p 274, F
they thought it might have touched. Signor Bajamontl, having;
faid much to convince them o f their ridiculous extravagance*,
went and took'up the dead animal, which they were itill flaring
at withTrighted countenances, and.flept towards them, that they
might fee it wasreally dead.. Thefe two brutes prefented their
mulkets to him, and broke out into the moft injurious terms,
and mod: decifive threats; and it.was-truly a piece of good fortune,
that my friend, did not. throw the dead fnake at them, as,
he was-going to- do, for in that-cafe they would undoubtedly
ha;ve ihot him. Now was he not in the wrong to be fo defir--
otts of-Primorian guides for . the defence o f his perfon ? We were :
told,..by. way o f excufe for them,., that fbperftition..was tke.caufe-
o f all— fa much' the w.orfe I think ; and. the excufe would be ■
equally, bad, | if fuch .extravagance, could proceed .from . motives ■
o f true religion..
O f Meteors imthe P r ¡m o r ie ;.
From the mountain Bioceva, as thePrimorians fay, proceed the:,
winds, hail,rain, and every change o f weather. The truth is, this ■
mountain is their meteorological theatre. But their moft diligent
■and accurate obfervations are thoflconceroing the northerly winds;.
and I think they deferve to be inferted here, .becaufe my. late.-
friend Count Grubbifch,, aflured me that he had found them by -
experience very exait... Before the. horeal, wind breaks-out, i f
there is any fog upon the Biocova, it is raifed on.high, and torn,,
and flattered a thoufand ways; a roaring noife is heard within,
the mountain, which foon becomes: dreadfully , loud; and the.
air grows fbarp. I f there is no fog upon the Biocova, the clouds
equally diftended over that part o f the iky, and an unufual cold-
nefs e f the air announce the Berea. The ihepherds fay, and it
flems.
T -2 7:5 1
ifeems demonftrated by fail, that this wind comes out o f the
gulphs and chafms o f the mountain. It is certain that it deflcnls
from the fummit towards the fea like an impetuous and fuddent
torrent. The caves of Eolus fituated in the high mountains, and
the ftorms that precipitate from the heights, according to the.ancient
poets, ihew that thefl obfervations have been made of- old,
by more poliihed nations. Seneca alfo thought that the winds
;arofe from fubterranean abyfles, and forced their way through.the
apertures o f the earth. When, by any accident, the woods oF
the diftant parts o f the mountain arerfet on lire, the boreal winds
blow as long as the fire continues, but with moderate force, i f the
vallies, where .the fire is, be but moderately deep; but this occasions
a long drought.
This puts me in mind o f whatris related concerning ihelnha-
‘bitants of Segna, in the hiftory of-the war o f the Venetians againft
the Ufcocchi. The writers affirm, thatthofe robbers, by-lighting
great fires: in the woods, or throwing great quantities of.
-burning'branches into the chafms, raifed the boreal wind,
which hindered the enemy’s veflels from coming near their coaft,
; and fometimes was the caufe o f their lofs in that dangerous channel.
When a good deal o f rain falls on the mountain, there is
no Borea, or, i f it’begins to blow, it increafes in violence only,
in proportion as"the mountain becomes dTy. But if, after a long
drought, there falls a little rain, then -the ■borea ufually blows;
■or when that does .not happen, it is a fign that a foutherly wind
is near. If, after twenty-four hours -of borea, the fky.does n.ot
become perfeftly ferenq, it is a fign tha t .the wind will continue
long, or change into a foutherly wind or faroccv. The duration
of the borea is .commonly for odd days; that is, one, three, five,
fteven, nine, to thirteen, and fometimes to fifteen following days;
This wind ufually begins to blow when the fun or moon rife or
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