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Show CORSICA lllf 1 P;iJ - - Jr y v4f -te? . N a perfect sunny morning In Feb ruary t stood on tbe hillside orer fl 11 loklng the town of Ajacclo au fl II r,'Jok'"(l tllat bad come to Coi 11 If slctt. Tbe muKnlllcoiit gulf lay b I J fore us with a grand range o Jr mountains on the opposite shore and, bust of thi;in all, Monte d'On WV rose up eight thoimand f'it tnt( V' d"eked with Jus r?jyJJi a sprinkling of snow, as If he aloni could wear that glittering crowi while all Ifsaer heads remained uncovered. Ii vaily spring the neighborhood of Ajacclo is ver; I'uullful TIktb la a fusclnatlng dalntlnes about the almond blossom, and you may tool from Its dt llrste pink over the soft, gray olive and the shining blu water to the purple bazi , of the , mountains beyond. Many lovc-ly walk are to be hnd all around, but to see the full beau tins of the Inland one must go further afield. Boon a fur our arrival we eiiKtiKfd a tiny car rlago and started to explore the wonders o I'lana and Evlna. There Is much , that Is worthy of Bote on the forty-live forty-live milea of road leading to Plana, but on arriving st the top of the hill overlooking the village, all I hut has gone before be-fore Is eclipsed. FudJiTily the Gulf ef Porto, with Plana In the f o reground, comes Into View. We greeted this first glimpse of Porto with a gasp of surprise and delight. 8pn through the translucent yet slightly haiy atmosphere of a perfect day It Is 'I marvelously beautiful scene. Away down be- UVA. (Ail!' &1V V- r.,; VHl. ttX , "4a 4,y,'A V aji tlon, seised tbe goat, undid Its bell, tied It round his own neck, and commenced to push bis way on all fours through tbe bushes, tinkling tbe bell and rustling among them aa be went. Nearer and nearer the gendarmes be came, but be Just went boldly on In the dark, "acting the goat" to such good purpose that the unsuspecting sentinels sen-tinels merely thought that an old goat was eating Its way along among the bushes In the erratlo way goats have. So Dellacoscla passed right through the guarding gendarmes and clean away. When morning dawned the certain capture was not effected, and Dellacoscla was free to glva more trouble In the future. Another time he was flying from capture, the gendarmes close on bis heels, when be found tbe way blocked by a river In flood, and escape seemed Impossible. Every minute bis pursuers were gaining. He could not cross, and to go back meant certain capture. Again his wits saved him. He scrambled scram-bled down to tbe marshy banks of the river where there were some dark, reedy pools, cut a hollow reed, put one end In bis mouth, and sank himself down Into the slimy black water till he was completely covered, with only the broken end of tbe reed projecting Into the air, and through forth and plunder the passer by .""lie Is7ln"fact au outlaw, a man who has, perhaps, killed another an-other In vendetta as a private act of vengeance according to a Corslcan'a Idea of Justice, but wbo haa thereby brokea the French law and Is compelled com-pelled to take to the "msquls" to hide from the gendarmes, as well as from the relations of the man he bas killed. In a country so rough as this the gendarmes have a very poor chance, and many exciting tales are told of their encounters with the bandlta. On one occasion when old Hellacoscla. the renowned bandit, was bard presaed, the gendarmes managed to get blm Into a ravine from wblcb there was no outlet but the entrance, and there be waa, trapped, with the gendarmes guarding the approach. It waa late evening, and they felt ao confident of getting their quarry that tbey thought It safe to wait till morning to close In upon him and make an easy capture. So they sot themselves to watch the entrance through tbe night and make their capture at dawn. Things roust have looked black for Kellacoscla that night as he waited In the dark, the stillness only broken by the tinkling bells of tha goats that were feeding among tbe "maquls," Hut he waa a man of resource, and as he waited there an Idea occurred to him. An old goat browsing near kept tinkling Its bell aa It fed. and Ilellacoscla. In a moment of Insplra- thls be breathed In comfort. The gendarmes came ruahing down to the river, where a moment mo-ment before they bad eeen the fugitive, but now. when they reached the place, Itellacoscla was gone clean vanished, as If he had been spirited away, and they went back to report that "the devil had certainly got blm for he had undoubtedly undoubt-edly been there, he bad never gone away, and he certainly waa not there now!" Towards evening we reached Erlsa. a happy little village rejoicing In a grand position, and well worth a visit If It were only to see tha view looking down the gorge to the Gulf of Porto, that alone would be worth the Journey. Just before be-fore the forest of Altone commences one abould leave th road and scramble across a field to a projecting mass of rocks, for there can be aeen a sight that must equal many of the finest prospects pros-pects In the world for majestic beauty. An Immense Im-mense gorge enclosed by magnificently ahaped mountains extends below, crowned at the end by tbat king of them all. Cappo d'Orto, and away beyond Ilea the blue sea. all haiy and soft In the distance. While standing on the rocky projection overlooking thle Impressive scene, a sense of littleness comes over tbe beholder, and one .'eele almost like an Intruder la this solitary spot. Where silent Nature relgna alone Majestic, on her craggy throne. "'ibiss ua lutj U!UV sea lay calm and tranquil In the eveulng light, wbll the beautiful headlands of fcappo S.-uiuo and La Scandola stretched out beyond. Tbe perfect per-fect eutrine and shapes of theae noble headlands, all of a glowing red. and the deep purple shadows that melt Into the dee(nr blue of tbe sea below, stake a scene of supreme beauty never to be forgotten, for-gotten, and far beyond the powers of the camera to depict , On reaching the hotel we bad a hurried meal and started for our Brst visit o tbe Calanches with what remained to ua of the evening ligrt. No description can give an adequate Idea of Us absolute magnificence of the gorge J and gulfs and towering piles of red colored rocks. Tbey must be wn to be appreciated. Down. down, away so deep, a small torrent was carving Its way still deeper through the granite rock below, and np and up. tier upon tier rose above, with glades of splendid pines and bushes making val- leys In tbe recesses. Hocks of all forms, weath ered Into ragged, fantastic shspes. often honeycombed honey-combed Into csverns and raves Innumerable, greet you on every side. Weird shspes appear round corners like gnomes who seem to reaent Intrusion. Kvtry bend In the winding road presents pre-sents a fresh acene of wonder, and we passed from deep gorges to masacs of towering rocks, and on again to wider ravines opening out to sea with the distant headlands beyond After this flrat sight of the Calanches we spent weeks exploring and scrambling about among Its wonders, yet there was always something new a see. One of our rambles was to a promontory railed Cappo Roaio, where we came on a goat-rd's goat-rd's but which proved to be a headquarters for making the "IlroccU' or "Itrouch." as It Is called. A dead tree stood near the door hung with an assortment of black pots, while near by lay a heap of wooden tubs. We were pleaaod to note that all tbe pota and tubs were kept really very clean, and were hung out In the open air. Seeing this, and knowing that the goats' milk had to un-nrgo un-nrgo much boiling before the "Urocria" was mde. all fears as to the hygiene of the cookery departed. Good the "Urocela" la when well made, and we had many opportunities of enjoying It. Plana has a name for making some of the bent "Itroccla" In Corsica, so we know what It ought to be like. It Is snow white, wtth the constat-ncy constat-ncy of cream cheeae. and It Is eaten with sugar and occasionally with the addition of a few drops of eau de vie. After our atay at Plana we drove on to Evtaa. through aurh a wealth of magnificent scenery that It is Impossible to deacrbe It here. Tbe road Itself la a triumph of engineering skill. It descends de-scends from Plana to the sea level at Porto, then mounts to a height of three thouaand feet performing per-forming marvels lo the wsy of laceta aa It climbs round the mountain-sides, yet the gradient la quite gentle all tbe way and the surface remarkably remark-ably good. At nearly every point where the lacets cat away Into the mountain there Is a gorge or ravine, some large, aome smalt, but all beautiful. Many of tbeee are ao wild and rugged that tbe thought at once atruck us what perfect biding places tbey would be for bandlta. and how Impossible it would be for any geadarmee to approach unaea TV so-eaTied "bandit" lo Corsica la not a Brtgaad larking behind the rocks ready to tasue |