Waterbury evening Democrat., 1889-02-11
CORSICA'S CAPITAL.
THE STRANGE AND INTERESTING
 OLD CITY OF AJACclO.

Sts huge OD1Ong dOuSes-An Island of
 Great Forests, Snowclad Hills and Olive Orchards-The Chestnut a Staple Food for Man and Beast.
 l The island of Corsica is most striking
 and imposing in its nature and scenery.
 \ compact cluster of mountains, rising
 from the blue depths of the Mediter-
 ranean and uniting in a small space all the characteristics of mountainous re- l gions, it may be considered as their epit-
 ome-a pocket edition of Switzerland or 1 Norway. Only 120 miles from one slen-
 der tip to the other, and about half as
 wide, 1t contains a magnificent chain of
 snowclad heights, crowning lofty | plateau that embraces nearly the | whole island. Monte Rotondo is 9,O53 feet high, Monte d'Oro 6, ,69O, while Monte 1 Cinto and others almost equal these h. decd, some calculations have made Monte Cinto the highest. Beside those have named have just counted on the
 Glap seven peaks of about 2 ,00O feet each.
 Following the general plan of the earth's 1 arrangement, as exemplitied in Italy, Norway and our own country, the ] mountain chain runs nearly north and | oooeAi, hSdh VI No tLc " "SSlcIu Illdu to the eastern coast. To the west the declivity
 is more steep and abrupt. to the east
 more gentle, sloping out into alluvial plains; to the west the deep harbors and lofty promontories, to the east the more fertile and thickly inhabited regions. WHAT THE TREES ARE.
 Not more than one-tenth of the soil is cultivated, but there are no deserts and
 but small proportion of barren heights; the mild climate and humid air have
 wrapped the island i'll robe of luxuriant forests. These forests are the pride and glory of Corsica and are quite unequaled in Europe Chestnut trees grow in such abundance that their fruit forms the staple food of the inhabitants, eaten roasted or boiled during the season and ground into flour for preservation, chest nut flour costing in the market only about half as much as wheat flour. and being used chiefly in the form of polenta, or porridge. though the natives boast of twenty-two different ways of cooking chestnuts. The nuts also serve as food for the horses and mules, and their cheapness and ease of production have done much to keep the native population
 
 feet similar to that of the bananas and yarns of the West Indies upon the people of those countries. The finest timber trees also abound-they supply most of the French and Italian navy yards and have been renowned from the most an- cient times, beach, pine, cork, larch and oak. One species of oak (Quercus ilex) which bears small leaf like a holly, prickly at the edges, is especially valu- able. The wood is very dark, and so heavy that a cubic foot of it will weigh seventy pounds; the famous oak of Great Britain only weighing fifty pounds to the foot. There Is one species of pine that formerly grew here SO luxu- riantly that it was known as the tree of Corsica, and attained an enormous size, but unfortunately it is now almost extinct, in consequence of fires and care less treatment. This wonderful forest region we have not yet seen, as 1t exists chiefly in the interior of the island, where there are counted forty-four forests belonging to private domains and 167 belonging to the community. Near the shore the hills are almost entirely covered with olive groves, the valleys | between them being laid out in fields | and gardens, but everywhere, by the shore and inland, where there is nothing else, there is ''macchie." This macchie. l otherwise spelt "makis" and called | scrub by the English. is really more like . jungle; a thick interwoven growth of | bush and tree, myrtle. arbutuS, heath, | scrub oak, prickly pear and a thousand other shrubs, forming an al- most impenetrablo wilderness, which has played an important part in Corsi- can history and manners.
 OF RESPECTABLE ANTrolI1v
 Ajaccio lies curving along the edge of the bay Of the same name, in the form of horseshoe, the hills rising close be- hind it. It has but three or four good streets; sufficiently wide, but bordered with huge parallelograms of houses, all of the same pattern, like immense bricks or magnitied dominoes, standing in rows, from six to nine stories high, flat topped and dotted with small windows Not joined in continuous line, like the houses of New York or Philadelphia, but distinct, and about twice as long as they arc wide. These houses are let out in flats, each flat being complete in it. 'oh' Aho eAect IS very singular, and 1t is evident that the whole town was built at one time, otherwise some variety must have been inevitable. Such indeed was the fact, for although the city is said by It's inhabitants to have been founded by Ajax, who gave it his name, and there fore must be of a very respectable anti luity, yet it has not always stood in this spot. At first it was built upon the hill; afterward farther along the shore, and it was only in the Sixteenth century that 'he Genoese, then masters of the coun- 'ry, decided that it should stand here, md built its houses in the present pom ferrous style, I suppose that 1t might never move again.-Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.
 Effects of Massage. (