ITALY. LETTER I. 3 



rivers. The excellent Imperial-road is made over 

 thefe hills. 



At Wifflack) two ftages diftant from Gnertz, the 

 mild climate of Italy begins ; and the above men- 

 tioned hills run to the left through the Friual, 

 along the Adriatic Sea, Iftria 9 Dalmatia, and the 

 Archipelago ; but on the right they join the Tyrol- 

 AlpSy connected with the Tridentine and Veronefe 

 mountains. Between thefe diverging hills there is 

 a flat plain country all the way to Venice, planted 

 with vines, maize, buck-wheat, millet, and Helens 

 Sorghum. There appears hardly any corn. 



The lime-ftone of thefe hills is, for the mod 

 part, light-grey, now and then changing to a dar- 

 ker colour, either in the whole mafs, or in blackifa 

 nodules and rnaffes interfperfed with it. There 

 are fome hills of an entirely black limeftone ; its 

 hardnefs is very different from that in Auftria^ 

 Steyermarck, and Crayn. There are different forts 

 of good marble dug out of thefe hills. Its grain 

 is commonly fine, compaft, and found ; rarely 

 fcaly, never faline* It contains petrifactions of 

 greater and lefler fea-fhells, but in fmall numbers. 



Thefe hills are in Aufiria up to the limits of 

 Steyermarck, uncovered by forefts, and for the 

 moft part planted with vines and corn ; but in Up- 

 fet '-Steyermarck they rife to a remarkable elevation, 

 covered with fir-wood, and feparated by dales, over- 

 grown by deciduous trees. In Under'Steyer and 

 B 2 Crayn 



