hospitality and kindness among the Tempiese, and I have seldom spent a
few days more pleasantly in a provincial town. Daylight, indeed, failed
to improve the internal aspect of the place, but rather disclosed the
filth of the narrow streets, without entirely dissipating the gloom shed
upon them from the dusky granite of which the buildings are constructed,
and the heavy wooden balconies protruding over the thoroughfares. The
houses have, however, a substantial air, some of them are stuccoed, and
Tempio can even boast its palaces of an ancient nobility, with coats of
arms sculptured in white marble over the entrances. It possesses not
less than thirteen churches, of which the collegiate and cathedral
church of St. Peter is the only one worth notice,—a large and lofty
building of a mixture of styles, with some tawdry ornaments, but a
handsome high altar and well carved oak stalls in the choir. The
foundation consists of a dean and twelve canons, with eighteen other
inferior clergy. Since 1839 it has ranked as a cathedral, Tempio having
been erected into a see united with those of Cività and Ampurias, and
the bishop residing here six months of the year. There is a massive old
nunnery, now, I believe, suppressed, in the centre of the place, and
outside the town a reformatory for the confinement of criminals
sentenced to secondary punishment, a large building with a handsome
elevation.
A finer position for a large city, of greater importance than Tempio,
can scarcely be imagined. Placed on a gentle swell of the wide
undulating plain already mentioned—the Gemini plain,—a plateau of nearly
2000 feet above the level of the sea, it stands midway between two grand
mountain ranges, the Limbara stretching the bold outlines of its massive
forms in a course south of the town, its summit rising to 4396 feet;
and, to the north-east, a chain not quite so elevated, but of an equally
wild and irregular formation, and presenting to the eye, when viewed
from Tempio, even a more rugged and serrated ridge. The defiles of this
chain we passed in approaching Tempio; those of the Limbara were to be
penetrated in our progress southward.
Its high situation and exposure render Tempio healthy, and it is even
said to be cold in winter, of which we found no symptoms in the month of
November, when Limbara is supposed to assume its diadem of snow,
retaining it till April.
[Illustration: THE LIMBARA, FROM TEMPIO.]
I hardly recollect anything finer of its kind than the panoramic view of
the country between Tempio and the mountains on either side, as seen
from its terraces. It combined great breadth, striking contrasts, and a
most harmonious blending of colour. For a wide circuit round the town,
gardens, orchards, vineyards, and a variety of small inclosures,
occupying the slopes and hollows of the undulating surface, and well
massed, give an idea of fertility one should not expect at this
elevation. Here and there, a single round-topped pine, or a group of
such pines, crowns a knoll, and breaks the flowing outlines. The open
pastoral country beyond is linked to this cultivated zone by detached
masses of copse and woods of cork and ilex, extending to the base of the
mountains.
The Tempiese are a hardy and industrious people, exhibiting their spirit
of activity in the careful cultivation about the town and the
occupations of vast numbers of the population as shepherds,
_cavallanti_, or _viandanti_. The dull town also shows some signs of
life by a considerable trade in the country produce of cheese, fruits,
hams, bacon, &c. They manufacture here the best guns in Sardinia, and
know how to use them; being capital sportsmen, _cacciatori_, as well as
formidable enemies in the vindictive feuds for which they have been
celebrated, and not yet entirely extinct. A short time ago, two factions
fought in the streets, and, though the bloody strife was quelled, they
are said still to eye each other askance. Returning one night from the
Casino, in company of the Commandant, he stopped on the piazza in front
of the cathedral and related to us the circumstances of an assassination
perpetrated a short time before on the very steps of the church.
The office of viceroy of Sardinia having been abolished, each of the
eleven provinces into which the island is divided, the principal being
Cagliari, Oristano, Sassari, and Tempio including the whole of Gallura,
is administered by an _Intendente_, who communicates directly with the
Ministers at Turin. The military districts correspond with the civil
divisions of the island. We found two companies of the line, and a squad
of _carabinieri_, mounted gendarmes, stationed at Tempio. Sardinia
returns twenty-four members to the national parliament at Turin. The
ecclesiastical jurisdiction is administered by three archbishops,
filling the sees of Cagliari, Sassari, and Oristano, and eight bishops,
seated in the other principal cities.
