CALABRIA. a province of Italy, which forms the most southern part of the kingdom of Naples, is bounded on the north by Basilicata, and the gulf of Taranto ; by the Ionian sea on the east ; and on the south and west by the Mediterranean and the straits of Messina, which se parate it from Sicily. This peninsula is divided into Calabria Ultra, and Calabria Citra. The extent of the former is estimated, by Mr Swinburne,at nearly 1,521,302 English acres, and that of the other at 1,284,370 ; and their united population at 775,722 inhabitants. This country is rather mountainous, but the vallies with which it is interspersed are rich and fertile, and watered with numerous rivers. No country abounds more in towns and villages, has a greater variety of culture, and is covered with finer forests than Calabria. It has a very picturesque appearance. The form of its mountains differ from those of most other countries. They are sel dom of a pointed or conical shape, but almost always round ; and though sonic modern travellers have asserted that they arc of volcanic origin, yet no traces of lava are to be in their neighbourhood. They appear to consist, for the most part, of chalk and argil ; and con tain pyrites, asbestos, spar, quartz, granite, marble, and different kinds of sand, sometimes mingled without or der, and somethn•s ranged in regular strata.
Its principal rivers are the Coscile, Crathis, Tritium, Nieto, Tacina, A Ili, Alamo, Abis, and Angilota. The Coscile is the Sybaris of the ancients, whose Avaters be ing strongly impregnated with mephitic gas, were sup posed very injurious to cattle, on account of exciting dangerous sneezings and convulsions. The Crathis rises in the mountains south of Cosenza, and passing that city and Bisignano, joins its waters with the Coscile at the site of the ancient town of Sybaris, and falls into the Ionian sea. This river is broad, clear, and rapid, often inundating its banks, and destroying the neighbouring districts ; and in 1629, it is said to have suddenly risen 20 palmes. According to Strabo, the waters of the Crathis had the property of tinging of a fair or yellow colour, the hair of all those who bathed in it ; and that they were also very efficacious in the cure of several dis eases.* The same tradition is preserved, and it may have arisen from the yellow appearance which this river still retains.
The climate of Calabria, which in some places is among the finest in the world, is in several of the most fertile districts very insalubrious, on account of the in undations of the rivers, which being allowed to roll their floods unrestrained over the low and neglected fields, leave, as they shrink back into their channels, black and stinking swamps, which poison with their noxious va pours the whole region around. But by a little industry and management, these bad effects might easily be coun teracted, and these rivers, which at present disseminate the seeds of pestilence and disease, might be made to convey freshness and fertility to well tilled thirsty fields.
The soil of Calabria is very unequal, changing from a rich and mellow loam to a cold and wet gravel. Many of the mountains are nothing hut bare and barren rocks, while others are covered with majestic oaks, and the sloping sides of some of the hills are embellished with fruit trees of every description such as vines, figs, oranges, lemons, citrons, olives, mulberries, chesnuts, and almonds. The extensive forest of Sila, celebrated by Virgil in the 12th book of his ./Eneirl, v. 715, reaches from above Cosenza on the north to Catanzaro on the gulf of Squillace, and covers a surface of nearly 400 square miles. The ancients, however, comprehended, under the name of Sila, the whole forest extending along the chain of mountains as far as Reggio, which Strabo esti mates at about 700 stadia, above a hundred British miles in length. This forest abounds with fir and other resin ous trees, which annually afford immense quantities of pitch, rosin, and turpentine. It belongs exclusively to the king ; and the inhabitants of the country are prohi bited, under tho severest penalties, even the confiscation of their property, from cutting clown the trees. Above 400 persons are constantly employed in gathering and preparing the resinous substance ; and its annual pro duce is nearly 11,000 cantares of pitch and rosin. The
white pitch is the most valuable, but also the most scarce ; seldom exceeding 75 contares, or 22,688 jt,.; while the black pitch affords 10,000 canton's, or 2,777,500 Th. The pitch of Sila is highly extolled by Straho and Pliny,t as being very rich and resinous, and also, as being of great utility in medicine. It is still very much esteemed, and great quantities of it are annually exported to Sicily, Genoa, and Venice. The lower parts of the mountains abound with the OrMIS, a small leaved !lowering manna ash, which grows spontaneously, and without any culture. All the manna belongs to the king, and the gathering of it is entrusted to the feudal lords, who receive for every man employed five carlini a day, two of which they keep to themselves. During the manna harvest, which gene rally lasts four or five weeks, every peasant who is call ed upon is compelled to abandon his own employment to assist in the work. The manna is extracted by making a horizontal incision in the bark of the tree, about half an inch deep, and inclining a little upwards ; a small net pie Leal is then fixed into the wound, from which the mrsnuea in its liquid state (Imps into the large leaves of Indian ligs, which are placed at the kot of the tree in .stead of basins. Some kinds of manna, however, ooze out from the hark of the tree without any incision. This is very limpid and transparent, and crystallizes in little balls on the surface. It is preferred to the other kind of manna, but is very scarce, and sells iu general very high. The gatherers are allowed to cat as much as they please in the woods, but if the smallest quantity of (lie juice is foetid in their houses, they are severely punished, and sometimes even incur the penalty of death. Many of the wallies arc covered with the most luxuriant pastu rage, upon which arc fed numerous flocks of sheep, which form the principal wealth of the northern part of the province. Their wool is esteemed equal to that of Spain. It is strong and curled, and is very much em ployed in the manufactories of Venice. Tile cultivation of this country, however, is most miserably neglected. Every exertion is paralyze 1 by the hand of power. The peasant sees Ito anwlioration to his condition from his efforts, and is discouraged, from the apprehension, that increasing activity and produce on his part would only expose hint to an additional weight of taxes and oppres sion. " The husbandry of this province," says Mr Swin hurtle, " is slovenly, and the skill in gardening very su perficial. Both betray a want of emulation and intelli gence. Climate and soil do more than half the work, and the hand of dispirited man is sluggishly applied to the task ; partial Nature empties the horn of plenty on his head ; but, from many fatal causes, her bounty con tributes little to his welfare; whilst we see, in more northern and less happy regions, the active enterprising labourer able to extort favours from her, and with the least gaudy of her riches raise himself to comfoit and independence." The Calabrian farmer, instead of ma nuring and cleaning his ground, thinks he does well if lie ceases to plough it for two or three years, and leaves the pasturage to make its way through the rank weeds which surround it. In some districts, the common course of husbandry is to take a crop of wheat. and then let the field lie fallow for two years. The mode of letting farms in this country is also a complete obstruction to every kind of improvement. In all the baronial and ecclesias tical estates, a lease of only two years, loaded with many clauses and restrictions, is allowed ; and the term is ex tended by the plebeian landlords to six years. Some of the barons arc not content with a short lease and an ex orbitant rent ; but they encroach upon the commons and cultivated grounds for the sake of extending their chase; and thus the poor peasants have sometimes neither room nor opportunity to raise sufficient food for their support. On the eastern part of the peninsula, however, the state of agriculture is much better, and consequently the ground produces much finer crops. The low lands are extremely rich in herbage, producing spontaneously rich crops of sainfoin ; but half of the grass is suffered to rot in the ground for want of cattle to consume it.