-***.. *' J" ^c^;;^^'\- Ih ~ji -• — . ...acmtK>tH3«l^«l*l«l*1«^?'t|^^Jl»vg j J)> 'rj''-i' ''~"-f'i-iUl:"-fe "^''T5^"''i£^-^''*"# ^"' ¦''¦'.A J^l" im-dyW' .L. L nJ.i.i.-'J,- ^riifiiiiiF'ii iif ' Oil [nn[R"!^'i "^ — • -¦ ' ~-'i-Mi,iu),i nii.iillTiiiftilJi7ililiihinffllffll — _ — S-- ^'"•sij-iyf^ 'y. Fr l'."-' I.oii);.ilii(lo r.asl JO Itoin C"-""™ 1 ( X Q/ >y^v,sn\i T-'>ffi^/rW'r-- , fi. i^Vp'/ >-v)' 5?*"sr v- s. u f ^^ ¦" ^ w -- ' J\ -^is^ ^^\ rt L t ^ , V '^ ,\ Ifo ^ .0 Si LdU /V y.. / > J Ov ^ Vl C K ^ ---. <*, ' / ji™ K -OV" ¦OUcn.^ dii^ w tl *•»«((¦ /i ?r V S W I tA Z K It i ^M 7^. ,ri^ Jjjgtai^ VtJ "°ii f » .^ A r *; 'i«SN\?!*r», « .. ^.K?''H 9-"-' U., Y<,t Jtei,^ i..Kl..n o T 1 S\C A r> ^ l,niij;i»>i'l J iWIlXIEEMSIB ANDTHK VASSI'lS Ol' TMK ALl'S. Stall- or KiLyliaJi Ali|i-s B aX // SrMujitira RaUvraya.. lliiHioiH-t. .^i.>i.ll.,.tu^rrt.,j, •ij:sifs>""r' „ "WjETJ ^s%^ ^A !^'A '' '<7i0'' -^'"'''^^'' ^rc,jJ'£ir^ iW^ ;^'VwJi^ ^ • ^ Uul.l^r"-'^''^^ •¦' i/S |S..fc4i' ii'-V'^ict.. ¦^ i-i^" "Lw O^ Vv'-^- 'i:r vr ^ '^ i-Atii^ I A 1 If h I p .A,- VjVw- H. s (IiiimDLiMJiiiriniiu DISTURBING FORCES^VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 201 eruptions and earthquakes, different parts of the crust of the globe are subject to the process of slow expansion and contraction, owing to different conditions of the interior temperature and its unequal action. Volcanoes and earthquakes are closely related phenomena, being different expression of the same force acting under different conditions. This force is caused primarily by subterranean heat. From observations made in deep mines and artesian wells, chiefly in various parts of Europe, it appears that the temperature increases with the depth, though not uniformly, varying in its amount from 1° in 27 feet in some localities to 1° in 208 feet in others. Hence, it is clear, that if either rate of increase is maintained descend- ingly, a point would soon be reached below the surface where the heat is sufficiently intense to fuse and melt all known substances. This point is estimated by various authorities as being at the depth of from 22 to 65 miles. However uncertain such esti mates, no reasonable doubt can be entertained that a vast mass of molten matter underlies the cooled and solidified crust of the globe, which may remain at rest for ages beneath enormous areas, while liable to be locally excited and uplifted by the immense volumes of elastic gases or steam generated by the intensely high temperature. This conclusion is sustained by the occurrence of rock formations at the surface, which have evidently been in a state of igneous fluidity, with the frequent occurrence of hot springs, and by the whole phenomena of existing volcanic action. The word volcano is derived from "Folcanus, the name given to the imaginary god of fire in the mythology of the ancients. It is applied to a peculiar class of mountains emitting from their summits or sides, more or less frequently, molten mineral masses, with columns of flame, smoke, and ashes. They are very regular cones in shape, without the terraces or breaks which mark the outline of most other mountains, and have evi dently been formed by the gradual accumulation of the materials ejected. A circular opening at the summit, known as the crater, communicating with the interior fires, is a prime feature of their physiognomy. Most of the large volcanic mountains now in action have minor cones and craters on their slopes, or near their base, produced by lateral eruptions. In many cases the cones are truncated, apparently caused by the falling in of the superior portions, thereby exposing caldron-like hollows of vast extent and great depth. Eepeatedly have the cones both of Etna and Vesuvius fallen in, and been re produced by renewed eruptions. On the slope of Mouna Loa, in the Sandwich Islands, at the height of 3873 feet, there is one of the most remarkable of these fiery abysses, the crater of Kirauea. This is a crescent-shaped gulf, about two miles in circumference, varying apparently in depth from 800 to 1500 feet. The bottom is covered with lava, parts of which form a flood of burning matter in a state of terrific ebullition, billows of flame rolling to and fro, and meeting with such' violence as to dash their fiery spray to the height of forty or fifty feet. A Christian convert once descended from the rim of the crater, down its nearly perpendicular sides, to the verge of the violently-agitated lake of fire below, and plunged a stick into its bosom. This was an act of female heroism, intended to disprove the superstition of her countrymen, who were spectators at a dis tance, and who believed that Peli, the god of the Kirauea fires, would punish with in stant destruction any violation of his sanctuary. The rocky sides of ordinary craters are sometimes as entire as the walls of a circus, iut generaUy one side, or that from which the prevailing wind blows, is much lower than the other, owing to the ashes discharged by the mountain being carried by the breeze away from it, and borne in the opposite direction. More commonly the craters are fractured, and through the rents, or by descending from the summit of the rampart, the floor may frequently be reached, exhibiting in wild confusion hillocks of ashes, cones of eruption, A c 202 DISTURBING FORCES— VOLCANOES AND EAKTHQUAKES. with small rounded fiery openings, through which, in times of repose, smoke, steam, anil vapours of various kinds, find vent. The interior of many other craters is, however, per fectly inaccessible, owing to their vast depth and the perpendicularity of the intemal walls. A successful attempt to enter the tremendous crater of Pichincha, one of the loftiest volcanoes of the globe, in the equatorial region of the Andes, was made in 1867, but the enterprise was attended with great difficulty and danger. ' On the 22nd of October,' remarks the intrepid adventurer, Mr. Orton, 'we returned to Pichincha with another guide, and entered the ciuter by a dilfeicnt route. Manuel, our Indian, led us to the south side, and over the brink we went. Here the snow concealed an ugly fissure, or covered a treacherous rock, for nearly all the rocks are crumbling ; there we must cross a mass of loose sand moving like a glacier down the almost vertical side of the crater ; and on every hand rocks were giving way, and, gathering momentum at each revolution, went thundering down, leaping over precipices, and jostling other rocks, which joined in the race, till they all struck the bottom with a deep rumbling sound, shivered like so many bombshells into a thousand pieces, and telling us what would be our fate if we made a single mis-step. We followed our Indian in single file, keeping close together, that the stones set free by those in the rear might not dash those below from their feet ; feeling our way with the greatest caution, clinging with our hands to snow, sand, rock, tufts of grass, or anything that would hold for a moment ; now leaping over a chasm, now letting ourselves down from rock to rock ; at times paralysed with fear, and always with death staring us in the face : thus we scrambled for two hours and a half tiU we reached the bottom of the crater. Here we found a deep, furrowed plain, strewn with ragged rocks, and containing a. few patches of vegetation, with half a dozen species of flowers. In the centre is an irregular heap of stones, two hundred and sixty feet high by eight htmdred in diameter. This is the cone of eruption — its sides and summit covered with an imposing group of vents, seventy in number, all lined with sulphur, and exhaling steam, black smoke, and sulphurous gan. llie temperature of the vapour just within the fumarole is 184°, w.iter boiling beside it at 189°. The central vent or chimney gives forth a sound like the violent bubbling of boihng water. As we sat on this fiery mount, surrounded by a circular rampart of rocks, and looked up at the immense towers of dark dolerite which ran up ahnost vertically to the height of 2500 feet above us, musing over the tremendous force which fashioned this awful amphitheatre — spacious enough for aU the gods of Tartarus to hold high carnival — the clouds which hung in the thin air around the crest of the crater pealed forth thunder after thunder, which, reverberating from precipice to precipice, were answered by the crash of rocks let loose by the storm, tUl the whole mountain seemed to tremble like a leaf.' Volcanoes are classified as either extinct, or intermittent, or in a state of constant activity, more or less intense, being never seen without a wreath of smoke or tongue of flame. The extinct class are those whose form and materials plainly declare them to have once been scenes of fiery explosions, but havo not been known to be in action through the long period of which history or tradition is cognisant. There are striking examples in the old French province of Auvergne, also along the lower slopes of the Apennines, and in the remarkable ' burnt region ' (Catacecaumene) in tho western part of Asia Minor, so called by the ancient Greeks from its abundant memorials of igneous agency. Many extinct craters aro now occupied by small lakes or pools. The intermit tent class include those which are subject to long intervals of repose after formidable eruptions. Both Etna in Sicily, and Vesuvius in Italy, the best known of all volcanoes, liave experienced long fits of dormancy. Etna is historically the oldest volcano in the world. Its first recorded eruption took place in the second year of the 75th Olympiad, DISTUKBINQ FORCES^VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 203 answering to b.c. 475, and is referred to in the Prometheus of .(Eschylus, and in the first Pythian ode of Pindar. But Vesuvius was only known to the Romans as a very harmless neighbour down to a.d. 79, when the great outburst occurred which overwhelmed the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae with its ashes. They vanished from the shore of Campania, and lay buried under horizontal beds of loose tufa and lapilli, till re-discovered in the early part of the last century. Previously, the mountain was over grown with the wild vine, as described by the poet Martial, who was contemporaneous with the calamity ; and on its summit, in the servile war under Spartacus, the revolted slaves pitched their camp. ' Here verdant vines o'erspread Vesuvius' side. The generous grape here pour'd her purple tide ; This Bacchus lov'd beyond his native scene, Here dancing satyrs joy'd to trip the green ; Far more than Spai-ta this in Venus' grace. And great Alcides once renown'd the place. Now flaming embers spread dir« waste around. And gods regret that gods can thus confound.' Tlie agitations of both Etna and Vesuvius have increased in frequency and power in recent times. The number of volcanic vents distributed over the globe has been estimated by Hum boldt at 407, and by Von Buch at 424, of which full one-half belong to the extinct class. But the number must be considerably increased, making allowance for those which pro bably exist in unexplored parts of the earth, and in the bed of the sea. These last may obviously never exhibit above the surface of the water any sign of their existence, or only one which is so temporary in its duration as in many cases to escape the observation of man. Thus Graham or Hotham's Island, near Sicily, formed in 1831 by submarine volcanic influence, wholly disappeared in the course of a few months by the waves sweeping away the cone ; and the apparition might never have been noticed but for its occurrence in the great maritime highway of the Mediterranean. In other instances, submarine volcanoes have permanently established themselves above the surface, and rapidly risen to an immense heignt, owing to the ejected materials being sufficiently compact to resist the action of the billows, their vast quantity, and the prodigious force at work in their ejection. In 1796, a column of smoke was seen to rise from the surface of the North Pacific Ocean, about thirty miles to the north of Unalaska. Soon afterwards a crater appeared above the level of the water, from which flames issued which illuminated the neighbourhood for ten miles round. After the lapse of six years, a few hunters landed on the new islet, and found the soil in some places so hot that they could not walk upon it. Its dimensions have since been increased by repeated eruptions, until it is now several thousand feet in height, and from two to three miles in circumference. In the same region, the volcanic island of Kliutschewsk rises at once from the sea to the enormous height of 15,000 feet, and has doubtless been gradually formed and elevated by successive displays of the same force. With few exceptions, the active volcanic sites are confined to the maritime portions of continents and islands ; and hence by far the greater part of the earth's area is free from thern. The eastem portions of America, the northern parts of Europe and Asia, almost the entire areas of Africa and Australia, contain no active volcanoes, while earthquakes are of rare occurrence in those regions, and only shght in their effects. The Pacific Ocean, with the coasts and islands which surround it, is the principal seat at present of volcanic action. An almost unbroken girdle of vents may be traced along its coast-line, or at no great distance from it, comprising also the loftiest and most powerful examples.' 204 DISTURBING FORCES — VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. From Tierra del Fuego, the Land of Fire, at the south extremity of America, the belt follows the western shores of that continent to the peninsula of Alaska in the far north, and is prolonged through the chain of the Aleutian Isles to Kamschatka. Thence de scending southward along the eastem shores of Asia, through the long suite of the Kurile, Japanese, and Philippine Islands, the line is continued into the Indian Archipelago on the one hand, and through the Australasian isles to New Zealand on the other. It has hence been inferred that the vicinity of water is essential to volcanic activity. Some of the more inland volcanoes are as follows : Jorullo, in Mexico, distant from the sea, .... 81 miles. Popocatapetl, „ „ . . . . 132 ,, Sangai, in South America, ,, . . . . . 93 „ Tolima, ,, ,,.... 105 „ Fragua, „ ...... 156 „ The greatest of these distances is scarcely the tenth part of the distance from the sea of the volcanic chain of the Thian-Shan in Central Asia. Towards the centre of this range, on the northern side, stands the isolated cone of Pechan, ' white mountain ;' and upwards of 600 mUes to the east, on the southern side, is Ho-tcheon, ' burning mountain,' both far apart from any aqueous expanse of importance at the surface. Distance of Pechan from the Arctic Ocean, .... 1530 miles. ,, from the Mouth of the Indus, or the Gange.s, 1512 „ from the East side of the Caspian Sea, . , 1356 „ „ from the Sea of Aral. .... 336 miles. ,, from the Salt Lake Balkash, , . , 210 „ ,, from the Salt Lake Issikul, . . . 174 „ But besides water occurring at the surface of the earth, the existence of vast subterranean reservoirs is beyond dispute ; and hence distance frora any considerable superficial expanse is no objection to the assumption of the fluid being indispensable to volcanic excitement, which is sustained by the maritime position of most active volcanoes. Great eruptions differ in the details of the exhibition, but correspond in their general features. If the volcano rises above the line of perpetual snow, or is seasonally clad with it as a wintry mantle, the approach of a crisis is indicated by its sudden melting, giving rise to destructive torrents. The sides of Etna are furrowed longitudinally by straight, narrow ravines, produced by the action of running water obtained chiefly from melting snows during an eruption. The floods rushing down the highly inclined and tolerably regular sides of the mountain, acquire prodigious force, which the loose scoriae and ashes, with even the solid lava, cannot resist. Vibrations of the ground in the neighbourhood always antedate an explosion, soraetimes through several weeks ; and subterranean sounds are heard, at first like a low, prolonged moaning, gradually changed into a succession of loud detonations. As the interior war of elements is preparing to manifest its violence, the smoke of the hidden furnace ascends in a vast, dense, black coluran from t)ie crater. Unable because of its weight to rise beyond a certain height in the atmosphere, tho summit of the smoky column falls down upon itself, assuming the appearance of a gigantic pine-tree, as noticed, in the case of Vesuvius, in the two celebrated letters of the younger Pliny to Tacitus, an eye-witness of the spectacle when the mountain awoke from the slumber of ages in the August of a.d. 79. The scene soon becomes more briUiant. Flashes of red flame, and showers of red-hot stones, like the sparks of fireworks, attended by reports as of a great train of artillery, mingle with the smoke, and mark the accumu- latod intensity of the forces at work. This, however, is still only preliminary. The DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 205 climax arrives when mineral masses, reduced to complete fluidity, are discharged from the interior, and flow down the slopes in fiery, majestic currents, bright and glowing as with the splendour of the sun. Immense volumes of ashes from the crater continued for days, which, borne by the wind, fall finally upon a large area of the surrounding country, commonly terminate an eruption. The materials ejected from volcanoes consist of lava or molted rock, pumice-stone and ashes, hot water, with various gases and vapours. Lava is chiefly composed of a very small number of minerals, as felspar, augite, or hornblende, and oxide of iron ; but other ingredients variously occur in smaller proportions to modify the mass. From eighty to a hundred species of minerals have been observed in the products of Vesuvius. The pumice-stones and ashes have precisely the same mineral composition as the lava, but have a lighter colour, greyish instead of dark, from the minute subdivision of their par ticles. The pumice is really lava, only extricated from the liquid mass in the bowels of the volcano, and expelled by the explosive energy, while made vesicular by contact with the air or with water. The ashes also are simply pumice in a very fine state of division. When these materials remain upon the surface without being covered with the products of fresh eruptions, they speedily weather and decompose, produce a highly-fertile soil, which rapidly becomes clothed with vegetation, and supersedes the naturally sombre greyish hue of the mountain with a bright and vivid green. Boiling water has been observed to flow copiously from Vesuvius during its eruptions, as also from some of the Andean volcanoes. This circumstance doubtless originated the name of the Volcano de Agua, or Water Volcano, in Central America. Of vaporous and gaseous products ejected, the most abundant by far is steam, often the cause of local rains. The gases most com monly evolved are chlorine, sulphuretted hydrogen, sulphurous acid, carbonic acid, and nitrogen. Birds and animals have often been destroyed by these deleterious emanations. In 1730, aU the cattle in the island of Lancerota, one of the Canaries, were killed by the mephitic gases discharged. The certain death which overtakes every animal entering the Upas Valley in Java is due to the noxious gases given out from an extinct crater, and not to the poison-tree, Antia-ris, which, though yielding a deadly juice, does not in the slightest degree affect the atmosphere. Eaised by great mechanical pressure from an unknown depth, the melted rock or lava ascends in the funnel of the volcano towards the suramit, and soraetimes, though but rarely, flows over the top of the crater, as Humboldt traced a stream to the very crest of the Peak of Teneriffe. But generally the lava forces for itself a passage through the flanks of the mountain, or issues through existing fissures, solidifying as it cools, and augmenting the diameter of the volcanic mound. Upon its first eraergence, the raass has about the consistency of honey ; and hence it ' proceeds slowly, though sometiraes it is more limpid, and travels faster. The surface soon cools, but the interior retains its heat, and remains semi-fluid long after the portion exposed to the atmosphere has become a hard crust. Some days after emission, the lava has raised the thermometer from 59° to 95°, at the distance of twelve feet, while three feetj)ff the heat has exceeded that of boiling water. The temperature at which it reraains fluid is sufficient to melt glass and silver, and to render a mass of lead fluid in four minutes, which would have required double that tirae to enter into fusion if placed upon red-hot iron. Nine raonths after eruption, in 1819, a lava current from Etna was in motion at the rate of a j'ard per day ; and another is stated not to have been completely solidified and at rest ten years after its emergence. But a raass of lava at Jorullo, five hundred feet thick, erupted in 1759, was found smoking by Humboldt in 1804, forty-five years afterwards, and was in so heated a state that a cigar might be lighted in any of the cracks a few inches below the surface. 206 DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. Smoke was observed to issue from it by Burkart in 1827, sixty-eight years after its ejection. The amount of lava ejected in a single case of volcanic excitement is sometimes enor mous. The solid contents of a current from Vesuvius, in 1737, which destroyed Torre del Greco, and ran into the soa, have been computed at 33,587,058 cubic feet ; but another current in 1794 was supposed to contain 46,098,766 feet. The great stream from Etna in 1669, which destroyed Catania, is estimated to have included 93,838,590 cubic feet. But the most prodigious fiery flood on record was poured out by the Skapta Yokul, in the south-east corner of Iceland, in the summer of 1 783 — one of the most tremendous incidents which has marked the physical history of our planet. The preceding winter in Iceland had been unusuaUy mild, and nothing betokened the approaching convulsion tiU tho spring months were passing away. It was towards the end of May that a light, bluish fog was seen floating along the surface of the ground. This was succeeded in the beginning of June by earthquakes, which increased in intensity till the 8th of that month. Early in the morning of that day, the inhabitants of the coast perceived numerous columns of smoke rising in the hiU country on the north. They gradually united to form a dark band, which obscured the atmosphere, and pro ceeded southerly, involving the whole district of Sida in darkness, and showering down sand and ashes to the thickness of an inch on the ground. The cloud continued to enlarge till the 10th, when fire-spurts were observed at a distance in the mountains ; and on the 12th it was known that the Skapta volcano was in eruption. A current of lava then burst forth from a lateral crevice, which continued to flow tUl Jidy the 20th. It divided into two main branches, one of which flowed 50 mUes, and the other 40, with respective breadths of 15 and 7 mUes, and an average depth of 100 feet, but in narrow defiles amounting to 600 feet. It filled up the beds of streams, and seventeen viUages were destroyed by the fiery deluge. From the length, breadth, and depth of the lava flood, it has been calculated that the mass of matter ejected, if spread over the coal-fields of Great Britain, would cover them with a stratum of basaltic rock twenty feet thick, or if accumulated on the site of London, produce a mountain rivalling iu bulk the Peak of Teneriffe. This is perhaps the most enormous mass of matter ever ejected by a volcano during a single period of activity. Owing to the thickness of the volume, the lava was years in cooling. Mr Stephenson, who published an account of the eruption at Copen hagen, found it so hot twelve months afterwards, that he was unable to cross it. After the lapse of ten years, it stiU retained an elevated temperature, emitting vapour in various places, and the water in crevices was quite warm. The subterranean outbreak was not confined to the dry land. An island was thrown up along the adjoining coast, of wliich formal possession was taken on behalf of the Danish government. It received the name of Nyos, or the New Island, but subsided in the foUowing year, and the waves recovered their mastery at the spot. Tho physical convulsions, with the consequent famine and other suflferings, are stated to have proved fatal in the course of two years to 9336 persons, with 28,000 horses, 11,461 head of cattle, and 190,488 sheop. In the Indian Archipelago, one of its smaUor members, the island of Sumbawa, was dreadfully ravaged in the year 1816, and with fatal effect also to huraan life. The Tomboro volcano, on the north coast, was then in violent action at intervals, and never at rest from the early part of April till July; and out of 12,000 inhabitants of the island only twenty-six survived. Tho sound of tho explosions was heard at tho distance of 1000 miles on the side of Sumatra, and 800 miles on tho opposite direction. Whirlwinds tore up the largest trees, and bore away men, horses, and cattle into the sea. Tho ashes occa sioned profound darkness in the day-time in Java, and fell upon the sea near Sumatra, DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 207 forming a mass two feet in thickness, and several miles in extent, through which ships with difficulty forced their way. With similarly fearful power, on the night between January 16 and 17, 1835, the previously dormant volcano of Cosignina, in Central America, renewed its activity, and continued in violent agitation through several weeks. No towns or villages suffered injury, being at a considerable distance. But the fine dust covered the ground to the depth of more than ten feet at the distance of thirty miles from the focus of disturbance, destroying the vegetation, with thousands of birds and quadrupeds. Nearer to the site of convulsion the darkness was almost total for two days. The sounds of explosion were heard at the port of Belize, 350 miles in a direct hne from the mountain, and so distinctly that the authorities mistook them at first for the firing of a man-of-war in distress, or a naval action. The ashes fell in the streets of Kingston, in Jamaica, 700 mUes distant. The power exerted in volcanic action is often expressed by the production of permanent changes of level in parts of the adjoining country. Thus, in 1538, Monte Nuovo was thrown up in the Vesuvian district in the course of two days, and forras a hUl of 440 feet in height, by a mile and a half in circuit. In 1669, in the region of Etna, Monte Eossi was simUarly formed, with a rather higher elevation, and a circumference of more than two mUes. In 1759, an area of four square mUes on tho great table-land of Mexico was raised 550 feet above its previous level, and covered at the same time with volcanic cones of various heights, one of which, Jorullo, rises 1695 feet. But if permanent elevations are produced, there are also subsidences. The most remarkable known example occurred in the Island of Java in 1772. On the 11th of August, a luminous cloud enveloped one of the largest of its volcanoes, Papandayang, and the inhabitants of the declivities were alarmed by tremendous subterranean noises. Suddenly, before they had time to eff'ect their escape, the greater part of the mountain began to subside, and was soon en gulphed, carrying with it a portion of the surrounding country. The sunk area included ninety square mUes. Forty viUages were destroyed, and 2957 persons perished. In 1868, a year remarkable for volcanic disturbances and earthquake shocks over nearly the whole surface of the earth, Hawaii, one of the Sandwich Islands, slowly subsided several feet along its southern and western shores, and was simUarly but more slightly affected alon" the northern and eastern. There had been violent earthquakes and volcanic con vulsions, with high tidal waves, in the early part of the year. The entire island seemed like a great ship loosened from her moorings, reeling to and fro, rising and faUing, shaking terrifieaUy, as if it were going to pieces. VUlages along the shore were swept away by the huge bUlows ; cliffs feU into the sea ; houses and walls were thrown down ; and a considerable number of the native inhabitants lost their lives. At length comparative quiet was restored by the opening of a new and vast crater on the side of Mouna Loa, which liberated the pent-up lava and gases. Tho reraarkable outflow of molten matter from the bowels of the earth discharged by the volcano, and the subsidence of the island, are doubtless to be regarded as closely related phenomena ; and probably there was no actual diminution in the amount of solid matter above the sea level occasioned by the sinking, but simply an interchange of it between land and sea. Those movements of the surface of the globe, appropriately termed Earthquakes, are plainly due to the same cause which operates in volcanic eruptions, or the energy of elastic vapours generated by intemal heat, but acting under different conditions in the .struggle for disengagement. As a general rule, the concussions are most frequent in the immediate neighbourhood of active volcanoes, but they are not so violent and destructive as thoso which occur at some distance from them, where no such natural safety-valves aro at hand to facilitate the escape of the eruptive forces. Hence it is a common saying in somo 208 DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. countries, that earthquakes end when the volcanoes begin their play ; and when tho funnels cease to flare and smoke for any length of time, the occurrence of earthquakes, shaking, upheaving, and fissuring the ground, thereby letting loose the imprisoned powers beneath, may be predicted with tolerable certainty. . An earthquake is very frequently nothing more than a tremor of the ground, so gentle as scarcely to be obvious to the senses ; and raultitudes engaged in business or pleasure are unconscious that an eneray has boon at the door. No injury is done, and no super ficial displacement, even so much as the removal of a pebble, is observed. The attenti/e alone perceive the vibration, which passes away in the instant of its arrival, and leaves 110 more trace of its activity than does the slight shiver so frequently experienced by the Boiling Lake of Rota Mahana, New Zealand. human frame. Hence, in some countries, where feeble shocks are very common, habli has so reconciled the inhabitants to them, that they attract no more notice than a hail storm with ourselves. But in several of those regions, twice or thrice in a century, tin subterranean element acts with greater energy, alters the features of the landscape, changt.'^ the relative level of sea and shore, and indiscriminately prostrates tho palaces of the higl and mighty with the huts and hovels of the lowly and obscure. It is therefore true. that while destructive earthquakes aro mercifully rare events, the phenomenon itself is of very frequent occurrence, if not constant, reckoning the slight with the severer exprcssioii.'' of it, in some part or otlicr of the earth's surface. Thus, at Palermo, in Sicily, fifty-sevci. smart shocks wero felt in the space of forty years ; at Copaipo, in the north of Chili scarcely a day passes without one or moro ; and at Comrio, in Scotland, so extraordinarilj frequent are exhibitions of subterranean action, that in little raore than two years, fron October 1839 to December 1841, not less than 247 shocks wore noted and described. Hence there is sufficient ground for the opinion of Huraboldt, that if we were dailv informed respecting the state of the whole surface of our planet, it would bo found tln.t DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 209 the surface is nearly always shaking at some point or other of its circumference, and is subject to an uninterrupted reaction between the interior and exterior. WhUe earthquakes are far more common in some countries than others, and have been recorded in sacred and classical lands from the dawn of authentic history, it would be impossible to refer to any portion of the globe, aqueous or solid, as certainly exempt from such demonstrative evidences of instability. Thoy occur in regions widely apart from each other, of wlioUy different climate, physiognomy, and geological constitution. Conti nental and insular tracts, rugged and level districts, dry and swampy plains, have been ravaged, with regions composed of primitive rocks, stratified masses, and alluvial deposits. The mighty internal agency has grappled with sites of the most discordant physical character, as the high table-lands of the Andes, the low prairies of the Mississippi, the deep vaUeys of the Alps, the bleak steppes of Siberia, the hot sands of Syria, the moist flats of HoUand, and the vino-clad hills of the Rhine ; while at nearly the antipodes of each other, the islands of Great Britain and New Zealand are included within the empire of the same conquering power, though happily we have only hitherto experienced either moderate indigenous shocks, or such as, being propagated from a distant centre of convulsion, reach us with subdued or expiring energy. But it is true, generally, that shocks are more numerous and violent in maritime positions than in the far interior of continents. Irkutsk, with its vicinity, in Siberia, though moro than a thousand miles from any part of the ocean, can hardly be caUed an exception, as it directly borders on the Great Lake Baikal, the ' Holy Sea ' of the Russians, whose mysterious movements, when not a breath of wind is astir to agitate the surface, are probably caused by some deep-seated subterranean commotion. In aU earthquakes of the intenser kind, which have had their phenomena accurately examined, there is always an area indicated, often very circumscribed, perhaps the site of a town, a part of the open country, or a point at sea, where the concussion is the most violent, and is felt earlier than at distant places. This is therefore the focus of disturb ance. From such a spot the shock is propagated mechanicaUy through the rocky crust of the earth, as sound travels through the air, to a distance which depends upon the strength of the impulse, and tho capacity of strata to resist or yield to vibration. The propagation is conducted in one of two different ways, which is apparently determined by circumstances of physical geography and geology. In some instances the shock travels in a determinate direction towards certain points of the compass opposite to each other — north and south, east and west, as the case may be — affecting a comparatively narrow belt of intermediate country. Here we have a linear earthquake, common in mountainous districts. In other cases, the shock extends somewhat equally on aU sides from the focus, liko rays from the sun, or the cracks in a square of glass when sharply struck by a stone ; and its progress is comparable to that of the ring-like wave forined by a pebble on the surface of still water, which becomes weaker as the expansion increases. This is called a central earth quake. A striking example was furnished by the great convulsion at Lisbon, in the last century, which extended its waves of vibration to the Alps, the north of Europe, the West Indies, and the shores of Africa. When there is a series of shocks, protracted through several weeks or months, the centre often changes its place; and two or raore foci have been observed. It is a curious and well-authenticated fact, that, after being pro pagated a certain distance, a shock wiU be intermitted through a considerable district of country, and be again manifest in a region lying beyond it. It is as though a barrier to progress had been met with, and overcome by an undermining process. On such occasions the earthquake is said to form * a bridge,' in the language of the South American Creoles, the bridge being the intervening unaffected district, beneath which the shock is supposed to dip and pass at too great a depth to be sensible at the surface. 210 DISTURBING FORCES — VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. The nature of tho motion communicated to the surface by earthquake-shocks is of several distinct kinds, distinguished by the terms tremulous, horizontal, vertical, un dulating, and rotary. But in some instances the movement is so complex as to defy description. The tremulous motion of the ground — tre-nihlement de terre of the French, and tremblores of tho South Americans — is more or less observed in aU earthquakes, and is the least dangerou^movement. The sensation produced is similar to that felt on board a steamer, when, in letting off the steam, the vibrating plates of the boUer cause the deck to tremble. In severe expressions, it has been compared to that felt by a person riding, when the horse shakes himself. Among other commonly observed effects, the flickering of the flames of candles, the clatter of furniture, the rattle of slates on roofs, the quivering of trees and hedges,' the ringing of house-bells, and the omission of sounds by the strings of musical instruments, are mentioned. Though walls are sometimes split by these tremors, and objects thrown, they are not dreaded by the inhabitants of countries where they are of almost daily occurrence, life and property being generally secure. The horizontal motion seems to be chiefly a vigorous expression of the tremulous. Tlie surface strongly oscillates to and fro, is moved forward and backward, often causing the actual displacement of objects. Dr Stukeloy states, that in the West Riding of York shire, December 30, 1739, when there was a sudden and violent shock, ' the earth moved backward and forward horizontally. — quivering with reciprocal vibration.' At London, in 1750, the general impression was that the whole city was- violently pushed to the south east, and then brought back again. At Inverness, in 1816, buUdings were suddenly pushed horizontally to the south-east ; and left, as it were behind them, stones and other objects not firraly attached, to which therefore the movement could not be instantaneously imparted. Tho vertical or upheaving shock is far more to be dreaded than either of the former, though it often occasions only an uplifting of the surface, which subsides again without fracture, or any injury to the objects upon it. This kind of shock generaUy occurs when the tremulous movement is at its height. Very frequently it is accompanied with a loud explosive noise, and makes an impression upon the inmates of dwellings as if a blow had been struck at the foundations with some enormous hammer. A concussion of this nature shivered to pieces the ice on a lake near Lawer's House, in Perthshire, in 1789. It is familiarly known at Comrie, in that county, as the ' Thud.' During the shock at London, in 1750, which was confined to its vicinity, and was most violent along the course of the Thames, a mariner felt as if his boat had received a blow at the bottom. Fish were also observed to leap two or three feet out of the water, but most likely from fright caused by the concussion. Shocks acting in a perpendiciUar direction were ex perienced during the great Lisbon earthquake. In a vessel far west in the Atlantic a seaman on dec'k was thrown bodUy upwards. This upheaving movement sometimes signalises its activity with fearful violence. The ground is burst open. Houses are hurled from their sites. Trees, stones, and human beings are blown high into the air, as if some immense magazine of combustibles ih the bowels of the earth had suddenly ex ploded. It was by an earthquake resembling the explosion of a mine that the city of Eisbaniba, on tho table-land of Quito, was destroyed, February 4, 1797, when from thirty •to forty thousand people perished, including tho inhabitants of some adjouiing viUages. Tho corpses of many of thera w(^re afterwards found on the top of a hill. La CuUa, several hundred feet in height, separated by a river from tho city. They had been thrown to its summit by tho violence of the disturbing force operating in a vertical direction. So com pletely were the features of the entire neighbourhood deranged by the catastrophe, tiat DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 211 law-suits were prosecuted in the courts of the country respecting the proprietorship of pieces of ground which had been removed en masse to new positions. In many cases, probably in most, an undulating motion of the surface is produced, as the effect' of combined horizontal and vertical raovements, by which objects are moved upwards and forwards, and then brought back to their original position. The appearance of the ground corresponds to that of a gentle swell of the sea. Near London, in 1750, the dry and solid soil is described as having waved liko the surface of a river, and the tall trees bent their tops. At Liverpool, on another occasion, the motion felt was com pared to that of being in a vessel falling from the summit of one wave and rising again upon the next. In Shropshire, during a strong shock, in 1773, which caused extensive fissures, a field of corn was observed to heave up and roU like waves of water, and the trees moved as if blown by the wind, though the air at the time was perfectly calm and serene. Whirling or rotary movements of the surface are rare, and are only observed in connection with the most desolating earthquakes, apparently caused by two or more horizontal shocks crossing each other at right angles. They are evidenced by waUs being twisted round without being prostrated, and by the deflection of parallel rows of trees, and paraUel ridges in the fields. After the Chilian earthquake of February 20, 1835, which desolated tho city of Conception, and converted the cathedral into a grand pile of ruins, some square ornaments on the walls that wero standing, were found in a diagonal position. Instances of twisting displacement during the earthquakes of Calabria February 5, and March 28, 1783, appeared in some of the ancient Greek temples; and small circular hollows were formed, filled with sand or water, a result of the vorticose or whirf- ing motion. Earthquakes furnish the most striking examples with which we are acquainted of tiiB production of stupendous effects in very brief intervals. The most disastrous shocks are generally the shortest, in fact, over almost in an instant. In less than six seconds the thriving city of Conception was in ruins, with the earth opening and closing rapidly in all directions, and smothering clouds of dust rising from the prostrate buUdings, which, when they cleared away, revealed the survivors of the calamity, pale and trembling, ghastly and sepulchral in aspect, as if the graves had given up their dead. By three shocks Caraccas was levelled to the ground, each of which did not last more than three or four seconds, and all of them occurred in less than a minute. The utmost duration popularly assigned to the earthquakes of Jamaica, 1692, and Calabria, 1783, amounted to three and two minutes. Yet in this space of time the surface ofa large extent of country was so completely altered that hardly a tract could be found retaining its former appearance entire. But the length of the intervals in these cases has doubtless been exaggerated, for seconds appear as minutes when persons are in an agony of terror and apprehension. The effects of these raighty operations of nature comprise the permanent displacement of land, both by way of eleva tion and subsidence ; the dislodgment of masses of rock ; the opening of extensive fissures in the ground, both horizontally disposed and radiating from a centre, some of which close again, whUe others are stable ; with the discharge of hot water, steam, mud, sand, flame, and columns of smoke from the surface. But the immediate destruction of human life is of course the most fearful item, with the distress of the survivors, from the desolation of their homes, the loss of 'kuidred, the paralysis of industry, and their own wild panic. It is estimated that not less than 13,000,000 ofthe human race have perished in this way. There is ample ground therefore for the remark, that there is no force kno^vn to exist, not even the murderous inventions of men, contrived for each other's extirpation, by which, in the short period of a few seconds or minutes, such a number of persons can be killed as by au earthquake. 212 DISTURBING FORCES — VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. SYNOPSIS OF THB EARTHQUAKE OF LISBON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1755. Supposed position of the focus, or point of greatest intensity, Atlantic Ocean, Lat. 39° K., Long 11° W. Supposed time of shock at the focus, ... 9 hours 23 minutes A.M. Placis. Atlantic, Lat. 38° N., Long. 11°47'W. Colares, Portugal, Lisbon, . . • Oporto, . . Cadiz, . Madrid, . Gibraltar, . Funchal, . Portsmouth, Havre,Reading, . Yarmouth, Eyam, Derbyshire, . Durham, . . liocli Ness, The Hague, Amster dam, Leyden, etc. B 6 3 . « O 0* j Hamburg, H. M. 9 24 9 30 9 32 9 38 9 49 9 43 9 55 10 1 10 3 10 23 10 27 about 10 43 about 10 30 about 9 68 10 42 about 10 6 about 11 43 35 105 105 175 350 420 420 595 875905 940 10501085 1190 1260 11901400 ef 13 Phenomena. 7 15 26 20 32 38 40 60 64 80 67 85 79 43 140 Violent shock felt in a ship— others followed till 11 h. 34 m. Four shocks felt ; cliffs were split ; rents made in the ground ; smoke and light flames observed. Three shocks in quick succession ; three re fluxes and fluxes of the sea ; palace and public buildings fell with the flrst shock ; king and 1 royal family at Belem ; whole time of the three shocks stated at from five to seven [minutes ; estimated loss of life, 50,000 persons. Three shocks ; earth heaved in the streets ; walls split ; no buildings destroyed ; river rose and fell. City violently shaken ; at 11 the sea rose in six successive waves, at intervals of from 20 to 40 minutes ; destroyed part of the ramparts. Several shocks ; buildings shaken ; no dam age ; motion of the ground only perceived by persons stationary. Tremulous and undulating motion of the earth noticed ; lasted about two minutes ; sea rose every quarter of an hour till 2 p.m. Shocks felt as if coming from the eastward ; sea retired ; afterwards broke on the shore. Ships in dock pitched ; dock -gates opened and closed ; ships in the basin rolled violently. Sea oscillated from N. to S. ; vessels tossed about. Earth trembled violently; water in ponds J oscillated from side to side, roue in the middle, "j and appeared as if in ebullition ; vine torn [ from tbe side of a house ; noise heard. Water in the haven agitated ; ships rolled. Five shocks at intervals of four or five se conds ; felt moi5t in the lead mines ; rocks ground one against the other ; pieces fell ; chasm opened 150 yanls wide ; plaster of room cracked ; person raised in his chair. Water in a pond observed to oscillate several times. At west end of the Lake a wave ran np the j River Oich, and overflowed tlie north bank 30 feet ; a sirailar wave, but smaller followed. Loch Lomond rose in two waves five seconds apart. A stone lying in shallow water was forced ashore. Loch Katrine and others were . agitated. Weather very calm ; sea violently disturbed in the harbours ; ships broke from their moor ings. The water rose in the canals at Leyden ; liquid thrown out of vats in the breweries at Haarlem. Candelabras swung to and fro in the churches at Rotterdam. Water in the cnnals agitated ; mud thrown up from the bottom ; candelabras oscillated. DISTURBING FORCES — VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 213 The water in ponds was very sensibly disturbed near Godalming in Surrey, at Cranbrook in Kent and the neighbourhood, at Eochford in Essex, and in the raoat of Sherbumo Castle in Oxfordshire. The strong recession and sudden return of the soa was particu larly noticed at Creston-Ferry, Devon ; Mount's Bay, Cornwall ; Swansea, Wales ; Kin- sale, Ireland ; and at Barbadoes and Antigua, in the West Indies. Various springs were reraarkably affected. The temperature of the Source de la Eoino, at Bagnferes do Luchon, in the Pyrenees, was highly raised. Warm saUne springs at Moutier ceased to flow for forty-eight hours, but were afterwards more copiously renewed. The hot springs at Bristol were discoloured, and thoso at Tbeplitz became turbid, then ceased, and subse quently discharged an increased volume of water. Mountains of raica-slate in the Haut VaJais were rent, and threw out hot water. The lakes of Geneva and Brienz three times rose in waves towards their shores, and receded. Tho vain speculations rife concerning the cause of these phenomena were at once dissipated by tidings of the coincident natural convulsion. Though subterranean sounds are not invariably heard in connection with earthquakes, they usually form part of the phenomena attending the crisis, and sometimes antedate it by a few minutes or seconds. They vary greatly in tone, and are not always in accord ance with the character of tho event, for a slight tremor of tho ground has sometimes been accompanied with a clamour far exceeding that of tho disruptive death-dealing blow. The sounds may be grouped in two general classes. The one is a rushing or whizzing noise, as if occasioned by a strong wind, or the rapid flow of distant waters, or the con flagration of a large extent of heather. The other has an explosive note, and, according to its intensity, is variously compared to the rumble and rattle of carriages, the clank of iron chains violently shaken in caverns, the blast of a quarry, the discharge of firearms and parks of artillery, and tho loudest thunder of tropical storms. The great shock at Comrie, on the night of October 23, 1841, according to the report of the parish rainister, was accompanied ' with a noise, in nature and intensity indescribably terrific — that of water, wind, thunder, discharge of cannon, and the blasting of rocks, appeared combined. Giving a short waming by a distant murmur, it gradually increased in intensity for some seconds, when at length, becoming louder than thunder, and somewhat similar to tho rush of the hurricane, it suddenly changed, and a noise, resembling that of a blasting rock, thrice repeated, foUowed, which again died away like distant thunder.' These notes of explosion have occasionaUy been heard over a vast extent of country, Avhere no shock whatever has been perceived, and at tho same instant as at tho sites of catastrophe. In such cases, it is clear that the sound could not have been propagated by the air, since a proportionate time is required for its transmission by that medium to distant places. Neither could the sonorous waves have been Conducted by the surface of the earth, for, though solid bodies are much better conductors of sound than the air, yet time is still demanded for the transport. Hence the sounds must have originated at such an iramense depth below the surface as to be nearly equi-distant from all the places where they were heard. It is very remarkable that no subterranean sound whatever accompanied the dreadful overthrow of Eiobamba ; and equally singular, that at Guanaxualo, in Mexico, in 1784, subterraneous beUowings and thunderings, hramidos y trnenos subterraneo.i, were hoard through upwards of a month, which caused the inhabitants to leave the town, yet not the slightest movement of the ground was perceived. No indication is supplied by inanimate nature of the approach of an earthquake, even one of the most destractive kind, to put man upon his guard, and enable him to consult the means of safety. It is true that where there are active volcanoes, and they cease to smoke as usual, a convulsion in the neighbourhood becomes highly probable. But the 214 DISTURBING FORCES VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. day and hour of its occurrence is a profound secret; and the event is often warded off 'by the craters resuming their activity. Down to almost the latest moment prior to the terrific disturbance, which will slay its thousands, convert their houses into sepulchres, and demolish the marts of commerce, the halls of justice, and the temples of religion, both heaven and earth appear as on days destined to pass peacefully away. It was on AU Saints' Day, which broke with a serene sky and a fine easterly breeze, when the churches were thronged with congregations, that Lisbon was smitten to the dust. On the afternoon of a similar festival, beneath a calm and cloudless sky, Caraccas perished, while the moon hung her brilliant lamp over the ruined city at eventide, and the night of the torrid zone set in with peculiar loveliness. If long calms, oppressive heats, and prevalent fogs have been the observed antecedents of many catastrophes, it is certain that the events are merely coincident, and not physically connected, since such states of the atmosphere often occur, and in a more marked raanner, without being foUowed by terrible phenomena, while earthquakes have as frequently transpired during gales of wind, under the brightest skies, and when heavy rains have been pouring down. ITie impression therefore made upon the mind is that of horrible surprise, for aU plans, engagements; journeys, and amusements are based upon the presumption of the soU keeping steadily in its place, whether pUed in hiUs, scooped into vaUeys, or spread out in plains ; and of the seas, the rivers, aud the atmosphere being the only unstable elements around us. But these customary modes of thinking and acting are instantly shown to be delusive when the ground heaves, waves, and eddies, completely bewUdering the senses by the strange awfulness of the scene. As the crisis approaches, brute sagacity seems to be superior to human inteUigence, for many of the lower animals renounce their customary habits for the time, and display unmistakable ai^prehensions of some alarming though unknown incident at hand. Lizards, snakes, moles, rats, and mice leave the holes and cavities in the ground in which they shelter, and move about with evident trepidation. Some of the higher species also, especiaUy goats, hogs, cats, and dogs, with horses aud cattle, exhibit remarkable restless ness. Previous to the earthquake of 1805, experienced at Naples, but most severely felt in the provinces, the oxen and cows began to low ; the sheep and goats bleated strangely; the dogs howled ; and the horses, fastened in their stalls, leaped up, endeavouring to break the halters. Moles and rabbits were seen to leave their burrows ; reptiles crept frora their retreats ; and birds rose as if scared from the places on which they had alighted. It was towards noon, beneath a clear and almost cloudless sky, that the cities of Concep tion and Talcahuano were desolated in 1835. Two hours before the calamity, the inhabi tants remarked with surprise, as altogether unusual, large flights of sea-fowl passing from the coast towards the interior ; and the dogs at Talcahuano abandoned the town before the destructiom camo. Not an animal of the kind, it is believed, was in the place when it arrived. These circumstances admit of an easy and natural explanation, for, prior to actual disturbance, noxious gases and other exhalations, invisible to the eye, are emitted from below through crannies and pores of the surfiice, which may distress and alarm animals gifted with acute organs of smell. The old chroniclers supply notices of earthquakes in England, which, though meagre, and of no scientific value, are occasionally piquant, and Ultimate the severity of the visitation. Thus the Saxon Chronicle states, under tho year 1089, thero was 'a mickle earth-stirring over all England,' and the annalist records that the harvest was especially backward. In 1110, says Florence of Worcester, 'thero wsis a very great earthquake at Shrewsbury. Tho river Trent was dried up at Nottingham from morning to the third hour of the day ' so that mon walked dryshod through its channel.' Holinshed relates, that on the DISTURBING FORCES — VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. 