This kingdom is composed of two portions. One is the island bearing that name, which has long been entitled to the distinctive title of a kingdom; and the other consists of portions of the north-west of Italy, which at different periods had been distinguished as feudal or independent sovereignties under various forms of government as well as titles.
The existence of the island of Sardinia is noticed casually in the ancient writers, so as to justify the opinion of some authors on its antiquities, that it was peopled about 1700 years before our era, by a party of Etruscans; but others have contended for an origin 500 years later, and for its first colonists having been Libyans under Sardis, a descendant of the Theban Hercules, who gave his name to the island. Without entering on the dark subject of the first peopling of this island, the high antiquity of its settlement is attested by durable monuments, the materials, height, and construction of which are different from almost any other that are to be found. These Cyclopean structures are very numerous, between five and six hundred of them being to be seen on the island. They are called nuragges, both by ancients and moderns, being in height about fifty feet, and in diameter at the base about ninety feet. They are strong buildings, in the form of a truncated cone, composed of masses of stone from two to five or six feet square, arranged in layers, without cement. The materials are lava, freestone, porphyry, or such other substances as the respective sites afford; and they generally crown the summits of hills, commanding plains where they are seen in every state, some being nearly complete, and others a mere heap of rubbish. On entering these edifices, which is effected by a low door, the structure is found to extend below the surface of the surrounding earth. The interior space is almost invariably divided into two floors, each consisting of a vaulted room, to which access is gained from a ramp between two concentric walls, and leading to the summit, where a flight of steps completes the ascent. The nuragges are of two distinct kinds. Those which are the most common have no marks of the chisel, and are constructed of massive blocks, with irregular faces, and smaller stones in the interstices; the materials of the others exhibit exteriors formed by tools, though the stones are not exactly square, but are placed with a stricter regard to keeping the horizontal layers, and gradually diminish in size towards the summit.
There have been various conjectures respecting the probable object of these buildings. The darkness of their interior, and the fragments of terracotta found in them, would indicate their having been monuments for the dead, a belief so general that they have obtained in their neighbour- hood the name of Domus de Orcu, or the house of death; but the pottery being evidently Roman, and in some instances accompanied by coins of the lower empire, indicates only that such was the use made of them at a late period. Captain Smyth, who examined these ancient monuments, says, "From their laborious construction, their number, and their general situation on curvatures or eminences, more or less distant from each other, I cannot but suppose they were designed to answer the double purpose of mausolea for the eminent dead, and as asylas for the living; especially as many of them are flanked with smaller nuragges having a subterraneous communication. But the mystery in which they are involved will probably remain impenetrable, since none of them exhibit the least trace of either literal or symbolical characters."
At whatever periods these remarkable works were erected, a long time elapsed before any precise notice is to be discovered of the history of Sardinia, until about the year 560 before Christ, when the Carthaginians under Maccus, after a victorious campaign in Sicily, attempted the conquest of the island. They were repulsed with such loss, however, as left it in repose until the contests commenced between the Punic and Roman republics.
By successive conquests it passed into the hands of the Vandals, the Mahommedans, and the Spaniards, in whose power it remained from 1324 till the period of the disputed succession of the crown of Spain between the houses of Bourbon and Austria in 1708, when the Austrian party, with the assistance of the English fleet under Sir John Leake, succeeded in obtaining possession of the island. In 1720 it was ceded by treaty to Victor Amadeus, who assumed the title of king of Sardinia. After this event, notwithstanding the wars which agitated the rest of Europe, Sardinia experienced a peace of seventy years, during which period the princes of the house of Savoy, especially Charles Emmanuel, made the greatest exertions to ameliorate the condition of the people.
The success of the French arms in Italy by the year 1798 had been such as to compel the king, Charles Emmanuel IV., to abandon the capital, Turin, and the whole of his continental dominions. He withdrew to Leghorn, where he received with delight deputies from the staminate of Sardinia, assuring him of the entire devotion of the people to his person and government. Satisfied with these assurances, he embarked, and, escorted by an English frigate, arrived at Cagliari on the 3d of March 1799, where he was welcomed with the most enthusiastic affection.
