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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:38:39 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 02:38:39 -0700 |
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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia + with Notices of their History, Antiquities, and Present Condition. + +Author: Thomas Forester + +Release Date: April 6, 2009 [EBook #28510] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAMBLES *** + + + + +Produced by Carlo Traverso, Barbara Magni and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://dp.rastko.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF/Gallica) at +http://gallica.bnf.fr) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="btitle">RAMBLES</h2> + +<h2 class="btitle">IN</h2> + +<h2 class="btitle">CORSICA AND SARDINIA.</h2> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2><small>WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.</small></h2> + +<p class="center"><small>I.</small></p> + +<p class="blockquot">RAMBLES IN NORWAY, 1848-1849; including Remarks on its Political, +Military, Ecclesiastical, and Social Organization. With a Map, +Wood Engravings, and Lithographic Illustrations. 1 vol. 8vo. +Longman and Co., 1860.<br /> +*<span style="vertical-align: sub">*</span>* A few copies only of this Edition are on hand.</p> + +<p class="center"><small>II.</small></p> + +<p class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">The Same</span>, in 1 vol. post 8vo. without the Illustrations. +(<i>Traveller's Library</i>.) Longman and Co., 1855.</p> + +<p class="center"><small>III.</small></p> + +<p class="blockquot">EVERARD TUNSTALL: A South-African Tale. Bentley, 1851.<br /> +*<span style="vertical-align: sub">*</span>* A New Edition is in preparation.</p> + +<p class="center"><small>IV.</small></p> + +<p class="blockquot">THE DANUBE AND THE BLACK SEA. A Memoir on their Junction by a +Railway and Port; with Remarks on the Navigation of the Danube, +the Danubian Provinces, the Corn Trade, the Antient and Present +Commerce of the Euxine; and Notices of History, Antiquities, +&c. With a Map and Sketch of the Town and Harbour of +Kustendjie. 1 vol. 8vo. E. Stanford, 6 Charing Cross, 1857.</p> + +<hr style="visibility: hidden" /> + +<p class="center"><small>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.<br /> +NEW-STREET SQUARE.</small></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> +<img src="images/004.jpg" width="700" height="427" alt="Ajaccio" title="Ajaccio" /> +</div> + + +<h1>RAMBLES</h1> + +<h3>IN THE ISLANDS OF</h3> + +<h1><big>CORSICA AND SARDINIA.</big></h1> + +<p class="title"><small>WITH</small></p> + +<h3>NOTICES OF THEIR HISTORY, ANTIQUITIES, AND PRESENT CONDITION.</h3> + +<h2 class="author">BY THOMAS FORESTER</h2> +<p class="center"><small>AUTHOR OF “NORWAY IN 1818-1819,” ETC.</small></p> + +<p class="title"><big>LONDON</big></p> + +<p class="center">LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, LONGMANS, AND ROBERTS.<br /> +1858</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[v]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE</h2> + + +<p>Nearly a century ago, James Boswell made an expedition +to Corsica, and was entertained with distinction +by Pascal Paoli. Next to conducting +Samuel Johnson to the Hebrides, the exploit of penetrating +to what was then considered a sort of <i>Ultima +Thule</i> in southern Europe, was the greatest event in +the famous biographer's life; and, next to his devotion +to the English sage, was the homage he paid to +the Corsican chief.</p> + +<p>Soon after his return from this expedition, in 1767, +Boswell printed his Journal, with a valuable account +of the island; but from that time to the present, no +Englishman has written on Corsica except Mr. Robert +Benson, who published some short “Sketches” of its +history, scenery, and people in 1825. During the war +of the revolution, Nelson's squadron hung like a +thunder-cloud round the coast, and for some time an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[vi]</a></span> +expeditionary force of British troops held possession +of the island. Our George the Third accepted the +Corsican crown, but his reign was as ephemeral as +that of King Theodore, the aspiring adventurer, who +ended his days in the Fleet Prison.</p> + +<p>These occurrences, with any knowledge of the +country and people arising out of them, have passed +from the memory of the present generation; and it +may be affirmed, without exaggeration, that when the +tour forming the subject of the present work was +projected and carried out, Corsica was less known +in England than New Zealand. The general impression +concerning it was tolerably correct. Imagination +painted it as a wild and romantic country,—romantic +in its scenery and the character of its +inhabitants; a very region of romance and sentiment; +a fine field for the novelist and the dramatist; and +to that class of writers it was abandoned.</p> + +<p>Corsica had yet to be faithfully pictured to the +just apprehension of the discerning inquirer. +Naturally therefore the author, whose narratives of +his wanderings in more than one quarter of the globe +had been favourably received, was not indisposed to +commit to the press the result of his observations +during his Corsican rambles. Just then, translations +of an account of a Tour in the island by a German<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[vii]</a></span> +traveller, appeared in England, and being written in +an attractive style, the work commanded considerable +attention. It seemed to fill the gap in English literature +on the subject of Corsica; and though the +writer of these pages felt that M. Gregorovius' +pictures of Corsican life were too highly coloured, +he was inclined to leave the field in the hands which +had cultivated it with talent and success. Eventually, +however, being led to think that Corsica was still +open to survey from an English point of view, and +that it possessed sufficient legitimate attractions to +sustain the interest of such a work as he had designed, +the author was induced to undertake it.</p> + +<p>If the field of literature connected with Corsica was +found barren when examined in prospect of this expedition, +that of Sardinia presented an <i>embarras de +richesses</i>. The works of La Marmora, Captain, now +Admiral, Smyth, and Mr. Warre Tyndale, had seemingly +exhausted the subject, with a success the mere +Rambler can make no pretensions to rival; but the +former being a foreign work, and the two latter out of +print, neither of them is easily accessible. They +have been sometimes used, in the following pages, to +throw light on subjects which came under the author's +own observation. He has also consulted a valuable +work, recently published at Naples, by F. Antonio<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[viii]</a></span> +Bresciani, of the Society of Jesus<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a>, on the manners +and habits of the Sardes compared with those of the +oldest Oriental nations. The comparisons are chiefly +gathered from scenes and usages depicted in the narratives +of Homer and the Bible, still singularly reflected +in the habits and traditions of the primitive +and insular people of Sardinia.</p> + +<p>Some of these are noticed in the present volume, +and the author intended to draw more largely on the +rich stores accumulated by the researches of the +learned Jesuit; but time and space failed. Like +truant boys, the Ramblers had loitered on their early +path, idly amusing themselves with very trifles, or +stopping to gather the wild flowers that fell in their +way, till the harvest-field was reached too late to be +carefully gleaned. For a work, however, of this description, +attention enough has perhaps been paid to +the subject of Sarde antiquities; it being intended to +be amusing as well as instructive, to convey information +on the character of the people on whom it treats, +as well as on their institutions and monuments.</p> + +<p>If, in conclusion, it be mentioned that the delay +in bringing out the volume, long since announced, +has been caused by ill health and other painful<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ix" id="Page_ix">[ix]</a></span> +circumstances, the Author is only anxious that it +should not be misinterpreted, as attaching to the +work an importance to which it does not pretend. +But there is the less reason for regretting this delay, +as it has afforded him another opportunity of visiting +Sardinia, as well as of witnessing the operation of +laying down the submarine electric telegraph cable +between Cagliari and the African coast; an event in +Sardinian history, some notice of which, with the +accompanying trip to Algeria, may form a not uninteresting +episode to the Rambles in that island.</p> + +<p class="date">May, 1858.<br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_x" id="Page_x">[x]</a></span></p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_xi" id="Page_xi">[xi]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="visibility: hidden;" /> + +<table summary="Contents"> +<tr> +<td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="bigger">CONTENTS.</span></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAPTER I.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Inducements to the Expedition.—Early impressions concerning +Corsica.—Plan of the Tour.—Routes to Marseilles.—Meeting +there</td><td class="num">Page <a href="#CHAPTER_I">1</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. II.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Marseilles.—Cafe de l'Orient.—Cannebière and Port.—Sail to the + Islands in the Gulf.—The Château-d'If and Count de + Monte-Cristo.—A sudden Squall</td><td class="num"> <a href="#CHAP_II">8</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. III.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Embark for Corsica.—Coast of France and Italy.—Toulon.—Hyères + Islands, Frejus, &c.—A stormy Night.—Crossing the Tuscan Sea</td> +<td class="num"> <a href="#CHAP_III">21</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. IV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Coast of Capo Corso.—Peculiarity of Scenery.—Verdure, and + Mountain Villages.—Il Torre di Seneca.—Land at Bastia</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_IV">28</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. V.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Bastia.—Territorial Divisions.—Plan of the Rambles.—Hiring + Mules.—The Start</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_V">38</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. VI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Leave Bastia.—The Road.—View of Elba, Pianosa, and + Monte-Cristo.—The Littorale.—An Adventure.—The Stagna di + Biguglia</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_VI">44</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. VII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Evergreen Thickets.—Their remarkable Character.—A fortunate + Rencontre.—Moonlight in the Mountains.—Cross a high + Col.—Corsican Shepherds.—The Vendetta.—Village Quarters</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_VII">53</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. VIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">The Littorale.—Corsican Agriculture.—Greek and Roman + Colonies.—Sketch of Mediæval and Modern History.—Memoirs of + King Theodore de Neuhoff</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_VIII">65</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. IX.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Environs of Olmeta.—Bandit-Life and the Vendetta.—Its + Atrocities.—The Population disarmed.—The Bandits exterminated</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_IX">77</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. X.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">The Basin of Oletta.—The Olive.—Corsican Tales.—The Heroine of + Oletta.—Zones of Climate and Vegetation</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_X">90</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Pisan Church at Murato.—Chestnut Woods.—Gulf of San + Fiorenzo.—Nelson's Exploit there.—He conducts the Siege of + Bastia.—Ilex Woods.—Mountain Pastures.—The Corsican Shepherd</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XI">102</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Chain of the Serra di Tenda.—A Night at Bigorno.—A hospitable + Priest.—Descent to the Golo</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XII">117</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Ponte Nuovo.—The Battle-field.—Antoine's Story</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XIII">129</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XIV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Filial Duty, Love, and Revenge: a Corsican Tale</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XIV">134</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Morosaglia, Seat of the Paolis.—Higher Valley of the + Golo.—Orography of Corsica.—Its Geology</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XV">145</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XVI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Approach to Corte.—Our “Man of the Woods.”—Casa Paoli.—The + Gaffori.—Citadel.—An Evening Stroll</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XVI">156</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XVII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Pascal Paoli more honoured than Napoleon Buonaparte.—His + Memoirs.—George III. King of Corsica.—Remarks on the + Union.—Paoli's Death and Tomb</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XVII">164</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XVIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Excursion to a Forest.—Borders of the + Niolo.—Adventures.—Corsican Pines.—The Pinus Maritima and + Pinus Lariccio.—Government Forests</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XVIII">179</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XIX.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">The Forest of Asco.—Corsican Beasts of Chase.—The + Moufflon.—Increase of Wild Animals.—The last of the Banditti</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XIX">191</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XX.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Leave Corte for Ajaccio.—A Legend of Venaco.—Arrival at + Vivario</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XX">200</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Leave Vivario.—Forest of Vizzavona.—A roadside + Adventure.—Bocagnono.—Arrive late at Ajaccio</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXI">205</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Ajaccio.—Collège-Fesch.—Reminiscences of the Buonaparte + Family.—Excursion in the Gulf.—Chapel of the Greeks.—Evening + Scenes.—Council-General of the Department.—Statistics.—State + of Agriculture in Corsica.—Her Prospects</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXII">213</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Leave Ajaccio.—Neighbourhood of Olmeto.—Sollacaró.—James + Boswell's Residence there.—Scene in the “Corsican Brothers” + laid there.—Quarrel of the Vincenti and Grimaldi.—Road to + Sartene.—Corsican Marbles.—Arrive at Bonifacio</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXIII">227</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXIV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Bonifacio.—Foundation and History.—Besieged by Alfonso of + Arragon.—By Dragut and the Turks.—Singularity of the + Place.—Its Medieval Aspect.—The + Post-office.—Passports.—Detention.—Marine Grottoes.—Ruined + Convent of St. Julian</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXIV">242</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left"><span class="smcap">Island of Sardinia</span>.—Cross the Straits of Bonifacio.—The + Town and Harbour of La Madelena.—Agincourt Sound, the Station + of the British Fleet in 1803.—Anecdotes of Nelson.—Napoleon + Bonaparte repulsed at La Madelena</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXV">258</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXVI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Ferried over to the Main Island.—Start for the Mountain Passes + of the Gallura.—Sarde Horses and Cavallante.—Valley of the + Liscia.—Pass some Holy Places on the Hills.—Festivals held + there.—Usages of the Sardes indicating their Eastern Origin</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXVI">272</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXVII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">The Valley narrows.—Romantic Glen.—Al fresco Meal.—Forest of + Cork Trees.—Salvator Rosa Scenery.—Haunts of Outlaws.—Their + Atrocities.—Anecdotes of them in a better Spirit.—The Defile + in the Mountains.—Elevated Plateau.—A Night March.—Arrival + at Tempio, the Capital of Gallura.—Our Reception</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXVII">280</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXVIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Tempio.—The Town and Environs.—The Limbara + Mountains.—Vineyards.—The Governor or Intendente of the + Province.—Deadly Feuds.—Sarde Girls at the + Fountains.—Hunting in Sardinia.—Singular Conference with the + Tempiese Hunters.—Society at the Casino.—Description of a + Boar Hunt</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXVIII">295</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXIX.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Leave Tempio.—Sunrise.—Light Wreaths of Mist across the + Valley.—A Pass of the Limbara.—View from the Summit.—Dense + Vapour over the Plain beneath.—The Lowlands unhealthy.—The + deadly Intempérie.—It recently carried off an English + Traveller.—Descend a romantic Glen to the Level of the + Campidano.—Its peculiar Character.—Gallop over it.—Reach + Ozieri</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXIX">310</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXX.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Effects of vast Levels as compared with Mountain + Scenery.—Sketches of Sardinian Geology.—The primitive Chains + and other Formations.—Traces of extensive Volcanic + action.—The “Campidani,” or Plains.—Mineral Products</td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXX">320</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Ozieri.—A Refugee Colonel turned Cook and Traiteur.—Traces of + Phenician Superstitions in Sarde Usages.—The Rites of + Adonis.—Passing through the Fire to Moloch</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXI">331</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Expedition to the Mountains.—Environs of Ozieri.—First View of + the Peaks of Genargentu.—Forests.—Value of the Oak + Timber.—Cork Trees; their Produce, and Statistics of the + Trade.—Hunting the Wild Boar, &c.—The Hunters' Feast.—A + Bivouac in the Woods.—Notices of the Province of + Barbagia.—Independence of the Mountaineers</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXII">344</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Leave Ozieri.—The New Road, and Travelling in the + Campagna.—Monte Santo.—Scenes at the Halfway House.—Volcanic + Hills.—Sassari; its History.—Liberal Opinions of the + Sassarese.—Constitutional Government.—Reforms wanted in + Sardinia.—Means for its Improvement</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXIII">358</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXIV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Alghero—Notice of.—The Cathedral of + Sassari.—University.—Museum.—A Student's private + Cabinet.—Excursion to a Nuraghe.—Description of.—Remarks on + the Origin and Design of these Structures</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXIV">376</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXV.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Sardinian Monoliths.—The Sepolture, or “Tombs of the + Giants.”—Traditions regarding Giant Races.—The Anakim, &c., + of Canaan.—Their supposed Migration to Sardinia.—Remarks on + Aboriginal Races.—Antiquity of the Nuraghe and + Sepolture.—Their Founders unknown</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXV">389</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXVI.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Oristano.—Orange-groves of Milis.—Cagliari.—Description + of.—The Cathedral and Churches.—Religious + Laxity.—Ecclesiastical Statistics.—Vegetable and Fruit + Market.—Royal Museum.—Antiquities.—Coins found in + Sardinia.—Phenician Remains.—The Sarde Idols</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXVI">407</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXVII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Porto-Torres.—Another Italian Refugee.—Embark for Genoa.—West + Coast of Corsica.—Turin.—The Sardinian Electric + Telegraph.—The Wires laid to Cagliari</td><td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXVII">422</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center">CHAP. XXXVIII.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">Sardinian Electric Telegraph.—The Land Line completed.—Failures + in Attempts to lay a Submarine Cable to Algeria.—The Work + resumed.—A Trip to Bona on the African Coast.—The Cable + laid.—Importance of Cagliari as a Telegraph Station.—Its + Commerce.—The return Voyage.—<span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></td> +<td class="num"><a href="#CHAP_XXXVIII">432</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<table summary="illustrations"> +<tr> +<td class="center" colspan="2"><span class="bigger">INDEX TO THE ILLUSTRATIONS.</span></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" colspan="2"><big>LITHOGRAPHS.</big></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">AJACCIO</td><td class="num"><i><a href="#frontispiece">frontispiece</a></i></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MAP OF CORSICA AND SARDINIA</td><td class="num"><i>facing p.</i> <a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ERSA, CAPO CORSO</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_32">33</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CORTE</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_157">157</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">VIVARIO</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_204">205</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BONIFACIO</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">VALLEY OF THE LISCIA, SARDINIA</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_274">275</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE LIMBARA, FROM TEMPIO</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_296">296</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE PLAN OF OZIERI</td><td class="num">“ <a href="#Page_319">318</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" colspan="2"><big>WOOD ENGRAVINGS.</big></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" colspan="2">CORSICA.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MARSEILLES, FROM THE RAILWAY</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ISLETS OFF MARSEILLES</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_12">12</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CHÂTEAU-D'IF</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MARSEILLES, FROM THE CHÂTEAU-D'IF</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_17">17</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">FRENCH COAST, OFF CIOTAT</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_23">23</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">OFF TOULON</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_24">24</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">IL TORRE DI SENECA</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_47">47</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">MEETING OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN NEAR BASTIA</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_48">48</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">OLMETA</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO, THROUGH A GORGE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_91">91</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BETWEEN OLMETA AND BIGORNO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_95">95</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">PONTE MURATO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CAPO CORSO, FROM CHESTNUT WOODS</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_107">107</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">NEAR BIGORNO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CITADEL OF CORTE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_161">161</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">PINUS MARITIMA</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">PINUS LARICCIO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_185">185</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CONE OF THE PINUS LARICCIO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BARK OF THE PINUS LARICCIO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BOCAGNONO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_209">209</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">HARBOUR OF AJACCIO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_217">217</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BONIFACIO, ON THE SEA-SIDE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_240">240</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">OUTLINE OF SARDINIA, FROM BONIFACIO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_254">253</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CAVES UNDER BONIFACIO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_255">255</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">BONIFACIO, FROM THE CONVENT IN THE VALLEY</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_256">256</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="center" colspan="2">SARDINIA.</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">LOOKING BACK ON CORSICA</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">A SALVATOR ROSA SCENE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">DESCENT TO THE CAMPIDANO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_313">313</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE CAMPIDANO</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_321">321</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">EXTERIOR OF A NURAGHE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_379">379</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">ENTRANCE TO A NURAGHE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_381">381</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">INTERIOR OF A NURAGHE</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_381">381</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_390">390</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">THE SAME</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_391">391</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">SARDO-ROMAN COIN</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_417">417</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">CARTHAGINEAN COIN</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_418">418</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">SARACEN COIN</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_418">418</a></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="left">PORTO-TORRES</td><td class="num"><a href="#Page_425">425</a></td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<a href="images/maplarge.jpg"> +<img src="images/mapsmall.jpg" width="375" height="600" alt="Corsica and Sardinia" title="Corsica and Sardinia" /></a> +<p class="caption"><a href="images/maplarge.jpg">CORSICA and SARDINIA to accompany Forester's “Rambles.”</a></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2 class="btitle">RAMBLES</h2> + +<h2 class="btitle"><small>IN</small></h2> + +<h2 class="btitle"><big>CORSICA AND SARDINIA.</big></h2> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Inducements to the Expedition.—Early impressions concerning +Corsica.—Plan of the Tour.—Routes to Marseilles.—Meeting +there.</i></p> + + +<p>It would be difficult to say, and it matters little, what +principally led to the selection of two islands in the Mediterranean, +not generally supposed to possess any particular +attractions for the tourist, as the object for an autumn's +expedition with the companion of former rambles. At any +rate, we should break fresh ground; and I imagine the +hope of shooting <i>moufflons</i> was no small inducement to +my friend, who had succeeded in the wild sport of hunting +reindeer on the high Fjelds of Norway. If, too, his comrade +should fail in climbing to the vast solitudes in which the +bounding <i>moufflon</i> harbours, there were boar hunts in the +prospect for him; not such courtly pageants as one sees +in the pictures of Velasquez, but more stirring, and in +nobler covers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[2]</a></span></p> + +<p>Should these prove to be false hopes, the enthusiastic +sketcher, and the lover of the grand and beautiful in nature, +must find ample compensation in the scenery of mountains +lifting their snowy peaks from bases washed by the sunny +Mediterranean,—mountain systems of a character yet unvisited, +and with which we could at least compare those of +Norway and Switzerland. This power of comparison is +what imparts the most lively interest to travelling; and +thus it becomes, for the time, all-engrossing, the eyes and +the memory alike employed at every turn on contrasts of +form, colour, and clothing.</p> + +<p>Not less attractive, to any one desirous of extending his +knowledge of human kind, would be the prospect of studying +the races inhabiting islands as yet unknown to him. +The oldest writer of travels, bringing on the stage his +hero-wanderer along the shores of the Mediterranean, +gives the finishing touch to his character in two significant +words, νόον ἐγνῶ.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> Not only did he “visit the abodes of +many people,” but he “studied their Νοῦς;” all that the +term involves of its impress on character, habits, and institutions +was keenly investigated by the accomplished navigator. +And what studies must be afforded by these singular +islanders, who, we were informed, in the centre of the +Mediterranean, at the very threshold of civilisation, combined +many of the virtues, with more than the ferocity, +of barbarous tribes!</p> + +<p>My own impressions regarding Corsica were early received. +In my younger days, there was the same sort of +sympathy with the Corsicans which we now find more +noisily, and sometimes absurdly, displayed for the Poles.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span> +I had seen Pascal Paoli, and talked with General Dumouriez +about his first campaign against the Corsican mountaineers, +of which his recollections were by no means +agreeable. Pascal Paoli had found an asylum in England, +where he maintained a dignified seclusion, not always +imitated by patriot exiles. His memory has almost passed +away, and it is quite imaginable that some stump orator +may reckon him among the exiled Poles of former days. +Pascal Paoli was, however, a truly great man. In my +boyish enthusiasm—all “Grecians” are in the heroics +about patriots who have fought and struggled for their +country's liberty—I compared him with Aristides or +Themistocles; the Corsicans were heroes; the country +which rudely nursed those brave mountaineers—I had +also a touch of sentiment for the sublime and beautiful in +nature which a schoolboy does not always get from books,—such +a country must be romantic. Should I ever +ramble among its mountains, forests, and sunny valleys?</p> + +<p>At last, long after the chimera, for such it inevitably +was, of Corsican independence had vanished, my cherished +hopes have been realised,—with what success will appear +in the following pages. I will only say for myself, and I +believe my fellow-traveller participates the feeling, a more +delightful tour I never made.</p> + +<p>Corsica had an ugly reputation for <i>banditisme</i>, and +Sardinia for a deadly <i>intempérie</i>; but we did not attach +much importance to such rumours. The enthusiastic +traveller disregards danger. If told that there is “a lion +in his path,” he only goes the more resolutely forward. +As for the banditti, we would fraternise with them if +they, best knowing the mountain paths, would track the +moufflons for us.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span></p> + +<p>The true traveller must “become all things to all men,” +if he desires to familiarise himself with the habits and +characters of other races. Without forgetting that he is +an Englishman, he will cast off that self-conceit and cold +exclusiveness which make so many of your countrymen +ridiculous in the eyes of foreigners, and, adapting himself +to the situation, become, if needs be, a bandit in Corsica, +a bonder in Norway, drink sour milk without a wry face +in a Caffre's kraal, take snuff with his wives—be any +thing except a Turk in Turkey; though even there, when +he comes to talk the language, he will adopt the eastern +custom of taking his pipe, his coffee, and his repose, not +chattering, but sententiously uttering his words between +whiffs of smoke, which, meanwhile, he <i>drinks</i>, as the Turks +well express it.</p> + +<p>We envy not the man, the T. G. (travelling gent.) of +society, whose principal aim in travelling is to gratify a +miserable vanity; to be able to boast of crossing or climbing +such a mountain; to have to say, “I have been here, +I have been there; I have done Bagdad; I have seen the +Nile,” or such and such a place. The true traveller is +unselfish. Though to him it is food, breath, a renewal of +life, a fresh existence, to travel,—half his pleasure is to +carry home from his wanderings, to an English fireside, a +tale of other lands. That happy English home is ever +present to his mind, and, with all his enthusiasm, he meets +with nothing in his rambles he would exchange for its +blessings.</p> + +<p>Being strongly recommended to defer our visit to Sardinia +until the latest possible period of the autumn, the +plan finally laid was to take Corsica in detail from Capo +Corso to Bonifaccio, and then cross the straits, as best we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> +might, there being no regular communication. Having +landed in Sardinia, we should continue the tour through +that island as long as circumstances permitted; leaving it +by one of the Sardinian government's steam-boats which +ply between the island and Genoa and so take the route +by Turin, over the Mont-Cenis, to Lyons, Paris, and +Boulogne.</p> + +<p>As these islands lie on the same parallel of longitude +(11° 50' E. nearly cutting the centre of both), by the route +thus chalked out, we should make a straight course from +north to south, with no considerable deviations, the islands +being, as every one knows, in the form of parallelograms +of much greater length than breadth.</p> + +<p>Marseilles was finally arranged to be our port of embarkation, +and the postponement of the visit to Sardinia +till November leaving time on our hands, we had ample +leisure for the accomplishment of some secondary projects, +which brought us into training for the <i>grand coup</i>. My +friend pushed through the more frequented parts of Switzerland +for Zermatt and the Matterhorn. He was much +struck by the remarkable contrast of that stupendous obelisk +of rock, piercing the clouds, with the vast, but still +sublime, expanse of the high Fjelds of snow we had seen in +Norway; and the remark applies generally to the grand +distinctive features of the two countries. Descending the +valley of Aosta, my friend travelled by Genoa and Nice +through the Maritime Alps to Marseilles, going on to +Avignon with some friends he happened to fall in with on +the way;—such meetings with those we know, and sometimes +with those we do not know, being among the pleasures +of travelling in the more frequented routes. Agreeable +acquaintances are made or renewed; perhaps a day or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span> +two is spent in travelling together, with a charm that is +very delightful; and you part with the hope of meeting +again.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the author, who had been delving in the +Norman Chronicles till every castle and abbey through the +length and depth of the old Duchy were become familiar +names, feeling a strong desire to revisit scenes thus brought +fresh to his memory, shouldered his knapsack at Dieppe, +and spent a most delightful fortnight in rambling through +that fine province.</p> + +<p>Many a pleasant story he could tell of wayside greetings +and fireside hospitalities among the Norman peasantry. +The old soldier of the empire stopped his <i>camarade</i>, as +something in our <i>tenue</i> led him to imagine, asking eager +questions about the coming war and the united service, +both which seemed to be popular; while market and fair, +and the communal school, each in their turn, drew forth +amusing companions for the road. But these episodes, and +more serious talk of Norman abbeys buried in the depths +of forests or girded round by the winding Seine—rich in +memories of the past, but ruins all—and of Norman +churches and cathedrals, in all their ancient grandeur, or +well restored, are beside the present purpose.</p> + +<p>Hastening southward by <i>diligence</i> and <i>chemin-de-fer</i>, +the first vineyards appeared between Chartres and Orleans, +with an effect much inferior, as it seemed, to that produced +by the orchards of Normandy, loaded as they were with +ruddy fruit; but this may be the prejudice of a native of +the West of England. From Lyons, one of the long narrow +steamboats afforded a most agreeable passage down +the stream of the rapid Rhone to Avignon. The autumn +rains, which sometimes caused a weary march through<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> +the byroads of Normandy, had cooled the air, freshened +vegetation, and made travelling in the south of France +pleasant. While journeying on, every hour and every +league bringing me nearer to the intended meeting, it was +natural to feel some anxiety lest in such great distances +to be traversed, with little or no intermediate communication, +something might go wrong, and our plans, however +well laid, be delayed or frustrated. The last stage of the +journey commenced—should I be first at the rendezvous, +or was my companion for the future waiting my arrival?</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/007.jpg" width="500" height="263" alt="MARSEILLES FROM THE RAILWAY." +title="MARSEILLES FROM THE RAILWAY." /> +<p class="caption">MARSEILLES FROM THE RAILWAY.</p> +</div> + +<p>At last, after spending the warm noon of an unclouded +day amongst the noble ruins of Arles, the train landed me +at the station at Marseilles, and my friend was on the +platform. The pleasure of casual meetings <i>en route</i> has +been just adverted to. How joyous was that of two travellers, +wanderers together in times gone by, who now +met so far from home, after their separate courses, with a +fresh field opening before them!—the recognition, doubt +and uncertainty vanishing, the glorious chat,—all this the +warm-hearted reader will easily imagine.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_II" id="CHAP_II"></a>CHAP. II.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Marseilles.—Café de l'Orient.—Cannebière and Port.—Sail +to the Islands in the Gulf.—The Château d'If and Count +de Monte-Cristo.—A sudden Squall.</i></p> + + +<p>We met then at Marseilles in the second week of October, +punctual to the appointed day. Our several lines of route +had well converged. Want of companionship was the only +drawback on the pleasure they had afforded; but they +were only preludes to the joint undertaking on which we +now entered. Each recounted his past adventures, and +measures were concerted for the future.</p> + +<p>Steamboats leave Marseilles three times every week for +Corsica;—I like to be particular, especially when one gets +beyond Murray's beat. One of these boats calls at Bastia +on its way to Leghorn; the others make each a voyage +direct to Calvi, or l'Isle de Rousse, and Ajaccio.</p> + +<p>It suited us best to land at Bastia, but we were detained +three days at Marseilles waiting for the boat. That also +happened to suit us. We had hitherto travelled in the +lightest possible marching order, and some heavier baggage, +containing equipments for our expedition in the +islands, had not yet turned up. Knapsack tours are not +the style beyond the Alps. In the south and east, all +above the lowest grade ride. It is so in Corsica; still +more in Sardinia,—where all is eastern. We trudged on +foot sometimes in Corsica, to get into the country, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +should have been considered mad; but, as Englishmen, we +were only eccentric. We waited then for our baggage, +which contained, among other things, English saddles,—a +great luxury. My companion thought it a professional +duty to reconnoitre the fortifications of Toulon. By travelling +in the night, going and returning, he contrived to +get a clear day for the purpose.</p> + +<p>Marseilles had interest enough to occupy my attention +during his absence. Being the great <i>entrepôt</i> of commerce, +and centre of communication, in the Mediterranean, +all the races dwelling on its shores, and many others, are +represented there.</p> + +<p>“Let us go to the <i>Grand Café</i>,”—I think it is called +<i>Café de l'Orient</i>—said my companion, the evening we +met.</p> + +<p>Any one who has merely visited Paris may imagine the +brilliance of this vast <i>salon</i>, the lights reflected on a +hundred mirrors. But where else than at Marseilles could +be found such an assemblage as now crowded it?</p> + +<p>See that Turk, with the magnificent beard. What yards +of snowy gauze-like cambric, with gold-embroidered ends, +are wound in graceful folds round the fez, contrasting +with the dark mahogany colour of his sun-burnt brow. +And what a rich crimson caftan! Perhaps he is from +Tunis or Barbary. He sits alone, smoking, with eyes +half-closed, grave and taciturn.</p> + +<p>They must be Greeks,—those two figures in dark-flowing +robes. They too wear the red fez. Mark the neat moustache, +the clean chiselled outline of their features, the +active eye. They are eagerly conversing over that round +marble table while they sip their coffee. Their talk must +be of the corn markets. Now is their opportunity, as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +harvest in France has failed. And see that man with the +olive complexion, keen features, and ringlets of black hair +and pendent ear-rings under his dark <i>barrette</i>. He may +be the <i>padróne</i> of some felucca from Leghorn or Naples. +Beside him is a Spaniard. He, too, seems a seafaring +man; and no felucca-rigged vessels in the Mediterranean +are smarter, finer-looking craft than the Spanish.</p> + +<p>There are plenty of Arabs, swarthy, high-cheeked-boned, +keen-eyed fellows, in snowy bournouses, with hair and +moustache of almost unnatural blackness. French officers +of every arm in the service are grouped round the tables, +drinking <i>eau-sucré</i> and playing at dominoes or cards, or +lounge on the sofas reading the gazettes. The <i>garçons</i> +in scarlet tunics, relieved by their white turbans and +cambric trowsers, are hurrying to and fro at the call of +the motley guests.</p> + +<p>“Those two gentlemen just entering are Americans, not +of the Yankee type, with free and easy air, and tall lanky +forms. I made their acquaintance in the steam-boat down +the Rhone. They are men of great intelligence, perfect +<i>savoir-vivre</i>, and calm dignity of manner, patrician citizens +of a republic. One of them wore his plaid as gracefully as +a toga. I set him down for a senator from one of the +Southern states.”</p> + +<p>“I have seen no English here,” said my companion. +Next day he met his friend Captain H—— returning on +leave from Malta to England. Marseilles is on the highway +to all the East, and on the arrival or departure of the +packets connected with the “Overland Route” there must +be a strong muster of our countrymen, and women too.</p> + +<p>Turning out of the shady avenue of the Corso on a +sultry afternoon, I sauntered down the <i>Rue de la Cannebière</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> +towards the port. It was the busiest part of the +day, for there seemed to be no idle time for the <i>siesta</i> +here. The streets and quays were thronged with people of +the same varieties of race we had seen in the <i>café</i>; most of +them, of course, of an inferior class. There can be no +mistaking that wild-looking creature, bare-legged, and in +a white bournouse, who is staring with curious eyes at +the splendid array of jewellery and plate displayed to his +eager gaze in that shop window. Again he pauses before +that elegant assortment of silks and shawls. What tales +of European luxury will the child of the desert carry back +to the tents of the Bedouins!</p> + +<p>I found the port crowded with ships of all nations, the +quays encumbered with piles of <i>barriques</i> and mountains +of Egyptian wheat discharged in bulk. What blinding +dust as they shovel it up! What a suffocating heat! +What smells in this hollow trough which receives the filth +of all the town! How curiously names on the sterns of +vessels, and <i>annonces</i> over the shops of <i>traiteurs</i> and ship-chandlers, +in very readable Greek, carry the mind back to +the Phocæan founders of this great emporium of commerce!</p> + +<p>It was a cooler walk along the <i>Rue de Rome</i>, and by +the <i>Marché-aux-Capucins</i>, gay with fruits and flowers, to +the Museum library, in search of books relating to Corsica. +There was some difficulty in discovering it. Literature +and science do not appear to be much in vogue in this +seat of commerce. The Museum was closed, the <i>custode</i> +absent, but a good-humoured porter allowed me a stranger's +privilege, and took me into the library; giving me also +some details of Corsican roads from his personal knowledge. +The only book I discovered was Vallery's Travels.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +I made a few extracts, and found no reason to desire more. +Few foreigners write travels in a style suited to the English +taste. They are at home among cities, and galleries, and +works of art, but have little real feeling for natural +objects, and ill disguise it by pompous phrases, glitter, +and sentiment.</p> + +<p>“Let us take a boat and sail over to the islands lying +off the harbour,” said my fellow-traveller one afternoon.</p> + +<p>“With all my heart.”</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/012.jpg" width="350" height="241" alt="ISLETS OFF MARSEILLES." +title="ISLETS OFF MARSEILLES." /> +<p class="caption">ISLETS OFF MARSEILLES.</p> +</div> + +<p>These islets, +most of them +mere rocks, form +a sort of sheltered +strait, or +roadstead, of +which the island +of Rion, with +Cape Morgion +on the mainland +opposite, +are the extreme +points. Pomègue and Ratoneau are connected by a +breakwater.</p> + +<p>“<i>Garçon</i>, put a roast fowl and some <i>pâtés</i>, with a loaf +of bread and a bottle of Bordeaux, into a <i>corbeille</i> and +send it down to the port.”</p> + +<p>We bought some grapes as we went along. There are +landing-stairs at the upper end of the harbour, where +pleasure-boats lie. We stepped into one, and were rowed +down in a narrow channel between four or five tiers of +ships, loading and unloading at the quays on each side. +An arm of the Mediterranean, a thousand yards long,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +forms a noble harbour; but, foul, black, and stagnant, how +different were its waters from the bright sea without! +After passing the forts defending the narrow entrance, we +hoisted sail. On the right was the new harbour of <i>La +Joliette</i>, connected with the old port by a canal. At present +it did not appear to be much frequented, but, during +the war in the East, both scarcely sufficed for the vast +flotilla employed in conveying troops and stores. It must +be difficult for any one who has not witnessed it to conceive +the scene Marseilles then presented.</p> + +<p>We now discussed the contents of our hamper with +great <i>goût</i>, the boatman occasionally pulling an oar as the +wind was scant. But we had sufficiently receded from +the shore to command a view of the basin in which Marseilles +stands, and the amphitheatre of hills surrounding +it, studded with the country-houses of the citizens; small +cottages, called <i>bastides</i>, thousands of which spot the slopes +of the hills like white specks.</p> + +<p>High upon a rocky summit stands the chapel of <i>Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde</i>, +held in great reverence, and much +resorted to, by mariners and fishermen; the walls and +roof being hung with votive offerings, commemorating +deliverances from shipwreck and other ills to which +mariner-flesh is heir.</p> + +<p>Seaward lay the islands for which we were bound, but +without any immediate prospect of reaching them, as the +wind died away. It was pleasant enough to lie listlessly +floating on the blue Mediterranean, with such charming +views of the coast and the islands, and the picturesque +craft in every direction becalmed like our own skiff: but +we had another object in our evening's excursion; so, lowering +the lateen sail, my companion took one of the oars,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +and the boatman, reinforced by a strong and steady stroke, +pulling with a will, we soon landed at the foot of the +black and frowning rock, crowned on the summit by the +square massive donjon of the <i>Château d'If</i>.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/014.jpg" width="500" height="367" alt="CHÂTEAU D'IF." title="CHÂTEAU D'IF." /> +<p class="caption">CHÂTEAU D'IF.</p> +</div> + +<p>The whole circuit of the cliffs, containing an area of, +perhaps, two acres, is surrounded by fortifications. Climbing +some rocky steps, we waited in the guardroom till the +<i>concièrge</i> brought the keys of the castle. It was formerly +used as a state prison; and the vaulted passages, echoing +to the clang of keys and bolts, and deep and gloomy +dungeons, from which air and light were almost excluded +by the thick walls, reminded one of the unhappy wretches, +victims of despotic or revolutionary tyranny, who had been +immured there without trial and without hope. The +island now serves as a depôt for recruits to fill up the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +regiments serving in Algiers; and some of the larger +apartments of the château are used as a caserne.</p> + +<p>But the <i>Château d'If</i> is probably best known to many +of my readers as connected with a remarkable incident +in the adventures of the Count de Monte-Cristo, the +hero of the celebrated novel of Alexandre Dumas. The +story is shortly this:</p> + +<p>Dantès (the count) being thrown into one of the +dungeons, remains in hopeless captivity for a great number +of years. In the end, by working his way through the +massive walls, he establishes a communication with the +cell of another prisoner, who was in a still more deplorable +condition. His fellow-prisoner dies, and Dantès effects +his escape by contriving to insert himself in the sack in +which the corpse of his friend was deposited; having first +dressed the body in his own clothes, and placed it in his +bed, to deceive the gaolers. In the dead of the night the +sack is thrown into the sea from the castle walls, and +Dantès sinks with a thirty-two-pound shot fastened to +his feet. He cuts the cord with a knife he had secreted, +and, disengaged from the sack, rises to the surface and +swims to a neighbouring island.</p> + +<p>We were looking over the battlements towards these +islands. One of them is covered by a vast lazzeretto,—a +place, for the time, only a few degrees worse than the +prison. The isles of Ratoneau and Pomègue lay nearest. +Farther off was Lémaire, to which Dantès is described as +swimming. They are all mere rocky islets washed by the +sea, the group being very picturesque.</p> + +<p>“<i>Mon ami</i>,” said I, pointing to the isle of Lémaire, “do +you think you could do what the count is represented to +have done.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>“What! swim from hence to that island? I would +try, if I was shut up in this horrid place, and had the +chance.”</p> + +<p>The distance I reckoned to be about three miles; and as +my friend has since swum across the Bosphorus, where the +current is strong, he would probably have found no difficulty +in that part of the affair.</p> + +<p>“But how about cutting the cord to get rid of the +thirty-two-pound shot, and extricating yourself from the +sack?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Ça dépend!</i> All this is not impossible for a strong +man in good health; for a prisoner, exhausted by fourteen +years' captivity in a dungeon—<i>c'est autre chose</i>. Have +you read the book?”</p> + +<p>“Not much of it; I tried, but could not get on. That +class of works is by no means to my taste.”</p> + +<p>“French literature of this school is, I admit, bad for the +weak: it is pastime to the strong, and serves to wile +away an idle hour. This work exhibits great genius, and +a powerful imagination.”</p> + +<p>“So, indeed, it seems; but may not the <i>vraisemblable</i> +be preserved even in works of fiction? Let us have a +story which, <i>se non è vero, è ben trovato</i>. Writers of this +school, my dear fellow, create, or pander to, a vicious taste.”</p> + +<p>“In a play or novel, I grant you, the plot, characters, +and incidents, in order to enlist our sympathies, should be +true to nature and real life. But who looks for this in a +romance? such works are not read for profit, and the +boldest nights of fancy, and some extravagance, are fairly +admissible.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Ah, mon cher</i>, my age is double yours, and that +makes a great difference in our views on such subjects.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>The recruits flocked round us, asking for <i>eau-de-vie</i>. +Many of them were Italians, deserters from the armies in +Lombardy, Piedmont, and the Papal states, glad to change +their service for better pay and treatment under the French +flag, even on the burning plains of Africa. Perhaps some of +them were drafted into that “foreign legion” which rivalled +the Zouaves in the Crimea,—<i>âmes perdus</i>, the most reckless +before the enemy, the most licentious in the camp. +These were merry fellows, launching witty shafts against +Austrians, Pope, and Cardinals,—<i>maladetti tutti</i>, and +good-humoured gibes at their comrade, who, standing in +an embrasure, bent his back with laudable patience to the +right angle for an easel, while my friend was making +sketches of the rocky islets and lateen-sail vessels reflected +on the mirror-like sea, or of the amphitheatre of mountains +at the foot of which Marseilles stands.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/017.jpg" width="500" height="223" alt="MARSEILLES FROM THE CHÂTEAU D'IF." +title="MARSEILLES FROM THE CHÂTEAU D'IF." /> +<p class="caption">MARSEILLES FROM THE CHÂTEAU D'IF.</p> +</div> + +<p>Others, leaning over the battlements, whiled away the +listless evening hours, watching fishermen drawing the +seine at the foot of the rocks.</p> + +<p>We pulled round to the cove and watched them too; a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +very different set of fellows from the <i>malbigatti</i> stationed +above. Fine, athletic, muscular men, their heads bare, +except that a few wore the red cap so common in the +Mediterranean,—in woollen shirts, with naked feet planted +on the slippery rocks, they were hauling up and coiling +the rope, singing cheerily.</p> + +<p>The wind had shifted some points while we were on +the island, and it now freshened to a stiff breeze,—one +of those sudden squalls for which these seas are remarkable. +The craft, which an hour before lay sleeping on +the waters, had caught the breeze. A brigantine came +dashing up the straits under all sail, her topgallants +still set, though the poles quivered; and smaller craft, +with their long, pointed sails, like sea-fowl with expanded +wings, were crossing in all directions on their +several tacks, making for the harbour or inlets along the +coast.</p> + +<p>The sea was already lashed into foam, and tiny waves +broke on the rocks. Loud and hoarse rung the fishermen's +voices as they hauled away to save their nets. It was +time for us to make for the port. A few strokes shoved +the boat from under the lee of the island; the oars were +shipped, and the lateen sail run up by all hands. Hauling +close to the wind, my friend seized the tiller: it was +doubtful if we could make the harbour, which the little +craft, struggling with the breeze, just headed; the towers +of St. Victor being the point of sight in the increasing +haze.</p> + +<p>“<i>Comme les Anglais font des braves marins</i>,” said the +<i>padróne</i>, as he stood by the halyards, looking out ahead, +after all was made snug.</p> + +<p>We were, indeed, in our element. The sudden squall<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> +had stirred our blood. Many such rough cruises we had +shared together in old times.</p> + +<p>The boat flew through the water, which roared and +broke over the bows. “It will be a short run,” said the +steersman, “if the wind holds on.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Port, monsieur, port!</i>” cried the <i>padróne</i>, who had +learnt some English nautical phrases.</p> + +<p>But it would not do. Approaching the land, the wind +veered and headed us.</p> + +<p>“We must make a short tack to gain the harbour.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Je l'ai prévu</i>,” said the <i>padróne</i>.</p> + +<p>“About” it was. She stayed beautifully, even under +the single sail, and in a trice was lying well upon the other +tack, as we stood out to sea. In five minutes we went +about again, fetching under the stern of a felucca, also +beating into the port; perhaps from Algiers or the Spanish +coast. It was now a dead race with the felucca, which +had forged ahead while we were in stays.</p> + +<p>“<i>Nous gagnerons, j'en gagerais une bouteille de vin!</i>” +cried the <i>padróne</i>, much excited, for he was proud of his +boat.</p> + +<p>“<i>Vous l'aurez, toutefois, pour boire à la santé de vos +camarades Anglais.</i>”</p> + +<p>Again we flew through the water, making a straight +course for the harbour. The felucca had much the advantage +of us in breadth of canvas and her high-peaked sails; +but being heavily laden, she was deep in the water. As it +turned out, we did not overhaul her till just before she +lowered her foresail at the <i>consigne</i> office, to wait for +her <i>permis d'entrer</i>, when we shot ahead right into +the port.</p> + +<p>We made out the evening at the theatre, well entertained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> +by a <i>petite comédie</i>. “One is sure to be amused,” said my +companion; “and it is good practice. It helps to get up +one's French.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Monsieur ne manque que d'être plus habitué</i>,” as it is +politely suggested when one is at a loss for a phrase.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_III" id="CHAP_III"></a>CHAP. III.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Embark for Corsica—Coast of France and Italy.—Toulon.—Hyères +Islands, Frejus, &c.—A Stormy night.—Crossing +the Tuscan Sea</i>.</p> + + +<p>Once more we are at the water stairs. A stout boat is +ready to convey us with our baggage to <i>L'Industrie</i>, one +of Messrs. Vallery's fine steam-boats, in turn for Bastia. +Just as we are pushing off, a carriage drives to the quay, +with a niece of General the Count di Rivarola, formerly in +the British service. She is returning to Corsica. We do +the civil, spread plaids, and place her in the stern sheets; +and she is very agreeable.</p> + +<p>It is Sunday morning. The bells of the old church of +St. Victor are ringing at early mass. The ships in the +port have hoisted their colours. There is our dear, time-honoured +jack, “the flag that has braved,” &c., as we say +on all occasions; and the stars and stripes, the crescent +and star, and the towers of Castille; with crosses of all +shapes and colours, in as great variety as the costumes we +saw in the <i>café</i>. The tricolor floated on the forts of St. +Jean and St. Nicholas, as well as on French craft of all +descriptions.</p> + +<p>All was gay, but not more joyous than our own buoyant +spirits. Time had been spent pleasantly enough at Marseilles, +but it was a delay; and there is nothing an Englishman +hates more than delays in travelling. Thwarted in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> +his humour, he becomes quite childish, and frets and +chafes more at having to wait two or three days for a +steamboat than at any other hindrance I know. Now, +when <i>L'Industrie</i>, with her ensign at the peak, had, somehow +or other, with a din of unutterable cries in maritime +French, been extricated from the dense tiers of vessels +along the quay, and hauling out of the harbour, we were +at last fairly on the high road to Corsica, never did the +sun appear to shine more brightly; the Mediterranean +looked more blue than any blue one had seen before, there +was a ripple from the fresh breeze, the waves sparkled, and +seemed positively to laugh and partake of our joy.</p> + +<p>We hardly cared to speculate on our fellow-passengers, +as one is apt to do when there is nothing else to engross +the thoughts; and yet there were some among them we +should wish to sketch. Besides French officers joining +their regiments in the island, there was one, a Corsican, +who had served in Algeria, returning home on sick leave. +It was to be feared that it had come too late, for the poor +invalid was so feeble, worn, and emaciated that it seemed +his native country could offer him nothing but a grave. +There was a Corsican priest on board, a pleasant, well-informed +man, who met our advances to an acquaintance +with great readiness, and was delighted with our proposed +visit to his island. Some Corsican gentlemen, a lady or +two, and commercial men <i>en route</i> for Leghorn, completed +the party. We seemed to be the only English. I was +mistaken.</p> + +<p>“After all, there is a countryman of ours on board,” I +said, pointing to a pair of broad shoulders, disappearing +under the companion-hatch. I caught sight of him just +now; a fine, hale man, rather advanced in years, with a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span> +fair complexion, ruddy, and a profusion of grey hair. He +wears a suit of drab; very plain, but well turned out.</p> + +<p>“Unmistakeably English, as you say; it may be pleasant. +I wonder we did not make him out before among +these sallow-faced and rather dirty-looking gentry in green +and sky-blue trousers.”</p> + +<p>We were soon abreast of the group of rocky islets off +the harbour, passing close under the <i>Château d'If</i>. The +sea was smooth, the sky unclouded, but a gentle breeze +deliciously tempered the heat, and vessels of every description—square-rigged +ships, and coasting feluccas and +xebecs—on their different courses, gave life to the scene. +Thus pleasantly we ran along the French coast, here much +indented and swelling into rocky hills of considerable +elevation.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/023.jpg" width="500" height="298" alt="FRENCH COAST OFF CIOTAT." +title="FRENCH COAST OFF CIOTAT." /> +<p class="caption">FRENCH COAST OFF CIOTAT.</p> +</div> + +<p>We had an excellent <i>déjeûner</i>, for which we were quite +ready, having only taken the usual early cup of coffee.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> +The genial influence of this meal had the effect of putting +us on the best footing with our fellow-voyagers. Pacing +the deck afterwards with the Corsican priest, we were joined +by the stout Englishman. Observing our disappointment +at hearing we should be probably baulked of shooting in +Corsica, he expressed a hope that we would extend our +excursion to Tuscany, where, he was good enough to say, +he would show us sport. He had been settled there many +years, and was now returning to his family by way of +Leghorn. Under a somewhat homely exterior, which had +puzzled us at first as to his position, we found our new +acquaintance to be a man of refined taste, great simplicity, +as well as urbanity, of manners, and keenly alive to the +beautiful in nature and art. Such a specimen of the +hearty old English gentleman, unchanged—I was about +to say uncontaminated—by long residence abroad, it +has been rarely my lot to meet with.</p> + +<p>On rounding a projecting headland, we peeped into the +mouth of Toulon harbour, and every eye and glass were +directed to the heights crowned with forts, and the bold +mountain masses towering above them.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/024.jpg" width="500" height="265" alt="OFF TOULON." title="OFF TOULON." /> +<p class="caption">OFF TOULON.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> + +<p>Presently, we were threading the channel between the +main land and the Hyères Islands. They appeared to us +a paradise of verdure, on which the eye, weary of gazing +at the bare and furrowed mountain-sides bounding this +coast, rested with delight. One imagined orange groves +and myrtle bowers, impervious to the summer's sun and +sheltered by the lofty ridges from the northern blasts—all +this verdure fringing the edge of a bright and tideless sea. +Elsewhere, except rarely in the hollows, the mountain +ranges extending along this coast exhibit no signs of vegetation; +the whole mass appearing, with the sun full on +them, not only scorched but actually burnt to the colour +of kiln-dried bricks.</p> + +<p>All the afternoon we continued running at the steamer's +full speed along the shores of France and Italy. Notwithstanding +their arid and sterile aspect, nothing can be finer +than the mountain ranges which bound this coast, as every +one who has crossed them in travelling from Nice well +knows. Glimpses, too, successively of Frejus, Cannes, and +Nice, more or less distant, as, crossing the Gulf of Genoa, +we gradually increased our distance from the shore, together +with a capital dinner, were pleasant interludes to +the grand spectacle of Alps piled on Alps in endless +succession, and glowing a fiery red, which all the waters +over which we flew—deep, dark, or azure—could not +quench.</p> + +<p>Towards evening there were evident tokens in the sky, +on the water, and in the vessel's motion, of a change of +weather. We were threatened with a stormy night; and +as we now began to lose the shelter of the land, holding a +course somewhat to the S.E. in order to round the northern +point of Corsica, there was no reason to regret that the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +passage across the Tuscan sea would be performed while +we were in our berths.</p> + +<p>However, we walked the deck long after the other +passengers had gone below; enjoying the fresh breeze, +though it was no soft zephyr wafting sweet odours from +the Ausonian shore. It is a sublime thing to stand on +the poop of a good ship when she is surging through the +waves at ten knots an hour in utter darkness, whether +impelled by wind or steam; especially when the elements +are in strife. Nothing can give a higher idea of the +power of man to control them. With no horizon, not a +star visible in the vault above, and only the white curl +on the crest of the boiling waves, glimmering in our +wake, on—on, we rush, the ship dipping and rising over +the long swells, and dashing floods of water and clouds of +spray from her bows.</p> + +<p>But whither are we driving through these dark waters, +and this impenetrable, and seemingly boundless, gloom? +The eye rests on the light in the binnacle. We stoop to +examine the compass; the card marks S.S.E. Imagination +expands the dark horizon. It is not boundless: the island +mountain-tops loom in the distance. They beckon us on; +we realise them now; at dawn the grey peaks of Cape +Corso will be unveiled; we shall dream of them to-night.</p> + +<p>One of the watch struck the hour on the bell. “It is +ten o'clock; let us turn in.” There is an inviting glimmer +through the cabin skylights. We are better off in this +floating hotel than has often been our lot, baffling with +storm and tempest, benighted, weary, cold and wet, in +rough roads, forest or desert waste, with dubious hopes +of shelter and comfort at the end of our march.</p> + +<p>We paused for a moment, leaning over the brass rail<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +which protected the quarter deck. Below, on the main +deck, a number of French soldiers, wrapped in their grey +coats, were huddled together, cowering under the bulwarks, +or wherever they could find shelter from the bitter night +wind.</p> + +<p>The cabin lamps shed a cheerful light, reflected by the +highly-polished furniture and fittings. All the passengers +were in their berths. We had chosen ours near the door +for fresher air. My companion climbed to his cot in the +upper tier, above mine.</p> + +<p>“If you wake first, call me at daylight. We shall be +off the coast of Corsica. <i>Felicissima notte!</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span>”</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_IV" id="CHAP_IV"></a>CHAP. IV.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Coast of Capo Corso.—Peculiarity of Scenery.—Verdure, and +Mountain Villages.—Il Torre di Seneca.—Land at Bastia</i>.</p> + + +<p>The voyage from Marseilles to Bastia is performed, under +favourable circumstances, in eighteen hours; but we had +only just made the extreme northern point of Corsica +when I was hastily roused, at six o'clock, from a blissful +state of unconsciousness of the gale of wind and rough sea +which had retarded our progress during the night.</p> + +<p>Hurrying on deck, the first objects which met the eye +were a rocky islet with a lighthouse on a projecting point, +and then it rested on the glorious mountains of Capo +Corso, lifting their grey summits to the clouds, and +stretching away to the southward in endless variety of outline. +We were abreast of the rocky island of Capraja; on +the other hand lay Elba, with its mountain peaks; Pianosa +and Monte-Cristo rose out of the Tuscan sea further on. +Behind these picturesque islands, the distant range of the +Apennines hung like a cloud in the horizon. The sun +rose over them in unclouded glory, no trace being left of +the night-storm, but a fresh breeze, and the heaving and +swelling of the deep waters.</p> + +<p>Banging along the eastern coast of Capo Corso, at a short +distance from the shore, with the early light now thrown<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +upon it, the natural features of the country—groups of +houses, villages, and even single buildings of a marked +character—were distinctly visible. We were not long in +discovering that Corsican scenery is of a peculiar and +highly interesting character.</p> + +<p>The infinite variety existing in all the Creator's works +is remarkably exhibited in the physical aspect of different +countries, though the landscape be formed of the same +materials, whether mountains, forests, wood, water, and +extended plains, or a composition of all or any of these +features on a greater or less scale. The change is sometimes +very abrupt. Thus, the character of Sardinian +scenery is essentially different from the Corsican, notwithstanding +the two islands are only separated by a strait +twenty miles broad. Climate, atmosphere, geological +formation, and vegetable growth, all contribute to this +variety. The impress given to the face of nature by the +hand of man, whether by cultivation, or in the forms, +and, as we shall presently see, the position, of the various +buildings which betoken his presence, give, of course, in +a secondary degree, a difference of character to the +landscape.</p> + +<p>Remarks of this kind occurred in a conversation with +our stout English friend and my fellow-traveller, while +they were sketching the coast of Capo Corso from the deck +of the <i>Industrie</i>. Trite as they may appear, it is surprising +how little even many persons who have travelled +are alive to such distinctions. What more natural than +to say, “I have seen Alpine scenery in Switzerland; why +should I encounter the difficulties of a northern tour to +witness the same thing on a smaller scale in Norway? +What can the islands in the Tuscan sea have to offer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +essentially different from Italian scenery with which I am +already familiar?”</p> + +<p>Only a practised eye can make the discrimination, and +it requires some knowledge of physical geography, and the +vegetable kingdom, to be able to analyse causes producing +these diversified effects. Every class of rock, every species +of tree, the various elevations of the surface of the globe, +and the plants which clothe its different regions, have +each their own forms and characteristics; and, of course, a +landscape, being an aggregate of these several parts, ought +to reflect the varieties of the materials composing it. An +artist must have carefully studied from nature to have +acquired a nice perception of these varied effects, and even +should he be able to grasp the result, he may not succeed +in transferring it to his sketch. Far less can words convey +an adequate idea of the varied effects of natural scenery; +so that one does not wonder when the reader complains of +the sameness of the representation.</p> + +<p>In the present instance, were there pictured to his imagination +the distant peaks of Elba on the one hand, and +on the other the long mountain ranges of Capo Corso, +bathed in purple light, as the sun rose in the eastern horizon, +the grey cliffs of rocks and promontories bordering the +coast, contrasted with the verdure of the valleys and lower +elevations, vineyards and olive grounds on the hill-sides, +and the landscape dotted with villages, churches, and +ancient towers, we should doubtless have a very charming +sketch, but it would not convey a distinct idea of the +peculiarities of Corsican scenery.</p> + +<p>What struck us most, independently of the general +effect, was the extraordinary verdure and exuberance of +the vegetation which overspread the surface of the country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> +far up the mountain sides, not only as contrasted with the +sterile aspect of the coasts of the continent we had just +left, but as being, in itself, different from anything which +had before fallen under our observation in other countries, +whether forest, underwood, or grassy slope. For the moment, +we were unable to conjecture of what it consisted; +but we had not long set foot on shore before we were at no +loss to account for our admiration of this singular feature +in Corsican, and in this particular, also, of Sardinian +scenery.</p> + +<p>Not to dwell now on the peculiar character of the +mountain ranges of Corsica, I will only mention one other +peculiarity in the landscape which strikes the eye throughout +the island, but is nowhere more remarkable than in +the views presented as we ranged along the coast of Capo +Corso. As the former instance belongs to the department +of physical geography, this comes under the class of effects +produced by the works of man. The peculiarity consists +in the villages being all placed at high elevations. They +are seen perched far up the mountain sides, straggling +along the scarp of a narrow terrace, or crowded together +on the platform of some projecting spur; churches, convents, +towers, and hamlets crowning the peaked summits of +lower eminences almost equally inaccessible. The only +extensive plains in the island are so insalubrious as to be +almost uninhabitable, and this has been their character +from the time the island was first colonised. For this +reason, probably, in some measure, but more especially for +defence, in the hostilities to which the island has been +exposed from foreign invaders during many ages, as well +as by internal feuds hardly yet extinct, nearly the whole +population is collected in the elevated villages or <i>paese</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> +forming this singular and picturesque feature in Corsican +scenery. They are visible from a great distance, and +sometimes ten or a dozen of them are in sight at one +time.</p> + +<p>Capo Corso is not, as might be supposed, a mere cape or +headland, but a narrow peninsula, containing a number of +villages, and washed on both sides by the Tuscan sea; being +about twenty-five miles long, though only from five to ten +miles broad. Nearly the whole area is occupied by a continuation +of the central chain which traverses the island +from north to south. The average height of the range +through Capo Corso, where it is called <i>La Serra</i>, does not +exceed 1500 feet above the level of the sea, but it swells +into lofty peaks; the highest, <i>Monte Stella</i>, between Brando +and Nonza, rising 5180 feet above the shore of the Mediterranean.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/032.jpg" width="700" height="470" alt="ERSA, CAPO CORSO." +title="ERSA, CAPO CORSO." /> +<p class="caption">ERSA, CAPO CORSO.</p> +</div> + +<p>From the central chain spurs branch off to the sea on +both coasts, forming narrow valleys at the base and in the +gorges of the mountains, of which the principal on the +eastern side are Lota, Cagnano, and Luri; the last-named +being the most fertile and picturesque, as well as the +largest of these mountain valleys, though only six miles +long and three wide. On the western side lie the valleys +of Olmeta, Olcani, and Ogliastro; Olmeta being the largest. +The valleys are watered by mountain torrents, often diverted +to irrigate the lands under tillage, as well as gardens and +vine and olive plantations. Each <i>paese</i> has its small tract +of more fertile land, marked by a deeper verdure, where +the valleys open out and the streams discharge their +waters into the Mediterranean. At this point, called the +<i>Marino</i>, there is generally a little port, with a hamlet +inhabited by a hardy race of sailors engaged in the traffic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> +carried on coastwise between the villages of the interior +and the seaports.</p> + +<p>This mountainous district contains a considerable population, +and the inhabitants are distinguished for their +industry and economy. They live in much comfort on the +produce obtained by persevering labour from the small +portions of cultivated soil. Numerous flocks of sheep are +herded on the vast wastes overhanging the valleys. The +olive and vine flourish, and extensive chestnut woods supply +at some seasons the staple diet of the poorer classes. +The slopes of the hills about the villages are converted into +gardens and orchards, in which we find figs, peaches, +apples, pears,—with oranges and lemons in the more +sheltered spots. The wines are in general sound, and we +found them excellent where special care had been bestowed +on the manufacture.</p> + +<p>The Corsicans are generally indolent, but it is said that +there are no less than a hundred families in the mountainous +province of Capo Corso who are considered rich, +some of them wealthy; and all these owe their improved +fortunes to the enterprising spirit of some relative who +left it poor, and after years of toil in Mexico, in Brazil, +or some other part of South America, returned with his +savings to his native village.</p> + +<p>One valley after another opened as the steamer ran +down the coast, each with its <i>Marino</i> distinguished by a +fresher verdure, and its cluster of white houses on the +beach. The night mists still filled the hollows, and villages +and hamlets hung like cloud-wreaths on the mountain-sides +and the summits of the hills; the most inaccessible +of which were crowned with ruins of castles and +towers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span></p> + +<p>Tradition asserts that one of these towers was the prison +of Seneca the Philosopher. <i>Il Torre di Seneca</i>, as it is +called, stands on an escarped pinnacle of rock, terminating +one of the loftiest of the detached sugar-loaf hills.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/034.jpg" width="500" height="378" alt="IL TORRE DI SENECA." +title="IL TORRE DI SENECA." /> +<p class="caption">IL TORRE DI SENECA.</p> +</div> + +<p>Seneca spent seven years in exile, having been banished +to Corsica by the emperor Claudius, on suspicion +of an illicit intercourse with the profligate Julia. The +islands in the Tuscan sea were the Tasmania of the +Roman empire, places of transportation for political +offenders, and those who fell under the imperial frown—which +was the same thing. Some smaller islands off +the Italian coast, Procida, Ischia, &c., served the same +purpose. <i>Relegatio ad insulam</i> was the legal phrase for +this punishment. Augustus banished his grandson Agrippa<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span> +to the desolate island of <i>Planosa</i>, the Pianosa mentioned +just before in connection with Elba. There he was +strangled by order of Tiberius.</p> + +<p>In some of his Epigrams, and the Books <i>de Consolatione</i>, +composed during his exile, Seneca paints the country and +the climate in the darkest colours. There is no doubt but +these islands, though in sight of the coast of Italy, appeared +to the polished Romans as barbarous and full of +horrors as our penal settlements at the antipodes were +considered long after their first occupation; so that the +picture of Corsica, drawn by Seneca, may have been much +exaggerated by his distempered and splenetic state of mind. +The probability is, that he resided during his exile at one +of the Roman colonies on the eastern coast, Aleria or +Mariana. What is called the <i>Torre di Seneca</i> is the ruin +of a stronghold or watch-tower of the middle ages; and it +is not likely that the spot was occupied by the Romans at +any period of their dominion in Corsica, their possessions +consisting only of the two colonies, and some harbours on +the coast.</p> + +<p>But those lonely towers standing close to the shore, +which we see from time to time as we coast along—massive, +round, and grey with lichens as the rocks at their +base; what do their ruins tell of times past? Were +they a chain of forts for the defence of the coast against +Saracen, or other invaders, in the middle ages? They +appear too small to hold a garrison, and too insulated for +mutual support. More probably they were watch-towers, +from which signals were made when the vessels of the +corsairs hovered on the coast, that the inhabitants might +betake themselves, with their cattle and goods, to the +fortified villages and castles on the hills. We are told that,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +at the beginning of the eighteenth century, there were +fifteen of those towers on the north coast of the island, +and eighty-five in its whole circuit; but many of them +are now fallen to ruin.</p> + +<p>At length, Bastia appeared in sight, rising in an amphitheatre +to a ridge studded with villas; the houses of the +old town being crowded about the port. Sweeping round the +mole, we found ourselves in a diminutive harbour, among +vessels of small burthen. This basin is surrounded on +three sides by tall gloomy buildings, of the roughest construction, +piled up, tier above tier, to a great height. A +man-of-war's boat shoves off from the shore in good style, +and lands the Count's niece with due honours. Other +boats come alongside the steamer, and all is confusion.</p> + +<p>“Did you see the meeting between the two Corsican +brothers—the sallow, fever-worn soldier from Algiers, +our poor fellow-traveller, and the hearty mountaineer?”</p> + +<p>“No; I was paying my last <i>devoirs</i> to <i>madame</i>.”</p> + +<p>“The contrast between the two was striking. I shall +never forget the way they were laced in each other's arms, +and the glance of keen anxiety with which the mountaineer +looked into his sick brother's face, marking the ravages +which time and disease had worked on those much-loved +features.”</p> + +<p>In the air of his mountain-village that brother, we +would hope, grew strong again. Perhaps, having rejoined +his regiment, his bones are left in the Crimea; perhaps, he +again survives, and breathes once more his native air. +Who can tell?</p> + +<p>Our hale English friend remained on board to pursue +the voyage to Leghorn. What a din, what frantic gestures, +what a rush of these irascible Corsicans at our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +baggage! It is borne off to the custom-house, and undergoes +an examination far from rigorous. We mount several +flights of steps, leading from one narrow street to another +in this old quarter of the town, and are led to an hotel, +which had much the air of a second or third-rate Italian +<i>locanda</i>—lofty and spacious apartments, neither clean nor +well arranged; and the <i>déjeûner</i> was a sorry affair. <i>N'importe</i>; +we shall not stay longer in Bastia than is necessary, +and we may go further and fare worse. Meanwhile, a +battalion of French infantry were on parade, with the +band playing in the barrack-yard under our windows. We +threw them open to enjoy the fresh breeze and sweeten the +room. They commanded a fine view of the coast we had +passed, now seen in profile under the effect of a bright +sunshine, with the waves washing in wreaths of foam on +every jutting point and rock.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_V" id="CHAP_V"></a>CHAP. V.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Bastia.—Territorial Divisions.—Plan of the Rambles.—Hiring +Mules.—The Start.</i></p> + + +<p>I cannot imagine any one's loitering in Bastia longer than +he can help. Its only attractions are the sea and the mountain +views from the environs; and those are commanded +equally well from many points along the coast. What the +old town is we have already seen—narrow and crooked +streets, with gaunt houses piled up about the port; and +there is the old Genoese fortress frowning over it, and the +church of St. John, of Pisan architecture, the interior rich +in marbles and gilding, but the <i>façade</i> below notice as a +work of art. A new quarter has been added to the town, +higher up, in which there are some handsome houses, +particularly in the <i>Rue de la Traverse</i>.</p> + +<p>In early times a few poor traders from Cardo, a <i>paese</i> +on the heights, settled at the mouth of a stream which +formed here a small harbour. It was their <i>Marino</i>, so +that Cardo may be said to be in some sort the Fiesole of +Bastia. About the close of the fourteenth century, the +Genoese built the Donjon, which is still standing, to defend +the port, then becoming of importance. From this <i>bastióne</i>, +the new town derived its name. It was the capital +of the island during the Pisan and Genoese occupation, +and so continued under the French government till 1811, +when the prefecture and general administration of affairs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span> +were transferred to Ajaccio, where also the Council-general +of Corsica, now forming a department of France, holds its +sessions. Bastia, however, is still the <i>Quartier-général</i> +of the military in the island, and the seat of the <i>Cour de +Cassation</i> and <i>Cour d'Appel</i>, tribunals exercising superior +jurisdiction over all the other courts. It is also the most +populous town in Corsica (14,000 souls being the return of +the last census), and has by far the largest commerce, +exporting olive-oil and wine, fruits and fish; and importing +<i>corn</i>, groceries, tobacco, and manufactured articles of all +kinds.</p> + +<p>Bastia was the standing point from which the old division +of Corsica into the <i>di quà</i> and the <i>di là dei monti</i>—the +country on this side and the country on the other side of +the mountains—was made; the line of intersection commencing +at the point of Gargalo, below Aleria, on the +eastern coast, and following a range of mountains westward +to the <i>Marino</i> of Solenzara. The division was by +no means equal; the country <i>di quà</i>, including the present +arrondissements of Bastia, Corte, and Calve, being +one-third larger than the <i>di là</i>, comprising the arrondissements +of Ajaccio and Sartene.</p> + +<p>Another ancient division of Corsica was into <i>pieves</i>, originally +ecclesiastical districts,—and <i>paeses</i>, which, I imagine, +are equivalent to parishes, including the village and the +hamlets belonging to them. A detached farm-house, such +as are scattered everywhere in England, is hardly to be seen +in Corsica, the inhabitants being gathered in these villages +and hamlets, invariably built, as already observed, on elevated +points. By what corruption these were called <i>paeses</i>, +<i>countries</i>, one does not understand; but it sounds rather +droll to a stranger, when he is told in Corsica, that he may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +travel many miles, <i>senza vedère uno paése</i>, without seeing +a country.</p> + +<p>Bastia must, doubtless, from the circumstances mentioned, +have good society; but we thought Ajaccio a much +pleasanter place, and Corte, in its rudeness, has a nobler +aspect than either, and is associated with glorious recollections. +We were for escaping the <i>di quà</i> of Bastia and the +<i>littorale</i>, and getting as soon as possible <i>di là</i> the mountains, +not, however, according to the old political division +of the island, but in the sense of crossing the central chain +by one of the nearest passes.</p> + +<p>The plan we sketched, after consulting our maps, was to +cross the Serra by a <i>col</i> leading into the valleys in the +south-west of Capo Corso, and, after rambling through that +district, to descend into the upper valley of the Golo, and +pursue it in the direction of Corte, making Ajaccio our +next point. There are good highroads throughout the +island, with regular <i>diligences</i> all the way from Bastia to +Bonifaccio; but to avail ourselves of these, taking up our +quarters in the towns and making excursions in the neighbourhood, +was not to our taste. We proposed, therefore, +to hire mules for the expedition, sending our heavier +baggage forward to Ajaccio by <i>voiture</i>, and retaining only +the indispensables for a journey of more than 150 miles, in +the course of which not a single decent <i>albergo</i> was to be +met with, except at Corte.</p> + +<p>The horses in Corsica are diminutive and of an inferior +breed, mules being almost exclusively employed for draught +on the great roads, and as beasts of burthen in the byways +and mountain tracks. In Sardinia, on the contrary, though +lying so much further south, the mules disappeared, and +were replaced by hardy and active horses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span></p> + +<p>We inquired for mules. There are generally to be found +hanging about foreign hotels people ready to undertake +anything the traveller may require, little as they may be +competent to fulfil their engagements. One of this class +presented himself, his appearance by no means prepossessing; +but the view he took of our present scheme afforded +us some amusement.</p> + +<p>“Are you well acquainted with the roads in Corsica?”</p> + +<p>“I have had the honour to conduct <i>signore forestiere</i> +throughout the island from Bastia to Bonifaccio.”</p> + +<p>“We shall not travel <i>en voiture</i>. We require mules for +the baggage and riding. Can you supply them?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Ça serait possible, mais, à l'improviste, un peu difficile</i>.”</p> + +<p>“It is indispensable, as we mean to cross the mountains +and make a <i>détour, en route</i> to Corte by slow stages, resting +in the villages.”</p> + +<p>The man's countenance assumed a rueful expression. +He had probably been used to make easy work of it from +town to town, and there was evidently a ludicrous struggle +between the temptation of a profitable job and his disinclination +for rugged roads and a spare diet.</p> + +<p>“Are <i>messieurs</i> aware that there are no <i>auberges</i> in the +villages offering accommodations fit for them?”</p> + +<p>“It is very possible; that does not occasion us any +uneasiness.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Les chemins sont affreux.</i>”</p> + +<p>“<i>N'importe</i>; we have travelled in worse.”</p> + +<p>“In some places they are dangerous, absolutely precipitous.”</p> + +<p>“We shall walk; <i>en effet</i>, it is possible we may walk +great part of the journey.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>That our muleteer could not understand at all: “<i>la +fatigue serait pénible</i>;” and with true Corsican indolence, +he protested against being included in that part of our +plan.</p> + +<p>“Then you can ride.”</p> + +<p>So far all objections were dismissed. The banditti had +not been mentioned among the lions in our path, but I +imagined they were darkly shadowed forth in the guide's +picture of horrors; so I put the question to him point +blank.</p> + +<p>“Are the roads safe in these districts? Are there no +bad people (<i>mauvais gens</i>—<i>cattive genti</i>) abroad?”</p> + +<p>His only reply was a shrug of the shoulders, the foreign +substitute for a Burleigh shake of the head; leaving us to +infer that we must not make too sure of coming off with +a whole skin. Knowing well enough that all apprehensions +of that kind were imaginary, we had been +only amusing ourselves with him. If there had been +any danger, he seemed just the fellow to be in league +with the brigands.</p> + +<p>All topics of intimidation being now exhausted, our +muleteer, with the best grace he could, professed himself +ready to comply with our wishes.</p> + +<p>The hire demanded for the mules was five francs per +day each, exclusive of their keep; and their return +journey was to be paid for at the same rate. The latter +part of the demand was an imposition, but we had only +“Hobson's choice,” and made no difficulties.</p> + +<p>When would it be our pleasure to depart? As early in +the afternoon as possible. “It would be late;” and a last +effort was made to induce us to remain at the hotel till the +next morning, but we were inexorable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>“Would there be time for us to reach the first village +on the road before dark?”—“We might.”—“Then we +will go. Our baggage will be ready by three o'clock. Be +punctual.”</p> + +<p>We disliked the man, and determined to discharge him +at Corte unless things turned out better than we expected. +As it happened, we were under his convoy for a much +shorter space. We found the Sard <i>cavallante</i>, a much +finer race, trudging on foot through all the roughest part +of the tracks, and perching themselves at the top of a +much heavier load of baggage on the pack-horse, when +they were tired of walking.</p> + +<p>It was a strange “turn out,” that, by unusual exertions, +appeared at the door within an hour of the time appointed. +The mules were no bigger than donkeys.</p> + +<p>“<i>Queste bestie non sono muli; sono dei asini.</i>”</p> + +<p>It was vexatious; but we laughed too much to be seriously +angry; the muleteer, too, deprecating our wrath by +assuring us that his mules had first-rate qualities for +scrambling up and down precipices. So we took it all in +good part, and, more amused than annoyed, assisted in +contriving to adjust the girths of the English saddles to +the poor beasts' wizened sides; and then, declining a +march through Coventry with such a cavalcade, walked +forward, leaving the guide to load the baggage and follow +with the mules.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_VI" id="CHAP_VI"></a>CHAP. VI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Leave Bastia.</i>—<i>The Road.</i>—<i>View of Elba, Pianosa, and +Monte-Cristo.</i>—<i>The</i> Littorale.—<i>An Adventure</i>.—<i>The +Stagna di Biguglia.</i></p> + + +<p>The Corsicans are apt to say, that the national roads were +the only benefit Napoleon conferred on his native country. +Like all his great works of construction, they are worthy +of his genius. One of these traverses the whole eastern +coast of the island from Bastia, by Cervione and Porto-Vecchio, +to Bonifaccio. Another line branches off near +Vescovato, about ten miles from Bastia, and following the +valley of the Golo, is carried among the mountains to +Corte, whence it is continued through a wild and mountainous +district to Ajaccio. Similar engineering skill is +displayed in its continuation on the western side of the +mountains to Sartene, and thence to Bonifaccio, where it +also terminates.</p> + +<p>On clearing Bastia, we found ourselves on this high +road,—a magnificent causeway carried nearly in a straight +line for many miles through the plain extending between +the sea and the mountains. Orange groves embowering +sheltered nooks in the environs of the town, and hedges of +the Indian fig (<i>cactus opuntia</i>), betokened the warmth of this +southern shore; and, as we advanced, the rank growth of +vegetation on the flats realised all we had heard of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span> +teeming richness of the <i>littorale</i>. It was hot walking, and +the causeway and flats would have been monotonous +enough but for the glorious views on either hand.</p> + +<p>To the left, the Mediterranean was calmly subsiding +from the effects of the gale, its undulations still sparkling +in the sunbeams. Far within the horizon was the group +of islands which lend a charm to all this coast, and are +associated with great historical names. There rises Elba, +with the sharp outline of its lofty peaks and dark shores, +too narrow for the mighty spirit which ere long burst the +bounds of his Empire Island. Far away in the southern +hemisphere I had visited that other island, where the +chains were riveted too firmly for release, except by the +grave over which I had pondered. Now we stood on the +soil that gave him birth. Why was not this the “Island +Empire?” The Allied Sovereigns were disposed to be +magnanimous. It was offered to him; why did he refuse +it? Was it that, with far-sighted policy, he considered +Corsica too bright a gem in the crown of France for him +to pluck, without sooner or later giving umbrage to the +Bourbons? May his refusal be cited as a further proof of +the little love he bore for the land of his birth? Or was it +that, when once hurled from the throne of his creation, the +conqueror of kingdoms could not descend to compare one +petty island with another? “At Elba he found the horizon, +the sky, the air, the waves of his childhood; and the history +of his island-state, would be to him a constant lesson of +the mutability of human things.”<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> + +<p>Napoleon emperor in Corsica! On this spot, with Elba +in view, one dwells for a moment on the idea! Then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +indeed, Corsica's long-cherished dreams of national independence—it +was her last chance—would have been +strangely realised. But her fate was sealed. She had sunk +to the rank of an outlying department of France, and so +remained; with what results we may perhaps discover.</p> + +<p>Near Elba, and strongly contrasting with its bold outline, +lies the little island of <i>Pianosa</i>, the ancient Planosa. +Its surface is flat, as the name indicates. That island, too, +has its tale of imperial exile. The young Agrippa, grandson +of Augustus, and heir-presumptive to an empire wider +than that of Napoleon's most ambitious dreams, was +banished to Planosa by his grandfather, at the instance of +Livia. Augustus is said to have visited him there. It +was Agrippa's fate to find a grave, as well as a prison, in +the Mediterranean island; the tyrant Tiberius, with the +jealousy of an eastern monarch, having caused his rival to +be strangled on his own accession to the empire.</p> + +<p>Soon after Napoleon's arrival in Elba he sent some +troops to take possession of Pianosa; which, ravaged by +the Genoese in the thirteenth century, had never since +flourished. The fallen emperor himself could not help +laughing at this mighty expedition, for which thirty of +his guards, some Elban militia, and six pieces of artillery +were detailed; exclaiming, as he gave orders to erect +batteries and fire upon any enemies who might present +themselves, “Europe will say that I have already made a +conquest.” Napoleon partially restored the fortifications +of an old castle, which had been bombarded by an English +squadron, landing the marines, in 1809, during the revolutionary +war. The island now belongs, with Elba, to the +Grand-Duke of Tuscany.</p> + +<p>Further to the south appears the rocky island of Monte-Cristo.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +This, too, has its tale of exile, insignificant as it +looks except for its sharply serrated outline, and a worldwide +fame. The emperor Diocletian banished here St. Mamilian, +Archbishop of Palermo. A convent was afterwards +founded on the site of the Saint's rude cell. The monks +of Monte-Cristo flourished, as they deserved; the worthy +fathers having founded many hospitals in Tuscany and done +much good. Saracen corsairs carried off the monks; the convent +was laid in ruins; and the lone island remained uninhabited +for a long course of years, except by wild goats. +It was in this state when Alexandre Dumas made it the +scene of his hero's successful adventure after his escape +from the <i>Château d'If</i>, and adopted it as the title of his +popular novel. The island having been recently purchased +and colonised by Mr. Watson Taylor, he has built a house +on it for his own residence.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/047.jpg" width="350" height="305" alt="ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO." +title="ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO." /> +<p class="caption">ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO.