The Sun.
London, England, 1814-07-11 00:00:00

parted to their character a singular degree .of as-
perity, the''Elboise do not inherit 'that spirit of
hatred ,and reven.e which is the distingnishing
feattne of 4onle other nations. 'lacy have neither
the ferticitY of tht glootuy Sardiniat!, nor-of the
fiery Sicilian.: I have Inn discovered among. them
either the cunnings the laziness, or the listless-
ness so_ natural to a southern pet,ple. They are
extremely irritable, and impatient of contradic-
tion ; more addicted to superstition than to fana-
ticism, and almost universally ignorant and cre-
dulous. They are nevertheless endowed with a
certain sprightliness of imagination, ‘th;ch ren-
ders. them capable of receiving the strongest im-
pressions ; thence proceeds their excessive pre-
dilection for. extravagant and romantic tales, for
all that belongs to the marvellous, or is connect-,
ed with quackery and deception. They are un-
acquainted. with the monstrous luxury of cities.
A hat of black straw, _a white boddice, a short
petticoat of red or blue; is the whole attire of
the • women. A flower, ribbons, a huge ring,
large ear-rings, a gold chain: (of which the pre-
cious metal is lost in alloy) : these are the-objects
of a fethale coquetry, which is not destitute of
charms., . .
" In Elba, the vital current is of pure quality.
The old men are not decrepid.. I have known
many of them who had reached their ninety-fifth
year without experiencing the slightest ailment'.
The women.are.not iu general beautiful; 1 have, '
however, met with pretty girls in the western
mountains, and at Rio. They press their swain,'
bosoms ruder enormous husks laced tight with •
ribbons. This troublesome custom, at once absto
and barbarous, is among them the cause of a fore-
ed and disagreeable proatinency in front, and int-
parts an unpleasant stillness to their arms and
motions. They arc excessively jealous; and Pos-
sessed of a high deice Of sensibility. At the age
of thirteen.or fourteen they are marriageable.; but
when they arrive at thirty, they qnieldy become
old, and exhibit at thisage many sympxoms of
having reached a l,tratore advanced period of life.
They are good muthers,.entirely devoted to their
families,spunctual and faithful in the discharge of
all their duties. .

“. The food of the inhabitants consists of dried,
pulse, cheese made from the milk of ewes, of
which the smell and taste resemble had grease,
good bacon of a light quality, salted and smoaked
provisions, coarse brad, fresh fish, of which the.
tunny is the • chief, and a very lcw vpgetables.
The salted cheese of Sardinia is an article of great
consumption. They, also eat an immense quan-
tity of chesnuts, the crop of which is gathered to-
wards the end of October. After they have been
dried by the fire till their double rind peels off,
they are ground in the corn mill, •with the upper
grindstone raised to accommodate their bulk.—
The flour produced is not mixed with bran ; it is
soft, saccharine, and ofd yellowish grey colour,
which approaches nearer to white in proportion
as the chessnuts have been carefully picked and
dried with attention. This flour combines ai:tl
hardens when squeezed together. In order to
preserve it, it is necessary to shut it up iii t (irk
place, to compress it- Avith considerable tore, and
to cover it over to the depth of two or three
inches with ashes or sand., Thq Elboise, make
from it pollenta and pastry, .far superior to any
which can be manufactured from maize.

" The strictest economy prevails in their use of
food. It is only upon holidays that fresh meat,
and a white wine, rendered excellent by theta-
most care in making, arc perMitted to he placed
upon their tables. On ordinary clays, they break-
fast upon pollenta ; towards noon. they eat bread
and beans, lentils, or some other 'species of pulse
boiled and seasoned with oil ; and in the evening
their repast is soup, and sometimes salt fish, or
suet' as the sea yields.
" Their houses are low : the interior arranged
with neatness, and the furniture simple, bat solid.
" All their kitchen utensils are of baked earth,
which they- import from Naples , and Tuscany.
Their beds are remarkable for their size ;• three,
four, • and often six persons sleep upon them to.
gether.- One is frequently held to be sufficient for
a whole family. The use of these beds, so com-
mon in Italy, may be traced to the sera of the.bril-
liant age of chivalry. In the 17th century, their
counterparts were to be seen in France and Ger.:
many, • _ . •

"The inhabitants of the towns, as is usually
the case, bestow more regard upon their tables
and. habitations. They enjoy the most excellent
bread, meats and fish, vegetables and fruit, the
chief part of which they procure at a heavy ex-
pence from the continent. •
" At Elba, the pleasures and diversions of the
people are not of the livelieit description. Danc-
ing is the favourite amusement of the young, hut
it wants that expression of sentiment, that viva-
city of movemept, and that variety of attitude,
which -are' So- enchanting in the countries Of
Rome, Naples, Tarentum, rouille, and Calabria.
Even in the time, of harvest there is little gaiety.;
the -coriyis threshed out under a burning sun, and
in the evening we do not hear, as in the plains of
Tuscany, the violin or the mandoline announce
that the toils of the day are at an end—that every
heart is happy ; the 'pleasures of the table do not
here cause the neighbourhood to resound with the
joyous Shouts of the labourer. The period of the
vintage is the carnival of the cultivators of the
-vine. Mirth is then most obstreperous, and while
the grapes are gathered, echo is taught to repeat
the loud notes of musical instruments.
"The amasementsof the Elboise are few in num-
ber, and little diversified. The principal are races,
the game of 'bowls, ninepins, quoits, and a kind
of tennis, in which they employ the band, and
sometimes the wrist, armed with a sort of wooden
bat, cut into the shape of a pine apple, •
'' Among the. young men, as among' the Greeks
and Liparots, it is a disgrace. not to be able to
row and navigate a bark. They also attach a
high estimation to being the best marksmen at a
butt.

