I T A L Y, 
466 
which is followed by the noble Lngo di Garda, a Iheet 
of water about thirty Britilh miles in length by eight 
in breadth. 
In the central part of Italy the largeft lakes are thofe 
of Perugia and Bolfena, with thofe to the north of Rieti. 
Some fmall lakes are alio celebrated; as that of Albano, 
fhaded by trees and rocks, Imd that of Nemi in the fame 
vicinity, about feventeen miles fouth-eaft from Rome. In 
the Neapolitan diftrirt is the lake of Celano in the north ; 
and that of Varano, near mount Gargano: nor is there 
any large lake in the fouthern part, or in the illand of 
Sicily, in which laft that of Beverio, near Lentini, is the 
noli remarkable. 
The moft important mountains of Italy are the Alps, 
which divide it from SwifTerland. The maritime Alps 
life from the fea to the weft of Oneglia, and are fucceeded 
by other denominations, extending due north to Mont 
Blanc, the ancient boundary of Savoy. Mont Rofa forms 
as it were a circus of gigantic peaks, furrounding the 
village of Macugnaga, a lingularity of form ftrongly con¬ 
trolling with Mont Blanc, and l'uppofed to impart the 
name from fome refemblance to an expanded rofe. From 
Mont Rofa this grand chain continues its progrefs north- 
eaft, by Simplon, &c. through the country of the Gri- 
fons, to the glaciers of Tyrol, terminating in the Salzian 
Alps. 
The next grand chain of Italian mountains is that of 
the Apennines. While the weftern Alps branch off on 
one fide into the mountains of Dauphine, on the other 
the Apennines are at firft a branch of the Alps, which 
Separates the plains of Piedmont from the fea. Thus the 
Apennines begin near Ormea, in that high ridge which 
now forms the boundary of the French department of the 
maritime Alps, and ftretch without any interruption along 
both lides of the gulf of Genoa, at no great diftance from 
the fea, giving fource to many rivers flowing from the 
north and to the eaft. In general the Apennines may 
rather be regarded as hills than as mountains. 
Vefuvius is a conical detached mountain, about 3600 feet 
high, and feems chiefly calcareous, as it frequently ejerts, 
befides the lava, marble, calcareous fpar, gypfum, and 
iimilar fubfiar.ces. The terrors of an eruption, the fubter- 
ranean thunders, the thickening fmoke, the ruddy flames, 
the ftony (howers ejerted to a prodigious height, amidft 
the corrufcations of native lightning, the throes of the 
mountain, the lava defcending in a horrid and copious 
Itream of deftrurtion, have exercifed the powers of many 
writers; but here the powers of nature far exceed the ut- 
moft energy of defcription. See Vesuvius. Yet Vefu¬ 
vius, placed by the fide of Etna, would feem but a fmall 
ejerted hill, the whole circuit of its bafe not exceeding 
thirty miles, while Etna covers a fpace of 180, and its 
height above the fea is computed by Spallanzani at about 
j 1,000 feet. See Etna, vol. vii. 
The iflands of Lipari, to the north of Sicily, alfo con¬ 
tain many volcanoes, of which. Stromboli is the chief. 
This crater is diftinguilhed from any other by conftant 
momentary eruptions of fliowers of ftones, which, from 
its pofition in the fide of the hill, are confined, and re- 
lapfe into the volcano, thus fupplying endlefs materials. 
The ifle called Vulcano prelents a moil capacious crater; 
but the materials of eruption feem exhaufted. The ifle of 
Lipari, containing the town fo called, prefents vail rocks 
of volcanic glafs; and the hill called Campo Bianco, three 
miles from the town of Lipari, contains almoft all the 
pumices which are employed for various purpofes in Eu¬ 
rope. Felicuda and Alicuda, the two extreme Liparian 
iflands towards the weft, alfo difplay proofs of their having 
anciently contained volcanoes: and recent authors have 
difcovered fimilar proofs in the ifle of Ifcliia, and in thofe 
of Ponza, to the north of the Gulf of Naples ; while that 
of Capri, to the fouth of that gulf, is fuppoled to be 
chiefly calcareous. 
