Bastia

“ 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. ”

“ Bastia has of a long time been reckoned the capital of Corsica. It was here that the Genoese held the seat of their sovereign power: and indeed Bastia is still the largest town in the island. It has a stately appearance from the sea, being built, on the declivity of a hill; though upon entering the town, one is a good deal disappointed; for the houses are in general ill built, and the streets narrow, and from the situation of the town, are necessarily very steep. ”

“ From Bastia downwards, almost to the southernmost extremity of the island, this eastern coast is flat, marshy, and malarious.
A man of forty is an old man in this fatal district. Even the natives fly from it, leaving its shores barren and uncultivated; and the poor Italian labourer, who, more industrious than his Corsican neighbour, comes over the sea in spring to till the soil, creeps up each night into the mountains, to avoid sleeping in the deadly air. ”

“ With many turns the great road climbs round the face of the mountain, and soon leaving Bastia behind, takes a southern trend, and suddenly commands from a height a matchless view of the Lake of Biguglia and the little hillside village where a Corsican parliament once sat, which was once, indeed, the capital of this war-torn island. For every village can boast of a battle, and the rocky earth has run with the blood of almost every European nation, as well as that of Turk and Moor. ”

“ The geographical position of Bastia is excellent, for it is within easy reach of Italy, and frequent communications with that country have exercised a most happy influence upon its inhabitants, who are the most civilised and industrious of the whole island. Its harbour is small, and far from safe, but it is much frequented. The city rises am­phi­thea­tri­cal­ly upon hills, and is surrounded by delightful gardens and numerous villas. ”

“ I stood wonderstruck at such undreamt-of magnificence in scenery as the landscape presented—for at my feet I saw the hills, with all their burden of chestnut woods, sink towards the plain; the plain, like a boundless garden, stretch onwards to the strand; the streams of the Golo and Fiumalto wind through it to the glittering sea; and far on the horizon, the islands of Capraja, Elba, and Monte Chiato. The eye takes in the whole coast-line to Bastia, and southwards to San Nicolao; turning inland, mountain upon mountain, crowned with villages. ”

“ Here, by the Bastia road, where the hills sloped gently up from the road, the macchie grew closely; but where the grey and green and red rocks rose more steeply, the plants could only hang in the crevices overhead—here a cystus, and there a purple thistle, with the little crimson cyclamen peeping out of every cranny, and the bright lizards darting across the sunny stones.
Very beautiful was this first view of the Corsican rocks, and of the wide sea panorama of historic islands, each telling in [31] silent grandeur its own history of adventure, heroism, or the stern freaks of fortune. ”

“ But besides Vendetta, which exists only in this island; Corsica shares with Sardinia the honour of being the only place in Europe where the moufflon is now found, and so attracts numbers of English sportsmen, who, however, land usually at Ajaccio. Few tourists reach Bastia. Ajaccio is a sort of health resort, modeled after the places on the Riviera and is only a second-rate imitation at best; but Bastia is a quiet, semi-commercial little town, on the sea, with huge mountains at its back, and content to dream away its time in ignorant obscurity. ”

“ Rising from the sea-shore like an amphitheatre, Bastia presents an imposing appearance, which is enhanced by the loftiness of its houses; it has, however, little of architectural interest to offer. Its churches, of which the largest is San Giovanni Battista, are florid in decoration, as are the law-court, the theatre and the hôtel-de-ville. The citadel, which dominates the old port, has a keep of the 14th century. ”

“ He dares to call himself a representative of the nation, he—who has sold it, and you suffer it! He dares to raise his eyes to listen to your discourses, and you suffer it! This the voice of the people!—he had but the votes of twelve aristocrats! This the voice of the people!—and Ajaccio, Bastia, and most of the cantons wreaked that upon his effigy which they would willingly have done upon his person. ”

“ You found yourself compelled to set the example yourself. Not at all disconcerted, you threw yourself into Vescovato, at the head of some friends and a detachment of French soldiers; but the terrible Clemens hunted you from the nest. You retired to Bastia with the companions of your adventure, and with your family. This little affair did not bring you much honour; your house, and the houses of your associates, were burnt down. In your place of security, you mocked at these impotent exertions of a dying cause. ”

“ Our mid-day halt was at Ponte alle Lecchia, where the river, widening out and dashing in white foam, throws itself over boulders of bright green porphyry under a handsome bridge. Ponte alle Lecchia is an inconsiderable village, but it is the junction between the Bastia and Calvi roads, and every diligence stops here on the road from Bastia to Corte. The little inn, before which we stopped, was wretched and filthy, and they had absolutely nothing in the house but bread and sardines, [97] for which they charged us a high price. I say "nothing," for I mean nothing eatable by civilized people. ”

“ For Bastia has not changed, and never will. And it is not only to be fervently hoped, but seems likely, that Clément will never grow old, and never die, but continue to live and demonstrate the startling fact that one may be born and live all one's life in a remote, forgotten town, and still be a man of the world. ”

“ Ajaccio showed itself resolute in its address; the lamentable condition into which the most despotic of all governments had brought you had there been so powerfully impressed on people's minds. The hitherto slumbering Bastia awoke at the sound of danger, and seized its 145 weapons with that resolution which has ever characterized it. Arena came from Paris to Balagna full of those sentiments which make a man capable of undertaking everything, and of fearing no danger. His weapons in the one hand, the decrees of the National Assembly in the other, he made the people's enemies turn pale. ”