2 15 Monday in the week before Easter, in 1185, ' there chanced a sore earthquake through aU the parts of this land, such a one as tho like had not been heard of in England since tho beginning of the world, for stones that lay fast couched in the earth were removed out of their places, houses were overthrown, and the great church of Lincoln was rent from the top downwards.' Matthew Paris raentions a shock on St Valentine's Eve, in 1247, which was especially violent on the banks of the Thames, and did considerable damage in the metropoUs. This was accompanied by an extraordinary calra along the coast which con tinued for three months, as if the sea had ceased to ebb and flow, or at least the flow was not perceptible. Matthew of Westminster records a general earthquake on the 12th of September 1275, ' by the violence of which the church of St Michael on the HiU, outside of Glastonbury, feU down leveUed with the soil' Many other churches suffbred in a less degree. The metrical annalist, John Harding, writes in his chronicle for 1382, ' The earthquake was, that time I saw, That castles, walls, towers, and steeples fyll, Houses, and trees, and crags from the hiXL' This was followed three days afterwards by what is styled a ' watershake,' when the ships in the harbours were driven against each other with great violence, and in some instances stranded. In a chronological account of shocks occurring in Great Britain, carefuUy compiled by Mr MUne, those aro included which have been mentioned with more or less clearness by respectable authorities, from the beginning of the seventeenth century to the autumn of the year 1839. The register commences with one felt generally iu Scotland in 1608, which the Aberdeen people interpreted as a rebuke for aUowing salmon-fishing on Sundays in the river Dee. During the interval named, 116 shocks were experienced in England and Wales, 139 in Scotland, making a total of 255. They may be arranged in two classes, general and local The general shocks, or those experienced through a wide area of the kingdom, are of rare occurrence. They are mostly, if not exclusively, of foreign origin, and roach us as mere vibrations propagated mechanicaUy along the earth's surface, from some focus of dis turbance in a distant region. The local shocks, or those which affect only smaU sections of the country, and are sometimes restricted to very limited areas of counties, comprehend the great majority of British earthquakes, and may be regarded as truly indigenous, or of home origin. . Instead of being transmitted from foreign regions of disturbance, they appear to originate in, or-^emanate from, points immediately beneath the surface of our islands, at an unknown depth. This conclusion, besides being inferred from the scant limits of the areas affected, is sanctioned by the consideration, that in the districts dis turbed, thore is usuaUy some spot where the concussion is greater than anywhere, else. Out of the 116 shocks recorded as having been observed in England, 31 were confined to the south coast, 14 to the borders of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, 5 or 6 to Cumberland, and 31 occurred in Wales. In Scotland, out of 139 shocks, 23 emanated from the Great Glen, or its vicinity, and no less than 85 from Comrie or its neighbourhood. The re markable number returned in connection with this Perthshire viUago is a very ^irf# attested fact. Mr GUfiUan, the intelligent parish minist^, who resided there upwards of thirty years, was in the habit of noting in a private journal, not' only the dates of any shocks which occurred, but also any striking effects or sounds which accompanied them. So weU was this practice known that ho acquired the popular title of ' Secretary to the / Earthquakes.' But shocks have been stUl more frequent since the date- of the register referred to, somo of which have also been remarkable for their violence. The exhibitions of subterranean action with such extraonliiiary frequency in this othervidse obscure locality, 216 DISTURBING FORCES — VOLCANOES AND EARTHQUAKES. has attracted great attention to it. Comrie lies in a kind of basin, being almost completely surrounded by hills. Among those on the north, forming part of the base of the Grampians, lies a small lake in the centre of a circular glen ; and at or very near this spot repeated observations have placed the seat or focus of disturbance. Upon referring to tho dates of shocks recorded in his catalogue, Mr. Milne found that they were raore numerous, and also more severe, in certain months of the year than in others. Thus the 116 English and the 139 Scottish earthquakes occurred as foUows:— England. Scotland. Total. England. Scotland. Total. ' 74 in three Winter , ' / ' „'',„( 44 in three Spring Months. August,. . 9. . .12^ Months. ^ September, 15 . . 12 .» January, . . 11 . . February, . 13 . . . March, . . . 10 . . April, . 10 . . . May, . . . 4 . . June, . . . 9 . . . h r„ . , „ October, . 11 . . . 14-v „„ . , , r 58 m Ihree Summer xr u m anf 79 m three Autumn 'r Months. November, 12 . . 20^ jj^^^j,^_ 1 ' December, 7 . . . I5J 4 ' December, 116 139 The above record shows, that out of a total number of 235 shocks, there occurred in the winter half-year, from October to March inclusive, 153 ; and in the summer half-year, from April to September inclusive, 102. This numerical preponderance of British earthquakes during the winter months, is in harmony with the returns made by continental authorities respecting those of foreign countries. It is a well-established result of horae and foreign observation, that earthquakes are pre ceded and accompanied by barometrical depression, indicating the diminished pressure of the atmosphere. Hence the occuirence of the greater number in the winter months, when the average height of the barometer is always the lowest, and is also subject to greater fluctuation than in the opposite season of the year. It may, therefore, be considered as highly probable, that while the causes of earthquakes are stiU shrouded in mystery, they are intimately con nected in their occurrence with atmospheric vicissitudes. When the barometer is at 31 inches the atmosphere presses on the surface of Great Britain with a weight equal to 291,793,239,406 tons. When it sinks to 27 inches, there is a diminution of weight on the same area equal to 37,648,938,386 tons, being about 427,231 tons to the square mUe. Hence it may weU be the case, that when the subterranean forces have acquired such strength as nearly to rupture the confining strata, any considerable diminution in the pressure of the atmosphere may bring on the crisis of actual disengagement. The General Catalogue of Earthquakes, compiled for the British Association by Mr. Mallet, extends over a period of 3456 years, a wonderful monument of research. It furnishes evidence in support of the opinion of the compiler, that the interval from the 60th to the 80th year of a century is always the epoch of the greatest subterranean activity. Without accepting these limits as precisely determined, it is certain that there are cycles embracing a series of years when the forces in the interior of the earth acquire more than usual intensity, and display their power by producing volcanic eruptions and destructive earthquakes in regions widely remote from each other. These cycles comprise a greater or less number of the middle years of a century. It remains for future seismologists to note the course of events, and accumulate further evidence on the matter. But the hand of nature is never really at rest. It is constantly in action, arranging and remodelling the constituents of the terrestriid system, thereby sustaining it in a condition to accommodate the living races on its surface, now acting by slow and noiseless processes in effecting this object, and now by sudden and violent catastrophes. Scene on the St Francis, Lower Canada. CHAPTEE IV. THE INLAND WATERS —THE OCEAN. |) ATEE, essential to the life of organised bemgs, tlie fertility of tho soil, and innumerable social comforts, is not more im portant than abundant in the economy of nature, while a highly ornamental feature of the surface. It chemicaUy con sists of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen, combined in very un equal proportions ; and is found in each of the three forms which bodies are capable of assiuning, vaporous in the atmosphere, solid in ice and snow, Uquid in springs, rivers, lakes, and seas. But water never meets us in nature in a state of perfect purity. ' It is variously impregnated witli ingredients derived from the atmosphere, from the earths in contact with it, or from decomposed and Hving animal and vegetable substances. Rain-water, especially after continued wet weather, is the purest kind that can be collected without having recourse to distiUation. But this always contains a porition of atmospheric air, with a trace of ammonia, and minute quantities of iron, nickel, and manganese, have been detected. Spring- water, being derived from the rains and melted snows, contains the same ingredients, with foreig^ matters depending upon the composition of the rocks and soils through which it percolates. The most abundant springs are commonly the purest, along with those which occur in primitive regions, filtering through granite, sUiceous, and other rocks of the more insoluble kind. River-water has its general character determined by the soil of its basui. 2 E 218 INLAND WATERS THE OCEAN. Lake-water corresponds to that of the rivers which form it, except in the lakes without an outlet, which are commonly saline or brackish. Marsh-water abounds with impregna tions from animal and vegetable decomposition, members of both classes of the lowest grade flourishing in such sites. Sea-water is universally salt. Tho fresh-water formations, or those which contain no amount of foreign ingredients appreciable to the taste, and un fitting them for domestic use, include all tho rivers, and by far the greater number of springs, lakes, and marshes. But their total extent is utterly insignificant when compared with the whole fluid surface of the earth. I. SPRINGS. TTie rains which descend from the clouds upon the land, with the melted snows, are partly drained from the surface by riUs and brooks, which contribute to form the rivers discharging finally their contents into the sea. But only a very smaU proportion of the moisture precipitated is disposed of in this manner. By far the larger portion is returned again to the atmosphere by evaporation, or is devoted to the purposes of animal and vegetable life, or is received into the soil by minute absorption, percolating also througii cracks and fissures of the surface. Arenaceous and cretaceous strata, with aU loose sods and gravels, greedUy absorb water, while argillaceous deposits and compact rocks are barriers to its passage. Hence, on meeting with clays and other impervious beds, the moisture is arrested in its downward course, and there is a resulting over-accumulation in the Buperinoumbent water-bearing stratum. This is forced by hydrostatic pressure to find its way again to the surface, wherever thero is an outlet ; and it oozes from chinks and crevices on the sides of vaUeys and hUls, occasioning the phenomena of natural springs. In level tracts of country where springs of water literally rise, or reach the surface by ascension, the supply is derived frora distant elevated grounds, having traveUed lateraUy to the point of discharge through intermediate pervious strata. Artificial springs, caUed Artesian WeUs, from the province of Artois in France, the ancient Artesium, where they have boon long in use, aro constructed upon the pruiciple involved in the natural It has been applied with remarkable success by the French Algerian govemment to various parts of the Sahara, where districts, formerly dry, arid, and uninhabited, have been supplied with water by means of perpendicular borings, and now possess their date-palms, cultivated grounds, and Arab settlements. One of the most celebrated artesian wells is that of Grenelle, in the outskirts of Paris, where the water is brought from the depth of 1798 feet, and is raised with such force by hydrostatic pressure, as to be projected to the height of thirty-two foot above the surface. But such borings may be altogether unsuccessful, either because no water-bearing stratum is reached, or because its upturned edges do not rise sufficiently high above tho point where the weUs are sunk. Many springs are inconstant in their discharge, flowing copiously, then feebly, or altogether failing for a time. These depend entirely for their supply upon the showers that fall upon a limited area of tho surface, and are hence affected in this manner by the prevailing character of the season, whether rainy or dry. Other springs are perennial or constant, and pour fourth large volunios of water which show little or no diminution from tho longest drought. These are obviously quite independent of the last showers that fall, receiving their supplies from vast subterranean reservoirs of water, formed by the rains and snows collected in interior cavities from extensive areas of tho surface, and are not exhausted before they are replenished. St Winifred's Well, in Flintshire, tho most copious spring in England, is estimated to discharge at the mean rate of about 4400 gallons per minute. It bursts forth with almost the force of a considerable river , through a fault in tlio coal measures, and is used to put in motion the machinery of eleven mUls on its SPRINGS. 219 passage to the sea, a distance of little more than a mile. It has never been known to fail, and is but slightly affected either by prolonged dry weather or excessive rains. Petrarch's Fountain, at Vaucluse, near Avignon, in the south of France, is a spring of dark blue water so abundant as to form at once the river Sorgue, capable at its source of moving machinery, and almost immediately navigable for boats. In some cases springs participate in the ebb and flow of the tide, as at Richmond, where they rise from the arenaceous strata on the banks of the Thames. In other instances, they are subject to intermittances at irregular intervals, apparently caused by the water collected in interior cavities discharging by a siphon-shaped channel, and varying in its level. To this class belongs the celebrated Pool of SUoam at Jerusalem. The fact of its ebb and flow was noticed in the fourth century ; and after being generally doubted in modern times, except by the native Jews, it was satisfactorily substantiated by Dr Robertson in 1838. Owing to the extremely solvent power of water, it becomes more or less charged with the materials in contact with it whUe percolating through the earth. Hence in the springs of limestone districts, the calcareous soU, or lime, combined with carbonic acid, is abun dantly held in solution ; and is frequently deposited in their basins and on their margins, or in the beds of the rUls flowing from them, and upon the objects inteutionaUy exposed to their influence. These are tho petrifying wells and waters of popular speech, so caUed from their supposed power of turning into stone whatever substances may be subject to their action. But incrustations are not petrifactions. The leaves, twigs, and branches of trees submitted to experiment, are simply invested with a calcareous coating or crust, sometimes porous and friable, but often crystalline and compact. They are not permeated by the stony matter, but inclosed ; and are either found upon the outer mass being re moved, or the cavities remain which have been left by their decay. Thermal springs at Matlock, in Derbyshire, deposit lime so abundantly as to form thick beds of rock suffi ciently firm in texture to be applied to buUding purposes. The Dropping WeU, at Knaresborough, in Yorkshire, which trickles from its source over the surface of a rock, and faUs fr'om its edge in a number of tiny streamlets, with a pleasant tinkling sound, is highly charged with a gritty or sparry matter, and incrusts with it the grass, leaves, and shrubs, in contact with the water. Hot wells in the Azores, and the Geysers of Iceland, are surrounded with basins formed of siliceous sinter, which has boon derived from their waters. Many springs hold in solution so large a quantity of iron, that their basins, with the channels of the rUls flowing from them, are encased with a ferruginous deposit, while the mosses and grasses in contact with them are deprived of their natural green by a yeUow incrustation. In all cases where the foreign ingredients have medicinal properties, the springs are known as Mineral Waters ; and are variously saline, acidulous, chalybeate, and sulphurous, according to the nature of the substances in alliance with them. They annually attract thousands of visitors to them in search of health, and have caused naturally rugged and desolate sites to be crowded with fashionable buUdings, while many, from the romantic beauty of the scenery around them, are inviting to those who merely require the refreshment of change of place. The mean temperature of the springs which are exclusively associated with surface- deposits, corresponds to that of the locality where they are found. But those which rise from considerable depths have a higher average temperature than that of the atmosphere at the place. This is owing to the internal heat of the earth gradually increasing with the depth below the superficial zone to which climate extends its infiuence. Hence the warm springs which occur in many countries indicate the general depth of the beds from which the water is derived, except in active volcanic districts, where fierce ignition is near the- surface, while often visible above it, and hot or boiling springs are common. Tho 220 INLAND WATERS THE OCEAN. warm springs have generally a decidedly mineralised character, but even where this is feeble or wanting, they are classed with the mineral waters, because of their sanatory value. The hottest springs in Great Britain are at Bath in Somersetshire. Their tem perature varies from 117° to 120°, which is from 69° to 72° above the mean for the neighbourhood. This temperature is far below that of many other hot springs, but may be considered exceptionaUy high, when due aUowance is made for the distance of the place from the nearest region of active or recently extinct volcanoes. The Bath waters evolve a large per centage of nitrogen, with minute proportions of oxygen and carbonic acid gas. They contain the sulphates of lime and of soda, with the chlorides of sodium and magnesium. Professor Ramsay has calculated that if the mineral ingredients were solidified, they would form in one year a square column 9 feet in diameter, and no less than 140 feet high. No thermal waters occur in Scotland, nor are they known in England north of Buxton in the High Peak of Derbyshire. The warm springs of the Alps range in temperature from 86° at Naters to 126° at Leuk, whUe the Urspmng at Baden has a temperature of 153|°. Where there are active volcanoes, the range of temperature in the springs varies from a moderate warmth to the heat of scalding water. Messrs Bunsen and Descloiseaux, in 1846, found the water of the Great Geyser, in Iceland, at the depth of 72 feet in the funnel, nearly 30° above the boUing point. The North Island of New Zealand, in its volcanic district, is very reraarkable for its boUing ponds of large dimen sions and scalding springs, sending up clouds of steam, which raay be seen at the distance of many miles, and appear like jets from a number of steam engines. The varying chemical deposits in the basins produce the most beautiful effects, giving to the water in some of them an emerald green colour, in others, close at hand, that of a brUliant turquoise, a cobalt blue, or a delicate pink, aU perfectly clear and transpareni By the brink of the basins aro rare and elegant ferns, which, with the other plants, are simUarly variegated by deposition from the steamy atmosphere. Along whole tracts of ground, the passenger may hoar the water furiously boUing beneath the crust upon which he is treading, render ing the position a perUous one. It is on record that the natives who have formed vUlages- in the district, for the sake of cooking at the springs, and the agreeable warmth day and night, have sometimes met with fatal accidents from the crust giving way and precipitating them into the boiling caldrons. It was believed by the old Egyptians and Greeks, that the Fountain of the Sun, Fons Solis, hard by the temple of Jupiter Ammon, in the Lybian Desert, experienced diurnaUy a change of temperature, being oool by day and warm by night Lucretius, the Eoman poet, refers to the notion to discredit it : • A fount, 'tis rumour'd, near the temple purls Of Jove Ammonian, tepid through the night, And cold at noonday ; and th' astonish'd s>ge Stares at tlie fa,ct, and deems the punctual sun Strides through the world's vast centre, as the sliades Of midnight shroud us ; and with gay reverse Maddens the well-spring : creed absurd and false,' Ovid also has tho passage : ' Thy stream, O horn-orown'd Ammon ! iu tb« midst. Chills us at noon, but warms at morn and eve.' Herodotus relates further, that whUe the natives used the water to fertUise their gardens, thoy only did so at mid-day, the time of its greatest coolness. This celebrated fountain is a remarkably deep and clear pool of tepid water, of a slightly bitter taste, inclosed in ancient tiraes with masonry, fragnionts of which stiU remain. Modern visitors dusji-ibe RIVEBa 221 the surface as constantly covered with bubbles, which rise from the bottom, and give to the pool the appearance of being continuously in a state of effervescence. But the reputed ehange of temperature assigned to it is of course apparent only, arisuig from the strongly- contrasted temperature of the external air in a tropical climate at noon and at night. Under the burning heat of the mid-day sun, the water will feel cool to the fevered hand, and seem wami at night, when the atmosphere is chilled. But though divested of a supposed mysterious property, the spring is an object of singular beauty, and of no little interest, when we reflect that thousands of years ago, princes and sages stood by its margin, gazing with wonder and veneration upon the surface. The transparent water bubbles as freely as ever, and reflects as brightly the splendour of the heavens, while time has impressed its changes upon everything huraan once associated with it. Shattered and mass-grown masonry peeps out at the brink frora a growth of reeds and rushes inter twined with creeping plants ; surrounding palms open between them long, majestic, and shady vistas, like the solemn aisles of a great cathedral ; while a rUl emerges frora the spring, and runs rippling towards the mouldering temple of the unshrined, dethroned, and nearly-forgotten mythological divinity. Though subject to disturbance in their flow by earthquake shocks, whUe transiently affected in temperature and colour by the same cause, yet springs are remarkably stable objects, both in their chemical and thermal properties, as weU as geographical position. Whether bursting from rocky clefts, oozing from mossy banks, or rising through desert sands, they are known in many cases to represent conditions of the surface which existed in old historic times. The Romans discovered several of the more important of the mineral waters now in use, as those of Aix-la-Chapelle, Baden-Baden, Spa in Belgium, and Bath in our own country. The latter place was then a large morass, with clouds of white vapour rising into the air from ihe springs, which received from them the name of Aquce Solis. On taking possession of the neighbourhood, they erected baths and temples in a highly-ornamental style of architecture, remains of which have been found. The -ancient Greeks were weU aware of the curative value of mineral springs, and usually reared temples to ./Esculapius in close pi-oximity to them. The warm baths of CaUirhoe, near the Dead Sea, are mentioned by the Jewish historian, Josephus, as having been visited by Herod in his sickness ; and the sulphurous thermal springs of Tiberias, on the shore of the lake of that name, were then repaired to, as now, by patients from all parts of Syria, The EUm of the Exodus of Israel, with its twelve wells and seventy palms, is very probably represented by the Wady Gharendel of the present day, with its springs, tamarisks, acacias, and date-trees. II. EIVERS. Every copious faH of rain produces a transient flow of water upon the surface of the land, owing to its natural tendency, as of aU other bodies, to descend to the lowest accessible level, in obedience to the law of gravitation. But permanent currents, though primarUy due to atmospheric precipitation, are either directly referrible to springs^ op issue from lakes, or are produced by the melting of mountain snows aad glaciers. The rill, the rivulet, and the river are three forms of flowing water whieh differ mainly in magni tude and utUity, Issuing commonly from some spring, the rill becomes a rivulet by uniting' with kindred currents simUarly formed. A number of rivulets contribute by their junction to form a subordinate river ; and! by the aggregation of such rivers in a coraraon channel, or grand trunk, a principal river is produced, whieh reaches its lowest level in ocean, sea, or lake, as the case may be. The main watercourse, with all the minor ones, to the remotest and smallest riU and spring, constitutes a river-system ; and 222 INLAND WATERS THE OCEAN, the whole country from which supplies are received is called its hasin, or drainage area, or hydrographical region. In like manner, each of the tributary strearas has its own area of drainage, forming a sub-basin. An imaginary line joining the sources of all the tributaries, or the points where the waters begin to flow to a common bed, defines the liraits of the major and minor basins. The country which separates one basin from another is called the water-parting, the drainage from thence being conducted in different directions ; and the general slope of the land on either side is termed the water-shed, of which the ridge and slope of a house-roof affords a rough iUustration. The smallest river-basins are in Europe ; the largest in America. They vary in extent from 5160 square miles in the instance of the Thames, to 2,275,000 in the case of the Amazon. The water-partings of the great rivers frequently consist of high mountain ranges, as the main chain of the Alps, with its subordinate ridges, from which the drainage is conducted iu four diff'erent directions, by the Ehine to tho North Sea, by the Danube to the Black Sea, by the Rhone to the Mediterranean, and by the Po to the Adriatic. But very commonly a series of low hills, or a much slighter convexity of the surface forms tho Une of separation. This is the case iu the gently-undulating plain of Eastern Europe, the drainage of which passes by the Niemen and Vistula to the Baltic, by the Volga to the Caspian, by the Don, Dnieper, and Dnoister to the Black Sea. In countries where the water-partings aro low, they offer facilities for the construction of canals, and thereby distinct river-systems are artificially connected ; or, as in Canada, barges are carried across the intervening spaces at the points most favourable for the transport, called 'portages. But there are exaraples of river-basins so running into each other as for water communi cation to exist naturally between two primary streams. Thus the Orinoco, in the plain of Esmeralda, there flowing west, sends off a branch to the south, the Cassiquiare, which joins the Rio Negro, one of the principal afduents of the Amazon. Rivers in general foUow a very winding course, owing to the mobUity of water, and the obstacles offered to its flow by irregularities of the surface. In many cases the path actually pursued is more than double the distance in a direct line frora source to mouth. The Mississippi is specially remarkable for the number of its ' bends,' or curvings, which have in many instances a precision suggestive of having been struck by the sweep of a compass. After a curvelinear flow of from twenty to thirty miles, the river returns to within a mile or two of its channel. These bends are so regular, that the flatboat-men estimate their progress by the number they have passed. But by opening narrow chan nels, or ' cut-offs,' through the isthmuses formed by the bends, the necessity of foUowing the circuitous route of the stream is occasionally obviated. The Volga has a total length of 2200 railes, foUowing the line of the channel, while the direct distance is not more than 900 mUes between its source on tho slope of the Valdai plateau to its termination in the Caspian, The Forth flows so tortuously through the low aUuvial plain between Stirling and Alloa as to describe a course of twelve miles, where a straight lino wiU scarcely measure half the distance. The windings of the stream form the long, narrow peninsulas, celebrated for their fertility, popularly known as the ' bonny Links of Forth.' The meandering course of rivers is of high utility, though it adds to the time required for their navigation, for thereby the moans of irrigation are afforded to a larger area of tho land, tho facilities for intercommunication are more widely extended, and that velocity of the current is prevented which would convert gently-flowing streams into impracticable torrents. If a river received no obstruction frora its banks, owing to its flow in a per fectly straight channel, with only a very slight inclination, the molecules of water would soon acquire such a momentum under the accelerating force of gravity, as to render the stream quite unserviceable for any navigable purpose. It has been calculated, in the RIVERS, 223 circumstances supposed, that the Thames would rush by London at the rate of fifty miles an hour, while other rivers would travel with much greater volocitj', owing to their longer course, larger volume of water, and greater fall. The fall ofa river, or the amount of its descent from the source to the termination, is a very varying element, regulated by geological conditions of the country in whicii it rises, or to which its course belongs. Tho Volga, issuing from a small lake on the slope of one of the low Valdai hills, and traversing the plain of Russia, has probably the least fall of any of the great rivei-s, amounting to only 633 feet, while the Ganges, starting on its course from a bed of snow high up the Himalaya Mountains, has a total fall of 13,800 feet. The Shannon, confined to tho central plain of Ireland, has a descent of 345 feet, while that of the Dee, in the Scottish Highlands, amounts to 4060 feet. The latter river has its source at a higher point than any other in the United Kingdom, Five springs, called the Wells of Dee, near the summit of Mount Braeriach, one of the Grampians, form the infant stream, the largest of which has been found running under an arch of snow in the hottest month of the year. But the faU of rivers is not an equably distributed element. By far the greater part of it is generally accoraplished in the early portion of their course, where they are wUd mountain torrents, rushing through ravines, and tumbling over pre cipices. Thus the Dee, with an entire length of about ninety miles, descends 2870 feet in the first fifteen miles of its passage to the sea. The Ehine has a descent of 7650 feet from its source on the north slope of the Alps to its termination on the shores of HoUand, But the river accomplishes 6850 feet of its entire fall before its emergence from the mountain region of Switzerland at Basle, and has only a descent of 800 feet through the remaining longer portion of its course. Near their sources, where the beds of rivers are in general highly inclined, rapid and powerful currents are formed, which aro continued long after the channels have lost any marked degree of inclination by the simple pressure of the molecules of water upon each other. Hence many rivers flow with great velocity through comparatively level districts, more especiaUy where the volume of water is large and the depth great. Thus the Amazon, through the last 700 mUes of its course, does not faU more than tho fraction of an inch per mUe, yet so powerful is the current that its fresh water is distinguishable far out in the ocean, and the collision of the stream with tho tide of tho Atlantic is the occa sion of violent disturbance. But rivers do not flow with uniform velocity in all parts of their volume, owing to the retarding agencies which certain portions of the water encounter, and others escape, as the abrupt bends and sharp turnings of the channel, the jutting out of masses of rock, and the friction of the aqueous particles against the sides and the bottom. The velocity is greater at the surfe.ce than at the bottom, aud in the centre than near the banks. According to Sir Charles LyeQ, a velocity of 40 feet per minute wUl sweep along coarse sand ; one of 60 feet, fine gravel ; one of 120 feet, rounded pebbles ; and ono of 180 feet, or little more than two mUes an hour, angular stones of the size of an egg. The average rapidity of the Rhine, Ganges, and Nile, in the middle part of their course, is frora three to four miles an hour; but this is exceeded by tho Rhone, probably the raost rapid river in the world, with the exception of more mountain streams. Some of the commerciaUy important rivers, after being navigable near their source, and continuing so through a considerable distance, assume a strikingly altered aspect, and navigation is either impeded by the change, or rendered whoUy impracticable. The useful watercourse loses all placidity of surface, and becomes a rapid, wUdly rushing along with tori-ent-like speed and violence. This is the effect of a considerable alteration in the incUnation of the channel, and has generaUy for an attendant feature the breakage of the bed into a confused series of disjointed rocks and stones, A home example is supplied 224 INLAND WATERS — THE OCEAN, by the Shannon, which, contrary to the ordinary natural arrangement, has a much greater proportionate fall in the lower than in the upper part of its course. From source to mouth the river has an average descent of about eighteen inches per mUe. But a littlo above Limerick, at the head of the estuary, it descends for three miles at the rate of seventeen feet per mile, and the navigation is transferred to an artificiiU lateral canal. The noble stream, at this point 300 yards wide and 40 feet deep, pours its body of water between and over an aggregation of rocks in the channel, and forms the rapid of Doonas, which ranks with the grandest natural scenes in the kingdom. The Dneiper, one of tho great rivers of Russia, after a long navigable course through a marshy forest district, enters a rocky country below Kiev, where no less than thirteen rapids occur in the space of about forty mUes, simUarly caused by steep slopes and granite reefs in its bed. But these obstructions to navigation have been to some extent obviated by blasting, and bj splendid hydraulic works, under the auspices of the Russian government. Eapids arc comraon features with the rivers of North America, and lend lo them wonderful beauty, while impairing their utility. Those of the St Lawrence above Montreal, being an effec tual bar to the upward progress of vessels, are avoided by a series of fine canals. But the process of descent, caUed ' shooting the rapids,' is safely performed -with admirable dex terity by hardy boatmen in flat-bottomed craft, occasionaUy also by steamers. Owing to the commercial value of rivers, all civilized nations have deemed it economic to expend enormous sums in improving their navigation. While a steep but gradual slope in the bod of a river occasions a rapid, an abrupt descent, either perpendicular or nearly so, produces a waterfall, properly so caUed, or cataract. The two features are very comraonly combined, and most frequently mark the course of highland streams. But though mountain waterfaUs have often great height, and form highly picturesque objects, their volume of water is in most cases comparatively inconsiderable, and their aspect changes with the season of the year, from roaring torrents in winter, to thin rills trickling down the precipices in summer. It is in open and moderately level districts where waterfaUs are the least common, and their height is unimportant, that the grandest examples occur, owing to the much greater volnnie of water in the rivers, its unceasing and uniform flow, with the thundering noise of its descent at a single plunge, or by quickly-successive leaps, from a higher to a lower level The FaUs of Niagara, the most sublirae spectacle of the kind which nature supphes, derive little distinction from the height, being a single plunge of not more than 164 feet, divided into two sections by an intermediate island. But the river is three quarters of a mile wide, and is estimated to pour down unceasingly every minute not less than 18,524,000 cubic feet of water. It flows swiftly long before reaching the edge of the precipice, and forms rapids by passing over a steeply-sloping rugged Umestone bed. A cloud of spray indicates the locality of the cataract to the far away spectator, and under favourable circumstances its roar may be heard at the distance of forty miles. Scarcely less imposing, but much less known, are the FaUs of the Missouri, which depend also for their eff'ect upon the vast body of water, having only a comparatively insignificant per pendicular descent. After emerging from the bold deep chasm called the Gates of the Rocky Mountains, a ghostly gorge on the sunniest day, the river flows swiftly in the open country on its way to Fort Benton, aud accomplishes a descent of 357 feet in the space of about thirteen mUes, There are four falls, respectively of 26, 27, 19, and 87 feet, between which aro stretches of angry rapids, forming a scene of striking grandeur, destined to become a favourite place of pilgrimage with the white man, when the native Indian shall havo vanished from the western wilds. The Victoria FaUs of Livingstone, where the river Zambesi plunges into an immense chasm or crack in the basaltic rock of its bed, are RIVERS. 225 perfectly unique among the scenes of physical geography ; but pictorial illustration must be added to verbal description in order to convey a correct and vivid idea of the peculiarity, A remarkable waterfall, perhaps without an equal in respect of volume and height, was discovered by Mr Brown, in April 1870, on the course of the Potaro, an aflluont of the Essequibo, in British Guiana. The river precipitates itself over the edge of tho sandstone table-land of the interior into the lower country, in one vast column, resembling in colour and consistency the snow of an avalanche. Careful measurements subsequently made give for the height of the fall, 822 feet; the width of the river at the edge of the precipice, 123 yards; and the deptli of water near the edge, 15 feet, the level being at the time much below that of the rainy season. The waterfalls remarkable for mere height are those of the Maanelvan in Norway, 940 feet; the Staubbaoh in Switzerland, 1000 feet ; t.lif Gavarnie in the Pyrenees, 1400 feet ; and the Oreo at IMonto Eosa, 2400 feet. Mioiiehaha Falls, Minnesota, United States. Rivers are subject to great changes in their volume of water, which occur poriodicaUy or at irregular intervals, accordmg to the nature of the producing cause. The periodic variations are either diumal, semi-annual, or annual. In the upper course of streams which descend from snow mountains, the heat of the sun daUy produces high water by the melting ofthe snow ; and.the increase is of course the greatest on the hottest days. Thoso rivers also which either faU direct into the ocean, or discharge in tidal seas, have their level diurnaUy altered by the flow and ebb. But this applies oiUy to the lower part of their course, or to a certain distance from their mouths, depending upon the amount of the tidal rise, the breadth and shape of the river channels, and the force of their own currents. The broader and more direct the bod of a stream, tho further the tide will penetrate, other circumstances being equal, while a narrow and tortuous channel offers obstructions to its pro- 2 F 226 THE INLAND WATERS — THE OCEAN, gross. Tidal influence is perceptible in the Thames to the distance of nearly 70 miles from its mouth. But in the Orinoco it extends to 255 mUos, and in the Amazon to 576 miles. In some British rivers the spring tides rise remarkably high, as much as sixty feet in the Wye at Chepstow, They occasionally signalise their presence by tho phenomenon generaUy known as the ' bore,' called the ' heygre ' in tho Trent and Severn, when a hUl of water, with a white ridge of foam, rushes up the stream, and instantly alters its level, Tho sudden irruption appears to be caused by the oblique relation of the river channels to the estuaries which oppose the free influx of the tide. An accumulation of tidal water is thus produced by the arrest at the mouth, which at length acquires sufficient power to disengage itself, and effects it with great violence, tossing barges and boats about in all directions, Tho Severn has been known to rise suddenly as much as nine feet at Gloucester, The same phenomenon is observed at the mouths of the Garonne, the Ganges, the Amazon, the joint Euphrates and Tigris, and other rivers. The water of the Hooglcy frequently rises almost instantaneously five feet at Calcutta. In inter-tropical countries, and those which border on tho tropics, where two seasons divide the year, the one rainy and the other dry, the rivers are subject to a periodical rise and fall from that cause. But those which descend from high mountains are also regu larly swollen by tho melting of the snow and ice around their sources in spring and summer. Hence an annual inundation upon a grand scale is produced, when the two events are coincident ; and a semi-annual rise takes place when they occur at distinct intervals. The Euphrates rises twice in the year. The first sweU is sUght and temporary, occa sioned by the rains. They begin to faU towards the close of October, producing a per ceptible increase, which continues tiU the winter's frost binds up the feeders of the river in the Armenian Highlands, The greater and more permanent flood commences about the beginning of March, when the snows and ice are melting in the mountEuns around its sources. About the end of May the stream is at its highest level, when the lise averages from ten to twelve feet in ordinary seasons, though occasionally amounting to eighteen feet ; and the country along the banks is largely overflowed. The ruins of Babylon are then flooded; the Lemlun marshes, lower down, have the appearance of a vast soa; and the reed huts of the inhabitants, erected on isolated mounds, resemble islets in a wUderness of waters. Even these aro frequently invaded, so that it is not uncommon to see the children swing in cradles suspended from tho roofs, to escape the inundation. For upwards of a month the river continues high ; and the current is far too powerful to he tracked upwards. A daily decline is afterwards perceptible, and graduaUy increases tiU September, when the stream returns to its lowest level. The sea-like appearance presented at various points by the Euphrates in flood is an object of frequent reference in tho sacred writings. The Prophet Jeremiah thus apostrophises Babylon, ' 0 thou that dwoUost upon many waters ; ' and the complete desolation of tho city is appropriately represented by an imago taken from the inundation : — ' Tlie sea is come up upon Babylon, She is covered with the multitude of the wares thereof.' In ancient times when the country was the seat of a powerful monarchy, great attentiov was paid by the inhabitants to the protection of their lands from the iudiscriniinato invasion of tho flood waters. This was effected by artificial embankments of baked and unbaked bricks ; and by a magnificent system of canals which spread like a network over the surface, and have excited tho wonder and admiration of the world from the earliest historian to tho latest traveUer. The canals answered the double purpose of receiving tho mvuRS 227 superabundant water, and retaining it to be afterwards led off for irrigation to distiicts not naturally supplied with moisture. The Tigris, tho twin river, corresponds to tho Euphrates in its fluctuations, Tho Mi'«issippi is likewise subject to a semi-annual rise and fall. It increases about January in the lower portion of its course, as tho eff'ect of the periodic rains which fall iu that, jiait of its basin. But the spring flood, which much more notably affects the entire river, coraraencing iu March and continuing till June, is exclusively caused by the molting of the snows in the vast region where its sources lie. In the instance of the more strictly inter-tropical rivers, the rise and fall are for the most part annual ; and involve changes of enormous magnitude. The long-famed overflow of the Nile, the wonder of the ancient civUised world, only extends over about 2100 square mUes, while that of the Orinoco places 45,000 square miles of savannahs under water. The Brahmaputra covers with its flood the whole of Upper Assam to the depth of ten feet ; and the majestic Amazon con verts by far the larger portion of its 500,000 square miles of woody region into one extensive lake. The immense variation in the volume of rivers subject to these vicissitudes has in some instances been calculated, and is expressed by the annexed figures, which represent the amount of their discharge in cubic feet per second, when at the lowest and tho highest level. Minimum Discharge. Maximum Discharge. Dii-ference. Nile, at Assouan, , 24,000 362,000 338,000 Ganges, , , , 36,000 ¦ 494,000 458,000 Occasionally the great periodical floods are disastrous to life and property by irregularities as to their exact extent ; and sweep away habitations and hamlets ordinarily beyond the reach of inundation. But they are highly serviceable in bringing down fertile sUt from the highlands for deposition iii the valleys and plains, thereby maintaining thom in a condition to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, in return for industrious culti vation. The annual overflow of the Nile, observed by mankind for thousands of years has rarely varied in any marked nianner as to either time or height ; and is on account of its regularity one of the greatest marvels of physical geography, WhUe within the tropics, and in the hotter parts of the temperate zones, the great rivers periodically rise and fall, raany of the subordinate strearas oscillate between the extremes of fulness in the wet season of the year and complete exhaustion in the dry. This is the case in Spain, Italy, Greece, Syria, and Palestine, But m more temperate regions, where the rain-fall has no fixed period, and the showers usually descend with moderation, tho rivers and streams maintain greater uniformity in their volume ; and it is only at rare and whoUy uncertain intervals of excessive precipitation, and long-continued drought, that any marked alteration occurs. The extremes of redundancy in the natural water supply, and of deficiency or absolute faUure, are nowhere more frequently and strikingly exempUfied than in Australia, whore the summers are hot and dry, and after long periods of suspension the rain descends in torrents. It is common experience, travelling in the interior, to find a channel which has been recently full to the brim, reduced to a bed of parched sand or stones, without a drop of water to quench the thirst of the wayfarer, whUe many of the larger rivers, under the influence of heat and drought, cease to bo continuous, and are converted into a series of detached ponds, occupying deep lioUows in thoir beds. On the other hand, the water courses are more or less liable to floods from the prodigious quantity of rain often pre cipitated in a very brief shower. The Hawkesbury, the first river of consequence with which the colonists of New South Wales became familiar, which disembogues on the north of Sydney, is specially remarkable for its inundations. Tbey are known to have 223 INLAND WATERS — THE OCEAN. involved a rise of the stream to the enormous height of 100 feet above its usual love! ; are very uncertain in their occurrence ; an interval of eleven years having passed without one, while two have been experienced in the course of a single year. Caused by rain in the highlands, they may occur without warning, not a drop having fallen in the lowlands. The early settlers were quite unprepared for such visitations, not having been taught by experience to expect them. Their homesteads and farms were planted in situations ex posed to the full forco of the deluge ; and hence great destruction to life and property. A structural peculiarity belongs to many of the Australian rivers, of obvious utility, but of quite inexplicable origin. They have sudden depressions in their beds, or ' water-holes,' of regular shape and great depth, sharply terminating in each direction, occasionally half a milo in length, and of consi'lerablo breadth. They answer tho purjjose of reservoirs, retaining a supply of water in them for use, when other parts of the channels are waterless ; and however caused, the natural arrangement may be imitated with advantage by the inhabitants of a dry and thirsty land. A few important rivers are confined to the interior of continents, with many of minor note, never communicating with the ocean, and are hence styled continental rivers. They either discharge their waters in completely land-locked seas and lakes, or are absorbed and evaporated in sandy deserts, or are lost in swamps and mor-asses. The Volga, Ural, Terek, and Kur (ancient Cyrus) enter the Caspian Sea. The Amu-Daria and Sir-Daria (Oxus and Jaxartes) terminate their course in the Sea of Aral, The Jordan ends its rapid flow in the Dead Sea. The Yarkand, on the great central plateau of Asia, after a descending course of probably not less than 1300 miles, is dispersed, and finally disappears in the sands of the Mongolian desert. Definite information respecting this great stream is of very recent date. At the point where Mr Hayward struck it in 1868, its bed was 13,865 feet above the sea-level. A few bushes and a Uttle coaree grass grew in sheltered places, but with these exceptions, sterility and desolation reigned around. The rugged mountain slopes showed nothing but bare rock, or heaps of rocky dibi-is, and almost on all sides the view was terminated by bristling rows of snowy peaks, among the loftiest in the world, soaring to the height of 28,000 feet. The Gir, iu the south of jNIorocco, and other streams north of the Sahara, aro dissipated by evaporation and absorption in the porous desert. In the western world, the Desaguadaro is limited to the plateau of Boli via, a region above the limit of the growth of trees, but clothed with luxuriant turf. It carries off part of the waters of Lake Titicaca, and discharges theni after a course of about 200 miles in another lake which has no outlet. The Volga is the only navigable river of the continental series, and the only one with any large extent of fertUe lowland in its basin. With these exceptions, and a few other insignificant examples, aU the rivers of the globe are Oceanic, either finally communicating in a direct manner with the engirdling ocean, or finding their way to it through the medium of close semi-lacustrine seas. The volume of a river is determined by a variety of conditions, but mainly by tlie area of its basij), the rain-producing ch-;a'acter of the climate, and the altitude of the water-shed, whether connected with snow mountains or otherwise. Some principal rivers in each of tho great divisions of tho globe are defined in the aiino.\ed table. The Tharaes is m- cluded, to furnish a standard of comparison. Principal Thibut.iiub3. EUROl'B Lenpth. Mll(i3. Area of Basin. Sq. Milui. Thames, , 220 5,160 Seine, 430 30,000 , Garonne, , 350 33,000 Loire, 670 48,000 , Kennet, Woy, Lea, Darent. Aube, Manie, Eure, Oiso, Yunne. Dordogue, Aveyron, Lot, Gers. Loir, Allicr, Cher, Indre, Vienne, RIVERS. 229 Length. Areft of Rasiii. _, „, ililes. Sq. Miles. PnisciPAL Tbidotaries. lihone, , , 490 38,000 , . Arve, Sa8ne, Doubs, Itdre, Durance, Khiiie, , . 760 75,000 . . Aar, Necker, Maine, Lahn, Moselle, Po, . . . 4.i0 40,000 . . Ticino, Adda, Miiicio, Trebba. ¦Vistula, , 030 76.000 , . B'.ig, San, Dunajec, Pilza, Brahe, Elbe, . . . 600 57,800 . . Moliiau, Mulda, Saale, Havel, Dvvina, N.. . 760 144,000 , . Vytchegda, Pinega, Waga. Don, . . .1100 205,000 . . Sozna, Donetz, Khoper, Sal, Manitch, Dneiper. . 1200 200.000 , . Beresina, Pripet, Desna, Sdj. Danube, . . 1630 310,000 . . Drave, Theiss, Morava, Sereth, Priith, Volga, , , 2200 ,'520,000 . , Olia, Sura, Mologa, Tvertza, Kama. ASIA. Tigris, . . 1140-1 230 000 ' • f Greater Zab, Lesser Zab, Diyalah. Euphrates, , 1780 i ' , . | Kara Su, Belik, Kbabour, Indus, . . 1700 400,0no . . Cabul, Punjnud. Ganges, . . 1491 420,000 . Jumna, Ghogra, Sone, Gunduk, Coosy, Brahmaputru, , 1300 350,000 . Sanpoo, KirtyiiaFsa. Yaiig-tse-kiang, 3200 760,000 . . Ya-loong, Win, Kia-ling, Han.kiaiig. Iloang.ho, . . 2600 400,000 . . Weiho, Kiago. Amour, , . 2300 900,000 . . Songari, Usuri, Kherlon, Tchikiri, Lena, . . . 24U0 960.000 , . Aldan, Vitim, Olekma, Vilni. Yenisei, . . 2900 1,110,000 . . Angara, Lower Tunguska, Turoukchau. Obi, . . . 2500 ^ 1,250,000 . . Irtish, Tobol, Tom, Tuhulini, Ket. AFRICA, Kile, . , 33001* 425,000 . . Bahr el-Gaz.il, Sobat, Bnhr.el-Azrek, Atbara. Niger, . . . 3000 800,000 . Chadda, Kadmia, Zirmi. Ziimbczi. . . 2400 432,000 . . Leeba, Chobe, bliire. Congo, . . 2358 1,400,000 . . Eumani, Kassai, Sankorra, Aruwini, Mangola. AMEEICA. Rio del Korte, . 2130 180,000 , , Puerco, Salado. St. Lawrence, . 2200 300,000 . . Ottawa, liichelieu. St. Maurice, Saguenay. Mackenzie, . 2449 412,000 . . Athabasca, Peace, Liard. Mississiiipi, . . 4340 1,300,000 . Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, Red River, Orinoco, . . 1560 _ 360,500 . , Guaviare, Meta, Ajmre, Ventuare, Caroni. Amazon, . . 3900 2,275,000 . . Xingu, Topajos, Madeira, Rio Negro, Purus. Tocantins, . 1100 381,000 , Araguay, Paran.-in. La Plata. . . 2210 886,000 . Paraguay, Parana, Uruguay. Magdalena, , 900 110,000 . , Cauca, Bogota. AUSTEALIA, Murray, . , 1300 480,000 , , Murrumbidgee, Darling, * From the Victoria Nyarza. The Mississippi, following the Missouri branch, is the longest river in the world, whUe inferior to the Amazon in the area of its basin and volume of water. But the St. Lawrence, influding the great lakes which lie in the vaUey of the river, and which it contributes to form, is by far the largest body of fresh water upon the face of the globe. According to the lowest estimates, the superficial area of the water is fully 73,000 square miles, and the depth nearly throughout averages more than 600 feet. These figures represent a mass of fluid equal to 9000 cubic miles, which would require a term of forty years to be precipitated over the FaUs of Niagara, at the present computed rate of discharge. The St, Lawrence has various features of great peculiarity and interest. It rises, taking the name of St. Louis, on the low, extensive plateau from which the Eed Eiver of the north flows to Hudson's Bay, and the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, The three 230 INLAND WATEES TIIB OCEAN, rivers, proceeding in such diff'erent directions, are said occasionally to blend their flood waters in wot seasons near thoir sources, Tho basin of the St Lawrence has a total area of 300,000 square railes, of which 73,000 aro water, and thus the extent of the land-area is only about three times that of the water-surface — a fact without paraUel in any other hydrographical region. Of all the great rivers, it is the most uniform in its level, being rendered independent in this respect of the weather and the seasons by its lakes acting as reservoirs, sufficiently capacious to preserve and dispense a constant and regular supply for the stream. Every variety of river scenery is to be found in its basin, often in closo juxtaposition, tho soft and beautiful, the wild, magnificent, and stem. A tributary, tho Saguenay, is singularly remarkable for its enormous depth and direct channel, with tower ing precipices on either side, and may be regarded in sorae respects as perfectly unique. The Saguenay issues from the Lako of St John, and faUs into the St Lawrence 140 miles below Quebec, The largest ships can ascend its lower course up to Ha-ha Bay, ' Smiling or Laughing Bay,' a distance of about 60 miles, without obstruction from banks or shoals, and drop their anchors in thirty fathoms of water. There are no projecting bluff's, or sloping shores, or circuitous windings, but the river flows right onward, as if in an artificial cutting, nor is its strangely-stern aspect varied by either viUage or viUa, It is as though an awful cleft had suddenly been made in the grey mica-schist of the moun tain range, still looking fresh and new. The cliifs on either hand rise to the height of 1500 feet, often too steeply for the dwarf-oak and hemlock to take root, but are covered with coloured lichens and moss, which havo originated the name of the ' pictured rocks.' But wherever there are slopes, they are thickly clothed with stunted spruce, maple, birch, oak, and other trees. The bases of tho cliff's are at an unknown depth beneath the water, for no soundings have been obtained in the river for many mUes from its mouth, even with a line of 2000 feet. ' Hour after hour,' remarks a voyager, ' as you saU along, pre cipice after precipice unfolds itself to view as a moving panorama. 'No coves, nor creeks, nor projecting rocks are seen in which a boat could find shelter, or any footing be obtained. The characteristic feature is a steep wall of rock rising abruptly from the water ; a dark and desolate region where all is cold and gloomy ; the mountains hidden with driving mist ; the water black as ink, and cold as ice. No squirfols or birds to be seen in the trees ; no door coming down to drink ; no hawks or eagles soaring overhead. Now you reach Capo Eternity, Cape Trinity, and raany other overhanging cliffs, remarkable for having such clean fractures, seldom equalled for boldness and eff'ect, which create constant apprehensions of danger, even in a calm ; but if you happen to be caught in a thunder storm, the roar, the darkness, and fiashes of lightning are perfectly frightful. At last you terminate your voyage at Ha-ha Bay, and are charmed and relieved to arrive at a beautiful spot, where you havo sloping banks, a pebbly shore, boats and when-ies, and vessels riding at anchor ; birds and aniraals, a village, a church, French Canadians and Scottish Highlanders ' Tho present name of this extraordinary river is supposed to bo a corruption oi Saint Jean Nez. It was originaUy called Chicoutimi, an Indian word signi fying deep water. Clear sparkling waters distinguish rivers in countries of primary and ti-ansitiou forma tion, wliile those which flow in aUuvial basins aro duU and discoloured. In tho former case also the streams l.avo bold banks and weU-defined channels to which they persistently cleave, while in the latter, tho margins aro low, and during great floods new courecs aro frequently scooped out and permanently foUowod. The Ganges, in the plain of Bengal, has repeatedly deserted old passages, tnul entered new ones ; and almost fevery year, above Allahabad, it shifts from ono part of its broad and largely unoccupied bed to another. It frequently occurs that rivers receive considerable accessions without any perceptible LAKES. 