Few countries exhibit a greater variety of surface than England, or have been more highly favoured by nature. "Although," says Dr. Aikin," its features are moulded on a comparatively minute scale, they are marked with all the agreeable interchange which constitutes picturesque beauty. In some parts, plains clothed in the richest verdure, watered by copious streams, and pasturing innumerable cattle, extend as far as the eye can reach: in others, gently rising hills, and bending vales, fertile in corn, waving with woods, and interspersed with flowery meadows, offer the most delightful landscapes of rural opulence and beauty. Some tracts furnish prospects of the more romantic and impressive kind; lofty mountains, craggy rocks, deep dells, narrow ravines, and tumbling torrents: nor is there wanting as a contrast to those, scenes in which every variety of nature is a different charm, the vicissitude of black barren moors, and wide inanimated heaths."-(England Described, p. 1.) Such is a vivid description of the general appearance of England. But the beauty and fertility of the country are not the only things to excite admiration: the mildness of the climate, removed alike from the extremes of heat and cold; the multitude of rivers, their depth, and the facility they afford to internal navigation; the vast beds of coal and other valuable minerals hid under the surface; the abundance and excellence of the fish in the rivers

and surrounding seas; the extent of sea-coast; the number, capaciousness, and safety of the ports and bays; and the favourable situation of the country for commerce; give England advantages that are not enjoyed in an equal degree by any other nation. The noble panegyric of Pliny on Italy, is, in most respects, still more applicable to England:-"Ergo in toto orbe et quacunque cœli convexitas vergit, pulcherrima est omnium regio, rebusque merito principatum naturæ obtinens, rectrix parensque mundi altera; viris, fœminis, ducibus, militibus, servitiis, artium præstantia, ingeniorum claritatibus, jam situ ac salubritate cœli atque temperie, accessu cunctarum gentium facili, littoribus portuosis, benigno ventorum afflatu, aquarum copia, nemorum salubritate, montium articulis, ferorum animalium innocentia, soli fertilitate, pabuli ubertate. Quicquid est quo carere vita non debeat, nusquam est præstantius."—(Hist. Nat. lib. xxxvii. cap. 13.)

No one will expect to find, in a work of this sort, either a full description of the country, or minute topographical details. It is impossible, however, to form any just notion of its actual state and resources, without having a general acquaintance with its physical as well as with its moral and political condition.

The face or appearance of a country may be variously described. Some geographers commence their descriptions by giving an account of the rivers, and of the basins, or tracts of country, drained by each. But though this method has some advantages, we incline to think that the best and most natural order is to begin with the description of the mountains; proceeding successively to describe the vales, the rivers and lakes, and the sea-coasts and harbours: having done this, we shall lay before the reader, accounts of the geology of the country, and of its climate, botany, and zoology. It is hoped that the reader may, in this way, acquire sufficiently distinct ideas with respect to the natural powers and capacities of the empire.

Though the mountains of England are but of very inferior dimensions, compared with those of some of the Continental states, they form a prominent and distinguishing feature in its physiognomy. We shall include under this head a brief notice of the principal hills and moorlands; meaning by the latter, the principal elevated tracts of heathy or moorish ground.

A chain of mountains or hills extends, with but few interruptions, along the whole western side of the kingdom, from Cumberland to the Land's End. It is of very various breadth and elevation. In some places it approaches quite to the west coast; occasionally sending off

large spurs or arms to the east. Assuming the summit of this great chain to form the natural division between the eastern and western sides of the kingdom, the former is by far the largest, richest, and most important. The western side is not, however, without many considerable tracts of rich, fertile, level land; but they are very inferior, in extent and value, as compared with the others.

Most of the rivers of England have their sources in this grand chain. Wth the exception, indeed, of the Severn, which principally follows a southerly course, and of the Eden, which flows north-west, all of them that are of any considerable magnitude flow eastward; the limited territory traversed by those that run westward not allowing them space to attain a lengthened course, or to carry off a large body of water.

The great longitudinal chain has been divided into three portions, respectively denominated the Northern, Cambrian, and Devonian ranges. The first, taken in its utmost extent, stretches from the Scottish border to the middle of Derbyshire: it enters England at Carter Fell, near the north-eastern extremity of Cumberland; and stretches southwards in a pretty direct line till it is interrupted by the valley of the Ribble, Craven, and the valley of the Aire. This part of the chain lies partly in Cumberland, partly in Westmoreland, partly in Northumberland, and partly in Durham and Yorkshire: its summit ridge separates the waters of the North Tyne, South Tyne, Tees, Swale, Ure, and Wharfe, flowing eastward, from those of the Irthing, Eden, Lowther, Lune, and Ribble, flowing westward. Its elevation varies from 1,200 to near 3,000 feet: the highest summits are Cross Fell, near the sources of the South Tyne and the Tees, in the western part of Cumberland, 2,901 feet high; Shunnor Fell, in which the Eden and the Swale have their sources, on the confines of Yorkshire and Westmoreland, 2,329 feet high; and Whernside, Ingleborough, and Pennigant, respectively 2,384, 2,368, and 2,270 feet high, in the westernmost parts of Yorkshire, contiguous to the sources of the Ribble and the Wharfe.

