1828] 
being themselves considered as a worthless 
people, who, if the unwholesomeness of the 
climate carried them off, would be thus well 
got rid of. In the fifth century after Christ, 
it fell under the Vandals, and was in Gense- 
ric’s possession after the death of Valen- 
tinian. In 468, the Emperor Leo made 
great exertions to recover Africa and the 
neighbouring islands from his grasp, and by 
a detachment from his immense armaments, 
Sardinia was retaken, but as quickly was 
recovered by Genseric. Under Belisarius, 
it was once more wrenched from the gripe of 
the Vandals, and being then annexed to the 
African prefecture, continued under the 
Emperors, except during a short interval, 
when it fell before Totila, till the beginning 
of the eighth century. ‘ 
At that period it was first invaded by the 
Saracens, and a struggle between them and 
the Sards was kept up for more than a 
century, till the brave islanders, in despair, 
threw themselves on the protection of Louis 
le Débonnaire, and were by him incorpo- 
rated with the Western Empire—apparently 
without adding much to their security, 
though, certainly, the Saracens never held 
quiet possession of it. About the year 
1,000, Musat, an enterprising Moor, got 
sudden possession of the whole, and assum- 
ing the title of King of Sardinia, he spread 
his deyastations on all the neighbouring 
shores,—till, prompted by the Pope, the 
Pisans undertook a crusade against him, 
which, successful at first, and then failing, 
was again repeated in conjunction with the 
Genoese ; and finally, the whole island, in 
1022, was divided between the confederate 
invaders—the Genoese, apparently, being 
feudatory to the Pisans. ‘These commercial 
cities, howeyer, did not long agree on the 
division of the spoil, and their disputes 
ended only with the ruin of Pisa, some two 
centuries and a half afterwards, when it was 
said, “ Those who would see Pisa must go 
to Genoa.” 
Without adverting to subsequent efforts 
of the Pisans to recover their influence—or 
to the oppressions of the Genoese, which 
drove the Sards to rebel, and call in the aid 
of new foreigners—it must suffice to state, 
that, in 1428, the island was ceded to 
Alphonso of Arragon, and to the crown of 
it continued to be annexed till the 
Succession War, in the course of which 
>) the capital was seized by Sir John 
e for Charles of Austria, and, by the 
treaty of Utrecht, was allotted to the Empe- 
ror. In spite, however, of this allotment, 
, the Bourbon King of Spain, in 
1717, by a sudden attack, recovered it; but 
n, by the prompt efforts of the English 
and Austrians, Philip was compelled to 
resign it once more to the Emperor, who, 
on t same day, ceded it to Victor Ama- 
n exchange for Sicily, 1720. Since 
that period, the island has followed the 
fortunes of the house of Sayoy. It is 
Domestic and Foreign. 
87 
governed by a viceroy, removeable every 
three years. 
The island, upon measurement, proves to 
be larger than Sicily, and, of course, is the 
largest in the Mediterranean. Its dimen- 
sions are 140 by 60 nautical miles, that is, 
about 160 by 70 travelling ones. Besides 
lakes, marshes, aud torrents, there are large 
sandy and stony districts, which occupy, 
together, more than a third of the surface ; 
a similar extent may be assigned for forests 
and pastures; and the remainder, about 
4,400,000 acres, is laid out in corn-fields, 
vineyards, olive-grounds, orchards, &c., for 
the subsistence of about 480,000 persons— 
enough—corn yielding at least eight for one 
—to feed triple the number. Agriculture, as 
may be readily supposed, is in the lowest 
state—the plough is of the rudest construc- 
tion, and so light as rather to scratch than 
turn up the soil. Corn is thrashed in the 
field by the treading of mares and colts, on 
a spot stripped of the sward, and beaten to 
hardness, to the manifest deterioration of 
the corn, but with the advantage, it seems, 
of breaking the straw into a more. eatable 
state. Of what may be called interior 
commerce there can be none, for there are 
scarcely any high-roads, and no cross or 
by-roads at all. The ruts are worn nearly 
as deep as the semi-diameter of the cart- 
wheels; and of a new road now actually 
making from Cagliari to Sassari, it was 
remarked to Captain Smyth by a native, 
“it would be imperfect till it was worn to a 
similar state!” The cart-wheels are solid, 
edged with triangular pieces of iron instead 
of a smooth hoop, and the axle-tree fixed in 
the wheels—the yoke rests upon the fore- 
head of the oxen employed to draw the 
cart, bound round the roots of the horns, 
Captain Smyth, struck with the peculiarity, 
had a model of it constructed, which being 
seen by a canon of the cathedral, he ob- 
served“ The English are a wise people— 
always travelling to seek improvements, and 
carry them home !”’ Some corn is exported. 
Wine is improving. Tobacco is a royal 
monopoly. Silk is cultivated merely for 
amusement. Cotton is grown, but not 
enough for exportation ; and Capt. Smyth, 
being desirous of promoting the growth, 
presented the planters with the white and 
yellow seed of Malta, the staple of which is 
long and silky, but was checked by a person 
high in office—who assured him, the more 
the culture was extended, the more the 
material must fall in value !—a remark 
which may give the measure of his political 
economy. 
Throughout the spring the plains are 
covered with flowers of great variety, and 
honey, in consequence, abounds—retaining 
the bitterness so often alluded to by the 
Latin poets, and attributed by some to yew, 
laurel, and rue, and by others to the herba 
Sardoa—the plant, whatever it may be, 
which produced what is called the sardonic 
