458 



CARINTHIA. 



Oarinthia. rec tion "from west to east. Besides it, there are the Its imports are wines, ipiritaoui liquors, sugar, cot 

 Gail/the Moll, the Lyser, the Glan, the Gurk, and 

 Both the rivers and the lakes general- 



Carinthi,. 



the Lavant. 



ly abound with fish. 



Carinthia is divided into the Lower and the Up- 

 per Carinthias. In the former division, the principal 

 fowns are Klagenfurth, St Veit Friesach, Volken, 

 -St Andrce, Wolfsberg, and Gurk. Those of Upper 

 Carinthia are Villach and Gmund. The states are 

 constituted here as in Austria, their assemblies be- 

 ing held at Klagenfurth, which is considered as the 

 capital of the whole province. This is the seat also 

 of the ordinary administration for one part of the 

 duchy; that for the other is at Villach. The mili- 

 tary establishment of Carinthia is under a governor 

 or land-captain. A regiment of foot is usually quar- 

 tered here ; and to the military state of the house 

 of Austria it has been accustomed to contribute an- 

 nually to the amount of 637,695 florins. 



Christianity was introduced into this duchy in the 

 7th century. The system of religious belief and 

 practice generally acknowledged over the whole of 

 it, is that of the Roman Catholic Church, which 

 properly, indeed, is the only one that is tolerated, 

 though there are also found in the country many 

 Protestants and adherents to the Lutheran doctrines. 

 There are here two bishoprics, nine chapters, and 

 nineteen contents. The bishops are those of Gurk 

 and Lavant, who are subject to the archbishop of 

 Salzburg; in which dignitary, as well as in the bi- 

 shop of Bamberg, there is also vested a considerable 

 portion of the territory of this country. 



In regard to the spirit of industry, and of manu- 

 facturing and commercial enterprize, the people of 

 Carinthia, compared with the inhabitants of the other 

 provinces of the empire, hold a sort of middle state, 

 having their minds less directed towards such objects 

 than the inhabitants of Bohemia, Moravia, and Aus 

 triao Silesia; but in a proportional degree more so 

 than those of Hungary, the two Gallicias, Transyl- 

 yania, and Istria. As to the matters which in this 

 department have principally excited their attention, 

 this, of course, fell to be regulated in a great mea- 

 sure by the nature of their produce. The mines are 

 the great source of the riches of Carinthia ; and its 

 principal manufactures, accordingly, are those of 

 steel and iron. In 1789, Carinthia is reckoned to 

 have had 149 wire-drawing mills, 82 forges for nails, 

 and 267 ordinary forges. Here the renowned steel 

 denominated Brescta is made. The manufacture of 

 arms at Fertlach occupies 500 persons. There is 

 also at Friesach, in this district, a great manufactory 

 of silver lace. .From the lead that is furnished here 

 in such quantity and perfection, a grrat deal of ce- 

 ruse is prepared. Goats' and chamois skins are also 

 a considerable object of attention, and the workmen 

 in those branches are in high reputation. One of 

 the principal branches of the commerce of Carinthia, 

 is that which consists in the transport of those vast 

 numbers of cattle that are sent from that country 

 into the states of Venice. It exports, at the same 

 time, various other articles, either in the form of 

 raw produce, or of manufactured goods. These are 

 chiefly its iron, steel, lead, copper, calamine, flax, 

 .linen, hides of animals, horses, grain, and cloth*. 



ton, coffee, drugs, corn, cloths, and salt. This coun- 

 try is stated to sell, in common years, to the amount 

 of 1,470,373 florins, and it buys to the amount of 

 895,172 florins; thus obtaining a balance in its fa- 

 vour to the amount of 575,201 florins. In a more 

 general view, the whole extent of the income of the 

 duchy has been considered to amount to 2,550,897 

 florins ; its annual expenditure to 2,342,564 florins ; 

 thus leaving to it disposable funds the amount of 

 208,333 florins. Of the whole aggregate of the re- 

 turns which this duchy obtains annually from article* 

 exported, more than a half is commonly derived from 

 the produce of its mines. The trade of the duchy, 

 in general, is maintained and regulated by its cham- 

 ber of commerce. 



The amount of the sums which the province of 

 Carinthia has contributed to the general funds of the 

 state, has for several distinct years been reckoned to 

 stand thus : Busching estimates the contribution for 

 1770, at 2,386,884 florins. Schlaezer states its con- 

 tribution for the year 1780, to have been 1,250,000 

 florins. In 1803, according to the manual of Franc- 

 fort, Carinthia contributed to the general funds of 

 the state 2,500,000 florins ; or, according to Ock- 

 hart, 2.600.000. The annual return from this pro- 

 vince to the Montanisticum, or that particular reve- 

 nue which the ernperur derives from all the mines in 

 his dominions, is 48,351 florins. 



With respect U> the situation of its towns, the ap- 

 pearance of its buildings, orother circumstances chiefly 

 of a local nature, Carinthia offers httle to attract parti- 

 cular attention. Klagenfurth, though it cannot be call- 

 ed handsome, is yet a large and pleasing town, and con- 

 tains several considerable edifices, as well as spacious 

 squares. This is the residence of the princes of Porzia 

 and Rosenberg, and a great number of counts and in- 

 ferior nobility. The streets are spacious, intersecting 

 each other at right angles ; and the public monu- 

 ments, statues, and fountains, which are generally 

 of large dimensions, though they convey no very fa- 

 vourable idea of the state of the arts in the country, 

 yet serve to give to the place an appearance of dig- 

 nity and importance. The city is surrounded by 

 walls and a ditch, but these are not in any respect 

 of such a nature as to constitute it a place of strength. 

 St Veit is a pretty town, with handsome houses, and 

 a spacious market place. There is here a fine foun- 

 tain, the water of which falls into a basin of good 

 form, hewn out of a single block of white marble, 

 and which, according to Busching, is five fathoms 

 in circumference. This is said to be a Roman anti- 

 quity. About half-way between these towns is a 

 swampy tract, called the Saaler-moss, which has 

 been considered by some to be the site of the ancient 

 Ttburnia. Busching says, that on this plain there 

 are still to be seen the ruins of an ancient town ; but 

 Kuttner, when travelling in that quarter, could not, 

 it seems, discover the traces of any such ruins, nor 

 even learn by tradition any thing of their existence. 



Wens are a prevalent disorder in Carinthia, as well 

 as in the adjoining province of Styria. When these 

 have attained a certain size, they may generally be 

 considered as indicative of a state of idiotcy. Hence 

 it is, that cretins, or idiots, are not uncommon in 

 2 



