24 



thousand inhabitants, boasting a cathedral, several large 

 churches and a quaint three-way bridge at the intersec- 

 tion of four canals. 



Owing to its isolation scarcely any one can be found 

 in the town capable of understanding either English or 

 French, hence unless the visitor be conversant with 

 Italian, it is necessary to engage the services of an 

 interpreter when leaving Venice. In order to obtain 

 permission to visit the fishing stations in the lagoon 

 application should be made at the office of the Commune, 

 where I am sure every assistance in obtaining a boat 

 and a guide will be willingly given. The Communal 

 officials will probably be able to arrange for a visit to 

 the eel-curing establishment of the lessees of the fishery, 

 who are at present Messrs. A. Cornia & Co. ; if not, then 

 a personal application to this firm will no doubt receive 

 as courteous response as did my own. Among the 

 points of interest which particularly deserve a visit, are 

 the fishery station of San Carlo, a little to the west of 

 the town, that of Cerilla in Valle Vacca, the port of 

 Magnavacca, and one of the river-sluices, say that of 

 San Alberto at the extreme south of the laQ-oon. 



t> 



Description of the Lagoon. 



The lagoon of Comacchio is a vast shallow salt-water 

 lake, irregularly circular in outline, situated in the south- 

 ern section of the delta of the Po. Along a portion of the 

 northern side flows the river Volano, while the river 

 Reno similarly bounds the southern extremity. On the 

 west or landward aspect it is shut in by marshes and low- 

 lying agricultural land, while on the east it is separated 

 from the Adriatic by a long belt of sand dunes (techni- 

 cally termed lido in Italian) which extends from one 

 river mouth to the other with breadth varying from two 

 to three kilometres. The circumference of the lagoon 

 is about 125 kilometres {jl\ miles), whereof 9 are 

 bounded by the Volano, 12 by the Reno, 74 by the 

 semi-circular curve of the mainland on the western 

 aspect, and 30 by the Lido. 



In Coste's time the water-area amounted to about 

 40,000 hectares (98,844 acres), divided among 40 com- 

 partments or basins of varying dimensions known as 

 valli (or campi in the Comacchio dialect) ; to-day by the 



