discovered on the 2nd of March 1768; but from vestiges of antient mining, and other circumstances, it seems probable that it was known to, and used by the Romans, while they were masters of the country.

Lead is found in abundance in Derbyshire: and veins are discovered in the Mendip hills in Somersetshire, as also in the eastern parts of Cumberland.

Iron, at once the most useful, and the most extensively distributed of the metals, has not been denied to England, where it is not only found in vast quantities, in Shropshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire, &c. but is transformed into an infinite variety of utensils and implements, forming one of the most important branches of the manufactures of the country.

The invaluable mineral production, coal, is likewise distributed with abundance in various quarters of the kingdom. The mines in the neighbourhood of Newsastle, Sunderland, and Whitehaven, in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire, Gloucestershire, &c. are too well known to need being described.

Salt, of an excellent quality, is obtained from the mines, and springs of Cheshire, of which the mines of Northwich are the most remarkable; and in Worcestershire and Staf fordshire other salt springs are found.

The northern and western parts of England furnish great quantities and varieties of stone for building: in the south the quarries of Portland and Purbeck have long been known and esteemed.

The principal places where water is discovered impregnated with iron, sulphur, vitriol, or other mineral substances, are Bath, Bristol, Cheltenham, Buxton, Harrowgate, Scarborough, Epsom, Tunbridge, &c.

Animals. To name the horse, the cow, the sheep, is sufficient to an English reader, who cannot be ignorant of the great and commendable efforts made of late years, in all parts

parts of the country, to improve the race of these most useful animals and the valuable qualities of the dog have not been unregarded. The stag, the buck, the fox, the hare, and various other inferior animals, who still preserve their independence, are common: but the wolf has for many years been lost: the wild, cat is still discovered in certain

remote corners.

The variety of birds, from the eagle to the wren, have been counted as far as eight and forty kinds : and the bustard, the largest of all, is sometimes met with in the open plains of Wiltshire and Lincolnshire.

Of reptiles in England, although their varieties be numerous, yet the viper alone ought to be considered as veno

mous.

From the situation of England in the midst of the waters, the abundance of the most delicious and the most valuable fish, is great indeed. The enormous whale has occasionally appeared on our shores; but the herring, the mackarel, the cod, the haddock, and other numerous sorts, present not only an immediate supply of food, but objects of unlimited industry and commerce, hitherto too generally and unaccountably overlooked. The period is not far gone when the laborious and frugal Hollanders, whose seas nature has not enriched with such treasures, fished upon our own shores, cured what they caught with salt often procured in this kingdom, provided for a suitable profit on their expenses and exertions, and after all undersold the British fishers even in their own markets.

The salmon, the trout, the char, the eel, the perch, and other natives of the English rivers, lakes, and pools, require neither description nor enumeration.

Vegetables. Many parts of England still retain the appellation of forests, although in some scarcely a decayed oak is now to be seen: but the forests of Windsor in Berk shire, of Sherwood in Nottinghamshire, and what is yet

named

named the new forest in Hampshire, are noble assemblages of timber and trees of the most valuable kinds.

The rich and perpetual verdure for which England is distinguished above many other countries, is chiefly produced by the moisture of the climate: while the due intermixture of dry weather and sunshine brings the crops of wheat, barley, oats, pease, and other vegetable food for man and beast, to the highest perfection.

Vines were formerly reared in many parts of England. In 1086 a vineyard of 6 acres, near Rochford in Essex, yielded 20 casks of wine. In 1156 the vale of Gloucester was renowned for its abundance of prime apples, and for its grapes from which wine was made little inferior to the wines of France; but Winchester in Hampshire was then considered as the place where the best English wine was produced; and to this day a gentleman's seat in the north-east part of that county retains the name of the Vine. In the time of Edward the Third, who died in 1377, the Earl of Lancaster possessed vineyards in the neighbourhood of Leicester. Of late years an attempt has been made to raise the vine and make wine on the southern slopes of the Isle of Wight.

It is a curious fact that, from the extreme care bestowed in England in procuring and cultivating the best sorts of various fruits, flowers, and other ornaments of the garden, many of these are carried to a state of perfection to which, even in the more favoured climates where they naturally grow, they seldom arrive,

II.

SCOTLAND.

Situation and Extent.-This portion of Britain is of too irregular a form to be compared to any known figure. It is situated between the parallel of the Mull of Galloway in

north

latitude 54°, 44', and that of the northern extremity of the island at the Dunnet-head, in latitude 58°, 40', and between the meridian of Peterhead the most easterly point of Scotland, in longitude 1° 46′, and that of the most westerly point of Ardnamurchan in Argyleshire, in longitude 6° 10′, both west from Greenwich. The greatest extent from south to north is about 236 geographic or 272 English miles, and the greatest breadth is about 140 geographic or 162 English miles, while in the middle of the country the distance across from sea to sea is only about 25 miles.

Agreeably to the returns made to parliament in 1801, the population of Scotland amounted to 1,599,068, exclusive of that of some remote districts, which was estimated at 8,692, making in all 1,607,760 inhabitants. The whole country, including the islands, has been computed to contain about 27,794 square geographic miles, giving a population upon an average of about 58 persons to one square mile. The vast tracts of mountains with which at least one half of the country is covered, occasion this scanty population; for many parts of the low country are extremely well peopled: thus for instance, the county of Fife, which has been estimated to contain 480 square miles, possessed by the latest numeration 93,743 inhabitants, a population at the rate of above 195 persons to every square mile.

The following table contains the names of the several counties or shires into which Scotland is divided, with the number of inhabitants, and the chief town of each.