to it it is Noon in that place whereof it is the Meridian for over every part of the Earth there is a Meridian so that the number of these Circles is almost infinite However out of all those there is one pitched upon which is called the great or first Meridian or the Geographers Meridian The Ancients chose the Meridian of the Canaries which they knew by the name of the fortunate Islands and some Moderns make use of it still in their Maps Others have pitched upon the Meridian of the Isles Azores or Western Islands which lie to the West of Europe From this first Meridian the Longitude of places is reckoned from West to East through the three hundred and sixty Degrees of the Equinoctial which is the circuit of the whole Earth whereas Latitude is only reckoned to ninety Degrees which make but a fourth part thereof The Tropicks are so called from a Greek Word Tropos which signifies turning because when the Sun is come to one of these Circles he returns again towards the Equinoctial The Tropick of Cancer is towards the Pole Artick and that of Capricorn towards the Antartick and both carry the names of the Signs of the Zodiack through which they pass each of them is distant from the Equinoctial three and twenty Degrees and a half which is the greatest distance of the Sun from that Circle The Polar Circles go round the Poles from which they borrow their names and are distant each from his Pole twenty three Degrees and a half Of the Zones THE four lesser Circles whereof we have been speaking divide the World into five parts called Zones that is to say Belts or Girdles because they begird the whole Globe One of them is Torrid two are temperate and two cold The Torrid Zone is comprehended between the two Tropicks and the people that inhabit it are called Amphiscians that is such as have their shadows both ways To all places of this Zone the Sun comes perpendicular twice in a year and therefore some of the Ancients believed this Zone inhabitable by reason of too much heat but we know it to be otherways now a days The Northern temperate Zone is between the Tropick of Cancer and the Artick Polar Circle The Southern temperate Zone is between the Tropick of Capricorn and the Antartick Polar Circle The Inhabitants of these Zones are termed Heteroscians that is such as have their shadow but one way The Frigid Zones are within the Polar Circles the Northern within the Artick and the Southern within the Antartick the people of those two Zones are called Periscians signifying that they have shadows round them on all sides To all places in these Zones the Sun in Summer never sets for some days and in the Winter he never rises for as long time The Inhabitants of the World are distinguished after another manner according to the different Scituation they have to one another as into Antipodes Antoecians and Perioecians The first are wholly opposite and when it it is Noon with us with our Antipodes it is midnight and they have Winter when we have Summer Our Antoecians have Noon and Mid-night when we have them but Winter for our Summer And our Perioecians have the same seasons that we have but the hours quite contrary for when we have Noon it is Mid-night with them Of Climates A Climate is a space of the Earth contained between two Circles Betwixt the beginning and end of a Climate in the length of the longest day of Summer there is half an hours difference For the clearer understanding of this it is to be observed that Countries under the Equinoctial have all the year round twelve hours day and twelve hours night but as places recede and are distant from the Equator they become more and more unequal and the days in Summer are longer than the nights This inequallity is marked by the Climats so that when on either side of the Equinoctial we find a place where the longest day of Summer is of twelve hours and a half that is the first Climate and so successively till we come to the Polar Circle where the longest day of Summer extends to twenty four hours For beyond that Circle the days encrease by whole days and months until ye come to the Pole under which the whole year makes but one day and one night six months long a piece Climats take their names from the famous places through which they pass Now to know in what Climate one is we must from the number of hours of the longest Day in Summer subtract twelve and double the Remainder that is reduce them into half hours and that will shew the Climate wherein we live CHAP. I. Of some proper terms of Geography HAVING explained the Circles that are useful to this Science we are now to consider some terms and words which are peculiar to it Continent is a vast space of Earth such as that which comprehends Europe Asia and Affrica it