Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 13.djvu/459

 GEOGRAPHY.] ITALY about midway between Penza and Ischia. The island of Capri, on the other hand, which is just opposite to the southern promontory of the Bay of Naples, is a precipitous limestone rock. The ^Eolian or Lipari Islands, a remark able volcanic group, belong rather to Sicily than to Italy, though Stromboli, the most easterly of them, is about equidistant from Sicily and from the mainland. The islands to the south of Sicily Malta and Gozo, and Pan- tellaria in like manner do not fall within the scops of the present article. Malta indeed has very little natural con nexion with Sicily, and none with the continent of Italy. The Italian coast of the Adriatic presents a great contrast t.) its opposite shores, for while the coast of Dalmatia is bordered by a succession of islands, great and small, the long and uniform coast-line of Italy from Otranto to Piiniini presents not a single adjacent island ; and the small outlying group of the Tremiti Islands (north of the Monte Gargano and about 15 miles from the mainland) alone breaks the monotony of this part of the Adriatic. Climate and Natural Productions. The geographical position of Italy, extending from about 4G to 38 N. lat., naturally renders it one of the hottest countries in Europe. But the effect of its southern latitude is to a great extent tempered by its peninsular character, bounded as it is on botli sides by seas of considerable extent, as well as by the great range of the Alps with its snows and glaciers to the north. Great differences also exist with regard to climate between Northern and Southern Italy, due in great part to other circumstances as well as to difference of latitude. Thus the great plain of Northern Italy is chilled by the cold winds from the Alps, while the damp warm winds from the Mediterranean are to a great extent intercepted by the Ligurian Apennines. Hence this part of the country has a cold winter climate, so that the thermometer descends as low as 10 Fahr., and the mean winter temperature of Turin is actually lower than that of Copenhagen. Throughout the region north of the Apennines no plants will thrive which cannot stand occa sional severe frosts in winter, so that not only oranges and lemons but even the olive tree cannot be grown, except in specially favoured situations. On the other hand the strip of coast between the Apennines and the sea, known as the Puviera of Genoa, is not only extremely favourable to the growth of olives, but produces oranges and lemons in abundance, while even the aloe, the cactus, and the palm flourish in many places. Indeed, the vegetation of parts of this favoured district has a more southern character than is met with again till below Terracina towards the south. The great plain of Lombardy, however, produces ri,e in large quantities, as well us Indian corn, millet, and wheat ; while the mountain slopes both of the Alps and Apennines are covered with vast forests of chestnuts, and the lower hills are clothed with vineyards, which furnish abundance of wines, many of them of excellent quality. Silk is also an important article of produce both in the north of Italy and in Tuscany, and mulberries are largely planter! with a view to its production. Central Italy also presents striking differences of climate and temperature according to the greater or less proximity to the mountains. Thus the greater part of Tuscany, and the provinces from thence to Rome, enjoy a mild winter climate, and are well adapted to the growth of mulberries and olives as well as vines, but it is not till after passing Terracina, in proceeding along the western coast towards the south, that the vegetation of Southern Italy develops itself in its full luxuriance. Even in the central parts of Tuscany, however, the climate is very much affected by the neighbouring mountains, and the increasing elevation of the Apennines as they proceed south naturally produces a corresponding effect upon the temperature. But it is when we reach the central range of the Apennines that we find the coldest districts of Italy. In all the upland valleys of the Abruzzi and of Sannio, snow begins to fall early in November, and heavy storms occur often as late as May ; whole communities are shut out for months from any inter course with their neighbours, and some villages are so long buried in snow that regular passages are made between the different houses for the sake of communication among tho- inhabitants. The district extending from the south-east of Lake Fucino to the Piano di Cinquemiglia, and enclosing the upper basin of the Sangro and the small lake of Scanno, is the coldest and most bleak part of Italy south of the Alps. Heavy falls of snow in June are not uncommon,, and it is only for a short time towards the end of July that the nights are totally exempt from light frosts. Yet less than 40 miles east of this district, and even more to^ the north, we find the olive, the fig-tree, and the orange thriving luxuriantly on the shores of the Adriatic from Ortona to Vasto. In the same way, whilst in the plains and hills round Naples snow is rarely seen, arid never remains long, and the thermometer seldom descends to the freezing point, 20 miles east from it in the fertile valley of Avellino, of no great elevation, but encircled by high mountains, light frosts are not uncommon as late as June; and 18 miles farther east, in the elevated region of S. Augelo de Lombardi and Bisaccia, the inhabitants are always warmly clad, and vines grow with difficulty and only in sheltered, places. But nowhere are these contrasts so striking as in Calabria. The shores, especially on the Tyrrhenian Sea, present almost a continued grove of olive,, orange, lemon, and citron trees, which attain a size unknown in the north of Italy. The sugar-cane flourishes, the cotton- plant ripens to perfection, date-trees are seen in the gardens, the rocks are clothed with the prickly-pear or Indian fig, the enclosures of the fields are formed by aloes and sometimes pomegranates, the liquorice-root grows wild, and the mastic, the myrtle, and many varieties of oleander and cistus form the underwood of the natural forests of arbutus and evergreen oak. If we turn inland but 5 or 6 miles from the shore, and often even less, the scene changes. 1 High districts covered with oaks and chestnuts succeed to this aim &amp;gt;st tropical vegetation ; a little higher up and we reach the elevated regions of the Pollino and the Sila, covered with firs and pines, and affording rich pastures even in the midst of summer, when heavy dews and light frosts succeed each other in July and August, and snow begins to appear at the end of September or early in October. Along the shores of the Adriatic, which are exposed to the north-east winds, blowing coldly from over the Albanian mountains, delicate plants do not thrive so well in general as under the same latitude along the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Southern Italy indeed has in general a very differ ent climate from the northern portion of the kingdom; and, though large tracts are still occupied by rugged, mountains of sufficient elevation to retain the snow for a considerable part of the year, the districts adjoining the^ca enjoy a climate similar to that of Greece and the southern provinces of Spain. Unfortunately several of these fertile tracts suffer severely from malaria, and especially the great plain adjoining the Gulf of Tarentum, which in the early ages of history was surrounded by a girdle of Greek cities,. some of which attained to almost unexampled prosperity, has for centuries past been given up to almost complete desolation. It is remarkable that, of the vegetable product! ns of Italy, many of those which are at the present day among the first to attract the attention of the visitor, and might be thought characteristic of the country, are of compara- XIII. - 56