An important portion of the northern range lies to the westward of that connected central ridge here noticed, being separated from it by the valley of the Eden and the Vale of Kendal. This portion stretches lengthwise from near Ireby, in Cumberland, to Ulverston in Lancashire; and from Lowther Water, across to Dent Hill, near St. Bee's Head. Some of the summits in this group are the highest of any in England. The most elevated are those of Scaw Fell, Helvellyn, Skiddaw, and Bow Fell, in Cumberland, respectively 3,166, 3,055, 3,022, and 2,901 feet above the level of the sea. Scaw Fell has two principal summits, separated from each other by a deep chasm, the one being 66 feet higher than the other. Helvellyn is in most

parts extremely rugged and precipitous: in point of mass, it far exceeds almost any other of the Cumbrian mountains: it is, however, closely hemmed round by others; while Skiddaw, though of inferior dimensions, being comparatively detached, appears to much greater advantage, and may be seen nearly on every side in its entire elevation. Exclusive of the above, the Nine Pins, in Westmoreland, rise 2,136 feet above the level of the sea; and Coniston Fell, in Lancashire, 2,577 feet.

The mountains in the central range extend in some places to a great width; insensibly shelving down and uniting, on the eastern side, with the Cheviot hills, and the moors of Northumberland, Durham, and West Yorkshire. They are in general rounded and tame, and are mostly covered with peat earth and heath, having a dreary, bleak, desolate aspect. But those in the western group are generally steep, bold, and rugged; in their disposition there is little of regularity, no lengthened ridge or continuous chain; their appearance is that of a congeries of immense broken and mostly angular masses, having their bases united, or nearly so, except where they are separated by lakes. The western mountains, unlike those of the eastern ridge, are mostly covered with a fine green sward, affording excellent pasture for sheep: Skiddaw, however, is partially clothed with heath.

The varied forms of these mountains, ornamented in parts with wood, and the picturesque beauties of the numerous lakes scattered amongst them, form a tout ensemble of very attractive scenery. These mountains are seen to the greatest advantage on the road from Kirby Lonsdale, by Kendal, to Shap.

Besides slate and limestone, of which, indeed, the mountains in this part of the northern range are mostly composed, they furnish considerable supplies of coal, lead, and of the rare mineral plumbago, or black lead; this is obtained from a mine in Borrowdale, in Cumberland, of a finer quality than any hitherto discovered in any other part of the world.

The Cheviot hills unite with the north-eastern confines of the

great central range now described. They are situated partly in Scotland, and partly in Northumberland: that part of them which is in the latter, occupies the space between the Scottish border on the north-west, and the upper part of the river Coquet on the south, round by Prendwick, Ilderton, Wooler, and Kirknewton, to Mindrim; including an area of from 90,000 to 100,000 acres. Several of these hills have a conical figure, some being nearly perfect cones; while the shape of others is very irregular: in general, however, they are pointed, their sides smooth and rapidly sloping, and their bases separated by deep narrow glens. Except at their very

summits, where points of rock and loose stones appear, they are mostly covered with a pretty fertile soil, producing a rich, close, green sward; but on the upper parts of the hill, called by way of distinction the Cheviot, and which is 2,658 feet above the level of the sea, there are extensive tracts of heath. The Cheviot hills are depastured by numerous flocks of the valuable and peculiar breed of sheep called the Cheviots, now widely diffused, not only over the north of England, but also over almost all Scotland.

As already stated, the northern part of the great central chain is divided into two portions by the valley of the Ribble, the district of Craven, and the valley of the Aire. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which passes through Craven, and may be considered as the line of demarcation, has at its summit level, opposite to Pinnow Hill, an elevation of 500 feet. From this hill, the southern division of the British Apennines, as the northern central range has sometimes been termed, extends nearly south along the eastern border of Lancashire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire, the western parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and the northern and western parts of Derbyshire, to near Ashborne in the latter. The length of the chain is above 60 miles; but its breadth is extremely various, being about 20 miles across from near Sheffield to Cheshire, whereas between Rochdale and Huddersfield it is merely a narrow ridge. It separates the waters of the Calder and the Dun, flowing east, from those of the Irwell and the Mersey, flowing west. Its most elevated points are Bolesworth Hill, in the north-east part of Lancashire, 1,689 feet above the level of the sea; Blackstone Edge, on the confines of Lancashire and Yorkshire; Holme Moss, on the confines of Yorkshire and the eastern angle of Cheshire, 1,859 feet; Kinderscout and Lord's Seat, in the hundred of High Peak, Derbyshire, respectively 2,150 and 1,751 feet high; and Axedge, on the confines of Derbyshire, Cheshire, and Staffordshire, 1,715 feet.

The wonders of the High Peak, the name given to the northwestern and most mountainous district of Derbyshire, have been repeatedly described. But it derives its celebrity more from its caverns, perforations, and dells, than from its mountains, which are inferior in point of romantic beauty, as well as of elevation, to those of Wales, Cumberland, and Westmoreland. Poole's Hole, near Buxton, and Castleton Cavern, near the village of Castleton, are the most remarkable of the natural curiosities of the High Peak.

Before noticing the Cambrian mountains, there are a few groups of hills that may be advantageously alluded to here. The Malvern hills, between Herefordshire and Worcestershire, extend north and south about 10 miles. They rise on the eastern side from the Vale of