512 (viâ Genoa 615) M. STEAMBOAT LINES. =1.= _Orient Royal Mail_
fortnightly, on the way from London to Port Said.—=2.= _North German
Lloyd_, for Naples and Alexandria, Wed. afternoon, in 33 hrs. (100 or
70 marks); for Genoa, Naples, Catania, Piræus, Smyrna, Constantinople
(Odessa, Batum) every other Frid. afternoon, in 3 days (80 or 56
marks).—=3.= _German East African_, to Naples (and Port Said) every
third Sat. in 2 days, returning from Naples every third Wed. (80 or 60
marks).—=4.= _Messageries Maritimes_, to Naples (Piræus, Smyrna,
Constantinople, Beirut, RR. 77, 80, 75) every second Thurs. (100 or 70
fr.).—=5.= _Chargeurs Réunis_ (Tour du Monde), twice quarterly vîa
Genoa to Naples (Colombo, E. Asia, San Francisco, etc.).—=6.=
_Hungarian Adria Co._, cargo-boats, Sun. forenoon, vîa Genoa to Naples
in 4 days (Palermo, Malta); also Wed. afternoon to Nice, Genoa, and
Naples in 4½ days (Palermo, Messina); fare, without food, 42 fr.—The
steamers of the P. & O. and Rotterdam Lloyd companies go from
Marseilles to Port Said direct.
_Marseilles_, and departure from its harbour, see p. 119.
The steamers run to the E.S.E., between _Cap Croisette_ and the _Ile du
Planier_ (p. 119), past the _Ile Maire_, _Ile Jarros_, and _Ile Rio_ to
the Straits of Bonifacio. Fine view of the richly varied coast of
Provence, as far as the peninsula of _Cape Sicié_, with the bays of
_Cassis_ and _La Ciotat_, the latter of which is overlooked by the rock
called the _Bec de l’Aigle_. In the background, beyond the bare
limestone rocks on the coast, appears the _Chaîne de la Ste. Baume_
(3786 ft.), famed for its ancient forest, the property of the state.
Beyond Cape Sicié and the _Bay of Toulon_, we pass the steep rocky S.
coast of _Porquerolles_ (lighthouse), the largest and westmost of the
_Iles d’Hyères_, the ancient _Stoechades Insulae_.
After a sail of several hours more _Corsica_ (p. 143), with its high
mountains, is sighted towards the E. In the distance lies the _Bay of
Ajaccio_, where at night the lights on the _Iles Sanguinaires_ may be
descried. We next pass the _Gulf of Valinco_, and at _Cape Aquila_ or
_Senetosa_ (lighthouse) we approach the S.W. coast of Corsica, fringed
with numerous bays and creeks. Off the rocks called _Les Moines_
(_Monaci_) we sight, to the left, the _Montagne de Cagna_ (4518 ft.),
which is usually covered with snow in winter.
The passage of the *_Straits of Bonifacio_, between Corsica and
_Sardinia_, is very beautiful when the light is favourable. At the
narrowest part, between _Cape Pertusato_ and _Punta del Falcone_, they
are 7 M. wide. Between the lighthouses of _Capo di Feno_ and Capo
Pertusato, amid fissured limestone rocks honeycombed with caverns, rises
a headland crowned with the grey old Genoese citadel and the white
houses of _Bonifacio_. Opposite to it, on the N. coast of Sardinia, is
the peninsula of _Capo Testa_, and near the Punta del Falcone lies the
narrow _Bay of Longo Sardo_, with the little port of _Santa Teresa di
Gallura_. Beyond the town rise the hills of the _Gallura_ in terraces,
stretching far away to the _Monti di Limbara_ (4469 ft.). On the S.E.
the horizon is bounded by a girdle of granitic islands and rocks, the
_Insulae Cuniculariae_ (‘rabbit-islands’) of Pliny, which imperil
navigation, especially as they are washed with a strong current from the
Tyrrhenian Sea.
The steamers pass through the _Bocca Grande_, between the lighthouses on
the French island of _Lavezzi_ and the Italian _Isola dei Razzoli_. To
the right, beyond the islets of _Santa Maria_ and _Isola dei Budelli_,
appears the island of _Maddalena_, on which rise a signalling station
and the fort of _Guardia Vecchia_ (545 ft.). This island, the largest of
the group, is connected with its neighbours _Santo Stefano_ and
_Caprera_ (696 ft.; once the residence of Garibaldi; d. 1882) by roads
built on embankments, and has been converted into one of the strongest
fortresses on the Mediterranean in emulation of Porto Vecchio in Corsica
and of Bizerta. Beyond Caprera, and adjoining the deeply indented _Bay
of Arsachena_, appears the reddish _Capo di Ferro_, the N.W. point of
Sardinia.
We now steer across the _Tyrrhenian Sea_ to the E.S.E. towards the
_Ponza Islands_ (p. xxxi). We first pass the volcanic N.W. group,
_Palmarola_ (the ancient _Palmaria_), _Ponza_ (929 ft.; _Pontiae_, once
a Roman colony), with the lighthouse of _Punta della Guardia_, and
_Zannone_ (_Sinonia_). Beyond _La Botte_, a rock dreaded by sailors,
begins the S.E. group, first _Ventotene_, the well-known _Pandateria_ of
the Romans, to which Julia, Agrippina, and Octavia were banished, and
then the islet of _Santo Stefano_ (lighthouse).
In the distance appear the _Monte Epomeo_ and the lighthouse on the
_Punta Imperatore_ in the island of _Ischia_ (p. 118). Approach to the
_Bay of Naples_, see p. 135.
From Naples to _Alexandria_ and _Port Said_, see R. 67; to _Athens_
(_Smyrna_, and _Constantinople_), see R. 77.