23. From Marseilles to Naples.
512 (viâ Genoa 615) M. Steamboat Lines. 1. Orient Royal Mail fortnightly, on the way from London to Port Said.—2. North German Lloyd, for Naples and Alexandria, Wed. afternoon, in 33 hrs. (100 or 70 marks); for Genoa, Naples, Catania, Piræus, Smyrna, Constantinople (Odessa, Batum) every other Frid. afternoon, in 3 days (80 or 56 marks).—3. German East African, to Naples (and Port Said) every third Sat. in 2 days, returning from Naples every third Wed. (80 or 60 marks).—4. Messageries Maritimes, to Naples (Piræus, Smyrna, Constantinople, Beirut, RR. 77, 80, 75) every second Thurs. (100 or 70 fr.).—5. Chargeurs Réunis (Tour du Monde), twice quarterly vîa Genoa to Naples (Colombo, E. Asia, San Francisco, etc.).—6. Hungarian Adria Co., cargo-boats, Sun. forenoon, vîa Genoa to Naples in 4 days (Palermo, Malta); also Wed. afternoon to Nice, Genoa, and Naples in 4½ days (Palermo, Messina); fare, without food, 42 fr.—The steamers of the P. & O. and Rotterdam Lloyd companies go from Marseilles to Port Said direct.
Marseilles, and departure from its harbour, see p. [119].
The steamers run to the E.S.E., between Cap Croisette and the Ile du Planier (p. [119]), past the Ile Maire, Ile Jarros, and Ile Rio to the Straits of Bonifacio. Fine view of the richly varied coast of Provence, as far as the peninsula of Cape Sicié, with the bays of Cassis and La Ciotat, the latter of which is overlooked by the rock called the Bec de l’Aigle. In the background, beyond the bare limestone rocks on the coast, appears the Chaîne de la Ste. Baume (3786 ft.), famed for its ancient forest, the property of the state. Beyond Cape Sicié and the Bay of Toulon, we pass the steep rocky S. coast of Porquerolles (lighthouse), the largest and westmost of the Iles d’Hyères, the ancient Stoechades Insulae.
After a sail of several hours more Corsica (p. [143]), with its high mountains, is sighted towards the E. In the distance lies the Bay of Ajaccio, where at night the lights on the Iles Sanguinaires may be descried. We next pass the Gulf of Valinco, and at Cape Aquila or Senetosa (lighthouse) we approach the S.W. coast of Corsica, fringed with numerous bays and creeks. Off the rocks called Les Moines (Monaci) we sight, to the left, the Montagne de Cagna (4518 ft.), which is usually covered with snow in winter.
The passage of the *Straits of Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia, is very beautiful when the light is favourable. At the narrowest part, between Cape Pertusato and Punta del Falcone, they are 7 M. wide. Between the lighthouses of Capo di Feno and Capo Pertusato, amid fissured limestone rocks honeycombed with caverns, rises a headland crowned with the grey old Genoese citadel and the white houses of Bonifacio. Opposite to it, on the N. coast of Sardinia, is the peninsula of Capo Testa, and near the Punta del Falcone lies the narrow Bay of Longo Sardo, with the little port of Santa Teresa di Gallura. Beyond the town rise the hills of the Gallura in terraces, stretching far away to the Monti di Limbara (4469 ft.). On the S.E. the horizon is bounded by a girdle of granitic islands and rocks, the Insulae Cuniculariae (‘rabbit-islands’) of Pliny, which imperil navigation, especially as they are washed with a strong current from the Tyrrhenian Sea.
The steamers pass through the Bocca Grande, between the lighthouses on the French island of Lavezzi and the Italian Isola dei Razzoli. To the right, beyond the islets of Santa Maria and Isola dei Budelli, appears the island of Maddalena, on which rise a signalling station and the fort of Guardia Vecchia (545 ft.). This island, the largest of the group, is connected with its neighbours Santo Stefano and Caprera (696 ft.; once the residence of Garibaldi; d. 1882) by roads built on embankments, and has been converted into one of the strongest fortresses on the Mediterranean in emulation of Porto Vecchio in Corsica and of Bizerta. Beyond Caprera, and adjoining the deeply indented Bay of Arsachena, appears the reddish Capo di Ferro, the N.W. point of Sardinia.
We now steer across the Tyrrhenian Sea to the E.S.E. towards the Ponza Islands (p. xxxi). We first pass the volcanic N.W. group, Palmarola (the ancient Palmaria), Ponza (929 ft.; Pontiae, once a Roman colony), with the lighthouse of Punta della Guardia, and Zannone (Sinonia). Beyond La Botte, a rock dreaded by sailors, begins the S.E. group, first Ventotene, the well-known Pandateria of the Romans, to which Julia, Agrippina, and Octavia were banished, and then the islet of Santo Stefano (lighthouse).
In the distance appear the Monte Epomeo and the lighthouse on the Punta Imperatore in the island of Ischia (p. [118]). Approach to the Bay of Naples, see p. [135].
From Naples to Alexandria and Port Said, see R. 67; to Athens (Smyrna, and Constantinople), see R. 77.