The inhabitants of Bonifacio speak a special dialect of their own. They are much more gentle in their manners than the rest of the Corsicans, whom they regard as strangers. They are not quarrelsome, and murders, which are so common everywhere else, are here almost unknown. The men work hard, and do not treat their women as slaves and beasts of burden. About the only time in the year when the women of Bonifacio are expected to work in the fields is at the time of the olive harvest, when everybody leaves the town in the morning and returns again only in the evening. During the day the town is completely deserted. The whole population is in the fields. The return of the labourers in the evening is a curious sight. They come home in a long procession, walking one behind the other in single file, accompanied by hundreds of donkeys bearing baskets full of ripe olives. Bonifacio is one of the most picturesque and interesting places in the island. It is built on the top of a high mass of white chalk, and is reached by a steep and winding road. The streets are narrow alleys with numerous passages, connecting one with the other, and winding in and out in all directions. The houses are tall and dirty, and so close together that in many places the sun finds little chance of entering the unpleasantly smelling byways. On one side of the town, overlooking the sea, there is a terrace, from which you can pass by means of a long flight of steps to the waves at the foot of the rock. Tradition states that the staircase was cut in a single night. Not far from the terrace is an old church, which is said to contain a piece of the cross upon which Christ was crucified. I must tell you how this bit of the true cross came to be found. Bonifacio had been attacked and plundered by the Saracens, and the people were in great distress. One morning, some of the inhabitants observed an ox and an ass kneeling in front of their one little spring. The animals were gazing intently at the surface of the water. The men who had seen this curious sight ran away and told their friends. It was not long before a huge crowd had gathered round the kneeling animals. Amongst this crowd were two or three priests. They noticed that the waters of the spring, which were usually quiet, were now jumping about and bubbling over in a most excited manner. Coming nearer, they found that there was a bit of wood in the water, and that it was whirling round at a great rate. They seized it and examined it, and pronounced it to be a bit of the true cross.