Notwithstanding the heat of the day, and the steepness of the paths, Nos. 2 and 3 determined to scale part of the rocky walls. An old man, seated in a little enclosure, like a spider in his web, and probably belonging to the cottage hard by, had apparently some insuperable objection to this proceeding, and rather startled the weak nerves of No. 3, already a little upset, by shouting after the pair in an undistinguishable patois jargon, and following them for some little distance. Their legs were younger than his, however; and as he got worsted in the chase the equanimity of No. 3 was restored.
This part of the country is said to be a favourite resort of the bandits, special advantages being offered, in the inaccessible rocks and hollow caverns, to the hardy fugitive from the law.
Some of the boulders are so entirely hollowed out as to resemble an egg-shell or a woman's hood. They must have been filled formerly with a softer substance, which, by degrees, has been worn away by rain and frost, leaving the harder coating of granite, sometimes only an inch or two thick.
As we mounted slowly up the little rocky winding path, pushing our way through thick growing shrubs, and hid from each other at every turn, one felt that nothing could well be more appropriate to the scene than the appearance, from behind any boulder, or at the entrance of any of these stony egg-shells, of a black-bearded, eagle-eyed man, gun in hand and pistol in belt. A bandit seemed the natural appendage of such surroundings; but he appeared not.
Nothing was to be seen except sky, and rock, and hill, as we gained the summit of the first ledge, and, wiping our fevered brows, sat down to rest; whilst far, far below, almost out of sight, fled and tumbled a little stream, gurgling away to the plain with a cool, inviting murmur; and from enormous distances echoed the wild calls of shepherd boys and men, far apart and far away among the rocks, sounding weird and unlike anything human across the stillness and the wide solitude.
Hurrying down again after a short rest, to see if No. 1 had, during our two hours' absence, fallen into a chasm or been kidnapped by bandits, we found her somewhat nervous at our lengthened stay, but otherwise uninjured, surrounded by a group of dark-eyed, wild-looking maidens and children, whom she had arrested in their work of gathering sticks among the maquis, and was hastily transferring with skilful pencil to her sketch-book.
These barefooted, picturesque girls evidently came from some shepherd hut buried amongst the rocky wilds around. They were an amusing mixture of shyness and merriment. At first, pulling their white handkerchiefs well over their sunburnt faces, they turned away giggling, silently refusing to be pourtrayed, without however the least understanding what the process was; but presently, becoming bolder, they consented to turn their faces towards us and make some effort at standing still. They could not, of course, speak a word of French, and their patois was so strong that they could not even understand No. 1's grammatical Italian, nor make their answers comprehensible to her. When the portraits were finished and shown to them, being the first drawing they had ever seen, they could not for some time make out the meaning of the cabalistic marks; but, when at last it was explained to them that these were intended to represent themselves, they laughed long and loudly.
But, what with bandit caves and shepherd maidens, time slipped away rapidly; and a glance at our watches suddenly showed us that it was now nearly five o'clock, dinner being at six; and we began a hasty retreat to the carriage, spurred on, over the sandy, rutty path, by the mundane reflection, that, unless we could do our seven miles in something like an hour, we stood a chance of going to bed supperless.
CHAPTER XVIII.
LES ILES SANGUINAIRES.
Another pleasant excursion and drive from Ajaccio is to the Iles Sanguinaires, about nine miles' distance. A good bye-road has been made to this place, flat and sandy, and following the edge of the Mediterranean the whole way.