There are ftill the remains of forefts in fome parts of 
the Apennines; but the early civilization of Italy feems to 
have been difadvantageous to the growth of timber. The 
woods of mount Gargano are celebrated by the ancient 
claflics; and the forefts of Etna appear to be extenfive; 
It is probable that the botanical treafures of Italy exceed 
in luxuriance thofe of any other European country, on 
account of the great variety of its foil, and the genial 
benignity of its climate. The richnefs of its vegetable 
productions, however, has by no means received that de¬ 
gree of notice which it merits: the vale of Enna, the fo¬ 
refts of Apulia, the romantic fcenes of Calabria, and the 
warm fliore of the Tarentine bay, contain a rich harveft 
for future naturalifts, and will no doubt grace the Flora of 
Italy with many new fpecies. Among the trees, befides 
thofe common in Britain, we find the olive, the date-plum, 
theftorax-tree, the bead-tree, the almond, the pomegranate, 
the azarole-plum, the pyracantha, the carob-tree, the ilex, 
the piftachia, the manna-tree, the cyprefs, the date-palm, 
the lemon, the orange, the fig, and the vine. In the 
fouthern parts, cotton, rice, and the fugar-cane, indicate 
the warmth of the climate and the fertility of the foil. 
The Italian horfes are of little reputation. The cows 
of the Lodizan, where the noted cheefe is now made, 
which was formerly produced near Parma, are defcribed 
by Mr. Young as generally of a blood-red colour, long, 
lank, and ill-made. The fame writer obferves that, though 
in Tufcany the number of cattle be far inferior to what 
might be experted, yet the art of fattening oxen is well 
underftood. The marmot and the ibex are reckoned 
among the animals of the Apennines; and the crelted por¬ 
cupine is efteemed peculiar to the fouth of Italy. Among 
birds may be mentioned the little falcon of Malta, the 
Certhia muraria, and theTurdus rofeus and cyantis, with 
the Alauda fpinoletta, and other forts of land and water 
fowl. Of reptiles, the Lacerta orbicularis is efteemed pe¬ 
culiar to the kingdom of Naples. 
The principal mountains of Italy abound not only with 
mines of iron, lead, alum, fulphur, marble of all forts, ala- 
bafter, jafper, porphyry, Sec. but- alfo produce gold and 
filver. The foil of the country is in general very fertile, 
producing a great variety of wines, the bell oil in Eu¬ 
rope, excellent fi!k in abundance; corn of all forts, but 
not fo abundantly as fome other countries; and, in addi¬ 
tion to the fruits already mentioned, fuch as are common 
in the other regions of Europe. The climate is very dif¬ 
ferent according to the different fituations of the various 
parts of the peninfula. In thofe on the north of the 
Apennines it is more temperate, but on the fouth it is ge¬ 
nerally very warm. In the central diviiion, the air of the 
Campania of Rome, and of the Ferrarefe, is unhealthy, 
owing to the Itagnant marlhes, and the lands not being duly 
cultivated. In the other parts it is generally pure, dryl¬ 
and healthy. In fummer the heat is very great in the 
kingdom of Naples; and would be almoft intolerable were 
it not fomewhat alleviated by the fea-breezes. 
The prefent population of Italy, with the iflands of Si¬ 
cily and Sardinia, is eftimated at thirteen millions. Of 
this number Naples and Sicily contain about fix millions; 
the central part about three, and the northern about four. 
The manners, cuftoms, and dialerts, are various and dis¬ 
cordant. The language univerfally fpoken is the Italian, 
which is principally derived from the Latin, and is ac¬ 
counted one of the moft perfert among the modern tongues. 
It correfponds with the genius of the people, who are flow 
and thoughtful; their language accordingly runs heavily, 
though fmoothly, and many of their words are lengthened 
out to a great degree. To gratify their paffion for malic, 
they have altered many of their primitive words, leaving 
out confonants, taking in vowels, foftening and length¬ 
ening out their terminations for the fake of cadence. 
Hence the language is rendered extremely mufical, but 
fails in ftrength and nervoufnefs. The great number of 
fovereign ftates into which Italy was till of late years di¬ 
vided, gave rife to a great number of different dialerts in- 
the language. The Tufcan is ufually preferred to the 
other dialerts, and the Roman pronunciation to that of 
1- - the 
