Concerning these rivers it is to be observed, 1. That the stream of the Thames is eafy, its tide convenient, and its water wholesome; fo that in long voyages this water purifies itself by fermentation, and then it is excellent to drink. In a word, fuch is the trade upon this river, and fo beneficial to London, that as I was told, this city having refused a loan of a great sum of money to King James I. and the king resenting the refufal with fo much indignation, that he threatened the lord-mayor and aldermen, not only to remove his court, but also his courts of judicature, and the records of the tower, the lord-mayor answered, Sir, it is the comfort of your loyal city of London, that your majefty will leave the Thames behind you.' 2. The Medway is a very deep river, and fo is made ufe of to lay up the greatest men of war in winter-time, its entrance being now defended by a ftrong fort called Sheernefs. 3. The Humber is a compound of feveral leffer rivers, viz. Trent, Oufe, Dun, and Derwent, running into one channel.

This kingdom affords black cattle, fheep, horfes, affes, and fome mules; goats, red and fallow deer, hares, rabbits, dogs, foxes, fquirrels, ferrets, weafels, lizards, otters, badgers, hedgehogs, cats, pole-cats, rats, mice, and moles.

The oxen are the largest and best that are to be met with any where. The Dutch, it is faid, have larger cows, which being brought from the poor grounds in Denmark and the north of Germany, grow to a prodigious fize in their rich meadows; but we no where meet with fuch large oxen, and confequently fuch large and good beef for victualling fhips for long voyages, as we do in England. There is a leffer fort that are bred in Wales and the north, the flesh of which is as good to be spent in the house as the former.

The sheep are to be valued both for their fleeces and their flesh: thofe of Lincolnfhire are vaftly large; but the flesh of the small downs mutton is most admired, and the wool of both exceeds any in Europe. And as to the numbers of sheep in England, it is computed there are not lefs than twelve millions of fleeces fhorn annually; which, at a medium of 3s. 4d. per fleece, amounts to two millions fterling, and when manufactured may be reckoned ten millions.

The horses for the faddle and chaife are beautiful creatures, about fifteen hands high, and extremely well proportioned; and their speed is fuch, that it is an ordinary thing to run twenty miles in lefs than an hour by five or fix minutes.

The horses for draught, either for coach or waggon, are scarce any where to be pa ralleled. The Flemings indeed have fome horses and mares that may exceed them a little in bulk; but then they are fuch heavy unwieldy creatures, that they are flowpaced and the best use that can be made of the Flanders breed, is to draw a heavy coach the length of a street as flow as foot can fall.

Thefe English coach and cart-horfes make excellent faddle-horfes alfo for the troopers in the army; I queftion whether there be better charging-horses in the world, if we confider their fize, their activity, or fire.

Affes are propagated chiefly for their milk, which the physician prescribes in confumptions, and fome other diftempers. The flesh of the deer is excellent, and their skins are valuable. As to goats, there are but few of them, and those chiefly in the mountains of Wales..

There is a great variety of dogs, and those excellent in their kind. The hounds for buck, fox and hare, that hunt by the scent, are scarce any where to be matched: the greyhounds for their beauty and fwiftness are admirable: both land and water-fpaniels are very valuable: the fetting-dog one would be tempted to think a reasonable creature: the maftiff guards the houfes, and is not afraid to encounter an armed man if he

meets him, as he would a lion, a wolf, or any wild beaft: the bull-dog has equal courage, but I must confefs I do not admire him; he runs fwiftly and filently upon the creature he attacks, and if he fastens, never quits his hold till he is choaked off, or his jaws wrenched open; his mafter's call and his cudgel are equally difregarded; if he was to be cut in pieces by inches, he would not come off till he was dead; his greatest enemy the bull meets him frequently with his horns before he can faften, and toffing him up ten or fifteen yards into the air, gives him fuch a fall as he does not cafily recover; but if the dog is able to crawl, he will move towards his enemy again; and he has fo much generofity, that he always attacks him in the front, though he might do it to much greater advantage in flank or rear.