High official appointments at Tempio are not very enviable posts;
governors and commandants not being exempt from the summary vengeance,
for real or supposed wrongs, at which the Sardes are so apt. The
Commandant told us that his immediate predecessor had received one of
the death-warnings which precede the fatal stroke: I believe he was soon
afterwards removed. For himself, his successor said, he took no
precautions, did his duty, and braved the consequences. A few years
before, the Governor, having compromised himself by acts of injustice,
was assassinated, after receiving one of these “death-warnings” peculiar
to Sardinia. “During the night he heard a pane of glass crack, and on
examining it in the morning he found the fatal bullet on the floor. The
custom of the country is that, whenever the _vendetta alla morte_,
revenge even to death, is to be carried out, the party avenging himself
shall give his adversary timely notice by throwing a bullet into his
window, in order that he may either make immediate compensation for the
injury or prepare himself for death. The Governor for some time used
every caution as to when and where he went, but at length disregarded
the warning, imagining he was safe. The assassin, however, had watched
him with an eagle's eye, and he fell in a moment he least expected.
Report further says,” observes Mr. Tyndale, in whose words we relate the
occurrence, “that he is not the only Governor of Gallura to whom this
summary mode of obtaining justice, or inflicting vengeance, has been
intimated.”
The present Intendente of Tempio, the Marchese Clavarino, though he only
entered on his office in the month of April before our visit, had
already done much by his firm and enlightened administration to restore
order and confidence. He had been able to collect the arrears of taxes,
and, by impartial justice between all factions, had removed every
pretence for a resort to deeds of violence for the redress of injuries.
“The Governor's palace, establishment, and retinue,” observes Mr.
Tyndale, “consist of three rooms on a second story, a female servant,
and a sentry at the door.” Things were little changed in 1853, but, in
the absence of all state, we were impressed on our first visit of
ceremony that the government of a turbulent province could not have been
intrusted to better hands. In the antechamber we found a priest waiting,
as it struck me from his deportment, to prefer his suit with “bated
breath,” and the feeling that the wings of the priesthood are now
clipped in the Sardinian states. The Marquis conversed with frankness on
his own position and the state of the island. He had been in London at
the time of the “Great Exhibition,” and his views of the English
alliance, and of politics generally, were just such as might be expected
from an enlightened Sardinian. A worthy coadjutor to such statesmen as
D'Azeglio and Cavour, I would venture to predict that the Intendente of
Tempio will ere long be called to fill a higher post.
Our rambles in the environs of Tempio were very pleasant. It was the
season of the vintage, late here; and great numbers of the people were
busily employed in the vineyards and the “lodges”[47] attached to them.
Observing smoke issuing from most of these, we learned, in answer to our
inquiries, that a portion of boiled lees is added in the manufacture of
wine, to insure its keeping, the grapes not sufficiently ripening in
consequence of the coldness of the climate. We found no such fault with
those we tasted. A very considerable extent of surface is planted with
vines, divided, however, into small vineyards. At the entrance of each
stands an arched gateway, generally a solid structure of granite, with
more or less architectural pretensions, and a date and initials carved
in stone, commemorative, no doubt, of the planting of so cherished a
family inheritance. One of these is represented in the foreground of the
accompanying plate.
There are several fountains in the neighbourhood of Tempio, the waters
of which are deliciously cool and pure. One of them, on the road beyond
the Commandant's house, gushes out of the rock, under shade of some fine
Babylonian willows. Sheltered by these in the heat of noon, and in still
greater numbers at eventide, one saw the damsels of Tempio resort with
their pitchers, as in ancient times Abraham's steward, in his journey to
Mesopotamia, stood at the well of Nahor, when the daughters of the men
of the city came out with their pitchers[48]; as Saul, passing through
Mount Ephraim and ascending the hill of Zuph, met the maidens going out
to draw water[49]; or as the spies of Ulysses fell in with the daughter
of Antiphates at the well of Artacia.[50] Sardinia abounds with such
mementos of primitive times.
