$2 TRAVELS IN t'PPLR 



On the 14th the wind having become unfavour- 

 able, we plied to windward between Corsica and 

 the isle of Elba, one of the possessions of the 

 king of Naples. It contains two good harbours 

 and quarries of marble ; but it is particularly fa- 

 mous for its iron mines, and its forges, in which 

 the manufacture of that mineral is conducted 

 through a process which has been described by 

 Tron^on-du-Coudrai, a captain of artillery. This 

 process is more economical, more expeditious, and 

 at the same time more beneficial than that of the 

 furnaces generally employed for smelting in the 

 rest of Europe ; and it produces iron equivalent 

 to the best Swedish, as to toughness and ductility; 

 and more in quantity than from the ordinary 

 forges, without any increase of expense. The 

 mines of iron, and those of loadstone, with which 

 the isle of Elba is impregnated, render the ap- 

 proach to it perceptible by navigators, from the 

 variation the compass there undergoes. 



That part of the coast of Corsica comprehended 

 between cape Corse and Bastia, is of a similar na- 

 ture with that which is opposite to it, and of which 

 I have made mention : in other words, it is formed 

 of steep mountains, some of which, those of greatest 

 elevation, were still covered with snow. The city 

 of Bastia presented to us an agreeable appearance ; 

 it is situated on the declivity of a hill: its port 



cannot 



