d me with great
politeness. I found here another provincial magistracy. Before supper,
Signor Peraldi and a young Abbe of Ajaccio entertained me with some airs
on a violin. After they had shewn me their taste in fine improved
musick, they gave me some original Corsican airs, and at my desire, they
brought up four of the guards of the magistracy, and made them shew me a
Corsican dance. It was truly savage. They thumped with their heels,
sprung upon their toes, brandished their arms, wheeled and leaped with
the most violent gesticulations. It gave me the idea of an admirable war
dance.

During this journey I had very bad weather. I cannot forget the worthy
rectour of Cuttoli, whose house afforded me a hospitable retreat, when
wet to the skin, and quite overcome by the severity of the storm, which
my sickness made me little able to resist. He was directly such a
venerable hermit as we read of in the old romances. His figure and
manner interested me at first sight. I found he was a man well respected
in the island, and that the General did him the honour to correspond
with him. He gave me a simple collation of eggs, chestnuts and wine,
and was very liberal of his ham and other more substantial victuals to
my servant. The honest Swiss was by this time very well pleased to have
his face turned towards the continent. He was heartily tired of seeing
foreign parts, and meeting with scanty meals and hard beds, in an island
which he could not comprehend the pleasure of visiting. He said to me,
"Si J' etois encore une fois retourne a mon pais parmi ces montagnes de
Suisse dont monsieur fait tant des plaisanteries, Je verrai qui
m'engagera a les quitter. If I were once more at home in my own country,
among those mountains of Switzerland, on which you have had so many
jokes, I will see who shall prevail with me to quit them."

The General, out of his great politeness, would not allow me to travel
without a couple of chosen guards to attend me in case of any accidents.
I made them my companions, to relieve the tediousness of my journey. One
of them called Ambrosio, was a strange iron-coloured fearless creature.
He had been much in war; careless of wounds, he was cooly intent on
destroying the enemy. He told me, as a good anecdote, that having been
so lucky as to get a view of two Genoese exactly in a line, he took his
aim, and shot them both through the head at once. He talked of this just
as one would talk of shooting a couple of cr