412 ON THE ALLUVIUM OF THE PO. 



to history and geology, to make a thorough search into 

 these buried remains at Adria, carefully noticing the le- 

 vels in comparison with the sea, both of the primitive 

 soil, and of the successive alluvial beds, his Highness en- 

 tered warmly into my ideas ; but I know not whether 

 these propositions have been since carried into effect. 



Following the coast, after leaving Hatria, which was 

 situated at the bottom of a small bay or gulf, we find to 

 the south a branch of the Athesis or Adige, and of the 

 Fossa Philistina, of which the remaining trace corre- 

 sponds to what might have been the Mincio and Tartaro 

 united, if the Po had still run to the south of Ferrara. 

 We next find the Delta Venetum, which seems to have 

 occupied the place where the lake or lagune of Comma- 

 chio is now situated. This delta was traversed by seven 

 branches of the Eridanus or Po, formerly called also the 

 Vadls Padus or Podincus ; which .river, at the diramifi- 

 cation of these seven branches, and upon its left or north- 

 ern bank, had a city named Trigoboli, whose site could 

 not be far from where Ferrara now stands. Seven lakes, 

 inclosed within this delta, were called Septem Maria, 

 and Hatria was sometimes denominated Urbs Septem 

 Marium, or the city of the seven seas or lakes. 



Following the coast from Hatria to the northwards, 

 we come to the principal mouth of the Athesis or Adige, 

 formerly named Fossa Philistina, and afterwards Es- 

 tuarium Altini, an interior sea, separated by a range of 

 small islands from the Adriatic Gulf, in the middle of 

 which was a cluster of other small isles, called Rialtum, 

 and upon this archipelago the city of Venice is now seat- 

 ed. The Estuarium Altini is what is now called the 

 Lagune of Venice, and no longer communicates with the 



