DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61893#0069
PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE.
43
principal, and indeed almost the only
inconveniencies, arise from the equinoctial
rains and the summer heats. The influence,
of both is felt over ail Italy; that of the
former is particularly inconvenient and
even sometimes dangerous, especially in
the northern provinces and along the
eastern coast. The immense number of
considerable rivers, such as the Tanaro,
the Tesino, the Bormida, the Adda, &c.
that pour their tributary waters into the
Po, while with it they contribute so largely
to the luxuriancy and beauty of the plains
through which they glide, yet, when swelled
with continued rains, like it they overflow
their banks and inundate the level surface
of the surrounding country. On these
occasions the roads are covered with mud,
the fords rendered impassable, bridges not
unfrequently swept away, and the com-
munication between different towns and
provinces entirely suspended. Nor do
43
principal, and indeed almost the only
inconveniencies, arise from the equinoctial
rains and the summer heats. The influence,
of both is felt over ail Italy; that of the
former is particularly inconvenient and
even sometimes dangerous, especially in
the northern provinces and along the
eastern coast. The immense number of
considerable rivers, such as the Tanaro,
the Tesino, the Bormida, the Adda, &c.
that pour their tributary waters into the
Po, while with it they contribute so largely
to the luxuriancy and beauty of the plains
through which they glide, yet, when swelled
with continued rains, like it they overflow
their banks and inundate the level surface
of the surrounding country. On these
occasions the roads are covered with mud,
the fords rendered impassable, bridges not
unfrequently swept away, and the com-
munication between different towns and
provinces entirely suspended. Nor do