is likewise called the main Land Island is a piece of Land surrounded with the Sea or other Water and so divided from the Continent Peninsula that is to say almost Island is a part of the Earth encompassed by the Sea on all hands except on that part which joyns it to the Continent the Greeks call it Chersonesus a term sometimes made use of in Geography Isthmus is that Neck or Piece of Land that joyns a Peninsula to the Continent Promontory is a high Land running out into the Sea The Moderns call it a Cape Mountain is a part of the Earth higher than the rest that is about it Ocean is that vast body of Water which environs the Continents and is likewise called the Sea Gulph is an Arm of that Ocean running in between Lands The Latins call it Sinus and sometimes it has the name of Sea Bay is likewise an Arm of the Ocean but whose entrance is much wider than that of a Gulf. Port is a small part of Sea so hemb'd in by the Land that Ships may there lie in safety Harbour is the same thing almost Streight or Frith is commonly taken for a Channel that joyns one Sea to another or a Gulf to the Ocean there is also a Streight or Neck of Land which as we have said is called an Isthmus Banck is a heap of Sand in the Sea which puts Vessels in danger A Shelf is much the same on which and on hidden Rocks near the Surface of the Water Ships may split and be cast away Archipelago is a part of the Sea where many Islands are River is a running Water that loses its streams in the Sea CHAP. II. The Division of the Earth and Sea THE most common Division of the Earth is into four parts which are Europe Asia Africa and America the three first are comprehended in one Continent and is our old World and the other makes an Island of it self called the new World because it hath not been discovered but since the Year
Isle of MADAGASCAR ARABIA Two Leagues from Jerusalem is Bethlehem where our Saviour was born it is at present but a Village full of Ruins inhabited by some poor Christians and Arabians Bethany where he raised Lazarus is nearer to Jerusalem and is but a heap of Ruins amongst which they still shew the Tomb where the Body of Lazarus lay when he was raised from the Dead and the ruins of his house of the houses of his Sisters Martha and Mary and of Simon the Leper Emaus where the Disciples knew their Divine Master t is in no better condition no more than Jericho upon the Plains whereof rises a Mountain where our Saviour fasted Forty days On the Sea-side is Joppa now called Jaffa Acre heretofore Ptolemais and in Idumea is Gaza and some other Towns Jordan waters that Holy Land runs through the Sea of Galilee which is indeed but a Lake and loses its clear Streams in the stinking and black Waters of the Dead Sea in this River our Saviour was baptized by St. John Baptist Arabia is divided into three Deserta Petrea and Faelix or the Desert Petrea or the stony and the happy the first two are to the North and the other to the South Arabia the Desert is the Countrey where the Children of Israel sojourned Forty years its Chief Places are Meschet Orem and Ana. Arabia Petrea hath Petrea so called from the Name of the Countrey but now 't is called Crach and Eltor In this Countrey is Mount Sina upon which God delivered the Law to Moses Arabia Foelix or the Happy so called because it is more fertile than the other two and bigger also lies between the Red Sea which it hath to the West the Gulf of Persia to the East and the Indian Ocean to the South It s chief Towns are Medina where the Sepulcher of Mahomet the Prophet of the Turks is Meccha the place of his Birth Aden a place of great Traffick Sanna Mocha Soar and many others In this Countrey they gather Frankincence and several other precious Gums Chaldea is at the Confluence of Tygris and Euphrates its Capital was Babylon a famous City and the Seat of the Babylonian Empire the Walls whereof built by the Famed Queen Semiramis were placed amongst the Seven Wonders of the World It stood upon Euphrates and little or nothing remains of it at present and less of the Tower of Babylon that was near to it Bagdat is at present what Babylon was anciently being built of its ruins but upon the Tygris as the other was upon Euphrates The other Towns of Chaldea are Elmara Gorna Balsara at the bottom of the Gulf of Persia Orchea which is thought to be the Ur of the Chaldees from whence God called Abraham Magdon and some others Mesopotamia now called Diarbeck lies to the North of Chaldea and to the South of Armenia between Euphrates and Tygris its Chief Towns are Dava Merdin Orpha Bi r and Caramit Armenia is divided into the greater and lesser the one on this side of Euphrates and the other beyond it both the two are at present called Turcomania The