The Tempiese women have the singular habit of raising the hinder part of
the upper petticoat, the _suncurinu_, when they go abroad, and bringing
it over the head and shoulders, so as to form a sort of hood. So far
from this fashion giving them, as might be supposed, a _dowdy_
appearance, it is not inelegant when the garment is gracefully arranged.
It has generally broad stripes, and is often of silk or a fine material.
The under-petticoat, of cloth, is either of a bright colour, or dark
with a bright-coloured border. Both of them are worn very full. The
jacket is of scarlet, blue, or green velvet, fitting very tightly to tho
figure, the edges having a border of a different colour, and sometimes
brocaded. The simple head-dress consists of a gaily-coloured kerchief
wound round the head, and tied in knots before and behind.
We expected to get some shooting in the woods at the foot of the
Limbara, as they abound with wild hogs, _cingale_, and deer, _capreoli_,
a sort of roebuck. Our letters of introduction to some gentlemen of
Tempio failed of assisting us. They were from home, probably engaged in
the vintage. But the Sardes of all ranks are determined sportsmen,
_cacciatori_, and we did not despair, though hunting excursions in the
island require, as we shall find, a certain organisation. In our dilemma
we made the acquaintance—of all people in the world—of a little barber,
who appeared deeply versed in the politics of the place, and undertook
to arrange the desired _chasse_ with the Tempiese hunters. We were to
meet him the same evening, at a low _caffè_, where he was to introduce
us to the leaders of the band. A singular conference it was, that
meeting of ourselves, men of the north, with the wild _chasseurs_ of the
Gallura, between whom there was nothing in common but enthusiastic love
of the field and the mountain.
The low vault of the _Caffè de la Costituzione_ was lighted by a single
lamp, by whose glimmerings we dimly discerned, amidst wreaths of
tobacco-smoke, the grim features of the men with whom we had to do. They
were honest enough, no doubt, according to Sarde notions of honour, and
received us with great cordiality; but the consultation between
themselves was carried on in a patois quite unintelligible, except that
we gathered that there were some difficulties in the way.
_La caccia di cingale_, a boar-hunt in Sardinia, requires a number of
hunters, besides those who beat the woods to rouse the game; and,
whether there were any feuds to be stifled, any jealousies to be
allayed, which, with armed men in that state of society, might endanger
the peace, the difficulties appeared serious. Whatever they were, our
_Barbière di Seviglia_, who, to use a familiar phrase, seemed up to
everything, and conducted the treaty on our part, did not think proper
to disclose them. One thing, however, we soon learned, that the services
of these men were not to be hired; their ruling passion for the chase
and the national principle of hospitality were incentives enough to the
proposed expedition. We were also informed that there were other parties
to be consulted, and the meeting was adjourned to the following day.
Very different was the scene at the Casino to which we were introduced
by the Commandant shortly after our consultation with the hunters. At
the Casino there is a _réunion_ of the best society in Tempio every
evening. We found good rooms, well lighted, with coffee and refreshments
nicely served. There were newspapers, and a small collection of
books,—the standard works of Italian writers, with some French. The
society was unexpectedly good for such a place as Tempio, consisting,
besides the officers of the garrison, of many of the resident nobles and
gentry. We spent some pleasant hours there, finding among the members
well-informed and intelligent persons. Politics were freely discussed,
liberal opinions prevailing even to the degree of such ultra-liberalism
as might have better suited the class of persons we met at the _Caffè de
la Costituzione_, if politics are discussed there also. No doubt they
are, the Tempiese, like the rest of the islanders, being a shrewd race,
devotedly patriotic, and jealous of their independence.
