Rambles in the Islands of Corsica and Sardinia Part 29

"So that Orso Paolo perish, let the world be at an end!" exclaimed Ruggero. Such is the terrible force of the pa.s.sions in the human breast.

Ruggero's house is burning, the fire crackles, the flames burst forth, the sparkles fill the air. Vincenti, involved in smoke and flame, rushes from place to place, seeking a retreat to prolong his life for a few moments. All at once he is startled by the wailing cries of a child. He directs his steps towards it, and discovers, with amazement, the son of his cruel enemy. Struck with indignation at the father's barbarity, he suddenly raises his hand to take vengeance on the child of his relentless adversary. The boy utters a plaintive cry, and stretches its little hands towards him, trembling and frightened.

"Take courage, my boy, take courage!" said Vincenti, s.n.a.t.c.hing him to his bosom; "you see a man who is not deaf to the voice of pity. If Heaven will not protect your innocency, at least you shall die in the arms of a second father."

Meanwhile, the fire spreads through every part of the building; nothing can resist the fury of the devouring flames. Fanned by the wind, they surge in waves, ever greedy of new food. The roof quivers, the floors crack, the whole falls with a terrible crash. What chance was there for Vincenti's escape with life? He had abandoned all hopes.

Ruggero, satiated with vengeance, retires to the house of a relation, to which his wounded son had been removed. The spectacle of his sufferings, his imminent danger, and the sobs and lamentations of his inconsolable wife, awaken in his soul the affections of a father. A faint ray of reason penetrates his mind, and he perceives all the horrors of his proceeding. Trouble, remorse, repentance, succeed; his heart is wrung with anguish, and he attempts his own life. Friends interfere to restrain him.

At the news of the atrocity committed by the Grimaldi, in firing the house and leaving their enemy to perish in the ruins, the kinsmen of Orso Paolo a.s.semble and rush to Monte d'Olmo, threatening vengeance on the perpetrators. The Grimaldi rally round Ruggero to s.h.i.+eld him from his exasperated enemies. Just then, shouts are raised in the piazza, mingled with the name of Vincenti, and at intervals with gentler sounds which speak to the heart of the wife of Ruggero.

She flies to the window, and exclaiming, "Oh heaven! Orso Paolo! My son!

My son! My son!" falls speechless and fainting on the floor. The spectacle which produced this vivid emotion was that of the n.o.ble Vincenti, who, scorched, and covered with ashes, and pressing the child firmly to his breast, was hastening on amid the acclamations and _evvivas_ of the populace. He had taken refuge under an arch of the staircase, clasping the child firmly in his arms.

Ruggero's wife, recovering from her swoon, runs and throws herself into the arms of Vincenti, calling him the preserver and father of her beloved son. Ruggero, full of admiration and grat.i.tude, salutes Vincenti, with a modest humility, invoking his pardon, and begging his friends.h.i.+p. Vincenti embraces him, pardons him, and swears eternal friends.h.i.+p for him. The wounded youth unexpectedly recovers, the two factions become friends, and the generous Vincenti, loaded with praises and benedictions, had the happiness to extinguish an inveterate feud between the two families, and thus restore peace to the community of Castel d'Acqua.

[42] _Clarke and McArthur's Life of Nelson_, vol. ii. p. 336.

[43] The "Ichneusa," so called from the ancient name of the island. On a subsequent visit to Sardinia I had the pleasure of making an agreeable acquaintance with the officers of the "Ichneusa," the s.h.i.+p being one of a little squadron then employed in the service of a.s.sisting in the laying down the submarine telegraph cable between Cape Teulada and the coast of Algeria, of which I hope to be able to give some account in the sequel. The engineer of the "Ichneusa" was an Englishman, who was often ash.o.r.e at our hotel while his s.h.i.+p lay in the harbour of La Madelena; an intelligent man, as I have always found the many of his cla.s.s employed in the royal steam navy of the Sardinian government. I cannot believe that the engineers of the steam-s.h.i.+p "Cagliari" had any complicity with the Genoese conspirators. They worked the s.h.i.+p, no doubt, in compliance with orders enforced by the Italian desperadoes in possession of her with stilettoes at their throats; and it is to be regretted that peremptory measures were not taken by our Government for their release.

We can only conclude that the unfortunate engineers were sacrificed to political expediency.

[44] _Sketch of the Present State of the Island of Sardinia_, pp.

187-191 (1827). It is but fair to remark, that Captain (now Admiral) Smyth does not describe any excesses in the festivities he witnessed. We have reason, however, to believe that they have sadly deteriorated, as well as the religious instincts of the Sardes, in the thirty years since they came under Captain Smyth's observation.

[45] The "barancelli" will be noticed hereafter.

[46] Mr. Warre Tyndale's _Island of Sardinia_, vol. i. p. 313, &c.

[47] Cf. Isaiah, i. 8.: "A lodge in a vineyard, and a cottage in a garden of cuc.u.mbers."

[48] Gen. xxiv. 11, 15.