The successes of the Russian General Suvarof induced his majesty to return to the Continent, till, hearing in Tuscany of the battle of Marengo, and being inconsolable for the death of his wife, the sister of Louis XVI., he abdicated in favour of the Duke of Aosta in March 1802, and resided in privacy at Rome, where he died in 1819. His successor, Victor Emmanuel, remained some time in Italy in the hope of gaining his continental dominions; but seeing little prospect of succeeding, he left Naples, where he had resided since his accession, and arrived in Sardinia on the 17th of February 1806, where he remained secure under the protection of England.
The son of Charles Emmanuel followed the footsteps of his father in opposing the principles of the French revolution, which was then spreading its direful effects over all Europe, and nowhere more generally than in the continental part of the kingdom of Sardinia. The events of that period are to be found in this work in the historical parts of the two articles EUROPE and FRANCE. We need only state here, therefore, that the king of Sardinia returned to his continental capital in 1814, and by the treaty of Vienna the duchy or ancient republic of Genoa was added to his dominions; and that by the same treaty he ceded to the state of Geneva the circles of Carouge and Chene, containing 12,700 inhabitants. On the restoration of Victor Emmanuel, Sardinia he re-established, as far as could be done, the old constitution; again introducing the Jesuits, and becoming a zealous member of the Holy Alliance. He confirmed to those who had made purchases under the French confiscation the property they had gained; restored to their owners the few estates that had not been sold; and allotted the annual sum of 400,000 lire as some compensation for the plunder which they had suffered. He however established a very severe censorship of the press, and introduced such restrictions on the process of education in the universities and the other seminaries as he judged necessary to check the prevailing tendency to infidelity and immorality. These measures, and the predisposition to revolution indulged throughout Italy, caused an insurrection in 1821, the particulars of which are narrated in this work under the head of ITALY. The prosperity of the kingdom has been proceeding with regularity since the return of tranquillity, owing in a great measure to the increased demand for silk in England, Germany, France, and Russia, and in no inconsiderable degree from the annexation of Genoa to the territory, by which a trade is now carried on to almost every part of the habitable world.
The extent of the several divisions of this kingdom, and their population in 1833, were as follow:
| Provinces | Extent in Square Miles | Population | Cities | Towns | Villages | |-----------------|------------------------|------------|--------|-------|---------| | Turin | 3,278 | 808,526 | 12 | 54 | 347 | | Cuneo | 2,684 | 521,631 | 13 | 53 | 303 | | Alessandro | 2,420 | 547,629 | 11 | 40 | 453 | | Novara | 2,596 | 437,576 | 5 | 44 | 426 | | Aosta | 1,408 | 71,096 | 1 | 1 | 78 | | Savoy | 4,092 | 504,165 | 19 | 36 | 594 | | Nice | 1,496 | 204,538 | 6 | 16 | 160 | | Genoa | 2,288 | 583,233 | 19 | 25 | 700 | | Island of Sardinia | 9,856 | 491,050 | 9 | 15 | 377 | | Island of Capraja | 484 | 1,500 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
The whole of the inhabitants of this kingdom adhere to the Roman Catholic church, with the exception only of about 30,000 Jews, who have a restricted toleration, and some Protestants, well known under the name of Waldenses, who are settled, after long and frequent persecutions, in the valleys of Lucerne, Perusa, and St Martin, in the western part of Piedmont. According to their own account, they occupy thirteen villages, and number nearly 20,000 souls, who are allowed the free exercise of their own mode of religious worship.
The religious establishment of the kingdom is very extensive, comprehending no less than nine archbishoprics and thirty-four bishoprics, who have under them ninety-seven chapters of ecclesiastics in the cities, with 3619 parish priests in the towns and villages, besides 900 monasteries of various orders, and about eighty nunneries for females. The state of education is generally very low, and few of the peasantry can either read or write. There is a university at Turin with about eight hundred students, another at Genoa with about four hundred, and a third in the island of Cagliari with two hundred and fifty. There are also about eighty colleges where Latin is taught, and forty seminaries for the education of the ecclesiastics.
