On the northern shore of the gulf, are two or three villages, of which the principal is Nonza. This is properly the key of Capo Corso; because from the cape into the interiour parts of the island on the western side, there is only one pass, and that leads through this place. Nonza is a little village, on a high rock, on the extreme pinnacle of which, some hundred fathoms above the gulf, and directly perpendicular, stands a tower or small fortress, which commands the avenue to it. Nonza is literally what Cicero calls Ithaca, 'In asperrimis faxulis tanquam nidulum affixam[1], Stuck on the rudest cliffs like a little nest.' After this, the cape begins, which finishes at Ersa.
I have thus reviewed the Corsican harbours, and travelled round the skirts of the country, along its shores.
Diodorus Siculus describes Corsica as an extensive island, very mountainous, abounding in large forests, and watered with many rivulets: Η δὲ ὅλκ νήσος εὐμεγέθης οὖσα, πολλὴν τῆς χώρας ὀρεινὴν ἔχει πεπυκασμένην δρυμοῖς συνεχέσι καὶ ποταμοῖς διαῤῥεομένην μικροῖς[2].
