A System of Geography, Popular and Scientific

their worldly power in the donation of the Frankish kings. It was a bold and masterly piece of policy in the Popes to bestow the Sicilian crown in fief upon the Normans in order to attach them to the interests of the see of Rome, and to establish the system of a clerical hierarchy.

Parma and Piacenza.] The towns and dominions of Parma and Piacenza were, in 1545, raised to the rank of a duchy by Pope Paul III., of the Farnese family, and given to his natural son, Peter Celoys Farnese, in whose family they remained till its extinction.

Malta.] The island of Malta, after having passed consecutively into the hands of the Eastrogoths, Greeks, Arabs, and Normans, and after having been united with Sicily, was in 1530 given by Charles V. to the knights of St John.

This brief sketch of the general history of Italy will serve as an introduction to the respective historical chapters which we intend to devote to each of the Italian States.

CHAP. II.-PHYSICAL FEATURES-CLIMATE-SOIL AND PRODUCTIONS-MANUFACTURES AND COMMERCE.

Of all European countries Italy is represented as affording the greatest beauties of landscape, and exhibiting in the greatest perfection that variety of surface in which the chief charm of prospect consists, while the soil is covered with a luxuriant growth of the most beautiful plants, and the uncommon serenity of the atmosphere heightens the impression excited by the whole. To a classical scholar the scenery of this country is rendered more exquisitely interesting in the survey of those streams and mountains long familiar to him from the perusal of his favourite writers, and the contemplation of those cities and ruins which have been associated in his mind with the most illustrious events of history.

Italy forms a large peninsula, beginning at the foot of a secondary chain of mountains which runs out from the Alps towards the S., flattens gradually into plains, and at last sinks into the sea. Except the Po, the rivers are not very important; but there are numerous bays, peninsulas, and islands, and so many parts are washed by the sea, that in extent of coasts Italy is not surpassed by any country of continental Europe. In the N. and W., mountains rising into the clouds separate it from the rest of Europe; a few passes lead over this chain, from which a single ridge runs out over the whole peninsula, under the name of the Appenines, and even passes over into the island of Sicily. On both sides of the Appenines extend the Italian plains. The coasts are flat, and unprotected in the N. E., where the Po and several rapid coast-rivers, flowing from the neighbouring Alps, rush with great impetuosity into the sea; but every where else they are guarded by high rocks and steep cliffs. The general declination is determined by the Appenines. Upper Italy, where the Appenines approach the S. W. coast, has its declination towards the Adriatic; and the rest of Italy declines on one side of this chain towards the Tyrrnenian sea, and on the other towards the Adriatic and the Ionian seas. The northern or continental part of Italy is a large valley extending between the Alps and Appenines. Along the Po the soil is very rich and productive. The Alps in Upper Italy present a slaty surface, which rests on a calcareous basis. On some of the mountains volcanic productions are found, and the stratas are broken and interrupted. The districts of Padua, Vicenza, and

Verona, are volcanic, but very well-watered, and extremely fertile. The south of Italy has not much water; even Tuscany, though mountainous, does not abound in it, and the rivers which come down from the Appenines are rather brooks which often entirely disappear during the summer. Rain is sometimes entirely wanting; and the luxuriant vegetation of this part of Italy is mostly owing to its volcanic soil. The coast of the Adriatic, from the mouth of the Po to Cape Leuca, on the N. side of the Appenines is almost entirely calcareous; but the southern side, or the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea from Pisa to Salerno, is volcanic. The lower districts of this coast consist of volcanic ashes, and the volcanic appearances increase as we proceed southwards, so that there is reason to apprehend that this region is destined to become one day the scene of a fearful explosion of subterranean fire. Barren steppes and pestiferous tracts of land are found at Manfredonia and Barletta, the Maremna of Sienna, and the Pontine marshes; in Upper Italy too, some very unwholesome districts exist in the Lagunes and marshes of the Po.

