Chap. IV.

ROMAN.

143

In the outer harbour the rise of the tides is estimated at 14 inches, and at the end of themole there is a depth of water of upwards of 18 feet.

South-west of the mole, on a rock, is constructed the lighthouse, which exhibits its lightat a height of 170 feet above the level of the sea.

Til is port was the ancient Livorno , Liburni portus, or Liburnum, and is situated oppositethe small island of Malora. The town is nearly square, and about 13,000 feet in circuit; themole is a favourite promenade, and from it may be seen the islands of Gorgona, Capraia,and Corsica. The ships are moored beyond the mole, attached to large iron rings.

There are three lazarettos, an arsenal, and extensive warehouses.

The Bay of Spezzia , or Sinus Lunensis. This bay is one of the most magnificent inEurope , and has a spring of fresh water in the centre ; it is encircled by lofty mountains ;the Apennines approach the sea, towards Carrara, and adjoin the Alps beyond Genoa.

Fig. 154. BAT OP SPEZZIA.

mmk.

mm.

mm

The ancient town of Luna, now’ called 1’Erice , takes its name from Erycis Portus :the beauty of the bay and the marble quarries in the neighbourhood are often describedby the Latin poets. Pliny , in his thirty-sixth book, giving an account of the variousmarbles then in use, enumerates some of a white and sparkling quality, then recentlyquarried about Luna. This marble was called lychnite, in consequence, Varro says, ofsparkling in the lamplight w r hen hewed out of the quarry. At a later period, vast quantitiesof Luna marble were shipped from this port, and the temples and other public buildingsat Rome were built with it.

From the rising ground around this port, Strabo , lib. v. cap. 3. informs us that the islandof Sardignia might be distinctly seen.

Genoa has a splendid harbour, formed artificially, by the construction of tw r o moles; thaton the east side, called the old, projecting from the centre of the city, is 260 fathomsin length ; its direction is west by south, and near the middle is constructed a modernbattery. The new mole, on the opposite side of the port, projects from the shore 21Cfathoms in an east-south-east direction. The opening between these two moles, whichallows of the passage of ships into the harbour, is in width 350 fathoms. The harbour is inform a half amphitheatre, its diameter being nearly 8000 fathoms ; there are r.o diffi-culties to encounter on entering it; and there is a good depth of water near the new' mole,where men of war and larger vessels may anchor at a little distance from the shore.