Merioneth, Montgomery, and Denbigh shires, runs nearly parallel to the Caernarvon chain, from Powyn and the base of "huge Plynlimmon," to Llangollen. The summit of this chain forms the line of demarcation between the waters that flow into the Severn on the one hand, and the Dee on the other. Its highest points are Cader Ferwyn, Arran Fowdy, and Cader Idris. Of these, the last is by far the most celebrated. It rises on the sea-shore, close to the northern side of the estuary of the small river Disynwy, about a mile above Towyn. It gradually ascends in a northerly direction for about 3 miles; then for about 10 miles further it runs E.N.E., giving out from its summit a branch nearly 3 miles long, in a south-westerly direction parallel to the main ridge. The highest point has an elevation of 2,914 feet above the level of the sea. It is on all sides steep and craggy; especially on the south, bordering Talyllyn lake, where it is nearly perpendicular. Its breadth, where greatest, bears but a small proportion to its length. In some places it is a mere ridge, with a base not exceeding a mile in width. —(Aikin, p. 64. &c.)

Plynlimmon is, in point of mass, the largest mountain in Wales; but in respect of altitude it is very inferior to several others, being only 2,463 feet above the level of the sea. The Severn, Wye, and Rhydiol, flowing east, south, and west, have their sources near each other in this mountain.

From Plynlimmon a ridge extends south to Tregarron Down; and then south-westerly, along the southern side of the Teify, to the Prescelly hills in Pembrokeshire. The highest points in this range do not reach an altitude of more than 1,800 ft.

Radnorshire and Brecknock are both much encumbered with mountains. The Talgarth and Black Mountains stretch from the latter in Caermarthenshire. The latter derive their name either from their dreary blackness, or from the dark appearance of the heath by which they are covered, when out of blossom. The Van or Beacon, the highest of the Brecknock hills, and, indeed, of those of South Wales, has an elevation of 2,862 feet. The northern parts of Glamorgan are also mountainous; but none of the summits is of any very considerable height.

The mountains to which the name of the Devonian range has been given, occupy part of Devonshire, Cornwall, and Somersetshire. The principal chain stretches in a south-westerly direction, from the borders of the Vale of Exeter to the Land's End. The highest points in this range are Yestor and Cawston Beacon, near Okehampton, the former having an elevation of 2,077, and the latter of 1,792 feet; and Rippin Tor, about five miles from Newton Bushel, 1,549 feet high. The space between these mountains, round by Erme Head on the south, and Brentor on the west, is occupied by Dartmoor. This, which is one of the most remarkable tracts in the kingdom, includes a space of from 200,000 to 300,000 acres. It is said, but we suspect the statement is exaggerated, to have a mean elevation of more than 1,700 feet above the level of the sea. Its surface is, in most places, extremely rugged: the soil, where it is not encumbered with broken fragments of rock, is mostly thin and

poor; and in the most elevated part of the moor there is an immense morass, covering about 80,000 acres, which in some places is incapable of supporting the lightest animals. That part of Dartmoor called the Forest, embracing an extent of about 54,000 acres, belongs to the Crown, as parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall; and on this and some other of the best parts of the moor, considerable improvements have been made, particularly in the way of planting. Very large buildings for the accommodation of prisoners were erected here during the latter part of last war.- (Vancouver's Survey of Devon, p. 279, &c.)

Caraton Hill, 1,208 feet high, and Hensbarrow beacon, 1,034 feet, are the two most elevated points in that part of the chain now under consideration which runs through Cornwall. Pertinney, contiguous to the Land's End, has an elevation of 689 feet.

The Mendip, Quantock, and Brendon hills, in Somersetshire, may be considered in connection with the Devonian range. Dunkerry Beacon, in the Brendon hills, is one of the highest hills in the west of England, being 1,668 feet above the level of the sea. From the summit there is an extensive view of the Bristol Channel. The Mendip hills stretch in a north-westerly direction about 25 miles, from near Chesterblade to the south of Shepton Mallet, to near Uphill, on the north side of the river Ax, contiguous to the Bristol Channel: their mean breadth is from 4 to 5 miles. The height of this ridge varies from 800 to about 1,100 feet. It was anciently a Royal Forest; but it is now partially inclosed and cultivated; the uninclosed portion, which is covered with heath and fern, affording pasture for a peculiar description of sheep. In the parish of Chedder, on the south-west side of the ridge, not far from Axbridge, is an extraordinary chasm, extending fully 2 miles into the hills. In some parts the limestone cliffs rise quite perpendicular, to the height of 300 feet. In general, the salient angles on the one side correspond with the recipient angles on the other; so that it would seem as if the mountain had been torn asunder by some great convulsion. — (Maton's Western Counties, vol. ii. p. 124.) The Mendip hills have been long famous for their mines of lead and calamine; but the former are now, either from the exhaustion of the ore or the difficulty of working them, nearly abandoned: the calamine mines are still wrought, but not to any great extent.