</p> +</div> + +<p>It is about nine miles in circumference, and I should +judge from its appearance +that the greatest +part of the surface is +rocky, though not without +green hollows, dells, +and verdant slopes. But +the olive and the vine +usually thrive, and are +largely cultivated, on +such spots; and if, as I +should imagine, the natural +vegetation and the +climate are similar to those of the other islands in the +Tuscan sea with which we are acquainted, happy may the +lord of Monte-Cristo be; for, in the hands of a wealthy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span> +English gentleman, such a spot may be made an earthly +paradise.</p> + +<p>After about an hour's walk we halted for the muleteer +to come up. A glorious point of view it was, embracing a +wide expanse of the bright sea, with the islands which +had supplied so many striking and pleasant recollections. +Looking backward, the purple mountains of Capo Corso +now appeared massed together in endless variety of outline, +with Bastia at their base, the citadel and white houses +glowing in the evening sunshine. Turning to the right, +the eye caught the fine effect of the meeting of the plain +and mountains—the interminable level, stretching far away +till it was lost in distance, and teeming with luxuriant +vegetation, but +with only here +and there a solitary +clump of +trees,—and the +long mountain-range +line after +line rising into +peaks above +the gracefully +rounded hills +that swelled up from the level of the plain. Woods, orchards, +vineyards overspread the lower slopes, the hollows +were buried in thickets of evergreen, and picturesque +villages and towers appeared, though rarely, on the +summits of the hills.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/048.jpg" width="350" height="225" alt="MEETING OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN, NEAR BASTIA." +title="MEETING OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN, NEAR BASTIA." /> +<p class="caption">MEETING OF MOUNTAIN AND PLAIN, NEAR BASTIA.</p> +</div> + +<p>Who would not linger at the sight of Furiani, the +most important of these villages, its ivy-mantled towers +crumbling to ruins?—Furiani, where the Corsicans, in a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +national assembly, first organised their insurrection against +the Genoese, and elected the prudent and intrepid Giaffori +one of their leaders; with cries of “<i>Evviva la libertà! +evviva il popolo!</i>”—Furiani, where, in almost their last +struggle, two hundred Corsicans held the fortifications +long after they were a heap of ruins, and at length cut +their way by night to the shore.</p> + +<p>The muleteer at last made his appearance with his sorry +cavalcade, and my companion having taken advantage of +our halt to make the sketch of the “Meeting of the mountains +and plain,” which was not quite finished, that we +might not lose time, as the sun was descending behind the +mountains, one of the mules was tied to a stake, in order +that my friend might overtake us, while we made the +best of our way forward.</p> + +<p>I still preferred walking, and pushed on at a pace which +suited none of my company, human or asinine. We had +got ahead about a mile, when shouts from behind opened a +scene perfectly ludicrous. There was the little mule trotting +up the road at most unusual speed, impelled by my +friend's shouts and the big stones with which he was +pelting the miserable beast. He too came up at a long +trot, rather excited, and calling to the muleteer, “Catch +your mule, Giovanni! I'll have nothing more to do with +the brute.”</p> + +<p>“What is it all about?”</p> + +<p>It appeared that my friend, having finished his sketch, +prepared to mount and push after us. The mule, however, +had a design diametrically opposed to this. No sooner was +it loosed from the stake to which it was tied, than the +poor beast very naturally felt a strong impulse to return +to its stable at Bastia. Could instinct have forewarned it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +what it would have to encounter before midnight, the +retrograde impulse would have been still stronger. Every +one knows how difficult it is to deal with a mule when it +is in the mood either not to go at all, or to go the wrong +way. Having driven a team of these animals—fine Calabrian +mules they were, equal to the best Spanish—all the +way from Naples to Dieppe, I can boast of some experience +in the mulish temperament.</p> + +<p>To make matters worse, the English saddle being all too +large for its wizened sides, in spite of all our care in +knotting the girths, it twisted round in the attempt to +mount, and my very excellent friend—no disparagement +to his noble horsemanship, for one has no firm seat even +when mounted on a vicious pony—before he could bring the +saddle to a level and gain his equilibrium, was fairly pitched +over the side of the road. Mule having now achieved +that glorious <i>libertà</i>, the instinctive aspiration of Corsican +existence, whether man, mule, or moufflon, started forward +alone, my friend following, I have no doubt, in rather +a thundering rage.</p> + +<p>“At every attempt I made to take the mule by the +head”—such was his account—“he reversed his position, +and launched his heels at me with a viciousness that +rendered the enterprise not a little dangerous, for I do not +know anything so funky as an ass's heels. Had it not +been for saving the saddle, mule might have taken himself +off to Bastia, or a worse place, for any trouble I would +have taken to stop him.”</p> + +<p>It may be supposed that this story was not told or +listened to without shouts of laughter, the muleteer being +the only one of the party who was seriously disconcerted.</p> + +<p>“<i>Andiamo, Giovanni</i>,” said I, cutting short all discussion,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +and moved forward. We had lost time, and the +evening was closing in.</p> + +<p>“Won't you ride, then?—try the other mule.”</p> + +<p>“No, I thank you; I am not in the least fatigued, and +have no desire to be pitched into a bush of prickly cactus, +or rolled down the bank of the causeway.”</p> + +<p>“Let us push on, then; if we are belated, we may have +worse adventures, this first day of our rambles in Corsica, +before we get to our night's quarters; and where we are +to find them, I am sure I have no idea.”</p> + +<p>We walked on at a smart pace, and gradually drew far +ahead of Giovanni and his mules. They were not to be +hurried, and if they had been gifted like Balaam's ass, I +imagine they would have agreed with Giovanni in wishing +<i>l'Inglesi all'Inferno</i>. I don't know, speaking from experience, +which is worst, riding, leading, or driving a malcontent +mule.</p> + +<p>The rays of the setting sun were now faintly gleaming +on a vast sheet of shallow stagnant water, the <i>Stagna di +Biguglia</i>, between the road and the sea, from which it is +only separated by a low strip of alluvial soil. It was a +solitary, a melancholy scene. A luxuriant growth of reeds +fringes the margin of the lagoon, and heat and moisture +combine to throw up a rank vegetation on its marshy +banks. The peasants fly from its pestiferous exhalations, +and nothing is heard or seen but the plash of the fish in +the still waters, the sharp cry of the heron and gull, +wheeling and hovering till they dart on their prey, and +some rude fisherman's boat piled with baskets of eels for +the market at Bastia.</p> + +<p>This vast sheet of water was formerly open to the sea, +forming a noble harbour, in which floated the galleys of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +the powerful republics that in the middle ages disputed +the empire of the Mediterranean and the possession of its +islands. On a hill above stood the town of Biguglia, the +capital of the island under the Pisans and Genoese, till in +the fourteenth century Henri della Rocca, with the insurgent +Corsicans, carried it by assault. The Genoese then +erected the fortress at Bastia, which, with the town growing +up under its protection, became the chief seat of their +power in the island, and Biguglia fell to decay.</p> + +<p>Mariana, a Roman colony, stood on the coast near the +lower extremity of this present lagoon; and Aleria, another +still further south, on the sea-line of the great plain +extending for forty miles below Bastia. Our proposed +route led in another direction, and, not to interrupt the +thread of the narrative, a notice of these colonies is reserved +for another opportunity.</p> + +<p>We had reached the neighbourhood at which, according +to calculation, we ought to strike off from the high-road +towards the mountains. Now, if ever, a guide was needed; +but Giovanni and his mules had fallen far in the rear. A +by-road turned to the right, apparently in the desired +direction. At the angle of the roads we took counsel,—should +we venture to take the by-path, or wait till Giovanni +came up?—which involved a loss of time we could ill +spare at that period of the day. A mistake might be awkward, +but we had carefully studied the bearings of the +country on our maps, and deciding to risk it, struck boldly +into the lane. For a short distance it led between inclosures, +but presently opened, and we found ourselves on +the boundless waste, with only a narrow track for our +guidance through its mazes. We were in the bush, the +<i>Macchia</i> as the natives call it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_VII" id="CHAP_VII"></a>CHAP. VII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Evergreen Thickets.—Their remarkable Character.—A fortunate +Rencontre.—Moonlight in the Mountains.—Cross +a high Col.—Corsican Shepherds.—The Vendetta.—Village +Quarters.</i></p> + + +<p>A slight ascent over a stony bank landed us at once on the +verge of the thickets. It had been browsed by cattle, and +scattered myrtle-bushes, of low growth, were the first objects +that gladdened our eyes. A new botany, a fresh scenery +was before us. The change from the littoral, with its rank +vegetation, close atmosphere, and weary length of interminable +causeway, was so sudden, that it took us by surprise. +Presently we were winding through a dense thicket +of arbutus, tree-heaths, alaternus, daphne, lentiscus, blended +with myrtles, cystus, and other aromatic shrubs, massed +and mingled in endless variety—the splendid arbutus, +with its white bell-shaped flowers and pendulous bunches +of red and orange berries, most prevailing.</p> + +<p>The <i>Macchia</i> is, in fact, a natural shrubbery of exquisite +beauty. We travelled through it, in the two islands, for +many hundred miles, and I feel confident that, to English +taste, it forms the unique feature in Corsican and Sardinian +scenery. This sort of underwood prevails also, I understand, +in Elba, and, more or less, in the other islands of +the central Mediterranean basin. We now fully comprehended +how it was that, when sailing along the coast, our +attention had been so riveted on the rich verdure clothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +the hills and mountain-sides of Capo Corso, although at +the time we were unable to satisfy ourselves in what its +striking peculiarity consisted.</p> + +<p>The air is so perfumed by the aromatic plants, that there +was no exaggeration in Napoleon's language when conversing, +at St. Helena, of the recollections of his youth, +he said:</p> + +<p>“<i>La Corse avait mille charmes; tout y était meilleur +jusqu'à l'odeur du sol même. Elle lui eût suffi pour la +deviner, les yeux fermés. Il ne l'avait retrouvée nulle part.</i>”</p> + +<p>A trifling occurrence in my own travels gives some faint +idea of the sentiment which dictated this remark. At St. +Helena the flora of the North and South singularly meet. +Patches of gorse (<i>Ulex Europæa</i>)—that idol of Linnæus +and ornament of our English and Cambrian wastes—grow +freely on the higher grounds, rivalling the purple heath in +their golden bloom, and shrubs of warmer climates in their +sweet perfume. Returning to England after lonely wanderings +in the southern hemisphere, I well remember how the +sight and the scent of this rude plant, dear in its very +homeliness, recalled former scenes associated with it. I +recollect, too, that the mettlesome barb which bounded +over the downs surrounding Longwood did not partake of +my sympathy for the golden bough I had plucked. The +smooth turf and the yellow furze had no charms for the +exile of St. Helena. Never was the “<i>lasciate ogni speranza</i>” +more applicable than to his island-prison, and in +his melancholy hours his thoughts naturally reverted, with +a gush of fond tenderness, to the land of his birth, little +as he had shown partiality for it in his hour of prosperity.</p> + +<p>On its picturesque scenes we were now entering, with +everything to give them the highest zest. The autumn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +rains had refreshed the arid soil, and the aromatic shrubs +filled the air with their richest perfume. Escaped from +cities, and from steam-boats, redolent of far other odours, +and having turned our backs on marsh, and <i>stagna</i>, and +wearisome causeway, well strung to our work, and gaining +fresh vigour in the evening breeze, we brushed through +the waving thickets with little thought of Giovanni and +his mules, left far behind, and as little concern whither +our path would lead us. It was a beaten track, and must +be our guide to some habitation. A few hours ago we set +foot on shore, and we were already engaged in some sort of +adventure—and that, too, in Corsica, which has an ugly +reputation! “<i>N'importe</i>; it is our usual luck; it will +turn out right.” But let us push on, for the sun has long +set, and the twilight is fading.</p> + +<p>Fortune favoured us, for the enterprise on which we had +stumbled turned out rather a more serious affair than we +anticipated. It was getting dark, when the footprints of a +mule on the sandy path attracted our notice, the fresh marks +pointing in the direction we were taking. Soon we caught +sight of a small party winding through the tall shrubbery. +The turning of a zigzag on a slight rocky ascent brought +the party full in view, and we closed with it. There were +two girls riding astride on the same mule, with a stout +peasant trudging behind. It was a pleasant rencontre.</p> + +<p>“Good evening, friend. How far is it to the next +village?”</p> + +<p>“Three hours.”</p> + +<p>“What is it called?”</p> + +<p>“Olmeta.”</p> + +<p>“Is the road good?”</p> + +<p>“Mountainous and very steep.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>“Allow us to join your party?”</p> + +<p>“By all means.” “<i>Allons donc</i>; we shall be late.”</p> + +<p>And the party moved on. Antoine, our new acquaintance, +was, like most Corsicans, of the middle size, with a +frame well knit. He had a pleasant expression of countenance, +with a frank and independent air, the very reverse +of our muleteer, Giovanni. We amused ourselves at having +given him the slip, and continued to question our new +guide.</p> + +<p>“Shall we be able to procure beds and something to eat +at Olmeta?”—the “<i>qualche cosa per mangiare</i>” being +always a question of first importance.</p> + +<p>“Never fear; you will find hospitality?”</p> + +<p>We had no misgivings of any kind. Under Antoine's +guidance we could now proceed boldly, quite at ease to +enjoy all the charms of our wild adventure.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“E pur per selve oscure e calli obliqui,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Insieme van, senza sospetto aversi.”—<span class="smcap">Ariost.</span> Canto I.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Together through dark woods and winding ways<br /></span> +<span class="i0">They walk, nor on their hearts suspicion preys.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In about an hour, the moon, then at her full, rose above +the hills on our left, shedding a soft and silvery light on +the mountain-tops; our narrow path through the thickets +being still buried in gloom. Presently a full tide of +lustrous radiance was poured on the waving sea of verdure +and the face of the mountains. We made good speed, for +the family mule, homeward bound, stepped on briskly +under its double burden. Sometimes we kept up with the +party, joining in the talk of the good peasants; at others, +falling behind to enjoy the stillness of the scene, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span> +abandon ourselves to the contemplation of its ever-varying +features. Now we threaded the bank of a mountain torrent +far beneath in shade, the depth of which the eye was unable +to penetrate as we plunged downwards through the +thickets; then, crossing the stream and scrambling up the +opposite bank, once more emerged from the gloom, and, +standing for a few instants on the summit we had gained, +the grey mountain-tops again showed themselves touched +with the silver light, and the quivering foliage of the +evergreen shrubs, which covered the undulating expanse +beneath, twinkled like diamond sprays.</p> + +<p>In these alternations of light and shade, and precipitous +descents which led on to still increasing altitudes, we +followed our rocky path for about two hours, when +Antoine halted his party to prepare for surmounting +the main difficulty of the route, in evident surprise all +the while at finding two Englishmen engaged in an +adventure of which he could not comprehend the motive. +And yet Antoine had seen something of the world beyond +the narrow bounds of his native island. He had been a +<i>matelot</i>, he said,—made a long voyage, and once touched +at an English port. Antoine seemed to be now leading a +vagabond life. He was not communicative as to why +he left his country or why he returned, and was gay +and melancholy by fits. He did not belong to Olmeta, +but had friends there, to whom he was conducting the +girls.</p> + +<p>It is not often that the Corsican women ride while the +men walk, the reverse being generally the case. But +Antoine was gallant, and, on the whole, a good fellow. +The girls, we have said, rode astride; but now, in preparation +for the ascent, one of them slipped off the mule,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span> +over the crupper, with amusing agility, relieving the poor +beast of half its burden, and they afterwards rode by turns.</p> + +<p>We now began the ascent of the pass, the Col di S.<sup>to</sup> +Leonardo, leading into the valley of Olmeta. The Col is +nearly 3000 feet above the level of the sea, and the passage +proved to be almost as difficult as any I recollect having +encountered. We had no idea, when we left Bastia, of +attempting it that evening, and, had we not parted from +Giovanni, should probably have made for some village near +the high-road, and lost the splendid effects of moonlight +on such scenery. The face of the mountain is scaled either +by rocky steps or by terraces cut in the escarped flanks, with +quick returns, in the way such elevations are usually surmounted. +The passing and repassing, as we traversed the +successive stages, brought out the effects of light and shade +even better than we had remarked them below. The path, +too, was extremely picturesque. Masses of grey rock, half +in shade, jutted out among the shrubbery with which the +mountain-side was covered; giant heaths, five or six feet +high, hung feathering, and the arbutus threw its broad +branches, over our heads.</p> + +<p>We had made some progress, and stood, as it were, suspended +over the valley, when Antoine's quick ear caught +sounds from below. We halted to take breath and listen. +Presently, the sounds became more distinct, and we made +out the tramp of mules coming up the path, but still far +beneath. It was probably Giovanni with his mules, following +our steps. Again we stood and listened, looking +over the precipice at an angle which commanded the +descent for many hundred feet beneath. The thicket +shrouding the narrow track was so dense, that nothing +could be seen, even in that bright moonlight, but its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +glistening slope. The sounds from below rose more dearly. +Thwack, thwack, fell Giovanni's cudgel on the ribs of his +unfortunate mules; and we could hear them scrambling, and +his hoarse voice uttering strange cries, as he urged them on.</p> + +<p>We were too much amused at having given him the +slip to think much of the great tribulation in which he +was panting and toiling to overtake us. Vain hope! +“He will be in time for supper; let us push on;”—beginning +to think that the sooner we realised the comforts +which Antoine had encouraged us to expect, the better.</p> + +<p>“Are we near the top of the pass?”</p> + +<p>“Do you see that rock with the bush hanging from +it?” pointing to a huge, insulated mass, its sharp outline +clearly defined against the blue sky; “it is a thousand feet +above the spot on which we stand. The path lies round +the base of that rock. In an hour we shall reach it.”</p> + +<p>We climbed on, the ascent becoming steeper and steeper +as we mounted upwards, often casting wistful looks at the +beacon rock. Just before we gained the summit, smoke +was seen curling up from the copse at a little distance +from the path.</p> + +<p>“<i>Ci sono pastori</i>,” cried Antoine.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps they can give us some milk.” We had need +enough of some refreshment, the breakfast at Bastia having +been our only meal.</p> + +<p>“<i>Vedéremmo</i>,” said Antoine; and he led the way +through the bushes.</p> + +<p>Some rough dogs leapt out, fiercely barking at the +approach of strangers. They were called off by the shepherds, +who, wrapped in their shaggy mantles, the Corsican +<i>pelone</i>, were sitting and lying round a fire of blazing logs, +under the shelter of a rock. A mixed flock of sheep and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +goats lay closely packed round the bivouac. Unfortunately +they had no milk to give us.</p> + +<p>The Corsican shepherds are a singular race. We found +them leading a nomad life in all parts of the island. +They wander, as the season permits, from the highest +mountain-ranges to the verge of the cultivated lands +and vineyards, where the goats do infinite mischief; +and drive their flocks in the winter to the vast plains +of the littoral, and the warm and sheltered valleys. +Home they have none; the side of a rock, a cave, a +hut of loose stones, lends them temporary shelter. Chestnuts +are their principal food; and their clothing, sheepskins, +or the black wool of their flocks spun and woven +by the women of the valleys into the coarse cloth of +the <i>pelone</i>. Their greatest luxuries are the immense +fires, for which the materials are boundless, or to bask +in the sun, and tell national tales, and sing their simple +<i>canzone</i>. But though a rude, they are not a bad, race; +contented, hospitable, tolerably honest, and, as we found, +often intelligent. We were not fortunate in our first +introduction to these people. Antoine exchanged a few +words with them; but they were sullen, and showed no +signs of surprise or curiosity on the sudden appearance of +strangers at their fireside. The sample was far from prepossessing. +One of the men, who seemed to eye us with +suspicion, had just the physiognomy one should assign to +a bandit.</p> + +<p>It was perhaps this idea which led me to question +Antoine on a subject we had hitherto avoided.</p> + +<p>“Are there any outlaws harboured in these wild mountains?”</p> + +<p>“Not now; they have been hunted out; all that is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span> +changed; but blood has been often spilt in this <i>maquis</i>. +One terrible <i>vendetta</i> was taken not far from hence; but +that was many years ago. I will show you the spot.”</p> + +<p>Antoine strode rapidly onward; and we overtook the +women, who had rode on. In ten minutes we were +rounding the mass of rock crowning the pass.</p> + +<p>“This was the spot,” said Antoine, taking a step +towards me, the rest of the party having passed; and +he added calmly, but with decision, and a slightly triumphant +air, “I did it myself.” (“<i>J'ai donné le coup +moi-même.</i>”)</p> + +<p>It may be well supposed that I stood aghast. We had +not then learnt with what little reserve such deeds of blood +are avowed in Corsica; how thoroughly they are extenuated +by the popular code of morals or honour. Such +avowals were afterwards made to us with far less feeling +than Antoine betrayed; indeed, with the utmost levity. +“<i>Je lui ai donné un coup</i>,” mentioning the individual and +giving the details, was the climax of a story of some sudden +quarrel or long-harboured animosity. It was uttered +with the <i>sang froid</i> with which an Englishman would +say, “I knocked the fellow down;” and it might have +been our impression that nothing more was meant, but +for the circumstances related, which left no doubt on the +subject. When a Corsican says that he has given his +enemy a <i>coup</i>, the phrase is a decorous ellipse for <i>coup-de-fusil</i>. +Occasionally, perhaps, it may mean a <i>coup-de-poignard</i>, +which amounts to much the same thing; but +since carrying the knife has been rigorously prohibited by +the French Government, stabbing has not been much in +vogue in Corsica. Now, it is to be hoped, the murderous +<i>fusil</i> has equally disappeared.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was no time for asking what led to the quarrel or +encounter. Antoine coolly turned away, saying, “The +descent is easy; we shall have a good road now down the +hill to Olmeta;” and, most opportunely, the view which +opened from the summit of the pass was calculated to +divert my thoughts from what had just occurred.</p> + +<p>It has been often remarked, that the Corsican villages +are most commonly built on high ground. We now +counted, by their cheerful lights, nine or ten of them +dotting the hills in all directions; some perched on the +heights beyond the Bevinco, which wound through the +valley beneath, the moonlight flashing on patches of the +stream and faintly revealing a dark chain of mountains +beyond—the Serra di Stella, dividing the valley of the +Bevinco from that of the Golo.</p> + +<p>The descent was easy, according to Antoine's augury. +We tear down the hill, pass the village church at a sharp +angle, its white <i>façade</i> glistening in the moonbeams; and a +straight avenue, shaded by trees, brings us into a labyrinth +of narrow lanes, overhung by tall, gaunt houses of the +roughest fabric and materials. Antoine bids us stop before +one of these gloomy abodes; an old woman appears at the +door of the first story with a feeble oil-lamp in her hand. +The ground-floor of these houses, as usual in the South, +are all stables or cellars. After a short conference, Antoine +disappears, and we see him no more that night. We +mount a flight of steep, unhewn stone steps, at the risk of +breaking our necks, for there is no rail; the good dame +welcomes us to all that she has, little though it be, and +we land in a grim apartment containing the usual raised +hearth for cooking, with a very limited apparatus of +utensils—a few shallow kettles of copper and iron, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +table, some chairs, and a very questionable bed in a +corner.</p> + +<p>There were two other apartments, <i>en suite</i>, the next +being a <i>salle</i>, with a brick floor like the kitchen, tolerably +clean. A few Scripture prints on the walls, a large table, +some rickety chairs, and a settee, convertible, we found, +into a very satisfactory shakedown, composed the furniture. +The inner apartment, which contained a really good bed, +seemed to be the widow's wardrobe and storeroom of +all her most valuable effects; being crowded with chests, +and tables covered with all sorts of things, helped out by +pegs on the walls. These were ornamented with little +coloured prints of the Virgin, and Saints, and there was a +crucifix at the bed's head. After showing her apartments, +the widow placed the lamp on the table in the <i>salle</i>, with +the usual <i>felice notte</i>, and there was a running fire of +questions and answers between her and the two hungry +travellers about the <i>qualche cosa per mangiare</i>. The larder +was of course empty, and the discussion resolved itself into +some rashers of bacon, a loaf of very sweet bread, and a +bottle of the light and excellent wine for which Capo +Corso is famous, procured from a neighbour.</p> + +<p>This was not accomplished without a great deal of bustle +and screeching, and running to and fro of the widow and +some female friends, withered old crones, who had come to +her aid on so unexpected an emergency as our appearance +on the scene. This continued after supper till the chests +in the inner apartment had delivered up their stores of +sheets, coverlets, and towels, all as white as the driven +snow. How we ate, drank, and lodged during our rambles +is not the most agreeable of our recollections, and can +have little interest except as affording glimpses of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +habits of the people. This first essay of Corsican hospitality +was not amiss.</p> + +<p>Just as we had finished our frugal meal, Giovanni made +his appearance. Wishing to give him his <i>congé</i>, we expected +a sharp altercation; to avoid which, and not forfeit +our engagement that he should conduct us to Corte, it was +proposed to him to leave the malcontent mule till his +return, procuring at Olmeta a more serviceable beast, or +to proceed with the others only. Giovanni was crestfallen; +he had had enough of it, and did not bluster, as we expected. +Though disliking him, we had amused ourselves at his expence, +and could hardly now refrain from laughing at his +piteous aspect. Giovanni, however, was quite as ready to +be quit of us as we were to get rid of him. His reply to +our proposal about the mule was quite touching:—</p> + +<p>“<i>Je ne veux pas me séparer de mon pauvre âne!</i>”</p> + +<p>So the inseparables were dismissed to return to Bastia, +after an equitable adjustment, and we parted good friends. +Giovanni was no favourite of ours, but that touch of sentiment +for his “<i>pauvre âne</i>” was a redeeming trait. As for +ourselves, we were left without a guide, which did not +matter, and without the means of carrying forward our +baggage, which did. This dilemma did not spoil our rest; +it was such as weary travellers earn.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_VIII" id="CHAP_VIII"></a>CHAP. VIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>The</i> Littorale.—<i>Corsican Agriculture.—Greek and Roman +Colonies.—Sketch of Mediæval and Modern History.—Memoirs +of King Theodore de Neuhoff</i>.</p> + + +<p>Let us now return for a short space to the point at +which we quitted the high-road from Bastia. More attractive +metal drew us off to the mountain-paths; but the +<i>Littorale</i> is not without interest, especially as the seat of +the earliest and most thriving colonies in the island. +These and its subsequent fortunes claim a passing notice.</p> + +<p>It may be recollected that our road lay for some miles +through the plain between the mountains and the Mediterranean. +This level is between fifty and sixty miles +long. Intersected by the rivers flowing from the central +chain, alluvial marshes are formed at their mouths, and +there are also, from similar causes, several lagoons on the +coast, of which the Stagna di Biguglia, near which we +turned off into the <i>maquis</i>, is the largest. The exhalations +from these marshes and waters render the climate so +pestiferous, that the <i>littorale</i> is almost uninhabited. The +soil is extremely fertile, producing large crops where it is +cultivated, and affording pasturage to immense herds of +cattle, sheep, and goats. The country people inhabit +villages on the neighbouring hills, descending into the +plains at the seasons when their labour is required for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +tilling and sowing the land, and harvesting the crops; and +but too frequently carrying back the seeds of wasting or +fatal diseases.</p> + +<p>Even under the double disadvantages of exposure to +malaria, and the natural indolence of the Corsican peasant, +this district supplies a very large proportion of the corn +consumed in the island. So great is this indolence, that +not more than three-tenths of the surface of Corsica is +brought under cultivation, although it is calculated that +double that area is capable of it. I was unable to ascertain +the number of acres under tillage, planted with vines +and olive-trees, or otherwise requiring agricultural labour; +but it might have been supposed that a population of +230,000 souls would at least have met the demand for +labour on the portion of the surface thus occupied. So +far, however, from this being the case, it is a curious fact +that from 2000 to 3000 labourers come into the island +every year from Lucca, Modena, and Parma, to engage in +agricultural employment. They generally arrive about the +middle of April, and take their departure in November. +They are an intelligent, laborious, and frugal class; and as +the savings of each individual are calculated at 100 or 110 +francs, no less a sum than 200,000 francs is thus annually +carried to the Continent instead of being earned by native +industry. The climate of Corsica is described by many +ancient writers as insalubrious; but there does not seem +to be any foundation for the statement, except as regards +the <i>littorale</i>, the only part of the island which appears to +have been colonised in early times, and with which they +were acquainted.</p> + +<p>Who were its primitive inhabitants and first colonists, +whether Corsus, the supposed leader of a band of immigrants,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +who gave his name to the island, was a son of Hercules +or a Trojan, are facts lost in the mist of ages, through +which the origin of few races can be penetrated. An +inquiry into such traditions would be a waste of time, and +is foreign to a work of this kind.</p> + +<p>There is reason to believe that the light of civilisation +first beamed on its shores from Sardinia—an island which +some brief records, and, still more, its existing monuments, +lead us to consider as civilised long before the period of +authentic history.</p> + +<p>The island of Sardinia, placed in the great highway from +the East, was a convenient station for the people who, in +the first ages, were driven thence by a providential impulse +towards the shores of the West, and, with the torch of +civilisation in their hands, passed successively by Asia +Minor and the islands of Crete, Sicily, and Sardinia to +Greece, to Italy, and the other countries of the West.</p> + +<p>A smaller branch of the torrent of this great and primitive +emigration poured from the mountain ranges in the +north of Sardinia, and, crossing the straits, overspread the +south of Corsica, bearing with it the civilisation of the +East, of which records are found in the most ancient Corsican +monuments. Some of these are identical with +those in Sardinia, which will be mentioned hereafter. +Such are the Dolmen, called in Corsica <i>Stazzone</i>; and the +Menhir, to which they give the fanciful name of <i>Stantare</i>. +When a child at play stands on its head with its heels self-balanced +in the air, making itself a pyramid instead of +cutting a pirouette, that is, in the language of mothers +and nurses, <i>far la Stantare</i>.</p> + +<p>However this may be, there are numerous testimonies +that the island of Corsica was known and visited in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span> +most remote times by navigators of the several races on +the shores of the Mediterranean—Phœnicians, Pelasgians, +Tyrrhenians, Ligurians, and Iberians. Herodotus, +who calls the island Cyrnos, describes an attempt at colonisation +by Phocæans, driven from Ionia, who founded the +city of Alalia, afterwards called Aleria, 448 years before +the Christian era. But the genuine history of Corsica +commences with the period when the Roman republic, on +the decay of the Carthaginian power, began to extend its +conquests in the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>In the year 260 <span class="smcap">b.c.</span>, Lucius Cornelius Scipio led an +expedition into the island, which was crowned with +success. Every traveller who has visited Rome must +have been interested in one of the few relics of the republican +era, remarkable for its primitive simplicity—the +tomb of the Scipios. It chanced that the writer, +when there, procured a model of the sarcophagus which +contained the ashes of this first of a race of heroes, L. C. +Scipio. The monuments of Rome were not of marble in +the times of the republic, and this sarcophagus being cut +out of a block of the volcanic <i>peperino</i>, so common in the +Campagna, the author had his model made of the same +material, with the inscription cut in rude characters round +the margin; that is to say, such part of it as had been +preserved, so that it is a perfect fac-simile. He reads +on it—</p> + +<p class="center"> +HEC CEPIT CORSICA ALERIAQUE URBE. +</p> + +<p>That fragment contains the earliest record of Roman conquest +in Corsica. But the conquest was incomplete, and +for upwards of a century the Corsicans maintained an +unequal struggle against the Roman legions, strong in their +mountain fastnesses, while the Roman armies appear to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +have seldom advanced beyond the plains. The natives +held their ground with such obstinacy that, on one occasion, +after a bloody battle, a consular army, under Caius +Papirius, was so nearly defeated, when rashly entangled in +the gorges of the mountains, that the Corsicans obtained +honourable terms of peace. The Roman historians relate +that this battle was fought on “The Field of Myrtles,” a +name appropriate to a Corsican <i>macchia</i>; and they do not +otherwise describe the locality.<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> It is easy to imagine the +scenes and the issue of a deadly struggle between the +mountaineers and the disciplined legions, on ground such +as that described in the preceding chapter.</p> + +<p>In these wars great numbers of the natives were carried +off as slaves to Rome, and the annual tribute paid on submission +consisted of wax, which was raised to 200,000 lbs. +after one defeat.</p> + +<p>A two hours' walk over the plains from the point at +which we quitted the high-road would bring us to the ruins +of Mariana, a colony founded by Marius on the banks of +the Golo, and to which he gave his name. Not a vestige +of Roman architecture can now be found on the spot.</p> + +<p>During the civil wars, the rivals, Marius and Sylla, established +each a colony in Corsica. That of Sylla (Aleria) +stood forty miles further down the coast, at the mouth of +the Tavignano, the seat of the ancient Greek colony of +Alalia. Sylla restored it, sending over some of his veteran<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +soldiers, among whom he distributed the conquered lands, +and it became the capital of the island during the Roman +period, and so continued during the earlier part of the +middle ages. Sacked and laid in ruins by the Arabs, some +iron rings on the Stagna di Diana, the ancient port, large +blocks of stone on the site of a mole at the mouth of the +Tavignano, some arches, a few steps of a circus, with coins +and cameos occasionally turned up, are the sole vestiges of +the Roman colonisation in Corsica. Their only road led +from Mariana by Aleria to Palæ, a station near the modern +Bonifaccio, from whence there was a <i>trajectus</i> to Portus +Tibulus (Longo Sardo), in Sardinia; and the road was +continued through that island to its southern extremity, +near Cagliari.</p> + +<p>In the decline of the Roman power, Corsica shared the +fate of the other territories in the Mediterranean attached +to the eastern empire. Seized by the Vandals under Genseric, +despotically governed by the Byzantine emperors, +pillaged by Saracen corsairs, protected by Charlemagne, +and, on the fall of his empire, parcelled out, like the rest +of Europe, among a host of feudal barons, mostly of +foreign extraction—who, from their rock-girt towers, waged +perpetual hostilities with each other, and tyrannised over +the enthralled natives—claimed by the Popes in virtue of +Pepin's donation, and granted by them to the Pisans,—after +a long struggle between the two rival republics contending +for the supremacy of the Mediterranean, the island at last +fell under the dominion of the Genoese.</p> + +<p>This dominion the republic of Genoa exercised for +more than four centuries (from the thirteenth to the eighteenth) +in an almost uninterrupted course of gross misrule. +Instead of endeavouring to amalgamate the islanders with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +her own citizens, she treated them as a degraded cast, +worthy only of slavery. A governor, frequently chosen +by the republic from amongst men of desperate circumstances, +had the absolute sovereignty of the island: by +his mere sentence, on secret information, without trial, a +person might be condemned to death or to the galleys. The +venality of the Genoese tribunals was so notorious, that the +murderer felt sure to escape if he could pay the judge for +his liberation.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p> + +<p>The Corsicans were not a race which would tamely submit +to this tyranny, and their annals during this long period +exhibit a series of bloody struggles against the Genoese +republic, and devoted efforts to maintain their rights and +recover their independence. In these contests the <i>signori</i> +either allied themselves with the Genoese, or took part +with their countrymen, as their interest inclined; while a +succession of patriot leaders, such as few countries of +greater pretensions can boast—Sambucchio, Sampiero, +the Gaffori, the Paoli—all sprung from the ranks of the +people; the bravest in the field and the wisest in council, +carried aloft the banner of Corsican <i>libertà</i>.</p> + +<p>The hostilities were not confined to the parties immediately +interested in the quarrel. Foreign aid was invoked +on the one side and on the other, and for a long period the +little island of Corsica became the battle-field of the great +European powers; Spaniards, Austrians, French, and +English, at one time or the other, and especially in the +decay of the Genoese republic, throwing their forces into +the scale, and occupying portions of the island, but with +no definitive result, until its final absorption in the dominion +of its present masters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<p>Little interest would now attach to the details of a +struggle confined to so insignificant a territory, and having +so little influence on European politics; and it would be alike +foreign to the province of a traveller, and wearisome to the +reader, that the subject should be pursued, except incidentally, +where events or persons connected with the localities +he visits call forth some passing remarks. An exception +may perhaps be allowed in the course of this narrative +for some account of the English intervention in Corsican +affairs. It is little known that our George III. was once +the constitutional king of Corsica. Nelson, too, performed +there one of his most dashing exploits.</p> + +<p>Just now we have been talking of Aleria, a place identified +with a curious and somewhat romantic episode in +Corsican history. Corsica cradled and sent forth a soldier +of fortune, to become in his aspirations, and almost in +effect, the Cæsar of the western empire. Corsica received +into her bosom a German adventurer, who, for a brief +space, played on this narrow stage the part of her crowned +king. That there is but a short interval between the +sublime and the ridiculous, was exemplified in the career of +these upstart monarchs. Both sought an asylum in England. +The one pined in an island-prison, the other in a +London gaol.</p> + + +<p class="title">THEODORE DE NEUHOFF, KING OF CORSICA.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>On the 25th March, 1736, a small merchant-ship, carrying +the English ensign, anchored off Aleria. There landed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +from it a personage of noble appearance, with a suite of sixteen +persons, who was received with the deference due to a +monarch. He superintended the disembarkation of cannon +and military stores, and gratuitously distributed powder, +muskets, and other accoutrements, to the Corsicans who +crowded to the shore.</p> + +<p>The imagination exercises a powerful sway over the +people of the South. The mystery which surrounded this +personage, his dignified and polished manners, the important +succour he brought, and even the fantastical and semi-Oriental +cast of his dress, all contributed to produce a great +influence on ardent minds naturally inclined to the marvellous. +This was Theodore de Neuhoff.</p> + +<p>Theodore Antoine, Baron de Neuhoff, a native of Westphalia, +had been in his youth page to the Duchess of +Orleans, and afterwards served in Spain. Returning to +France, he attached himself to the speculations of Law, +and partook the vicissitudes of splendour and misery which +were the fortunes of his patron. When that bubble burst, +our adventurer wandered through Europe, seeking his fortune +with a perseverance, combined with incontestable +talent, which, sooner or later, must seize some opportunity +of accomplishing his schemes.</p> + +<p>At Genoa he fell in with Giaffori and some other Corsican +patriots, then exiled; and representing himself to be +possessed of immense resources, and even to have it in his +power to secure the support of powerful courts, offered to +drive the Genoese out of the island, on condition of his +being recognised as King of Corsica. The patriot chiefs, +seduced by these magnificent promises, and, perhaps, too +apt to seek for foreign aid wherever it could be found, +accepted Theodore's offers.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span></p> + +<p>Not to follow him through all the course of his romantic +adventures, it appears that he found means of credit—perhaps +from the Jews, with whom he was already deeply +involved—for a considerable sum of ready money, and the +arms, ammunition, and stores necessary for his expedition. +Landing in Corsica, in the manner already described, the +Corsican chiefs, although they had concerted his descent +on the island, had the address to cherish the popular idea +that Theodore's arrival was a mark of the interest taken +by Heaven in the liberty of the Corsicans.</p> + +<p>In a popular assembly held at the Convent of Alesani, a +Constitution was resolved on, by which the kingdom of +Corsica was settled hereditarily in the family of the Baron +de Neuhoff; taxation was reserved to the Diet, and it was +provided that all offices should be filled by natives of the +island. The baron, having sworn on the Gospels to +adhere to the Constitution, was crowned with a chaplet of +laurel and oak in the presence of immense crowds, who +flocked to the ceremony from all quarters, amid shouts of +“<i>Evviva Teodoro, re di Corsica!</i>”</p> + +<p>Theodore took possession of the deserted episcopal residence +at Cervione, where he assumed every mark of royal +dignity. He had his court, his guards, and his officers of +state; levied troops, coined money, instituted an order of +knighthood, and created nobility, among whom such names +as <i>Marchese</i> Giaffori and <i>Marchese</i> Paoli (Pasquale's father) +singularly figure. His manifesto, in answer to Genoese +proclamations denouncing his pretensions and painting +him as a charlatan, affected as great a sensitiveness of +insult as could exist in the mind of a Capet. For some +time all things went well; Theodore became master of +nearly the whole island except the Genoese fortresses,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span> +which he blockaded. These were, in fact, the keys of the +island. But the succours which he had boasted of receiving +did not arrive, and, after employing various artifices to keep +alive the expectations of foreign aid and fresh supplies of +the muniments of war, finding, when he had held the +reins of power about eight months, that his new subjects +began to cool in their attachment to his person, and did +not act with the same ardour as before, he determined to go +over to the Continent, with the hope of obtaining the means +of carrying on the war, and thus reinstating himself in +the confidence of the Corsicans.</p> + +<p>Appointing a regency to conduct the affairs of his kingdom +during his absence, he went to Holland, and, though +even his royal credit was probably at a discount, after long +delay, he succeeded in negotiating a considerable loan, at +what rate of interest or on what security we are not told. +However, a ship was freighted with cannon and other +warlike stores, on board of which he returned to Corsica +two years after he had quitted the island. But it was too +late; the French were then in possession of the principal +places, the patriot leaders were negotiating with them, and +the people had lost all confidence in their mock-king. Theodore +found, to use a colloquial expression, that “the game +was up,” and wisely retracing his steps, found his way +to England, the last refuge of abdicated monarchs.</p> + +<p>Fortune still frowned on him. Pursued by his relentless +creditors, the ex-king was thrown into the King's Bench +prison. His distresses attracted the commiseration of +Horace Walpole, who, as Boswell informs us, “wrote a +paper in the ‘World,’ with great elegance and humour, +soliciting a contribution for the monarch in distress, to be +paid to Mr. Robert Dodsley, bookseller, as lord high treasurer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span> +This brought in a very handsome sum, and he was +allowed to get out of prison.” “Walpole,” he adds, “has +the original deed by which Theodore made over the kingdom +of Corsica in security to his creditors.” Mr. Benson's +statement, which is more exact, and agrees with the epitaph, +is, that the subscription was not sufficient to extricate +King Theodore from his difficulties, and that he was +released from gaol as an insolvent debtor. However that +may be, he died soon afterwards. Former writers have +stated that he was buried in an obscure corner, among the +paupers, in the churchyard of St. Anne's, Westminster, +but they are mistaken. We find a neat mural tablet fixed +against the exterior wall of the church of St. Anne's, +Soho, at the west end, on which, surmounted by a coronet, +is inscribed the following epitaph, written by Horace +Walpole:—</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/076.jpg" width="80" height="50" alt="coronet" title="coronet" /> +</div> + +<p class="center"> +“Near this place is interred<br /> +THEODORE, KING OF CORSICA,<br /> +Who died in this parish<br /> +Dec. 11, 1756,<br /> +Immediately after leaving<br /> +The King's Bench Prison<br /> +By the benefit of the Act of Insolvency;<br /> +In consequence of which<br /> +He registered his kingdom of Corsica<br /> +For the use of his Creditors.<br /></p> + +<table summary="epitaph"> +<tr> +<td class="poem">The grave, great teacher, to a level brings</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="poem">Heroes and beggars, galley-slaves and Kings:</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="poem">But Theodore this moral learned, ere dead:</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="poem">Fate poured his lesson on his living head,</td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="poem">Bestow'd a kingdom, and denied him bread.”</td></tr> +</table> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_IX" id="CHAP_IX"></a>CHAP. IX.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Environs of Olmeta.—Bandit-Life and the Vendetta—Its +Atrocities.—The Population disarmed.—The Bandits exterminated</i>.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/077.jpg" width="500" height="312" alt="OLMETA." title="OLMETA." /> +<p class="caption">OLMETA.</p> +</div> + + +<p>Olmeta stands, like most Corsican villages, on the point +of a hill, forming one side of an oval basin, the slopes of +which are laid out in terraced gardens and vineyards. +Here and there, in sheltered nooks, we find plantations of +orange-trees, now showing green fruit under their glossy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span> +leaves. Some fine chestnut and walnut trees about the +place, and the magnificent elms (<i>olme</i>) from which it +derives its name, soften the aspect of its bleak, exposed +site, and gaunt houses.</p> + +<p>Charming as the natural landscapes are in Corsica, one +finds most of the villages, however picturesque at a distance, +on a nearer approach, a conglomeration of tall, +shapeless houses, black and frowning, with windows +guarded by rusty iron <i>grilles</i>, and generally unglazed. +Altogether, they look more like the holds of banditti +than the abodes of peaceful vinedressers; while the filth of +the purlieus is unutterable. Throwing open the double +casements of the widow's sanctum, I may not call it +boudoir, when I leapt out of bed to enjoy the fresh morning +air,—underneath was a noisome dunghill, grim gables +frowned on either hand, but beyond was the <i>riant</i> landscape +just described. Here truly God made the country, +man the town.</p> + +<p>While my friend was sketching, I strolled up to the +pretty church we had seen by moonlight. Close by is a +large, roomy mansion, which belonged to Marshal Sebastiani. +He was a native of Olmeta, and, from an obscure +origin, arriving at high rank as well as great wealth, +partly, I understood, through a brilliant marriage, bought +a large property in the neighbourhood, which has been +recently sold for 150,000 francs to a French <i>Directeur</i>. +I went over the château: to the original mansion the +marshal had added a handsome <i>salle</i>, and a lofty tower +commanding varied and extensive views towards Fiorenzo +and the Mediterranean. My conductor was a gentleman +of Olmeta, who accidentally meeting me, proffered his +services, pressing me afterwards to take breakfast with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +him. We had done very well at the widow's long before, +with delicious bread, eggs, apples, and figs, and coffee in +the smallest of cups. We brewed our own tea in a bran-new +coffee-pot, purchased for that purpose at Bastia. +Butter and milk were wanting, but whipped eggs make a +very tolerable substitute for the latter.</p> + +<p>My new acquaintance informed me that the decree, +passed the year before for disarming the whole population, +combined with measures for increasing the force of the +<i>gendarmerie</i>, and making it highly penal to harbour the +bandits or afford them any succour, had been actively and +rigorously carried out, and were completely successful. +The life of a citizen is as safe in Corsica as in any other +department of France. “You may walk through the +island,” added my informant, “with a purse of gold in +your bosom.”</p> + +<p>This was true, I imagine, with regard to strangers, in +the worst of times; their security from molestation being +nearly allied to the national virtue of hospitality, which is +not quite extinct. Nor were the Corsican banditti associated, +like those of Italy, for the mere purpose of plunder, +though they have heavily taxed the peaceable inhabitants, +both by drawing from the poor the means for their subsistence +in the woods and mountains, and by levying, +under terror, direct contributions in money from the more +wealthy inhabitants in the towns and villages. These are, +however, but trifling ingredients in the mass of crime for +which Corsica has been so painfully distinguished. Would, +indeed, that robbery and pillage were the sins of the +darkest dye which have to be laid to the account of the +Corsican bandit! Most commonly, his hands have been +stained with innocent blood, shed recklessly, relentlessly,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span> +in private quarrels, often of the most frivolous description, +and not in open fight, as in the feuds of the middle ages, +not in the heat of sudden passion, but by cool, premeditated +murder.</p> + +<p>Philippini, the best Corsican historian, who lived in the +sixteenth century, states that in his time 28,000 Corsicans +were murdered in the course of thirty years. A later +Corsican historian calculates that between the years 1683 +and 1715, a period of thirty-two years, 28,715 murders +were perpetrated in Corsica; and he reckons that an equal +number were wounded. The average, then, in their days, +was about 900 souls yearly sent to their account by the +dagger and the <i>fusil</i> in murderous assaults; besides vast +multitudes who fell in the wars.</p> + +<p>It was still worse in earlier ages; but those of which we +speak were times of high civilisation, and Corsica lay in +the centre of it. What do we find in recent times, up to +the very year before we visited the island?</p> + +<p>I have before me the <i>Procès verbal</i> of the deliberations +of the Council General of the department of Corsica for +each of the years 1850, '51, and '52. From these I gather +that 4,300 <i>assassinats</i> had been perpetrated in Corsica since +1821; and, in the three years before mentioned, the +“<i>Assassinats, ou tentatives d'assassiner</i>,” averaged ninety-eight +annually from the 1st of January to the 1st of August, +to which day the annual reports are made up; so that, +reckoning for the remaining five months in the same proportion, +the list of these heinous crimes is brought up to +the fearful amount, for these days, of 160 in each year.</p> + +<p>Well might M. le Préfet observe, in his address at the +opening of the session of 1851: “<i>La situation du département +à cet égard est sans doute profondément triste. Le<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +nombre des crimes n'a pas diminué sensiblement</i>.” So low, +however, is the moral sense in Corsica with regard to the +sanctity of human life, that these atrocities excite no +horror, and the sympathies of vast numbers of the population +are with the bandits. They are the heroes of the +popular tales and <i>canzoni</i>; one hears of them from one +end of the island to the other, round the watchfires of the +shepherds on the mountains, in the remote <i>paése</i>, by the +roadside. They are the tales of the nursery,—the Corsican +child learns, with his Ave Maria, that it is rightful +and glorious to take the life of any one who injures or +offends him.</p> + +<p>To a passionate and imaginative people, these tales of +daring courage and wild adventure have an inconceivable +charm; though stained with blood, they are full of poetry +and romance. Such stories have been eagerly seized upon +by writers on Corsica,—they make excellent literary +capital. Unfortunately, <i>banditisme</i> forms so striking a +feature in Corsican history, that it must necessarily occupy +a conspicuous place in a faithful review of the genius and +manners of the people. There are doubtless traits of a +heroism worthy a better cause, and sometimes of a +redeeming humanity, in the lives of the banditti; but one +regrets to find, though happily not in the works of the +English travellers who have given accounts of Corsica, a +tendency to palliate so atrocious a system as blood-revenge. +<i>Vendetta</i>, the name given it, has a romantic sound; and +it is treated as a sort of national institution, originating in +high and laudable feelings, the injured sense of right, and +the love of family; so that, with the glory shed around it +by a false heroism, it is almost raised to the rank of a +virtue.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span></p> + +<p>To take blood for blood, not by the hand of public +justice, but by the kinsmen of the slain, was, we are +reminded, a primitive custom, sanctioned by the usages of +many nations, and even by the laws of Moses. We know, +however, that among our Anglo-Saxon ancestors the laws +humanely commuted this right of revenge for fines commensurate +with the rank of the murdered person. But +while the Mosaic law forbad the acceptance of any pecuniary +compensation for the crime of manslaughter, and +expressly recognised the right of the “avenger of blood” +to exact summary vengeance, it provided for even the +murderer's security until he were brought to a fair trial. +But Corsica, alas! has had no “Cities of Refuge,” and +examples drawn from remote and barbarous times can +afford no apology for the inveterate cruelties of a people +enjoying the light of modern civilisation and professing +the religion of the New Testament.</p> + +<p>The <i>vendetta</i> is also represented as a kind of rude justice, +to which the people were driven in the long ages of +misrule during which law was in abeyance or corruptly +administered. There is, no doubt, much truth in this as +applied to those times; but the prodigious amount of +human slaughter shown in the statistics just quoted, as +well as the continuance of this atrocious system to the +present day, long after the slightest shadow of any pretence +of legal injustice has vanished, seem to argue that +the ferocity which has shed such rivers of blood, if not +instinctive in the national character, at least found a soil +in which it took deep root.</p> + +<p>For more than half a century, there can be no question +but, under a settled government, strict justice has been +done by the ordinary proceedings of the courts of law, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +all cases of injury to person or property, submitted to +them. But the turbulent Corsicans were ever impatient +of regular government—one great cause of their ultimate +degradation, not a little connected also with the growth of +<i>banditisme</i>; and the failure of justice has not lain with +the authorities, but with the population which harbours +and screens the criminals, and with the juries who refuse +to convict them.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>The only other instance in the present day of crimes +similar to those which have been the scourge of Corsica, +is found in the case of unhappy Ireland. There, however, +the blood-revenge has been mostly confined to cases of +supposed agrarian grievances, and the number of victims +sacrificed to it is comparatively limited; more innocent +blood having been shed in Corsica in a single year, than +in Ireland during, perhaps, a quarter of a century.</p> + +<p>The <i>vendetta</i>, is also palliated as vindicating wrongs for +which no courts of law, however upright, can afford<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span> +redress. Among the most polished nations, “the point of +honour” has been held to justify an injured man for challenging +his adversary to mortal combat. But the duel, +from its first origin among our Scandinavian ancestors, +savage as they were, and through all its forms, whether +legalised or treated as felonious, to its last shape in civilised +society, has nothing practically in common with the +Corsican <i>vendetta</i>. In the one, the appeal to arms has +always been tempered by a punctilious chivalry, which +recoiled from the slightest unfairness in the attendant circumstances; +in the other, the enemy is, if possible, taken +unawares, shot down by a cowardly miscreant lurking +behind a tree or a rock, or suddenly stabbed without an +opportunity of putting himself on his defence. The practice +of the <i>vendetta</i> is mere assassination.</p> + +<p>Stript of the colouring shed round it by sentiment and +romance, <i>banditisme</i>, in its latter days at least, has been a +very common-place affair. Great numbers of the Corsicans, +too indolent to work, were happy to lead a vagabond +life, harbouring in the woods and mountains with a gun +on their shoulders, and as ready to shoot a man as a wild +beast. “<i>C'est qu'en général</i>,” said the Préfet, in the +address already quoted, “<i>ces crimes proviennent moins du +banditisme que de la déplorable habitude de marcher toujours +armés, par suite de laquelle les moindres rixes dégénèrent +si souvent en attentats contre la vie.</i>” One hears +continually for what trifles assassinations have been perpetrated; +and a recent traveller informs us that his life +was threatened for having merely resisted the extortionate +demand of his guide to the mountains.</p> + +<p>The hardships to which the bandit is exposed in his wild +life in the <i>maquis</i> cannot be much greater than those of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span> +the shepherd who, from fear or favour, shares with him +his chestnuts, his goat's milk, and cheese. The <i>gendarmes</i>, +indeed, are sometimes on his track, but there is stirring +adventure in eluding their pursuit, triumph in the ambuscade +to which they become victims, glory even in death +heroically met. With all its perils and hardships, such a +life of lawless independence has its charms; and the bandit +knows that his memory will be honoured, and his death, +if possible, revenged. But who laments the unfortunate +<i>gendarme</i> who falls in these encounters? Who pities the +widow and orphans of men as bold, resolute, and enterprising +as those against whom they are matched? In the +tales of banditti life, the ministers of justice are <i>sbirri</i>, +conventionally a term of disgrace; all the sympathy is +with the culprit against whom the <i>gendarmerie</i> peril their +lives in an arduous service.</p> + +<p>The brigands must live by plunder in one shape or +another. It is not likely that bands of armed men, the +terror of a whole neighbourhood, would be always content +with the mere subsistence wrung from the scanty resources +of the poor shepherds. Not that they robbed on the highways; +it answered better to levy contributions, under +pain of death, from such of the defenceless inhabitants as +were able to pay them. Mr. Benson tells a story of one +of the most celebrated of the bandit chiefs, who levied +black mail in the wild districts bordering on the forest of +Vizzavona.</p> + +<p>“Leaving Vivario, we heard from the lips of the poor +<i>curé</i>, that Galluchio and his followers were in the <i>maquis</i> +of a range of mountains to our right. The <i>curé</i> was +busy in his vineyard when we passed, but as soon as he +recognised our French companion, he left his work for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +few moments to join us. ‘Sir,’ said he, addressing himself +to M. Cottard, ‘I feel myself in imminent danger; +Galluchio and his band are in yonder mountains, and only +a few evenings ago I received a peremptory message from +him, requiring 300 francs, and threatening my speedy +assassination should I delay many days to comply with his +demand. I have not the money, and I have sent for some +military to protect me.’”<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> + +<p>There is reason to believe that these forced contributions +have not diminished since Mr. Benson's journey. We +were told of a case in which a wealthy man, having received +notice to pay 10,000 francs, under penalty of being +shot, was so terrified, that after shutting himself up in his +house for a year in constant alarm, his health and spirits +became so shattered by the state of continual terror and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span> +watchfulness in which he lived, that he sank under it, and +was carried out dead. In another case, a young man of +more resolute character was called upon for 1000 francs, +and having no ready money, was allowed three months to +raise it, on giving his bill for security. He armed himself, +and went to the appointed rendezvous. The brigand was +waiting for him; he made him lay down his arms, and +searched him. The young man had filled his pockets with +chestnuts, and had contrived to secrete a small pistol +about his person, which escaped discovery. The brigand, +producing paper and ink, ordered his victim to draw the +bill. The young man excused himself on the ground that +he was so frightened, and his hand trembled so that he could +not write;—he would sign the bill if the other drew it +out. The brigand knelt down by the side of a flat stone +to do so. Meanwhile the young man walked up and +down eating his chestnuts, and throwing the shells carelessly +away. Some of them struck the brigand. “What +are you doing?” said he, startled. “Eating my chestnuts;” +and he took out another handful. Occasionally +he stopped and looked down on the bandit while engaged +in writing; still, with apparent <i>sang froid</i>, munching his +chestnuts. Presently the bill was finished; he pretended +to look it over, found some error, which he pointed out, +and while the brigand stooped to correct it, drew his concealed +pistol and shot him through the head.—The so-called +<i>vendetta</i> has shrunk more and more to the level of +vulgar crime. It is even notorious that bandits have become +hired assassins, employed by others to take off persons +against whom they had a grudge,—“<i>mais plus pour +amitié que pour argent</i>,” said my informant, giving the +fact the most favourable turn.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span></p> + +<p>It seems surprising that such enormities should have +been permitted in a European country, at an advanced +period of the nineteenth century. Could a strong national +government have been established in Corsica—which, +however, seems to have been impracticable with so lawless +and factious a people—its first duty would have been, as +was the case under Pascal Paoli's administration, to give +security to life, <i>coûte que coûte</i>. The successive Governments +of France appear to have been too much occupied +by their own affairs to pay any regard to the social +state of their Corsican department, flagrant as was the +disgrace it reflected on them. Perhaps they were impressed +with the idea that the passion of revenge, the +thirst for blood, were so inherent in the native character, +that law and force were alike powerless, and the <i>vendetta</i> +could only be extirpated by a moral change more to be +hoped for than expected. Thus speaks the Préfet, in his +inaugural address of 1851:—“<i>Ici, messieurs, vous en +conviendrez, l'administration est sans force. C'est à la +religion seule qu'appartient la touchante prérogative de +prêcher l'oubli des injures:</i>” and a traveller who spent +some time in the island during the year following, gives +the result of his observations in the following words:—“There +is probably no other means of certainly putting +down the blood-revenge, murder, and bandit-life, than +culture; and culture advances in Corsica but slowly.”<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>The same author says of the general disarming, proposed +in 1852: “Whether, and how, this will be capable +of execution, I know not. It will cost mischief enough in +the execution; for they will not be able to disarm the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span> +banditti at the same time, and their enemies will then be +exposed, unarmed, to their bullets.” These doubts and +forebodings are proved to have been imaginary. It might +have been long, indeed, before preaching and moral culture +had eradicated evils so deeply rooted in the genius of the +people. In such an extreme case, the exercise of a despotic +power was required to put an end to the reign of terror +and blood which has desolated this fair island for so many +centuries. One bold stroke has broken the spell; the measures +adopted for the suppression of <i>banditisme</i> have completely +succeeded. “The prisons are full,” said my informant; +“in the last year, 400 of the brigands have been +sentenced or shot down, and as many more driven out of +the country: the land is at peace.”</p> + +<p>The only wonder is that the experiment was not tried +before.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_X" id="CHAP_X"></a>CHAP. X.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>The Basin of Oletta.—The Olive.—Corsican Tales.—The +Heroine of Oletta.—Zones of Climate and Vegetation.</i></p> + + +<p>We found that no mules could be hired at Olmeta, and +intending to wander for a few days in the neighbouring +valleys, and on the skirts of the mountainous district of +Nebbio, though we preferred walking, were at some loss +how to get forward our baggage. The Bastia muleteer was +dismissed, and as we were travelling somewhat at our ease, +the luggage was more than could be conveniently carried. +In this dilemma, Antoine proffered the services of himself +and the mule which had done its work so well the evening +before. His offer was readily accepted, and we had much +reason to be pleased with the change we had made in our +conductor. Antoine relieved us from all care as to our +baggage and entertainment, knew the roads, and where we +could best put up, had by heart many a story of times past, +and something to tell of all the places we visited, and, +having been a rover himself, entered into the spirit of our +rambles: altogether, as I have observed before, Antoine +was an excellent specimen of a Capo Corso peasant. To +be sure, he had killed his man, but that was in a <i>duello</i>, +according to Corsican ideas; as singular, if one may jest on +such a subject, as Captain Marryat's famous triangular +duel.</p> + +<p>The valleys of Olmeta, Oletta, and some others, form a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +sort of basin between the mountains bounding the <i>littorale</i>, +already spoken of, and the Serra di Tenda, a noble range +in the western line of the principal chain. Broken by +numberless hills, the whole basin is a scene of fertile +beauty, similar to the picture drawn of Olmeta—vineyards, +olive-grounds and gardens, orange, citron, fig, +almond, apple, and pear-trees, clustering at every turn +with groups of magnificent chestnut-trees, and alternating +with spots devoted to tillage. The country people were +now sowing wheat or preparing the ground with most +primitive ploughs, of the Roman fashion, drawn sometimes +by a single ox or mule. Patches, on which the +green blade was already springing, showed that it is the +practice to sow wheat as soon as possible after the autumnal +rains.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/091.jpg" width="350" height="291" alt="ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO, THROUGH A GORGE." +title="ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO, THROUGH A GORGE." /> +<p class="caption">ISLE OF MONTE-CRISTO, THROUGH A GORGE.</p> +</div> + +<p>Retracing our steps of the preceding night nearly to the +summit of the pass, under the persuasion that it commanded +a fine prospect, we turned to the right, and strolled +along a terrace above the broad valley through which the +Bevinco flows into +the Stagno di Biguglia, +somewhat below +the point at which +we left it. Looking +backward, we had +a charming peep at +the Mediterranean +through a gorge in +the mountains, with +the lonely island of +Monte-Cristo, seen +from this point of view detached from the rest of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +group of islands to which it belongs. Across the valley +was a range of mountains, a branch of the central chain +dividing it from that of the Golo. Mists hung about +them, pierced by the Cima dei Taffoni, the most elevated +point of the range, which rose magnificently, being about +3000 feet high, twenty miles to the south-east. The +ridge along which we strolled was covered partly by +patches of the never-failing evergreen shrubbery, rendered +more beautiful by the quantities of cyclamen, one of the +prettiest plants we have in our greenhouses at home, now +in full flower under the shelter of the arbutus and other +shrubs. Small flocks of sheep, all black, and no larger +than our Welsh mountain breed, were browsing among the +barren patches of heath, and sometimes crossed our path, +with their tinkling bells. There was a slight shower; but +it soon cleared off, and the sun shone out, and the air and +surface of the ground, cooled and freshened by the gentle +rain, were in the best state for the continuation of our +rambles.</p> + +<p>The cultivation, as may be supposed, is indolent and +imperfect, the surface being merely scratched, and little +care taken to free it of weeds. We need not, therefore, +be surprised at finding that the average produce of the +wheat-crop throughout Corsica is only an increase of nine +on the seed sown. Of maize, or Indian corn, it is thirty-eight +or forty.</p> + +<p>The canton of Oletta is called by the Corsicans “the +pearl of the Nebbio.” It contains two or three hamlets, +the principal village seeming to hang on the rocky slope +of a hill, embowered in fruit trees. The olive flourishes +particularly well here; and Oletta takes its name from its +olive-trees, as Olmeta does from its elms. Many of them<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +are of great age and size, and, with their silvery leaves, +have a soft and pleasing effect, especially when contrasted +with the richer foliage of the spreading chestnut-trees. +The olive-yards are neatly dug and kept clear of weeds; +and we observed that the soil was drawn round the stems +of the trees, probably in well-manured heaps, such a +produce as the olive truly requiring to feed on the fat of +the land. The berries were now full formed, but had not +begun to fall. I believe they hang till Christmas, when +they are collected, and carried to the vats. When pressed, +twenty pounds of olives yield five of pure oil. It is stored +in large pottery jars, and forms the principal export from +Corsica; this district, with the Balagna and the neighbourhood +of Bonifaccio, producing the largest quantity. +An inferior sort of oil is used in the lamps throughout the +island; the lamps being of glass, with tall stems containing +the oil, and crowned by a socket, through which the cotton +burner is passed, and having nothing of the antique or +classical about them. The birds scattering the berries in +all directions, and carrying them to great distances, the +number of wild olive-trees is immense. An attempt was +made to count them, by order of the Government, in 1820, +with a view to foster so valuable a source of national +wealth by the encouragement of grafting; and it is said +that as many as twelve millions of wild olive-trees were +then counted.</p> + +<p>There is a story of love and heroism connected with +Oletta. One hears such tales everywhere in Corsica—by +the wayside, at the shepherd's watch-fire, lying in the +shade, or basking in the sun. Antoine was an excellent +<i>raconteur</i>; so are all such vagabonds. I possess a collection<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +of these tales by Renucci, published at Bastia<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>, and +proposed to interweave some of them into my narrative. +They may be worked up, with invention and embellishment, +into pretty romances; but that is not our business. +In Renucci, we have stories of <i>Ospitalità</i>, <i>Magnanimità</i>, +<i>Fedeltà</i>, <i>Probità</i>, <i>Generosità</i>, <i>Incorruttibilità</i>, all the virtues +under the sun with names ending in <i>tà</i>, and many +others. One wearies of the eternal laudation lavished on +these islanders, not only by their own writers, but by all +travellers, from Boswell downwards.</p> + +<p>The story of the heroine of Oletta is told by Renucci<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a>, +and, more simply, by Marmocchi.<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> During the occupation +of Capo Corso by the French, in 1751, some of the villagers +were sentenced to be broken on the wheel for +a conspiracy to seize the place, which was garrisoned by +the French; their bodies were exposed on the scaffold, +and their friends prohibited, under severe penalties, from +giving them Christian burial. But a young woman, <i>giovinetta +scelta e robusta</i>, as she must have been to perform +the exploit assigned to her in the tale, eluded the sentries, +and, taking the body of her lover, one of the conspirators +executed, on her shoulders, carried it off. The general +in command, struck by her exalted virtue, pardons the +offence, and she is borne home in triumph amidst the +shouts of the villagers.</p> + +<p>All honour to the French marquis for his gallantry to a +woman, though his tactics were somewhat savage for the +reign of Louis XVI.; and all glory to Maria Gentili of +Oletta, stout of heart and strong of limb, fit to be the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +wife and mother of bandits; still better, to have fought at +Borgo, where Corsican women, in male attire, with sword +and gun, rushed forward in the ranks of the island militia +which triumphantly defeated a French army, composed of +some of the finest troops in Europe.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p> + +<p>But let us proceed with our rambles; and, before we +change the scene from the region of the vine and the +orange to that of the chestnut and ilex, a short digression +on the climatic zones of Corsica may not be out of +place.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/095.jpg" width="500" height="312" alt="BETWEEN OLMETA AND BIGORNO." +title="BETWEEN OLMETA AND BIGORNO." /> +<p class="caption">BETWEEN OLMETA AND BIGORNO.</p> +</div> + +<p>The island may be divided, as to climate and vegetation, +into three zones, corresponding with the degrees of elevation<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span> +of its surface. The <i>first</i>, ranging to about 1,700 feet +above the level of the Mediterranean, and embracing the +deeper valleys of the island, as well as the sea-coast, has +the characteristics conformable to its latitude; that is to +say, similar to those of the parallel shores of Italy and +Spain. Properly speaking, there is no winter; they have +but two seasons, spring and summer. The thermometer +seldom falls more than a degree or two below the freezing +point, and then only for a few hours. The nights are, +however, cold at all seasons.</p> + +<p>When we were at Ajaccio, towards the end of October, +the heat was oppressive; my thermometer at noon stood +at 80° in the shade, in an airy room closed by Venetian +blinds. In January, we were told, the sun becomes again +powerful, and then for eight months succeeds a torrid +heat. The sky is generally cloudless, the thermometer +rises from 70 to 80 and even 90 degrees in the shade, and +scarcely any rain falls after the month of April; nor indeed +always then, so that there are often long and excessive +droughts.</p> + +<p>The indigenous vegetation is generally of a class suited +to resist the droughts, having hard, coriaceous leaves. +Such is the shrubbery described in a former chapter, +which, exempt from severe frosts on the one hand, and +thriving in an arid soil and parching heat on the other, +clothes half the surface of the island with perpetual +verdure. There have been seasons when even these +shrubs were so burnt up that the slightest accident might +have caused a wide-spread conflagration. When we travelled, +the leaves of the rock-roses, which here grow to +the height of four or five feet, were hanging on the bushes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span> +scorched and withered by the summer heat, somewhat +marring the beauty of the evergreen thickets.</p> + +<p>Most of the fruit-trees suited to flourish in such a +climate have been already noticed in passing. We saw +also almonds, pomegranates, and standard peaches and +apricots. To the list of shrubs which most struck us, I +may also add the brilliant flowering oleander, and the +tamarisk. Corsica is said to be famous for its orchids, +verbenas, and cotyledinous and caryophyllaceous plants; +but I only speak of what I saw, and these were out of +season.</p> + +<p>The <i>second</i> zone ranges from about 2000 feet to between +5000 and 6000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, +the climate corresponding with that of the central +districts of France. The temperature is, however, +very variable, and its changes are sudden. Frost and +snow make their appearance in November, and often last +for fifteen or twenty days together. It is remarked, that +frost does not injure the olive-trees up to the level of about +3800 feet; and snow even renders them more fruitful.</p> + +<p>The chestnut appears to be the characteristic feature in +the vegetation of this zone. Thriving also among hills +and valleys of a lower elevation, here it spreads into +extensive woods, till at the height of about 6000 feet it is +exchanged for the pine, and Marmocchi says<a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a>, I think incorrectly, +<i>cède la place</i> to the oak and the <i>beech</i>. We certainly +found the oak, both evergreen (ilex) and deciduous, +growing very freely and in extensive woods in close contiguity +with the chestnut at an elevation far below the +limit of the <i>second</i> zone, as well as mixed with the pine in +the forest of Vizzavona, also below that limit. But, from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +my own observation, I should class the oak of both kinds +among the trees belonging to the second zone, though the +chestnut is its most characteristic feature; and should +much doubt its flourishing at the height of between 6000 +and 7000 feet above the sea-level,—still more the beech. +The highest point at which we found the beech was the +Col di Vizzavona, on the road from Vivario to Bocagnono, +3435 feet above the level of the Mediterranean, and I was +surprised to see it flourishing there.</p> + +<p>While the principal cities and towns in Corsica stand +within the limits of the first zone, it is in the second that +by far the greatest part of the population live,—dispersed, +as we have often had occasion to remark, in valleys and +hamlets placed on the summits or ridges of hills. The +choice of such positions is a necessary condition of health, +as in this region, no less than in the former, the valleys +are notorious for the insalubrity of the air.</p> + +<p>The <i>third</i> zone, ranging from an elevation of about +6000 feet to the summits of the highest mountains, is a +region of storms and tempests during eight months of the +year; but during the short summer the air is said to be +generally serene, and the sky unclouded. This elevated +region has, of course, no settled inhabitants, but during +the fine season the shepherds occupy cabins on its verge, +their sheep and goats browsing among the dwarf bushes +on the mountain sides. The vegetation is scanty. Even +the pine cannot thrive at such an elevation, and the birch, +which one generally finds, though dwarf, still higher up +the mountains, I did not happen to see in Corsica, though +it is mentioned in <i>Marmocchi's</i> list of indigenous trees.</p> + +<p>The summits of the Monte Rotondo and Monte d'Oro +are capped with snow at all seasons, and beautiful are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +snowy peaks, piercing the blue heavens in the sunny region +of the Mediterranean, and well does the glistening tiara, +marking from afar their pre-eminence among the countless +domes and peaks which cluster round them, or break the +outline of a long chain, assist the eye in computing their +relative heights. We had no opportunity of ascertaining +how low perpetual snow hangs on the sides of the highest +Corsican mountains. According to M. Arago, Monte Rotondo +is 2762 <i>mètres</i> (about 8976 feet) above the level of +the sea; and he says that there are seven others exceeding +2000 <i>mètres</i> (about 6500 feet). Among these must be +included Monte d'Oro, which figures in Marmocchi's list +at 2653 <i>mètres</i>, or about 8622 feet. The season was too +late for our making an ascent with any prospect of advantage; +but at that time of the year (the end of October) +none of the peaks we saw, except the two named, though +some of them are only from 500 to 800 feet lower than +Monte d'Oro, had snow upon them.</p> + +<p>While rounding the base of Monte d'Oro, we observed +long streaks on the side of the cone, descending, perhaps, +1000 feet below the compact mass on the summit; but +they had the appearance of fresh-fallen snow, and from +our observing that all the other summits were free from +snow, I am inclined to assign the height of about 7500 +or 8000 feet above the level of the Mediterranean as the +line of perpetual snow in Corsica.</p> + +<p>In Norway, between 59°-62° N. latitude, we calculated +it at about 4500 feet on the average, the line varying +considerably in different seasons. In the summer of 1849 +there was snow on the shores of the Miös-Vand, which are +under 3000 feet, while the summer before the lakes on +the table-land of the Hardanger Fjeld, 4000 feet high,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +were free from ice, and throughout the passage of the +Fjeld the surface covered with snow was less than that +which was bare. In 1849, crossing the Hardanger from +Vinje to Odde, the whole of the plateau was a continued +field of snow.<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> Taking the entire mountain system of +central Norway, from the Gousta-Fjeld to Sneehættan and +the Hörungurne, with elevations of from 5000 to near +8000 feet, the average of the snow-level may be taken, as +before observed, at about 4500 feet; that of the Corsican +mountains, with elevations of from 6000 to nearly 9000 +feet, being, as we have seen, from 7000 to 8000 feet.</p> + +<p>In Switzerland, where the elevations are so much +greater, the snow-line varies from 8000 to 8800 feet +above the level of the sea.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> On Mont Blanc it is stated +to be 8500 feet. The height differs on the northern and +southern faces of the chain within those portions of the +Alps that run east and west, but 8500 feet may be taken +as the average.</p> + +<p>We may be surprised to find that congelation rests at +the same, or nearly the same, level in the Alps of Switzerland, +and on the Corsican mountains eight degrees further +south. But difference of latitude is no determinate rule +for calculating the level to which the line of perpetual +snow descends. There are other influences to be taken +into the account, such as the duration and intensity of +summer heats, the comparative dryness of climate, the +extent of the snow-clad surface in the system generally,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +and more especially the height and exposure of particular +mountains.<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> Thus the snow-line on the southern slope of +the Alps is in some cases as high as 9500 feet. It may be +conceived that as the great extent of snow-clad surface on +the high Fjelds of Norway so much depresses the level of +the snow-line in that country, so the great superincumbent +mass resting on the summits of the higher Alps has a +similar effect, reducing the average snow-line in Switzerland +to nearly that of the Corsican mountains. The +wonder is that Monte Rotondo and Monte d'Oro,—rising +from a chain surrounded by the Mediterranean, in insulated +peaks of no very considerable height, without glaciers +or snowy basins to reduce the temperature,—should, in a +climate where the sun's heat is excessive for eight months +of the year, have snow on their summits in the months +of July and August. I have observed the <i>Pico di Teyde</i> +in Teneriffe with no snow upon it in the first days of +November, though it is 3000 feet higher than Monte +Rotondo, and only five degrees further south. Mount +Ætna, also, nearly 11,000 feet high, in about the same +latitude as the Peak of Teneriffe (37° N.), is free from perpetual +snow; but that may arise from local causes.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XI" id="CHAP_XI"></a>CHAP. XI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Pisan Church at Murato.—Chestnut Woods.—Gulf of San +Fiorenzo.—Nelson's Exploit there.—He conducts the Siege of +Bastia.—Ilex Woods.—Mountain Pastures.—The Corsican +Shepherd.</i></p> + + +<p>Murato, a large, scattered village, which formerly gave +its name to a <i>piève</i>, and is now the <i>chef-lieu</i> of a canton, +stands on the verge of a woody and mountainous district. +Just before entering the village, we were struck by the +superior character of the <i>façade</i> of a little solitary church +by the roadside. We afterwards learnt that it was dedicated +to St. Michael, and reckoned one of the most +remarkable churches in the island, having been erected +by the Pisans, before the Genoese established themselves +in Corsica. The <i>façade</i> is constructed of alternate courses +of black and white marble, and put me in mind of the +magnificent cathedrals of Pisa and Sienna, of which it is +a model in miniature. Indeed, most of the churches in +Corsica are built on these and similar Italian models, +though few of them with such chaste simplicity of design +as this little roadside chapel.</p> + +<p>The smiling aspect of the vine-clad hills, umbrageous +fruit-orchards, and silvery olive-groves of the canton of +Oletta now changed for a bolder landscape and wilder +accompaniments. Soon after leaving Murato, the ilex +began to appear, scattered among rough brakes, and a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +sharp descent led down to the Bevinco, here a mountain-torrent, +hurrying along through deep banks, tufted +with underwood, the box, which grows largely in Corsica, +being profusely intermixed. The road—like all the other +byroads, merely a horse-track—crosses the stream by a +bold arch.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/103.jpg" width="500" height="304" alt="PONTE MURATO." title="PONTE MURATO." /> +<p class="caption">PONTE MURATO.</p> +</div> + +<p>Immediately in front of the bridge stands a pyramidal +rock, remarkable for all its segments having the same +character, and for the way in which evergreen shrubs hang +from the fissures in graceful festoons, contrasting with +some gigantic gourds, in a small cultivated patch at the +foot of the rock, and sloping down to the edge of the +stream.</p> + +<p>Higher up we entered the first chestnut wood we had +yet seen. At the outskirts it had all the character of a +natural wood; the trees were irregularly massed, and +many of them of great age and vast dimensions. Further<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span> +on they stood in rows, this tree being extensively planted +in Corsica for the sake of the fruit. We were just in the +right season for this important harvest, it being now ripe, +and the ground under the trees was thickly strewed with +the brown nuts bursting from their husky shells.</p> + +<p>It being about noon, we halted in the shade by the +side of a little rill, trickling among the trees into the +river beneath, to rest and lunch. Nothing could be more +delightful, after a long walk in the sun; for the temperature +of the valleys is high even at this season. Antoine +had charge of a basket of grapes, with a loaf of bread +and a bottle of the excellent Frontigniac of Capo Corso; +to these were added handfuls of chestnuts, so sweet and +tender when perfectly fresh; so that, tempering our wine in +the cool stream, we fared luxuriously.</p> + +<p>While we sip our wine and munch our chestnuts, seasoned +by talk with Antoine, the reader may like to hear +something of a crop which is of more importance than +might be supposed in the agricultural statistics of Corsica.</p> + +<p>There are several cantons, Murato being one of the +principal, in which the chestnut woods, either natural or +planted, are so extensive that the districts have acquired +the name of <i>Paése di Castagniccia</i>. The Corsican peasant +seldom sets forth on a journey without providing himself +with a bag of chestnuts, and with these and a gourd of +wine or of water slung by his side, he is never at a loss. +Eaten raw or roasted on the embers, chestnuts form, +during half the year, the principal diet of the herdsmen +and shepherds on the hills, and of great numbers of the +poorer population in the districts where the tree flourishes. +They are also made into puddings, and served up in various +other ways. It is said that in the canton of Alesanni, one +of the Castagniccia districts just referred to, on the occasion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span> +of a peasant making a feast at his daughter's marriage, +no less than twenty-two dishes have been prepared from +the meal of the chestnut.</p> + +<p>I recollect that the innkeeper at Bonifaccio, boasting +his culinary skill, said that he could dress a potato sixteen +different ways, and though we earnestly entreated him not +to give himself the trouble of making experiments not +suited to our taste, it was with great difficulty, and after +several failures, we made him comprehend that an Englishman +preferred but one way—and that was “<i>au +naturel</i>.”</p> + +<p>The cultivation of the potato has made considerable +advance in Corsica, and there are now seventeen or eighteen +hundred acres annually planted with it. But in many +parts of the island the chestnut fills the same place which +the potato once occupied in the dietary of the Irish peasant. +A political economist would find no difficulty in +deciding that in both cases the results have been similar, +and much to be lamented. Indeed, the Corsican fruit is +still more adapted to cherish habits of indolence than the +Irish root, as the chestnut does not even require the brief +exertion, either in cultivation or cookery, which the potato +does. It drops, I may say, into the Corsican's mouth, and +living like the</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Prisca gens mortalium.”<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>“the primitive race of mortals,” of whom the poet sings, +who ran about in the woods, eating acorns and drinking +water, the Corsicans are, for the most part, satisfied with +their chestnuts literally “<i>au naturel</i>.”</p> + +<p>Most French writers on Corsica declare war against the +chestnut-trees for the encouragement they afford to a life +of idleness, and M. de Beaumont does not scruple to assert,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span> +that a tempest which levelled them all with the ground +would, in the end, prove a great blessing. There is some +truth in these opinions, but humanity shudders at the +misery such a catastrophe—like the potato blight, which +truly struck at the root of the evil in Ireland—would +entail on tens of thousands of the poor Corsicans, to whom +the chestnut is the staff of life. In the interests of that +humanity, as well as from our deep love and veneration +for these noble woods, we say, God forbid!</p> + +<p>Many years ago, an attempt was made to discountenance +the growth of chestnuts, by prohibiting their plantation +in soils capable of other kinds of cultivation; but shortly +afterwards the decree was revoked on the report of no less +a political economist than the celebrated Turgot.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> <i>Vivent +donc ces châtaigniers magnifiques, quand même!</i> And may +the Corsicans learn not to abuse the gifts which Providence +gratuitously showers from their spreading boughs!</p> + +<p>Our <i>al fresco</i> repast on chestnuts and grapes being concluded, +we left Antoine to load his mule, which had been +grazing in the cool shade, and following a track through +the wood, it became so steep that we soon gained a very +considerable elevation. Of this we were more sensible +when, turning round, we found that our range of sight +embraced one of the finest views imaginable. In the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span> +distance, the long chain of mountains intersecting Capo +Corso appeared grouped in one central mass, with their +rocky summits and varied outlines more or less boldly defined, +as they receded from the point of view. The western +coast of the peninsula stretched far away to the northward, +broken by a succession of mountainous ridges, branching +out from the central chain, and having their bases washed +by the Mediterranean, point after point appealing in perspective.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/107.jpg" width="500" height="377" alt="CAPO CORSO FROM THE CHESTNUT WOODS." +title="CAPO CORSO FROM THE CHESTNUT WOODS." /> +<p class="caption">CAPO CORSO FROM THE CHESTNUT WOODS.</p> +</div> + +<p>Of these indentations in the coast, the nearest, as well as +the most important, is the Gulf of San Fiorenzo, one of the +finest harbours in the Mediterranean. The town stands +on a hill, above the marshy delta of the Aliso, the course<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +of which we could trace through the most extended of +these high valleys. Close beneath our standing point, as +it appeared, lay the basin of Oletta, with its villages on +the hill-tops, and its gentle eminences, with slopes and +hollows richly clothed, now grouped together like the +mountain ranges above, but in softer forms. This view, +whether as partially seen in our first position through the +glades and under the branching canopy of the chestnut +wood, or shortly afterwards, still better, from a more +commanding point on the summit of the ridge, had all the +advantages which the most exquisite colouring, and the +finest atmospheric effects could lend. Indeed, I felt persuaded, +that the extraordinary richness of the warm tints +on some of the mountain sides was not merely an atmospheric +effect, but aided by the natural colour of the +formation.</p> + +<p>The whole country lying beneath, the ancient province +of Nebbio, with the Gulf of San Fiorenzo for its outlet, +guarded by the mountain ridges and embracing the districts +of Oletta, Murato, and Sorio, is of such importance +in a strategical view, that the fate of Corsica has often +been decided by campaigns conducted on this ground; and +it is said that whatever power obtains possession of it, +will sooner or later become masters of the whole island.</p> + +<p>San Fiorenzo, a fortified place, was bombarded in 1745 +by an English fleet acting in concert with the King of +Sardinia for the support of the Corsicans against the +Genoese, and on the surrender of the place it was given up +to the patriots. Then first the British Government interfered +in Corsican affairs; but shortly afterwards, when +some of the patriot leaders sent emissaries to Lord Bristol, +our ambassador at the court of Turin, offering to put<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +themselves under the protection of the English Government, +the court of St. James's, deterred probably by the +jealousies then subsisting among the supporters of the +patriotic cause, civilly declined the offer, and withdrew +their fleet. Having thus lost by their own misconduct +the powerful co-operation of England, the Corsicans, left +to their own resources, after a long and determined struggle, +at length yielded to a power with which they were unable +to cope.