" The diversions of the women, principally
engaged in the cares of housewifely, and in at-
tendance to the cattle, are more monotonous and
quiet.
" Licentiousness is at all times an indelible
stain upon the female character. Although garri-
sons-have introduced it into the towns, and it has
thence spread into th© interior of the Island, the

corruption consequent therenpon is not ..hy any
means equal to that which prevails in Italy.
, The language of the.countly is a Pat :s, of
which the radical words are in the Tuscan' dia."
legit it is of easy.pronunciation, and far from
diSagreeable. The amusement id which the people
take the greatest delight, is that Of the Ipmpro-
visatore;lir recitations in verse Upon a given sub-
ject; on their days of festivity, and in their ta-
verns. As at Florence, Rome; and.- Vaples,
have. recognised in these songs entire pieces from
Tasso, Ariosto, and Metastasio, which the Im-
provisatore has adroitly adapted to his own subject.
The colonies Which .repeopled the Isle of
Elba, after the devastations of Barbarossa and
Dragutt, came from Naples and Tuscany : owing
to this; it is by no means uncominon to find in
particular. families the habits of the metropolis,
and in the midst of gentleness, ease., and natural
feeling, we encounter the studied politeness and
gravity of the Tuscans, the. gross, niannep and
the ungracious behaviour of the, Neapolitans,
and the vices which spring from selfishness,
whether allied to love, ambition, wealth, or •
passion:

" The practice of carrying stilletoes, and of
employing them upon the most trivial quarrels, a
practice so common among the Genoese and no--
mans, does not exist in the Isle of Elba.,- I
also been assured, that the indigenous inhabit-
ants held' it in abhorrence ; and that there has
not occurred a single assassination of this sort,
within the memory of rnatL

.. .
" Robbery is very uncommon ; murder still
"more rare.

The number of paupers is very inconsider-
able.' active inclination to love and succour
their fellow-creatures influences the Elboise' to
diminish, without relaxation, the number of the

(To be continued.)

MILITARY PROMOTIONS:

Trar qffice, July 9, lAI4.

Ist Regiment of Dragoon Guards, lion. 11. B. Bernard, by
purchase, vice Stirling, promoted.' William Warburton
linntley, Gent. by purchase, vice Payne, who retires, to-bo
. Cornets.

2d Dittt!, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel thilllei•filearriey to .be Lieut.-
Colonel, without purchase.
6th Ditto, Lieutenant the Hon. A. Southwell, from the.l4th.
Light Dragoons, to be Captain of a Troup, by puiehase,
vice tiMith, who retires.

itit Ditto, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Francis Dunne to be Lieut.-
Colonel, without puTeliase.
6th Regiment of Dragoons, Lieut. F. S. Jones to be Captain
of a Troop, rice D0i.606, deceased. Cornet John Musson
to be Lieutenant, vice Jones. - Armstrong, Gent. to
be Cornet, vice Alusson.

10th Regiment of Light Dragoons. Cornet John G. Green
to be Lieutenant, by purchase, vice Cranford, appointed to
the 2d Ceylon Itegin►erit.

12tb- Ditto, tit. George Ryder Barry, Gent. to be Cornet, by
purchase, vice Newsome, promoted.
15th Ditto, Lieut., Juba Penrice to be Captain of a Troop,
without purchase.
_ . _

19th DittO;C..Champion 310 Gent.' to be Cornet, 14 pur-
chase, vice Vanneck, who retires.
21st Ditto, Capt. W. WAliggins' .to he 'Major, without pur-
chase. Browne, Gent. to he Cornet, vice Gibson, de-
ceased.
22d Ditto; Cornet Daniel Carroll to be Lieutenant, without
purchase, vice Dudley, promoted.' It. It. Montague, Gent.
vice Carroll ;John Behh, Gent, b 5 ptarcha,:e, vice Hodgson,
promoted, to be Cornets.
Tab Ditto, Brevet Coloncl F.Ne•Wberry'to be Lieilt.4.:oloHel,
without purchase.
25th Ditto, Capt. Hon. G. Porteseur: from the 96th Foot, to
be Captain of a Troop 4, vice Fawcett, deceased.
2d Beigiment of Foot, Brevet Lieut.-Colonel Geo. Augustus
Henderson to be Lieut.-Colonel, without purchase. Bre-
vet Major. M. Scott, to be Major, vice Henderson.
7th Ditto, Meyrick Shawe; Gent. to .ho'Lieutenant, without

