Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia, &c. : during the years 1812 and 1813 / by Henry Holland.

  • Holland, Henry, Sir, 1788-1873.
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Travels in the Ionian Isles, Albania, Thessaly, Macedonia, &c. : during the years 1812 and 1813 / by Henry Holland. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

    105/604 page 81
    8] it probable, that the peninsula of Salaora was once entirely detached from the land*. After leaving the causeway, we continued to traverse, for some distance, the low swampy district through which the river Luro flows into the gulph, which part of the plains is entirely occupied as pasture land. As we receded further from the sea, their aspect gradually became more luxuriant and fertile, and after passing the small village of Aresa, belonging to Mouctar Pasha, the eldest son of the Vizier, we found ourselves in a country glowing with richness and beauty. The plain of Arta is in fact one of the most fertile districts of Albania, and, notwithstanding many de- ficiencies of culture, teems with a luxuriant and profitable vegetation. The greater part is occupied as pasture land; a large portion also is devoted to the culture of Indian corn, wheat, rice, and tobacco; while in the vicinity of Arta, the vineyards are numerous, and the orange and fig tree are made objects of peculiar attention. The population of this plain is of a very fluctuating kind, and several villages appear in different parts of it, which are appropriated to the peasants of Santa-Maura and Cephalonia, who come over to assist in the labours of the tillage and harvest. The road from Salaora to Arta is at present in a very bad state; but about two miles from the latter place, we came upon a new road which the Vizier has ordered to be made across the plains, and of which about a mile was already completed. The construction of the road, directed by a Cephaloniote, is excellent: it is about 50 feet in width, raised in the centre, and strengthened by ribs of stone crossing it at regular intervals. Property, under a despotic govern- ment, is not the object of a minute attention, and therefore there are no deviations in the straight line of its course. Some hundred labourers were at work upon it when we passed by, the task-master standing over them with the lash in his hand. Pliny particularly mentions this encroachment of the land on the northern side of the gulph of Ambracia. Hist. Nat. lib. ii. iU
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3