The government is an absolute and hereditary monarchy, although in the island of Sardinia the assembly of the ancient states is still continued; but their power extends only to objects of a local and insignificant nature. In Genoa, too, some shadow of the ancient republican aristocracy exists, but it has little or no influence on the determinations of the monarch. The revenues of the kingdom are stated to amount to about two millions sterling annually, and the expenditure to be nearly the same. In the latter is included the interest on a national debt of five millions, a large portion of which is owing to foreigners, and among others to the capitalists of Geneva and other parts of Switzerland; but by means of a sinking fund it is yearly diminishing. An army of thirty-five thousand men is maintained in time of peace, and a naval force, consisting of six frigates, three corvettes, six brigs, and several schooners and other small craft.
The continental parts of this kingdom present a face of the greatest possible variety. The part to the north, formerly the duchy of Savoy, is in appearance more a part of Switzerland than of Italy. It is an alpine land, separated from the plains of the peninsula by an enormous chain of mountains known as the Gray Alps. It is peculiarly interesting, from the lofty heights, whose tops are covered with snow and ice, from the narrow and deep valleys, from its perpendicular cliffs, from the numerous cascades, and from the deep lakes; and it is especially distinguished by the raging winds and violent storms of hail, rain, and snow, which occur with frequency in the more elevated regions.
The provinces of Piedmont, Milan, and Montserrat, form a vast valley, or rather plain, which was probably once covered with water, and which begins at the pass of Susa, and only terminates on the easternmost frontier of Italy. The river Po divides this valley into two nearly equal portions. Its northern side extends to the foot of the Alps, which separate it from Switzerland, some great projections of which enter it at Aosta and Ossola. The southern part of this valley is bordered in its whole length by the range of the Apennines, which separates it from the provinces on the sea-coast. This valley is bounded on the part in contact with France by the Cottian Alps.
The provinces on the sea-shore, comprehending Genoa and Nice, which surround the Gulf of Genoa, are separated from the other parts of the kingdom by the Apennines. They are collectively mountainous districts, which extend to the sea, and have only narrow valleys or strips on the shore, in which marshes, heaths, and sandy tracts of land, yielding but little, and thinly inhabited, are in fact the most cold, dreary, and uncomfortable of any part of the Apennine ranges.
The soil of Savoy is everywhere stony, and consequently not favourable to agriculture upon a great scale. There are few plains of any extent, the valleys are narrow, and the earth is very thin on the rocks, which, by the force of the mountain torrents, is often washed away, leaving the bare stone. The deposited soil in the great valley which contains Piedmont, Montserrat, and Milan, is in most parts rich and deep, except that at the foot of both the Apennines and the Alps there are vast accumulations of banks of pebbles, to which the practices of agriculture cannot be applied with any profit. The height of the mountains, which enclose the valley, give such force to the streams of water that rush down, as to prevent them from being generally under the direction of human art; but in many instances the water has been turned into channels and canals, where, by the help of sluices, it has been applied beneficially to the purpose of irrigation, and, as far as it has been accomplished, with beneficial effect.
The provinces on the borders of the Mediterranean Sea have no resemblance to Piedmont, either in respect to the soil, the climate, or the vegetation. The soil is stony and poor, the stones are in enormous blocks, and in a few parts only is it adapted for cultivation; but the olive and the Sardinia vine are found to flourish.
In the island of Sardinia the land is generally rather hilly than mountainous. Several ranges of hills intersect the whole land, and two large streams cause in many parts extensive marshes, while the scarcity of water in other parts causes cultivation to be much neglected. The soil is, however, productive, and is capable of becoming, with good management, much more than sufficient for the subsistence of the inhabitants. At present it is said that scarcely one third of the land is cultivated, whereas, if the whole were, it might become, as in the time of the Romans and Carthaginians, a granary for the countries on the Continent.
The mountains within the Sardinian dominions are objects which excite the greatest interest; but a description of them will be found in this work under the general article Alps. The chains of mountains may be viewed as the cisterns for collecting those vast bodies of water which empty themselves into the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas. The first of these seas receives the waters of the Rhone, which rises in Savoy, and at first forms the boundary towards France.
The river Var constitutes the boundary between Nice and France; and the Paglion is a river of short course in the province of Nice, which rises near to Luce, and falls into the sea at a short distance from the capital. The great river of Sardinia, however, is the winding and lengthened Po, of which an account has been given under that head.
