Syracuse Port, Sicily

The docks of Syracuse Harbor were filled with the normal activity and bustle found in any foreign seaport. Robust sailors of many nationalities streamed in and out of the anchored vessels, loading and unloading heavy boxes and cargo. Merchants and peddlers weaved their way along the noisy docks, their cries to potential buyers mingling in confusion with the cacophony of foreign languages and nautical-slang from the wobbly-legged seamen. Within the shadowy alleyways of the stone buildings which lined the docks slouched a number of questionable miscreants, eyeing the throngs for prospective pockets or unsuspecting merchants. Such was often the scene in the Mediterranean port of Syracuse, Sicily in 1804