AVERSA. 



AVKYUON. 



tad even historian*, of the impervious darkness and foul mephitic 

 emanation* of thin Uke, near the *hore* of which the Cimmerians, a 

 people who lived in place* where the sun never phone, once resided, 

 according to fabuloiu tradition. It is likely however that when the sur- 

 rounding oanlu were thickly covered with forest-tree* overhanging the 

 water it may have had a much gloomier appearance than at present ; 

 but the tree* had been cut down even before Strabo's time, and the 

 aide* of the hills partially cultivated. The story of the mephitic 

 exhalations which killed the birds that attempted to fly over the 

 surface of the lake (Virgil, vi. 236-247) a phenomenon which gave 

 rise to the Qreek name of Aornos, 'without birds' although evi- 

 dently exaggerated, may at one time have had some foundation in 

 truth, as the whole of this region is of volcanic formation, and emits 

 volcanic exhalations ; indeed the lake itself ia the crater of an extinct 

 volcano. Over a cavern or fissure on the banks of the lake whence 

 the pestiferous vapours issued there was an ancient oracle ; the spot 

 was snppoaed to be one of the adit* to the infernal regions, and was 

 like the lake itself sacred to Hecate or Proserpine, to whom sacrifices 

 were here offered. Hannibal is reported by Livy (xxiv. 12, 13) to 

 have visited the banks of Avernus under the pretext of sacrificing, 

 but his real object the historian says was to make an attempt on 

 Pnteoli. 



In the time of Virgil a communication was opened between 

 Avernus and the neighbouring lake Lucrinua, which, itself commu- 

 nicating with the sea, was converted by Agrippa into a fine harbour 

 called Portus Julius. The Lucriue lake was filled up by a volcanic 

 eruption which took place in 1538, when a conical mountain rose in 

 its place which is called Monte Nuovo. Averho has thus become 

 again a separate lake ; and a small muddy pool half filled with reeds, 

 and close to the sea coast, is all that remains of the famed Lucrinus. 

 On the south-eastern bank of Averno stands a large and lofty octagonal 

 building of brick, vaulted, and with niches in the walls, supposed by 

 some to have been a temple of Proserpine and by others a bath : it 

 is now surrounded by vine trees. Farther to the westward is the 

 entrance to a subterraneous passage called Orotta della Sibilla : it 

 divides into two galleries, one of which opens to the neighbouring 

 sea-coast near the pool of Lucrinus, and the other branches off to the 

 right in the direction of Cumip, which place it once reached : Strabo 

 informs us that it was made by Cocceius under the direction of 

 Agrippa. This last passage has become obstructed by the falling in 

 of the earth. There are several mineral springs in the immediate 

 neighbourhood of the Lake of Averno, some of which are used as baths. 

 The most celebrated are the baths called the Baths of Nero, which 

 are close by the sea-shore ; they consist of galleries worked through 

 the rock, and terminating in a fountain of hot water strongly impreg- 

 nated with sulphur, so hot as to boil eggs immersed in it, and the 

 vapours of which fill the whole place. Persons resort here for the 

 purpose of taking vapour-baths. The site of Cumte, from which the 

 1'rince of Syracuse has in the present year (1853) disinterred many 

 " wonders of art," is about a mile west of the Lake of Averno. 

 Among the discoveries here made ia a temple of Diana, 845 palms in 

 length, the architecture and embellishments of which are said to equal 

 anything that remains of the Parthenon. 



A VE'HSA, an episcopal town in the province of Tcrra-di-Lavoro, in 

 the kingdom of Naples, situated in a fertile plain 8 miles N. by W. 

 from Naples, on the road to Rome, in 40 57' N. lat, 14 11' E. long. 

 Aversa was built in 1020 by Rainulph, a Norman chief, who first 

 settled in thin country as auxiliary to the Lombard princes of Capua 

 and Salerno. The Norman adventurers made it a stronghold, for the 

 purpose of keeping in check their Lombard friends as well as their 

 Oreek enemies. The new town soon after received an increase of 

 population by fresh arrivals of adventurers from Normandy, and by 

 the removal hither of the inhabitants of the old Campanian town of 

 Atella. The emperor Conrad in 1038 made Rainulph count of Aversa 

 and iu territory. The county was afterwards merged in the new 

 Norman kingdom founded by the offspring of Tailored of Hauteville. 

 Aversa, although occasionally injured by foreign invasions and civil 

 wan, still maintained its rank as a town of considerable importance. 

 It in now a bustling lively place, with about 16,000 inhabitant* The 

 king* of Naples bad formerly a castle here which served as a palace 

 for their occasional residence : it was replaced by a convent in which 

 Andreas of Hungary, husband of Queen Joanna I., was strangled by 

 some conspirator* on the 8th of September, 1845. From Aversa a 

 fine broad avenue leads to Naples. The most remarkable objects at 

 Aversa are an admirably-conducted lunatic anylum and a large found- 

 ling hospital, the inmates of which an instructed in the several useful 

 arts and trade*. The territory of A vena is very fertile in com, grapes, 

 fruit, Ac. It contains many large and populous villages, among which 

 Hant-Klpidio, about 8 mile* 8.E. from A vena, is built clone to the site 

 of the ancient Atella, where numerous inscriptions, terra-oottaa, anil 

 other minor antiquities have been found. The sweetmeat* of A vena, 

 specially a sort of almond-cake called ' ton-one,' are in great repute 

 in Naplem 



A VKS, a rook or small island in the Caribbean Sea, 125 mile. W. 

 by a from Guadeloupe; H is three-quartan of a mil* long, very low, 

 and has only a little gnu. growing on it It is much resorted to by 

 birds, and ha* a white appearance from their dung; the Dutch from 

 Saba and St. Eustatius visit th island to gather egg* and catch turtle. 



