So was the weather. Not a breath of wind disturbed the utter stillness of the atmosphere, and the moon was rising in golden glory against a deep blue sky. Had it not been for the intense heat, it would have been a perfect night; but as we paced slowly up and down beside the dock it was almost difficult to breathe.
When at length the last bell rang, and we were all on board, and pushing out to sea, the scene was exquisite.
Bastia, with her many lights, moving slowly away into soft haziness; above, the unclouded moon, and three or four brilliant stars; and, on the water, lying just across our track of foam, a golden sheet of glory stretching across from horizon to deck.
The heat made it impossible to enter even the saloon cabin. We, at any rate, thought so, although the foreign passengers all managed to bear it; so we camped out for the night on a high coil of ropes, which presently, in the soaking dews, became a perfect mass of sponge.
The damp, however, notwithstanding the evil prognostications of the steward, proved harmless; and it was, at any rate, a choice of evils, between possible fever and almost certain asphyxia.
The swell increased as we got into mid sea, but the calm and the clear light continued; and we could see the shapes of Elba's hills as we passed under their lee—the very lighthouse on one of them, and even the figures of the sailors on the deck of the slower-going vessel which was bound upon the same route as ourselves.
And so, in the romantic stillness of the summer night, and the glorious moonlight, fitly faded away the dim outlines of the little island; and Corsica became a beautiful dream of the past.
As Corsica is, comparatively speaking, an untravelled country, it may be as well to add a few particulars for the benefit of tourists.
There are two principal routes from London. One is by the direct line through France from Paris to Marseilles; thence, by sixteen hours' steaming, to Ajaccio. The other is through the Mont Cenis tunnel, from Paris to Turin; thence by Genoa to Leghorn, and by seven hours' steam to Bastia.
The first route is undoubtedly the best and shortest for any but the worst of sailors. The Marseilles steamers are larger and better than those of Leghorn, and the whole journey from England can be done in a little more than three days; whereas the Italian route cannot well be done, by ladies at any rate, in less than four.