The SCILLY ISLES, anciently the SILURES, are a cluster of dangerous rocks, to the number of 140, lying about thirty miles from the Land's End in Cornwall, of which county they were reckoned a part. By their fituation between the English Channel and St. George's Channel, they have been the deftruction of many fhips and lives. Sir Cloudesley Shovel, returning from a fruitless expedition against Toulon, was loft here in October, 1707. St. Mary's is the largest of these iflands, being about nine or ten miles in circumference, and containing as many houfes and inhabitants as all the reft. The number of the latter is about 700; feveral of the other islands are well inhabited, and have large and fecure harbours.

In the English Channel are four islands fubject to England: these are Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark; which, though they lie much nearer to the coaft of Normandy than to that of England, are within the diocefe of Winchester. They lie in a cluster in Mount St. Michael's bay, between Cape la Hogue in Normandy, and Cape Frebelle in Britany. The computed distance between Jersey and Sark is four leagues; and between that and Guernsey, feven leagues; and between the fame and Alderney, nine leagues.

JERSEY, anciently CÆSAREA, was known to the Romans, and lies fartheft within the bay, in forty-nine degrees feven minutes north latitude, and in the fecond degree twenty-fix minutes weft longitude, 18 miles weft of Normandy, and 84 miles fouth of Portland. The north fide is inacceffible through lofty cliffs: the fouth is almost level with the water; the higher land, in its midland part, is well planted, and abounds with orchards, from which is made an incredible quantity of excellent cider. The valleys are fruitful and well cultivated, and contain plenty of cattle and sheep. The inhabitants neglect tillage too much, being intent upon the culture of cider, the improvement of commerce, and particularly the manufacture of ftockings. The honey in Jerfey is remarkably fine; and the island is well fapplied with fifh and wild-fowl of almost every kind, fome of both being peculiar to the island, and very delicious.

The island is not above twelve miles in length; but the air is fo falubrious, that, in Camden's time, it was faid there was here no business for a phyfician. The inhabitants in number are about 20,000, and are divided into twelve parifhes. The capital town of St. Helier, or Hilary, which contains about 400 houses, has a good harbour and cafle, and makes a handfome appearance. The property of this island belonged formerly to the Carterets, a Norman family, who have been always attached to the royal intereft, and gave protection to Charles II. both when king and prince of Wales, at a time when no part of the British dominions durft recognife him. The language of the inhabitants is French, with which most of them intermingle English words. Knit ftockings and caps form their flaple commodity; but they carry on a confiderable trade in fish with Newfoundland, and difpofe of their cargoes in the Mediterranean. The governor is appointed by the crown of England, but the civil adminiftration refts with a bailiff, aflifted by twelve juAs this ifland is the principal remain of the duchy of Normandy depending on the kings of England, it preferves the old feudal forms, and particularly the affembly of ftates, which is, as it were, a miniature of the British parliament, as fettled in the time of Edward I.

rats.

GUERNSEY is thirteen miles and a half from fouth-weft to northeaft, and twelve and a half where broadeft, eaft and weft; has only ten parishes, to which there are but eight minifters, four of the parishes being united, and Alderney and Sark, which are appendages of Guern

fey, forming each a separate parish with its appropriate minister. Though this is naturally a finer island than that of Jerfey, yet it is far lefs valuable; becaufe it is not fo well cultivated, nor is it fo populous. It abounds in cider. The inhabitants fpeak French. Want of fuel is the greatest inconveniency that both islands labour under. It is divided into ten parishes, with only eight churches. The convention of the states confifts of a governor, coroners, jurats, clergy, and conftables. The inhabitants carry on a confiderable trade to Newfoundland and the Mediterranean. The ftaple manufacture is knit-ftockings. The only harbour here is at St. Peter le Port, which is guarded by two forts, one called the Old-Caftle, and the other Caftle-Cornet. Guernsey is likewife part of the ancient Norman patrimony.

ALDERNEY is about eight miles in compafs, and is by much the nearest of all these islands to Normandy, from which it is feparated by a narrow ftrait, called the Race of Alderney, which is a dangerous paffage in stormy weather, when the two currents meet; otherwife it is fafe, and has depth of water for the largest ships. To the weft lie a range of rocks extending near three leagues, called the Cafkets, among which are feveral very dangerous whirlpools or eddies. The fons of king Henry I. were caft away and drowned here, paffing to Normandy: here, likewife, the Victory man of war, commanded by admiral Balchen, was loft. This island is healthy, and the foil is remarkable for a fine breed of cows.

