The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-04-11


 the Mediterranean on the eastern side, through the large salt waterA lake, Bi- gulia. Deep in the summit of Rodondo the ragged amphitheater of peaks en- closes a little dark lake, surrounded by grassy slopes. Above and below are fields of eternal snow, an unaccounta- ble combination in the hottest season of the year, and in the forty-sacond de- gree of latitude! An ice-crust@ covers the snow, which the foot of man has seldom broken; but the atmosprere Is not uncomfortable cold, merely cool and bracing. Viewed from the border of the mysterious take, the topmost peak looks easy of ascent, but Alpine climbers who have scaled it say that it takes two hours of the hardest and most dangerous work they ever experi- enced-part of the way on "all fours,' over scattered fragments of ice-coated rock, and up perpendicular inclines of snow, into which each step must first be hammered out for the feet.
 There are many points of vantage on this high land journey, from which, with glass, you may have panoram- ic view of the whole island of Corsica, and nearby Sardinia, and away over the glittering Mediterranean to the Tuscan cities on the edge of Italy, the white peaks bordering the northern lakes, and the entire west from Nice to Rome. And then the lovely valleys of Corsica, set like little pockets in the hills, fertilzed by short but rapid mountain torrents and blooming as the ,,Io .+o4 oF r,1ix and almonds, figs, grapes, lemons and oranges; and fields of wheat, corn and barley, which are said to yield forty per cent. Yet agriculture is in a woe- fully backward state, as much because of the shiftless habits of the people as on account of that ancient grievance the minute sub division of land. All the lower nilI-slopes are carpeted with myrtle and arbutus; while thorn and laurel, springing in dense thickets, can only be subdued by repeated burnings. Poor, old broken down Corsica! Even the landscape looks sullen and hopeless, except when stirred to fierce storms by some vendetta of the elements, when rains come crashing down with such force as to rend the branches from the trees killing birds by thousands and scattering wreck and desolation. Then suddenly the sun shines out; the for ests steam with moisture and birds chant as merrily in the denuded trees, as if their tiny relatives were not lying dead in the jungle, with broken wings and legs. The mountains are said to be rich in iron lead, copper, black manga nese, etc.; but if so, the minerals are wasted here, being all unworked One can see for himself that the quarrles of porphery, serpentine and red granite are exhaustless. There are no manu- factories of account in Corsica. A little coarse woolen cloth Is made. rough glass, bricks and leather. Olive oil is exported in considerable amouna, and some wine--of poor quality, and mostly in it's raw state, sent to France to be used in the manufacture of liquors. Cattle raising is carried on to some ex- tent, and every family numbers a goat or two and litter of black pigs among its intimate members There is strange species of mountain sheep, called mufflous, found, believe, mo- where but in Corsica They are hand SUUle, SiIOLlS-llIibeu Ci "ilii long, silky, brownish- black hair, and each has four-sometime six-spiral horns. The muff1on prefers the loftiest heights mounting higher and higher as the sun melts the snow from the hills. It has to come down to the borders of streams for pasturage, but scampers back to the region of eternal SHOWS at nightfau. Like the chamois, it posts sentnels to watch over the herds while feeding, and has other curious habits worth observing. Sometimes, in unusu- ally severe winters, when the pasture grounds are deep under snow, the wild herds are driven by gunger down into the valleys, and by and by they affiliate with the tame goats and graze tran ouilIy with the flocks of the shepherds. The mufflon affords the best hunting in Corsica: and when shots are heard, re- echoing from crag to crag, people re- mark that somebody is stalking the brothers of the mountains'-wildg goats and bandies-both being lawful game.
 Never was town more picturesquely situated than Corte, near the center of the island, at the confluence of two mountain torrents that descend from Monte Rodondo through series Of magnificent gorges. There is an old town, rich in historic associations, and a newer French town of little interest; and perched high both in~the citadel which in all ages has decided the course of events in war This fortress is the Acropolis of Corsica, thousand times etormed and defended. It stands on precipitous and jagged rock, which rises straight up from the river Tavignano, and can be reached only by a draw bridge Its walls and towers now crumbling with age, are battered by in- cessant strife and look perfectly black. The view from it's ramparts must be glorious; but as the citadel is now in- cluded within the modern French fort, strangers are not allowed to visit it. All around it are hap-hazzard streets, or rather alleys, winding steeply D hill and down and reeking within filth. Corte was the ancient feuday capital Of the island, the seat of the Moorish kings in earliest times, the capital of General Paolis' short-lived revolutionary gov- ernment (between the years 1755 and '69. and the headquarters of the Brit ish government, under Sir George Eli oft durine the two years that England held possession of the island. The lit tie city, of less than six thousand in- habitants, has only one street of consa- ouence. ambitiously called the Corso, GoI l11ra oI n a l..