Rivers.-The Po.] Italy is intersected with rivers which flow in every direction to the sea. Of these the Po is by far the most important for magnitude and length of course, and is justly denominated the prince of the Italian streams. On account of its depth it received from the Ligurians, who dwelt in its neighbourhood, the appellation of Bodincus, or 'the bottomless.' The classic pen of Ovid has immortalized it under the name of Eridanus, as consecrated by the fall of Phaeton, shaded by his sister-poplars, and enriched by their amber-tears. This magnificent stream rises within the French lines in the recesses of Mount Vesulus or Viso, at an elevation of 6,466 feet, 30 miles to the W. of Turin, on the very confines of France and Italy, and nearly in the parallel of Mount Dauphine in Dauphiné, and Saluzzo in Piedmont. Descending from the Western Alps, it passes on the N. E. of Saluzzo, by Carignan, to Turin: receiving, even in this short space, many Alpine streams, as the Varila, Maira, and Grana, from the south, and the Felice, Sagon, and others from the north. Most of these streams, having had a longer course than that which is called the Po, might perhaps be more justly regarded as the principal river; nay, the Tanaro, which rises in the Appenines, and flows into the Po some miles below Alessandria, might claim, in the river Stura, a more remote source than the Po itself. After leaving the walls of Turin, the Po receives innumerable rivers and rivulets from the Alps on the north, and the Appenines on the south. Among the former may be named the Doria, the Sesia, the Tessino, the Adda, the Oglio, and the Mincio, to the E. of which, the Adige, an independent stream, descends from the Alps of Tyrol, and pursues a course of 200 miles to the Adriatic. From the south, the Po receives the large river Tanaro, itself swelled by the Belba, the Bormida, the Stura, and other streams. The other southern streams are of less consequence; but, among them may be named the Trebbia, a rapid stream, famous for the defeat of the consul Sempronius by Hannibal, and, in modern times, by the hard-earned victory of Suwarrow over marshal Macdonald, the river of Parma, and the Panaro which enters the Po at Stellato to the W. of Ferrara. The comparative course of the Po is about 300 British miles. Its average breadth from Turin, where it becomes navigable, to Arona where it falls into the Adriatic, is 1200 feet. To the N. of Ferrara it is as broad as the Rhine at Dusseldorf; and, before it receives the Mincio, it rivals the Danube at Vienna. Its depth is every where great; and its

current strong and rapid. The sand and gravel washed from the Alps and Appenines by its numerous tributary streams have elevated the bed of the Po in modern times, so that in many places banks of 30 feet high are necessary to preserve the country from inundation. The canal of Naviglo unites the navigation of the Tessino and Po.

The Tiber.] The next for size, but superior in point of classical celebrity, is the river Tiber, which, rising in the Appenines, near the source of the Arno, and passing by Perugia and Rome, enters the Mediterranean after a comparative course of 150 British miles. It is said to receive 42 rivers or torrents, many of them celebrated in Roman story, and has a stream always full. However, the Tiber is only 300 feet wide at Rome.

The
The

The length of the course of the Adige is almost that of the Po. It becomes navigable on entering Italy, and falls into the Adriatic at Brendala. We have already mentioned this river in our description of Tyrol. The coasting rivers of Venice are the Brenta, the Piave, the Tagliamento, and the Isonzo. The Var, which forms the boundaries between France and Piedmont, falls into the Mediterranean at Tour de Serre. Paglion, a coasting river of Piedmont, falls into the sea at Nice. Magra is a coasting river of which the mouth is at Monte Marcello. The Serchio, a coasting river, falls into the sea at S. Giuliano. The Arno descends from the Appenines and flows into the sea at Pisa. The Fiora, the Marta, the Mignone, the Arone, the Astura, the Garigliano, one of the largest rivers of Naples, the Volturno, the Silaro, the Ofanto, the Fortore, the Biferno, and the Pescara, are all Neapolitan rivers. The Asone, the Chiento, the Esimo, the Metauro, the Marecchio, the Ronca, and the Montone, belong to the States of the Church. In Sicily there are the Giarreta and the Salso; in Sardinia, the Oristano and Flumendosa; in Corsica, the Liamone and Tavignano. Many of the rivers of Upper Italy are navigable either naturally or by art, and several are united with one another, or with the lakes by canals; but in Central and Lower Italy there are no navigable rivers except the Arno and Tiber. Some of the Italian rivers at their mouth form pernicious maremnas. The Orco, which descends from Mount Cervin, forms at Ceresole a vertical cascade of 2400 feet; and the torrent of Evanson in its descent from Mont Rosa has a fall of 1200 feet. The cataract of Terni, formed by the Nar, is perhaps the most beautiful in the world. The river Velino, a little before its junction with the Nar, suddenly rushes down a precipice 300 feet high, and dashes so violently on the subjacent rocks that a great part of the stream rises in vapour. It afterwards falls down two other precipices nearly of the same height, the waters each time rising into a kind of mist. The aggregate height of these falls is 800 feet. The river Tiverone, the ancient Anio, has a fall of 50 feet, near Tivoli.

