43 



In the succeeding year there was a similar scarcity 

 of rain, and the inimical conditions being' intensified the 

 slaughter of 1890 was repeated in those ponds which 

 had been fortunate in escaping the dangers of that year. 

 As a d'rect result of the excessive mortality characteris- 

 ing 1 890- 1 89 1, the catch of fish during the ensuing 

 seven years was abnormally poor and the Commune lost 

 over a million lire (Rs. 600,000) on the working of the 

 lagoon during this period — a large sum for a town whose 

 prosperity is dependent almost entirely upon the produce 

 of this fishery. 



The enormous loss entailed by the winter storm of 

 171 1, was repeated in 1850, entailing a series of 

 miserable harvests during the next cycle of 7 years, 

 while the floods of 1705 and 1709 had their counterparts 

 in 1859 and 1862, when the Reno burst its banks and 

 flooded the lagoon, liberating multitudes of immature fish 

 and causing the fisheries of 1863- 1865 to be among the 

 poorest on record. 



The followino- table onven bv Samaritani, * to whom I 

 am indebted for the majority of the figures above quoted, 

 shows clearlv the fluctuations in the average catch during 

 alternating cycles of prosperity and poverty :— 



Loc, cit. 



p. 7. 