Fresh water may be obtained by digging. It is in 16 40' N. lat, 



There U also a duster of small islands called Art*, or ' Bird Island*,' 

 on the northern coast of Venezuela, near the point indicated by 12* 

 N. lat, 67 30' W. long., and lying about 35 mile* E. by S. from the 

 island of Buen-Ayre. They are composed of two groups of islet* rising 

 on distinct reefs 10 miles apart, two larger inlands and three smaller 

 ones ; they are quite barren and uninhabited, and surrounded by dan- 

 gerous reefs, especially to the northward, where they run off 5 miles. 



AVKSNKS. [NoBD.] 



AVETRON, a department in the south of France, U bounded N. 

 by the department of Caiital, E. by the department* of Loeere and 

 Gard, S. by those of Hlrault and Tarn, and W. by those of Tarn-et- 

 Oaronne and Lot It lies between 43 41' and 44 s 45' N. lat, 1 50' 

 and 3 26' E. long. The shape of the department is that of an irre- 

 gular quadrilateral, extending about 70 mile* from S.K. to N.W., with 

 a breadth of 40 mile* at the south-eastern extremity and of 65 mile* 

 on the north-western border. The surface contains 3385-68 square 

 miles. The population in 1851 was 394,183, which give* 116-4 to the 

 square mile, or 58-3 below the average per square mile for all France. 



The department, which coincides with Routrgut, a division of the 

 former province of Guienne, is mountainous and has a general incli- 

 nation from east to west The north is crossed by the Lot, which 

 enters the department on the east, and running west by north pane* 

 St-Oeniez, Espalion, and Entraigues, where it receives the Truycrc 

 from the north ; it then turns west and forms the boundary of the 

 department, before leaving which it receives the Dourdon on the left 

 bank. [LOT.] The central part is crossed by the Avoyron, which 

 rising near Scverao-le-ChAteau on the eastern boundary and flowing 

 west, passes Rodez and Villefraiiche ; it then runs south till it reaches 

 the borders of the department, whence resuming the western direction 

 it enters the department of Tarn-et-Garonne, and falls into the Tarn 

 below Montauban after a course of about 140 miles, about 12 miles 

 of which are navigable above its junction with the Tarn. The chief 

 feeden of the Aveyron on the right are the Scrre, the Alson, and the 

 Caude ; on the left the Viaur, the Ce'rou, aud the Verre. Farther 

 south the department is crossed by the Tarn which passes Millnu, and 

 having received the Dourbie, the Lorgiie, aud the Kance. all on its 

 left bank, enters the department of Tarn on its way to join the 

 Garonne. [TARN.] 



The north of the department is covered with offshoot* of the 

 CcVennes and the Cantal mountains. One of these offshoots forms the 

 long chain of Aubrac which lie* between the Lot and the Truyere, 

 and is remarkable for its frightful precipices and for the many evi- 

 dences it presents of former volcanic action basaltic columns, isolated 

 masses of rock, and lava-stream* arrested in their almost perpendicular 

 descent This district has a cold climate and a severe and long winter. 

 From October to April the ground is covered with snow ; during the 

 rest of the year the mountains afford excellent pasture. Rye and 

 oat* are the only corn grown in this region. Cuttle aud oats are the 

 only articles of trade. Between the Lot and the Aveyron there is 

 another mountain mass containing some fertile valleys, and many 

 round-topped summit* which are planted with trees. Hye, oats, some 

 wheat, and a great quantity of chestnuts and plums are grown. This 

 district has rich beds of coal, which sometimes take fire spontaneously, 

 and bum for yean. The principal mines are worked near the town 

 of Aubin ; most of the coal ia used in the great iron-works of Decaze- 

 ville; it is also used in the iron-works of Villefranche and of the 

 department of Cantal ; and of late yean considerable quantities have 

 been sent down the Lot to the towns on the Garonne. The neigh- 

 Iwurhood of Aubin also contains iron-ore, alum, and sulphur, and also 

 some mineral springs. 



Between the Aveyron and the Tarn rise the mountains of Levezou, 

 the northern side of which is almost perpendicular and uninhabited, 

 while the southern side slopes down gradually to the Tarn aud con- 

 tain* some hamleta, each of which is surrounded by a patch of culti- 

 vated land yielding rye, oata, and buckwheat This whole region 

 however is naturally barren and desolate, and the surface is in most 

 place* covered with furze, fern, or broom. The mountains to the 

 south of the department are a continuation of the CcVenncs ; a high 

 table-land overlooking the basins of the Tarn and the Hcranlt con- 

 nects the Cevenne* with the mountains of Cannes. This high plain, 

 called Larjac, lie* between the Dourbie and the Sorgue ; it is remark- 

 able for its extent and for the number of rocks of cubic aud pyramidal 

 form with which it is strewn. The soil of tlii.i district is calcareous, 

 and produce* abundant pasture for sheep, which for fiend and fleece 

 are not surpassed in France. The district has been famous from 

 immemorial for it* cheese made from ewes' milk. About lii.uuu 

 cheeses an made annually ; these an kept to ripen in grottoes or 

 cellars chiefly at Roquefort, near St-Affrique, which is the capital of 

 this pastoral district The pastures of Larjac are said to support 

 above 100,000 sheep. This part of the CeVenncs abounds in grottoes, 

 and contains slate, gypsum, and fuller' s-clay. The west of the de- 

 partment consist* of plains having a general inclination westward : 

 rye, oat*, truffles, and a little wheat are produced, and cheese is made. 

 The valley of the Tarn above Milhau contain* some fine vineyards, 

 especially in the neighbourhood of Corapeyre. Here the land is good, 

 farm* an Urge and well cultivated, and much wine is produced. 



