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CHAPTER II.

THE LOMBARDO-VENETIAN KINGDOM.-PROVINCES OF MILAN, LODI, CREMONA, MANTUA, VERONA, BRESCIA, COMO, AND PAVIA.

HAVING now seen all that it seemed important for me to see in Piedmont, I left this interesting country on the 27th February; and crossing the Ticino by the noble bridge at Buffalora-a record of that Kingdom of Italy to which, even now, the Italians look back with feelings of pride-I entered the magnificent plain of Lombardy. The Austrian custom-house authorities were courteous and obliging; and having satisfied themselves that my books on irrigation contained no inflammable or revolutionary matter, a few minutes sufficed for the examination of my baggage.

I was soon made aware of the noble scale on which the hydraulic works of Lombardy have been constructed, by seeing the Naviglio Grande, or Great Canal of the Ticino; an artificial river which, constructed so early as the twelfth century, has for more than six hundred years borne onward a volume of water equal to nearly 1800 cubic feet per second. This great mass of water has been spread over the surface of the country through a thousand channels, stimulating the productiveness of the soil to such an extent as to make the country through which it passes one of the richest and most densely populated which the

world has ever seen. It was impossible to look for the first time on this great work-the father, as it were, of the irrigation canals of modern Europe-without some feelings of emotion. And when the amount of social and national benefit which it has been the means of conferring, through long periods of varied fortune, is recalled to mind, one feels a willing sympathy in the pride with which it is regarded by the descendants of its original

constructors.

Along one of those fine highways by which Lombardy is distinguished, between interminable rows of most unpicturesque-looking poplar and mulberry trees, and through sheets of meadow land, covered with rich crops of grass, we approached the city of Milan. Huge carts, with their long teams of heavy horses; groups of peasants, in carriages of the most indescribable character; parties of that varied soldiery which forms the present army of occupation in Lombardy; policemen on horse and on foot, and travellers of every grade, covered the road as we came near to the capital. It may have been fanciful, perhaps, but I thought I observed on every Italian face there was cloud-a look of suffering and discontent. It is certain that nothing could have been more sombre than the aspect of Milan itself, with its half-deserted streets, its squares full of German soldiery, and occasionally bristling with cannon. It was sad to see a place, once so famous for its cheerful gaiety, thus overshadowed and depressed.

On reaching the city I found myself placed in a somewhat awkward position. Although I knew a letter to the Government of Lombardy, from the Austrian minister of foreign affairs at Vienna, had been applied for on my behalf, I found that no such letter had yet reached Milan. Under these circumstances, I thought that the frankest policy would probably be the best; and so, hav

ing sought and obtained a personal interview with Prince Carlo Schwartzenberg, then the governor of Lombardy, since removed to Transylvania, I explained to him the object of my visit to the province, and solicited such assistance as it might be in his power to give. I have very sincere pleasure in bearing my humble testimony to the courteous and cordial manner in which this application was received and complied with. I had no difficulty in understanding how it was that, even by those most opposed to the system he was bound from his position to enforce, the governor's kind, frank, soldier-like manner, and high personal qualities, were appreciated and acknowledged. I found, during my subsequent travels, that whatever assistance I sought from the government officials was willingly granted. Some annoyance I certainly did receive, from becoming, after Prince Schwartzenberg's departure, an object of notice to that despicable spy department, which his successor seemed to have stimulated into unusual activity. I was, of course, much occupied in making notes on various subjects connected with my duties. These, being made without the slightest attempt at secresy, had been noticed by some of those wretched employés of the police who haunt the footsteps, not only of foreign travellers, but of natives also. I found my employment had been misunderstood, and that it had been reported to the chief police-office at Milan, that I had been making notes on, and taking plans of the various military works in the country. As I had most scrupulously restricted myself to the civil duties with which I was charged, I was naturally indignant at being subjected to a charge so groundless and untrue. I was warned that all my papers were to be examined by police agents-a matter about which I was perfectly indifferent, as I had not a single note or plan to

which even the most jealous could have taken exception. In the meanwhile, however, my letter from the foreign minister at Vienna came to hand; and on my delivering this to Count Strassoldo, the new governor, I heard no more of the threatened visit from the police. This affair annoyed me much, as, had it not occurred, I could have reported, and would have done so with pleasure, that, travelling through the whole of Lombardy, and part of the Venetian provinces, with no other recommendation to the notice of the Government than that I was an English officer and a stranger, I had received every courtesy from the Austrian authorities. As it was, I brought away an intense dislike to that system of morbid government under which the fair provinces of Lombardy are now crushed almost to despair.

The city of Milan is encompassed by the waters of canals, which on the one side connect it with the Adda, and on the other with the Ticino and the Po. The Naviglio Grande terminates under its walls. The Naviglio Interno, occupying the former ditch of the ancient town, furnishes an inner line of navigation, by which heavy supplies of all kinds are transported, and links the Naviglio Grande with the Naviglio della Martesana, the important line connecting Milan with the river Adda. From the southern side of the city, the magnificent canal of Pavia-one of the greatest of those public works which Napoleon bestowed on Northern Italy-pursues its course towards Pavia; while numerous smaller channels, supplied directly or indirectly from the great arteries just mentioned, co-operate in producing that wondrous fertility which at once attracts the traveller's notice when he first visits the neighbourhood of the city. Among the smaller channels, the most remarkable is the Vettabbia, the escape line of the Naviglio Interno, and the receptacle, at the

same time, of a large portion of the sewerage of the town. With its waters, so rich in fertilising matter, the adjoining meadows are irrigated, and produce no less than eight crops annually, of which five are grass and three hay. One of the farms watered from this stream, which I visited, gave a rent of 30 francs per pertica, or nearly £8 per acre; and this was considered a moderate amount, there being farms in the immediate neighbourhood which were rented at from £15 to as high as £22 per acre. Results like these, however, were confined to a very narrow circle, including not more than a few square miles immediately around the city. It was only at Milan that I found the sewerage waters utilised. In the other large towns which I subsequently visited, I found no measures taken to benefit by the drainage or the refuse they supplied. Even at Milan it is a portion only of the proceeds of the sewerage which finds its way to the Vettabbia. The stable manure is either sold directly, or sent by the proprietors to their farms in the vicinity. The produce of the street clearances is eagerly sought by the cultivators of the higher lands to the north of the city; while house manure of different kinds is carried away by another class of cultivators, who apply it chiefly to the market gardens around the town. The subterranean channels which communicate with the Vettabbia carry off, therefore, only a limited portion of the animal and vegetable refuse which Milan supplies; and it is a mistake to consider this city as an illustration of the utilisation of such products on a large scale. There will be no difficulty in understanding the cause of the fertility of the districts adjoining the great towns of the Lombardian plains, when it is borne in mind that in the triangle included between Milan, Lodi, and Pavia, each side of which is little more than twenty miles in length, there are, it is estimated, not

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