“ As capital of an arrondissement, Bastia is the seat of a tribunal of first instance and a sub-prefect, while it is also the seat of the military governor of Corsica, of a court of appeal for the whole island, of a court of assizes, and of a tribunal and a chamber of commerce, and has a lycée, a branch of the Bank of France, and a library with between 30,000 and 40,000 volumes. The town has active commerce, especially with Italy. ”

“ The men mostly slouch a good deal, the result of a lazy, useless life, spent in wanderings up and down the village street, and ceaseless gossip, varied by an occasional expedition with their guns into the country; but the women have a fine upright carriage, owing to their long habitude of balancing heavy articles upon their heads.
The dress of the men at Bastia, and indeed all over Corsica, differs little from that of the English working classes, and generally consists of brown fustian or black velveteen. ”

“ Bastia surrendered. Without delay they proceeded to reduce the other strong towns, and the interior. Paulin anchored before Calvi, the Turk Dragut before Bonifazio, Thermes marched on San Fiorenzo, Sampiero on Corte, the most important of the inland fortresses. Here too he had no sooner shown himself than the gates were opened. The Genoese fled in every direction, the cause of liberty was triumphant throughout the island; only Ajaccio, Bonifazio, and Calvi, trusting to the natural strength of their situation, still held out. ”

“ A thousand men would certainly take Bastia: with five hundred and the AGAMEMNON I would attempt it. My seamen are now what British seamen ought to be—almost invincible. They really mind shot no more than peas." General Dundas had not the same confidence. "After mature consideration," he said in a letter to Lord Hood, "and a personal inspection for several days of all circumstances, local as well as others, I consider the siege of Bastia, with our present means and force, to be a most visionary and rash attempt; such as no officer would be justified in undertaking." ”

“ 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.
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. ”

“ This cheerful prospect reconciled him to another day in Bastia. He made the acquaintance of a tourist party that were stopping at his hotel. They were nearly all women, and their great subject of conversation was not the beauties of the island but Food,—the feasts that awaited them of fresh trout, black-birds and passionate pink wine.
“Ah! you are English!” said a vivacious French girl to Hugh. “There are so many English in Corsica, very aristocratic English. They have been coming here for years, and seem to think they have discovered the place. They rather resent us ordinary tourists. ”

“ Crossing from Bastia the hills which form the continuation of the Serra of Cape Corso, you reach the district of Nebbio, on the other side of the island. The excellent road first ascends Monte Bello for about a league. To the left, you look down upon the plain of Biguglia and Furiani, and the large inlet into which the river Bevinco flows. On gaining the ridge, the sea becomes visible on both sides. The road now descends towards the western shore—the eastern has vanished, and the enchanting panorama of the Gulf of San Fiorenzo suddenly unfolds itself to the eye. ”

“ It was on the Bridge of Golo, some miles from Bastia, that Massena was made corporal. Yes, Corsica is a wonderful island. Many a one has wandered among the lonely hills here, who never dreamed that he was yet to wear a crown. Pope Formosus made a beginning in the ninth century—he was a native of the Corsican village of Vivario; then a Corsican of Bastia followed him in the sixteenth century, Lazaro, the renegade, and Dey of Algiers; in the time of Napoleon, a Corsican woman was first Sultaness of Morocco; and Napoleon himself was first Emperor of Europe. ”

“ The first hotel in Corsica, after leaving luxurious Italy, is certainly a shock to a sensitive mind; and that at Bastia does not let you down gently. The food is good and abundant, the charges very reasonable, and the people exceedingly good-natured; but the stone hall and narrow staircase are [17] unswept, the bedrooms dingy, and the floors and walls not above suspicion. ”

“ Bastia is not a port of the first consideration, as ships of war cannot enter it. But it hath a mole for the convenience of small vessels, for which it is very well fitted. The islands of Gorgona, Capraja, and Ilva, or the Elbe, are placed at no great distance in the sea which rolls between the east coast of Corsica and Tuscany, with the Pope's dominions; so that small vessels can never be at a loss for protection, should any sudden storm come upon them, as they can run into any of these islands. ”

“ The garden lies near the road to Bastia—the most frequented of all the highroads from Ajaccio. This is especially the case in the evening, when the townspeople return from their occupations in the country.
It was a favourite amusement with me to take a seat on the shore of the gulf, and to observe the passers-by. The women have all good figures, and their features are clear and delicate. I was often struck with the softness of their eyes and the fairness of their complexion. They wear the fazoletto, or mandile as a head-dress ”

“ A man the most remarkable and meritorious of them all, and whose memory will not soon die in Corsica, was Giovanni Carlo Gregori. He was born in Bastia in 1797, and belonged to one of the best families in the island. Devoting himself to the study of law, he first became auditor in Bastia, [161] afterwards judge in Ajaccio, councillor at the king's court in Riom, then at the appeal court in Lyons, where he was also active as president of the Academy of Sciences, and where, on the 27th of May 1852, he died. ”

“ In those days we didn’t let grass grow on our ship’s bottoms. Soon after we left San Fiorenzo we took Bastia, the seamen employed on shore being commanded by Captain Nelson, of the ‘Agamemnon.’ After we had besieged it for thirty-seven days the garrison capitulated, we having lost a good many officers and seamen killed and wounded. ”