Chapter 6

[Headnote: ARMS.] On the downfall of the Roman empire in the West, Corsica passed into the hands of the Vandals. These barbarians were driven out by Belisarius, but after his death, 565 A.D., the resistless hordes of Attila once more gained possession of the island. Since that period it has successively owned the dominion of the Goths, the Saracens, the Pisans and the Genoese. The impress of the last is to be found in the style of the church architecture, while the armorial crest of the island, a Moor's head, with a band across the brow, dates from the expedition of the Saracen king, Sanza Ancisa.

The patroness of Corsica, the "Protectrice de la Corse," is Santa Devota; who is also the patron saint of Monaco. The Corsicans often style the Virgin Mary simply La Santa; and in their common exclamation Santa! Maria is understood.

[Headnote: SAMPIERO.]

Among the most renowned and intrepid patriots in the struggle of the Corsicans to free themselves from the Genoese was Sampiero, born of poor parents towards the end of the 15th cent, in Dominicacci, one of the hamlets which compose Bastelica. His house having been burned down by the Genoese, the inhabitants in the 18th cent. constructed a new one on the same site, on which Mr. Wyse, an Irishman, affixed a tablet with an inscription in 1855, expressing his admiration of the man. After serving with great distinction in the armies of the Italian princes and in those of Francis I., King of France, Sampiero returned to Corsica in 1547 and married the fair Vanina, heiress of Ornano, belonging to one of the oldest families in the island.

Shortly after the marriage the Corsicans, led by Sampiero, revolted against the tyranny of the Banking Company of St. George of Genoa, and, assisted by the French, under General Thermes, overthrew them after six years of hard fighting and much bloodshed, in which Sampiero and his peasant army bore by far the greatest share. All, however, they had gained at such immense sacrifice was completely lost to them by the treaty of Chateau Cambresis, 1559, by which France agreed to restore Corsica to Genoa. Sampiero and his family had to leave the island. Such was the virulent and implacable hatred Sampiero bore to the Genoese, that he with his own hand, in cold blood, strangled mercilessly his trembling wife three years after (1562) in Marseilles, for having allowed herself, in his absence, to be persuaded to make an arrangement with the Genoese to save the patrimony of her children. Sampiero escaped with impunity, although he buried his murdered wife publicly, and with pomp, in the church of St. Francis at Marseilles.

Antonio Francesco, the younger son, who was, when a mere child, with his mother when she was murdered, was afterwards assassinated at Rome by a Frenchman, whom he had insulted while playing at cards.

On the 12th June 1564 Sampiero landed at the Gulf of Valinco with a band of 20 Corsicans and 25 Frenchmen, to make another desperate attempt to free Corsica from the hated yoke. After a five years' life-and-death struggle, fired by a feverish thirst for revenge, the Corsicans had to yield to the might of Genoa, supported by well-drilled Italian, German and Spanish mercenaries, commanded by their greatest generals, Doria, Centurione and Spinola, and aided by a powerful fleet.

On the 17th January 1567 Sampiero was slain in an ambuscade laid for him in the defile of Cauro, into which he had been led by forged letters brought him by the monk Ambrosius of Bastelica.

His elder son Alfonso d'Ornano continued the struggle after his father's death, till the exhausted state of Corsica compelled him to desist and to accept a general amnesty proclaimed by the Genoese governor George Doria in 1569. Alfonso d'Ornano was afterwards created "Maréchal de France."

[Headnote: PASCAL PAOLI.]

From 1755 the Corsicans, led by the brave Pascal Paoli, carried on the struggle for their independence against the Genoese, who were occasionally assisted by the French. On the 15th May 1768 the former sold their presumed claims to the island to the French, who ended this war of subjugation by the terrible battle of Ponte Nuovo, 9th May 1769. On the llth of June Paoli left Porto-Vecchio for London; where, at the instance of the Duke of Grafton, then prime minister of England, he received an annual pension of £1200.

After Corsica had been made one of the departments of France he was invited in 1790, by the National Assembly, to take the supreme command in the island. On his arrival at Paris (3d April 1790), on his way to Corsica, he was fêted as the Washington of Europe, and Lafayette was constantly by his side; while, on his arrival at Marseilles, he was received by a deputation, among whom was Napoleon. In July 1790 he landed at Macinaggio, on the east side of Cap Corse.

The execution of the king and the cruelties and excesses of the Convention having shocked the philanthropic spirit of Paoli and alienated his sympathies, he organised a revolt to separate Corsica from France, and succeeded by the aid of the English fleet, 20th July 1794, when Calvi, the last of the forts, surrendered. On the 10th of June 1794 the Corsicans declared that they would unite their country to Great Britain, but that it was to remain independent, and to be governed by a viceroy according to their own constitution.

