a decayed market-town of Wiltshire, 97 miles from London. It is well built, in a healthy situation, and consists of one long street, near the centre of which is a handsome market-house. Some broad cloths are still made at Corsham, but the manufactures of the town have greatly declined of late years. Pop. of parish (1851) 3172.

CORRICA (in Greek Κόρικος, in Latin Corsus and CORSCA, in French Corse), a large island in the Mediterranean, 58 miles distant from Italy, and about 180 from France, lies between N. Lat. 41.20. and 43.; and E. Long. 8.30. and 9.30. At its southern extremity it is separated from the island of Sardinia by the Fossa or Strait of Bonifacio. The extreme length of the island is 116 miles, its greatest breadth 52 miles. The greater part of the surface of Corsica is occupied by ranges of lofty and rugged mountains, diverging in all directions from the central ridge, the Mons Aureus or Golden Mount of the ancients, the Monte Rotondo of modern times. On the western and southern sides of the island these spurs either terminate abruptly on the shore, or run out to a great distance into the sea, forming bays and gulfs, some of which afford excellent harbours. On the eastern side, there intervenes between the mountains and the sea a considerable tract of low country, which in certain seasons of the year is extremely unhealthy from the presence of malaria. The central ridge of the Mons Aureus, which is the highest elevation in the island, attains a height of 9068 feet, and is covered with snow during the greater part of the year. In this mountain the two largest rivers of the island have their source,—the Rhotanus, now called the Tavignano, and the Tavola or Taiola, the modern Golo. These rivers have both an easterly course; and fall into the sea, the former near the ruins of the ancient Aleria, and the latter near those of Mariana. The other rivers of the island are comparatively unimportant. Of these the chief are the Liamone (the ancient Circidius), the Talava, Gravone, Prunelli and Vallinco, which all flow into the sea on the western side of the island. From the rugged and indented outline of the coast there is an unusually great number of bays and harbours, which afford admirable facilities for commerce, but are rendered almost useless from the difficulty of communication with the interior. Of the former the most important on the western side of the island are Porto, Sagone, Ajaccio, and Propriano; of the latter, St Florent, Ile Rousse, Calvi, and Ajaccio. On the eastern side, which is much less rugged and broken, the only harbours worth mentioning are Bastia and Porto Vecchio (the Portus Syracusanus of the ancients), and the only gulf that of Santa Manza. Near the northern extremity of the island is the large inlet of Bigugli. At the extreme south are the harbour and town of Bonifacio, giving name to the strait which separates Corsica from Sardinia.

Of the internal resources of the island, the most important consist of those vast forests that cover the summits of the hills, and which furnished timber for the navies of antiquity. Partly, however, from the indolence of the inhabitants and partly from the difficulties of land carriage, this source of wealth is comparatively neglected. The mountain pastures are, however, made available for the rearing of cattle, horses, asses, and mules. Sheep of a peculiar black breed with four and sometimes six horns, as well as goats and pigs, abound in the island. Wild animals, birds, and reptiles infest the uncultivated districts, which are generally overgrown with a thick tangled underwood, consisting of arbutus, myrtle, thorn, laurel, broom, and other shrubs, and called by the natives maguis. This jungle is easily cleared off by burning, and the vegetable matter furnishes an excellent manure. Throughout the island the growth of the cereal crops is generally abandoned for the easier cultivation of the olive and vine. Chestnuts constitute an important article of food, but wheat, maize, and barley are also cultivated. The backward state of agriculture is caused principally by the minute subdivision of the land, a system which perpetuates the social evils of hereditary feuds and jealousies, by which Corsica has long been distracted. A large proportion of the exports of the island consists of honey and wax, which are procured from the forests. The former of these has a somewhat bitter flavour, from the yew and box trees on which the bees feed. The mineral wealth of Corsica is considerable, but altogether undeveloped. Iron, lead, marble, and abundance of granite of various hues, may be procured. Beyond the making of oil, soap, bricks, and coarse glass, the Corsicans are entirely destitute of manufacturing industry, and their commerce consists for the most part of the spontaneous produce of the island. The fisheries of tunny, pilchard, and anchovy are extensively prosecuted for the supply of the Italian markets; but comparatively few of the native Corsicans are engaged in this department of industry. Corsica is divided into five arrondissements, which are subdivided and peopled as follows:

| Arrondissements | Cantons | Communes | Population (1851) | |-----------------|---------|----------|------------------| | 1. Ajaccio | | | | | 2. Sartene | | | | | 3. Bastia | | | | | 4. Calvi | | | | | 5. Corte | | | |

Total: 61 355 235,251

It is not clearly known who the original inhabitants of Corsica were. The ancients believed them to have sprung from some Ligurian traders who had sailed down to the coast in quest of wood or water, and who, finding the soil fertile and the climate agreeable, established themselves on the island. At an early period they seem to have had commercial transactions with the Spaniards, whose dress they adopted, and whose manners and customs they introduced into Corsica. From this circumstance it has been conjectured, though on insufficient grounds, that the original settlers were in part at least of Spanish extraction. The Phocaeani of Ionia were the first civilized people that established settlements in Corsica. About the year 560 B.C. they landed for the first time on the island, and founded the city of Aleria, which after a short occupation they were compelled to abandon. After an interval of a few years they again returned, rebuilt Aleria, which they fortified, and endeavoured to maintain their ground against the natives. After a struggle of some years they were again compelled to leave the island. The next foreign occupants of Corsica were the Tuscans, who founded the city of Nicea, and reduced to subjection the natives of the adjoining country. They in their turn were compelled to give way before the growing maritime power of the Carthaginians, whose jurisdiction in the island was unquestioned till the beginning of the first Punic war. On that occasion the Romans sent out a fleet, drove the Carthaginians from the island, and exacted at least a nominal homage from the native population. They did not, however, fully establish their power in the island till about thirty years later, and even then re- bellions and revolts were of yearly occurrence. The first step made towards the real subjugation of the island was the establishment of the two colonies on its eastern coast—that of Aleria by Sulla, and that of Mariana by Marius. Had the Roman conquest been systematically prosecuted, there can be no doubt that the whole island would ultimately have owned their dominion. But in the time of the emperors the island had fallen into dispute among the Romans, by whom it was used chiefly as a place of banishment for political offenders. One of the most distinguished of these sufferers was the younger Seneca, who spent eight years of his life in exile on the island, and was only recalled at length (A.D. 49) through the influence of Agrippina, who had at that date just married her uncle the Emperor Claudius.

On the downfall of the Roman empire in the West, Corsica passed into the hands of the Vandals. These barbarians were driven out by Belisarius, but after the death of that illustrious general, A.D. 565, the restless hordes of Totila once more regained possession of the island. Since that period it has successively owned the dominion of the Goths, the Saracens, the Pisans, and the Genoese. It was ceded by the Genoese to the French in 1768; and for a few years after the French Revolution of 1793 it was placed under the protection of Britain. Since 1814, however, it has been in undisturbed possession of the French; and under Napoleon III, a vigorous system of internal government has been introduced into the island. Corsica is famous as the birth-place of Pascal Paoli and Napoleon.