</p> + +<p>San Fiorenzo was again the scene of British intervention, +when the Corsicans, throwing off in 1793 the yoke of the +French revolutionary government, applied to Lord Hood, +the commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean, for assistance. +In consequence, Nelson, then commanding the +“Agamemnon,” and cruising off the island with a small +squadron, to prevent the enemy from throwing in supplies, +made a sudden descent on San Fiorenzo, where he landed +with 120 men. Close to the port the French had a storehouse +of flour adjoining their only mill, Nelson threw +the flour into the sea, burnt the mill, and re-embarked in +the face of 1000 men and some gun-boats, which opened +fire upon him. In the following spring, five English regiments +were landed in the island under General Dundas, +and Lieutenant-Colonel (afterwards Sir John) Moore +having taken possession of the heights overlooking the +port of San Fiorenzo, the French found themselves unable +to hold the place, and sinking one of their frigates, and +burning another, retreated to Bastia.</p> + +<p>Nelson's dashing enterprise was succeeded by another +of far greater moment, characteristic of the times when +our old 74's had not been superseded by costly screw +three-deckers, and our naval commanders, though not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span> +wanting in discretion, acted on the impulses of their own +brave hearts, without any very nice calculations of responsibilities +and possible consequences.</p> + +<p>On a <i>reconnaissance</i> made by Nelson on the 19th of +February, when he drove the French under shelter of their +works, it appeared that the defences of Bastia were strong. +Besides the citadel, mounting thirty pieces of cannon and +eight mortars, with seventy embrasures counted in the +town-wall near the sea, there were four stone redoubts +on the heights south of the town, and two or three others +further in advance; one a new work, with guns mounted <i>en +barbette</i>. A frigate, “La Flèche,” lay in the harbour, but +dismasted; her guns were removed to the works. These +works were held by 1000 regular troops, 1500 national +guards, and a large body of Corsicans, making a total of +4000 men under arms.<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a></p> + +<p>To attack this formidable force, manning such defences, +Nelson could only muster 218 marines, 787 troops of the +line under orders to serve as such, the admiral insisting +on having them restored to this service, 66 men of the +Royal Artillery, and 112 Corsican chasseurs, making a +total of 1183 troops. To these were added 250 sailors. +Meanwhile, the English general made a <i>reconnaissance</i> in +force from San Fiorenzo, and retired without attempting +to strike a blow, though he had 2000 of the finest troops +in the world lying idle; declaring that the enterprise was +so rash that no officer would be justified in undertaking it. +He even refused to furnish Lord Hood with a single soldier, +cannon, or store.</p> + +<p>The Admiral replied, that he was most willing to take<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +upon himself the whole responsibility, and Nelson, nothing +daunted, landed his small force on the 9th of April, three +miles from the town, and the siege operations commenced. +Encamping near a high rock, 2500 yards from the citadel, +and the seamen working hard for several days in throwing +up works, making roads, and carrying up ammunition, the +fire was opened on the 12th of the same month. The +works of the besiegers were mounted with four 13-inch +and 10-inch mortars, an 18-inch howitzer, five 24-pounder +guns, and two 18-pounder carronades. I give these details +in order to show with what small means the daring enterprise +was accomplished.</p> + +<p>Lord Hood had sent in a flag of truce, summoning the +city to surrender; to which M. La Combe St. Michel, the +Commissioner of the National Convention, replied, “that +he had red-hot shot for our ships and bayonets for our +troops, and when two-thirds of his men were killed, he +would trust to the generosity of the English.”</p> + +<p>The place being now regularly invested, there was heavy +firing on both sides, “the seamen minding shot,” as Nelson +characteristically wrote to his wife, “no more than peas.” +The besiegers' works were advanced, first to 1600 yards, +and afterwards to a ridge 900 yards from the citadel; and +on the 19th of May, thirty-five days after the fire was +opened, the enemy offered to capitulate. The same evening, +while the terms were negotiating, the advanced guard +of the troops from San Fiorenzo made their appearance +on the hills above the place, and on the following +morning the whole army, under the command of General +D'Aubant, who had succeeded Dundas, arrived just in +time to take possession of Bastia.</p> + +<p>Nelson had anticipated this, for in a letter to his wife,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +written during the siege, he says, “My only fear is, that +the soldiers will advance when Bastia is about to surrender, +and deprive our handful of brave men of part of their +glory.”</p> + +<p>But the work was already done, and Nelson writes after +the surrender of the place, “I am all astonishment when +I reflect on what we have achieved.” A force of 4000 men +in strong defences had laid down their arms to 1200 +soldiers, marines, and British seamen.</p> + +<p>The political results of these operations, which for the +time numbered the Corsicans among the willing subjects +of the British crown, will claim a short notice on a fitting +opportunity. History is not our province, but a traveller +may be allowed to trace the footsteps of his countrymen +during their brief occupation of a soil fiercely trodden by +all the European nations; and, on a standing point between +Fiorenzo and Bastia, naturally lingers for a moment on a +feat of arms memorable among our naval exploits in the +Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>After leaving the chestnut woods, the wildness of the +scene increased at every step. Our track skirted a forest +of ilex spreading far up the base of the mountains, and +filling the glens below, round the gorges of which the path +led. The trees were of all ages, from the young growth, +with a shapely <i>contour</i> of silvery grey foliage, to the gigantic +patriarchs of the forest, spreading their huge limbs, hoar +with lichens, in most fantastic and often angular forms, +and their boles black and rugged with the growth of centuries. +Some were rifted by the tempests, and bared their +scathed and bleached tops to the winds of heaven. Others +had yielded to the storms or age, and lay prostrate on the +ground, charred and blackened by the fires which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span> +shepherds in these wilds leave recklessly burning. The +destruction thus caused to valuable timber throughout the +island is enormous. Among the ilex were scattered a few +deciduous oaks, contrasting well in their autumnal tints +with their evergreen congeners. We thought the colouring +was not so rich as that of our English oak woods at this +season, being of a paler or more tawny hue, resembling +the maple and sycamore. Precipitous cliffs and insulated +masses of grey rock broke the outline of the forest, and +the charming cyclamen still tufted the edge of the path +with its delicate flowers, nestling among the roots of the +gigantic oaks; between the tall trunks of which glimpses +were occasionally caught of the distant mountain peaks.</p> + +<p>We had been ascending, generally at a pretty sharp angle, +from the time we crossed the Bevinco, and had walked +about three hours, when, emerging from the skirts of the +ilex forest, we found ourselves on an elevated ridge connected +with the vast wastes of which the greater part of +the east and north-east of the province of Nebbio is composed. +The surface is bare and stony, with a very scanty +herbage among aromatic plants and bushes of low growth, +consisting principally of the branching cistuses, which, +however they may enliven these barren heaths by their +flowers in the earlier part of the year, increased its parched +and arid appearance now that the leaves hung withered on +their stems.</p> + +<p>Yet on these barren solitudes the Corsican shepherd +spends his listless days and watchful nights. He has no +fixed habitation, and never sleeps under a roof, but when +he piles some loose stones against a rock to form a hut. +Roaming over the boundless waste as the necessity of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span> +changing the pasturage of his flock requires, he finds his +best shelter in the skirts of the forest, and his food in the +chestnuts, which he luxuriously roasts in the embers of +his watchfire when he is tired of eating them raw. The +ground was so undulating that at one view we could see +a number of these flocks on the distant hill sides; the +little black sheep in countless numbers dotting the heaths, +and the shepherds, in their brown <i>pelone</i>, either following +them as they browsed in scattered groups, or perched on +strong outline on some rocky pinnacle commanding a wide +area over which their charge was scattered. Their bleating +and the tinkling of the sheep-bells were wafted on the +breeze, and more than once a flock crossed our path, and +we had a nearer view of the wild and uncouth conductor.</p> + +<p>My companion sat down to sketch, while I walked on. +This often happened. Indeed, his rambles were often discursive, +so that I lost sight of him for hours together; +once in Sardinia, when there was reason to fear his +having been carried off to the mountains by banditti. +Thus, each had his separate adventures; on the present +occasion I had opened out a new and splendid view, and, +having retraced my steps to lead him to the spot, he +related his.</p> + +<p>Intent on his sketch, my friend was startled, on raising +his head, at seeing a wild figure standing at his elbow. +Leaning on a staff, its keen eyes were intently fixed on +him. My friend at once perceived that one of the shepherds +had crept upon him unawares. A year before, when +they all carried arms, there would have been nothing in +his exterior to distinguish him from a bandit, but an ingenuous +countenance and a gentle demeanour.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>The young shepherd seemed much interested in my +friend's occupation, the object of which, however, he could +not comprehend. His face brightened with pleasure and +surprise on learning that the visitor to his wilds was an +Englishman. The memory of the red-coats, who came to +espouse the cause of Corsican liberty, lingers in Corsican +traditions, and the English are esteemed as their truest +friends. It was something new in the monotonous existence +of the young shepherd to fall in with one of that +race, though he had not the slightest idea where on the +face of the earth they lived; still he was intelligent, inquisitive, +and hospitable.</p> + +<p>“Would the stranger accompany him to his hut?”</p> + +<p>“It would give me pleasure, but it is growing late.”</p> + +<p>“We are poor, but we could give you milk and cheese. +You would be welcome.”</p> + +<p>“I know it. Like you, I love the forest and the mountain, +the shade and the sunshine; but yours must be a +rough life.”</p> + +<p>“It is our lot, and we are content. We toil not, and +we love our freedom.”</p> + +<p>“It is well.”</p> + +<p>“I should like some memorial of having met you, anything +to show that I have talked with an Englishman.”</p> + +<p>My friend rapidly dashed off a slight sketch, a rough +portrait, I think, of his gaunt visitor—no bad subject for +the pencil.</p> + +<p>“I would rather it had been your own portrait; but I +shall keep it in remembrance of you.”</p> + +<p>And so they parted; the civilised man to tell his little +story of human feeling and native intelligence, “spending<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span> +their sweetness in the desert air,”—the shepherd to relate +his adventure over the watchfire, and perhaps draw forth +from some sexagenarian herdsman his boyish recollections +of the fall of San Fiorenzo and Bastia, and the march of +the English red-coats over the mountains.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XII" id="CHAP_XII"></a>CHAP. XII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Chain of the Serra di Tenda.—A Night at Bigorno.—A +Hospitable Priest.—Descent to the Golo.</i></p> + + +<p>After crossing for some distance an elevated plateau of +this wild country, we came to a boundary wall of rough +boulders, and turned to take a last view of the gulf of San +Fiorenzo and the blue Mediterranean. A heavy gate was +swung open, and, on advancing a few hundred yards, the +scene suddenly changed. We found ourselves on the +brink of a steep descent, with a sea of mountains before +us, branching from the great central chain, and having +innumerable ramifications. This part of the chain is +called the Serra di Tenda; and its highest peak the Monte +Asto, upwards of 5000 feet above the level of the sea, +rose directly in front of our point of view. A single altar-shaped +rock crowned the summit, from which the continuation +of the ridge, right and left, fell away in a singularly +graceful outline, the face of the mountain being precipitous +with escarped cliffs. In other parts of the line, +the summits were sharply serrated. Northward it was +lost in the far distance among clouds and mist, but to +the south-west of Monte Asto a similar, but more blunted +peak towered above all the others. I observed on our maps<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +that several of the summits in this range have the name +of <i>Monte Rosso</i>; and the centre of the group was indented +by a deep gorge richly wooded, as were other ravines, and +forests hung on some of the mountain sides.</p> + +<p>We were struck with the extraordinary warmth of +colouring which pervaded the surface of the vast panorama, +the slopes as well as the precipitous cliffs. They +had the ruddy hue of the inner coating of the ilex +bark, with a piece of which we compared it on the +spot. Again, I felt convinced that this colouring was +not merely an atmospheric effect,—though doubtless +heightened by the bright sunshine through so pure a +medium as the mountain air—but that the brilliance +indicated the nature of the formation. Whether it was +granitic or porphyritic, I had no opportunity of examining, +but incline to think it belonged to the latter.</p> + +<p>Of the general features of the geological system of +Corsica, an opportunity may occur for taking a short +review. Our present position, embracing so vast an amphitheatre, +was excellent for forming an idea of the physical +structure of this lateral branch from the central range. +Various as were its ramifications, appearing sometimes +grouped in wild confusion, the general unity of the whole +formation, both in colour and form, was very observable, +from the loftiest peak to the offsets of the ridge which +gradually descended to the level of the valleys, just as the +peculiar character of a tree runs through its trunk and +boughs to the minutest twig. Through a gorge to the +northward we traced the pass, the Col di Tenda, the summit +being 4500 feet, through which a road is conducted +to Calvi and l'Isle Rousse, on the western coast; while +immediately under us lay the valley through which the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[119]</a></span> +Golo, rising in the central chain, makes its long and +winding course to the <i>littorale</i>, eastward.</p> + +<p>The bason, on which we now looked down, was distinguished +by the same features as that of Oletta,—gentle +hills, wooded slopes and glens, and olive groves, vineyards, +and orchards, in almost equally exuberant richness. +A dozen villages were within view, crowning, as usual, the +tops of the hills, or perched far up the mountain sides. +Of these, Lento and Bigorno are the most considerable, +although Campittello gives its name to the canton. The +strong position of Lento caused it to be often contested +during the wars for Corsican independence, and it was +General Paoli's head-quarters before his last and fatal +battle.</p> + +<p>We selected Bigorno, a small village, as our quarters for +the night. The descent to it, about 1000 feet from the +level of the sheep-walks, is extremely rapid; the village +itself being still many hundred feet above the banks of the +Golo, which is seen pouring its white torrent several miles +distant. The approach was interesting, winding through +the evergreen copse and scattered ilex, with the sound of +the church-bell at the <i>Ave-Maria</i> rising from below in the +still air as we descended the mountain side.</p> + +<p>Our quarters here were the best we had yet met with. +My companion having staid behind to sketch the village, +and taken shelter from a shower of rain, had been courteously +invited by a gentleman, who passed, to accept the +accommodations of his house for the night, but, in the +meantime, Antoine had conducted me and the baggage to +another house. It belonged to a small proprietor, who was +profuse in his politeness, but, we thought, lacked the really +hospitable feeling we had found in houses of less pretensions.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[120]</a></span> +Curiosity or civility brought about us quite a <i>levée</i> +of the better class while we were arranging our toilet. +The supper was execrable, consisting of an <i>olla podrida</i> of +ham, potatoes, and tomatoes stewed in oil and seasoned +with garlick, and the wine and grapes were sour. However, +we had excellent beds. In my room there was a +small collection of books, on a dusty shelf, which I should +not have expected to find in such hands. Among them +were some old works of theological casuistry, Metastasio, +a translation of Voltaire's plays, and a geographical dictionary +in Italian. I learnt that they had belonged to +the proprietor's uncle, a <i>medico</i> at Padua, and were heirlooms +with his property, which our host inherited. The +position of these small proprietors is much to be pitied. +By great penuriousness they contrive to make a poor +living out of a vineyard and garden with a few acres of +land, having neither the spirit nor industry, and perhaps +very little opportunity, to better their condition. There +was evidently some struggle in the mind of our host +between his poverty and gentility—added to what was +due to the national character for hospitality—when we +came to proffer some acknowledgment for our reception. +It was just an occasion when, travelling in this way, one +is rather puzzled how to act, but we were relieved from our +difficulty by finding that our offering was received without +much scruple.</p> + +<p>Next morning, to my great surprise, for I was too sleepy +to notice it on going to bed, I found a gun standing +ready loaded on one side of the bed, in curious contrast to +the crucifix and holy-water pot on the other,—succour +close at hand against both spiritual and mortal foes. We +had walked through the country without any alarm, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +concluded that the reign of the rifle and stiletto was ended +in Corsica. But how came the gun to be loaded? was it +from inveterate habit even now that fire-arms were proscribed, +or was Louis Napoleon's decree still eluded?</p> + +<p>I shall never forget the view from my chamber windows +as I threw open the long double casement at six o'clock in +the morning. It was my first view of Monte Rotondo, +the loftiest of the Corsican mountains. A long ridge +and its crowning peak were capped with snow. The +range to the eastward was in deep shade, but with a rich +amber hue behind them as the sun rose. I watched +its kindling light as it touched the snowy top of Monte +Rotondo, and spread a purple light over the sides of the +eastern ridge. The night mists had not yet risen from +the valley of the Golo. We hastened to descend towards +it, after the usual small cup of <i>café noir</i> and a piece of +bread. The environs of Bigorno on this side are very +beautiful. Groves of olive with their silvery leaves and +green berries not yet ripened mingled with vines planted +in terraces, the vines festooning and running free, as +one sees them in Italy. Gardens full of peach and fig +trees filled all the hollows—a charming scene through +which the path wound down the hill. Antoine brought +us fresh figs from one of the gardens—a relish to the dry +remains of our crust. Before the sun had gained much +elevation, it became exceedingly warm on a southern +exposure; the green lizards darted from crevices in the +vineyard walls, all nature was alive and fresh, and the air +serene, with a most heavenly sky.</p> + +<p>All this was very delightful. Nothing can be more so +than this style of travelling in such a country, with a +friend of congenial spirit and taste. My companion was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span> +very well in this respect; but, as I before observed, his +genius led him to be rather excursive in his rambles, +so that he was sometimes missing when he was most +wanted. Now, we had just started on this very agreeable +morning walk with the prospect of breakfast in due time +at the post-house on the banks of the Golo. But, instead +of our enjoying this together, my friend, by a sudden +impulse, leaped over a vineyard wall, and saying he should +like to take a sketch from that point, desired me to +saunter on, and he would soon overtake me.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/122.jpg" width="500" height="363" alt="NEAR BIGORNO." title="NEAR BIGORNO." /> +<p class="caption">NEAR BIGORNO.</p> +</div> + +<p>What with a Pisan campanile, a Corsican manse, festooning +vines, a cluster of bamboo canes—indicative of the +warm south—and the group of mountains with the truncated +peak in the distance, a very clever sketch was produced,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span> +though not one of my friend's best;—and I have +great reason to be obliged to him for his sketches, without +which I fear this would be a dull book. At that moment, +indeed, I would have preferred his companionship. However, +bating this feeling and a certain hankering for my +breakfast in the course of a two hours' walk, I trudged on +alone in a very pleasant frame of mind. Nothing could be +more charming than the green slopes round which the path +wound, with occasional glimpses of the Golo beneath,—its +rapid stream white as the milky Rhone,—after leaving +behind the orchards and gardens. The rest of the descent +lay through evergreen shrubbery so frequently mentioned, +and a more exquisite piece of <i>máquis</i> I had not seen. +Thus sauntering on, sometimes talking with Antoine, a +species of shrub, which I had not much observed before, +attracted my particular attention among the arbutus and +numerous other well-known varieties. It was a bushy +evergreen, of shapely growth, five or six feet high, with +masses of foliage and clusters of bright red berries, having +an aromatic scent.</p> + +<p>“What do you call this shrub, Antoine?” plucking +a branch.</p> + +<p>“<i>Lustinea</i>; the country people express an oil from the +berries for use in their lamps.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! I perceive it is the <i>Lentiscus</i>.” In Africa and +the isle of Scios they make incisions in the stems, from +which the gum mastic is procured. The Turks chew it to +sweeten the breath. It grows also in Provence, Italy, and +Spain.</p> + +<p>Presently, I sat down on a bank, casting anxious glances +up the path after my friend, and, basking in the sun, +finished Antoine's basket of figs, which only whetted my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span> +appetite, while I was endeavouring to indoctrinate Antoine +with the persuasion that our countrymen in general are +neither “<i>Calvinistes</i>” nor “<i>Juives</i>.” Antoine, who had +been asking a variety of questions about “<i>Inghilterra</i>” +and “<i>Londra</i>” was not better informed on this subject +than a great many foreigners I have met with in Catholic +countries, who, by the former term, class all Protestants +with the Reformed churches of the Continent. I have +often had to inform them, to their manifest surprise, that +we have bishops, priests and deacons, cathedrals, choirs, +deans and canons, vestments, creeds, liturgies and sacraments, +in the English church, and were, in short, very +like themselves, at least in externals. Matters of faith I +did not feel inclined to meddle with.</p> + +<p>The discussion ended as we struck the level of the valley +of the Golo, not far from Ponte Nuovo. The heat in this +deep valley became suffocating, and the dusty high road +was an ill exchange for the fresh mountain paths. Here, +then, I made a decided halt, and this being the battle-field +on which, in 1769, the French, after a desperate struggle, +gained a decisive victory over General Paoli and the independent +Corsicans, I had just engaged Antoine in pointing +out the positions of the two armies, and tracing the tide +of battle which, they say, deluged the Golo with blood and +corpses for many miles,—when my lost companion came +rushing down the hill-path among the rustling evergreens.</p> + +<p>“You have been waiting long—excuse me; I have had +a little adventure. That has detained me.”</p> + +<p>“Humph!” My friend's sketching propensities often +led him into a “little adventure,” ending in a story which, +I should almost have imagined, he coined for a peace-offering,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span> +but that I had chapter and verse for the main incidents. +There was that story of his being kicked off the +mule, and—only the evening before—his <i>rencontre</i> with +the interesting young shepherd.</p> + +<p>“What now?”</p> + +<p>“But you want your breakfast.”</p> + +<p>“I should think I do.”</p> + +<p>“I have had mine.”</p> + +<p>“The deuce you have, you are luckier than I am.”</p> + +<p>“Now, my dear old fellow, we will push on to Ponte +Nuovo, and you will soon get your's. I really am very +sorry, but I could not help it.”</p> + +<p>“But this is the famous battle-field, you know, and +Antoine was just going to describe it.”</p> + +<p>“That will keep. We will make our <i>reconnaissance</i> +after you have had your breakfast. As we go along, I will +tell you how I got mine.”</p> + +<p>The story shall be told as nearly as possible in my +friend's own words.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>“After you left me, I sat down to sketch in a little terraced +garden, shaded by fig-trees and vines. My sketch +was nearly finished, and I was thinking how I should +overtake you, when a bright-eyed young maiden came +up, and, with the childlike wonder of a race of people +living far out of the track of sketching tourists, asked me +‘what I was doing.’</p> + +<p>“‘Sit down, pretty maiden, and you shall see.’</p> + +<p>“She obeyed with a <i>naïve</i> simplicity, and we soon +prattled away, she telling me that she had never gone +beyond the neighbouring villages, and could not understand +how I should come so far from <i>Inghilterra</i>, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span> +country she had never heard of, to draw pictures of their +wild mountains.</p> + +<p>“‘Ah! you cannot comprehend how it is that I love +your wild mountains, and children of nature like yourself.’</p> + +<p>“‘Will you come again?’—a question put with a +spice of <i>espièglerie</i> which, from some other pretty lips, +would be rather flattering. ‘Yes, you will come again, +and I shall be grown up.’</p> + +<p>“She did not seem, I found, quite pleased at being +called ‘<i>mon enfant</i>’ by a young stranger, though it was +all very well from her uncle, who, I learnt, was the priest +of the church in my sketch. Presently, away she ran, +blushing and smiling, to tell her uncle that there was a +traveller come from a far-off land who must be hungry, +and who must eat and rest under their roof.</p> + +<p>“The good priest received me with much <i>empressement</i>, +having been brought out to meet me by the little Graziella, +as I was following the path to the cottage door.</p> + +<p>“‘Ah! you are English, you are a Protestant, no +doubt. It matters not; the stranger is welcome under +my humble roof were he a Jew or a Turk. We are all +brothers.’</p> + +<p>“I found the priest well informed on English affairs, +into which, and matters connected with them, we soon +plunged. Meanwhile, Graziella, with the assistance of a +hard-faced but kindly old crone, prepared a repast of fruits, +eggs, coffee; and the priest brought out a bottle of wine, +the produce of his own vineyard, which I have seldom +found equalled. It was all very appetising. I only wished +you were there.”—</p> + +<p>“I was just then, curiously enough, indoctrinating<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span> +Antoine, nothing loath, with the priest's sentiment of +universal brotherhood, a simple Gospel truth, which, overlaid +with ecclesiastical systems, never took deep root, and +is sadly out of vogue now-a-days. I imagine we shall +find the Sards far more bigoted than their neighbours +here.”</p> + +<p>“And you were doing your good work, fasting, while +I feasted. It was all tempting, but I was puzzled how to +eat my egg; there were no spoons.”</p> + +<p>“Why not ask for one; you were talking French? +Had you been attempting Italian, you might have stuck +fast. <i>Cucchiaio</i> is one of the most uncouth words in that +beautiful language. Well I remember it being one of the +first I had to pronounce, when, in early days, I got out of +the line of French <i>garçons</i>: <i>cuc—cucchi</i>,—give me our +Anglo-Saxon monosyllables for such things as spoons, +knives, and forks,—at last I blurted out <i>cucchiaio</i>, in +all its quadrosyllabic fulness. The Rubicon was passed +(by the way, it was on the <i>carte</i> of my route); after that +I stuck at nothing, though for some time it was the +<i>lingua Toscana—in bocca—Inglese</i>.—But how did you +manage your egg?”</p> + +<p>“Why, it is good manners, you know, to do at Rome +as others do, so I watched the priest. He removed the +top, as we do, and then very nicely sipped the contents of +the shell, which—charming Graziella! excellent <i>duenna!</i>—were +done to a turn, just creamy.”</p> + +<p>“Ah! I perceive it was suction, a primitive idea, when +spoons were not. Now I understand the old proverb about +not teaching our venerable progenitors ‘to suck eggs.’”</p> + +<p>“Old fellow, cease your banter, or I shall never get to +the end of my story. As to the eggs, I did not manage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +mine as cleverly as the priest did his. I made a mess of +it, bestowing good part of the yolk on my moustache, much +to Graziella's amusement. I perceived she could hardly +refrain from tittering. But she was soon sobered,—the +conversation turning on the last days of Corsica—and +tears came in her eyes. Alas! the ruthless spirit of <i>vendetta</i> +in this wild country had cost her the lives of her +father and brothers; and, her mother being dead, she was +left an orphan under the care of the good priest.”</p> + +<p>“‘Uncle, persuade him to stay, if only for another +hour. I should like to hear more of those countries where +there is no <i>vendetta</i>; where they plough and reap and +dwell in safety; where fathers and brothers are not compelled +to flee from their villages to the wild <i>máquis</i> and +the mountain crags.’</p> + +<p>“‘My pretty child, I cannot stay now. Perhaps some +day I may return.’</p> + +<p>“‘<i>Addio!</i> then. <i>Evviva! Evviva!</i> In two years I +shall be grown up, and uncle will no longer call me child, +and you shall tell me more of lands I shall never see. But +ah! I know it will never be. <i>Bon voyage!</i> Forget not +the priest's home among the mountains of Corsica.’</p> + +<p>“I shall not forget it. How often one says hopefully +‘I will come back,’ when it would be idle ever to expect +it; and yet I would wish to see once more the little girl +who said, ‘Come, if it is but for an hour!’</p> + +<p>“I rushed down the mountain side, and found you +scorched with a burning sun, thirsty, breakfastless,—the +very image of the knight of the woeful countenance,—I +all joy and fun with my morning's adventure, you perplexed, +out of patience, hungry, and tired. I cannot help +laughing at the contrast.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span>”</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XIII" id="CHAP_XIII"></a>CHAP. XIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Ponte Nuovo.—The Battle-field.—Antoine's Story.</i></p> + + +<p>Half an hour's walk along the high-road brought us to +the solitary building of which we were in search. Uniting +the character of an <i>albergo</i> and a fortified post, of which +there are several scattered throughout the island on commanding +spots, the loop-holed walls, with projecting angles +for a cross-fire, and the barrack round a court within, still +occupied by a small party of <i>gendarmes</i>, were striking +mementos of the state of insecurity in Corsica, and what +travelling was at no very distant period. Shut in by the +mountains, the air of the valley is close and stifling, +disease marked the countenances of the few inmates, and +the barrack-room into which we climbed, with its benches +and tables, were all miserably dirty. The promise of a +dish of fresh trout from the Golo was a redeeming feature +in the aspect of affairs to one who had waited long, and +walked far, without his breakfast. But the dish reeked as +if the Golo ran oil, and the fish were still floating in the +unctuous stream, spite of my injunctions to the weird +priestess of the mysteries of the cave beneath—“<i>Senza +olio, senza olio</i>,” reversing the phrase in the Baron de +Grimm's story of the Frenchman, who, having sacrificed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span> +his own <i>goût</i> to his guest's <i>penchant</i> for asparagus <i>au +naturel</i>, on his friend's falling down in a swoon, rushed to +the top of the staircase, shouting to his cook, “<i>Tout à +l'huile, tout à l'huile</i>.”</p> + +<p>We stood on the bridge of Ponte Nuovo, just beneath +the post, the scene of the last struggle for Corsican independence; +and there Antoine pointed out the details. The +Corsicans, under Pascal Paoli, having occupied the strong +position in the Nebbio through which we had been +rambling for the last few days, the Count de Vaux, the +French generalissimo, concentrated his forces, amounting +to forty-five battalions, four regiments of cavalry, and a +powerful artillery, determined to crush Paoli's brave but +ill-organised militia, and finish the war by a single blow. +The French commenced the attack on the 3rd of May, +1769. For two days it was an affair of outposts, but, on +the 3rd, De Vaux pressed Paoli with such vigour in his +fortified camp at Murato, that the Corsican general was +forced to retire beyond the Golo. He established himself +in the <i>pieve</i> of Rostino, a few miles above the bridge, +leaving orders for Gaffori to hold the strong heights of +Lento, while Grimaldi was to defend Canavaggia,—two +points by which the French might penetrate into the +interior. Bribed by French gold, Grimaldi—“<i>Ah! il +traditore!</i>” exclaimed Antoine,—and Gaffori, unmindful +of his honourable name, offered no resistance to the +advance of the French.</p> + +<p>On the 9th of May, the militia left by Paoli to defend +the passes into the valley, finding themselves unsupported, +abandoned their posts and fled.</p> + +<p>“Down the pass we descended this morning from +Bigorno,” said Antoine, “through those other gorges you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +see in the mountains, our people poured in wild confusion, +closely pursued by the enemy. They thronged to the +bridge. It was held by a company of Prussians, who had +passed from the Genoese to the Corsican service; and a +thousand Corsican militia lined the river bank. If the +French carried the bridge, all was lost. The Prussians +were the only regular troops in Paoli's army. They stood +firm in their discipline. The fugitives threw themselves +upon them, charged with the bayonet by the French in +the rear. The Prussians had to hold their position against +friends and foes, indiscriminately, after a vain attempt to +rally the flying Corsicans. Unfortunately they fired into +the mass. A cry of ‘Treachery!’ was raised, the panic +became general, disorder spread throughout the ranks, the +enemy profited by it to secure their victory; the rout +was complete, and the Corsicans scattered themselves +among the mountains and forests. The Golo was red +with blood, and the corpses of my countrymen, mingled +with their enemies, floated in its current for many miles. +It was a day of woe, a fatal day!”</p> + +<p>The feeling of nationality still lingers in Corsica, though +without an object, without a hope. Men such as Antoine, +the mountaineers, the shepherds,—all true-hearted Corsicans +treasure up the traditions of former times, and, with +the scene before his eyes, Antoine traced the action of +Ponte Nuovo with as lively an enthusiasm, as deep an +interest, as if it had been an affair of yesterday, in which +he had borne a part.</p> + +<p>But the vision passed away. Antoine had pressing +cares of immediate interest, to which he now gave vent. +Here we were to part; we had an opportunity of forwarding +our baggage to Corte by the <i>voiture</i> which daily<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span> +passes Ponte Nuovo, and there was no further need of the +services of Antoine and his mule. He would gladly have +followed our steps to the extremity of Corsica—to the end +of the world, and we were sorry to part from him. Short +as our acquaintance was, he had become attached to us. +Our rambles had brought us into close intimacy, and +suited his taste.</p> + +<p>We sat down on the river bank, and he unbosomed his +mind more freely than he had yet done. We learnt, on +our first acquaintance, that he had left his country and +sailed to foreign parts. What forced him to emigrate had +been inferred from a fearful disclosure to which no reference +had been since made. Now, on the eve of parting, +he told us all his story, and opened out his hopes for the +future. For reasons into which we did not inquire, there +seemed to be no apprehensions as to his personal safety; +but, lamenting the want of means and opportunity for +bettering his condition at home, his thoughts again +reverted to emigration. It was the best thing he could +do; and, reminding him of the success of many of his +neighbours from Capo Corso, who sought their fortunes +in South America, we exhorted him not to indulge the +indolence natural to his countrymen, but apply himself +manfully to an enterprise for which he had many qualifications, +and heartily wished him success.</p> + +<p>The point on which his story turned was, as I suspected, +a tale of love, jealousy, revenge. He related the catastrophe +with more than usual feeling, but without any +seeming remorse. He was justified by the Corsican code +of honour. The details, though simple, might be worked +up into one of those romantic and sentimental tales for +which Corsican life supplies abundant materials. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +neither is that my <i>rôle</i>, nor am I willing to betray +Antoine's confidence. My readers shall have, instead, a +similar tale—of which, as it happens, a namesake of +Antoine is the hero—developing the same powerful +passions. It is not one of the stock stories borrowed from +books which one finds repeated in writers on Corsica, but, +I believe, from the source from which I derived it, an +original as well as authentic tale. The scene lies at a +village in the mountains, not far from Ponte Nuovo, our +present halting-place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XIV" id="CHAP_XIV"></a>CHAP. XIV.</h2> + +<p class="chap">FILIAL DUTY, LOVE, AND REVENGE: A CORSICAN TALE.</p> + + +<p>On a fine spring morning, some thirty years ago, there +was an unusual stir in a <i>paese</i> standing near the high-road +between Bastia and Ajaccio. The village, like most others +in Corsica, clustered round a hill-top, and stood on the +skirts of a deep forest, with which the eye linked it +through intervening groves of spreading chestnut and +other fruit-trees. It was Sunday; and, after mass, the +whole population flocked to the market-place, a large open +area in front of the <i>Mairie</i>, to witness one of those trials +of skill in shooting at a mark, formerly common in Corsica +as well as in Switzerland.</p> + +<p>Above the roof of the <i>Mairie</i> sprung a grim tower, +serving at once for a prison, in which criminals were confined, +and for the barracks of the <i>gendarmerie</i> stationed in +that wild district. On the present occasion the target was +set up at the foot of this tower, and all the young men of +the village were, in turn, making a trial of skill with their +long guns, while the old peasants stood near giving advice, +and the village girls, ranged in <i>costume de fête</i> round the +palisades inclosing the place, rewarded the most successful +of the competitors with smiles and glances of encouragement.</p> + +<p>The contest had lasted for some time, and many shots<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +were fired without the mark—fixed at the distance of +about 300 paces—having been hit, when a young man, +armed with a short Tyrolese rifle, came up to the barrier. +He was dressed after the fashion of his fathers, but with +great neatness. Short breeches of green velvet descended +to the knees, and the calves of his legs were encased in +deer-skin gaiters fastened by metal buttons. A broad belt +of red leather girded his loins. It concealed a small pouch +of cartridges, but the hilt of a strong dagger peeped from +underneath the belt. His open shirt exposed to view a +manly breast. He wore a sort of jacket of the same stuff +as the breeches, but faced with crimson, and garnished, +after the Spanish fashion, with a number of small silver +studs. A high-crowned hat of black felt was cocked jantily +on one side of his head, and a medallion of the <i>Madre dei +Dolori</i> stuck in the band, completed the picturesque costume +of the Corsican peasant.</p> + +<p>The young man, on his arrival, received a cordial welcome +from all the competitors for the honours of the day, +and, among the village maidens, many a bright eye beamed +with a tender but modest delight on his manly form, +shown to advantage in the national costume. Still he +gave no sign of an intention to take any part in the sport +for which they were assembled.</p> + +<p>In consequence, after a short interval, during which the +firing had ceased, an old villager thus addressed him:—</p> + +<p>“How is it, Antonio, that you, the best marksman in +the village, have joined us so late? The sport flags; let +us have one of your true, unerring shots.”</p> + +<p>“Excuse me, father Joachimo, I am in no humour +to-day to partake in the gaiety of my friends.”</p> + +<p>Pressed, however, by repeated entreaties, the young<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span> +man at last yielded, and, advancing to the barrier, and +unloosing his rifle from the slings, took a cartridge from +his pouch, and proceeded to charge his piece with much +deliberation. While doing this, his eyes were fixed on a +crevice in the tower, from which was hanging a little iron +cage containing the mouldering remains of a human skull. +At this spectacle his countenance changed from its usual +ruddy hue to a mortal paleness, and tears were seen to +fill his eyes.</p> + +<p>Having charged his rifle, Antonio took his position in +the attitude of firing; but, it was remarked, that in taking +aim, he levelled the barrel higher than the mark at the +foot of the tower. A moment of solemn silence was followed +by a flash, a sharp crack,—and the whizzing bullet +struck the skull in the cage. The shock brought both to +the ground, and, at the same instant, the young man, +quick as thought, leaped over the palisades, and, gathering +up the fragments of skull, quickly disappeared. The spectators +of this strange scene asked each other what it +meant; and, in the midst of the hubbub, Joachimo, the old +peasant who had invited Antonio to try his skill in the feat +of arms, raised his voice to satisfy their curiosity.</p> + +<p>“My children,” he said, “Corsican blood has not degenerated; +of this you have witnessed a striking proof in the +act of Antonio. The skull, which hung on the tower wall, +was that of a man unjustly condemned to death, of a man +whose only crime was, his having taken vengeance with +his own hand for the insult offered his wife by an inhabitant +of the continent. The skull was that of Antonio's father; +and a son, a true Corsican, could not submit to having his +father's remains dishonoured. This day he has wiped out +the ignominy,—henceforth Antonio is an outlaw, proscribed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span> +by the men of law, by the French; but we Corsicans +shall ever esteem him a man of honour and of +courage.”</p> + +<p>The crowd then dispersed, full of admiration for the +brave Antonio, and the event of the morning became the +theme of the evening's conversation in all the families of +the neighbourhood.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Antonio, having gained the forest, rapidly +threaded its tangled paths for nearly an hour. He then +stopped in one of its deepest recesses, and, having keenly +reconnoitred every avenue of approach, threw himself +weary at the foot of a tree, and opening the handkerchief +in which he had wrapped his father's skull, gave vent to a +flood of tears.</p> + +<p>“Oh, my father!” he said, “my father! why could I +not take vengeance on the authors of your death? why +could I not avenge myself on the descendants of the base +Frenchman who insulted my mother? why could I not +wash out, in their blood, the shame that has fallen on our +family, and embittered our existence?”</p> + +<p>At the thought of vengeance the eyes of the young +islander flashed fire, his tears dried up, and that heart, just +now so open to tender emotions, would have prompted him +to plunge his dagger in the bosom of those who were the +cause of his misery.</p> + +<p>Again, the fit changed; for, in the midst of this storm of +passion, a name quivered on his lips, like the star seen in +the drifting clouds when the tempest is raging.</p> + +<p>“Madaléna!” he cried, “all is now finished between +us;—Antonio is a bandit.”</p> + +<p>Then, exercising a strong power over himself, he passed +his hand over his forehead, as if to drive evil thoughts<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +from his brain, and, unsheathing his strong dagger, dug a +hole at the foot of the oak, in which he deposited his +precious burthen. A cross, carved by his dagger on the +trunk of the tree, served for a memorial of his father's +fate:—ah! what thoughts, what sorrows, did that cross +recall to his mind!—and, after a short prayer, he hastened +from the spot which had witnessed his last act of filial duty.</p> + +<p>Wretched Antonio! a solitary outcast, abandoned by all, +what refuge was left for you but the forest and the <i>máquis</i>?—what +protector, but your good rifle—what hope, but in +the grave! Nay, another passion, another image, was +deeply graven on his heart! Love—that divine passion, +which ennobles a man, which gives him courage, which fills +him with heroism—afforded him strength to survive so +many calamities.</p> + +<p>Some days after these occurrences, a young maiden crept +stealthily at early dawn from among the houses in the +village of Allari, fifteen leagues distant from Bastia, and +gained unseen the <i>purlieus</i> of the neighbouring wood +before any of the villagers were abroad. The maiden's +age was about eighteen years; her step was light, her +form slender and graceful; health sparkled in her dark +eyes; her enterprise lent a ruddier hue to her olive skin, +and a profusion of raven-black tresses floated on her +shoulders, as she brushed through the evergreen shrubbery +on the verge of the wood, where, concealed in the +hollow of an aged chestnut tree, a young man had been +waiting her arrival for upwards of an hour. This young +man was Antonio, the maiden Madaléna.</p> + +<p>On perceiving her approach, Antonio hastened to quit +his hiding place, and came to meet her.</p> + +<p>“How kind you are, Madaléna,” he said: “you, so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span> +rich, so young, so beautiful—to expose yourself for me to +the cold morning air; to brave, perhaps, the anger of your +parents, for one of whom you know so little.</p> + +<p>“It is true that you told me once that you loved me; +and love knows no obstacles, and makes nothing of distances. +But I must not abuse your confidence. Madaléna, +my bosom labours with a secret which I have too +long preserved. I have done wrong; I have deceived +you. I feared, I dreaded, that in disclosing it to you, I +should forfeit your love, your esteem; that you would +avoid me as the world does a man to whom society gives +an ill name. Yes, Madaléna, you have to learn—Madaléna, +hitherto I have not had the courage to tell it to you—learn +that I am a....”</p> + +<p>Antonio shrunk from giving utterance to a word which +would probably crush all his hopes, and break the last tie +which held him to the world. So, changing his purpose, +he continued in an altered tone:—</p> + +<p>“Why should I embitter the moments which ought to +be given to love? Is it not true, Madaléna, that you +love me for myself? Ah! tell me that you love me, for +there is great need that I should hear it from your own +lips, and without this love I should be wretched indeed. +Tell me that you do not want to know my past; that you +love me because our hearts understand each other; because +our two souls, breathed into us by the Author of our +existence, were formed to love each other for ever.”</p> + +<p>Madaléna, perceiving the feebleness of her lover, took +his hand, and fixing on him an eager gaze, made him sit +by her side. On touching that much-loved hand, the +young man started, and a sudden shivering ran through +his veins. The maiden perceived it, and a gleam of satisfaction,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +and almost coquetry, sparkled in her eyes. Poor +woman's heart! Even in the most solemn moments she +is always a coquette. Such is her nature.</p> + +<p>“Antonio,” she said, “you vow that you love me; why +then hesitate to confide to me your secrets, your sorrows? +Am I not some day to be your wife? I have sworn it +before God and my mother, and I shall be. Why then +do you defer telling me the cause of your long sufferings. +I have long perceived that your heart is oppressed by +some secret thought. Can it be that you are in love with +another, Antonio? Tell me if it is so; you shall have +my forgiveness, and I will say to the woman who is the +choice of your heart, ‘Love him, for he is worthy of it!’ +And if it were required that I should shed my blood for +your happiness, I would not hesitate a single moment to +make the sacrifice.”</p> + +<p>“Oh no, no, Madaléna, think not so! Do you suppose +me capable of betraying you, of casting you off? I, who +love you with a perfect love, a love as pure as that which +makes the bliss of angels,—with which a child loves its +mother? For one fond look from you I would brave the +fury of men—of men and the elements. Drive this suspicion +from your heart, and God grant that, when you +have learnt my secret, you may continue to entertain the +same sentiments towards me.”</p> + +<p>Thus speaking, Antonio drew near to the maiden, and, +hiding his face in her hands, whispered in her ear:—</p> + +<p>“Madaléna, Madaléna, I am—a bandit.”</p> + +<p>The young girl shrieked with terror, and fainted in his +arms. Antonio laid her on the grass, and, having sprinkled +her face with the fresh morning dew, knelt by her side. +Presently, Madaléna opened her eyes, and seeing Antonio<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +kneeling, and still holding her hand, roused herself with +a sudden effort, and, casting on him a look of mingled +horror and scorn, said to him,—</p> + +<p>“Leave me, Antonio, you make me shudder, your hands +are stained with the blood of the innocent.”</p> + +<p>Antonio, crazed with love, crawled to her feet and +wept; but having, after much difficulty, prevailed with her +to hear him, he related to her the story of the skull, the +only crime for which he was a bandit. After this explanation, +Madaléna seemed to be reassured, and her lover +awaited his final sentence from her lips in breathless suspense. +The maiden's heart was touched by his tale, and +observing him with an air of less severity, she said:—</p> + +<p>“I am satisfied that you speak the truth; but I have a +mother and father, and I think, that after this disclosure, +I could never become your wife without abandoning them +for ever. At this moment I am too much agitated to +come to any decision; return to morrow, and you shall +know my final resolve. Meanwhile, rest assured that I +pity and love you still, considering you more unfortunate +than guilty, and that I will either be your wife, or the +wife of no other man.”</p> + +<p>Thus saying, she hastened from the spot.</p> + +<p>Antonio saw her depart without having the courage to +address to her another word. That man so brave, who +knew no fear, recoiled from no danger, wept like a child. +A sad presentiment told him that it was his last meeting +with Madaléna, though her concluding promise tended in +some degree to reassure him.</p> + +<p>Madaléna shut herself up in her chamber and shed +floods of tears—tears not of love, but of shame. For +her—the daughter of a wealthy citizen of Ajaccio, brought<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +up in the manners, and tinctured with the prejudices of +the continent, who knew nothing of the world but its +empty phantoms, nor of love but its coquetry—it was +disgrace to love and be loved by the son of a bandit, by +one who was himself a bandit.</p> + +<p>From that day Madaléna never returned to the wood. +Every morning the unhappy Antonio retraced his steps to +the place of meeting, but only to have his hopes crushed. +He was forgotten, perhaps scorned. Love, the sentiment +of the heart, had yielded to the influence of the frivolous +ideas of society, the conventional maxims of the world. +This young maiden had not the courage to affirm in the +face of all, “I love Antonio, because he is not guilty of +any crime; I love him because he has avenged his father, +because he is a true son of Corsica.” But she had not the +spirit, the strength of mind, to say this. The Corsican +blood had degenerated in her veins, or she would have +felt that it was no crime for Antonio to achieve the removal +from public view of the horrid spectacle which was +a continual witness of shame and ignominy,—exposed by +a relic of barbarism, called law, to the gaze and scorn of +all who passed along the streets,—that no stain rested +on the memory of Antonio's father, because, as a husband +and a father, he had avenged the honour of his wife and +his children.</p> + +<p>A year after these events, the whole population of the +village of Allari was again astir. Its only bell clanged +incessantly, and gay troops of both sexes, in holiday dress, +flocked through the streets in the direction of the <i>Mairie</i>. +It was a bright morning of the month of April; joy +floated in the air, and pleasure sparkled in every eye. +Presently, a nuptial procession was formed, and took its<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span> +way towards the church. All eyes rested on the bride +and bridegroom; they did not wear the Corsican dress, +but adopted French fashions. Everything about them +betokened wealth, and an affectation of continental manners.</p> + +<p>As soon as the procession had entered the church, the +streets became deserted; but a young man, who from an +early hour had concealed himself in the cemetery, now +glided round the church, casting anxious glances on every +side, as if apprehensive of being discovered. His clothes, +torn to tatters, his unshorn beard and long, dishevelled, +hair, blood-shot eyes, and haggard countenance, betokened +the extremity of anguish and want. His feet were naked, +and he carried in his hand a short rifle.</p> + +<p>Arrived at the church door, and having glanced within, +he paused for a moment, leaning against the pillar. The +nuptial ceremony had reached the point where the minister +of God, after pronouncing the mystic words, demands of +the betrothed their assent to the marriage union; when, +just as the bride was in the act of uttering the word +which binds for ever the destinies of both, the barrel of +the rifle, held by the man stationed at the door, was levelled, +and the <i>fiancée</i> fell, pierced in the breast with a mortal +wound. The man, who fired, threw down his rifle, and, +dashing into the church like one demented, took the dying +woman in his arms, and cried,—</p> + +<p>“Madaléna, you broke your troth to me; you rendered +me desperate; we die together!”</p> + +<p>And, unsheathing his dagger, he plunged it several times +into his breast, falling on the dying woman, who opened +her eyes, and, recognising her lover, expired with the +name of “Antonio” on her lips.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span></p> + +<p>Her betrothed was conveyed away by his relations, and +the recollection of this terrible scene disturbed for a long +while the tranquillity of the village. The church in which +it took place was, after the catastrophe, stripped of all its +sacred ornaments, and left to decay. Its ruins may still +be seen on a point of rising ground, and, if an inquiring +traveller takes a turn behind the church, he will find in +the cemetery, on the spot where Antonio was concealed, a +grave-stone inscribed with the names of Madaléna and +Antonio, surmounted by a rude representation of a rifle +and a dagger.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XV" id="CHAP_XV"></a>CHAP. XV.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Morosaglia, Seat of the Paolis.—Higher Valley of the Golo.—Orography +of Corsica.—Its Geology</i>.</p> + + +<p>On crossing to the right bank of the Golo at <i>Ponte Nuovo</i>, +we enter the canton of Morosaglia, the former <i>piève</i> of Rostino, +and the home of the Paoli family. The canton takes +its present name from a Franciscan convent, still standing, +and part of it used as an elementary school, founded by +the will of Pascal Paoli.</p> + +<p>It is about two hours' walk from Ponte Nuovo to the +hamlet in which the Paolis were born. The house is one +of those gaunt, misshapen, rude structures, built of rough +stones, and blackened by age, which one sees everywhere +in the mountain villages; without even glass to the windows. +Standing on the craggy summit of an insulated rock, the +access to it is by a rough wooden staircase. Here Pascal +Paoli resided, as a simple citizen, after the manner of his +fathers, polished as his manners were, and highly as he +was accomplished, after he had attained to almost sovereign +power. The rooms are so small that he transacted +public business in the neighbouring convent of Morosaglia.</p> + +<p>There also his brother, Clemente Paoli, had a cell to +which he often retired. His was a singular character. Of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span> +a saturnine cast of disposition, he seldom spoke to those +by whom he was surrounded; a great part of his time was +spent in religious observances, and in the practice of the +most rigid austerities. In short, he was the monk when +at home, and the most intrepid warrior when engaged +with the enemy of his country. The sanctity of his +private life procured him singular veneration, and his +presence in battle produced a wonderful effect on the +patriots. Even when pulling the trigger to destroy his +enemy, he is said to have prayed for the soul of his falling +antagonist.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> After the fatal field of Ponte Nuovo, declining +to follow his brother to England, he spent twenty years in +prayer and penance in the Benedictine Abbey of Vallombrosa, +that shady and sequestered retreat in the heart of +the Apennines, returning to his native Corsica only to +die. Such was Clemente Paoli. Of his brother Pasquale, +a fitting place for some more extended notice will be found +at Corte, the seat of his island throne.</p> + +<p>The country on the right bank of the river is rugged; +rude <i>paése</i> crown the heights, and the hollows are shrouded +in magnificent chestnut woods. The mountains seen from +beyond Bigorno shut in the valley of the Golo so closely +in some places, that it is a mere defile giving passage to +the river and the road. The river is a torrent, and the +valley is ascended at a sharp angle. At <i>Ponte à la Leccia</i>, +we recrossed to the left bank of the river; the valley +expanded, and there was much cultivated land, though +the soil was poor. Rounded hills in the foreground were +backed by a serrated range of mountains, Monte Rotondo +being just visible.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span></p> + +<p>Approaching now, through the high valleys, the central +region of the mountain system of Corsica, this may be a +proper place for a brief survey of the main features in its +orography and geological structure. We have hitherto +spoken of a central chain and its ramifications in a loose +manner; but it would be desirable to convey more precise +ideas of the structure of this mountain island; and, as the +system happens to be very simple and intelligible, it +affords an example, on a small scale, which may give the +unscientific reader a general idea of the nature of grander +operations. Having traversed the island from north to +south, and from east to west, not without an eye to its +general structure and composition, though making no +pretensions to exact scientific knowledge, I may be able to +furnish a not unfaithful digest of the observations of the +foreign geologists <i>Elie de Beaumont</i>, <i>Raynaud</i>, <i>Gueymard</i> +and others, as I find them quoted in Marmocchi's work.</p> + + +<p class="title">OROGRAPHY OF CORSICA.</p> + +<p>At first sight, Corsica presents the aspect of a chaos of +mountains piled one on another, with their escarped sides +rising from the sea to great elevations; but on a closer +examination, and with the assistance of an accurate map, +it is soon perceived that these mountains, apparently +heaped up in wild confusion, are distinctly arranged in +three principal directions,—from north-east to south-west, +from north-west to south-east, and from north to south.</p> + +<p>The point which forms the main link of the whole +system lies high, near the snowy sources of the Golo. This +elevated part of the island, with the districts immediately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +surrounding it,—an Alpine and forest region in which +the principal rivers and streams take their rise,—this +region so sublime in its vast solitudes, so poetic, so +savagely wild, so picturesque,—may be called the Switzerland +of Corsica.</p> + +<p>From this central link two great chains, forming, so to +speak, the backbone of the island, diverge in opposite +directions. One section, tending to the south-east, traverses +the centre of the island, where the Monte Rotondo +and Monte d'Oro lift to the skies their ever snowy +peaks, and terminates at the Monte Incudine. This high +chain throws out its longest branches to the south-west, +each of them forming at its extremity a lofty promontory +washed by the Mediterranean, and the successive ridges +inclosing delightful and fertile valleys.</p> + +<p>The other section of the central chain describes a curved +line to the north-north-east, as far as Monte Grosso; and, +over the Bevinco, links itself with the system of Capo +Corso by the offsets of Monte Antonio and San Leonardo, +by which latter <i>col</i> we crossed the ridge on the evening of +our landing in Corsica. The spurs from this second chain +take, in general, a north-west direction towards the sea. +Less considerable than those connected with the first, they +inclose narrower valleys, and form promontories less +<i>saillants</i>, and of inferior elevation on the western coast.</p> + +<p>The mountains of Capo Corso, extending in a chain +nearly north and south, at a short distance from the east +coast, form the third orographic division of the island; +this chain, as observed in a former chapter, being cut by +deep valleys of short extent, the channels of torrents discharging +themselves into the Tuscan Sea.</p> + +<p>Between this long chain, extending from Monte Antonio<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +to Monte Incudine, and the tortuous ranges detached +obliquely from it, lies a central area equal in surface to a +fifth part of the whole island of which it forms the heart—the +interior. The general inclination of this area, with +the openings of the valleys, tends to the east. It does not +form one single bason, but, intersected as it is in various +directions by secondary ranges, and by mountains linking +the principal chain, its <i>contour</i> is composed of a series of +deep and generally narrow valleys, rising one above the +other. The grandest as well as the most elevated of these +basons is that of the <i>Niolo</i>, the citadel of Corsica.</p> + +<p>These lofty mountain chains, with the numerous ramifications +detached from them, and extending in all directions, +render the communications between one place and +another, between the coasts on opposite sides of the island, +extremely difficult. The passage from the western to the +eastern shore can only be effected by climbing to great +elevations, through long and narrow gorges, through deep +ravines of savage aspect, and covered with dense forests. +The Corsicans give a lively idea of some of these toilsome +paths by calling them <i>scale</i>,—ladders, staircases;—and +such, indeed, they are, the steps, often prolonged for miles, +being partly the work of Nature, partly cut in the rock by +the hand of man.</p> + + +<p class="title">GEOLOGY OF CORSICA.</p> + +<p>In the present state of science there can be no difficulty +in ascribing the origin of the three great lines of the +Corsican mountains, to which all the others are subordinate, +to three vast upheavings of the soil in the direction<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span> +they take. The order of these elevations above the surface +of the ancient sea thrice repeated in the long series +of past ages, giving the first existence to the island, and +by successive conglomerations shaping its present bold +and irregular profile, may be also distinctly traced.</p> + +<p>The masses first raised to the surface of the sea, supposed +to be of igneous origin, lifted by the intense action +of fire or subterranean heat from vast depths, and called +by English geologists “Plutonic rocks,” as differing from +“Volcanic,”—these masses constitute nearly the whole +south-western coast of Corsica, one half of the whole +island.</p> + +<p>If an ideal line be drawn diagonally from a point so far +north-west as Cape <i>Revellata</i>, near Calvi, to the point of +<i>Araso</i>, far down the south-east coast near Porto Vecchio, +this primary eruption may be traced in the several ranges, +perpendicular to the ideal line and parallel with each +other, which descending to the sea in the direction of from +north-east to south-west, terminate in the principal promontories +on the western coast, and form the numerous +valleys which appear in succession from the Straits of +Bonifacio to the Gulf of Porto.</p> + +<p>Thus at the earliest epoch the principal axis of the +island had its direction from the north-west to the south-east. +The Capo Corso of those times lifted its head above +the Sea of Calvi, and who can say how far the island +extended at the opposite extremity? All we know is, that +the group of rocky islets called the <i>Isole Cerbicale</i>, south-west +of Porto Vecchio, with the <i>Isola du Cavallo</i>, and that +<i>Di Lavazzi</i> off the coast at Bonifacio; and again, the islets +<i>Die Razzoli</i> and <i>Budelli</i> on the opposite side of the +Straits, with the larger islands of <i>La Madaléna</i> and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span> +<i>Caprera</i>, all of a similar formation with the primary +Corsican range,—like detached fragments of some vast +ruined structure,—appear to form the links of a chain +which united Corsica with the mountain system of the +north-eastern portion of the island of Sardinia.</p> + +<p>These primitive masses are almost entirely granitic; and +thus, at the epoch of its first emergence from the waters +of the Mediterranean, no spark of animal or vegetable life +existed in the new island.</p> + +<p>So also one half of the masses raised by the <i>second</i> +upheaval, having the same general direction, are granitic. +But, as we advance towards the north-east, the granites +insensibly resolve themselves into <i>ophiolitic</i> rocks,—a +name given by French geologists to certain volcanic eruptions +of the cretaceous era,—which are also found in the +Morea.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> There are but few traces remaining of this +second upheaval, which evidently laid in ruins great part +of the northern extremity of the former one, cutting it at +right angles to the east of the Gulf of Porto. This line, +ranging from the south-west to the north-east into the +heart of the <i>Nebbio</i>, is broken up and destroyed through +nearly its whole length.</p> + +<p>The disorder and ruin of these several points of the +original system, and the almost total destruction of its +northern part, were undoubtedly caused by the <i>third</i> and +last upheaval which gave the island the form it presents +at the present day. Its direction was from north to +south, and so long as the mass then raised did not come in +contact with the land created by former upheavals, it preserved +its regular line, as we find in the mountain-chain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span> +of Capo Corso. But when, on emerging above the surface +of the sea, this mass had to overcome at its southern +extremity the resistance of the primary rocks upheaved +long before, and now become hard and consolidated,—in +that terrible shock, on the one hand, it changed, crushed, +or ruined all that obstructed its progress, while, on the +other, it varied its own direction and was itself broken up +in many places, as appears from the openings of the valleys +communicating from the interior with the plains of the +eastern littoral and giving a passage to the torrents which +fall into the sea on this coast,—the Bevinco, the Golo, the +Tavignano, the Fiumorbo.</p> + +<p>The fundamental rocks brought up by this third and +last upheaval are ophiolitic, and metamorphic, or primary, +limestone, overlaid in some places by secondary formations. +“The granites on the west, as well as the south, +of the island include some beds of <i>gneiss</i> and <i>schistes</i> at +their extremities.”—(<i>Gueymard</i>). Almost everywhere the +granite is covered—an evident proof that the epoch of its +eruption preceded that when the deposits were formed in +the depths of the sea, and deposited in horizontal strata +on the crystalline masses of the granite.</p> + +<p>Masses of euritic and porphyritic rocks intersect the +granites, and a distinct formation of porphyries crowns +Monte Cinto, Vagliorba, and Pertusato, the highest summits +of the <i>Niolo</i>, covering the granite. These porphyries +are pierced by greenstone two or three feet thick, and the +granites are intersected by numerous veins of amphibolite +(hornblende) and greenstone, generally running from east +to west.</p> + +<p>Transition rocks, as they are called, occupy the whole +of Capo Corso and the east of the island. They consist of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span> +talcose-schiste, bluish-grey limestone, talc in beds, serpentine, +black marble similar to the oldest in the Alps, quartz, +feldspar, and porphyries.</p> + +<p>The tertiary strata are only found at certain points in +isolated fragments. One of these occupies the bottom of +the Gulf of San Fiorenzo and part of its eastern shore. +There the beds rest with a strong inclination against the +lower declivities of the chain of Capo Corso, rising from +upwards of 600 to 900 feet above the level of the Mediterranean,—a +distinct proof that their formation at +the bottom of the sea was anterior to the upheaval of that +chain, and of the whole system of mountains having their +direction north and south.</p> + +<p>In the deep escarped valleys between San Fiorenzo and +the tower of <i>Farinole</i>, the tertiary deposits are seen in +successive layers forming beds which in some places are +in the aggregate from 400 to 500 feet thick, and the calcareous +beds contain great quantities of fossil remains of +marine animals of low organisation, such as sea-urchins, +pectens, and other shells; forming a compact mass, of +which the greater part of the formation consists. The +singular phenomenon of the presence of rounded boulders +of euritic porphyry, resembling that of the <i>Niolo</i>, embedded +in these strata, proves to a certainty that at an +epoch anterior to the upheaval of the system running +north and south, and of the mountains of <i>La Tenda</i> +depending on it, the high valleys of the present bason of +the Golo, and especially that of the Golo, were prolonged +to the sea.</p> + +<p>A <i>second</i> tertiary deposit exists near <i>Volpajola</i>, on the +left bank of the Golo, nearly eight miles from the eastern +coast. The beds lying horizontally are full of shells.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> + +<p>We find a third fragment of a tertiary formation on the +part of the <i>littorale</i> stretching from the mouth of the +Alistro to that of the Fiumorbo, in the middle of which +stood the ancient city of Aleria. In some places these +beds have been lifted without any sensible alteration of +their original form of deposit in horizontal strata, and +throughout they bear a close resemblance to the tertiary +formation of San Fiorenzo.</p> + +<p>A <i>fourth</i>, and more striking, example of the same +formation is exhibited at the southern extremity of the +island. There we find an horizontal <i>plateau</i> from 200 +to 300 feet high between the Gulf of Sta-Manza and Bonifacio. +The promontory on which that town and fortress +stands, and the whole adjoining coast along the straits, +present exactly the same appearances as the white chalk +cliffs of Dover; and at the <i>Cala di Canetta</i> these calcareous +rocks rise <i>à pic</i> over the sea 150 and 200 feet. There is a +perfect analogy between this formation and those of San +Fiorenzo and the Fiumorbo already mentioned. Only, this +last contains a much greater variety of fossil remains, both +animal and vegetable, consisting of lignites, oyster-shells, +large pectens, operculites, and fragments of sea-urchins, +polypi, &c. We shall have an opportunity of mentioning +hereafter the curious caverns worn in the soft calcareous +rock by the force of the waves lashing this coast with so +much violence in the storms to which the Straits of Bonifacio +are exposed.</p> + +<p>Coming now to the alluvial deposits, we find them +extending over the great plains on the eastern coast of the +island, the <i>littorale</i> mentioned in an early chapter of this +work. The plain of Biguglia, for instance, was formed by +one of those vast inundations which have received the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span> +name of diluvial currents, and swept away a great number +of species of animals. In fact, we find traces of one of +these inundations in a breccia formed of the fossil bones +of animals in the hills near Bastia. Among these fossil +bones Cuvier has remarked the head of a <i>lagomys</i>, a +little hare without any tail,—a species still existing in +Siberia.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> It would too much lengthen these remarks +were we to enter on an inquiry into the age and character +of these osseous breccia, but the curious reader +is referred to Lyell's “Elements”<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> for some interesting +observations on fossil mammalia found in alluvial deposits +alternating with breccia. We are not aware, however, +that the hills near Bastia are connected with volcanic +action as those of Auvergne, to which Mr. Lyell refers.</p> + +<p>Indeed, in concluding this notice of Corsican geology, +we have only to remark that, although Corsica has no +existing volcanoes, it would appear, from fragments preserved +in the cabinets of Natural History, that, here and +there, a few rare traces of extinct volcanoes of very ancient +date have been discovered, in the neighbourhood of Porto +Vecchio, Aleria, Cape Balistro, in the Gulf of Sta Manza, +and some other places.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XVI" id="CHAP_XVI"></a>CHAP. XVI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Approach to Corte.—Our “Man of the Woods.”—Casa Paoli.—The +Gaffori.—Citadel.—An Evening Stroll.</i></p> + + +<p>At Ponte Francardo we left the valley of the Golo, and +followed up a stream tributary to it, among hills and +woods; being now on the outskirts of one of the great +forest districts of Corsica.</p> + +<p>When mounting the last hill in the approach to Corte +we were joined by an inhabitant of the town, who at first +seemed disposed to amuse himself at our expense. He +was surprised, as we afterwards found, at meeting two +foreigners of somewhat rough exterior, without baggage +or attendance, engaged on rather a forlorn enterprise. He +told us that not very long before he had met an Englishman +under similar circumstances, and related some ridiculous +stories respecting him. But as I do not believe that +any of our countrymen have been recently tourists in Corsica, +I am disposed to think that the person he made his +butt was a German traveller,—a mistake we have often +found occurring in our own case in remote parts of the +Continent. We got, however, into conversation, and it +turning on forests,—a subject on which we happened to be +rather at home,—finding us to be practical people, and, +much as we admired his wild country, not inclined to over-indulgence<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span> +in sentiment and romance, he altered his tone, +and even went into the opposite extreme of supposing +that our journey was connected with a speculation in +timber. That being his hobby, we soon became great +friends. He informed us that he possessed some large +tracts of forest, which he should be happy to show us, +and our “man of the woods” not only performed his promise, +but, being a person of considerable intelligence, +gave us much valuable information, and rendered us many +services during our stay in Corte.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/157.jpg" width="700" height="421" alt="CORTE." title="CORTE." /> +<p class="caption">CORTE.</p> +</div> + +<p>The approach to Corte on this side is sufficiently striking, +though not so picturesque as from the point of view on the +road to Ajaccio, from which my friend's sketch, lithographed +for this work, was taken. After winding up along +a steep ascent, the town suddenly burst on our sight from +the summit of the ridge. Its position is admirable. Seated +nearly in the centre of the island, in the heart of the +elevated <i>plateau</i> described in the preceding chapter, and +surrounded by lofty mountains, the passes of which admit +of being easily defended, with a bold insulated rock for the +base of its almost impregnable fortress, the houses of the +town clustering round it, and, beneath, a valley of exuberant +fertility, watered by two rivers, having their confluence +just above, it seems formed to be the capital of an island-kingdom, +of a nation of mountaineers. Such it was under +the government of Pascal Paoli, and during the earlier +period of the English occupation.</p> + +<p>We entered the town by the Corso, its modern <i>boulevard</i>,—a +long avenue planted with trees. This and a suburb +beyond the castle, built down the slope of the hill towards +the bridge over the Tavignano, are the only regular streets +in the place. Roomy and well-furnished apartments were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +found at the Hotel Paoli on the Corso, where we met with +most kind treatment and excellent fare. My notes mention +the mutton and trout as being of superior flavour, and +a very good red wine of the country. The <i>confitures</i>—of +which an <i>armoire</i> in the <i>salle à manger</i> contained great +store, the pride of our hostess, and the perfection of her +art—were delicious, especially one composed of slices of +pear and other fruits, larded with walnuts, and preserved +in a syrup of rich grape-juice. The coffee, of course, was +excellent. Tea we found nowhere, except from our own +packets, and made, much to the general amusement, in +the coffee-pot we improvised at Bastia.</p> + +<p>True to his appointment, our “man of the woods” +called upon us after we had dined, and accompanied us to +the principal <i>café</i>. It was noisy and disorderly, and we +soon adjourned to the hotel and spent the evening in very +interesting conversation. An excursion to his forest was +arranged. He told us that it abounded in game; but it +was mortifying to find that it was out of his power to +afford us any sport, the prohibition to carry fire-arms +being so rigorously enforced that no relaxation was allowed +in favour of anyone. So the <i>chasse</i> was deferred till we +landed in Sardinia.</p> + +<p>The next morning was devoted to a survey of the town. +The houses and churches are mean, the only objects of +interest being the Casa Paoli and the citadel. The house +inhabited by Pascal Paoli, when Corte was the seat of +his government, is but little changed, though converted +into a college founded by the general's will. It has an +air of rude simplicity. There is still the homely cabinet +in which he wrote, his library, and a laboratory. The +library contained about a score of English books; but we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +did not discover among them any of those presented by +Boswell. In the <i>salle</i> are some second-rate paintings presented +by Cardinal Fesch. The college did not seem +to be flourishing. Perhaps the most curious thing in the +house are some remains of the supports of a canopy for a +throne, which tradition says Pascal Paoli caused to be +erected in the <i>salle</i> on an occasion when his council of +state met, the canopy being surmounted by a crown. If +Paoli affected royalty, he received no encouragement from +his council, and never sat on the throne.</p> + +<p>Nearly opposite is an old house formerly belonging to +Gaffori, one of the patriot leaders during the Genoese wars. +Assaulted by the enemy during the general's absence, his +heroic wife, with the help of a few adherents, barricaded +the doors and windows, and, herself, gun in hand, made +such a stout resistance, rejecting all terms of capitulation, +and threatening to blow it up and bury herself in the +ruins rather than submit, that she held it for several days +against all attacks, until her husband brought a strong +force to rescue her. The shot-holes made in the walls by +the fire of the assailants are still pointed out.</p> + +<p>There is another story connected with the Gaffori family, +which the inhabitants of Corte relate with great pride. +During the War of Independence, the general's son was +carried off by the Genoese and imprisoned in the citadel +of Corte, which they then held. Assaulted by the Corsicans +with great vigour, the Genoese had the inhumanity +to suspend the boy from an embrasure where +the enemy's fire was the hottest. At this spectacle the +assailants paused in their attack, till the general ordered +them to continue their fire. Renucci, who works up the +story in his usual florid style, makes Gaffori exclaim, “<i>Pera<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +il figlio; pera la mia famiglia tutta, e trionfi la causa della +patria.</i>” I prefer the version given me by a native of +Corte, whose father was an eye-witness of the scene:—“<i>J'étais +citoyen avant que je n'étais père.</i>” We shuddered +as we looked up from below at the battlement from +which the child was suspended. The fire was renewed +with still more vigour; but the child marvellously escaped, +and the garrison was forced to surrender.</p> + +<p>A <i>permis</i> to visit the castle having been obtained from +the French commandant, we climbed the rocky ascent by +corkscrew steps. At present, the whole area of the rock +is embraced by the fortifications which at different periods +have grown round the massive citadel on its summit, +founded by Vincintello d'Istria in the fifteenth century. +Recently the French have cleared away some old houses +within the <i>enceinte</i> to strengthen the works.</p> + +<p>“What can be the use,” I said to our conductor, “of +strengthening this place now?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Chi sà?</i>” was the short reply. Our friend, like many +other Corsicans we met with, still nourished the visionary +hopes which had caused his country so much blood and +misery during her long and fruitless struggles for a national +independence.</p> + +<p>“<i>Là</i>,” said he, pointing to the <i>grille</i> of a dungeon, +“<i>mon père était prisonnier.</i>”</p> + +<p>On going our rounds, we came to the platform of a +bastion formed on the site of some of the demolished +houses.</p> + +<p>“Here,” he said, with emotion, planting his stick on a +particular spot, “my mother gave me birth. Here we +lived twenty-five years. She used to talk of the English +red-coats and the house of King George.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>It is now the residence of the family of Arrhigi, Duc de +Padoue, and contains a portrait of Madame Buonaparte, +Napoleon's mother, and several pictures connected with +the events of the emperor's life.</p> + +<p>One of the sketches in my friend's portfolio was taken +in the recess of a bastion, and it required some manœuvring +to interpose our Corsican friend's portly person between +the sketcher and the French sentry, as he passed and repassed—an +office which our patriotic guide performed +with much satisfaction—while a liberty was taken contrary +to the rules of fortified places.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/161.jpg" width="500" height="386" alt="CITADEL OF CORTE." title="CITADEL OF CORTE." /> +<p class="caption">CITADEL OF CORTE.</p> +</div> + +<p>The view from the top of the citadel, the centre of so +magnificent a panorama, may be well imagined. We now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span> +commanded the confluence of the two rivers, the Tavignano +and the Restonica, beneath the walls, the eye tracing up +the torrents to the gorges from which they rushed, while +the details of the town, the gardens, and vineyards, and +the ruined convents on the neighbouring hills, were +brought distinctly under view; and the mountains towered +above our heads, fitting bulwarks of the island capital.</p> + +<p>In the evening we strolled down the eastern suburb, +and, crossing the bridge over the Tavignano, rambled on +to the hill above, and the ruins of the Franciscan convent +where Paoli assembled the legislative assembly, and in +which the Anglo-Corsican parliament met while Corsica +was united to England. The lithographic sketch of Corte +was taken from beyond the bridge. Faithful as it is, one +feels that neither pen nor pencil can do justice to such +a scene. Art fails to lend the colouring of the tawny-orange +vines, the pale-green olive-trees, the warm evening +tints glowing on the purple hills, the mass of shade on the +mountain sides first buried in twilight, the grey rocks, and, +far away, aērial peaks vanishing in distance.</p> + +<p>A pleasant thing is the evening stroll on the outskirts +of town or village, where life offers so much novelty. +How graceful the forms of those girls at the fountain, +dipping their pitchers of antique form and a glossy green! +Poising them on their heads with one arm raised, how +lightly they trip back to the town, laughing and talking +in the sweetest of tongues—sweet in their mouths even in +its insular dialect!</p> + +<p>A lazy Corsican is leading a goat, scarcely more bearded +and shaggy than its owner. Others, still lazier, and wrapped +in the rough <i>pelone</i> hanging from their shoulders like an +Irishman's frieze coat, bestride diminutive mules, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +their wives trudge by the side, carrying burdens of firewood +or vegetables on their heads and shoulders. Waggons, +drawn by oxen and loaded with wine-casks, slowly +creak along the road.</p> + +<p>It is dusk as we lounge up the suburb, and the rude +houses piled up round the base of the citadel look gloomier +than ever. Light from a blazing pine-torch flashes from +the door of a <i>cave</i>; it is a wine vault. The owner welcomes +us to its dark recesses. Smeared with the juice of +the ruddy grape, he is a very priest of Bacchus; but the +processes carried on in his cave are only initiatory to the +orgies. Here are vats filled with the new-pressed juice; +there vats in the various stages of fermentation. Jolly, +as becomes his profession, he gives us to taste the sweet +must and drink the purer extract. He explains the process, +and tells us that the vintage is a fair average, though +the vine disease, the oïdion, has penetrated even into these +mountains. <i>Evoe Bacche!</i> The fumes of the reeking +cave mount to our heads, the floor is slippery with the +lees and trodden vine-leaves. We reel to the door, glad +to breathe a fresher atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Calling at the <i>café</i> on the Corso, not from choice but +by appointment with our “man of the woods,” we find it, +as before, dirty, disorderly, and noisy. Where, we ask ourselves, +are the gentlemen of Corte? But what has any one, +above the classes who toil for a livelihood, to do in Corte, +except to lounge the long day under the melancholy elms +in the Corso, and wile away the evenings by petty gambling +in its wretched <i>cafés</i>?<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XVII" id="CHAP_XVII"></a>CHAP. XVII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Pascal Paoli more honoured than Napoleon Buonaparte.—His +Memoirs.—George III. King of Corsica.—Remarks on +the Union.—Paoli's Death and Tomb.</i></p> + + +<p>The suppression of brigandage, security for life and property, +the stains of blood washed from the soil, the shame +in the face of Europe wiped out,—these are signal benefits +which claim from the Corsicans a warmer homage to the +younger Napoleon than they ever paid to the first of that +name. Not even the honour of having given an emperor +to France, a conqueror to continental Europe, enlisted +the sympathies, the enthusiasm, of the islanders in the +wonderful career of their illustrious countryman. A party, +a faction, the Salicete, the Arena, the Bacchiochi, the +Abatucci, rallied round him in the first steps of his political +life, and the Cervoni, the Sebastiani, soldiers of fortune, +of the true Corsican stamp, fought his battles, and were +richly rewarded. Some of his countrymen, to their honour, +adhered to him to the end, sharing his exile in St. Helena. +But the great emperor was never popular in his own +country; he neither loved, nor was beloved by, his own +people. He did nothing for them, as before remarked, +but construct the great national roads; and that was purely +a military measure. He left them—designedly, it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +seem—to cut one another's throats, and despised them +for their barbarism.</p> + +<p>Pascal Paoli was, and ever will be, the popular hero of +the Corsicans. He fought their last battles for the national +independence; moulded their wild aspirations for liberty +and self-government into a constitutional form; administered +affairs unselfishly, purely, justly; encouraged industry, +and checked outrage. He was a man of the people, +one of themselves, and he never forgot it; nor have they.</p> + +<p>In an Englishman's eyes, Pascal Paoli has the additional +merit of having conceived a just idea of the advantage his +country would derive from the closest union with the only +European power under whose protection a weak State +struggling for freedom could hope for repose. He did +homage to our principles, and the public feeling was with +him in England as well as in Corsica.</p> + +<p>A work on Corsica that did not tell of banditti, that did +not speak of Pascal Paoli, would fail in the two points +with which the name of this island is instinctively associated. +References to the great Corsican chief have repeatedly +occurred in these Rambles, connected with +localities, and may again. We have visited his birthplace, +the scenes of his last campaign and disastrous defeat, and +now the seat of his government, Corte. We must not +leave it, though impatient to proceed on our journey and +by no means wishing to fill our pages with extraneous +matter, till we have linked together our desultory notices +by a summary review of the principal occurrences in Pascal +Paoli's remarkable life, and of the strange event which +terminated his political career,—the creation of an Anglo-Corsican +kingdom united for a time to the British Crown.</p> + +<p>Pascal (Pasquale) Paoli was born at Rostino on the 25th<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +of April, 1725, being the second son of Giacinto Paoli, +one of the leaders of the Corsican people in their last great +struggle against the tyranny of the Genoese. Compelled +by the course of events to retire to Naples in 1739, +Giacinto Paoli was accompanied by his son Pascal, +who, inheriting his father's talents and patriotism, there +received a finished education, both civil and military. +Being much about the court, the young Corsican acquired, +with high accomplishments, those polished manners for +which he was afterwards distinguished; and he held a +commission in a regiment of cavalry, in which he did good +service in Calabria.</p> + +<p>Recalled to Corsica in 1755, at the early age of thirty, +to take the supreme management of affairs in consequence +of the divisions prevailing among the patriot leaders, the +expulsion of the Genoese became his first duty; and he +soon succeeded, at least, in freeing the interior of the +island, and confining their occupation to the narrow limits +of the fortified towns on the coasts. His next step was to +remodel, or rather to create, the civil government; and +in so doing he introduced an admirable form of a representative +constitution, founded as far as possible on the +old Corsican institutions. It was, in fact, a republic, of +which Pascal Paoli was the chief magistrate, and commander +of the forces. One of the earliest acts of his +administration was a severe law for the suppression of the +bloody practice of the <i>vendetta</i>, followed in course of time +by measures for the encouragement of agriculture, and by +the foundation of a university at Corte. The necessity of +meeting the Genoese on their own element led him to get together +and equip a small squadron of ships, no country being +better fitted than Corsica, from its position and resources,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +to acquire some share of naval power in the Mediterranean. +With this squadron, after repulsing the Genoese fleet, he +landed a body of troops in the island of Capraja, lying off +the coast of Corsica, and succeeded in wresting it from the +Republic.</p> + +<p>Intestine divisions had always been the bane of Corsican +independence, and even Paoli's just and popular administration +could not escape the rivalry of Emanuel Matra, a +man of ancient family and great power, who became jealous +of Paoli's pre-eminence. All attempts at conciliation on +the part of Paoli proving useless, Matra and his adherents +rose in arms, and, calling the Genoese to their aid, it was +only after a long and bloody struggle, and some sharp +defeats, that Paoli and the Nationals were able to crush the +insurrection; Matra falling, after fighting desperately, in +the battle which terminated the war.</p> + +<p>Pascal Paoli, being now firmly seated in power, and the +island, settled under a regular form of government, growing +in strength, the Genoese found themselves unequal to cope +with a brave and united people. After some further +ineffectual attempts, they once more applied to France for +succour, and engaged her to occupy the strong places in +the island, as she had already done from 1737 to 1741. +French troops accordingly, landing in Corsica, established +a footing which has never been relinquished, except during +the short period of English occupation. But by the Treaty +of Compiegne, signed before the expedition sailed (1764), +the French limited their support of the Genoese to a term +of four years. During that period they maintained a +strict neutrality towards the Corsican Nationals, confining +themselves to the limits of their occupation. Their generals +maintained harmonious relations with Pascal Paoli, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +the Genoese power in the island having shrunk to nothing, +the patriots had the entire possession of the country, except +the fortified places, and the Commonwealth flourished +under the firm and active administration of its wise chief. +It was at this time that James Boswell visited the island. +Residing some time with General Paoli, and admitted to +familiar intercourse with him, he collected the materials +from which he afterwards compiled “An Account of Corsica, +and Memoirs of Pascal Paoli,” published in London +in 1767,—a work, the details of which are only equalled +by his <i>Johnsoniana</i> for their minute and vivid portraiture +of his hero's life, opinions, character, and habits. The +“Account of Corsica” has been the standard, indeed the +only English, work relating to that island from that day +to the present.</p> + +<p>The time fixed by the Treaty of Compiegne for the +evacuation of Corsica by the French troops was on the +point of expiring. They had already withdrawn from +Ajaccio and Calvi, when the Genoese, finding themselves +utterly incapable of retaining possession of the island, +offered to cede their rights to the king of France. This +was in 1768. The Duc de Choiseul, the minister of +Louis XV., lent a willing ear to a proposal which opened +the way to the conquest of Corsica—a prize, from its +situation, its forests, its fertility, worthy the ambition of +the <i>Grand Monarque</i>. The French generals, receiving +immediate orders to cross the neutral lines, soon made +themselves masters of Capo Corso, and pushed their successes +on the eastern side of the island.</p> + +<p>Pascal Paoli, his brother Clemente, and the other +national leaders, were not wanting in this crisis of the fate +of Corsica, and the people rose <i>en masse</i> against the overwhelming<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[169]</a></span> +force that threatened to crush them. The war, +though necessarily short, was marked by obstinate bravery +on the part of the Corsicans. The French troops having +met with many repulses, received a signal defeat at Borgo. +There is scarcely a village in the interior that is not illustrious +for its patriotic efforts at this period. Chauvelin, +the French general-in-chief, was recalled, and, ultimately, +the Count de Vaux, an officer of experience, took the field +as generalissimo of the French army, swelled by successive +reinforcements to the vast force of 40,000 men.</p> + +<p>The great blow which decided the fate of Corsica was +struck at the battle of Ponte Nuovo, of which some particulars +are given in a former chapter.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> This defeat entirely +demoralised the island militia, and crushed Paoli's +hopes of maintaining the nationality of Corsica. Retiring +to Corte, and thence, almost as a fugitive, to Vivario, in +the heart of the mountains, though he might still have +maintained a <i>guerilla</i> warfare against the French, he resolved +to abandon a forlorn hope, and, pressed by a large +body of the enemy's troops, embarked in an English +frigate at Porto Vecchio, with his brother Clemente and +300 of his followers.</p> + +<p>The conquest of Corsica cost France largely both in men +and money, it appearing by the official returns, that the +loss sustained in killed and wounded was 10,721 men, +while the expense of the war was estimated at 18 millions +of livres. The fate of the Corsicans met with general +sympathy. Rousseau on this occasion accused the French +people of the basest love of tyranny:—“<i>S'ils savoient un +homme libre à l'autre bout du monde, je crois qu'ils y iroient +pour le seul plaisir de l'exterminer.</i><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[170]</a></span>”</p> + +<p>After a short stay in Italy, Pascal Paoli proceeded to +England, landing at Harwich on the 18th of September, +1769. The succeeding twenty years of his life were spent +in London. He was well received by the king and queen, +and the ministers paid him the attention due to his rank +and services. But, though an object of much general +interest, he shunned publicity, living in Oxford Street in +a dignified retirement. He joined, however, in good +society, and associated with the most eminent literary +men of the day, among whom it was observed that his +talents and accomplishments as much fitted him to shine, +as at the head of his patriotic countrymen. Boswell +had the happiness of introducing him to Johnson, and +revelled in the glory of exhibiting his two lions on the +same stage.</p> + +<p>The French Revolution opened the way for Pascal +Paoli's return to Corsica, with the prospect of again +devoting himself to the service of his country under a +constitutional monarchy, the form of government he most +approved. At Paris, the unfortunate Louis XVI. and his +queen received him with marks of favour, La Fayette +greeted him as a brother, and the National Assembly gave +him an enthusiastic reception. He was named President +of the Department of Corte and Commander of the National +Guard.