CAMPAGNA. 



30.5 



back upon the land, the sand which it carried down by 

 the river. Tin- whole of I he country, which wan the 

 ancient I.aurcntum, is extremely fertile, and the cli- 

 mate very temperate. 



Though different travellers have pointed out cra- 

 ters in various parts of the Campagnt, yet there ap. 

 pear to be only three which are characterised with 

 sufficient distinctness. The first of these is the fa- 

 mous lake Regilhis, which is about a quarter of a 

 league in diameter. Jt is placed at the bottom of an 

 inverted cone of hard black lava, from forty to sixty 

 feet high, which forms barr and rugged rocks, and 

 is entirely open on the side of the road where the lake 

 is level with the plain. This crater is not lik" those 

 of Albano and Nemi, covered with volcanic ejections 

 which take away from it the regular form of an in- 

 verted cone ; but the lava is almost completely unco- 

 vered in its upper part. 



The two other craters of Albano and Nemi are 

 about four or five hundred feet higher than that of 

 lake Regillus. They are covered with volcanic ejec- 

 tions several hundred feet in height, which prolong 

 the cone from the hard lava which forms the basins of 

 the lakes. These two craters are of a very regular 

 conical form, and so extremely high that it requires 

 half an hour to ascend from the lake to the top of 

 the higher cone. The famous emissary made at the 

 siege of Veii, is cut precisely between the volcanic 

 ejections, which are easily pierced, and the hard lava 

 which now contains the remaining waters of the lake. 

 When the lake occupied the higher part of its ex- 

 tensive basin, the immense mass of waters which it 

 contained were in danger of overwhelming the rich 

 plains below. The wealthy citizens of Rome, alarm- 

 ed for the destruction of their fields, are said to have 

 made use of the siege of Veii as a pretext for em- 

 ploying the people, or a part of the army, to cut the 

 emissary, by which the superabundant water was dis- 

 charged.* The crater of Nemi is a very little smaller 

 than that of Albano, but is equally regular and 

 picturesque. Its cone does not appear to have been 

 at any time entirely filled with the water of the lake. 

 The lava in the Campagna is every where of an uni- 

 form hardness and appearance ; and wherever it ap- 

 pears, it is covered with volcanic ejections. 



There are numerous sulphureous springs in the 

 Campagna, but the most abundant of these is be- 

 tween Tivoli and Rome, where the water comes out 

 of the ground almost boiling hot, and forms the lake 

 of Solfatara. The reeds and other vegetables are so 

 incrusted with calcareous depositions, that they have 

 the appearance of stone, and islands of a considerable 

 size, which are formed by them, float about the 

 lake, and are capable of carrying several people at a 

 time. The stream issuing from this lake has the same 

 property, and contiuues to smoke till it joins the 

 Anio or the Teverone. The Anio possesses a si- 

 milar property of forming calcareous depositions of 

 every shade, from the brilliant crystallisations, 

 which are called confetti di Tivoli, to the darker 

 concretions, which have incrusted a forest very near 

 Rome. Near Subiaco the minutest insects, and 

 the leaves of the vine, are distinctly seen in these in- 

 crustations. After the Anio has passed the fine 



cascades of Tivoli, it forms, by depositions in the Ctmpagut. 

 great plain, those immense beds of travertine, of ' ~ " 

 which St Peter's, a part of the Collueuro, and all the 

 other public edifices in Rome are built. There are 

 likewise several springs of acidulous water without 

 any sulphur, as at Aqua Acetosa. 



The Campagna contains 1 12,909 rubbias (a rubbu 

 of land contains 4866 square toiscs) or 940 square 

 miles, of 74 to a degree. About two fifths of this 

 land belongs to the church, and the other three 

 fifths to about a hundred lay proprietors. The 

 farms are held by leases of nine years, and also by 

 perpetual leases ; but the last of these leases is abro- 

 gated if the farmer neglects for two years to pay 

 his rent. The general price of a rubbia of good 

 land is about twenty piastres, and the expence of 

 cultivating it amounts to about forty piastres. 



Six labourers, estimated at 

 A rubbia f and half of seed 

 Manure ... 



Reaping, carting, and thrashing 



Total expence 



Before the revolution, a rubbia of corn was sold 

 at six or eight piastres; but in the year 1802, the 

 price varied from 22 to 30 piastres. 



The ground is sown every third year. During 

 the first year it lies in fallow. It is laboured the 

 second year, and the third year it produces a crop. 

 The soil is wrought six times ; the first operation is 

 called rupitura ; the second, which ought to be a foot 

 and a half deep, is called reconditura ; the third, 

 refenitura ; the fourth, rinquartatura ; the fifth, ri- 

 frescatura ; and the six, sematura. From the great 

 quantity of rain which falls, particularly in the 

 southern part of the Campagna, and from the rapi- 

 dity with which it descends, the greatest care is 

 taken to carry it off the fields. In every field there 

 are three kinds of ditches, viz. small parallel ditches 

 called lira: by the ancients, and placed at the distance 

 of three ieet. These are traversed by wide ditches, 

 placed at a greater distance, and large canals, called 

 colliqutCEy carry off from these the superfluous wa- 

 ter. 



Excellent fruit, vegetables, and almost every spe- 

 cies of grain are produced in the Campagna. Ex- 

 tensive plantations of Turkish wheat grow in the 

 lower grounds ; it rises to a considerable height, and 

 is used for various purposes. The stalks of it form 

 canes for the support of the vines, and are also used 

 in the construction of cottages ; the leaf is employ- 

 ed for thatching them, and likewise for mattresses, 

 and the flour composes various dishes, which are eaten 

 by all ranks, and are regarded as particulaily*whule- 

 some and nutritive. 



The large reed, (the anindo donax), which rises 

 to the height ot twenty feet, is cultivated with great 

 advantage. Oxen and asses feed upon the leaves of it : 

 It forms an admirable support to the vines in a coun- 

 try not much exposed to violent winds, and after na- 

 ving served this purpose, it is still uiful tor burning. 

 That part of agriculture which relates to the breed- 



VOL. V. PART I. 



This work was executed in the year of Rome 358. 

 f A rubbia of corn weighs b'-K) pounds French of 12 ounces. 

 2 