Chief Towns of the lesser are Sivas or Sebaste Kemach Erzinga and Suar. Some place here Samòsata Lucian's Countrey but it is in Arminacha which was called Comagene Those of the greater are Arzeron Chars Essechire which is taken for the Ancient Artaxata In this Armenia is Mount Ararat where the Ark of Noah rested after the Flood Some affirm that some remains of it are still to be seen there Georgia is to the North of Armenia its Towns are Cori Scander and Glisca that Countrey is the Iberia of the Ancients Zuria or Albania lies to the East of it and reaches to the Caspian Sea The most remarkable places of it are Derbent Zitracha Sobai and Chipiche Mingrelia is now-a-days the Colchis of old whither Jason went for the Golden Fleece it hath the Sea to the West and Georgia to the East Fazzo and Sevastopoli are the more considerable Towns thereof Circassia and Comania Countreys of very little note lie Northward from he afore-mentioned Territories The Isles that the Turk possess about Asia are famous in Antiquity Tenedos at the back of which the Grecian Fleet skulked Metelin heretofore Lesbos where the renowned Sappho was born Chio or Scio hath a Town of the same Name this Island produces Mastick and the best Turpentine Nicaria anciently Icaria to which Icarus by his fall gave the Name Samos where Pythagoras was born Pathmos at present Palmosa where St. John the Evangelist was banished in the time of Domitian and had those Divine Revelations whereof he composed the Apocalypse Lango heretofore Co or Cos illustrious by the Birth of Hippocrates and Apelles the one gave men life by his Medicines and the other by the Touches of his Pencil PERSIA Rhodes retains its Name but not it its Ancient Splendour It s called Rodo and hath a Town of the same Name In this place was anciently one of the Seven Wonders of the World I mean that Famous Colossus of Brass that was Erected at the Entry of the Harbour betwixt the legs of which Vessels passed It was thrown down by an Earthquake This Island is Fifty Leagues in Circuit and but Six distant from Caria The Turks took it from the Knights of Rhodes who afterwards retreated to Malta it hath some other places as Lindo and Filerno Cyprus at present Cipro is one of the greatest Islands of the Meditarranean being above Six score Leagues in Circumference It was in Ancient times Consecrated to Venus and lies in the Sea of Pamphilia which Country it hath to the North Syria to the East and Egypt to the South It hath been a considerable Kingdom which from the House of Lusignan fell into the Dominion of the Republick of Venice and is at present Subject to the Turk The Chief Towns of it are Nicosia and Famogosta that hath a good Port. And thus you have a short Description of the Territories that the Grand Signior Emperour of the Turks possesses in Asia In all which the Mahumetan Religion is publickly Established but the Jewish and Christian Religion are both permitted and this last is divided into many Sects as Greeks Armenians Jacobites Georgians Maronites Cophtitès and many others The Roman Catholicks are not so numerous there as the others are There are many Governours in the Turkish Empire called Beglerbeys who have under them Sangtacs that are as their Deputies or Lieutenants CHAP. III. The Kingdome of PERSIA THE Empire of the Persians heretofore so Vast and Famous has been subject to many Alterations It was founded by Cyrus and overthrown by Alexander The Parthians drove his Successors from thence and maintained long Wars with the Romans it was again restored under the Name of the Persian and ruined by the Califes the Successors of Mahomet Invaded by the Tartars under the powerful Tamerlan and at length Raised again by Ismael Sophy to the State wherein now it is It is called the
for the use of the Eldest Son of the King of Portugal The Isle of Farnandopo is to the North of that and near the Coast of Guinea and the Kingdom of Benin Beyond the Line we find the Isle of Annobon which last the Portuguese called so because they discovered it on New-years day The Isle of Ascension discovered on Ascension day and therefore so called is farther to the South in the Ethiopick Sea and is neither inhabited nor habitable for want of Water but it is abounding in Turtle or Sea Tortoise St. Helena for a like reason so named is of all the Islands in the World the most Remote from the Continent being about Four hundred Leagues distant from it It hath excellent Fresh Water and so Salubrious an Air that the Sick who land there recover their Health quickly It belongs to the English and all the Ships that come from the East-Indies and belong to England do commonly put in and take Fresh Water there In the same Ocean and towards the Cape of Good-Hope