The English, from ignorance, managed the affairs of the island so badly, that when in 1796 Napoleon sent troops against them, they were joined by the Corsicans, who together forced the English to leave the island. Not only had a certain Gilbert Elliot been named viceroy instead of Paoli, but this same man having written to the Government that it was necessary for the safety of the English to remove Paoli from the island, George III. wrote Paoli a letter inviting him to return to England and to his court. It is suspected that Andrea Pozzo di Borgo, president of the Council of State, under the short viceroyship of Elliot, influenced, for his own ends or from jealousy, the English in Corsica against Paoli.

Paoli lived twelve years more in London, died peacefully on 5th February 1807 at the age of 82, was buried in St. Pancras churchyard, and a small monument to his memory was placed in Westminster Abbey. He bequeathed to four professors of the intended Corté University salaries of £50 a year each, but as it was never established the money was given to the Ecole Paoli in Corté, attended by 120 pupils.

Since the expulsion of the English, the French have remained in undisturbed possession of Corsica. The English occupation lasted from 1794 to 1796.

[Headnote: CHARACTER.]

The Corsicans look to the Government for the improvement of their island far more than to their own efforts, for they themselves are neither industrious nor enterprising. The roads, railways, bridges and other public works are constructed chiefly by Italian labourers. The women do the drudgery both in their homes and on the fields, carrying great loads on their heads, as the mules do on their backs; but bestow little labour on the cleanliness of their children and dwellings, and do not make good domestic servants. In many small towns women are the bread bakers and assistant butchers. The villages, excepting in Cape Corse, are untidy. The use of the bath is almost unknown to young and old, rich and poor.

[Headnote: VENDETTA.]

The tendency to take summary vengeance, called vendetta, still exists in the villages; where the people having no social amusements, nothing to read, nor any other resource than cards during the winter nights, are apt to quarrel over trifles; which, fanned by their local petty jealousies, assisted often by the generous nature of their wine, ripen into deadly feuds.

[Headnote: OAKS.]

The staple food of the majority of the inhabitants, as well as of the horses and mules, during a great part of the year, is the chestnut. For domestic purposes it is mostly ground, when it costs only about half the price of wheat flour, which is procured chiefly from Marseilles, Corsica itself producing very little. The ease with which the harvest of chestnuts is annually obtained tends to foster indolence and deaden enterprise among the peasantry. The one great danger to which the generous chestnut trees are exposed is a conflagration. Besides olives, pines, beeches and chestnuts, there are also important forests of evergreen oaks, the Quercus Ilex, called also the holm oak. It has abundance of dark-green ovate leaves, mostly prickly at the margin; the acorns are oblong on short stalks; the stem grows to the height of 80 ft.; the wood is dark-brown and hard, weighing 70 lbs. the cubic foot, while the same of the Quercus ruber or British oak weighs only 55 lbs., and the tree attains a vast age. The cork oak, Quercus suber, grows either singly among other trees or in groups, principally in the southern parts of the island. The bark is of little commercial importance.

[Headnote: AGRICULTURE.]

The inhabitants do not assist nature. Their seed potatoes are of an inferior class, their fruit trees receive little attention, very few of the vineyards are carefully cultivated, and their sheep, goats and pigs are of poor breeds. Of late years many have taken to the growing of lemons and citrons; which in a good year yield a very handsome profit; but the harvest, through untimely frosts, is precarious. The headquarters of this culture is Cape Corse. The olive trees yield a more secure though less remunerative harvest. That terrible scourge the phylloxera has got among the vineyards, where it is committing its usual havoc.

The drives and pedestrian excursions about Corsica are superb, especially along the east side and up the centre by Sartène, Zicavo and Ghisoni (p. 27), and the road between Calvi and Ponte alla Leccia (p. 20). There are inns in all the large villages, though the only good and comfortable hotels are in Ajaccio.

[Headnote: FORESTHOUSES.]

Enterprising tourists wishing to explore the great forests and to scale the mountains should endeavour to procure letters of introduction from the chief forestal authorities at Ajaccio, Corté, Bastia or Calvi to the occupants of the Maisons Forestières in the forests to be visited. Although the gardes forestières are generally hospitable, they are afraid to follow their inclination without orders from their superiors. For each day in these houses 7 to 8 frs. should be given.

INDEX.