</p> + +<p>Landing in Corsica, amidst the congratulations of his +countrymen, all flocked round him, and mothers raised +their babes in their arms that they might behold the +common father of their country. The hopes of the Corsicans +again revived; for, if they had not a national and +independent government, they were members of a free +state, with the man of their choice to administer affairs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span></p> + +<p>Paoli was, however, soon disgusted with the excesses +of the French Revolution, and, like all citizens of distinguished +merit, he fell under the suspicions of the, so-called, +Committee of Public Safety. Summoned to the +bar of the National Convention, and declining to appear, +he was proclaimed an enemy of the Republic, and put out +of the protection of the law. Preparations were made for +exterminating the Paolists, who flew to arms, resolved +once more to assert the nationality of the Corsican people, +and throw off their dependence on France. But intestine +divisions again weakened the efforts of the patriots, and +Corsica was divided into two parties—the Paolists and +the Republicans; the Buonaparte family at this time supporting +the patriot chief.</p> + +<p>In the face of the new invasion threatened by the +French Republic, Paoli perceived that there was nothing +to be done but to call the English, whose fleet hovered on +the coast, to the aid of the Nationals, and place the island +under British protection. The firstfruits of this alliance +were the reduction of San Fiorenzo and the surrender of +Bastia to the bold attack of Nelson already described.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> +The fall of these fortresses was succeeded by the siege of +Calvi, in which Nelson also distinguished himself; and +on the reduction of that place—Ajaccio and Bonifacio +being already in the hands of the patriots—the French +troops withdrew from the island.</p> + +<p>Corsica being once more free to establish a national +government, the representatives of the people, assembled +in a convention at Corte on the 14th of June, 1794, +accepted a constitution framed by Pascal Paoli, in conjunction +with Sir Gilbert Elliot, the British Plenipotentiary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +By this national act the sovereignty of Corsica +was hereditarily conferred on the King of Great Britain +with full executive rights; the legislative power, including +especially the levying of taxes, being vested in an assembly +called a parliament, composed of representatives elected in +the several <i>pièves</i> and towns. All Corsicans of the age of +twenty-five years, possessed of real property (<i>beni fondi</i>), +and domiciled for one year in a <i>piève</i> or town, were entitled +to vote at the elections. The king's consent was +required to give force to all laws, and he had the prerogative +of summoning, proroguing, and dissolving the parliament. +A viceroy, appointed by the sovereign, with a +council and secretary of state, were to execute the functions +of government. The press was to be free. In short, +the kingdom of Corsica—so called even under the dominion +of the Genoese Republic—was to be a limited +monarchy, with institutions nearly resembling those of +Great Britain, except that there was no House of Peers.</p> + +<p>The subject has some interest, even at this present day, +as showing how the principles of a limited monarchy +were adapted by such a man as Pascal Paoli to a <i>quasi</i>-Italian +nation, than which none could be more ardent in +their love of freedom, or have made greater struggles in +its cause. The Constitutional Act<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> will be found in the +appendix to Mr. Benson's work. It is curious also to find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span> +that in the time of our George III. a kingdom in the +Mediterranean was as closely united to the Crown of Great +Britain, as the kingdom of Ireland was at that time.</p> + +<p>Sir Gilbert Elliot was appointed viceroy. Unfortunately, +with the best dispositions, his government was +not administered with the tact required to conciliate so +irascible a people as the Corsicans. While the viceroy +was personally esteemed and beloved, he pursued a course +of policy little calculated to calm the irritation which +speedily arose. Pascal Paoli felt disappointment at not +having been nominated viceroy, and was suspected of +secretly fomenting the disaffection to the government. +So far from this, he published an address to his countrymen, +endeavouring to allay the ferment, and induce obedience +to the English authorities. Jealousy, however, of +his great and well-earned influence over the Corsicans<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +appears to have led to his removal from the island. +Towards the close of the year 1795 the king's command +that he should repair to England was conveyed to him, +couched, however, in gracious terms. He immediately +obeyed, and arrived in London towards the end of +December.</p> + +<p>No sooner had Paoli departed than discontent assumed +a more alarming form. His presence and example had +kept many calm who had been secretly hostile to the +English, but who now openly displayed their animosity. +Petitions were presented to the viceroy by some of the +leading inhabitants assembled at Bistuglio, declaring the +grounds of Corsican opposition, and proposing means of +conciliation; while many bodies of the disaffected assembled +in the wild neighbourhood of Bocagnono. These +disorders, coupled with the mutual distrust with which +the Corsicans and English viewed each other, finally led +to the abandonment of the island by the latter; and, accordingly, +between the 14th and 20th of October, 1796, +the viceroy and troops, under the protection of Nelson, +embarked for Porto Ferrajo, leaving the island once more +a prey to French invasion.</p> + +<p>Foreign writers sneer at the ignorance and mismanagement +which so soon alienated the minds of the Corsicans +from those whom they had lately hailed as their liberators +and protectors; and it may perhaps be lamented that so +noble a dependency of the British Crown was thus lost. +Its commanding position in the Mediterranean, its fine +harbours and magnificent forests, made it a most desirable +position, at least during the revolutionary war. Such was +Nelson's opinion, expressed in a letter to his wife when a +descent on the coast was first contemplated. Added to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span> +these, its products of corn, wine, and oil, capable of almost +indefinite augmentation under a good system of government, +gave it great value as a permanent possession. +What are Malta and Gibraltar? Merely rock fortresses, +compared with such an island, capable of defence by the +bravest people in the world, and possessed of such resources +that, so far from being a burden on the finances, a very +considerable surplus of the revenue now flows into the +Imperial exchequer. Nothing was wanting but to reconcile +the natives to the rule of their new masters, making it, +as it constitutionally professed to be, national. This was +doubtless a difficult task with a spirited people, alien in +race, religion, and habits. The ministers of the day committed +a great error in not giving the vice-royalty to Pascal +Paoli. He was a thorough Anglo-Corsican, and perfectly +understood the working of a constitutional government. +The union had been his policy, and he alone could have +carried it out.</p> + +<p>Whether the annexation of the island to the British +Empire would have survived the deliberations of the Congress +of Vienna is another question. One does not see +why it should not have done so. We retained the Ionian +Islands, less important in many respects, and with a population +as turbulent, it seems, and as alien, as the Corsicans. +The possession of Corsica by the Bourbons was very +recent, and acquired by the most flagrant injustice. The +French were scarcely more popular than the English with +the national party; nor are they, according to the impression +made during our Rambles, at the present day. +The island had been offered to Napoleon, and might have +become his island-empire. Had it even followed the fate +of Genoa, its former mistress, and been assigned to Sardinia,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +there would be reason now for all friends of constitutional +government to rejoice; and the Corsicans, essentially an +Italian people, would more easily have amalgamated with +their rulers.</p> + +<p>However, these are mere speculations. Pascal Paoli's +retirement left his native island no resource but submission +to the French, and it became once more a department +of France, one and undivided. On his return to +England, Paoli had a small pension from the English +Government, which he shared with other exiles from his +own country. Little is known of the latter years of his +life. He probably resumed, as far as his advanced years +admitted, the habits he had formed during his former +residence in London. He died there, on the 25th of +February, 1807, at the age of eighty-two, and was interred +in the burial-ground of Old St. Pancras. It is +ground especially hallowed in the estimation of Roman +Catholics; and if any reader should chance to turn his +steps in that direction, he will be surprised to see what a +large proportion of the monuments and gravestones in the +vast area are inscribed to the memory of foreigners of all +ranks, who, during a long course of years, have ended +their days in London. The little antique church, too—one +of the oldest, if not the oldest, in London—is well +worth a visit, as an interesting specimen of Romanesque +architecture, well restored a few years ago.</p> + +<p>In the south-western corner of the churchyard, not far +from the boundary wall, he will find a rather handsome +tomb marking the spot in which the remains of the great +Corsican are deposited. It bears on one face a long Latin +inscription, said to have been penned by one of his countrymen, +and the east slab bears a coronet, on what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span> +authority we are at a loss to conceive. So also the more +humble monument of Theodore of Corsica at St. Anne's, +Soho, is dignified with a shadowy crown. The mock king +created Giacinto Paoli, Pascal's father, and one of his +first ministers of state, a marquis or count. Can it be +that, under that patent, Pascal Paoli assumed the insignia +of nobility in his intercourse with the courtly circles of +London? Was it a weakness in the man of the people, +who, simple as his general habits were, had high breeding, +and, as we learn from Boswell's gossip, was not entirely +free from aristocratic tendencies,—nay, is said to have +aspired to a royal crown?<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> Or is the coronet on his +tomb an unauthorised device of the officious friends who +are said to have spent 500<i>l.</i> in giving the exile a pompous +funeral?</p> + +<p>Peace to his memory! In death, as in life, his heart +was with the people he had loved and served so well. +Still caring for their best interests, by a codicil to his will +he appropriated the annual sum of 200<i>l.</i> to the endowment +of four professors in a college he proposed to found +at Corte. They were to teach—1st. The Evidences of +Christianity;—2nd. Ethics and the Laws of Nations;—3rd. +The Principles of Natural Philosophy;—and 4th. The +Elements of Mathematics. He also bequeathed a salary +of 50<i>l.</i> to a schoolmaster in his native <i>piève</i> of Rostino, +who was to instruct the children in reading, writing, and +arithmetic. It appears to have been the object of Mr. +Benson's journey to Corsica to carry into effect these wise +and benevolent provisions, and Paoli's bequests to his +poor relations.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> + +<p>Paoli said when dying:—“My nephews have little to +expect from me; but I will bequeath to them, as a +memorial and consolation, this Bible—saying, ‘I have +never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging +their bread.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span>’”</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XVIII" id="CHAP_XVIII"></a>CHAP. XVIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Excursion to a Forest.—Borders of the Niolo.—Adventures.—Corsican +Pines.—The Pinus Maritima and Pinus +Luriccio.—Government Forests.</i></p> + + +<p>Our excursion to the forest came off on the day before +we left Corte, under the auspices of our “man of the +woods.” He procured us mules, and our hostess supplied +a basket of provisions and wine; for it promised to be a +hard day's work, carrying us far into the heart of the +mountains.</p> + +<p>Leaving Corte by the Corso, we soon turned up a valley +to the left, winding among hills of no great elevation and +cultivated to their summits. Not much farther than a +mile from the town, we passed a lone house, the door of +which was riddled with bullets. The brigands attacked it +not long before. It was an affair, I believe, of summary +justice for some trespass on property.</p> + +<p>“No one was safe,” said our conductor, “two years ago, +outside the town. If you had been in the island then, +you would have seen half Corsica armed to the teeth.”—</p> + +<p>“The disarming has been complete, for since our landing +we have only once seen fire-arms except in the hands of +the military. Then the banditti, of whom we have heard +more than enough, no longer exist?”</p> + +<p>“No; they have been shot down, brought to justice, +or driven out of the island. Many of them escaped to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +Sardinia; if you go there, you will find things just in the +same state they were here; perhaps worse, if our outlaws +are roaming there. I will tell you, some time, the story +of the last of the banditti. Not far from hence they fell +in a desperate conflict with the gendarmes.”</p> + +<p>The hollows between some of the hills among which +we wound were embosomed in chestnut-trees, and the +husks were beginning to burst and shed the nuts on the +ground.</p> + +<p>“The harvest is approaching,” said our guide. “Soon +every house will have great heaps gathered in for the +winter's store.”</p> + +<p>We were on the borders of the mountainous district of +the <i>Niolo</i>, the most primitive, not only geologically, as we +have lately seen, but in point of manners, of any in Corsica. +This it owes to its sequestered situation, hemmed in +by the southern branch of the great central chain. It is +approached by difficult paths and steps hewn out of the +rock, the best being the pass of the <i>Santa Regina</i>. The +interior of the bason is, however, extremely fertile. We +had now in view the Monte Cinto and Monte Artica, the +principal summits of the Niolo group, nearly 8000 feet +high; and from part of our route Monte Rotondo was +seen rising, with its snowy crest, a thousand feet higher, +further to the south.</p> + +<p>The country now assumed a wilder and more rugged +character, cultivation disappeared, and the surface was +either rocky or thickly covered with the natural shrubbery +so often mentioned. Once more we were in the +<i>Macchia</i>, threading it by a rough and narrow path. +Flocks of sheep and goats were browsing among the +bushes; and the sight of rude shepherds' huts, with their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span> +blazing fires, gave us to understand that we had reached +the wilds beyond human habitation. At last, a steep +ascent through the thickets by a slippery path surmounted +a ridge commanding the prospect of one flank of a mountain, +the forest property of our “man of the woods.” A +furious torrent, its natural boundary, tumbled and dashed +in its rocky channel far beneath. Our mules slid down +the almost precipitous descent clothed with dense underwood; +we forded the stream, and met our friend's forester, +who was expecting our arrival, and had shouted to us as +we crossed the ridge.</p> + +<p>A storm of rain poured down in torrents while we were +clambering up the opposite heights, making for shelter +with as much speed as such an ascent permitted. Our +place of refuge was a well-known haunt of the shepherds +and banditti. It could not be called a cave, but was a +hollow under a mass of insulated rock, worn away in the +disintegrated granite, the harder shell of which formed an +umbrella-shaped canopy, protecting us from the rain. It +was miserably cold; but there were no dry materials at +hand for lighting a fire, though the blackened rock and +heaps of ashes and half-burnt logs looked very tempting.</p> + +<p>Under such circumstances, the best thing to be done +was to apply ourselves to the contents of Madame ——'s +basket, as we had still harder work before us. The contents +were just displayed when my fellow-traveller made +his appearance. I had lost sight of him in the bush +while hurrying on, he having dismounted, and left his +mule to be led up by a shepherd. He, too, had sought +shelter in the nearest rock he could find. It had a cavity +with a low aperture, into which he thrust himself head-foremost. +What was his surprise at beholding a pair of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +eyes glaring at him through the gloom! The thing—whether +it were man or beast he could not at the moment +distinguish—shrunk back. He, too, recoiled and made a +sudden exit. Presently he saw a pair of legs protruding on +the further side of the rock, which it appeared was perforated +from both extremities, and the thing, serpent-like, +gradually wriggled itself out. Then stood erect, shaggy +and rough as a wild beast startled from its lair, one of the +shepherd boys, who had also crept into the cavity for +refuge from the storm. He cast one look of astonishment +at the intruder, turned round, and, leaping into the bush, +disappeared without uttering a word.</p> + +<p>“Perhaps he took you for a detective in plain clothes, +conscience-struck for having assisted to harbour the proscribed +brigands!”</p> + +<p>Our meal despatched, and the weather clearing, we +began clambering up a mountain side, as steep as the +ridge of a house; and the mules, being useless, were sent +down in charge of the muleteer to the ford of the torrent. +Signor F——'s forest spread over the whole face of the +mountain, and how much further he best knew. We understood +that he had a larger tract in another direction.</p> + +<p>Trackless pine forests—some belonging to the communes, +others to private individuals,—clothe the lower +ranges of the mountains through all this part of the island. +Vizzavona, which we crossed on our way to Ajaccio, and +Aitona, lying to the south-west of the Niolo, belong to +the State, and the French Admiralty draw from them +large supplies of timber shipped to Toulon; especially the +finest masts used in their navy. The Corsican pine-forests +have been famous from early times. Theophrastus<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> mentions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +a ship built by the Romans with this timber, of such +large dimensions as to carry fifty sails; and Sextus Pompeius, +seizing this island as well as Sicily and Sardinia, +drew from its forests the means of maintaining his naval +supremacy.</p> + +<p>Our “man of the woods” appeared to have hardly +earned, and well to merit, the noble property in the possession +of which he rejoiced. Yet he described himself as +poor in the midst of his seeming wealth, impoverished to +get together vast tracts of country, from which, at present, +he received no return. His object was to obtain a market +for sale of his timber, which he said could be floated down +the rivers to the sea-coast at a moderate expense. Having +seen, as we had, the Norwegian timber floating down +rivers, precipitated over rapids, and rafted over immense +lakes, during a <i>flottage</i> to the sea which it sometimes +takes two years to accomplish<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a>, we could find no difficulty +in believing that advantage might be taken of the rivers +on either watershed of the central chain in Corsica, to +bear this, the only wealth of these elevated regions, to the +coast, which is nowhere more than about fifty miles distant. +Of the anchorage and depth of water at the mouths of the +rivers, I have no precise information, except so far that +Signor F—— assured us there would be no difficulty in +shipping his timber.</p> + +<p>I had not counted on such an exhausting effort as climbing +a thousand feet nearly perpendicular on the rocky and +rugged surface of a mountain forest in Corsica demanded. +Accustomed to traverse some of the finest pine-forests of +Norway in a light <i>carriole</i> on excellent roads, or to canter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +along their avenues on little spirited horses, its native +breed, without any feeling of fatigue, I had imagined our +present enterprise to be much easier than it proved. +Indeed, had it not been that the tangled roots of the pines, +forming a network on the denuded surface of the rocks, +afforded secure footing and a firm hold, and that, clasping +the giant stems, one could take breath on the edge of the +shelving cliffs, I should never have scrambled, and pulled +myself, up to the summit.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/185a.jpg" width="120" height="395" alt="PINUS MARITIMA." title="PINUS MARITIMA." /> +<p class="caption">PINUS MARITIMA.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/185b.jpg" width="160" height="191" alt="PINUS LARICCIO." title="PINUS LARICCIO." /> +<p class="caption">PINUS LARICCIO.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/186a.jpg" width="140" height="143" alt="CONE OF THE PINUS LARICCIO." +title="CONE OF THE PINUS LARICCIO." /> +<p class="caption">CONE OF THE PINUS LARICCIO.</p> +</div> + +<p>Our “man of the woods,” notwithstanding his great +bulk, was agile as a mountain-goat, leaping from crag to +crag, and striking off in every direction where he could +show us trees of the largest growth. Marmocchi mentions +four species of the pine in his catalogue of the indigenous +trees growing in Corsica. Of two of these, <i>Pinus Pinea</i> +(the stone pine), and <i>Pinus Sylvestris</i> (our common Scotch +fir), I did not remark any specimens in the forests we +had an opportunity of examining, nor do they equal the +others in grandeur and value. But both the <i>Pinus Lariccio</i> +and the <i>Pinus Maritima</i> are magnificent trees. They +were mingled in the forest I am now describing, the +<i>Lariccio</i> prevailing.</p> + +<p>The <i>Pinus Maritima</i>, so well known to all travellers in +Italy and Greece, and to others by its picturesque effect +in the landscapes of Claude, has often its trunk clear of +boughs till near the top, which spreads out in an umbrella-shaped +head, with a dense mass of foliage; and, where the +stem is not so denuded, the tree has the same rounded +contour of boughs. Both are figured and described in +Lambert's magnificent work on the <span class="smcap">Genus Pinus</span>; but, +unfortunately, from very insignificant specimens; those of +the Pinus Maritima being taken from a tree at Sion House,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +only twenty feet high. The spines of the Pinus Maritima +are longer than those of the Pinus Lariccio, +and the branches more pensile. The engravings +for the present work are from specimens +brought from Corsica. Mr. Lambert's +description, however, coincides with my own +observations in the Corsican forests. He says:-“The +branches are very numerous, and bear +long filiform leaves. The cones are nearly +the same size as Pinus Rigida. They are so +remarkably smooth and glossy, that they at +once distinguish their species. In shedding +their seeds, they seem to expand very little.”<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> +Mr. Lambert considers it to be the same +species as the πεύκος, <i>Pinus Picea</i> of Greece, +which grow on the high mountains, Olympus, +Pindus, Parnassus, &c.; and quotes an extract +from Dr. Sibthorp's papers, published in Walpole's +<i>Turkey</i>, remarking that the πεύκος furnished a useful +resin, used in Attica to preserve wine +from becoming acid, and supplying +tar and pitch for shipping. “The +resinous parts of the wood,” he +says, “are cut into small pieces, +and serve for candles.”</p> + +<p>The <i>Pinus Lariccio</i> is more disposed +to retain its lower branches +than the Pinus Maritima, and has +a more angular character both in +the boughs and the footstalks of +its tassels. The spines are shorter. The boughs slightly +droop, but by no means in the degree of the spruce<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +fir or the <i>larch</i>. From this circumstance, however, it +probably derives its name, though it has nothing else in +the slightest degree common with the larch; and writers +who speak of the “Corsican larch” betray their readers +into serious error. The Pinus Lariccio is figured in Mr. +Lambert's work from two specimens in the Jardin des +Plantes at Paris, about thirty feet high and three feet in +girth, in 1823. Their age is not mentioned. Don, quoted +in this work, remarks that “this pine is totally distinct +from all the varieties of Pinus Sylvestris, with which, however, +it in some respects agrees. It differs in the branches +being shorter and more regularly verticellate. The leaves +are one-third longer; cones shorter, +ovate, and quite straight, with depressed +scales, opening freely to +shed the seed. The wood is more +weighty, resinous, and, consequently, +more compact, stronger, and more +flexible than Pinus Sylvestris. Its +bark is finer and much more entire.” +The Pinus Lariccio is also at once +distinguishable from the Pinus Maritima growing in the +same forest, by the bark alone. +Drawings are here given of (1) +the exterior and (2) interior +coats, from specimens brought +from Corsica. They are very +thick, and peel off in large +flakes, the inner layer being +most delicately veined, and of +a rich crimson hue.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/186b.jpg" width="160" height="130" alt="BARK OF THE PINUS LARICCIO." +title="BARK OF THE PINUS LARICCIO." /> +<p class="caption">BARK OF THE PINUS LARICCIO.</p> +</div> + +<p>“I observed,” says Mr. Hawkins, quoted by Lambert,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span> +“on Cyllene, Taygetus, and the mountains of Thasos, a +sort of fir, which, though called πεύκος by the inhabitants, +and resembling that of the lower regions, has the foliage +much darker, and the growth of the tree more regular and +straight. The elevated region on which it grew leads me +to suspect it must be different from the common πεύκος.”<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> +Mr. Lambert adds:—“The Pinus Lariccio is, I have no +doubt, the tree here mentioned, especially as it is known +to grow in Greece, and has been found by Mr. Webb +near the summit of Mount Ida, in Phrygia.”<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> We are +inclined, however, to think that this remark requires confirmation +by more exact details.</p> + +<p>The Pinus Lariccio grows to a greater height than the +Pinus Maritima. In this forest Signor F—— estimated +some of the finest specimens of the latter at from sixty to +seventy feet in length, while those of the Lariccio could +not be less than 120 feet, and perhaps more, with an +average circumference of about nine feet. Some little +experience enabled us to confirm this estimate.</p> + +<p>But these dimensions are often exceeded. In the +neighbouring forest of Valdianello, which, again, abuts on +that of Aitona, the chief of the government reserves, there +lately stood a Pinus Lariccio, called by the Corsicans “<i>Le +Roi des Arbres</i>.” At five feet from the ground its girth was +upwards of nineteen feet. The height of the tree is not +mentioned. The king of the forest is dead, but it boasts a +successor worthy of its honours, the girth being, as Marmocchi +relates on report, twenty-six feet at one mètre +(three feet three inches) from the ground, and only reduced +to twenty-one feet where the trunk is fifty-eight<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +feet high. Its entire height is 150 feet, and its branches +cover a circumference nearly 100 feet in diameter.</p> + +<p>These dimensions are large for European pines, about averaging +those of the Norwegian. Growing in a rocky soil, +I can easily believe that the timber is, as represented, extremely +durable. It was surprising to see in Signor F——'s +forest trees of such magnitude springing from fissures in the +granite cliffs, and from ledges of rocks having only a scanty +covering of barren soil. The growth must be slow; by +counting the rings in some of the fallen trees, I calculated +that they had stood about two centuries. The choicest +specimens were usually grouped on some platform, or in +hollows of the precipitous cliffs. In these positions they +are often exposed to the worst of enemies, such spots being +the haunts of the brigands and shepherds; and it was +lamentable to observe the destruction caused by their fires +in all parts of the wood. Huge half-burnt logs lay at the +foot of some of the finest pines, and the flames had not +only scorched all vegetation within reach, but eaten into +the heart of the trees.</p> + +<p>This may be considered as one of the few virgin forests +remaining in Corsica. The vast consumption by the +Genoese, and afterwards by the French, governments, has +greatly exhausted the forests; and it is only in the inaccessible +parts of the country, where there are no roads, +that timber of large dimensions is found. Even here they +were felling the smaller trees, sawing them into planks, +and carrying them away on mules, one plank balancing +another on each side of the pack-saddle. We ventured to +suggest to our “man of the woods” the advantages of sawmills, +a machinery of the simplest possible construction, +adopted in North America, Norway, and all forest countries,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span> +where, as here, there is abundant water-power. All +such industrial resources are wanting in Corsica, but our +friend was too shrewd not to be alive to the value of the +suggestion.</p> + +<p>Our course through the forest had led us round to the +flank of the mountain, shelving down to the torrent we +forded on our arrival. A descent is generally considered an +easy affair: so we found this in comparison with the ascent; +but the declivity was formidable, there being no sort of +path, and we had to work our way over and amongst huge +masses of rock and slippery boulders, and jumping from +crag to crag, sliding, rolling, and tumbling, not without +some severe falls, we at last reached the bottom.</p> + +<p>Remounting our mules, a very pleasant change—active, +light-stepping beasts as they were,—we rode slowly on our +return to Corte, often looking back at the broad forest-clad +mountains, with the snowy dome of Monte Rotondo in +the distance. Signor F——, anxious to supply us with all +the information we required, lost no opportunity of pointing +out remarkable objects.</p> + +<p>“Do you see that <i>paése</i>?” he said, pointing to some +grey buildings about five miles off, on the right bank +of the Golo; “that is Soveria, the birth-place of Cervione, +one of Napoleon's best generals. He fell in the battle of +Ratisbon. His last words to the emperor, when ordered +on a desperate attack,” said our friend, with Corsican +feeling “were, ‘<i>Je vous recommande ma famille</i>.’”</p> + +<p>Valery relates an amusing anecdote of this General +Cervione. Having the command at Rome, which he +exercised with great severity, it became his duty to convey +the order to Pope Pius VII. for abdicating his temporal +power and being sent away, which he executed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +harshly. When Pius VII. was afterwards at the Tuileries, +Cervione, with other generals, came to pay him his respects. +The pope, struck by his pure Italian pronunciation, +complimented him on it. “<i>Santo Padre</i>,” said Cervione, +“<i>sono quasi Italiano.</i>”—“<i>Come?</i>”—“<i>Sono Corso.</i>”—“<i>Oh! +oh!</i>”—“<i>Sono Cervione.</i>”—“<i>Oh! oh! oh!</i>” +At this terrible recollection the pope shrank aghast, hastily +retreating to the fireside.</p> + +<p>“Further on,” said our conductor, “I see it plainly, +there is an old grey house on the top of a rock; a poor +place, but the birthplace of Pascal Paoli. He resided +there after he became our chief, but would not have the +home of his fathers altered.”</p> + +<p>Near Soveria is Alando, the native place of Sambuccio, +the patriot leader in the first insurrection against the +Genoese. All the neighbourhood of Corte is classic +ground in Corsican history.</p> + +<p>We returned there to a late dinner.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XIX" id="CHAP_XIX"></a>CHAP. XIX.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>The Forest of Asco.—Corsican Beasts of Chase.—The +Moufflon.—Increase of Wild Animals.—The last of the +Banditti.</i></p> + + +<p>Our good “man of the woods” joined us at dinner. It +was a just source of pride to him that he had shown his +magnificent forest to foreigners as enthusiastic as himself, +and who might, perhaps, forward his designs for making +it profitable. In this view he now wrote the subjoined +particulars.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span></p> +<p>We had already inquired what sport such covers afforded, +and the account given of deer and wild boars, not to +speak of smaller game, was very tempting. There were +bears in the forests in the time of Flippini the historian, +but for the last century they have been extinct. There +are no wolves; but the foxes are plentiful, and so strong +that they venture to attack the flocks of sheep and goats. +The Corsican <i>cerf</i> is like the red deer. Their colour is +ferruginous. In size they are a little larger than fallow +deer with a heavier body, and stronger horns, springing +upright, spreading less than any other variety, and slightly +palmated. Both male and female have a dark line down +the back, rump, and scut. The <i>moufflon</i> or <i>muffori</i> is a +most curious animal, almost peculiar, I believe, to this +island and Sardinia, though a variety of the species is +found in Morocco. Something between a sheep, a deer, and +a goat, the male has spiral horns like a goat, rather turned +back, with the legs and hind-quarter of a goat, but the +head of a sheep. The colour is a reddish brown, with +some admixture of black and white, brown predominating. +The skin is fine-grained, not woolly but fine-haired, like a +deer. It is extremely agile, jumping from rock to rock +with surprising leaps, and so wild that, like the chamois +and the reindeer, it frequents only the highest mountains, +close to the snow-line, in summer, descending, as the +snow extends, to lower regions. When the winters are +very severe, and the snow covers the ground, it is driven +into some of the higher valleys, and has been known to +take refuge in the stables among the tame sheep and goats. +The <i>moufflon</i> goes in troops of from four to twenty. The +females drop their young on the edge of the snow in the +month of May. There are full-grown specimens of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +<i>moufflon</i> in the Zoological Gardens, Regent's Park, and +in the <i>Jardin de Plantes</i>, at Paris.</p> + +<p>Of smaller game, Corsica abounds in hares and red +partridges, the only species found in the island. In winter +there are woodcocks, snipes, and water-fowl, and a <i>grande +chasse</i> of thrushes, which, feeding on the berries of the +arbutus, the lentiscus, and the myrtle, become very fat, +have a fine flavour, and are esteemed a great delicacy.</p> + +<p>But all these varieties of game were forbidden fruit, as +a <i>permis</i> to carry fire-arms could not be obtained by any +class of persons, or for any purpose whatever. The shepherds +have only their dogs to protect their flocks. If the +prohibition continues long, the wild animals must become +the pest of the island, and with their natural increase +there will be splendid shooting when the use of fire-arms +is again allowed. But for the hope of better sport in Sardinia, +we thought of getting up a boar hunt, with spears, +in the fashion so picturesquely seen in old pictures, and a +much more spirited affair than shooting pigs. For deer +and birds there is nothing left but to fall back on bows +and arrows, as long as the Corsicans cannot be trusted +with fire-arms, lest the <i>genus homo</i> should be their prey.</p> + +<p>It was the last evening we spent with our “man of the +woods.” He was very communicative, and, among other +things, told us many stories of the heroic deeds of his +countrymen in former times, and of the wild life of Corsica, +which has only just expired. I preserve one of his +tales, relating a recent event, which happily closes the +bloody chapter of Corsican banditism.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + + +<p class="title"><i>The Last of the Banditti.</i></p> + +<p>Two brothers, Pierre-Jean and Xavier-Saverio Massoni, +men of extraordinary vigour and desperate courage, banded +with Arrhigi, another determined outlaw, had for many +years been the terror of the wild district of the <i>Niolo</i> in +which they harboured, and of the neighbouring country. +Many were the families they had reduced to misery by +cutting off their fathers and brothers; but they had numerous +friends, whom they protected. They shared the scanty +fare of the shepherds in the mountains, and the people +entertained them in their houses; some, <i>par amitié</i>, with +cordiality and kindness, others from fear. Such was the +renown of these banditti chiefs that the authorities used +every effort to exterminate them, offering large rewards +for their heads, and threatening with severe penalties any +who should supply them with the means of existence.</p> + +<p>At length a shepherd, who had received some injury +from one of the band, betrayed their hiding-place in the +fastnesses of the <i>Niolo</i> to the <i>gendarmes</i>. Led by him +through tracks known only to the shepherds and banditti, +before daylight on a morning of the month of October, +1851, a body of the <i>gendarmerie</i>, twenty or thirty in +number, reached the neighbourhood in which the three +resolute bandits were concealed. It was a place called +Penna-Rosa, near Corscia, a village in the canton of +Calacuccia, not very far from Corte.</p> + +<p>The bandits are in the habit of separating for their +greater security. At this time Pierre Massoni was alone +in one of the caves among the rocks; Xavier Massoni and +Arrhigi together occupied another. The <i>gendarmes</i>, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span> +active and resolute as the banditti, their mortal foes, with +whom they often had desperate encounters, crept towards +the cave occupied by Pierre, who, seeing the disparity of +numbers, crept into the bush, and attempted to escape, +probably intending to join his friends, and with them +make a determined resistance. The <i>gendarmes</i> fired a +volley, and Pierre fell mortally wounded.</p> + +<p>Xavier and Arrhigi had, somehow, received intelligence +of the approach of the <i>gendarmes</i>, and hastening to the +spot found them posted in front of the cave. A shot from +each of the brigands brought down two of their enemies; +and during the confusion caused by this unexpected diversion, +the <i>gendarmes</i> drawing off, Xavier Massoni, supposing +that his brother was concealed in the cave, shouted +to him—</p> + +<p>“Pierre, come out; I have cleared the way.”</p> + +<p>This cry drew the attention of the <i>gendarmes</i>, and at the +same moment he was shot in the thigh by one of the +party. A general fire was then opened, but Xavier contrived +to creep into the bush, and afterwards made his +escape over the mountains, while Arrhigi fled for refuge to +a deep and almost inaccessible cavern. The party followed +him, and posted themselves, under cover of the rocks, near +the mouth of the cave into which they supposed he had +retired, for they had not seen him enter; and as the access +was so narrow that it could only be attempted by one at a +time, the attempt to reconnoitre would have been certain +death.</p> + +<p>The <i>gendarmes</i>, though numbering at least twenty to +one, thus held at bay by one man, the bravest of the +brave, sent a messenger to Corte to demand a reinforcement. +Four hundred troops were detached for this service.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span> +They were accompanied by the <i>sous-préfet</i>, the +<i>procureur imperial</i>, a captain of engineers, and men with +ammunition to blow up the cave. It was a four hours' +march from Corte, and they arrived late in the day.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the <i>gendarmes</i> beleaguered the spot, keeping +under cover. The brave Arrhigi kept close, watchful no +doubt. He must have had a stout heart; but we do not +paint, we only give the leading details; the reader's imagination +will supply the rest.</p> + +<p>At length the troops marched up. A French <i>gendarme</i>, +boldly or incautiously, approached the entrance; he was +shot dead on the spot. Then, no doubt was left that +Arrhigi was there. Either to spare life, or because no one +was found bold enough to lead the forlorn hope in storming +the entrance, it was resolved to blow up the cave. +The engineers set to work, a shaft was sunk from above, a +barrel of gunpowder was lodged in it—the explosion was +ineffectual; it left the massive vault and sides of the narrow +cavern as firm as ever. It was too deep to be reached +without regular mining. Besides, the night was bitter, +and the whole party shaking with cold.</p> + +<p>Engineering operations were abandoned. As they could +neither beard the bandit in his den, nor blow him up, it +was determined to starve him out. The troops bivouacked, +fires were lighted, and sentinels posted. The siege was +converted into a blockade, all in due military order.</p> + +<p>“<i>Centinelle, prend garde à vous!</i>” was passed from +post to post. “<i>Centinelle, prend garde à moi!</i>” answered +the bold Arrhigi from his rocky hold.</p> + +<p>The blockade was maintained for five days and four +nights, not without some loss on the part of the besiegers, +for Arrhigi opened fire from time to time, as opportunity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +offered, and no less than seven of his enemies were struck +down by his unerring bullets. Some were wounded.</p> + +<p>“Brave soldiers of Napoleon,” cried Arrhigi, “carry off +your wounded comrades, who want your assistance.”</p> + +<p>It seems extraordinary that 400 troops should be held +at bay by a single man for so long a period; but such was +the fact. Perhaps the officials hoped to take him alive, or +they might wish to spare a further effusion of blood in +actual conflict with the desperate bandit. Arrhigi's cavern +had a small store of provisions and some gourds of water. +When these were expended, he resolved on making a last +effort to force his way through the troops. Could he have +stood out a day longer, he might probably have escaped, as +the weather became so tempestuous that it would have +been impossible for them to maintain their exposed position +in those bleak mountains.</p> + +<p>On the fourth night, just before the dawn of day, he +made the attempt. Dashing from the cavern, and shooting +down the nearest sentries right and left with his +double-barrelled gun, he gained the thickets. An alarm +was raised, and there was a general pursuit. Arrhigi fled +towards the Golo, intending, probably, to place that river +between him and his pursuers. It was now daylight, and +they were upon him before he reached it. Again brought +to bay, he took his stand sheltered by a rock. The soldiers +cried out to him to surrender; but the resolute bandit, +refusing quarter, continued to resist till he was shot +through the head.</p> + +<p>We left Xavier Massoni escaping into the <i>maquis</i>, but +slightly wounded in the thigh. The <i>gendarmes</i> were so +occupied with his brother Pierre and Arrhigi, that he +reached, unpursued, a distant forest in the heart of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span> +mountains. Soon, however, an officer of the <i>Gendarmerie +Corse</i>, with a detachment of forty or fifty men, was laid +on his track. After seven days they discovered the lone +cave in which, the last of his band, he had hoped for concealment. +It was high up the face of the mountain, but +the party scaled it, and summoning Xavier to surrender, +he gave his <i>parole</i>. Just at that moment a <i>gendarme</i> offering +a shot, the bandit levelled his gun at him and killed +him. He then threw down his arms and came out of the +cave, prepared to surrender himself. A sentry posted near, +imagining that he intended to escape, shot him dead +without challenging him or allowing him time to give +himself up. The sentry was punished, as they wished to +take the bandit alive, hoping that he would discover those +who were in league with him.</p> + +<p>Thus fell, with a gallantry worthy of a better cause, +these renowned banditti chiefs, who for many years had +infested the country, and filled it with alarm and grief. +The rest of the band dispersed, were killed, or taken +prisoners. Arrhigi's heroic defence closed the series of +romantic stories on which the Corsicans delight to dwell. +His example might have encouraged the outlaws to emulate +his daring resistance; but the unusual force brought +against him convinced them that the authorities were no +longer to be trifled with. The brigands became thoroughly +disheartened, and we hear of no more desperate encounters +with the <i>gendarmerie</i>. In the course of the following +year, the deep solitudes of the Corsican forests and mountains, +echoing no longer to the crack of the rifle, were left +in the undisturbed possession of the shepherds and their +flocks, the foxes and the <i>moufflons</i>.</p> + +<p>There is another version of the story of the Massoni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +and Arrhigi, cleverly wrought up, and giving it, what was +scarcely needed, a more romantic character. It differs +from that here given in many of the circumstances, and in +passing, perhaps, from hand to hand, even the scene has +been transferred to the neighbourhood of Monte Rotondo, +many miles distant from the spot where the events occurred. +My informant was not likely to omit any actual +occurrence of a striking nature; and as he lived at Corte, +and his occupation often led him to the canton of Callacuccia, +he had the best opportunities of learning the facts, +if indeed he was not present at the time. His simple +narrative is therefore adhered to.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XX" id="CHAP_XX"></a>CHAP. XX.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Leave Corte for Ajaccio.—A legend of Venaco.—Arrival +at Vivario.</i></p> + + +<p>The distance from Corte to Ajaccio is about fifty miles; +the most interesting objects on the road being the great +forest of Vizzavona, and Bocagnono embosomed in chestnut +woods. In order to take these leisurely, mules were +bespoken at Vivario, a mountain village at the foot of +Monte d'Oro, as far as which we determined to avail ourselves +of the <i>diligence</i> passing through Corte, <i>en route</i> +from Bastia to Ajaccio. For the first two stages after +leaving Corte we knew that there was little temptation to +linger on the way; and it is unadvisable to waste time +and strength by walking or riding on high-roads when +coach or rail will hurry you on to a good starting point +for independent rambling. To travel systematically from +one great town to another by such conveyances, with perhaps +an occasional excursion in the neighbourhood, is a +very different affair.</p> + +<p>We were called at midnight, and walking to the <i>bureau</i>, +shortly afterwards the <i>voiture</i> came rumbling up, a small +primitive vehicle, drawn by three mules. It contained +five passengers, “booked through;” three rough fellows, +all smoking, and a woman with a squalling <i>bambino</i>, dignified +by the name of Auguste. Under these circumstances,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +we proposed taking our seat on the roof, as there +was no <i>banquette</i>. The <i>commis du bureau</i> objected;—we +should fall off, and he would be blamed; it was <i>contre les +régles</i>; and every traveller knows how despotically the +rules are administered by foreign officials. He must submit +to be a mere machine in their hands, to be stowed +away and conveyed like his portmanteau. The rules are, +however, generally enforced with great civility; but the +<i>commis</i> was not civil. Early rising, or sitting up late, +had put him out of temper, and the passion into which +he worked himself about this trifle was very amusing. +“There was room inside, and why could not <i>messieurs</i> +accommodate themselves in the <i>voiture</i> like sensible +people?”</p> + +<p>We did not lose our temper, and carrying our point, +had every reason to rejoice in our victory. The moon was +up, and showed the sort of scenery through which we +passed, by a very hilly but well-engineered road, to great +advantage, in its various aspects. Now we were slowly +ascending a bare hill-side in the full light; then plunging +into hollows buried in the deepest shade of chestnut woods +branching over the road. Then there were scattered groups +of the rugged ilex, with its pale green leaves silvered by +the moonbeams; and, where the land was cultivated, there +was the livelier green of the young wheat, and the dark +verdure of luxuriant crops of sainfoin: scarcely a house +was passed; a solitary habitation is a rare sight in +Corsica.</p> + +<p>Our position also gave us the advantage of the <i>voiturier's</i> +conversation, which, under the inspiration of the scene, +the woods, and moonlight on a lonely road, was well spiced +with stories of banditti. At that corner they stole from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +the thicket, and gave their victim a mortal stab. There was +a cross over his grave, but it has been removed. A deadly +shot from behind that grey rock struck down another. +Here they had a bloody fight with the <i>sbirri</i>. Such tales, +as it has been already remarked, are heard everywhere. +I forget the particulars; but they are all variations of one +wild strain, of which the key-note is blood.</p> + +<p>One legend of another kind I remember. The <i>voiturier</i> +related it as we approached Venaco:—</p> + +<p>“A long while ago—it was in the tenth century, I believe—there +lived here a Count of Corsica, by name Arrhigo +Colonna, who was so handsome that he was called <i>Il Bel +Messere</i>. He had a beautiful wife and seven beautiful +children. Feuds arose in the country, and his enemies, +jealous of his great power, slew the Count and his seven +children, and threw their bodies into a little lake among +the hills. There was deep lamentation among the vassals +of the <i>Bel Messere</i>; and his wife, having escaped, led +them against the assassins, who had taken refuge in a +neighbouring castle, stormed it, and put them all to the +sword. Often are the ghosts of the <i>Bel Messere</i> and his +seven children seen flitting by the pale moonlight—on such +a night as this—among the woods and on the green hills of +Venaco; and the shepherds on the mountains all around +preserve the tradition of their sorrowful fate.”</p> + +<p>We reached Vivario before daylight, and leaving the +<i>voiture</i>, scrambled up a lane, then some dark stairs, and +found ourselves in the gaunt rooms of a rude <i>locanda</i>. +The people were astir, expecting us, and the best sight +was, not indeed a blazing fire of logs—though Vivario is +close to the forest, such fires are not to be seen indoors—but +at least some lighted embers on the cooking-hearth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span> +giving promise of a speedy cup of hot coffee, for we were +very cold. The mountain air was keen, Vivario standing +nearly 2000 feet above the level of the sea. The best news +was that the mules for our journey were forthcoming. +Meanwhile, we got our wash, and, it being too early to +eat, had our <i>déjeûner</i> of bread and wine, grapes and ham, +packed in a basket, to be eaten on the road.</p> + +<p>We were objects of much curiosity. Whence did we +come? where were we going? what was our business?—were +questions of course.</p> + +<p>“From London.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Sono chiesi in Londra?</i>”</p> + +<p>“<i>Inglesi—sono tutti Christiani?</i>”</p> + +<p>It may easily be imagined that the communal schools +in Corsica give little instruction in ethnology; and even +intelligent persons, like our former guide Antoine, appeared +to doubt our right to be called Christians. That +was often questioned, the people seeming little better +informed than they were when Boswell travelled in +Corsica, almost a century ago.</p> + +<p>“<i>Inglesi</i>,” said a strong black fellow to him, “<i>sono +barbare; non credono in Dio grande.</i>”</p> + +<p>“Excuse me, sir,” replied Boswell; “we do believe in +God, and in Jesus Christ too.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Um,</i>” said he, “<i>e nel Papa?</i>” (and in the Pope?)</p> + +<p>“No.”</p> + +<p>“<i>E perche?</i>” (And why?)</p> + +<p>This was a puzzling question under the circumstances, +for there was a great audience listening to the controversy. +So Boswell thought he would try a method of his own, +and he very gravely replied:—</p> + +<p>“<i>Perche siamo troppo lontano.</i>” (Because we are too far<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span> +off.) A very new argument against the universal infallibility +of the Pope. It took, however; for his opponent +mused awhile, and then said:—</p> + +<p>“<i>Troppo lontano! Ha—Sicilia è tanto lontano che l'Inghilterra; +e in Sicilia si credono nel Papa.</i>” (Too far off! +why Sicily is as far off as England; yet in Sicily they +believe in the Pope.)</p> + +<p>“Ah!” said Boswell, “<i>Noi siamo dieci volte più lontano +che la Sicilia.</i>” (We are ten times farther off than Sicily.)</p> + +<p>“<i>Aha!</i>” said the questioner; and seemed quite satisfied. +“In this manner,” concludes Boswell, “I got off +very well. I question much whether any of the learned +reasonings of our Protestant divines would have had so +good an effect.”</p> + +<p><i>Barbari</i>, <i>heretici</i>, whatever we were, we parted on good +terms with our kind hostess. Two mules were at the +door, attended by a lad, who, at first sight, appeared too +young for the long and rather fatiguing journey before us; +but he had a most intelligent countenance, with hair, eyes, +and features of the true Italian character, and he handled +his mules well, and proved a most active and agreeable +attendant.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/204.jpg" width="700" height="450" alt="VIVARIO." title="VIVARIO." /> +<p class="caption">VIVARIO.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXI" id="CHAP_XXI"></a>CHAP. XXI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Leave Vivario.—Forest of Vizzavona.—A roadside adventure.—Bocagnono.—Arrive +late at Ajaccio.</i></p> + + +<p>It was broad daylight when we wound up a narrow path +to the heights above the village of Vivario, thus saving an +angle of the well-engineered high-road by which the <i>voiture</i>, +preceding us, had gained the summit. Here we +seated ourselves on a bank while my friend sketched. His +view, reproduced in these pages, happily dispenses with +the necessity of any lengthened description. Below, the +eye rested on the tall and graceful <i>campanile</i> of the village +church, with the houses radiating from it, half concealed +by the groves of chestnut-trees embowering the valley. +The slope beneath our point of view, as well as that on +the left under the high-road, was covered by vineyards in +terraces and gardens. The contrast of this verdure with +the bare ridge beyond the fertile basin, still in deep shade, +and the atmospheric effects of a soft and not overpowering +light on the foreground, as well as of the vapour rising in +the gorge, and hanging in aërial folds about the mountain +tops, can only be imagined.</p> + +<p>Smoke now began to curl up from the village hearths, +and men, in rough jackets of black sheep's wool, with axes +slung in their belts, are seen slowly winding up the steep +to their work in the forest. The villages on the tops of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span> +the hills under the mountain ranges, of which we counted +ten or more, reflect the early sunlight. A small fortified +barrack, garrisoned by a party of <i>gendarmes</i>, held in +check the banditti, whose strongest fastnesses were in this +wild neighbourhood, and commands the high-road.</p> + +<p>This we now follow; and the views from it are exceedingly +picturesque, the engineers having obtained their level +for it by pursuing the sinuosities of the defiles round +Monte d'Oro, the rival monarch with Monte Rotondo +of the Corsican Alps. Its snowy summit is continually in +sight on our right, and we observe streaks of new-fallen +snow for some distance beneath. On the left, we have +the great forest of Vizzavona, which we shortly entered. +Having before described a Corsican pine-forest of similar +character, repetition would be wearisome. The trees here +are of the same species, with some admixture of oak, many +of them on a scale of equal or greater magnificence. The +finest masts for the French navy have been drawn from +this forest.</p> + +<p>Heat and hunger now combined to make us look out for +a rill of water at a convenient spot for taking our <i>déjeûner</i>, +and a torrent crossing the road, with a rude bridge over it, +we sat down on the low parapet, and, opening our baskets, +the boy, Filippi, fetched water from the pure stream to +cool and temper our wine. Bread, slices of ham, and +grapes, were rapidly disappearing, when unexpected visitors +appeared on the scene, in the shape of two country girls, +travellers to Ajaccio like ourselves.</p> + +<p>We had not been so much struck, to speak the truth, +as some travellers seem to have been with the beauty +and gracefulness of the Corsican women; but these really +were two very pretty girls, of the age of fifteen or sixteen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span> +brunettes, bright eyed, slightly formed, and with pleasing +and expressive features. They were lightly clad, and one +of them carried a small bundle. Accosted by Filippi, we +learnt that they came from Corte, and were on their way +to Ajaccio, in search of domestic service. Filippi appeared +to know some of their family. To desire the boy to share +with them the meal he was making at some little distance +was only returning Corsican hospitality. The girls were +shy at first, and it was only by degrees that we were able +to establish a chat with them; and I was struck with the +manner in which the eldest, taking a handful of new +chestnuts from a bag, offered the contribution to our pic-nic. +Poor girls! chestnuts and the running brooks were +probably all they had to depend upon for refreshment +during their journey. Happily, both were easily to be +found.</p> + +<p>Our road lying the same way, and the girls having +walked from Vivario, while we had been riding, they were +offered a ride on the mules, and, after some hesitation, the +offer was accepted. With Filippi for their squire, the trio +being about the same age, they were a merry party, making +the glades of the old forest ring with their laughter and +the sound of their young voices in the sweetest of tongues. +The girls were in such glee, Filippi pressing the mules to +a gallop, that though we enjoyed the fun, we really feared +they would be thrown off. Our fears were groundless; +riding astride, as is the fashion of the country—but with +all propriety—they had a firm seat, and laughed at our +apprehensions.</p> + +<p>With all this exuberance of spirits, there were the +greatest modesty and simplicity in the demeanour of +these poor girls. When they proceeded in a more sober<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +mood, we joined in the conversation, asking questions +about their prospects at Ajaccio, and the schooling they +had received. They had no friends at Ajaccio; but the +“Mother of Mercy” would guide and protect them!</p> + +<p>The number of the girls receiving education at the communal +and conventual schools in Corsica is very disproportionate +to that of the boys. Marmocchi states the +number of the former, in 1851 or 1852, as 2362, while the +males receiving public instruction were 14,196. Of the +girls, only 546 are educated in the communal schools, and +1816 in the establishments of the <i>Sœurs de St. Joseph</i> or +the <i>Filles de Marie</i>. The proportion of boys frequenting +the Corsican schools, relatively with those of France, is +137 to 100 in the winter, and 226 to 100 in the summer; +but that of the girls is in the inverse, the relative number +being much smaller in Corsica—12 only to 100 in the +winter, and 21 to 100 in the summer.</p> + +<p>Our fellow-travellers were among the favoured number. +Bridget, the eldest, opened her bundle, and took from +among the folds of their slender stock of clothes two little +books, which she showed us with modest pride. They +contained catechisms, the <i>Pater-noster</i>, the <i>Ave Maria</i>, +and a short litany to the Blessed Virgin. Poor girls! +their trust was in Heaven! They had little else to trust +in; but there was a “Mother of Mercy” to befriend her +loving children. That was the most comfortable article in +their creed—ideal, but very beautiful.</p> + +<p>At the highest point of the <i>Col</i> of Vizzavona, nearly +4000 feet above the level of the sea, we find a loopholed +barrack, surrounded by a ditch, where a small force of the +<i>gendarmerie</i> is stationed to operate against the brigands. +Standing among bare rocks, with the precipices of Monte<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span> +d'Oro frowning above it, the position is most dismal. +Fancy that bleak barrack in the long, dreary winter of +such an elevation, when ice and snow reign over the +whole <i>plateau</i>! And what must have been the severity +of the service when the bleak forest was the hiding-place, +and Bocagnono, just under, the head-quarters, of the most +desperate banditti!</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/209.jpg" width="500" height="415" alt="BOCAGNONO." title="BOCAGNONO." /> +<p class="caption">BOCAGNONO.</p> +</div> + +<p>We still walked on, really preferring it, and glad not +only to give the girls a lift, but to spare the mules, while +carrying their light weight, for the hard service yet before +them. After passing the <i>col</i>, we had a splendid view of +Bocagnono and its hamlets, buried in trees, with bold +mountains beyond. The pines now gave way to beech +woods, and soon afterwards we reached the level of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +chestnut. The fall of the ground became rapid, but, as usual +in such cases, the face of the hill being traversed by stages +of inclined planes, blasted by gunpowder in the rocks, the +gradients of the road were easy.</p> + +<p>The chestnut trees in the valley are of extraordinary +size, and a rich <i>contour</i> of growth. Scattered capriciously +among the groves are no less than ten hamlets, all attached +to Bocagnono. It is a wild and romantic neighbourhood; +and the principal village, though surrounded with verdure, +has a most desolate aspect, the houses being built of +unhewn stone, black with age, and the windows unglazed.</p> + +<p>Walking down the long, straggling street, noting appearances, +a little in advance of our singular cavalcade, we +observed a very magnificent officer of police, with a cocked +hat and feathers, and sword by his side, sitting on a bench, +smoking his pipe. He scrutinised us closely as we passed, +munching chestnuts, and carelessly throwing the shells +not very far from his worshipful presence. Filippi soon +following with the mules, he was stopped by this important +personage, who questioned him sharply about us. Appearances +were rather against us. The spruce <i>gendarme</i> might +possibly not understand—and it is often a puzzle—how +gentlemen in light coats and stout shoes, bronzed, dusty, +and travel-stained, could be walking through the country +quite at their ease. Foreigners make themselves up for +travelling in a very different style. Our juvenile <i>suite</i> also +was somewhat singular, and, altogether, as I have said, +circumstances were suspicious. We might be the last of +the bandits, making their escape to the coast in disguise, +with part of their little family. The orders to arrest such +characters were very strict.</p> + +<p>However, it is to be presumed that the official was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span> +satisfied with Filippi's report, and we escaped a detention +which might have caused us loss of time and patience. +Having cleared the town, we took counsel together. The +day was wearing away, and we were still some thirty miles +from Ajaccio. It was Saturday, and we wished to get to +the end of our journey in order to enjoy a quiet Sunday. +There was nothing on the road to tempt us to linger, and +no probability of finding decent accommodations; while +at Ajaccio, we should be in clover, and get a fresh outfit, +our baggage having been forwarded there. On the other +hand, it was a long pull, and Filippi remonstrated on behalf +of the mules and himself. The first objection was +overruled, and the other removed by our engaging to take +the boy <i>en croupe</i> by turns. Our female attendants we +dismissed with the means of procuring lodgings for the +night; and we relieved Bridget of her burthen, desiring +her to call for it at the hotel at Ajaccio.</p> + +<p>Bocagnono stands in the gorge of a long valley, watered +by the Gravone. This river falls into the sea a little south +of Ajaccio, and the road, for the most part following its +course, is generally easy. After leaving Bocagnono, the +valley opened. We were among green hills, with the river +flowing through a rich plain; the Alpine range, from which +we had just descended, making a fine background to this +pleasant landscape. Further on, some very picturesque +villages, perched as usual on heights, increased its interest.</p> + +<p>We kept the mules to as sharp a trot as was consistent +with the work still before us. Unfortunately, in the jolting, +poor Bridget's bundle got loose, and the contents being +scattered on the road, the wardrobe of a Corsican girl was +exposed to profane eyes, and it became incumbent on me,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +in discharge of my trust, to restore it to order with all possible +neatness and security. Again we pricked on, and +crossing the Gravone at the Ponte d'Usciano, the road +began to ascend, carrying us for some miles over a rugged +spur of the mountains. Here we found ourselves again +among the shrubbery which forms so characteristic a feature +in the landscape of these islands. Having passed the +ruins of a house, the inmates of which, even to the infant +in the cradle, had been butchered in one of the feuds so +common in Corsica, we halted at a roadside <i>albergo</i>, near +a <i>baraque</i> of the <i>gendarmerie</i>. Bread and grapes, with +new wine, were spread for us under the shade of a tree, +and we refreshed ourselves while our mules got their feed +of barley.</p> + +<p>We had now nearly a level road all the way to Ajaccio. +The plain was well cultivated, and we remarked some irrigated +fields of maize. Soon afterwards it became dark, +and the mules being much distressed, we could only proceed +at a slow pace. The fatigue of riding was much lessened +by having an English saddle; still it was a hard day's +travelling: but the air was deliciously balmy, and the glowworm's +lamp and cricket's chirp helped to cheer the weariness +of a road which seemed interminable. Presently, we +met country people returning from the market at Ajaccio, +lights were seen more frequently on the hills, and, at last, +the lantern on the pier-head—a welcome beacon—came +in view. Half an hour afterwards, we dismounted at an +hotel on the Corso.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXII" id="CHAP_XXII"></a>CHAP. XXII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Ajaccio.—Collège-Fesch.—Reminiscences of the Buonaparte +Family.—Excursion in the Gulf.—Chapel of the Greeks.—Evening +Scenes.—Council-General of the Department.—Statistics.—State +of Agriculture in Corsica—Her Prospects.</i></p> + + +<p>Sunday morning we attended high-mass at the cathedral +of Ajaccio, a building of the sixteenth century, in the +Italian style, having a belfry and dome, with the interior +richly decorated. The service was well performed, there +being a fine-toned organ, and the music of the mass well +selected. The congregation was numerous, the girls' +school especially. I was struck with the pensive cast of +features in many of the girls, so like the Madonnas of the +Italian masters. There were formerly six dioceses in Corsica, +Mariana being the principal; for many years they +have been all administered by the Bishop of Ajaccio, who +is at present a suffragan of the Archbishop of Aix, in +France.</p> + +<p>After service, we called on one of the professors of the +<i>Collège-Fesch</i>, to whom we had letters of introduction. +This college and the <i>Séminaire</i> are the best buildings in +Ajaccio, both being finely situated fronting the sea. The +<i>Séminaire</i> is confined exclusively to the education of theological +students intended for the clerical orders. In the +other, founded and endowed by Cardinal Fesch, the course<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span> +of study is that generally pursued in the French colleges. +The cardinal appears to have had more affection for his native +place than any other member of the Bonaparte family, +giving a proof of it in this noble foundation. He also +bequeathed to his native place a large collection of pictures, +few of them, however, of much merit. His remains +are deposited with those of Madame Letizia, his sister, in +a chapel of the cathedral of Ajaccio, having been brought +from Rome; where I recollect seeing him in 1819,—short +and portly in person, with a mild and good-humoured +expression of countenance. He had been a kind guardian +of the young Bonapartes, and carefully administered the +small property they inherited.</p> + +<p>The <i>Collège-Fesch</i> is a large building, with spacious lecture-rooms, +long and lofty corridors, and a yard for exercise; +the windows of the front looking out on the Gulf of +Ajaccio and the mountains beyond. The professor's apartments +had all the air of the rooms of a college fellow and +tutor in one of our universities, carpets <i>et aliis mutandis</i>; +only they were more airy and spacious. There are fifteen +professors, of whom the Abbate Porazzi is one of the +most distinguished. We were indebted to him for many +good offices during our stay at Ajaccio. The number of +students at this time was 260. They appeared to be of all +ranks and ages; some of them grown men.</p> + +<p>Everything here has the southern character. We find +rows of lemon-trees on the Corso; and the cactus, or +Indian fig, flourishes in the environs,—the bright oleander +thriving in the open air. The heat was excessive, my +thermometer standing at 80° at noon, in the shade of an +airy room. From the Corso, a short street leads into the +market-place, a square, bounded on one side by the port,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span> +and embellished by a fountain. During the last year it +has been further ornamented by a statue of the first Napoleon, +of white marble, standing on a granite pedestal, and +facing the harbour. Concealed during the reigns of the +restored Bourbons, its erection was a homage to the rising +fortunes of the President of the French Republic. Ajaccio, +being the modern capital of Corsica, the <i>chef-lieu</i> of +the department, and seat of the <i>préfetture</i> and administration, +is more French in habits and feeling than any +other town in the island. But even here, I apprehend, +there has never been much enthusiasm for the Bonapartes.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> +Among the native Corsicans, Pascal Paoli is the national +hero.</p> + +<p>We visited, of course, the house in which the first Napoleon +was born, standing in a little solitary court dignified<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span> +with the name of the <i>Piazza Lucrezia</i>, near the market-place. +It has been often described. Uninhabited, and +without a vestige of furniture, except some faded tapestry +on the walls, the desolate and gloomy air of the birthplace +of the great emperor struck me even more than the +deserted apartments at Longwood, from which his spirit +took its flight. There, sheaves of corn and implements of +husbandry still gave signs of human life, singularly as +they contrasted with the relics of imperial grandeur recently +witnessed by the homely apartments. A man, born +in the first year of the French Revolution, and who has +followed the career of its “child and champion” with the +feelings common to most Englishmen, can have no Napoleonic +sympathies; yet, without forgetting the atrocities, +the selfishness, and the littleness which stained and disfigured +that career, it is impossible that such scenes could +be contemplated by a thoughtful mind, not only without +profound reflection on the vicissitudes of life, but without +a full impression of the genius and force of character +which lifted the Corsican adventurer to the dangerous +height from whence he fell.</p> + +<p>One afternoon we hired a boat in the harbour, and sailed +down the Gulf of Ajaccio. This fine inlet, opening to the +south-west, is from three to four leagues in length and +breadth, and forms a basin of about twelve leagues in circumference, +from the northern extremity, where the old +city stood, to its outlet between the <i>Isles Sanguinaires</i> and +the Capo di Moro, on the opposite coast. A range of +mountains, considerably inferior in elevation to the central +chain from which they ramify, rises almost from the shore, +and stretches along the northern side of the gulf. The +other coast is more indented, and swells into the ridges of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[217]</a></span> +the Bastelica, embracing the rich valley of Campo Loro +(<i>Campo del' Oro</i>), washed by the Gravone. The Gulf of +Ajaccio, like many others, has been compared to the Bay +of Naples; but, I think, without much reason, except for +the colouring lent by a brilliant and transparent atmosphere +to both sea and land. In the case of Ajaccio, the +effects are heightened by a still more southern climate, and +the grander scale of the mountain scenery.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/217.jpg" width="500" height="291" alt="HARBOUR OF AJACCIO." +title="HARBOUR OF AJACCIO." /> +<p class="caption">HARBOUR OF AJACCIO.</p> +</div> + +<p>There were only a few small vessels, employed in the +coasting trade, in the port. We rowed round the mole, +under the frowning bastions of the citadel, a regular work +covering a point stretching into the bay; and then hoisting +sail, stood out into the gulf. The wind was too light +to admit of our gaining its entrance; we sailed down it, +however, for four or five miles in the mid-channel, the +rocky islands at the northern entrance gradually opening; +one crowned with the tower of a lighthouse, another with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[218]</a></span> +a village on its summit. The coast to our right was clothed +with the deep verdure of the ever memorable Corsican +shrubbery, breathing aromatic odours as we drifted along: +otherwise, it appeared desolate; not a village appeared, +and the barren and rugged mountain chain towered above.</p> + +<p>Finding that we made but little progress, the boat was +steered for a little reef of rocks on the northern shore, +and landing, we dismissed the boatman, determining to +walk back to Ajaccio along the water's edge. Meanwhile +we sat down on the rocks while my companion sketched. +Presently I strolled up to a little chapel, standing by the +side of the road which winds round the gulf towards <i>les +Isles Sanguinaires</i>. A simple and chaste style of Italian architecture +distinguished the white <i>façade</i>, rising gracefully +to a pediment, crowned with a cross; pilasters, supporting +arches, divided the portico beneath into three compartments, +the central one forming the entrance. The door was +closed, but the interior was visible through a <i>grille</i> at +the side. The nave was paved with blue and white squares, +and marble steps led up to the sanctuary, forming, with +two side chapels, a Greek cross. There was no ornament, +no furniture, except two or three low chairs for kneeling. +Under the portico was a marble tablet, inscribed in good +Latin, to the pious memory of a Pozzo di Borgo<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a>, who +restored the chapel in 1632. I read on another tablet:—</p> + +<p class="center"> +<i>“Per gli Orfanelli dei Marinari Naufragati.”</i> +</p> + +<p>Under an arch supported by pillars of green marble, a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[219]</a></span> +lamp was feebly glimmering, fed perhaps by the offerings +of loving mothers and fond wives who here offered their +vows for the safe return of those dear to them.</p> + +<p>The sun was setting behind the islands at the mouth of +the gulf, perfect stillness reigned, broken only by a gentle +ripple on the granite rocks forming ledges from the water's +edge to the base of the chapel. Struck with its singular +interest, and wishing to learn more about it, on returning +to my friend, who was still sketching, I found him in conversation +with some loungers from the town. They could +only tell us that it was called “The Chapel of the Greeks,” +and, laughing, turned on their heels when I pursued my +inquiries. Did they suppose that we Northerns had no +sentiment in our religion, or had they none themselves? +I afterwards heard two traditions respecting the Chapel of +the Greeks. One, that it was founded by the remains of a +colony from the Morea, who, having been expelled with +great loss from their settlement at Cargese, were granted +an asylum here;—the other, that the original building +was erected, by Greek mariners, in acknowledgment of +their escape from shipwreck on this coast.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult, I imagine, to find a more favourable +point of view, or a happier moment, than that of which +my friend availed himself to make the sketch of Ajaccio, +which has been selected for the frontispiece of this volume. +The gulf was perfectly calm, and of the deepest green and +azure, a slight ripple being only discernible where a boat +lay in one of the long streams of light reflected from the +mass of orange and golden clouds in which the sun was +setting behind the islands; while, to the east, flakes of rosy +hue floated in the mid-heaven. The sails of the feluccas, +becalmed in the gulf, faintly caught the light, and it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[220]</a></span> +gleamed on the houses of Ajaccio, particularly those of the +modern town, distinguished by its white walls and red +roofs from the old buildings about the cathedral. Behind +were sugar-loaf hills; and the mountain-sides across the +gulf glowed with the richest purple. Then came gradual +changes of colour, softer and deeper hues, till, at last, a +steamy veil of mist from seaward stole over the gulf. A +faint glimmer from the lighthouse at the entrance of the +harbour was scarcely visible in the blaze left behind by the +glorious sunset.</p> + +<p>The lights began to twinkle from the windows of Ajaccio, +and the cathedral bells tolling for the Ave Maria, stole on +the ear across the gulf in the silence of the twilight hour. +Reluctant to leave the scene, we lingered till it was +shrouded from view, and an evening never to be forgotten +closed in. Then we wound slowly towards the city along +the shore, at the foot of hills laid out in vineyards hedged +by the prickly cactus, or lightly sprinkled with myrtles +and cystus, and all those odoriferous plants which now +perfumed the balmy night air. Embowered in these, we +had remarked some mortuary chapels, the burying-places +of Ajaccian families. One of them, high up on the hill-side, +was in the form of a Grecian temple; and we now +passed another, standing among cypresses, close to the +shore. Nearer the city, two stone pillars stand at the entrance +of an avenue leading up to a dilapidated country-house, +formerly the residence of Cardinal Fesch, and where +Madame Bonaparte and her family generally spent the +summer. Among the neglected shrubberies, and surrounded +by the wild olive, the cactus, the clematis, and +the almond, is a singular and isolated granite rock, called +Napoleon's grotto, once his favourite retreat.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[221]</a></span></p> + +<p>On our return, we found the streets thronged; braziers +with roasted chestnuts stood at every corner; strings of +mules, loaded with wine casks suspended on each side, +were returning from the vineyards; and there was a gay +promenade on the Corso—ladies with no covering for +their heads but the graceful black <i>faldetta</i>, French officers +in not very brilliant uniforms, and a sprinkling of ecclesiastics +in <i>soutanes</i> and prodigious beavers.</p> + +<p>Professor Porazzi took us to the only bookseller's shop +in Ajaccio, where we made some purchases. It was a +small affair, the book trade being combined with the sale +of a variety of miscellaneous articles. The <i>préfetture</i>, a +handsome building, lately finished, contains a library of +25,000 volumes. We were introduced there to M. Camille +Friess, the author of a compendious history of Corsica, +who was kind enough to show us some of the archives, of +which he has the custody. Among the documents connected +with the Bonaparte family is a memorial, addressed +by Napoleon to the Intendant of Corsica, respecting his +mother's right to a garden. I jotted down the beginning +and end:—</p> + +<p class="center"> +“<i>Memoire relative à la pépinière d'Ajaccio.</i><br /> +</p> + +<p class="date">“<i>Letizia Ramolini, veuve de Buonaparte, d'Ajaccio, a l'honneur de +vous exposer....</i></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 20%;">“<i>Votre très humble</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 30%;"><i>et très obeissant serviteur</i>,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 40%;">“<span class="smcap">Buonaparte</span><a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a>, <i>Officier d'Artillerie</i>.</span> +</p> + +<p class="date">“<i>Hotel de Cherbourg</i>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 10%;"> +“<i>Rue St. Honoré, Paris, le 9 Nov. 1787.</i>”</span> +</p> + +<p>The claim for a few roods of nursery garden was made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[222]</a></span> +by a young man who afterwards distributed kingdoms and +principalities! It is said that in the division of some property +which fell to the family after he became emperor, +his share was an olive-yard in the environs of Ajaccio.</p> + +<p>M. Friess obligingly gave me copies of the <i>procès-verbals</i> +of the proceedings of the Council-General of the +Department for the preceding years. These reports are +printed annually, and, I believe, similar ones are made in +all the departments of France. Those I possess are models +of good arrangement in whatever concerns provincial administration. +They have supplied more information on +the present state of Corsica and its prospects of improvement +than all the books of travel, and works of greater +pretensions, it has been my fortune to meet with.</p> + +<p>The Council-General, as many of my readers know, is a +body elected by the people; each canton, of which there are +sixty-one in Corsica, sending representatives in proportion +to the population. The <i>préfet</i>, who is <i>ex-officio</i> president, +opens the session by a speech, in which he reviews the +affairs of the department under the heads of finance, public +works, education, &c., &c., and presents a budget, with +detailed reports on the various branches of administration. +All these are printed, with a short <i>procès-verbal</i> of the debates, +and the divisions when the Council-General comes +to a vote. The proceedings are submitted to the Minister +of the Interior, who approves or rejects the proposals made. +Virtually, however, although the Council has no power to +act on its resolutions until they are confirmed by the central<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[223]</a></span> +government, whatever relates to the assessment of +taxes, police, roads, and other works, all matters of local +interest not only come under discussion in these provincial +assemblies, but are shaped and decided by them. The services +thus rendered must therefore be very valuable, and +it is worth considering whether our over-worked House of +Commons might not be relieved of some of its burthens, +and the business better done, by similar representative +bodies, entrusted with legislative powers so far as concerns +matters of local interest. Such assemblies would well +accord with our Anglo-Saxon institutions. But to give +them a fair field, with sufficient weight, impartiality, and +importance, a considerable area should be embraced in each +jurisdiction. Durham might be united with Yorkshire; +the three western counties, Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall, +might form a province; North and South Wales, +each one. And what a valuable body of statistics would +be furnished by an annual report, corresponding with +those which have led to these remarks!</p> + +<p>We gather some general statistics from these documents +and other sources.</p> + +<p>By the census of 1851, the population of Corsica was +236,251 souls, of whom 117,938 were males, and 118,313 +females. All but 54 were Roman Catholics. There were +no less than 32,364 proprietors of land. The day-labourers +were 34,427; government officials, 1229; clergy, 955; regular +troops, <i>gendarmes</i>, &c., 5000. The number of students +in all the public colleges and schools was from 16,000 to +17,000, of which 15,000 were male, and only from 2000 to +3000 females. The proportion of males frequenting the +schools is greater than in France, it being as 137 to 100 in +the winter, and 226 to 100 in the summer; while that of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[224]</a></span> +the girls is the reverse, being as 12 to 100 in the winter, +and 21 to 100 in the summer. This disproportion between +male and female scholars in Corsica is very remarkable.</p> + +<p>The superficies of the island is estimated at somewhat +less than two millions and a quarter of English acres. Of +this surface, only a six-hundredth part is, on an average, +under cultivation, an area which, it is said, might be +doubled. Vast portions of the soil belong to the communes, +and measures are in contemplation for their improvement.</p> + +<p>Wheat produces, on an average of years, an increase +of nine times the seed sown; barley and oats, twelve or +thirteen; maize, thirty-eight to forty; and potatoes, +twenty.</p> + +<p>The rate of daily wages for the year 1851 was fixed by +the Council-General at 75 <i>centimes</i> for the towns of Ajaccio +and Bastia, and 50 <i>centimes</i> for all the other communes.</p> + +<p>Among the most important subjects brought to notice +by the <i>procès-verbal</i> of 1851 is the state of agriculture in +the island; on which the <i>Préfet</i> finds little to congratulate +the Council-General except an increase in the cultivation +of lucerne and in the plantations of mulberry-trees. The +obstacles to its progress are found in the insecurity of life, +the want of inclosures, and the unbounded rights of common +enjoyed by the shepherds; in the richest plains being +uninhabited, and their distance from the villages; in the +pestilential air of these plains, and the want of roads.—A +stranger will be disposed to add to this list the indolence +of the natives. So far as the obstacles to improvement +can be surmounted by judicious legislation and encouragement, +the <i>procès-verbals</i> of the Council-General exhibit +enlightened ideas far in advance of the opinions and habits<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[225]</a></span> +of the people; and there is much good sense and right +feeling in the observation with which the <i>Prèfet</i>, in one of +his addresses, concludes his statement of the position of +affairs:—</p> + +<p>“Si la Corse,” he says, “devait passer subitement à +l'état des civilisations avancées, elle courait risque de +perdre dans cette transformation (et ce serait à jamais +deplorable) tout ce qu'il y a de primitif, de généreux, +d'énergetique dans ses mœurs séculaires. Je n'en citerai +qu'un exemple. Le mouvement civilisateur trouve, à +certains égards, résistance dans la force des sentiments de +famille, dans la cohésion des membres qui la composent. +Et, cependant, qui d'entre vous consentirait à acheter les +progrès de la civilisation au prix du rélâchement de ces +liens sacrés qui sont la clef de voûte de toute société +organisée?”</p> + +<p>Delivered from the scourge of <i>banditisme</i> and the <i>vendetta</i> +by severe measures, supposed to be strongly opposed +to the popular instinct, and with hopes held out of such +further improvement in civilisation as the progress of ideas +will admit, Corsica may, perhaps, have no reason to regret +that she failed in her long struggles for national independence. +But France will not have performed her duty to +this outlying department of the empire till she promotes +the manufactures and commerce of the island. It is a part +of the protective system to which she clings to discourage +all direct foreign trade, just as England formerly engrossed +the commerce of her colonies. The result is that the poor +Corsicans, compelled to purchase the commodities they +require—manufactured goods, colonial produce, and even +corn and cattle—in the French market, buy at enormously +high prices. The balance of trade is much against<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[226]</a></span> +them, their annual exports to France being only a million +and a half of <i>francs</i>, while they import from thence articles +of the value of three millions. The present Emperor of +France is understood to entertain enlightened views on +the subject of free trade; and it is to be hoped that, +when he is able to carry them out, Corsica will share in +the benefits of an unrestricted commerce.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[227]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXIII" id="CHAP_XXIII"></a>CHAP. XXIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Leave Ajaccio.—Neighbourhood of Olmeto.—Sollacaró.—James +Boswell's Residence there.—Scene in the “Corsican +Brothers” laid there—Quarrel of the Vincenti and Grimaldi.—Road +to Sartene.—Corsican Marbles.—Arrive at +Bonifacio</i>.</p> + + +<p>We were quite as well served, and the accommodations +were as good, at Ajaccio as in any provincial city of France. +They gave us a delicate white wine made in the neighbourhood, +an agreeable beverage, which, we thought, resembled +<i>Chablais</i>; and a <i>confiture</i> of cherries preserved in jelly, +which was exquisite. I had told the story of our adventure +with the poor girls from Corte to the mistress of the +house, and, on Bridget's appearing the day after our arrival +to claim her wardrobe, she informed me, with great joy, that +our good hostess had taken her into her service.</p> + +<p>On leaving Ajaccio, Sartene was our next point. The +road crosses the Gravone and the Prunelle, flowing into +the gulf through fertile valleys, and then winds through a +wild and mountainous country, in which Cauro is the only +village, till, surmounting the Col San Georgio, 2000 feet +above the level of the sea, it descends into a rich plain, +watered by the Taravo. In its upper course its branches +water two romantic valleys, which formed the ancient fiefs +of Ornano and Istria, the seats of powerful lords in the old +times. Picturesque scenery, ruins of castles, and mediæval<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[228]</a></span> +tales lend a charm to this region, in which we would +gladly have wandered for some days, but that Sardinia +was before us.</p> + +<p>There are few finer spots in the island than the <i>paese</i> of +Olmeto, the principal village being surrounded by mountains, +with a plain below, extending to the deep inlet of +the Mediterranean, called the Gulf of Valinco, and rich in +corn-lands, olive, and fruit trees. At Olmeto we were +served with a dish of magnificent apples, some of them +said to weigh two pounds. On the Monte Buturetto, 3000 +feet high, are seen the ruins of the stronghold of Arrigo +della Rocca; and, further on, near Sollacaró, another almost +inaccessible summit was crowned by a castle, built by his +nephew, Vincentello d'Istria—both famed in Corsican +story.</p> + +<p>It was at Sollacaró, standing at the foot of this hill, +that our countryman, Boswell, first presented himself +to Pascal Paoli, in a house of the Colonna's, with letters +of introduction from the Count de Rivarola and +Rousseau. Boswell remained some time with Paoli, +who was then keeping a sort of court at Sollacaró, +and admitted him to the most familiar intercourse. His +conversations with the illustrious Corsican, jotted down in +his own peculiar style, form the most interesting part of +the account of his tour, published after his return to +England. “From my first setting out on this tour,” he +states, “I wrote down every night what I had observed +during the day. Of these particulars the most valuable to +my readers, as well as to myself, must surely be the +memoirs and remarkable sayings of Pascal Paoli, which I +am proud to record.”<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[229]</a></span></p> +<p>Boswell was treated with much distinction, and appears +to have been flattered with the character, which ignorance +or policy attributed to him, of being <i>Il Ambasciadore Inglese</i>. +“In the morning,” he says, “I had my chocolate +served up on a silver salver, adorned with the arms of Corsica. +I dined and supped constantly with the general. I +was visited by all the nobility; and when I chose to make +a little tour, I was attended by a party of guards. One +day, when I rode out, I was mounted on Paoli's own +horse, with rich furniture of crimson velvet and broad +gold lace, and had my guards marching along with me.” +His vanity so flattered, and with what he calls Attic evenings, +“<i>noctes, cœnæque Deûm</i>,” giving scope to his ruling +passion, James Boswell must have been in the seventh +heaven while Paoli's guest at Sollacaró.</p> + +<p>But the most amusing part of the affair is the efforts he +made to ingratiate himself with the lower classes of the +Corsicans, his admiration of whom is sometimes chequered +by a wholesome fear of their wild instincts. “I got a +Corsican dress made,” he says, “in which I walked about +with an air of true satisfaction. The general did me the +honour to present me with his own pistols, made in the +island, all of Corsican wood and iron, and of excellent +workmanship. I had every other accoutrement.<a name="FNanchor_38_38" id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> The +peasants and soldiers became quite free and easy with me. +One day, they would needs hear me play upon my German +flute. I gave them one or two Italian airs, and then some +of our beautiful old Scotch tunes—‘Gilderoy,’ ‘The Lass +of Patie's Mill,’ ‘Corn-riggs are bonny.’ The pathetic +simplicity and pastoral gaiety of the Scotch music will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[230]</a></span> +always please those who have the genuine feelings of nature. +The Corsicans were charmed with the specimens I +gave them.</p> + +<p>“My good friends insisted also on having an English +song from me. I endeavoured to please them in this, too, +and was very lucky in what occurred to me. I sung to +them ‘Hearts of oak are our ships; hearts of oak are our +men.’ I translated it into Italian for them; and never +did I see men so delighted with a song as the Corsicans +were with ‘Hearts of Oak.’ ‘<i>Cuore di querco</i>,’ cried they, +‘<i>bravo Inglese!</i>’ It was quite a joyous riot.”</p> + +<p>Boswell's correspondence during this tour is also characteristic. +He informs us that he walked one day to Corte, +from the convent where he lodged, purposely to write +a letter to Mr. Samuel Johnson.—“I told my revered +friend, that from a kind of superstition, agreeable in a +certain degree to him as well as to myself, I had, during +my travels, written to him from <span class="smcap">Loca Solemnia</span>, places in +some measure sacred. That, as I had written to him from +the tomb of Melancthon, sacred to learning and piety, I +now wrote to him from the palace of Pascal Paoli, sacred +to wisdom and liberty; knowing that, however his political +principles may have been represented, he had always a +generous zeal for the common rights of humanity.</p> + +<p>“Mr. Johnson was pleased with what I wrote here; for +I received, at Paris, an answer from him, which I keep as +a valuable charter. ‘When you return, you will return to +an unaltered and, I hope, unalterable friend. All that you +have to fear from me is the vexation of disappointing me. +No man loves to frustrate expectations which have been +formed in his favour, and the pleasure which I promise +myself from your journals and remarks is so great, that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[231]</a></span> +perhaps no degree of attention or discernment will be able +to afford it. Come home, however, and take your chance. +I long to see you and to hear you; and hope that we shall +not be so long separated again. Come home, and expect +such a welcome as is due to him whom a wise and noble +curiosity has led where, perhaps, no native of this country +ever was before.’”<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a><a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p> + +<p>We have a certain sympathy for Boswell. He was the +first Englishman on record who penetrated into Corsica, +and none but ourselves, as far as we have any account, +have followed his steps for nearly a century. Not to +weary the reader, we have done him injustice in only +making extracts from his work betraying the weak points +of his character; for his account of Corsica is valuable for +its research, its descriptions, and its history of the times. +His <i>memorabilia</i> of Pascal Paoli supply ample materials for +any modern Plutarch who would contrast his character +with that of his rival countryman, Napoleon Bonaparte. +Commencing their political career in unison, widely as it +diverged, both ended their lives in exile on British soil. +Though Paoli's sphere was narrow, so was that of some of +the greatest men in Grecian history; and, like theirs, it +had far extended relations. The eyes of Europe were upon +him; Corsica was then its battle-field, and the principles +of his conduct and administration are of universal application.</p> + +<p>But Sollacaró may have more interest for the public of +the present day from its connection with a romance of +Alexandre Dumas, and the play founded upon it, than +from Paoli's having held court, or Boswell's visit to him,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[232]</a></span> +there. We have traced the wizard's footsteps, in one +of his works of genius, at the Château d'If and Monte +Cristo<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a>, we meet them again in the wilds of Corsica. Few +of my readers can follow us there; but let them go to the +“Princess's” when “The Corsican Brothers” is performed, +and they will realise much that we have told them of the +Corsican temperament and Corsican life. How true to +nature is the reply of Fabian, in the first act, to the suggestion +of his friend, “Then you will never leave the +village of Sollacaró?”—“It seems strange to you that a +man should cling to such a miserable country as Corsica; +but what else can you expect? I am one of those plants +that will only live in the open air. I must breathe an +atmosphere impregnated with the life-giving emanations +of the mountains and the sharp breezes of the sea. I +must have my torrents to cross, my rocks to climb, my +forests to explore. I must have my carbine, room, independence, +and liberty. If I were transported into a city, +methinks I should be stifled, as if I were in a prison.”</p> + +<p>The scene of the first act is laid in an old mansion of the +Colonna's at Sollacaró, perhaps that in which Boswell +lodged. The action turns upon an antient feud between the +Orlandi and Colonne, which is with difficulty extinguished +by the intervention of Fabian, one of the Corsican brothers. +A short dialogue tells the story:—</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fabian.</span> ‘You come among us to witness a <i>vendetta</i>; +well! you will behold something much more rare—you +will be present at a reconciliation.’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alfred.</span> ‘A reconciliation?’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘Which will be no easy matter, I assure you, +considering the point to which things are come.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[233]</a></span>’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alf.</span> ‘And from what did this great quarrel originate, +which, thanks to you, is on the eve of being extinguished?’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘Why, I confess I feel some difficulty in telling +you that. The first cause was—’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alf.</span> ‘Was what?’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘The first cause was a hen.’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alf.</span> (<i>astonished</i>) ‘A hen!’