are the small Islands of Elizabeth Cornelia and Fera. Beyond that Famous Cape and to the East of Africa in the Indian Sea lies the Isle of Madagascar called also of St. Laurence or of Laurence Armeide who discovered it in the year One thousand five hundred and six on the day of St. Laurence It is one of the greatest Islands in the World containing about Six hundred Leagues in Circuit Two hundred and sixty in Length and in some places an Hundred in Breadth It s Length reaches from North to South from the Eleventh Degree of South Latitude to the Five and Twenteth so that it is almost altogether in the Torrid Zone the Southern end of it being onely without it over which the Tropick of Capricorn passes It is very probable that they who have taken this for the Cerne of Pliny and the Menuthias of Ptolomy are mistaken and that the Ancients never knew it It hath no Towns only Villages beset with Stakes the fairest of which is Fauzaire The Inhabitants have little or no Religion they have neither Temples nor Altars they Fear a God but Worship him not The French have made some Voyages thither and printed Relations of the same There are many little Isles about this of the chief whereof we shall only speak To the East of it are the Isles of St. Mary of Bourbon Maurice and Diego Roiz To the North Gade Agulha and Natal To the West Mohila Camora Mayota Johanna and St. Christophers Near the Coast of Zonguebar is an Island of the same Name having to the South the Isle of Monfia and to the North that of Pemba Near the Cape Guardafuy lies Zocotora with a Town of the same Name This is the Dioscorides of the Ancients it produces the best Aloes and Dragons Blood between this and the said Cape lies another Island called Abba del Curia It is to be observed that the greatest part of Africa is in the Torrid Zone and that the Line cuts it so exactly in the middle that it reaches as far to the South as it does to the North of it that is to the Five and thirtieth Degree of South and North Latitude however the much greater part is to the Northwards The End of the Second Book A NEW GEOGRAPHY The THIRD BOOK AMERICA CHAP. I. AMERICA WE are now come to the New World for so Men hath been pleased to call this Continent which is divided from Europe Asia and Africa because it hath not been knowen to us much above an Hundred and four score years It is held that Christopher Columbus a Native of Genoua first discovered it in the year One thousand four hundred ninety two yet it carries not his Name but that of Americus Vespucius a Florentine who five years after Columbus in the year One thousand four hundred ninety seven discovered Brasile which was the cause that all that part of the World is called America It is likewise called the West-Indies in distinction from the East-Indies in Asia It hath to the East the Sea called the North Sea Mar del Nort to the West the South or Pacifick Sea to the South the Streights of Magellan but its bounds to the North are unknowen to us and we cannot tell whether there be Seas or Lands By the Isthmus of Panama which makes it two Peninsules it is divided into the North and South America In North America and on the North Sea are Estotiland Greenland Terra de Laborador Canada or new France New England Maryland Virginia Carolina Florida New Spain Jucatan Honduras Nicaragua Costarica and Veragua And on the Vermilian Sea Anien Quivira and New Mexico In South America are Golden Castille Guiana Brasile Plata and Terra Magellanica all upon the North Sea and on the South or Pacifick Sea Chili and Peru and Tucuman in the middle CHAP. II. North AMERICA ESTOTILAND Greenland and Terra de Labrador or Laborador have no Inhabitants but Savages who live amongst Ice and Snow with which these Countreys are covered The Reader must not expect Towns here for there are none at all We are only to observe that Greenland is a Countrey lately discovered and that there was another of the same Name which cannot now be found though the Kings of Denmark to whom it belonged have in vain sent Ships in search of it It had Towns with Churches and Monasteries but no body can tell what is become of it whether the passage to it be blockt up by the Ice or that it hath been swallowed up in the Ocean Canada is called New France because the French discovered and planted a Colony in it the chief places thereof are Quebec and Tadoussac upon the great River of St. Laurence New England is a Rich and Flourishing Countrey with many Towns the chief thereof is Boston Inhabited by the English Maryland is Peopled by the King of Great Brittain's Subjects and belongs to the Lord Baltimore who holds it of that Crown Virginia was so called by the English because they discovered it in the time of Queen