Itinerary through Corsica by its rail, carriage & forest roads — Themes and Context

d already borne him 13 children, 5 of whom were dead, and Jerome was an infant in the cradle.

Parallel with the Rue Fesch is the Cours Napoleon, by which all the diligences enter and leave the town. The continuation round the bay is bordered with plane trees. At the commencement is a bronze statue of "E. C. Abbatucci né à Zicavo le 12 Novembre 1770, mort pour la patrie le 2 Decembre 1796." Near it is the railway station.

At the western end of the Cours Napoleon is the Place Bonaparte or Diamant, bordered with trees and ornamented with a complicate bronze monument on a granite pedestal by Violet le Duc, "à la memoire de Napoleon I. et de ses frères Joseph, Lucien, Louis, Jerome." All are life-size statues; Napoleon is on horseback, the others on foot, marching solemnly towards the sea.

From the port, 11 m. W., is the chapel S. Antonio, 850 ft. The road passes the penitentiary of S. Antonio, 331 ft. North from it, under the peak of La Barrage, 1476 feet, is the Castelluccio penitentiary. Westward by the Hospice Eugenie and the Batterie de Maestrello, a pleasant road leads along the coast to the orange gardens of Barbicaja, passing by the Chapelle de Greco and the cemetery. About 4 m. farther is the Tête Parata, 199 ft., opposite the Iles Sanguinaires.

A beautiful road, the continuation of the Cours Grandval, ascends 2½ m. to the Fontaine du Salario, 760 ft., commanding enchanting views. This road traverses the Place Casone, 144 ft., occupying the site of the Casone, the country house of the Bonapartes, destroyed in 1878. Close by is the "grotte Napoleon," composed of blocks of granite, to which, it is said, the youthful Napoleon used to retire.

About 6 m. N. from Ajaccio is the village of Alata, 1312 ft. Within an easy walking distance north from Ajaccio is the pleasant estate of Carrosaccia, on the canal which supplies the town with water from the Gravona. 5½ m. N. from Ajaccio are the sulphurous springs of Caldaniccia.

[Headnote: FAMILY TOMBS.]

In the neighbourhood of Ajaccio and of the other Corsican towns and villages are numerous family sepulchral chapels enclosed within walls. A more pleasing characteristic feature, probably inherited from the Moors, are the numerous fountains in the villages and by the road side, whence flow streams of cold, sparkling water of exquisite purity.

_Climate._--For convalescent invalids, Ajaccio forms a delightful change from the Riviera, as it is so rural, and has such pleasant air and good water. The hotels are comfortable and their charges moderate. As, too, the road metal used around Ajaccio is that disintegrating granite which so readily solidifies by the combined action of the rain and traffic, there is very little dust in the neighbourhood (p. 9).

The principal winds are the Libeccio or S.W. wind, the Sirocco or S.E. wind, and the Mistral or N.W. wind.

On the 12th, 13th and 14th of May the fair of St. Pancras is held, which affords a good opportunity for purchasing Corsican horses. They are from 10 to 14 hands high and of great endurance. It is wonderful to behold the energy these small slim creatures display in dragging heavy lumbering diligences up long, steep, winding roads.

But more wonderful still is it to see the peasant women and girls as young as thirteen carrying on their heads up and down the mountain paths big pails, or the more elegant two-handled brass jars of classic form, containing about two gallons of water, without ever stumbling on any of the many stones. The pails are made of copper lined with tin, weighing when full of water from 55 lbs. to 65 lbs.

Among the curiosities of Ajaccio are gourds made into bottles, of various shapes and sizes and mounted with silver, and the pretty baskets made of straw by the girls of Alata.

[Map: Environs of Ajaccio]

Ajaccio to Bocognano by rail, thence by diligence to Corté; Corté to Bastia by rail 47 m., or 44 by road. The road from Ajaccio ascends the valley of the Gravona to its source at the Col Vizzavona. On the N. side of the Col it follows the course of the Vecchio. The most picturesque part of this route is between Vizzavona and Vivario.

miles from AJACCIO miles to BASTIA

{ }{95} AJACCIO. Start from the station in the Cours Napoleon. The road, after traversing the fertile plain of Campo dell Oro, crosses the Col Sudricchio, 804 ft., and then the bridge of Ucciani, 948 ft., built in the reign of Louis XIV., 17½ m. from Ajaccio and 2 m. from the village of Ucciani. Use general map, and map, p. 27.

[Headnote: BOCOGNANO.]