AGRICULTURE 41 Aïtone forest 18, 23 Ajaccio 3 Bankers 3 Cab tariff 3 Cathedral 5 Climate 6 Curiosities 6 Drives 3 Episcopal chapel 3 Excursions 5 Fountains 6 Hotels 3 Library 5 Memorial chapel 5 Mission 3 Napoleon 4 Picture gallery 5 Pozzo di Borgo 4 St. Pancras 6 Sepulchral chapels 6 Steamers 2 Water-carriers 6 Ajaccio to Bastia 7 ---- to Corté 7 ---- to Sartène 23 ---- to Vico and Evisa 22 Albertacce 19 Albuccia point 28 Aleria 32 ---- to Corté 33 ---- to Puzzichello 33 Alesani 33, 35 Algajola 15 Amphibole 27 Apa 24 ---- to Zicavo 24 Appietto 22 Arcarotta col 33, 35 Asco 19, 20 Aullene 27

BALAGNA VALLEY 20 Balogna 23 Baracci baths 26 Barcaggio 14 Bastelica 24 Bastia 10 ---- to Calvi 14 ---- to Cap Corse 11 ---- rail to Aleria 34 Baths of Baracci 26 ---- of Caldaniccia 6 ---- of Guagno 23 ---- of Guitera 25 ---- of Orezza 34 ---- of Pietrapola 28, 32 ---- of Puzzichello 33 Bavella col 26, 31, 36 Belgodere 21 ---- to Olmi-Capella 21 ---- to Tartagine forest 21 Bettianella lake 9 Bevinco 10 Bianca bocca 22 Bicchisano 26 Biguglia lake 10 Bocca Melza 16 Bocognano 7 Bonifacio 30 Caves 31 Charles V. 30 Napoleon 30 Bonifacio to Bastia 31 Borgo 10 Botticella 14 Brando cave 10, 12 Brustico 35

CALACUCCIA 19 Calasima 19 Calcatoggio 17 Caldanella 17 Caldaniccia 6 Calenzana 22 Calenzana 15 Calvi 15 ---- to Ajaccio 16 ---- to Bastia 20 Campo 25 Cap Corse 11 Capella mount 27 Capronale col 16 Cargese 17 Cargiaca 27 Carrosaccia 6 Casabianca 34 Casabianda 32 Casamaccioli 19 Casamozza 34 Cassalabriva 26 Castagneto 33, 35 Castagniccia 35 Castellaccio col 16 Castello punta 24 Castiglione 20 Cauro 23 ---- to Bastelica 24 Celaccia col 26 Cervione 33, 35 Character 40 Chestnut trees 1, 41 Chidazzo 18 Cineraggia mount 21 bocca 22 Cinto mount 1, 19, 20 Climate 2 Coast lakes 10, 31, 32 Corona mount 19, 21 Corsican arms 38 ---- character 40 ---- dimensions 1 ---- patroness 38 Corscia 19 Corté 8 ---- to Aleria 8 ---- to Mt. Rotondo 8 Coscione mount 25 Cotone 33, 35 Cozzano 27 Cristinacce 17 Cuculla mount 18

DENTE CAPO 21 Diana lake 32 Dominicacci 24 Don Giovanni mount 27

ELSE VALLEY 24 Erbajo col 8, 16 Erbalunga 12 Ersa 14 Escutcheon 38 Evergreen oaks 41 Evisa 18, 23 ---- to Albertacce 18

FELCE 35 Feliceto 21, 22 Fium Orbo source 28 Folelli 33 ---- to Piedicroce 33 Francardo bridge 9, 20 Frasseto 24, 25

GALERIA 16 ---- to forests of Filosorma 16 Ghisonaccia 32 ---- to Ghisoni 29 Ghisoni 29 ---- to Ghisonaccia 29 Giraglia island 14 Golo source 19 Gozzi mount 22 Granace col 25 Grosso mount 21 Guagno baths 23 Guitera baths 25

HISTORY 37 Houses of shelter 41. See also under "Maison."

ILE ROUSSE 15 Incudine mount 25 Inzecca 29 Isolaccio 28

KYRIE ELEISON 28

LACCIOLA COL 17 La Piana 17 Larone col 26, 36 Lavatoggio 21 Leone coronato 30 Levie 26, 32, 37 Lonca valley 16 Lozzi 19 Lugo 8 Lugo di Nazza 32 Lumio 15 Luri 12

MACINAGGIO 13, 39 Maddalena isle 25 Maison Aïtone 18 ---- Alza 36 ---- Arghiavara 36 ---- Ballatojo 36 ---- Bavella 36 ---- Canareccia 28 ---- Castellaccio 18 ---- Castelluccio 36 ---- Ghiraldino 28 ---- Marmano 28 ---- Ometa 16 ---- Popaja 19 ---- Rocchio-Pinzuto 36 ---- S. Antoine 28 ---- Sciattarina 18 ---- Scrivano 28 ---- Tagnone 18 ---- Zipitoli 24 Manganella col 9 Mariana 34 Marmano forest 28 Menta col 24 Moltifao 20 Moor's head 38 Morosaglia 35 Morsaglia 14 Mouflon 2 Muchieto 33, 35

NAPOLEON 4, 26, 30 Nelson 26 Nino lake 19 Niolo 19 Nonza 12, 14