The larger lakes of the Alps belong only in part to this kingdom. The Leman, or lake of Geneva, is divided between Sardinia and the canton of Switzerland, the southern bank of it only belonging to the kingdom. Lake Maggiore has also only its western shores in the Sardinian dominions, the eastern side belonging to the Austro-Venetian kingdom of Lombardy, and the upper part forming a portion of Switzerland. The lakes exclusively Sardinian are of smaller extent than those which are but partly in the kingdom. The lake of Bourget, in Savoy, scarcely exceeds 100,000 acres in extent, but is about 240 feet in depth, and being connected by the Canal of Savières, discharges much water into the Rhone. The lake of Annency, in Savoy, is 1350 feet above the level of the sea, and is 180 feet in depth. It has an outlet by the rivers Thon and Fier into the Rhone. The lake of Orta is a long narrow piece of water by the side of Lake Maggiore, into which its surplus water is discharged. There are some smaller lakes, a few of which are dried up in the summer; and others of them are on elevations of great height, the most remarkable of which is one on Mont Cenis, 5740 feet above the level of the sea.
The several states abound in mineral springs of great use to the healing art. In Savoy the sulphureous wells of Bonneval have attained great celebrity; but their reputation is excelled by that of the warm baths of Aix. In the valley of Aosta are the medicinal springs of St Vincenzio and of Cormaggiore, and the baths of Pré and of St Didier. In the province of Piedmont are the baths of Aqui, Balieri, and Viaduio, and the springs of St Genesio.
The mountains on the island are small chains. The most remarkable of them are, Monti di Limbara in Gallura; Monti di Villanova, between Alghieri and Bossa; Monti Genargento, between Oleastra and the Barbagieni; and the Monti Arizzo and Founi, in the Barbagien itself. None of the mountains are of a height to be covered with perpetual snow. The general elevation of the range is from 1000 to 3000 feet; but the peak of Limbara is 3686 feet, and that of Genargento has an altitude of 5276, and enables the people of the neighbouring town, Arizzi, to trade in snow for the consumption of the capital. These mountains are almost covered with wood to their summits, and the lower parts have olive-woods, yielding good oil.
The rivers of the island are the Oristano, which rises near Bubosa, runs from north-east to south-east, and enters the sea at the town of its name; the Flumendoso, which springs from Monti Genargentu, waters the district of Barbagien, and falls into the sea at Muravera; and the Quoquinos, which rises near Tisso, and, taking a northerly direction, falls into the sea about seven miles from Castel Sardo.
The lakes of Sardinia are insignificant; they are mostly formed by rain in winter, and are dried up in summer; or by the overflowing of the sea from the dilapidated state of the embankments.
Mineral springs are numerous on the island, but are for the most part neglected. The principal are those of Sardara, Villa Cidro, and Fordongianus, in the Capo de Sotto; and those at the foot of Castel Doria, at Codrongianos, and the Benetutti springs of the Gocceana Mountains, on the Capo di Sopra. In a secondary rank may be noticed the thermal waters of Marrubin, of Iglesias, and of St Antonio. Aqua Cotta, at the eastern base of an insulated hillock near Villa Cidro, is a small but constantly limpid spring, of about 105° of Fahrenheit, close by a stream of potable water having a temperature of 60°, whilst that of the atmosphere is 64°. Here most of the cloth of the Campano is fulled, the makers of it paying to the proprietor for the use of the water.