231 alteration iu their size ; and after two first-class streams have eff'ected a junction, instead of a greater expansion of the surface being the result, there is occasionally an actual contraction of it. But the depth of the channel is increased with the strength of the current, and the influx is disposed of by tho greater rapidity with which the water runs off, A strikingly-illustrative example is supplied by the Mississippi. The river is a mile and a half wide before it receives the Missouri, and has a very gentle flow, with clear water, smooth shores, and an air of placid magnificence and beauty for its chief charac teristics. But after the meeting of the waters, and from thence to the mouth of the Ohio, tho united stream has an average breadth of littlo more than three-quarters of a mUe ; and the distinctive character of the Upper Mississippi beconies completely effaced. It is exchanged for that of a furious, eddying, turbid, and dangerous flood, undermining the bold bluff's that mark its course, carrying oflf huge trees from the dilapidated banks, and often breaking bounds to visit the cultivated lands with destructive incursions. The confluence of rivers, arrested the attention of mankind in primitive ages, and originated terms descriptive of the physical fact, still in use, but with a slightly altered appUcation, Thus in India, tho Doab, a word of Sanscrit origin, signifying ' two rivers,' refers prunarUy to the Ganges and its affluent the Jumna, but now denotes the country between them. In the samo region, tho Punjab, ' five rivers,' has similarly become the denomination of the territory traversed by that number of principal strearas, which blend thoir waters, and descend in a common channel to the Indus. In Western Asia, the district included betwen the Euphrates and Tigris, wbich corae to a junction after a long separate course, received in the classical age the name of Mesopotamia, or ' country of the rivers.' This is the proper Greek translation of the Hebrew, Aram Naharaim, or ' Syria of the two rivers,' which goes back to patriarchal times. Eivers have been aptly styled the arteries of social life. Though barbarous tribes are largely connected with them, yet civiUsation first began to dawn along their banks, nor has any nation ever made much independent progress apart from their flow. To poets and orators in every ago they have been objects of beauty, deUght, and profit, used to ' point a moral and adorn a tale,' as the ornaments of the landscape, while silent monitors to mankind of the progress of human life, beginning in obscurity, unceasing in its course, chequered with vicissitudes, and destined after a limited passage to reach a common appointed termination. III. LAKES. The inland sheets of water which pass under the denomination of lakes are frequently simple expansions of rivers, which spread themselves over slightly depressed areas in their channels, or fiU up deep broad hollows in their course, resuming again the river-like aspect. In this manner the lakes of Constance, Geneva, and Lucerne, have been formed respectively by the Ehine, Ehone, and Eouss, In each of these cases the tributary river enters at one extremity of the lake, and flows out at the opposite end. Precisely simUar are the great Canadian raasses of fresh water. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, which occupy the valley of the St Lawrence, and are mutually connected by the river, A kindred series in the same region, consisting of Lake Athabasca, Great Slave and Great Bear Lakes, is found in the basin of the Mackenzie. The first of these, the Athabasca Lake, has a river of the sarae narao for its principal feeder, which does not traverse its length but its breadth, entering and passing out at one of the extremities. This river descends from a small body of water at a high point of the Eocky Mountains, amid ice and snow, which the agents of the Hudson's Bay Company called the ' Committee's Punchbowl' Ihe mountain lake is remarkable for sending oflf a tribute from one ex tremity by the Athabasca, which finally reaches the Arctic Ocean, and also a supply from 232 INLAND WATIinS— THE OCEAN. tho other extremity which is ultimately received by the Pacific, Fresh-water lakes ave the most numerous in mean and high latitudes. Including those of minor size, their name is legion in tho northern parts of Europe, Asia, and America, In the latter country, alraost every stream, however inconsiderable, becomes a miniature picture of the St. Lawrence, by repeatedly expanding itself far beyond its average width. The largest example of this class of expanse. Lake Superior, has a mean length of 400 miles, with a breadth of 80, and thus covers an area of 32,000 square miles, equal to the whole extent of Ireland, The mean deptli is 988 feet, and the height above the Atlantic 627 feet. The shores are greatly indented, and almost uniformly abrupt and sterile. The crescent -shaped Lake Baikal, in Siberia, ranks as the largest expanse of fresh-water belonging to the Old World, having an area of 14,000 square miles. It is fed by a multitude of streams, but chiefly by the Angara, which also carries off the surplus water to the Yenicei, entering and leaving the lake, not at the extremities, but on the opposite sides. Steamers ply regularly in the summer months, but the whole surface is firmly frozen in winter, and traflBc is then conducted with sledges. Lake Ladoga, the largest in Europe, has a superficial extent of 6330 square mUes. It receives the drainage of three other lakes of iraportant size, with that of thirteen streams in addi tion, and has the Neva for its outlet, the river of St. Petersburg. In comparison with these examples the lakes of the British Isles have very insignificant dimensions. Tbe largest. Lough Neagh, in Ireland, has only an area of 150 square miles. AVith a few exceptions, the Irish Lakes are expansions of the larger rivers in low-lying level districts, and havo marshy borders of the tamest description. On tho contrary, those of England and Scotland are almost exclusively limited to the mountain region of Cumberland and the Highlands, where they are closely pressed upon by grand heights, occupy long, narrow, winding glens, and have highly picturesque features. Eock, water, island, wood, lawn, vUla, and ruins, with the tops of mountains in the distance, form the finest combinations in the scenery. Loch Avon, a sheet of beautifuUy clear water, is remarkable for its elevation above the sea, 1750 feet, the highest expanse of any size in the kingdom. It lies embedded in the Central Grampians, enclosed with a rugged circle of precipitous heights, whicii approach to the wilder and more savage parts of Swiss scenery. The raasses of Ben MacDui and Ben Main overhang its southern extremity, whUe Ben Buinac and Cairngorm rise almost perpendicularly on the northern and western sides. This spot, scarcely surpassed anywhere in stern secluded grandeur, was selected by the Ettrick Shepherd, in one of his poems, as the scene in which the Spirit of the Storm is roused. Another class of lakes embraces those which receive afSuents, but have no apparent outlet. The Caspian, the Aral, and the Dead Sea are examples of these. They are most numerously distributed in the sandy desert zone ; and are either maintained at the same general level by excessive evaporation, or are subject to actual reduction by it. In almost all instances of this description the water is either pungently salt or brackish. The principal exception to this is Lake Tchad in Central Africa. Among the salt lakes the Grand example is the Caspian Sea, a proper lacustrine forma tion, but styled a sea from its magnitude and saltness. It covers an area of 178,866 miles, and is by far the largest inland body of water on the surface of the earth, shallow in its northern extension, but with great central depths in the southern, amounting to nearly 3000 feet. It is not so salt as the ocean, owing to the immense quantity of fresh water poured into its basin by tho Volga, and other considerable rivers. There is no outlet. Yet not only does the waste within from evaporation, which proceeds at an enormous rate in the hot summer months, fully equal the supply from without hy the rivers, but it appears to be even greater, as the surface is supposed to be slowly subsiding. In the same region, that of the saudy desert of Turkestan, tlie smaller Sea of Aral has LAKES. 233 corresponding features. It receives tho Amu-Daria and Sir-Daria rivers, but has no outflow; aud its area of 27,000 square miles is known to be diminishing rapidly. The Kirghis, on its borders, frequently point traveUers to places at some distance inland wliich were immersed within memory in the salt water. Most of tho lakes of this class in Western Asia appear to be decreasing in size, losing moro water by evaporation than what is suppUed by their tributaries, and at the same time becoming moro saline. The most extraordinary of these lakes, the Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, is the receptacle into which the Jordan pours its rapid current, from which there is no issuing stream. It is perfectly unique in its geodesioal position, occupying the deepest hollow of the land of tho globe, for its surface is 1298 feet below that of the Mediterranean. This result has been obtained by careful measurements at diff'erent intervals, executed in the last instance by a party of the Eoyal Engineers, between September 1864 and March 1865; and as a depth of water amounting to 1308 feet has been found, it follows tbat the bottom of the lake descends 2606 feet, or very nearly half-a-mUe, below the general level of the sea. No second instance of depression on the land surface is known at all comparable to that of the immediate margin of this somewhat mysterious expanse. Tho formation of this sunk region is commonly referred to some tremendous physical convul sion, the memory of which is preserved in legends which teU of guilty cities being en gulphed in the lake. But, according to late authorities, there is no trace of proper volcanic agency visible in the neighbourhood. The Dead Sea lies in a trough 46 miles in length, with a general width of 7 miles, and has an area of 495 square miles. Lofty and bold limestone cliffs, highly bituminous and almost entirely desolate, form the sides, whUe at both extremities there are marshy flats. The level fluctuates a few feet in dif ferent seasons. It rises as the eff'ect of the spring rains, and the coincident melting of the snows of Lebanon, whicii largely increase the influx from the Jordan. The lake then acquires its utmost extent, spreading itself over the low grounds at the extremities. It faUs in the subsequent hot season, owing to the active evaporation in'process, which is often visible in broad transparent columns of vapour, spoken of by travellers as not unlike waterspouts in appearance. The great depression of the surface, together with the en closing heights, cause a powerful accumulation of heat by the concentration and reflection of the solar rays, while tho bordering heights interfere with the admission of breezes to relieve the temperature. The water is intensely salt, evidently caused by the abundance of the mineral in the vicinity. On the south-eastern shore rises an isolated mountain mass of rock-salt, to which the ominous name has been given of Jebel Usdum, or Mount Sodom. Close at hand there is a cylindrical pUlar of salt forty feet in height, and also an extensive marsh coated with salt and bitumen. But the great salinity of the water is by no means exceptional, or even singular, being in some instances surpassed. The mean proportion of saline matter in the ocean is under 4 per cent. In the Great Salt Lake of the Eocky Mountains it is 23, and in the Dead Sea 25 per cent. But in Lake Elton, on the steppes of the Volga, which furnishes most of the salt consumed in Eussia, the pro portion is 29 per cent. ; and in Lake Tuzgol, on the central plateau of Asia Minor, it amounts to not less than 32 per cent. Across the last-named lake, favoured by its shaUowness in summer, the Sultan Murad IV. threw a causeway, on the occasion of marching his army to the attack of Bagdad, remains of which exist thickly covered with a saUne incrustation. A third class of lakes comprises those into which no stream flows, tliough one is dis charged, whUe others have neither outlet nor affluent. These depend for their supply upon the rain, melted snow, and subaqueous springs ; and are in general of very small size, occupying in many cases the craters of extinct volcanoes. The classicaUy famous 2 G 234 INLAND WATEES THE OCEAN. Avemus, now Lago dAvemo, iu the neighbourhood of Naples, is an example. It has an extinct crater for its basin, is very nearly circular, about a mile and a^half in circum ference, possesses considerable depth, and is almost completely shut in by stoop and wooded heights. Sulphurous and mcphitic vapours formerly given off from the surface led the ancients to believe that birds attempting to fly over it were killed, Henco tho Greeks caUed it Aornos, or 'without birds,' Owing to its gloomy aspect, they regarded it as one of tho portals to the world of spirits, the scene specially of that awful vision of the doad which passed before Ulysses at the barriers of the earth. In the same volcanic district are the similar lakes of Agnano and Astroni, A more important example is the Alban Lako, now Lago di Castello, about ei'^hteGn mUes from Eome, on the margin of which stood the ' white long citj',' Alba Longa, which was great when Eome was little. It lies in the crater of an extinct volcano, and has a circuit of six miles, with the immenso depth of more than 1000 feet. Tho surface is nearly 1000 feet above the sea-level, while on the eastem bank rises the ancient Mount Albanus, now Monte Cavo, 3000 feet high, overlooking the whole Campagna, The lake being subject to sudden and mischievous sweUs in summer from some unknown cause, the Eomans, in the dim dawn of their historical age, opened a tunnel through the lava boundary, to lead off the water when it rose to a certain height. This artificial outlet has remained to the present day, and stUl performs its ancient office. For the same reason and by the same means, the Emperor Claudius provided an outlet for tho picturesque mountain lake Fucinus, now Lago di Celano, enclosed by the heights of the Abruzzo. The tunnel, nearly four miles in length, occupied eleven years in its construction, and thirty'thousand labourers were engaged in the work. The younger Pliny has described the barbarous ceremonies observed at the opening. In recent times, the subterraneous outlet was cleared and repaired by the Neapolitan govemment, in order to adapt it to its original purpose. Peculiar features are occasionaUy exhibited by certain lakes, which were once accounted marvels, but are now weU understood. Portions of the Lake of Zurich annuaUy change colour in spring, owing to the appearance of a very minute vegetation at the surface, which produces what is caUed the flowermg of the waters. In the calmest weather, strong ebuUition and undulating movements have been observed in connection with the lakes of Geneva, Lucerne, Derwentwater, and others. The former kind of disturbance is doubtless duo to the escape of subaqueous currents of air, called ' bottom winds.' The latter is probably occasioned by slight earthquake shocks, or may arise from a sudden and transient variation in the pressure of the atmosphere. Derwentwater has also its floating island as an occasional apparition. It consists of a portion of the peaty bed of the lako, which rises to tho surface, siseedily loses its consistency, and disappears. The mass is apparently swollen and buoyed up by the gases produced by the decomposition of tho vegetable matter, for uj)on being pierced, carburetted hydrogen and azote are given out abundantly. In other instances, reeds, marsh-plants, shrubs, aud trees from tho undermined banks, become firmly matted together, with accretions of sand and gravel deposited by the water, and moro permanent floating islands aro formed upon a larger scale. A living vegetation appears in course of time on the surface, oven forest trees ; and cattle havo been pastured on them. Accumulations of drift-wood in the North American lakes and rivers result in similar formations. Tho ' Grotit Eed Eiver Eaft ' completely obstructed tho navigation of tho noblo stream, till the impediment was re moved at considerable expense by tho United States Government iu 1838. The dimen sions of a raft of tho samo kind in the Mississippi, supposed to havo been formed in about forty year.3, aro given at 10 miles in length, 220 yards in breadth, aud 8 feet in thickness. THE OCEAN. 235 It presented all tho appearances of solid land, having green bushes and beautiful flowers, A remarkable want of buoyancy in the water of some lakes in North America has long been noticed by tho Canadian voyageurs, sometimes so great that boats can only with. great difficulty bo propelled along tho surface. Both Sir A. ]\Iaokenzie and Sir G. Back have confirmed the testimony of the ordinary boatmen upon the point. The effect is compared to what would be produced by some strong attractive power at the bottom, TTie cause is obscure, but may probably be referred to the very slight specific gravity of the water. This pecuUarity has recently attracted attention in connection with Lake Tahoe, a favourite scene of resort in California, surrounded by high mountains densely clothed with pine forests, but a dangerous watering place. Strong experienced swimmers are unable to sustain themselves for any length of time, in the deep blue waters ; pine logs cast afloat speedUy sink to the bottom ; and the bodies of persons drowned in the lako are never recovered. The Land's End, England. IV, THB OCEAN, The vast body of water which encompasses the dry land on every side is a continuous expanse, or single ocean, subject to a very irregular distribution. The great proportion of it is spread out in several huge basins, which may be regarded as forraing minor oceans ; and exact limits have been assigned to them, defined partly by natural boundaries, and partly by the artificial lines of mathematical geograph3^ Though mutually connected, they are conveniently referred to under distinct names, as the Arctic, Antarctic, Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic Oceans. The remaining portion occupies narrow tortuous strait? ,236 INLAND WATERS THE OCEAN. and inlets variously broad and elongated, but of wholly unimportant extent when com pared with tho oceanic basins to which they belong, Tho term Sea is applied to some of the moro considerable of these offshoots, as well as to the most extensive of the inland waters. The great ocean covers nearly three-fourths of tho whole surface of the earth. Hence its billows roll in every variety of climate, and experience every degree of temperature, from the heat which stimulates excessive evaporation in the tropical zone, to the cold which solidifies the surface into ice towards the poles. The primo characteristic of the water — its saltness — is a feature belonging to it at the surface and at every depth which has been reached, not only in relation to the main mass, but to all its arms, whether inlets, bays, gulfs, or seas. Everywhere the fluid is pungent and bitter to the taste, hateful alike to man and beast. But this quality is not precisely uniform in aU parts of the surfaos, owing to the varying quantity of fresh water poured in by the rivers, and received from the rains. Thus the amount of salinity is perceptibly diminished for some distance off the mouths of the St Lawrence, the Amazon, the Plata, the Ganges, and other streams of large volume, Tho same effect is produced by the copious rains which faU in the equatorial zone ; and the melting of the glaciers on the polar shores exerts a similarly modifying influence. But whUe in some cases, as in the Baltic and Black Sea, tho salt ness is diminished by the large influx of fresh water from the rivers, in other instances, as the Mediterranean and Eed Sea, it is increased by the excess of evapomtion over the river supply. The mean amount of saline matters held in solution by the ocean is about 3 '5 per cent., or the quantity in 100 parts of water. The ingredients consist of chloride of sodium, or common salt, by far the most abundant, chloride of magnesium, and sul phate of magnesia, or Epsom salt, to the presence of which the unpleasant bitter taste of sea-water is owing, with potassium and lime salts. Other substances mingle with these in smaU but still determinable quantities, as siUca, phosphoric acid, carbonic acid, and oxide of iron. This constitution of the fluid renders it more buoyant, and consequently better adapted for navigation, while a larger area is preserved from being ice-bound. Fresh water freezes at the temperature of 32°, but a lower temperature is reqmred for the congelation of salt water, or 28i°, The origin of the saline condition of the ocean is a problem involved in obscurity. It is certain that immense deposits of rock-salt are constituent i^arts of tho terraqueous system, while various rocks aud soUs are largely impregnated ivith other soluble salts, Henco saline ingredients must necessarUy be in constant process of being washed out of the land by rains and springs, which finaUy reach the sea by the rivers, and contribute by accumulation to its saUnity, as none of the dissolved matter is carried back to the land by evaporation. But this can only bo part of the explanation, or it would be difficult to avoid tho conclusion, that the saltnes of tho water is continuaUy increasing, of which there is no evidence, and that primitively the composition of the ocean was different to what it is at present. Sea water is now prepared for domestic use ou board ship by distiUation, but it tastes flat and insipid. If, however, it is passed through animal charcoal, it dissolves tho air condensed in the charcoal, and acquires a brisk and pleasant flavour by becoming aerated. The oceanic waters occupy, and fill up to a certain uuiform level, an immense regular hollow of the earth's crust. Tho floor of the depression exhibits inequalities similar to those which mark the surface of the dry land — broad valleys, narrow chasms, gentle slopes, vast plateaus, and high precipitous raountains, the tops of which, iu many instances, just peep above the waves, and rise in other cases to a considerable altitude. Hence the varying depth of the fluid, now descending to between five and six mUes, and anon a thin stratum which scarcely conceals the sunk rock and sandbank from the eye of the navigator. THE OCEAN. 237 Off a flat low shore the water is generally shallow for a considerable distance, and has commonly great depth along a rocky, iron-bound, towering coast. But near to islands of coralUne formation in the Pacific Ocean, which are often so little elevated above its level as not to be visible at any great distance, while partially submerged by spring-tides and storms, remarkable soundings have been obtained, plainly proving them to be the crests of lofty submarine moimtains with sides steeper than those of the most abrupt volcanic cones. The large number of soundings taken in all parts of tho world during the three years' scientific voyage of the Challenger — 1873 to 1876 — together with the results recently obtained by Americans and Germans, have furnished a large amount of trustworthy information as to the depth of the ocean. The Challenger's deepest sounding was about 27,000 feet in the western Pacific. The Americans record a depth of 30,000 feet, off the coast of Japan. The deepest rehable soundings are thus about five and a half miles. Mount Everest, one of the Himalayas, is 29,000 feet above the sea-level, so that it is a curious coincidence that the height of the highest mountain in the world is as nearly as possible the greatest depth which has yet been found in the ocean. The average depth of the ocean is, however, very much greater than the average height of the land above the wares. The former cannot bo less than from 15,000 to 1 6,000 feet, while the average height of the land above the sea-level is only about 900 or 1000 feet. Throughout the oceanic depressions low submarine ridges are met with, which rise in some places to within about two miles of the surface. One such ridge runs north and south throughout the whole length of the Atlantic, and on it are the volcanic islands of Tristan, St. Paul, Ascension, and the Azores. A branch from it runs about 10° north towards the AVest Indies — thus separating the bed of tho Atlantic into three depressions. These low ridges have an important influence in the distribution of temperature over the bed of the ocean. Similar ridges exist in the Pacific, but they have not been so well defined as in the Atlantic. The ocean areas have a true basin-like character. AVhen we proceed from the shore of a continent, w^e usually, after passing the 100 fathom line, find the depth increase very rapidly down to two, three, or more miles. If the general level of the ocean were, however, 100 fathoms, some considerable tracts of land would be added to the continents. The British Isles would be joined to the continent of Europe. The Banks of Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay would become dry land, and so would the Agulhas Bank at the Cape of Good Hope. The Falkland Islands would be joined to South America. New Guinea and Australia would be united, and stretches of land would be exposed througii the East Indies and along the east coasts of Asia. A further lowering of the sea for au additional 100 fathoms would add relatively very little more land to the continents. But what would happen if, instead of lowering the ocean 1200 feet, it were raised 1200 feet above its present level % Nearly all the land, except the mountains and high table-lands, would be submerged! The deep sea is the ' blue water ' of the mariner, so called from its pure ultramarine tint when seen apart from foreign influences, which becomes less decided as the depth decreases. Though water is naturally colourless when viewed in small bulk, it is blue like the atmosphere when seen in mass, owing to the blue rays of the spectrum being less liable to be absorbed by a transparent fluid than the other prismatic colours. Hence they are more powerfully reflected to the eye. A rich ultramarine hue distinguishes the lakes of Switzerland, with the rivers .issuing from them, as well as the water in fissures of the glaciers on the slopes of the sur rounding mountains. But under the control of different atmospheric influences, as a clear or duU sky, gleams of sunshine, and drifting clouds, the ocean remarkably changes its appear ance, passing from the deepest indigo hue to light azure, polished silver, or slaty grey, and every intermediate tint. Various colours also permanently distinguish particular parts of the great deep, which are due to the presence of foreign substances. Thus, in the neighbour hood of the Azores and Canary Islands, the sea is green ; white in portions of the Gulf of Guinea; black around the Maldive Archipelago ; yellowish between China and Japan ; while 238 INLAND WATEES— THE OCEAN. purple, red, and rose tints are observed in the Levant, the Eed Sea, the VermUion Sea, off California, and at the mouth of the Plata. These appearances are tho effect of various causeiS, as the existence of marine vegetation at or near the surface, the infusion of earthy substances brought down by the rivers, aud tho presence in enormous swarms of the minuter forms of animal lifo. Sir James Ross, when in the Antarctic waters, repeatedly remarked the change of colour from light cerulean blue to dirty brown, occasioned by myriads of ferruginous animal- cute ; and navigators have observed their vessels partly in blue and partly in green water at the same instant. In like manner, the phosphorescence of the ocean, a spectacle of strange magnificence, is mainly caused by the presence of minute invertebrata in countless miUions, which are phosphorescent while alive — a property retained by the gelatinous particles of their decomposing remains, with which certain parts of the deep are thickly charged. At the same time, a disturbed electrical condition of the atmosphere is supposed to be most favourable to the phenomenon. The path of a vessel seems like a long line of fire, seen at night from the stern, while, as the waves are parted by the prow, they appear vividly luminous, flash in sheets of briUiant flame, or scintiUate with the brightest sparks. Mr. Darwin states, that while ' saUing a little south of the Plata on a very dark night, the sea presented a wonderfid and most beautiful spectacle. There was a fresh breeze, and every part of the .surface, which during the day is seen as foam, now glowed with a pale light. The vessel drove before her bows two billows of liquid phosphorus, aud in her wake she was foUowed by a mflky train. As far as the eye reached, the crest of every wave was bright, and the sky above the horizon, from the reflected glare of these livid flames, was not so utterly obscure as over the vault of the heavens. As we proceed further southward, the sea is seldom phosphorescent; and off Cape Horn, I do not recoUect more than once having seen it so, and then it was far from being brilliant. This cu'cumstance probably has a close connection with the scarcity of organic beings in that part of the ocean, I have remarked that the phenomenon is very much more common in warm than in cold countries ; and I have sometimes imagined that a disturbed electrical condition of the atmosphere was most favourable to its production. Certamly I think the sea is most luminous after a few days of more calm weather than ordinary, during which time it has swarmed with various animals.' The ocean is phosphorescent in aU zones of the earth, both in the severest and the warmest climates ; but of course only when the minute organic bodies are present in its waters, the exciting cause of the display. Hence the sea may be in a highly luminous condition one night, and not at all so the night foUowing, though external circumstances are exactly the same. Until within a comparatively recent period the universally received opinion with respect to the temperature of the ocean was, that in very deep water aU over the globe a uniform temperature of 39° was found to prevail ; while above the level at which that temperatm'e- was reached, the ocean might be divided into three great regions or zones— an Equatorial and two Polar. In the former of these warmer, and in the latter colder water was found at the surface. Eecent investigations have proved the complete fallacy of this idea, which was doubtless greatly due to the fact that the thermometers formerly used were da^auged by the tremendous pressure they encountered when lowered to great depths in the sea; this pressure being, in round numbers, one ton to every square inch for 800 fathoms ( f depth, or three tons on the square inch for what now proves to be rather within than beyond the average depth of the great oceanic basins. This pressure, acting on the bulb of the ordinary self-registering thermometer, produced a compression which forced up a part of its contents into the tube, and caused it to register, as the actual minimum temperature obtained at great depths, what was really several degrees above it. That source of error has beeu removed by using protected thermometers, and as a result it may now be confidently stated (1). that over not only the temperate but also the intertropical jiortions of the oceanic area, a bottom temperature pre- THE OCEAN. 239 vaUs of between 32° and 35°'5 ; while within the Polar areas this temperature falls to 23°. Further, it may be asserted (2) that this vast oceanic basin, whoso average depth may be estimated at about two mUes and a half, is occupied to within 400 fathoms of its surface (save in the exceptional case of the Gulf stream iu the North Atlantic) by water whose temperature is below 40°. The case is quite difl^erent, however, in regard to the Mediterranean; which, although ranking as an inland sea, has almost the vastness and depth of an oceanic basin. For below the super ficial stratum of from 100 to 200 fathoms depth, whose temperature varies with the season, a imiform temperature of from 54° to 56° (according to the locaUty) is found to prevail, even down to the abysmal depth of 2000 fathoms ; thus conclusively proving that the depth, jyer se, is not one of the conditions on which depends the deep-sea temperature of 35°'5, which prevails in the Atlantic under the same parallels. So in the Eed Sea, the whole mass of water beneath the variable surface-stratum shows a uniform temperature of 71°, And even within the great oceanic area, there are several minor basins whose thermal condition presents simUar peculiarities. So far, however, from being in any degree anomalous, those exceptional cases are found to harmonize so completely with the general principle to which the ordinary phenomena of ocean temperature is referrible, as to afford it the most striking and satisfactory confirmation. Except among the icebergs at the Antarctic circle the water is warmest at the surface, from which it cools rapidly for the first few hundred fathoms ; then very slowly down to the bottom, or down to a point from which it remains the same till tho bottom is reached. GeneraUy, throughout tho temperate parts of the North Atlantic, we descend a mUe or more before we reach a temperature of 40°. But in the tropical and southern temperate regions of the Atlantic, and throughout the tropical and temperate parts of the Pacific, we only require to descend half a mile, or a little more, when we get a temperature of 40°, and at a low depth, quite under the equator, the temperature is only 32°'7. It is now generally admitted that this cold water comes from the Antarctic Ocean, and that it flows slowly northward. Iu the Pacific it cannot come from the Arctic, for there is only a narrow and shaUow strait connecting the two oceans. The Atlantic has a wider and freer communication with the Arctic, but the currents which flow south from it are relatively very insignificant and cannot sensibly aflFoot the general temperature. The temperature sometimes decreases from the surface down to the bottom, and sometimes down to a certain point, from which it remains the same to the bottom. This is accounted for by the fact that in its flow northwards the water meets with a barrier : the lower and colder water is stopped, it cannot get further north, and the basin beyond is fiUed with water of tho same temperature as that at the top of the ridge or barrier. The cold water which flows from the Antarctic along the eastern coast of South America, where there is free communication with the south, has at the bottom a temperature of 31°, i.e., below the freezing point of fresh water. Tn the basins to the north and east of the Atlantic we have at the bottom a temperature of only 35°. The reason is that these basins are cut oflf from the Antarctic Sea by ridges, whose tops are about 2000 fathoms from the surface of the waves ; and hence these basins are fiUed with water having a temperature the same as that found at the same level as the lowest point of those ridges. In the same way the Coral Sea is cut oflf from the general circulation of the Pacific, and is filled with water of a uniform temperature below 1400 fathoms. The inclosed seas— as the Sulu, the Banda, the Celebes, and China seas— have their temperatures aflfected in a simUar manner. The minimum temperature in these seas is met with at 900, 700, or 500 fathoms below the surface; and the depth at which that temperature is found, points out the depth of the lowest point of the ridges which separates the waters of these inclosed seas from the waters of the great ocean basins. The waters of the ocean are seldom or never at rest. Both at the surface and in the depths 240 INLAND WATEES — THE OCEAN. a system of circulation is constantly maintained, as weU in the horizontal as in the vertical direction. Three principal movements are exhiljited, known as wind ivaves, tidal waves, and currents, which are either the eff'ect of atmospheric or astronomical causes, and operate with mighty though changeful energy upon the yielding fluid. The lower stratum of the atmosphere, being in immediate contact with the surface of the sea, disturbs by its agitations the equilibrium of the aqueous particles, and produces waves proportioned in their height and volume to the intensity and duration of the exciting cause. A gentle breeze blowing in the direction parallel to the surface raises ripples, which become more prominent as the action is continued. A brisk gale, pressing obliquely upon the water, forces its particles much more strongly above the general level, and gives rise to undulations which rock to and fro the largest vessels upon their bosom. The storm or hurricane occasioas the mightiest oscUlations, which assume the form of long roUing billows when theh development is unimpeded, as in the open ocean, and the winds blow in the same direction for any considerable length of time. The progressive motion of the undulations produced appears like an onward flow of the water, but a bird resting on the sea, or a boat adrift upon the surface, is not carried forward by the waves. There is merely a rise and faU with them, except in the case of a strong continuous wind, which occasions a slight superficial current. But when the oscillatory waves approach a shore, or come into shallow water, they form waves of translation, which ' break,' as it is caUed, tecome crested with foam, and dash with great violence upon the strand. Off the Cape of Good Hope, formeriy caUed the Cape of Storms, during a north-west gale, and off Cape Horn, the largest and highest are formed. But the common saying of the waves running mountains high is a popular exaggeration, for they rarely extend more than forty feet from the trough to the crest, or twenty feet above and below the general level of the water. Scoresby, with the coolness of an old saUor and a man of science, studied the size and force of the Atlantic waves, durmg a violent north-west gale, with the following result :— Highest altitude of wave, ...... 43 feet. Mean distance between each wave, ..... 559 " Width from crest to crest, . . . . . . 600 " Interval of time between each wave, ..... 16 seconds. Velocity of each wave per hour, , , . , . 32J miles. Hence the most tremendous wind waves are almost entirely superficial disturbances. It has in fact been ascertained, that at a comparatively small depth the ocean is tranquU when the surface is tempest -tost ; and probably the effect of the strongest gale does not extend be3-ond the depth of 200 feet. Long after tho storm-winds have subsided, and the surface has become smooth, it is observed to heave with mighty undulations, upon the principle of the pendulum swinging for somo time after it has received an impulse. This undulatory movement, called tho ' swell,' is propagated far beyond the area visited by the gale, but becomes more feeble with the distance from the focus of disturbance. Hence it is not uncommon to mark the ocean rolling and breaking with great violence on the shores in a iicrfcctly calm state of the atmosphere. This may be the effect of a distant tempest, which afterwards reaches the spot where the swell is observed, and is thus a prognostic of bad weather ; though no such result may follow, owing to the storm having expended its energies out at sea. Tidal waves are those alternate risings and subsidings of the ocean by whieh portions of the shores, to a varying extent, are successively flooded and left dry. They are occasioned by the attractive forces of the sun and moon, more particularly of the latter, as the nearest body, and are strengthened or weakened according as the relative position of the two bodies enables them to act in concert, or in opposition to each other, AVhen their action is corabined, which is the case at new and fuU moon, tho highest or spring tides are produced. But when the THE OCEAN. 241 moon is in the intermediate points of her orbit, the first and third quarters, the lunar and solar attractions oppose each other, and the lowest or neap tides are raised. In addition to this, the highest floods and the lowest ebbs occur at the new and full moon near the equinoxes, in March and September, when the moon is iu perigee, or nearest the earth. Twice every day, or in the interval between successive returns of the moon to the superior meridian of any given place, which is about 24 hours 60J minutes, a tidal wave is raised ; and consequently there are two periods of high water and low water in that space of time. But the full tide, or highest rise of the water, does not coincide exactly with the moon's passage of the meridian ; and hence the actual time of high water at any seaport can only be predicted as the result of observation. This point, having been ascertained on the days of new or full moon, is called the ' establishment of the port,' because the time of high water on any other day may easily be deduced from it. The great belt of unobstructed water iu the southern part of the Pacific Ocean is the cradle of tidal action, and the centre from which it radiates. A very regular high water ridge is there produced, which receives an impulse in the direction of the acting luminaries — or from ejist to west, the apparent solar and lunar path— but trending north towards the tropics, the region of the direct line of their attraction. It travels with immense velocity in the deep, open ocean. But there is no perceptible transference of water involved in the passage, only an alternate rise and fall, the motion of an undulation, except over shoals and in the neigh bourhood of the shores, which give rise to stream tides occasionally of great power. If it be supposed that the waters of the South Pacific Ocean about longitude 155° E, are raised by the joint action of the sun and moon at noon, say on Sunday, the undulation, following the apparent course of the luminaries — that is, westward — carries high water to the eastern shores of AustraUa and Tasmania at raidnight. On Monday, about noon, it strikes the south point of India, the east coast of Africa, and soon afterwards is off the Cape of Good Hope, at the entrance of the Atlantic, Following the direction of that ocean, which is north by west, it conveys high water to the different ports on the eastern and western shores, but travels with much greater velocity through the central part of the basin than along the coasts. Hence the co-tidal lines, by which the places are indicated on maps which have high water at the same time, become extremely elliptical. Thus, in eleven hours from the Cape, or by the midnight of Monday, while the central area of the oscillation has reached Newfoundland, its skirts are at the Bahamas on the one hand, and off Cape Blanco in Africa on the other. Turning north-east, the direction taken by the North Atlantic, the summit of the great wave is off the British Isles about four hours afterwards, or by four o'clock on Tuesday morning, which may be called the fortieth hour of its career from the place of its birth. A ridge extends from the island of Ushant on the coast of France, across the mouth ofthe English Channel, to Cape Clear, at the south extremity of Ireland. Here, interrupted in its progress, it divides into three branches, one of which travels up the Channel, carrying high water to the opposite shores of England and France. A second branch enters the Irish Sea through St. George's Channel. The third and principal branch proceeds along the western coasts of Ireland and Scotland, rounds the north extremity of the latter, and passes into the North Sea, bringing high water to Aberdeen at noon on Tuesday. In twelve hours more, it passes along the eastern extent of England to the mouth of the Thames, which it reaches 'on Tuesday at midnight, the sixtieth hour of its existence, and finally meets the tide from the English Channel. Thus, in the comparatively shallow and contracted North Sea, the tide wave occupies as much time in passing from Aberdeen to the mouth of the Thames, as in proceeding through the central part of the Atlantic from the Cape of Good Hope to Newfoundland. The height of the tidal rise is very small in the open ocean, never amounting to more than •three feet around St. Helena and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. But in narrow seas and -contracted ch'am.-ils it is often very considerable, owing to the confined space in which the 2 H 242 INLAND WATEES— THE OCEAN. water is crowded. At the entrance of the Bristol Channel the whole rise at spring tides is about 18 feet ; at Swansea, 30 feet ; at Chepstow, 60 feet ; at St. Male, on the north coast of France, 50 feet ; and at Annapolis, in the Bay of Fundy, in Nova Scotia, as much as 120 feet. Hence, where the shores are low and flat, immense tracts are altemately flooded and left dry ; and many broad estuary bays may be crossed almost entirely on foot, where on the same day sloops and barges are afloat. The instinct of some animals in relation to such changes is very remarkable. Dr. MaccuUoch remarks, writing of the westem isles of Scotland, that 'the accuracy with which the cattle calculate the times of ebb and flood, and foUow the diurnal variations, is such that they are seldom mistaken, even when they have many mUes to walk to the beach. In the same way, they always secure their retreat from these insulated spots in such a manner that they are never surprised and drowned.' The change produced in the aspect of many rivers by tidal phenomena is often very striking, and confers important benefits upon the towns seated along their banks. The Avon, below Bristol, supplies an example of this alteration, and of the commercial advantages resulting from it. Its character at low water is that of a shaUow, brawling stream, scarcely navigable by the smaUest craft, but at high water the largest steamers and West Indiamen come up to the city. The change brings not only a supply of water adequate for navigation, but an altemate current in every twelve hours, which is just as useful as a fair wind up and down the river in that time, the regular occurrence of which is certain, and can immediately be turned to account by previous prepara tion. In rivers, estuaries, and bays the winds affect the tides, causing the water to rise higher or lower than usual, and the flood and ebb to occur earlier or later, according to their direction and power. Variations in the pressure of the atmosphere exert a simUar influence. AVith a low barometer, indicating a lighter atmospheric column, the tides may be expected to rise higher, and vice versd, other circumstances being equal. It has been ascertained, that the Epglish Channel rises more than eight inches for a faU of about half an inch in the barometer, A third movement of the ocean is in the form of currents, which are true marine streams, conveying its waters from one region or hemisphere to another. They differ widely in magni tude, direction, force, and temperature ; and are set in motion by a great variety of causes, as winds and tides, unequal evaporation, the expansive and contracting influence of heat and cold, with the rotation of the earth upon its axis. Superficial drift currents are produced by the action of prevailing winds impelling the surface water to leeward, and are in general temporary and variable. But stream currents are powerful rivers in the ocean, of great depth and uniform direction, only slightly affected by the strongest adverse gales. On meeting with a coast-line or shoal, the drift current becomes a stream current, carrying oflF the accumulation of water produced by the obstacle to restore the equiUbrium of the ocean ; and on losing its original impetus, a stream current may be continued as a drift current by prevailing winds. The existence of these sea streams was certified by their effects long before anything was known of their particular direction and cause. Various objects cast upon the shores of the Old World, entirely strange to its inhabitants — pieces of carved wood, reeds of immense size, and trunks of huge pine trees — strengthened the conviction in the mind of Columbus that a New World might be discovered by a westerly voyage across the Atlantic. After the com mencement of his great undertaking, when day after day nothing had been seen but a shoreles horizon and hope had nearly expired in his own breast, while his foUowers were on the verge of rebellion, the effect of the oceanic currents restored his confidence, and silenced their clamours. Herbage, fresh and green, as if recently plucked, floated by, A branch of thorn, with berries upon it, appeared ; a reed was picked up, and a staff artificially carved— -significant intimations that inhabited lands lay before the adventurers. These products had been drifted by the Gulf Stream frora tho torrid zone of America, as parts of fruit trees, plants, seeds, and other objects arc now conveyed by it frora the same quarter to the shores of Ireland and THE OCEAN, 243 Norway. Some timbers of a vessel wrecked in the West Indies raade the passage of the Atlantic in like manner, and were found on the coast of Scotland. By far the most extensive movement of the ocean of this description is from east to west, through a broad belt on each side of the equator, hence caUed the Equatorial Current, It has been supposed that the waters moving from the poles towards the equator, or from regions where the rate of the earth's rotation is comparatively slight to where it is upwards of 1000 mUes an hour, cannot immediately acquire the greater velocity, and are hence left behind, apparently deflected towards the west, just iu proportion as they are unable to keep up with the diurnal rotation of the globe towards the east, which has all the effect of a current in a westerly direction. But wholly independent of this supposition, there can be no doubt that the permanent breezes, or trade winds, which blow between the tropics from east to west, are quite sufiicient to account for a westerly flow of the waters subject to their influence. In the Pacific Ocean, the equatorial current sweeps across it from the coast of Peru westward to the south Asian shores, the islands of the Indian Archipelago, and Australia, where it is broken up by narrow channels into a series of variously divergent streams. In the Indian Ocean also a gradually increasing westerly current compasses its entire breadth, which, after striking the coast of Africa, gUdes round its southern extremity, and enters the bed of the Atlantic, At this point, being pressed northward by the Antarctic polar current, it courses along the west African shores nearly as far as the equator, where it is turned westward by the form of the continent, and loses itself in fhe great westerly flow' of the Atlantic waters. The equatorial current of the South Atlantic crosses the narrow part of the ocean from the coast of Lower Guinea on the east to that of BrazU on the west, and is very distinct, occupying a breadth of nearly 10° of latitude, chiefly south of the equator, and travelling at a maximum velocity of more than twenty miles a day. Off Cape St Koque, on the BrazUian coast, it divides into two branches, one of which proceeds southward along its coast-line. The other, or main branch, the proper continuation of the equatorial current, passes in a north-westerly direction by the mouths of the Amazon and the Orinoco, pours through the Caribbean Sea, and enters the Gulf of Mexico, where its westward course is finaUy arrested by the shores of the American continent. In this vast circular basin the accumulated waters, warm from the African coasts and equatorial regions, are further heated, and effect their emergence from it at the only outlet, the narrow Strait of Florida, rushing through it into the open ocean with great violence, and acquiring the name of the Gulf Stream from the scene of its origin. This cele brated and best known current flows at first abruptly north in obedience to the impulse given to it, and being free from obstruction, expands in breadth, graduaUy relaxes in velocity, and lowers in temperature. It afterwards turns to the east, and continues in that direction quite across the Atlantic, A north-east branch reaches the shores of northern Europe and the Spitzbergen islands. But by far the larger portion of the stream, between the Azores Islands and northern Africa, curves to the south-east .and south. It then re-curves to the south-west under the action of the trade-winds, and is conducted back again across the ocean as a westwardly-bound current to re-enter its former course, sweep round the shores of the Mexican Gulf, and emerge from its basin by the " Narrows " of the Florida Channel. The two currents noticed thus form an immense whirlpool in the ocean, of which Humboldt has said, that supposing a particle of water returns to the same place from which it departed, our present knowledge of the swiftness of currents will enable us to estimate that this circuit of 3800 leagues will require not less than two years and ten months for its accomplishment. 'A boat,' he remarks, ' which may be supposed to receive no impression from the winds, would require thirteen months from the Canary Islands to reach the Coast of Caraccas ; ten months to make the tour of the Gulf of Mexico and reach Tortoise Shoals opposite the port of Havannah ; whUe forty or fifty days might be sufiicient to carry it from the Straits of Florida to the bank of NewfouncUand. It would be difficult to fix the rapidity ofthe retrograde current from this 244 INLAND WATEES— THE OCEAN. bank to the coasts of Africa ; but estimating the mean velocity of the waters at seven or eight miles in twenty-four hours, we find ten or eleven months for this last distance. A short time before my arrival at Teneriffe, the sea had left in the road of St. Croix the trunk of a Cedrela odorata covered with the bark. This American tree vegetates exclusively under the tropics, or in the neighbouring regions, and it had no doubt been tom up on the coast of the continent, or of that of Honduras. The nature of the wood, and the lichens which covered its bark, were evident proofs that this trunk did not belong to those submarine forests which ancient revolutions of tbe globe have deposited in lands transported from the polar regions. If the cedrela, instead of being thrown on the strand of Teneriffe, had been carried farther south, it would probably have made the whole tour of the Atlantic, and returned to its native soil with the general current of the tropics.' In fact, in the year 1770, a small vessel laden with corn, bound from the island of Lancerote to Vera Cruz in Teneriff'e, was driven out to sea while none of the crew were on board. It was carried by the equatorial current entirely across the Atlantic, and went ashore at La Guayra on the coast of Venezuela. It is quite conceivable for a track-bottle, thrown overboard in the Indian Ocean, to be conveyed by a continued series of currents to the North Cape of Europe, and the Spitzbergen group, via the Gulf of Mexico. The colour of the water of the Gulf Stream is a deep indigo blue, whUe that of the cuixent through which it passes is light green. So distinctly are these hues marked that their junction is easily distinguished, and a vessel may be in blue water at one end, and at the same instant in green water at the other. The velocity of the" stream varies with the season, from 70 to 12 miles a day on leaving the Florida Channel, but the speed gradually relaxes, and is not more than 24 miles a day when it skirts the coast of Newfoundland. At its eflBux from the Mexican Gulf the water has a temperature of 85°, which is several degrees higher than that of the ocean at the equator. As it proceeds along the coast of the United States, but with a decided and increasing inclination away from it, the stream widens out, and the temperature lowers ; but it is still from 20° to 30° higher than that of the suiTounding seas, when off the hanks of Newfoundland. After a course of 4000 miles across the North Atlantic, a suflScient amount of warmth is retained by the water to raise the temperature on the coasts it reaches ; and hence the comparatively mild winters on the shore-lands of western and north-westem Europe. Lisbon, where frost is scarcely known at all, is in the same latitude as A\'ashington, where the Potomac, a mile in breadth, is sometimes frozen over in a single night. The British Isles, which show the green grass generally throughout the year, correspond in latitude with the peninsula of Labrador, where the temperature is constantly below the freezing-point for months together, and hard frozen snow permanently clothes the surftice. The Norwegian ports are open in the winter season, while directly across the Atlantic, the coast of Greenland is rendered perfectly inaccessible by accumulations of ice. AA'^arang Bay in the North of Norway, near the Russo-Finnish frontier, never freezes, being touched by the Gulf Stream Drift. It has therefore more than once been coveted by the Eussian government, in order to possess a ser viceable roadstead when all her present harbours in the North of Europe are ice-bound. It is true that winds from the south, bringing with them the heat of Africa, contribute to the mUd- ness ofthe climate of Western Europe, but the main cause is the vast body of water warmed in equatorial regions which finds its way to the shores. Tlie current has no similar chmatic eff'ect on the opposite coasts of America, because its cotusc is for the most ptvrt directly away from thern, and tho winds prevailing thero carry the A\arra circumambient air in the same direction. In a few terse eentencea Maury graphicallj- describes the Gulf Stieam : ' There is a river in the ocean. In the severest drouglits it never fails, and in the mightiest floods it never overflows. Its banks and its bottom are of cold water, ^^ Idle its cunent is of warm. Tho Gulf of Mexico is its fountain, and its mouth is in the Arctic Soa«. There is in the world no such majestic flow of waters. Its current is more rapid than the Mississippi or the Amazon, and its volume more than a thousand times greater.' THE OCEAN. 