The tame fowls are turkeys, peacocks, common poultry, geefe, fwans, ducks, and tame pidgeons. The wild are, bustards, wild geese, wild ducks, teal, widgeon, plover, pheafant, partridge, quail, fnipe, wood-cock, heath-cock, groufe-wood pidgeons, and dove-houfe pidgeons, hawks of various kinds, blackbirds, thrushes, nightingales, bullfinch, gold-finch, linnets, larks, field-fares, lapwings, curliews, redfhanks, heron, bittern, woodpeckers, jays, magpies, crows, rooks, ravens, cuckoos, owls, wrens, robinred breasts, redftarts, fwallows and martins.

As to minerals here are the best tin mines in the world in Cornwall, which have been in great reputation ever fince the ifland was difcovered by the Greeks and Phoenicians. Here are mines of lead, copper and iron, and perhaps fome of filver, very good quarries of free-ftone, and fome of marble, or a stone equal to it. The allum and faltpits in Chefhire are very confiderable, and the fullers-earth, of fingular ufe in the cloathing trade. Pit coal and fea coal abound in feveral counties, but the coal pits in the bifhoprick of Durham, which are shipped at Newcastle in Northumberland, fupply the city of London, and many other great towns as well in England as beyond sea, with that valuable fuel: for though it must be acknowledged, that wood is the neatest and sweetest kind of firing, yet coals are equally useful and much lefs dangerous.

The Conclufion.

THUS I have faithfully related the chief of my obfervations in this part of GreatBritain, called England; and which I fhall conclude with this fummary account of its advantages, defects, and intereft.

First its advantages. It is a great, rich, and powerful kindom. 2. Separated by the fea from other countries, fo that it cannot be attacked by other nations, but with great trouble and danger; and, on the contrary, the English may eafily and probably with fuccefs attack other countries. 3. This ifland is very convenient for trade, being fo fituated upon a ftreight, that fhips going either eaft or weft are obliged to pass through it. 4. And befides a fafe and deep coast, which is as it were an universal harbour, there are also many fea-ports and havens, artificial and natural; fo that the English by their situation can extend their trade into all parts of the world, and if they be not fole mafters of the trade, no other nation is able to difpute it with them but the Dutch. 5. Another thing contributes alfo very much to enrich England, viz. the raw filks they bring from other countries, and which they export when they are wrought and changed into ftuffs; the fame thing they obferve about their wool, and even it is a capital crime to export it unwrought; for if the French or Dutch could have the English wool with eafe, there is no doubt but they would export a great quantity, whereby great numbers of English families would be impoverished, who now live very handfomely; for as the French and Dutch journeymen have not fo great wages, and are more diligent than the

English,

English, it is certain that few people would buy from England, what they might have cheaper, and as good, and as fine, in France or Holland.

But there is another thing that renders England rich, viz. the liberty of conscience, granted and allowed to every nation, whereby great number of foreigners are invited to come and trade here fooner than in Spain and other countries, where liberty of confcience is not allowed. 2 No European country can boaft of having fuch a good form of government. The property of chattels and goods being not precarious as in other countries; fo that when a man by his induftry gets an eftate, his children if he pleafe, and not his lord, fhall inherit it. 3. Another thing which contributes very much to the enriching of England is, that it is forbidden to carry away above 1ol. in fpecie. 4. No oak must be exported, which is very good for building of fhips, as not being apt to split when cannon balls pierce it.

The defects of England may be thus reduced: One thing is very prejudicial to their trade, viz. that they eat a great quantity of meat, and are naturally too much addicted to eafe; fo that they are obliged to put on board their fhips as many more men and provifions as the Dutch. 2. Though the English are very fond of money, and confequently eafy to be bribed, yet they despise a moderate gain; whereas the Dutch, being content with a reasonable advantage, get more goods to be tranfported from one place to another, than the English. 3. The English are very much fubject to fome particu lar diseases, especially the rickets, the fcurvy, and the confumption; the firft incident to children, the fcurvy to moft people more or lefs, and the confumption to many; all of them proceeding chiefly from the conftitution of the air, the rickets from its moistnefs, the fcurvy from its faltnefs, and the confumption from its grofsnefs, and from the too faft living of people, wherefore it is very common at London; for here the third of men and women die a facrifice either to Bacchus or Venus. There is perhaps no country where rheums and coughs are more predominant, especially in the winter, which are often attended with ill confequences, if not timely prevented : agues and rheumatisms are also very rife, especially near the fea; but fevers and bloody-fluxes are not fo frequent here as in hot countries. As they are alfo very prone to melancholy, they often dispatch themselves, and with the greater freedom, because the death of thofe fuicides is not attended with all the fhameful circumftances as in other countries. Laftly, lawfuits are here a very common distemper, which by the great number of lawyers are often spun to a great length, to the prejudice of good neighbourhood, if not to the utter ruin of families.