The climate of this kingdom varies excessively in the different provinces which compose it. In Savoy, in the valley of Aosta, and between the Alps of Piedmont, a real Swiss climate prevails. Often is to be seen in those valleys the summer in its glorious garb, when the surrounding hills have their tops and sides covered with snow. The air on them is too raw to bring forth the more tender fruits of Italy; but in favoured spots the grapes ripen, and the sides of the hills yield abundance of chestnuts. Though changeable, the air in these districts is on the whole pure and healthful. The valley of Piedmont, according to Saussure's division, has the climate of the north region of Italy, where the quicksilver falls below ten degrees. Even in the midst of summer the benumbing Tramonta winds descend from the heights, and night-frosts, which begin in November, continue till April. It is not unusual, in the neighbourhood of the mountains, to see the ground covered with snow during ten or twelve days. It is, however, not subject to the inconveniences of Southern Italy; and neither the burning atmosphere of Calabria, nor the Sirocco, nor earthquakes, are experienced, nor the annoyance of the sharp-biting musquito. The mulberry trees, the vines, and the maize, flourish; and the air, when not in the vicinity of rice-fields, has a balmy fragrance, and is remarkably pure and healthful. The coasts of the kingdom, from Nice to Genoa, are protected by the Apennines from the Tramonta winds, and the climate is that distinguished by Saussure as the second region of Italy, in which the olives and the agrumens attain perfection; but the evils of the Sirocco or Mistrol winds are too often felt in the whole of the district.
The island of Sardinia has some peculiarities of climate. In times of antiquity, the unhealthfulness of the island is alluded to by Martial, Cicero, Pausanias, Cornelius Nepos, Strabo, Tacitus, and Claudian; and in later times the same character is given it by Dante. The chief agent of this insalubrity is found in the feculent miasmas of marshes, beds of rivers and torrents, stagnant pools, and putrescent vegetation, in the vicinity of which it is always found deleteriously active, and which are well known to be quite adequate to the generation of malignant fevers. The common disease, called here intemperie, appears to be somewhat different from the malaria of Sicily and Italy; for although equally or more acrimonious in effect, it does not produce the swelled bodies and sallow skins which are the pathognomonic symptoms of the latter. Both diseases usually commence when the summer heat, assisted by slight showers, disengages the impure gases from the low grounds; and continue till the end of November, when the heavy rains have precipitated the miasmata, and purified the air. But they differ, in as much as malaria is generally supposed to be weak in its effects, unless imbibed during sleep; whereas intemperie, though worst at night, is dangerous at all times. Instances have been known of strangers landing for a few hours only, from Italian coasters, who were almost immediately carried off by its virulence; indeed the very breathing of the air by a foreigner at night, or in the cool of the evening, is considered as certain a death in some parts, as if he had swallowed some poisonous drug. While the atmosphere is in this state, the natives never move abroad until an hour after sunrise, and they hasten home before sunset, carefully closing every door and window; or, if obliged to go out, carefully holding a handkerchief before the mouth. The extreme heat of the day is also carefully avoided, for they are apprehensive of the colpo di sole, or stroke of the sun, attributing its frequency and fatal effects to the malignancy of the intemperie.
It is agreed on all sides that fire is an excellent antidote to this evil; and it is recorded that the Lords of Oristanese wont, during the unhealthy season, to burn large fires around the town every night, to rarefy the mephitic exhalations. Most of the people remove from the plains to the higher grounds on St John's day in June, when the air begins to be unsafe, although it does not become dangerous before August. Those who, from their circumstances, are obliged to remain, keep themselves well clad in thick woolens, to avert the ardent rays of the sun. Exertion, exposure to summer showers, and fatigue of every kind, are studiously avoided; and a spare but good diet is adopted, with cool acidulated drinks. The migrations consequent on this distressing visitation, with the want of cottages, pastures, and enclosures, and the many extensive commons, give the plains of Sardinia a depopulated aspect, and may be adduced, among other causes, as a reason for the comparatively low consideration in which this once most fertile of the Tyrrhenian islands has been held. The contempt in which the inhabitants of the plains are held by those of the mountains, with the large fiefs in the hands of some of the non-resident nobles, are also serious obstacles to improvement.
