[ 2 p
hie, for naturalifts to expeft any thing complete, from fuch
ihort peregrinations. Men however are not wanting,, who, tranf-
ported by the ardour o f yOuth, and the perfuaiion o f being able to-
impofe on the literary world,, undertake to. defcribe in, a fevsr
months, the botanical, animal, and foffil hiftory o f the largeft
provinces: but he who is ufed to confider, with philofophic
leifure, the immenee variety of things, is ibon, convinced, that:
the life of a man is not fufficient (whatever affiftance he may
have met with) to compofe a complete natural hiftory o f the
fmalleft illand, or diftridt. A fimple mineral water, or fubter-
raneous cavern, or the courfe of a river, with its confluent ftreams,
requires much attention and confideration, before one can pretend;
to treat o f either of them expreflly. And how can it be other-
wife, i f the fillies in the fmalleft creek o f the fea, nay one o f
them alone, a plant, or an, infedt, i f one is defirous to=know per-
fedtly its properties and transformations, is enough to employ
,an attentive naturalift, for months, and fometimes years, before
he can acquire a competent knowledge o f it ? And'who would
not become cautious and diffident, on refledting, that all
that Swammerdam, Reaumur, Maraldi,. and & many other
celebrated men, have obferved concerning bees, proves to be-
inaccurate, fince the late obfervations o f M, Schirach ?' Your
Lordlhip, who is well acquainted with the difficulties, and vaft
extent o f the field-, in which the naturalift labours, wiH, I am.
convinced', receive thefe obfervations, that I have been able to-
make, with the candour that is natural to great, and enlightened
minds j for thofe who are ignorant, or know little o f this
fcience, are commonly the molt fevere, and illiberal in their a o
cufations. Donati, after having-fpent feveral years in travelling in
Dalmatia, had not the courage to publilh any mqre than an ef-
fay, on the natural hiftory o f the Adriatick. And the great
Haller, after long refearches among the Alps o f Switzerland-,
gam
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g a v e an eminent example o f his modefty, by publilhing, an dtr
tempt towards a catalogue o f the Helvetic plants. What then can
be expedted from me, whofe experience and wifdom are trifling*
in comparifon with thofe great and diftinguilhed characters.
O f the IJlands VLBO, and S e lv e .
Having palled that part of the gulph, which, by our mariners,
and geographers, is known'by the name o f Quarnaro, I
firft landed on two illands, called Ulbo,. and Selve, that are
contiguous to each other, and between which, the fmall vef-
fels bound from Venice to Zara, commonly pafs. Thefe
are probably the fame that Conftantine Porphyrogenitus*
numbered among the uninhabited illes, under the names, mutilated
according to his cuftom, o f Alaep, and Selbo. T he convenience
o f their fituation has drawn inhabitants to them in our
days, and they are even cultivated beyond what their poor, and
ungrateful foil deferves; for the ground is fo dry, and ftony,
that olives feldom come to any perfection; vines produce bad
grapes j and corn fucceeds ftill worle. The ftone that moft a-
bounds, is a kind o f hard, whitilh marble, which, as your
Lordlhip knows, is alfo found in a great quantity, among the
higheft mountains in Italy, particularly about Peperno, Ter-
racina, and the royal Villa o f Caferta. I know not, i f this
kind o f marble is found on the higher mountains o f Triuli,
having hitherto had no opportunity o f vifiting that country;
where alfo (as I have been told) there are but very few declared
lovers of foffil knowledge. • T he greateft part o f the Peninfula
o f Iftria is however compofed o f i t ; and the fame fpecies a-
bounds in the intermediate illands, appearing to be of contemperary
* Go/i, Porph, de Themai. Tpm, Them, Balm, c, 29»