Elizabeth who was never Married In it is James Town and some others the principal product of this Countrey is Tobacco which from hence is carried into most parts of Europe Carolina is a late Plantation of the English not fully settled as yet New ENGLAND VIRGINIA NEW SPAIN GUIANA New Spain is one of the loveliest Provinces in this New World There stands the City of Mexico which gave the Name to a great Empire whereof Montezuma was the last King Fernando Cortez Invaded it in the year One thousand five hundred and nineteen took that Prince and Conquered his Countrey There are many other Towns in that Countrey the chief whereof are Mechoacan Los Angelos Vera Crux Valladolid and Guatamala Mexico the Capital stands upon a Lake it is large and well peopled being the Residence of a Vice-Roy and Seat of an Archbishop Jucatan is a Peninsule on the Bay of Mexico the chief Town whereof is Merida
A NEW GEOGRAPHY WITH MAPS to each COUNTRY AND TABLES OF Longitude Latitude LONDON Printed for Robert Scott at the Princes Arms in Little-Britain 1681. Advertisement to the Reader THE following Geographick Treatise with some other Parts of this Book had the ill fortune to be left uncompleat by our Renowned Author who was snatcht from us whilst he was with greatest application hastning the Edition thereof This deplorable accident hath been the occasion that it hath been so long detained from publick view and that now it is come abroad with much less lustre than ought to be expected from the Judicious and Learned Pen of Sir Jonas Moore As far as could be Collected from the Maps he had caused to be engraven in his Life-time and the several Tables of the Latitudes and Longitudes of the Cities of Europe written with his own hand we have endeavoured to prosecute this Design he had laid and have given you a brief and succinct Description of the several Regions of the whole Earth and have been more or less particular therein according as our knowledg of the Countries we describe is more or less perfect The Maps are taken from the newest Geographers extant and therefore 't is probable the most exact time still producing corrections and amendments in the Works of them that went before and our first Meridian is that of the Isle of Ferro the most Westerly of the Canaries which at present all the French Geographers are obliged to observe The Tables are deduced from the Maps and serve to find out any place in them without long search This Reader is what was thought necessary to advertise thee of in this place and if any mistake have escaped unseen you are desired candidly to excuse it or at least not to attribute it to our deceased Author Vale Fruere THE WORLD IN PLANISPHERE GEOGRAPHY Or a Brief DESCRIPTION Of the whole EARTH THE Earths Surface whose Description is properly termed Geography is by many and sufficient Arguments made appear to be of no other than a Sphaerical Figure and the Circumference thereof hath in this our Age been more curiously than heretofore inquired into and found by the Concordant Observations of the Gentlemen of the Royal Academy of Paris and of our worthy Countryman Mr. Norwood to be very near 25000 English Statute Miles and consequently its Diameter 7958 Miles The greater part of this vast Globe is covered with Water which we call the Sea out of which the Land rises with very slow Ascents the hight of the highest Mountains and Prominences thereof scarce amounting to the two thousandth part of its Radius and only serving to cause the Rivers to run with slow and easie Chanels The Air on all sides encompasses it and renders it habitable and the principle of Gravitation whereby all Bodies descend towards its Center is that which defends it from dissolution by not permitting the least part thereof to be separated far from it into the reason whereof Philosophers have hitherto inquired in vain This Globe by its two-fold motion enjoys the grateful Vicissitudes of Day and Night Winter and Summer the former by turning round upon one of its Diameters in the space of 24 hours and shewing all its sides successively to the Sun This Diameter is called the Axis and its extremities the Poles of the World which by the experience of many Ages are found unalterable and fixt in the Earth and the direction of this Axis by some unknown Magnetical Principle of Nature is always carried parallel to it self during the time of the revolution of the other motion whereby the Earth is carried round the Sun in the space of a year and the Axis being inclined to the plain in which the annual motion is performed causes the one Hemisphere to have more of the Suns light for the one half year and the other Hemisphere for the other These affections though necessary to be premised here you