[49] I Sam. ix. 11.

[50] Odyss. lib. x.

[51] Asphodels were planted by the ancients near burying-places, in order to supply the manes of the dead with nourishment.

"By those happy souls that dwell In yellow meads of Asphodel."-_Pope._

The plant _lilio asphodelus_ belongs to the liliaceous tribe. It flourishes also in Italy, Sicily, Crete, and Africa, some varieties bearing white flowers.

[52] a?t?? ?pe? p?s??? ?a? ?d?t???, &c. HOMER, _pa.s.sim_.

[53] See the sketch in the next page.

[54] "That certain local causes have through all ages tainted the atmosphere of Sardinia, may be gathered from the remarks and sarcasms of a host of early authors. Martial, in mentioning the hour of death, celebrates salubrious Tibur at the expense of this pestilent isle:

'Nullo fata loco possis excludere: c.u.m mors Venerit, in medio Tibure Sardinia est.'

"Cicero, who hated Tigellius, the flattering musical buffoon so well described by Horace, thus lashes his country in a letter to Fabius Gallus: 'Id ego in lucris pono non ferre hominem pestilentiorem putria sua.' Again, writing to his brother: 'Remember,' says he, 'though in perfect health, you are in Sardinia.' And Pausanias, Cornelius Nepos, Strabo, Tacitus, Silius Italicus, and Claudian, severally bear testimony to the current opinion. In later times the terse Dante sings:

'Qual dolor fora, se degli spedali Di Valdichiana tra 'l luglio e 'l settembre E di maremma, e di Sardinia i mali Fossero in una fossa tutte insembre,'" &c.

_Smyth's Sardinia_, p. 81.

[55] See before, pp. 150, 260.

[56] The trade in snow is farmed by the Aritzese, it being, like that in salt and tobacco, a royal monopoly, leased for terms of years at a considerable rent. Upwards of 9000 cantars (about 375 tons) are brought down every year from the mountains of Fundada Cungiata and Genargentu, and carried on horseback to all parts of the island. The labour, fatigue, and difficulty attending the conveyance of the snow from those great alt.i.tudes are severe; as in the paths where there is no footing for a horse, the men are obliged to carry the burden on their shoulders; and the quant.i.ty they can bear is a matter of boast and rivalry among them.

It has been observed in a former chapter that none of the Sardinian mountains rise to what would be the level of perpetual frost. The snow trade must therefore be supplied from deep hollows in the mountains, serving as natural ice-houses, in which it is lodged during the summer.

We have an account of a forest in Scotland held of the Crown by the tenure of the delivery of a snow-ball on any day of the year on which it may be demanded; and it is said that there is no danger of forfeiture for default of the quit-rent, the chasms of Benewish holding snow, in the form of a glacier, throughout the year.-_Pennant's Tour in Scotland_, i. 185.

[57] "There is among the Sardes a degree of adopted relations.h.i.+p called 'compare' (_comparatico_), a stronger engagement than is known under the common acceptation of the term in other countries."-_Smyth's Sardinia_, p. 193.

[58] "The lionedda is a rustic musical instrument formed of reeds, similar to the Tyrrhenian and Lydian pipes we find depicted on the ancient Etruscan vases. It consists of three or four reeds of proportionate lengths to create two octaves, a _terce_ and a _quint_, with a small mouthpiece at the end of each. Like a Roman tibicen, the performer takes them into his mouth, and inflates the whole at once with such an acquired skill that most of them can keep on for a couple of hours without a moment's intermission, appearing to breathe and play simultaneously. He, however, who can sound five reeds is esteemed the Coryphaeus."-_Ib._ p. 192.

[59] Ezekiel, viii. 14.

[60] Isaiah, i. 29.

[61] Isaiah, lxvi. 15-17. _Mundos se putabant in hortis post januam._-Vulgate.

[62] Ezekiel, viii. 14.

[63] Leviticus, xx. 2.

[64] Jeremiah, xix. 4, 5.

[65] "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan."-_Psalm_ cvi. 26, 27.

"Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"-_Micah_, vi. 7.

[66] 2 Kings, xvi. 3.

[67] Jeremiah, x.x.xii. 35.

[68] Vol. ii. p. 264.

[69] See before, p. 191.-The pine does not flourish in Sardinia. Deal planks for house-building are imported from Corsica.

[70] _Annual Statement of Trade and Navigation presented to Parliament_.

[71] The vehicular statistics of Sardinia, ten years before, as summed up by Mr. Warre Tyndale, show three vehicles for hire at Porto Torres, seven at Sa.s.sari, four at Macomer, and about twenty at Cagliari. These and about ten private carriages made the total in this island: sufficient, he adds, for the unlocomotive propensities of the inhabitants and their almost roadless country. Things were not much improved at the period of our visit.

[72] _Memorie Politico-Economiche intorno alla Sardegna nel 1852, di Vincenzo Sala, da Venezia. Seconda Edizione, riveduta dall'Autore._