The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1912-03-07
In Ajaccio.

The good ship ''Italia" ploughed her
way eastward from Marseilles, over an
unrippled sea, under an suspicious moon,
to this lonely sea-girt isle Of Corsica,
land of the clan, the vendetta and the
brigand. Lying at the dock in Marseilles
we witnessed many curious scene. We
had on board whole regiment of French
soldiers going over to Ajaccio for the
winters target practice. Several Corsi-
can peasants, of both sexes, were re-
turning home after a summers hard
work on the Continent. These latter
had motley collection of baggage, and
general impedimenta, not among the
least being enough provisions for..the du-
ration of the voyage. perceived, with
more than one of my senses, that they
carried along quantity of cheese in va
rious stages of fertility! Frying pans,
water jugs, bottles, bundles of garlic,
skeins OF wool, odds and ends of wearing
apparel, and huge pieces of bread. were
all knotted up Unfortunately in piece
of bright hued cloth. Sitting quietly on
deck lazily watching the preparations for
departure, and half somnolent after an
excellent dinner at the Hotel St. Louis,
l was suddenly brought back to sense
of the reality of things by having an
enormous striped Tom-cat dumped un-
tremendously on my lap, with mutter-
ed command in Corsican to look out for
it! The poor feline evidently did not
relish his intend voyage. He miauled
and growled under his breath, and once
he gave vigorous Pssst! soothed him
as best l could, though the poor creatures
hair literally stood on end! l saw his
mistress rushing excitedly to and fro on
the pier, collecting with nervous haste
her various bundles. Finally she came
on board with a flushed face, staggering
under the weight of all her worldly pos
sessions. She sought me out as haven
of refuge, and sitting down beside me,
told me volubly in Corsican, all her fami-
ly history. Not understanding word l
nevertheless smiled affably, and finally
with what was undoubtedly phrase of
thanks, she grabbed her precious cat and
without further ado thrust him into the
middle of her biggest bundle. The ami
NAL by this time, no doubt, worn out
with the effort to understand the drift of
things, subsidized into round furry ball.
He evidently was the cause of no further
anxiety, for going aft myself heard no
more of my interesting couple.
The trip was quite enjoyable. We had
an excellent dinner such as the French
everywhere know so we'll how to prepare,
and in the evening we sat on deck, until
quite late, watching the path of light
made by the tranquil moon in the vast
waste of Mediterranean waters.
The dying year retreated as we step
ped upon these picturesque shores. l
felt exultant. Long had my heart willed
to be here in Ajaccio, where was born on
the 18th of August, 1869, the greatest
man the world has ever known, Napo-
leon Bonaparte.
Last winter on our way to Egypt and
the Holy Land, we passed quite close to
these rock-bound coasts and saw the pic
turesque mountainous beauty of this rug
ged little isle. We determined conjoint-
ly to make Corsica the place of our next
years pilgrimage. Its wild scenery
charmed US even then. The memory of
this enchanted isle haunted US all the
long hot summer.
Ajaccio was founded by Corsus, a
Roman exile. The town today has a
a population of $4,000. In the vicissi-
tudes of history the ancient site of Ajac-
clio was abandoned. The town, as it now
stands, sprang into being through the
agency Of the Bank of St. George, of
Genoa, in 1892 Not an easy date for an
American to forget!
1t was early dawn when the ship ar
rived at her quay in the harbor. We
arose at a. M, dressed leisurely, and
went ashore to get our coffee and rolls.
We found such nice little shop, the
front of which was painted bright car
mine, whose genial Corsican proprietor
Immediately took US under his wing, tell
ing US exactly what we ought to do.
First, he said, "you must enjoy my
good coffee, then you must go to Casa
Napoleon, and see, with your own eyes,
the very room where our great man was
born." We laughingly agreed. But
once out of earshot we decided we would
rather get ourselves settled in comfort
able quarters before visiting the Mecca
we had come so far to see.
We strolled along the Avenue of the
First Consul, admiring its gigantic palms
and Towering mimosas until We came to
a large open square, La Place du Dia-
mant, where stands the mighty eques-
trian statue of Napoleon, surrounded by
his four brothers, Louis, Joseph, Lucien
and Jerome, all in Roman togas, Napo-
leon holding the sceptre and globe in his
right hand, and gazing far out to sea.
The group is we'll executed. like the
idea of the great Napoleon being thus
always in evidence right in the heart of
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