The chief occupation of the inhabitants of this kingdom consists in the cultivation of the land, and is accordingly as varied as the surface of the soil, and as that of the climate, which depends on the elevation. Under the head of Lombardy will be found a detailed account of the agriculture of this district, the greater part of which may be adverted to as a description of what takes place in the richer portion of Sardinia, which belongs to the basin of the river Po, comprehending the greater part of the provinces of Turin, Cuneo, and Alessandria. In Savoy generally the cultivation is badly conducted. The cultivable land is divided into large portions, belonging to a few great proprietors, and is subdivided into smaller portions to tenants, who, without leases, transmit their lots from one generation to another, who pay neither money-rent nor labour to their superiors, but deliver to them or their agents one half the produce of the fields, whatever it may be, in its several kinds. The cattle on these lands are commonly the property of the lord, and are maintained on the produce of the soil, before the division is made of what it yields. The power of the tenants to transmit the land to their successors is combined with the power of subdividing it among their several children; and this is carried to such an extent, as in Ireland and in some other countries, that it has led, and is leading, to such a subdivision that a great number of the farms barely raise sufficient food for the occupants, though their provisions are of the most humble and penurious kind. Savoy is annually deficient in corn to the extent of nearly one third of its consumption. This is in some measure made up by using chestnuts and potatoes as substitutes for bread; though in Aosta and in some other parts the potato is little cultivated, and in them corn must be drawn from the neighbouring countries. The land on the coast of Nice and Liguria consists chiefly of narrow strips of valley, which in the greater portion is composed of sand, and not very appropriate for the growth of grain, though a little is grown in some of the more fertile of the valleys; but the common people only eat bread on Sundays and holidays, and at other times subsist on chestnuts obtained from the Apennines, and on inferior cheese made by themselves. They derive a part of their subsistence from fish, especially sardines, which at some seasons are abundant; and oil, a useful accompaniment, is at a very moderate price.
The agriculture of the island of Sardinia differs so much from that of the rest of the kingdom, that it merits a special notice, the more so from its having been, in ancient times, the source of supplies of grain to the continent of Italy, and occasionally of Spain. The lands are divided into feudal and non-feudal. The former comprise those belonging to the respective nobles, as well as those sold to individuals, but recognising the feudal lord. Those not feudal belong to communities or to individuals; for landed property can be let or sold, or given away, with the consent of the tribunals, or of the husband if belonging to married females. The first lands as to importance, though the least in extent, are those called tanche, or enclosed lands, which are generally well cultivated. But the far larger proportion are those called viduzzoni, or belonging to communities. They are chiefly divided into three parts, each of which is cultivated in its turn, and, while under culture, is enclosed with a line of hurdles; but the rest being fallow, lies open to the ravages of wandering flocks, and the blast of every wind that blows.
The foreign commerce of Sardinia, both by sea and by land, with the countries contiguous to it, naturally demands observation. The number and tonnage of the vessels belonging to the kingdom are shown in the following table, furnished by the British consul.
### Vessels belonging to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
| Year | From one to thirty tons | From thirty to sixty tons | From sixty to a hundred tons | Above a hundred tons | Number of the Crews | |------|-------------------------|---------------------------|----------------------------|---------------------|--------------------| | 1827 | 1874 | 172 | 232 | 546 | 31,201 | | 1828 | 1899 | 161 | 222 | 595 | 30,671 | | 1829 | 1931 | 170 | 214 | 602 | 31,577 | | 1830 | 1903 | 158 | 214 | 616 | 32,176 | | 1831 | 1965 | 157 | 215 | 629 | 32,842 |
The accounts for the last seven years are not to be procured; but there is reason to believe that no very material increase has taken place during that period, and that the proportion of the national vessels of the larger class has been more augmented, while that of the smaller class has somewhat declined, as is observable in the preceding table of the five years from 1827 to 1831.
The chief articles which Sardinia imports from foreign countries are sugar, coffee, spices, cotton wool, cotton manufactured, indigo, cochineal, and other dyeing drugs, corn chiefly from the Black Sea, salted fish, salt, hides and leather, iron, steel, lead, copper, pitch and tar, tobacco, and timber. There are many smaller articles of luxury, whose aggregate amount bears but a trifling proportion in value to those here enumerated. The commerce in grain is casual, depending in a great degree on the productiveness of the harvests in Switzerland, to which country, when the domestic supply is found to be insufficient, the corn, chiefly wheat from the ports of Odessa and Taganrog, is transmitted to the Swiss districts bordering on the Sardinian territory.
