ALPS and APPENINES.) Italy is intersected by rivers in almost every direction. The most considerable are—the Po, which rises from Mount Vesula, about 30 miles south-west from Turin, (at which city it is 1200 feet broad,) flows through a course of 300 miles, waters 50 cities in its progress, receives innu merable rivers and streams into its channel, (the chief of which are the Doria, Lesia, Tanaro, Tesino, Trebia, Adda, Oglio, and Alincio,) and is navigable within 25 miles of its source ;-4he Adige, which flows from the Tyrol south ward to Verona, and thence south-east to the gulf of Venice, north from the Po ;—the Arno, which rises in the Appe nines, and flows by Florence and Pisa into the gulf of Ge noa ;—the Tiber, which rises also in the Appenines south east of St. Marino, passes by Perugia and Rome (from which to its mouth it is at an average 300 feet broad,) re ceives in its progress 42 tributary streams or torrents, and reaches the Tuscan sea at Ostia, after flowing through a course of 150 British miles ;—the Fiumesino, the ancient Rubicon, a diminutive but celebrated stream in the northern part of the Ecclesiastical State, which enters the Adriatic about 8 miles north of Rimini , and toe Volturno, which rises in the Appcnines above Venafro, runs south-cast and afterwards westward, receiving the Sabbato in its course, and falls into the sea at Castello del Voltorno. The rivers which descend from the Appenines are so apt to swell suddenly, and to overflow the adjacent country, that it be came necessary to erect strong dikes or mounds along their banks. But the stones and gravel brought down by these floods, being also confined by the banks, are continually raising the bed of the stream, and requiting the embank ments to be proportionally elevated. This is particularly the case with the Po and its tributary streams; so that the country, in the progress of this river, appears to be inter sected by a multitude of aqueducts, in some places not less than 30 feet in height, which are continually in danger of breaking out into the most destructive inundations, and which render it necessary fur the inhalfitants to have a large boat always at hand, in which they float with their families and most valuable effects, till the overflowing wa ters have subsided. These embankments must soon be incapable of farther elevation, and the rivers, no longer re strained, may at no distant period convert the fine delta of the Po into an extensive and useless marsh. The only possible remedy, if practicable, appears to be to deepen the channel, instead of elevating the embankments.
Italy contains many beautiful lakes, particularly in the northern division. Of these the most worthy of notice arc Lago Maggiore (ancient Verbanus), which is 27 miles in length, 7 or 8 in breadth, and in some places 1800 feet deep, contains the delightful Borromean islands, which may be ranked among the wonders of Italy, and is surrounded with banks abounding in every alpine beauty ;—Lago di Lugano (anciently Ceresius Lacus) about 25 miles in length, from 3 to 6 in breadth, of an immense depth, and in some places said to be almost unfathomable, is surround ed with very high and steep banks, which cast a blackening shade over the surface of its waters;—Lago di Como, or Larian Lake, less beautiful, but more magnificent than Lago Maggiore, about 50 miles in length, from 3 to 6 in breadth, and from 40 to 600 feet deep, is surrounded with a lofty ridge of mountains, whose sides, down to the border of the lake, are covered with shady woods and fruitful or chards, and its waters are subject to sudden squalls and violent swells ;—Lago di Varese, a noble expanse of water, of an oval form, about '12 miles long and six broad, is sur rounded with gently sloping banks, which are clothed with all the luxuriance of vegetation ;—Lago di Garda, or Bena cus, 18 miles from Verona, is SO miles in length, 3 in breadth, of very unequal depth, is surrounded with beauti fully diversified scenery ; and its waters, though usually tranquil, and presenting the finest sea-green hue, are at times agitated by waves, resembling rather the swellings of the ocean, than the commotion of inland waters, a cir cumstance strikingly described in a single line of Virgil : In the central parts of the country, the largest lakes arc those of Perugia and Bolsena ; and, in the southern dis tricts, those of Varano, near Mount Gargano, and Celano (anciently Fucinus), which is 47 miles in circumference, and from 4 to 10 in breadth. There are many smaller
lakes in different parts of Italy, some of which are much celebrated for the beauty of their scenery, particularly La go Albano in the vicinity of Rome, and Lago d'Agnano, supposed to be the famous pond of Lucullus, near Naples. It has been remarked as a singular circumstance, that the lakes of Italy are so little celebrated by the Roman poets, scarcely• any of them being once mentioned, except Larius and Benacus, in two lines of Virgil; which is supposed to have been owing to the barren and unsettled state of Cis alpine Gaul in those times, which was scarcely considered as a part of Italy. But these deficiencies arc now fully sup plied, and the principal feature which distinguishes the Ita lian ['tom the British lakes is, that the former, besides their greater extent, are surrounded by towns, villages, churches, and country seats, all placed, as if by the hand of a painter, in the most picturesque situations, finely contrasting and relieving the sublime and rougher parts of the landscape.