SARK is a small island depending upon Guernsey; the inhabitants are long-lived, and enjoy from nature all the conveniences of life; their number is about 300. The inhabitants of the three laft-mentioned islands, together, are thought to be about 20,000. The religion of all the four islands is that of the church of England.

IRELAND.

SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, and EXTENT.

THE island of Ireland is fituated on the weft fide of England, between 6 and 10 degrees of weft longitude, and between 51 and 55 degrees 30 minutes north latitude, or between the middle parallel of the eighth clime, where the longest day is 16 hours, and the 24th parallel, or the end of the tenth clime, where the longest day is 17 hours.

The extent or fuperficial content of this kingdom is, from the nearest computation and furvey, found to be in length 285 miles from Fairhead north, to Miffenhead fouth; and from the eaft part of Down, to the weft part of Mayo, its greatest breadth 160 miles; and to contain 11,067,712 Irish plantation acres, which makes 17,927,864 acres of English ftatute measure, and is held to bear proportion to England and Wales as 18 to 30. Mr. Templeman, who makes the length 275, and the breadth 150 miles, gives it an æra of 27,457 fquare miles, with 127 inhabitants to each. From the east part of Wexford to St. David's in Wales, it is reckoned 45 miles, but the paffage between Donaghadee and Portpatrick in Scotland is little more than twenty miles, and the paffage from Dublin to Holyhead in North Wales, about 52 miles. NAMES AND DIVISIONS, Many conjectures have been formed as ANCIENT AND MODERN. to the Latin (Hibernia), the Irish (Erin), as well as the English name of this ifland. It probably takes it rife from a Phoenician or Gaelic term, fignifying the farthest habitation weftward.

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It is rather extraordinary, that even modern authors are not agreed as to the divifions of Ireland; fome dividing it into five circuits, and fome into four provinces, thofe of Leinster, Ulfter, Connaught, and Manfter. The laft divifion is the most common, and likewise the most aneient.

not much from that of England, excepting that it is more moift, the teafons in general being much wetter. From the reports of various regifters, it appears that the number of days on which rain had fallen in Ireland was much greater than in the fame years in England. Bat without the evidence of registers, it is certain that moisture (even without rain) is not only more characteristic of the climate of this island than that of England, but it is alfo one of the worst and most inconvenient circumstances. This is accounted for by obferving, that," the wefterly winds, fo favourable to other regions, and fo benign even in this, by qualifying the rigour of the northern air, are yet hurtful in the extreme. Meeting with no lands on this fide of America to break their force, and proving in general too powerful for the counteraction of the shifting winds from the eastern and African continents, they waft hither the vapours of an immenfe ocean. By this caufe, the fky in Ire land is much obfcured; and, from the nature of reft and condensation, thefe vapours defcend in fuch conftant rains, as threaten deftruction te

the fruits of the earth in some seasons. This unavoidable evil from natural caufes is aggravated by the increase of it from others, which are either moral or political. The hand of induftry has been long idle in a country where almost every advantage must be obtained from its labour, and where difcouragements on the labourer must neceffarily produce a ftate of languor. Ever fince the neglect of agriculture in the ninth century, the rains of fo many ages fubfiding on the lower grounds, have converted moft of the extenfive plains into moffy moraffes, and near a tenth part of this beautiful ifle is become a repofitory for stagnated waters, which, in the course of evaporation, impregnate the air with noxious exhalations." But, in many refpects, the climate of Ireland is more agreeable than that of England, the fummers being cooler, and the winters lefs fevere. The piercing frofts, the deep frows, and the dreadful effects of thunder and lightning, which are fo frequently observed in the latter kingdom, are never experienced here.. The dampnefs above alluded to, being peculiarly favourable to the growth of grafs, has been urged as an argument why the inhabitants fhould confine their attention to the rearing of cattle, to the total defertion of tillage, and confequent injury to the growth of population; but the foil is fo infinitely various, as to be capable of almoft every fpecies of cultivation fuitable to fuch latitude, with a fertility equal to its variety. This is fo confpicuous, that it has been obferved by a refpectable English traveller, that natural fertility, acre for acre, over the two kingdoms, is certainly in favour of Ireland; of this there can scarcely be a doubt entertained, when it is confidered that fome of the more beautiful, and even beft cultivated counties in England owe almoft every thing to the capital art and industry of its inhabitants."

We fhall conclude this article with the further fentiments of the fame author (Mr. Young), whofe knowledge of the fubject, acquaintance with the kingdom, and candour, are unimpeachable.