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘Yes. About ten years ago, a hen escaped from +the poultry-yard of the Orlandi, and took refuge in that of +one of the Colonne. The Orlandi claimed the hen. The +Colonne maintained it was theirs. In the heat of the discussion, +an Orlando was imprudent enough to threaten +that he would summon the Colonne before the <i>Juge de +Paix</i>, and put them on their oath. At this menace, an +old woman of the Colonna family, who held the hen in +her hand, twisted its neck, and threw it in the face of the +mother of Orlando. “There,” said she, “if the hen be +thine, eat it!” Upon this, an Orlando picked up the +hen by the claws, and raised his hand, with the hen in it, +to strike her who had thrown it in the face of his mother; +but at the moment he lifted his hand, a Colonna, who unfortunately +had his loaded carbine with him, without hesitation, +fired, and shot him in the breast, and killed him.’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alf.</span> ‘Good heavens! And how many lives has this +ridiculous squabble cost?’<a name="FNanchor_41_41" id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[234]</a></span></p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘There have been nine persons killed and five +wounded.’</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[235]</a></span></p> +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alf.</span> ‘What! and all for a miserable hen?’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘Yes.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[236]</a></span>’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Alf.</span> ‘And it is, doubtless, in compliance with the +prayers of one of these two families that you have interfered +to terminate this quarrel?’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘Oh! not at all. They would have exterminated +one another to the very last man rather than have +made a single step towards each other. No, no; it is at +the entreaty of my brother.’” ...</p> + +<p>The action of this scene consists in the formal but unwilling +reconciliation of the two clans, represented by their +chiefs, in the presence of a <i>juge de paix</i>; in token of which +a hen was to be presented by the Orlando to the Colonna. +The situation affords scope for ludicrous disputes whether it +should be a white hen or a black one—dead or alive—which +should hold out his hand first, and so on; mixed with the +more serious question, whether they met on equal terms, +only four Orlandi having been slain against five Colonne, +but four Orlandi wounded to one Colonna—the Colonne +“counting the wounded for nothing,” if they did not die +of their wounds.</p> + +<p>The main plot is beside our purpose. The scene changes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[237]</a></span> +to Paris, and the catastrophe may be imagined from the +words of Fabian in the last act, which give, alas! too true +a picture of what the social state of Corsica was.</p> + +<p>“‘A Corsican family is the ancient hydra, one of whose +heads has no sooner been cut off than there springs forth +another, which bites and tears in the place of the one that +has been severed from the trunk. What is my will, sir? +My will is to kill him who has killed my brother!’</p> + +<p>“‘You are determined to kill me, sir! How?’</p> + +<p>“<span class="smcap">Fab.</span> ‘Oh, be satisfied! Not from behind a wall, not +through a hedge, as is the mode in my country, as is the +practice there; but, as it is done here, <i>à la mode Française</i>, +with a frilled shirt and white gloves;—and you see, sir, I +am in fighting costume.’”</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>But we must return to our Rambles, trusting to the indulgent +reader's forgiveness, if our pen sometimes rambles too. +On leaving Olmeto, the road skirts the Gulf of Valinco, +and, after touching the little port of Propriano, ascends to +Sartene. This town, the seat of one of the five <i>sous-préfettures</i> +into which the island is divided, stands on the +summit of a hill, the plain below being covered with olive-yards +and fruit-trees, with vineyards on the slopes, and +groves of ilex further up. The place has a melancholy +aspect, all the houses being of the rudest construction, +built of unhewn granite, black with age, and very lofty. +It is divided into two quarters; one inhabited by wealthy +families, among which, we were told, there are fifteen +worth 200,000 <i>francs</i> each; and the other by the lower +class of people, a turbulent race, between whom and the +patricians there have long been bloody feuds, breaking out +into open war.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[238]</a></span></p> + +<p>The country between Sartene and Bonifacio is wild and +mountainous; and the road winding along the sides of the +hills, many fine points of view are presented. To the +northward, the eye rested on the lofty peak of Monte +Incudine, and the long ridge of the Cascione, the high +pasturages of which are occupied during the summer +months by the shepherds of Quenza and other villages of +the Serra. Southward, we have the coast, deeply indented, +the blue Mediterranean, and, at about two hours from +Sartene, the distant mountains of Sardinia, in faint outline. +Now, there is in sight the grey tower of one of the +old feudal castles, overgrown with wood, and rising among +pinnacles of rock; vast forests clothe some of the mountain-sides, +and everywhere we find the arbutus, the myrtle, +and evergreen shrubbery. Here it contrasts well with the +red and grey rocks we see around. That reddish rock is a +compact granite, evidently admitting of a high polish. +There are quarries by the side of the road, which is cut +through it; and we are informed that it is sent to Rome +for works of art.</p> + +<p>Corsica is rich in valuable marbles, as yet turned to +little account. Not far from Olmeto, in this route, in the +canton of Santa Lucia, is found a beautiful granite, peculiar +to the island. They call it <i>orbicularis</i>. It has a blueish +cast, with white and black spots. I have observed it among +the choice specimens with which the chapel of the Medici, +at Florence, is so richly inlaid. The Corsican mountains +present a variety of other fine granites, with porphyry and +serpentine, in some of which agates and jaspers are incorporated. +Of marbles proper, there are quarries in the +island of a statuary marble, of a pure and dazzling whiteness, +said to be equal to the best Carrara. Blocks of it,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[239]</a></span> +from five to eight feet thick, can be obtained from a single +layer. Blueish-grey and pale yellow marbles are found +near Corte and Bastia. But of metalliferous rocks and +deposits the island cannot boast; a few iron mines, that of +Olmeta in particular, one of copper, another of antimony, +and one of manganese, form the scanty catalogue. It +is to the island of Elba that we must look for mineral +wealth.</p> + +<p>Connected with the mineralogy of Corsica, I would just +mention, in passing, that the island abounds in warm, sulphureous, +and chalybeate springs, some of them strongly +impregnated with carbonic acid gas. Those of Orezza, +Puzzichello, and the Fiumorbo, are in great repute; and I +collect from the <i>procès-verbals</i> of the Council-General, that +the mineral waters of Corsica are considered objects of +much importance, considerable sums being annually voted +for making baths, with roads to them, and encouraging +parties engaged in opening them to the public.</p> + +<p>Descending from the heights, after halting at a solitary +post-house, we cross a large tract of partially-cultivated +flats, through which the Ortolo flows sluggishly into the +Gulf of Roccapina. Again we climb a ridge, and the +mountains of Sardinia rise distinctly before us over the +straits and islands beneath us. The road now approaches +the Mediterranean, crossing the heads of the small Gulfs of +Figari and Ventiligni. Many streams flow into them +through a country uninhabited, and said to be unhealthy.</p> + +<p>Some miles succeed of the undulating shrubbery of the +<i>maquis</i>, over a poor and rugged surface, till we surmount +the last ridge, and, suddenly, Bonifacio appears across the +harbour, crowning a rocky peninsula rising boldly from +the sea, which washes almost the whole circuit of its base.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[240]</a></span> +The chalk cliffs are of a dazzling whiteness, and scooped +out by the action of the waves and the weather into the +most fantastic shapes. Their entire <i>enceinte</i> is surrounded +by fortifications, screening from sight most of the town; +the church domes, with watch-towers and a massive citadel, +alone breaking the picturesque outline. At the foot of +the road, along the harbour-side, lies the <i>Marino</i>, inhabited +by fishermen, and the seat of a small coasting trade +and some commerce across the straits with the island of +Sardinia.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/240.jpg" width="500" height="368" alt="BONIFACIO ON THE SEA-SIDE." +title="BONIFACIO ON THE SEA-SIDE." /> +<p class="caption">BONIFACIO ON THE SEA-SIDE.</p> +</div> + +<p>To this Marino we rumble down the steep bank on the +opposite side of the creek, through ilex woods festooned +with wild vines, and, lower down, through olive groves. +We travelled in the <i>coupé</i> of the <i>diligence</i> from Sartene +with a young Corsican officer in the French service, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[241]</a></span> +had come on leave from Dieppe to bid farewell to his +family at Bonifacio, expecting to be employed in the expedition +to the East. We talked of the coming war, with +an almost impregnable fortress before us, memorable for +its obstinate resistance to sieges, as remarkable in old times +as that in which both, probably, of my fellow-travellers +were, twelve months afterwards, engaged. On approaching +the place, we witnessed a scene which gave us some idea of +the warmth of family feeling among the Corsicans. At +the foot of the descent, a mile from the town, the <i>diligence</i> +suddenly stopped. By the road-side a group, of all ages +and both sexes, was waiting its arrival. What fond greetings! +what tender embraces! A young urchin seized his +brother's sword, almost as long as himself; the mother and +sisters clung to his side. Leaving him to walk to the town +thus happily escorted, we are set down on the quay. The +only access to the town itself is by a steep inclined plane, +with slopes and steps cut in the rock. No wheel carriage +ever enters the place. We pass under a gloomy arch in +the barbican, surmounted by a strong tower, and establish +ourselves in a very unpromising <i>locanda</i>, after vainly +searching for better quarters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[242]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXIV" id="CHAP_XXIV"></a>CHAP. XXIV.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Bonifacio.—Foundation and History.—Besieged by Alfonso +of Arragon.—By Dragut and the Turks.—Singularity of +the Place.—Its Mediæval Aspect.—The Post-office.—Passports.—Detention.—Marine +Grottoes.—Ruined Convent of +St. Julian.</i></p> + + +<p>Boniface, Marquis of Tuscany, one of the noblest and +bravest of Charlemagne's peers, was entrusted by his feeble +successor with the defence of the most salient point in the +southern frontier of his dominions against the incessant +ravages of the Saracen Corsairs from Barbary and Spain. +Created Count of Corsica, Boniface founded, in 830, the +strong fortress, on the southern extremity of the island, +which bears his name. A massive round tower, called <i>Il +Torrione</i>, the original citadel, still proudly crowns the +heights, having withstood for ages the storms of war and +the tempests which lash its exposed and sea-girt site. +Three other ancient towers, including the barbican already +mentioned, strengthened the position; and others, with +ramparts, curtains, and bastions, were added to the works +in succeeding times, till the whole circuit of the rocky +<i>plateau</i> bristles with defensive works. Within these the +town is closely packed in narrow streets;—but of that +hereafter.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/243.jpg" width="700" height="451" alt="BONIFACIO." title="BONIFACIO." /> +<p class="caption">BONIFACIO.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[243]</a></span></p> + +<p>Of its history it need only be mentioned, that after +passing to the Pisans, the Genoese got possession of the +place by a stratagem, and it remained for many centuries +under their protection, but enjoying great independent +privileges. Genoese families of distinction settled there, +and, during the wars with the Corsicans and their allies, +Bonifacio steadfastly adhered to the fortunes of the Republic.</p> + +<p>In the course of these wars, the place sustained two +sieges, so signalised by the vigour and obstinacy of the +attack and defence, especially by the heroic resistance of +the Bonifacians and the extremity of suffering they endured, +that these sieges are memorable amongst the most +famous of either ancient or modern times.</p> + +<p>In 1420, Alfonso of Arragon, having pretensions on Corsica, +invested Bonifacio by sea and land with a powerful +force, supported by his partisan, Vincintello d'Istria, at +the head of his Corsican vassals. The siege, which lasted +five months, was vigorously pressed on the part of the +Spaniards, and met by a defence equally determined. +Night and day, a terrible shower of stone balls and other +missiles was hurled at the walls and into the town by the +besiegers' engines, both from the fleet and the position +occupied by the king's army on a neighbouring hill. The +besiegers also threw arrows from the ships' towers and +round-tops, and leaden acorns from certain hand-bombards, +of cast metal, hollow, like a reed, as they are described by +the Corsican historian, these leaden acorns being propelled +by fire, and piercing through a man in armour. Artillery, +the great arm in modern sieges, thus helped to sweep the +ranks of the devoted Bonifacians. Seventy years before, +it had been employed, in a rude shape, by the English at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[244]</a></span> +the battle of Créci. The walls and towers crumbled under +the storm of heavier missiles discharged by the machines +of ancient warfare, and the houses were laid in ruins. +Twice, practicable breaches were effected, and the Spaniards, +bravely mounting to the assault, which lasted +several days, were repulsed with severe loss; the women of +Bonifacio, as well as the priests and monks, vyeing with the +townsmen in heroic courage while defending the breaches. +Then, both sexes and every age worked night and day in +throwing up barricades and repairing the walls.</p> + +<p>In the face of this obstinate defence, Alfonso, despairing +of being able to carry the place by assault, determined on +forcing the enemy to surrender from starvation, during a +protracted siege; and, still pouring missiles incessantly into +the place, he maintained a close blockade by sea and land, +drawing chains across the harbour to prevent supplies +being thrown in. The corn magazine had been burnt; +and the besieged, reduced to the last extremity, were compelled +to devour the most loathsome herbs and animals. +Many, wounded and helpless, would have been carried off +by hunger had not the compassion of the women afforded +them relief; for the kind-hearted women of Bonifacio, we +are told, actually offered their breasts to their brothers, +children, blood-relations, and sponsors; and there was no +one during the terrible siege of Bonifacio who had not +sucked the breast of a woman. They even, it is said, +made a cheese of their milk, and sent it to the king, as +well as threw bread from the walls, to disguise their state +of distress from the Spaniards.</p> + +<p>The republic of Genoa, receiving intelligence of the +extremity to which its faithful town was reduced, lost no +time in fitting out a fleet to convey to its aid a strong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[245]</a></span> +reinforcement, with supplies of arms and food; but the +season was so stormy that for three months, between September +and January (1421), the expedition was detained +in the harbour of Genoa.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the townsmen, almost in despair, listened to +the honourable terms offered by the King of Arragon, and +at last agreed to capitulate if no relief arrived within +forty days. But the king refusing to allow them to send +messengers to Genoa, they hastily built a small vessel, +and lowering it by ropes from the rock, then let down the +devoted crew, who, at every peril, were to convey the +magistrates' letters to the senate of Genoa. Followed to +the point of rock by multitudes of the citizens, the women, +it is said, by turns offered them their breasts: food there +was little or none to take with them.</p> + +<p>After fifteen days of terrible suspense, during which the +churches were open from early morning till late at night, +the people praying for deliverance from their enemies and +for forgiveness of their sins, and going in procession, barefoot, +though the winter was severe, from the cathedral of +St. Mary to St. Dominic and the other churches, chanting +litanies;—at last, when hopes were failing, the little vessel +crept under the rock by night, and the crew, giving the signal +and being drawn up by ropes, brought the joyful news to the +anxious crowd that the Genoese fleet was close at hand. +The period for the surrender was come, when sorrow was +turned to joy. The bells pealed, fire signals were lighted +on all the towers, and shouts of exultation rose to heaven. +The Arragonese thundered at the gates, demanding the +surrender, for the relieving fleet was not yet descried. The +Bonifacians asserted that relief had arrived in the night; +and, to countenance the assertion, there appeared bands of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[246]</a></span> +armed men, who marched round the battlements, with +glittering lances and armour, and the standard of Genoa +at their head; for the women of Bonifacio had put on +armour, so that, like the female peasantry of the coast of +Cardigan, in their red whittles, when the French landed +during the war of the revolution, the force opposed to the +enemy was apparently doubled or tripled.</p> + +<p>Alfonso of Arragon, seeing this, exclaimed, “Have the +Genoese wings, that they can come to Bonifacio when we +are keeping a strict blockade by land and by sea?” And +again he gave orders for the assault, and his engines shot +a storm of missiles against the place. Three days afterwards, +the relieving fleet anchored off the harbour, and +some brave Bonifacians, swimming off to the ships, horrified +the Genoese by their haggard and famine-worn +features. After a terrible fight, which lasted for seven +hours—ship jammed against ship in the narrow channel, +and the Bonifacians hurling firebrands, harpoons, and all +kinds of missiles on such of the enemy's ships as they +could reach from the walls and towers—the Genoese burst +the chain across the harbour, and unbounded was the joy +of the famished townsmen when seven ships, loaded with +corn, were safely moored along the Marino. Alfonso of +Arragon raised the siege, and, abandoning his enterprise in +deep mortification, sailed for Italy.</p> + +<p>The citizens of Bonifacio displayed equal heroism in +defence of their town in 1554. It was then the turn of +Henry IV. of France to invade Corsica. Invited by Sampiero +and the other patriot chiefs, the French troops, +acting in concert with the island militia, drove the Genoese +from all their positions except some fortified places on the +coast; while the Turks, the natural enemies of the republic,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[247]</a></span> +co-operating with the French, appeared off the island with +a powerful fleet, under the command of their admiral, +Dragut, and laid siege to Bonifacio.</p> + +<p>The defence offered by the townsmen was all the more +obstinate from their being inspired with the sentiment that +it was a religious duty to fight against the Infidel. Again +the women rushed to the ramparts, and fell gloriously in +the breach. The Turks had been repulsed with great +slaughter in repeated assaults, and Dragut had drawn off +his forces to some distance, disconcerted, and almost resolved +to raise the siege, when an unexpected occurrence +brought it to an end. An inhabitant of Bonifacio was +entrusted by the senate of Genoa to carry over a sum of +money, and announce the approach of succour to the besieged +town. Landing at Girolata, he was making his way +through the island, when, betrayed by one of his guides, +he was arrested, and brought to De Thermes, the French +general. Means were found of inducing the Genoese +emissary to betray his employers. He was instructed to +proceed to Bonifacio with Da Mare, a Corsican noble, and +engage the authorities to surrender, informing them that +the Genoese could afford them no relief.</p> + +<p>The stratagem succeeded. The letters of credence with +which the traitor had been furnished at Genoa satisfied the +commandant of the truth of his mission, and he consented +to deliver up the place to Da Mare, on condition that the +town should be saved from pillage, and the soldiers conducted +to Bastia, and embarked for Genoa. But when the +Turks saw those brave men, who had foiled all their +assaults by an obstinate defence, file out of the place, they +fell on them, and massacred them without mercy. Moreover, +Dragut demanded that Bonifacio should be put into<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[248]</a></span> +his hands, or that he should receive an indemnity of 25,000 +crowns. It was impossible to deliver up a town to be +sacked by the Turks, the inhabitants of which it was policy +to conciliate, nor could De Thermes provide the sum required. +He promised, however, speedy payment, and sent +his nephew to the Turks as an hostage. Dragut then +sailed for the Levant, in dudgeon with his allies, and disgusted +with an enterprise which had terminated so little to +his honour. Bonifacio, with the rest of Corsica, was soon +afterwards restored by the treaty of Château-Cambresis to +the Genoese, who repaired and considerably added to the +fortifications.</p> + +<p>One easily conceives that the rock fortress must have +been impregnable in ancient times, if bravely defended. +Even now it is a place of considerable strength, garrisoned +by the French, who have erected barracks and improved +the works. But the place still singularly preserves the +character of a fortified town of the Middle Ages. Nothing +seems changed except that French sentries pace the battlements +instead of Genoese. There are the old towers, walls, +churches, and houses;—the houses, tall and gloomy, many +of them having the arms of Genoese families carved in +stone over the portals. A network of narrow and irregular +streets spreads over the whole <i>plateau</i> within the +walls, which rise from the very edge of the cliffs. There is +not a yard of vacant space, except an esplanade and <i>place +d'armes</i>, where the promontory narrows at its southern +extremity. The only entrance is under the vaulted archway +of the barbican, still as jealously guarded as if Saracen, +Turk, or Spaniard threatened an attack. This tower commands +the approach from the Marino by the broad ramp, +a long inclined plane, at a sharp angle, the ascent of which,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[249]</a></span> +<i>en échelon</i>, by the troops of diminutive mules and asses +employed for conveying all articles necessary for subsistence +and use in the town, it was painful to witness. The +streets are as void of every kind of vehicle as those of +Venice, and almost as unsavoury as its canals. There is +scarcely room for two loaded mules to pass each other. +Every morning, nearly the whole population pours forth, +with their beasts of burthen, to their labour in the country, +there being no villages in the canton; returning to their +homes in the evening. They are an industrious race, +snatching their subsistence from a barren soil.</p> + +<p>Few strangers visit Bonifacio, and those who do must be +content with very indifferent accommodations. We were +lodged <i>au premier</i> of a gaunt <i>locanda</i>, our last resource, +after exploring the place for better quarters. Its best recommendation +was the zeal and kindness of the host; and +even the resources of his culinary skill, which, I believe, +could have produced a <i>ragout</i> from a piece of leather, failed +for want of materials on which to exercise it. The supplies +of flesh, fowl, and—strange to say—fish, were scanty +and bad. The French officers in garrison messed, <i>en pension</i>, +at our hotel, but their fare, limited by a close economy, +was not only meagre, but, with all the accompaniments of +the table, absolutely disgusting.</p> + +<p>To make matters worse, we were detained several days +beyond our allotted time in this ill-provisioned fortress by +an unexpected mischance. Armed with Foreign Office +passports, current at least through the friendly states of +France and Sardinia without the slightest hindrance, we +had taken the additional precaution of proposing to have +them <i>visé</i> by the French and Sardinian Legations in London, +that there might be no sort of obstacle to our crossing from<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[250]</a></span> +one of the two islands in our route to the other. The <i>visé</i> +was refused as perfectly unnecessary; and even at Ajaccio, +where we passed some hours at the <i>Préfeture</i>, our passports +were returned to us on mere inspection. Greatly, +however, to our mortification, we discovered, at Bonifacio, +that international conventions between friendly governments +had no force in this out-of-the-way corner of the +civilised world. We could not be allowed to embark for +Sardinia without authority from the Administration at +Ajaccio, which it would take at least forty-eight hours to +procure. All arguments were vain; the Foreign Office +passport could not be recognised; the orders were precise +for a strict <i>surveillance</i> of all persons endeavouring to +cross the Straits. As private individuals and English gentlemen, +we were on particularly pleasant terms with the +<i>maire</i> and his son; but, officially, such was their language, +they had nothing to show that we were not brigands meditating +escape. Officials generally, and foreign officials +especially, are not to be moved by any force of circumstances +from their regular track.</p> + +<p>Unwilling to submit, and anxious to get forward, we lost +twenty-four hours of precious time in vainly negotiating +with the master of a small vessel to smuggle us over. +He would be well paid, and we proposed going to some +unfrequented part of the coast, from whence he could take +us off. But, tempting as the offers were, after much deliberation, +they were rejected. Such things were common +a short time before, and hundreds of the banditti had been +ferried over to the coast of Sardinia; but now there was +a sharp look-out, and discovery would be ruin. Insignificant +as is the commerce of Bonifacio, it is well watched by +a staff of <i>douaniers</i>, consisting of a captain, four <i>sous-officiers</i>,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[251]</a></span> +and thirteen or fourteen <i>préposés</i>, <i>matelots</i>, &c., +besides <i>officiers de santé</i> and swarms of <i>gendarmes</i>. They +were everywhere: at our landing; while sketching; always +in pairs; and seeming to dodge our steps. Two presented +themselves while we were at supper the evening after +our arrival. The passports had been exhibited;—what +could they want with us? what offence had we committed? +Their business was with the innkeeper; he had omitted to +fix a lantern at his door! He hated the French like a +true Corsican. He would not pay even decent respect to +the officers, his guests, and boasted of starving them to +the last fraction his contract for the mess allowed; while +nothing was good enough for the Englishmen.</p> + +<p>Piétro was, indeed, a true Corsican; had killed his man, +given a <i>coup</i>, as he called it, to his enemy, was condemned +to death, but bought off. <i>Encore</i>; a man he had offended +came to his hotel, and called for food. They sat down to +table in company, Piétro observing that his enemy frequently +kept his hand on a side-pocket. After supper, the +man asked for a chamber to sleep. Piétro replied that +they were all occupied, but he might sleep with him. The +other was staggered at his coolness, and, hesitating to +comply, Piétro seized him, and finding a pistol secreted on +his person, doubled him up, and kicked him down stairs.</p> + +<p>Our host was not singular in his disaffection to the +French. The Bonifacians feel their thraldom more perhaps +than any other people in Corsica, overshadowed as their +small population is by a strong garrison and a host of +<i>douaniers</i> and <i>gendarmes</i>. Republican ideas prevail; and +they have not forgotten the days when their important town +was more an ally, than a dependance, of Genoa. Now, +from their small population, a single deputy represents<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[252]</a></span> +them in the departmental council, while Ajaccio sends +twenty-nine and Bastia twenty-five members. The Bonifacians +despise their masters. “The French are inconstant,” +said an inhabitant, high in office, with whom I +was talking politics; “they have <i>tant de petitesses</i>; they +have no national character: we have, and you;—our very +quarrels, which are deep and lasting, show it.”</p> + +<p>Everything is primitive in Bonifacio, except the emblems +of French domination. On the evening of our arrival, +having threaded my way alone with some difficulty through +a labyrinth of dark streets and lanes to the Post Office, I +found it closed; and there being no apparent means of +announcing my errand, was departing in despair, when +a neighbour good-humouredly cried out, “<i>Tirate la corda, +signore!</i>” After some search, for it was getting dark, I +discovered a string, running up the wall of the house to +the third story. Pulling it lustily, at last a window +opened, and an old woman put her head out, inquiring, in +a shrill voice, “<i>Que volete?</i>” Having made known my +wants, after some delay, steps were heard slowly descending +the stairs. Admitted at length into the <i>bureau</i>, the +old crone, spectacle on nose, proceeded very deliberately to +spell over, by a feeble lamplight, the addresses of a bundle +of letters taken from a shelf. The process was excruciating, +anxious as we were for news from home. She could make +nothing of my friend's truly Saxon name;—what foreign +official can ever decipher English names? Mine was more +pronounceable, and as I kept repeating both, she caught +that, and, incapable as I should have thought her of +making a pun, she exclaimed at last, in despair, “<i>Forestier, +ecco! sono tutti forestière</i>,” tossing me the whole bundle +to choose for myself. Happily, I was not disappointed.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[253]</a></span></p> + +<p>We shall not easily forget Bonifacio. Our detention +within the narrow bounds of the fortress-town afforded us +leisure to realise the scenes which the crowded <i>enceinte</i> +must have offered during its memorable sieges. The combined +effects, too, of loathsome smells—the filth of the +purlieus being indescribable—of bad diet, confinement, +and the irritation natural to Englishmen under detention, +brought on suddenly severe attacks of diarrhœa, though +we were both before in robust health. Our sufferings +shadowed out, however faintly, the miseries endured by a +crowded population during the sieges, and again when half +the inhabitants of Bonifacio became victims to the plague +in 1582—a scourge which then devastated Corsica and +parts of Italy.</p> + +<p>Gasping for pure air, we were forbidden by the everwatchful +<i>gendarmes</i> to walk on the town ramparts. From +early dawn till late evening, the eternal clang of hand cornmills +forbade repose in our <i>locanda</i>. The neighbouring +country has few attractions, even if we had been in a state +to profit by them. All interest is concentrated in the place +itself. Our steps were therefore especially attracted to the +open area forming +the southern +extremity of the +Cape, as already +mentioned. +There at least +we could breathe +the fresh air, look +down on the blue Mediterranean washing the base of the +chalk cliffs, far beneath, and trace the outline of the coast +of Sardinia across the Straits. The Gallura mountains<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[254]</a></span> +rose boldly on the horizon, and the low island of Madaléna, +our proposed landing-place, was distinctly visible. +It needed not that we should indulge imagination in picturing +to ourselves Castel Sardo, and other places along +the coast, which we hoped soon to visit. The esplanade +was generally solitary, and suited our musings. One +evening, the silence was broken by a melancholy chant +from the chapel of a ruined monastery within the guarded +<i>enceinte</i>. It was a service for the dead, at which a prostrate +crowd assisted in deep devotion. The sentries on the +walls rested on their arms, and we stood at the open door, +facing the western sky and the rolling waves, listening to +strains of wailing which would have suited the times of +the siege and the plague.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/254.jpg" width="350" height="150" alt="OUTLINE OF SARDINIA FROM BONIFACIO." +title="OUTLINE OF SARDINIA FROM BONIFACIO." /> +<p class="caption">OUTLINE OF SARDINIA FROM BONIFACIO.</p> +</div> + +<p>Nearer the town stands the old church of the Templars, +dedicated to St. Dominic, of fine Gothic architecture, full +of interest for its armorial and other memorials of the +knightly defenders of the faith, and of noble Genoese +families. Over the edge of the cliff towers the massive +<i>Torrione</i>, the original fortress of the Marquis Bonifacio, +consecrated in memory as long the bulwark of the island +against the incursions of Saracen corsairs. Here, is the +spot where the hastily-built galley, with its adventurous +crew, was lowered down the face of the cliff, to convey to +Genoa the intelligence of the extremity to which the citizens +of Bonifacio were reduced when besieged by Alfonso +of Arragon. There, is a ladder of rude steps, cut in the +chalk cliffs to the edge of the water, two hundred feet +beneath, the descent of which it made one dizzy to contemplate. +Perhaps, under cover of night, the now ruinous +steps have been boldly trodden in a sally for surprising the +enemy, or stealthily mounted by emissaries from without,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[255]</a></span> +conveying intelligence to the beleaguered party. Perhaps, +in the Genoese times, some Romeo and Juliet, of rival families, +found the means of elopement by this sequestered +staircase. One could imagine shrouded figures gliding +from the convent church close by—the perilous descent, +the light skiff tossing beneath, with its white sails a-peak, +waiting to bear off the lovers to freedom and bliss. For +what legends and tales of romance, real or imaginary, have +we materials here!</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/255.jpg" width="350" height="224" alt="CAVE UNDER BONIFACIO." +title="CAVE UNDER BONIFACIO." /> +<p class="caption">CAVE UNDER BONIFACIO.</p> +</div> + +<p>It is by sea only that one can escape from Bonifacio, except +by miles of dreary road. To the sea we looked for ours. +<i>En attendant</i>, we tried our wings to the utmost length of +the chain which bound us to the rock. Procuring a boat, +we pulled out of the harbour, and round the jutting points +crowned by the fortress, half inclined to pitch the <i>padrone</i> +overboard, and make a straight course for the opposite +coast of Sardinia. Not driven to that extremity, we +wiled away the time pleasantly enough in a visit to the +caverns worn by the sea in the chalk cliffs, which front +its surges. Some of these are exceedingly picturesque. +Their entrances +festooned +with hanging +boughs, they +penetrate far +into the interior +of the +rocks, and the +water percolating +through +their vaulted +roofs, has formed stalactites of fantastic shapes. The boat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[256]</a></span> +glides through the arched entrance, and we find ourselves +in the cool and grateful shade of these marine grottoes. +Fishes are flitting in the clear water; limpid streams +oozing through the rocks form fresh-water basins, with +pebbly bottoms; and the channels from the blue sea, flowing +over the chalk, become cerulean. These are, indeed, +the halls of Amphitrite, fitting baths of Thetis and her +nymphs. Poetic imagination has never pictured anything +more enchanting.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/256.jpg" width="500" height="308" alt="BONIFACIO FROM THE CONVENT IN THE VALLEY." +title="BONIFACIO FROM THE CONVENT IN THE VALLEY." /> +<p class="caption">BONIFACIO FROM THE CONVENT IN THE VALLEY.</p> +</div> + +<p>One afternoon, we walked a mile out of the town, up a +narrow valley in the limestone cliffs, to the ruined convent +of St. Julian. The bottom of the valley is laid out in +gardens, with cross walls, and channels for irrigation. +The gardens appeared neglected, but there were some +vines and fig-trees, pomegranates, and crops of a large-growing +kale. The ruins lie at the head of the glen, +facing Bonifacio and the sea; the walls of the convent +and church still standing, approached by a broad paved<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[257]</a></span> +way on a flight of marble steps. Seated on these, we +enjoyed at leisure a charming view.</p> + +<p>Vineyards and plots of cultivated land overspread the +slopes on either side of the valley. There were scattered +olive-trees, and bamboos waving in the wind. The old +convent walls, mantled with ivy, contrasted with a chapel +at the foot of the steps, having a handsome dome, covered +with bright glazed tiles of green, red, and black, and surmounted +by a cross—the only portion of the conventual +buildings still perfect. In the distance was the little landlocked +haven, with a brig and some small lateen-sailed +vessels moored alongside the Marino. Above it rose +the fortress-town, with its towers and battlements. The +sound of the church bells tolling for vespers rose, softened +by distance, up the valley. Ravens were croaking over the +ruins of the convent, and lizards frisking on the banks +and the marble steps on which we reposed. It was a fitting +spot for a Sunday afternoon's meditation—our last in +Corsica!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[258]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXV" id="CHAP_XXV"></a>CHAP. XXV.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><span class="smcap">Island of Sardinia.</span>—<i>Cross the Straits of Bonifacio.—The +Town and Harbour of La Madelena.—Agincourt Sound, the +Station of the British Fleet in 1803.—Anecdotes of Nelson.—Napoleon +Bonaparte repulsed at La Madelena.</i></p> + + +<p>Released, at length, from our irksome detention by the +return of the courier with the passports <i>visés</i> from Ajaccio, +and a boat we had hired, meanwhile, lying ready at the +Marino to carry us over to Sardinia, not a moment was +lost in getting under sail to cross the straits.</p> + +<p>The Bocche di Bonifacio were called by the Romans +<i>Fossa Fretum</i>, and by the Greeks <i>Tappros</i>, a trench, from +their dividing the islands of Corsica and Sardinia like a +ditch or dyke. These straits are considered dangerous by +navigators, from the violence of the squalls gushing suddenly +from the mountains and causing strong currents, +especially during the prevalence of winds from the north-west +during nine months of the year. Lord Nelson +describes them during one of these squalls as “looking +tremendous, from the number of rocks and the heavy seas +breaking over them.” In another letter he says, “We +worked the ‘Victory’ every foot of the way from Asinara +to this anchorage, [off La Madelena,] blowing hard from +Longo Sardo, under double-reefed topsails.” The difficulties<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[259]</a></span> +of the Bonifacio passage can hardly be understood +by a landsman who has not visited the straits, but they +are stated to have been so great, “and the ships to have +passed in so extraordinary a manner, that their captains +could only consider it as a providential interposition in +favour of the great officer who commanded them.”<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a></p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/259.jpg" width="350" height="180" alt="LOOKING BACK ON CORSICA." +title="LOOKING BACK ON CORSICA." /> +<p class="caption">LOOKING BACK ON CORSICA.</p> +</div> + +<p>It has been my fortune to pass these straits on three +several occasions when they were perfectly calm. During +the passage from Corsica in an open boat, which I am now +relating, there was so little wind that, with all the spread +of high-peaked sails a Mediterranean boat can carry, we +made but little +way, and the +surface was so +unruffled that +my friend was +able to sketch +at ease the outline +of the Corsican +mountains, +from which we were slowly receding. It was, however, +pleasurable to linger midway between the two islands, +retracing our route in the one by the lines of its mountain +ranges, and anticipating fresh delight in penetrating those +of the Gallura now in prospect. The appearance of a +French revenue cutter to windward tended to reconcile us +to the failure of our plan of getting smuggled across the +straits, which might have led to more serious consequences +than the detention we suffered.</p> + +<p>The coast line on both sides of the channel, as on all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[260]</a></span> +the shores of the two islands, is remarkably bold; and the +scene was diversified by the groups of rocky islets scattered +across the straits, and described in a former chapter +as the broken links of a chain which once united Corsica +with the mountain system of the north-east-portion of the +island of Sardinia. They are composed entirely of a fine-grained +red granite. In some of the islets lying nearest +the Corsican coast quarries were worked to supply blocks +and columns for the temples and palaces of imperial +Rome. Quarries of the same material were also worked +by the Romans, as we shall find presently, on the coast of +Sardinia, opposite these islands.</p> + +<p>With two exceptions, these “Intermediate Islands” are +uninhabited. They were considered of so little importance +that, till the middle of the last century, it was considered +a question which of them belonged to Sardinia +and which to Corsica. It was then easily settled by +drawing a visual line equidistant from Point Lo Sprono on +the latter, and Capo Falcone on the former; it being +agreed that all north of this line should belong to Corsica, +and all south of it to Sardinia.</p> + +<p>The distance between the two capes is about ten nautical +miles. To the westward of Capo Falcone lies the small +harbour of Longo Sardo, or Longone, the nearest landing-place +from Bonifacio, from which it has long carried on a +contraband trade; its proximity to Corsica also making it +the asylum of the outlaws exiled from that island. A +new town, called Villa Teresa, built on a more healthy +spot on the neighbouring heights, has received a considerable +access of population from the same source.</p> + +<p>The Capes Falcone, with La Marmorata close by, and +La Testa forming the north-west point of Sardinia, are all<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[261]</a></span> +of the same formation as the rocky islands in the straits +already mentioned, and, like them, this district furnished +the Romans with many of the granite columns which still +form magnificent ornaments of the Eternal City. Those +of the Pantheon are said to have been excavated near +Longone; and several similar ones, as well as rude blocks, +may still be seen in the quarries on the promontory of +Santa Reparata, near which the remains of some Roman +villas have also been discovered. In later days we find +the value of the Gallura granite appreciated by the Pisans. +Their Duomo, built by Buschetto in 1063, soon after their +possession of Sardinia, shows the beauty of the Marmorata +rocks; and the Battisterio, built in 1152 by Dioti Salvi, +has also much of Gallura material in its construction.</p> + +<p>La Madelena is the largest island in the Sardinian +group, and while Porto Longone is a poor place, the town +and harbour of La Madelena are much frequented in the +communications and trade between Corsica and Sardinia. +Our course therefore was shaped for the latter, though +twice the distance from shore to shore. The island of La +Madelena, the <i>Insula Ilva</i>, or <i>Phintonis</i>, of the Romans, is +about eleven miles in circumference. Till about a century +ago it was only inhabited or frequented by shepherds, natives +of Corsica, who led a nomad life, and by their constant +intercourse with Corsica and Sardinia, and by intermarriages +with natives of both, formed a mixed but distinct race, as +the Ilvese are still considered. The town of La Madelena +was only founded in 1767, some Corsican refugees being +among its first settlers; but from its fine harbour, the +healthiness of its site, and its convenience for commerce +with Italy, it rapidly became a place of considerable population +and trade.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[262]</a></span></p> + +<p>There are numerous channels and many sheltered bays +frequented by ships between the group of islands of which +La Madelena is the principal. Our own course from the +north-west led us through a strait between the main land +of Sardinia and the islands of Sparagi, Madelena, and Caprera, +which opened to view all the points of interest in +its most celebrated harbour. Right ahead, it was almost +closed by the little rocky islet of Santo Stefano, now +defended by a fort, and remarkable for having been the +scene of a severe repulse received by Napoleon at the +outset of his long successful career. A point to the south, +on the main land of Sardinia, marking the entrance of the +Gulf of Arsachena, is called the Capo dell'Orso, from a +mass of granite so exactly resembling the figure of a bear +recumbent on its hind legs, that it attracted the notice of +Ptolemy 1400 years ago. The island of Caprera, probably +deriving its name from the wild goats till lately its +sole inhabitants, presents a ridge of rugged mountains, +rising in the centre to a ridge called Tagiolona, upwards of +750 feet high, with some little sheltered bays, and a few +cultivated spots on its western side.</p> + +<p>Sheltered by Caprera, La Madelena, and Santo Stefano, +we find the fine anchorage of Mezzo Schifo; the town of +La Madelena, for which we are steering, lying about half +a mile south-west of the anchorage. This harbour, named +by Lord Nelson “Agincourt Sound,” was his head-quarters +while maintaining the blockade of Toulon, from 1803 to +1805. He formed the highest opinion of its position for a +naval station, as affording safe and sheltered anchorage, +and ingress and egress with any winds. His public and +private correspondence at that period shows the importance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[263]</a></span> +he attached to its possession, and his anxiety that it +should be secured permanently to the crown of England.</p> + +<p>“If we could possess the island of Sardinia,” he says, +in a letter to Lord Hobart, “we should want neither +Malta nor any other island in the Mediterranean. This, +which is the finest of them, possesses harbours fit for +arsenals, and of a capacity to hold our navy,—within +twenty-four hours' sail of Toulon,—bays to ride our fleets +in, and to watch both Italy and Toulon.” In another +letter, he says:—“What a noble harbour is formed by +these islands! The world cannot produce a finer. From +its position, it is worth fifty Maltas.” This opinion we +find repeated in a variety of forms, and with Nelson's +characteristic energy of expression.</p> + +<p>When at anchor in Agincourt Sound, he kept two or +three frigates constantly cruising between Toulon and the +Straits of Bonifacio, to signal any attempt of the enemy +to leave their port; occasionally cruising with his whole +fleet, and then retreating to head-quarters. His sudden +appearance and disappearance off Toulon, in one of these +exercises, with the hope of alluring the French to put to +sea, led their admiral, M. Latouche-Tréville, to make the +ludicrous boast, that he had chased the whole British +fleet, which fled before him. This bravado so irritated +Nelson, that it drew from him the well-known threat, +contained in a letter to his brother: “You will have seen +by Latouche's letter how he chased me, and how I ran. I +keep it; and, if I take him, by God, he shall eat it!”</p> + +<p>Our boatman pointed out to us the channel through +which Lord Nelson led his fleet when at length, after +more than two years' watching, the object of all his hopes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[264]</a></span> +and vows was accomplished by the French fleet putting to +sea. This, the eastern channel, of which the low isle of +Biscie forms the outer point, is the most dangerous of all, +from the sunken rocks which lie in the fairway, and its +little breadth of sea room. Yet Nelson beat through it in +a gale of wind, in the dusk of the evening, escaping these +dangers almost miraculously. Our sailor pointed out all +this with lively interest, for Nelson's name and heroic +deeds are still household words among the seafaring +people of La Madelena.</p> + +<p>It was on the 19th of January, 1805, that the look-out +frigate in the offing signalled to the admiral that the +French fleet had put to sea. At that season there was +much gaiety, in dances, private theatricals, and other +amusements, on board the different ships in the harbour, +and preparations for an evening's entertainment were +going on at the moment the stirring signal was discovered. +It was no sooner acknowledged on board the “Victory” +than the responding one appeared, “Weigh immediately!” +The scene of excitement and confusion ensuing the sudden +departure and interruption of festivities may be easily conceived. +It was a dark wintry evening; but the suddenness +of the order to get under way was equalled by the skill +and courage with which it was executed. The passage is +so narrow that only one ship could pass at a time, and +each was guided only by the stern lights of the preceding +vessel. At seven o'clock, the whole of the fleet was entirely +clear of the passage, and, bidding a long farewell to +La Madelena, they stood to the southward in pursuit of +the French fleet. The daring and determined spirit exhibited +by Nelson on this particular occasion was the subject +of especial eulogy in the House of Lords by his late Majesty,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[265]</a></span> +then Duke of Clarence; being cited as the greatest +instance of his unflinching courage and constant activity.</p> + +<p>Thus, as we have already found Corsica, we now see +Sardinia, witnessing some of the boldest achievements of +our great naval hero.</p> + +<p>Further interest attaches to La Madelena from its +having repulsed the attack of Napoleon, and driven him +to a precipitate retreat from his first field of arms. The +young soldier, after being for some months in garrison at +Bonifacio, was attached, by order of Paschal Paoli, to the +expedition which sailed from thence in February, 1793, to +reduce La Madelena. He acted as second in command of +the artillery, the whole force being under the command of +General Colonna-Cesari. A body of troops having effected +a lodgment on the island of Santo Stefano by night, and a +battery having been thrown up and armed, a heavy fire was +opened by Bonaparte on the town and its defences. They +were held by a garrison of 500 men, and the fire was +returned by the islanders with equal fury. The opposite +shore of Gallura was lined by its brave mountaineers, +who, on the French frigate being dismasted and bearing +up for the Gulf of Arsachena, embarked from Parao, and +attacked Santo Stefano. Their assault was so vigorous that +Bonaparte found himself compelled to make a precipitate +retreat from the island with a few of his followers, leaving +200 prisoners, with all the <i>matériel</i>, baggage, and artillery. +In passing between the other islands, the fugitives were +also attacked by some Gallurese, who, concealing themselves +near Capo della Caprera, by the precision of their +firing committed great havoc on the flying enemy.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tyndale states that many of the Corsicans and +Ilvese who witnessed this action, being still living when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[266]</a></span> +he visited La Madelena, and relating various circumstances +relative to it, he heard the following story from an old +veteran, who was an eyewitness of the fact:—</p> + +<p>“Bonaparte was superintending the firing from the +battery, and watching the effect of it with his telescope, +when observing the people at Madelena going to mass, he +exclaimed, ‘<i>Voglio tirare alla chiesa, per far fuggire le +donne!</i>’ (‘I should like to fire at the church, just to +frighten the women!’) While in garrison at Bonifacio, +as lieutenant [? captain] of artillery, he had mortar and +gun practice every morning, and had on all occasions +shown the greatest precision in firing. In this instance +he was no less successful, for the shell entered the church +window, and fell at the foot of the image of N.S. di Madelena. +It failed to burst in this presence, and this miraculous +instance of religious respect had its due weight +with the pious islanders, by whom it was taken up, and +for a long time preserved among the sacred curiosities of +the town. A natural cause was, however, soon discovered +for the harmlessness of the projectile. Napoleon continued +his firing; but finding that the shells took no effect, +though they fell on the very spot he intended, he examined +some of them, and found that they were filled with sand. +‘<i>Amici</i>,’ he exclaimed, burning with indignation; ‘<i>eccole +il tradimento</i>;’ and the troops, who had been suffering +much by the fire from Madelena, imagining that the +treason was on the part of General Cesari, would have +put him <i>alla lanterna</i>, had he not made his escape on +board the frigate.”</p> + +<p>It has, indeed, been said that Paoli, reluctantly obeying +the orders of the French Convention to undertake the +expedition against Sardinia, entrusted the command to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[267]</a></span> +Colonna-Cesari, his intimate friend, with instructions to +secure its failure, considering Sardinia as the natural ally +of their own island. However this may be, the affair terminated +by the retreat of the general with the rest of his +force, having thrown from Santo Stefano 500 shells and +5000 round shot into Madelena, without much effect.</p> + +<p>We found in the harbour a Sardinian steam-ship of war<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a><a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>, +and ten or twelve vessels of very small tonnage, engaged +in the trade with Corsica, Leghorn, and Marseilles. About +twenty of this class belong to the port; besides which it is +frequented annually by from 200 to 300 other small vessels, +principally Genoese, their united tonnage amounting +to about 5000 tons. Besides this legitimate commerce, +the Ilvese carry on a prosperous contraband trade, taking +advantage of the numerous little creeks and bays along +the rocky coasts of the island. They are naturally a seafaring +people, while the Sardes manifest a decided repugnance +to engage in seafaring pursuits. The quays round +the port of Madelena are spacious, and the town, straggling<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[268]</a></span> +up the side of a hill, has a neat appearance, is said +to be healthy, and is cleaner than any Sardinian town we +saw.</p> + +<p>There are tolerable accommodations at Santa's Hotel. +The reception of foreign guests is however, I imagine, a +rare occurrence, and the means of supplying the table +from the resources of the island appeared scanty; so that +we should have fared ill but for the kindness of an English +officer long settled at Madelena, who sent some substantial +contributions to our comforts, in addition to his +own hospitality. The name of Captain Roberts, <span class="smcap">R.N.</span>, is so +well known to all visitors, as well as among the Sardes, +that it is public property, and I may be allowed to bear +testimony to the high esteem in which the hearty and +genial old sailor is generally held. His loss would occasion +a blank at Madelena not easily filled up; and I was +happy to hear on my last visit to Sardinia that his health +had improved.</p> + +<p>More English, I believe, are settled in the neighbourhood +of La Madelena than in the whole island of Sardinia; +if, indeed, there are any to be found, we did not hear of +them. The English visitors consist principally of officers +on shooting excursions from Malta. We had a very pleasant +walk along the shore to the villa of an Australian +colonist who, after wandering about the world, had, seemingly +to his content, settled down on a small farm on the +slopes of a valley a mile or two from the town. A man +fond of cultivation might be very happy here, with such a +climate, and the means of commanding a profusion of +vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Irrigation was effected +from a well provided with the simple machinery for lifting +the water common in such countries, and by its aid the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[269]</a></span> +gardens just seeded and planted for the spring, or rather +winter, crops, so early is vegetation, looked greener and +fresher than anything we had seen for a long time. The +cauliflowers and peas were already making forward progress; +the latter, indeed, grow wild in this neighbourhood. +But while these carried us in imagination to the latter +days of an English spring, the hedges of prickly pear bore +witness to the arid nature of the soil and the heat of the +climate; of that, indeed, we were very sensible in our +walks, though the month of November had now commenced.</p> + +<p>A cottage occupied, it was said, by an English botanist +was pointed out to us; and an English family has been +settled for some time in the solitude of the island of +Caprera, of whose improvements great things were said. +Every one spoke especially of Mrs. C.'s beautiful flower +garden, and an anecdote was told respecting it, characteristic, +I think, rather of Sarde than of English feeling. On +some occasion when the king visited La Madelena, Mrs. C. +having been requested to contribute flowers to the decorations +of the festa in preparation to do honour to the +royal visit, she is said to have replied: “I cultivate my +flowers for my own pleasure—<i>pour m'amuser</i>—not to +ingratiate myself with a court. If his majesty desires to +see them, he must come to Caprera.” I cannot vouch for +the truth of the story, though it was in every one's mouth. +What amused me was, that the islanders considered this +as evincing a truly English spirit of independence, which +they heartily approved.</p> + +<p>The principal church of La Madelena, dedicated to St. +Mary Magdalene, is a neat structure of granite and marble. +Its decorations are less gaudy than those one usually sees,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[270]</a></span> +the most valued ornaments being a pair of massive altar +candlesticks and a crucifix, all of silver, the gift of Lord +Nelson, in acknowledgment of the kindness and hospitality +he received from the islanders while his fleet lay in the +harbour. On the base of the candlesticks are enchased +the arms of Nelson and Brontë, with this inscription:</p> + +<p class="center"> +VICE COMES<br /> +NELSON NILI<br /> +DUX BRONTIS ECC<sup>E.</sup><br /> +ST<sup>E.</sup> MAGDAL<sup>E.</sup> INS<sup>E.</sup><br /> +ST<sup>E.</sup> MAGDAL<sup>E.</sup><br /> +D.D.D. +</p> + +<p>It is said that when the town publicly thanked Lord +Nelson for the donation, he replied: “These little ornaments +are nothing; wait till I catch the French outside +their port. If they will but come out, I am sure to capture +them; and I promise to give you the value of one of their +frigates to build a church with. I have only to ask you +to pray to La Santissima Madonna that the French fleet +may come out of Toulon. Do you pray to her for that, +and as for capturing them, I will undertake to do all the +rest.”</p> + +<p>We landed at La Madelena on the anniversary of the +day when Nelson first anchored his fleet off the town just +fifty years before. As we trace his career among the +Mediterranean islands, recollections of those eventful +times crowd on our memories. In the half century that +has intervened, how has the aspect of affairs changed!</p> + +<p>It was the eve of the feast of All Saints (1st Nov.), +devoutly observed, with that of All Souls on the day following, +in all Catholic countries. From daylight till ten +at night the bells of St. Magdalene incessantly clanged,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[271]</a></span> +and the church was thronged with successive crowds, +absorbed in pious and affectionate devotion to the memories +of their departed friends, according to the rites of the +Roman Church. How thrilling are the deep tones of the +<i>De Profundis</i> from the compositions of a good musical +school! And what observance can be more touching than +this periodical commemoration of the dead? There is +none that more harmonises with the best feelings of our +nature; and yet of all the dogmas rejected by ecclesiastical +reforms, I know of none which has less pretensions +to Scriptural authority or has been more mischievous, +corrupting alike the priesthood and the laity, than that +which makes the masses and prayers incident to the commemoration +of the dead propitiatory for sins committed in +the flesh.</p> + +<p>The solemn festival brought out all the women of La +Madelena, never perhaps seen to more advantage than in +a costume of black silk, suited to the solemnity, with the +Genoese mantle of white transparent muslin attached to +the back of the head, and falling gracefully over the +shoulders.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[272]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXVI" id="CHAP_XXVI"></a>CHAP. XXVI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Ferried over to the Main Island.—Start for the Mountain +Passes of the Gallura.—Sarde Horses and Cavallante.—Valley +of the Liscia.—Pass some Holy Places on the Hills.—Festivals +held there.—Usages of the Sardes indicating +their Eastern Origin.</i></p> + + +<p>The halt at La Madelena was only a step in our route to +the main island. We had still to cross a broad channel, +and landing at Parao, on the Sardinian shore, horses were +to be waiting for us. This arrangement, kindly made by +Captain Roberts, required a day's delay. We were to +proceed to Tempio, in the heart of the Gallura Mountains, +under guidance of the courier in charge of the post +letters.</p> + +<p>Ferried across the channel in less than an hour, we +found the horses tethered among the bushes. House there +was none, which must be inconvenient when the weather +is too tempestuous for crossing the strait from Parao. We +took shelter from the heat under a rook, making studies of +a group of picturesque shepherds, and amusing ourselves +with some luscious grapes,—baskets of which were waiting +for the return of the passage-boat to La Madelena,—while +a pack-horse was loaded with our baggage.</p> + +<p>The outfit for this expedition was more than usually +cumbersome, as it comprised blankets and other appendages<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[273]</a></span> +for camping out, if occasion required. The cavallante, +however, made nothing of stowing it away, cleverly +thrusting bag and baggage into the capacious leather +pouches which hung balanced on each side of the stout +beast, with a portmanteau across the pack-saddle. When +all was done, the cavallante mounted to the top of the +load, where he perched himself like an Arab on a dromedary.</p> + +<p>The cavallo Sardo <i>par excellence</i>, such as the higher +classes ride, is a strong spirited barb, highly valued. These +horses are carefully broken to a peculiar step, called the +“portante,” something between an amble and a trot, for +which we have neither a corresponding word or pace. I +cannot say that I admired the pace. It only makes +four or five miles an hour, and, to my apprehension, +might be described as a shuffle, not being so easy as a +canter, nor having the invigorating swing of a trot. The +natives, however, consider the movement delightful; and +a writer on Sardinia says: “<i>Il viaggiare in Sardegna è +perciò la più dolce cosa del mondo; l'antipongo all'andare +in barca col vento in poppa</i>”—“The travelling in Sardinia +is, on this account, one of the pleasantest things in the +world; I prefer it to sailing in a vessel with the wind +astern.”</p> + +<p>The ordinary Sarde horse is a hardy, sure-footed animal, +undersized, but capable of carrying heavy burthens. Great +numbers of them are kept, as the poorest native disdains +walking. They are ill fed, and have rough treatment. As +pack-horses they convey all the commodities of home produce, +or imported and interchanged, throughout the interior +of the island, there being scarcely any roads, and consequently +no wheel-carriages employed, except on the Strada<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[274]</a></span> +Reale, through the level plains of the Campidano, between +Cagliari and Porto Torres.</p> + +<p>The <i>viandanti</i> who conduct this traffic are a numerous +and hardy class of people, much enduring in the long and +toilsome journeys through such a country as their vocation +requires them to traverse. We found them civil, patient, +and attentive, but hard at a bargain,—so that this mode of +travelling is more expensive than might be expected,—and +occasionally rather independent. A curious instance of +this occurred at Tempio. We had made a bargain, on his +own terms, with one of these people, for horses to proceed +on our route, and they were brought to the door ready for +loading up and mounting, when the cavallante refused to +allow our using our English saddles. Not wishing to lose +time, we took considerable pains to point out that the +saddles being well padded would not wring his horses' +backs, conceiving that to be what he apprehended. But +it was to no purpose; there seemed to be no other reason +for the scruple than that a Sarde horse must be caparisoned +<i>à la Sarde</i>, with high-peaked saddle and velvet housings. +The cavallante, persisting, led his horses back to the stable, +losing a profitable engagement rather than being willing +to submit to their being equipped in a foreign fashion. +After a short delay we procured others from a cavallante +who made no such difficulties, and proved a very serviceable +and attentive conductor.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/274.jpg" width="700" height="477" alt="VALLEY OF THE LISCIA." +title="VALLEY OF THE LISCIA." /> +<p class="caption">VALLEY OF THE LISCIA.</p> +</div> + +<p>After leaving Parao, and calling at a solitary <i>stazza</i> or +farm, the track we pursued led through a wide plain +watered by the Liscia. The river made many windings +among meadows clothed with luxuriant herbage, and fed +by numerous herds of cattle, and sheep, and goats; forming +a pastoral scene of singular beauty, of which my companion's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[275]</a></span> +sketch, here annexed, conveys a good idea. The +valley is bounded by ridges of no great elevation, partially +covered with a shrubbery of myrtle, cistus, and other such +underwood, among rocks and cliffs worn by the waters +into fantastic shapes. We occasionally crossed spurs of +these ridges, commanding extensive views of the Straits of +Bonifacio, with the mountains of Corsica in the distance +on the one hand, and the nearer island of Madelena on the +other.</p> + +<p>Nearly all the province of Gallura, washed by the +Mediterranean on three sides, consists of mountainous +tracts, with valleys intervening, similar to this of the Liscia. +There is scarcely any cultivation, and they are uninhabited; +almost all the towns and villages of the Capo di Sopra +lying on the coast. On these plains a few shepherds lead +a nomad life during the healthy season, being driven from +them by the deadly <i>intempérie</i> prevailing in summer and +autumn. Until lately, the whole district was notorious for +the crimes of robbery and vindictive murder, for the perpetration +of which, and the security of the offenders, its +solitudes and natural fastnesses afforded the greatest +facilities.</p> + +<p>Continuing our route we crossed some park-like glades, +with scattered forest trees, and fringed by the graceful +shrubbery, the <i>macchia</i>, common to both the islands of +Corsica and Sardinia. At some distance on our left (south-east) +appeared a beautifully wooded hill, with a chapel on +the summit, Santa Maria di Arsachena, one of the sanctuaries +held in great veneration by the Gallurese. To these +holy places they flock in great numbers on certain festivals, +when the lonely spots, often hill-tops, surrounded by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[276]</a></span> +most wild and romantic scenery, witness devotions and +festivities, to which the revels form the chief allurement.</p> + +<p>There is a still holier place further to the south of our +track, the Monte Santo, and I think its lofty summit, with +a small chapel scarcely visible amid the dark verdure of +the surrounding woods, was pointed out to us. It overhangs +the village of Logo Santo, well described as the +“Mecca of the Gallurese.” The sanctity of the place was +established in the thirteenth century, the tradition being +that the relics of St. Nicholas and St. Trano, anchorites +and martyrs here <span class="smcap">a.d.</span> 362, were discovered on the spot by +two Franciscan monks, led to Sardinia by a vision of the +Virgin Mary at Jerusalem. A village grew up round the +three churches then erected in honour of the Saints and +the Blessed Virgin, with a Franciscan convent, long +stripped of its endowments, and fallen to ruin.</p> + +<p>On the occurrence of the festivals celebrated at these +holy places, the people of the neighbouring parishes assemble +in multitudes, marching in procession, with their +banners at their head; and the sacred flag of Tempio, surmounted +by a silver cross, is brought by the canons of the +cathedral and planted on the spot. The devotions are +accompanied by feasting, dancing, music, and sports, the +people prolonging the revels into the night, as many of +them come from far, and the festivals occupy more than +one day.</p> + +<p>That Christian rites were, from very early times, blended +with festivities accordant to the national habits of the new +converts, with even some alloy of pagan usages, is understood +to have been a policy adopted by the founders of the +faith among semi-barbarous nations—a concession to the +weakness of their neophytes. Our own village wakes and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[277]</a></span> +fairs, with their green boughs and flags, cakes and ale, +originally held in the precincts of the church on the feast-day +of the patron saint, partook of a similar character as +the festivals of the Gallurese; but with us the religious +element has been long extinct.</p> + +<p>The festivals are not confined to the Gallura; they have +their stations throughout the island, every district having +some shrine of peculiar sanctity. Their celebration is +distinguished by some peculiarities, which, in common +with many other customs of the Sardes, and numerous +existing monuments and remains, leave no doubt of Sardinia +having been early colonised from the East. Traces +may also be found in the customs of the Sardes of similarity +with the Greek life and manners, derived indeed by +the Greeks from the same common source.</p> + +<p>Thus the usages of the Sardes afford, in a variety of +instances, a living commentary, perhaps the best still +existing, on the modes of life and thought recorded in +Homer and the Bible. This they owe to their insular +position, their slight admixture with other races, and the +consequent tenacity with which they have adhered to their +primitive traditions.</p> + +<p>Of some of these indications of origin we may take +occasion to treat hereafter, as they fall in our way. For +our present purpose may we not refer to the worship in +“high places” and in “groves,” to which the Sardes are so +zealously addicted, as a relic of practices often denounced +in the Old Testament, when the sacrifice was offered to +idols? They appear also to have been common and legitimate +in the patriarchal age and the earlier times of the Israelitish +commonwealth, Jehovah alone being the object of worship.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[278]</a></span> +What more biblical, as far as the Old Testament is concerned, +than the idea that worship and prayer are more +acceptable to the Almighty when offered on certain spots, +holy ground, remote, perhaps, from the usual haunts of +the worshipper! What a living picture we have in the +festivities of the religious assemblies at Logo Santo and +Santa Maria di Arsachena, of the feasting and music, the +songs and dances accompanying the rites of Israelitish +worship in common with those of other eastern nations; +not to speak of the festive character of Greek solemnities, +derived, indeed, from the same source, vestiges of which, +left by the Hellenic colonies, may also be traced.</p> + +<p>However contrary these ideas and practices may be to the +spirit and precepts of the Gospel, they are so inherent in +the genius and traditions of the Sarde people, that I have +heard it asserted that these festas give, at the present day, +almost the only vitality to the ecclesiastical system established +in the island. Their religious character has almost +entirely evaporated, though the forms remain. The +“solemn meetings,” instead of merely ending in innocent +merriment, have degenerated into scenes of riot, and often +of bloodshed.</p> + +<p>I was informed by the same person who made the +remark that the festas were the main prop of the priesthood +in Sardinia—and a more competent observer could +not be found—that, from his own observation, men of the +most sober habits of life lost all command of themselves, +became absolutely frantic when tempted by the force of +example, and led by what may be called an instinctive +national passion to participate in these religious orgies. +And Captain Smyth, <span class="smcap">r.n.</span>, who gives an interesting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[279]</a></span> +account of one of these feasts, at which he was present<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a>, +after mentioning that “prayers, dances, poems, dinner, +and supper concluded [occupied] the day,” remarks, “that +the feast of Santa Maria di Arsachena has seldom been +celebrated without the sacrifice of three or four lives.” “The +year preceding my visit,” he states, “two of the carabiniere +reale had been killed; and I was shown a young +man who, on the same occasion, received a ball through +the breast, but having thus satisfied his foe according to +the Sarde code of honour, and fortunately recovering, was, +with his wife and a beautiful child, now enjoying the +gaieties of the day.”</p> + +<p>Captain Smyth adds:—“I could not learn why there +were no carabineers in attendance on this anniversary; +but the consequence was a numerous concourse of banditti +from the circumjacent fastnesses, notwithstanding the +presence of a great many ‘barancelli,’<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> who, it is known, +will not arrest a man that is only an assassin.”</p> + +<p>The themes suggested by wayside objects have led us +away from our track, and we have still a long and rugged +road to Tempio. We shall be in the saddle for hours after +sunset. Let us devote another chapter to the continuation +of our journey.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[280]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXVII" id="CHAP_XXVII"></a>CHAP. XXVII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>The Valley narrows.—Romantic Glen.—Al fresco Meal.—Forest +of Cork Trees.—Salvator Rosa Scenery.—Haunts +of Outlaws.—Their Atrocities.—Anecdotes of them in a better +Spirit.—The Defile in the Mountains—Elevated Plateau.—A +Night March.—Arrival at Tempio, the Capital of +Gallura.—Our Reception.</i></p> + + +<p>After following the course of the Liscia for about an +hour, we struck up a lateral valley, the water of which +stood in pools, separated by pebbly shallows, but overhung +by drooping willows, and fringed with a luxuriant +growth of ferns and rank weeds. The hills were covered +with dense woods, intersected by rare clearings and inclosures +on their slopes. Here and there stood a solitary +<i>stazza</i>, as the stations or homesteads of the few resident +farmers are here called. We observed that they were +generally fixed on rising ground. At some of these the +courier stopped, his errands consisting not in the delivery +of letters, that office appearing to be a sinecure in this +wild track, but in leaving packets of coffee, sugar, &c., +and, in one instance, a cotton dress,—commodities none +of which had probably been taxed to the Customs at +La Madelena.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[281]</a></span></p> + +<p>The valley narrowed, and its water quickened into a +lively trout stream, gurgling over a rocky bed, bordered +on one side by thick underwood, feathering down to its +edge. The myrtles here were thirty feet high, and, +blended with the tall heath (Erica arborea), the branching +arbutus, the cistus, lentiscus, with scores of other shrubs, +formed thickets of as exquisite beauty as any we had seen +in Corsica. The stream on its hither bank washed a narrow +margin of grass beneath the woods. Here we rested our +horses and dined. Wayfarers in such countries generally +select the right spot for their halt. This was a delightful +one, and we fared well enough on the contents of a basket +provided at La Madelena. Such rough <i>al fresco</i> meals, +the uncertainty when you will get another, even when +and where your ride will end, the living in the present, +with fresh air and sunshine, and perpetual though +gradual change of scene, with the absence of all care +about the future—these form the charms of such travelling +as ours.</p> + +<p>Again in the saddle, we soon afterwards entered a forest +of magnificent cork trees, festooned with wild vines, +relieving the sombre tints of the forest by the bright +colours of their fading leaves. It hung on a mountain's +side, and the gloomy depth of shade became deeper and +deeper, as, after a while, the dusk of evening came on, +and we began to thread the gorges which led to the summit +of the pass.</p> + +<p>Salvator Rosa himself might have studied the wild +scenery of Sardinia to advantage. If I recollect right, we +are informed that he did. Nor would it require much +effort of the imagination to add life to the picture in forms<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[282]</a></span> +suited to its savage aspect,—to conjure up the grim +bandit bursting from the thickets on his prey, or lurking +behind the rock for the hour of vengeance on his enemy. +Such scenes are by no means imaginary.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/282.jpg" width="500" height="390" alt="A SALVATOR ROSA SCENE." +title="A SALVATOR ROSA SCENE." /> +<p class="caption">A SALVATOR ROSA SCENE.</p> +</div> + +<p>Even now, numbers of the <i>fuorusciti</i> find shelter in the +fastnesses of the Gallura; the remnant of bands once so +formidable that they spread terror through the whole province, +bidding defiance alike to the law and the sword. +Only within the present century the government has succeeded +in quelling their ferocity, but not without desperate +resistance to the troops employed, eighty of whom were +destroyed by a party of the bandits in a single attack.</p> + +<p>Still, though a better spirit begins to prevail, and outrages +have become less common and flagrant, we found, +in travelling through the island, a prevailing sense of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[283]</a></span> +insecurity quite incompatible with our ideas of the +supremacy of law under a well-ordered government. Some +of the mountainous districts were in so disturbed a state +that we were cautioned not to approach them; and every +one we met throughout our journey was armed to the teeth.</p> + +<p>For ourselves, we felt no apprehensions, and took no +precautions. In the first place, we were not to be easily +frightened by possible dangers; and, in the second, we +knew that a peaceable guise, in the character of foreign +travellers, was our best protection. The violences of the +<i>fuorusciti</i> are, it is well understood, mingled and tempered +with a strong sense of honour. I imagine, indeed, that +they originate for the most part in that principle, developed +in <i>vendetta</i>, though degenerating into rapine and +robbery. Outlaws must find means of subsistence as well +as honest men, and are not likely to be very scrupulous as +to the mode of obtaining them. Among such characters +there will be miscreants capable of any crime, and therefore +there is always danger. But, still, the virtue of +hospitality to strangers, so inherent amongst the Sardes, as +in most semi-barbarous races, is not extinguished in hearts +which are hardened against every other feeling of humanity. +As the stranger is secure when he has “eaten salt” in the +tent of the Bedouin, the Caffre's kraal, or the wigwam of +the Red Indian, so there are numerous instances of the +Sarde outlaws having afforded shelter and assistance to +strangers throwing themselves on their honour and hospitality. +Mr. Warre Tyndale relates such an adventure by +a friend of his. We will venture to give the details.</p> + +<p>“In passing over the mountains from Tempio to Longone +he fell in with five or six <i>fuorusciti</i>, who, after the +usual questions, finding that he was a stranger in the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[284]</a></span> +country, offered to escort him a few miles on his road, for +‘security.’ According to his story of the occurrence, he +could not at all comprehend the meaning of their expression; +for the fact of finding himself completely at the +mercy of six men, any one of whom might, could, or would +in an instant have deprived him of life, gave him very +different ideas as to the meaning of the word. In thanking +them for their offer he elicited their interpretation of the +phrase, and was not a little amused and comforted by +their assurance that the proffered security consisted in +delivering him safely into the hands of the very party with +whom they were waging deadly warfare. ‘<i>Incidit in +Scyllam qui vult vitare Charybdim</i>,’ thought my friend; +but having no alternative he accepted their offer, and, +after partaking of an excellent breakfast with them, they +all proceeded onwards. For three hours they continued +their slow and cautious march through defiles to which he +was a perfect stranger; and while in conversation with +them on matters totally unconnected with the dangers of +the place, they made a sudden and simultaneous halt. +Closing in together, a whispering conference ensued among +them, and as my friend was excluded from it, he began to +suspect he had been ensnared by the offer of escort, and +that the fatal moment had arrived when he was to fall +their dupe and victim. His suspicions were increased by +seeing one of the party ride forward, and leave his companions +in still closer confabulation; but the suspense, +though painful, was short, for in a few minutes the envoy +returned, and an explanation of their mysterious halt and +secrecy took place. It appeared that the keen eyes and +ears of his friends had perceived their foes, who were concealed +in the adjoining wood, and that, having halted, one<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[285]</a></span> +of them had gone as ambassador with a flag of truce and +negotiated an armistice for his safe escort. My friend +parted from his first guard of banditti with all their blessings +on his head, and having traversed a space of neutral +ground, was received by the second with no less kindness, +and treated with no less honourable protection. They +accompanied him till he was safely out of their district, +assuring him that his accidental arrival and demand on +their mutual honour and hospitality did not at all interfere +with their dispute and revenge; and that if they were +to meet each other the day after they had discharged the +duty of safely escorting him, they would not be deterred +by what had happened from instantaneously shedding each +others' blood.</p> + +<p>“This scene,” adds Mr. Warre Tyndale<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a>, “took place in +the forest of Cinque-Denti, or ‘five-teeth,’ a tract of several +miles in extent, said to contain upwards of 100,000,000 +trees and shrubs, principally oak, ilex, and cork, with an +underwood of arbutus and lentiscus; and such is the thickness +of the foliage, that the sunbeams and the foot of man +are said never to have entered many parts of it.”</p> + +<p>Another instance of the honourable feeling and forbearance +hospitably shown by the Sarde mountaineer outlaws, +under circumstances of great temptation to plunder, was +related to me by a friend long resident in the island, as +having occurred in his own experience.</p> + +<p>Not many years ago, he was passing through the wild +district in the defiles of which we have just described ourselves +as being engaged. My friend had a considerable +sum of money in his possession, more, he remarked, than he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[286]</a></span> +should have liked to lose. “<i>Cantabit vacuus coram latrone +viator</i>”—“A traveller who meets robbers with his purse +empty may hope to escape scot free.” That was not my +friend's case when he fell in with a party of outlaws armed +to the teeth. The rencontre was not very pleasant, but +putting the best face on it, he replied to their inquiries +“whither he was bent,” that he was in search of <i>them</i>; +knowing that they were in the neighbourhood, and would +give him shelter, as night was approaching, and on the +morrow put him on his way, which he had lost. This +appeal to their best feelings had the desired effect. Pleased +with my friend's assurance of the confidence he placed in +them, the outlaws conducted him to their place of refuge, +treated him with the best they had, and, next morning, +escorted him to the high-road, where they parted from +him with good wishes for the prosecution of his journey. +“These men must have known,” said my friend, “from +the weight of my valise, which they handled, that I had a +large sum of money with me. It was no less than 600<i>l.</i>” +The weight of such an amount of <i>scudi</i> could not have +escaped their notice.</p> + +<p>Pages might be filled with tales of the secret assassinations +and wholesale butcheries perpetrated, at no very +distant period, by the <i>malviventi</i> who swarmed in the +woods and mountains of Sardinia; of deadly feuds in which +families, and sometimes whole villages, were involved with +an implacable thirst for revenge; of places sacked, and of +travellers murdered and plundered in lone defiles. Some +instances of a generous sympathy for adversaries in distress, +and more of a gallantry displayed by some of the +bandits which would have graced a better cause, might +serve to relieve the dark shades of these pictures. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[287]</a></span> +enough of this kind has found a place in our chapters on +Corsica. I prefer relating a story which may leave on the +mind pleasing recollections of the Robin Hoods of the +Sardinian wilds. My friend, lately mentioned, who is +universally esteemed and respected by all classes of the +Sardes throughout the island, has been thrown by circumstances +into communication with the better sort of outlaws, +and occasionally been the medium of communication +between them and the Sardinian authorities, to their +mutual advantage. He has thus acquired considerable +influence over those unhappy men, enjoying their full +confidence, without which the circumstances I am about +to relate could not have occurred.</p> + +<p>It appeared that, not very long since, my friend had +kindly undertaken to conduct an English party from La +Madelena to Tempio, the same route on which we are now +engaged. The party consisted of an officer and his lady, +and I believe some others. The lady was fond of sketching; +attractive subjects, we know, are not wanting, and the +indulgence of her taste caused frequent delays on the road, +notwithstanding my friend's repeated warnings of the ill +repute in which that district was held in consequence of +its proximity to the haunts of the banditti. Of all things +the tourists would have rejoiced to have seen a real bandit, +but, probably, under any other circumstances than in a +wild pass of the Gallura mountains. So when the shades +of night were closing in, as they do very soon after sunset +in southern latitudes, and the party became apprehensive +that they should be benighted in those dreary solitudes, +there was considerable alarm:—what was to be done?</p> + +<p>My friend, having politely suggested that he had not +been remiss in pointing out the consequences of delay,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[288]</a></span> +replied that they must make for shelter in some <i>stazza</i>, +which they might possibly reach. Accordingly he led the +way by a rough track through dusky thickets, and after +pursuing it for some time, great was the joy of his companions +at discovering a house, where they were received +with great hospitality, and the promise of all the comforts +a mountain farm could offer.</p> + +<p>The ladies had thrown aside their travelling equipments, +the table was spread, and, congratulating themselves on +having found such an asylum, the party sat down to +supper, in all the hilarity which their escape from the +perils and inconveniences of a night spent in the forest +was calculated to promote. The occurrence was regarded +as one of those unexpected adventures which give a zest to +rough travelling.</p> + +<p>While, however, their gaiety was at the highest, it was +interrupted by loud knocking at the house door, and +hoarse voices were heard without, demanding immediate +admittance. A short consultation took place between my +friend and their host, who agreed that no resistance could +be offered, that the door should be opened, and they must +all submit to their fate. Then the banditti rushed in with +fierce gestures; truculent men, with shaggy hair and +beards, wrapped in dark <i>capotes</i>, with long guns in their +hands, and daggers in their belts and bosoms. “Spare +our lives, and take our money, and all that we have,” was +the cry of some of the travellers. Nor were the bandits +slow in falling upon the <i>sacs</i> and <i>malles</i>, and beginning +to rummage their contents, without, however, offering the +slightest molestation to any of the party, who stood aghast +witnessing their movements.</p> + +<p>So far from it, suddenly, as if by a concerted signal, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[289]</a></span> +outlaws, relinquishing their booty, throw off their dark +mantles, disclosing all the bravery of the picturesque +costume of Gallurese mountaineers, and grouping themselves +round the table, leaned on the slender barrels +of their fusils with a proud expression of countenance +which seemed to say:—“We are outlaws, indeed; but +we hold sacred the laws of hospitality and honour.”</p> + +<p>The travellers found that they were safe, and, recovering +from their panic, finished their supper with renewed +gaiety. The outlaws withdrew, but shortly returning, +some of them accompanied by their wives and children +<i>en habits de fête</i>, the evening was spent in the exhibition +of national dances, with songs and merriment.</p> + +<p>This formed the concluding scene in the little drama +which my informant had got up for the gratification of +his friends. Travellers might naturally wish to see specimens +of a race so unique and so celebrated as the Corsican +and Sardinian bandits, if they could do so with impunity, +just as they would a lion or a tiger uncaged and in his +native woods, from a safe point of view. My informant +was able to gratify his friends at the expense of a temporary +fright. Perhaps they might have been better +pleased if the “<i>Deus ex machinâ</i>” had not appeared to +disclose the plot, and they had been suffered to consider +the happy <i>dénouement</i> as the natural result of the outlaws' +magnanimity. Such, by all accounts, it might have +been.</p> + +<p>But I can assure my readers that it requires a stout +heart, and a strong faith in what one has heard of the +redeeming qualities in the outlaws' character, to meet +them in the open field without shuddering. It was in the +dusk of early morning, that, soon after leaving a village<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[290]</a></span> +on the borders of the Campidano, where we had passed +the night, we suddenly fell in with a party of ten or twelve +of these men, who crossed our track making for the hills. +They were mounted on small-sized horses, stepping lightly +under the great weight they carried; for the bandits were +stalwart men, and heavily accoutred. Their guns were, +variously, slung behind them, held upright on the thigh, +or carried across the saddle-bows; short daggers were +stuck in each belt, and a longer one hung by the side; a +large powder-horn was suspended under the arm. Saddles +<i>en pique</i>, with sheepskin housings, and leathern pouches +attached on both sides, supplying the place of knapsack +and haversack, completed the equipment. The “cabbanu,” +a cloak of coarse brown cloth, hung negligently from the +shoulders, and underneath appeared the tight-fitting pelisse +or vest of leather; and the loose white linen drawers, +which give the Sardes a Moorish appearance, were gathered +below the knee underneath a long black gaiter tightly +buckled.</p> + +<p>Already familiar with the garb and equipments of a +Sarde mountaineer, these details were caught at a glance. +The gaze was riveted on the features of these desperate +men,—the keen black eyes flashing from their swarthy +countenances, to which a profusion of hair, falling on the +shoulders from beneath the dark <i>berette</i>, gave, with their +bushy beards, a ferocious aspect;—and, above all, the +resolute but melancholy cast of features which expressed +so well their lot of daring—and despair.</p> + +<p>Whether the party was bent on a plundering raid, or +returning from some terrible act of midnight murder, +there was nothing to indicate; but the impression was +that they were the men “to do or die” in whatever enterprise<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[291]</a></span> +they were engaged. The party kept well together, +riding in single file with almost military precision. Their +pace was steady, with no appearance of haste, though they +must probably have been aware that some carabineers +were stationed in the place hard by, which we had just left. +It was a startling apparition,—these “children of the +mist”—sweeping by us in grim cavalcade over a wild +heath, in the cold grey dawn of a November day, every +hand stained with blood, every bosom steeled to vengeance. +They took no notice of us, though we passed them closely, +not even exchanging salutations with our <i>cavallante</i>. We +gazed on them till they were out of sight.</p> + +<p>No such thoughts as those suggested by the occurrences +just related occupied our minds while we ascended the +defile which penetrates the mountain chain intervening +between Tempio and the valleys terminating on the coast. +The savage character and the traditions of the locality +might have inspired them, but we were under the protection +of the courier, a privileged person—probably for +good reasons,—and, besides this, as I have already said, +under no sort of personal apprehension. Our attention +was divided between the stern magnificence of the gorge, +the more striking from its being now half veiled in darkness, +and the difficulties of the ascent which, as usual, +increased step by step, until, at last, winding stairs cut in +the rock surmounted the highest cliffs and landed us at +the summit of the pass.</p> + +<p>On emerging from the gloomy defile, there was a total +change of scene. We found ourselves on open downs, +apparently of great extent, with a flood of light shed over +them by a bright moon, and two brilliant planets in the +south-west, pointing like beacon lights to the position of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[292]</a></span> +Tempio. An easy descent of the sloping downs brought +us to the level of a vast elevated plateau, extending, with +slight undulations, and broken by only one rocky ridge, to +the vicinity of the town. When at the summit of the +pass, we had still eight or ten miles to accomplish. Late +as it was, the ride would have been highly enjoyable, in +that pure atmosphere, with the vault of heaven blazing +overhead, and the stillness of the night broken only by +our horses' hoofs, but for the weariness of the poor beasts +after a long day's journey and the toilsome ascent of a +mountain pass, and the ruggedness of the tracks along +which we had to pick our way.</p> + +<p>Welcome, therefore, were the lights of Agius, Luras, and +Nuches, villages standing some little way out of the road, +at from two to three miles' distance from Tempio. These +places, Agius in particular, were formerly notorious for robbery +and vendetta, notwithstanding which the population, +which is chiefly pastoral, has always maintained a high character +for kindness, hospitality, industry, and temperance.</p> + +<p>Our path lay now through very narrow lanes, dividing +vineyards and gardens, extending all the way to Tempio. +The replies of the courier to our inquiries after a hotel +had left a complete blank in our prospects of bed, board, +and lodging at the end of our journey. For travellers, +such as ourselves, there was no accommodation. Tempio +was rarely visited by strangers. This looked serious, after +a mountain ride of nearly thirty miles, and between nine +and ten o'clock at night;—what was to be done? We +had letters of introduction to persons of the highest distinction +in the place, but they hardly warranted our +intruding ourselves on them, hungry, travel-stained, and +houseless, at that late hour. The case, however, being<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[293]</a></span> +desperate we decided, at last, on presenting ourselves to +the Commandant of the garrison, as the most likely person +to give or procure us quarters.</p> + +<p>The horses' feet clattered sharply on the <i>pavé</i> in the +stillness of the narrow deserted streets; and the huge +granito-built houses overhanging them, gloomy at all +hours, appeared doubly inhospitable now that all lights +were extinguished, the doors closed, and none ready to be +opened at the call of weary travellers. Thus we traversed +the whole city, the Commandant's mansion lying at the +furthest extremity. Our tramp roused to attention a +drowsy sentry at the gate; there were lights <i>à la prima</i>—the +family then had not retired for the night. The +strange arrival is announced, and our <i>viandante</i> makes no +scruple of depositing our baggage in the hall. The Commandant +receives us with politeness, regrets that he is so +straitened in his quarters that he cannot offer us beds, +and sends an orderly who procures us a lodging, meanwhile +giving us coffee. Attended by two soldiers, carrying our +baggage, we retrace our steps to the centre of the town, +and take possession of very sorry apartments, the best +portion of a gaunt filthy house. We are installed by the +mistress, a shrewish person, who, making pretensions to +gentility, receives her guests under protest that she does +not keep a hotel, but is willing to accommodate strangers,—a +phrase repeated a hundred times while we were under +her roof, and emphatically when presenting a rather unconscionable +bill on our departure. And this was the +only refuge in a city of from six to eight thousand inhabitants, +many of them boasting nobility, the capital of a +province, the seat of a governor and a bishop, and head-quarters +of a military district. I may be pardoned for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[294]</a></span> +being circumstantial in details giving an idea of what +travelling in Sardinia is. Things are much the same +throughout the island. The tourist who sets foot on it +must be steeled against brigands, vermin, <i>intempérie</i>, and +indifferent fare. “<i>Per aspera tendens</i>” would be his +suitable motto. He must be prepared to rough it.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[295]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXVIII" id="CHAP_XXVIII"></a>CHAP. XXVIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Tempio.—The Town and Environs.—The Limbara Mountains.—Vineyards.—The +Governor or Intendente of the Province.—Deadly +Feuds.—Sarde Girls at the Fountains.—Hunting +in Sardinia.—Singular Conference with the Tempiese +Hunters.—Society at the Casino.—Description of a Boar +Hunt.