able active summits are Vesuvius near Naples, Etna in Sicily, and Stromboli in the Lipari islands.

The principal rivers of Italy are the Po, the Adige, the Arno and the Tiber.

The mountain lakes of Italy are famed for their beauty. The principal are Maggiore, Lugano, Como, Iseo, and Garda.

The climate is generally healthy and dry. In the northern provinces it is temperate, salubrious, and occasionally severe in winter; in the centre it assumes a more genial character, while the heat of the southern extremity is of almost tropical intensity. olive, the orange and the lemon flourish luxuriantly, and the sugar-cane, tobacco-plant, the Indian fig, the papyrus and the datepalm are abundant on the low and warm plains.

The

The rains are less dispersed throughout the year than in more northern latitudes, but fall with great violence at particular seasons and swell the mountain torrents with almost inconceivable rapidity.

The drawbacks of the climate are the tramontana or mountain winds, and the malaria which issues from the Maremma of Tuscany, the Pontine Marshes, and the Venetian lagoons. The mean annual temperature at Milan is 53° 6, at Florence 59° 4, at Rome 60°, at Naples 62° 2.

The kingdom of Italy is divided into fifteen territories and sixtynine provinces. At the last census, December, 1876, it had a population of 27,580,174.

The mineral productions are varied and of great value. Gold and silver occur in the valleys of Sesia and Aosta, and between Reggio and Scilla. Tuscany possesses valuable mines of copper, lead, quicksilver, and a great

number of minerals. There are rich iron mines in Sessera, Susa, Tuscany, Vermenagna and Abruzzo-Ultra, and in the island of Elba. Beautiful marbles of various hues are found in the Genoese and Tuscan territories.

The staple manufactures are silks, velvets, damasks, ribbons, &c. Corn, olives, hemp, flax, and cotton are largely grown, and the sugar-cane is successfully cultivated in the two Sicilies.

The wines of Italy are numerous, but, owing to the defective mode of their manufacture, are unfit for exportation. The most superior oil and olives are furnished by Tuscany, Lucca, and Naples; the oil of Florence and that of Gallipoli and Puglia being unequalled for purity and sweetness. The fruits of the two Sicilies are exquisite in flavour, and embrace several tropical species.

ROUTE 123.

MODANE TO MILAN, BY TURIN.

161 miles; 1st class, 29.95 francs; 2nd, 21.10 francs; 3rd, 15.15 francs.

EAVING Modane, we soon enter the great Mont Cenis tunnel, which is 7 miles in length. After leaving the tunnel

we

soon reach Condove, Not far distant is the Monte Pirchiriano, 2,880 ft. above the sea, upon whose summit is a monastery called the Sagra di San Michele, supposed to have been originally founded in the 10th century. It is fortified by walls, and also by the precipitous rocks upon which it stands. At the foot of the mountain is Sant' Ambrogio. The projecting galleries of the houses give them a quaint appearance. The valley of Susa ends near Avigliana, and that of the Po commences. In the vicinity are two small lakes, the Lago della Madonna and the Lago di San Bartolommeo. At a little distance from the railway is

the church of San Antonio di Rinverso, belonging in ancient times to the Knights Hospitallers. Above Rosta, we see RIVOLI, & town of above 5,000 inhabitants. with a large unfinished palace, in which Victor Amadeus II. was confined in 1731. The town and neighbourhood of Rivoli are considered remarkably healthy.

TURIN (67 miles), population (1877) 197,000. (Hotels: see HOTEL APPENDIX.") It is beautifully situated in an extensive and fertile plain, surrounded by the Alps, at the confluence of the Dora-Susina with the Po.

BOOKSELLERS.-Bocca Frères, Via Carlo Alberto, No. 3. Italian and foreign books. Large assortment of old and rare books of history, geography, travels, fine art, archæology,

&c.

GLOVES of every quality.-Pennano, 8, Via Dora Grossa.

WINES AND VERMOUTH.-Sole house for vermouth at Turin and for Italy, G. and L. Filli Cora.

Turin is remarkable for the regularity of its streets, which, with few exceptions, intersect each other at right angles.

The PALACE, built by Charles Emmanuel II., and designed by Castellamonte, is a huge structure, with its large courts bounded by open porticos. Its exterior, which is perfectly bare of ornament, forms the western portion of the Piazza Castello. The bronze equestrian statues of Castor and Pollux, which decorate the pillars of the gateway, are by Sangiorgio. The apartments, to which the vast staircases conduct, are handsome, and are sumptuously furnished. The library contains 40,000 volumes and many interesting manuscripts. The armory contains many interesting objects, among others, the sword carried by Napoleon at Marengo. It was laid out by Le