245 The general question of oceanic circulation has of late years excited considerable attention in consequence of the theory of Dr. Carpenter, who claims to have made a discovery with respect to it, which was characterised by the late Sir Eoderick Murchison as being of the same importance in physical geography as the circulation of the blood was in animal physiology. In order to make Dr. Carpenter s theory perfectly clear it is necessary to explain that the action of cold applied to the surface of a body of salt water is affected in a very important way by a property which notably distinguishes it from fresh water— that of contracting, and therefore increasing in specific gravity down to its freezing point ; so that whilst fresh water is no heavier when just about to freeze than it is at about 40°, sea-water is at its heaviest when just about to freeze ; and whilst its solidification ordinarily takes place at 28°, it may be cooled down, by being kept very stUl, as low as 25° (or even, according to Dr. Marcet, as low- as 22°), with a still further increase of density. Hence it is an invariable rule for sea water (its salinity being taken as constant), that the colder it is the heavier it becomes, because its bulk diminishes, and therefore sinks in proportion to its coldness. In the years 1868, 1869,and 1870 Dr. Carpenter and Professor (afterwards Sir WyviUe) Thomson conducted a series of soundings on board the Lightning and the Porcupine, and Dr. Carpenter maintains that the result of their investigations was the discovery that there is a vertical circu-. lation of the water in the great oceanic basins, produced by the continued cooling of the water which flows into the Polar area. As this Polar water is cooled it contracts and grows denser ; thus its level is lowered, and the warmer water from the Equatorial area flows towards its surface to bring up that level. When this dense Polar water has on the top of it the additional water which has flowed in to maintain the level, a portion of the lower part must flow away. Thus there will be a tendency to a renewed lowering of the level, which must draw in water from the Equatorial region, and there will always be, as that water flows in and is cooled down; a tendency to the maintenance of a greater weight or downward pressure of water in the Polar area ; so that by these two influences — the lowering of the level and the increase of the density of the water — this constant disturbance of level and disturbance of equilibrium is ever going on, producing an inflow from the Equatorial towards the Polar regions on the surface, and an outflow from the Polar regions towards the Equatorial area at the bottom. This movement Dr. Carpenter believes must have taken place in all geological periods — quite irrespective of such local causes as those which produce the Gulf Stream. There must always, he says, have been a movement of this warmer water from the Equatorial towards the Polar area, and conversely (which is most important geologically) a movement of cold water in the depths of the oceanic basins, from the Polar towards the Equatorial area, bringing with it the characteristic animals of the Polar cliraate. The chief evidence of such a movement, in Dr. Carpenter's opiuion, is, that cold water could not remain cold at the bottom of the oceanic basins if the supply were not kept up from the cold basins at the Poles— a striking proof of which 'is found in the Mediterranean. This sea is a basin which is self-contained ; it is shut in almost entirely, the Strait of Gibraltar being its only communication with the outside, and the strait is so shallow at its outlet that no com munication between the deep water of the Atlantic and that of the Mediterranean can possibly take place. Tho Mediterranean descends in some places to a depth of 2000 fathoms, and Dr. Carpenter himself sounded to above 1700. He was there in August and September and found tbe surface very hot, the temperature being in some cases as high as 78°. This hot temperature was, however, limited to a very shallow layer ; from 10° to 15° of heat was lost in 30 fathoms, and a further loss of temperature was experienced in descending to 100 fathoms. At that depth the temperature was almost invariably from 54° to 56°, and whatever was the temperature at 100 fathoms it was the same to the very bottora ; depth made no difference at all. If it was 54°, at 100 fathoms it would be 54° at 1700 fathoms; and if it was 56° at 100 fathoms it would be the same at the greatest depth. There was a little differ- 246 INLAND WATEES — THE OCEAN. ence in different parts of the area, which could be explained by local causes ; but as a rule, whatever the temperature was at 100 fathoms it was at the bottom. If, then, argues Dr. Carpenter, it were not for the vertical circulation of the water in our great oceanic basms, the temperature of the bottom of the Atlantic would be 55°, like that of the Mediterranean within the Strait of Gibraltar. But what is found a little outside that basin ? Near the coast of Spain, only about 150 mUes from Gibraltar, the temperature is 49° at 800 fathoms, and only 39° at 1100, which, in Dr, Carpenter's opinion, cleariy shows that such a low temperature could only be sustained by a constant flow of water from the Polar basin towards this southern region. Sir Wyville Thomson, who, as we have said, accompanied Dr. Carpenter, and who was afterwards appointed director of the scientific staff in the cruise of the Challenger, holds, on the contrary, that the oceanic circulation is maintained by the excess of evaporation over precipita tion in the Northern Hemisphere, and the excess of precipitation over evaporation in the Southern Hemisphere— part of the circulation taking place, in short, through the atmosphere. The following remarks embrace the results of his experience in the Challenger :—' Mihm^ there are certain points which have yet to be worked out in detaU, the general distribution oi .temperature in the Pacific Ocean seems sufificiently simple. In the first place, the whole mass of water consists of two well-marked divisions— an upper layer of no great depth, in which there is rapid cooling from the surface downwards, and considerable variation of temperature in different locaUties ; and a mass of water, of incomparably greater amount, which extends to the bottom, and which may be said to have nearly the same temperature throughout. 'These two divisions shade into one another, but the isothermobath * of 41° maybe taken as indicating generaUy the limit between them ; below this line the isothermobaths are still affected by surface thermal conditions, but comparatively sUghtly. ' Above the line 41° the course of the isothermobath is to all appearance entu-ely regulated by causes affecting the surface temperature ; that is to say, directly or indirectly by surface currents produced by permanent, periodic, or variable winds. The equatorial current occupies the region of the trade winds approximately from latitude 20° N. to 20° S,, and there is a strong but narrow winter current in the Atlantic between the parallels of 5° and 8° N, The water of the equatorial current has no free egress westward, being intercepted by the peninsula ol Malacca and the islands of the Malay archipelago ; but neither is it completely arrested, as the equatorial current is in the Atlantic, by the unbroken coast of America ; consequently a return cuiTent, less permanent and less defined than the return current in the Atlantic, finds its way to the north-eastward along the coast of Japan, The course of the Japan current is much the same as that in the Gulf Stream, and is due, as in the Atlantic return current, to the high initial velocity of the intercepted water ; its influence on the temperature of the Ocean is, however, much sooner reduced and obliterated. The hot water of the Pacific equatorial current, instead of being gathered together and focussed by the form of the land-barrier, as it is in that of the Atlantic, spreads out in the Middle and West Pacific in a vast sheet of abnor mally warm water, extending to a depth of nearly 100 fathoms ; thus the isothermobath (77°) of eighty fathoms passes near Hawaii and Tahiti, and near the parallel of 20° N. on sections between the Admiralty Islands and Japan. The lower isothermobaths of the upper layer are a little nearer the surface in latitude 40° N, than in latitude 40° S. ; and this I believe to be due to the banking of the Antarctic indraught against the Artie land-barrier, and to be the only case in which the position of the lines of equal temperature in the upper layer is not absolutely dependent on the wind. ' The teraperature of the underlying cold water is derived from another source, and its distribution is governed by other laws. Throughout the Pacific the isothermobath of 41° '* Isothermobath, or line of equal temperature, made by drawing a line, through equal points of temperature irrespective of depth, Greek, imt. equal ; Cif/iyi, heat ; ^ihi, depth. THE OCEAN, 247 maintains on the whole a very even course, oscUlating between the 400 and 500 fathom lines. These oscUlations depend on causes acting on the surface, for the line rises and falls in harmony with the higher isothermobaths. The line of 41° deviates sensibly on two occasions from its comparatively straight course. In the Equatorial regions it sinks to a depth of 625 fathoms, probably from the communication of heat from the upper layer of water by mixing ; and in latitude 40° it rises to 300 fathoms, probably from the accumulation of cold water against the Arctic barrier. The next three degrees of temperature are lost with increasing slowness in the next 700 fathoms, the line of 35° '6', making a very even course at a depth of 1100 fathoms, and the remaining degree or degrees and a fraction are lost between 1100 fathoms and the bottom. The depth of the Pacific increases slowly from the south to the north, the mean difference between the depth of the South Pacific, and that of the North being, perhaps, as much as 1000 fathoms. Notwithstanding this increase in depth, we have satisfied ourselves, although the determination is one of great difificulty, that the bottom temperature rises slightly from the south northwards, , . . There is likewise a very slight decrease in the bottom temperatures from east to west. ' I think we can scarcely doubt, that like the similar masses of cold bottom water in the Atlantic, the bottom water of the Pacific is an extremely slow indraught from the Southem Sea. That it is moving, and moving from a cold source, is evident from the fact, that it is much colder than the mean winter temperature of the area which it occupies, and colder than the mean winter temperature crust of the earth ; that it is moving in one mass from the southward is shown by the uniformity of its conditions, by the gradual rise of the bottom temperatures to the northward and by the fact that there is no adequate northern source of such a body of water (Behring's Straits being only forty fathoms deep, and a considerable part of that area being occupied by a warm current from the Pacific into the Arctic Sea), and by our knowledge from observations that one or two trifling currents from the Sea of Okhotsk and the Behring Sea, which are readily detected and localised and are quite independent of the main mass of cold water, represent the only Arctic influx. During its progress northwards the upper portion of the mass becomes slightly raised in temperature with, and possibly by slow conduction from, the upper layers, which are affected by solar heat. At the end of the Gulf, that is to say, on the extreme north, farthest from the cold source, the temperature is . . . infiuenced to the very bottom ; and isothermobaths, between 46"4' and 41°, are obviously raised and pressed together, probably by the accumulation of the cold water against the land. The colder bottom water to the westward might be expected from the lower initial velocity of the Antarctic water, causing it to drag against the west coast. ' I am every day more fully satisfied that this influx of cold water into the Atlantic and Pacific oceans from the southward is to be referred to the simplest and most obvious of all causes — the excess of evaporation over precipitation in the northem portion of the Land Hemi sphere, and the excess of precipitation over evapora1;ion in the middle and southem part ofthe Water Hemisphere. After what I have already said, I need scarcely add, that I have never seen, whether in the Atlantic, the Southern Sea, or the Pacific, the slightest ground for supposing that such a thing exists as a general vertical circulation of the water of the ocean depending upon differences of specific gravity.' As regards the floor of the ocean, it has long been known that shore deposits are prin cipally made up of the detritus which is carried down by rivers and worn away from coasts by the action of waves. All this material appears to be deposited within one or two hundred miles of the shore. Where great rivers enter the sea, and where there are strong ocean currents some of the finest material may be carried to greater distances, but its amount can never be great. In those seas where there is floating ice this land debris is carried to greater distances. For instance, such material was found by the Challenger in the North Atlantic as far south as the Azores, and in the South Pacific as far north as the 40th parallel. The deposits, which are 248 INLAND WATEES— THE OCEAN, now forming along the shores of the continents and great islands for about 200 mUes out to sea, resemble in every respect the sedimentary rocks of geology, and wUl doubtless form the chalks, the greensands, the shales, and conglomerates of the future. When we pass beyond 200 miles from the shore, and out into the open sea, we find a different state of things. In the temperate and tropical regions, and in depths of less than two or three mUes, the deposits are usually made up chiefly of the shells of foraminifera and molluscs, and the remains of calcareous algse. These foraminifera, molluscs, and alga; lived on the surface of the sea, and it is their dead remains which we find at the bottom. When the foraminifera predominate in the deposit it is called a glohigerina ooze, and when the pteropods, a pteropod ooze. By f^r the most abundant oceanic deposit is red or chocolate-coloured clay. Such deposits are found at depths greater than 2^ mUes and far frora land, and its origin is curious and important- As already stated, matters carried by rivers into tbe ocean, hi suspension, are deposited within 200 miles of the land ; but to this general rule there is one important exception. Volcanoes during eruption throw out liquid lava. Some of this, cooling rapidly in the am forms pumice-stone, which has a very areolar structure, and in consequence is so Ught that it wUl float on water. In some volcanic regions there are vast deposits of pumice, and rivers cutting their way through such deposits bear great quantities of pumice-stone out to the ocean. After floating for a time these stones become water-logged and sink to the bottom ; and this pumice-stone is the source whence the clay of ocean deposits, far from the land, is derived. The carbonic acid of ocean water acts on the feldspar of these stones, decomposing them ; hme and magnesia are removed, water is taken up, and a hydrated silicate of alumina or clay is the result. The trawlings and dredgings, during the cruise of the Challenger, established the fact that animal Ufe exists at all depths on the floor of the ocean. AU the marine invertebrate types were obtained, as well as fishes, at depths greater than three mUes. What are usuaUy caUed plants do not exist at great depths in the ocean. About 150 fathoms is probably the greatest depth at which they occur. Arenaceous foraminifera and some few calcareous forms live all over the ocean bed. They are, however, much moro numerous in shaUow water. Some forms were supposed to be nearly extinct when these deep-sea investigations were comraenced, but several which closely resemble fossil species were frequently taken. Animal life was found to be much more abundant, both in number and variety, along the flanks of the great continents than at simUar depths far out in the great ocean basins. All the groups of deep sea animals were found most abundantly at depths between three-quarters of a mUe and a mile. The deep sea animals resemble more closely those found in high northern and southem latitudes than they do the shallow water animals of the tropics. This might have been expected, from the similarity of the high latitudes in temperature and light to those prevalent in the deep sea. The deep sea animals also resemble more closely the fossil forms of tertiary and secondary formations than do shallow water animals of the present day. A possible explanation of this may be that those secondary and tertiary forms which migrated to the deep sea — into those areas where the conditions have been the same for ages — have been exposed to less competition, fewer vicissitudes, and hence have undergone less change than shore forms. There appears to be considerable evidence for supposing that migrations have laken place from the shallow waters of the continents into the deep waters ofthe ocean basins, and that such migrations have been going on for a vast time. The food of the animals which live at the bottom of the sea consists, to a very great extent, of the little animal and vegetable matter remaining in the shells and exuvia; whichhave falleu from tho surface to the bottom. The great majority of these deep sea aniraals live hy eating the raud, aud they are more abundant on the organic oozes than on the red clays far from land. AA'hile many deep sea animals are blind, others have well-developed eyes, and very many are phosphorescent. In some places both in the Atlantic and the Pacific, especially at extreme depths in the red clay area, the trawl brought up many teeth of sharks and car-bones of whales, all in a semi- THE OCEAN. 249 fossil state, and usually strongly impregnated with, or their substance to a great extent replaced by, the oxides of iron and manganese. These deposits of bones occur at great distances from land, and where from other causes the deposition of sediment is taking place with extreme slowness. The sharks' teeth belong principaUy to genera, and often to species, believed to be now extinct, which are characteristic of the later tertiary formations, aud have probably been lying there, becoming gradually buried in the accumulating sediment, from tertiary times. The wonderful expanse of the great ocean is divided for convenience into five basins or minor oceans— an arrangement favoured by its irregular distribution, though there is frequently no natural boundary between them, and artificial lines of separation are adopted. GRE.1T DIVISIONS OF THE 0CBA.N. Boundaries. Princip.il Branches. Northern Basin, or Akctig Ocean. ' Extends around the Nortli Pole, and is bounded ) by the nortiiern shores of Europe, Asia, and I America, with the line of the Arctic Circle in [ the spaces between the two great continents. Gulf of OU. Gulf of Kara, White Sea. Baffin's Bay. Lancaster Sound. Head of Behrins's Strait. Southern Basin, or Antarctic Oceam. ( Extends around the South Pole, with the line of ( the Antarctic Circle for its outer limit. Unknown, Eastern Basin, or Pacific Ocean, ¦ Bounded by America on the east ; Asia, Malaysia, ~| Behring's Strait. and Australasia on the west ; tlie Arctic Cii'cle Sea of Kamscliatlca, on the nortli ; the Antarctic on the south ; Sea of Okhotsk. divided by the Equator into the North and I Sea of Japan. South Pacific. The meridians of 70° W. and Yellow Sea. of 150° E. maybe regarded as the limits in the China Sea. ocean spaces between Cape H»rn, the South Gulf of Siam. Cape of Tasmania, and the Antarctic Circle. ) Gall of California. South-Eastern Basin, or Indian Ocban, Bounded by Asia on the north ; Africa on the west ; Malaysia and Australasia on the east ; the Antarctic Circle on the south ; with the meridians of 20° and 150° E. for the limits in the ocean spaces between it and Cape Agulhas, the southern extremity of Africa, and tlie South Capo of Ta3m,iu;..a, Arabian Sea, Eed Sea. y Persian Gulf. Bay of Bengal. Mozambique Channel. AVestern Basin, or Atlantic Ocean. Bounded on the east by Europe and Africa.; on the west by America ; on the north by the Arctic Circle ; on the south by the Antarctic Circle ; divided by the Equator into the North and South Atlantic. The meridians of 20° E. and 70° W. are the Hmits in the ocean spaces between Cape Agulhas, Cape Horn, and the Antarctic Circle, Baltic Sea. North Sea. Mediterranean Sea. Gulf of Guinea. Hudson's Bay. Gulf of Mexico. Caribbean Sea. The Arctic Ocean is alone tolerably weU known in its lower latitudes. The higher, being constantly encumbered with masses of ice, have only been penetrated to any extent at a fow points during the brief polar summer, as the result of great personal skill and heroism on the part of navigators, whUe during the long winter compact ice largely clothes the surface, and forbids navigation altogether. Hence a very considerable proportion of the general area, with the entire central portion around the pole, has never been seen by man. The zone of compact ice extends of course more southerly in winter than in summer. In the former season^it embraces within its limits the seas along the northern 2 I 250 INLAND WATERS THE OCEAN, shores of America, with Baffin's Bay, part of Davis Strait, the east coast of Greenland, and thence to the Spitzbergen Archipelago, which it encloses, as well as Nova Zembla. It includes also the waters on the northem shores of Asia, except to the eastward, where it has been observed to terniinate north of the Liakov islands, or New Siberia ; and hence the name applied to the region, Polynja, or ' open water.' Upon the return of summer the ice breaks up as far as the northern shores of Nova Zembla, Spitzbergen, and Baffin's Bay, when masses of varying size and shape are set in motion, some to perish speedily by violent coUision in storms, while others are drifted to and fro by the winds and waves, subject to gradual reduction, or are carried southward by the polar current, to be dissolved in the warm waters of the Atlantic, But in very severe seasons the fioating ice is some times overtaken before dissolution by the frost of an early winter, and preserved to the following summer. The masses of ice found afloat in the northern waters appear in the form of sheets and bergs, or cliffs, which are quits', distinct in their origin. Sheets of ice, the whole extent of which cannot be seen from the mast-head of a vessel, are caUed ue-fields, and have sometimes an area of a hundred square miles or more, rising from two to eight or ten feet out of the water. They present a generally level surface, but are here and there diversified by projections, or hummocks, thrown up by lateral pressure upon two masses coming into collision. Smaller sheets are styled y?ocs. Fields and floes, w-hen much broken up, with the fragments crowding together, form v/hat is termed a pack, which, when much elon gated, is known as a stream. When the parts'of a pack are loose and open, so that a vessel can saU between them, it is said to be among drift-dee ; and when the fragments have been much ground down by abrasion, they form what is caUed brasli-ice. A stratum of lucid brightness on the verge of the horizon, indicating the presence of ice in the direction observed, is known as the ice-blink. These forms of sheet-ice are aU strictly oceanic in their origin, the work of the arctic winters cold freezing the surface water to an extent and depth proportioned to its intensity and continuance. But ice-bergs are altogether different in shape from ice-fields and fioes, towering like cliffs to a considerable height, and are fresh-water formations from the shore-lands of the frozen zone, identical in thoir origin with the glaciers of the Alps. They have their principal birthplace on the coasts of Spitzbergen and Greenland. The eastem side of the latter region presents a breastwork of ice to the play of the waves upwards of 600 miles in length, formed by the congelation of the fresh water produced in summer by the melting of the snow. The annually renewed congealed masses, projecting into the sea, yield to its undermining and wrenching power, by which blocks of immense size are broken off forming ice-bergs. The process has been often witnessed by the Danish residents in the district, by whom it is familiarly styled the calving of the glacier. Ice-bergs are found of varying dimensions, from a few yards to miles in circumference, sometimes rising more than 250 feet above the sea-level ; and from tho specific gravity, it is calculated that the volume below the water is eight times that of the protruding part. They appear lUce glittering chalk chffs in motion, exhibit the most fantastic shapes, show a hue of emerald green or blue in the fresh fractures, and azure blue pools of water are frequently to be seen on the surfaces, or faUing in cascades into the sea. Arctic navigation is beset with peculiar perils from the fioating ice, for the strongest vessels that can be built are crushed like egg-shells wben caught in the coUision between two approaching masses. Additional dangers arise from unknown currents, frequent storms, with blinding fogs and snows, Yot the adventurous whale-fishery carries regular summer traffic into tho northem waters, up to the seventy-fifth panUlel of latitude, con ducted by a spo(;ial set of vessels, both British, Dutch, Danish, and American, The THE OCEAN, 251 whale the most valuable product of the polar seas, is chiefly met with where the current is stronoest, therefore, near what raay be caUed the respective confiuences of the Arctic Ocean with the Atlantic and the Pacific, The principal fishing-grounds are in the Spitzbergen waters, also on both sides of Greenland, in Lancaster Sound, and in Behring's Strait, A reraarkable article of traffic is yielded by the Asian portion of the polar basin, where fossU ivory is obtained from the remains of mammoths, which are fouud in great abundance imbedded in the soil of the mainland, also in that of the Liakov islands, and in the very depths of the sea itself. The American side has likewise its memorials of antiquity, equally mysterious, though not so profitable, and of comparatively recent discovery, consisting of immense deposits of trees, apparently indigenous, and of con siderable size. The north-polar basin has a diameter of about 2400 miles. Its waters are nearly land-locked, having only limited communication with the Atlantic, and espe cially with the Pacific. They are also supposed to be much shallower than those of the other oceans. This is inferred from the remarkable gentleness of the slope of the bed on the north of Siberia, where the soimding-line gives only a depth of fourteen or fifteen fathoms at the distance of 150 mUes from the coast, and also from the generally low level of the shores on the north of America. The Antarctic, or south circumpolar ocean, is much less known than its northern congener, lying completely out of the way of any line of communication between the centres of intercourse, while the difficulties and dangers of its navigation render continuous exploration almost impracticable. Constant fogs, baffling currents, innumerable ice-bergs, and magnificent displaj's of the Aurora Australis, are characteristic features, with enor mous quantities of packed ice, which appears to shift its place remarkably. The discovery ships under Sir James Eoss passed through a belt upwards of 800 miles in breadth, while Captain Cook, under the same meridian, and at the same latitude, had no occasion to enter the pack at all. The southern ice-bergs appear not to have that diversity of form which distinguishes the northem, being commonly tabular masses. They make also a much nearer approach to the equator than their northern kindred, having appeared, though very occasionally, off the Cape of Good Hope, in latitude 36°. Cape St Vincent, in Portugal, is at a corresponding latitude in the northern hemisphere, and if the drift-ice from the north frigid zone had the same southerly extension, it might be swept through the funnel of the Gibraltar Strait into the Mediterranean, chiU its warm waters, and cloud with fogs the landscapes of Spain and Italy. In 1841, the Antarctic expedition, under Sir James Eoss, reached the latitude of 78^ 10', the highest ever attained in the southem hemisphere. The Pacific, often styled the Great Ocean, is chiefly remarkable for its vastness and multitude of islands. Those ideas of amenity suggested by the name ' Pacific,' though descriptive of certain portions of the expanse, are equally true of certain parts of the Atlantic, whUe frightful storms, variously called typhoons, white squalls, cyclones, and tempestades, are the terror of mariners in particular localities. This great ocean covers an area roughly estimated at 80,000,000 square miles, or about two-fifths of the entire surface of the earth, more than equal to the area of the other four oceans taken together, and greatly exceeding the superficies of all the dry land of the globe. It extends through 145° of longitude, and 133° of latitude. The greatest length, from north to south, measures 9200 mUes, and the greatest breadth, from east to west, along the paraUel of 5° N. 10,300 miles. The shores on the American side are generally bold and rocky, and correspond to those of the South Atlantic in being smooth and regular. On the Asian side the coasts have a varying character, but correspond to those of tho North Atlantic in exhibitiug a series of broad seas and gulfs nearly land-locked. The Seas of Okhotsk, 252 INLAND WATEES THE OCEAN, Japan, and China, enclosed with islands, are the analogues of the Caribbean Sea and the Mexican Gulf, shut in by the West Indian groups. The total number of islands which stud the surface, either scattered or in clusters, is not known at all, even approximately ; but they are principally found in the westem half of the ocean, between the limits of 30° N. and 30° S. of the equator. In the opposite half, there is a belt of sea of varying width, extending from Behring's Strait to Cape Horn, which, with a few exceptions, is entirely free from islands. The Indian Ocean has no particular features independent of phenomena which belong to the department of meteorology, its hurricanes, and monsoons. But it takes historical precedence of the other oceans as a channel of commerce — the scene undoubtedly of the earliest voyage on record beyond the land-locked waters of the Mediterranean. The ships of Solomon, which started from his ports at the head of the Eed Sea, and were away for three years, going and returning, must certainly have passed out into the open ocean, as Arabian traders did for two thousand years after«-ards, visiting the shores of India for its products. This navigation, though apparently bold, was rendered comparatively easy by the periodical monsoons, which blow alternately from the south-west and the north-east,' thereby facilitating tho outward and homeward passage. The Atlantic Ocean, the most important and highly developed of the five basins, occupies a deep and sinuous longitudinal valley or gorge between America on the west, Europe and Asia on the east ; and thus divides by its waters the Old AA^orld from the New, The, name is derived either from the mountain-mass of Atlas which overlooks a portion of the surface from the north-westem corner of Africa, or from the fabled island of Atlantis, to which the ancients assigned a place in its bosom, and invested the spot with imaginary features. The breadth of the Atlantic valley is very varying. It is the narrowest in its northerly extension, where the coasts of Greenland and Norway form the opposite sides, and are only about 900 miles apart. It widens to nearly 5000 mdes between the peninsula of Florida and the north African shore. It contracts again at the equator, where the distance from Cape St Eoque in Brazil to the nearest point of Africa is about 1600 miles. Thence it opens southerly, and acquires its greatest expansion. The northem shores of the Atlantic, on both sides, are rough with peninsulas, and exhibit far-extending intrusions of the waters into the land, while the southern have a compara tively unbroken and regular outline. Hence, owing to the many winding seas, deep gulfs, and broad bays, into which tbe ocean ramifies in its northem half, the total extent of the coast-line is enormous, upwards of 50,000 miles, or more than that of the Pacific and Indian Oceans together. The entire water-surface is estimated to cover an area of 35,000,000 square miles. It has been often observed that the opposite coasts exhibit a remarkable correspondence in their projecting and retiring angles, as though they would interlock if brought together. Thus the rounded mass of AA'estern Africa appears to fit into the vast gulf formed on the American side by the Caribbean Sea; and the convex projection of BrazU seems adapted to fiU up the retreat of the opposite shore occupied by the Gulf of Guinea. The bed of the Atlantic is much better known than that of any other pai-t of the universal ocean. The space between Europe and North America has been most carefuUy examined by expeditions of the commercial nations, in order to establish telegraphic communication from shore to shore ; and a very large number of soundings were taken, during the cruise of the Challenger, in both the North and South Atlantic, The general configuration of the bottom of the Atlantic may be thus described :— An elevated table-land, averaging 1900 fathoms from the surface of the water, extends tho whole length of the ocean from north to south, half-way between the European and African coasts on one side and the American on the other. On the THE OCEAN, 253 north it joins a transverse plain, stretching from Ireland to Newfoundland, on which tho first Atlantic cable was laid. Towards the south-east it approaches the Cape of Good Hope, and on the west, nearly touches the northwest coast of South America, a short way north of the equator. Thus three deeper basins are left, one long and narrow, starting from the west coast of Europe along the whole west side of Africa. There is another near the American coast, from about 35° to 12° N.L., which is the deepest ; and a third to the south-west, extending from near the equator to about 30° S.L., and probably open to the great Antarctic Ocean, The whole Atlantic may be looked on as a huge gulf of the latter on one side of the globe, as the Pacific is on the other. The greatest depth is not more than 3873 fathoms, and the greatest depth of the Pacific is about 4575 fathoms. The greatest depression of the Atlantic basin is thus only some 8000 feet more than the height of the highest mountain in Europe. A peculiar feature ofthe Atlantic is the Mer de Sargasso, or ' AVeedy Sea,' so called by the early Spanish and Portuguese mariners. This is a vast tract of nearly stagnant water, extending from the meridian of 30° W. to the Bahamas, between the parallels of 19° and 36° N., densely covered in many parts with closely matted sea-weed, Fucus natans, one of the most widely distributed of the social sea plants, the habitation of a countless number of marine animals. A well defined portion is known as the 'Fucus Bank of Corvo and Flores,' from two of the westermost islands of the Azores, the nearest land. The vegetation has only been found floating ; but from the unmense quantities of it, often sufficient to impede the progress of vessels, it is supposed not to be drifted from the coast, but to grow locally on rocks and banks at the bottom of com paratively shallow parts of the ocean, from which it is readily detached after fructification. The appearance of these 'sea- weed meadows,' praderiaz de yerva, as they are called by Oviedo, powerfully impressed the mind and excited the imagination of Columbus and his comrades. The trade winds blow regularly in the intertropical portion of the Atlantic, This region of steady breezes from the east, where the waves are low and the swell is gentle, the Spaniards called il golfo de las damas, frora the easy navigation, supposing that even women might venture to conduct a vessel from the Canaries to the AVest India Islands. Beyond the tropic-s the winds are variable, but those from the north-west and south-west are so far prevalent in the North Atlantic, that sailing ships make the passage from New York to Liverpool in a much shorter time than when proceeding between the ports in the opposite direction. As the most crowded maritime highway of the civilized world, having property amounting in value to many miUions constantly on its surface, and thousands of human lives day and night at the mercy of its waves, Europeans and Americans have made themselves carefully acquainted with the Atlantic ; and have amassed a large amount of information respecting its currents, winds, depths, temperature, and occasional derangements, for protective and generally useful purposes. Certain great lines of passage are now almost as well known, and as regularly traversed, with a little variation according to the seasons, as the highways on land ; and as the result of multi plied observations, it seems to have been ascertained that the North Atlantic is most free from disturbing and endangering causes, whether storms, ice, or fogs, for the three weeks between the 20th of July and the 12th of August. Aurora Borealls, CHAPTER V, THE ATMOSPHERE METEOROLOGY, VAST gaseous envelope, called the atmosphere, every where surrounds the solid and liquid portions of the terrestrial surface, and is maintained in connection with it by the power of gravity, while sharing in the orbital revolution and diurnal rotation of the globe. In con sequence of the latter motion it must necessarily assume the form of au oblate spheroid, but with au oblateiiess much more considerable than that of the earth itself, owing to the inferior capacity of an aijrial body to con tend with the contrifugtil force at the equator, together with the high temperature prevailing in the inter-tropical zone, for the well-known effect of heat upon the air is to expand its volume. Some of the most marveUous phenomena of the natural world have their source and scat in this all-enfolding fluid. It performs also the most important functions in the economy of teri'estrial existence, for upon its chemical constitution the possibUity of THE ATMOSPHERE. 255 organic life absolutely depends, while its mechanical agency, as indicated by winds and temperature, is not less essential to the preservation of the vegetable, animal, and human races. We owe to its influence the exhalation of moisture from the surface of the earth ; the apparition of clouds and the precipitation of rain ; the maintenance of combustion ; the diffusion of solar light and heat ; the formation of useful soils by the disintegration of rocks ; the transmission of sounds and odours ; with the gradual shading of day into night, and the gentle brightening of night into day, or the evening and the morning twiUght. The atmosphere consists of dry air and the vapour of water. The air is composed of nitrogen and oxygen, gases which are highly injurious when inhaled separately, but when mingled in definite proportions, form the medium in which we live and move and have our being, Eepeated analyses show that in 100 parts of atmospheric air there are 20-9 parts of oxygen by volume to 79'1 parts of nitrogen, and by weight 23 '1 parts of oxygen to 76'9 of nitrogen. A small proportion of carbonic acid also enters into its composition, with traces of several other volatUe substances, as ammonia and ozone, which require tbe most delicate analysis to detect. But the air of the atmosphere is never found perfectly dry. There is always present a certain amount of watery vapour, which is continually fluctuating, but supposed to be at least 1 per cent, in the clryest weather, while ordinarily the air contains about half as much aqueous vapour as it is able to hold m suspension. Particles of solid matter in a state of exceedingly minute division are also found in tho atmosphere, chiefiy the seeds of plants and the eggs of aniraals, the presence of which is revealed in the sunbeam, obviously foreign ingredients of accidental introduction. Various gases likewise are given off to the air in marshy and bituminous districts, as well as from smelting furnaces, chemical works, sewers, and other similar sites, which render them insalubrious ; but these derangements of the coramon air are purely adventitious and entirely local, being altogether inappreciable apart from the neighbourhoods where they arise. The natural composition of the atmosphere is remarkably uniform throughout its entire mass. Its prime constituents and their relative proportions are the same in all countries of the globe, at all times and at all elevations, over land and over sea, on the summit of the highest mountains and at their base, under the equator and towards the poles, BerthoUet found the air of Egypt identical with that of France ; and air collected on the top of Mont Blanc, or brought down in balloons from the altitude of 21,000 feet, has yielded on analysis the same ingredients as tbat obtained in the deepest vaUeys, The atraosphere possesses -weight — one of its most important properties. It exerts a pressure of about 151bs. upon every square inch of surface; and hence a man of ordinary size is exposed to a weight of about 14 tons. Yet no inconvenience is found to result from it, as the air permeates the whole body, and* presses equaUy in all directions. Not only is there no inconvenience, but a valuable end is gained in relation to the organism of the human frame, for it has been ascertained that the heads of the thigh and arm bones are kept in their sockets by atmospheric pressure. It would seem also from the experience of aeronauts in balloon ascents, who often suffer from bleeding at the nose, ears, and even eyes, that the strength of the blood-vessels has been adjusted with reference to the pres sure of the atniosphere at ordinary heights. Fluctuations of temperature, and other causes, produce changes of density in the air, and of its pressure at any given place, though the oscillations are in general of small amount, and the mean pressure is very nearly the same from year to year. These changes are indicated by tho barometer (the measure of weight), a simple instrument consisting of a column of mercury poised or pressed up into a vacuum by the weight of the atmosphere. In proportion as the air becomes heavier, the mercury of course rises, and falls as it beconies lighter. The haro- 256 THE ATMOSPHERE — METEOROLOGT. meter renders valuable aid in hypsomctry, or the art of measuring the heights of moun tains. When the instrument is at the foot of a mountain, the pressure which the mercury sustains is greater than that which it experiences at tho top, by the whole weight of the column of air intervening between the base and the suramit. Pascal was the first to employ this method in ascertaining difference of altitude. He committed the experi mental process to the care of his brother-in-law, M. Perier, who ascended the Puy de Domo, one of the mountains of Auvergne, on the 19th of September 1648, and found the mercury gradually to fall as he proceeded to the summit, where it stood more than three inches lower than at the base. At the top of Snowdon, which rises to the height of 3590 feet above the level of the sea, the mercurial column has exhibited a fall of 3^ inches. Humboldt also, at the foot of Chimborago, found the barometer to stand exactly at 30 inches ; but on ascending the mountain to the height of 19,000 feet, it was very little higher than 14 inches. There is another way in which the varying density or pressure of the atmosphere at different altitudes is serviceable in the measurement of heights, namely, by observing the boiling point of water, which decreases in a ratio nearly equivalent to the decrease of atmospheric pressure. At the sea-level water boils, or passes into the state of steam at the temperature of 212° Fahrenheit, but at the hospice of the Great Bernard it boils at the lower temperature of 203°, and on the summit of Mont Blanc, as observed by Saussure, at 186°. It may be roughly stated, that a change of elevation to the extent of 1000 feet will be indicated by a fall of about 1 inch of the barometer, and that a difference of 1° in the boiling point of water, as indicated by the common thermometer, answers very nearly to a difference of 550 feet of elevation. But attention to formulse of considerable complexity is necessary in finding with any close approach to exactness the height of a mountain by barometrical and thermometrical observations made at the base and the summit. The atmosphere is in a high degree an elastic fiuid, or possesses the property of occu pying less space under the pressure of certain forces, and returning to its original volume when the influence is withdrawn. Hence its density is not uniform, but diminishes from below asoendingly, because the lower portions are compressed by the weight of the superincumbent air. The height of the atraosphere has not been determined, but that it must terminate at a certain distance from the surface of the earth is susceptible of direct proof, for there must be a point at which gravity on the one hand and the centrifugal force on the other are balanced, beyond which the latter force would carry off the aerial particles into celestial space. Inferences deduced from the duration of twilight give to the atmosphere the height of about 45 miles. Yet by far the greater portion of it is evidently within eight or ten miles of tho terrestrial surface, for even at a much less distance it is so rarefied as to be incapable of supporting life. Its vertical extent is there fore so trifling, when compared with the terrestrial diameter, that the relation between the two may be represented by 'that between an artificial globe and its coats of varnish. In ascending high mountains the rarity of the air sensibly diminishes the intensity of sound, renders respiration diffioult, produces a loss of physical strength, and traveUers have often found it impossible to reach their crests. The blood burst from the lips and ears of Humboldt while attempting to gain a high elevation in the Andes. He experienced also the same difficulty in kindling and maintaining a fire at groat heights which Marco Polo encountered on the high table-lands of Central Asia. Captain Gerard, who crossed the Mannering Pass in the Himalayas, remarks : ' Our elevation was now 16,000 feet, although we had but ascended in company with the river. Here only began our toUs ; we scaled the slope of the mountain very slowly ; respiration was laborious, and we felt exhausted at every step. Our situation was ditferent from anything we had yet experienced; WINDS AND STORMS. 257 it cannot be described. Long before we got up, our respiration became hurried and oft- pressive, and compelled us to sit down every few yards ; and then only could we inhale a sufficient supply of air. The least motion was accompanied by debility and mental dejection.' The effect of the diminished density of the atmosphere on the heights of the Andes is supposed to be a malady by the natives, due to exhalations from the metalliferous stores in the bowels of the mountains, and is called the veta. Its first symptoms, accord ing to Tschudi, aro felt at the elevation of 12,600 feet above the sea, and are indicated by dinmess of sight and hearing, pains in the head, nausea, with blood flowing from the eyes, nose and lips. Aeronauts in their ascents have had similar experience, which nearly proved fatal in the memorable balloon expedition for purely scientific purposes, made by Messrs Glaisier and Coxwell from Wolverhampton, on the 5th of September 1862, At 29,000 feet Mr Glaisier became insensible, and as the valve-Une was entangled, his com panion had to cUmb from the car into the ring in order to re-adjust it. The cold was so intense that he lost the use of his hands, and had to piiU it with his teeth. The balloon rose to the entfre height of 37,000 feet, or a mile higher than the highest peak of the Himalayas, fully equal to seven miles, the greatest elevation hitherto attained by man. The air is naturaUy colourless. Its prevaiUng blue tint arises from the rays of the red extremity of the spectrum freely passing through it, while the blue rays undergo the greatest reflection. The hue of the sky is, however, modified by elevation and the presence of aqueous vapour. It deepens in proportion as high mountains are ascended, because the atmospheric stratum is thinnest towards the zenith, and the deep black of inter planetary space has greater effect. For the same reason, in such situations, the stars shine out with peculiar lustre, and have a steady brightness instead of scintUlating, a fact with which the shepherds and chamois-hunters of the Alps have been long familiar. Eeceding from the zenith, the blue tint of the sky becomes paler, and frequently approaches to complete whiteness towards the horizon, owing to the vesicles of fog and vapour which occur in the greatest abundance in the lower regions of the air. The red and yellow hues of the morning and evening sky are referrible to the solar beams having then to traverse the largest and densest volume of the atmosphere, which permits the passage of the red and yeUow rays in preference, whUe the rest are reflected or absorbed. The currents of the atmosphere, or winds, so striking and varied iu their action, while so useful and necessary in the economy of • nature, and to the practical purposes of life, though occasionally calamitous, are among its leading phenomena, I, WINDS AND STORMS, The varying attraction of the sun and moon must necessarUy occasion disturbances in the aerial ocean around us — an alteration in the height of vertical columns of air — or atmospheric waves analogous to tidal phenomena. But the agitations with which we are famUiar under the name of winds are mainly caused by changes in the temperature of a portion of the air, and in the quantity of water which it holds in a state of vapour. The equUibiium of the atmosphere being deranged, the particles of air are set in motion to restore the balance ; and as the deranging causes act with varying intensity, the currents or winds created are diverse in power. Owing to the great expansibUity of the air by heat, if a small section of the earth's surface is suddenly and considerably raised in tem perature above that of the surrounding portions, the column of superincumbent air wUI be correspondingly heated, and thereby greatly expanded. Hence, as the air is fluid, the column at the top wUl flow over the adjoining colder strata, producing a wind in the upper regions pf the atmosphere blowing away from the heated spot. But in the lower regions, tlie adjoining and heavier air wUl rush in to supply the comparative void created, 2k 258 THE ATMOSPHERE — METEOEOLOGT, producing a wind in tho opposite direction, or towards the heated district. Tims, if a door is opened in winter communicating between a hot room and a cold space, thero wiD be formed an upper current of air directed from the heated apartment, and a lower current fiowing into it. The flame of a taper placed near the ceUing will incline from within outwards, and from without inwards if placed upon the floor. An addition of watery vapour to the atmosphere, causing a local increase in its density, also produces currents blowing away from the district where the evaporation is active ; and an abstraction of it by showers of rain or snow creates a partial vacuum, towards which the adjacent air rushes from aU points of the compass. Winds are always named after the points of the compass from whicii they blow. These are noted in meteorological registers as follows : N, North. N by E. Nortli hy east. NNE, North, north-east. NE by N, North-east by nortli. NE, Nortli-east. NE by E, North-east by east. ENE, East, north-east Eby N, East by north. E, East. EbyS, E.ist by south. ESE, East, south-east. SE by E, South-east by east. SE, ; South-east. SE by S, South-east by south. SSE, South, south-east. S by E, South by east. s,S by AV, SSW, SAV by S, SAV, SAV by AV, AVSAV, AVby S, AV, "VV by N, AVNW,NW by AV, NW, NW by N, NNAVi N by AV, South.South by west. South, south-west. .Sonth-west hy soutli. South-west. South-west by west. West, south-west. • AVest by south. A\'-est.AVest by north. West, north-west. North-west by west. North-west.North-west by north. North, north-west. North by west. A complete change of wind, as from north to south, east to west, passing over the hiter- mediate points, very rarely occurs in Europe. Muller states, that although the changes in the direction of the wind appear on a superficial view to be utterly devoid of rule iu our regions, yet attentive observers have long since made the remark that winds generally succeed each other in the foUowing order : S., SW., W., N W., N",, NE., E., SK, S, The velocity of the wind is very sensible, and is usuaUy estimated by the force it exerts upon our own bodies, and surrounding pliant objects. But scientific men use the anemometer, an instrument constructed to measure its velocity and pressure, some deter minations of which may be thus popularly expressed : 7 miles an hour. . A gentle air. 40 miles an hour 14 „ , A light breeze. 60 „ 21 „ , A strong steady breeze. 80 to 100 A gale. A heavy stomi. A destructive liiuricane. Eesults respecting the force exerted by the wind at different velocities on one square foot are added : 5 miles an hour, 2 oz. 61 miles an hour. . 13 lbs. 10 .. ilb. 60 „ , 18 lbs. 20 „ 2 lbs. 70 . 24 lbs. 30 44 lbs. 80 „ . 32 lbs. 40' 8 lbs. 100 „ , 50 lbs. Ordinary seamen, not acquaiiitod with the use of scientific instruraents, distinguish valua tions in the velocity and force of the wind by characteristic phrases : Faint air. Light air, Jjiglit breeze. Gentle breeze. Fresh breeze. -Gentle gale. Jtoderate gale. Brisk gale. Fresh gale. Strong gale. Hard gale. Storm, WINDS AND STORMS. "^" During the great storm which passed over London on February the 6th, 1867, the ane mometer at Lloyds registered a pressure of 35 lbs, to the square foot, from which the velocity of the wind may be uiferred to have been upwards of 80 mUes an hour. Winds are usuaUy distributed into three great classes, the Permanent, the Periodical, and the Variable, some of which have a distinct physical character impressed upon them by the regions from which they blow, as hot or cold winds. Permanent breezes prevaU in the inter-tropical zone, maintaining the same direction and very nearly the same force throughout the year, which were eariy distinguished by mai-iners as the Trade-winds, from the great service rendered by their steadiness to navi-. gation, Halduyt speaks of the ' wind blowing trade,' a regular track or course. These wmds aro termed the north and south east trades, owmg to their direction being from the north-east in the northern hemisphere, and the south-east in the southern. Thek limits in the Atlantic Ocean have been fixed by navigators with great precision. The north-east ti-ade-wind prevaUs at a mean between the parallels of 8° and 28° north latitude, and the south-east between those of 3° north latitude and 28° south. Both blow more decidedly from the east as the equator is approached. Between them is a zone styled the Equatorial Eegion of Calms, in which a thick foggy afr prevaUs, while the sea is for a time smooth as a mirror, and the elemental repose complete. But the strong evaporation and conse quent deluges of rain change the scene by disturbing the equilibrium of the atmosphere ; and hence there are occasional sudden squalls and violent storms, accompanied by terrible thunder and Ughtning. Seamen distinguish this region by the name of the ' Doldrums,' and also by that of the 'Eains.' At the outer limits of the trade-winds in both hemis pheres, whore the breezes begin to be variable, though chiefly westeriy, there is a second zone known as the Calms of Cancer and Capricorn, distinguished by almost constant weather changes, calms and sudden gusts, thunder, lightning, and rain. The trade-winds are susceptible of easy explanation. The region within and near the tropics is the hottest on the earth. This heat causes an expansion of the cireumambient air, and a consequent diminution of its weight. Hence the lighter afr ascends, and in the upper region of the atmosphere flows over the colder and heavier air on either side in the dfrection of the poles, from which a cooler current flows to supply its place. Thus, two currents are forraed in each hemisphere, an upper and a lower, but traveUing in opposite directions ; and if the earth were at rest, the direction of the lower current in the northern hemisphere would be from north to south, and in the southern hemisphere from south to north. But as the earth rotates upon its axis from west to east, and the velocity of the rotation becomes greater and greater on receding from the poles towards the equator, the under or surface currents, pursuing that course, are deflected towards the west, in proportion as they faU to acquire the increased velocity of the surface towards the east. Thus, instead of proceeding directly from north to south, and from south to north, they assume an intermediate course, and become winds blowing from north-east to south-west within the northern tropic, and from south-east to north-west withm the southem. The trade-winds would blow regulariy around the entire globe on each side of the equator, but the uneven surface and unequal temperature of the land tend to derange and divert them. They are not experienced at all on the African side of the Atlantic, within a considerable distance of the coast, but contrary westerly winds prevaU, This is owing to the rarefaction of the air over the hot desert of the Sahara, which causes a current of cooler air to blow from the ocean to the shore. The Pacific has regular trade- winds along with the Atlantic ; but in the Indian Ocean they are interrupted by the monsoons. They are also experienced on equatorial lands which exhibit extensive levehs, as in the basin of the Amazon, where a constant breeze is met with blowing from its 260 THE ATMOSPHERE— METEOEOLOGT, estuaiy to its sources on the slopes of the Andes, While the north-cast trade-wind, first discovered by Columbus, facUitated his westward course across tho Atlantic, its constancy filled his companions with dismay, as it seemed to preclude the hope of their retum to the shores they had quitted. Periodical winds are those which prevail at certain seasons of tho year or times of the day. To this class belong the land and sea-breezes, specially felt along the coasts in tropi cal localities, and also to some considerable distance from the shores, both landward and seaward. A few hours after sunrise a breeze from the sea springs up, owing to the land being more rapidly and strongly heated by the sun rays. The warra air over the land becoming rarefied ascends, and the cool air over the water flows in to supply its place. Thus the sea-breeze is established. At first light and scarcely perceptible, it gradually acquires force as the day advances, attains its maximum strength in the aftemoon, when the daily temperature is at the highest point, afterwards dying away to a perfect calm soon after sunset. The order of events is reverse during the night. Then the knd cools rapidly by the radiation of heat, while the sea retains nearly the same temperature ; and hence the cooler air over the land becoming heavier and denser flows out over the sea as a breeze from the shores. The s.