will find explicated and demonstrated more at large in the Astronomical part We come now to the Explanation of the terms which have been thought proper in the illustration of Geography We must observe that there are greater and lesser Circles and that the former divide the World into two equal parts and the latter into two parts also but unequal All these Circles severally are divided into three hundred and threescore parts which are called Degrees There are four greater Circles to wit the Equinoctial the Zodiack the Horizon and the Meridian and as many lesser to wit the Tropicks of Cancer and Capricorn and the two Polar Circles the Artick and Antartick The Equinoctial Circle is so called because when the Sun enters it the days and nights are of an equal length it is also called the Equator because it divides the World into two equal parts Seamen call it only the Line For the right understanding of this Circle we must know that the Heavens seem to move upon two points called Poles the one bearing the name of Artick and the other of Antartick in a middle distance from which Poles this Circle is imagined to be the use of it in Geography is to divide the Earth into two parts the one Northern towards the Pole Artick and the other Southern towards the other opposite Pole The Latitude of places is reckoned from the Equinoctial where it begins towards the Poles wherein it ends and this space contains ninety Degrees Latitude is either Northern towards the Pole Artick or Southern towards the Antartick The Zodiack is the Suns High way and this Circle cuts the Equinoctial into two equal parts from which its greatest distance is but twenty three Degrees and an half it only shews what places of the Earth may have the Sun perpendicular and more properly belongs to the Heavens than the Earth Horizon is as much as to say boundary because that Circle limits our sight and divides the Heavens and the Earth into two parts which are called Hemispheres the one whereof we see but cannot the other There is a right Horizon a Polar or Parallel one and an oblique one those places that lye under the Equator have a right Horizon and are in the right Sphere those that are under either of the Poles have the Parallel Sphere and all other places have an oblique Horizon and are in an oblique Sphere This Circle shews the Rising and Setting of the Stars and the four principal Quarters of the World which are East West South and North the East is on the side of the Rising Sun the West is where the Sun Sets the North is towards the Pole Artick and the South towards the Antartick These four Quarters are very necessary for distinguishing the limits of Regions as will appear throughout this whole Treatise From thence come the four principal winds all which the Horizon sheweth but it is not marked on Maps but only on the outside of Globes and Spheres Meridian signifies Mid-day Circle because when the Sun is come
sweet Country and proceeding from West to East Having passed the Var we come into the County of Nice wherein is a City of the same name and that of Villa Franca Monaco which belongs to its own Prince the Marquisat of Final with a Town of the same name The Riviera de Genoa wherein are the Metropolis of Genoa which is called in Italian La Superba the Stately and is one of the most beautiful Towns in Italy Savona Albenga and some others Tuscany is separated from the Riviera de Genoa by La Macra it reaches to the Campania of Rome on the East and has that Sea which carries its name on the South and the Apennines on the North. The Duke of Florence who takes the Title of great Duke of Tuscany is Master of the greatest part of it The chief Towns in his Territories are Florence the Capital City Pisa Siena Volterra Pistoia and Legorn a Sea-Port Town The small State of the Republick of Lucca the Principality of Massa and the Stato delli Presidi in which are the Towns Orbitello Porto Hercole and Piombino that belong to the King of Spain are in Tuscany as also the Dutchy of Castro which belongs to the Duke of Parma having a Town of the same name and the Patrimony of St Peter wherein are Viterbo Montefiascone and some others Aquapendente Peruga near a Lake that bears its name Orvieta and Civita Vecchia a fair Port where the Pope keeps his Gallies are likewise in Tuscany The Campania of Rome in ancient times called Latium hath to the East La Terra d' Lavoro of the Kingdom of Naples to the South the Sea to the West Tuscany from which it is separated by the Tibre and to the North Abruzzo its Capital City is Rome so famous that none can compare with it heretofore it gave Laws to the whole World almost and at present extends its power farther than ever seeing the Popes exercise their Authority in