Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia Part 3

But those lonely towers standing close to the sh.o.r.e, which we see from time to time as we coast along-ma.s.sive, 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, 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.

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 sh.o.r.e in good style, and lands the Count's niece with due honours. Other boats come alongside the steamer, and all is confusion.

"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?"

"No; I was paying my last _devoirs_ to _madame_."

"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."

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?

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 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 _locanda_-lofty and s.p.a.cious apartments, neither clean nor well arranged; and the _dejeuner_ was a sorry affair. _N'importe_; 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 pa.s.sed, 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.

CHAP. V.

_Bastia.-Territorial Divisions.-Plan of the Rambles.-Hiring Mules.-The Start._

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 _facade_ 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 _Rue de la Traverse_.

In early times a few poor traders from Cardo, a _paese_ on the heights, settled at the mouth of a stream which formed here a small harbour. It was their _Marino_, 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 _bastione_, 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 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 _Quartier-general_ of the military in the island, and the seat of the _Cour de Ca.s.sation_ and _Cour d'Appel_, 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 _corn_, groceries, tobacco, and manufactured articles of all kinds.

Bastia was the standing point from which the old division of Corsica into the _di qua_ and the _di la dei monti_-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 _Marino_ of Solenzara. The division was by no means equal; the country _di qua_, including the present arrondiss.e.m.e.nts of Bastia, Corte, and Calve, being one-third larger than the _di la_, comprising the arrondiss.e.m.e.nts of Ajaccio and Sartene.

Another ancient division of Corsica was into _pieves_, originally ecclesiastical districts,-and _paeses_, 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 _paeses_, _countries_, one does not understand; but it sounds rather droll to a stranger, when he is told in Corsica, that he may travel many miles, _senza vedere uno paese_, without seeing a country.

Bastia must, doubtless, from the circ.u.mstances mentioned, have good society; but we thought Ajaccio a much pleasanter place, and Corte, in its rudeness, has a n.o.bler aspect than either, and is a.s.sociated with glorious recollections. We were for escaping the _di qua_ of Bastia and the _littorale_, and getting as soon as possible _di la_ 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 pa.s.ses.

The plan we sketched, after consulting our maps, was to cross the Serra by a _col_ 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 _diligences_ 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 _voiture_, and retaining only the indispensables for a journey of more than 150 miles, in the course of which not a single decent _albergo_ was to be met with, except at Corte.

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.

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 cla.s.s presented himself, his appearance by no means prepossessing; but the view he took of our present scheme afforded us some amus.e.m.e.nt.

"Are you well acquainted with the roads in Corsica?"

"I have had the honour to conduct _signore forestiere_ throughout the island from Bastia to Bonifaccio."

"We shall not travel _en voiture_. We require mules for the baggage and riding. Can you supply them?"

"_ca serait possible, mais, a l'improviste, un peu difficile_."

"It is indispensable, as we mean to cross the mountains and make a _detour, en route_ to Corte by slow stages, resting in the villages."

The man's countenance a.s.sumed 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.

"Are _messieurs_ aware that there are no _auberges_ in the villages offering accommodations fit for them?"

"It is very possible; that does not occasion us any uneasiness."

"_Les chemins sont affreux._"

"_N'importe_; we have travelled in worse."

"In some places they are dangerous, absolutely precipitous."

"We shall walk; _en effet_, it is possible we may walk great part of the journey."

That our muleteer could not understand at all: "_la fatigue serait penible_;" and with true Corsican indolence, he protested against being included in that part of our plan.

"Then you can ride."

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.

"Are the roads safe in these districts? Are there no bad people (_mauvais gens_-_cattive genti_) abroad?"

His only reply was a shrug of the shoulders, the foreign subst.i.tute 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.

All topics of intimidation being now exhausted, our muleteer, with the best grace he could, professed himself ready to comply with our wishes.

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.

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.

"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."

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 s.p.a.ce. We found the Sard _cavallante_, 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.

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.

"_Queste bestie non sono muli; sono dei asini._"

It was vexatious; but we laughed too much to be seriously angry; the muleteer, too, deprecating our wrath by a.s.suring 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, a.s.sisted 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.

CHAP. VI.

_Leave Bastia.-The Road.-View of Elba, Pianosa, and Monte-Cristo.-The_ Littorale.-_An Adventure.-The Stagna di Biguglia._

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.