-noke of Vesuvius often strikingly exemplifies this diurnal change in the direction of the aerial currents, its long plume stretching landward during the heat of the day, and then veering round to seaward as the night comes on. Within the tropics, as around the West India islands, and along the coast of Malabar, the alter nating breezes are powerfully felt, the land-wind extending in sumraer a considerable dis tance out to sea, fragrant with the odour of flowering and spice plants, while the sea-breeze is an iraportant benefaction to the landsmen, moderating a heat which would otherwise be almost insupportable. But aU around Great Britain, iu the hot months, a gentle sea- breeze by day, and a land-breeze by night is more or less perceptible. In a simUar manner, around spacious lakes in hot countries, the breeze shifts diurnaUy, being from the surface of the water by day, and towards it by night. The most remarkable of the periodical winds are the monsoons, which sweep the surface of the Indian Ocean and the adjoining lands, blowing from different quarters and in different localities, through nearly the entire year. The term is Malayan, but derived from the Arabic mausim, a set time or season. North of the equator, from November to March, a north-east wind reigns, making its appearance sooner in the Arabian sea than in the Bay of Bengal, while at the same time, south of the equator, a north-west wuid pre vaUs, between Madagascar, the Sunda islands, and the northem shores of Australia. But from the middle of AprU to the close of September, a south-west wind blows in the former region, and at the same time a south-east wind in the latter. These are the monsoons, each lasting about five months, there being two months in the year when they are not experienced, from the middle of March to the middle of April, and from the middle of September to the middle of October, During these intervals the changes in the direction of the wind called ' the breaking up of the monsoon,' are effected, when calms and light breezes alternate with gales, hurricanes, and thunder-storms, ' It is a singular fiature of the case, that as soon as one monsoon ceases, though a month elapses before the succeed ing one sets in, the clouds at once take tho direction of the approaching wind, and thus herald its coraing to the regions below. The north-east and south-east raonsoons may be regarded as trade winds, explicable on the same principles, but counteracted for a certain tirae by causes which produce winds from a different quarter, or the south-west and north west monsoons. The former, from south-west, prevails when India, Siam, and the adjoinmg countries, are receiving their maximum of heat, hence occasioning a rush of cooler air towards the region of rarefaction. The latter, from north-west, is coincident with the sun WINDS AND STORMS, 261 being vertical soutli of the equator, when the immense surface of Australia is powerfully heated, and a cooler atmosphere is set in motion in that direction. The monsoons are much stronger than the trade-winds, and may often be called gales, though by no means of imiform force, either, as it respects themselves, or each other. They are also more valuable auxiliaries to navigation and commerce, owing to the change on their direction, for a ship sailing with one monsoon to a distant port may be aided on the return voyage by its successor. They are of prime importance to India which depends entirely upon their influence for its rain-fall. The south-west monsoon conveys the vapours of tho Indian Ocean, while the north-east monsoon brings those of the Bay of Bengal, respectively to the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, diffusing precipitation over the interior. Variable winds, or those which are altogether irregular as to time, direction, and force, sometimes prevaUing for several successive days or weeks, and at other times shifting in a brief interval through almost aU the points of the compass, are characteristic of raean and high latitudes. But generally a particular quarter has the preference, as in the United Kingdom and western Europe, where the most frequent direction is from south-west to north-east. Designating the total number of winds that blow in a given time by 1000, their relative frequency in the European countries named has been estimated as foUows : — N. NE, E. SE, S. SVf, AV, NAV. England, 82 111 99 81 111 225 171 120 France, . 126 , 140 84 76 117 192 155 110 Germany, 84 98 119 87 97 185 198 132 Denmark, 65 98 100 129 92 198 161 157 Sweden, . 102 104 80 110 128 210 159 107 The two great currents of warm air constantly flowing in the higher region of the atmos phere from the equator towards the poles descend as they cool, raeet with the two great surface currents flowing frora the poles towards the equator, and the variable winds of mean and high latitudes result from the interference, subject to further deflection from the irregular distribution of laud and sea, mountain, plain, and vaUey, with the diverting influence of storms, and the rotation of the earth upon its axis. There are certain winds usuaUy classed with the variables, but which have a character of periodicity, and. are specially distinguished by physical properties belonging to them, being variously moist or dry, warm or cold, as they blow from an expanse of ocean or of continent, from highly-heated deserts and warm climates, or from snow-ca^jped mountains, ice-bound seas, and cold latitudes in general. Thus, westerly winds in the British islands, and especially those from the south-west, are warm and humid, sweeping over an immense zone of water in the direction of the inter-tropical ocean, while the true east wind which prevaUs with us in spring is piercingly cold and iiltolerably dry, having for the most part a continental course from the place of its genesis in the higher latitudes of Eussia. The ancients gave the name of Etesian, annual or seasonal, to cold and gusty north-east gales experienced in the eastem parts of the Mediterranean in summer and autumn, when the heated air of the great African desert is ascending rapidly, and currents from the cooler atmosphere of the north flow in to take its place. The Mistral, a bitingly cold and violent north wind, which blows down the valley of the Ehone under a perfectly azure sky by day, and with the stars shining with extraordinary brightness by night, is a rush of the condensed air from the summits of the Alps and the Cevennes, to supply the vacuum formed by the expansion of the air in the warm southern provinces of France, and on the adjoining surface of the Mediterranean. The Nortes, or north winds of the Gulf of Mexico, have similar characteristics, being turbulent, cold, and dry, remarkable also for the suddenness of their approach. But the Puna winds of the Andes, so called aftei a 262 THE ATMOSPHERE — METEOROLOGY. vast tract of desolate table-land of that name in Peru, are perhaps the driest and most parching on the face of the globo, while at the same time intensely cold. Tliey descend from the snowy peaks of the Cordilleras, prevail through four months of the year, and are so sharp and cutting as to corapel travellers to protect the face with a mask. These winds are so dry and absorbent of the moisture of animal bodies, that a dead mule is converted in a few days into a mumray. According to Prescott, the historian of Peru, the old Peruvians preserved the remains of their dead for ages by simply exposing them to the dry, cold, and rarefied atmosphere of their native mountains. The Pamperos, which sweep from the Andes across the pampas to Buenos Ayrea, are likewise dry winds, shrivelling the vegetation, and frequently darkening the sky with clouds of dust. They are experienced in suramer, and rarely last longer than a few hours. The dry, sandy or stony deserts of the tropical zone, heated by a vertical sun, originate remarkably hot winds, which occur there in the greatest force, but visit with a modified influence the neighbouring countries at particular seasons. The Khamsin, ' fifty,' is the name given to a hot southerly wind which blows at intervals in Egypt generally for a period of somewhat more or less than fifty days, from the close of AprU untU June, at the commencement of the inundation of the Nile. In Italy and Sicily, the Sirocco, or south wind, caUed the Solano in Spain, brings the heat of the African Sahara to the northern shores of the Mediterranean, commeucing faintly about the time of the summer solstice, but occasionally blowing with great force iii July. From the days of the Eoman poets, it has been celebrated for its enervating effect upon mind and body, though aU constitutions are not equaUy susceptible of its influence. The Har-mattan, experienced over the north-western countries of Africa, is an easterly wind blowing from the Sahara, from which it derives an extraordinary degree of heat and dryness. It prevails at intervals from the middle of November to the midcUe of February, seldom lasts longer than a day or two, though it has been known to continue a fortnight, aud there are coraraonly three or four returns of it every season. No dew appears whUe it sweeps over Senegambia and Guinea, nor is there the least symptom of moisture in the atmosphere. Vegetation consequently suffers. Tender plants are destroyed, vigorous evergreens are withered, and the tall grasses become like hay, while household furniture cracks, the covers of books are shriveUed, and any veneered work faUs to pieces, • But to the human system the Harmattan is salubrious, though causing disagreeable sensations. It occurs after the rainy season on the African coast, during which fevers and other diseases aro induced by an excess of moisture, which its dryness quickly removes from the soU. It is not surprising, from the known effect and attendant phenomena of the burning blast, as experienced on the immediate borders of the tropical deserts, and in the heart of the shelterless wastes, that fictitious properties have been assigned to it. These are indicated by the names in use among the Arabs and Turks, Simoom and Samiel, both signifying a poison-wind, in allusion to its supposed pestiferous qualities. The atmosphere assumes an alarming aspect during the prevalence of the hot wind, and towards tho horizon becomes of a duU purplish or violet hue. Though no masses of vapour darken the air, yet the sky is black and heavy. The sun loses all his splendour. Camels turn their heads in a direction opposite to the breath of the fire-kiug, or instinctively thrust them into any bush by the way, Arabs cover their faces, or lie prostrate on the ground ; and beyond all doubt, fatal consequences have resulted to human life. But there is no foundation for the idea of the air possessing any poisonous property. Charged with impalpable sand, it is suffocating, and while tho heat dries the skin, accelerates respiration, inflames the throat, and produces intense thirst, it evaporates the water carried in skins by the caravans. This is a combinition of circumstances only too likely to be fatally WINDS AND STORMS, 263 disastrous to an exposed party. The flne dust of the desert, often deeply tinged with oxide of iron, raised in the air, strips the sun of his brilliance, darkens the canopy of heaven, and originates the purplish or violet hues of the atmosphere, Cambyses, the second monarch of the Medo-Persian empire, is said to have perished with his entire array in the Lybian desert, between the Nile and the oasis of Jupiter Ammon, after a seven days' journey in it. The terrible heat of the simoom, the inundation of sand raised by the wind, and the failure of water, are quite sufficient to explain such a calamity. A Saracen host, in the tirae of the Crusades, suffered dreadfully from the same cause while traversing the wilderness between Egypt and Palestine. ' In this desert,' says WUUam of Tyre, the historian of the event, ' waves of sand are raised and tossed about, like the waves of the sea when troubled with tempestuous winds, so that to navigate a stormy sea is at tunes not more dangerous than to pass such deserts.' The corresponding testimony of raodern travellers acquits the old chroniclers of all charge of exaggeration, Australia has hot winds comparable in their high teraperature and distressing effect to those of Africa and Western Asia, They blow in summer from the heated plains of the interior to the occupied districts on the coasts, raising the thermometer to 100°, and sometimes to 120° in the shade. But fortunately they are not of frequent occurrence, or of long duration. AVhirlwinds are formed by two currents of air moving in opposite directions being obUquely impeUed agamst each other, when the stronger current gives the direction of the resulting rotation. Though most frequent in the hot regions within the trojpics, especially where there are flat, sandy deserts, they are not uncommon in extra-tropical latitudes ; and are made very sensible to the eye by carrying up light particles along their path in spiral columns to a considerable height, whfle occasionally of sufficient power to dislodge heavy materials. They are of short duration, Umited in breadth at the greatest to one or two hundred yards, while the length of their course may be measured by single mUes. They seem to move at a gentle pace when viewed from a distance, though really proceeding at a rapid rate; and it is not unusual for a considerable number to be seen in movement at the same instant. These whirlwinds occurring out at sea carry up in columns the spray of the waves broken by the violent commotion, and cause the lower clouds to assume the same form. The two frequently unite so as to produce water-spouts, which may obviously be formed on the surface of extensive lakes. AVhat are styled water-spouts in inland districts are quite distinct phenomena, being simply very local heavy rains, which may or may not be accompanied by a whirUng motion of the air. The more violent commotions of the atraosphere, caUed Storms, which are occasionally experienced in aU latitudes with varying power, differ only from ordinary aerial disturb ances in the extent of land and sea over which they sweep, along with their destructive force, and the remarkably sudden changes which occur in the direction of the wind. Thej' are variously termed hurricanes, tornadoes, and typhoons, in certain areas of the tropical regions where they respectively originate. To such areas they are often entirely Umited, though sometimes travelling far into bordering parts of the temperate zones, but with gradually abating fury. Those which visit Europe generaUy commence thoir course on the opposite side of the Atlantic, taking their rise in the Belt of Calms north of the equator, where the rapid condensation of vapour and deluges of rain occasion vast dis turbance in the equUibrium of the atmosphere. Their direction is determined by the prevailing winds, and is most frequently from south-west to north-east in the instance of the hurricanes which sweep over the British Isles. Besides having a progressive recti linear motion, they have a rotatory movement, and are in fact whirlwinds' of prodigious magnitude and power, the air at the outer circle revolving with great velocity, whUe gusts and lulls occur in the vortices. Hence the direction of the wind at a particular place 2g4 THE ATMOSPHERE — METEOROLOGY. furnishes no clue to the course in which the whole revolving mass of the atmosphere is advancing, though this is known from independent circumstances. Durmg the great storm of November 2, 1863, at 8 a.m., the wind was blowing south at Yarmouth, south west at Paris, north-west at Cork, north at Dublin, and north-east at SUloth in Cumber land. This rotatory motion is a feature which belongs to the storms of both hemispheres, the phenomena of which have been attentively observed. But in the northem hemisphere the motion is retrograde, and in the southern direct; or contrary, in the former case, to the direction of the hands of a watch, and conformable to it in the latter. The progressive movement is comparatively slow, ranging from 15 to 30 mUes an hour, whUe the revolving motion is frequently 70 or 80 mUes, and still more in rektion to both within the tropics. Though very variable in the areas over which great storms extend themselves, they have rarely a diameter less than 500 miles. It is often two or three times that amoimt, and occasionally the whole of Europe is entangled in the meshes of a single hurricane. The West Indies, the north-west coast of Africa, the Indian Ocean, and the Chinese Sea, are speciaUy hurricane regions, where they exhibit terrific violence, especiaUy near the shores of continents and islands, tearing up the largest trees, leveUing solidly-buUt houses, and making awful havoc with human life by sea and land. The winds perform a grand and important part in nature. They moderate extremes of heat and cold by interchange of currents from cool and warm clunates ; drift the moisture evaporated from the ocean over the interior of continents, to be precipitated in fertUisuig showers ; diffuse the productions of the vegetable kingdom by the transport of poUen and seeds ; supply man with a motive power in navigation, which was indispensable before the age of steam ; render the deleterious exhalations of swamps and marshes innocuous by bringing them into fresh combinations ; serve to renew the air of cities where causes of vitiation largely operate ; and prevent that stagnation of the atmosphere which tends physically and mentally to deteriorate the human race. II, EVAPORATION — DEW CLODDS RAIN SNOW HAIL. Water is constantly passing into the state of invisible vapour, which the air receives. From the ocean, the rivers, lakes, and pools, as weU as from the moist soils, it is evaporated by a process of marvellous subtilty and power, in which heat is the prime agent, for if the air is warm the water wUl evaporate into it more rapidly than when it is cold. Hence depending mainly upon temperature, the formation of watery vapour is subject to annual and diurnal variations. It is at the maximum in the summer months, and the minimum in the winter ones ; is greater by day than by night ; diminishes in amount, other circum stances being equal, from the equator to the poles ; and is of course more copious in maritirae than inland situations, owing to the greater extent to which an evaporating surface is supplied. But the air is only capable of receiving a certain quantity of aqueous vapour. Its capacity in this respect depends upon its temperature, and bears invariably the same ratio to the same thermometric condition. When as much has been taken up as a volume of air at a particular temperature is capable of receiving, it is said to be at the point of saturation. Any increase of heat will enable it to receive more by the consequent expansion of the aerial particles j and any decrease wiU prodnce condensation, causing part of the contained vapour to be rejected, and becorae visible in the shape of fogs, clouds, or fluid drops. Thus the effect of change of temperature upon the saturated air is precisely analogous to that of the hand relaxing or tightening its hold of a piece of wet sponge. The presence of watery vapour in the air, when otherwise invisible, is often made manifest by the deposition of Dew. Tliis moisture appears in the form of globules of DEW FOGS — CLOUDS, 265 varying size, deposited during perfectly serene and cloudless nights. It is seen in tho early morn fringing the leaves of plants, the blades of grass, the threads of the gossamer, like beads of silver sparkling in the sunbeams ; and is occasioned by the exposed objects being cooled by nocturnal radiation below the temperature of the air in contact with thera. Chilled by the cold embrace, the particles of air are no longer able to hold in suspension the sarae quantity of humidity, aud a portion of it is parted with. The production of dew when the nights are clear and calm, after the days have been hot and dry, is an observation as old as the time of Aristotle. It is explained by the fact, that only in the absence of clouds is the radiation of heat from the earth conducted so powerfully as to cool it sufficiently below the temperature of the contiguous air. When the sky is overcast, the heat radiated, which would otherwise go off into free space, is in part sent back by the clouds to the earth, and thus the necessary decrement in its temperature is prevented. But even when the sky is perfectly cloudless, no dew will be formed if the wind blows freshly, because the air in contact with the ground and the objects upon it suffers dis placement before it can be cooled to the dew-point. Yet a gentle motion of tho air facUitates a more abundant disengagement by bringing fresh portions of the saturated atmosphere into contact with the cold surface of the earth. Dew is also produced raost copiously upon objects completely exposed to the sky, for whatever acts as a shelter impedes radiation. Hence the herbage under a tree is less moistened than the grass in the centre of a field. It is likewise deposited sooner and more freely on certain objects than on others, because all bodies have not the same capacity for radiating heat. The smooth surfaces of vegetable productions possess the property, and are often seen be spangled with dew-drops, while the bare soils, with metals, glass, and timber, are com paratively dry. It is obvious that popular expressions respecting the formation of dew, as falling or rising, have no scientific exactness. Being simply a deposition, it may be produced on an under surface whicii nothing by falling can reach, or on an upper surface which nothing by rising can touch, or on a side surface which nothing by the mere act of either falling or rising can gain. In many countries where rain is infrequent or altogether suspended in the hot season of the year, the dew forraed at night refreshes the vegetation, and is often so abundant as completely to saturate the tents and baggage of travellers camping in the open air. When the teraperature of the cooled objects falls below 32°, the freezing-point, Hoar-frost, the ice of dew, is the product. Under the name of Fog or Mist, a haze is known, more or less general, sometimes covering the whole sky and clothing the surface of the ground. It consists of vapour which has lost its gaseous state by the temperature being lowered, and become condensed into excessively minute particles of water. Partial mists frequently appear in connection with the summits or sides of hills and raountains, and are formed by a stratum of saturated air being chilled by contact with them. Soon after sunset, in calm and clear weather, mists are often seen banging over lakes, rivers, and marshes, while the adjacent country is free from them. This arises from the land more rapidly losing its heat by radiation than the lake, river, or marsh ; and when the colder air of the land is brought over the warmer water, tho vapours from the latter are precipitated by the resulting condensation, and fog limited to the expanse ensues. Clouds consist of watery particles like fogs, and in no respect differ from thera, except that of position. They are suspended at different elevations in the atmosphere, drift under the direction of the wind, and exhibit a very varying density, with an endless diversity of definite but ever-changing shapes. The mode of their suspension has not yet been satisfactorily explained, and presents a difficulty, since thoy are specifically heavier than the medium in which they float. It has been suggested that the particles 2 L 266 THE ATMOSPHERE METEOROLOGT. of water are hollow globules like soap bubbles, but no proof of this has been advanced ; and the hoUowness of the particles would not account for their floating unless filled with a gas lighter than the surrounding air. Much may be due to the effect of the ordinary horizontal air currents, for the dust of the roads is often borne to great heights as well as distances by the winds ; and also to ascending currents of heated air during tho day, which exert a force directly opposite to the faU of the clouds. Hence the mighty masses of cumuli attain their greatest elevation in the aftemoon, when the temperature of the day is the highest, and the ascending currents are the strongest. Towards evening, as the heat diminishes and the ascending currents wax feeble, these clouds descend, and are dissolved on reaching the lower and warmer regions of the atmosphere. The clouds are commonly arranged in beds parallel to the earth's surface, and are rarely, if ever, vertical to it. They have a higher altitude generally within the tropics than in tho temperate zones ; and in the latter they are usually higher in summer than in winter. None are at a greater elevation than five or six miles above the sea-level, and the majority are within a mile of it. The cin'i are tho highest, Dalton gives their range as frequently from three to five miles, with which Kaemtz's measurements at Halle correspond. The latter states, that during a stay of eleven weeks within sight of the Finster-aar-horn, iu Switzerland, upwards of 14,000 feet high, he never saw any .cirri below the summit of the mountain. Travellers have often remarked that on very elevated peaks these clouds appear the same as when seen from the plains. Notwithstanding the varied and shifting disposition of tho clouds, they may be classified under a fow principal t3'pes, first dis- ' tinguished and named by Mr Luke Howard in 1802, whose arrangement has been universally adopted. Three primary forms are defined. Cirrus, or Curl-cloud. The name refers to the external character of this kind of cloud, as consisting of light, flexuous, or diverging fibres, often shooting out from a nucleus in all direction.'!, like a distended lock of hair, or a crest of feathers. But sometimes the fibres are arranged in parallel bands, which are crossed by thin filaments, the whole resembling fine trellis-work, or delicate net-work. These clouds, when the wavy arrange ment to and fro is prominent in their structure, are called wind-trees, Windsboeume, by the Germans. Owing to their great elevation, to which reference has been made, they are the first to catch the solar illumination in the raorning, and the last to lose it in the evening. At an altitude also where the temperature is often far below the freezing-point, they must be composed of minute snow crystals. Their appearance is supposed to indicate variable weather. When raost conspicuous and abundant, they presage high winds, with rain in summer and snow in winter ; and when the streaming fibres have pointed in a particular direction for somo time, tho gale may be expected to blow from that quarter. Cumulus, or Staoken-cloud. This is eminently the cloud of the calm sumraer day, of persistently definite shape, therefore easily recognised. It consists of a hemispherical mass of vapour, like a baU of cotton, rising gradually from an irregular horizontal base, and increasing upwards. Honoe the names, aimulus, a heap or pile, and stacken-cloud, because formed from a number of detached patches which appear soon after sunrise, and are united or stacked in a common forraation as the raorning advances. It has no considerable elevation tiU after mid-day, and is therefore commonly under tho control of tho surface winds. The greatest magnitude, as weU as height, is attained early in the afternoon. It decreases in sizo and altitude as the sun declines, and is usually broken up towards sunset, rapidly separating into fragments as before its construction. At stations on high mountains, moteorologists havo often observed these clouds below them CLOUDS, , 267 in the moming, enveloping them towards noon, next soaring above them for a few hours, and then descending to the valleys beneath them at the close of day. Their rounded figure is formed under control of the law which causes a fiuid, when traversing another at rest, to assume a shape composed of curves, as in the instance of a cloud of steam issuing frora the boiler of a locomotive. The sumraits of cumidi are often silvery white, and resemble snow-topped mountains. When this is very brilliant, and has a coppery fringe, with an unusually dark base, thunder may be anticipated. But when the hues and size of these clouds are moderate, their shapes regular and pleasing, they presage calm, dry, and warra days. Stratus, or Fall-cloud. The former name, meaning a covering, aUudes to the position of the cloud, immediately contiguous to the surface of the earth ; and the latter to its origin, by tbe subsidence of vapour in the atmosphere. It belongs eminently to the night, forming about sunset, reaching its greatest density at or soon after midnight, being usually dissipated with the opening morn. The shape assumed is that of a widely- extended horizontal sheet of varying thickness, which stretches along and rests upon tho horizon. But tJie class includes all those light spreading mists which appear in calm, clear evenings, after hot summer and autumnal days, floating over valleys, plains, lakes, rivers, meadows, and damp grounds, variously creeping up the hiU sides, and seeming like a sea of vapour from any elevation. Virgil regarded it as an augury of continued fino weather when ' mists the hills forsake and shroud the plain ; ' and they aro commonly followed by a serene hot day. To these three primary forms, four varieties of the transition and composite kind are added ; Cir7-o-cumulus, or Sonder-cloud. This is a diversity intermediate to cirrus and cumulus. The former, after exhibiting its feathery, wisp-like filaments for a time, frequently passes into the modification by sinking to a lower station in the air, and becoming compressed into smaU white orbicular patches. These are sometiraes arranged in extensive beds, the components of which are quite distinct or asunder; hence the name, sonder-cloud, A very lovely sky is thus formed, familiarly known as fleecy, which poetry has styled ' The beauteous semblance of a flock at rest.* The prevalence of cirro-cumulus in summer betokens increased heat, and in winter the termination of frost. But when the respective cloudlets are of very regular round form, dense structure, and in close contact with each other, while arranged on a common horizontal or curved base, they are the natural harbingers of thunder-storms. Cirros-stratus, or Wane-cloud. This variety results from fibres of cirrus waning or subsiding in the atmosphere, ahd becoming compacted in bands of horizontal strata, forming a sheet very narrow in proportion to its length, and attenuated or broken at the extremities. It is sometimes seen cutting the disk of the sun or moon with a long, dark line, or hanging over them like a thin veil, one of tho surest prognostics we have of a fall of rain or snow. In another condition, cirro-stratus presents a series of parallel bars, shortening from the central and widest part of the cloud to tho extremities, forming the mackerel-backed sky of popular speech, Cumulo-stratus, or Twain-cloud. This form consists of two or more cumuli surmounting a wide, flat base, thus composing a twain or multiple cloud, the most magnificent variety to be seen in the sky. It often presents dark, overhanging masses, to which protuber ances, shining with a strong silvery light, offer a fine contrast, and give great effect to mountain scenery. Its formation commonly precedes some sudden atmospheric change, a tempest of rain or snow, and a thunder-storm. Borne by the air currents, the cirro- 268 THE ATMOSPHERE — METEOROLOGY. stratus is often conducted to the cumulo-stratus, and appears intersecting its whole extent. Nimbus, or Eain-cloud, The actual rain-giving cloud is not a distinct variety, for any one of tbe preceding classes may pass into it by an increase of density, which produces a change of appearance, greater darkness, irregularity, and extent. It often originates in cumulo-stratus, and is also frequently of the composite kind, two or more distinct varieties of cloud blending together, and losing their proper peculiarity of structure. After assuming a dark, lowering aspect, the mass becomes fringed at the edges. The bluish- black tone of colour changes to a lighter shade, or a uniform grey obscurity, a sure evi dence that rain is in the act of being precipitated. Thus while serving to moderate the heat of the solar rays during the day, and the earth's radiation of it during the night, the clouds return to the surface the moisture evaporated from it, upon which the springs, rivers, and lakes depend, with the life of plants, animals, and man. The minute particles of water of which the clouds are composed being increased in number by the further condensation of vapour, and enlarged in size by mutual contact, finally descend as drops of rain to the earth by reason of their o'wn gravity, either as a slow drizzle or a violent shower, according to the amount of moisture to be discharged, Avith the gradual or rapid manner in which the preparatory process transpires. But it is obviously possible for rain to descend in the higher region of the atniosphere without reaching the surface of the earth, being resolved again into invisible vapour on arriving at a stratum of air removed from tbe point of saturation. For the same reason rain-drops may become smaller in their faU by a portion being evaporated, and a less quantity of precipitation arrive at the general surface than at a certain height above it. But usnaUy the drops both enlarge and multiply in their descent, by bringing with them the low temperature of the upper regions, and condensing the vapour in the superficial and warmer strata of the atmosphere. Hence a rain-gauge placed at the bottom of a hUl wiU coUect more water in a given time than another placed at the suramit. The drops vary in size from 2V to \ of an inch in diameter, those of the thunder-storm being the largest. But in tropical showers they are enormous, very close together, and sometimes faU with such force as to occasion a sense of pain if they strike against the skin. There is nothing more irregular and apparently capricious than the rain-fall, both as to its amount in different localities and distribution over the surface of the globe. There are certain extensive tracts of country which are never visited with showers, properly so caUed ; and if a slight precipitation occurs, it is only at such distant intervals as to be considered quite a phenomenon. The coast of Peru, parts of California, Guatiniala, and the Mexican table-land, the African Sahara, portions of Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Beloochistan, and Mongolia are included in these rainless regions. The incumbent air has not a suffi cient supply of moisture to admit of its surrender under any ordinary decrease of tem perature. But there are other districts, as Patagonia and tho western side of Norway, where a day seldom passes without a drizzle, if not a copious shower. Again, the quantities discharged at one time vary prodigiously, for an amount has been coUected by the rain-gauge at particular stations in a single day equal, i)roportionately, to the average fall upon the entire surface of Great Britain throughout the year, Tho annual mean depth of rain for the whole of the United Kingdom may be reckoned at 35 inches. But at Joyeuse, in France, the remarkable quantity has been recorded of 31 inches in 23 hours; at Geneva, 30 inches in 21 hours; at Gibraltar, 33 inches in 26 horn's; on the hills above Bombay, 24 inches in one night; and on the Khasia HiUs, 30 inches on each of five successive days. The greatest quantity of rain falls within the tropics, and diminishes on receding from RAIN. 269 them into moan and high latitudes, because heat, the cause of vapour, decreases. The Iar!». enclose it proclaimedpoint, one SECTION I.-THE BRITISH ISLES AND EUROPEAN DEPENDENCIES. CHAPTER L GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. HE large island of Great Britain, of wliich England and ^ Wales form the southern division and Scotland the northern, with the sniaUer insular mass of Ireland, and very numerous adjuncts closely investing their shores, constitute the United ^ Kingdom, subject to the British crown, the home-territory and head-quarters of the most extensive and influential empire of the globe. The archipelago is situated to the westward of the European mainland, from which it is separated by the Enghsh Channel on tho south, aud the North Sea on the east. These are arms of the Atlantic Ocean, which directly in other directions, where the power of the magnificent billows is strikingly by the shattered and invadod aspect of the coasts. The raost southerly of tho Scilly group, is in 49° 53' north ktitude ; and the most northerly, one of SUNRISE AND SUNSET IN THE BRITISH ISLES. 337 the Shetland cluster, in 60° 49'. Thk range of ktitude, amountuig to 10° 56', gives a resulting distance of rather more than 750 miles in the direction of the meridian, which k the entire extent of the insular series, north and south. But the great proportion of the territory, and the vast majority of tho population, have a much smaUer latitudmal range. Taking the paraUel of 55° for a dividing-line, there are nearly equal portions of latitude to the north and south of it. The northern portion includes the main mass of Scotland, with its neighbouring isles, and very smaU sections of England and Ireland, whUe the southern embraces nearly the whole of Ireland and England, with Wales, and their adjacent islands. In the south division, the proportion of territory is more than two and a half to one, as compared with that in the north, whUe the amount of population is in the ratio of nearly eight to one. Lowestoft Ness, on the coast of Suffolk, 1° 46' east of Greenwich, and the Blasquet Isles off the coast of Kerry, 10° 30' west, define the extent of the archipelago in longitude. This amounts to 12° 16', equivalent to a linear distance of 500 mUes. Sunrise and sunset visit the most easterly coasts fuU three-quarters of an hour before they are witnessed on the more westerly, owing to difference of longitude ; and at the southem and northern extremities of the kingdom, there is a marked variation in the lent^.h of the days and nights at the soktices, occasioned by the range of ktitude. In tha south, the midsummer day extends to sixteen hours, eight minutes ; and in the north, to eighteen hours, forty-eight minutes, leaving an interval varying from somewhat less than eight hours to rather more than five for the length of the night. But at both extremities, the sun then dips to such a smaU extent below the horizon, that his rays continue to reach the higher regions of the atmosphere, and the interval is one of twUight only. This is speciaUy the case in the northern localities where the solar declension is tho least, and hence, with a sky clear of clouds, there the midsummer night is day-like. In the Orkneys and Shetknds, reading, writing, and other deUcate operations may be performed without artificial light, when the time-piece k marldng the close of one day and the beguming of another. ' At midnight,' says a correspondent at Balta Sound, ' on the 21st of June, I have often read such print as Chambers's Edinburgh Journal' The noto of life from the animal creation, though less frequent than by day, k far from bemg inter- rapted. In their respective haunts may be heard the merry tune of the sedge-warbler, the bleating cry of the snipe, the whktle of widgeon and teal, the quack of the maUard, with a clamorous outburst at intervals from varieties of waders and water-fowL The geographical position of the British Mes k peculiar, mterestmg, and influential. They are so closely sea-girt, that no portion of territory k more than 120 mUes from ashore; and there k only a very smaU area at this inconsiderabk distance. The greater pari; of England, with the whok of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, is within fifty miles of the salt-water Une. Yet the central point of the hemisphere, which contams the greatest amount of the land-surface of the globe, falls within the Hmits of the archipelago, and k only a few mUes from the centre of the Bristol Channel. This land- hemisphere embraces the whole of Europe and Afrka, aU Ask and America, except the narrow peninsuk of Malacca, and the tapering extremity of South America. A vast oceank surface dktmguishes the opposite hemisphere, in which, with the exceptions named, the land k whoUy insular, and its coUective area k quite insignUicant m com parison with that of the great continents. Great Britaiu is the largest of the European kknds, the most important in the world, and the seventh in point of magnitude, ranking after Australia, Bomeo, New Guinea, Niphon, Sumatra, and Madagascar. The nearest approach to the continent is made by the south-east corner of England, where the distance k Uttk more than twenty mdes to 2 17 338 GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. the opposite shores of France. From the correspondence of the rocks on both sides of the intervening strait, and the existence of the same animak in hktork times, as the bear, wolf, and beaver, with the comparatively shaUow depth of the water, it is inferred that an isthmus here once connected the island with the continent as a peninsular projection, which the constant gnawing of the waves or some sudden irraption removed. This idea was current long before attention had been paid to the geology of the shores, and is mentioned by Sir Thomas More in hk Utopia. To the westward, the separating EngUsh Channel gradually increases in breadth tUl the extremities of England and France in that direction are upwards of 100 mdes asunder, whde to the northward the North Sea expands to 400 miles between Scotland and Denmark. The extreme points of the island are Dunnet Head, on the north, a high promontory m Caithness overiooking the Pentland Fkth ; the Lizard Point, on the south, a headknd chiefly of serpentine in ComwaU, commonly the last land seen and the first observed by ships entermg the Atlantic, and returning from it; Lowestoft Ness, on the east, a low cape adjommg that port in Suffolk ; and Ardnamurchan Point, on the west, a projection of the county of Argyle. No Une can be drawn intersecting the whole surface due north and south, owing to the general inclination of the land m the direction of the meridian being north by west. But a straight Une, extended from Cape Wrath, in Sutherlandshke, to the coast of Sussex, or north-west and south-east, wiU measure about 600 mUes, with out cutting any portion of the sea. The greatest breadth, due east and west, k from St David's Head, in Pembrokeshire, to the Naze in Essex, and amounts to nearly 300 miles. But the contractions are numerous and marked, owing to the occurrence of far-penetrating inlets and firtlis. GeneraUy, the island narrows from south to north, and hence its form is often described as radely triangular. The idea originated with JuUus Csesar, who estimated the entire circuit at 2000 nules. But the actual extent of the coast-line, measuring inlets and estuaries up to the termination of their broader parts, is upwards of 3000 mUes, dktributed as foUows : Miles. East Coast — from the South Foreland in Kent, to Dvmcansby Head in Caithness, 1010 North Coast— from Duncansby Head to Cape Wrath in Sutherlandshire, . . 103 West Coast — from Cape Wrath to the Land's End in Cornwall, . , . 154G South Coast — from the Land's End to the South Foreland, . . . 448 3U2 England has an area of 50,922 square nules ; Wales, 7398 ; and Scotland, inclusive of islands, 30,685 — maldng a total of 89,005 square mUes. The respective proportions have been ingeniously illustrated by the Registrar-general Adopting the figure of a perfect square, the area of England k equal to one of 226 nules to the side; Wales, to one of 86 miles; Scotland, to one of 177 mUes; and the whole of Great Britain, to a square of 299 mdes to the side. Or adopting the figure of a circle, the area of England is equal to one with a radius of 127 mUes ; Wales, to one of 49 miles ; Scotland, to one of 100 mUes; and the whole of Great Britain, to a circle with a radius of 169 miles. The surfaee varies in its level from below high-water mark in the fens of Lincolnshire, to the height of 4406 feet above the sea, in Ben Nevis, Inverness-shire. Ireland, smaller, less important, and more compact, Ues to the west of Great Britain, from which it is separated by the Irish Sea, and the straits by which that confined expanse communicates with the ocean, St George's Channel in the south, and the North Channel in the opposite direction. The two islands make their closest approach at the outlet of the northern channel, where the shores on either hand are within thirteen mUes of each other, at Fairhead, in the county of Antrim, and the Mull of Cantire in Scotland GEOGRAPHIOAL POSITION OF- IRELAND, 339 Across the southern channel, the shortest distance is rather more than fifty mUes, between Carnsore Point in Wexford, and St David's Head m Wales, The kland extends in a northerly direction to about the latitude of the centre of Ayrshire in Scotland, and the town of Alnwick in England, Its southern extremity corresponds in latitude very nearly to that of Brktol and London, It rudely resembles in shape an oblique paraUelogram, the longest diagonal of which runs from north-east to south-west, and raeasures somewhat more than 300 miles. But due north and south, the greatest extent is not more than 230 mdes, from Horn Head in Donegal to near Poole Head in Cork ; and due east and west, the greatest breadth k 180 nules, from Achris Point in Galway to the coast between Dublin and Drogheda, The breadth is contracted to Uttle moro than 100 mUes, between the opposite Bays of Galway and Dublin ; and to less than 90 mUes between those of Donegal and Belfast, The extreme points of the mainland are the coast of Down on the east ; Dunmore Head, in Kerry, on the west ; Malin Head, in Donegal, on the north ; and Mizen Head, in Cork, on the south. Cape Clear, more southerly, k a high pro montory at the extremity of a small, wUd, and romantk klet, Ireland has a coast-line estimated at upwards of 2000 miles, measuring the inlets, wliich are numerous and deep ou the northem and westem shores. The surface rkes to 3404 feet above the sea in Cam Tual, one of the mountains of Kerry, Its superficial extent amounts to 32,513 square nules, whkh, added to tliat of Great Britain, gives a total of 121,518 square niUes for the area of the United Kingdom. The minor kknds assockted with the two larger sometimes occur singly, but are more generally arranged in groups, and are situated chiefiy along the northern and westem shores. Great Britain, for important examples, has the Orloieys and Shetknds on the north ; the Inner and Outer Hebrides, Bute and Arran, the Isle of Man, Anglesea, and the SciUy Isles, on the west ; the Isle of Wight on the south. Ireland has Eathlin and Tory Islands on the north, with those of AchUl, Clare, Arran, the Bksquets, and Valentk on the west. The east coasts, in both instances, correspond in havhig very few and only msignificant insular tracts. The total number of sniaU ske has not been ascertained with exactness. But it must be very considerable, if those are included which, though not permanently inhabited by man, have patches of verdure, are visited by fowlers aud fishermen in their boats, by shepherds in summer, and are the breeding-stations of vast flights of aquatic birds. Defiuing an island to be any pkce of soUd land sm-rounded by water, which affords sufficient vegetation to support one or more sheep, or which is occupied by man, the Census Commissioners, in 1871, found 787 such sites in comiection with Scotland alone, of which 186 were inhabited on the census day. Some of these are of great extent, and supply pasturage to flocks of from 300 to 400 sheep, though without regular human tenants, whUe others are so smaU as to admit of only one sheep being left at once, which k removed when fattened, and its place suppUed by another. The most isolated inhabited spot k tlie precipitous St Kilda, the outermost of the Outer Hebrides, with a viUage of bird-catchers and fishermen, 45 mUes from the nearest neighbour. More soUtary k RockaU ; but it is simply a block of granite peering up above the waves, 184 nules from the last mentioned, the nearest knd, and 260 nules from the north coa-st of Ireknd. The rock is now a convenient guide-post to an important cod-fishery. The enclosing seas, ' Which God hath given for a fence impregnable,' vary greatly in their depth. The North Sea k comparatively shaUow, except towards the Norwegian shores, for its mean depth for the whole basin does not exceed thirty- ono fathoms. The depth in the centre is generally less tlian on the eastern and western sides, 340 GENERAL VIEW OP THE BRITISH ISLES. except close to the coasts, owing to the accumuktions of debris which encumber that part of its bed. One of these, the Dogger Bank, a well-known station for cod-fishing, but now greatly exhausted, extends upwards of 300 mUes from off Fkmborough Head towards the coast of Denmark, where it terminates almost in a point, though in various places not less than sixty miles broad. Another enormous bank, known to mariners as the Long Forties, trends more than 100 mUes in a north-easterly direction from tho Eirth of Forth. It has been calcukted that the soUd contents of these shoak, with the minor ones, if evenly distributed over the surface of Great Britain, supposing it to bo a level plain, would cover it with a stratum of soU twenty-eight feet in thickness. The shaUowest part of the English Channel, about twenty-five fathoms, k at the narrow eastern extremity, between Romney Marsh and the opposite coast of France. From thence westward, the soundings increase to sixty-three fathoms at the oceanic entrance. In general, there is greater depth of water on the EngUsh than on the French shores, and tho ports and harbours are better. The Irish Sea has considerable depth throughout, except towards the north-east comer, amounting to sixty-six fathoms between Holyhead and DubUn, But these depths are trifling in relation to that of the outlying ocean. The Atlantic, to the distance of about sixty miles from the west coasts of Ireknd and Scotland, has a depth of 100 fathoms. It increases rapidly with a further distance, tUl, at under 200 miles, the plummet suddenly plunges to 1750 fathoms, or 10,500- feet, and the deep bed of the ocean begins. Hence it follows, that the comparatively shaUow British seas occupy and conceal the gentle depressions and deeper deUs of a plateau, of which the Britkh Islands are the elevated and exposed portions. The tides are very conspicuous on most of the shores, affect many of the rivers in a marked manner to a considerable distance inland, and give rise to some striking phenomena. On reaching our narrow seas, the ridge of the great oceanic tide-wave extends diagonaUy from the south-west coast of Ireknd to the north-west projection of France, and sends off two branches owing to the interruption offered by the masses of knd. An eastern branch enters the Englkh Channel, and carries high-water to the opposite shores ; a central branch runs up the Bristol Channel, and passes through St George's into the Irish Sea ; whUe the main or oceanic wave continues its course with immense velocity along the westem coasts of Ireknd and Scotland. Thk last, after rounding the Orkneys and Shetknds, becomes a great wave from the north, traverses the whole extent of the North Sea, and determines high-water along the coast to the mouth of the Thames. The tidal rise varies in its height at different points owing to the varying configuration of the shores, the form of the bottom, and the direction of incidence of the wave, attaining its maximum where bays and estuaries have their openings tumed towards its advance, and rapidly contract in their breadth. Thk condition is best fulfiUed by the Bristol Channel, and accordingly there the ordinary rise of the tide k the greatest. It amounts to 30 feet m Swansea Bay, 38 feet at Cardiff, 40 feet at the mouth of the Bristol Avon, and occasionaUy to 60 feet at Chepstow on the Wye. In other places under sunUar ckcumstances, though not so marked, the tides rise as high as 22 feet at tho entrance of Milford Haven, 26 feet at the mouth of the Mereey, 21 feet at the entrance of the Solway Firth, and 23 feet at the mouth of the Wash. Spring-tides, with coincident westerly gales, produce an immense accumulation of water in the upper part of the Bristol Channel, the estuary of the Severn. The flood remains pent up for a time by the narrowness of the river channel, tUl, having acquired sufficient power for disengagement, it violently breaks bounds, and rushes up the streara as a waU of water, with a crest of foam. Boatmen are warned of its approach, and thus enabled to secum ACTION OF TIDES AND CURRENTS ON THE COAST, 341 their craft, by hearing the distant roar. Precisely similar to this ' bore ' of the Severn, and produced in the same manner, is the ' heygre ' of the Trent, Bold projecting cliffs, and narrow channels between islets or shoals and the main shores, by obstructing the tide-wave, originate impetuous currents on many points of tho coasts, justly dreaded in the days of timid and unskUful seamanship. Around the peninsula of Portland in Dorsetshire, and between it and a shoal on the south bearing the ominous name of the Shambles, with Deadman's Bay in the neighbourhood ; the tide rushes with extreme violence, raising furious eddies and a dangerous surf. This has obtained the name of the Race of Portland ; and has the turbulence of its waters typified on old charts by .a fierce-looking monster or sea-dragon lashing them into foam. Tho Roost of Suraburgh designates the strong and tumultuous tidal flow between the Orkneys and the Shetknds, so called from Suraburgh Head, at the southern extremity of the latter group, and the Scandinavian roost, the temi applied to agitated and powerful sea^streams. In the contracted Pentland Firth, between the Orlmeys and the mainland of Caith ness, the force of the tides and currents have, in many places, undermined the rocks, producuig most fan tastic shapes in the old red conglomerate — the prevail mg formation of Pentland Firtk One of these fan tastic forms, off the island of Hoy, is exhibited in the accompanying engraving, copied fr'om a drawing made by Lord Bury, kindly lent to the publkhers by the Earl of Caithness, All the softer portions of the head knd have been washed away by the erosive action of the waves, leaving the harder conglomerate of gneiss and sandstone a beautiful example of strati fication. In those narrow seas the navigation is dan gerous throughout to small craft, from the force of the tide, and the strong eddies formed by currents on either side which run counter to the main stream. Vessek seldom venture to bring up, or if an anchor k let go, it k generaUy left at the bottom. The Uttk isk of Stroma, on the southern side of the channel, has its ScyUa and Charybdis : the one a whirlpool The ' Old Man ' of Hoy. 342 GENERAL VIEW OF THB BRITISH ISLES. caUed the Swalchie ; the other, an expanse of broken water, boUing Uke a witch's caldron, termed tho 'Merry Men of Mey;' the word men being here a corraption of main. Between the islands of Jura and Scarba, two of the Southem Hebrides, the remarkable intermittent whirlpool of Corrivreckin k formed by the coUision of opposite tidal currents. It attains its maximum of disturbance at the fourth hour of the flood — ^boUs, foams, and rolls away in successive whirk — throwing up everything from the bottom with strong ebuUition, The name is said to be derived from a Dankh prince who perished at the spot, ' Where the wave is tinged with red. And tho russet sea-leaves grow, Mariners, with prudent dread. Shun the shelving rooks below. As you pass through Jura's sound, Bend your course by Scarba's shore ; Shun, O shun, the gulf profound. Where Corrivreokin's surges roar,' On the low coasts, the tidal oscUlations diumaUy abridge and extend the area of the shore by submerging and leaving dry extensive tracts. Thk is specklly observed around the Wash, where thousands of acres have been permanently reclaimed from the sea ; iu the Solway, and in Morecambe Bay, The latter estuary interposes between the towns of Lancaster and Ulverstone, They are about twenty mUes apart in a direct line, but twice that distance passing around the head of the bay. By the ebbing of the tide, the intervening space k left perfectly dry, except in the narrow channek of two sniaU streams, the Kent and the Leven ; and it k then traversed by ti-avellers on horse back, and by vehicles. But the route of the ' Sands ' has occasionaUy its perUs, when douse fogs arise, or driving snow-storms come on, or when a strong westerly Avind springs up, which accelerates the return of the waters, and gives great violence to their flow. Both formidable and interesting animals, the bear, beaver, wolf, and wild-boar have become extinct within the limits of the kingdom since the dawn of authentic history. The bear was coramon in the Roman times, and conveyed to Rome for the sports of the araphitheatre. It existed in Scotland in the eleventh century, for in the year 1057 one of the Gordons was allowed to carry three bears' heads on his banner in honour of his valour in kUling one. Several places in Wales retain the name of Pennarth, or the bear's head, mdicating its presence m the principality. The wolf so infested the homesteads of the Anglo-Saxons in winter, that the month of January -svas caUed 'Wolf-monat. It was extirpated in England by systematic measui-es taken for its destruction by Edward I, ; but remained in Scotland four centuries later, the last having been kiUed by Cameron of Lochiel in 1680, In Ireland, the last is said to have perislied about tho year 1710, in the county of Cork, A few examples of the wild-boar, once stringently protected for purposes of the chase, wero in the New Forest down to the reign of Charles I, Wilborfel, or WUd-boar Fell, denominates a district in Westmoi-eknd Tho urus or wUd-ox, a gigantic creature, roamed in the forests near London iu the time of the first Plantagenet, and is mentioned at a much later date in other parts of the country, Tlio beaver, the broad-tailed animal of the Welsh, was ui the principaUty at the commencement of the thUteenth century, inhabiting the Teify, A fow pook thore bearing the narao of Llyn yr afangc, ' tho beaver lake,' preserve its memory, as does the name of Beverley in Yorkshire, 'the place of beavers.' Some birds have likewise disappeared, as the capercailzie, a member of the grouse tribe, not uncommon in Scotknd at the beginning of the kst century, and recently introduced from Norway; the great bustard, last seen in the eastern counties of England, in the early part of the present century; and the stork. NATIVE ANIMALS A?fD PLANTS. 