Lakes.] Italy abounds in beautiful lakes, particularly in the northern division. The Lago Maggiore, or lake of Locarno, is 27 miles long, by 3 of medial breadth: stretching from Locarno in the Swiss canton of Tessino, to Testo, in the government of Milan. It is connected by the canal of Tinicello with the town of Milan. Its shores abound with Alpine beauties, and its depth is immense being no less than 1800 feet. This lake is connected by the Tresa with the lake Lugano on the E., celebrated for its beautiful Boromæan isles. Farther to the E. is the lake of Como; which is joined by that of Lecco. It is about 32 miles in length; but the medial breadth is not above 2 miles. Still farther to the E. is the lake of Iso, which is followed by the noble Lago di Garda celebrated by

Virgil in his pastorals under the name of Benacus. It has an expanse of 30 British miles in length, by eight in breadth. The scenery of these lakes-which all belong to the Lombardo-Venetian States-is highly interesting, and has called forth all the powers of song and charms of poetry to describe their beauties. One word of Virgil has given dignity to the Larian lake; one verse of his has communicated the grandeur of the Ocean to the Benacus; and a few lines have raised the streamlet of the Mincius above the full and majestic Danube. One grand feature which distinguishes the scenery of the northern Italian lakes from that of the lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland, or of the Caledonian lochs, is the effect produced on the mind and feelings of the British traveller, from the sublime appearance of the Alpine ridge which rises above their extremities, or envelopes them in its bosom, and presents every mountainform and colour, from the curve to the pinnacle, and from the deep tints of the forest to the dazzling whiteness of snow, so that to the traveller recently returned from Italy, Windermere appears a pool, and Skiddaw shrinks into a hillock. Lochlomond is the only lake in this country which can vie with those Alpine waters, skirted as it is by the lofty Benlomond, and embracing in its broad expanse a number of charming little islands. Yet the heathy sides, the naked brow, the heavy lumpish form of Benlomond and the lifeless masses around it, are not to be compared with the bold, the varied, and the animated scenery, which presents to the astonished view the incipient beauties of spring, the glories of summer, or the finished splendours of autumn, contrasted with the glaciers that crown the summits, or hang on the sides of the Italian Alps. In Savoy there are the lakes of Bourget and Annecy, and a part of the lake of Geneva belongs to that country. In Piedmont is the small lake of Viverone; in Tuscany the Lago di M. Ignoso, di Fucecchio, di Seria, and di Castiglione ; in Lucca the Lago di Massaciuccoli; in the States of the Church the Lago di Bolsena, di Bracciano, and di Perugia; in the kingdom of Naples the Lago di Celano and Di Fondi; the lakes of Varano, Lesina, and Salpi, are connected with the sea; and those of Agnano and Averno are quite insignificant; in the Isle of Sicily there are not any considerable lakes, neither are there any in Sardinia and Corsica.

