and passing through two other considerable lakes, Lough Ree and Lough Darg, extends below Limerick, into an estuary 60 miles long and from three to ten miles broad, till it falls into the Atlantic at Lough Head. The Liffey is an inconsiderable stream ennobled by flowing through the capital, and the Boyne is celebrated for the battle fought on its banks between William III. and the exiled James II., July 1, 1690. Among the numerous lakes of Ireland, the largest is Lough Earne, which in its greatest extent is 30 miles long and 10 broad. In an island almost in the narrowest part of this lake, on its Western side, stands the town of Enniskillen. Lough Neagh in the county of Antrim, has however a greater expanse of water, being 22 miles long and 12 broad. But by far the most celebrated lake of Ireland, is that of Killarney, in the county of Kerry, which for beauty and variety of scenery is unrivalled.

The Mountains of Ireland are not of any great elevation. The highest are the Macgillicuddy Reeks, near the Lake of Killarney, which are about 3500 feet high. Mangerton near the same lake is 2511 feet. The Mourne Mountains are in the counties of Down and Antrim. Slieb Donard, the highest is about 2803 feet. Croagh Patrick and Mount Nephen, in the county of Mayo, are 2660 and 2634 feet respectively. The Wicklow Mountains are more remarkable for their picturesque scenery than for their elevation. We ought not to pass unnoticed the Giant's Causeway, at the north west extremity of the coast of Antrim, which like the Island of Staffa off the western coast of Scotland, is a vast collection of basaltic pillars, but less magnificent than those in that celebrated cave of Fingal.

Among the British Islands we may enumerate the Isle of Wight, off the coast of Hampshire; the islands of Scilly, off the coast of Cornwall; the isles of Anglesea and Man, in St. George's Channel; the isles of Bute and Arran, off the peninsula of Contere; the Hebrides or Western isles, corruptly called the Hebrides, off the Western coast of Scotland, the principal of which, towards the Atlantic, are Lewis and North and South Uist; towards the coast of Scotland, Rum, Mull, Isla, and Jura; the Orkneys off the North of Scotland, the chief of which is Mainland, called by some Pomona; and the Shetland isles, North East of the Orkneys, the chief of which is also called Mainland. The islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney, belong also to Great Britain, but lie off the coast of Normandy.

CHAPTER IV.

ASIA.

ASIA is in length about 7580, and in breadth about 5250 British miles. Asia is bounded on the North by the Arctic, on the East by the Pacific, and on the South by the Indian Ocean; its Western boundary, which separates it from Europe, has already been described.

Between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean is Anatolia, and at the Eastern extremity of the Mediterranean is Syria, and below it Arabia, between the Arabian and Persian Gulphs. East of the Persian Gulph, and above it, is Persia, and South East of Persia is Hindoostan, the antient Empire of the Great Mogul, lying between the Rivers Indus and Ganges, and being that part of Asia in which are the principal British and other European Settlements. In Hindoostan, on the

West, is the British settlement of Bombay (an island a little below the Gulf of Cambay, at the top of the Peninsula), and above it is the town of Surat on the Continent. Below it is Goa, the chief settlement of the Portuguese. The lower Western coast of the Peninsula is called the coast of Malabar, and the opposite Eastern, that of Coromandel. On the coast of Malabar is the Kingdom of Mysore, formerly possessed by the celebrated chieftains, Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Saib, who were almost always at war with the British. Tippoo Saib was conquered and slain, and his capital, Seringapatam, taken by the British, May 4th, 1799; since which time the Mysore has been under the direction of the British Government. The extreme Southern point of Hindoostan is called Cape Comorin. On the Coromandel or Eastern shore, the Kingdom opposite the Mysore is called the Carnatic, nominally possessed by the Nabob of Arcot, but virtually by the British. About half-way between Cape Comorin and Masulipatam, where the shore bends to the East, is Pondicherry, formerly the capital of the French settlements in the East Indies, but now possessed by the British, who are, in fact, the actual possessors of India Proper. South of Pondicherry is Tranquebar, and North of it is Madras. At the Mouths of the Ganges is

E

Bengal, whose capital is Calcutta, the chief of all the British settlements in India. To the North West of Bengal is Bahar, and below it Orissa, also belonging to the English. North West of Bahar is Oude, and North West of Oude is Delhi, whose capital of the same name is the seat of the once celebrated Mogul Empire; below Delhi is Agra :-all these provinces are virtually under British Government. Eastward of the Ganges is the Kingdom of Pegu, and South East of it Siam. The Peninsula below Pegu on the one side and Siam on the other, is called Malacca. On the East coast of the Gulph of Siam is Cambodia, and on the North East of it Cochin China. Above Cochin China is Tonquin, and the immense Eastern sweep of the coast is called China, which extends from the Gulph of Tonquin to the Yellow Sea. West of China, and stretching over the British settlements in India, the Mogul Empire, and the Peninsula of Malacca, is the immense unexplored region of Thibet. North and North West of China is the extensive and almost unexplored region of Chinese or Mongul Tartary, (or, as it should be rather called, Tatary). Still Westward, towards the Caspian, is Calmuc and Usbec Tartary (which consists of roving independent tribes), and between the Black and Caspian Seas, is Russian Tartary. The whole upper part of Asia, beyond the provinces already