We could not, as already hinted, reckon Madame Rosalie's _ménage_ among
the pleasant things that reconciled us to a longer stay than we intended
in the rude capital of Gallura; but, at least, she supplied us in her
own person with a fund of amusement. My companion, who had the happy
gift for a traveller of being almost omnivorous, used to laugh heartily
at my vain attempts to extract something edible from the meagre _carte_
offered by Madame. Her replies parrying my demands, and uttered with
amazing volubility, in shrill tones and a patois almost unintelligible,
invariably ended to this effect:—“Signore, my house is not a locanda,
though I have opened my doors to accommodate you.” It was a species of
hospitality that cost us dear. Madame's airs of gentility, though very
amusing, were of course treated with due respect. But what gave zest to
my friend's mirth, and, with the hopeless prospect of dinner, produced
in me a slight irritation, sometimes, perhaps, ill concealed, was Madame
Rosalie's evolutions on these occasions. I fancy, now, that I see her
slight figure skipping into the room, dancing a jig round the table,
never at rest, screeching all the while at the highest pitch of her
voice, with every limb in motion, as if she had St. Vitus's dance, or,
as they say, went on wires. I can only compare the play of her limbs to
that of one of those children's puppets of which all the limbs—head,
legs, and arms—are set in motion by pulling a string.
Nothing detained us at Tempio but the proposed boar-hunt. We attended a
second meeting of the principal hunters, committing ourselves
unreservedly to their disposal, and, after some further consultation,
among themselves, our little barber had the glory of bringing the
negotiations to a successful issue. All the difficulties, whatever they
were, had been removed, and it was settled that the affair should come
off on the morrow.
Accordingly, at an early hour, there was an unusual stir in the dull
streets of Tempio, snapping of guns, trampling of horses, and barking of
dogs. On our joining the party at the rendezvous in front of the
_caffè_, we found some twenty horsemen, carrying guns,—rough and ready
fellows, looking as if a dash into the forest, whether against hogs or
gendarmes, would equally suit them. We were followed by a rabble on
foot, attended by dogs of a variety of species, some of them strong and
fierce. After winding through the narrow lanes among the vineyards, our
cavalcade was joined by one of the gentlemen on whom we had called with
a letter of introduction, and his son, who mixed freely with our rank
and file. There is a happy fellowship in field sports which, to a great
degree, levels for the time distinctions of rank; and this we found
particularly in Sardinia, where all classes are so devoted to these
sports, and they are of a character requiring extended and rather
promiscuous operations.
Our irregular cavalry shaped their march in broken order towards a spur
of the mountains, covered with dense thickets, at the foot of the Punta
Balestiere, the highest point of the Limbara. After clearing the
inclosures our track led us over the wide undulating plain already
described, interspersed with scattered thickets, but with few signs of
cultivation. On approaching the mountains there were indications giving
promise of sport in patches of soil grubbed up by the wild hogs in
search for the root of the Asphodel, which they greedily devour. This
handsome plant springs from a bunch of long fibrous bulbs, something
like the Dahlia, throwing up straight stems two or three feet high, with
numerous angular filiformed leaves and yellow flowers.[51] It grows
freely on all the wastes throughout the island. The root contains so
large a portion of saccharine matter, and is so plentiful, that while we
were in Sardinia a Frenchman was forming a company for distilling
alcohol from it on an extensive scale. A distillery was to be
established at Sassari, with moveable stills throughout the island,
wherever the bulbs could be most easily procured. The projector gave us
a sample-bottle of the alcohol, a strong and purely tasteless spirit. I
heard afterwards that the speculation did not succeed. There is fine
feeding for the wild hogs, in season, on the acorns of the vast cork and
other oak woods in the interior of the island, where we afterwards
hunted them. They commit great ravages in the cultivated grounds. One
was shot in the vineyards skirting the town during our stay at Tempio.
Approaching the mountains we threw off our attendants on foot, with
their mongrel pack, whose business it was to scale the wooded ridge from
behind, and beat the thickets for the game. The rest of our party soon
afterwards struck up a valley parallel with the ridge, and facing the
mountain side, which rose above it a vast amphitheatre of hanging woods,
shelving and precipitous cliffs, rocks and pinnacles,—so glorious a
spectacle that it riveted my attention, and almost drew it off from the
work before us. But now our leaders proceeded to “tell off” the party,
stationing them singly at distances of about seventy or eighty paces
along the bottom of the valley, within gunshot of the verge of the wood,
which sloped to it. In this open order the line extended more than half
a mile. The horses were tethered in the rear.
