2-995-882 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Emperor Napoleon's visit to Corsica: view of Bastia, 1860. 'The language spoken in Corsica is not French, but a sort of Italian dialect, with a mixture of many words of Arabian and Spanish origin. The town...is situated on the eastern coast of the island...It is a place of war of the first class, and contains 13,000 inhabitants. Prettily built, in the form of an amphitheatre, its general aspect is picturesque; but the entire view is much superior to the interior detail of the place. Bastia...carries on a considerable trade in wine, oil, leather, coral, &c. It was formerly the capital of the island. When Corsica formed two departments, it was the principal town of that denominated Golo...In the upper part of the town there is a citadel for the defence of the port, near the entrance of which is a rock called by sailors il Leone, on account of its resemblance to a lion couchant. The entire arrondissement of Bastia is at present composed of twenty cantons (the town counting for two) and 113 communes, and contains 63,764 inhabitants. A very fine high road connects Bastia with Ajaccio, in the beautiful roadstead of which the Emperor Napoleon III., accompanied by the Empress Eugenie, arrived on the morning of the 14th September'. From "Illustrated London News", 1860.