"The circumftance which ftrikes me as the greateft fingularity of Ireland is the rockinefs of the foil, which fhould feem at first fight against that degree of fertility; but the contrary is the fact. Stone is fo general, that I have good reason to believe the whole island is one vaft rock of different ftrata and kinds rifing out of the fea. I have, rarely heard of any great depths being funk without meeting with it. In general it appears on the furface in every part of the kingdom; the flatteft and mot fertile parts, as Limerick, Tipperary, and Meath, have it at no great depth, almoft as much as the more barren ones. May we not recognife in this the hand of bounteous providence, which has given perhaps the most ftony foil in Europe to the moifteft climate in it; If as much rain fell upon the clays in England (a foil very rarely met with in Ireland, and never without much ftone), as falls upon the rocks of her fifter ifland, thofe lands could not be cultivated. But the rocks here are clothed with verdure; thofe of lime-stone with only a thin covering of mould, have the fofteft and most beautiful turf imaginable.

"The rockiness of the foil in Ireland is fo univerfal, that it predominates in every fort. One cannot use with propriety the terms clay, loam, fand, &c. it must be a ftony clay, a ftony loam, a gravelly fand. Clay, especially the yellow, is much talked of in Ireland; but it is for want of proper difcrimination. I have once or twice feen almost a pure clay upon the furface; but it is extremely rare. The true yellow elay is ufually found in a thin ftratum, under the furface mould, and

O'Connor's Differtations,

over a rock; harsh, tenacious, ftony, ftrong loams, difficult to work, are not uncommon, but they are quite different from English clays.

"Friable fandy loams, dry, but fertile, are very common, and they form the best foils in the kingdom for tillage and fheep. Tipperary and Rofcommon abound particularly in them. The moft fertile of all are the bullock paftures of Limerick, and the banks of the Shannon in Clare, called the Corcaffes. These are a mellow, putrid, friable loam. "Sand, which is fo common in England, and yet more common through France, Germany, and Poland, quite from Gibraltar to Peterfburgh, is no where met with in Ireland, except in narrow flips of hillocks, upon the fea-coaft. Nor did I ever meet with or hear of a

chalky foil.

Befides the great fertility of the foil, there are other circumstances, which come within my fphere to mention. Few countries can be better watered by large and beautiful rivers; and it is remarkable that by much the finest parts of the kingdom are on the banks of these rivers. Witnefs the Suir, Blackwater, and Liffy, the Boyne, the Nore, the Barrow, and part of the Shannon; they wafh a scenery that can hardly be exceeded. From the rockiness of the country, however, there are few of them that have not obstructions, which are great impediments to inland navigation.

"The mountains of Ireland give to travelling that interefting variety, which a flat country can never abound with; and, at the fame time, they are not in fuch number as to confer the character of poverty which ufually attends them. I was either upon or very near the most confiderable in the kingdom, Mangerton, and the Reeks in Kerry; the Galties, in Cork; thofe of Mourne, in Down; Crow-Patrick and Nephin, in Mayo; these are the principal in Ireland; and they are of a character in height and fublimity, which fhould render them the object of every traveller's attention. The foil, though rocky, is extremely fertile, perhaps beyond that of England itself, when properly cultivated. Pafturage, tillage, and meadow ground abound in this kingdom; but of late tillage was too much difcountenanced, though the ground is excellent for the culture of all grains; and in fome of the northern parts of the kingdom, abundance of hemp and flax are raised,. a cultivation of infinite advantage to the linen manufacture. Ireland rears vaft numbers of black cattle and fheep, and the Irish wool is excellent. The prodigious fupplies of butter and falt provifions (fifh excepted) fhipped at Cork, and carried to all parts of the world, affords the strongest proofs of the natural fertility of the Irish foil."

The bogs of Ireland are very extenfive; that of Allen extends 80 miles, and is computed to contain 300,000 acres. There are others alfo which are very extenfive, and fmaller ones fcattered over the whole kingdom; but it has been obferved, that these are not in general more than are wanted for fuel.

AND LAKES.

RIVERS, BAYS, HARBOURS, The numerous rivers, enchanting lakes, fpacious bays, commodious havens, harbours and creeks, with which Ireland abounds, greatly enrich and beautify this country. The Shannon iffues from Lough Allen, in the county of Leitrim, ferves as a boundary between Connaught and the three other provinces, and, after a courfe of 150 miles, forming in its progrefs many beautiful lakes, falls into the Atlantic Ocean, between Kerry-point and Loop-head, where it is nine miles broad. The navigation of this river is interrupted by a ridge of rocks fpreading quite across it, fouth of Killaloe; but this might be remedied by a fhort