</i></p> + + +<p>Unpropitious as first appearances were, we found no want +of real hospitality and kindness among the Tempiese, and +I have seldom spent a few days more pleasantly in a +provincial town. Daylight, indeed, failed to improve the +internal aspect of the place, but rather disclosed the filth +of the narrow streets, without entirely dissipating the +gloom shed upon them from the dusky granite of which +the buildings are constructed, and the heavy wooden +balconies protruding over the thoroughfares. The houses +have, however, a substantial air, some of them are stuccoed, +and Tempio can even boast its palaces of an ancient +nobility, with coats of arms sculptured in white marble +over the entrances. It possesses not less than thirteen +churches, of which the collegiate and cathedral church of +St. Peter is the only one worth notice,—a large and +lofty building of a mixture of styles, with some tawdry +ornaments, but a handsome high altar and well carved +oak stalls in the choir. The foundation consists of a dean<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[296]</a></span> +and twelve canons, with eighteen other inferior clergy. +Since 1839 it has ranked as a cathedral, Tempio having +been erected into a see united with those of Cività and +Ampurias, and the bishop residing here six months of the +year. There is a massive old nunnery, now, I believe, +suppressed, in the centre of the place, and outside the +town a reformatory for the confinement of criminals +sentenced to secondary punishment, a large building with +a handsome elevation.</p> + +<p>A finer position for a large city, of greater importance +than Tempio, can scarcely be imagined. Placed on a +gentle swell of the wide undulating plain already mentioned—the +Gemini plain,—a plateau of nearly 2000 feet +above the level of the sea, it stands midway between two +grand mountain ranges, the Limbara stretching the bold +outlines of its massive forms in a course south of the town, +its summit rising to 4396 feet; and, to the north-east, a +chain not quite so elevated, but of an equally wild and +irregular formation, and presenting to the eye, when +viewed from Tempio, even a more rugged and serrated +ridge. The defiles of this chain we passed in approaching +Tempio; those of the Limbara were to be penetrated in +our progress southward.</p> + +<p>Its high situation and exposure render Tempio healthy, +and it is even said to be cold in winter, of which we found +no symptoms in the month of November, when Limbara +is supposed to assume its diadem of snow, retaining it till +April.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/296.jpg" width="700" height="249" alt="THE LIMBARA, FROM TEMPIO." +title="THE LIMBARA, FROM TEMPIO." /> +<p class="caption">THE LIMBARA, FROM TEMPIO.</p> +</div> + +<p>I hardly recollect anything finer of its kind than the +panoramic view of the country between Tempio and the +mountains on either side, as seen from its terraces. It +combined great breadth, striking contrasts, and a most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[297]</a></span> +harmonious blending of colour. For a wide circuit round +the town, gardens, orchards, vineyards, and a variety of +small inclosures, occupying the slopes and hollows of the +undulating surface, and well massed, give an idea of +fertility one should not expect at this elevation. Here +and there, a single round-topped pine, or a group of such +pines, crowns a knoll, and breaks the flowing outlines. The +open pastoral country beyond is linked to this cultivated +zone by detached masses of copse and woods of cork and +ilex, extending to the base of the mountains.</p> + +<p>The Tempiese are a hardy and industrious people, +exhibiting their spirit of activity in the careful cultivation +about the town and the occupations of vast numbers of +the population as shepherds, <i>cavallanti</i>, or <i>viandanti</i>. The +dull town also shows some signs of life by a considerable +trade in the country produce of cheese, fruits, hams, +bacon, &c. They manufacture here the best guns in +Sardinia, and know how to use them; being capital sportsmen, +<i>cacciatori</i>, as well as formidable enemies in the +vindictive feuds for which they have been celebrated, and +not yet entirely extinct. A short time ago, two factions +fought in the streets, and, though the bloody strife was +quelled, they are said still to eye each other askance. +Returning one night from the Casino, in company of the +Commandant, he stopped on the piazza in front of the +cathedral and related to us the circumstances of an +assassination perpetrated a short time before on the very +steps of the church.</p> + +<p>The office of viceroy of Sardinia having been abolished, +each of the eleven provinces into which the island is divided, +the principal being Cagliari, Oristano, Sassari, and Tempio +including the whole of Gallura, is administered by an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[298]</a></span> +<i>Intendente</i>, who communicates directly with the Ministers +at Turin. The military districts correspond with the civil +divisions of the island. We found two companies of the +line, and a squad of <i>carabinieri</i>, mounted gendarmes, +stationed at Tempio. Sardinia returns twenty-four members +to the national parliament at Turin. The ecclesiastical +jurisdiction is administered by three archbishops, filling +the sees of Cagliari, Sassari, and Oristano, and eight +bishops, seated in the other principal cities.</p> + +<p>High official appointments at Tempio are not very +enviable posts; governors and commandants not being +exempt from the summary vengeance, for real or supposed +wrongs, at which the Sardes are so apt. The Commandant +told us that his immediate predecessor had received one of +the death-warnings which precede the fatal stroke: I +believe he was soon afterwards removed. For himself, his +successor said, he took no precautions, did his duty, and +braved the consequences. A few years before, the Governor, +having compromised himself by acts of injustice, was +assassinated, after receiving one of these “death-warnings” +peculiar to Sardinia. “During the night he heard a pane +of glass crack, and on examining it in the morning he +found the fatal bullet on the floor. The custom of the +country is that, whenever the <i>vendetta alla morte</i>, revenge +even to death, is to be carried out, the party avenging himself +shall give his adversary timely notice by throwing a +bullet into his window, in order that he may either make +immediate compensation for the injury or prepare himself +for death. The Governor for some time used every +caution as to when and where he went, but at length +disregarded the warning, imagining he was safe. The +assassin, however, had watched him with an eagle's eye,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[299]</a></span> +and he fell in a moment he least expected. Report further +says,” observes Mr. Tyndale, in whose words we relate the +occurrence, “that he is not the only Governor of Gallura +to whom this summary mode of obtaining justice, or +inflicting vengeance, has been intimated.”</p> + +<p>The present Intendente of Tempio, the Marchese +Clavarino, though he only entered on his office in the +month of April before our visit, had already done much +by his firm and enlightened administration to restore +order and confidence. He had been able to collect the +arrears of taxes, and, by impartial justice between all +factions, had removed every pretence for a resort to deeds +of violence for the redress of injuries.</p> + +<p>“The Governor's palace, establishment, and retinue,” +observes Mr. Tyndale, “consist of three rooms on a +second story, a female servant, and a sentry at the door.” +Things were little changed in 1853, but, in the absence of +all state, we were impressed on our first visit of ceremony +that the government of a turbulent province could not +have been intrusted to better hands. In the antechamber +we found a priest waiting, as it struck me from his deportment, +to prefer his suit with “bated breath,” and the +feeling that the wings of the priesthood are now clipped in +the Sardinian states. The Marquis conversed with frankness +on his own position and the state of the island. He +had been in London at the time of the “Great Exhibition,” +and his views of the English alliance, and of politics +generally, were just such as might be expected from an +enlightened Sardinian. A worthy coadjutor to such +statesmen as D'Azeglio and Cavour, I would venture to +predict that the Intendente of Tempio will ere long be +called to fill a higher post.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[300]</a></span></p> + +<p>Our rambles in the environs of Tempio were very +pleasant. It was the season of the vintage, late here; and +great numbers of the people were busily employed in the +vineyards and the “lodges”<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> attached to them. Observing +smoke issuing from most of these, we learned, in answer to +our inquiries, that a portion of boiled lees is added in the +manufacture of wine, to insure its keeping, the grapes not +sufficiently ripening in consequence of the coldness of the +climate. We found no such fault with those we tasted. +A very considerable extent of surface is planted with vines, +divided, however, into small vineyards. At the entrance +of each stands an arched gateway, generally a solid structure +of granite, with more or less architectural pretensions, +and a date and initials carved in stone, commemorative, +no doubt, of the planting of so cherished a family inheritance. +One of these is represented in the foreground of +the accompanying plate.</p> + +<p>There are several fountains in the neighbourhood of +Tempio, the waters of which are deliciously cool and pure. +One of them, on the road beyond the Commandant's house, +gushes out of the rock, under shade of some fine Babylonian +willows. Sheltered by these in the heat of noon, +and in still greater numbers at eventide, one saw the damsels +of Tempio resort with their pitchers, as in ancient +times Abraham's steward, in his journey to Mesopotamia, +stood at the well of Nahor, when the daughters of the men +of the city came out with their pitchers<a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>; as Saul, passing +through Mount Ephraim and ascending the hill of Zuph, +met the maidens going out to draw water<a name="FNanchor_49_49" id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>; or as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[301]</a></span> +spies of Ulysses fell in with the daughter of Antiphates at +the well of Artacia.<a name="FNanchor_50_50" id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> Sardinia abounds with such mementos +of primitive times.</p> + +<p>The Tempiese women have the singular habit of raising +the hinder part of the upper petticoat, the <i>suncurinu</i>, +when they go abroad, and bringing it over the head and +shoulders, so as to form a sort of hood. So far from this +fashion giving them, as might be supposed, a <i>dowdy</i> +appearance, it is not inelegant when the garment is gracefully +arranged. It has generally broad stripes, and is often +of silk or a fine material. The under-petticoat, of cloth, +is either of a bright colour, or dark with a bright-coloured +border. Both of them are worn very full. The jacket is +of scarlet, blue, or green velvet, fitting very tightly to the +figure, the edges having a border of a different colour, and +sometimes brocaded. The simple head-dress consists of a +gaily-coloured kerchief wound round the head, and tied in +knots before and behind.</p> + +<p>We expected to get some shooting in the woods at the +foot of the Limbara, as they abound with wild hogs, +<i>cingale</i>, and deer, <i>capreoli</i>, a sort of roebuck. Our letters +of introduction to some gentlemen of Tempio failed of +assisting us. They were from home, probably engaged in +the vintage. But the Sardes of all ranks are determined +sportsmen, <i>cacciatori</i>, and we did not despair, though +hunting excursions in the island require, as we shall find, +a certain organisation. In our dilemma we made the acquaintance—of +all people in the world—of a little barber, +who appeared deeply versed in the politics of the place, +and undertook to arrange the desired <i>chasse</i> with the Tempiese +hunters. We were to meet him the same evening, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[302]</a></span> +a low <i>caffè</i>, where he was to introduce us to the leaders of +the band. A singular conference it was, that meeting of +ourselves, men of the north, with the wild <i>chasseurs</i> of the +Gallura, between whom there was nothing in common but +enthusiastic love of the field and the mountain.</p> + +<p>The low vault of the <i>Caffè de la Costituzione</i> was lighted +by a single lamp, by whose glimmerings we dimly discerned, +amidst wreaths of tobacco-smoke, the grim features +of the men with whom we had to do. They were honest +enough, no doubt, according to Sarde notions of honour, +and received us with great cordiality; but the consultation +between themselves was carried on in a patois quite unintelligible, +except that we gathered that there were some +difficulties in the way.</p> + +<p><i>La caccia di cingale</i>, a boar-hunt in Sardinia, requires +a number of hunters, besides those who beat the woods to +rouse the game; and, whether there were any feuds to be +stifled, any jealousies to be allayed, which, with armed +men in that state of society, might endanger the peace, +the difficulties appeared serious. Whatever they were, our +<i>Barbière di Seviglia</i>, who, to use a familiar phrase, seemed +up to everything, and conducted the treaty on our part, did +not think proper to disclose them. One thing, however, we +soon learned, that the services of these men were not to be +hired; their ruling passion for the chase and the national +principle of hospitality were incentives enough to the proposed +expedition. We were also informed that there were +other parties to be consulted, and the meeting was adjourned +to the following day.</p> + +<p>Very different was the scene at the Casino to which we +were introduced by the Commandant shortly after our consultation +with the hunters. At the Casino there is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[303]</a></span> +<i>réunion</i> of the best society in Tempio every evening. We +found good rooms, well lighted, with coffee and refreshments +nicely served. There were newspapers, and a small +collection of books,—the standard works of Italian +writers, with some French. The society was unexpectedly +good for such a place as Tempio, consisting, besides the +officers of the garrison, of many of the resident nobles and +gentry. We spent some pleasant hours there, finding +among the members well-informed and intelligent persons. +Politics were freely discussed, liberal opinions prevailing +even to the degree of such ultra-liberalism as might have +better suited the class of persons we met at the <i>Caffè de la +Costituzione</i>, if politics are discussed there also. No doubt +they are, the Tempiese, like the rest of the islanders, being +a shrewd race, devotedly patriotic, and jealous of their +independence.</p> + +<p>We could not, as already hinted, reckon Madame +Rosalie's <i>ménage</i> among the pleasant things that reconciled +us to a longer stay than we intended in the rude +capital of Gallura; but, at least, she supplied us in her +own person with a fund of amusement. My companion, +who had the happy gift for a traveller of being almost +omnivorous, used to laugh heartily at my vain attempts to +extract something edible from the meagre <i>carte</i> offered by +Madame. Her replies parrying my demands, and uttered +with amazing volubility, in shrill tones and a patois almost +unintelligible, invariably ended to this effect:—“Signore, +my house is not a locanda, though I have opened my +doors to accommodate you.” It was a species of hospitality +that cost us dear. Madame's airs of gentility, +though very amusing, were of course treated with due +respect. But what gave zest to my friend's mirth, and,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[304]</a></span> +with the hopeless prospect of dinner, produced in me a +slight irritation, sometimes, perhaps, ill concealed, was +Madame Rosalie's evolutions on these occasions. I fancy, +now, that I see her slight figure skipping into the room, +dancing a jig round the table, never at rest, screeching all +the while at the highest pitch of her voice, with every +limb in motion, as if she had St. Vitus's dance, or, as they +say, went on wires. I can only compare the play of her +limbs to that of one of those children's puppets of which +all the limbs—head, legs, and arms—are set in motion +by pulling a string.</p> + +<p>Nothing detained us at Tempio but the proposed boar-hunt. +We attended a second meeting of the principal +hunters, committing ourselves unreservedly to their disposal, +and, after some further consultation, among themselves, +our little barber had the glory of bringing the +negotiations to a successful issue. All the difficulties, +whatever they were, had been removed, and it was settled +that the affair should come off on the morrow.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, at an early hour, there was an unusual +stir in the dull streets of Tempio, snapping of guns, +trampling of horses, and barking of dogs. On our joining +the party at the rendezvous in front of the <i>caffè</i>, we found +some twenty horsemen, carrying guns,—rough and ready +fellows, looking as if a dash into the forest, whether +against hogs or gendarmes, would equally suit them. We +were followed by a rabble on foot, attended by dogs of a +variety of species, some of them strong and fierce. After +winding through the narrow lanes among the vineyards, +our cavalcade was joined by one of the gentlemen on +whom we had called with a letter of introduction, and his +son, who mixed freely with our rank and file. There is a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[305]</a></span> +happy fellowship in field sports which, to a great degree, +levels for the time distinctions of rank; and this we found +particularly in Sardinia, where all classes are so devoted to +these sports, and they are of a character requiring extended +and rather promiscuous operations.</p> + +<p>Our irregular cavalry shaped their march in broken +order towards a spur of the mountains, covered with dense +thickets, at the foot of the Punta Balestiere, the highest +point of the Limbara. After clearing the inclosures our +track led us over the wide undulating plain already +described, interspersed with scattered thickets, but with +few signs of cultivation. On approaching the mountains +there were indications giving promise of sport in patches +of soil grubbed up by the wild hogs in search for the root +of the Asphodel, which they greedily devour. This handsome +plant springs from a bunch of long fibrous bulbs, +something like the Dahlia, throwing up straight stems two +or three feet high, with numerous angular filiformed leaves +and yellow flowers.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> It grows freely on all the wastes +throughout the island. The root contains so large a +portion of saccharine matter, and is so plentiful, that while +we were in Sardinia a Frenchman was forming a company +for distilling alcohol from it on an extensive scale. A +distillery was to be established at Sassari, with moveable +stills throughout the island, wherever the bulbs could be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_306" id="Page_306">[306]</a></span> +most easily procured. The projector gave us a sample-bottle +of the alcohol, a strong and purely tasteless spirit. +I heard afterwards that the speculation did not succeed. +There is fine feeding for the wild hogs, in season, on the +acorns of the vast cork and other oak woods in the interior +of the island, where we afterwards hunted them. They +commit great ravages in the cultivated grounds. One was +shot in the vineyards skirting the town during our stay at +Tempio.</p> + +<p>Approaching the mountains we threw off our attendants +on foot, with their mongrel pack, whose business it was to +scale the wooded ridge from behind, and beat the thickets +for the game. The rest of our party soon afterwards +struck up a valley parallel with the ridge, and facing the +mountain side, which rose above it a vast amphitheatre of +hanging woods, shelving and precipitous cliffs, rocks and +pinnacles,—so glorious a spectacle that it riveted my +attention, and almost drew it off from the work before +us. But now our leaders proceeded to “tell off” the +party, stationing them singly at distances of about seventy +or eighty paces along the bottom of the valley, within +gunshot of the verge of the wood, which sloped to it. In +this open order the line extended more than half a mile. +The horses were tethered in the rear.</p> + +<p>It was my lot to be posted near the extreme right on a +detached rock, slightly elevated, so as to command the +ground. I could just distinguish my neighbours on either +hand, “low down in the broom,” the valley being rather +thickly covered with brakes of underwood. The instructions +for my noviciate in boar-hunting were,—not to quit +my post, and to maintain strict silence; injunctions not +likely to be disregarded, as a breach of the former might<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[307]</a></span> +have exposed me to be winged, in mistake for a pig +among the rustling bushes, considering that there were +dead shots on either flank, with two or three balls in their +barrels. As to the other word of order, silence, the +injunction was needless, for the ear of my nearest neighbour +could only have been reached by shouts which might +scare the game, and prevent their breaking cover, and +that I was not quite novice enough to risk.</p> + +<p>So I sat down on the rock, with my gun across my +knees, watching the play of light and shade on the mountain +sides as the clouds flitted round them. But this did +not last long, for the line of <i>vedettes</i> could have been +scarcely formed when the shouts of the party who had +now gained the heights, and were beating the woods in +face of our position, summoned the hunters in the valley +beneath to be on the alert. The interval of suspense and +silence being now broken, the scene became very exciting. +The dogs in the wood gave tongue, and the short and +snapping bark was shortly followed by a full burst, which +told that the game was on foot. Then, no doubt, every +gun was at full cock, every eye intently watching the +avenues in the thickets through which boar or deer, +driven from the woods, might cross the valley. The +shouts and cries sounded nearer and nearer, till at length +a shot from the extreme left announced that some game +had been marked as it broke cover. A dropping fire now +extended at intervals along the line, as cingale or capreole +burst from the thickets. Several fell to the guns of the +party, some escaped; others, wounded, were pursued by +the dogs to the rear of the position, with a rush of some +of the hunters on their trail.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[308]</a></span></p> + +<p>The thickets having been completely swept, the line was +now broken, and the party remounting their horses bore +their trophies to a woody glen, where we dined, the spot +chosen being the grassy bank of a little rivulet. Arms +were piled; some gathered wood and lighted fires, others +fetched water from the brook, and the more handy opened +the baskets of provisions we had brought from Tempio and +spread them on the grass. A wild boar was cut open, and, +in Homeric style, the choicest portions of the intestines +were torn out, and, broiled on wooden skewers, offered to +the hunting-knives of the guests. The wine cup went +round, and the hunters' feast was seasoned with rude +merriment.</p> + +<p>“When they had eaten and drank enough,”<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> the party +mounted their horses and returned to Tempio, carrying +the game across their saddle-bows. The cavalcade was as +joyous as the feast. Jumping from their horses when they +got among the vineyards, some dashed over the fences and +brought away large bunches of grapes. And so we entered +the city in triumph. In the course of the evening the skin +of the finest wild boar was sent to our quarters as a trophy +of our share in the work of the day, with a joint of the +meat. Madame Rosalie's <i>cuisine</i> failed to do it justice; +but, when well cooked, wild boar is excellent eating. This +mode of hunting, generally practised by the Sardes, resembles +the <i>battue</i> of wolves and leopards at which I have +assisted in South Africa, where the Boers, assembling in +numbers, make an onslaught on the ravagers of their +flocks; having the dens and thickets driven, and stationing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[309]</a></span> +themselves on the outskirts with their long roers to shoot +down the vermin as they issue forth. Such meetings are +jovial, and the sport is exciting, but not to be compared, +I think, to deer-stalking or fox-hunting, to say nothing of +a foray against lions and tigers.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[310]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXIX" id="CHAP_XXIX"></a>CHAP. XXIX.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Leave Tempio.—Sunrise.—Light Wreaths of Mist across the +Valley.—A Pass of the Limbara.—View from the Summit.—Dense +Vapour over the Plain beneath.—The Lowlands unhealthy.—The +deadly Intempérie.—It recently carried off an +English Traveller.—Descend a romantic Glen to the Level of +the Campidano.—Its peculiar Character.—Gallop over it.—Reach +Ozieri</i>.</p> + + +<p>I have reason to believe from information received during +a recent visit to Sardinia that the insecurity which, to +some extent, prevailed when we were in the island in +1853, had considerably lessened. But while at Tempio in +that year we learnt by an official communication from +Cagliari that some of the central mountain districts, +through which we proposed to pass on a shooting excursion, +were in a disturbed state and must be approached with +caution. In consequence, the <i>Lascia portare arma</i> forwarded +to us was accompanied by an open order from the +Colonel commanding the royal Caribineers, addressed to all +the stations, for our being furnished with an escort. So, +also, on our visit of leave to the Intendente of Tempio he +pressed us to allow him to send us forward under escort, +though I did not learn that there had been any recent +outrages in his own province. On our declining the offer, +as at variance with our habits and feelings, the Intendente<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[311]</a></span> +said, “I assure you that, here, the lowest government +employé will not travel without an escort;”—and he +again urged our accepting it, adding, “the Marchese +d'Azeglio having put you under my especial protection, I +am responsible for your safety, and wish to use every precaution, +lest anything unpleasant should occur.” On our +again respectfully declining the offer, the kind Intendente +said, with a shrug, “Well, gentlemen, I have done my +duty, and I hope that when you get to Turin you will so +represent it.”</p> + +<p>Such precautions exhibit a singular state of society in +the midst of European civilisation; I apprehend, however, +that the Piedmontese officials, and the continentals in +general, paint the Sardes in darker colours than they +merit; and there is little good blood between them.</p> + +<p>Having no such prejudices, and entertaining no apprehensions, +we started, as usual, having a honest viandante, +with his saddle and pack-horses, for our only escort. The +sun was just rising over the serrated ridge of the eastern +mountains, when, emerging from the fetid shade of the +narrow streets of Tempio, we came suddenly into his +blessed light. The mountain sides still formed an indistinct +mass of the richest purple hue, while, over the +whole plain beneath, light mists rolled in fantastic waves, +floating like a mysterious gauze-like veil, shreds of which +touched by the sun's rays became brilliantly coloured, and +others drifting through the scattered woods had the appearance +of being combed out into long and fine-spun threads +like the spiders'-webs which, gemmed with dew-drops, +hung from spray to spray. It was a magnificent view, of +great breadth, like one of Martin's mysterious pictures, +and seen under the most splendid effects; but so transitory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[312]</a></span> +that after we crossed the first ridge all was changed. +Meanwhile denser, but still light, wreaths close at hand +mingled with the mists, as the blue smoke curled up from +the vineyard sheds where the industrious Tempiese had +already commenced their labours. The temperature was +delicious, and rain had fallen in the night cooling the air +and refreshing vegetation. Pleasanter than ever was our +early ride through the pretty winding lanes dividing the +vineyards and gardens skirting the town, and again, as we +descended through deep banks among scattered woodlands +to the open plains extending to the foot of the Limbara +Mountains.</p> + +<p>A long but easy ascent led to the top of the pass, the +ridge we mounted being thickly clothed with evergreen +shrubbery, the arbutus predominating, profusely decked +with fruit and flower. The summit of the pass opened to +us a double view in strong contrast. Looking back, we +once more saw through a gap the mountains of Corsica, +in faint outlines, eighty miles distant, with a glimpse of +a blue stripe of water, the Straits of Bonifacio. Turning +southward, we stood at the summit of a long winding glen +richly wooded with ilex and cork trees, and far away beneath +there lay before us a broad plain partially covered with +a sea of vapour, not like the gay wreaths of mist that +lightly floated over the elevated plateau surrounding +Tempio, but so still, so condensed, so white, as to have +been easily mistaken for a frozen lake powdered with snow, +and its hills for islands rising out of the water.<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a></p> + +<p>But such an image is unsuited to the climate of Sardinia +at any season. Smiling as the landscape now appeared, its +most striking feature was associated with the idea of death.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[313]</a></span></p> + +<p>That dense creamy vapour, formed by the pestiferous +exhalations of the lowlands, is the death shroud of the +plain outstretched beneath it.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/313.jpg" width="500" height="349" alt="DESCENT TO THE CAMPIDANO." +title="DESCENT TO THE CAMPIDANO." /> +<p class="caption">DESCENT TO THE CAMPIDANO.</p> +</div> + +<p>During the heats of summer, nay, sometimes from April +till the latter end of November, the ravages of the deadly +<i>intempérie</i> extend throughout the island to such a degree +that in Captain Smyth's list of nearly 350 towns and +villages included in his “Statistical Table of Sardinia,” +full a third are noted as insalubrious. The disorder has +the same character as malaria, but is far more virulent. +Captain Smyth thus describes the symptoms: “The +patient is first attacked by a headache and painful tension +of the epigastric region, with alternate sensations of heat +and chilliness; a fever ensues, the exacerbations of which +are extremely severe, and are followed by a mournful +debility, more or less injurious even to those accustomed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[314]</a></span> +to it, but usually fatal to strangers.” We have conversed +with natives and residents who have recovered from repeated +attacks of <i>intempérie</i>; foreigners suffer most. +“Instances have been related to me,” observes Captain +Smyth, “of strangers landing for a few hours only from +Italian coasters, who were almost immediately carried off +by its virulence; indeed, the very breathing of the air by +a foreigner at night, or in the cool of the evening, is considered +as certain death in some parts.”<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a><a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a></p> + +<p>Not twelve months before our visit, an English officer was +suddenly struck down and carried off while on a similar +excursion in this part of the island. Sir Harry Darrell +was one of the last men I should have thought liable to +so fatal an attack. A few years ago, when returning from +Caffreland just before the breaking out of the last war, I +met him on the march to the frontier. I had off-saddled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[315]</a></span> +at noon, and while my horses were grazing, knee-haltered, +on a slip of grass by the side of a running stream, was +lying under the shade of a wild olive-tree, when the head-quarters' +division of the —— Dragoon Guards passed along +the road. Sir Harry and some other officers rode down into +the meadow, and we talked of the state of Caffreland and +of the principal chiefs, most of whom I had recently seen. +I heard afterwards that he had got out fox-hounds and +hunted the country about Fort Beaufort. He was a keen +sportsman and clever artist. Some of his sketches in +South Africa were published by Ackerman. His remains +lie at Cagliari, where he was conveyed when struck by the +<i>intempérie</i>, dying a few days after. A friend of mine, +who was there at the time, informs me that Sir Harry's +constitution had become debilitated, and he had rendered +himself liable to the attack by exposure and over-fatigue. +I mention the circumstance as a warning, but do not think +there is much risk, with proper precautions, for men in good +health, through most parts of the island, after the November +rains have precipitated the miasma and purified the air. +We ourselves slept in most pestiferous places, where the +ravages of the disease were marked in the sallow countenances +of the inhabitants, without experiencing the least +inconvenience.</p> + +<p>We rested at the summit of the pass commanding the +distant view of the Campidano, which led to these remarks +on the insalubrity of the country and the scourge of the +<i>intempérie</i>. They are not, however, confined to the plains, +but of course are more prevalent where marshes, stagnant +waters, and rank vegetation engender vapours rising in +the summer. Leaving my companion to finish the sketch +copied in a former page, I slowly trotted on with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[316]</a></span> +<i>viandante</i>, and, the descent becoming rapid, proceeded +leisurely down the wooded glen, a depth of shade in which +the heat, as well as the picturesque character of the +scenery, tempted to linger. Old cork and ilex trees, with +their rugged bark and grey foliage, throwing out rectangular +arms of stiff and fantastic growth, wild vines +hanging from the branches in festoons of brilliant hues, +other trees with tawny orange leaves,—I believe a species +of ash,—some of a rich claret, and the never-failing +arbutus, here quite a tree, with its orange and crimson +berries, all these massed together formed admirable contrasts +in shape and colour. And then there was the +gentle brook, never roaring or boisterous, but purling +among rocks dividing it into still pools, with giant ferns +hanging over the stream and bunches of hassock-grass +luxuriating in the alluvial soil of its little deltas, and, +where the forest receded, a graceful growth of shrubbery +feathering the winding banks.</p> + +<p>Some of the cork-trees were fine specimens, of great age. +Several I measured in a rough way by embracing their +trunks with extended arms. This, repeated four or five +times, gave a circumference of twenty or twenty-five feet. +The bark was ten inches thick. While so employed I was +startled by a wild boar rushing by me into the thickets. +The cork wood gradually thinned into scattered clumps on +the slopes of the hills, and the winding valley, five or six +miles long, was abruptly terminated by a bold mamelon, +or green mound, covered with dwarf heath or turf; so +shorn and smooth it appeared, probably from being pastured, +in immediate contrast with the shaggy sides of the +mountain glen. The horsetrack, avoiding this obstacle, +led up the eastern acclivity of the glen, and the summit<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[317]</a></span> +commanded the Campidano, now clear of fog, spread out +before us, far as the eye could reach, in a broad level, +broken only by some singular flat-topped hills in the foreground.</p> + +<p>Striking and novel as this landscape appeared at the +first glance, I confess that, at the moment, my attention +was most directed backward on the track I had just +followed. It was now some hours since I parted from my +fellow-traveller. I had often listened for his horse's steps +in the deep glen, where there was no seeing many hundred +yards backwards or forwards; and though the present +elevation commanded some points in the track, he did not +appear. I was getting fidgetty, and the guide's replies +to my inquiries did not tend to reassure me, for there are +“<i>malviventi</i>” as well as “<i>fuorusciti</i>” in the wilds—a +well known distinction—when, just as we were on the +point of returning back, after half an hour's additional +suspense, I got a glimpse of my friend trotting out of the +woods close under the point of view. He, too, had lingered +in the romantic glen after finishing his sketch.</p> + +<p>We had now cleared the defiles of the Limbara, and, +descending to the level of the plains, made up for lost time +by galloping <i>ventre à terre</i> over the boundless waste. +Here were no shady nooks, no forest masses, no fantastic +growths, no grey crags, no bright-flowered thickets, so +grouped as one might never see again, and tempting to +linger. All the features were now on a broad scale; they +were caught at a glance, and the few which broke the +monotony of the scene were repeated again and again. +But they were not without interest. The rivulet had expanded +into a wide stream, making long bends through +the deep loam of the grassy meads, and looking so cool<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[318]</a></span> +and refreshing, that, but for the pebbly shoals in its bed, +it was difficult to conceive the midsummer heats rendering +these verdant plains desolate and pestilential.</p> + +<p>Along the banks of the river, and far away in every +direction, were scattered herds of cattle, guarded by armed +shepherds, wild bearded fellows in goatskin mantles and +leather doublets, mostly on horseback. We meet such +figures on the grassy track, looking fiercely as we sweep +along; we see them at a distance on the edge of some of +the gentle slopes in which the plain is rolled, when only +the profile of the horse, the stalwart rider and his long +gun, comes out clear against the sky. There is more life +on the Campidano than in the mountains. Not that it is +inhabited; there is scarcely a house on this whole plain, +fifty or sixty miles in circumference. Not that there is +much cultivation; here and there, at rare intervals, we +see patches of a livelier green than the surrounding expanse +of grass, and the young wheat just springing up, +the strong blade and rich loamy furrow, remind us that +Sardinia was reckoned in former times a granary of Rome. +We see also the grey mounds of the Nuraghe scattered +over the plain, some mouldering down to its level, a few +still rearing their truncated cones, like solitary watch-towers, +for which they have been mistaken. They, too, +remind us of times long past, of a primitive age. But they +are to be found in all parts of the island, and we shall fall +in with them again, more at leisure to examine their +structure and hazard a conjecture as to their origin. Now +we gallop on over the level plain. The sward on the +beaten track is close and elastic, and our cavallante's +spirited barbs, spared in the glen during the noontide +heat, spring as if they had never been broken to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[319]</a></span> +<i>portante</i> pace. The morning fog and the cadaverous +features of the shepherds have warned us that the teeming +Campidano is no place to linger in after nightfall. Their +homes are in the villages scattered round the edge of the +great plain; not much elevated, as the <i>paese</i> in Corsica, but +standing on gentle acclivities. We marked them at a +distance. Already we have passed Sassu on our right and +Oschiri on our left; they are poor places. Codriaghe and +Codrongianus and Florinas stand at the extremity of the +plain towards Sassari, and we shall see them on our road +thither, if we ever get there. Ardara, once the capital of +the province of Logudoro, founded as early as 1060, and +having many historic traditions, crowns, with its massive +towers rising above the ruined walls, a hillock on the plain +right before us. It boasts also a fine church, enriched +with curious objects of art; but the town has dwindled +to a collection of hovels with a small population, few of +whom, we are told, survive their fiftieth year, so destructive +is the <i>intempérie</i>. We turn away: Ozieri stands +invitingly on rather a bold eminence at the head of a +gorge where the plain narrows towards the hills. The +rays of the setting sun are full upon its houses and +churches. It is a place of some importance, and lies in +our proposed line through byroads to the forest districts +of the interior. If our pace holds on we may reach it +by an hour after sunset. Perhaps we shall find good +cheer, the best preservative, I should imagine, against the +miasma that produces <i>intempérie</i>.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/319.jpg" width="700" height="454" alt="THE PLAIN OF OZIERI." +title="THE PLAIN OF OZIERI." /> +<p class="caption">THE PLAIN OF OZIERI.</p> +</div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[320]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXX" id="CHAP_XXX"></a>CHAP. XXX.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Effects of vast Levels as compared with Mountain Scenery.—Sketches +of Sardinian Geology.—The primitive Chains and +other Formations.—Traces of extensive Volcanic action.—The +“Campidani,” or Plains.—Mineral Products.</i></p> + + +<p>Vast open plains, such as that described in the preceding +chapter, form a singular feature in the physical aspect of +the island of Sardinia. There are few travellers, I think, +of much experience who, in traversing such tracts of country, +have not been struck at one time by the desolation of +their depths of solitude, or been pleased, at another, by the +glimpses of nomade life, their occasional accompaniments; +and who would not be willing to admit that, in their +general impressions on the imagination, they sometimes +rival even mountain scenery. For if grandeur be one +main ingredient in the sublime, when an object such as a +seemingly boundless level, or rolling plain, the extent of +which the eye is unable to scan, lies before you, when, +after long marches, it still appears interminable, the mind +is perhaps more impressed with the idea of magnitude than +by large masses, however enormous, with defined outlines +presented to the view. In the former instance, the +imagination is called into play and fills out the picture on +a scale corresponding with the actual features, as far as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[321]</a></span> +they are subject to observation; but the imagination proverbially +adopts an extravagant measure.</p> + +<p>One of my friend's sketches of Campidano scenery, introduced +here, cleverly represents the effects produced by +great distances on one of these rolling plains.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/321.jpg" width="500" height="181" alt="THE CAMPIDANO." +title="THE CAMPIDANO." /> +<p class="caption">THE CAMPIDANO.</p> +</div> + +<p>Perhaps the idea of illimitable extent is better conveyed +by the lithographic sketch, No. 8, in which the +level, not being interrupted by the intersection of a mountain +ridge, as in the former, vanishes in distance. But +the termination of the plain in the woodcut is only apparent +as, winding round the base of the mountains, the level +is still continued though lost to sight. It is not however +intended to intimate that these Sardinian plains can at all +vie with the great continental levels in various quarters +of the globe, the immensity of which occurred to my mind, +and some of them to my recollection, when remarking on +the impressions such scenes produce on the traveller's sensations. +The most extensive of the Sardinian Campidani +is only fifty miles in length, and they are all of far less +breadth. Their effect is therefore only comparative, but +being proportioned to the scale of other surrounding objects, +to the area of the insular surface, and the limited height +and extent of the mountain ranges, they produce a proportionate<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[322]</a></span> +effect; but that, as it has been already remarked, +is sufficiently striking.</p> + +<p>Some brief details of these interesting features in +Sardinian scenery—the larger of which are termed <i>Campidani</i>, +and the secondary <i>Campi</i>—will be fitly combined +with a general sketch of the geological formations of the +island; as we are now approaching the same standing +point, the central districts, from which we took occasion +to review the orology of Corsica. It was then remarked +that the mountain systems of the two islands are of similar +character and were formerly united; of which there is +evidence in the rocky islets scattered from one coast to the +other, across the Straits of Bonifacio.<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> Sardinia, however, +though apparently a continuation of Corsica, is essentially +different in its physical aspect; the elevations being less, +the plains more extensive and fertile, its mineralogical +riches far more varied, and volcanic action on a large scale +being traced throughout the island, while few vestiges of +it are discovered in Corsica.</p> + +<p>While these sheets have been passing through the press, +General Alberto de la Marmora has published two volumes +in continuation of his “<i>Voyages en Sardaigne</i>,” devoted +exclusively, with an accompanying Atlas, to the geology of +the island; a work of the greatest scientific value, from the +high character of the author, and the time he has zealously +spent in his researches, but too elaborate for any attempt +to reduce its details within the compass or the scope of these +pages. Our brief sketch must be confined to a few general +remarks derived from La Marmora's former volumes, and +Captain Smyth's very accurate account of Sardinia;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[323]</a></span> +availing ourselves also of Mr. Warre Tyndale's digest of +these accounts, and giving some results of our own limited +observation.</p> + +<p>The principal chain of primitive mountains trends from +north to south, extending through the districts of Gallura, +Barbagia, Ogliastra, and Budui, along the whole eastern +coast of the island. This range consists of granite, with +ramifications of schist, and large masses of quartz, mica, +and felspar. It is intersected by transverse ranges, and +by plains and valleys partly formed by volcanic agency; +indeed, the connection between the Gallura group and +that of Barbagia is entirely cut off by the great plain of +Ozieri.</p> + +<p>The most northerly of the series is the Limbara group. +Its highest peak, according to La Marmora 4287 feet, is +an entire mass of granite. The Genargentu in the Barbagia +range, of the same formation, the highest and most central +mountain in Sardinia, has two culminating points of the respective +heights of 6230 and 6118 feet. They are covered +with snow from September till May, and the inhabitants +of Aritzu, who make it an object of traffic, are, I believe, +able to continue the supply throughout the year.<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> The<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324">[324]</a></span> +Monte Oliena in the central group near Nuoro, 4390 feet +high, is calcareous, as are two others, between 2000 and +3000 feet high, in the same chain. It terminates with +the Sette Fratelli, prolonged to Cape Carbonaro, the +eastern point of the gulf of Cagliari, the highest point of +the group, which is entirely granite, being 3142 feet.</p> + +<p>We find a detached formation called the Nurra mountains, +composed of granite, schist, and primitive limestone, +filling the isthmus of the Cape at the north-west extremity +of the island, and extending to the little isle of Asinara. +The mountains of Sulcis, at the extreme south-west, and +terminating in the Capes Teulada and Spartivento, are +similarly composed; their highest peaks, the Monte Linas +and Severa, being from 3000 to 4000 feet high.</p> + +<p>But the most striking geological feature in Sardinia +consists in the great extent of the volcanic formations. +These, as well as the slighter traces of such action in +Corsica, are doubtless connected with the subterranean +and submarine fires of which the coasts and islands of the +central Mediterranean basin afford so many evidences in +active and extinct volcanoes (some of them in activity in +the times of Homer, Pindar, and Thucydides), and ranging +in a circle from the Roman territory to that of Naples, to +the Lipari islands, Sicily, and those forming the subject of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[325]</a></span> +our present inquiry. Sardinia has been widely ravaged +by internal fires, but at too remote an era to admit of our +conjecturing the period. The volcanic action can be traced +from Castel Sardo, where it has formed precipices on the +northern coast, to the vicinity of Monastir, a distance +southward of more than 100 miles; its central focus +appearing to have been about half-way between Ales, +Milis, and St. Lussurgiu, where, as Captain Smyth remarks, +“the phlægrean evidences are particularly abundant.” +The action was principally confined to the western +side of the island, though, south of Genargentu, the +volcanic formations approach the primitive chain, and the +rounded hills we remarked in the present rambles, after +crossing the Limbara, as far east as Oschiri on the Campo +d'Ozieri, are, I doubt not, craters of extinct volcanoes. +The flat-topped hill, or truncated cone, figured in the +lithograph drawing, No. 8, represents one of them, and, +scattered as these verdant cones are over the long sweeps +of the Campidani, they formed additional features in the +interest with which, as I have already said, we regarded +those immense tracts.</p> + +<p>From the supposed centre of volcanic action just suggested, +it may be traced northward through the districts +of Macomer, Bonorva, Giavesu, Keremule, with the hillock +on which Ardara stands, and Codrongianus, to its termination +in the cliffs of Lungo Sardo. But its most salient +feature is the detached group of mountains on the western +coast between Macomer and Orestano, which are entirely +volcanic. This group has the name of “Monte del Marghine,” +in the small map prefixed to Captain Smyth's +survey, but I do not find that or any other distinct name +attached to it in La Marmora's large “Carta dell'Isola.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[326]</a></span>” +The village of St. Lussurgiu is literally built in a crater +connected with this group, as is also that of Cuglieri. The +highest point, Monte Articu, the summit of Monte Ferro, +entirely volcanic, rises 3442 feet above the Mediterranean, +and the Trebia Lada, 2723 feet high, is one of the three +basaltic feet forming the <i>Trebina</i>, or Tripod, on the summit +of Monte Arcuentu, a mountain between Orestano and +Ales formed of horizontal layers of basalt. Further south +at Nurri, closely approaching the primitive chain, are two +hills, called “pizzè-ogheddu,” and “pizzè ogu mannu,” +or peaks of the little and great eye, which were certainly +ignivomous mouths, and the peasants believe that they +still have a subterraneous communication. A volcanic +stream has run from them over a calcareous tract, forming +an elevated plain nearly 1600 feet above the level of the +sea, called, “<i>Sa giara e Serri</i>.” It overlooks Gergei, and +is covered with oaks and cork trees, while the northern +side of its declivity affords rich pasture. North-west from +this place is the “<i>Giara di Gestori</i>,” of similar formation, +proceeding from a crater at Ales, but strewed with numerous +square masses of stone—principally fragments of +obsidian, and trachytic and cellular lava—so as to resemble +a city in ruins. At Monastir there is a distinct double +crater, now well wooded; and a bridge constructed of fine +red trap, with the bold outline of the neighbourhood, +render the entrance to the village by the Strada Reale +singularly picturesque. The volcanic current, flowing +westward from Monastir by Siliqua and Massargiu, again +approached the coast towards the southern extremity of +Sardinia, extending across the deep gulf of Palmas to the +islands of S. Pietro and S. Antonio, which are entirely +composed of trachytic rocks. Their bold escarpments<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[327]</a></span> +arrested our attention on approaching the coast, near Cape +Teulada, in one of our excursions to Sardinia.</p> + +<p>Plains of lava, called “<i>giare</i>” by the natives, are often +found reposing on the large tracts of recent formation, +such as those of Sardara, Ploaghe, and other places; and +considerable extents of trap and pitchstone are frequently +met with on limestone strata, while others, tending fast to +decomposition, are incorporated with an earth formed of +comminuted lava. Vestiges of craters, though generally ill +defined, still exist in the vicinity of Osilo, Florinas, Keremule, +St. Lussurgiu, Monastir, &c. Some of these are +considered, from their less broken and conical shape, and +from the surrounding country consisting of fine red ashes, +slaggy lava, scoria, obsidian, and indurated pozzolana, +with hills of porphyritic trap,—all lying over tertiary +rock,—to have been of a much more recent formation +than the others, which in form present a lengthened straggling +appearance, and in composition resemble those of +Auvergne.</p> + +<p>The tertiary formation lies on the west side of the principal +granitic chain, and, besides forming the Campidano +and the bases on which the volcanic substances rest, constitutes +the hills of Cagliari, Sassari, and Sorso. The +tertiary limestone seldom ranges more than 1313 feet +above the level of the sea, though at Isili and some +other places it is 1542 feet high. La Marmora considers +it analogous to the upper tertiary formations found in +the south of France, central and southern Italy, Sicily, +Malta, the Balearic Islands, and Africa. The plains generally +consist of a deep alluvial silt, interspersed with +shingly patches, containing boulder stones. Such is the +valley of the Liscia, occupying nearly the whole surface<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[328]</a></span> +from sea to sea towards the northern extremity of the +island. This, it may be recollected, we crossed north of +the Limbara. Then succeeds the series of <i>Campi</i> or <i>Campidani</i>, +properly so called. We have already spoken of +the vast plain of Ozieri, terminating in the south-west +with its minor branches, the Campi di Mela, St. Lazarus, +and Giavesu, to which it spreads transversely from the +Gulf of Terranova, on the eastern coast. The bottom of +this gulf forms one of the finest harbours in the island, +with some trade, but the town of that name is a wretched +place, remarkable for its insalubrity and the truculent +character of the inhabitants.</p> + +<p>On the western side of the island are the small <i>Campi</i> +of Anglona, lying round Castel Sardo, and another plain +highly cultivated between Sassari and Porto Torres. The +largest of these plains on the eastern side of the island is +that of Orosei, washed by several rivers having their +sources in the neighbouring primitive chain of mountains. +Westward of this chain we have the great central plain, +which, first surrounding the Gulf of Oristano, extends in +an unbroken line, for upwards of fifty miles, to the Gulf +of Cagliari. This is generally spoken of as “<i>the Campidano</i>,” +without further specification, though its parts are +distinguished by local names, such as—di Uras, di Gavino, +&c.</p> + +<p>The mineral riches of Sardinia were well known to the +ancients, and vast excavations, with the remains of a +number of foundries, afford ample testimony of the extent +of their operations. Tradition asserts that gold was formerly +extracted; and there is no doubt that silver was +found in considerable quantities, as it is even now procured<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[329]</a></span> +in assaying the lead. Copper is found near Cape +Teulada, and at other places, and in one of the mines +beautiful specimens of malachite occur. Iron is very +plentifully distributed, but is found principally at the +Monte Santo of Cape Teulada, and at Monte Ferru. The +richest mine is in the Ogliastra, where the <i>intempérie</i>, +however, is so malignant as to preclude the formation of +an establishment. Lead is the most abundant of Sardinian +ores, and its mines are profusely scattered throughout the +islands.</p> + +<p>Anthracite has been found, but only that of the Nurra +district is fit for working; and the coal, though met with +in various places in the secondary formations, and especially +in the lower parts of the beds of magnesian limestone, +is neither sufficient in quantity nor good enough in +quality to be generally used. The granites of the Gallura, +as we have already mentioned, were known to the ancients, +and highly appreciated in Italy for their beauty and +colours. Among the other mineral products may also be +mentioned the porphyries of the Limbara, the basalt of +Nurri, Gestori, and Serri, the alabaster of Sarcidanu, and +the marbles of the Goceano and Monte Raso. Jasper +abounds in the trachyte and dolomite, and large blocks, of +beautiful variety, are found in some districts. Among the +chalcedonies are the sardonyx, agates, and cornelian. The +districts from whence the ancients obtained the sardonyx, +once held in high repute, are not known, but the vicinity +of Bosa abounds in chalcedenous formations. A fine +quality of quartz amethyst has been obtained, and also +hydrophane, known for its peculiar property of becoming +transparent when immersed in water. Good turquoises<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[330]</a></span> +and garnets are also found, but not frequently. Though +there have been so many volcanoes, and selenite, gypsum, +lime, and aluminous schist frequently occur, neither +sulphur nor rock salt have been discovered, and but very +little alum. Mineral springs are numerous, but not much +frequented.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[331]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXI" id="CHAP_XXXI"></a>CHAP. XXXI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Ozieri.—A Refugee Colonel turned Cook and Traiteur.—Traces +of Phenician Superstitions in Sarde Usages.—The +Rites of Adonis.—Passing through the Fire to +Moloch</i>.</p> + + +<p>We entered Ozieri by a new carriage-road in the course of +construction to connect it with the great Strada Reale +between Sassari and Cagliari; such an undertaking being +a novelty in Sardinia, and, of itself, indicating that Ozieri +is an improving place. It is the chief town of a province, +and contains a population of 8000, having the character of +being, and who were to all appearance, thriving, industrious, +and orderly. The streets are airy and clean, +the principal thoroughfare being watered by a stream +issuing from a handsome fountain. There are many good +houses, and, including the cathedral, a large heavy building, +nine churches in the city, with three massive convents. +That of the Capucins, from its cypress-planted terrace, +commands a fine view of the Campidano, as does the +church of N.S. di Montserrato on the summit of a neighbouring +hill.</p> + +<p>The piazza, a large area in the centre of the town, was +thronged with people, lounging and enjoying the evening +air, when we rode into it, not having the slightest idea +where we were to dismount. In this dilemma, observing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[332]</a></span> +among the crowd, through which we slowly moved, a +serjeant of the Bersaglieri, distinguished by the neat +uniform of his rifle corps, with the drooping plume of +cock's feathers in his cap, we addressed ourselves to him, +having among our letters one to the Commandant of the +garrison, which he undertook to deliver. Meanwhile, he +turned our horses' heads to a house in the piazza, kept by +an Italian, with the accommodations of which we found +reason to be well satisfied.</p> + +<p>Mr. Tyndale describes the osteria at Ozieri as execrable, +while, on the other hand, Captain Smyth speaks favourably +of the locanda at Tempio. At the period of our visit the circumstances +were just the reverse. The “<i>Café et Restaurant +de Rome</i>” proved more than its titles implied. Fully +maintaining the latter of these, it supplied us also with two +good apartments. Mine was festooned with bunches of +grapes hung from the ceiling, and heaps of apples and +pears were stored on shelves—so there was no lack of +fruit; while, much to our surprise, several excellent <i>plats</i> +were served for supper, the master of the house uniting +the offices of <i>chef de cuisine</i> and <i>garçon</i>. On our praising +his dishes,—“Ah,” said he, rather theatrically, “<i>Je n'ai +pas toujours rempli un tel métier!</i>”—“How so?”—“Sirs, +I am a Roman exile; I have fought for liberty; I was a +Colonel in the service of the republic,—and now I make +dishes in Sardinia! But a good time is coming; before +long, I shall be recalled, and then”—there would be an +end of popes and cardinals, &c. He told us that many of +Mazzini's partisans had taken refuge in Sardinia. We +afterwards met with another of them under similar circumstances. +Unwilling to wound the feelings of a Colonel +who, like the Theban general, was also our Amphitryon,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[333]</a></span> +we did not inquire under what circumstances our host had +acquired the arts which he practised so well; suspecting, +however, that our Colonel's earliest experience was in +handling <i>batteries de cuisine</i>. In his double capacity, +he might have more than rivalled in the Crimea even +our “General Soyer.” To recommend some liqueurs of +his own composition, which certainly were excellent, he +told us that Sir Harry Darrell, who was here the preceding +winter, just before he was seized with the <i>intempérie</i>, +prized them so much that he carried off great part of his +stock.</p> + +<p>In the course of the evening we had a visit from the +Commandant. Among other civilities, he made the +agreeable proposal that we should join a party formed by +the Conte di T—— to hunt in the mountains south of +Ozieri, following the sport for several days. This scheme +suited us exactly, as it would lead us into the forest district +of Barbagia, which it was our design to visit. Such +is the warmth of the climate, that though it was now the +middle of November, after the Commandant took his leave +we sat to a late hour in our shirt-sleeves, with the casements +wide open on the now solitary piazza, while I wrote and +my companion was drawing. So employed, a strain of distant +music stole on the ear in the stillness of the night, +one of those plaintive melodies common among the Sardes, +a sort of recitative by a tenor voice, with others joining +in a chorus.</p> + +<p>Among the many usages derived by the Sardes from +their Phenician ancestors, one of a singular character is +still practised by the Oziese, of which Father Bresciani +gives the following account:—“Towards the end of +March, or the beginning of April, it is the custom for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[334]</a></span> +young men and women to agree together to fill the relation +of godfathers and godmothers of St. John, <i>compare e +comare</i>—such is the phrase—for the ensuing year. At +the end of May, the proposed <i>comare</i>, having procured a +segment of the bark of a cork tree, fashions it in the +shape of a vase, and fills it with rich light mould in +which are planted some grains of barley or wheat. The +vase being placed in the sunshine, well watered and carefully +tended, the seed soon germinates, blades spring up, +and, making a rapid growth, in the course of twenty-one +days,—that is, before the eve of St. John,—the vase is +filled by a spreading and vigorous plant of young corn. +It then receives the name of <i>Hermes</i>, or, more commonly, +of <i>Su Nennere</i>, from a Sarde word, which possibly has the +same signification as the Phenician name of garden; +similar vases being called, in ancient times, ‘the gardens +of Adonis.’”</p> + +<p>On the eve of St. John, the cereal vase, ornamented +with ribbons, is exposed on a balcony, decorated with +garlands and flags. Formerly, also, a little image in +female attire, or phallic emblems moulded in clay, such as +were exhibited in the feasts of Hermes, were placed among +the blades of corn; but these representations have been +so severely denounced by the Church, that they are fallen +into disuse. The young men flock in crowds to witness +the spectacle and attend the maidens who come out to +grace the feast. A great fire is lit on the <i>piazza</i>, round +which they leap and gambol, the couple who have agreed +to be St. John's <i>compare</i> completing the ceremony in this +manner:—the man is placed on one side of the fire, the +woman on the other, each holding opposite ends of a +stick extended over the burning embers, which they pass<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[335]</a></span> +rapidly backwards and forward. This is repeated three +times, so that the hand of each party passes thrice through +the flames. The union being thus sealed, the <i>comparatico</i>, +or spiritual alliance, is considered perfect.<a name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> After that, +the music strikes up, and the festival is concluded by +dances, prolonged to a late hour of the night.</p> + +<p>In some places the couple go in procession, attended by +a gay company of youths and damsels, all in holiday +dresses, to some country church. Arrived there, they +dash the vase of Hermes against the door, so that it falls +in pieces. The company then seat themselves in a circle +on the grass, and feast on eggs fried with herbs, while +gay tunes are played on the <i>lionedda</i>.<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> A cup of wine is +passed round from one to another, and each, laying his +hand on his neighbour, repeats, with a certain modulation +of voice, supported by the music of the pipes, “<i>Compare +e comare di San Giovanni!</i>”. The toast is repeated, in a +joyous chorus, for some time, till, at length, the company +rise, still singing, and, forming a circle, dance merrily for +many hours.</p> + +<p>Father Bresciani, La Marmora, and other writers, justly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[336]</a></span> +consider the <i>Nennere</i> as one of the many relics of the +Phenician colonisation of Sardinia. Every one knows +that the Sun and Moon, under various names, such as +Isis and Osiris, Adonis and Astarte, were the principal +objects of worship in the East from the earliest times; the +sun being considered as the vivifying power of universal +nature, the moon, represented as a female, deriving her +light from the sun, as the passive principle of production. +The abstruse doctrines on the origin of things, thus shadowed +out by the ancient seers, generated the grossest +ideas, expressed in the phallic emblems, the lewdness and +obscenities mixed up in the popular worship of the deified +principles of all existence. Of the prevalence in Sardinia +of the Egypto-Phenician mythology, in times the most +remote, no one who has examined the large collection of +relics in the Royal Museum at Cagliari, or who consults +the plates attached to La Marmora's work, can entertain +any doubt. But it is surprising to find, among the usages +of the Sardes at the present day, a very exact representation +of the rites of a primitive religion, introduced into +the island nearly thirty-five centuries ago, though it now +partakes rather of the character of a popular festival than +of a religious ceremony.</p> + +<p>The Phenicians worshipped the sun under the name of +Adonis, while the moon, Astarte, the Astaroth of the +Bible, and the Venus-Ouranie of the Greeks, was their +goddess of heaven. The story of Adonis is well known:—how, +being slain by a wild boar in the Libanus, +his mistress sought him in vain, with loud lamentations, +throughout the earth, and following him to the +infernal regions, prevailed on Proserpine by her tears and +prayers to allow him to spend one half the year on earth,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[337]</a></span> +to which he returned in youth perpetually renewed. Thus +was shadowed out the annual course of the sun in the +zodiac, and especially his return to ascendancy at the +summer solstice, a season devoted to joy and festivity. +In after times, this period corresponding with the feast +of St. John the Baptist (24th June), that festival was +celebrated in many parts of Christendom with bonfires +and merriment,—usages adopted from pagan traditions. +The practices of the <i>Nennere</i>, in the neighbourhood of +Ozieri and other parts of Sardinia, still more distinctly +coincide with the rites which accompanied the ancient +festival.</p> + +<p>It was the custom of the Phenician women, towards the +end of May, to place before the shrine, or in the portico +of the temples, of Adonis, certain vessels, in which were +sown grains of barley or wheat. These vessels were made +of wicker-work or pieces of bark, and sometimes wrought +of plaster. The seeds, sown in rich earth, soon sprung +up, and formed plants of luxuriant growth. These verdant +vases were then called by the Phenicians “the Gardens of +Adonis.” The ceremonies of the summer solstice commenced +over night with lamentations by the women, +expressive of grief for the loss of Adonis. But on the +morrow, “when the sun came out of his chamber like a +giant refreshed,” all was changed to joy; the garden vases +were crowned with wreaths of purple and various-coloured +ribbons, and the resurrection of the boy-god was celebrated +by dancing, feasting, and revelry. The priestesses +of Adonis led the way in a mysterious procession, bearing +the vases, with other symbols already alluded to, and on +re-entering the temples, dancing and singing, they cast<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[338]</a></span> +the vases and scattered their verdure at the feet of the +god. All the women then danced in a circle round the +altar, and the day and night were spent in pious orgies, +feasting, and revelry. It is needless to point out the close +identity of the Oziese <i>Nennere</i> with these Phenician rites.</p> + +<p>The worship of Adonis, under the name of Tammuz<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a>, +with all its seductive abominations, was one of the +Canaanitish idolatries into which the Israelites were +prone to fall. Father Bresciani considers these rites to be +emphatically referred to in the indignant apostrophe of +Isaiah:—<i>How is the faithful city become an harlot!... +ye shall be confounded with idols to which ye have sacrificed, +and be ashamed of the gardens which ye have chosen.</i><a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> +And again, in the prophet's terrible denunciation:—<i>Behold, +the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a +whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke +with flames of fire ... and the slain of the Lord +shall be many. They that sanctified themselves and +esteemed themselves clean in the garden of the portico<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> +shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.</i></p> + +<p>Whether the learned Jesuit's interpretation of these +passages be well founded or not, we may add another +from the prophet Ezekiel, not referred to by him, but of +the application of which to some of these rites there can +be no doubt. In one of those lofty visions, vividly portraying +the iniquities of Israel, her idolatries and wicked +abominations, the prophet's attention is directed to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[339]</a></span> +intolerable scandal that, even <i>at the gate of the Lord's +house, behold there sat women weeping for Tammuz</i>.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a></p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i6">“Thammuz came next behind,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whose annual wound in Lebanon allured<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Syrian damsels to lament his fate,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In amorous ditties, all a summer day,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">While smooth Adonis, from his native rock<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ran purple to the sea, supposed with blood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of Thammuz, yearly wounded: the love tale<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Infected Zion's daughters with like heat;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Whose wanton passions in the sacred porch<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ezekiel saw, when, by the vision led,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His eye surveyed the dark idolatries<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of alienated Judah.”—<i>Par. Lost</i>, i. 447.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>One of the remarkable incidents in the Sarde <i>Nennere</i>, +just described, consists in the consecration of the spiritual +relation between the <i>compare</i> and <i>comare</i>, by their thrice +crossing hands over the fire in the ceremonies of St. John's +day. A still more extraordinary vestige of the idolatrous +rite of “passing through the fire,” is said to be still subsisting +among the customs of the people of Logudoro, in +the neighbourhood of Ozieri, and in other parts of Sardinia.</p> + +<p>Of the worship of Moloch—<i>par excellence</i> the Syrian +and Phenician god of fire—by the ancient Sardes, there +is undoubted proof. We find among the prodigious quantity +of such relics, collected from all parts of the island, +in the Royal Museum at Cagliari, a <i>statuette</i> of this idol, +supposed to have been a household god. Its features are +appalling: great goggle eyes leer fiercely from their hollow +sockets; the broad nostrils seem ready to sniff the fumes +of the horrid sacrifice; a wide gaping mouth grins with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[340]</a></span> +rabid fury at the supposed victim; dark plumes spring +from the forehead, like horns, and expanded wings from +each shoulder and knee. The image brandishes a sword +with the left hand, holding in the right a small grate, +formed of metal bars. It would appear that, this being +heated, the wretched victim was placed on it, and then, +scorched so that the fumes of the disgusting incense +savoured in the nostrils of the rabid idol, it fell upon a +brazier of burning coals beneath, where it was consumed. +There is another idol in this collection with the same +truculent cast of features, but horned, and clasping a +bunch of snakes in the right hand, a trident in the left, +with serpents twined round its legs. This image has a +large orifice in the belly, and flames are issuing between +the ribs, so that it would appear that when the brazen +image of the idol was thoroughly heated, the unhappy +children intended for sacrifice were thrust into the mouth +in the navel, and there grilled,—savoury morsels, on +which the idol seems, from his features, rabidly gloating, +while the priests, we are told, endeavoured to drown the +cries of the sufferers by shouts and the noise of drums +and timbrels—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“ ... horrid king, besmeared with blood<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Of human sacrifice, and parents' tears;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd through fire<br /></span> +<span class="i0">To his grim idol.”—<i>Par. Lost</i>, i. 392.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>This cruel child-sacrifice was probably the giving of his +seed to Moloch<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a>, fwhich any Israelite, or stranger that +sojourned in Israel, guilty of the crime was, according to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[341]</a></span> +the Mosaic law, to be stoned to death. We are informed +in the Sacred Records, that no such denunciations of the +idolatries of the surrounding nations, no revelations of the +attributes, or teachings of the pure worship of Jehovah, +restrained the Israelites from the practice of the foul and +cruel rites of their heathen neighbours; and we find, in +the latter days of the Jewish commonwealth, the prophet +Jeremiah predicting<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> the desolation of the people for this +sin among others, that they had estranged themselves from +the worship of Jehovah, and burned incense to strange +gods, and filled the holy place with the blood of innocents, +and burned their sons and their daughters with fire for +burnt-offerings unto Baal.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p> + +<p>There appear to have been two modes in which the +ancient idolaters devoted their children to Moloch. In +one they were sacrificed and consumed in the manner +already described, a burnt-offering to the cruel idol for the +expiation of the sins of their parents or their people. In +the other, they were only made <i>to pass through the fire</i>, in +honour of the deity, and as a sort of initiation into his +mysteries, and consecration to his service. Thus Ahaz, +King of Judah, is said to have “made his son to pass +through the fire, according to the abominations of the +heathen.”<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> And it is reckoned in the catalogue of the +sins of Judah, which drew on them the vengeance of God, +that they “built the high places of Baal, to cause their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[342]</a></span> +sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto +Moloch.”<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a></p> + +<p>In the case of infants, it is supposed that this initiation, +this “baptism by fire,” was performed either by placing +them on a sort of grate suspended by chains from the vault +of the temple, and passed rapidly over the sacred fire, or +by the priests taking the infants in their arms, and swaying +them to and fro over or across the fire, chanting meanwhile +certain prayers or incantations. With respect to +children of older growth, they were made to leap naked +through the fire before the idol, so that their whole bodies +might be touched by the sacred flames, and purified, as it +were, by contact with the divinity.</p> + +<p>The Sardes, we are informed by Father Bresciani<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a> still +preserve a custom representing this initiation by fire, but, +as in other Phenician rites and practices, without the +slightest idea of their profane origin. In the first days +of spring, from one end of the island to the other, the +villagers assemble, and light great fires in the <i>piazze</i> and +at the cross-roads. The flames beginning to ascend, the +children leap through them at a bound, so rapidly and +with such dexterity, that when the flames are highest it is +seldom that their clothes or a hair of their head are singed. +They continue this practice till the fuel is reduced to +embers, the musicians meanwhile playing on the <i>lionedda</i> +tunes adapted to a Phyrric dance. This, says the learned +Father, is a representation of the initiation through fire +into the mysteries of Moloch; and, singular as its preservation +may appear through the vast lapse of time since such +rites were practised, we see no reason to doubt his relation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[343]</a></span> +exactly as he treats on this subject after repeated visits to +the island, even if the account were not confirmed by +other writers, as we find it is. Bresciani's recent work +is almost entirely devoted, as we have already observed, to +the task of tracing numerous customs still existing among +the Sardes to their eastern origin. We may find future +opportunities of noticing some in which the coincidence is +most striking.</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[344]</a></span></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXII" id="CHAP_XXXII"></a>CHAP. XXXII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Expedition to the Mountains.—Environs of Ozieri.—First +View of the Peaks of Genargentu.—Forests.—Value of +the Oak Timber.—Cork Trees; their Produce, and Statistics +of the Trade.—Hunting the Wild Boar, &c.—The Hunters' +Feast.—A Bivouac in the Woods.—Notices of the Province +of Barbagia.—Independence of the Mountaineers.</i></p> + + +<p>The hunting excursion in the mountains south of Ozieri +was in the order of the day, the expedition being on a +much larger scale than that arranged by our honest Tempiese +friends at the <i>Caffè de la Costituzione</i>. We were +to camp out; and the party consisted of upwards of thirty +horsemen, well mounted and armed, with the Conte di +T—— and some other Oziese gentlemen for leaders. We +had also a large pack of dogs, some of them fine animals, +almost equal to bloodhounds.</p> + +<p>Our route from the town led us over a succession of +scraggy hills, with cultivation in the bottoms, and some +straggling vineyards, not very flourishing. The walnut +trees in the glens, and small inclosures mixed with copse +wood, reminded us more of English or Welsh scenery than +anything we had before seen in either of the Mediterranean +islands. After passing a village standing on high ground, +there was a long ascent, and in about an hour and a half<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[345]</a></span> +from our leaving Ozieri, on gaining the summit of a ridge +of hills outlying from the Goceano range, we opened on a +magnificent view of the great central chain of mountains, +stretching away to the south-east in giant limbs and folds, +with Genargentu and other summits shrouded in a grey +silvery haze. A broad valley was spread out beneath our +point of view, and the mountain range immediately opposite, +the lower regions of which, as far as the eye could +command the view, right and left, were clothed with dense +forests, straggling down in broken masses and detached +clumps to the edge of the intervening valley.</p> + +<p>Into the depths of these forests we were to penetrate in +pursuit of our game, and finer covers to be stocked with +<i>cingale</i> and <i>capriole</i>, or bolder scenery for the theatre of +our sylvan sport, can scarcely be imagined. It was spirit-stirring +when, full in view of these grand natural features, +our numerous cavalcade wound down the hill in scattered +groups to the plain beneath, among pollard cork trees, just +now shedding their acorns. There was deep ploughing +in the rich vale watered by the upper streams of the Tirso, +which winds through the valley at the foot of the Goceano +range. After crossing the holms, we were on slopes of +greensward, lightly feathered with the red fern, and dotted +with trees, like a park.</p> + +<p>And now we touched the verge of the forest, rough +with brakes of giant heaths, such underwood alternating +with grassy glades wherever the woods opened. This part +of the forest consists of an unbroken mass of primitive +cork trees of great size. The rugged bark, the strangely-angular +growth of the limbs, hung with grey lichens in +fantastic combs, and the thick olive-green foliage almost +excluding the light of heaven, with the roar of the wind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[346]</a></span> +through the trees,—for it was a dull, cold day, the coldest +we spent in Sardinia,—with all this, a Scandinavian forest +could not be more dreary and savage. After tracking the +gloomy depths of shade for a considerable distance, it was +an agreeable change to quit the forest and warm our blood +by cantering up a slope of scrub. Then, after crossing a +grassy hollow, we came among scattered woods of the most +magnificent oaks, both evergreen and deciduous, I ever saw. +Some of the trees were of enormous size, and if the quality +of the timber be equal to the scantling, Sardinia would +supply materials of great value for naval purposes.</p> + +<p>The forests of the Barbagia, into which we now penetrated, +like those of the Gallura, are principally virgin +forests; the want of roads, of navigable rivers, and even of +flottage, presenting formidable obstacles to the conveyance +of the timber to the seaboard for exportation, though the +first is not insurmountable. The forests of the Marghine +and Goceano ranges round Macomer, having the little +port of Boso on the western coast for an outlet, are felled +to some extent. The contracts are mostly in the hands of +foreigners, who obtain them on such low terms that their +profits are enormous. Mr. Tyndale gives the details of a +contract obtained by a Frenchman for 18,000 oak trees, +at fifteen <i>lire nove</i>, 12<i>s.</i> each, the trees being said to realise +from 200 to 300 francs (8<i>l.</i> to 12<i>l.</i>) each at Toulon or Marseilles. +In England, we pay from 1<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> to 2<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i> per +cubic foot for very indifferent American oak, and from +1<i>s.</i> 9<i>d.</i> to 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i> for Baltic oak, perhaps superior to the +Sardinian.</p> + +<p>In the course of the Corsican notices in this volume, it +was mentioned that after my return to England, I had +some communications with a government department respecting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[347]</a></span> +the pine forests of Corsica.<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a> On my taking occasion +also to represent the great abundance of oak timber +of large dimensions standing in Sardinia, I learnt that a +valuable report on the subject had been made to the +Admiralty by Mr. Craig, Her Majesty's excellent Consul-General +in the island. It did not, however, appear that +any steps had been taken in consequence.</p> + +<p>Great damage is done to the forests by the herdsmen +and shepherds, who are permitted, under certain restrictions, +to burn down portions of underwood, such as the +lentiscus, daphne, and cistus, to allow the pasturage to +grow for their flocks. But though this is not legal before +the eighth of September, when the intense heat of the +summer has passed away, and the periodical autumnal +rains are necessary for the young herbage, the law is +broken, and not only accidental but wilful conflagrations +have been the destruction of numerous forests. What +with this waste, the injury done to the growing timber by +the contractors, and the indolence of the natives, the noble +forests of Sardinia are of little account. Even the government, +it is said, purchase most of the oak used in the +dockyards of Genoa at the French ports before mentioned.</p> + +<p>Similar observations apply to cork, though capable of +easier transport, and said to be as fine as any in the world. +The Sardinian forests would supply large quantities; but +it enters little into the exports of the island. We saw a +great many trees stripped by the peasants for domestic uses, +naked and miserable skeletons; with them it is indiscriminate +slaughter, doing irreparable injury to the trees. There<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[348]</a></span> +now lie before me the specimens I collected of the successive +layers of the bark. The spongy external cuticle, +swelling into excrescences, is only used for floats of the +fishermen's nets in the island. Beneath lies a coating of +more compact, but cellular, tissue, of a beautiful rich +colour—a sort of red umber. This layer, called <i>la camicia</i> +(the shift), covers the good or “female” bark, with which +every one is acquainted in the shape of corks.</p> + +<p>The bark will bear cutting every ten years, commencing +when the trees are about that age; but it should not be +cut till the inner bark is an inch or an inch and a quarter +thick. I consider that the bark of old trees is less valuable. +Some of those we saw in the forests of the Gallura +and Barbagia must have been the growth of many centuries. +It is calculated that each tree, on an average, +produces upwards of 30 lbs. of bark at a cutting; there +are about 220 lbs. in a quintal, worth, at Marseilles, 20 +francs; and a quintal of cork makes from 4500 to 5000 +bottle-corks.</p> + +<p>The woods are generally leased at an annual rent, proportioned +to the number of trees; but this rent, with the +cost of stripping the bark, and even the transport to the +coast, form but small items in the lessee's account of profit +and loss. The heaviest charges are the export duty from +Sardinia, the freight, and the import duties in France, to +which country, I understand, the greatest part of the cork +cut in the island is shipped. The French customs' duty is +2frs. 20 cents. the quintal. England imports no cork in +its rough state from the island of Sardinia; but probably +a considerable part of the manufactured corks we import +from France (upwards of 226,000 lbs. in 1855<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a>) grew in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[349]</a></span> +Sardinian forests. Our principal imports of unmanufactured +cork bark are from Portugal, the quantity in the +year just mentioned being 3300 tons and upwards. From +Spain we only received 300 tons, and about 100 from Tuscany +and other parts; the official value being from 32<i>l.</i> to +35<i>l.</i> per ton. It appears extraordinary that we should +draw so considerable a portion of our supplies of this valuable +commodity from France in a manufactured state, and +subject to a heavy customs' duty and other double charges, +when the raw material might be imported direct from +Sardinia, subject only to an export duty of 1fr. 20 cents. +per quintal. This arises, I imagine, from the trade being +left by the apathy of the islanders mostly in the hands of +French houses, who take leases of the forests and conduct +the whole operations.</p> + +<p>These details, though they smack of woodcraft, have led +us away from our sylvan sports. We had reached the +point where the dogs were thrown into the covers with a +party detached to drive the woods. Having given a description +in a former chapter of the <i>caccia clamorosa</i>, as +wild boar hunting is well termed by the Sardes, repetition +would be wearisome. It was conducted precisely as on +the former occasion, except that the proceedings were on a +more extended scale, and led us far among wilder and +more varied scenery. As before, the stations of the +hunters were assigned at about seventy or eighty paces +apart, with the horses tethered in the rear. The line of +shooters was first formed among the heather on the easy +slope of a glen, lightly sprinkled with wood. The exhilarating +sounds of the men and dogs breaking the silence of +the woods as they drove the game before them, the minutes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[350]</a></span> +of eager expectation, the sharp look-out, the ringing shots, +may now be easily imagined.</p> + +<p>My fellow-traveller was fortunate enough to knock over +the first wild boar that ran the gauntlet of the <i>cordon</i>, +when the Count's gun had missed fire from the cap having +become damp. Our next position was in an open piece of +forest, where luck planted me in a notched cork tree, +standing on a wooded knoll, at which several avenues met, +so that I had not only a good chance of a shot, but the +command of the <i>champ de bataille</i> on all sides. Wild +boars were plentiful, roebucks not so, hares innumerable +in some of our <i>battues</i>. I confess, however, that the incident +in the day's sport in which I felt most interest was +when a wild boar, slightly wounded, rushed by one of my +posts, pursued by some of the dogs. Throwing myself on +my spirited barb, I led the chase, followed by my neighbours, +right and left, and was lucky enough to be in at the +death, after a sharp run. Under such circumstances the +wild boar, standing at bay with his formidable tusks, becomes +dangerous to the dogs, if not to the hunters. Then +the sharp steel is wanting. Oh, for a boar spear! instead +of having to despatch the rabid animal by a shot.</p> + +<p>Having had a long morning's ride, our first day's <i>battue</i> +was closed early. The party defiled in loose order among +the trees in the open forest, cantered over springy turf, +and brushed through patches of fern to a sheltered dell in +which we were to bivouac, and where the sumpter horses +had already halted. Then followed such a rude feast as in +all my rambles I had never before chanced to witness. +Imagine the grassy margin of a rivulet, surrounded by +thick bushes, which spread in brakes throughout the glen +under scattered oaks, intermingled with crags and detached<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[351]</a></span> +masses of rock, covered with white lichens. On the grass +are piles of flat bread, which served for plates, loads of +sausages, hams, cheeses, bundles of radishes, and heaps of +apples, pears, grapes, and chestnuts, strewed about in the +happiest confusion, with no lack of flasks and runlets of +various sorts of wines. Our contribution to the pic-nic, +a basket of signor Juliani's best cold dishes and larded +fowls, seemed perfectly insignificant. Add to all this, the +game we had bagged,—wild boar and roebuck, to say nothing +of hares,—and the general stock might seem inexhaustible, +if one glance at the crowd of hungry hunters +did not banish the thought.</p> + +<p>Eager for the attack, they were busily employed in preparations +for it. Horses were unsaddled and tethered +among the bushes, guns piled or rested against the boughs, +wood collected, fires lighted, and dagger-knives whetted, +ready to rip open and quarter the game. The leaders only +stood apart, under a spreading tree. They had a grave +duty to perform in apportioning the spoils among those +who had been successful in the day's sport. This was +done with great exactness and the perfect equality existing +among all ranks on these occasions. It was Robin Hood +and his merry men all through; or might have been taken +for an episode of Sarde banditti life, except that, our party +being all honest fellows, there was no plunder to divide. +By the laws of the chase in Sardinia, the hunter to whose +gun an animal falls is entitled exclusively to some distinct +portion, varying with the species of the game,—sometimes +to the skin, sometimes to the choicest parts of the <i>roba +interiora</i>, the intestines; the rest falls into the common +stock. The award being made, such choice morsels, with +rashers of hog and venison steaks, were grilled over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[352]</a></span> +embers on skewers of sweet wood, and handed round, filled +each pause in the attack on the cold provisions, portions +being detached by the formidable <i>couteaux de chasse</i> with +which every man was armed; nor did English steel fail of +doing its duty.</p> + +<p>Though the party distributed themselves indiscriminately +on the grass, they naturally fell into familiar +messes, perfect harmony and good fellowship prevailing. +But at times there was great confusion. Now, the horses, +kicking and fighting, got free from their tethers, and +there was a rush of the hunters to restore order; while +the ravenous hounds, not content with the bones and fragments +thrown to them, were making perpetual inroads on +the circle of guests, and snatching at the morsels they +were appropriating to themselves. The feast was drawing +to a close, when Count T—— proposed the health of the +foreigners associated in their sports, and the toast, with +the reply, which, if not eloquent, was short and feeling,—“<i>Agli +nobili cacciatori della Sardegna, e di noi forestieri +li sozii amicissimi, benevolentissimi</i>,” &c., &c., &c., drew +forth <i>ev-vivas</i> which made the old woods ring to the echo. +And now all started on their legs, and there was a rush to +the guns as if scouts had suddenly announced that the +woods were filled with enemies. As an hour or two of +daylight still remained, a <i>bersaglio</i>, or match of shooting +at a mark, had been arranged during the feast.</p> + +<p>The <i>bersaglio</i> is a favourite amusement of the Sardes, +forming part of most of their festivities; and constant +practice on these occasions, and in the field, makes them +expert shots. Our party now addressed themselves to this +exercise of skill with passionate eagerness. Some ran to +fix a small card against the bole of a tree, eighty or a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[353]</a></span> +hundred yards distant, the rest gathered round the point +of sight, loading their guns or applying caps, all talking +rapidly, in sharp tones, as if they were quarrelling. They +formed picturesque groups, in all attitudes—those mountain +rangers, with their semi-Moorish costume, embroidered +pouches, and bright ornamented arms, their dark-olive +complexions and bushy hair, in strong contrast with their +visitors from the north, in gray plaid and brown felt, unmistakable +in their physiognomy, though almost as hairy +and sunburnt as the children of the soil. The match was +well contested, the card being often hit; which, as the +Sarde guns are not rifled, may be considered good shooting, +at the distance stated. The firing was continued till it +was almost dark with eager zest, but much irregularity, +and almost as great an expenditure of animal spirits in +vociferation, as of powder and bullets.</p> + +<p>An hour after sunset, when night came on, fresh wood +was heaped on the smouldering fires, and after sitting +round them, smoking and chatting, the party gradually +broke up, some stretching themselves near the embers, +and the rest seeking some shelter for the night, about +which a Sarde mountaineer is not fastidious, any bush or +hollow in a rock serving his purpose. For ourselves, +after exchanging the “<i>felice notte</i>” with the Count and +his friends, we lingered over a scene so singular in civilised +Europe, though with such I had been familiar in other +hemispheres. The smouldering fires cast fitful gleams on +piled arms and the hardy men sleeping around in their +sheepskins or shaggy cloaks; the deep silence of the woods +was only broken by a neighing horse or the bay of a +hound, and presently the stars shone out from the vault of +heaven with a lustre unknown in northern climes. We,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[354]</a></span> +too, lay down ensconced in a brake, the younger traveller +disdaining any other wrapping than his plaid, and the +elder luxuriously enveloped in a couple of blankets which +formed part of his equipments, having his saddle for a +pillow. With sound sleep, the rivulet for our ablutions, +and a hot cup of coffee, bread, cheese, and fruit for the +<i>collazione</i>,—what more could be wanting?</p> + +<p>In this expedition one day was like another, except in +the ever-varying scenery, interesting enough to the traveller, +but wearisome in description. Suffice it to say, +that on the third morning, the provisions being exhausted, +and no fresh supplies to be had in that wild country, our +leaders decided on returning to Ozieri. It then became a +question with us whether we should return with them, or +pursue the mountain tracks to Nuoro, whence it was only +two days' journey to the foot of Monte Genargentu, on +the higher regions of which it had been our intention to +hunt the <i>moufflon</i>, proceeding then, along byroads, through +a chain of mountain villages to Cagliari. Nuoro, a poor +place, though dignified with the title of “<i>città</i>,” and a +large ecclesiastical establishment, stands high on a great +table-land in the heart of the central chain, answering, in +many respects, to the Corte of the sister island. This +ancient capital of Barbagia is still the chief place of a +province containing a population of 54,000 souls, very +much scattered through an extensive and mountainous +district, but containing many large villages, such as Fonni, +Tonara, and Aritzu already mentioned.</p> + +<p>The mountaineers of Barbagia have been distinguished +from the earliest times for their indomitable courage and +spirit of independence. Some of the best ancient writers +relate that Iolaus, son of Iphicles, king of Thessaly, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[355]</a></span> +nephew of Hercules, settled Greek colonies in this part of +the island. The expedition, in which he was joined by the +Thespiadæ, was undertaken in obedience to the oracle of +Delphi; and it declared that, on their establishing themselves +in Sardinia, they would never be conquered. Iolaus +is said to have been buried in this district, after founding +many cities; and, the Greek colonists intermingling with +the native Sardes, their descendants, deriving their name +of Iolaese or Iliese from their founder, became the most +powerful race in the island,—just as the Roumains of +Wallachia, boasting their descent from Trajan's Dacian +colonists, long proved their right to the proud patronymic.