343 once a regular summer visitor from a warmer cliraate to the fenny districts, and stiU a migrant to HoUand. FuUy exposed to the influonoe of those causes which elevate the temperature generally Ul Western Europe, mentioned in the preceding chapter, the climate of the kingdom is remarkably mUd, considering its position in the northem half of the teraperate zone. Those great extremes of winter cold and summer heat, which are experienced in corre sponding continental latitudes, both eastward in Northern Gerraany and Central Russia, and westward in Trans-Atlantic regions, are unknown ; whUe the average of temperature throughout the year is much higher. This absence of violent seasonal alternations is favourable alike to comfort and health. It speciaUy applies to the southem and south western shores of England, where the winters are so mild, that iu sheltered bays, myrtles, citrons, camelUas, hydrangeas, magnoUas, cactuses, and other exotics, bear unharmed the open air without any protection but what is afforded by the neighbouring hUls, The coldest district k an easterly section, extending from the Naze, in Essex, to the Firth of Forth, and stretching some distance inland. The warmest embraces the Isle of Wight, with parts of the counties of Hants, Dorset, Devon, ComwaU, Somerset, Gloucester, and Glamorgan, The hottest month in general k July, and the coldest January, Ireland has a mUder winter than England, especiaUy on the westem side, but the summer is cooler, owing to the greater humidity of the atmosphere, WhUe the rain-faU is abundant over the whole surface, it k more copious in westem than in eastern locaUties — an obvious consequence of more immediate exposure to the vapours raised from the Atlantic, and the westerly position of the high lands and mountain-ranges. But though more westerly, Ireland k dktinguished from Great Britain not so much by a larger amount of precipitation, as by its more equable distribution throughout the year, rendering the number of the rainy days greater. Hence, from this prevalent humidity, the face of the country has that freshly verdant aspect for which it k renowned. The pastures are never parched ; the trees remain long in leaf — characteristics which have won for it the title of the 'Emerald Isle,' ' the green kle of Erin,' But the same circumstance Umits tho growth of the more important cereals, as weU as the ripening of various kinds of fruits. Mists and frequent weather changes, with cold easterly winds in spring, are the principal defects of the Britkh climate ; but the measure of health enjoyed by the people, with tha average duration of life, is not surpassed, if equaUed, in any other country. The vegetation of the British Isles varies with the several locaUties : in many respects the mountain vegetation differs widely from the vegetation of the plains and vaUeys, The flowers which deck the woods and fields have no representatives in mountain regions. Where a few hardy kinds do succeed in cUmbing to the summits of the Highland hUls, a recent anonymous writer says, ' they assume .strange forms which puzzle the eye, and become dwarfed and stunted by the severer climate and ungenial soU, AU alpine plants found in the Highlands,' the same writer adds, ' are universaUy admitted to be ¦ of arctic or Scandmavian origm. Their priraitive centres of distribution Ue withm the arctk cucle, where they are found in profusion, constituting the sole flora of very extensive regions. From these northem centres they were graduaUy dktributed southwards over the British hUk during the glacial epoch, when the summits of these hUls were low islands, or chains of isknds, extending to the area of Norway through a glacial sea. Thk floral migration may be traced from the arctk regions to the higher ranges of the Alps.' 344 GENERAL VIEW OP THE BRITISH ISLES. The mass of the vegetation is identical vrith that of tho neigh bouring continent. But a wanderer from afar appears on the west coast of Ireland and in the Hebrides, which has established itself from transatlantic regions, owing doubtless to seeds having been drifted thither by the Gulf -Stream, still retaining the power of germination. This is the jointed pipewort, a grass-like plant, growing in lakes which have a muddy bottom, and exhibiting small globular heads of flowers. But it bears little resemblance •with us to its congeners in their more congenial natural habita tion, which are shrubby, from four to six feet high, with leafy branches on their stems, and are prominent features of the vege tation in parts of South America. Another migrant, the three- toothed cinque-foil, abundant in the Eocky Mountains and Arctic America, occurs on a Forfarshire hill in Scotland, to which it is limited. A third intruder, of recent date, the water weed, A-nacharsis alsinast-mm, first observed in the year 1842, and now well known in the rivers, canals, and drains of the midland counties of England, is supposed to have sprung from seeds brought with timber from Canada during the construction of the railways. The native flora may be divided into tour groups — Germanic ; Scandinavian ; Asturian ; and Armorican, so called from the continental localities where the same species are now found, and whence, in the opinion of Professor Forbes and other geologists, they originally came to our shores. L The Germanic group com prise the principal components of vegetation, such as Sibaldia procmnbeMS (a), Arenaria rubella (6), Gentiana ni-ixUis (c), and all the widely diffused species — trees, shrubs, weeds, and wild-fionrers — which belong equaUy to the middle latitudes of Europe. II. The Scandinavian group is chiefly represented in the High lands of Scotland, to a smaller extent on the loftier mountains and bleak moorlands of England and Wales, and very sparingly in Ireland. It consists of mosses, lichens, and grasses, some highly beautiful flowering plants, and prized beny-bearing shrubs, as the cranberry, bilberry, and cloudberry, which are abundant in Scandinavia, on alpine heights in general, and also in the arctic low lands. Among those selected for illus tration are, yerbaeeum lychnidea {d), Li-nu-m perennce, common flax (c), Rubus chamwmceus, the cloudberry (/), Oeritiana pneumonanthe {g), Thlaspi ORIGIN OF NATIVE PLANTS. 345 'perfoliatum, shepherds' purse (/j), Dipsams pilosua, common teazel (t), and Caucalis dawcoides, the small burred parsley (A). IIL and IV. The Asturian and Annorican groups are extremely local In the hilly regions of the south-west Irish coast, somo heaths occur, as E7-ica Medite-ii-anea (o), St Patrick's cabbage, more commonly kno\vn {Saxifraga u-mbrosa) as London-pride (p), Arabis ciliata, the wall-cress (g), Arbutus unedo, the straw- . berry-tree (r), and some others not known really wild in any other part of the kingdom, but which are common in the Asturias, on the opposite coast of Spain. This vegetable coloni sation is referred to a long bygone geological epoch, when there is supposed to have been solid land from the Spanish peninsula to Ireland, in the place of the now intervening waters, along which the plants graduaUy traveUed from the former to the latter, -without being able to proceed further, or multiply in species before the highway was broken up. Similarly on the south-east coast of Ireland and the south west coast of England, a vegetation appears which is closely aUied to that of the opposite shores of Brittany and Normandy, the ancient Armorica, but which is precluded from a more northerly advance by the less genial character of the climate. Such are RxMa peregritM, wUd-madder (I), Erica vagans, the Cornish heath (ft), and Scrophularia schradonia, fig-worts (m). The native woods include the oak, elm, birch, beech, ash, alder, aspen, wiUow, poplar, maple, pine, yew, holly, hazel, black thorn, and hawthorn ; whUe the Ume, chestnut, walnut, spruce- fir, larch, weeping-wiUow, Lombardy poplar, laburnum, mul berry, and cedar have been introduced by man from foreign countries. The common ehn, maple, and beech are peculiarly English, occurring chiefly in southerly locaUties, diminishing northwards, or not ranging to Scotland, This is the case also with several striking omamental plants, as the mistletoe, sweet violet, daffodil, mezereon, star of Bethlehem, and the fami Uar creeper, Clematis vitalba, or ' traveUer's joy,' 2 X 346 GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. ' teristic of Scotland. There tho latter is frequently a very noble object, altogether different to what it appears on the stiff clays of England, for the natural character of the pine is best developed ill bleak situations, amid mountains, crags, and waterfaUs, Where ' Moor'd in the rifted rock, Proof to the tempest's shock, Firmer he roots him the ruder it blows,' Vast tracts of woodland have disappeared from the surface, owing to the increase of population, the extension of culture, and the demand for timber, -with the abatement of the passion for the chase. Seventy-seven forests were once enumerated in England alone as the property of the crown. They were suc cessively disafforested tiU the number was reduced to eleven; but only six of these have now any important extent — ^the New Forest, in the south-west, and Woobner Forest, in the south east of Hampshire ; Dean Forest, between the Severn and the Wye ; Whittlebury Forest, in the south-east of Northampton shire ; Windsor FoTCst, Berks ; and Delamere Forest, Cheshire, Yet out of a total area somewhat exceeding a hundred thousand acres, Uttle more than one-third is actually woodland. Many parts of the country stUl retain the denomination of forest, which have entirely lost that distinctive character, as Macclesfield Forest, Cheshire ; Needwood Forest, Staffordshire ; Chamwood Forest, Leicestershire ; and the Forest of Arden, Warwickshire. Among the wUd native anunals, the large examples are Tunii- nants. They consist of the faUow-deer, semi-domesticated in parks ; the red-deer, roaming the soUtudes of the north of Scot land in herds, found also in a few retired locaUties in Englaud and Ireland ; the roebuck, limited to the Scottish Highlands ; the goat, semi- -wild in Wales ; and the wild cattle preserved in Chillingham Park, Northumberland, perhaps the descendants of a domesticated breed which broke from the homesteads in turbulent times, and returned to natural habits in the woods. The carni vorous race is represented by the fox, five of the weasel famUy, and the otter, formerly much more common than at present ; the "wild-cat and badger, both very scarce ; the hedgehog, found in ahnost every part of our islands, but not numerous; the lole, very common in England, but not known in Ireland, or orth of the Pentland Firth ; and nine species of bat. Of the idents, varieties of the hare and rabbit are generaUy diffused, 5 is the squurel, in England and Scotland; but it has only jcently been known in Ireland, by introduction to the county f Wicklow. The reptUes include the blindworm, ringed-snakc, nd adder, or common viper the last of which alone isTenomous, NATIVE REPTILES, BIRDS, AND FISHES, 347 but none jf them occur in the sister-kingdom, nor does the coiii- mon toad. According to popular superstition, St Patrick, the patron saint, deai-ed the island of the * varmint' by a malediction. Ot upwards of ten thousand British insects known to naturaUsts, and described by them, somewhat more than one-third range to Ii-eland, The glowworm is among the absentees, and some of the moi« splendid of the butterfUes, The feathered tribes number a very large proportion of species, considerably more than one-half of the total belonging to Europe ; and individuals are equaUy numerous with species, notwithstanding much thoughtless destruction. An insular position invites the famiUes ot waders and swimmers to the shores, whUe the great extent ot cultivated country, and the abundant vegetation, provide a supply of food for the smaUer birds. Some are summer visitors from the southerly latitudes, which range over the entire kingdom, as the cuckoo and swal low; while the two splendid warblers, the nightingale and blackcap, are comparatively local The nightingale does not visit Scotland, Ireland, or Wales, although M'GUivray mentions instances of its being heard in the Lothians ; nor is it known in Cornwall, the west ot Devon, or much further north in England than about the neighbourhood of York. Examples noticed beyond these limits are accidental stragglers. The fig-eater, coimuon in Italy and the south of France, is an annual migrant to the fig-orchards in the neighbourhood ot Worthing, Sussex, abont the tune ot the ripening of the fruit. Of the game- birds, the black groiLse is found on moors in England and Scot land, but not in Ireland ; the red grouse occurs generaUy, and is peculiar to the British islands ; the white grouse, or ptarmigan, is only met with on the wUdest and liighest of the Scotch moun tains. Most of the common domestic fowl, with the peacock, turkey, and pheasant, are of foreign origin. The seas, rivers, and lakes yield a supply of those varieties of fish in great quan tities which are most serviceable for human sustenance — the sahnon, cod, herring, mackerel, and pilchard. The last three periodically leave the deep water as the spawning-season a|iproaches, and diaw near to the shores in vast swarms, when tiie respective fisheries are prosecuted with great activity. The herring is the most diffused, though far more abundant on some points of the coast than others ; the mackerel is chiefly taken on the southem and south-eastern shores of England ; the [lilcliard shoals confine themselves to its south-western corner, the counties of Cornwall aud Devon ; the cod alinniids on the western shores of Irelanfi. 348 GENERAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES, In no part of the world is there known to be an amount of mineral wealth within the same area equal to that of the United Kingdora. Gold occurs ; and the Romans conducted regular mining operations for it in Caermarthenshire, Wales. Stream-gold was found on the southern borders of Lanarkshire, Scotland, about the commencement of the sixteenth century ; and towards the close of the eighteenth, in the rivers of Wicklow, Ireland Both discoveries excited considerable expectation, but the search eventuaUy proved unremunerative. Silver, is also met with in a native or pure state, and it accompanies galena, a sulphuret of lead, frequently in sufficient quantity to render the extraction profitable. But the mineral stores of inestiraable importance are those which are the prime producers of wealth and corafort in the hands of an instructed and industrious people ; and these are possessed in vast abundance and convenient juxtaposition. They include iron, copper, lead, tin, zinc, coal, and salt, with other varieties of less consequence, as antimony, manganese, graphite, alum, and fuller's-earth, besides ample supplies of buildmg stone, roofing-slate, marbles, and the clays which are suitable for the commonest ware and the finest porcelain. Tin and lead works are of the oldest date. The tin of Devon and CornwaU was wrought by the ancient Britons, whose mining kbours in the latter county, at the extreme angle, are commemorated by the singular excavations, called the ' Pit,' the ' Land's End Hole,' and the ' DevU's Frjdng Pan.' Lead was certainly wrought by the Eomans, as blocks of the metal bearing Latin inscriptions have been found on the moors of Derbyshire. Mineral waters, or springs impregnated with saline, chalybeate, and sulphureous corapounds, variously cold, tepid, and warm, are numerous. But no warm springs occur in Scotland, nor are they known in England further north than the Derbyshire PeaJc. The earliest record of the existence of the British Isles at a known date occurs in the writings of Aristotle, who, wi;iting about 340 b, c, refers to them under the names of Albion and leriie, which are described as the principal members of a group. The former name is supposed to signify the ' fair or white land,' in aUusion to the appearance of the chalk-cliffs prominent on the southem coast of England ; and the latter applied to Ireland, is commonly regarded as a relative designation, meaning the ' westem kland.' Rather more than half a century before the Christian era, Julius Csesar landed on the shores intent on conquest, but made no stay, and accomplished no important result, with the exception of becoraing acquauited to sorae extent with the inhabitants, character and resources of the region, and imparting his knowledge to the civiUsed world. About a century later, his enterprise was foUowed up by other leadei-s, and the larger part of Britain was graduaUy reduced to the condition of a Roman province. Four centuries later, the declining power of the erapire enforced the retirement of the legions, and the aborigmes were left independent. They consisted of numerous Celtic tribes belongmg to two main branches of the family, the Gaelic and the Cymric, who migrated from the continent prior to the dawn of history, and spoke widely distinct languages, though offshoots of a comraon stock. The Gael seora to havo corae fii-st, and to have been driven northwai-d to the Scottish Highlands, and westward into Ireland by tho iiitrudmg CymrL With these last-named natives tho Romans came chiefly in contact. After tho departure of their masters, having largely lost tlio spirit of freedom by long subjection to them, they feU a prey to Teutonic mvaders of tho Germanic race, and nurabei-s were reduced to servitude, finally coalescing with them ; while others withdrew to tho mountain fastnesses of Devon, Cornwall, Cumberiand, aud Wales, to preserve their liberty, and reinamed a distinct body. This oxjiatriatod class received tho name of Wilisc-mcn, ' strangers' or ' foreigners,' expressive of tlieir relation to the new-oomoi-s, while their territory was called Wilisc-land, terms from which Welshman a.nil AVales bave been formed. But the ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 349 Welsh proper have contmued to the present day to distinguish themselves by ihe narao of Cymri The conquering immigrants are historically known as Jutes, Angles, and Saxons. They carae frora the river-basms of the Eyder, Elbe, Weser, Ems, and Rhine. With tha second of these tribes the denomination of England arose, which is only an abbreviation of Angle-land. After several separate states had co-existed, the larger and more powerful absorbed the smaU and weak, tiU aU were included in a single Anglo-Saxon monarchy, about the year 823, wluch had an uninterrupted succession of sovereigns for very nearly two centuries. But during almost the whole of thk term, the Danes and other Scandinavians, a different branch of the Teutonic famUy, infested the coasts. They seized the Orkneys, Shetknds, and Hebrides; occupied a considerable portion of the north of Scotland ; acquu-ed possession of the eastern and midland dktricts of England, which had the narae of the Danelagh, or ' Dane-law,' from being formaUy ceded to them ; and fmaUy founded a short-lived Danish djTiasty for the whole kingdom. Soon after its close, the Normans effected its conquest in 1066, A considerable number of that race contmued to come over for a century and a half afterwards, or while Normandy and England were poUticaUy united; and during the period a broad dktmction subsisted between the Norman and the Saxon part of the population. It was graduaUy effaced upon the separation of the two countries by association and aUiances, till victors and vanquished were fused into one homogeneous people. Some leading epochs in the subsequent hktory of the British Isles are, tho establishment of the English power in Ireland, during the reign of Henry II. ; the conquest of Wales by Edward I. ; the union of the kingdoms of England and Scotland under one crown in the person of James I, • theu legislative union in one kingdom in 1707; and the sirailar incorporation of Ireland k 1799, Existing nomenclature commemorates the Celt, the Roman, the Saxon, and the Dane, Commonly the enduring objects of nature, as rivers, lakes, mountains, and vaUeys, have names which are significant only in a Celtic dialect. Thus afon or awan, a running stream, appears as the denominative of numerous rivers, the Avons, five of which are in England, two in Wales, and three in Scotland, the latter sometunes caUed Aven, The Ouses and Esks, the Axe, Exe, Usk, and Wiske, are related to uiage, water, or to isca, the Latinised form ot the word. As a prefix, beinn, ben, or pen, a inountain, hiU, or promontory, is widely diffused. I'he examples are Ben Lomond, and numerous others in the Scotch Highlands ; Penygent in Yorkshire ; Pendle- hiU in Lancashire ; and Pen-maen-mawr, mountain of the great stones, one of the Snowdonian heights in Wales. The term glen or gli/n, a narrow vaUey, with various affixes, is equaUy general, and the instances repeatedly occur, Glencoe in Scotland, Glendalough in Ireland, Glendon in England, and Glyntaf in Wales. Among ancient monuments, the grassy mounds or barrows common on do-wny heath-clad plains, in which no coins are found, but only human bones, with articles of the rudest description, may be regarded as belonging to the purely Celtic age. Many names of inhabited sites are derived whoUy or in part from the Latin, and bear witness to the presence of the Romans. Thus coin, the abbreviated form of colonia, a colony, appears in Lincoln ; and wich, a derivative from vicas, a village, in Norwich, Greenwich. The word strata, a street or paved way, is a com ponent in the many Stratfords, and occurs with sUght alteration in Streatham, Stretton, and the names of many viUages, even some solitary houses, on the line of the great Roman roads. From castrum, a camp, we havo Chester, cester, caster, and caistor, occurring alone, and in various combinations, forming both pre fixes and tenninals, as Cliester, Chesterfield, Manchester, Cirencester, Tadcaster, and Caistor-St-Edmunds. The association ot the word with the name ot some adjoining river is frequent, as Lancaster, the camp on the Lmie ; Doncaster, the camp on the Don ; Colchester, the camp on the Colne. Material memorials of the Roman age embrace coins and medals ot the empire, inscribed blocks ot tin and lead, tesselated pave ments, and bronze statues ; remains of highways, baths, vUlas, temples, amphitheatres, fortresses, and the great northem waU ; with altars, urns, vases, weapons, domestic implements, and tombs. Traces of the Danes and Northmen remain in the districts principaUy visited or occupied by them, where a nomenclature ot Scandinavian origin is prevalent. Among the maritime examples are, firth, an estuary — Kornoch Firth, Solway Firth ; and ness, a promontory — Tarbet Ness, Winterton Ness, ot which the Naze, in Kssex, is only an altered form. Inland sites have dale, a valley, frequent in the south of Scotland and north of England, ranging towards the midland counties— Tweeddale, Teesdale, Dovedale, and Dale Abbey ; felt, a 350 3ENEEAL VIEW OF THE BRITISH ISLES. mountain- Sea Fell, Cross Fell, Fountain's Fell ; and force, a waterfall — Mickle Force on the Tees, Scale lorce on a small Cumbrian stream. In the names of inhabited places, the occurrence of toft, a field, as Lowestoft, points to a Danish origin ; but the instances of its use are limited, amounting to only twenty-two times in England, while absent entirely from Wales. A far more general terminal is by or bigh, signifying originally a single farm or dwelling, and then extended to a town, as Whitby, Derby, Denbigh, It occurs 19.5 times in Lincolnshire, 160 in Yorkshire, 63 in Leicestershire, and 42 in Cumberland, or altogether 570 times in England, and 8 in Wales, hut not once in the counties of Middlesex, Berks, Oxford, Buckingham, Herts Hants, Surrey, Sussex, Wilts, Dorset, Devon, Hereford, Worcester, Salop, Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge. In the designation of inhabited places, names of Anglo-Saxon birth vastly predominate, and are most widely diffused, but are rare in Cornwall, Wales, the west and extreme north of Scotland, They include hurst, a wool— Chisellinrst, Peushurst ; /orti, the point of passage over a stream — Oxford, Brentford; stead a station — Grimstead, Wanstead ; lea or ley, a plain— Finchley, Bromley; worth, a manor — Isleworth. Handsworth ; burli, burgh, or borough, a regularly constituted or fortified town — Edinburgh, Gainsborough, Far more common is ham, a horae — Walthara, Farnham. It thus occurs as a terminal 678 times in England chiefly in the eastern and south-eastern counties, and only three times in Wales, besides being met with as a prefix, as in Hampstead, Hampshire. But ton, originally used to denote any enclosed space, or single farm house, and thence extended to a collection of dwellings, village, or town, has an immense numerical majority of examples. The instances of its occurrence as a terminal, as in Stockton, Burton, Clifton, number 2798 in England, and 78 in Wales, It is most frequent in Yorkshire, and then successively in Cheshire, Somerset shire, Lancashire, the counties of Lincoln, Gloucester, and Wilts. In addition, the word ham forms a compound with iry, son of, or descendant, as in K-ickingham, ' the home of the family of the Rock,' instances of which are not included in the above enumeration Nor are those reckoned in which ton enters into tlie same combination, as in Bridlington, Islington. The information upon which the preceding statements are founded is derived from an unattractive but instructive table appended to the Census Retums, entitled 'Commnii Terminations of the Names of Places in England and Wales.' The area in which Celtic blood at present prevaik to a greater or less extent, though only comparatively pure in general, erabraces Wales, CornwaU, the Isle of Man, tho Highlands of Scotland, its Western Isles, and great part of Ireland, especiaUy the west and south. In this region, the extant dialects of the Celtic stock are the Wekh, the Manx, the Gaelic, the Erse or Irish, but aU declining rapidly as veriiacidar modes of speech; and a coraparatively slender form, a volatUe teniperament, a quick perception, with a want of caution, providence, and perseverance, distinguish the purest representa tives of the race. Another dialect, the Cornish, closely aUied to the Wukh, formerly spoken in CornwaU and the adjoining part of Devon, stood its groiuid tUl the period of the Reformation, when the service of the church in English being introduced, the old language began gradually to give way before it. Carew, writing at the commencement of the seventeenth century, states, that though English was then generaUy underetood, somo of the people would affect ignorance of it, and reply to tho question of a stranger, Mee a navidra couza Sawzneck, 'I can speak no Saxonage,' In viUages towards tho south western extremity of the county, the Cornish was spoken ui the reign of Queen Anno, It lingered longest in tho neighbourhood of Mousehole, between Penz;ince and tiie Liuid's End, and was not finaUy blotted from the list of Uving languages tUl the raiddle of the kst century. Speeiraens remain both hi manuscript and print. Tlie inhabitants of CornwaU now speak a remarkably pure English, The region of Teutonic blood, raore or less imre, derived from the immigrant Germaiiic and Scandinavian tribes, includes England generaUy, the Lowlands of Scotknd, the maritime portkn of its northern counties on the eastern side, the Orkneys and tlio Siiutknds, with the north-east and east of Ireknd, Groat bodUy sti-ength distinguishes the people of tho purest blood, with a disposition more inclined to tlie grave than the gay, a reserved manner to strangers, a slow but accurate perception, a preference of the ust'ful to riie briUknt, a strong desire for personal and political independence, a love of enterprise, and a common prediloctkn for maritiino occupations. The kiiguages aro the English, based upon tho Anglo-Saxon ; and tho Lowland Scotch, a paraUel and sister- dialect, derived frora tlio sarao source, but marked with Norse or Soandiiiavian features, ANCIENT DRITAIN. 351 now rapidly giving way to pure modern English, The Anglo-Saxon is believed to havo been formed out of the respective dialects of the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons, when they became consolidated as one people in a common monarchy. It was spoken in its purity from the age of Alfred to the Norman Conquest, and was one of the earliest cultivated languages of Modern Europe, made the vehicle of written laws, poetry, and history, before a single line had been penned in Italian, Erench, or Spanish. After the Conquest, it underwent a change to Semi-Saxon, influenced by that event, with various other causes ; and subsequently passed through the successive stages of Early English and Middle English, into the beautiful and copious, but composite mother-tongue of the great mass of the population, which has gathered its vocabulary frora almost every nation under heaven, and k now spoken in different countries by more than 70,000,000 of the human race, ' Not one hour of the twenty-four,' remarks an exponent, ' not one round of the minute-hand of the dial is allowed to pass, ui which, on sorae portion of the surface of the globe, the air is not fiUed with accents that are ours. They are heard in the ordinary transactions of life ; or in the adrainistration of law — in the deliberations of the senate- house or councU-chamber — in the offices of private devotion, or in the pubUc observance ofthe rites and duties of a common faith,' I. ANCIENT BRITAIN, Britam, at the time of the Roman conquest, a,d, 43-84, was occupied by a number of independent petty nations or tribes, emigrants originally from the nearest shores of the adjoining continent, under the government of hereditary chieftains. The names of from thirty to forty are given by Ptolemy, the geographer, who wrote in the early part of the second century. Seventeen of these were located in the country southward of the Tyne and the Solway, Tribes. Cantii, Eegni, . Belgae, Durotriges, . Damnonii, Dobuni, Atrebatii, . Trinobantes, . Iceni, Cattevelauni, Ooritani, . Cornavii, Ordovices, DemetsE, Silures, Parisi, . Brigantes, Supposed location lu the Modern Counties. Kent, and part of Middlesex. Surrey, Sussex, and part of Hants. Wilts, part of Hants, and Somerset. Dorset. Devon and Cornwall. Gloucester and Oxford. Berks, part of Oxford, and Wilts. Middlesex and Essex. Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon. Bucks, Herts, Bedford, and part of Northampton. Northampton, Leicester, Rutland, Lincoln, and Derby. Warwick, Worcester, Salop, Stafford, and Cheshire. North Wales, and part of Salop. Caermarthen, Cardigan, and Pembroke. Hereford, Monmouth, Radnor, Brecknock, and Glamorgan. Holderness, the south-east angle of Yorkshire. York, Lancaster, Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Durham. North of the Tyne and Solway, thence to the Forth and Clyde, were the following peoples : Tribes. Otadeni,Gadeni,Selgovse,Novantse, Damnii, Supposed location in the Modern Counties. Dwelling along the east coast. Inland from the la st mentioned. In Dumfries, Kii i cudbright, and part of Lanark, Wigton and Ayr, Lanark, Renfrew, and parts of Stirling and Fife. 352 GENERAL VIEW OF THB BRITISH ISLES, StUl more northerly are mentioned ; Tribes. Venicontes,Texali, , Vacomagi, Caledonil, Epidii, Ceronos,Creones, . Cantse, . Logi,Mertae, . Carnonaoe,Careni, . Cornabii, , Supposed location in tbe Modern Counties. . Parts of Perth, Forfar, and Kincardine, East part of Aberdeenshire. , Banff, Elgin, Nairn, and part of Inverness. , . Inverness, parts of Ross and Argyle. , . Cantire, coast of Argyle. . . North part of Argyle, and west of Inverness. . . West part of Ross. Between the Moray and Dornoch Firths. . South-east part of Sutherland, Middle part of ditto. . West part of ditto. North-east part of ditto. , Caithness. The Trinobantes, Iceni, SUures, and Brigantes offered the most formidable opposition to the invaders. The reduction of the island extended over a period of forty-one years, a very slow rate of conquest, as in less than one-fifth of that time the whole of Gaul had been added to the empire. Eleven governors conducted the war as commanders-in-chief. Two subaltern officers, Vespasian and his son Titus, afterwards became emperors, GENHKALS. Satronius Turpilianus, . A.D, 62-65 Trebellius Maximus, . ,, 65-68 Vectius Bohanus, . . „ 69-71 Petilius Cerealis, . . ,, 71-75 Julius Frontinuis, . . ,, 75-78 CiuEus Julius Agricola, . . a.d. 78-S4. I. Britannia Prima — The country south of the Thames and the Britkh ChauueL II. Britannia Secunda — Modern principality of Wales. III. Flavia C^sariensis — Midland and Eastern Counties of England. IV. Maxima Cesariensis — The six northern counties, except part of Northumberland. v. Valentia — Part of Northumberland, and the Scottish Lowlands to the Clyde and Forth. Five provinces were constituted in the later days of the Eoman dominion, and included in the prefecture of Gaul. Their position and boundaries can only be conjecturally defined. Among the cities and towns the following were important, some of which are known to have occupied old British stations. The modern localities to which they are referred are in a few instances doubtful. Aulus Platius, , , A.D 43-47 Astorius Scapula, »f 50-53 Aulus Didius, , i» 54-57 Veranius, ,, 58 Paulinus Suetonius, , ,, 58-62 Bremeiiiiini, Ribchester, Camboduiunn, . Slack. Camuloduuuiu, . Colchester. Camboricum, . Cambridge. Cattaractonium, Catterick. Deva, , . Chester. Dubrae, Dover. Durinum, . Dorchester. Durobriv.-B, Rochester. Duroveniiira, . Canterbury. Eboracum, York. Glevuni, . Gloucester. Isca Duinnoiiiorun 1, . Exeter. Isca Silurum, . Caerleon. Lemanis Portus, Lympne. Vindonum, Lindum, Londiiiium,Lugovalliiim,Mariduiiuiii, Rata;, . Regnum, , . Rutupise,Segontium,Sorbiodunum,Thermte, or Aquse Uroconium, . Venta Belgarum, Vent Icenorum, Venta Silurum, Verulamiuin, Andover. Solis, Lincoln, London,Carlisle.Caermarthen,Leicester. Chichester.Ricliborough,Caer Seiont. Old Sarum. Bath, Wrexeter.Winchester,Caistor. Caer-Gwciit. St Albans. ancient imiT.MX. 3.-)3 Londinium, as the residence of the early propiwtors, seems to have been the seat of the supreme government. Eboracum, York, was the military headquarters in the north. Here the sixtli legion was ordinarily stationed, which carae over in the time of the Kmperor Hadrian, and reraained to the close of the Roman period. Deva, Chester, was the station of the twentieth legion ; and Isca SUurum, Caerleon, in Monmouthshire, that of the second legion, till its removal in the latest tiraes to Rutupise, Richboro'\gh, in Kent. This place, from which oysters were sent to Rorae, was the usual point of passage between Britain and Gaul. Almost every county of England has its traces of Roman roads. Viae stratae, hence caUed Sti-eets. Five great Unes of communication between the cities and towns are noted: 1. Watling Street, extending from the ports on the coast of Kent, by Canterbury and Rochester to London, thence north-westward through the heart of the country to Chester, 2. Ryknield Street, which seems to have foUovved a south-westerly course, possibly from the mouth of the Tyne, by York and Derby, into the south-western dis tricts. 3. Icknield Street, or road of the Iceni, running from the territory of that people, on the coast of Norfolk, by Cambridge to Exeter, and into Cornwall. 4. Ermine Street, starting from the south coast, and proceeding due north by London to Lincoln. 5, The Foss-way, extending from Totness in Devonshire, by Bristol, north-east into Lincolnshire. Across the kland, from Tunnoceluni, Bowness, on the Solway, to Segedunura, Cowiin's- Itouse, near the mouth of the Tyne, the Eraperor Hadrian, a.d. 120, erected a formidable barrier against the fierce tribes of North Britain, which tho Emperor Severus, a.d. 210, seems partly to have repaired, and partly rebuUt, It extended about seventy-four Romai , or sixty-eight English miles ; was of solid stone, twelve feet high and eight feet broad ; had fortified stations, regularly garrisoned, along its line ; and was protected by a wide and deep ditch on the side towards the barbarians. This work was tolerably perfect in the time of Bede, who lived near it in the eighth century, and some considerable frag- inent-s stiU remain, (See cut of the Roman Wall, Northumberland, p. 408,) In the geography of Roman Britain, principal headlands, estuaries, bays, and islands, are indicated as follows : Cantiuiu I'romontoriura, , Taniissa iEstuaiimu, Aletaris .iEstuarium, Ocelluiu Prom., , Gabrantuicoriim Sinus, Portus Magnus, , Damnouium Prom., , Baleriura Prom., , Hercules Prom., Ca,ssiterides Insuto, Octapitarum Prom. , . Canganorum Prom., Mona Insula (of Tacitus), . Mona Insula (of Cicsur), Sabrina jEstuariuiii, . North Foreland. Mouth of Thames. The Waali. Flamborough Head. Filey Bay. Portsmouth Harbour The Lizard. Land's End. Hartland Point. Scilly Islands. St David's Head. Braick-y-Pwll. Isle of Anglesey. Isle of Man. Mouth of Severn. Moricambe jEstuarium, Ituna jEstuarium, Novantum Prom., Epidium Prora., , Boderia ^Eatuarium, . Tava jEstuarium, , Vara jEstuariiim, Tarvedrum Proin., Vervedrum Prom., . Taizalum Prom., , Clota jEstuarium, Orcades lusulte, . EbudiE Insulae, Veetis Insula, Herculea Insula, . Ireland. Morecambe Bay. Solway Firth. Mull of Galloway. Mull of Cantire. Firth of Forth. Firth of Tay. Murray Firth. Dunnet Head. Duncansby Head. Kinnaird's Head. Firth of Clyde. Orkney Islands. Hebrides.Isle of Wight. Luudy Island. J erne or Hibernia, Tlie Romans personified Britain by the figure of a woman seated on a rock, in allusion to the presumed form of the island. Hence the weU-known Britannia of our coins. II. SOUTH BRITAIN IN THE SAXON AGE. Upon the final retirement of the Romans from Britain, a.u. 420, Germanic invaders took their place as tho masters, and grndn-illy originated eight distinct states. 354 general view op THE BRITISH ISLES. 1, Kent, Cant-wara-rice, or the kingdom of the men of Kent, corresponding to the county of that narae, founded by Eric, a.d. 457. The Roman Durovernum became the capital, and was called Gant-wara-burh, whence Canterbury. 2. Sussex, Suth-seaxna-rice, the kingdom of the South Saxons, which included tho counties of Sussex and Surrey, It was founded under EUa, a.d. 477, and had Chichester for its capital. 3. Wessex, West-seaxna-rice, the kingdora of the West Saxons, founded by Cerdic, a.d, 519. It embraced the country extending from the Sussex border westward to Devonshire, or the present counties of Hants, Berks, Dorset, WUts, and Somerset, Winchester was the capital. 4. Essex, East-seaxna-rice, the kingdom of the East Saxons, founded by jEswcin, a.d. 527, It included, besides the county so called, the greater part of Herts, with Middlesex, or Middel-seaxe, situated between Essex and Wessex, Capital, London, 5. East Anglia, East Engle, founded by the Angles under Uffa, a,d. 597. They styled themselves, after their relative position. North-folk and South-folk, whence Norfolk and Suffolk, with which Cambridgeshire was connected. Capital unknown. 6. Mercia, Myrcna, raised to the rank of an independent state by Penda, a.d. 626, coraprehended the central portion of the country northward from the Thames to the Humber, Capital, uncertain. But Tamworth was a favourite residence with several of the kings. 7. Deiba, Deornas, founded by EUa, a.d. 560. It extended from the Humber to the Tyne, and embraced the modern counties of York and Durham. York was the capital 8. Bernicia, Bryneich, founded under Ida, a.d. 547, comprised the present Northum berland, and thence extended northward to the Firth of Forth. Capital, Bamborough. Deira and Bemicia speedily united to form a single kingdom, under the name of Nor^ thumbria, thus reducing the octarchy to a heptarchy. The remaining portions of South Britain, consisting of Damnonia, or the counties of Devon and CornwaU, with the whole of Wales ; and Cumbria, or Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Lancashire, were held by British chieftains, who lohg maintained their independence. Among the Saxon king doms Wessex finally gained the supremacy, under Egbert, a.d. 800, who united them m a single sovereignty — the monarchy of England, The principal cities and towns existing in the Saxon age are mentioned in the foUowmg list, with their present names annexed : Aigeles-byrig,Acemannes-ceaster,Ambres-V'rig,Andredesceaster, Badecanwyl, , Bebanburh,Beddanford, , Bricgiiorth,Bucingaham, , Cantwarabyrig, , Cirenceaster, , Cissaiiceaster, Colncenster, . Cyppeuham,Deoraby, DoCera, . . Dori;eccnster, , Eligbyiig, . Aylesbury. Bath. Amesbury. Pevensey.Bakewell. Bamborough,Bedford.Bridgenorth,Buckingham,Canterbury. Cirencester.Chichester.Colcliester.Chippenham.Derby.Dover. Dorchester, Liy. Eofornic, Exaiiceaster, Exanmutha, . Geiiisbnruli, GlEestingaburh, Gleawanceaster, HiBStingas,Heortford, . Hrofesceaster,Hiinten.ituin,Legacea.ster, , Lcgriii-ea.ster, Lindicolii,Lundonbyrig, Lygcaiiliyrig, , JIaiiieceaster, Medosham.steJe, Meld nnicsliyri. York.Exeter, Exmouth,Gainsborongli. Glastonbury, Gloucester, Hastings.Hertford. Rochester.Huntingdon. Chester. Leicester.Lincoln.London. Leigl 1 ton-bu zzard. Jlaiichester.I'cterborough. Mnlnisbiiry. SOUTH BRITAIN IN THE SAXON AGE, 355 Northamtnn, Northwic, . Oxnaford, Biedingas, . Sandwic,Schcaftesbyrig,Searoburh, Northampton,Norwich, Oxford, Reading. Sandwich,Shaftesbury,Salisbury, Snotingaliam, Stsefford,Suthbyrig, , Tomaworthy, . Wieringawic,Wygornaceaster,Wintanceaster, , Nottingham,Stafford. Sudbury,Tamworth, Warwick.Worcester.Winchester, Winchester, the chief city of Wessex, became the metropolis of Saxon England, and > tained the distinction tiU the close of the era, when London, no doubt far superior in population, began to supersede it. But under all the Norman sovereigns, the royal treasury continued to be kept at Winchester, III. IMPORTANT EPOCHS IN THE HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND, Nonnan Invasion of England by William the Conqueror, Invasion of Ireland by Henry II. under the sanction of a Papal Bull, Separation of Normandy from the English Ci-own, Magna Charta signed and sealed by King John, First State Document issued in tlie English language. Popular representatives first summoned to the National Councils, . Conquest of Wales by Edward I., .... First legally constituted House of Commons assembled under Edward I First mention made of a Speaker in the Rolls of Parliament, WicklifFe's vernacular translation of the Bible completed ahout the same date. Close of the Wai-s of the Roses, ..... Rupture with the Papacy commenced by Henry VIIL, Suppression of the Monasteries in England, Establishment ofthe Reformation by the accession of Queen Elizalmtl Defeat of the Spanish Armada, ..... Charter granted for the formation of the East India Company, . Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland under James I., . Foundation of the British American Colonies, Passing of the " Petition of Right " to restrain arbitrary government, Great Civil War between the Crown and the Parliament begun. Abolition of Monarchy, and establishment of the Commonwealth, Restoration of Monarchy under Charles II., .... Revolution which displaced the Stuarts — accession of William III., Legislative Union between England and Scotland, . Accession of the House of Hanover, .... Independence of the American Colonies acknowledged, Imperial Parliament formed by the Legislative Union of Great Britain aud Ireland, Eoman Catholic Emancipation Act pas.sed, .... Passing of the Parliamentary Reform Bill, . . . Abolition of Slavery in the British dominions, . . . Government of British India assumed hy the Queen, Disestablishment of the Protestant Church in Ireland, A.D. 10661171 1205 1215 1258 1265 1284 12951377 1485 1533 1536 LMS1588160016031607 162816421649 166016881707 1714 1783 18001829 1832 1833 18581869 Cornwall and Devonsliire Coasts. CHAPTER IL ENGLAND AND WALES. OUTH BRITAIN, comprehendmg England and Wales, by far the largest and most populous division of the island, is separated from the northern part, or Scotland, mainly by the lower course of the Tweed, the Une of the Cheviot Hills, and some smaU streams which faU into the Solway Firth, In other dii-ections the frontier is formed by the North Sea on the east, the EngUsh Channel on the south, the Irish Sea on the west, and the Atkntic on the south west. WhUe the coast-line is not so mhiutely varied as that of the northerly portion, it presents an almost uninterrupted series of cuiwos, bays, estuaries, and headlands, but is the most irregular, and at the same time the boldest, on the western side. The more considerable inlets and projections on the east are the Wash, the estuaries of tbe Tliames, the Humber, and the Tees, with the rounded protuberance formed by tho county of Norfolk, tho tapering Spurn Point, and tbe far-advancing promontory of Fkniboroiigh Head in Yorkshho, The shore is generally high aud rocky to the GEOGRAPHICAL LIMITS OF ENGLAND AND WALES, 357 northward, but through the greater part of its extent southerly, low walls of chalk or clay form the strand, with fiat marshy lands, and occasional sandy downs, where the spires or towers of churches are frequently the only distinguishable landmarks to the seaman. Its primo defect is the want of really good harbours, and the occun'ence of shoals and sandbanks, which have often been the scenes of grave maritime disasters. On the south coast, the lowest and highest points are within the Umits of Kent and Sussex, where Romney marsh, reclaimed from the sea, is preserved from submergence by an artificial embankment, and Beachy Head, nearly midway between Hastings and Brighton, formed of chidk-cliffs which overhang the beach, and are occasionally dislodged, rises upwards of 550 feet. The shore becomes extremely sinuous towards Hampshire, and forms the inlets of Portsmouth Harbour, Southampton Water, Studland and Weymouth Bays, with the three broad openings of West Bay, Plymouth Sound, and Mount's Bay, each of which has rainor indentations, and exhibits prominent headlands. The west coast, besides the deep and expanded Bristol Channel and Cardigan Bay, has the most extensive inlet of the sea within the circuit of the kingdom, formed between North AVales and South Scotland, containing the estuaries of the Dee, the Mersey, and the Ribble, with Morecambe Bay and the Solway, The finest shore scenery belongs to the north of Devon and Cornwall, and to Caernarvonshire, where the Snowdonian moun tains advance to the water's edge, and rise almost perpendicularly from it to the height of 1500 feet, TTie greatest extent of England, north and south, coincides with the meridian of 2° west, which intersects the country centraUy from Berwick-upon-Tweed to St Alban's Head in Dorsetshire. The distance between these places measures 363 niUes, This meridian, in its northerly extension, only touches the mainland of Scotland at its angular eastern extremity, and passes between the Orkneys and the Shetknds, Norway and the Faroe Isles, In the opposite direction, it intersects the peninsular part of Western France, the east of Spain, Western Africa, and passes eastward of the island of St Helena, A du-eet hne drawn from south-west to north-east, connecting the Land's End in CornwaU with Winterton Ness in Norfolk, closely corresponds in length to the measurement north and south. The breadth, due east and west, attains its maximum near the paraUel of 52°, and amounts to 280 mUes, betweeu the coast of Essex and that of Pembrokeshire. But owing to the deep estuaries on the eastern and western shores being frequently opposite to each other, or nearly so, as those of the Thames and the Severn, and the Humber and the Ribble, the contraction is very considerable at these points, and dwindles to little more than sixty nules between the outlets of the Northumbrian rivers and the head of the Solway. Further north, the width narrows tUl it finally becomes almost a point at Berwick. Bold and rugged features are conspicuous on the westem side of the country, and appear through its whole extent from north to south, subject only to a few mterruptions, and makmg a close approach towards the central dktricts. They consist of elevated heathy moors, with rounded masses rising above the general level, where stone walls often take ihe pkce of hedgerows ; and of properly mountainous tracts in the form of ranges and groups. Four dktinct regions are thus constituted — the Pennine cb.ain, the Cumbrian •or Lake group, the Cambrian or Wekh ranges, and the south-western highlands. The Pennine chain starts from the Scottish border, and is a continuation of the Cheviot HUls, the highest point of which, distinctively caUed the Cheviot, 2668 feet m elevation, k within the limits of Northumberland. From the westem extremity of these iUls, the range has a southerly course of upwards of 200 mUes. It terminates in the JJentral part of Derbyshke, thus advancing through the northem counties towards the 358 ENGLAND AND WALES. midland ; and is locaUy styled, from its longitudinal extent, the ' backbone ' of England. There is no weU-defined continuous ridge, but a succession of high moors, from ten to tlurty mUes broad, upon which mountainous masses are irregularly interspersed. One raaterial depression occurs, forraerly traversed by the Roman WaU, now avaUable for the passage of the Newcastle and CarUsle RaUway. Several heights in the west of York shire are considerably above 2000 feet; but the loftiest k in Cumberknd, near its Lunestone Rocks, Dovedale. couvergoiioo with the counties of Westmoreland and Durham.. Thk k Cross FeU, the summit of which rises to 2927 feet above the sea, and long retains the winter's snow, feeding the South Tyne and the Tees, both of which have their sources on the eastern slope. The Pennine chain forms the great water-shed of the north of England, dividing the rivers which fiow westerly to the Irish and easterly to the North Sea. It k entirely composed of rocks belonging to the carboniferous system, the mountain limestone, and miUstone grit ; and is remarkable for its picturesque dales, with numerous and extensive cavem formations. The Cumbrian mountain group, though connected with the preceding range, is geologicaUy distinct, rises higher, and has an entirely different and much grander character. It overspreads the south of Cumberland, a portion of Westmoreland, and a smaU part of the north of Lancashire, having an extent of about thirty-five mUes from east to west, and the same from north to south, where the expansion is the greatest. Slate rocks are the main constituents, steep, bold, and angular, weU clothed with wood, and with the finest greensward on the lower slopes, associated with clear lakes in the long narrow valleys, and with numerous waterfaUs, forming a combination of scenery which annuaUy attracts a crowd of summer visitors. Sea FeU, in Cumberland, the principal elevation, has two summits separated from each other by a deep chasm, and differing but little in their height. The loftiest, styled the High Man, 3208 feet above the sea, is the highest point of England, from which the whole western coast may be seen stretohmg MOUNTAIN GROUPS. 359 from the island of An<,'lesey to the Mull of GaUoway. Not a blade of grass appears at the top, but there are tufts of crisp brown moss, and splendidly-coloured lichens, Helvellyn, but little lower, 3055 feet, is much larger in bulk, yet is so closely invested with huge neighbours that there is scarcely a point of view from which the eye can embrace its fuU proportions. Skiddaw, of almost exactly the same elevation (3058), is the most imposing member of the group, as it is so far isolated that the entire mass can be seen at once from base to summit. The Cambrian Mountains, so caUed from the ancient name of Wales, consist of several ranges which occupy a large area of the principality, and are more or less connected, composed chiefly of rocks belonging to the Upper and Lower SUurian series. The principal chain k the Snowdonian in the north-west, which runs about twenty-four mUes across Caernarvonshire, by an average breadth of eight mUes, and contains the culminating" point of Britain south of the isthmus between the firths of the Clyde and the Forth. This k Snowdon proper, the ' snow-clad hill,' forty mUes in circuit at the base, with three summits, the loftiest of which, caUed Wyddfa, the ' conspicuous summit,' attains the height of 3571 feet. There are several subject heights near, which, though giants of lesser growth, are not much inferior to the monarch, Cader Idris, to the southward, in Merionethshire, belonging to another range, has an altitude of 2959 feet, Plinlimmon, further south, at the head of a third, 2481 feet, k distinguished by its vast size, being also a remarkable hydrographical point, giving birth to five rivers, the Severn, the Wye, the Rheidol, the Llyffnant, and the Clevedoc, In South Wales, the principal range, in one part of its course, has the name of the Black Mountain, or Forest Fawr, from the dark appearance of the heather, when out of blossom, with which extensive tracts are clothed. The greatest height here k attained by the Beacons of Brecknock, which rise to 2862 feet, near the town of Brecon, formerly used as a station for fire-signals in the event of an enemy appearing, OutUers of the Welsh mountain-system appear in the English border districts, as the Wrekin, the Clee and Caradoc HiUs, in Shropshire, with the Malvern HiUs on the dividing-line between the counties of Hereford and Worcester, The ktter are a short narrow ridge of moderate elevation, with a beautiful outline, and a rich appearance, forming one of the finest boundaries of the vaUey of the Severn on the westem side. The south-western highlands consist of a series of ranges and plateaus bordering on the estuary of the Severn and the Bristol Channel, and extending through the counties of Devon and Cornwall. They include the oolitic Cotswold HUls, in Gloucestershire, on the eastem slope of which the Thames has its principal source, named after the numerous sheop-cots upon them in former times; the Mendips, in the north-east of Somerset, chiefly of mountain Umestone, with a flat summit, and rapidly sloping sides ; the Quantock HUls and the Bkckdowns, in the same county, forming the northern and southern boundaries of the vale of Taunton ; the high tracts of Dartmoor and Exmoor in Devon ; and some granitic heights irregularly distributed through Cornwall Several points closely approach the altitude of 2000 feet, but only one exceeds it. Yes Tor on Dartmoor, 2050 feet, an elevation which no other part of England attains to the south of Yorkshke. Dartmoor is an extensive plateau, more than twenty mUes across, lying between Exeter and Plymouth, bleak, woodless, and extremely wUd, broken into numerous knoUs, on many of which are blocks of granite of enormous dimensions, provinciaUy termed tors, while intersected with rapid streams, torrent-like after heavy rains. Exmoor, in the north of the county, extending into Somersetshire, has simUar features, and culmuiatos in Dunkerry Beacon, 1688 feet. The Brown WUly, the loftiest of the Cornish heights, does not reach that altitude. 