shewn to foreigners, who, on the other hand, feeling their obligation to the duke, are strenuous supporters of his power, and serve to compose a little court, and maintain a faint appearance of state during his short visits to the island.

CHAP. IX.

Tour round the Island, commencing at DouglasDescription of that Town and Neighbourhood.

BEFORE I enter on general subjects connected with the present state of the island, I think it may form a very proper ground-work to draw a short sketch of the country itself. The scenery of the Isle of Man, except on the north side, where it is better wooded, has no great beauties; there is nothing to elevate or astonish, and not much to admire: the mountains are of too tame a character, and too frequently covered with fog, which, as a native poet says,

"Sits like a night-mare squat ou Mona's breast,"

to give pleasure, except to an imagination strong

ly tinctured with Ossianic scenery; such may

here find all the varieties of tint and form that enraptured the mountain bard, but they will still languish for the bolder features of his scenery. The highest elevation rises so gradually, that its effect is lost to the eye; there is hardly a bold or abrupt precipice throughout the whole, except in the rocky scenery round the coast, which can only be surveyed from the sea; the interior is cast in the same mould with its inhabitants, and a sort of quiet mediocrity characterises the whole. The country is intersected by streams, which, though scarcely more than rivulets, serve to diversify the scene, and the water is every where pure and excellent, totally free from the brackish taste usually prevailing in the vicinity of the sea, and as has been found, on experiment, admirably adapted to the use of the manufacturer as well as for domestic purposes.

The course usually pursued by travellers is to make a tour round the coast, on which all the towns and villages are seated, the interior being chiefly divided into small farms, or abandoned to the undisturbed dominion of heath and gorse. The high roads are tolerably level, and capable, with a little more attention, of being made excellent. The town of Douglas, from various causes, has a pre-eminence over all the others,

both in trade and population, though it is not the seat of government; but as it is the point at which nearly all visitors first arrive, I shall begin my description in that quarter.

The approach to this place by sea presents a most imposing aspect; on turning either of the heads that form the semicircle of the bay, which is of considerable extent, the eye takes in at once a variety of objects calculated to raise fairy hopes of the interior; in the centre stands the free stone palace of the Duke of Athol, called Mona Castle, magnificent from its size, if not from its architectural beauties. The hill behind this mansion is planted and cultivated, so as to draw forth and embellish all its natural advantages, though the space devoted to this purpose not exceeding five or six acres, bears no proportion to the size of the dwelling: at a short distance isa neat and elegant villa belonging to Col. Stewart, and in addition to these several modern houses, at different elevations, overhang the bay, and give an air of modest opulence and comfort to the whole. In a recess at the south side rises the town with a handsome pier, and a light-house, of classical elegance, presenting a new proof of the capriciousness of taste in the human mind, these two being planned and erected by the same artist, who built the chaotic mass, above-mentioned

for the Duke of Athol. The whole bay is two miles across, and is sheltered from all winds except the north east; both its points are rocky and dangerous, and in the middle is a bed of rocks called "Connister," on which, in the stormy season, many vessels find their destruction.

It is unfortunate when the first glance at a place excites expectations, which every succeeding view must damp and dissipate; those who arrive at Douglas on a fine day can hardly fail to find the pier covered with groupes of white robed damsels, full of gaiety and spirit, they will cast their eyes with delight on the villas which surround or overhang the bay; if the time is evening, they may probably be greeted with the sound of military music from the parade, and the combination must naturally lead them to anticipate an entrance into a mahometan paradise, peopled with houris; but this lovely vision will only last till they have ascended the stairs opposite to the custom-house; from that moment they must thread their way through a labyrinth of narrow dirty streets, and prepare to encounter the usual variations of dirt and neglect, for certainly nothing can be more inconvenient or disagreeable than the internal arrangement of this town, where the divisions form angles, which would defy the skill of the best charioteer of