The various "staircases" were painful and difficult to climb, they gave no passage to animals, and only light forms of merchandise could be conveyed by them.

As soon as the first rude canoe put forth upon the placid waters of the Mediterranean, it must have become evident that the saving in time and labour would be great if the sea were made to supersede the land as the ordinary line of communication.
The main characteristics of the country were, besides its inaccessibility, its picturesqueness and its productiveness.

The former of these two qualities seems to have possessed but little attraction for man in his primitive condition.

Beauties of nature are rarely sung of by early poets; and it appears to require an educated eye to appreciate them.

But productiveness is a quality the advantages of which can be perceived by all.