, .
purchase. • Lieut. Timothy Meagher to he Adjutant, vice
Page, promoted.
9th Ditto-To b&Captains of Companies, without purchase,
•Lientenants A. Simpson, R. G. Thom Son, Edward Newen-
ham, P. Siition. ' ,
To be Adjutant, Lieutenant J. H. Challis, vice Sutton, pro-
moted.
loth Ditto George Henry Brown, Gent. to be-Ensign, by pur-
chase, rice Maitland, pronloted.
11th Ditto, Lieutenant Alexander J. Bell. to be Captain of. a
Company, withoirt purchase.
13th Ditto; Lieutenant -John Johnson to be Captain of a
Company, vice O'Reilly, killed in action.
1914 Ditto—To be Lieutenants, Ensign .Joseph Crips, with-
out purchase, vice Tkomas, Wirt- resigns. Ensign William
Roper, by purchase, vice Morgan, promoted.
To be Ensign, Gentleman Cadet John Dalgety,, from -,the7
Royal Military College, vice Crips.
21st Ditto, Captain Norman Pringle to be-'Major, by purchase,
vice French, who retires.
24th Ditto, James Galbraith, Gent. to be Ensign, without
purchase, vice O'Leary, promoted.
26th Ditto, Lieut. James Steadman to be Captain of a Corn--
parry, vice Dunlop, deceased. Gentleman Cadet John Phil=
phut, front the Royal Military College, to be Ensign, with.
out purchase, vice Campbell; promoted.
Ath Ditto, Brevet Major peter Ryves Hawker to be• Major,
vice Currey, deceased. . • - ...
32d Ditto, Staff Hospital-Assistant Richard Veiling to be As-
sistant-Surgeon, vice Howell, appointed to the Uth Dra-
. goon. Guards.
40th Ditto, George Atkinson, Gent. to be Ensign,
.by put--
chase, vice Ross, who retires.
41st Ditto, Ensign James Perrin to be Lieutenant, without
purchase vice Martin, who resigns. • Gentleman Cadet
Thomas Condamine, front the Royal Military College, to be
Ensign, without purchase, vice Perrin.
45th Ditto, Quarter-Master John Staples, from the half-pay
of the 18th Light Dragoons, to be Adjutant (with the rank
of Ensign), vice Barnewall, promoted. •
49th Ditto, Lieutenant N. Wightwick to be Captain of a Com-
pany, without purchase, vice Hetiot, appointed to the Ca-
nadian Voltigeurs. Ensign John Hazen to be Lieutenant,
vice Wightwick. Edward Grant Stokes. Gent. to be En-
sign, rice Hazen.
52d Ditto, Ensign —Radford to be Lieutenant, vice •
Buckle Barlee, who resigns. Gentleman Cadet Henry P.
Smith, from the-Royal Military College, to be Ensign, vice
liadfo d.
56th D. to, Quarter-Master Archibald M'Leau, from the 86th
i
Fo .to be Ensign, without purchase, vice Williams, pro-
m ed.
57th Ditto, Ensign Deaman to be Adjutant, vice Smith,
who resigns the Adjutancy only.
Goth Ditto, Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel William Woodgate to
he Lieutenant;Colonel, without purchase. Second Lieute-
nant Charles Andrews, from the 3d Ceylon Regiment, to
be Lieutenant, without purchase. .
61st Ditto, Captain James Laing to be Major, without pur-
chase. William Scott, Gent. to be Ensign, without pur-
• - chase, vice Stuart, promoted.
69th Ditto, .Ensign Joseph Derghton to be Lieutenant, with-
out purchase.
70th Ditto, Brevet Major Thomas Ralph Congreve to be Ma-
jor, without purchase.
76th Ditto, Lieutenant F. D. Daly, from the 84th Foot, to
be Lieutenant, vice Shelton, who exchanges. ,
83d Ditto, Ensig-a Henry Letoller to be Lieutenant, without
purchase. . . . .
84th Ditto, Lieutenant John S. Jones to Ire Captain of a Com-
pany, vice Parkinson, deceased.
To be Lieutenants, Ensign John Crossley, rice Mapother,
deceased.. Ensign Julius Brookmau, vice Jones. Lieute-
nantWm.'Skelton, from the 76th Foot, vice Daly, who
exchanges. •
To be Ensigns, Mitford Ingleby, Gent. vice Crossley. Gen-
tleman Cadet George George Wyse, from the Royal Mili-
tary College, :vice Brookman, promoted.
85th bitto, Captain Charles Harris, from the York C:las-
, seurs, to be Captain of a Company, vice Cottingham, who
exchanges. , •
86th Ditto, Captain Mathevi Stewart, from the 4th Ceylon
Regiment, to be Captain of a Company, without purchase,
vice the Hon. George Fortescue, appointed to the 25th
Light Dragoons. Serjeant Richard. Gill to be Quarter-
Master, vice M'Lean, ,promoted in the 56th Foot. . -