The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-27
YACHTING AROUND SARDINIA
LAST VIEWS OF THE IWIN IS-
 LAND,
Before Crossing the Strait of Bonifa-
Especial Correspondence of the Journal
 and Courier)

NiiN Cphtii iNAP
 Cagliaria, Sardinia, March 15.--It X would be 8 mistake to leave Corsica without devoting at least twonty-four
 hours t0 one of the oldest stronghold
 in the world-Bonifazio, on its extreme
 southern border. Besi 1as it's rcmarka-
 bly, picturesque forti!ioauors, of cr+at
 height and extent perchnd high above
 ts,a sea. and the myste ter'pas c1vcrns
 that honey y-comb their foundations, all
 the envirOns are eXtrem ely tatrrce.lnG.
 including the storied isiets of the Stralt,
 some of them almost with.n Il stone 5
 throw of the ramparts. The site of
 EonifaZio is unique, speedily as viewed
 from the sea. It occupies the apex of a
 huge white pyramid of rock, washed or
 three sides by the sea, the fourth side
 bounded by a tiny islet, called by cour-
 tesy the harbor, shut in by inaccessible
 hills. Wild rocks tumbied all around
 and exposed to the restless washing Of
 the Mediterranean, are worn into the
 most fantastic outlines. In many
 plares there no beach 1t all, the mar
 row strip bordering the inlet being
 closely, built up with very tall houses,
 on whose fronts are carved the ancient
 arms of Genoa, crowned lion, holding
 ring in his claw A long and dizzy
 flight of stairs leads from the village
 straight up to the citadel, and the gally
 uniformed French soldiers, moving atop,
 look like so many notes in the sun
 shine. The soft stratified cliff on Which
 the medieval defenses are built, has
 crunbled away in many places, leaving
 their walls standing on shelves, or
 lodges of the rock, projecting one De-
 yond the other, with immense black
 grottoes beneath. The latter extending
 away back into the darkness, nopody
 knows how far, look as if about to
 crumble altogether and drop the whole
 thing into the sea- and the danger IS
 not purely imaginary, as the walls ol
 masonry that in many places support the sides of the caves will show. Just
 think of it! This old town was built
 more than ten hundred years ago, CA D s3s). by one of Charemagne's con- temporaries. After a naval victory over Saracen Corsairs, the Marquis or Bonffazio, Tuscan margrave, selected this lofty cliff on the narrow stralt' which has since borne his name, as the strongest barrier he could find against future piratical attacks. or the forts lie erected in that early day, one still stands entire-a massive circular tower called I'll Terriore' There are three other towers, almost counterpart or the ftrst one, but they are of later date. The place soon passed into the hands of the Pisans, but was wrested from them hv the Genoese. late in the eleventh cen ti,ry. Then. for three hundred tran ouil and prosperous years, 1t enjoyed nra ctical self government under the pa- triarchal protection of Genoa. Almost the only link of connection between Bbnifazio and the country or US con oueror was the Genoese governor ana he was never put in possession or the town until he had solemnly sworn, on the holy Sacrament, to preserve invlo- Ia te all it's treaties and statutes. The curious respect with which the Genoese treated the Bonifazians Is matter or history When one of their vessels en- tered the port of Genoa. it's captain was asked. aAre you from the district of Bonifazio, or from Bonifazio proper?' Hence arose the popular saying, often | heard to-day in this part of the world, sHe Is Bonifazian proper" A great many Genoese nobles. and other citi- zens of rank and wealth, were attract ed to the cliff-town that enjoyed privi- leges so rare in those days, and in time the "Bonifazans proper could hardly he distinguished from the Genoese in manners and characteristics. A few years before Columbus set off on | his first hunt for new world, this aown the most remarkable siege in | Italian history The story of 1t reads | more like a romance of the Arabian | Nights than actual reality. Alfonso of I Aragon invested the town by land and | sea with powerful force. Night and | lay, for five months, a hail of stone oalls hammered the battlements and were poured into the houses below, both | from the fleet and the position occupied | DIV the Spanish forces on neighboring ill. Incessant valleys of arrows from he hand-bombards of the time, of east metal, hollow like a reed and propelled ,y fire with such force as to pierce through a knights armor. Meanwhile he walls and towers were shattered by heavier missiles, discharged from cata- ,ults and batterlng-rams, and other en- zines of medieval warfare. Several ines were breaches effected, and the spaniards rushed to the assault, only to ,e driven back over the bodies of the lead and dying. The women of Boni- azio were not less active than the men II defending their town; and even monks and priests took their turn i'll the broken ramparts. Final V Alfonso resolved to reduce the place " famine, and established a close blockade by land and sea, drawing hains across the narrow harbor to pre- ,ent the arrival of supplies. The corn had long since been burned nd the Bonifazians were reduced to ating roots, Hazards, snakes, anything however loathsome that would sustain fife. Then ships were not constantly living the Mediterranean, as in these avs, and the Genoese republic re- lained in happy ignorance of what was efalling her colony. The Spaniards efused to allow the Bonifazians to send ny messenger; but the latter built a mall boat in haste and under cover of fight lowered it by ropes over cliff; nd then, one by one, let down crew ,ho had volunteered to make the effort } communicate with the Genoese sell te Meanwhile the King of Aragon ,as plying the Bonifazians with seem- lgly honorable terms of surrender; and he latter, in their extremity, agreed to l ccept them, if help did not arrive with l forty days. Then followed period