America where the Consuls and Emperors of Rome were never known There are many prints of its ancient splendor still extant as the Pantheon which goes by the name of Santa Maria Rotunda the Pillars of Trajan and Antonin Amphitheaters Baths Aqueducts and many other stately remains of Antiquity which by their Ruins publish the Roman Magnificence and Grandeur it stands upon the Tiber at the mouth of which River is the Town of Ostia The other Towns of the Campania of Rome are Tivoli formerly Tybur where are excellent Waters Avagnia Palestrine which is the ancient Preneste Veletri heretofore Velitrae where Augustus was born Terracine and some others The Kingdom of Naples is bounded on the West by the State of the Church and on all other sides by the Sea to wit the Sea of Tuscany on the South that of Ionia on the East and the Gulf of Venice on the North it is divided into several Provinces on the Tuscan Sea are Terra di Lavoro of which Naples is the Capital City that hath a good Port the others are Capoua Pussoli Cajette and Baiae that is ruined The Principality wherein Salerne is Calabria that contains Cosenca and Regio The Basilicate and Principality of Tarento lie on the Ionian Sea and on the Gulf of Venice the Country of Otranto that has a Town of the same name and the Land of Bari in which are Bari and Brindisi Apulia wherein is Manfredonia Abruzzo whereof the Capital Town is Aquila And in that Province also is the Dutchy of Benevento that belongs to the Church The Mark of Ancona lies likewise on the Gulf of Venice in which is a Town of the same name and that of our Lady of Loretto that is much frequented upon the account of Devotion Next after comes Romania its Capital City is Ravenna and the others are Faensa Forli and Imola The Boulognois has Bononia for its Capital which is one of the fairest Cities of Italy The Dutchy of Ferrara with its Metropolis of the same name is Situated on the Po. The Dutchy of Venice wherein is comprehended that delicate City built upon Piles in the Sea Frioli where are Vdena and the Ruins of Aquilea Istria which belongs partly to the Venetians and partly to the Archdukes of Austria bounds Italy on that side the chief Towns of it are Cabo d' Istria Tergeste Parentia and Pola The Marque or Mark Trevisane hath Trevisa Verona and Vicensa The Bishoprick of Trent stretches along the Alpes and its chief City is famous for the last Council held there the Bishoprick of Bellona is in the same Province also The Dutchy of Milan hath the Alpes on the North Piemont on the West Parma on the South and the Venetian State on the East Milan its Capital is one of the greatest Towns of Europe and its Castle one of the best Fortresses in the same Province are also Pavia Cremona Novarra Lodi Como and Vigevano The Metropolis of Piemont is Turin on the Po a lovely City where the Dukes of Savoy keep their Court Pignerol a strong place belonging to France is in the same Province Carmagnole is the chief Town of the Marquisat of Saluces as Casal is in Montferrat The Dutchies of Parma Placentia Modena and Regio have their Capital Cities of the same names The Dutchy of Mantua hath likewise a City of the same name built in the middle of a Lake on the River Mince These Dutchies that we have now named lie in that part of Italy which the Romans called Gallia Cisalpina because the Gaules were planted there and that as to them it was on this side of the Alpes it was afterwards called Lombardy from the Lombards that Conquered it which name it still retains it is on the South shut up by the Apennine Hills the Alpes on the North and West and by the Gulf of Venice and the River Pisaura or Foglia on the East A great part of the Venetian State lies in that Region as Crema a strong Town Bergamo with its Territory and Eresse or Brescia wirh its Dependances The Dutchy of Spoleto and that of St. Vrbin which belongs to the Holy See have each of them a Capital Town of the same name and are Situated upon the Apennine Mountains in the Center of Italy In the first is the Town of Assise where St. Francis was born within the second is enclosed the little Republick of St. Marin under the Protection of the Pope The chief Rivers of Italy that fall into the Mediterranean are the Var which runs through the County of Nice and divides it from Provence the Magra which divides Liguria called Riviera di Genoa from Tuscany the Arne that passes by Florence and Pisa the Tiber that runs by Rome and is augmented by Teverone and Chiara the Garigliano heretofore Liris and the Vulturno Into the Gulf of Venice fall Lofanto Pescara and Tronto which are in the Kingdom of Naples the Foglia that is is in the Mark of Ancona Rubicon at present Pisatello that heretofore divided Gallia Cisalpina