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adventitious pieces, I fearched further, and difcovered in feve-
ral places whole ftrata o f this earth, particularly near the top o f
the hill to the left o f the road. The foflil bodies obfervable in
it, are Niwimularii, Lenticuiares, and Porpitx, o f a limilar figure,
finall nuclei o i Bucardita, many fungitte, and articulations o f
Jiellce marince. I found at Scardona, great quantities o f tiifbinitoe
in the common marble, and took various fpecimens o f them.
Not far from this torrent, near a place called Ruppe, there are
found large teeth o f the Canis Carcharias, which anfwer to the
defcription given by Scilla, Tab. III. Fig. i . I could ndt vifit
the fpot myfelf, but faw feveral o f thofe teeth in the pofleffion
o f creditable perfons, who allured me they were to be found in
great quantities.
O f the City «/"Sc a rdo N a , and offome Paffages in ancient Writers,
concerning the Mineralogy o f D a l m a t i a .
No veftiges now remain vifible o f that ancient city, where
the Hates o f Liburnia held their aflembly, in the times o f the
Romans. I however tranferibed thefe two beautiful infcriptions,
which were difcovered fome years ago, and are preferved in the
houfe o f the reverend Canon Mercati. It is to be hoped, that,
as the population o f Scardona continues increafing, new lands
will be broken up, and confequently more frequent difcoveries
made o f the precious monuments o f antiquity. And it is to be
wifhed, that the few paen o f letters, who have a lhare in the
regulation of this reviving city, may bellow fome particular
attention on that article, fo that the honourable memorials o f their
ancient, and illultrious country, which once held fo eminent
a rank among the Liburnian cities, may not be loll, nor carried
away. It is almoft a fhame, that only fix legible infcriptions actually
[ i n Î
tually exift at Scardona ; and that all thb others, fince many more
certainly muft have been dug up there, are either miferably broken,
or loll, or tranfported to Italy, where they lofe the greateft
part o f their merit.
Roman coins are very frequently found about Scardona, and
feveral valuable ones were ihewn to me by that hofpitable prelate
Monlignor 'Trevifani, bifhop and father o f the riling fettle-
ment. One of the principal gentlemen o f the place was fo kind
to give me feveral fepulchral lamps, which are marked by the
name o f for t is , and, by the^ elegant form o f the letters, appear
to be o f the bed. times. The repeated devallations, to
which Scardona has been expofed, have left it no traces of grandeur.
It is now, however, beginning to rife again ; and many
merchants of Servia, and Bofnia, have fettled there, on account
o f the convenient fituation for trade, with the upper provinces o f
Turkey. But the city has no fortifications, notwithllanding
the affertion o f P . Farlati to the contrary. * In all my peregrinations
through Illyriym, I have! hitherto met with no mine o f
any kind o f metal, excepting one o f iron, not far from Seign,
o f which, alfo, they made a kind o f myllery to me, though I
know not for what reafon. They fay, there are rich mines at
Hotton, in the territory of Knin j but I did not go there; and
little dépendance can be made on fuch popular reports, o f greedy
and ignorant people, who think they fee gold and fiver in all the
Perita. There is no doubt, however, that Dalmatia, in ancient
times, produced a great deal o f gold, as feveral writers teilify-
Pliny, among others, who had the opportunity o f knowing it,
lays, that- under the emperor Nero, fifty pounds of gold were
taken daily from the mines o f that province, and that it wasfound
* Illyr. Sacr. t. r.