</p> + +<p>The Iolaese offered a determined resistance to the Carthaginian +invaders, and, on the decline of their power in +Sardinia, maintained, during a long series of years, an +unequal contest with the Roman legions; for, though +often worsted in pitched battles, they found a safe and +impregnable retreat in their mountain fastnesses. The +triumphs of the Romans figure in history; but the traditions +of the Sardes do justice to the heroic and patriarchal +chiefs who fought in defence of their country. In after +times, the Barbaricini (the Barbari of the Romans, +whence Barbagia) exhibited their hereditary warlike spirit +in resisting the invasions of the Moors; and, when Sardinia +passed to the crown of Arragon, they refused to +acknowledge Alfonso's rights and authority, resisting all +claims of homage, tribute, or service. A sullen submission +of three centuries to their Spanish sovereigns had not +effaced their spirit of independence, and the Barbaricini +were in arms against an unjust tax, and, moving their +wives, children, and valuables to the mountains, kept the +Spaniards entirely at bay, when, in 1719, Sardinia was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[356]</a></span> +ceded to the house of Savoy. The demand being prudently +withdrawn, they returned to their villages, and +their allegiance to the present dynasty has not been +broken by any open revolt. But the indomitable spirit of +their race has still been exhibited in sullen or violent +resistance to the Piedmontese authorities. Driven by the +corrupt administration of the laws to take a wild and +summary justice, every man's hand has been against his +neighbours' and the government officials. Mr. Tyndale +states “that upwards of 100 (or one in every 279) annually +fall victims to <i>vendetta</i>, in contest with their enemies, or with +the authorities. Those openly known to live in the mountains +as <i>fuorusciti</i>, of some kind, are more than 300; and to +them may be added another 300 unknown to the Government, +so that, on an average, there is nearly one in every +46 an outcast from society, a fugitive from his hearth.” I +was happy to learn, on a second visit to the island of Sardinia, +in 1857, that the numbers of these unhappy men +were decreasing, outrages had diminished, and the system +of <i>vendetta</i> was gradually dying out. This, it was stated, +principally resulted from the Barbaricini beginning to feel +that the government is able and willing to afford them the +redress of their private wrongs, and the personal protection +which, as individuals or banded together, they have so long +asserted by the red hand in defiance of the authorities.</p> + +<p>Thus the independence predicted by the oracle of Delphi +to the race of Iolaus, preserved for untold centuries and +through all political changes, has been maintained to the +last by their direct descendants, the <i>fuorusciti</i> of Barbagia. +They were in arms as late as our travels in 1853, +and we were officially warned against venturing into the +mountains without due precautions. It was not, however,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[357]</a></span> +this state of affairs which interfered with the prosecution +of our journey, as we did not doubt being able to establish, +as foreigners, amicable relations with their chiefs. Such a +state of society could not be without interest, the scenery +is represented as most romantic, the shooting excellent; +but our time was limited, and, reserving the expedition to +Barbagia for a future opportunity, we reluctantly retraced +our steps to Ozieri, in company with our friendly hunters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[358]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXIII" id="CHAP_XXXIII"></a>CHAP. XXXIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Leave Ozieri.—The New Road and Travelling in the +Campagna.—Monte +Santo.—Scenes at the Halfway House.—Volcanic +Hills.—Sassari; its History.—Liberal opinions +of the Sassarese.—Constitutional Government.—Reforms +wanted in Sardinia.—Means for its Improvement</i>.</p> + +<p>Ozieri standing on the verge of the great Sardinian plains, +we dismissed our <i>cavallante</i>, and changed our mode of +travelling. A primitive <i>diligence</i> plies occasionally between +Ozieri and Sassari, by the new road just constructed to +join the Strada Reale between Cagliari and Porto Torres. +Missing the opportunity during our hunting excursion, we +hired a <i>voiture</i> for the day's journey. It was comparatively +a smart affair, a light <i>calèche</i> with bright yellow +pannels, and drawn by a pair of quick-stepping horses; so +that we travelled in much comfort. Carriages are seldom +found in the island except on this great road, and in a few +of the principal towns; the mode of travelling in the interior, +for persons of all ranks and both sexes, being either +on horseback or on oxen.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a></p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[359]</a></span></p> +<p>We rattled out of Ozieri with a flourish of the driver's +horn, more intent on which than on the management of his +spirited horses he nearly brought us to grief. After some +narrow escapes of being capsized over the heaps of stones +scattered along the new road, now in the course of construction, +we came to a dead lock in an excavation; and +one of the horses, though mettlesome enough, hung in the +collar, refusing to draw. It was said to be an Irish horse, +but how or when it got to Sardinia was as much a myth +as the immigration of some of the various races by which +the island is said to have been peopled in ancient times. +However, Miss Edgeworth's Irish postilion and “Knockecroghery,” +could scarcely have afforded us more amusement +than our Sarde driver and his horse, whose good +qualities he ludicrously vaunted, alternately cursing and +glorifying, thumping and coaxing, the vicious beast, while +we heaved at the wheels. Our united efforts at length +succeeded in extricating the vehicle from the sandy hollow; +and after jolting for awhile over the new-formed road, the +material having become solid and compact, we rolled at +our ease across the plain. I remarked, that though the +road was well levelled and macadamised, scarcely a man +was to be seen employed in the present operations. Boys +were breaking the metal, and girls carrying it in baskets on +their heads.</p> + +<p>The plains being undulating, extensive views are commanded +by the eminences far away over the Campidano, +backed by the Limbara mountains on the north-west. We +passed the village of Nores, pleasantly situated on a hill +at the verge of the Ozieri plain, across which Monte +Santo, appearing from this point a long ridge, rose in full +view to our left, 2000 feet high. The junction with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[360]</a></span> +Strada Reale from Cagliari to Sassari was reached soon +afterwards. About noon, we halted while the horses baited +at a roadside <i>locanda</i>, the half-way house to Sassari, standing +at the foot of Monte Santo, here reduced to the shape +of a round-topped mountain. Lesser hills fell away to the +great plain, the slopes and flats being sprinkled with large +flocks of sheep. On a hillock two or three miles distant, +were the ruins of a Nuraghe, mellowed to a rich orange +tint.</p> + +<p>It was a pleasant spot, and at the present moment +full of life, numbers of Sardes of all classes having, like +ourselves, halted there for rest. Two <i>voitures</i> were drawn +up by the roadside, as well as several light carts, with high +wheels and tilts made of rushes or cloth, conveying goods +to and fro between Cagliari and Sassari. Women in yellow +petticoats and red mantles, with bright kerchiefs round +their heads, and men in their white shirt sleeves open to the +elbow, and Moorish cotton trowsers, contrasting with their +dark jackets, caps, and gaiters, were bustling about, fetching +water and fodder for the horses. Others were sitting +and eating under the shade of a group of weeping willows, +overshadowing a bason of pure water, fed by a streamlet +trickling down from the neighbouring hills. Intermingled +with these were Sarde cavaliers, in a more brilliant +costume; and a priest, carrying a huge crimson umbrella, +came forth from the <i>locanda</i>, and with his attendants, +mounting their horses, proceeded on their journey at a pace +suited to the priest's gravity, and the requirements of his +gorgeous canopy.</p> + +<p>Presently a horn sounded, and a coach came thundering +down the hill,—the diligence on its daily service between +the two capitals. The vehicle was double-bodied, well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[361]</a></span> +horsed, and, altogether, a superior turn-out. We took the +opportunity of its pulling up for a moment to bespeak +beds at Sassari. After amusing ourselves with a scene of +life on the road not often witnessed in Sardinia,—having +already lunched in our <i>voiture</i> on a basket of grapes, with +bread, and a bottle of the excellent white wine of Oristano,—we +sauntered up the course of the rivulet to its source, +at the foot of a rock among the woods. There we drank +of the clear fountain, and washed; bees humming among +the flowers, as in the height of the summer, and the +gabble from the roadside below, coming up mixed with +the cries of the carrier's fierce dogs. The spot commanded +charming views of Monte Santo and the far-stretching +<i>campagna</i> beneath.</p> + +<p>Pursuing our route, the country assumed a peculiar +aspect from the number of the flat-topped hills, swelling +in green slopes out of the plains which spread before us +in long sweeps. These vividly green hillocks are probably +the craters of long extinct volcanoes, as we were now in +the line, and near the centre, of that wide igneous action +mentioned in a former chapter. There were signs of more +extensive cultivation than we had hitherto observed, and +the evident fertility of the soil left no doubt on the mind +of its powers of production under a better system. Large +flocks of sheep were feeding in every direction; this being +the season for their being driven from the mountains for +pasture and shelter in the teeming plains. Sardinia remains +still in that pastoral state, which, however picturesque +to the eyes of the traveller, as well as suited to +the indolent habits of the Sarde peasant, must yield to +agricultural progress, or, at least, be reduced within due +bounds, before the soil of the island can be made the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[362]</a></span> +source of that wealth which, with proper cultivation, large +portions of it are naturally fitted to yield. Sardinia will +continue to be poor and uncivilised while vast tracts of +country are open to almost promiscuous and lawless commonage, +and while the occupation of the shepherd, with +all its hardships, is esteemed preferable and more honourable +than that of the tiller of the soil.</p> + +<p>After this, we got among hills bounding the plain in +the neighbourhood of Florinas and Campo di Mela. The +country became rugged, and, after crossing a river, over a +still perfect Roman bridge, of several arches, with massive +substructions of large square stones, which we alighted to +examine, there commenced a steep ascent, winding among +woods. We walked up it by moonlight, our driver's bugle +echoing that of a <i>diligence</i> which preceded us at some distance +in mounting the pass. Sassari was entered by an +arched and embattled gateway in the square-towered wall +surrounding the place; and, passing through the best +quarter of the town, the dark mass of the citadel contrasting +well with the white <i>façades</i> and lofty colonnades of +the neighbouring houses, we were set down at the Albergo +di Progresso, opposite the great convent of St. Pietro, one +of the richest of the many religious houses of which Sassari +once boasted. The accommodations at the hotel were the +best we enjoyed in the island.</p> + +<p>Sassari, the second city of Sardinia, containing a population +of some 30,000 souls, has always been a jealous rival +of Cagliari, the metropolis, boasting an independent history +of its own, of which it has just pretensions to be +proud. It was an insignificant village till the inhabitants +of Porto-Torres,—the ancient <i>Turris Libysonis</i>, founded on +the neighbouring coast by the Greeks, and colonised by the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_363" id="Page_363">[363]</a></span> +Romans,—were driven by the incursions of the Saracen +corsairs, and, finally, by the ruin of their town by the +Genoese, in 1166, to seek a refuge further inland. They +established themselves at Sassari, where the long street, +still called Turritana, was named from the new settlers. +In 1441, the archiepiscopal see and chapter of St. Gavino, +near Porto-Torres, were translated to Sassari by Pope +Eugenius IV., and thenceforward it rivalled the metropolis +in opulence and power. When, in the thirteenth century, +the Genoese occupied the northern division of the island, +Sassari became a republic, entering into an alliance, offensive +and defensive, with that of Genoa. The articles of +the treaty are a curious amalgamation of independence +assumed by the one, and of interference and jurisdiction +claimed by the other. The general effect was, that the +Sassarese accepted annually from the Genoese a Podesta, +who swore fidelity to their constitution; and the Sassarese +assert that while their city was under the protection of +Genoa, they only styled that haughty republic in their +statutes and diplomas, “<i>Mater et Magistra, sed non Domina:</i>” +“<i>non Signora, ma Amica.</i>”</p> + +<p>Mutual quarrels induced a rupture of the alliance in +1306, and on the Arragonese kings advancing pretensions +to the sovereignty of the island, the Sassarese made a +voluntary transfer of their allegiance to Diego II. of +Arragon, who, in return, guaranteed their rights and +privileges; and Sassari continued to be governed as a +republic long after the Spanish conquest in 1325. The +city, however, suffered severely during the protracted +contests between the Genoese, Pisans, and the Giudici of +Arborea, for the expulsion of the Spaniards; sustaining no +less than ten sieges, courageously defended, in the short<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_364" id="Page_364">[364]</a></span> +interval between 1332 and 1409. It continued to be the +victim of contending parties till 1420, when for the last time, +and after a struggle of nearly a hundred years, it fell into +the hands of Alfonso V., who conferred on it the title of +“Città Reale.” In the middle of the fifteenth century +it flourished both commercially and politically, enjoying +privileges beyond any other town in the island. From +this power and prosperity arose its rivalry with Cagliari; +and the jealousies and dissensions in matters of government, +religion, and education, surviving the transference of +the sovereignly to the House of Savoy, have descended +from generation to generation.</p> + +<p>This feeling prevails to the present day, partly owing, +perhaps, to the circumstance of society in Sassari being +less under the influence of Piedmontese and Continental +opinions than in the capital, Cagliari,—and partly to the +Sassarese population being mostly of Genoese extraction. +The descendants of these settlers having almost all the +trade, commerce, and employment in their hands, form +a very important and influential middle class. I found +at Sassari opinions more distinctly pronounced on the +abuses of the government, and the necessity of reforms +in the various branches of the administration, than I have +reason to believe they are in the more courtly circles of +Cagliari. Some numbers of a work, in course of publication, +were put into my hands during our stay at Sassari, +in which these topics were discussed in a sensible, bold, +but temperate style.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> Though written by a foreigner, a +Venetian refugee, I have no doubt, from the manner in +which it was spoken of by well-informed persons, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_365" id="Page_365">[365]</a></span> +from its having reached a second edition, that it may be +accepted as representing the opinions of a large class of +the Sassarese, and I imagine of Sardes in general.</p> + +<p>Much interest attaches to the working of the constitutional +system in the Sardinian dominions, not only politically, +but in its effects on the social and economical condition +of the country. Hitherto the island of Sardinia +has been treated by the cabinet of Turin much as it was +long the misfortune of the English government to deal +with Ireland; regarding the native race as a conquered, +but turbulent, impracticable and semi-barbarous people; +the consequences of such misrule being poverty, disaffection +and bloodshed. But I trust we see the dawn of +brighter days, when this fine island, partaking of the +benefits following in the train of constitutional government,—its +wrongs redressed, its great natural resources +developed, and the natural genius and many virtues of its +inhabitants being cultivated and having free scope,—will +be no insignificant jewel in the crown which assumed +its regal title from this insular possession.</p> + +<p>With our own happy country in the van of political, +social, and material progress, there are three secondary +European states, which, in our own memory, have raised +the banner of freedom, and are consistently marching +under it with firm, vigorous, and well-poised steps. It +need hardly be explained that we speak of Norway, Belgium, +and Sardinia.<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> Occupying, geographically and +politically, important positions ranging, at wide intervals, +from the far north to the extreme south of Europe, these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_366" id="Page_366">[366]</a></span> +small, flourishing, and well-ordered states, offer a spectacle +as full of hope and encouragement to all lovers of constitutional +liberty, as it must necessarily be offensive to the +despotic governments of the great continental monarchies, +on whose thresholds the altars of freedom, newly lighted, +have burnt with so steady and pure a flame. They may +serve as beacon-lights to European populations gasping for +that political regeneration, the hour of which will assuredly +come, and may not be far distant.</p> + +<p>Of the state and prospects of the kingdom of Norway,<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> +we have treated in another work. The democratic element +is so predominant in its constitutional code, that the +only fear was lest it should clash with the executive +functions of even a limited monarchy. But, hitherto, the +natural good sense, patriotism, and loyalty of the Norwegian +people, though represented in a Storthing of peasant +farmers,—and we may add, the moderation displayed by +the Bernadotte dynasty,—have so obviated the difficulties +of a hastily formed, and somewhat crude, code of fundamental +laws, that it has been harmoniously worked to the +great benefit of the nation. In Belgium, notwithstanding +religious antagonisms, which have also perplexed the +young councils of Sardinia, the constitutional system has +been so consolidated, under the rule of a sagacious prince, +that it may be hoped its permanence is secured. We need +not speak of the rising fortunes of the Sardinian States, +the only hope of fair Italy. The eyes of Europe are upon +them; they are closely watched by friends and foes. Our +business at present is, not with the political, but with the +social and material, condition of the insular kingdom which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_367" id="Page_367">[367]</a></span> +forms a valuable portion of those singularly aggregated +dominions. In a work devoted to a survey of the island, +even a passing traveller may be pardoned for pausing in +his narrative while he collects some cursory notices of its +present condition under these aspects, and its requirements +for improvement.</p> + +<p>All enlightened Sardes with whom we conversed unite +with Signor Sala, who has devoted several sections of his +work to the subject, in representing the corruption and +other abuses pervading the administration of justice in +Sardinia, as lying at the root of its greatest social evil. It +is the ready excuse for rude justice, for private revenge, +for the assertion of the rights of persons or of things by +the strong hand, that the laws are inoperative, or iniquitously +administered. There is too much reason to believe +that this has been the normal state of Sardinia under all +its rulers for ages past. And when at the same time we +find the natural instincts of the people to be turbulent and +lawless, and prone to theft and robbery, and consider the +facilities afforded by a wild, mountainous, and densely +wooded country, for the commission of crimes of violence, +the scenes of bloodshed and rapine by which it has been +desolated, are not to be wondered at. In the absence of a +vigorous justice, and a sufficient military or police force +for the protection of property, a voluntary association +sprung up, consisting of armed men, under the name of +Barancelli, who, for a sort of black mail paid by the +peasants, undertook to recover their stolen cattle, or indemnify +them for the loss. They fell, however, into disrepute, +and I believe have been disbanded. Banditism has +been finally and effectually extinguished in Corsica, as +related in a former part of this work, by a total disarmament<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_368" id="Page_368">[368]</a></span> +of the population, without respect of persons, or of +the purposes for which fire-arms may be properly required. +So stern a measure is neither suited to the genius of the +Sardes or their rulers. With a numerous resident gentry, +who, with their retainers, and the great mass of the population, +are passionately fond of the chase, and with wastes +so stocked with destructive wild animals, the total prohibition +of fire-arms must be both unpopular and impolitic. +The law, however, requires that no one shall carry them +without a license. But it is not, or cannot be, enforced, +for we saw them in every one's hands.</p> + +<p>It gave me great pleasure to learn, as it has been +already stated, on a recent visit to Sardinia, that the +administration of the law was become more pure, the police +improved, outrages were less frequent, and confident +hopes entertained that banditism, now confined to a small +number of outlaws, would gradually die out. There is no +doubt it will do so when the laws are respected as in other +parts of the Sardinian dominions.</p> + +<p>In regard to the judges and other civil functionaries, we +found everywhere the deepest antipathy towards the Piedmontese. +Sardinia for the Sardes, was like the cry we +often hear from our own sister island. Sala treats the +subject with his usual temper and good sense. He admits +the advantages of an administration conducted by natives +possessing a knowledge of the country, conversant with +its language and customs, and of a temper more conciliatory +than foreigners invested with authority are likely to +exhibit. He also admits that there is extreme mediocrity, +and even ignorance, in the lower class of functionaries +who arrive in the island with appointments obtained in +Turin or Genoa. Sala relates a ludicrous story of one of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_369" id="Page_369">[369]</a></span> +these officials, who chanced to be his companion in the +steam-boat from Genoa to Cagliari, being recommended to +the Intendant-General as the chief of a department under +him. When half-way across, the candidate for office had +yet to learn whither they were bent,—“<i>Si fece interrogarci +per dove possimo diretti</i>.” Afterwards, says Sala, when +chatting in Cagliari, he reproached the Sardes with ignorance +and indolence because, though their land was surrounded +by the sea, they did not know how to supply +themselves with a river,—“<i>Non sapevano formarsi un +fiume</i>;” adding, with great self-complacency,—“<i>Li civilizzeremo, +li civilizzeremo!</i>”</p> + +<p>Such impertinences are calculated to irritate the native +Sardes against the continental officials; and they are generally +detested. Our author, however, candidly allows that +intrigue prevails so universally in the island, and the influences +of relationship and connexions are so great, as to +raise suspicions of the purity and fairness of native functionaries, +especially of those who have been brought up +under the old system,—a school of corruption. Signor +Sala therefore suggests, that while appointments, both on +the continent and the island, should be equally open to +competent candidates, without respect of birth, great +advantages would be obtained by this interchange. The +Sardes being habituated by residence for a while, and the +transaction of business, on Terra Firma; and thus withdrawn +from unfavourable influences, would be prepared to +fill honourably offices at home. This seems a wise and +obvious mode of abating a grievance of which the Sardes +not unjustly complain.</p> + +<p>Having mentioned before the gigantic evil of the vast +extent of commonage claimed and exercised throughout the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_370" id="Page_370">[370]</a></span> +island, destructive of the rights of property and quite incompatible +with agricultural progress, I have only to add that +measures are contemplated for facilitating and protecting +inclosures where lawfully made; but so as not to injure the +great interest of the proprietors of flocks and herds, the +staple production of the island. In this view it is proposed +to place the great domains of the communes under +better management.</p> + +<p>Among various other reforms and beneficial projects to +which the attention of a more enlightened government +must be directed, in order to raise Sardinia to the rank she +is entitled to hold by the extent of her resources, and the +intelligence of great numbers of her inhabitants, we can +only enumerate, without observation, the educational +system generally, including a reform of the Universities of +Cagliari and Sassari,—sanitary measures tending, at least, +to alleviate the insalubrity which is the scourge of the +island,—improved police arrangements throughout the +interior,—an increased supply of the circulating medium, +the deficiency of which is represented as extreme and +injurious to trade, and “Agrarian Banks;”—an entire new +system of communal roads, connected with the great +national highways, which roads, it is said, would double +the value of property wherever they passed,—the protection +and careful administration of the forests,—measures for +developing the great mineral wealth of the island,—and the +encouragement of the coral fisheries.</p> + +<p>Nor have we exhausted the list; but enough has been +shown to satisfy the reader who accepts the statements we +have laid before him, from our own observation and from +the best information of the capabilities of Sardinia and its +present condition,—how much is required to place her on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_371" id="Page_371">[371]</a></span> +a footing with other European states, and with what hope +of eventual success. A vast field is, indeed, open for +cultivation by an enlightened and patriotic administration. +Great difficulties will have to be encountered, arising +mainly from the indolence, the supineness, the prejudices, +the ignorance, and the poverty of the Sarde population. +The progress must be gradual, but noble will be the +reward earned by that exercise of vigour, discretion, and +perseverance, by which the obstacles to improvement may +be overcome.</p> + +<p>There is one highly gifted man, who has long filled a +distinguished place in the service of his sovereign and +the eyes of the world, in whose hands the task of regenerating +Sardinia, herculean as it may appear, would be +not only a labour of love, but facile comparatively with any +others on which it may devolve. I speak of General the +Count Alberto di Marmora, known to all Europe by his +Topographical Survey, and his able work, the <i>Voyage en +Sardaigne</i>, of which two additional volumes have been +recently published. But, perhaps, his devotion to the best +interests of the Sarde people, his labours in that cause, +and the esteem and affection with which he is universally +regarded in the island are less understood. Enjoying also +the confidence of the king and his ministers, General La +Marmora is eminently fitted to carry out the beneficial +designs which he has long conceived and furthered; but +his advanced age precludes the hope of his seeing them +accomplished. May his mantle fall on no unworthy +successor!</p> + +<p>One subject of special interest in connection with Sardinian +progress has been reserved for a more particular +notice than we have been able to afford most others, both<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_372" id="Page_372">[372]</a></span> +on account of its importance, and its having much engaged +the attention of the master-mind most conversant with +the situation of affairs. At the outset of our rambles in +Sardinia, it was observed that the Sardes are averse to +maritime occupations; the Iliese of La Madelena, who +are so employed to some extent, being a distinct race. +Sardinia has no mercantile marine. Signor Sala states +that there are only four or five vessels belonging to +natives, and, of these, two are the property of the same +rich owner. Considering the advantages of her position, +and the products the island is capable of supplying for +an active commerce, he considers the want of a mercantile +marine one of Sardinia's greatest misfortunes, and treats +with much good sense of the means calculated to promote +its establishment.<a name="FNanchor_75_75" id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a></p> + +<p>General La Marmora drew attention to the subject in a +pamphlet published at Cagliari in 1850, under the title of +<i>Questioni marittimi spettanti all'isola di Sardegna</i>; and +resumed the subject in 1856, in another work, which he was +so obliging as to give me, when at Cagliari, in 1857. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_373" id="Page_373">[373]</a></span> +originated in the expected completion of the line of Electric +Telegraph between Algeria, Sardinia, Corsica, and the +continent of Europe; its connexion with which, and its +bearings on commerce, I may have to refer to on a future +occasion. The General comments on the extraordinary fact, +that, in an island 800 miles in circumference, there only +exist four sea-ports, properly so called. These are Cagliari, +on the south coast, Terranova, on the east, Porto-Torres, on +the north, and Alghero on the west. All the other villages +and towns on the coast stand more or less distantly from it, +and cannot be called maritime. He considers this depopulation +of the coast as the deplorable consequence of the +devastations of the Saracen corsairs, and the continual +piracy which was carried on to a late period, and only +ceased on the conquest of Algeria by the French.</p> + +<p>It would be foreign to our province to detail the projects +which General La Marmora suggests, or advocates, for +giving expansion to the commerce of Sardinia,—such as +the establishment of light-houses on Cape Spartivento, and +other points; improvements in the harbour of Cagliari, and +a better supply of the place with water. He considers the +now almost deserted town and port of Terranova, at the +head of the fine gulf <i>Degli Aranci</i>, on the north-eastern +coast, to be a point of great importance from its position in +face of the Italian ports, and as the proper station for the +postal steamboats communicating between Genoa and the +island of Sardinia. In reference to this, he mentions that +the project of a law for encouraging colonisation in the +island, was presented by the Minister to the Chamber of +Deputies in February, 1856; the proposal being to grant +60,000 hectares of the national domains to a company +formed for establishing agrarian colonies. The cabinet of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_374" id="Page_374">[374]</a></span> +Turin, then, are alive to one of the great wants of Sardinia,—an +increased and industrious agricultural population. But +General La Marmora desires that a part of the colonists +should be maritime, drawn from La Madalena, Genoa, and +other ports, and settled at the proposed new harbour of +Terranova.</p> + +<p>By these and other aids, the General is sanguine that +Sardinia will, ere long, take the place naturally belonging +to it among maritime countries, and he repeats as a motto +to his recent pamphlet, a sentence from the first edition of +his <i>Voyage en Sardaigne</i>, published in 1826, to which, he +remarks, recent events have almost given the character of +a prediction in the course of speedy accomplishment:—<i>Qui +sait si un jour, par suite des progrès que fait depuis +quelque temps l'Egypte moderne, le commerce des Indes +Orientales ne prendra pas la route de la Mer-Rouge et de +Suez? La Sardaigne, alors, ne pourrait-elle pas devenir la +plus belle et la plus commode échelle de la Méditerranée?</i></p> + +<p>The cabinet of Turin and the national legislature must +be well disposed to foster the commerce and agriculture, +the natural resources, and social interests of the Sardes. +Should the Ministers be negligent or ill-advised, the representatives +of the people, or, in the last resort, the Sarde +constituencies, have their constitutional remedy. British +institutions are said to be models imitated in the young +commonwealth. They present similar features; and let +it be recollected what influence either the Irish or the +Scotch members, acting in concert in our House of Commons, +can bring to bear on any question affecting the +interests of their respective countries. The Sardes return +twenty-four deputies to the popular chamber, and if they +be good men and true, inaccessible to intrigue, and find<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_375" id="Page_375">[375]</a></span> +in their patriotism a bond of union, their united votes +cannot be disregarded by any Minister.</p> + +<p>How different is the case of Corsica, the sister island! +In reviewing her industrial position we quoted rather +largely from a <i>Procès-Verbal</i> of the deliberations of the +Council-General, also an elective body, which canvasses, +but not regulates, the internal administration of the island. +It arrives at certain conclusions, but without any power to +give them effect. “Le Conseil-Général émet le vœu,” +“appelle l'attention,” are the phrases wherewith, with bated +breath, the representatives of the people convey their +resolutions to the foot of the throne. The courtly Prefect +communicates them to the Minister of the Interior, and +he, the organ of the Imperial will, rejects, confirms, or +modifies the “vœu.” The Sarde representatives meet the +Ministers face to face in the Parliament at Turin, demand, +discuss, explain, remonstrate, carry their point, or are +content to yield to a majority of the Chamber. With a +free press, the public learns all; public opinion ratifies or +condemns the vote. It will prevail in the end. Herein +lies the difference between a despotic and a popular government. +A bright day dawned on the future destinies of +Sardinia, when it exchanged the one for the other.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_376" id="Page_376">[376]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXIV" id="CHAP_XXXIV"></a>CHAP. XXXIV.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Alghero—Notice of.—The Cathedral of Sassari.—University.—Museum.—A +Student's private Cabinet.—Excursion to a +Nuraghe—Description of.—Remarks on the Origin and +Design of these Structures</i>.</p> + +<p>Sassari is about equidistant from Alghero and Porto-Torres. +Of these two ports Alghero is far the best, but all the +commerce of Sassari passes through Porto-Torres, by the +Strada Reale. The ancient rivalry between the two cities +engendered a hatred which continues to the present day, +insomuch that the Sassarese have resisted all efforts to +make a good road from Alghero, to enable it to become +their port of trade. These feuds arose in the age when +Alghero was the chief seat of the Arragonese power in +the island, enjoyed great exclusive privileges, and was +peopled by Catalonian settlers. It is still Spanish in the +character of the inhabitants, their customs, and buildings. +Surrounded by a fertile and well-cultivated country, +abounding in orange and olive groves, vineyards, and +fields of corn and flax, Alghero is a city of some seven +thousand inhabitants, many of them in affluent circumstances. +It is a fortified place, with a richly ornamented +cathedral, and thirteen other churches.</p> + +<p>Sassari also boasts a spacious cathedral, with a very +elaborate façade, a work of the 17th century. It contains +also twenty churches, including those that are conventual.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_377" id="Page_377">[377]</a></span> +If the religious state of the community were to be estimated +by the number of those devoted to the service of +the church, the Sassarese ought to be models of piety; for +Mr. Tyndale calculates the number of priests and monks +in 1840 as giving a total of 769 clerical persons, about one +for every thirty-two individuals of the community. Their +numbers have been diminished by the suppression of +some of the convents, but, even at the time of our visit, +his remark, that one cannot walk fifty yards in the street +without meeting an ecclesiastic, was confirmed by our own +observation.</p> + +<p>The object which the Sassarese are most proud to exhibit +to strangers, is the fountain of Rosello, outside the north-east +or Macella gate. At the angles are large figures of +the four seasons, at the feet of which the stream issues +forth, as well as from eight lions' mouths in the sides of +the building. The whole is of white marble, and though +open to criticism as an architectural design, the utility of +a fountain, which has twelve mouths constantly pouring +forth pure water, in such a climate, cannot be overrated.</p> + +<p>The University of Sassari, founded by Philip IV. in +1634, is established in the spacious college formerly +belonging to the Jesuits. It numbers about 200 students. +The library contains a scanty collection of books, mostly +ecclesiastical works. The museum exhibits some few +articles of interest, relics of the Phœnician colonisation +and Roman occupation of the island, mixed up in the +greatest confusion, as in a broker's shop, with meagre +specimens of mineralogy and conchology; and cannot for +a moment be compared with the museum of Cagliari, rich +in valuable remains of antiquity, and admirably arranged. +It will be noticed in its proper place.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_378" id="Page_378">[378]</a></span></p> + +<p>We were much more interested in being allowed to +examine a small private collection belonging to a young +Sassarese, whose acquaintance it was our good fortune +to make, and of whose talents, intelligence, and courtesy +I retain a most pleasing impression. The pursuits of the +young men of the higher classes in Sassari, are described +as entirely frivolous, and the bent of the bourgeoisie as +eminently sordid. It was, therefore, with an agreeable +surprise, that we found ourselves in a studio embellished +with the portraits of such characters as Dante, Ariosto, +and Sir Isaac Newton; and where mathematical instruments, +scattered about, and a cabinet containing some of +the best French, English, German, and Italian authors, +gave a pleasing idea of the tastes of the owner. With +imperfect aid he had made himself sufficiently proficient +in foreign languages to be able to read them; and it +appeared that his severer studies were relieved by accomplishments +displaying considerable talent, such as painting, +and taking impressions from the antique in electrotype. +He was good enough to offer me some of his casts, with +a few coins from his museum of antiquities; two engravings +from which, illustrating the Punic and Saracenic periods +of the history of Sardinia, will appear in future pages, together +with one copied from a unique coin of the Roman +age, preserved in the Royal Museum at Cagliari.</p> + +<p>One seldom finds such talents and accomplishments +accompanied by the modesty with which our young student +spoke of his pursuits. Nor was he a mere recluse, though +his health appeared feeble; for he entered with zest into +conversation on the various topics of European interest +suggested by a visit from foreigners, while he did not +hesitate to expose, with patriotic zeal, the follies and abuses +which opposed the march of civilisation in his native<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_379" id="Page_379">[379]</a></span> +country. Such characters are rare. We had unexpectedly +stumbled on a delicate flower, nurtured on an ungrateful +soil, and destined to shed its sweetness in an atmosphere +where, I fear, it is little appreciated. I may be excused, +then, for devoting a page to the adventure, and allowed to +inscribe on that page, a name of which I have so agreeable +a recollection—that of Carlo Rugiu.</p> + +<p>Our new friend was kind enough to be our conductor in +a walk to a Nuraghe, standing about three miles from +Sassari, and in good preservation. We had already seen +many of these very ancient structures scattered over all +parts of the country; more or less ruinous, they are said +to number 3000 at the present day, and many others have +been destroyed.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/379.jpg" width="350" height="266" alt="EXTERIOR OF A NURAGHE." +title="EXTERIOR OF A NURAGHE." /> +<p class="caption">EXTERIOR OF A NURAGHE.</p> +</div> + +<p>Whether seen on the plains or on the mountains, the +Nuraghe are generally built on the summits of hillocks, or +on artificial mounds, commanding the country. Some are +partially inclosed at a slight distance by a low wall of +similar construction with the building. Their external +appearance is that of a +truncated cone from +thirty to sixty feet in +height, and from 100 +to 300 in circumference +at the base. The +walls are composed of +rough masses of the +stones peculiar to the +locality, each from two +to six cubic feet, built in regular horizontal layers, in +somewhat of the Cyclopean style, and gradually diminishing +in size to the summit. Most commonly they betray no +marks of the chisel, but in many instances the stones<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_380" id="Page_380">[380]</a></span> +appear to have been rudely worked by the hammer, though +not exactly squared.</p> + +<p>The interior is almost invariably divided into two domed +chambers, one above the other; the lowest averaging from +fifteen to twenty feet in diameter, and from twenty to +twenty-five feet in height. Access to the upper chamber +is gained by a spiral ramp, or rude steps, between the internal +and external walls. These are continued to the +summit of the tower, which is generally supposed to have +formed a platform; but scarcely any of the Nuraghe now +present a perfect apex. On the ground floor, there are +generally from two to four cells worked in the solid masonry +of the base of the cone.</p> + +<p>Independently of the interest attached to the object of +our search, the fertile plains surrounding Sassari formed a +sufficient attraction for a long walk. Plantations of olives, +of vines, oranges, and other fruit-trees, succeeded each +other in rich profusion; the olive trees being especially +productive, and the oil, exported from Sassari in large +quantities, being of the first quality. The environs, far +and wide, are laid out in these plantations, and in gardens +highly cultivated, interspersed with villas and pleasure-grounds. +Tobacco is largely cultivated, and the vegetables +are excellent. A cauliflower served up at dinner was of +enormous size, nor can I forget the baskets of delicious +figs which, at this late period of the year, were brought by +the market-women to the door of our hotel.</p> + +<p>The Nuraghe to which our steps were directed proved to +be a very picturesque object, rising out of a thicket of +shrubs, with tufts growing in the crevices of the tower, +which on one side was dilapidated. The other, composed +of huge boulders, laid horizontally with much precision, +considering the rude materials, still preserved its conical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_381" id="Page_381">[381]</a></span> +form, rising to the height of twenty or twenty-five feet. +The entrance was so low that +we were obliged to stoop almost +to our knees in passing +through it. A lintel, consisting +of a single stone, some +two tons' weight, was supported +by the protruding +jambs. No light being admitted +to the chamber, but by +a low passage through the +double walls, it was gloomy +enough.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/381a.jpg" width="250" height="308" alt="ENTRANCE TO A NURAGHE." +title="ENTRANCE TO A NURAGHE." /> +<p class="caption">ENTRANCE TO A NURAGHE.</p> +</div> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/381b.jpg" width="250" height="310" alt="INTERIOR OF A NURAGHE." +title="INTERIOR OF A NURAGHE." /> +<p class="caption">INTERIOR OF A NURAGHE.</p> +</div> + +<p>In this instance, the interior +formed a single dome or +cone about twenty-five feet high, well-proportioned, and +diminishing till a single massive stone formed the apex. +The chamber was fifteen feet +in diameter, and had four recesses +or cells worked in the +solid masonry, about five feet +high, three deep, and nearly +the same in breadth.</p> + +<p>The small platform on the +summit of the cone, to which +we ascended by the ramp in +the interior of the wall and +some rugged steps, commanded +a rich view of the plain of +Sassari, appearing from the +top one dense thicket of olive +and fruit trees spreading for miles round the city. Out of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_382" id="Page_382">[382]</a></span> +these groves rise the towers and domes of Sassari, the +enceinte of its grey battlemented walls, and the lofty +masses of its white houses. The view over the plain to +the west is bounded by the Mediterranean, intersected by +the bold outlines of the island of Asmara. After feasting +our eyes on perhaps the most charming <i>tableau</i> the island +affords, decked with nature's choicest gifts, and exhibiting +an industry unusual among the modern Sardes, we sat +down at the foot of the hillock, while my friend was completing +his sketches of the Nuraghe, and our thoughts were +naturally drawn to these relics of a primitive age. “What +was their origin—their history—what were the purposes +for which they were designed?”</p> + +<p>It needed only that we should lift our eyes to the rude +but shapely cone before us,—massive in its materials and +fabric, and yet constructed with some degree of mechanical +skill,—to come to the conclusion that the Nuraghe are +works of a very early period, just when rude labour had +begun to be directed by some rules of geometrical art. +But, in examining the details, we find little or nothing to +assist us in forming any clear idea of the period at which +they were erected, or the purpose for which they were +designed. There are not the slightest vestiges of ornament, +any rude sculpture, any inscriptions. Of an antiquity +probably anterior to all written records, history not +only throws no certain light on their origin, but, till modern +times, was silent as to their existence. Successive races, +and powers, and dynasties have flourished in the island, and +passed away, scarcely any of them without leaving some +relics, some medals of history, some impress on the manners +and character of the people still to be traced. The +mouldering cones which arrest the traveller's attention,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_383" id="Page_383">[383]</a></span> +scattered, as we have observed, in great numbers throughout +the island, enduring in their simple and massive structure, +have thrown their shade over Phœnicians and Greeks, +Romans and Carthaginians, Saracens, Pisans, Genoese, +and Spaniards, and still survive the wreck of time and so +many other early buildings,—the remains of a people of +whose existence they are the only record, and, except +monoliths, the oldest of, at least, European monuments.</p> + +<p>In the absence of any positive evidence regarding the +origin and design of the Sardinian Nuraghe<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a>, there has +been abundance of conjecture and speculation on the subject. +On the present occasion, I had the advantage of discussing +it with our intelligent Sassarese student, I have also +heard the remarks of one of the most distinguished Sarde +antiquarians, and having since consulted the works of La +Marmora and other writers, whose extensive researches +and personal investigations entitle their opinions to much +respect, I shall endeavour to lay the result, unsatisfactory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_384" id="Page_384">[384]</a></span> +as it proves, before the reader, in the shortest compass to +which so wide an inquiry can be reduced.</p> + +<p>The world has been searched for styles of building corresponding +with that of the Sarde Nuraghe; without success. +Neither in Etruscan, Pelasgic, or any other European +architecture are any such models to be found, nor do +Indian, Assyrian, or Egyptian remains exhibit any identity +with them. They have been supposed, among other +theories, to have some affinity with the Round Towers of +Ireland; but after a careful examination of some of those +almost equally mysterious structures, and considerable +research among the authorities for their antiquity and +uses, I have failed to discover anything in common between +them and the Nuraghe. If my memory be correct, Mr. +Petrie, the highest authority on the subject of the Round +Towers, though he had not seen the Nuraghe, incidentally +expresses the same opinion. The only existing buildings +exhibiting a cognate character with those of Sardinia, are +certain conical towers found in the Balearic islands, which +were also colonised by the Phœnicians. They are called +<i>talayots</i>, a diminutive, it is said, of <i>atalaya</i>, meaning the +“Giants' Burrow;” and if the plate annexed to Father +Bresciani's work be a correct representation, they would +appear to be identical with the Nuraghe in the exterior, +except that the ramp leading to the summit is worked in +the outward face of the wall. We find, also, from La Marmora's +description of the <i>talayots</i> examined by him, that +the character of the cells is different, the style of masonry +more cyclopean, and that many of them are surrounded +with circles of stones and supposed altars, scarcely ever met +with in Sardinia. The resemblance, however, is striking, as +connected with the facts of the contiguity of Minorca, and +the colonisation of both the islands by the Phœnicians.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_385" id="Page_385">[385]</a></span></p> + +<p>Opinions as to the purposes for which the Nuraghe were +erected are as various as those regarding their origin. +From their great number, scattered over the country, they +are supposed by some to have been the habitations of the +most ancient shepherds; and the words of Micah—“the +tower of the flocks,”<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> and other similar passages, are referred +to as supporting this view. But it is hardly necessary +to point out that the inconveniences of the structure, +from its low entrance and dark interior, to say nothing of +the waste of labour in heaping up such vast structures for +shepherds' huts, will not admit of the idea being entertained. +With somewhat more reason, but still with little +probability, they have been represented as watch-towers, +strongholds, and places of refuge; a theory to which their +position, their numbers, and their structure are all opposed. +Another hypothesis treats the Nuraghe as monuments +commemorating heroes or great national events, whether +in peace or war; forgetting, as Father Bresciani suggests, +the centuries that must have elapsed while the mountains, +and hills, and plains of Sardinia were being successively +crowned with monuments of this description.</p> + +<p>Discarding such conjectural theories, the best-informed +travellers and writers are agreed in considering the Nuraghe +as being designed either for religious edifices or tombs +for the dead. La Marmora confesses his inability to pronounce +decidedly between the two opinions, but inclines +to the opinion that they may have been intended for both +purposes. Father Bresciani, the latest writer on Sardinian +antiquities, after a personal examination of the Nuraghe +and much general research, though he does not venture a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_386" id="Page_386">[386]</a></span> +decided opinion, is disposed to agree with La Marmora. +In confirmation of the idea that the most ancient monuments +were at once tombs and altars, he quotes a Spanish +writer<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> on the antiquities of Mexico, referring also to Lord +Kingsborough's splendid work. So general an assumption +is hardly warranted either by historical testimony or existing +relics of antiquity. If such were the primitive custom, +it did not prevail among the Greeks and Romans, and it +is in the rites and practices of the Christian Church that +we find its revival.</p> + +<p>However this may be, the theory not only of the twofold +design or use of the Nuraghe, but of either of them, is confessedly +quite conjectural: it rests upon a narrow basis of +facts. Though a great number of the Nuraghe have been +carefully ransacked, in very few instances only have human +bones been discovered, but neither urns, arms, nor ornaments +usually inhumed with the dead; nor are many of them +so constructed as to permit the supposition that they were +designed for sepulchral purposes. Occasionally, also, some +of the miniature idols, such as are preserved in the museum +at Cagliari, have been found buried in Nuraghe, or their +precincts. But this is not general; and there are neither +altars nor any other indications in the structure of the +buildings to indicate their appropriation to religious uses, +except their pyramidal or conical form, which they share +in common with most buildings of the earliest age. So +far as these were designed for idolatrous uses—as many of +them doubtless were—the argument from analogy may +apply to the Nuraghe, but it can be carried no further.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_387" id="Page_387">[387]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whatever were the purposes of the Nuraghe, almost all +writers on Sardinia consider these ancient structures of +Eastern origin. Father Bresciani attributes them to Canaanitish +or Phœnician colonies, which migrated to the +west in early times; and he takes great pains, but, I consider, +without much success, to establish their identity, +or, at least, their analogy, with the religious or sepulchral +erections,—the altars, and “high places,” and tombs,—of +which notices are found in the Old Testament. No doubt +exists that extensive migrations, favoured by the enterprise +of the earliest maritime people of whom we have any +record, took place, perhaps both before and after the age +of Moses, from the shores of Syria to the islands and +shores of the West of Europe. There is reason to think +that the island of Sardinia, if not the first seat, was, from +its peculiar situation, the very centre, of a colonisation, +embracing in its ramifications the coasts of Africa and +Spain, with Malta, Sicily, and the Balearic islands. It +appears singular that Corsica, the sister island to Sardinia, +should not have shared in this movement of settlers from +the East; perhaps from its lying out of the direct current, +while, in its onward course, the wave flowing through +the Straits of Hercules bore forward on the ocean the +“merchants of many isles,” for commerce if not for settlement, +as far as the Cassiterides, our own Scilly Isles.</p> + +<p>Though there is little historical evidence of the Phœnician +colonisation of Sardinia, and even that of the early Greek +settlements in the island is obscure and conflicting, we +have abundant traces of the former, more imperishable +than written records, still lingering in the manners and +customs of the modern Sardes, and in the great number of +those extraordinary antiquities known as the Sarde idols.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_388" id="Page_388">[388]</a></span> +The greater part of these, as Mr. Tyndale undertakes to +show, were symbols of Canaanitish worship, the miniature +representations of the gods adored by the Syrian nations, +especially of Moloch, Baal, Astarte or Astaroth, Adonis or +Tammuz, the very objects of that idolatry so frequently +and emphatically denounced in the Old Testament, to +which we have already referred. Mr. Tyndale, however, +justly observes, that “so distinct and peculiar is the character +of these relics, that their counterparts are no more +to be met with out of Sardinia than the Nuraghe themselves.” +From this circumstance, in conjunction with the +fact of the images being often found in and near those +buildings, he infers that they may have been, directly or +indirectly, connected with each other, in either a religious, +sepulchral, or united character.</p> + +<p>The inquiry would be incomplete unless it were extended +to other Sarde remains, of equal or greater antiquity, for +the purpose of discovering whether they have any affinity +with, or can throw any light on, the mysterious origin of +the Nuraghe. We propose devoting another chapter to +this investigation.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_389" id="Page_389">[389]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXV" id="CHAP_XXXV"></a>CHAP. XXXV.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Sardinian Monoliths.—The Sepolture, or “Tombs of the +Giants.”—Traditions regarding Giant Races.—The Anakim, +&c., of Canaan.—Their supposed Migration to Sardinia.—Remarks +on Aboriginal Races.—Antiquity of the +Nuraghe and Sepolture.—Their Founders unknown</i>.</p> + + +<p>We can hardly be mistaken in supposing that, among the +relics of antiquity still existing in Sardinia, the monoliths, +of somewhat similar character with the Celtic remains at +Carnac, Avebury, and Stonehenge, and common also in +other countries, belong to the earliest age. These Sarde +monoliths are found in several parts of the island, being, as +the name expresses, single stones, or obelisks, set upright +in the ground. In Sardinia they are called <i>Pietra-</i> or +<i>Perda-fitta</i>, and <i>Perda-Lunga</i>. We generally find them +rounded by the hammer, but irregularly, in a conical form +tapering to the top, but with a gradual swell in the middle; +and their height varies from six to eighteen feet. They +differ from the Celtic monuments, in being generally thus +worked and shaped; in not being often congregated on one +spot beyond three in number—a <i>Perda-Lunga</i> with two +lesser stones; and in there not being any appearance of +their ever having had, like the Trilithons of Stonehenge, +any impost horizontal stone.</p> + +<p>Father Bresciani finds the prototype of all these rude<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_390" id="Page_390">[390]</a></span> +pillars scattered throughout the world, in the Beth-El of +Jacob and other Bethylia, sepulchral or commemorative, +mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. By Mr. Tyndale, +the Sarde <i>Perda-Lunga</i> is considered a relic of the religion +common to all the idolatrous Syro-Arabian nations, which, +deifying the powers and laws of nature, considers the male +sex to be the type of its active, generative, and destructive +powers, while that passive power of nature, whose function +is to conceive and bring forth, is embodied under the +female form. And this worship, he conceives, was introduced +into Sardinia, with the symbols just described, by +the Phœnician or Canaanitish immigrants.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/390.jpg" width="250" height="175" alt="SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES." +title="SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES." /> +<p class="caption">SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES.</p> +</div> + +<p>The <i>Sepolture de is Gigantes</i>, the tombs of the giants, +as they are called, form another class of Sarde antiquities +of the earliest age. The structures to which the popular +traditions ascribe this name, may be described as a series +of large stones placed together without any cement, inclosing +a foss or hollow from fifteen to thirty-six feet long, +from three to six wide, +and the same in depth, +with immense flat stones +resting on them as a covering. +Though the latter +are not always found, +it is evident, by a comparison +with the more perfect +Sepolture, that they +have once existed, and +have been destroyed or removed.<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a></p> + +<p>The foss runs invariably from north-west to south-east;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_391" id="Page_391">[391]</a></span> +and at the latter point there is a large upright headstone, +averaging from ten to fifteen feet high, varying in its form, +from the square, elliptical, and conical, to that of three-fourths +of an egg; and having in many instances an +aperture about eighteen inches square at its base.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/391.jpg" width="250" height="177" alt="SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES." +title="SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES." /> +<p class="caption">SEPOLTURA DE IS GIGANTES.</p> +</div> + +<p>On each side of this stele, or headstone, commences +a series of separate stones, irregular in size and shape, +but forming an arc, the +chord of which varies +from twenty to twenty-six +feet; so that the +whole figure somewhat +resembles the bow and +shank of a spur.</p> + +<p>“The shape of the +foss and headstone,” observes +Mr. Tyndale, “of +these remains, fairly admits of the probability that they +were graves, as some of the earliest forms of sepulchres +on record are the upright stones with superincumbent +slabs, such as the Druidical cistvaens and some tombs +in Greece. Still, like the ‘Sarde Idols’ and the Nuraghe, +the <i>Sepolture</i> are peculiar to the island, being +entirely different in point of size and character from any +other sepulchral remains. Judging from the many remains +of those partially destroyed, their numbers must +have been considerable. The Sardes believe them to be +veritable tombs of giants; and that there may be legends +of their existence in the island is undeniable, as a similar +belief is found in almost all countries.” Mr. Tyndale, in +speaking of the supposed connexion between the <i>Nuraghe</i> +and the <i>Sepolture</i>, observes that, “if a Canaanitish race<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_392" id="Page_392">[392]</a></span> +migrated here, nothing is more probable than that the +tradition and worship of the giants would be also imported; +and that it is even possible that some of the +actual gigantic races of the Rephaim, Anakim, and others +mentioned in Scripture, might have actually arrived in +Sardinia.” Father Bresciani goes further: he fixes the +era of this migration, points out the event which caused +it<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a>, and traces its route by the Isthmus of Suez, through +Egypt, and along the coast of Africa, which they are also +said to have colonised; and whence he considers they could +easily navigate to Sardinia and other islands in that part +of the Mediterranean.</p> + +<p>This immigration, however, of the Canaanitish giants +rests upon very slender evidence; and it may be questioned +whether the oldest Sardinian monuments do not belong to +an age far anterior to that of any Phœnician or Canaanitish +colonisation of the island whatever. That such there was, +undoubted proofs have already been gathered; but the +statuettes of Phœnician idols, forming part of those proofs, +with the arts and skill required for the maritime enterprise +it required, betray the civilisation of a period more advanced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_393" id="Page_393">[393]</a></span> +than that to which we should be disposed to attribute +such rude structures as the Nuraghe and the +Sepolture. In this uncertainty, it may be worth an +inquiry, whether these ancient monuments did not exist +before the colonists landed on the shores of Sardinia,—in +short, whether they were not the works of an aboriginal +race. The question is raised by M. Tyndale: “We may +reduce the inquiry,” he says, “to the simple question, +Were the Nuraghe built by the autochthones of the island, +of whom we have no knowledge, or by the earliest colonists, +of whom we have but little information?” On the former +alternative the author is silent; nor is the question even +raised by any other writer on Sardinian antiquities within +our knowledge.</p> + +<p>Yet surely, independently of its bearing on the origin +of the Nuraghe and the early population of Sardinia, the +subject of indigenous races is interesting in a general point +of view. And it is worthy of notice, that the accounts +handed down to us of the earliest colonists of the ancient +world, speak of an aboriginal population existing in the +countries to which they migrated, just as the European +adventurers and circumnavigators of the last three centuries +found indigenous races on the continents and islands +they discovered, except on some few islands of the Pacific +Ocean, recently emerged from the state of coral reefs. +The parallel may be carried further. The ancient, as well +as the modern, colonists carried the arts of a superior +civilisation in their train; but the indigenous races of the +New World were destined to gradual decay and extinction, +leaving some ancient monuments as the records of their +existence, just as the primitive children of the soil in the +West of Europe, whose relics we endeavour to decipher,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_394" id="Page_394">[394]</a></span> +disappeared and were lost; so uniform is the order of events +in the designs of Providence.</p> + +<p>Poetical legends, generally founded on, and blended +with, traditionary facts, help us to form some idea of the +character and habits of the aboriginal races; but history, +and even tradition, seldom carry us further back in the +review of past ages than the arrival of colonists, generally +of Eastern origin, to form settlements on the shores and +the islands washed by the Mediterranean. Did they find +these shores and islands uninhabited? To say nothing of +countries more remote and less accessible, many considerations +would induce us to imagine that these fair regions +were not all deserts; that, even at this early period, they +were already peopled.</p> + +<p>In Sardinia, where, as already observed, the manners, +the superstitions, and the traditions of the earliest ages, +are more faithfully preserved than in any other European +country, we find, among the most ancient existing structures, +some which, to this day, are pointed out by the +natives as “the Tombs of the Giants.” And who were +the “giants,” of whom we read much, both in sacred and +profane history? The very term is significant. It is +formed from two Greek words—γῆ and γένω, and signifies +earth-born, sons of the earth.<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> The word αὐτόχθνονες (autochthones) +has a cognate meaning; Liddell and Scott +render it, “of the land itself; Latin, <i>terrigenæ, aborigines, +indigenæ</i>, of the original race, <i>not settlers</i>.” The mythical +account of the origin of the “giants” concurs with this +etymology. It paints them as the sons of Cœlus and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_395" id="Page_395">[395]</a></span> +Terra—Heaven and Earth. In the poetry of Hesiod, they +spring from the earth imbued with the blood of the gods. +Traces and traditions of this aboriginal race are found in +all parts of the world, and in sacred as well as profane +history. We are told that there were giants in the days +before the flood<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a>; and Josephus considers them the offspring +of the union, mysteriously described by the sacred +writer, of “the sons of God with the daughters of men;” +for, as might be supposed, there were females also of the +race of the earth-born. So the poets sang. Such was +Cybele, daughter of Heaven and Earth, pictured as +crowned with a diadem of towers, as the patroness of +builders. We read of the giants, in the Old Testament, +under the names of Rephaim, Emim, Zamzummim, and +Anakim. In the time of Abraham, these tribes dwelt in +the country beyond Jordan, in about Astaroth-Karnaim<a name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a><a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>, +and it is now the received opinion of biblical archæologists, +that they were the most ancient, or aboriginal, inhabitants +of Palestine; prior to the Canaanites, by whom they were +gradually dispossessed of the region west of the Jordan, +and driven beyond that river. Some of the race, however, +remained in Palestine Proper so late as the invasion of the +land by the Hebrews, and are repeatedly mentioned as +“the sons of Anak,” and “the remnant of the Rephaim;”<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> +and a few families existed as late as the time of David.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p> + +<p>In the most ancient legends we find the giant race<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_396" id="Page_396">[396]</a></span> +located in all parts of the then known world. In Thessaly, +under the name of Titans, poetic fiction records their deeds +of prowess in piling mountain on mountain, and hurling +immense rocks in their battles with the gods. Writers of +credit have transmitted to us accounts of the discovery of +their remains on the coast of Africa, from Bona to Tangier, +in Sicily, and in Crete. The earliest navigators who +touched on the shores and islands of the Mediterranean, +brought back romantic tales, receiving their colouring +from the terrors of the narrators, of the barbarity and the +stature of the races they found on those then inhospitable +shores. They were robbers, and even cannibals; enemies +of the gods and men. Such tales are not without their +parallels in the annals of modern maritime discovery.</p> + +<p>Before the fall of Troy, Sicily was peopled by a giant or +aboriginal people, called Cyclopes; that insular race being +said to be descended from Neptune and Amphitrite, just as +the giant Antæus, the founder of Tangier on the African +coast, was called the son of Neptune and Terra. If we +take Polyphemus, the chief of a tribe of the Cyclops, for a +type of this cognate race, what do we find in his story, +divested of the fiction with which it was clothed by +tradition, transmuted into the poetry of the Odyssey and +the Æneid? The Grecian and Trojan heroes, successively +land on the eastern coast of Sicily, near the base of +Mount Ætna, whose throes and thunders lend horror to +the scene. There dwelt this Cyclop chief, in a cavern of +the rocks. The race were Troglodytes, as were the aboriginal +Sardes, Baleares, Maltese, Libyans, &c. In Sardinia, +their caverns are still to be seen in an island of the territory +of Sulcis. Caves were probably the first habitations +of primitive man, before emerging from a condition hardly +superior to that of the savage beasts, his competitors for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_397" id="Page_397">[397]</a></span> +such rude shelter. Irrespective of climate, in these we +find his home, whether among the Celts of the frozen +regions of the North, or the Arabs of the stony wastes +bordering on the Erythrean Sea, in the Libyan deserts, +or in the sandstone rocks of Southern Africa. There +one still sees the pygmy Bushmen, perhaps the last existing +Troglodyte race, the very reverse of the Cyclops in +stature, but, like them, their hand against every man's, +unchanged by ages in the midst of African tribes of considerable +civilisation, neither sowing nor pasturing, but +living on roots, berries, and grubs, like other aboriginal +races, which sprang into existence with the forests through +which they roam, and the various brutes which shared +with them the possession of the soil:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Cum prorepserunt primis animalia terris,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Mutum et turpe pecus.” <span class="smcap">Hor.</span> <i>Sat.</i> i. 3.<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>But the traditions of Polypheme and his Cyclops represent +them as advanced beyond this first rude stage of +society, though they still adhered to their ancestral caves. +They were robbers, no doubt; at least, they plundered +and made captive unfortunate mariners thrown on their +shores. Perhaps they feasted on their captives, as American +Indians and South-Sea islanders are reported to have done. +This may be doubted; but at least the cannibal feasts of +the Sicilian aborigines were but <i>bonnes bouches</i> occasionally +thrown in their way. They had better means of subsistence. +Polypheme was a shepherd, and so were all his clan. +Picture him, as described by Virgil<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a>, descending from the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_398" id="Page_398">[398]</a></span> +mountains, probably at eventide, leaning on his staff, with +his shepherd's pipe hanging on his bosom, surrounded by +his flocks, and leading them to the shelter of some cavern +on the shore; and we have a pleasant scene of pastoral +life. Such were all his tribe, a pretty numerous one, +comprising one hundred males, with their families, each +having a flock as large as their chiefs. They led a nomad +life, “<i>errantes</i>” between the mountain pastures and the +plains on the coast<a name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a><a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a>.</p> + +<p>Now, if we may be allowed to separate these facts, +which seem genuine, from the fictions with which they +are blended, we find the aborigines of Sicily, though barbarous, +in a somewhat advanced stage of social life beyond +that when we are told they roamed in the woods and fed +on acorns. Such we may justly presume, divested of +poetical fiction, was the condition of the aborigines of the +neighbouring island of Sardinia, the largest in the Mediterranean +except Sicily, when the first foreign colonists +landed on its coast. And such, after the lapse of more +than thirty centuries, are the Sarde shepherds of the +present day, generally lawless, sometimes robbers, making +the caves of the rocks their shelter, and their flocks and +herds providing them with food and clothing. Tenacious, +above all other European races, of the traditions and customs +of their forefathers, when they point to structures of +the highest antiquity scattered on their native soil, and +call them “<i>Sepolture de is Gigantes</i>”—as we now have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_399" id="Page_399">[399]</a></span> +some idea what these giants were,—may we not find +reason to accept their tradition, and consider these monuments +as the tombs of the chiefs and first founders of +their aboriginal race.</p> + +<p>Still, it may be objected that the ancient legends relating +to giants are too fabulous to admit of any sound theories +being built on them; and some have even gone so far as +to reject all the received accounts of families or tribes of +men of gigantic stature, as worthy only of the belief of +credulous ages. It may indeed be difficult to imagine +whole districts and countries peopled with gigantic races +so formidable that we can hardly conceive any other +people subsisting in contact with them. But that individuals, +and even families, of extraordinary stature and +strength existed in the earliest ages cannot be denied, +except by those who regard the narrative of Scripture as +equally fabulous with the fictions of the poets; although +the statements are literal and exact, occur in a variety of +incidental notices, and are confirmed by discoveries related +by authors of good repute.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p> + +<p>A solution of the difficulty may, perhaps, be found in the +consideration, that, as even now we find families and races +exceeding in stature and strength the average of mankind, +there is still more reason to believe in the existence of +such phenomena in the youth of the generations of man, +when a simple mode of life, abundance of nutritious food, +and a salubrious atmosphere, gave to all organic beings +huge and sinewy forms. Such might be the special privilege +of the Rephaim, and other tribes of which we read.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_400" id="Page_400">[400]</a></span> +But while the rank and file, as we may call them, of the +nation, though tall and robust, might not much exceed +the average height of the human species, the chiefs and +heroes who took their posts in the van of battle may have +attained the extraordinary dimensions recorded of them; +and, their numbers being magnified by terror and tradition, +the attributes of the class were extended to the whole +tribe. Thus the poets gave the name of Cyclops to all the +aboriginal inhabitants of Sicily, though the Cyclops, properly +so called, are represented by them as a single family, +sons, as before mentioned, of Neptune and Amphitrite.</p> + +<p>That the <i>Sepolture de is Gigantes</i> may be considered the +tombs of the chiefs or heroes of the aboriginal inhabitants +of Sardinia seems to be generally allowed; and the opinion +receives some confirmation from a passage in Aristotle's +“Physics,” where, treating of the immutability of time, +notwithstanding our perception or unconsciousness of what +occurs, he incidentally illustrates his argument by the +expression:—“So with those who are fabulously said to +sleep with the heroes in Sardinia, when they shall rise +up.”<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a></p> + +<p>The best authorities being thus led to the conclusion +that the Sarde aborigines were a giant race, the question +remains whether the Nuraghe had the same origin as the +Sepolture; and, passing by some trivial objections to this +hypothesis, we are disposed to adopt Mr. Tyndale's conclusion, +that—“the coincidence of two such peculiar monuments +in the same island, their non-existence elsewhere, +and their being both indicative of some abstract principle +of grandeur and power, practically carried out in their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_401" id="Page_401">[401]</a></span> +construction, are strong reasons for the presumption that +they may have had some mutual reference to each other,—as +burying places, temples, and altars, and consequently +were works of the same times and the same people.”</p> + +<p>Perhaps it may be objected, with some show of reason, +that a people so rude and so primitive as the aborigines, +could not have possessed the skill required for the construction +of such buildings as the Nuraghe; so that they +must be assigned to a later age. But we are informed in +Genesis that, among some families of mankind, not only +useful, but ornamental, arts were taught before Noah's +flood!<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a> and, without instituting an inquiry how soon the +inventive and mechanical faculties of mankind were more +or less developed in various countries, we may venture to +assume that, before the historical period, before navigation +had conveyed the higher arts of civilisation to distant +shores, the aboriginal races, generally, were not incapable +of erecting the massive structures attributed to them by +universal tradition, and which, defying the ravages of time, +still remain the sole monuments of lost races, on which +the puzzled antiquary can hope to decipher the records of +their existence and condition.</p> + +<p>To rear the lofty perpendicular monolith, to set up the +tall stele as the headstone of a grave, to lift and poise the +ponderous rocking-stone, to raise and fix the massive +impost of the trilithon, or the slab covering a sepoltura, a +cromlech, or a cistvaen; (for the remark applies to Celtic +as well as Mediterranean antiquities), to heap up, not +Pelion on Ossa, but untold loads of earth and stone to form +the conical tumulus over the chambers of the dead, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_402" id="Page_402">[402]</a></span> +build “Cyclopean” walls, and construct the cone of rude +but solid masonry, with its cavernous recesses,—all these +are the works we should just expect from races of mankind +when emerging from primitive barbarism, in the youth of +the species, and possessed of enormous strength of limb.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> +Those who reared these works are supposed to have been +in possession of some knowledge of the pulley, the lever, +and the incline; but, after all, giant strength must have +been the main fulcrum for such operations. Had there +been ornament, sculpture, or inscriptions on these primeval +monuments, our thoughts might have been carried forward +to a later age, when colonisation from the East brought +in its train the arts which there first undoubtedly flourished.</p> + +<p>That the Sardinian antiquities of the earliest age are +unique, that this is the case in other parts of the world, +every primitive people having, with certain resemblances, +a peculiar style in its ancient monuments, that none such +as these are found in the countries from whence the first +colonists migrated, nor are described in their records, are +facts strengthening the argument for their being of indigenous +origin. That the forms of these structures scattered +over the world are generally pyramidal, often rounded,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_403" id="Page_403">[403]</a></span> +and sometimes spiral, tells nothing to the contrary. The +cone, as Father Bresciani observes, was more graceful to +the eye, more easy of construction, more durable, and, +perhaps, connected with some mysterious ideas of Eternity, +or the circling course of the heavenly bodies. Such was +the form of the first great building on record, the Tower +of Babel, as we have it represented; the type in many +respects of the Sarde Nuraghe. Nor is it an unreasonable +conjecture that the alien people, mysteriously alluded to +in Genesis, as mixing with the children of God, having +seduced the most froward of the chosen race, were the +instigators and planners of the profane enterprise. “Go +to ——,” said a man to his neighbour, as the marginal +translation renders the passage,—“let us make bricks, +let us build a tower whose top may reach to heaven.”<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a></p> + +<p>“There were giants in those days,”—men not only of +gigantic forms, but imbued with grand ideas. The structures +included among the number of their monuments are, +as just observed, “indicative of some abstract principle of +grandeur and power, practically carried out in their construction.” +In the strength of their might, the Titanic +race bade defiance to the deities of Olympus, with whom +they are poetically represented as combating; but that +does not preclude our supposing that, in common with +all the generations of man, however barbarous, the giant +races had their religious instincts, their altars, their rites. +Reverence, also, for the memories of their departed heroes, +of their progenitors, was a common feeling, most powerful +in the earliest times. In these two principles we trace the +ideas to which the mysterious monuments of the ancient<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_404" id="Page_404">[404]</a></span> +Sardes owe their origin, and thence we arrive at a reasonable +conclusion respecting their object and uses.</p> + +<p>Researches the most extended and the most profound, +have failed to penetrate the obscurity in which the mists +of ages have enveloped the origin of the primeval monuments +of all nations, and of the people who founded them. +Something may have been contributed towards the solution +of the difficulties surrounding the subject, if we have +been able to connect existing monuments with a rude race +of extraordinary strength, the supposed giant-builders of +those ancient structures. Such buildings we discover in +various parts of the world, varying in their details, but +similar as respects their simple but massive and durable +forms. Gigantic stature and strength of limb we consider +to have been the essential requisites, in the infancy of art, +for transporting and raising the ponderous materials; and +these properties were characteristics of the races of which, +and of their Herculean labours, we find everywhere corresponding +traditions.</p> + +<p>In the absence of a satisfactory reply to the inquiry, +whence, when, or how the giant race reached Sardinia, we +are willing to accept the alternative, as regards the +founders of the Nuraghe and its other ancient monuments, +that these structures were the work of the autocthonoi, +the aboriginal inhabitants. But we embrace the theory in +a different sense from that in which it is proposed; suggesting +that the so-called giants themselves may have been +the autocthonoi, and not immigrants; and the remark is +generally applicable. The etymology of the words used +by the Greeks and Romans, to designate the aboriginal +races, supports the conjecture of their identity; for, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_405" id="Page_405">[405]</a></span> +already shown<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a>, the term “giant” (γίγας) is not descriptive +of extraordinary strength, but, equally with the phrases +<i>autocthonoi</i>, <i>terrigenæ</i>, and <i>aborigines</i>, signifies “the earth-born,” +the natives of the soil.</p> + +<p>Further than this we cannot here pursue the inquiry. +In a work of this description, it would be idle to speculate +on the means by which aboriginal races, as well as a +peculiar fauna and flora, were planted in distant lands, +whether islands or remote continents, on which they have +been found established by colonists and navigators, from +the earliest to the latest times. Ethnologists have laboured +to solve the difficulties surrounding the subject; with what +success, those who have studied their works must decide +for themselves.</p> + +<p>The Sardinian Nuraghe are probably among the oldest +structures in the world, and may therefore be reasonably +considered the works of an aboriginal race; but their +origin, and that of the founders, are equally involved in +impenetrable mystery. Their rude, but massive and +shapely, cones have survived the ruin of the sumptuous +edifices of Babylon and Nineveh, of Ecbatana and Susa, +of Tyre and the Egyptian Thebes. Like the pyramids of +Egypt, they have witnessed, from their hoary tops, the +current of untold centuries rolling onwards, wave after +wave, in its turbid course. They have marked the rise and +the fall of empires, the vicissitudes of fortune, the illusory +hopes, the vain fears, and the insatiable desires of successive +generations of men, whose brief span of existence has +been that of a moment compared with the centuries that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_406" id="Page_406">[406]</a></span> +have looked down from their summits. But unlike the +Pyramids, whose mysteries are partially unveiled, they +give no note by which their age or their history may be +discovered. Mute on their solitary mounds, they give no +answer to the inquiries of the traveller or the learned, +when questioned,—what people of Herculean strength and +undaunted will reared their massive walls, wrought the +dark cells under the cover of their domes, and raised the +ponderous slab which crowns the cone? No image of +man, no form of beast, neither symbol nor inscription, are +sculptured or graven on the solid blocks, within or without, +to tell their tale. Well, then, may the thoughtful +traveller, contemplating with silent wonder these mysterious +cones, soliloquise in some such sort as this:—“Surely +these structures must have been raised before men +had learned the arts of writing and engraving, for how +many thousands of the Nuraghe were built, in successive +periods, without their founders having acquired the faculty +of inscribing on them the name of a god or a hero, for a +memorial to future generations.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_407" id="Page_407">[407]</a></span>”</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXVI" id="CHAP_XXXVI"></a>CHAP. XXXVI.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Oristano.—Orange-groves of Milis.—Cagliari.—Description +of.—The Cathedral and Churches.—Religious Laxity.—Ecclesiastical +Statistics.—Vegetable and Fruit Market.—Royal +Museum.—Antiquities.—Coins found in Sardinia.—Phœnician +Remains.—The Sarde Idols.</i></p> + + +<p>The high road between Sassari and Cagliari, called the +<i>Strada Reale</i>, runs through the great level of the Campidano +for a distance of 140 miles, and as there is a daily +communication between the two cities by the well-appointed +<i>diligences</i> already mentioned, the journey, unlike others +in Sardinia, is performed with comfort and rapidity. But, +whatever he may gain by the exchange, the traveller will +hardly bid adieu to the mountains and forest-paths of the +Gallura and Barbagia without regret.</p> + +<p>About half way, stands Oristano, an old city, of some +6000 inhabitants, with some of the Spanish character of +Alghero. Though fallen from its former importance, the +place is still wealthy, and, in some degree, commercial. It +is, however, deserted in the summer and autumn, when the +atmosphere becomes so pestilential from the inhalations of +the neighbouring stagna and lagunes as to justify the proverb:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">A Oristano che ghe vù,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In Oristano ghe resta!<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_408" id="Page_408">[408]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>The most striking object in the place is the belfry of the +cathedral, a detached octangular tower, roofed with a pear-shaped +dome, of coloured tiles, and commanding from the +summit a fine view of the plains from the sea to the distant +mountains. The orange groves of Milis, a village +lying a little out of the high road to Oristano, are worth a +visit. The trees are considered the finest in Europe. I +have never seen orange trees that will bear comparison with +them in any part of the world, except on some of the Dutch +farms in the Cape colony, where they are still more magnificent; +vying in size with the European oaks, planted, +probably at the same time, by the German settlers from +the Black Forest, the disbanded soldiers of the States of +Holland, to whom many of the African Boers owe their +origin. Such orange groves, when loaded with blossoms +and fruit, glowing in the shade of their dense masses of +glossy deep-green foliage, are perhaps the most charming +of vegetable productions. No idea of their richness and +beauty can be formed from the dwarf, round-topped trees, +one sees in most orange districts. Here, as in South Africa, +they owe their luxuriance to abundant irrigation. Some +of the trees at Milis are from thirty-five to forty feet +high, and there are said to be 300,000 of them of full +growth. The annual produce is estimated at from fifty to +sixty millions of fruit, and, being in great repute for their +quality, they are conveyed to Sassari and Cagliari, and all +parts of the island, the price varying from 1-1/2<i>d.</i> to 4-3/4<i>d.</i> +per dozen, according to circumstances.</p> + +<p>Cagliari, the capital of Sardinia, a city containing upwards +of 35,000 inhabitants, is seen to most advantage +when approached from the sea, the campagna in the +vicinity being neither fertile nor picturesque. Standing at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_409" id="Page_409">[409]</a></span> +the head of a noble bay or gulf, twenty-four miles in depth +and twelve across, with good anchorage everywhere, its +advantageous position pointed out Cagliari as a seat of +commerce from the earliest times. The Phœnicians, the +Greeks, and Carthaginians were attracted by the fine harbour, +and the inducements offered by the neighbouring +heights for the construction of a fortified town. The +Romans made it the chief seat of their rule in the island. +The port, called the Darsena, is capable of containing +more than all the shipping at present frequenting it, with +such a depth of water that, while I was at Cagliari, one of +the largest steamships in the royal Sardinian navy lay +alongside the quay.</p> + +<p>In the view from the gulf, the eye first rests on the +upper town, surrounded with walls and towers, and +crowning the summit of a hill upwards of 400 feet above +the level of the sea. At the base of the heights lie +the suburbs of the Marina, Stampace, and Villanova, the +former occupying the space between the Castello, or Casteddu, +as the whole circuit of the fortified town is called, +and the port; and, with the two other suburbs, on the +east and west of the Marina, forming one long continuous +line of irregular buildings. In our <i>tableau</i>, the Casteddu +towers proudly over the lower town, which has grown +up beneath it since the Middle Ages. It still retains +its original importance, containing all the principal public +buildings, and being the residence of the government +officials, and, in short, the aristocratic quarter. The best +houses in the Marina are occupied by the foreign consuls +and persons engaged in commerce, so that there is a +marked distinction between the upper and lower parts of +the city.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_410" id="Page_410">[410]</a></span></p> + +<p>Besides a strong citadel, there are, in the circuit of the +fortifications three massive towers, called the Elephant, +the Lion, and the Eagle, built by the Pisans; and the +Castello is entered by four arched and embattled gateways. +One of these was in the act of being demolished +during my recent visit to Cagliari, in order to afford freer +communication between the upper town and the Marina. +Its removal seemed emblematic of an improving state of +society, tending to level the barriers of caste, and engage +the rising generation of the privileged orders in pursuits +calculated as much for their own benefit as the development +of the resources with which Sardinia abounds.</p> + +<p>Easy access to the Casteddu is gained by a circuitous +avenue cut on the sloping side of the hill and under the +escarped heights. Being planted with trees, it forms a +pleasant walk, commanding extensive views of the Campidano, +the distant mountains, and the Gulf of Cagliari. +The direct ascent from the Marina is steep and toilsome, +it being gained by a series of narrow avenues and flights +of steps, landing in streets running parallel with that side +of the Castello. These also are narrow as well as lofty, +like those of most fortified places in the south of Europe. +Here we find the best shops; and the thoroughfares have +a busy appearance, except in the heat of the day, when +most of the inhabitants indulge in the <i>siesta</i>.</p> + +<p>The cathedral, standing in the heart of the Castello, was +built by the Pisans with part of the remains of a basilica +founded by Constantine. It is on a grand scale, having +three naves, and a presbytery ascended by several ranges of +steps. The church is embellished with fine marbles, and +the ornaments being rich, with some good pictures and +grand monuments, the effect, on the whole, is striking.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_411" id="Page_411">[411]</a></span> +A crypt hewn out of the solid rock, under the presbytery, is +regarded with great reverence by the Sardes, as containing +the supposed remains of two hundred martyrs removed +there from the church of St. Saturninus, in 1617.</p> + +<p>Among the fifty-two churches in the Castello and the +suburbs, I will only mention that of St. Augustine, attached +to which is the oratory built by himself during a short +visit to the island. A story is told of one of the beams for +the roof proving too short; upon which the saint, quoting +to the workmen the text declaring that to those who have +faith all things are possible, ordered them to pull at one +end while he took the other, when, scarcely touching it, the +beam stretched to the required length. St. Augustine's +remains were transported here in 505, from Hippo-Regius, +where he died, by the Catholic bishops exiled from Africa +by Thrasamond, king of the Vandals.<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> The Chronicles +inform us that these bishops, two hundred and twenty in +number, were sustained by the benevolence of Pope Symmachus, +a native of Sardinia, who sent them every year +money and clothes. St. Augustine's relics remained at +Cagliari till 722, when Luitprand, king of the Lombards, +in consequence of the danger to which they were constantly +exposed by the invasions of the Saracens, obtained them +from the Cagliarese, and carrying them to Pavia deposited +them in the duomo of that city, where they rested, till in +1842, these were restored to Hippo by the French.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a></p> + +<p>The church of the Jesuits, at Cagliari, is described as +distinguished among the others for the sumptuousness of +its style, and its decorations of coloured marbles and +columns. It was closed, with the adjoining college, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_412" id="Page_412">[412]</a></span> +the time of my visit. The Jesuits formerly possessed +large estates, and had colleges in several of the principal +towns of the island. The whole were suppressed long ago; +but in 1823, the late king, Carlo Felice, partially restored +and re-endowed the order, some of the monks being re-established +in the college of Cagliari. Of late years, there +seems to have been a considerable reaction in the temper +of the Sardes as regards religion, at least, in the towns. +No people were more bigoted, more priest-ridden, more +credulous of the absurdest superstitions. But in a conversation +I recently had on the subject with a very intelligent +and well-informed friend in the island, he assured me that +the utmost laxity now prevails in the religious sentiments +of the people. They have lost all respect for the clergy, +calling them <i>bottégaie</i>, shopkeepers, as mindful only of +the gains of their trade; and the churches <i>bottége</i>, shops. +There is no vitality in the religion of the people, the services +are a mere mummery, and the system is held together +principally by the attractions of the popular <i>festas</i>, +such as those described in a former chapter as scenes of +bacchanalian revelry tricked out in the paraphernalia of +religion. As for the Jesuits, the most obnoxious of the +ecclesiastics, my friend stated, that the populace of Cagliari +“burnt them out,” intending, I apprehend, to convey that +they were violently expelled.</p> + +<p>In earlier visits to the Continent, and reflecting on the +subject at home, the question had often occurred whether, +with advancing intelligence, and growing aspirations for +civil and religious liberty, the people of Catholic countries +might not be drawn, in the course of events, to a +movement similar to that of our own Reformation of the +Church in the 16th century; the ruling powers, as then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_413" id="Page_413">[413]</a></span> +taking the lead, and emancipating their States from the +papal yoke. Thus, while abuses and gross doctrinal errors +were reformed, the exterior frame of the establishment, its +hierarchy, ceremonial, privileges and property would remain +intact; the whole system being so arranged as to be +brought into harmony with the action of government, +and to meet the demands of an enlightened age. Why +should there not be more reformed national and independent +churches?</p> + +<p>In this view, when conversing with foreigners of intelligence, +I have often pointed out the distinction between +the Anglican Church and the “Evangelical” and other +Protestant communities abroad. Such a reform would +seem to be well suited to answer the wants of the kingdom +of Sardinia in the present state of her relations with the +Court of Rome. It would consolidate the fabric of the +constitutional government; and we may conceive that the +cabinet of Turin, and perhaps the king, are enlightened +enough to be sensible of its advantages.</p> + +<p>But it may well be doubted whether the masses of the +population, in either that or any other Catholic country, +are ripe for such a revolution. In this age of reason, the +dogmas which formed the war-cries of Luther and Calvin +have lost their influence on the minds of men, and, except +in some sections of the various religious communities, a +general apathy on doctrinal subjects has succeeded the excitement +with which the Reformation was ushered in. +The tendency of the present age is in the direction of more +sweeping reforms, and when the time comes, as no +thoughtful man can doubt it will with growing intelligence, +for the people of Europe to cast off the shackles of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_414" id="Page_414">[414]</a></span> +superstition and bigotry, it may be feared that things of +more serious account than ecclesiastical systems and institutions +may be swept away by the overwhelming tide so +long pent up.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, there appears little probability of any great +change. The territorial distinctions between Catholic and +Protestant States remain much the same as when they +were shaped out in the time of the Reformation, and the +wars succeeding it. Each party holds its own; and there +is little probability of a national secession from the +Church of Rome, even in the Sardinian dominions, where +many circumstances concur to point out its expediency, +and even its possibility. Among others, it will not be +forgotten, that the standard of Protestantism was raised in +the valleys of Savoy, ages before it floated triumphantly +in the north of Europe.</p> + +<p>In 1841 there were 91 monasteries in Sardinia, containing +1093 regular monks, besides lay brothers, &c., and +16 convents with 260 nuns; the whole number of persons +attached to these institutions being calculated at 8000. +There are about the same number of secular clergy, including +the bishops, dignitaries, and cathedral chapters, +with the parochial clergy, the island being divided into +393 parishes. The population of Sardinia, by the last +returns I was able to procure<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a>, was 541,907 in 1850; so +that one-ninth were ecclesiastics of one description or +another. It should be stated, however, that most, if not +all, the monasteries and convents have been lately suppressed,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_415" id="Page_415">[415]</a></span> +and the religious pensioned off, so that the system +is dying out.</p> + +<p>The revenues of the bishops' sees, and the cathedral +and parochial clergy, were calculated in 1841 at about +66,000<i>l.