Having thus gone through Apulia in the Roman sense, we shall proceed in a south-eastern direction to the people of the POEDICULI or PEUCETII. The name is a double derivative, as we often see in ethnic names, e.g., in Aequiculi; the simple form was no doubt Poedi, though it does not occur anywhere. The people themselves are not mentioned in Roman history; we find them in a state of subjection, but do not see when they fell into that condition; their name is not mentioned in the Triumphal Fasti; and the struggle with them cannot have been great. The name Poediculi appears to be very different from Peucetii, and yet the difference consists only in a transposition of the letters. It is attested and generally acknowledged, that the two names belong to the same people; they are called by the Greeks Pelasgians, and belonged to the same race as the Oenotrians, together with whom they are placed on a level with the Thesprotians, Epirots, and Arcadians. This is, in fact, quite natural, for as the Daunians were of this race, the Peucetians, living still nearer to Greece, certainly belonged to it. BARIUM, the most important place among the Peucetii, occupies no prominent position in ancient history; but in the middle ages, it was the seat of the Byzantine governors (Capitani) of southern Italy: its present name is Bari. The physical nature of the country of the Peucetii is very remarkable; it is still the same chalk soil as in Apulia, but it has here the peculiarity of constantly forming saltpetre: there is no place in Europe that bears any resemblance to it. There are large holes in the ground in the shape of funnels, in which the saltpetre is collected: this phenomenon is extremely remarkable, showing the formative tendency of mineral nature. The country, though without water and dry, is not really barren, but still the want of water has its great disadvantages. The Terra d’Otranto (Terra di Lecce), or the Iapygian headland, however, which projects farther into the sea, is a much more fertile and favoured country; it has indeed the same physical conformation, but the upper stratum does not exclude the water; it is richer in springs, and accordingly more fertile. For the cultivation of olives, it is the most excellent country in the world, but it is not suited for first class wines. The olive-tree grows very well with less moisture, and even at this day it is very excellent there, although the art of cultivating it has sunk very low. It was in vain that I requested the papal government to add to the plants in the botanic garden which are cultivated for ordinary use, those also which are of interest to the scholar. At Naples something has been done for the cultivation of olives, and many things which have been handed down from antiquity may still be recognised. The Iapygian headland is a beautiful hilly country, covered all over with olive plantations. The olive is not a handsome tree, nearly