fea fide would coft the,fourth part of a Venetian fol per pound ;
but I Ihould think that the fmall fum annually fpent in the
Pope’s ftate for this commodity mightibepaore ufefully employed
in Dalmatia, even i f the preference were given at the coft of
a fmall difference in the price.
O f the Fort refs o f S e I c n, and the Plain near it.
The fortrefs o f Seign, where the breafts o f a few hundred
Morlacchi ferved as baftions agairift thirty thoufand Turks in
the laft war, never was a remarkable piece of military architecture.
- Some are of opinion that Aleta flood ‘on the fame fpot.
Only one infcriptiori well prefervedf ’oii Gfeek marble,- 'is found
there; and that has been long ago barbktbiifly ufed in the wall
o f a houfe : but it might have been brought, as well! as fome
others, from the ruins o f Mqutim, only fire fhort miles diftant,
or perhaps from fome more ancient city, ‘whofe’ name and ruins
are now loft. This, however, carihbt b'6'fifid ofanbther infcrip-
tion, and fome baf-reliefs ill preftrved, that are in a place called
Le Fontaine, near Seign, where- feveral other pieces' o f antiquity
have been dug up. The fituat'iori is “remarkably beautiful, and
therefore has not been neglefted by the Romans, who always
fixed their fettlements in the beft parts of the conquered countries.
The Turks fortified a fteep mafs there according to their
barbarous manner; that is, without any intelligence except the
planting a number o f artillery. Their fortifications are in fail
almoft all difmantled, though this place is defcribed by Bufcbing
as in very good condition. A noble Venetian refides at Seign
with the title of Providitore; and there are quarters for cavalry,
whofe principal occupations are to efcort the caravans from the
Turkifh frontiers to Spalatro. The hill o f Seign is o f breccia irregularly
regularly dlfpofed in fuch a manner as looks more like the ruins
o f ftrata than ' real ftrata. It Hands' in the bottom o f the plain
which ,extends' to thé' Cettma,’ ' ,and is often overflowed by
that river. Below the town the plain is ’very': nifirowf and
circumfcribed. by mountains that' Ijeih ’’the 'VncWti 'Clandz.
At the foot o f thefe mountains are ftrata of a blueifli clay,
which contains various fpêcies' o f mariné bodies 'calcined ; and
huge maffes of marble, breccia, , .fallen frpm the,mqiinjta.insj lie
in this--clay; The .beautiful,and large, valley, o f Çetfina,1 or
Seign, is, as has jbeén pb%yed?, fubjeét. to the inundations , of
thp riyer, which feryes it .for boundary, tunning at. .the foot ,of
the hills of /R^de^.yyià %xfgltr. It is. alij^pen^qred, unhealthy by
the tyater o f ywhich .lpfps itfejf.in marihep, and fo,
perhaps, : gave ground tq.gepgraphers to, fix a lake ther.e. The-
feveral rivulets and torrents, which, witl,io.ut any order or. re-
ftraint, deCyend^fr.am the rpopntaias, ..,and , .upite.their turbid
waters with thppettinp, produce, it is true, fome interruption
to the cpijent, but, that is,neither confiderable, for it? extent,
nor fpr the time it laft^. The waters that, do the greateft da-
thole o f the, Rude,, which fpread themfelves near frig l,
in the neighbourhood pf which many remains o f Roman monu-
mcn'i ,a.re found ; and :th,ere, , perhaps, , Filurium ogicp. flood.
The ftrait^ into .which the river enters there, cutting the great
mountain that divides the diftribj; o f Cettina, are, perhaps, one
of the principal, caufe^o^ the inundation, by retarding the current.
It syoul.d be, a pÇefql and meritorious.,attempt ,to endeavour
to find, a rerpedy fpr this evil, which renders,,a..fine-.province
fruitless as well as unhealthful ; and perhapsithe,’ remedy
might be found by reilraining the principal bed of the river
within banks ; preventing, its fpreading through the plain, and
by regulating the ftreams that fall into it. The Morlacchi o f
the diftriéf of Seign, are not ignorant o f the advantage that
might be derived from fuch an operation both to publick and
I 1 2 private