32 TRAVELS IN THE EIGHTIES. 



firmly into the mud in the lake, with a line baited 

 with young mullet on which eels are caught. The 

 fish from this lake, and from the still more extensive 

 ones at Oristano, have made the fortunes of numerous 

 individuals. The Sard eel-spearers, in flat-bottomed 

 boats, in their picturesque dresses of black and white, 

 are an interesting sight. 



In both islands a license to carry a gun is legally 

 necessary, though the native sportsmen rarely possess 

 the former. On my first arrival at Ajaccio in Corsica, 

 the landlord of the Hotel de P Europe secured for me 

 the services of a native chasseur ', who carried his gun 

 and my own through the crowded streets in perfect 

 disregard of the officials whose business it is to ask 

 for these permits de chasse, explaining after, with a 

 significant gesture, that no Corsican was ever asked 

 for one. This reckless sportsman was accompanied 

 by a spotted dog, which, during the day, killed a 

 hare, to his master's great delight. Most of the 

 land in the vicinity of Ajaccio is cultivated and 

 nominally preserved, though hardly any game is to be 

 found upon it owing to its being shot over by almost 

 every one possessing a gun. During our wanderings 

 that day, when near the high road, the sudden appear- 

 ance of a mounted official caused my friend to sink 

 down into the high grass, dragging me with him, till 

 the noise of the horse's heels had died away. 



Even Ajaccio is not wholly free from Mediterranean 

 fever, to which the residents especially are more or 

 less subject. During the construction of a portion of 



