Romantic Corsica, wanderings in Napoleon's isle; . ly visible, and, as though the househad not had enough of war, a little shop in it still drivesa good trade in gunpowder. On one occasion in thishouse—in 1750—Madame Gaffori in the absence of herhusband was besieged by the Genoese. The defensiveforce at her command was a small one, and amongstthem there were murmurs of discontent, talk of surrenderto the enemy. But Gafforis wife had determined that ifthe Genoese took the building it would be nothing but aruined house of the dead. She rolled a barrel of gun-powder into one of the rooms, and, ca
Romantic Corsica, wanderings in Napoleon's isle; . ly visible, and, as though the househad not had enough of war, a little shop in it still drivesa good trade in gunpowder. On one occasion in thishouse—in 1750—Madame Gaffori in the absence of herhusband was besieged by the Genoese. The defensiveforce at her command was a small one, and amongstthem there were murmurs of discontent, talk of surrenderto the enemy. But Gafforis wife had determined that ifthe Genoese took the building it would be nothing but aruined house of the dead. She rolled a barrel of gun-powder into one of the rooms, and, calling the companyto her, stood with a flaming torch in her hand andthreatened to throw it into the powder and blow up thehouse and its defenders if any one refused to take anoath to fight to the last. They all did so, and the battleagainst the besiegers was continued with such energythat they were held in check until Gaffori himself arrivedwith aid. The episode of the barrel of gunpowder iscommemorated on one of the bas-reliefs on the Gaffori. HOUSE AND STATUE OF GAFFORI, CORTE. To face p. 164.] IN OLD-WORLD CORTl^ 165 statue. It was in this house, too, that Napoleons fatherand mother lived, and there Joseph Bonaparte, after-wards King of Spain, was born in 1768. The town still, as of old, clusters round the citadel onthe lowest reach of the Pointe de Zurmoto, which is overthree thousand feet high. The thoroughfares on oneside of the Corso, therefore, rise abruptly, generally insteps, while those on the other slope gently finest view of the town is obtained when approach-ing it from the south. The cluster of high white housesis first seen at a considerable distance, when it suddenlybursts into view across a wide expanse of the valleyrunning northwards. How like a part of old Edinburgh ! was what Iinvoluntarily exclaimed as I dismounted to take a photo-graph, and the closer I got the more exactly did it appearto resemble some old prints I have seen of Scotlands
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