[40] In olden times the _caporals_ were the leaders chosen by the Corsican communes when they rebelled against the feudal lords. To-day the name is sometimes given to a man who, by reason of his property, his alliances, and his clientage, exerts a certain influence and acts as a sort of magistrate in a _pieve_ or a canton. The Corsicans, by an ancient custom, divide themselves into _gentlemen_ (some of whom are _magnificoes_, others _signori_), _caporali_, _citizens_, _plebeians_, and _foreigners_. [41] The word is in this instance synonymous with outlaw. [42] A corps levied within a few years by the government and employed on police duty, concurrently with the gendarmerie. [43] The uniform of the voltigeurs consisted of a brown coat with a yellow collar. [44] A leather girdle used as cartridge-box and as wallet. The Venus of Ille Ἰλεὼς ἣν δ' ἐγὼ, ἔστω ὁ ἀνδρίας Καὶ ἤπιος, οὔτως ἀνδρεῖος ὢν. ΛΟΥΚΙΑΝΟΥ ΦΙΛΟΨΕΥΔΗΣ. I was descending the last slope of Canigou, and, although the sun had already set, I could distinguish in the plain below the houses of the little town of Ille, for which I was bound. “You know,” I said to the Catalan who had been acting as my guide since the preceding day, “you know, doubtless, where Monsieur de Peyrehorade lives?” “Do I know!” he cried; “why, I know his house as well as I do my own; and if it wasn’t so dark, I’d show it to you. It’s the finest house in Ille. He has money, you know, has Monsieur de Peyrehorade; and his son is going to marry a girl that’s richer than himself.” “Is the marriage to take place soon?” I asked. “Soon! It may be that the fiddles are already ordered for the wedding. To-night, perhaps, or to-morrow, or the day after, for all I know! It’s to be at Puygarrig; for it’s Mademoiselle de Puygarrig that the young gentleman is going to marry.” I had a letter of introduction to M. de Peyrehorade from my friend M. de P. He was, so my friend had told me, a very learned antiquarian, and good-natured and obliging to the last degree. He would take pleasure in showing me all the ruins within a radius of ten leagues. Now, I relied upon him to accompany me about the country near Ille, which I knew to be rich in monuments of ancient times and of the Middle Ages. This marriage, of which I now heard for the first time, might upset all my plans. “I shall be an interloper,” I said to myself. But I was expected; as my arrival had been announced by M. de P., I must needs present myself. “I’ll bet you, monsieur,” said my guide, as we reached the foot of the mountain, “I’ll bet you a cigar that I can guess what you are going to do at Monsieur de Peyrehorade’s.” “Why, that is not very hard to guess,” I replied, offering him a cigar. “At this time of day, when one has walked six leagues over Canigou, the most urgent business is supper.”