Staffa.-A few miles to the northward of Iona lies the celebrated and singular Staffa, a small island entirely composed of groupes of basaltic columns.

Skye. To the northward of Mull is Skye, about 45 miles long, but of very unequal breadths in different places: the inhabitants are about 15,000: the island is hilly and rugged, producing little corn, but exporting numbers of cattle and small horses.

Lewis-Twenty miles north-west from Skye is situated the island of Lewis, the largest of all the Hebudes, being about 60 miles in length from south to north, and above 20 in breadth in the middle; but narrow at each end. The interior of this island consists of mountains covered with heath, but the shores produce oats, barley, flax, and hemp. The animals are, the red deer, horses, eattle, goats, and hogs. The chief place in the island is Stornaway, a consi derable town, situated on a bay forming an excellent har bour.

- Vist.-Near the south end of Lewis is North Vist, an island of the same description, but less considerable; being in length about 22 miles by 17 in breadth.

ORKNEY ISLANDS.-Separated by a channel of the breadth of a few miles from the most northerly point of Scotland lie the Orkneys, twenty-six in number, composed of a cluster of small isles scattered round the largest, called Mainland. The inhabitants of the whole are reckoned at about 24,000. The principal town is Kirkwall, seated on a good harbour, and formerly a bishop's see, the cathedral, a venerable gothic structure, still remaining in good condition : These islands export cattle, hides, salt fish, tallow, coarse linen, and frequently corn; the soil of Mainland is in general good but shallow.

SHETLAND ISLANDS.-About thirty miles from the most northerly of the Orkneys, lies the most southerly of the Shetland islands, a cluster resembling the Orkneys, having

a large

a large island, also called Mainland, in the centre, much indented by the sea, but in a general sense about 55 miles long from north to south, and in the centre about 15 in breadth, although in many places not above two miles across. The only place of note in these islands is Lerwick, a small town seated on a circular bay, forming an excellent harbour, completely landlocked by the isle of Brassa, whence the bay is called Brassa Sound, a much-frequented place of rendezvous for vessels employed in the northern fisheries. The inhabitants of the Shetland isles are computed to exceed 20,000.

Alderney. About 50 miles due south from the isle of Portland, and 9 miles west from Cape La Hogue in France, lies the little isle of Alderney, eight miles in circuit; the inhabitants being reckoned nearly 1000. The strait between this island and France, called the Race of Alderney, is noted for the impetuous and dangerous setting of the currents at particular states of the tide.

Guernsey.-South-west from Alderney 18 miles lies Guernsey, of a triangular shape, being 12 miles in extent from east to west, and 9 from south to north; a fruitful island, healthy, and well-peopled; the chief town is St. Pierre, having a good harbour on the east side.

Jersey.-Twenty miles south-south-east from Guernsey is situated Jersey, a pleasant, fruitful, and well-cultivated island, in length about 12 miles and in breadth from 5 to 6. The chief town is St. Helier, situated on the east side of a fine bay, on the south side of the Island. The inhabitants are supposed to amount to 20,000.

These islands are independent of the British parliament, being governed under the Crown by their own laws, and are all now remaining to the kings of England of their antient possessions in France.

III.

IRELAND.

Situation and extent.-The figure of Ireland inclines to an oval or rather to a losenge; the northern extremity lying in N. lat. 55° 23', and the southern at Cape Clear in lat 51o 19'. The extent in longitude is from 5° 36' to 10° 45' west from Greenwich; but the length in a diagonal from south-south-west to north-north-east is about 310 English miles, and the greatest breadth in the middle is about 160 miles. The superficial area of the island has been computed to be 30,370 square miles, or 19,436,000 acres.

Ireland is divided into four grand districts or provinces, each of which contains a number of inferior districts or counties, as in the following list, which likewise shows the names of the chief towns of each county.

The population of Ireland has been very variously stated, some authors allowing only three millions and a half, whilst a late well-informed writer estimates the number of inhabitants in 1804, to be nearly five millions and a half. The following list contains an estimate of the population of some of the principal towns.

Climate and soil.-Ireland and England being situated at equal distances from the equator, the climate of the two

countries

countries is nearly alike: although in Ireland it has been observed that the winters are now less severe, but the summers more cold and rainy than they formerly were, chiefly occasioned by the late greater prevalence of the gales from the Atlantic, which render the climate of the western and southern provinces very humid.

Ireland may, in general, be regarded as a plain country, the highest mountain, Slieve Donard, in the county of Down, being reckoned to rise but a little above 3,000 feet, or rather, agreeably to the latest observations, to 2,800 feet, above the sea: and the hills seldom form ranges of much extent, being in general distributed in small groupes or in single eminences. The soil is naturally fertile, and under a proper system of agriculture, might be made to produce vast quantities of grain: for even with all the present im-` pediments to improvement, Ireland is still a very fruitful country. From the extreme moisture of the climate, the pastures furnish food for prodigious numbers of black cattle, the exportation of which in the form of salt provisions produces a great income to the country.

Vast tracts of Ireland are covered with bogs of various sorts, some marshy, others clothed with grass, and dry in the summer, and a third kind consisting of peat moors. Of these bogs, many instead of being flat and level, like a marsh in England, are varied into hill and dale, as if they were solid dry ground: their common productions are heath and coarse grass.

Mountains. These in Ireland are neither numerous nor extensive, although a range of high land may be traced in the direction of the length of the island, from whence the waters run to opposite shores. Slieve Donard has already been mentioned in the neighbourhood of the lake of Killarney is Mangerton, estimated at 2,500 feet of elevation. Cruagh Patrick and Nephin, both in the county of Mayo,

VOL. II.

M

are