### A Statement of the Number and Tonnage of Vessels, distinguishing the Countries to which they belonged, which entered inwards and cleared outwards at the port of Genoa in the year 1834, exclusive of Coasters.
| Countries | Inwards | Outwards | |--------------------|---------|----------| | | Ships | Tons | Ships | Tons | | British | 96 | 15,014 | 95 | 14,973 | | Sardinian | 998 | 121,000 | 996 | 117,000 | | American | 18 | 3,800 | 25 | 5,398 | | Austrian | 8 | 1,390 | 8 | 1,673 | | Danish | 4 | 695 | 4 | 695 | | Dutch | 11 | 1,400 | 15 | 1,836 | | French | 258 | 19,000 | 256 | 18,597 | | Greek | 1 | 83 | 1 | 83 | | Neapolitan | 149 | 19,100 | 151 | 19,334 | | Russian | 1 | 420 | 3 | 1,077 | | Spanish | 148 | 6,400 | 153 | 6,491 | | Swedish | 10 | 2,100 | 16 | 2,918 | | Tuscan, Roman, and Lucchese | 160 | 3,900 | 179 | 4,882 | | Bremen and Lubeck | 4 | 610 | 6 | 733 | | Hanoverian | 1 | 167 | 2 | 278 |
The variations in the years preceding and succeeding 1834 are so little as to render our filling the pages of this work with lengthened accounts quite unnecessary; and the particular year selected is sufficient to show the general nature and extent of the trade, and the respective countries with which it is carried on.
The cities of this kingdom whose population amounts to more than 10,000 souls, are the following:
- Turin: 120,596 - Chieri: 14,000 - Genoa: 94,000 - Savona: 13,400 - Alessandria: 36,000 - Carmagnola: 13,200 - Cagliari: 29,000 - Saluzzo: 13,200 - Nice: 27,000 - Pinerolo: 12,500 - Asti: 23,000 - Boghera: 12,147 - Sassari: 21,000 - Chamberi: 12,060 - Cuneo: 20,000 - Bra: 11,300 - Savigliano: 19,000 - St Remo: 11,200 - Casale: 18,000 - Novi: 11,100 - Mondovi: 17,000 - Racconigi: 11,000 - Novara: 16,400 - Chiavari: 10,800 - Berccelli: 16,000 - Rapello: 10,150 - Vigevano: 15,000 - Tortona: 10,015 - Fossano: 14,300
The most valuable product of Sardinia which is exported is silk, but it has little connection with maritime commerce. The greater part of it, which goes to other countries, is transported by land-carriage, in order to supply the manufacturers of France, of Prussia, of Belgium, of Holland, and in some measure of England; for even to the latter country much is now sent by land through France, or by the Rhine. Oil is one of the greater productions exported from Genoa, after being collected there by means of the numerous coasting vessels with which the shores of Sardinia abound. The larger portion of this article is sent to England, where it is used by the wool-combers in the manufacture of cloth; but a considerable quantity of it is sent to Holland, and from thence into the interior of Germany, where it is applied to the same purposes. Rice is also exported by sea to France, though it can scarcely sustain the competition with that which is produced in the East Indies or in Carolina. Though much wine is made, it is almost wholly consumed at home; the quantity exported being trifling. Fruit is an article of foreign trade; and soap, white lead, essences, and perfumery, may be enumerated as the most prominent of the smaller articles of export. There is, however, a considerable transit trade carried on through Genoa, by which many of the products of the other parts of Italy are exchanged with those of France, to the advantage of the commission-houses in that city.
Before the seventeenth century, Genoa was the centre or channel of all the supply of manufactured silks and velvets to the other parts of Europe; but at present the manufacturing industry, as regards silk, is reduced to the point which the internal consumption demands, or to the process of preparing the raw material for the manufacturers of France, England, Holland, Germany, and Russia. For domestic use, Sardinia has sufficient manufactories to supply with silk, linen, or woollen goods; the demand for clothing. Their silks are handsome and strong, especially the stockings; but, in the absence of the best descriptions of machinery, they are dearer than elsewhere. Leather, iron goods, copper-ware, glass, pottery, and the smaller articles of the household, are made at home.
As to the islanders, they are in so rude a state, that, in a commercial view, they scarcely require to be noticed; as must be the case where every man is his own tailor, shoemaker, spinner, weaver, tanner, carpenter, mason, and blacksmith, and wants nothing but his fire-arms, or other weapons of defence.