206 Excurtion from Lugano to the Lake of Como. 



are found in them, according to Pro- 

 fessor Scopoli. Granile is found here 

 ill great abundance, and the disposition 

 of the strata in tlie rocks shows that 

 some great catastrophe of nature has 

 taken place. Tlie conchiliferons mar- 

 bles, tlie ammonites or discolites, and 

 other marine bodies whicii abound here, 

 prove that the sea must formerly have 



covered the whole basin of the Lake. 

 One of its outlets, on the side of Como, 

 called the Seveso, which in ancient 

 times had a very large channel, is at 

 present a very small stream. 



Mines are numerous and valuable in 

 these mountains, but are rather neg- 

 lected ; the principal ones are of excel- 

 lent iron, and lead amalgamated with 

 silver. 



In the Comasco, the inhabitants are 

 remarkably industrious : they construct 

 optical and philosophical instruments, 

 barometers and thermometers, which 

 they hawk about in foreign countries ; 

 and return, at length, to their native 

 soil, where they purchase some portion 

 of land with their savings. Scarcely a 

 tenth part of the men are to be found in 

 the country, but many return every two 

 years to pass the winter here. Women 

 undertake the labours of the field, which 

 they perform with tlie greater ease, as 

 landed property is so frequently subdi- 

 vided, and is well cultivated. The tops 

 of the mountains are covered with woods 

 and meadows ; lower down are planta- 

 tions of chesnut-trees ; and lower still 

 arfe vines, olive-trees, mulberry and 

 citron-trees, corn, hemp, barley, pease, 

 vetches, &c. Laurel-trees are in great 

 abundance : a medicinal oil is extracted 

 from their berries, which has a quick 



[April I, 



teen feet above their ordinary level, and 

 they are always above the level of the 

 soil of Milan. The winds, which in 

 turn predominate over the Lake, render 

 sailing on it uncertain, difficult, and 

 sometimes dangerous. An electric 

 cloud, a shower, a partial hail-storm, 

 occasion irregularities of the wind, and 

 bring on a tempest. The boatmen, who 



are inured to it, in sucli cases gain the 

 nearest creek for shelter. 



The Larius receives but one single 

 river, the Adda, which is less than the 

 Tesin, yet its risings are frequent and 

 considerable. They take place mostly 

 in the western branch, where Como is 

 situated, being repelled from thence for 

 want of a more spacious outlet, to give 

 passage to the waters. There is only 

 the Seveso, the bed of which has been, 

 in a great measure, obstructed, by the 

 falling down of portions of the moun- 

 tains. 



I 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 



SIR, 



HAVE met with no work on chro- 

 nology which corresponds with my 

 idea of such a work as would be useful 

 in schools: most of the works published 

 on that subject are too long to be use- 

 ful, and others so very incorrect, that 

 they confuse, instead of instructing. 

 The "Analysis of Chronology," by the 

 Rev. William Hales, D.n. is a very 

 excellent work, and perhaps the most 

 correct extant: but then it is in four 

 large quarto volumes, therefore but few 

 persons can spare the time to peruse it ; 

 it is a history of events, rather than a 

 work to mark precise periods of events, 

 and that in a way as concise as possible. 



sale, and is often dearer than line oil of as they have arisen upon the surface of 



olives. 



Animals of various kinds abound on 

 these mountains: chamois, bears, mar- 

 mots, wolves, while hares, badgers; 

 on the banks of the Lake are found 

 otters and ignanes, from three to eight 

 feet in length, who suck by stealth the 

 milk of the cows, which they are ex- 

 tremely fond of. 



Among the birds are the pheasant, 

 the heathcock, the eagle, the horned 

 owl, and the vulture. Pelicans, swans, 

 cranes, herons, and flamingos, are some- 

 times found on the borders of the Lake. 

 The Lake abounds with fis!i, such as 

 carp, barbel, crayfish, lamjjieys, pike, 

 perch, trout, and tench. Jt is upwards 

 of sixty miles in circumference, in- 

 cluding its numerous sinuosities. The 

 waters frequently rise to twelve or fif- 



the great stream of time, ere they sink, 

 and become for ever lost to history. A 

 chronology should, in my opinion, to be 

 generally useful, be concise, and as cor- 

 rect as possible ; and yet, when we refer 

 to those already published, we find that 

 almost all of them differ materially in fix- 

 ing the periods of the greatest events that 

 ever happened in the world; and, if in the 

 greatest events, we cannot expect that 

 the minor ones would be recorded more 

 correctly. 



For instance, the two greatest eras, — 

 the creation of the world, and the birth 

 of Christ, which should regulate all other 

 epochs in history, — one is astonished to 

 find how very much chronologers dis- 

 agree in fixing the time of those periods, 

 as well as those of the deluge, — the 

 Exode, — the reign of Sesostris, — the 

 destruction 