</i>, arising from church lands, besides the tithes, +estimated at 1,500,000 lire nove, or 60,000<i>l.</i>, supposed to +be a low estimate, the tithes being worth one million of +lire more. These revenues are exclusive of voluntary +contributions, alms, offerings, and collections. The church +lands contributed upwards of 3000<i>l.</i> annually as state +subsidies, for the national debt, the maintaining roads and +bridges, and the conveyance of the post. Mr. Tyndale estimates +“the revenue of the see of Cagliari at from 60,000 +to 80,000 scudi,—from 11,520<i>l.</i> to 15,360<i>l.</i> per annum; +while that of the priests is about 1000 scudi, or 192<i>l.</i>” This +gives some idea of the incomes of the Sardinian clergy. I +imagine that the government has not interfered with any +part of the ecclesiastical revenues, except those attached +to the monasteries.</p> + +<p>The fruit and vegetable markets of large foreign towns +must always be attractive to a traveller, especially in the +South and East, where the fruit, in great varieties, is so +abundant, and he meets with vegetables unknown in the +gardens and cookery of his own country. Not only so, but +the dresses, and even the gestures and manners, of the +country people, to say nothing of the dealings of the buyers, +form a never-failing source of interest and amusement; +while an additional zest is lent in a warm climate, by the +freshness of the early hour at which the visit must be paid +to be really enjoyed. The market at Cagliari is held in the +suburb of Stampace, and approached by one of those avenues<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_416" id="Page_416">[416]</a></span> +shaded with exotic trees, which make such agreeable promenades +in the neighbourhood of the city. The principal +supply comes from Pula, Arabus, and other villages at considerable +distances from Cagliari; the soil in the vicinity being +too arid to be productive. The supply appeared abundant, +and of excellent quality. Among the fruits,—it was in +the early part of September,—I noted grapes, figs, pears, +oranges, lemons, citrons, peaches, melons, and prickly +pears. Among the vegetables, the heaps of tomatas, chilis, +and other condiments were surprising, and there were +gigantic “<i>torzi</i>,” a kind of turnip-cabbage, and other +varieties, whose names have escaped my memory.</p> + +<p>My visit to the Royal Museum was also paid at an early +hour, through the kindness of Signor Cara, the Curator, +who was so obliging as to show me also his cabinet of antiques +at his private residence,—rich in cameos, intaglios, +and scarabei of rare beauty. The Royal Museum occupies +a suite of small apartments in the University. The collection +owes great part of its objects of interest, and their +good order and arrangement, to the indefatigable zeal +and disinterested devotion of Signor Cara, whose appointments, +and the allowance for purchasing objects, are not +unworthy of a liberal government.</p> + +<p>The collection of Roman antiquities occupying the entrance-wall +is very meagre, considering the many stations +established in the island during the republic and empire. +Besides two colossal consular statues, having an air of +dignity, and with the toga well chiselled, there was little to +observe but some Roman milestones, sarcophagi, and +fragments of various kinds.</p> + +<div class="figright"> +<img src="images/417.jpg" width="250" height="125" alt="SARDO-ROMAN COIN." +title="SARDO-ROMAN COIN." /> +<p class="caption">SARDO-ROMAN COIN.</p> +</div> + +<p>The coins of the Roman period are numerous, but most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_417" id="Page_417">[417]</a></span> +of them of little value. One here figured is, however, +unique; being, I +imagine, the only +coin known to have +been struck in the +island. Atius Balbus, +whose name and bust +appear on the face<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a>, +was grandfather of +the Emperor Augustus, and prefect of Sardinia about sixty +years before Christ. The reverse represents a head wearing +a singular cap, crowned by an ostrich plume; with a +sceptre, and the words “Sardus Pater,” who is supposed +to be the founder of Nora, the first town built in Sardinia, +and of Libyan and Phœnician origin.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/418a.jpg" width="250" height="117" alt="CARTHAGINIAN COIN." +title="CARTHAGINIAN COIN." /> +<p class="caption">CARTHAGINIAN COIN.</p> +</div> + +<p>The cabinet also contains about 100 coins of the Carthaginian +period. Many such are found in the island, +but, as may be supposed, not in numbers equal to those +which attest the long duration of the Roman power. +While Captain Smyth was engaged in his survey of the +coast, a farmer in the island of St. Pietro, successively a +Greek, Carthaginian, and Roman station, passed his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_418" id="Page_418">[418]</a></span> +ploughshare over an amphora of Carthaginian brass coins, +of which Captain Smyth purchased about 250. “They +were,” he states, “with two exceptions, of the usual type: +obverse, the head of Ceres; and reverse, a horse or palm-tree, +or both.” Some presented to +me by Carlo Rugiu, one of +which is here figured, have a +horse's head on one face, and +the palm-tree with fruit, probably +dates, on the other.</p> + +<p>There are specimens in the British Museum, but not so +good as those given me by Signor Rugiu. The coins in +the possession of Captain Smyth appear to have represented +the horse in full detail, as he mentions the peculiarity +of their having a Punic character between the +horse's legs, differing in every one. It need hardly be +observed how appropriate, on an African coin, were such +devices as the date-palm of the desert, and the horse, emblematic +of its fiery cavalry.</p> + +<div class="figleft"> +<img src="images/418b.jpg" width="250" height="130" alt="SARACEN COIN." +title="SARACEN COIN." /> +<p class="caption">SARACEN COIN.</p> +</div> + +<p>Some Saracenic coins are also found in the island, with +Arabic characters both on the obverse and reverse. The +one here represented was also +given me by Carlo Rugiu, +with some Roman coins, both +silver and brass. We do not +find that the Saracens ever +effected any permanent settlement +in Sardinia; which accounts +for the comparatively +small number of these coins discovered. The Saracen +pirates who infested the coast from the time that St. Augustine's +relics were rescued, in 722, to so late a period as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_419" id="Page_419">[419]</a></span> +1815, were more likely to pillage the money of the inhabitants +than to leave any of their own behind them.<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a></p> + +<p>The Terracotta collection in the Royal Museum exhibits +about one thousand specimens of vases, &c. of Sardo-Phœnician, +Carthaginian, Egyptian, and Roman fabric, +similar to those preserved in the British Museum. In the +natural-history department, the ornithological class is most +complete, containing upwards of a thousand specimens of +native and foreign birds, collected and prepared by Signor +Cara, who has paid much attention to this branch of the +science. Among the native objects of interest was the +flamingo, frequenting, with other aquatic birds, in vast +flocks, the lagunes in the neighbourhood of Cagliari, +whither they resort during the autumn and winter, from +the coast of Africa. The largest of these lakes, called the +Scaffa, is six or seven miles long by three or four broad. +Vast quantities of salt are procured from the salterns in +the same neighbourhood and other parts of Sardinia, and +it forms an important article of export, and of revenue. +In conchology and mineralogy, the cabinet is rich both in +foreign and native specimens; the minerals having been +in great part collected by La Marmora, and arranged by +him in 1835.</p> + +<p>The Phœnician remains are, in some respects, the most<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_420" id="Page_420">[420]</a></span> +interesting part of the collection. Among them we find +a block of sandstone, with a Phœnician inscription, discovered +in 1774 at Pula, the ancient Nora, now a pleasant +village embowered in orange groves and orchards, and +crowned with palms, on the coast of the Gulf, about sixteen +miles from Cagliari. Nora, it may be remembered, is +stated by Greek writers to have been the first town founded +by colonists in the island of Sardinia; and though the +inscription on the stone has not been satisfactorily deciphered, +it seems to be agreed that it records the arrival +of “Sardus,” called “Pater,” at “Nora,” from “Tarshish,” +in Libya.</p> + +<p>But the Sarde idols, already mentioned, form the unique +feature in this collection. La Marmora enumerates 180 +of these bronzes, the greater part of which are preserved +in the museum at Cagliari, consisting principally of small +images, varying from four to seventeen inches high, of +irregular and often grotesque forms, and betraying a rude +state of art.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a> They are considered miniatures of the +large and original idols adored by the Canaanites and +Syro-Phœnicians; and from their diminutive size may +have been household gods. Mr. Tyndale conjectures that +the “Teraphim” of Scripture were of the same class. +There appears, however, no doubt that these bronzes, as +well as the objects in Terracotta already mentioned, are of +native manufacture. Thus, while the images appear to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_421" id="Page_421">[421]</a></span> +be the symbols of a religion peculiar to the inhabitants +of Sardinia at a very early period, they bear a certain +affinity to similar objects of worship in other countries, +especially in Syria and Egypt; so that in Signor Cara's +nomenclature these remains are denominated Sardo-Phœnician +and Sardo-Egyptian. It is remarkable, however, +that no corresponding relics have been found in those +countries.</p> + +<p>There is a small collection of Sardinian antiquities in +the British Museum, recently supplied by Signor Cara; +but it does not contain, as might have been wished, any +specimens of these singular images. They are accurately +figured and described by La Marmora, and Mr. Tyndale +has fully investigated their history and relations in his +very valuable work. It would be out of place further to +pursue the subject here, especially as we have already +devoted a chapter to traces among the Sardes of the rites of +Moloch and Adonis, in which two of these images are described. +The subject is interesting both as connected with +the Phœnician migrations, and as bringing to light symbols +of that Canaanitish idolatry so frequently and emphatically +denounced in the Sacred Writings.</p> + +<p>Returning to modern times, I do not find that I have +anything of importance to add to my notices of the present +state of Cagliari, except the introduction of the Electric +Telegraph connecting it with the continents of Europe and +Africa. Prom its having been the medium of communication +between England and India during the recent +crisis, Cagliari has acquired a notoriety to which it had +previously few pretensions. Some account of the establishment +of this Telegraph will be given in our concluding +chapters.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_422" id="Page_422">[422]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXVII" id="CHAP_XXXVII"></a>CHAP. XXXVII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Porto-Torres.—Another Italian Refugee.—Embark for +Genoa.—West Coast of Corsica.—Turin.—The Sardinian +Electric Telegraph.—The Wires laid to Cagliari</i>.</p> + + +<p>The preceding notices of Cagliari were gathered during a +visit to Sardinia in the autumn of 1867; the “Rambles” +in this island, detailed in preceding chapters, having been +rather abruptly terminated, under circumstances already +adverted to, without our being able to reach the capital. +On that occasion we embarked for the continent at Porto-Torres, +the origin and decay of which place is before incidentally +mentioned. The neighbourhood abounds in +remains of Roman antiquities; and at a short distance is +the cathedral of St. Gavino, one of the oldest structures in +Sardinia, having been founded in the eleventh century. +The roof is covered with lead, and supported by antique +columns dug up in the adjacent ruins. There also were +found two marble sarcophagi, preserved in the church, on +which figures of Apollo surrounded by the Muses are represented +in high relief.</p> + +<p>Having to embark at an early hour, we were obliged to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_423" id="Page_423">[423]</a></span> +pass a night at Porto-Torres, notwithstanding its notoriety +for a most pestiferous atmosphere, occasioned, as usual, +by the exhalations from the marshy lowlands adjoining +the coast. The impression was confirmed by the miserable +aspect of the place, one long wide vacant street, in which, +as we drove down it, the effects of the intemperie were +stamped on the sickly faces of the few stragglers we met. +We found, however, a roomy and decent hotel, and, after +rambling about the neighbourhood, sat down to our usual +evening tasks of writing and drawing. We were in light +costume, and had thrown open the casements, for though +the apartment was both lofty and spacious, the air felt +insufferably close and stifling. Shortly afterwards, on the +waiter coming in to lay the supper table, he stood aghast +at our exposure to the night air, and precipitately dosed +the casements, exclaiming, “Signore, it would have been +death for you to have slept here in August or September; +and, even now, the risk you are running is not +slight.”</p> + +<p>This man was another of the Italian refugees, a +Lombard; but of a very superior cast of character and +intelligence to our <i>maître de cuisine</i> at Sassari. These +qualities first opened out on his begging permission to +examine my friend's drawings and some ancient coins +which lay on the table; on both which he made remarks, +showing that he was a person of education and taste. He +had been an <i>avocat</i> at Milan, and, compromised by the +insurrection, “You see,” said he, “what I have been +driven to,” throwing a napkin, over his shoulder with +somewhat of a theatrical air. “But a good time is coming;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_424" id="Page_424">[424]</a></span> +meanwhile, not having much to do here, I employ my time +as well as I can. You shall see my little library;”—and +he brought in some volumes, mostly classical, the +Odyssey, Euripides, Sophocles, Æschylus, and Cornelius +Nepos. After awhile he pulled out of his bosom, +with some mystery, for he was still professedly a +catholic, a small copy of Diodati's Italian version of the +New Testament. “This,” he said, with emphasis, “is my +greatest consolation; I retire into the fields, and there I +read it.” It was impossible not to commiserate the fate +of Ignazio Mugio, the Lombard refugee. A very different +character was old Pietro, the steam-boat agent. Groping +our way with some difficulty up a gloomy staircase, in the +dusk of the evening, we found him, spectacles on nose, +poring over a gazette by a feeble oil lamp. The old man +was so eager for news that it was difficult to fix him to +the object of our inquiries; and then he expatiated on the +attractions of the neighbourhood, and the “chasse magnifique +de grèves,” as he called thrush-shooting, in the +country round, if we came to Porto-Torres in the month +of December. We laughed at the idea of such sport; but +I think it is said that the thrushes, fattening on the olive +berries, are very delicious.</p> + +<p>A considerable commerce, considerable for a Sardinian +port, gives some life to this desolate place; facilitated by +Porto-Torres being the northern terminus of the great +national road running through Sassari, only nine miles +distant. The principal exports are oil and wine. The +little haven is defended by a strong tower, erected in +1549. We found moored in the port several Greek +brigs, polaccas, and feluccas, with their long yards and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_425" id="Page_425">[425]</a></span> +pointed lateen sails; and the fine steam-boat which was to +carry us to Genoa.</p> + +<div class="figcenter"> +<img src="images/425.jpg" width="500" height="308" alt="PORTO-TORRES." +title="PORTO-TORRES." /> +<p class="caption">PORTO-TORRES.</p> +</div> + +<p>The mountainous and nearly desert island of Asinara +forms a fine object in running out of the gulf to which it +gives its name, forming the north-western point; and the +high lands of Corsica soon came once more in view. Our +course lay along its western coast, the weather being +favourable; but with a foul wind it is considered unsafe, +and vessels run through the Straits of Bonifacio and coast +the eastern side of the island. In the afternoon we were +off the entrance of the Gulf of Ajaccio, and gazed from +seaward on the Isles Sanguinaires, with the tower of the +lighthouse, behind which the sun set on the pleasant +evening when we took our view from the Chapel of the +Greeks. Now, towards sunset, we were rapidly gliding +along the shore of Isola Rossa, and the slanting rays +glowing directly on the porphyritic cliffs gave a rich but<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_426" id="Page_426">[426]</a></span> +mellow intensity to the ruddy hue whence they derive +their name. Some of the boats stop at the town, a new +erection by Pascal Paoli, and the seat of an increasing +trade. Leaving it behind, we ran along the coast of +Corsica with a fair wind, exultingly bounding homewards +as, the breeze freshening, our boat sprung from wave to +wave, dashing the spray from her bows. Farewell to +Corsica! Her grey peaks and shaggy hill-sides are fast +fading from our sight, in the growing obscurity. We pass +Calvi, famous in Mediæval and Nelsonian annals, San +Fiorenzo, on which we had looked down in our rambles on +the chestnut-clad ridges of the Nebbio; and the mountain +masses of the Capo-Corso, now loom like dark clouds on +the eastern horizon. All beyond is a blank. Again we +cross the Tuscan Sea in the depth of the night. We are +on deck when rosy morning opens to our view the glories +of the Bay of Genoa. At six we are moored in the harbour, +and have to wait for the visit of the officer of health. At +last we land, breakfast, and take the rail to Turin.</p> + +<p>At Turin we passed some hours very pleasantly at the +British Minister's. We are indebted to Sir James Hudson +for facilitating our excursion in Sardinia with more than +official zeal and interest in its success. He knows the +island well, having braved the inconveniences of rough +travelling in its wildest districts. At his hotel we chanced +to meet Mr. I. W. Brett, the promoter of a line of electric +telegraph intended to connect the islands of Corsica and +Sardinia with the European and African continents. A +company had been formed to carry out this project, consisting +principally of Italian shareholders, part of whose +outlay was to be recouped, on the completion of the +undertaking, by the Governments interested in its success—the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_427" id="Page_427">[427]</a></span> +French in regard to Corsica and Algeria, and the +Piedmontese as far as concerns Sardinia.</p> + +<p>Starting from a point in the Gulf of Spezzia, the wires +were to be carried by a submarine cable to the northern +extremity of Capo-Corso; where landing they would be +conveyed, through the island, partly by submarine channels, +with a branch to Ajaccio, to its southern point near +Bonifacio. Thence, submerged in a cable crossing the +Straits, they would again touch the land at Capo Falcone, +mentioned in these rambles as the nearest point in Sardinia; +the distance being only about ten nautical miles. +The wires were then to be conducted on posts, through the +island of Sardinia, in a line, varying but slightly from our +route, by Tempio and Sassari to Cagliari. From Cape +Spartivento, or some point on the southern shore of Sardinia, +a submarine cable was to be laid, the most arduous +part of the whole undertaking, to the African coast; +landing somewhere near Bona, a town on the western +frontier of the French possessions in Algeria.</p> + +<p>Up to the point of the landing in Sardinia all was +evidently plain sailing; but when we met Mr. Brett at +Turin, on our return from Sardinia, in November, 1853, +he was under some anxiety about the land line through +the island; the mountainous character of the northern +province of Gallura presenting obstacles to the operation +of carrying the wires through it, and the lawless +character of the inhabitants threatening their safety. On +both these points we were able to reassure him; we had +seen and heard enough of the brave mountaineers to feel +convinced that there was no cause for apprehension of +outrages connected with the undertaking. And my fellow-traveller, +who belonged to the scientific branch of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_428" id="Page_428">[428]</a></span> +army, had not passed through the country without making +such observations as enabled him to satisfy Mr. Brett's +inquiries respecting the line to be selected and its natural +facilities.</p> + +<p>In the end, the wires were successfully stretched throughout +the island from Capo Falcone to Cagliari, after surmounting, +however, serious obstacles, though not of the +sort previously apprehended. For the success of this operation +the company are greatly indebted to the exertions +of Mr. William S. Craig, H.B.M.'s Consul-General in Sardinia. +Having neither any personal interest in the concern, +nor official connection with a Company entirely foreign in +its object and supporters, he devoted his time gratuitously +to the furtherance of this branch of its operations, actuated +only by a desire to promote an important public undertaking. +The whole practical management of the work (I do +not speak of engineering, little of which could be required) +devolved on Mr. Craig; and with much self-sacrifice, he +threw into it all that zeal and intelligence which, with +universal goodwill, have acquired for him the high estimation +in which he is generally held.</p> + +<p>I have before had occasion to mention the respect entertained +for him by the mountaineers of Gallura, resulting +from a former connection beneficial to parts of that district; +and I feel convinced that his name and sanction better +obviated any prejudices, and offered a broader shield for the +protection of the wires from injury, than all the power of +the Piedmontese officials, backed by squadrons of carabineers, +could have done. Not only so, but Mr. Craig +had less difficulty in making arrangements with the proprietors +of the lands in the northern province than in the +more civilised districts of the south, where, in some instances,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_429" id="Page_429">[429]</a></span> +the privileges required were reluctantly conceded +as a mark of personal respect.</p> + +<p>It was on descending to the plains that the worst difficulties +were encountered. Mr. Warre Tyndale states that +during the construction of the great central road from +Cagliari to Porto-Torres, which it took seven years to complete, +more than half the engineers employed in the work +died of the intemperie, or were obliged to retire from the +effects of that fatal malady. This scourge swept off with +no less virulence the workmen employed on the line of +telegraph, and as the season advanced, cartloads after cartloads +were carried to the hospitals, so that the works were +stopped. Mr. Craig had to provide for all emergencies, +the whole expenditure was managed by him, and this +calamity added to his cares and responsibilities. But he +persevered, and brought the operations to a successful end. +Such valuable services merited a more liberal treatment +than they received at the hands of those who gratuitously +secured them. A body of English directors and shareholders +would not have failed to mark their sense of the +obligation conferred by some honorary acknowledgment. +I have not heard of any such act of generosity on the part +of the Sardo-French Company. It was a foreigner who +remarked to me the <i>petitesses</i> which pervaded the dealings +of his countrymen. I imagine that the phrase would +be found particularly applicable to the dealings of this +company, if all its history were known.</p> + +<p>But we are anticipating occurrences. On our return +from Sardinia, the operations of the Sardo-French Telegraph +Company connected with the island were yet in +embryo. The travellers who discussed the probabilities +of success at Turin little thought that one of them would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_430" id="Page_430">[430]</a></span> +two years afterwards, towards the close of the Crimean +war, be the Chief of the Staff employed in the organisation +and superintendence of the military telegraph service in +the East, having to inspect the laying down many hundred +miles of submarine cable and wires in the Black Sea; or +that it would be the fortune of the other to witness the final +accomplishment of the long-delayed and frustrated hopes +of the Sardo-French Company, by being present at the +laying down of the submarine Mediterranean cable between +Cagliari and Bona on the coast of Algeria. But so +it turned out; and the completion of this undertaking +being an event in Sardinian history, considered by no less +an authority than General Della Marmora to have an +important bearing on the commercial prospects of the +island,—and the operation of successfully submerging telegraph +cables in very deep water, in oceans or seas, being +both new and possessing considerable interest,—a short +account by an eyewitness of the occurrences attending the +laying down the African cable may prove both amusing +and instructive. It will form an appropriate episode to +the Sardinian Rambles, and in that view an additional +chapter will be devoted to it.</p> + +<p>For the rest, it only remains briefly to close the +“Rambles” of 1853. Our visit at Turin reopened +Sardinian interests; but after that, the best thing to be +done was to hasten homewards before the inclemency of +the season should retard our progress. Still, the snow fell +heavily as we walked over the summit of the pass of the +Mont-Cenis, preceding the diligence in which we had +travelled all night. The railway had not then been extended +from Turin to Suza on one side of the Alps, nor, +on the other, beyond Châlons sur Saône, between Lyons<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_431" id="Page_431">[431]</a></span> +and Paris; so that, travelling by diligence, we were three +nights and two days on the road to Paris. Both the French +and Italian lines of railway have been much advanced +since the period of our journey. To complete the line, it +remains only that the gigantic undertaking of tunnelling +the chain of the Alps be successfully executed. Allowing +ourselves the refreshment of spending a day in Paris, we +reached London in the evening of the 17th of November.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_432" id="Page_432">[432]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAP_XXXVIII" id="CHAP_XXXVIII"></a>CHAP. XXXVIII.</h2> + +<p class="blockquot"><i>Sardinian Electric Telegraph.—The Land Line completed.—Failures +in Attempts to lay a Submarine Cable to Algeria.—The +Work resumed.—A Trip to Bona on the African +Coast.—The Cable laid.—Cagliari an Important Telegraph +Station.—Its Commerce.—The return Voyage.—<span class="smcap">Conclusion.</span></i></p> + + +<p>After completing the land line of telegraph, as already +mentioned, the Sardinian Company<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a> failed in three attempts +at laying a submarine cable to connect the wires +from Cagliari with the coast of Algeria. We will not here +enter into an inquiry as to the causes of these disasters, +instructive as it might be if we had space, and this were +a fitting opportunity. Suffice it to say that the first +experiment failed soon after leaving Cape Spartivento; on +the second, the line was laid for about two-thirds of the +course, but with such a profuse expenditure of the submarine +cable that it was run out, and the enterprise +abruptly terminated. A third attempt to renew the operation +proved equally unsuccessful.</p> + +<p>The project received a severe check from these repeated<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_433" id="Page_433">[433]</a></span> +failures. The company had established their line, by sea +and land, as far as Cagliari. So far, well: the communications +of the respective Governments with their islands of +Corsica and Sardinia were complete. Incidentally, also, +England derived some advantage from the stations at +Cagliari during the most anxious period of the crisis in Indian +affairs. It was one step in advance towards telegraphic +communications with India, though a short one. But the +main object of the French Government in promoting the +enterprise was to link its connection with Algeria by the +electric wires; and till that was accomplished, the Company +had no claim to be reimbursed for that portion of their +expenditure guaranteed in the event of success.</p> + +<p>One may imagine the dismay of the shareholders, mostly +Italians, in this state of affairs. Their capital must have +been greatly, if not altogether, exhausted by the expenditure +on previous works and the abortive attempts at laying +the African cable. It was now only, in all probability, +that they became seriously alive to the difficulties of the +undertaking, and the immense risks that must be incurred +in laying submarine cables in great depths of water. For +it was now known that the depth of the Mediterranean +in many parts crossed by the track of submarine cables, is +no less than that through which the Transatlantic cable +has to be laid.</p> + +<p>The prosecution of the scheme was suspended; but meanwhile +time was running on, and the period fixed for completing +the line had nearly expired. In this event, the +government guarantee being forfeited, the concern would +become a ruinous affair, as the telegraph traffic of two small +islands could not be remunerative for the capital expended +in connecting them with the continent. A short extension<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_434" id="Page_434">[434]</a></span> +of the term for completing the undertaking had been +obtained; but that was nearly run out before matters were +put in a better train.</p> + +<p>In this emergency, Mr. Brett, the <i>gérant</i> of the foreign +company, who had contracted for and personally superintended +the previous attempts to lay the African cable, +entered into negotiations for its being undertaken by +Messrs. Newall and Co. They had an established reputation, +not only as having long been manufacturers +of submarine electric cables, the quality of which had +been tested by continuous service, but as having, under +contracts with the English Government, laid down between +five and six hundred miles of cable in the Black +Sea during the Crimean war, without a single mishap. +They were, therefore, not mere theorists; having acquired +by long experience a practical knowledge of submarine +telegraphy which had not fallen to the lot of any others +who had turned their attention to that branch of the +science.</p> + +<p>The overtures made on the part of the Sardo-French +Company having been favourably received in the course, I +believe, of the summer of 1857, Messrs. Newall and Co., +nothing daunted by the previous failures, though doubtless +fully aware of the difficulties they had to encounter, agreed +to lay the African cable for a given sum, taking all risks +on themselves. When it is understood that, about the +same time, they also contracted with the “Mediterranean +Extension Company,” on like terms as to responsibility, +to lay down submarine cables between Cagliari and Malta, +and from Malta to Corfu, extending over 795 nautical +miles, and making, with the African cable, a total of +920 miles, some idea may be formed of the magnitude of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_435" id="Page_435">[435]</a></span> +the operations undertaken by a single firm. The mileage +is more than one third of the distance embraced in the +scheme of the great Transatlantic Company; and, as we +find that the Mediterranean has its deep hollows as well +as the Atlantic, the difficulties were proportionate.</p> + +<p>Having entered into these engagements, Messrs. Newall +and Co., after completing their contract for one half, 1250 +miles, of the Transatlantic cable, lost no time in proceeding +with the manufacture of the Mediterranean cables at their +works in Birkenhead. Towards the end of August, the +African cable, with some portion of the Malta cable, was +shipped in the Mersey aboard their steamship Elba, +the vessel before employed in laying down the cable between +Varna and Constantinople. It should be mentioned +that the African cable contained four wires, so that it was +more ponderous and less flexible than the Atlantic cable, +which has only one.</p> + +<p>About this time, the writer happened to hear what was +going on. Being then engaged in preparing these Sardinian +“Rambles” for the press, he was desirous to +make another trip to the island before their publication; +and, besides the connection of the Cagliari line of telegraphs +with the objects of his work, other circumstances +had made him generally interested in the subject of submarine +telegraphy. He therefore requested Mr. R.S. +Newall's permission for his joining the expedition, which +was kindly granted.</p> + +<p>With this preliminary statement, we proceed at once to +the scene of action. At the last moment it had been +decided, for reasons with which I am unacquainted, but, +I believe, on the suggestion of the foreign Governments +interested in the project, to start from the African coast,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_436" id="Page_436">[436]</a></span> +instead of from Cagliari; Cape de Garde, a few miles eastward +of Bona, a town on the Tunisian frontier of the +French possessions in Algeria, being selected as the point +at or near which the submarine cable was to be submerged. +The Elba, with the cable on board, anchored off Bona +on Saturday, the 5th of September. Three war-steamships, +appointed by the foreign Governments to attend and assist +in the operations, had arrived some days before, and lay at +anchor in the haven of Cazerain. The little squadron consisted +of the Brandon, a large frigate under the French +flag, with the Monzambano and the Ichnusa, both belonging +to the royal Sardinian navy; and on board were +the Commissioners appointed by the respective Governments +to watch the operations.</p> + +<p>It blew hard after the Elba's arrival, and the ships +being detained in harbour, waiting for a favourable wind, +opportunities offered of landing at Bona, and making some +excursions into the surrounding country. The old Arab +town rises from the sea in the form of an amphitheatre, +and you see its high embattled walls running up the hill-side +and embracing in its enceinte the citadel, or Casbah, +crowning the heights; the whole backed by the towering +summits and shaggy slopes of the chain of Mount Edough. +Within is a labyrinth of narrow streets; that leading direct +from the port crossing a steep ridge to the Place d'Armes, +a square with a fountain in the centre, overhung with +palms and other exotics, and where French architecture is +singularly mixed with the Moorish style. On one side +stands a mosque, with its tall minaret; on the other, range +cafés and restaurants, and magazins de mode, with their +lofty fronts, arcades, and balconies. We linger for a +moment on the spectacle offered by the various populations<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_437" id="Page_437">[437]</a></span> +which crowd the square from morn to eve, and most +after nightfall; a motley crowd of Arabs, Moors, Zouaves, +Chasseurs, Jews, and Maltese. In the picturesque contrast +of costume it presents, the gayest French uniforms +possess no attractions compared with the white and flowing +bournous, with even the sheepskin mantle of the poor +Arab of the desert, the bright braided caftan of the Moor, +the turban, and the fez. But the limits assigned to this +work being already exceeded, I may not allow myself to +dwell on the numberless objects which attract the attention +of a curious traveller, in scenes where the modes +and forms of Oriental life are singularly blended with +those that bear the freshest European stamp.</p> + +<p>Nor is this the place for more than noting an excursion +to the picturesque ruins of Hippona, the old Roman city, +the Hippo-Regius, where the great St. Augustine laboured +in the African episcopate, and ended his days during the +sufferings of Genseric's siege. They stand on a hillock +facing the sea, now covered with thickets of wild olive +trees and fragments of the buildings. What a plain is +that you see from the summit, stretching away in all directions, +a vast expanse of grassy meadows on the banks +of the river Seybouse; parched indeed now by the torrid +heat of an African summer, but of rich verdure after the +rains! What prodigious ricks of hay we observe at the +French cavalry barracks, as we ride along! What growth +of vegetables in the irrigated gardens of the industrious, +but turbulent, Maltese! Surely, but for the French inaptitude +to colonisation, this part of Algeria, at least, +might be turned to good account.</p> + +<p>Changing the scene for a moment from the sultry +plains, we may just note another excursion, which led<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_438" id="Page_438">[438]</a></span> +to the summit of the pass crossing the chain of Mount +Edough. At the top we look westward over a sea of +mountains, towards and beyond Constantine, the strongholds +of the indomitable Kabyles. Turning homewards, +we slowly descend the winding road, among slopes covered +with a coarser <i>maquis</i>—still more fitted to endure the +drought—than the evergreen thickets of Corsica and Sardinia; +the dwarf palm, <i>chamærops humilis</i>, most prevailing. +Bona, with its walls and terraces and the Casbah +and the minarets, rising above a grove of orchards and +gardens, now makes a pleasing picture. Beyond, in the +still water of the haven, our little fleet lies at anchor, with +the French guardship; outside, the blue Mediterranean is +now very gently rippled by the evening breeze.</p> + +<p>We are recalled to the ships, and hasten on board, for +the wind having changed, with a promise of fair weather, +it is decided to commence operations. The point selected +for landing the shore-end of the cable was a sandy cove, a +little to the eastward of Cape de Garde, or as it is otherwise +called Cap Rouge, a literal translation of <i>Ras-el-Hamrah</i>, +the name given it by the natives. There is an +easy ascent from the cove to Fort Génois, about half a +mile distant. The fort, a white square building at the +edge of the cliffs, said to have been built by the Genoese +to protect their coral fisheries on this coast, was convenient +for establishing a temporary telegraph station, wires being +run up to it from the end of the submarine cable.</p> + +<p>It was a lovely morning, the sun bright in a cloudless +sky and the blue Mediterranean calm as a lake, when +the little squadron having got up steam, ran along the +shore, and successively anchored in the cove. There floated, +in happy union, the flags of the three allied Powers recently<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_439" id="Page_439">[439]</a></span> +engaged in very different operations: and the ships, +with their boats passing and repassing, formed a lively +scene contrasted with that desert shore, on the rocks of +which a solitary Arab stood watching proceedings so +strange to him.</p> + +<p>The Elba's stern having been brought round to the +land, the ship was moored within cable's length of the +sandy beach; but the operation of landing the submarine +cable was delayed in consequence of the neglect of the +Sardinian company's agents, whose duty it was to have +the land-line of telegraph wires ready to communicate with +Port Génois. This occupied the whole day, and I took +advantage of it, landing in one of the first boats, to make +a long ramble, visiting, in the course of it, Fort Génois, +an encampment of Arabs at some distance in the interior, +and climbing to the lighthouse on Cape de Garde, commanding, +as may be imagined, magnificent views. It was +a toilsome march, over rocks and sands, and through +prickly thickets, in the full blaze of an African sun at +noontide; but the excursion was full of interest, and not +without its trifling adventures.</p> + +<p>The shore works were not completed till sunset, when, +all the boats being recalled to the ships, they got under +weigh, the Monzambano towing the Elba, with the +Ichnusa ahead, and the Brandon on her larboard bow. +The engineers began paying out the cable at eight o'clock, +proceeding at first slowly, as the night was dark, and being +desirous to try cautiously the working of the machinery. +As the water deepened, the cable ran out fast, and the +speed was increased, so that by midnight we had run +about seventeen miles, with a loss in slack, it was reckoned<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_440" id="Page_440">[440]</a></span> +up to that time, of under twenty per cent, of cable, compared +with the distance run.</p> + +<p>Few, I imagine, aboard the Elba got much sleep that +night. The very idea of sleep was precluded by the incessant +roar of the cable, rushing, like a mighty cataract, +through the iron channels confining its course over the +deck, while the measured strokes of the steam-engine beat +time to the roar. Having laid down for two hours, I gave +up my cabin to one of our numerous guests; for the French +and Italian commissioners being now on board the Elba, +besides Mr. Werner Siemens and his staff of German telegraphists, +her accommodations were fully tried; and as for +languages, she was a floating Babel. Coming on deck at +twelve o'clock, the lighthouse on Cape de Garde was still +visible. The attendant ships carried bright lanterns at +their mastheads, sometimes throwing up signal rockets; +and so the convoy swept steadily on through the darkness, +the Elba still following in the wake of the Monzambano. +Mr. Newall and Mr. C. Liddell, who directed the whole +operations, never quitted their post at the break. The +telegraphists, from their station amidship, tested the insulation +from time to time, speaking to the station at Port +Génois. Looking down into the mainhold, which was +well lighted up, you saw the men cutting the lashings to +release the cable, as, gradually unfolding its serpentine +coils from the cone in the centre, it was dragged rapidly +upwards by the strain of its vast weight, and rushed +through the rings to the vessel's stern. There the speed +was moderated, before it plunged from the taffrail into +the depths beneath, by the slow revolutions of a large +wheel, round which the cable took several turns.</p> + +<p>As day broke and the sun rose magnificently over the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_441" id="Page_441">[441]</a></span> +Mediterranean, Galita Island came in sight, distant from +thirty to forty miles to the eastward; the high lands of +Africa being still visible. With the sea perfectly calm, +all augured well for the success of the enterprise, except +that serious apprehensions were entertained lest the cable, +paying out so fast in the great depth of water we were +now crossing,—1500 fathoms,—might not hold out to reach +the land. Thus we ran on all the morning, the vessel's +speed being increased to between five and six knots per +hour, and the strain on the cable to five tons per mile; the +depth ranging from 1500 to 1700 fathoms.</p> + +<p>Towards the afternoon the land of Sardinia was in sight +between fifty and sixty miles ahead, our course being +steered towards Cape Teulada, the extreme southern point +of the island. By sunset we had reached within twelve +miles of the shore, and angles having been carefully taken +to fix our exact position, we anchored in eighty fathoms +water. Soon afterwards the attendant ships closed in, and +anchored near us for the night. The little squadron, well +lighted, formed a cheerful group, the sea was smooth as +a mill-pond, and the mountains of Sardinia, after reflecting +the last rays of the setting sun, loomed heavily in the +growing twilight. All hands on board the Elba were +glad of rest after thirty-six hours of incessant toil.</p> + +<p>In the morning, as we had run out the whole of our +cable proper, a piece of the Malta cable was spliced on, +with some smaller coils also on board. Meanwhile, the +Ichnusa had gone ahead at daybreak to take soundings, +and when all was ready we began paying out the cable, +being then, as already stated, about twelve miles from the +land. All went on smoothly, and there was scarcely any +loss of cable by slack. The eye turned naturally, again<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_442" id="Page_442">[442]</a></span> +and again, from anxiously counting the lessening coils in +the hold to measure our decreasing distance from the +shore, as its hold features and indentations became hourly +more distinct. Cape Teulada stood right ahead, a bold +headland, with peaked summits 900 feet high. It forms +the eastern point of the Gulf of Palmas, and has a long face +of precipitous cliffs towards the sea. To the west of this +deep inlet appeared the rocky islands of San Antioco and +San Pietro, with cliffs of volcanic formation; and the Toro +rock stood out a bold insulated object, 500 or 600 feet +high, marking the entrance of the Gulf of Palmas, a spacious +bay offering excellent anchorage.</p> + +<p>We had run ten miles towards a beach under the cliffs, a +little to the eastward of Cape Teulada, when the small cable, +now in course of being paid out, suddenly parted. The +mishap occurred about a mile and a half from the shore, +in forty fathoms water, with a sandy bottom. It was +provoking enough to have our expectations baulked, when +holding on for another half hour we should have succeeded +in bringing the cable to land; but, for our comfort, the +main difficulties of the enterprise were overcome. The +African cable had been securely laid in the greatest depths +of the Mediterranean, and the shore-end of the line could +be easily recovered in the shallow water. The only question +was, whether it should be immediately effected; but for +this the weather had become very unfavourable. The wind +had been blowing strong from the south-east all the morning; +and a gust of it caught the Elba's stern, and canted it +suddenly round, when the small cable snapped like a packthread. +Rather a heavy sea was now running, and, on the +whole, it was thought advisable to defer the concluding<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_443" id="Page_443">[443]</a></span> +operations until an entirely new end to the cable could be +procured from England.</p> + +<p>For this purpose, and at the same time to bring out the +Malta cable, the Elba was despatched homeward a few +hours after the accident happened. Fresh angles having +been carefully secured, nothing remained but to take leave +of our friends before the squadron parted,—the Brandon +for the Levant, and the Sardinian frigates for ports in the +island. While all belonging to the Elba considered that +the submersion of a cable between Algeria and the coast of +Sardinia was virtually a <i>fait accompli</i>, it was almost painful +to witness the dismay of the Italians, at the mishap which +had occurred to cloud their anticipations. It was evident +that they entirely distrusted all assurances of the contractors' +ability to recover the end of the cable, and perfect +the line. Their fears were groundless; within a few weeks +the new coil was brought from England, and the end of +the submerged cable having been grappled at the first +haul, the work was completed without any difficulty. +Messrs. Newall and Liddell immediately proceeded to lay +down the Cagliari and Malta, and the Malta and Corfu +cable, 375 and 420 miles respectively; both which they +effected with entire success in the months of November +and December following, with a very small average waste +of cable over the distance, and in depths equally great +with those in which the African line was laid.</p> + +<p>My own object now being to reach Cagliari, the commander +of the Monzambano was kind enough to give +me a passage in his fine frigate. I got on board just as +the officers and their guests were sitting down to dinner +under an awning on the deck. Among them was the old +General Della Marmora, whose love of science and devotion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_444" id="Page_444">[444]</a></span> +to the interests of Sardinia had induced him, though suffering +from bad health, to make the voyage for the purpose +of witnessing the important experiment. I found +that he did not share in the apprehensions of the Italian +shareholders on board as to the loss of the cable. The +General had long cherished the idea that the ports of Sardinia, +and especially Cagliari, are destined to partake +largely of the commercial advantages resulting from a +variety of recent events. In a little work, already referred +to, which he was kind enough to give me<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a>, he points +out the fine position of Cagliari, its spacious gulf, with +good anchorage, open to the south, and in the highway +of all ships navigating the Mediterranean between the +Straits of Gibraltar, the Levant, and the Black Sea. A +glance at the map, he truly observes, will show no other +port, either on the coast of northern Africa, in Sicily, or the +south of Italy, which can be its rival. Malta alone competes +with it both in position and as a harbour; but he +justly asks,—“Can a barren rock like Malta be compared, +in a commercial point of view, with an island of such +extent, and possessing so many natural resources, as +Sardinia?”</p> + +<p>The General also points out the advantages offered by +the electric telegraph station at Cagliari to masters of +ships bound to the Mediterranean, the Levant, and the +Black Sea, from the ports of Northern Europe, or, <i>vice +versâ</i>, to those coming from the eastward, to induce them +to touch at Cagliari. After, perhaps, long and wearisome +voyages, they will find, he observes, in their very track, in +the heart of the Mediterranean, the means of correspondence,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_445" id="Page_445">[445]</a></span> +in a few hours, with their families and their owners, +receiving news and instructions from home. These facilities +he considers of inestimable value; and it strikes +us that the area included in the General's observations +will be much extended when the electric wires are carried +across the Atlantic, and that American ships are more +likely to avail themselves of the advantages offered than +those of any other nation.</p> + +<p>Without sharing the sanguine anticipations of the excellent +General La Marmora as to the speedy regeneration of +Sardinia, and the development of her natural resources, +undoubtedly great as they are, the remark may be allowed, +that it would be a singular and happy event if this island, +which appears to have been one of the first, if not the +first, station of the earliest maritime people, in their +advance towards Western Europe, should, now that the +tide of civilisation, so long flowing from the East, has +evidently taken a reflex course, become again that centre +of commercial intercourse for which its geographical position +so well fits it.</p> + +<p>Towards evening, the Monzambano was running along +the iron-bound coast terminating with Cape Spartivento, +the western headland of the Gulf of Cagliari. I know not +whether it was from the position of the ruins, or the hazy +state of the atmosphere, night coming on, that I failed to +make out some Cyclopean vestiges mentioned by Captain +Smyth—Mr. Tyndale says they are a large Nuraghe—as +standing on one of the most remarkable summits, at an +elevation of upwards of 1000 feet, and called by the peasants, +“The Giants' Tower.” “This structure,” observes Captain +Smyth, “situated amongst bare cliffs, wild ravines, and +desolate grounds, appeared a ruin of art amidst a ruin of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_446" id="Page_446">[446]</a></span> +nature, and imparted to the scene inexpressible grandeur.” +During our passage we had a stormy sky and a strong +head-wind, the sun setting gorgeously among masses of +purple and orange clouds. There was nothing to relieve +the barren aspect of this desert coast but the grey watch-towers +from point to point, similar to those we saw on the +coasts of Corsica; and, having paced for an hour the +frigate's long flush deck, I was glad to turn-in early, and +enjoy the comforts of a state cabin after the fatigues and +watches of the two preceding days and nights.</p> + +<p>The contrary wind retarded our progress, and it was +not till after daylight that, approaching the harbour of +Cagliari, I enjoyed the fine view, described in a former +chapter, of the city, stretching a long line of suburbs at +the base of the heights crowned by the Casteddu, with its +towers and domes. The frigate entering the port was +moored alongside the government wharf; from which may +be inferred the depth of water, and the class of vessels the +port is capable of receiving. It now contained only about +twenty ships, one only of which, a brig, was under the +English flag. The rest were of small burthen, and mostly +Genoese and French. General La Marmora states, in the +Memoir before quoted, that “since the crosses of Savoy +and of Genoa have been united in the same flag,” the +Genoese have turned much attention to the trade of Sardinia; +and that a company was forming for the improvement +of the port of Cagliari, in order to draw to it some +part of the corn trade of the Black Sea. Thus the ancient +granary of Rome might become the emporium of the trade +in corn for Italy and Southern France, and even for +Africa; the General observing, with what reason there +may be some doubt, that, while only two voyages can be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_447" id="Page_447">[447]</a></span> +made between the ports of those countries and the Black +Sea, three, or even four such, could be accomplished from +Cagliari.</p> + +<p>It is to be regretted that I did not obtain the latest statistics +of the commerce of Sardinia, and the port of Cagliari +in particular, from our very intelligent Consul, Mr. Craig; +recollecting only his having mentioned that coal is the +principal import from England;—France and Genoa, I +conclude, supplying manufactured articles and colonial +produce. Salt, he said, was the chief export, great part of +it being shipped to Newfoundland and Labrador.</p> + +<p>I cannot mention Mr. Craig, for the last time in these +pages, without an acknowledgment of the many kind +offices for which I am indebted to him during the present +and preceding visits to Sardinia, nor can I easily forget +the pleasure enjoyed in his amiable family circle. Hours +so spent in a foreign country have a double charm; for in +such agreeable society the traveller breathes the atmosphere, +and is restored to the habits, of his cherished home. +I have no reason to think that Mr. Craig's long and +valuable services are not duly appreciated by his Government; +but it might be wished that, in any re-arrangement +of the consular service, they be taken into consideration. +It is a sort of honourable exile for a man to spend sixteen +years of his life on a foreign service, with a family growing +up, who enjoy very rare opportunities of conversing with +any of their own countrymen, and still less of their countrywomen, +in their mother tongue. I take some liberty +in venturing to offer these wholly unauthorized remarks on +a subject of some delicacy; and only wish I could flatter +myself they have any chance of reaching influential quarters, +and not being forgotten. Mr. Craig's position, respected<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_448" id="Page_448">[448]</a></span> +and esteemed as he long has been, is eligible in +many respects; but it might perhaps be improved.</p> + +<p>At the Consul-General's I again met some of the officers +of the Ichnusa, to whom, as well as to Boyl commanding +the Monzambano, I wish to offer my acknowledgments +for many civilities. Lieutenant Baudini, of the Ichnusa +and other Sardinian officers who understand English, +may chance to peruse this page, and will interpret my +sentiments to their brother officers. Commandant Boyl +was kind enough to give me a passage to Genoa, being +under orders for that port. We had a pleasant run, the +style of living on board the Monzambano being excellent, +the society agreeable, and enjoying magnificent +weather. I have before observed that the officers of the +Sardinian navy are intelligent and gentlemanly, and appear +to be well up to their profession. The crews are smart, +and every thing aboard the ship was in the highest order +and conducted with perfect discipline.</p> + +<p>Steaming close in-shore along the eastern coast of Sardinia, +remarkable principally for its bold and sterile +character, there was a striking contrast in the appearance +of the same coast of Corsica, which came in sight after +crossing the mouth of the Straits of Bonifacio. This was +comparatively verdant, not only as regards the fertile +plains of the <i>littorale</i>, described in an early chapter, but, +even where the mountain ranges approached the Mediterranean +south of these extensive plains, the sterile aspect of +their towering summits and precipitous cliffs was often +relieved by immense forests encircling their bases, while +every hillside and slope to the valleys appeared densely +clothed with the evergreen <i>macchia</i>, for which Corsica is so +remarkable.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_449" id="Page_449">[449]</a></span></p> + +<p>Part of this coast was already well known to the homeward +bound traveller: again he caught sight of the bold +outlines of Elba and Monte Cristo, rising out of the Tuscan +sea; again, as on the first evening of these rambles, the +white terraces of Bastia reflected the rays of the setting +sun. Soon afterwards the mountain ranges of Capo-Corso +were veiled in darkness, and, as we ran along the shore +nothing was visible but the twinkling lights of the fishermen's +huts in the little <i>marinas</i>, to bring to mind those +features which had so fascinated us on our first approach +to the island.</p> + +<p>Again, farewell to Corsica! Farewell to the twin islands +which, like emeralds set in an enamelled vase, deck the +centre of the great Mediterranean bason, embraced by the +coasts of Italy, France, and Spain,—radiant points midway +to Africa, in the great highway to the East, and partaking +the varied character of all these climes. It had been my +fortune not only to ramble through these islands from +north to south, but, in different voyages, to sail round the +entire coasts of both, except some part of the west of Sardinia. +I can only wish that these pages more adequately +represented the impressions made under the opportunities +thus enjoyed.</p> + +<p>It was again my fortune to approach the lovely bay of +Genoa with the earliest morning light; and, taking leave +of my good friends on board the Monzambano, I landed +before breakfast. To vary the route homeward, instead +of crossing the Mont-Cenis, as had been done in frost +and snow at a late season of the year in the former tour, +I enjoyed the enviable contrast of journeying along the +<i>Riviera di Ponente</i> from Genoa to Nice,—that exquisite +strip of country between the Apennines and the Mediterranean,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_450" id="Page_450">[450]</a></span> +studded with orchards, orange groves, vineyards, +and gardens; with towns, towers, churches, and +convents, nestled in the groves, washed by the sea, or +perched high on rocky pinnacles; and all this encircling +the lovely Bay of Genoa, the road being carried <i>en corniche</i> +along its winding shores and round its jutting points. Of +this exquisite scenery no description of mine could convey +any adequate idea to those who have not seen it, and those +who have will need little memento to bring its varied +features to their recollection.</p> + +<p>Farewell, a long farewell to, perhaps, the loveliest +strip of country in the bright South! The Neapolitan +proverb may be applied with equal justice to the Ligurian, +as to the fair Campanian, coast,—<i>vedere e pói morire</i>,—a +fitting motto wherewith to conclude the tale of an old +man's wanderings.</p> + +<p>Pursuing the journey from Nice to Marseilles, in heat +and in dust, the express train, by Lyons and Paris, conveyed +the Rambler to Calais in about thirty hours, and six +more landed him in London.</p> + + +<hr style="visibility: hidden;" /> + +<h3>THE END</h3> + +<hr style="visibility: hidden;" /> + +<p class="center"><small>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY SPOTTISWOODE AND CO.<br /> +NEW-STREET SQUARE.</small> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_451" id="Page_451">[451]</a></span></p> + + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> <i>Dei Costumi dell'Isola di Sardegna, comparate cogli antichissimi +Popoli Orientali, par Antonio Bresciani. D.C.D.G. Napoli, 1850.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Πολλῶν δ' ἀνθροπῶν ἲδεν ἂσεα—καὶ νὰον ἐγνῶ. Od. i. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> <i>Lamartine</i>. See <span class="smcap">The Island Empire</span>, dedicated to Lord Holland. +Bosworth, 1855.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> In the same way, Ordericus Vitalis represents William the Conqueror +to have said in his last moments, when reviewing his life, that he fought +against Harold (meaning what English historians call the Battle of +Hastings—a name never given to that battle by the Normans) <i>in Epitumo</i> +(query <i>Epithymo?</i>), a word only found in the work of Ordericus; referring, +probably, as his editor remarks, “to the odoriferous plants found on +heaths.”—<i>Forester's Ordericus Vitalis</i>, Bohn's Edition, vol. ii. p. 412.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> <i>Benson's Corsica</i>, p. 81.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> The following biographical sketch is compiled from the works of +Boswell and Benson, and the compendious <i>Histoire de la Corse</i>, by M. +Camille Friess.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> This appears from the Report of a Committee on the Public Safety +made to the Council General of the Department of Corsica in 1851. It +says: “La société et l'innocence doivent trouver dans la loi une égale +protection; mais l'avantage ne doit pas rester au crime. +</p><p> +“Les acquittements multipliés, et souvent scandaleux, n'ont que trop +démontré que notre législation actuelle renferme trop de chances pour +l'impunité, et ne présente pas toutes les garanties que la société est en +droit de reclamer pour la répression des crimes. +</p><p> +“Elle a pensé qu'en ce qui touche les proportions de la majorité, <i>l'institution +du jury devrait être modifiée</i>.” +</p><p> +The proposition was rejected, on the principle which operated when +the difficulty of obtaining convictions in Ireland raised a similar question; +namely, that such an exceptional measure was inexpedient. +</p><p> +“En ce qui touche l'organisation du jury, le Conseil a pensé que cette +proposition ne pouvait être faite que dans un intérêt général pour la +France, et qu'en lui donnant un caractère spécial pour la Corse, elle +resemblerait trop à une mesure d'exception que le Conseil repousse.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> “With all the outrages,” continues Mr. Benson, “of which Galluchio +and his followers are guilty, he is by no means void of moral feeling, and +is quite a polished character when he enters private society, as I learnt +from a French gentleman who had met him at breakfast at the house of a +mutual acquaintance. My friend, when he found himself in such company, +naturally betrayed a little alarm, but Galluchio reassured him, saying, +‘You and yours have nothing to fear at my hands.’ +</p><p> +“I am really afraid to extract from my notes many of the wild adventures +of this Corsican Rob Roy. Not long since, a shepherd, personating +him, violated a female peasant. The chieftain soon obtained information +of the gross outrage that had been committed on his character; and finding +the shepherd, took him before the mayor of Bagniola, and this at a +time when Galluchio had six sentences of death hanging over him. At the +chieftain's instigation, the shepherd was compelled to espouse the poor +girl. Galluchio, after the marriage had been solemnised, said to the +shepherd, ‘Remember that you make a good husband. I shall keep a +watchful eye over your conduct; and should I hear that your wife receives +any maltreatment from you, yourself and your family shall pay with their +lives for your misconduct.’ The man little attended to Galluchio's warning. +The chieftain adhered to his threat, and the shepherd, with his +father and several other members of the same family, fell victims.”—<i>Benson's +Sketches in Corsica</i>, pp. 23-25.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> <i>Corsica, by F. Gregorovius.</i> Chap. x. p. 149. of the translation published +by Longman & Co.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Novelle Storiche Corse, di F.O. Renucci.</i> Bastia, 1838.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Novella VIII. L'Amore e la Religion.</i> Renucci, p. 43.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Marmocchi. <i>Géographie Politique de l'Ile de Corse</i>, p. 117.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> In this sanguinary battle, fought in 1768, the Corsicans, under +Pasquale and Clemente Paoli, Murati, and their other chiefs, thrice repulsed +the French army of 15,000 men under Chauvelin, and forced them +to retreat in disorder to Bastia. The garrison of Borgo, a force of 700 +men, laid down their arms, and surrendered to the Corsicans.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> <i>Géographie Physique</i>, p. 57.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> <i>Norway in 1848-1849</i>, pp. 188, 189. (8vo. Ed., Longman & Co.) +Professor Forbes arrives at nearly the same result from the observations +of Von Buch and others. <i>Norway and its Glaciers</i>, pp. 207, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> Professor Forbes (<i>Travels in the Alps</i>) states the average height of +the snow-line at 8500 feet.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> See an Essay by Professor Forbes on Isothermal Lines and Climatology, +in <i>Johnstone's Physical Atlas</i>, p. 17.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> “Un Arrêt du Conseil du 22 Juin, 1771, avait défendu de planter des +châtaigniers dans aucun terrain de l'île susceptible d'être ensemencé de +blés ou autres grains, ou d'être converti en prairies naturelles ou artificielles, +ou plantés de vignes, d'oliviers, ou de mûriers. Deux ans après cet arrêt +fut revoqué par un autre, où l'on reconnaissait que les châtaigniers étaient +pour les habitants de certains cantons un moyen d'existence nécessaire +dans les temps de disette, et dans tous les temps un objet de commerce +avantageux. Ce dernier arrêt fut rendu sur le rapport du célèbre économiste +Turgot.”—<i>Robiquet</i>, quoted by <i>Marmocchi</i>, p. 225.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> <i>Clarke and M<sup>c</sup>Arthur's Life of Nelson</i>, vol. i. pp. 156, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> Benson's <i>Sketches of Corsica</i>, p. 97.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Lyell's <i>Elements</i>, vol. ii. c. xxxi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> <i>Recherches sur les Ossements fossiles</i>, t. iv. p. 198.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> Vol. ii. c. xxxi.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> Chap. <a href="#CHAP_XIII">XIII</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> See Chap. <a href="#CHAP_XI">XI</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> The article of the Constitutional Act, vesting the sovereignty of Corsica +in the king of Great Britain, runs as follows:— +</p><p> +“Il Monarca, e Rè della Corsica, è sua Maestà Giorgio III., Rè della +Gran-Bretagna, e li de lui Successori, secondo l'ordine della successione +al trono della Gran-Bretagna.” +</p><p> +The oath sworn by the king on accepting the crown and constitution of +Corsica was to the following effect:— +</p><p> +“Io sotto scritto Cavaliere Baronetto, &c., &c., Plenipotenziario di +S. Maestà Britannica, essendo specialmente autorizzato a quest'effetto, +accetto in nome di sua Maestà <span class="smcap">Giorgio III., Rè Della Gran-Bretagna</span>, +la corona e la sovranità della Corsica secondo la Costituzione, &c., questo +giorno dicianove Giugno (1704). E giuro in nome di <span class="smcap">Sua Maestà</span> di +mantenere la libertà del popolo Corso, secondo la Costituzione e la +Legge. +</p><p style="margin-left:40%"> +“(Sottoscritto) <span class="smcap">Elliot</span>.”<br /> +</p> +<p> +The oath of the president and deputies:— +</p><p> +“Io giuro per me, ed in nome del popolo Corso che rappresento, di +riconoscere per mio Sovrano e Rè sua Maestà <span class="smcap">Giorgio III., Rè Della +Gran-Bretagna</span>, di prestargli fede ed omaggio, secondo la Costituzione,” +&c. +</p> +<p style="margin-left: 10%"> +Compared with the original, +</p> + +<table summary="oath"> +<tr> +<td class="poem"><span class="smcap">Pasquale Di Paoli</span>, <i>Presidente</i>.</td><td> </td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="poem"><span class="smcap">Carlo Andrea Pozzo-Di-Borgo</span>,</td><td class="double" rowspan="2">}</td><td class="seg" rowspan="2"><i>Segretarj.</i></td></tr> +<tr> +<td class="poem"><span class="smcap">Gio. Andrea Muselli</span>,</td> +</tr> +</table> + +<p> +The oath of allegiance was to be taken by all Corsicans in their respective +communities.—<i>Benson's Sketches in Corsica</i>, pp. 193-195.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> See before, p. <a href="#Page_159">159</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> <i>Hist. Plant.</i> lib. 1, cap. 8.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> See <i>Norway in 1848—1849</i>, 8vo., Longman & Co., pp. 36, 37.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Lambert's <i>Genus Pinus</i>, vol. i. p. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> Walpole's <i>Turkey</i>, p. 236.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Lambert's <i>Genus Pinus</i>, vol. ii. p. 28.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> “FORÊT D'ASCO EN CORSE. +</p><p> +“La Forêt d'Asco est située dans l'arrondissement de Corte. Elle est +traversée par une rivière au moyen de laquelle on pourrait l'exploiter avec +de grands avantages. Cette forêt, une des plus considérables, considérée +comme forêt particulière, pourrait fournir deux cents cinquante mille mètres +cubes de bois. Elle renferme des arbres de toute dimension. Il y en +est qu'on pouvait faire servir pour la marine comme matière de bâtiments. +Par sa nature grasse ou résineuse, le bois est employé avec succès pour les +chemins de fer, et présente tous les conditions de solidité et de durée. +La plus grande partie de la forêt renferme les Pins Larix; il y a aussi une +grande quantité de Pins Maritimes. La dimension des arbres maritimes +est de 12 à 20 mètres de hauteur; et celle des Pins Larix de 16 à 40 mètres +de hauteur, sur une circonférence moyenne de trois mètres.” +</p><p> +At the suggestion of one of our foreign ministers, who drew the attention +of Government to the possibility of obtaining supplies of timber for +naval purposes from the forests of Corsica in private hands, the author, on +his return to England, had some communications with official persons +respecting the forests of Signor F——; but the matter dropped. Should +it be thought a subject worth inquiry, with a view to commercial enterprise, +the author will be happy to put any person applying to him, through his +Publishers, in the way of procuring further information.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> There was no appeal to any personal attachment of the Corsicans to +the Bonaparte family, as sprung from among themselves, or to their gratitude +for benefits conferred on them, in the address with which, in 1851, +the <i>Préfet</i> urged the Council-General to take part in the general movement +in France for the abrogation of the article in the Constitution which +precluded the advance of Louis Napoleon to supreme power. “<i>Marchons</i>,” +he said, “<i>avec la grande majorité de la France vers ce grand jour qui doit +rendre le calme aux esprits, la confiance aux intérêts, et la liberté d'action à +l'autorité!</i>” +</p><p> +The resolution, passed by a large majority after a warm debate, was +thus prefaced:—“<i>Considérant qu'il importe de donner à la France des +institutions que ses besoins reclament, et que ses intérêts moraux et matêriels +exigent: Considérant que le commerce et l'industrie, ces sources indispensables +de l'existence de toute société ne se relèveront de leur affaissement, et +ne reprenderont un nouvel essor, qu'autant que la constitution leur promettra +un avenir plus assuré: Considérant, en outre, que la souveraineté +nationale trouve dans l'article 45 de la Constitution un obstacle légal à la +libre manifestation de sa volonté et de sa reconnaissance envers le Président +actuel de la Republique, qui a rendu l'ordre et la sécurité au pays par +la sagesse et la fermeté de son gouvernement: renouvelle, à la majorité de +quarante-deux voix contre quatre, le vœu que la Constitution de 1848 soit +revisée, et l'article 45 abrogée.</i>”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a><a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a> This family is one of the most ancient in Corsica. Count Pozzo di +Borgo, the celebrated diplomatist, was born at Alata, a village near +Ajaccio. He commenced his public career under the administration of +Pascal Paoli, signed the Anglo-Corsican Constitutional Act as Secretary +of State (see before, p. <a href="#Page_173">173</a>.), and was afterwards President of the Corsican +Parliament. His subsequent career is matter of history.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> I find the name spelt indiscriminately Bonaparte and Buonaparte. +Napoleon, when young, wrote it both ways. It is spelt Bonaparte in the +entry of his baptism in the Register of Ajaccio, which was solemnised (by-the-bye) +two years after his birth, the dates being 15 Aug. 1709; 21 July, +1771. His father signed the entry as “Carlo Buonaparte.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> <i>An Account of Corsica and Journal of a Tour</i>, by James Boswell, +p. 297.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> Boswell figured in this costume at the Jubilee Shakespeare Festival +held at Stratford-on-Avon under Garrick's auspices.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a> <i>An Account of Corsica and Journal of a Tour</i>, by James Boswell, +p. 302.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> See before, p. <a href="#Page_15">15</a>. and <a href="#Page_46">46</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> Ridiculously trifling as the origin of this bloody quarrel may appear, +the story is very probably founded on fact. Renucci relates another +scarcely less absurd. Feuds, similar to those mentioned in the play, had +long existed between the Vinconti and Grimaldi families, inhabitants of +the village of Monte d'Olmo, in the <i>pieve</i> of Ampugnano. Like good +Catholics, however, they met sometimes at mass. The church was sacred +and neutral ground; there, at least, the <i>trêve de Dieu</i> might be supposed +to be in force. Thither, on some solemn feast, the villagers, indiscriminately, +bent their steps. Some had already entered the church, and were +engaged in their devotions, many loitered about the door, and the <i>piazza</i> +was crowded. Talking about one thing and another, the conversation +naturally turned to the ceremonies of the day, and a dispute arose whether +the officiating clergy ought to wear the black hoods of the Confraternity +in the processions which formed part of the service. +</p><p> +Orso Paolo, one of the Vincenti family, gave it as his opinion that they +should wear their surplices, alleging that to be the ancient and fitting +custom. +</p><p> +“No!” cried Ruggero Grimaldi, “they ought to wear the black +hoods;” giving reasons equally authoritative for his view of the question. +</p><p> +The strife waxed warm. The villagers took one side or the other; +“hoods,” and “surplices,” became the party cries. From words they +came to blows, and Orso Paolo, the only man of the Vincenti family present, +being sore pressed in the struggle, rashly drew out a pistol, and +mortally wounded Ruggero Grimaldi's eldest son. +</p><p> +So the story begins, and as it is one of the few in Renucci's “<i>Novelle</i>” +that are worth translating, we will give the sequel. +</p><p> +The rage and fury of Grimaldi and his party were now worked up to +the highest pitch. The mass was interrupted, the church deserted, and +the whole village a scene of uproar. Orso Paolo fled as soon as he had +fired the fatal shot, pursued by his enemies, who overtook and surrounded +him. His fate had been sealed on the spot, but that, quick as lightning, +he burst through the throng and darted into a house of which the door +stood open. It was the house of Grimaldi, his deadly foe, but there was +no other chance of escaping instant death. To close and bar the door, +and stand on his defence, was the work of a moment. Corsican houses +are strongholds; Orso Paolo was in possession of the enemy's fortress. +He threatens death to the first assailant, and the boldest recoil. What +was to be done? It was proposed to set fire to the house, but Ruggero's +youngest son, a child of seven or eight years old, had been left asleep in +the house when the family went to church. He would perish in the +flames. At that thought Grimaldi became irresolute. Just at this moment +the eldest son is brought from the church, bleeding to death from his +mortal wound, amidst lamentations and women's shrieks. At that spectacle +Ruggero can no longer contain himself. Frantic with grief, he runs +to set fire to his own house. The voice of nature pleading for his remaining +child is stifled by passion and resentment. The tears and expostulations +of the wretched mother are of no avail; they have no influence over +the mind of the infuriated father. +</p><p> +“What are you doing, cruel Ruggero?” she cried, in the midst of sobs +and groans; “Is it for you to fill up our cup of misery? Will you destroy +the dearest and sweetest of our hopes? One son is gasping his last breath +before our eyes, the other, still in infancy, will perish from the transports +of your rage. Who, then, will be the support of our miserable old age? +Who will defend us from the insults of the powerful?” +</p><p> +“So that Orso Paolo perish, let the world be at an end!” exclaimed +Ruggero. Such is the terrible force of the passions in the human breast. +</p><p> +Ruggero's house is burning, the fire crackles, the flames burst forth, +the sparkles fill the air. Vincenti, involved in smoke and flame, rushes +from place to place, seeking a retreat to prolong his life for a few moments. +All at once he is startled by the wailing cries of a child. He directs his +steps towards it, and discovers, with amazement, the son of his cruel +enemy. Struck with indignation at the father's barbarity, he suddenly +raises his hand to take vengeance on the child of his relentless adversary. +The boy utters a plaintive cry, and stretches its little hands towards him, +trembling and frightened. +</p><p> +“Take courage, my boy, take courage!” said Vincenti, snatching him +to his bosom; “you see a man who is not deaf to the voice of pity. If +Heaven will not protect your innocency, at least you shall die in the arms +of a second father.” +</p><p> +Meanwhile, the fire spreads through every part of the building; nothing +can resist the fury of the devouring flames. Fanned by the wind, they +surge in waves, ever greedy of new food. The roof quivers, the floors +crack, the whole falls with a terrible crash. What chance was there for +Vincenti's escape with life? He had abandoned all hopes. +</p><p> +Ruggero, satiated with vengeance, retires to the house of a relation, to +which his wounded son had been removed. The spectacle of his sufferings, +his imminent danger, and the sobs and lamentations of his inconsolable +wife, awaken in his soul the affections of a father. A faint ray of reason +penetrates his mind, and he perceives all the horrors of his proceeding. +Trouble, remorse, repentance, succeed; his heart is wrung with anguish, +and he attempts his own life. Friends interfere to restrain him. +</p><p> +At the news of the atrocity committed by the Grimaldi, in firing the +house and leaving their enemy to perish in the ruins, the kinsmen of +Orso Paolo assemble and rush to Monte d'Olmo, threatening vengeance +on the perpetrators. The Grimaldi rally round Ruggero to shield him +from his exasperated enemies. Just then, shouts are raised in the piazza, +mingled with the name of Vincenti, and at intervals with gentler sounds +which speak to the heart of the wife of Ruggero. +</p><p> +She flies to the window, and exclaiming, “Oh heaven! Orso Paolo! +My son! My son! My son!” falls speechless and fainting on the floor. +The spectacle which produced this vivid emotion was that of the noble +Vincenti, who, scorched, and covered with ashes, and pressing the child +firmly to his breast, was hastening on amid the acclamations and <i>evvivas</i> of +the populace. He had taken refuge under an arch of the staircase, clasping +the child firmly in his arms. +</p><p> +Ruggero's wife, recovering from her swoon, runs and throws herself +into the arms of Vincenti, calling him the preserver and father of her +beloved son. Ruggero, full of admiration and gratitude, salutes Vincenti, +with a modest humility, invoking his pardon, and begging his friendship. +Vincenti embraces him, pardons him, and swears eternal friendship for +him. The wounded youth unexpectedly recovers, the two factions become +friends, and the generous Vincenti, loaded with praises and benedictions, +had the happiness to extinguish an inveterate feud between the two families, +and thus restore peace to the community of Castel d'Acqua.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> <i>Clarke and M<sup>c</sup>Arthur's Life of Nelson</i>, vol. ii. p. 336.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a> The “Ichneusa,” so called from the ancient name of the island. On +a subsequent visit to Sardinia I had the pleasure of making an agreeable +acquaintance with the officers of the “Ichneusa,” the ship being one of a +little squadron then employed in the service of assisting in the laying down +the submarine telegraph cable between Cape Teulada and the coast of +Algeria, of which I hope to be able to give some account in the sequel. +The engineer of the “Ichneusa” was an Englishman, who was often ashore +at our hotel while his ship lay in the harbour of La Madelena; an intelligent +man, as I have always found the many of his class employed in the +royal steam navy of the Sardinian government. I cannot believe that the +engineers of the steam-ship “Cagliari” had any complicity with the Genoese +conspirators. They worked the ship, no doubt, in compliance with orders +enforced by the Italian desperadoes in possession of her with stilettoes at +their throats; and it is to be regretted that peremptory measures were not +taken by our Government for their release. We can only conclude that +the unfortunate engineers were sacrificed to political expediency.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a> <i>Sketch of the Present State of the Island of Sardinia</i>, pp. 187-191 +(1827). It is but fair to remark, that Captain (now Admiral) Smyth does +not describe any excesses in the festivities he witnessed. We have reason, +however, to believe that they have sadly deteriorated, as well as the +religious instincts of the Sardes, in the thirty years since they came +under Captain Smyth's observation.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a> The “barancelli” will be noticed hereafter.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Mr. Warre Tyndale's <i>Island of Sardinia</i>, vol. i. p. 313, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> Cf. Isaiah, i. 8.: “A lodge in a vineyard, and a cottage in a garden of +cucumbers.”</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Gen. xxiv. 11, 15.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> I Sam. ix. 11.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span class="label">[50]</span></a> Odyss. lib. x.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> Asphodels were planted by the ancients near burying-places, in order +to supply the manes of the dead with nourishment. +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“By those happy souls that dwell<br /></span> +<span class="i0">In yellow meads of Asphodel.”—<i>Pope.</i></span> +</div></div> + +<p> +The plant <i>lilio asphodelus</i> belongs to the liliaceous tribe. It flourishes +also in Italy, Sicily, Crete, and Africa, some varieties bearing white +flowers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> αὐτὰρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος, &c. <span class="smcap">Homer</span>, <i>passim</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> See the sketch in the next page.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> “That certain local causes have through all ages tainted the atmosphere +of Sardinia, may be gathered from the remarks and sarcasms of a host of +early authors. Martial, in mentioning the hour of death, celebrates salubrious +Tibur at the expense of this pestilent isle: +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Nullo fata loco possis excludere: cum mors<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Venerit, in medio Tibure Sardinia est.’</span> +</div></div> + +<p> +“Cicero, who hated Tigellius, the flattering musical buffoon so well +described by Horace, thus lashes his country in a letter to Fabius Gallus: +‘Id ego in lucris pono non ferre hominem pestilentiorem putriâ suâ.’ +Again, writing to his brother: ‘Remember,’ says he, ‘though in perfect +health, you are in Sardinia.’ And Pausanias, Cornelius Nepos, Strabo, +Tacitus, Silius Italicus, and Claudian, severally bear testimony to the +current opinion. In later times the terse Dante sings: +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">‘Qual dolor fora, se degli spedali<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Di Valdichiana tra 'l luglio e 'l settembre<br /></span> +<span class="i0">E di maremma, e di Sardinia i mali<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Fossero in una fossa tutte insembre,’” &c.<br /></span> +<span class="i10"><i>Smyth's Sardinia</i>, p. 81.</span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> See before, pp. <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> The trade in snow is farmed by the Aritzese, it being, like that in +salt and tobacco, a royal monopoly, leased for terms of years at a considerable +rent. Upwards of 9000 cantars (about 375 tons) are brought +down every year from the mountains of Fundada Cungiata and Genargentu, +and carried on horseback to all parts of the island. The labour, +fatigue, and difficulty attending the conveyance of the snow from those +great altitudes are severe; as in the paths where there is no footing for +a horse, the men are obliged to carry the burden on their shoulders; +and the quantity they can bear is a matter of boast and rivalry among +them. +</p><p> +It has been observed in a former chapter that none of the Sardinian +mountains rise to what would be the level of perpetual frost. The snow +trade must therefore be supplied from deep hollows in the mountains, +serving as natural ice-houses, in which it is lodged during the summer. +</p><p> +We have an account of a forest in Scotland held of the Crown +by the tenure of the delivery of a snow-ball on any day of the year on +which it may be demanded; and it is said that there is no danger of +forfeiture for default of the quit-rent, the chasms of Benewish holding +snow, in the form of a glacier, throughout the year.—<i>Pennant's Tour in +Scotland</i>, i. 185.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> “There is among the Sardes a degree of adopted relationship called +‘compare’ (<i>comparatico</i>), a stronger engagement than is known under the +common acceptation of the term in other countries.”—<i>Smyth's Sardinia</i>, +p. 193.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> “The lionedda is a rustic musical instrument formed of reeds, similar +to the Tyrrhenian and Lydian pipes we find depicted on the ancient +Etruscan vases. It consists of three or four reeds of proportionate lengths +to create two octaves, a <i>terce</i> and a <i>quint</i>, with a small mouthpiece at the +end of each. Like a Roman tibicen, the performer takes them into his +mouth, and inflates the whole at once with such an acquired skill that +most of them can keep on for a couple of hours without a moment's intermission, +appearing to breathe and play simultaneously. He, however, +who can sound five reeds is esteemed the Coryphæus.”—<i>Ib.</i> p. 192.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span class="label">[59]</span></a> Ezekiel, viii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> Isaiah, i. 29.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> Isaiah, lxvi. 15-17. <i>Mundos se putabant in hortis post januam.</i>—Vulgate.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> Ezekiel, viii. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> Leviticus, xx. 2.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Jeremiah, xix. 4, 5.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils, and shed +innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom +they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan.”—<i>Psalm</i> cvi. 26, 27. +</p><p> +“Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body +for the sin of my soul?”—<i>Micah</i>, vi. 7.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> 2 Kings, xvi. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> Jeremiah, xxxii. 35.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Vol. ii. p. 264.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> See before, p. <a href="#Page_191">191</a>.—The pine does not flourish in Sardinia. Deal +planks for house-building are imported from Corsica.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> <i>Annual Statement of Trade and Navigation presented to Parliament</i>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> The vehicular statistics of Sardinia, ten years before, as summed up +by Mr. Warre Tyndale, show three vehicles for hire at Porto Torres, seven +at Sassari, four at Macomer, and about twenty at Cagliari. These and +about ten private carriages made the total in this island: sufficient, he +adds, for the unlocomotive propensities of the inhabitants and their almost +roadless country. Things were not much improved at the period of our +visit.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> <i>Memorie Politico-Economiche intorno alla Sardegna nel 1852, di +Vincenzo Sala, da Venezia. Seconda Edizione, riveduta dall'Autore.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> We do not include, in the enumeration of free states, the Swiss confederacy, +nor flourishing Holland. Both date their liberties to much +earlier times.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span class="label">[74]</span></a> <i>Norway in 1848 and 1849.</i> Longman and Co.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> La sua positura nel Mediterraneo la rende intermediara fra l'Africa +e l'Europa; fra il porto di Marsiglia da una parte, quelli di Genova +e Livorno dall'altra, e per conseguenza potrebbe proccaciarsi un conspicuo +reddito dal cabottagio. Se si considera che la francia scarreggia di marina +mercantile, relativemente alla sua potenza ed a suoi besogni, non sembrerà +per certo un sogno l'asserire che la Sardegna si troverebbe a miglior +portata di concorrere a soddisfare le sue bisogne di transporte, principalmente +per le coste d'Africa, dove la colonia francese va prendendo sempre +maggiore sviluppo, e prenunzia un avvenire fecondo. Si la città di +Cagliari e le altre terre littorale possedessero una marina mercantile, +quante fonti di richezza non troverebbe la Sardegna lungo le coste d'Italia, +di Francia, di Spagna e d'Africa! Non si credono queste visioni o travidementi +d'immaginazione; che anzi non temiamo d'affirmare ch'essa +potrebbe divenire, un giorno, <i>la piccola Inghilterra del Mediterraneo.—Memorie +Politico-Economiche</i>, p. 134.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> A passage in Aristotle's work “De Mirabilibus,” (chap. 104.) has +been supposed to refer to the Nuraghe. The words are these:—“It is +said that in the island of Sardinia are edifices of the ancients, erected after +the Greek manner, and many other beautiful buildings and <i>tholi</i> (domes +or cupolas) finished in excellent proportions.” Again, Diodorus Siculus +informs us (l. iv. c. 29, 30) that “after Iolaus had settled his colony in +Sardinia, he sent for Dædalus out of Sicily and employed him in building +many and great works which remain to this day.” And in another place +(l. v. c. 51) he reckons among these works “temples of the gods,” of +which, he repeats, “the remains exist even in these times.” These passages, +however, afford but slight grounds for considering that the Nuraghe +were built by the Greeks, or even were temples of the gods. The term +Θολούς, used by Aristotle, may indeed describe a round building roofed with +a dome, but the Nuraghe cannot be considered as corresponding to the +Grecian idea of buildings that are “beautiful”—“finished in excellent +proportions”—or fitting temples for the gods. Pausanias denies that +Dædalus was sent for out of Sicily by Iolaus, and makes it an anachronism. +See <i>Tyndale's Sardinia</i>, vol. i. p. 116.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Micah, iv. 8; and see 2 Kings, x. 12, xvii. 9, xviii. 8; and 2 Chron. +xxvi. 10, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> “<i>Apenas se diferenciaba el</i> <span class="smcap">Ara</span> de la <span class="smcap">Tumba</span>. +</p><p> +“<i>La graderia</i> (del monumento sepolcrale) <i>se hallaba practicada en el +costade occidental per donde se subia para</i> <span class="smcap">orar</span>, <i>o para</i> <span class="smcap">sacrificar</span>.”—Dupaix, +vol. v. p. 243. 261.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> We borrow this description from Mr. Tyndale's work, as well as the +illustrations, not finding a sketch of a Sepoltura in our own portfolio.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> The learned Jesuit disconnects this migration from the expulsion of +the Canaanitish tribes by the Israelites under Joshua, considering it to +have occurred from one to two centuries before, when the giant tribes east +of Jordan were subdued by the Moabites and Amorites, who succeeded to +their possessions. Moses relates that “the Emims dwelt therein [that is, +in Moab,] in times past, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; +which also were accounted giants, as the Anakims; but the Moabites +call them Emims.” Of Ammon, Moses says:—“That also was accounted +a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites +call them Zamzummims; a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakims; +but the Lord destroyed them before them; and they succeeded +them, and dwelt in their stead even unto this day.”—<i>Deut.</i> ii. 10, +11, 20, 21.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">Οὓς καλέουσι Γίγαντας ἐπώνυμον ἐν μακάροισι<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Οὕνεκα γῆς ἐγενόντο καὶ αἵματος οὐρανίοιο <span class="smcap">Orpheus</span>.<br /></span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> Gen. vi. 1-4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> These giant tribes were defeated by Chedorlaomer and the kings +allied with him, in the same expedition in which the kings of Sodom +and Gomorrah were put to the sword, and Lot, who dwelt in Sodom, was +carried off, but afterwards rescued by Abraham. Numbers, xiv. 5. &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> Numb. xiii. 33.; Deut. iii. 11., ix. 2.; Josh. xv. 14.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> 1 Sam. xvii. 4; 2 Sam. xxi. 16-22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">. . . . . “Summo cum monte videmus<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Ipsum, inter pecudes vastâ se mole moventem,<br /></span> +<span class="i0"><i>Pastorem</i> Polyphemum, et littora nota petentem.<br /></span> +<span class="i4">. . . . . .<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Trunca manum pinus regit, et vestigia firmat.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lanigeræ comitantur oves; . . . .<br /></span> +<span class="i0">. . . . de collo fistula pendet.” <i>Æn.</i> iii. 653, &c.</span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Polypheme's clan are thus described;— +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Nam, qualis quantusque cavo Polyphemus in antro<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Lanigeras claudit pecudes, atque ubera pressat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Centum alii curva hæc habitant ad littora vulgo<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Infandi Cyclopes, et altis montibus errant.” <i>Æn.</i> iii. 641.</span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Father Bresciani has collected all the authorities for the existence of +giant races, with great diligence, in the course of his remarks on the +Sarde Sepolture. Vol. i. p. 89, &c.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> De Physicis, iv. 3.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Gen. iv. 21, 22.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> A general idea seems to have prevailed in early times of the prodigious +muscular strength possessed by the men of an age still earlier. Thus +Turnus, the warlike chief of the Rutuli, is represented in the Æneid as +lifting and hurling at the Trojan an immense boundary stone which would +defy the united efforts of <i>twelve such men as the earth produced in those +days</i> to lift on their shoulders. +</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">“Saxum antiquum, ingens, campo quod forte jacebat,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Limes agro positus, litem ut discerneret arvis.<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Vix illud lecti bis sex cervice subirent,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus.” <i>Æn.</i> xii. 897.</span> +</div></div> +</div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span class="label">[92]</span></a> Gen. xi. 4.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span class="label">[93]</span></a> See before, p. <a href="#Page_394">394</a>.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> <i>Ordericus Vitalis</i>, vol. i. p. 113. (Bohn's Antiq. Library.)</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Ib. vol. i. pp. 130, 338; ii. 149.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> <i>Circonscrizione amministrativa delle provincie di Terra Ferma e della +Sardegna</i>.—Torino, Stamperia Reale, 1850.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span class="label">[97]</span></a> Atia, the daughter of M. Atius Balbus, by Julia, sister of Julius Cæsar, +was the mother of Octavius Augustus.—<i>Suetonius.</i></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span class="label">[98]</span></a> Cohen, in his <i>Déscription des Médailles Consulaires</i> recently published +(Paris, 1857), notices a bronze medal of the same type, of which he says:—“Cette +médaille était frappée par les habitans de la Sardaigne, sous le +règne d'Auguste, et pour gagner ses bonnes grâces ils y placèrent le +portrait de son aïeul en même tems que celui du fondateur de leur patrie.” +The cabinet of the British Museum contains a specimen of this bronze +medal, “de fabrique très-barbare,” to use Cohen's description. He does +not appear to be aware of the existence of the silver coin, which is of a +far better style.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> Captain Smyth states that in 1798 upwards of 2000 Moors suddenly +disembarked on the beach of Malfatano from six Tunisian vessels; when +the town was surrounded and taken. Brutality and pillage in all their +hideous forms visited every house; and 850 men, women, and children +were driven into slavery. The unhappy captives remained at Tunis; and, +from the embarrassments of the Sardinian Government, were not ransomed +until the year 1805. In 1815 the Tunisians, recollecting the rich booty +they had before obtained, reappeared off the port, but finding the garrison +well prepared to give them a warm reception, they sheered off.—<i>Sketch +of Sardinia</i>, p. 300.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> Among the other emblems of divinity we find the heads of dogs, cats, +apes, and birds, and also rude figures of the boats of Isis, establishing +a connection between the Egyptian and Phœnician mythologies. Some +exhibit astronomical and astrological symbols. Other images appear to be +carrying cakes, a part of the offering made to Astarte, to which Jeremiah +alludes:—“The women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of +heaven.”—Chap. vii. 18.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> The concern is incorporated under the name of “The Mediterranean +Telegraph Company,” but the terms “Sardinian” or “Sardo-French” +Company are adopted, as more distinctly indicating the nature of its origin +and designs.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> <i>L'Istmo di Suez, e la Stazione Telegrafico-Electrica di Cagliari; +Ragiamento del T. G. Alberto Della Marmora. 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