old, has shown so much of the spirit of his father, recently deceased, that he has been justly named Bomba Junior, or the young Bomb-shell. When the landing of Garibaldi produced the first fit of terror at Naples, the youthful Bourbon sent to his brave fleet concentrated in the Bay of Palermo the order to bombard his faithful Palermitans, and reduce their town to ashes if they should dare to rise against his paternal authority. The Palermitans had been treated once already in this paternal manner by the illustrious father of the present sovereign, who figures in history as King Bomba, for having given these souvenirs of his love to every large town of his kingdom. During the latter part of the fighting between Garibaldi's troops and those of the king, when the latter were nearly driven from the streets of Palermo, the ammunition of the _picciotti_ (or little boys, as the patriot recruits were called) was exhausted at that point, one party of them fell back in one of the streets, and thus allowed the royalists to shut in a street of houses in which another party of them was still holding out. Garibaldi was at dinner when the news arrived. There had been so many rumors of an advance of the Neapolitans during the day, that the first impression was that this was merely another of those wild rumors; but Captain Niva, who brought it, was one of the Garibaldians, and there could be no doubt about its truth. Garibaldi jumped up from his chair, saying, "Well, then, I suppose I must go there myself." He saw it was one of those moments when the chief must be at the head of his troops to restore their confidence. He went downstairs, and took with him whatever troops he found on the road to that exposed point, and proceeded to retake the lost ground. "His presence (wrote a person who was in the city at the time), not only soon checked the advance of the royalists, but made them likewise lose the advantage they had gained a moment before. With that marvellous ascendency which he exercises over those around him, he succeeded in a short time in making the _picciotti_ fight, and even in animating the population which had remained in the houses."