At Bonifacio we found a cork-factory. At Calvi there is a pipe-factory. One of the chief shrubs that clothe this island like a carpet of green is the white heath, or _bruyère_. It has a heavy red root, which is used in the manufacture of _briar_ pipes. The word “briar” is only a corruption of the word _bruyère_. The briar-wood is boiled in big vats for sixteen hours, and then sawn into blocks that are more or less of the shape of a pipe. The blocks are sent to Europe to be finally carved into proper shapes. Many of the so-called “French briars” really come in the first instance from Corsica. Perhaps it is because briars are so plentiful that the Corsican peasant smokes a pipe. Nearly everywhere else in the south of Europe the poorest classes of people smoke cigarettes and cigars. In Corsica cigarettes are rarely seen, and cigars are not much more common. The proper native cigar is a strange-looking brown stump, about two inches long and three-quarters of an inch thick. CHAPTER VI BASTIA The third of the Genoese colonies in Corsica, St. Florent, we shall pass over without further mention. The fourth, Bastia, was at one time the capital, and is still the chief commercial town of the island. In its earlier days, when it was only an unimportant fishing village, it was known by another name. But in 1380 a strong fort was built here, and from the word “bastille,” which means a “fort,” the name of Bastia was obtained. Under the Genoese Bastia became a very important place, and contained the residence of the Governor. Although it was strongly fortified, yet it was captured and recaptured more than once. Like Calvi, it is associated with some of the deeds of Nelson. Nelson was very anxious to take Bastia from its French possessors, and he tried hard for a long time to get the commander of the English soldiers to lend him some assistance. But the military leader was timid, and very slow in making up his mind. Nelson, lying off Bastia at the time, wrote to his wife: “If I had carried with me 500 troops, to a certainty I should have stormed the town, and I believe it might have been carried. Armies go so slow that seamen think they never mean to go forward.” At last, however, he had his way, and troops and seamen were landed to attack the fort. After a short but fierce bombardment, the French flag was hauled down and the British colours were run aloft. Nelson says it was “the most glorious sight that an Englishman could experience, and which I believe none but an Englishman could bring about. Four thousand five hundred men laying down their arms to less than 1,000 British soldiers who were serving as marines.” During this attack Nelson was wounded in the back.