It was my lot to be posted near the extreme right on a detached rock,
slightly elevated, so as to command the ground. I could just distinguish
my neighbours on either hand, “low down in the broom,” the valley being
rather thickly covered with brakes of underwood. The instructions for my
noviciate in boar-hunting were,—not to quit my post, and to maintain
strict silence; injunctions not likely to be disregarded, as a breach of
the former might have exposed me to be winged, in mistake for a pig
among the rustling bushes, considering that there were dead shots on
either flank, with two or three balls in their barrels. As to the other
word of order, silence, the injunction was needless, for the ear of my
nearest neighbour could only have been reached by shouts which might
scare the game, and prevent their breaking cover, and that I was not
quite novice enough to risk.
So I sat down on the rock, with my gun across my knees, watching the
play of light and shade on the mountain sides as the clouds flitted
round them. But this did not last long, for the line of _vedettes_ could
have been scarcely formed when the shouts of the party who had now
gained the heights, and were beating the woods in face of our position,
summoned the hunters in the valley beneath to be on the alert. The
interval of suspense and silence being now broken, the scene became very
exciting. The dogs in the wood gave tongue, and the short and snapping
bark was shortly followed by a full burst, which told that the game was
on foot. Then, no doubt, every gun was at full cock, every eye intently
watching the avenues in the thickets through which boar or deer, driven
from the woods, might cross the valley. The shouts and cries sounded
nearer and nearer, till at length a shot from the extreme left announced
that some game had been marked as it broke cover. A dropping fire now
extended at intervals along the line, as cingale or capreole burst from
the thickets. Several fell to the guns of the party, some escaped;
others, wounded, were pursued by the dogs to the rear of the position,
with a rush of some of the hunters on their trail.
The thickets having been completely swept, the line was now broken, and
the party remounting their horses bore their trophies to a woody glen,
where we dined, the spot chosen being the grassy bank of a little
rivulet. Arms were piled; some gathered wood and lighted fires, others
fetched water from the brook, and the more handy opened the baskets of
provisions we had brought from Tempio and spread them on the grass. A
wild boar was cut open, and, in Homeric style, the choicest portions of
the intestines were torn out, and, broiled on wooden skewers, offered to
the hunting-knives of the guests. The wine cup went round, and the
hunters' feast was seasoned with rude merriment.
“When they had eaten and drank enough,”[52] the party mounted their
horses and returned to Tempio, carrying the game across their
saddle-bows. The cavalcade was as joyous as the feast. Jumping from
their horses when they got among the vineyards, some dashed over the
fences and brought away large bunches of grapes. And so we entered the
city in triumph. In the course of the evening the skin of the finest
wild boar was sent to our quarters as a trophy of our share in the work
of the day, with a joint of the meat. Madame Rosalie's _cuisine_ failed
to do it justice; but, when well cooked, wild boar is excellent eating.
This mode of hunting, generally practised by the Sardes, resembles the
_battue_ of wolves and leopards at which I have assisted in South
Africa, where the Boers, assembling in numbers, make an onslaught on the
ravagers of their flocks; having the dens and thickets driven, and
stationing themselves on the outskirts with their long roers to shoot
down the vermin as they issue forth. Such meetings are jovial, and the
sport is exciting, but not to be compared, I think, to deer-stalking or
fox-hunting, to say nothing of a foray against lions and tigers.
CHAP. XXIX.
_Leave Tempio.—Sunrise.—Light Wreaths of Mist across the
Valley.—A Pass of the Limbara.—View from the Summit.—Dense
Vapour over the Plain beneath.—The Lowlands unhealthy.—The
deadly Intempérie.—It recently carried off an English
Traveller.—Descend a romantic Glen to the Level of the
Campidano.—Its peculiar Character.—Gallop over it.—Reach
Ozieri._