360 ENGLAND AND WALES. High grounds, not included in the preceding regions, are the eastem moorlands of Yorkshire, chiefly of oolite, which terminate on the shore in bold headlands ; and the two chalk-ranges which diverge eastwardly from WUtshire, and traverse the southem counties. The South Downs run tiirough Hampshire into Sussex, graduaUy nearing the coast, and protecting it from cold north vrinds, extending to Beachy Head, where they meet the waters of the Channel They are cut by transverse valleys into separate masses, have a remarkably smooth rounded outUne, exhibit great bay-Uke openings, and are clothed with the short sweet herbage which renders them famed as a sheep-walk. The North Downs stretch through the north of Hampshire, intersect Surrey and Kent, terminating in the cliffs beyond Dover. The Inkpen Beacon, near the converging points of WUts, Hants, and Berks, rises 1011 feet, and k the highest mass of chalk in the kingdom. A thud chalk-range runs from the Thames, through Oxfordshire, Bucks, and Herts, under the narae of the ChUtern HUls, and proceeds north-east to the coast of Norfolk, but with a greatly decUning elevation. The whole of the central and eastem districts of England, with large tracts in the northem, western, and southern counties, and portions of the Wekh principality, have a surface diversified occasionaUy with bluff hiUs, but more generaUy exhibitiug gentle knoUs and broad river-valleys, in connection with some entirely level knds. These form the country of the hawthorn-hedge, the daisied mead, and shaded homestead, in which . ' Corn-waving fields, and pasture green, and slope And swell alternate.' The greatest extent of level land Ues around the shores of the Wash. Tius k the district of the Fens, so caUed from the meres and marshes with which it was formerly overspread, now one of the most productive parts of the country, though unfortunately held by a somewhat precarious tenure. It comprehends portions of the counties of Lincoln, Norfolk, Cambridge, Huntingdon, and Northampton, but chiefly belongs to Lincolnshire; extends about fifty miles from north to south, by from twenty to thirty in the opposite direction ; and embraces an area of 700,000 acres, where hedges are scarce, trees rare, the roads straight, drains and embankments multitudinous, whUe steam-engines for the movement of hydrauUc machinery abound. By such means a vast area has been recovered from submergence ; and their continued action is necessary to prevent the return of the floodmg, owing to the region being below the high-water level of the Wash, whUe its flatness k opposed to a sufiicient outfaU for the numerous rivers. From the principal highlands running north and south, whUe occupying a westerly position, it foUows that the general slope of the country k from west to east, in which direction the more important rivers are formed, flowing to the North Sea, with the- exception of the Sevem, In the order of magnitude of their basins, they rank as foUows : Rivers. Area of Basin Length. in Sq. Miles. Miles. Humber, Severn, . Thames,Great Ouse, Mersey,Avon, Wilts, Yare, . Nen,Tyne, , Witham, 955085806160296017481210 1180113211001050 171 239220 150 7070 60 100 80 70 Termination. North Sea. Bristol Channel, North Sea. Irish Sea. EngUsh ChannoL North Sea, Rivers. Eden, . Dee,Tees, . Ribble,WeUand,Parret, Exe, . Tamar,To^vy, , Area of Ba-^in in Si|. Miles, . 991862 . 744720 . 708 653 . 643 603 . 606 Lenpth. Miles. 7280 8060 60 45 55 55 70 Termination. Irish Sea. North Sea. Irish Sea. North Sea. Bristol Channel. English Channel II Bristol Cliannel, RIVER-SYSTEMS. 3C1 The Humber includes the minor basins of the Trent and Yorkshire Ouse ; the Severn comprises those of the Wye, Bristol Avon, and Usk ; and the Thames that of the Med way. The Humber k the largest not only of English but of British rivers in the area of its basin, though the name has a very restricted appUcation, being confined to the estuary in which the Trent and Ouse unite their waters, thirty-five mUes long, and from two to five mUes broad, narrowed at its confluence with the sea by the projection of Spurn Point. The Severn has the greatest length, foUowing a very circuitous route from its head-spring on PlinUramon, which renders the distance by the channel about twice the direct distance from source to mouth. But the Thames is commercially the most important river on the face of the globe, and surpasses aU others in the amount of wealth on its surface and hanks. Its source k at Seven Springs, on the south-eastern side of the Cotswolds, in Gloucestershire, where there are seven separate outbursts of doubtless the sarae fountain, m a secluded deU overhung with a luxuriant canopy of foliage. ' The water gushes clear and pure as crystal out of the grassy fountain, and after whirling round a few times, starts off swiftly down the narrow stony channel it has scooped out for itself.' Under the name of the Chm-n, the stream flows to Cricklade, where it receives an affluent, and becomes the Thames, a border river through the remainder of its course, dividing the counties of Oxford and Bucks from Berkshire, next Middlesex from Surrey, then Essex from Kent. At London Bridge the river k 290 yards wide ; at Woolwich, 490 ; at Gravesend, 800 ; at Coal House Point, three mUes below, 1290 yards; and at the Nore, six miles. Between Greenwich and London, the depth in the fakway is upwards of twelve feet, wliUe the tides have a mean range of seventeen feet, and an extreme rise of twenty-two feet. In the middle part of its course, the stream k rendered picturesque by Uttle islands, locally caUed aits, occurring singly and in clusters, sheltering the water-hen and some tame swans. The general character of the current is accurately described in the couplet : ' Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ; Strong vrithout rage ; without o'erflowing, full.' Of all our rivers, the Thames has been hktoricaUy known the longest. It was crossed by JuUus Caesar, at a point commonly beUeved to be near Chertsey, in Surrey, where the name of Conway Stakes k supposed to commemorate the stakes which the Britons drove mto its bed to prevent the passage of the legions. One of its affluents, the Lea, which joks it ia the neighbourhood of the East India Docks, was, in the time of Alfred, made part of the boundary between his doniinions and the Danelagh, or the territory occupied by the Danes. The Mersey, though of inconsiderable length, expands into a fine estuary, and ranks the second as a commercial water-way, forming the port of Liverpool. It receives the IrweU from Manchester, and the two have been' aptly styled the ' hardest-worked rivers m the world,' flowing through the cotton manufacturing districts. The Tyne, Wear, and Tees are of vast importance ia the lower part of their course as coal-shippmg rivers, while connected with very strildng scenery in their upper parts. The streams remarkable for theu flow through wUd, picturesque, and beautiful landscapes, include the rapid Wharfe, an affluent of the Yorkshire Ouse; the Dove, in Derbyshke, associated with Izaak Walton, hk disciple Cotton, and Sk Humphrey Davy ; the Welsh Dee, in its passage through the vale of LlangoUen ; the Wye, from its mouth into Herefordshire ; the Towy, k South Wales ; the Tamar, belonging equally to Devon and CornwaU ; and the Duddon, celebrated by Wordsworth, with the Eden, Lune, and Derwent, durmg their passage through the Cumbrian Mountains, The latter district k the only part of England ui which lakes, properly so caUed, are forraed, aU comparatively smaU, but numerous, ocoupyuig glens in the highlands, and possessing great scenic attractions. Windermere, 2 z 362 ENGLAND AND WALES. the largest, is nearly eleven miles long, and from one to two broad. Next in extent are Ullswater, Coniston-water, Derwentwater, and Bassenthwaite-water, mostly long and narrow, or oval-shaped expanses, Wales has only examples of any size in Bala Pool, on the course of the Dee, and the shallow Brecknock Mere, near the town of that name. The superficial area of England amounts to 50,922 square miles, and that of Wales to 7398, making a total of 58,320 square miles. With the exception of a few tracts, the whole country consists geologicaUy of sedimentarj' rocks, generaUy rich in orgaiuc remains, animal and vegetable, but of various ages, different mineral character, and diverse fossUs. Passing frora east to west, or from the coast of Suffolk to that of Pembrokeshire, and from south-east to north-west, or from the shores of Kent to those of the Solway Firth, aU the great fossUiferous systems known to geologkts are encountered in regukr succes sion, with nearly aU the subordinate members belonging to each group, containing those mineral masses which are best adapted to supply the wants and stimulate the energies of mankind, A line drawn from the mouth of the Exe in South Devon to Bath, and thence continued with moderate curvatures by Gloucester, Leicester, Nottingham, and Tadcaster to Stockton-upon-Tees, divides the surface into two principal sections differing in their natural aspect, geology, and social features. East of the Une k an undukting region of the more recent secondary formations, largely oolitic and cretaceous, with tertiary strata ; and on the western side is a district of hUk and mountains, composed of the older secondary, transition, and primitive rocks. The same Une separates generally the mining and speciaUy manufacturing dktricts from the eminently agricultural, for aU the coal deposits, with the metaUiferous ores, except iron, lie to the westward of it. Including smaU detached tracts, seventeen distinct coal areas may be enumerated, five of which are of great national importance. These are the fields of Northumberknd and Durham, the longest worked, that of Yorkshire and Derbyshire, of South Lancashire, South Staffordshire, and South Wales, the latter the least worked and the largest, embracing an area of 900 square miles. There are 2000 collieries in England and 350 in Wales, yielding a total produce exceeding 130,000,000 tons annuaUy, in connection with which vast quantities of iron ore are raised from the coal-bearing strata, and smelted at the surface. Oxides and silicates of iron are also very abundant in the greensand of the cretaceous system, in the Weald of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex. This district, now a region of quiet sylvan scenes, was the great seat of the iron raanufacture in the age of the Plantagenets, Tudors, and Stuarts, whUe wood converted into charcoal was alone used in the process of sraeltmg. The first cannons cast in England were made at Buxted in Sussex, in the reign of Henry VIIL ; and the balustrades around St Paul's Cathedi-al came from Lamberhurst furnace in the sarae county. Upon mineral fuel being substituted for wood, the manufacture was transferred to those localities where pit-coal and iron ore are in close proximity. Tin is alraost exclusively found in CornwaU, where it occurs both as vein-tin traversing the granite and slaty rocks, and k obtained by regukr mining, and as stream-tin in the superficial deposits of vaUoys and low grounds, from which the metallic particles are separated by washing, or stream-works, Cornwall also yields the largest supply of copper, but it k wrought m Devonshire, Staffordshire, Glamorganshire, and the Isle of Anglesey, Lead is procured in Devonshire, North Wales, and Derbyshire, but the most productive mines are bi the high moorlands towards the convergence of the northem counties, Northuraberland, Curaberknd, and Durham. Owmg to the immense araount of mineral wealth annuaUy extracted from the soil, especiaUy of coal, which is constantly and rapidly increasing, it becomes a highly-important and interesting question. How long wUl the supply last ? Only a very dubious answer can be retumed ; yet it is satisfactory to know in general, that the time for nervous apprehension respecting its MINERAL PRODUCTS. 3G3 failure k yet far dktant, though it may become a costly article at a piuch earlier late, owing to the great waste which occurs at the pit's mouth, and to the enhanced price of production caused by the necessity of going to greater depths, and of opening more extensive workmgs. In the variety, extent, and value of its manufactures, England surpasses every other country, whUe the products have a high character for excellence in aU the raarkets of the world. This eminence k the joint result of moral, poUtical, and physical causes. Much k undoubtedly due to the practical temperament and energy of the people, along with the mechanical genius of individuals. But the security attendmg the accumulation of property under a governmerit which respects its rights, enters into the solution of the problem, as weU as that immunity from foreign invasion which is the consequence of an insular position. At various times, skUled artisans have flocked to these shores in great nurabers from the Netherlands and France, to escape frora civil or religious oppression, and have introduced new industrial pursuits, or given the benefit of thek experience and knowledge to existing handicrafts. But one of the main causes of the superiority is the possession of the vast mineral stores referred to — the natural implements of manufactures — with a convenient highway in the surrounding ocean along which to receive the raw material of other nations, and return the products of industry in their manufactured form. England k divided into forty counties or shires of very varying dimensions, and Wales into twelve. With the exception of eight formed by Henry VIIL, the other English counties were famUiarly known in the Saxon age ; but the date and circumstances of their origin are quite uncertain, though some very probably arose out of older divisions of the country, without precisely corresponding to their limits. Thus, Kent in general represents the first founded of the smaU Saxon kingdoms, as well as the old British prmcipaUty of the Cantii The word ' shire ' is of Saxon origin, and denotes a share or division ; whUe ' county ' k derived from the counts or earls by whom the government of certain districts was originaUy administered, who had the Latin title of Comes. In the kter Roman age, there was a Count of the Saxon shore in Britain, Comes Uttoris Suxoniciper Brittaniam, whose duty it was to superintend the eastern and south-eastern coasts, upon which some of the Germanic tribes had already then settled. Most of the counties are distributed into hundreds, a minor division of long standing, being mentioned in Domesday Book, The name is supposed to refer originaUy to a hundred heads of famiUes, and to have acquired a fixed territorial meaning owdng to popidation being a fluctuating element. In the four northern counties, Northuraberland, Cumberknd, Westraoreland, and Durhara, the subdivision is into wards, in aUusion doubtless to the obligation of the inhabitants of the border districts to keep ' watch and ward ' against the incursions of their northern neighbours. In Yorkshire, Lincohishire, and Nottinghamshire, the corresponding subdivisions are styled wapentakes, a term said to be derived from the usage observed by the foUowers of a chieftain at hk installation, who touched hk weapon planted in the soU as a token of aUegiance, Yorkshire has, besides, a special distribution mto three large portions, called ridings, or more properly th-ithings. Kent and Sussex have ako sirailar interraediate secrioiis, of five lat/ies^ in the former, and six rapes m the latter, both with subordinate hundreds. For ecolesiastkal purposes, the division of the country k into two archiepiscopal provinces, that of Canterbury with twenty bishoprics, and that of York with six. The parochial distribu- tkn is into upwards of 18,000 parishes, and is as old as the tenth century. Large tracts of the surface stiU retain particular denominations, some of which aUude to a physical condition which has wholly or for the most part passed away, and others to ancient 364 ENGLAND AND WALES, feudal divisions, as the Weald or woodland of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex ; the Isle of Ely, in the north of Cambridgeshire ; the Isle of Axholme, in the north-west of Lincolnshire ; the peninsular district called Holderness in Yorkshire ; Cleveland and Craven in the same county, with Hallamshire, which includes Sheffield and a portion of the neighbourhood. Intimately connected with the division of the country into hundreds, in former times, was that into boroughs. The old Saxon borough, in fact, was nothing more than a hundred or a group of hundreds, encircled by a moat, a istockade, or a wall. All the inhabitants of the borough were freemen, bound to each other as neighbours, sharing common burthens, and responsible for each other to surrounding communities. As the boroughs grew in size or importance the hundred lost its former significance ; stiU for a long time the original principle was kept in view of having the same subdivision, organization, and govemment for town and country populations. Many of the ancient boroughs have now fallen into decay, while new boroughs sprang up in many parts of the country with the rapid progress of population, which commenced after the middle of the last century. In 1835 a great change was made in their constitution, and the limits of many of them were enlarged by the adoption of new boundaries. For the purpose of detailed description, the counties may be conveniently arranged in groups, consisting of six northern, five north-midland, five western, five eastem, nine south-midland, ten southern, and twelve Welsh. In each of the lists given, the names of the county towns are placed first. I. NORTHERN COUNTIES. Counties. Sq.'^Miles Principal Towns. Northumberland, . . 1952 Newcastle, Tynemouth, North Shields, Morpeth, Alnwick, Berwick. „ , „„„ ( Durham, Sunderland, Gateshead, South Shields, Stockton, Darlington, Uurliam, . , , 973i Tr ., i i o i (. Hartlepool. Cumberland, , , , 1564 Carlisle, Whitehaven, Coc];ermonth. Westmoielaud, . . 758 Appleby, Kendal. , ,. /Lancaster, Liverpool, Manchester and Salford, Preston, Bolton, Oldham, ijancasnire, ... lyuoi t,, , , 1. Blackburn. Yorkshire, North Riding, -, rYork, Pcarborough, Whitliy, MidJlesborough, Richmond. ,, East Biding, L 5983-| Hull, Beverley, Bridlington. „ West Riding, ) iLeeds, Bradford, Hnddersfield, Halifax, ShefBeld, Wakefield. Tills portion of the country, with the exception of the larger part of Northumberland, forined in the time of the Eomans the sub-province of Maxima CiBsariensk Along its northern border, from the Tyne to the Solway Firth, ran the Roman WaU, nearly seventy mdes in length, fbrtified with military stations, castles, and watch-towers, of which numerous and massive remains are extant. The village of Wallsend, just below Newcastle, so weU known by name from the vast quantity of 'Wallsend coal' sent to London, com memorates the rampart, and marks the site of its eastern terminus. In a later age, Northumberland, Durham, and Yorkshire formed two of the original Saxon kingdoms, Bernicia and Deira, till both merged in the single state of Northumbria, which extended along the eastern side of Scotland, up to the Firth of Forth, .and preserved an independent existence to the commencement of the ninth centuiy. The other three counties, Cumberknd, West moreland, and Lancashire, formed the contemporary British kingdom of Cumbria, sometimes united with Strath-Clyde, or the west of Scotland up to the Firth of Clyde ; and they were not incorporated fully in the monarchy of England till some time after the Norman Conquest. NoRTHUMBKRLAND, the uiost northerly county, extends along the coast from the mouth of the Tyne to a little beyond that of the Tweed, so as to include the town of Berwick, which was formerly considered a neutral spot, not belonging to either England or Scotland. The rnund-topped Cheviot Hills appear on the north-west, clothed with beautiful green verdure, affording pasture for an e.xeelleut breed of sheep. But other high NORTHUMBERLAND, 365 grounds on the westem side are dreary moorknds, covered with heath, peat, and morasses, some ofwhich are the seat of important kad-mines. In the lowland dktricts, towards the coast and on the south, arable husbandry k prosecuted with success; but the prime mdustrial features of the county are connected with the great coal-field, continuous with that of Durham, whkh stretches twenty-five mUes northward frora the Tyne, has a breadth of eighteen mUes from the sea, and dips to an unknown extent beneath its waves. The small streams are the Blythe, Wansbeck, Coquet, Ain, and TUl, the latter an affluent of the Tweed, Off the mouth of the Coquet, k the little isle of that name, a tract of rich pasture, once the site of a fortress, now of a light-house. The river has Warkworth hermitage on the north bank, a secluded and highly-pkturesque spot, founded at an uncertain date for a smgle hermit, the subject of a weU-known baUad by Dr Percy, Holy Island, on the north part of the coast, two mUes distant, but accessible by vehicles at low water, obtamed its name from being a celebrated eccksiastical site at an early perkd, the seat of a bishopric, finaUy transferred to Durham, It has a circuit of about nme mUes, k occupied by fishermen, and contains unposing rains of a priory church— ' A solemn, huge, and dark-red pile, Placed on the margin of the isle.' On the south-east, nearly opposite the basaltic headland of Bamborough Castle, are the Farne and Staples klets, seventeen in number, formmg two groups, inner and outer. The largest contains about twelve acres. The down of the eider-duck, a winter-visitor, is obtained here in considerable quantities. The town of Newcastle, ten miles from the mouth of the Tyne, extends upwards of two miles along the north bank; and has Gateshead opposite, a separate borough in Durham, but really a suburb, with whicii communication is maintained by a magnificent double bridge, designed by Stephenson, called the high level bridge, for the accommodation of foot-passengers, ordinary vehicles, and railway transit. There has been recently erected a bridge at a lower level, opening in the centre hy hydraulic machinery to permit the passage of .shipping. Few places have undergone such a complete change in appearance during the last half-century, amounting to a total reconstruction of a large portion of it in a very superior style. Though coal-shipping is the principal industry, sent coastwise and over sea, there are glass, earthenware, oil, lead, and chemical works, with engineering establishments, carried on upon a vast scale. Newcastle has its name from a castle built upon the site of an old fortress by Robert, son of William the Conqueror, the massive square keep of which still remains, and is a striking object in every point of view. The list of natives contains the names of Lords Eldon and Stowell, brothers and jurists, Admiral Lord Collingwood, Akenside the poet, and Hutton the mathematician. Bewick, the reviver of wood-engraving, was born in the neighbourhood, and long a resident, with the two Ktephensons, father and son, in whose locomotive factory here the Rocket engine was constructed, which afforded the first example of great speed being attained with a heavy railway train. Tynemouth, as the name imports, is at the month of the river, frequented as a watering place, and has a striking appearance on being approached by sea, owing to the numerous shipping outward and homeward bound, with its peninsula of stupendous rocks, crowned by a light-house and fine remains of an ancient priory. It forms a single town with North Shields by proximity, and for parliamentary purposes. At Morpeth, inland on the Wansbeck, the largest cattle-marlset in the north of England is held weekly, chiefly supplied with stock from the southern districts of Scotland, Further north, Alnwick, on the Ain, claims attention from its castle on the opposite bank of the stream, one of the seats of the Dukes of Northumber land, completely renovated at a recent date, and now exhibiting a model of a baronial residence in the days of border chivalry, Ber-wicTc, near the mouth of the Tweed, on the north bank, surrounded by walls, is the frontier town of England in this direction towards Scotland, and was of great military importnnce when the two kingdoms were separate. The river is here crossed by the Royal Border Bridge, a viaduct of twenty- eight noble arches, one of the finest structures of the railway age, opened by the Queen on her way to the Highlands in 1850. The principal trade of the town is the export of salmon caught in the Tweed, sent ch'efly to London packed in ice. Hexham, near the junction qf the north and south branches of the Tyne, the seat of an episcopate in early times, retains a memorial of its former ecclesiastical distinction, in a large abbey- church, used as the parish church, with other i^elics of monastic buildings. On the high western moors, where the winter's snow driTts deep and lies long, the hamlet of AUenheads is the centre of the populous lead-mining district of Allendale, where the residence of the overseer, 1100 feet above the sea, is said to be the highest inhabited house of its magnitude in Great Britain. Tn Northumberland, near the foot of the Cheviots, the fatal battle-field of Flodden is indicated, with that of Otterburn, which is commonly identified with the Chevy Chase of border minstrelsy. 366 ENGLAND AND WALES. Durham is the county iramediately to the south. It extends from the Tyne to the Tees, and from the sea to the mountains and moorknls of the Pennine range. It has a large proportion of high, rugged, and heathy surface, but the vaUeys are fertUe, and the great northern coal-field stretches through nearly its whole extent along the coast. Besides the border-rivers, the Wear intersects it soraewhat centraUy from west to east, and separates in the middle and upper part of its course the district of Weardale Forest on the north, from that of Teesdale Forest ou the south, both of which are now bare of trees. The latter district is celebrated for its breed of short-horned cattle; but the prevailing occupations are connected with the subterranean products, coal and iron. Durham, a smaU episcopal city, occupies a series of rocky eminences, nearly surrounded Durham Cathedral and Castle, from a Photograph by Dr Holden. by the Wear, towards the heart of the county. It is distinguished by an ancient cathedral and a modern university. The cathedral, in the Norman style, with Early English insertions, is a singularly grand and massive edifice ; aud, standmg on the loftiest of the summits on which the city is buUt, it is seen from a great distance, rising high above the horizon. The west front surmounts a steep declivity clothed with trees and gardens, at the foot of which fiows the river. From the opposite bank of the stream, the fajade ahd its battlemented towers, with the foliage below, descending to the water's edge, form a very striking picture, NeviUe's Cross, at a very short distance from the suburbs, on tho west, raarks the site of a decisive battle in which the Scots were defeated, and thoir king taken prisoner, while Edward ITI, was absent on the continent CUMBERLAND. 367 Sunderland, at the mouth of the Wear, Bishop- Wearmouth adjoining, and Monk-Wearmouth on the opposite bank, form a vast town, where shipbuilding, the export of coal, and various manufactures are extensively pursued. The river ia crossed by a reraarkable iron bridge, with a single arch of 237 ieet span, and nearly a hundred feet above the surface of the water. Southward of Sunderland lies the largest colliery -property in the world in the hands of one individual, a district of 12,000 acres, with an average annual produce of over 1,500,000 tons of coal, which the Marchioness of Londonderry brought to her husband as the heiress of the Vane-Tempest family. Gateshead, on the Tyne, opposite to Newcastle, corresponds to it generally, but is much smaller, while South Shields bears the same relation to North Shields, but is much larger. Between the two is the village of Jarrow, in the parish ofwhich Venerable Bede was born, lived, and died. The southern part of the county contains Stockton and Darlington, the first places united by a railway for the conveyance of passengers. Hartlepool, on the coast, has in recent years been changed tiom a qniet sea-bathing resort to a bustling commercial port. Barnard Castle, an inland town on the Tees, adjoins very striking scenery, extend ing some miles up the valley of the river, especiaUy at the High or Mickle Force, where, surrounded with steeps and woods, the stream dashes down a perpendicular precipice of seventy feet, forming one ofthe noblest water-falls in the country. Cumberland, the most northerly of the English counties on the western side, lies along the Solway Firth and the Irish Sea, extending inland to the Pennine range, the highest point of which, Cross FeU, k comprised within its limits. It includes two principal natural divisions, an extensive plain on the north and north-west, with the rugged tract Silver How and the Rothay, Grassmere. mentioned on the east, and the mountains of the Lake district on the south. Sea Fell and Skiddaw are in the county, and the mighty Helvellyn on the border towards Westmoreland, whose heights have been given. The other principal elevations are. Great Gavel, 2925 feet ; PiUar, 2893 ; Saddkback, 2787 ; Grassmere, 2756 ; Eed Pike, 2750- and Grisedale Pike, 2680 feet. The lakes are Derwentwater, Bassenthwaite, Thirimere, Buttermere, Crummock Water, Ennerdale, and Wast Water, with UUeswater, 368 ENGLAND AND WALES. larger than any of the preceding, but equally shared by Westraoreland. The chief river is the Eden, which, after winding through the highlands, intersects the great plain, and discharges in the Solway. It affords one of the very few exaraples in England of an iraportant river fiowing mainly in a northerly direction. Next k the Derwent, reraark able for its lirapid water and beautiful scenery, which carries to the sea the drainaofe of several lakes. But with the Duddon, which forms the border from Lancashire, it has no navigable value, both being almost entirely mountain-streams. The climate is extremely humid, the Lake region being one of the rainiest districts in Europe. At Whitehaven, on the coast, the average annual rainfaU amounts to 52 inches ; at Keswick, in the heart of the mountains, to 70 inches ; and at Seathwaite, on Derwentwater, the extraordinary quantity of 140 inches has been registered. In consequence of this excessive moisture, the farmers attend chiefly to stock-husbandry, green crops, and dairy produce. The minerals are lead, coal, iron, plumbago, and sktes. The principal lead- mines are towards the Northumberland border, in the dktrict of Akton Moor, and were part of the estates of the Earl of Derwentwater, confiscated for hk share in the EebeUion of 1715, and transferred to Greenwich Hospital. The episcopal city of Carlisle, the 'bonny Carlisle' oi border song, occupies a gentle eminence on the south bank of the Eden, and is the seat of considerable manufactures of cottons, woollens, and hardwares. But situated only a few miles from the Scottish frontier, its aspect was in former times that of an important military post, possessing a strong fortress, with embattled walls and gates. Fart of the old castle remains and the whole restored is now a conspicuous object. The names of English Street on the south and Scotch Street on the north, connected thoroughfares, indicate the position of the place, bordering the two countries. Equally prominent is the cathedral, standing on the highest ground within the city, a venerable edifice, containing the remains of the celebrated Paley. Carlisle sustained one of the mor.t memorable sieges in our history, when held by the Royalists during the great civil war, an interesting narrative of which is among the Harleian manuscripts in the British Museum, written by a citizen. It commenced in October, 1644, and lasted till June 2oth of the following year, when famine enforced a surrender. 'iVhitdiaten, Workington, and Maryport are seaport towns, from which large quantities of coal are shipped to Ireland, and iron ore to South Wales. Around Whitehaven the coal is obtained from mines excavated nnder the town, and at other points they extend to a considerable distance beneath the sea. Fatal accidents have occurred from the irruption of the superincumbent water. Cocleermouth, an inland town, at the junction of the Cocker with the Derwent, is distinguished as the birthplace of the poet Wordsworth. Keswick, the head-quarters of many Lake tourists, is beautifully situated in a fertile vale near the foot of Skiddaw, and on the margin of Derwentwater. The manufacture of the so-called black-lead pencils is one of its prevailing industries. The peculiar mineral employed, provinciaUy termed ' wad,' a carburet of iron, of which fine specimens are very rare, was obtained from a mine a few miles to the southward, on the side of a mountain at the head of Borrowdale, but it is now exhausted. Westmoreland, with the exception of a small south-westem section which reaches the head of T lorecarabe Bay, is an inland region. It is generaUy elevated, rugged, and bleak ; and contains the lowest average of population of any of the EngUsh counties. The mountains of the Cumbrian group appear on the westem side, and those of the Pennine chain on the eastern, where the surface is either in natural pasture or under wood, except in the narrow romantic dales which have fertUe soil The Eden, the Kent, and the Lune, have their upper courses in the county; Hawes Water is whoUy within its limits; UUeswater and Windermere are on the western border, Appleby, the smallest county town in England, consists of u single street, with the population of • moderate-sized village. Kendal, in the pleasant valley of the Kent, trom which the name is derived, is the only place of importance, having a wooUen manufacture fomided hy a colony of Flemish weavers in the reign of Edward III. Its green druggets were for several centuries the ordinary clotliing of the lower classes, and became widely known under the name of Kendal-green. Ambleside, near the head of Windermere, and Bovmess, on the eastem shore, depend upon summer excursionists and the neighbouring villas. The lake, about eleven mUes long by one broad, is daily traversed by smaU steamers in the visiting-season, and has quiet beauty for tho distinctive features of its scenery. The greater part of its margin belongs to Lanca shire. A medicinal spring on tho high moorland tract of Shap Fell has rendered one of the dreariest regions in the kingdom a place of considerable resort. Shap Abbey, the remains of wliioh are in a lonely vale, belonged after the dissolution to the ancestors of Hogarth tho painter. LANCASHIRE. 3g9 Lancashire, the chief seat of the cotton raanufacture, extends along the coast of the Irish Sea, and consists of two portions, a small northerly section being detached by the intervention of Morecambe Bay. This isolated tract is the hundred of Furness, also termed 'North of the Sands,' an integral part of the Cumbrian mountain-region. It contains Coniston Water, the third of the lakes in size, with Coniston Old Man, 2577 feet in height, and the small port of Ulverstone. It contains a considerable extent of moss, the remains of an ancient forest. The remainder of the county has a coast-Une broken with inlets, through which the Lune, Wyre, Ribble, and Mersey reach the sea ; and a surface consisting of sandy maritime flats, numerous peat-mosses, aud high grounds towards the Yorkshire border. The prime natural feature of the county is the great coal-field, which ranges in the form of a crescent, from the central to the southern districts, wrought upon an extensive scale for the supply of the manufacturing establishments upon its surface, and the domestic use of the vtist population congregated in the locality. Though now more densely peopled than any other part of the realm after Middlesex, and a wonderful theatre of invention and activity, nearly the whole region was once very desolate, where scarcely penetrable forests alternated with moors, either clothed with heather and brush wood, or presenting a series of marshes and shaking bogs. In the time of James I., the antiquary Camden approached its frontier with dread, and commended himself to the Divine protection on entering its tangled wilds. In the early stages of parliamentary representation, through six successive reigns, the sherifis made the return that there were ' no cities or boroughs within its bounds, from which ' any citizens or burgesses ought, or have been accustomed to come to parliament, by reason of thek poverty.' Its many great towns and crowded parishes have been formed during the cotton-manufacturing era, and chiefiy since the application of machinery and steam-power to production, Liverpool, on the right bank of the Mersey, near the mouth of the river, which forms the harbour, is now second only to the metropolis in point of population. It is the chief port of entry for raw cotton, and of export for cotton fabrics, while carrying on a vast miscellaneous commerce with all parts of the kingdom, and every country of the globe. The public buildings are remarkable for magnitude and architectural execution, while the docks form a chain of basins extending from four to five miles along the river, with a total quay space fourteen miles in length. Seen from the bosom of the broad stream, the view of the forest of shipping, with the flags of all nations flj-ing, with warehouses, churches, and other edifices, is in the highest degree imposing. It might be mistaken by a stranger for the capital of a powerful state, aud is indeed excelled by few continental capitals, not merely in size and wealth, but in institutions as well for social and educational improvement, for the promo tion of science, literature, and art. A Free Public Library, founded by one of its ' merchant princes,' has reached an average daily issue of several thousands of volumes. Few things are more surprising than the quick yet solid growth of its commercial greatness, with the increase of its inhabitants. According to the best accounts that can be obtained, the population somewhat exceeded five thousand at the commencement of the last century, and is now .rapidly advancing to half a million. Livei-pool shares with Manchester the distinction of having originated the First Grand British Experimental Eailway, connecting the two places, opened September 15, 1830. The scheme was contemplated principaUy to facilitate the transit of raw produce and goods, which was so enormous, amounting to 1200 tons daily, that the canals and road wagons had long been utterly inadequate to accommodate manufacturers and merchants in reasonable time. Passenger traiific was a very subordinate consideration. In the execution of this work. Chat Moss, one of the most extensive and dangerous of the Lancashire bogs, deemed utterly irreclaimable, was drained. It consisted of a covering of long, coarse, sedgy grass and heath, overlying a spongy moss, in some places thirty feet deep, nearly the whole ofwhich has now been tumed to profitable account. In the south-east quarter of the county, Mancliester and Salford, though separate boroughs, form one continuous city, simply divided by the narrow stream of the Irwell, over which numerous bridges are thrown. The population faUs slightly below that of Liverpool. Though of ancient date, having been a Eoman station, if not an old British settlement, Manchester has no venerable structures, except a collegiate church, which became a cathedral by the constitution of the bishopric in 1847, But it is amply supplied with spacious streets, commodious commercial buildings, literary and benevolent institutes, and public parks, suitable to its character as a great industrial centre, the capital of the cotton-manufacturing district. Its Town HaU is one of the finest structures of the kind in England. Factories and warehouses are everywhere prominent. The latter are occasionally superb palatial stmctures, whUe the former are simply huge pUes of brick studded with multitu- dinous windows, yet remarkable generally in the interior for cleanliness, ventilation, regulated temperature, and 3 A 370 ENGLAND AND WALES. orderly economy. There are upwards of two hundred of the first-class, from five to eight stories in height. Besides cotton-mills ; silk, flax, print, and chemical works are numerous, with brass and iron foundries, and almost every branch of industry is represented, Manchester has not been connected with many events of historical importance ; but the first blood that stained its streets was shed in the contest between Charles I. aud the parlia ment. At the beginning of the Georgian era, it was described by Dr. Ktnkeley as ' the largest, most rich, populous, and busy village in England.' There were then four cumbrous private carriages in the place. Its prosperity is mainly due to the introduction of machinery, and the proximity of a rich coal-field. The first steam-engine was set up in 1790. Dalton, the great chemist, was a native. In the immediate vicinity Oldham and Ashton- under-Lyme are remarkable for the rapidity with which they have advanced from small hamlets to great municipalities. The other cotton towns have similar general features ; but in a few instances points of particular interest are attached to them. Preston, on the north bank of the Eibble, near the head of its estuary, is of great antiquity, said to have its name, originally Priests Town, from the nuraber of religious houses which it once Lancaster Castle, «ontained. Guilds are celebrated every twenty years, when the trades meet, and hold a jubilee. Arkwright, th? successful constructor of the water-frame, was a native, and made here liis first attempt to improve the machinery. Blackburn, to the eastward, produced Hargreaves, the inventor of the spinning-jenny. Bolton, is simUarly associated with Crompton, a poor weaver, who contrived the mule-jenny, after devoting every spare moment through five years to the task. He then occupied u garret at the HaU-in-the-Wood, an old manor-house, in a retired and beautiful spot, close to the town. During the great civU war Bolton suffered severely, especially when it was taken by storm by the Royalists under Prince Rupert and the Earl of Derby. In remembrance ot this, tho earl, when captured at the battle of Worcester, was removed to the town, and publicly beheaded. The production of woollen goods is largely combined with the staple manufacture of the county at Bury and Rochdale, with that of glass and small hardwares at 'Warrinylon. In connection with the former town, the first Sir Robert Peel made his fortune, and at Chamber HaU, in the neighbourhood, his son, the great statesman, was born. On a lofty adjoming height, coaiiiui,uUing an extensive view, a monument tq the memory of the latter has been erected. Wigan, Burnley rORK MOORS AND YORKSHIRE WOLDS, 371 and Staley Bridge have large artizan populations. Blackpool, Southport, Lytham, and Fleetwood sae watering-places on the coa^t, the latter of vety recent date, its site having been a rabbit-warren when tha age of railways commenced, La-ncaster, the county town, towards the north extremity of the county, on the south bank of the Lune, is of Uttle importance in comparison with the hives of industry in the centre and south, but retains a fine feudal castle on a comraanding site, which renders it a striking feature in the general view of the town. Yorkshire, tho largest county of England, and the third in point of population, lies on the North Sea, between the estuaries of the Tees and the Humber ; and has an area exceeding that of the continental kingdom of Saxony. It consists generaUy of a long Yoik Minster, from a Photograph by WUson. central valley, stretching south-south-east from the northern frontier, and gradually widening tUl it terminates in a series of extensive and somewhat swampy levels. This vaUey is bounded by tracts of considerable elevation. Eastward are the York Moors and Yorkshire Wolds, separated by the vale of Pickering ; and westward are the Pennine highlands, which rke in Whernside, Ingleborough, and Pennigant, to the respective heights of 2384, 2361, and 2270 feet above the sea. Neariy the whok drainage of the surface is conducted by the Ouse through the central vaUey to the Humber. The river has its remotest and principal source at Swalohead, on tbe mountain of Shnnnor Fell, near ih^ border-line towards AVestmoreland. It k formed by the junction of the Swak 272 ENGLAND AND WALlMl. and Yore below the town of Boroughbridge, and receives on its flow the Nidd from Knaresborough, the Wharfe from Tadcaster, the Aire from Leeds, the Derwent from Malton, and the Don from Sheffield, Tidal water ascends the channel to a lock about four miles below York. Several of the affluents are connected with scenes of great natural magnificence in the upper parts of their course. The county conskts of throe principal divisions, the North, East, and West Eidings, Agriculture k chiefiy pursued in the two former. Manufactures and collieries distinguish the latter. Its coal-field Scarborough from the Castie. ranges from the north-east of Leeds southward into the counties of Derby and Nottingham, a distance of more than sixty miles. Iron ore in vast abundance k extracted frora it, smelted at the spot, and worked up in great foundry establishments into massive hard wares. In addition to the large loeal consumption of the coal for this purpose, and for household use, it competes by means of the raUways with sea-borne coal in the metropolitan market. The city of York, on the banks of the Ouse, is centrally seated in the great river valley, at the convergence of the three ridings, but is associated with the northern for electoral purposes. Founded in the earUesx historic times of Britain, it was a metropolis under the Romans, where died the Emperors Severus and Constantlus Chlorus, and where the son ot the hitter, Constantine the Great, was born. In the prmiitive Saxon age, it was the capital of Northumbria, became an archiepiscopal see, acquired continental fame as a seat ot learning, possessed a library which had few rivals abroad at the period, and produced Alcuhi, the best scholar of his day, the pupil of Bede and the counsellor ot Charlemagne. It has since been conspicuous in most of the great epochs and events of the nation's annals, and is now the second city of the kingdom in point ot ecclesiastical rank, as the seat ot the northern archbishopric. The walls to a considerable extent remain, fonning an agreeable promenade ; and four principal gates, with a few of the posterns, are extant. The castle, a restoration on the site of the old fortress, used as a prison, conttiins ' CUfford's Tower ' within its enclosure, a memento of the past preserved with tlie most scrupulous care. But the object of special interest is the minster or cathedral, commenced in its present form in the twelfth century, and completed m tho fifteenth, the finest ecclesiastical edifice in the empire. Five miles to the south-west ot the city is Marston Moor, where tho Royalists were disastrously defeated by CromweU at the close of a summer day in 1044. A few miles further on, in the same direction, lies the battle-field of Towton, the scene of a murderoUs contiict during the Wars of the Uo.sl's, fought in a snow-storm on Pahn Sunday 1461, SmaU the east riding. 373 agricultural towns are numerous in this division of the county, some of which, as Richmond, are surrounded with very striking scenery. On the coast, Scarborough, seated on an amphitheatre-like shore, combines the advantages of mineral springs with sea-bathing, a beach of the finest sand, and high rocks, one of which has remains of the historic castle. Further north, Whitby, the native place of Captain Cock, is situated amidst romantic scenery, with the noble ruins oi St. Hilda's abbey on the east clifT. The jet found in the district is famed all over the world. At the mouth of the Tees, Middlesborough is almost wholly of modem erection, called into existence to serve as an outlet for the mineral produce of the Cleveland iron district. In the eastem and smallest division, HuU is the only town of importance, occupying low ground on the north bank of the Humber, about twenty miles above its mouth, from which there is a main channel avaUab'e lor ships of the largest size. It is one of the principal ports of the kingdom in relation to foreign commerce, ranking next after London, Liverpool, and Bristol, while remarkable for its inland trade, coudncted by means of the far-spreading arms of the Ouse and Trent. The incorruptible patriot, Andrew Marvel, aud also Wilberforce, were natives, both of whom received part of their education in the free grammar-school, and represented the town in parliament. A few miles to the north is Beverley, greatly i =* Ruins of Knaresborough Castle. uiferfor, but of much older date, with a superb minster in the Perpendicular and Decorated styles. On the coast, Bridlington, frequented for sea-bathing, is in an interesting neighbourhood. At » short distance northward are the bold cUffs and dark caves ot Flamborough Head, with the broad sands ot Filey beyond, its noble bay and so-caUed Bridge, but lormerly a mere»fishing-hamlet, it is now a favourite summr • resort. The bridge is a ledge ot rock which acts the part of a natural breakwater to the bay, runs out ab -at half a mile into the main deep, covered by the tide, but to be explored to its extremity at low-water. ' On that wild ciiufeway nature strews Rare shells, and plants of brilliant hues.' From Bridlington southward to Spum Point, a distance of thirty mUes, the coast consists of low soft cUffs, upon which the sea is constantly encroaching, a process which has effected great changes in the lapse ot centuries. Towns and viUages have been swept away by the action of the waves in storms, and the regular giinding of the tidal currents. Ravenspur, a borough which sent members to parUament through several reigns, and a port at which Bolingbroke and after hun Edward IV. landed, to contend for the crown, perished gi-adually and utterly from this cause. Much of the material of the wasted coast is carried by the flood-tide into the Humber, where it is deposited, forms shoals and mudbanks, extensive tracts of which along-shore have been reclaimed from the waters by human industry, and converted into cultivable land. The westem and largest division has an area greater than that of any of the counties except Lincolnshire, and a population next in nuinber to Lancashire and Middlesex, devoted chiefly to wooUen manufactures and hardwares. 374 ENGLAND AND WALES. Leeds, on the Aire, is the fourth of the provincial towns in extent, being only exceeded by Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham. It had formerly an uninviting appearance, but several elegant public buildings have been erected of late years, besides a magnificent town-hall, and many handsome streets have been laid out. While principally a cloth mart, flax and worsted spinning are extensively carried on, with the production of glass, earthenware, and machinery. One of the flax-mills consists of a single story, and a single room, but this extends over nearly two acres of ground, or includes flve times as much space as Westminster flail. Two weekly cloth markets are held in two large and plain buildings or haUs, one of which is for white or undyed cloths, and the other for coloured, where the goods are disposed of by mannfacturers to merchants. The cloth-factories arc immense piles, in which every process is conducted connected with the reduction of crude wool to finished cloth. In connection with the water-works is the store reservoir at Eccup (six miles north of Leeds), which contains 257,000,000 gallons. About three miles from the town is a fine park— formed from the Eoundhay Park estate — over 300 acres in extent, Worsted-spinnirjg has its main seat at Bradford, nine miles distant, a borough which has made extraordinary progress during the last balf-century, and is extending its buildings in all directions. It has very picturesque environs naturaUy, blurred with collieries and foundries. Some of the finest warehouses in the world may be seen in the town ; nnd upon commercial prosperity social improvement has been grafted, of which evidence appears in the provision of the Peel Park for the people, and the erection of the noble St, George's HaU. Aboul four miles distant is ' Saltaire,' the chief seat of the alpaca trade. It is a model manufacturing estab lishment upon a vast scale. The narae is compounded of the founder (Ihe late Sir Titus Salt), and that of the river Aire on which it is situated. Between Bradford and Leeds are the splendid ruins of Interior Views of York Minster, Kirkstall Abbey, which offer a striking contrast to closely-adjoining industrial sites. Cloths, worsted and mixed party-coloured fabrics are made at Halifax and Hnddersfield, blankets at Dcwsbury, and linens at Barnsley, employments which large surrounding villages and townships share in common with them. In the parish of Halifax, one of the largest in the kingdom, of greater extent than the whole county of Rutland, some refugee Flemings settled at an early date, and stimulated the woollen manufacture in the district, if it did not originate with them. To a recent period, the dialect of the working-classes strikingly resembled that ot the operatives in the Low Countries, especially in Frie.sland ; and hence the rude coiniueniurative distich : *Gnoid bradp, hotter, and aheesc, la gooid tliilifux, anil gooid Frk'so * Magnificent scenery renders the site ot the town scarcely inferior to that ot any other in the kingdom, while it is second to none in the public gifts conferred by the munificence of its manufacturers, as the Crossley Park, the Ackroyd Almshouses, and All Soils' Church, a gem of Gothic architecture. The Town HaU, opened in 18GH, a noblo building, was designed by the late Sir C. Barry, his last work, carried into execution by his son. Wakefield, on the Calder, though smaUer than many ot the other towns, is the electoral head of the the west ridino, 375 West Riding. Besides sharing in the general industry of the district, it has become an emporium for corn and a iiiai-t tor cattle. Pontefract, a few miles to tho east, is one of the historic sites, with some remains of its ancient castle, the scene of many tragic events, especiaUy of tho murder of Richard II. Nurseries and gardens now sirrround the town, in whieh a considerable quantity of Uquorice is raised. Northward of Leeds, the country is chiefly agricultural, and contains HaiTowgate, widely famed for its chalybeate, sulphureous, and saline waters ; Knaresborough, beautifully situated on the Nidd, on the bank of which, opposite tho' rums of the castle, is the .Dropping Well, a ourious petrifying spring ; and Ripon, in an interesting neigh bourhood, on the Yore, with an ancient cathedral, was made a bishop's see in 1836. Within a few mUes are the highly-attractive grounds of Studley, the grand remains of Fountain's Abbey, the deep-wooded glen of HackfaU, and the Briinham Rocks-perpendicular masses of grit on an elevated inooriand, with tumuU dispersed among them. Fifth on the list of the great towns is Sheffield, very finely situated towards the southern border of Yorkshire, being enclosed and overiooked on all sides except the north-east by an amphitheatre of hUls, while five maiiivgeable streams converge towards it, and finaUy blend, the Rivelen, Loxley, Porter, Sheaf, and Don. ' Five vivera, like the fingers ofa hand. Flung from black mountain.^, mingle, and are one Where sweetest vallej-s quit tlie wild and grand.' Its industry is wholly distinct trom that of the other places mentioned, consisting of cutlery in all its branches, plated goods, brasstounding, aud metal wares in general, to which that of armour plates for ships of war has recently been added. The cutlery manufacture was in being here in the fourteenth century Chaucer mentions in one of his poetical tales a ' Sheflield whittle,' or large knife, usuaUy carried about the person for convenience and defence. The natural advantiiges ot the site led to its estabUshment, and have contributed to its extension, abundance of iron ore .and coal in the vicinity, suitable clay for firebricks, exceUent grindstones, and the five rapid streams supplying water-power. Ironworks and collieries are prominent at Rotherham, lower down tho Don ; and on the same river, as its name impUes, is Doncaster, well-known iu the annals of horse-racing, and an important corn-market. Derby from the Burton Roao. Counties, Area in Square ililes Derbyshire, . 1029 . Staffordshire, 1138 Nottinghamshire, . 822 . Leicestershire, 804 fiutland, . , . 