I S T 



331 



I S T 



turn. 



D . .-.. 



*,- . 

 pett. 



lion of it stems- to have been destroyed ; and so much 

 injury was tuffem! on the whole, that it nc\cr re. 

 covered it-s ancient splendour. Some time afterwards, 

 the Persian* revolted, when Mahmoud invited all the 

 ministers and chief men to a feast. But each, at the 

 moment of arrival, was assassinated, and 300 dead bo- 

 dies were soon exposed in the royal square to intimi- 

 date the inhabitants. Not content with this sanguinary 

 vengeance, he commanded the destruction of ail who 

 bad been previously in the service of government. The 

 massacre lasted fifteen days, so that from the low of 

 those who perished, of those who were banished, and 

 of those who fled in terror from the scene, Ispahan 

 was almost totally depopulated. Mahmoud, to repeople 

 it, invited several Kurdish tribes to occupy the desert* 

 ed houses. Bat short time subsequent to these events, 

 he himself died miserably ; and Nadir, the celebrated 

 usurper, having taken the city, many of the Afghans 

 were put to death, while the empire was regained from 

 their government From the period of Nadir's assas- 

 sination in 1 747, Ispahan became the object of ambi- 

 tion to alV the different competitors for the throne, who 

 have deluged Persia with blood during the preceding 

 century. It was captured by the late sovereign Aga 

 Mahomet Khan in 1785, and was threatened by a new 

 candidate for the empire, Lootf Ali Khan, in 179 1. Some 

 years later, the king ordered all the fortifications to be 

 dismantled, and transferred the seat of government to 

 Teheran, in the same province, where it still remains. 

 Lat 3V W 34" N. ; Long. 61 W 1 5" E. See Chardin 

 Voyage i, edit, de Langlei, torn. ii. viii. ; Tavernier's 

 Votfafti; Olivier, \oyagct, torn. iii. p. 182; Morier's 

 Trmtii, p. 168; Malcolm's Hittory of 1'ertta, vol. ii. ; 

 ai. i Kinneir's Geograpkuol Memoir, p. 1 1 1. (c) 

 - ) in Mmic, u a term sometimes applied to 

 the unison, or Minor FIRST ; which see. 



ISTKIA, is a country of Kurope, forming a triangular 

 peninsula in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea. It 

 is bounded on the north by the duchy of Carniola, and 

 on the other parts by the Gulf of Trieste, the Gulf of 

 Carnero, or more properly the Channel of Farisina, by 

 which it U separated from the island of Cheso, and by 

 the Adriatic. That portion forming the base of the 

 triangle, extends between 60 and 90 miles in length, 

 from east to west ; it stretches between 70 and 80 nan 

 north to south ; and probably the superficial area may 

 amount to nearly 3500 square mile*. 



Istria is divided into two districts, the Venetian to 

 the west, and the Austrian to the east ; the latter, aho 

 called the Littoral district, had pertained, during a long 

 tune, to the circle of Austria ; the former was annexed 

 to it also by the treaty of Campo Formio. Several 

 pleasant islands are dispersed along the coast, as the 

 two islands of St. Nicholas, one of which is covered 

 with olives, and the other, nearly five miles in circuit, is 

 full of shrubs, bat inhabited only by quairiers, working a 

 coarse grey marble, which is sent to Venice. The island 

 Brioni is likewise celebrated for the same substance. 



The surface of Istria U extremely unequal ; part of 

 it towards the sea is low and marshy, part, especially 

 to the north-west, consuls of precipitous mountains, 

 from which the projection of enormous pointed rocks 

 seems to threaten destruction to the beholder. 1 heir 

 idea are penetrated by caverns and grottos, incrustul 

 within by stalactites of fantastic shapes, and numerous 

 torrents pour down the deep ravines. The mountains 

 -mre either capped with snows, bare and barren, or co- 

 vered by beautiful forests, from which the marine of 

 Venice is chiefly supplied. Hence a great diversity of 



climate ensues ; and when one part of Istria is congeal- IHi 

 cd with cold, the hea* of the level ground is almost in- s "" "Y"*' 

 supportable, and, as we shall afterwards illustrate, is 

 attended with a fatal insalubrity. 



The \ allies are of extiaordinary fertility. They af- Productions; 

 ford two crops annually of the ordinary kinds of grain, 

 which is of excellent quality, and some of it exported 

 to Hamburgh. Harvests are obtained almost without 

 the operations of agriculture. Oil and wine are abun- 

 dant, and the price of the latter, which possesses re- 

 markable strength and flavour, is so moderate as to 

 render it attainable by every class of the people. Pro- 

 fitable fisheries of the tunny and anchovy are carried 

 on in the Adriatic, where the fisherman scarcely needs 

 to leave the shore for procuring a plentiful supply. 



The inhabitants of civilized countries present fewer Inhabitants. 

 prominent characters than those emerging from a sa- 

 vage condition. Probably the natives of Istria are a 

 mixed race, and it appears to us that the Morlachians, 

 who are copiously disseminated in the neighbouring 

 regions, form part of the number. Nevertheless a con- 

 siderable difference is to be observed in their morals 

 and pursuits, according to the places where they dwell. 

 In the district of Trieste, their physical constitution 

 bears more resemblance to that of the inhabitants of 

 Carniula, to which they are annexed by some geogra. 

 graphers. They are alike indifferent to the piercing 

 cold of the mountains and the enervating heat of the 

 vallies, and, with their breasts bare, and feet naked, 

 they brave the ice, and the asperity of the rocks. They 

 are robust and active. In Venetian l.-tria, on the 

 other hand, they are slothful and indifferent. The fer- 

 tility of the soil, and the stores of the sea, summon 

 forth so little exertion, that in many places they are 

 unk in a utate of apathy. Abusing the facility of pro- 

 curing liquors by drinking to excess, many are afflicted 

 by gout at an early period of life. Numerous lame 

 persons are teen among them, which some have ascri- 

 bed to the immoderate use of intoxicating draughts, 

 and some to an original vicious personal conformation. 

 It is probable, however, that much of the inactivity of the 

 htrians may be owing to the nature of their country and 

 its climate. The presence of forests, and of low and mar- 

 shy grounds, are alike pernicious to health ; and it has 

 been remarked, both in Europe and elsewhere, that, 

 on their eradication, a sensible amelioration follows. 

 It is affirmed that the climate is not equally fatal to na- 

 . live Istrians as to strangers, for many aged persons 

 are seen here. It has also been maintained, that if 

 their strength were developed by labour; if agriculture 

 were in greater repute, and procured more healthful 

 nutriment for them ; if they abstained from strong li- 

 quors, and if a watchful police promoted cleanliness, 

 which ia nf such vital importance, their endemial ma- 

 ladies would gradually disappear. 



Istria contains several towns of considerable import- Towns. 

 ance ; of which, according to some geographers, the 

 principal is Trieste. But as others incline to detach Trieiu. 

 it from this country, and annex it, along with its terri- 

 tory, to another, we shall briefly remark, that it is si- 

 tuated at the bottom of a gulf of the same name, oc- 

 cupy ing the place of the ancient Tergeste, a Roman 

 station ; that it is a city of great trade and numerous 

 population, which chiefly began to flourish under the 

 celebrated Empress Maria Theresa, somewhat after the 

 middle of the preceding century. See TRIESTE. Capo Cpo 

 d' I stria, one of the largest in the Venetian part, is usual- ' 

 ly considered the capital. See CAPO and I&TRIA. The 

 town of i'ula, now an inconsiderable place, is, as re. 