The southern and eastern parts of the island are traversed by different ranges of chalk hills. Some geologists trace one of these chains from Dorsetshire to Kent, and another from the Isle of Portland to the wolds in the East Riding of Yorkshire: but others contend that the highest, barest, and best defined ridges in the southern parts of the island diverge from the high table land of Salisbury Plain. One of them, after intersecting Hants and Sussex, terminates in the bold chalky cliffs of Beachy Head. The part of this ridge which lies in Sussex, being above 50 miles in length, and from 3 to 6 in breadth, is celebrated under the name of the South Downs, for the excellence of its sheep and sheep-pasture. Another ridge stretches from Salisbury Plain to the eastern coast of Kent. Part of

its sheep-pasture than the South Downs. A little to the east of Farnham, in Surrey, where it is narrow, it is called the Hogsback ; but as it penetrates deeper into the county, its breadth becomes more considerable. Its southern side is generally pretty abrupt, its northern gently sloping.

The third and most important range, supposed to diverge from Salisbury Plain, pursues a north-easterly direction, crossing the northern parts of Berks and the southern extremity of Oxfordshire ; then running along the southern side of the Vale of Aylesbury, in Bucks, and along the southern confines of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to Suffolk. It separates the waters of the Ivell, the southern Ouse, the Nene, and other rivers that have their embouchure in the Wash, from those of the western Colne, the Lea, Chelmer, Blackwater, Stour, &c., that fall into the Thames or the sea on the Suffolk coast. That part of this chain which is in Oxfordshire and Berks, is called the Chiltern hills. The most elevated points in the ridge are the Whitehorse, and Scatchamfly Beacon, in Berks, respectively 893 and 853 feet above the level of the sea; Wendover Hill, in Bucks, 905 feet; Kinsworth Hill, on the confines of Bedfordshire and Herts, 904 feet; and the Gogmagog hills, in the south of Cambridgeshire. The Grand Junction Canal crosses this ridge near Tring, in the north-western extremity of Herts, being there 3894 feet above the level of the sea. (See Priestley's Map of Canals, &c.) We subjoin a statement of the elevation of some of the principal mountains of England and Wales, as determined from observations made in the course of the Ordnance survey.

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Exmoor, within about 5 miles of the Bristol Channel; and the elevation of the whole forest is very considerable. It contains a few patches of cultivated land, but it is mostly waste, and, it is believed, irreclaimable. On the summits of the hills, especially in the west and north, are swamps of many acres in extent. It produces a small hardy breed of horses; and affords pasture to above 20,000 sheep of a peculiar breed, to which it gives its name. — (Billingsley's Report on Somerset, pp. 286-289.)

Heaths. The most extensive of the lever heaths of England are those of Surrey, Dorset, and Hants. Bagshot Heath, in the northwestern angle of Surrey, is an extensive tract, containing several thousand acres of exceedingly poor moorland, being for the most part quite level and uninteresting. It is elevated about 460 feet above the level of the sea. The principal heaths in Dorset and Hants extend in a direct line from the river Avon in the latter, to near Dorchester in the former, and from Wimborne Minster to the Purbeck hills. This extensive tract is dreary, and miserably poor. The most elevated parts seem to be wholly incapable of any improvement, unless it be that of planting; and the cost of bringing the barren tracts into tillage would very much exceed any probable return they could make. "A few cattle are kept on various parts of these heaths, and some poor half-starved sheep are occasionally seen wandering about, which are sometimes almost entirely swept off by the rot, and even the rabbits share the same fate."-(Stevenson's Survey of Dorset, p. 333.)

SECT. 4. Vales, Fens, Marshes, &c.

In the English language the words vale, valley, and dale, have very appropriate and distinct meanings:- Vale, corresponding to the Scotch word strath, signifies a considerable extent of low country, lying between ranges of higher grounds: valley is the diminutive of vale; it is commonly used in the south of England, but in the north of England and the south of Scotland the word dale is used in its stead, and in the Highlands of Scotland the word glen. In a valley, the lower grounds are narrow, as from half a mile to a mile or two in width, generally with high steep banks on each side. The dell of the south of England corresponds to the groin or gill of the north of England; and the cleugh of southern Scotland is the diminutive of dale or valley, or a short or otherwise inferior valley: dingle is the diminutive of dell.

Of these we shall merely notice the vales; the valleys, dells, and dingles being too numerous; and most of them, however beautiful their scenery, too unimportant to deserve any particular description.

The north of England partakes too much of the mountainous character of Scotland to contain many extensive vales. Entering Northumberland from the north, the first we meet with is the Vale of Coquet, traversed by the river of that name. It is particularly noted for its fertility and the excellence of its agriculture. In the southern part of the same county is the Vale of Tyne; it exhibits a great variety of landscape, and above Newcastle is very rich and beautiful. The Vale of Stockton is formed of the lower vale lands of the county of