160 , NORTH-MIDLAND COUNTIES. Principal Towns. , Derby, Belper, Chesterfield, Buxton, Ashbourne, Glossop. Stafford, Stoke, Wolverhampton, WalsaU, West Bromwich. . Nottingham, Newark, Mansfield, Worksop. Leicester, Loughborough, Hinckley, Ashby. Oakham, Uppingham. S76 ENGLAND AND WALES. Derbyshire consists of a hilly region in the north, termed t^ie High Peak ; a less elevated tract in the centre, or the Low Peak ; and a gently undulating level in the soutL There is no single point answering to the name of Peak, but a series of high lands, with a few prominences, among which Kinderscout, the loftiest, closely approaches the height of 2000 feet. Some of the vUkge churches occupy raore elevated ground than any others in the kingdora. Dales of an extremely roraantic character are numerous, generaUy with streams flowing through them, and occasionally with grand caverns opening on their sides. The county has great raineral wealth, consisting of coal, iron, lead, zinc, and marbles, Nearly all the drainage is conducted into the Trent, which intersects the southern portion from west to east. Derby, on both banks ot the Derwent, one of its principal atfluents — a great railway centre — has the silk- manufacture for its staple industry, with hosiery and lace. The first sUk-mUl in the kingdom was erected here on an island in the river in 1720 ; and the first cotton-mill which exhibited anything like a development of the factory system, appeared on the same stream, thirteen miles higher up, at Cromford, in 1771. Both buUdings stiU exist, and are stiU devoted to their original purpose. At Derby, also, the first English caUcoes High Tor, Matlock. were made, the first fireproof niiU was built, and the first public park, called the Ai-boretuin, was provided by au opulent manufacturer for the recreation ot the working-classes. Linacre, founder of the Royal CoUege of Physicians, was a native, with Flamstead the first astronomer-royal, Hutton the topographer, Richardson the noveUst, and Wright the painter. The southerly advance ot the Pretender in 1746 terminated here, though some scouts of the army pushed on to the Trent. Belper, on the Derwent, eight nules north, is a new, thriving, stone-buUt town, with extensive cotton-miUs, and gives the title of Lord Belper to the present head of the firm to whom they belong. Chesterfield, towards the centre ot the county, is connected with iron works, coUieries, and potteries. Its church-spire at once arrests the attention of a stranger, having a twisted appearance, and really deviating considerably from the perpendicular. Various places in Derbyshire annually attract visitors trom a distance by their beautiful scenery, natural curiosities, and mineral springs, of which Matlock and Buxton are the principal centres, Matlock Bath, in the district ot the Low Peak, occupies a deep ravine about two miles long, lined on one side with high perpendicular Umestone cliffs, whUe on the other are the richly-wooded slopes of loftier elevations, between which the Derwent winds its way with a placid and anon a fretful flow. The most striking natural object, the High Tor, at the north extremity, rises 400 feet above the river, with a slanting base covered with foUage, and a superstructure of bold, naked, precipitous rock. In Derbyshire, as well DOVEDALE AND THE PEAK. 377 DS Devon and CornwaU, isolated rocks are commonly called ' tors,' a Saxon term, trom which some derive the word 'tower.' Mineral springs, three in number, containing much carbonic acid gas, have planted a pleasing viUage in the glen, with first-class hotels, bathing estabUshments, and villa-like lodging-houses, some ot which are picturesquely seated on the heights. Chatsworth, the stately seat of the Dukes of Devonsliire, is within easy distance, as well as Haddon HaU, one of the most perfect examples remaining of an old hiironial residence, the delight of antiquaries and artists. Buxton, surrounded by bleak hills and extensive moors, has long been cele brated tor the medicinal value of its waters, which were visited occasionaUy "~~.,-~~^ by Mary Queen of Scots, dui-ing her -^^-. ._ long imprisonment at Sheflield. St f c^^ ^^ - Anne's WeU rises at -a temperature of ^^ .^ 33" above that of the vicinity, and has ^^O' a cold spring in very close contact with it. Objects of interest are niunerous in the neighbourhood : Poole's Hole, a, stalactital cavern ; Axe Edge, from the summit ot which the heights of North Wales may be seen on a favourable day ; Cliee Tor, a Umestone cliff overhanging the vaUey of the Wye ; Mam Tor, the shivering mountain, on the road to Castleton; and at the latter place, tlio Blue John Mine, the SpeedweU Mine, and the Peak Cavern, one of the gi'andest formations of the kind in tiie kingdom. But the most charming scene in the ¦ county, Dovedale, is on the western side, where the Dove pours its waters between abrupt and vast rocks, now StiU, now murmuring, and anon dashing . over the blocks and stones that have faUen from the heights into its bed. while miniature islands further diversify its course. The vaUey is nearly three miles long, but nowhere more than » 1 quarter of a mile wide, and in some places the opposite cUffs approach so clo'sely as scarcely to leave room for «, pathway by the stream. The bounding walls are ¦ perforated with caves, and ; largely dothed with copses of hazel and : the mountain-ash, whUe huge and lofty .detached masses of rock occasionally . appear in front ot them. This dale is ¦ approached from the north through a . narrower one, where a few cottagers ! dweU, who never see the sun in winter ¦ ¦unless they go out ot it; and when his beams begin to reach them as the spring advances, it is on y ¦ at first for a brief interval ' after mid-day. Hence arose the' phrase of the Narrow-dale, noon, formerly -m local use as a proverb for anything delayed. Ashbourne, in a fertUe vaUey by the Dove possesses ain -. exquisite sculpture by Chantrey, that of the Sleeping Child, in the pfirish church The somid of the beUs .suggested the Unes 'Those evening beUs' by Moore, during his residence at Mayfield, an adjoining viUage, , where much ot Lalla Rookh was composed, Staffordshire, one of the decidedly mining and manufacturing parts of the country, ¦has high dreary moors in the north, a generaUy level surfaqe in the centre, and son^e ¦ bold, bluff hUls in the south. On the no-rthern moorlands, the Trent commences its •changuK. course. It flows thence southerly to Trentham Park, where the river expands iinto a nobk pool, then bends graduaUy to the east, and turns to the north-east on the iDerbyshke border, finaUy proceeding due north to its estuary. There are two distmet and very valuabk coal-fields at opposite extremities of the county, one caUed^ from the Matlock Church and Heights of Abraham.' 3b 378 ENGLAND AND WALES. locality, the North Staffordshire or Pottery Field, and the other the South Staffordshire or Dudley Field, The last k the most important, remarkable for its stores both of coal and iron, though of limited extent, having only a superficial area of about sixty square miles. One bed, distinguished as the Main or ten-yard coal, consists of thirteen dktinct seams, so close together as to form almost a single stratum. These subterranean treasures have stimulated manufactures, and given to the county the largest average of population after the metropolitan and Lancashire. Stafford, a centre of the shoe-trade, the native place of Izaak Walton, is situated intermediate to much more considerable northem and southern towns. Stoke-upon-Trent comprehends various townships and hamlets within its borough limits, or the region known by the name of the ' Potteries,' from the distinctive handicraft. This district, extending about ten mUes in one direction by from two to three in the other, has nothing antique or omamental in its appearance. The prominent features are huge cones of brick, forming the kilns or baking-ovens, with taU chimneys, volumes of smoke, and humbly-attired artisans, who produce wares varying from the ordinary and useful to the decorative and artistic. A statue of Josiah Wedgewood, the Father of the Potteries, who diffused the manufacture by rendering it ornamental, has recently been placed in the scene of his labours. In the opposite direction, Wolverhampton, Walsall, West Brom-u/ich, and other closely-contiguous towns, compose the iron region or the black country, where foundries and collieries meet the eye on every hand. Its aspect is equaUy definite, and not a Uttle striking to the stranger. Trees and hedges are rare, and the few are poverty stricken, apparently maintaining an almost hopeless struggle for existence by the side of dingy patches of grass and bits of garden. Houses are many where streets are wanting, being scattered around forges and steam-engines, amid pUes of coke, and heaps of ore. Sinkings of the surface are continuaUy met with, and dwelUngs declining from the perpendicular, either deserted as too dangerous to be occupied, or propped up to prevent their fall, owing to the subterranean excavations. By night, the tongues of flame from the chimneys of the ever-burning furnaces light up the sky, with startling effect to the visitor, and suggest the idea of a grand centre of volcanic action. Staffordshire, apart from these two districts, includes on the eastem side Tamworth, a capital of the Mercian kings in the Saxon age ; Lichfield, the birthplace of Dr Johnson, with a beautiful cathedral ; and Burton, with extensive breweries at the head of the Trent navigation, where the river is crossed by an old stone bridge of thirty-four arches, one of the longest in the kingdom. Leek, a silk-manufacturing town, and Newaislle-under-Lyne, are in the north. The appended phrase, ' under Lyne,' similarly attached to Ashton, on the southem border of Lancashire, refers to an ancient forest so called in the intervening cotmty of Cheshire. Nottinghamshire, without any prominent natural features, has a pleasingly varied surface, and a remarkably dry climate, probably owing to the mokt westerly winds bein" intercepted by the hiUs of Derbyshire. It k intersected by the Trent from south-west to north-east, which k navigable throughout by barges, and by larger vessek up to Gainsborough, where the first bridge is met with on ascending the stream. The town of Nottingham, populous and flourishing, occupies a hiUy site a short distance from the northem bank, with cotton-hose and maohine-laoe for the prmcipal manutacturea Its castle, entirely modem, and without a casteUated appearance, stands on a perforated sandstone rock, the site of the old fortress in which Mortimer was seized by the friends oi Edward IIL, who gained admission to it by a subterranean passage, stiU indicated under the name ot ' Mortimer's Hole.' On an eminence within the grounds, Charles I. set up his standard at the commencement of the civU war, and Standard HUl is now the name of a street or terrace at the spoti The place was speedily in the hands of the parUament, and the famous Colonel Hutchinson became the governor. Beautiful and extensive views are obtamed ot the Trent vaUey from various points, in which the meadow crocus abounds, the violet colour of which in spring finely contrasts with the fresh green of the early grass, Newark, on the eastem side of the county, a principal mart for agricultural produce, was formerly an important military stronghold, in which the wretched King Jolm ended his days. Warmly adhering to the fortunes of Charles L, the inhabitants and garrison successfully resisted two sieges, and the place was only given up on his voluntary surrender to the investing Scotch army in a neighbouring field. Extensive mins of the castle remain, but are rendered nnpicturesque by the proximity of inferior erections. Its enlargement at an early date, the ' New Work,' originated the name ot the to-vvn, MansfiMd, on the westem side, is onthe border of Sherwood Forest, in which Henry II. had a hunting-lodge, and met with the adventure commemorated in the old ballad ot the Miller of Mansfield. The tract is now mostly bare of trees, but here and there huge gnarled and mossed oaks, battered and soUtary, represent the ancient woodland in which Robin Hood disported with his men, and administered the Forest laws, Newstead Abbey, the fine inheritance ot Lord Byron, and the scene ot his early days, is in the neighbourhood, Worksop, on the north verge of the Forest region, had formerly four duoal residences in its vicinity, which procured for the district the name of the Dukeiy. There ai-e at present two. Clumber Park and Welbeok Abbey, occupied by the Dukea of Newcastle and Portland. LEICESTERSHIRE RUTLANDSHIRE. 379 Leicestershire, a central county, contains the district of Chamwood Forest, which has lost its wooded aspect, but is stUl conspicuous from afar owing to its craggy pinnacles of sienitic granite. Though of no great height, they arrest attention by abruptly rising from a widely-extended level, with a very sharp and distinct outline. Bardon HiU, the loftiest point, has only a positive elevation of 853 feet ; but from the great range of surrounding lowland, the view from the suramit probably embraces as wide a sweep of landscape as can be observed from any other spot in the kingdom. The eye looks down upon Bradgate Park at the base, the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey ; and may discern in clear weather Lincoln Cathedral and the Derbyshire Peak in one direction, the hilk about Dunstable in another, with the Malverns in Worcestershire, the Wrekin m Shropshu'e, and even some eminences in Wales. Through the greater part ot the county grazing husbandry prevails, and a large amount of dairy produce is raised ; but on the westem side there is a small coal-field worked to a considerable extent The central position of Leicestershire is indicated by its drainage being carried by the Soar through the Trent to the Humber, whUe minor portions are taken by the WeUand to the Wash, and by the Avon to the Sevem and the Bristol Channel The Swift, a little affluent ot the Avon, is con nected with the memory of WickUffe, rector of Lutterworth on its banks, whose bones were exhumed, burned, and the ashes cast into the stream. On a spacious plain close to Market Bosworth, the decisive battle was fought which changed the dynasty by the death of Eichard [H. The site of King Richard's WeU, so caUed trom a tradition that he drank of it during the heat of the action, is indicated by a monument with an inscription by Dr Parr. Leicester, on the hanks of the Soar, is memorably associated with the faUen Cardinal Wolsey, who died soon after reaching the adjoining abbey of St Mary, and was buried in an unknown grave. It is the centre of the worsted hosiery district, and has a large population, but to some extent engaged in kindred and misceUaneoua industries. The district includes the town of Loughborough, ten miles on the north, where also machine-lace is made ; and that of Hinckley m the opposite direction, with a number of contiguous vUlages. Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in the centre oi the coal field, is of ancient date, and derives its distinc tive name from an old Norman family, once lords ot the manor. It was made widely known by Scott's briUiant novel of Ivanhoe, as the scene where he laid the famous passage ot arms described, and has the ruins of a castle, with Ivanhoe Baths, plentifuUy suppUed with strongly sahne waters. Melton Mowbray, on the north east, is one of the chiet marts for Stilton cheese, first made at a viUage in the neighbourhood, and stiU largely produced. Owing to the openness of the country, and other cu-cumstances, it has long been the head-quarters of a large number of sportsmen during the hunting season, EuTLANDSHiRE, the smaUest of the EngUsh counties, k a district of rich vales divided by gently swelling hUls, entirely agricultural With a single exception, it has the smaUest of the county towns, Oakham, which numbers one of the most diminutive of men k the list of its natives, Jeffrey Hudson, the court dwarf in the reign of Charles II, River Dove, 380 ENGLAND AND WALES, The town is pleasantly situated, has a fine old church, and a haU used for county business, one of the most beautiful specimens of the domestic architecture of the twelfth century. In this haU a number of horseshoes are suspended, to which the names of noble personages are attached, some of the blood-royal By a curious custom of ancient date, the authorities exact a horseshoe from every peer of the realm on his first passing through the manor. This tribute is stUl strictly enforced, and was compUed with by Lord Chief-Justice CampbeU in March 1858. During the Wars of the Roses, a battle was fought at the village of Empingham, in which Edward IV. defeated some insurgents. A spot near the scene of the action stUl retains the name of Loso-Coat Field, where the fugitives threw away their ooats-of-mail to facilitate their flight. Remains ot the slain were turned up in the year 1851. Hereford from Athelstane Hill III. WESTERN COUNTIES. Counties. Cheshire, . , Shropshire,Herefordshire, . Monmouthshire,Gloucestershire, Arp8 in Square Miles. , 1105 . 1291 . 836 , 576 , 1258 , Principal Towns. Chester, Stockport, Macclesfield, Birkenhead. Shrewsbury, Madcloy, Bridgenorth, Ludlow. Hereford, Leominster, Ross. Monmouth, Newport, Tredegar, Cliepstow. Gloucester, Bristol, Clieltenh.ani, Stroud. Cheshire, chiefly inland, has a small maritime portion on the Irish Sea, forming a long, narrow peninsula between the estuaries of the Dee and the jMorsey. These rivers are boundary-lines in relation to the county, but an important affluent of the latter the Weaver, is wholly within its limits. On the eastern side are high grounds, and elevations ocair^ m other parts, but the surfaee is guiieially level, studded with many sraall pools. The South Lancnsliiro coal-field passes the nortli-eastern border; lead, copper, and cobalt oucur; but the important mineral produce is fossil or rock-s;tlt, the supply of whicii seems CHESHIRE SHROPSHIRE. 381 be inexhaustible. It was discovered two centuries ago near Northwich, at the depth of from thirty to forty yards below tho surface, and is reached by shafts in various parts of the surrounding country. There are two beds, one upper, the other lower, separated by a stratum of indurated marl. In the upper, the salt is of a dull reddish or brown sugar-candy colour, and has to be boiled down and purified to be fit for use. In the lower bed, which is chiefly excavated, and extends to an unknown depth, the pure, white, serviceable mineral occurs. The mines are agreeable places to enter, being clean, dry, and free from noxious gases, whUe their snowy waUs and pUlars present a reraarkable appearance when lit up by a multitude of torches. They are hence often visited by picnic-parties. Canning, the statesman, was present at a baU given in the Marston mine, the principal vista of which has the name of Eegent Street. The county, partly mining and manufacturing, is much more extensively agricultural ; and dairy husbandry is the primary object, as the moist climate and rich soil favour the production of a luxuriant green-sward. Its cheese, long in high repute, is sent by thousands of tons annuaUy into the market for export to foreign countries as weU as for homo consuraption, Chester, an episcopal city and port on the Dee, is a place of great antiquity and interest. It was a principal stiUion of the Roman legions, and an important military stronghold in later times, from being proximate to ihe Welsh border. Much of its early aspect is still retained. The old wall remains entire, and forms the only perfect specimen of ancient fortification extant in the kingdom. It is from flve to six feet broad, aud nearly two miles in circuit, passed by four gates facing the cardinal points of the compass. This serves as a convenient promenade for the citizens, from which extensive and beautiful views are obtained. The interior of the city contains many examples of old domestic architecture, especially the elevated and covered footways, piazzas or 'rows,' as they are called, let iuto the houses on the second story, with several very picturesque timber dwellings, now gradually disappearing. Chester has little commerce as a port, and no important manu factures, but is the seat of considerable trade in the produce of the county, and the scene of great passenger aud goods traffic, as the central terminus of several lines of railway. Stockport, the largest town, a few miles to the south of Manchester, shares its industry and features. A magnificent railway viaduct here spans the bed of the Mersey and the adjoining valley. The general Sunday school is remarkable for its magnitude, being regulary attended by upwards of 3000 children, who are accommodated in a single buUding erected by subscription for the purpose, with which district schools are connected. Macclesfield, second in population, has silk-throwing and the production of broad silks for its leading pursuits, which are also carried on at Congleton, and their respective neighbourhoods. Birkenhead, on the Mercey, opposite to Liverpool, wilh spacious docks, ship-building yards, squares, abattoirs, houses with special conveniences for the working. classes, and a public park, is one of the new towns, and has risen to importance with extraordinary rapidity. It occupies ground on which the fox has been hunted within the memory of the Uving. Shropshire, intersected by the Severn from west to south-east, k divided by the river into two nearly equal portions. It has an extremely varied surface, level in the north, but marked southerly both with detached masses, steep craggy ridges, and sorae round topped hiUs, between which are fertUe pasture lands. There are several coal-fields, but only one of importance, that of Coalbrookdale, a district proUflc in iron ore, containing many populous townships and hamlets, Madeley, Broseley, and WeUington, connected with coUieries and ironworks. The dale itself k a beautiful valley wmding between steep hUk covered with trees towards their summits, and studded with cottages below. Here the Sevem k crossed by an iron bridge, erected in 1779, the first that was ever constructed. Shrewsbury, pleasantly situated on an elevated peninsula formed by a horseshoe bend of the river, has suburbs across the stream, one reached by the EngUsh Bridge, and another by the Welsh, so called from their respective directions. This fine old town is rendered picturesque by timber houses with antaque gables and overhanging stories, with which many handsome modem erections are intermingled. While the centre of considerable inland trade, it is widely known for its royal tree grammar-school, nchly endowed, and raised to celebrity by distinguished masters. Few places have been more conspicuous rn our history, pari;ly owing to its position near the frontier ot Wales. Edward L made it his temporary residence removed hither the pubUc courts of justice, and held a pariiament, at which the barons sat m judgment upon the Welsh prince David, whUe the commons mot at Acton Burnel, a viUage seven miles distant, the 382 ENGLAND AND WALES. seat ot the Chancellor BumeL Farm-buildings occupy the site of the manor-house, but two ends of a bam are traditionaUy regarded as remnants of the haU in which the knights and burgesses assembled, and passed the Act for the Recovery of Debts which mainly govemed proceedings tiU the present reign. The battle of Shrewsbury between the forces of Hotspur and Henry IV. was fought about three miles eastward of the waUs, where the site is now caUed Battle-field, and has a ruined church built on behalf of the slain. In the vicinity is the village ot Wroxeter, on the site of the Roman city of TJriconium, interesting remains of which have in our own day been discovered. Bridgenorth, a. seat of the carpet manufacture, is divided into two portions by the Sevem, the high and low towns, connected by a bridge. Ludlow, towards the southern verge of the county, is of interest from the remains of its castle, in which MUton's masque ot Comus was first performed, and Butler wrote part of Hudibras. Oswestry, near the frontier of Wales, has its name from the Saxon king Oswald, who feU in battle at the spot, and is commemorated by a spring in the neighbourhood caUed Oswald's WeU. Close to the Staffordshire border is Boscobel House, in the woods ot which Charles IL was concealed, when a fugitive after the battle ot Worcester. The oak he ascended for the purpose has passed away, but another reared trom one of its acorns occupies the site. Herefordshire, traversed by the Wye in a very winding manner, with lovely scenery on its banks, exhibits a constant succession of hiU and dale, in many parts richly wooded, especiaUy with oak timber. While ordinary agriculture prevails, it k one of the chief districts in which hops are cultivated, and apple-orchards for cider. The ktter give a remarkably beautiful appearance to the landscapes in spring when the trees are in blossom, and in summer when laden with fruit. They sometimes occupy fifty, sixty, and even a hundred acres, but the ground between the trees k occasionaUy ploughed and tUled. The orchards began to be planted with care, as to the quaUty of the fruit, in the reign of Charles I, ; and cider was somewhat common in the time of Charles IL Its general use was strongly urged in order to exclude the wines of France during the subsequent wars with that country. But while a universal beverage with the rural popuktion of the producing districts, the home consumption elsewhere has always been Umited. The county is famed for a breed of middle-horned dark- red cattle, inferior as milkers, but susceptible of being rapidly fattened, and of great strength. Hence oxen are commonly employed at the plough, and in general team-work, instead of horses. Hereford, centrally situated, on the north bank of the Wye, surrounded with garden-like scenery, has a cathedral remarkable for its extremely massive tower, profusely ornamented with bulb-work, and a mnch- admired Lady Chapel. The beautiful river meanders sontheily by swelling hills, hop grounds, orchards, and woods, to the small, quiet, cheerful-looking town of Moss, on an eminence of the left bank, immortalised by Pope's poetical commemoration of the ' Man of Ross.' This was John Kyrle, a resident duriug the reigns oi William III., Anne, and George I., who planted the elms in the churchyard, laid out an adjoining avenue which overlooks a lovely prospect, and devoted a small fortune to objects of public utility. After visiting the house in which he lived, Coleridge wrote the lines beginning * Richer than misers o'er their countless hoards, Nobler than kings, or king-polluted lords, ill re dwelt the Man of Ross ! O traveller, hear I Departed merit claims a reverent tear.* Leominster, a mart for wool, hops, cider, and wheat, is in the north part ot the county, where at the distance ot a tew mUes a modern column marks the site ot the battle ot Mortimer's Cross, fought during the Wars of the Roses, which raised the Yorkist leader to the throne with the title of Edward TV. Monmouthshire, southerly on the Bristol Channel, has the Wye for its eastem boundary, and is centrally traversed by the Usk. The maritime portion k low, flat, and marshy, but the general surface is highly diversified, and becomes mountainous on the western side, which forms part of the coal-field of South Wales. Its mineral produce, coal and iron, is very considerable, whUe the soU in many parts k fertile, and large cereal crops are raised. Previous to the time of Henry VIIL, the county was considered to be an integral part of Wales, and though it was then united to England, the administration of English law was not fuUy established tiU the year 1689, the first of WiUiam and Mary. Down to the present day, the habits and characteristics of the people in the rural districts, especially on the western side, are Welsh; the language MONMOUTHSHIRE— GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 383 is extensively that of the principality ; and old British prejudices relative to everything English or Saxon are not wholly extinct. Many Roman relics are found at Caerleon and Caerwent, inconsiderable places at present, but once important cities, with the names of Isca Silurum and 'Venta Silurum. The remains of castles and abbeys are among the most extensive and picturesque in the kingdom ; and holy wells are numerous, or springs formerly held sacred, believed to be endowed with supernatural virtue for the cure of diseases. Monmouth, the 'delightsome,' as Shakspeare calls it, still answers to the description, having an attractive aspect, a charming situation, and beautiful environs. But it is now simply a small, quiet, romantic place, with very few traces of its historic celebrity. The position on rising ground by the Wye at its junction with the Munnow originated the name, a contraction of Monnow-mouth. Only inconsiderable iragments remain of the castle in which Henry V. was born, popularly known as Harry of Monmouth, and of the priory with which another native was long connected, the romancing chronicler, Geoffrey of Monmouth. Newport, much the largest town, and the junction of five railways, is seated ou the banks of the Usk, which is navigable for large vessels, and has risen to great commercial prosperity as the shipping port for the mineral and agricultural produce of the county. Principal ironworks are at Tredegar, Pontypool, and near Abergavenny. The latter town, close to the Welsh border, is finely surrounded with an amphitheatre of mountains of contrasted 'shape, the even ridge of the Blorenge, the broken summit of the Skirrid, and the conical form of the Sugar Loaf, the highest point, 1682 feet above the sea. Chepstow, a considerable trading port, below which the Wye terminates its course, has a striking object in extensive remains of its castle on a cliff overhanging the stream, clasped by the ivy, and adorned with patches of wild-flowers. A few miles above, the river passes the glorious ruins of Tintern Abbey, and pursues its sinuous way to the WyndcliS, a lofty mass ot almost perpendicular rock bestrewed with thickets, but easily ascended by zigzag paths cut on its face. The view from the summit embraces the greater part of nine counties, with the Kevern estuary, and the broad Bristol Channel expanding towards the ocean. A bridge of remarkable construction carries the South Wales Eailway over the Wye at Chepstow, combining the suspension and tubular principles. The Tail Vale Extension line is conveyed across the valley of the Ebwy, a scene of picturesque beauty, by a lofty viaduct composed of open ironwork, of such magical lightness as to seem a spider-like production upon a gigantic scale in the distant view. Gloucestershire, a maritime county, intersected by the Severn from north to south, and divided by it into two unequal portions, consists of three naturaUy distinct regions — the chain of the Cotswold HUls, paraUel to the river, on the eastern side ; the elevated tract of the Forest of Dean on the western, ' The queen of forests aU, that west of Sevem lie ; ' and the intervening river-vaUey, with luxuriant meadows on either hand, called the Vale of Gloucester above the city, and the Vale of Berkeley below. The forest district, once an extensive woodland, has stUl a considerable area devoted to the growth of timber for the navy, and a valuable coal-field, yielding ako iron ore of superior quaUty. Another field is in the south of the county, supplymg the wants of Bristol and its neighbourhood, and extending into Somersetshire. The cloth manufacture, partlcidarly of the finer kmds, k a prominent industry ; but agriculture is most general, and dairy produce the special object. The city of Gloucester, a river-port on the east bank of the Severn, in command ot considerable trade, shares a bishop's see with Bristol, and is distinguished by a cathedral ot majestic proportions, with many splendid features. The tomb of Edward IL, murdered in Berkeley Castle in the county, with his efiSgy, is one of the attractions of the interior. Near the pile, a monument has recently been erected m honour of the martyred prelate. Hooper, on the spot where he was consigned to the flames. The eloquent Whitfield was a native, and the benevolent Raikes, who originated Sunday-school instmction, commencing it in the place of his birth, Bristol, on the Avon, one of the most ancient cities of the west, and by far the largest as weU as the most important seaport after London and Liverpool, is provided vrith docks for the reception of the largest vessels. Besides the foreign, coasting, and Irish shipping trade, the manufactures ot glass, earthenware, sugar, leather, and other articles, are very extensive. It has an unusual proportion of public buUdings, schools, hospitals, ahnshouses, and other charities, with a cathedral, and perhaps the finest pansh church in the kingdom in that of St Mary Redcliffe, Sebastian Cabot, Chatteri;on, and Southey were natives. The city has a circuit ot nearly ten mUes including the suburbs, the most important ot which, CUtton, seated on high rocky ground, as the name impoi-ts, forms a delightful retreat for the wealthy mhabitants, and attracts many visitors owing to its thermal waters, genial climate, and romantic situation. A chasm m the 384 ENGLAND AND WALES. rocks, 250 feet deep, 600 feet wide, through which the Avon flows on its way from Bristol to the Channel, is a very striking natural gorge, whether viewed from above or below, which has now been spanned by the Hungerford Suspension-bridge, removed frora London. Cheltenham, styled the ' Queen of Watering Places,' combines many advantages to vindicate tho distinction. Seated at the base of the Cotswold HUls, it is sheltered from the cold winds, possesses highly-valued medicinal springs, has lovely environs, an! intermingles the charms of rural scenery with elegant town architecture, noble trees being promiscuously distributed, or arranged in fine avenues, in connection with the streets, squares, and viUas. Stroud, among '•fMK,-,cNT'->fe-- <*-;^;™"'<='¦' J^^J" *''«, pastures of the continent are brown or ashy, parched with heat and drought; they excite the admi aim o very foreigner. No city can present kindred places of agreeable suburban resort equal to the Zoological Gar/ens Regent's Park,\he Botanic Garden at Kew, and the Crystal Palace whe the 'e^-^f--;- '»¦.; river, Waterloo, Westminster, Southwark, and London bridges, are conlessedly the finest structuie= ol their 396 ENGLAND AND WALES. J kind. The first named, with its level roadway, is deemed by many the most perfect bridge in the world, worth, in the judgment of Canova, the great sculptor, a journey from Eome to see it. The Thames Tunnel is entirely unexampled, and now forms part of the East London railway. There is also a sub-way for foot passengers under the river, near the Tower. The Port of London, extending to Blackwall, with ranges of spacious docks and files of shipping on either hand, lines of wharfs, and warehouses, in connection with intermediate traffic, exhibits a spectacle not to be witnessed elsewhere. In this part of its course, the Thames still retains the Saxon name of ' the Pool.' This was descriptive of its aspect in former times, that of a shallow expanse, spreading languidly without restraint to the hills which bound its hasin, till changed by embankments into a deep and rapid stream. The charities of the metropolis are specially worthy of remark, as without precedent in their number, variety, and revenue. In 1880 they amounted to no less than 700 institutions, founded or sup ported by private benevolence, and enjoying an income of nearly £4,000,000 per annum. Estimated by recent sales of sites in different districts, the value of land in central Londou may be reckoned at above £100,000 per acre. The roar of the metropolis, as heard by aeronauts in a baUoou a mile above it, is a rich, de 'p, unceasing hum. Brentford, the nominal capital of Middlesex, at the junction of the Brent with the Thames, is the place where the parliamentary elections for the county are held. Staines, lower down the river, marks the limit in that direction of the jurisdiction exercised over it by the corporation of London, and is supposed to derive its name from an ancient stone which defined the boundarv Uxbridge, towards the western border, is a considerable corn mart. Enfield, on the northern side, gave its name to rifles made at a great government factory in the vicinity. Harrow, on high ground rising out of a rich vale, is the seat of a public school, originally founded by a yeoman of the place for the poor, now chiefly a classical school for the sons of the nobility and gentry, the rival of Eton, VL SOUTHERN COUNTIES. Area in Sqna'e .Miles. Principal Towns. Maidstone. Canterburj. Rochester, Chatham, Greenwich, Dover. Guildford, Croydon, Richmond. Lewes, Brighton, Hastings, Chichester. Winchester, Portsmouth, Southampton, Newport. Reading, Windsor, Newbury. SaUsbuiy. Trowbridge, Bradford, Devizes. Dorchester. Weymouth, Poole, Bridport. Taunton, Bath, Bridgewater, Frome. Exeter, Plymouth, Devonport, Tiverton, Barnstaple. Bodmin, Truro, Penzance, Falmouth, Kent, the south-east angle of England, has a northem, eastern, and southem coast-line, marked by the two high promontories of the North and South Forelands, -with the flat projection of Dungeness. Off the east coast lie the Goodwin Saiids, forming with the shore the weU-known roadstead of the Downs. These sands are accumulated on blue clay aud subjacent chalk. Left dry to a considerable extent at low water, they then become quite firm, so as to admit of a landing being made, but imraediately loosen on the return of the tide. On the north coast, the Isle of Sheppey is separated frora the mainland by a narrow branch of the Medway. But the Isle of Thanet, on the north-east, has entirely lost aU appearance of insulation, though once detached by a ship channel, which k stiU traversed by the small stream of the Stour in one part, and reduced to a mere ditch in others. In the interior of the county, the surface has almost everywhere a very pleasing aspect, owing to the natural scenery originated by the chalk-range of the North Downs, which runs through it from west to east, added to its advanced agriculture. The principal river, tho Medway, winds from the Sussex border to the north coast, and faUs into the estuary of the Thames. Hops, linseed, canaiy-seed, cherries, filberts, and other fruits, are extensively cultivated. Maidstone, the county town, centrally situated, is the chief seat of the hop trade, in which Canterbury «,lso shares, while best known as the ecclesiastical capital of Eugland, with an archbishop who ranks as the first peer of the realm after tho blood-royal. The city, seated in tho fertUo vale of the Stour, surrounded with sylvan scenery, dates from ancient times, and has a cathedral with a very grand interior. It contains the tomb of tho Blank Prince in wonderful preservation, and is historically memorable as the scene of Kent, . 1,027 Surrey, . 748 . Sussex, 1,458 Hampshire, 1,672 . Berkshire, . 705 WUtshire, 1,352 . Dorsetshire, 988 Somersetshire, 1,636 . . Devonshire, , 2,589 CornwaU, . 1,365 . . KENT— SURREY. 397 Thomas -h.- Becket's murder, whose shrine, still indicated, was annually visited by thousands of pilgrims previous to the Reformation, as Chaucer sings : *Aiid specially from every shire's end Of Eagle land to Canterb.uy they wend.' The more ancient buildings include the ruined monastery of St. Augustine, and the church of St. Martin, still used, built of Roman brick, one of the oldest in the country. Rochester, an episcopal city, and Chatham, a modern continuation of it, are on the east bank of the Medway, at the head of its estuary. The latter is an important military depSt and naval establishment, with which Sheerness corresponds, on the adjoining island of Sheppey, commanding the mouth both of the Medway and the Thames, and the station of a port-admiral. Greemoich, a metropolitan suburb, is distinguished by its palatial hospital and the Eoyal Observatory, the astronomical capital of the kingdom, on an eminence in the park ; with its neighbours, Deptford, on the one hand, with its large abbatoir fbr the slaughter of foreign cattle, and Woolwich, on the other, the greatest warlike establishment of the nation, it forms a single borough for parliamentary purposes. Gravesend, a river-port, Margate, Ramsgate, Deal, Dover, and Folkestone, seaports, are resorted to as bathing-places. Dover, a considerable town, and a place of great antiquity, is of importance as the advanced post of England towards the continent, to and from which there is constant passenger-traffic. The celebrated castle, on a lofty chalk-cliff which has been hollowed out for barracks and modern fortiflcations, is » very picturesque and striking object, consisting of extensive buildings which spread over nearly thirty acres, of various ages and styles, now tending to ruin. ' Shakspeare's Cliff,' a short distance from the town, scarcely answers to the description of the one in the tragedy of Lear, which suggested the name, but it has suffered from immense landslips, some of recent occurrence, sufficient to account for the discrepancy. The summit no longer ' looks fearfully in the confined deep.' but rather recedes, though still a ' dizzy height,' com manding a magnificent view. Dover had naturally very defective maritime accommodation, but the government have mn out a gigantic pier, in order to protect the harbour from the shingle which accumu lates at the mouth during westerly gales, as well as to provide n port of refuge. Folkestone, six miles distant, is another point of regular communication with the continent. Between the two towns runs the South-Eastern Railway, by and through the magnificent range of chalk, which there forms a bold escarpment on the coast from 200 to 400 feet in height. The large headlands were tunnelled, the smaller were blow-n down, while the line is carried by cuttings through chaotic masses of undercliff, and on sea-walls over pebbly beaches iu the little bays formed by fhe landward recession of the rocks. Turdiridge Wells, on the Sussex border, visited for its strongly chalybeate springs, to which the town owes its origin and prosperity, occupies a site once supposed to resemble that of Jerusalem, which led to the application of the names Mounts Ephraim and Zion to two of the hills. Surrey, wholly inland, Ues on the south bank of the Thames, and contributes to it the Wey and the Mole. The latter river has been honoured by the notice of Milton, but is somewhat misrepresented by him, as 'the suUen Mole, that runneth underneath,' as well as by Pope, 'the suUen Mole, that hides his diving flood.' In very dry summers the stream is simply absorbed in places by its porous bed, and becomes a series of detached ponds. The North Downs are the main diversities of the surface, and form the wild region on the western side, called the Hog's Back, where they contract to a single narrow ridge. Owing to the vicinity of the metropolis, mansions and parks occupy a considerable area, with market- gardens and orchards, but there are extensive tracts of almost barren heath, where the lower green-sand of the cretaceous formation comes to the surface. This sand, though commonly loose, is occasionally formed into sandstone by a calcareous cement, and appears at the elevation of neariy a thousand feet in Leith Hill in the neighbourhood of Dorking. Hops are objects of cultivation, with a great vanety of medicinal and aromatic plants, as chamomile, poppy, horehound, wormwood, anise-seed, peppermint, and lavender. _ Ihe common box-tree flourishes vigorously, and originated the name of Boxhill. Fullers-earth, in request in al the clothing districts, has been dug up for centuries near the village of Nutfield, which is still the principal source of supply. The county contains the boroughs of Southwark and Lambeth, with several populous suburban districts, but with the exception of Croydon, the towns are of small extent, though numerous and of ancient date. Guildford, seated en the Wey, ranks as fhe county town, but shares the assizes with Croydon and Kingston. It has a striking appearance Irom hill and valley combining in the site, which '^ ^j'™"^ "^ the keep cf the old castle, Croydon, much enlarged by railway-connection, and its ^"y^* f ^'™'l ^ °™ the metropolis, contains, in its parish-church, many interesting monuments of the archbishops "f C^'>t^*"-y- who once occupied a palace in connection with it. The archiepiscopal provincial residence is now at Addington, in the vicinity. Kingston, on the Thames, frequently in association with roya ty in the Saxon tTnie's 1 1 name imporfs, has increased from the like cau.e. Richmond, lower down the river, offers one of the finest views in the kingdom from the h-^w of its hill, and is a thoroughfare lor excursionists to the 398 ENGLAND AND WALES. palace and grounds ot Hampton Court. Ascending the stream, within the parish of Egham, the Thames flows by a justly-famous site, that of Runnymede, where the barons compeUed King John to sign the Great Charter. A Uttle isle in its channel bears the name of Magna Charta Island, but an adjacent meadow was the real scene ot the transaction, Epsom, a few miles from Croydon, of horse-racing celebrity, has a mineral spring from which the well-known Epsom salts were at one time manufactured, Dorking, in the pleasant valley of the Mole, has a peculiar breed of highly-prized poultry, with five claws to each foot, beUeved to have been brought over by the Eomans, Reigate, higher up on the same stream, stands on a bed of fine white sand, much used in the manufacture of glass. Farnham, towards the Hampshire border, is widely known for the superior quality ot its hops. Some picturesque ruins ot the castle remain, with which the principal official residence ot the bishops of Winchester is connected. The proper orthography of the name is Femhiaa, in aUusion to the adjoining fern-growing heathy districts. Sussex, on the south coast, k varied by the chain of the South Downs, which rans west ward from Beachy Head for sorae distance along the shore, then diverges inknd, passing into Hampshire, interior to which is the Forest Eidge, scarcely less elevated, but more broken. Both ranges originate a repeated succession of hiU and dale. The county belongs chiefly to the old district of the Weald, or woodland, which erabraced the adjacent parts of Surrey and Kent, was once an almost unbroken forest, and stiU possesses sylvan glades for a distinctive feature. The chief rivers are the Eother, the Ouse, the Adur, and the Aran, aU faUing into the English Channel Pastoral husbandry prevails over tillage ; argillaceous iron-ore abounds ; and a limestone, largely composed of fresh-water shells, susceptible of high polish, is quarried, and was extensively employed in the middle ages for ornamental purposes. Lewes, on the Ouse, navignble for river-craft, has Newhaven, at the mouth, for its port, a starting point fbr steamers across the Channel. Its name occurs in history as the scene of the battle in the reign of Henry III., which transferred all power for a time from the crown to the barons, and led to the first pariiament on record, consisting of the three estates. Brighton, on the coast, an insignificant fi&hing- place in the last century, has rapidly become an important municipality, and a splendidly-built town, nnder the patronage of fashion — in fact, a miniature representation of the west end of London. A chain-pier, stretching nearly a quarter of a mile into the sea, of light construction, passes over the site of houses belonging to the old town, now covered by the waves. A carriage-road and promenade, one of the finest in existence, runs a mile and a half along the cliffs, with noble houses on the one hand, open to the sea-breeze on the other, supported by a magnificent marine wall. The visiting season is the autumn and eariy winter. Hastings, a trading port, but chiefiy a watering-place, on the eastern part of the coast-line, occupies a picturesque locality in an interesting neighbourhood. Westward is Pevensey Bay, the landing-point of the Noiman conqueror, and northward the small town of Battle, which has its name from the contest which placed the crown of England upon his head, commonly called the battle of Hastings. This town, wilh Winchelsea and Rye, in the county, and RomiUey, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich, in Kent, have the name of the Cinque Ports, and were formerly of great maritime importance, invested by the crown with peculiar privileges, but under obligation to render certain services in time of war. Some of them have suffered from natural causes. Old Winchelsea was destroyed by an influx ot the sea, and its successor has been changed into an inland town by the encroachment of the land upon the sea. The harbour of Rye, in which a. sixty- four gun ship could once ride in safety, will now scarcely admit a vessel of 200 tons. Westward in succession from Brighton are several places more or less frequented for sea-bathing, as Shoreham, a port of some commercial consequence, near the outfall of the Adur; Worthing, protected from bleak winds by the adjoining hills, where figs are grown and ripen properly ; Littlehampton, at the mouth of the Arun, with Arundel Castle a short distance inland, the residence of the Dukes of Norfolk ; and Bognor, Uie site of complete memorials of an extensive Eoman villa, with rich mosaic pavements and painted walls, the colours of which are identical in composition with those employed in the houses of Herculaneum and Pompeii. ChicJiester, a few miles from the shore, towards the western border, possesses a cathedral dis n uished by five aisles in the interior, and a campanile or lofty detached bell-tower, features shared by no oilier structure of the kind in the kingdom. It is the only cathedral in England visible from the sea, and is a noted landmark to mariners. The tower and spire fell in 1861, after a night of terrific tempest, but it was replaced by another as iiearlj' as possible like the former one. At Eartham. a neighbouring village, Hayley long resided, and gathered the notables of his day to his charming villa — Gibbon the historian, Eomney the painter, Flaxman the sculptor, Howard the philanthropist, Charlotte Smith, Miss Seward, Hurdis, Warton, Cowper, and Mrs Unwin. The property passed from him by sale to Huskisson tho statesman, Hampshire embraces a central part of the coast of tho channel, marked by the inlets of Langston Harbour, Portsmouth Harbour, and Southampton Water ; and has an insular HAMPSHIRE. 399 a'ljunct in the beautiful Isle of Wight, The mainland, watered by the Itcliin, Anton, and Avon, is traversed by both ranges of the North and South Downs, which are connected by a transverse ridge, and both have their highest points within its liraits. Though fertUe in raany parts, there is a considerable extent of heathy and wild woodland surface. The New Forest, an interesting tract of about twelve square miles, lies between the shore of the Channel, of Southampton Water, and the banks of the Avon, in which the supposed spot where the Red King, William Eufus, met his death from a chance arrow while hunting, is raarked by a raouumental stone. This district, which formerly produced a large quantity of oak and beech timber for the navy, presents land scapes combining woody scenes with vast sweeps ot wild country, and distant marine views. The ancient practice of feeding swine in the forest is allowed to the borderers during the 'pannage' raonth, which commences towards the close of September, and lasts for six weeks. Besides these seasonal visitors, there is a semi-wild race in the more solitary parts, with haK-wild horses of shaggy exterior and smaU diraensions, fallow and red-deer. Winchester, in a vaUey between chalk-hiUs on the Itchin, is an episcopal city of very early origin and historic note, where sovereigns have been bom, crowned, and buried. But its consequence belongs almost enth-ely to the past. The cathedral is spacious and singularly interesting. An old coUegiate institution, connected with Winchester CoUege, Oxford, furnishes preparatory training for the university, and is Winchester Cathedral . celebrated for its Dulce Domum, a vacation chant, at least two centuries old. Eomsey, Petersfield, Andover, and Basingstoke, are other inland towns. The important places are maritime. Portsmouth, the grand naval arsenal of the kingdom, strongly fortified, is on the eastern shore of an inlet, which furnishes a safe, deep, and capacious harbour. The town, and its suburb Portsea, included within the same lines of defence, Southsea adjoining, and Gosport on the opposite side of the inlet, form one cluster of population, arranged in four divisions. The dock-yard, covering the great space of 120 acres; the gun-wharf, devoted to the accumulation of naval ordnance; the Eoyal Clarence victualling-yard, an immense provision storehouse and biscuit manufactory ; Haslar Hospital, for the reception of sick and disabled seamen and marines ; Nelson's old ship the Victory, moored iu the harbour and carefully preserved; and the Excellent, with its gunnery-practice, are the sights of interest. New batteries and fortifications have been erected to meet the requirements of modern warfare. Numerous vessels always at anchor at Spithead, or going in and out of harbour, with military parades, bands, and salutes, render Portsmouth a scene of great animation. 400 ENGLAND AND WALES. Southampton, near the head ot the estuary which bears its name, consists ot a new town grafted on the old, in consequence ot its extended commerce. Though perfectly blended, the Une of division is marked by one ot the ancient gates, which is now nearly central, and crosses the principal street. The position ot the town in relation to the metropoUs and the Atlantic, with docks capable ot receiving the largest vessels, has made it the chiet packet station for the West Indies and the Mediterranean. It contams a branch of the ordnance department, at which the maps ot the national survey are executed. A pubUc park, caUed the Watts Park in honour of Dr Isaac Watts, a native, with a statue of him. is a modern addition. Lynangton and Chi-istchurch are watering-places near the south coast, along with Bournemouth, in a valley directly on the shore, distinguished as 'the evergreen vaUey,' 'the winter-garden of England,' from its taU firs and pines overshadowing a rich growth ot the arbutus and rhododendron. The insular part of the county, the Isle of Wight, is separated trom the mainhmd by the channel of the Solent and the roadstead of Spithead, about four mUes in average width, but contracted to a very narrow passage on the westem side, by the projection of Hurst Castle shingle-bar. The greatest extent of the island is twenty-three miles trom east to west, by fourteen from north to south, with a circuit of nearly sixty nules. Tho name occurs as Wecht or Wiht in Domesday-Book, a corrapt contraction of the Veotis of the Eomans. High cUffs haunted by sea-fowl; caves hoUowed out in them by the dash of the ocean; detached rocks, some arched, others needle-shaped or tantasticaUy moulded ; narrow chasms. locaUy caUed ' chines,' descended by streams, and clothed with copse-wood, are features of the coast scenery, with the 'undercUff' region, a long strip of the shore remarkable for its widely-broken surface, evidently formed by subsidence from heights in ¦ the background. Towards the narrow westem extremity, the cliffs are among the loftiest on the EngUsh shores, trom many of which samphire is gathered. In this direction are the weU-known Needles, isolated rocks projecting above the waves, with Alum Bay, which presents a very extraordinary spectacle of variegated colours, from the strata on its side being impregnated with oxide of iron. The ishind is weU watered, chiefly by the Medina, which divides it into eastem and westem portions. It is also cut into two nearly equal parts. northem and southern, by a chain of hiUs and downs. Newport, the principal town, occupies a central position in the pleasant vaUey of the Medina, encircled with fertile hUls. and has an interesting object adjoining in the ruins ot Carisbrook Castle, in which Charles I. was confined. Part ot the chamber he occupied remains, with a grated window through which he made an unsuccessful attempt to escape. Cowes, at the mouth ot the river, on both shores ot the estuary, is distinguished as the head-quarters of the Eoyal Yacht Club. Eastward on the coast is Osbome House, the marine residence of the Queen, with strictly- secluded grounds, and Ryde, offering animated sea-views to its crowds of summer visitors. Ventnor, on the south-eastem coast-line, the capital of the Undercliff, mostly modern, is famed for the mUdness of its winter climate, exquisite scenery, and rich vegetation, which embraces myrtles and hydrangeas of large size, with tree-Uke fuchsias and geraniums. Berkshire, an inland district, with the Thames for its northern border, belongs entirely to the basin of that river, to which it contributes the Kennet, the Ock, and the Loddon. The vaUeys traversed by these affluents are renowned for thek fertUity j but on the eastern side of the county there is a considerable extent of waste surface, combined with woodlands. This is the locality of Windsor Forest and the Bagshot Sands. One of the most productive tracts, the spacious vale of the Wlute Horse, has its name from a colossal figure of the animal, the emblem of the Saxon race, carved on the side of a bordering chalk-hiU by incision of the material This rude memorial was a weU-lmown object soon after the Norman Conquest, and is supposed to have been formed to coramemorate King Alfiod's victory over the Danes, fought in the neighbourhood. The inhabitants of the vale have an ancient custora of asserabUng to ' scour the horse,' by removing the grass which tends to obliterate the figure. Reading has a large manufactory of biscuits, but is chiefly a mart for the agricultural products of the county. The burial-place of Henry I. and his queen is within the precincts of an abbey now iu ruins. Windsor, on an acclivity rising up from the Thames opposite to Eton, has only interest derived from its palatial castle, tho principal residence of British royalty, immediately east from the town. This magnificent structure occupies a commanding position, which renders it visible from afar, while from its battlements the eye ranges over a richly-varied and extensive prospect, embracing portions of twelve counties. The buildings and courts cover more than twelve acres, and are surrounded by a terrace, except on one side, nearly half a mile in length, said to be the finest walk of its kind in Europe. William the Conqueror planted a stronghold and hunting-lodge at the spot. Edward III,, born at Windsor, raised a palace. Queen Elizabeth caused the north terrace to be constructed. But in its present state the castle .is recent, having been rescued from dilapidation, thoroughly renovated, and provided with new accommodations since the year 1824. t-t. George's Chapel, of Edward IV.'s time, within the precincts, is the largest, most varied, and elegant of the three chapels-royal. Henry VIII. aud Charies I. slumber in the vaults without YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 9002 02478 5744