Universitätsbibliothek HeidelbergUniversitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
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Goodisson, William
A historical and topographical essay upon the islands of Corfu, Leucadia, Cephalonia, Ithaka and Zante: with remarks upon the character manners and customs of the Ionian Greeks : descriptions of the scenery and remains of antiquity discovered therein, and reflections upon the Cyclopian ruins, illustrated by maps and sketches — London: Thomas and George Underwood, 1822

DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.65890#0198
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for an animal to extricate himself when once fallen
in; but little of the winter rains, go to feed it,
and its sources are so deep, that the summer heats
cannot reach them. The reservoir has one incal-
culable advantage however in this country, that it
gives rise to a perennial brook, which in its course
to the sea turns fourteen little water mills : these in
the dry weather, and when calms prevail, so as to
render the windmills useless, and almost to threaten
the island with famine, continue to work, and
supply the people not only of Cephalonia but Ithaca
with flour. Besides the utility of this little stream,
nothing can be more beautiful and romantic than
the entangled dell that conducts it in its wander-
ing busy course to the sea. A thick cover shades
its banks composed of mastic, myrtle and wild olive;
the bitter laurel, (viKpoSafvt),) as it is called by the
natives, grows here in luxuriance, and the broad
plane tree waves its golden branches over the brook
in wild magnificence. The copse abounds with
game in winter; abundance of woodcocks, with
hares, partridges, and snipe, afford excellent sport;
it is about four hours’ ride from Argostoli. The
black mountain at this side, exhibits a very bare
aspect; a large quantity of the timber having been
burnt in the last year of the Venetian government,
some say by accident, others affirm that it was done
designedly, as, in the following season the ground
was sown with barley, which is said to have pro-
duced sixty fold ! and so great was the productive-
ness, that, as our informant stated, a spontaneous
 
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