The intereft of England is to keep itfelf in ftatu quo, to enlarge the trade, and maintain the credit of the nation, and to retrieve it, if any ways diminished; to keep to a just balance betwixt the greatest powers of Europe, and in order thereto to lay afide (as King William said in his laft fpeech to his parliament) those unhappy fatal animofities which divide and weaken England. Thofe divifions very often proceed from felfifhnefs, but commonly from the diverfity of religions, and the wild and petulant temper of the nation, naturally addicted to changes and revolutions, especially when they fee or fufpect that their liberties (whereof they are, and that not without good reafon, extremely jealous) are like to be infringed. For when the king is courageous, wife, and mode-rate, when he maintains the laws, makes himself eafy to his fubjects, by excluding from. the miniftry hot, selfish, and turbulent men, and when he lives in good union with his parliament, then the best part of his people think nothing too much by way of gratitude;. but when the king tramples upon the laws, aims at arbitrary power, lets himself be governed by violent and unexperienced men, by favourites, who are for extremes, and opprefs the people to enrich themfelves with their fpoil, then it is no matter of

amazement if the prince lofeth the love of his fubjects, which is his greatest treasure, and if they beftir themselves in defence of their liberty; for it is an invaluable treasure,. and who can blame them for being jealous of it?

CHAP. XIV.-Contains a fhort Description of that Part of Great-Britain called Scotland. SCOTLAND, once the continual vexation of the crown of England, and the inlet of foreign powers on the British ifle, is now become a mere province, though it fhares the title of a kingdom in the ftile of the British monarch; by which means trade is here reduced to a very low ebb, and its commerce with foreign nations feems, as it were, interdicted or totally excluded by its new governors the English, in proportion to its

extent.

For these reasons I was diffuaded from making its tour, as a fruitless journey; and contented myself with such a description thereof as I could collect from the difcourfe of feveral reputable natives, who bewailed its fervitude and confeffed its poverty; and especially from my ingenious tutor; which I have caft into the following method.

Scotland is the famous ancient Caledonia, and now called by the English, and its own inhabitants, Scotland, from Scoti or Scythi, a people of Germany, who feized on a part of Spain next to Ireland, and from thence (viz. from Biscay) came into the western parts of this country, which is bounded on the fouth by England (from which it is divided thus; by the river Tweed on the eastern border, by Cheviot hills in the middle marches, and by the river Efk and Solway on the western border), on the north it is bounded by the Deucaledon sea, on the west by the Irish sea, and on the east by the German ocean.

Its chief town is Edinburgh, about 300 miles north from London, latitude 55° 55', longitude 2° 25′, north-west of London. It is an ancient and fine city, whofe houses are very high and commonly built with hewn ftone; it is about a large Scotch mile in length from the caftle to the palace, above half a mile from north to fouth, and three miles in compass; it lies in a pleasant and well cultivated country, which makes provifions to be plentiful and cheap. The parliament-house is a stately, convenient, and large ftructure. The kings of Scotland had their ordinary refidence in the palace of Holy-rood house. The caftle at the weft end of the city is very ancient and strong both by art and nature: It was formerly called the Maiden-castle, because the kings of the Picts kept their daughters in it.

It is commonly divided into three great parts. 1. South Scotland, or the ancient kingdom of the Picts. 2. North Scotland, or the kingdom of the ancient Scotland. 3. The Ifles.

North Scotland contains feventeen provinces, which are fet down here as they lie in order from the borders of England, weft to east, and then east to west, &c.

Now beginning again by the east, at the north of Mers you

The parts or provinces of Scotland, north the Firth, beginning at the S. W. goin

9. Goury, famous for its noble fields of corn.Douny, Gornack.