Mountains-the Alps.] The most important mountains of Italy are the Alps; which, rising from the sea to the W. of Oneglia, run for a short space in a western direction, and then assume a northern course as far as the frontiers of Savoy and Dauphiné, where a lateral ridge, projecting from the main range, and extending in a western direction, separates Dauphiné on the S. from Savoy on the N., and which is also separated from Italy on the E. by the main range. The Alps then take a north-western course, terminated in this direction by Mont Blanc or the white mountain.' From thence they run north-east, separating the Valais in Switzerland from the duchy of Aost and part of the Milanese, as far as St Gothard and the sources of the Tessino. From thence, in a waving direction, they run almost due E., separating the Milanese, the Trentine, and ci-devant Venetian territories on the S., from the Valteline, the Tyrol, and Carinthia on the N. They then assume a south-eastern direction, as far as the head of the Gulf of Cattaro; and are there known by the appellation of Montenegro, or the black mountain.' Running in this direction parallel with the coast of the Adriatic, they separate Istria, Morlachia,

Geor, II. 160.

and Dalmatia on the S. W. from Carniola, Austrian and Turkish Croatia, Herzegovina, and Bosnia on the N. E.

As to the term Alps, we are altogether uncertain whether it is of Gallic or Roman origin. These mountains received anciently-as they still do in modern times—various appellations. The Maritime Alps stretch between Nice and Provence, from the Mediterranean to Mont Viso the source of the Po. The Cottian Alps extend from Mont Viso to Mont Cenis, or between Piedmont and Dauphiné. The Grecian Alps extend from Mont Cenis as far as the Col de bon Homme. The Pennine Alps extend from the Col de bon Homme and the Great Bernard as far as Mont Rosa, and separate Piedmont from Savoy and the Valais. The Lepontine or Helvetic Alps reach from Mont Rosa to the Bernandine and Moschelhorn in the Grisons, skirting the Valais on the north, and inclosing the group of the St Gothard and the Luckmanierberg, dividing Switzerland from Piedmont and Lombardy. The Rhætian Alps extend from the Bernardine to the Dreybernspitze on the western frontier of Carinthia, and give rise to the Tessino, Adda, Adige, Inn, and Salza rivers. This part of the Alpine range comprehends the Valteline, the Grisons, and the Tyrol. The Noric Alps reach from the Dreyhernspitze across Carinthia and Styria, to the plains of Oedenburg in Hungary, dividing in their progress eastward, Carinthia and Styria from Salzburg and Austria. They were so named from Noricum, a Roman colony. The Carnic Alps commence at Mount Pelegrino, and reach as far E. as the Terglau, which gives rise to the Save, and comprehends the mountains running S. of the Drave to that point. A lateral range from this separates Friuli from the peninsula of Istria. The Julian Alps are an elongation of the Carnic Alps, ramifying from the Terglau, comprehending the mountains that extend from the source of the Save to that of the Kulpa, and from thence to Mount Kleck near Zeng in Hungarian Dalmatia. They separate Carniola from Croatia, Carinthia from Friuli, and Hungarian Dalmatia from Austrian and Turkish Croatia. The Dinaric Alps reach from Mount Kleck, near Zeng to the frontiers of Upper Albania in a S. E. direction, separating Turkish Croatia and Bosnia from Dalmatia. From this point they become confounded with the Balkan or Haimus, which runs through European Turkey as far E. as the Black Sea, and separates the southern side of the basin of the Danube from the rest of that region. In general, the Alps rise in successive elevations from the sea to Mont Blanc. Monts Genevre, Viso, Cenis, Roch Melon, Iseran, and the Col de Tende, are the most noted summits of the Western Alps. Mont Blanc, Mont Maudit, Mont Rosa, Mont Cervin, Combin, and the Great St Bernard, are the highest of the northern chain; and the lofty Mont Simplon rears its head in awful majesty over the valley of the Tosa, while to the eye of the traveller, the long vista of the Levantine is closed on the N. by the magnificent St Gothard.*

The following is a List of the Principal Elevations.

Toises.

English feet.

Mont Blanc, in the Pennine Alps, by Tralles in 1796,
Rosa,
do. by Welden, 1822,