On the 26th, Lieut. B⸺ and myself, accompanied Count K⸺ on board the Austrian flagship, lying off this port. This vessel, named the Austria, was a frigate of forty-four guns, built by the French at Venice, and afterwards taken possession of by the Austrians. We found an English sailor on board, who had entered from one of our merchantmen in the Mediterranean, and who gave us no very favourable account of the naval tactics of the Austrians. The officers appeared to want that smartness which we are accustomed to in a British man-of-war; that is, there was a heavy manner about them. We were treated, however, with civility, although we did expect more attention, having been introduced as British naval officers. On the 29th, one of the two Austrian frigates lying here, with two Neapolitan frigates, having under convoy about forty smaller vessels, with eight thousand Austrian troops on board, sailed for Palermo. My friends were highly delighted with this spectacle. Having heard much of the island of Ischia, distant twenty-four miles from Naples, I was induced to cross over to it, in company with Mr. J. O⸺, an English gentleman, who was purposing to spend some time there, on account of his health. We had intended setting off some days before, but the Sirocco wind prevented us, being attended by a heavy swell setting into the bay, so that no boat would venture out. We left Naples at six o’clock in the morning of the 30th of May, and after passing by the islands of Nicida and Prochyta, on the former of which stands the Lazaretto, and on the latter one of the king’s palaces, we landed about half after eleven, at the village of Ischia. We were immediately surrounded by a number of fellows having asses with them, which they, with much insolence, urged us to hire. Mr. O⸺ took one for his little nephew whom he had brought with him, and setting him forward, we followed on foot until we arrived at Sentinella, a distance of three or four miles. We were pursued, however, for a considerable time by a drove of these donkey men, in expectation that we might hire their animals; but at length, finding themselves disappointed, they gradually gave up the point, hooting and holloing after us as they departed. On laying my hand on one of these asses, I was astonished at the silkiness of its skin; but I believe the hair of all animals is proportionately softer in southern climates, probably in consequence of the superficial pores being more open. I have heard, and it appears probable, that the nerves of the cuticle, as of the finger, are more sensible in warm latitudes; and that this is the reason why the silks, and other fine works, in such countries, are of more delicate texture, than what are manufactured elsewhere.