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LETTER XXII.

E will begin our intended voyage on the north fide of Europe, where the first island that presents itself is a very large one, over against Norway, on fome part of whofe furface you may find ice all the year, notwithstanding it has in it the ever-burning mount, Hecla ; hence, therefore, it is juftly named the island of Iceland, and belongs to Denmark,

The British iflands lie further to the fouth. The two greater ones are, Great Britain, compofed of England and Scotland, on the eaft, and Ireland on the weft; and all three together are now termed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain is inhabited on the north by the Scots, on the fouth by the English, and on the weft by the Welch. In England, on the banks of the river Thames, ftands London, the finest city in the world. In Scotland, the chief city is Edinburgh; on the east coast of Ireland ftands' the fine metropolis, Dublin,

As to the fmaller British ifles, we will first go from the north of Scotland, to the numerous Orkneys, or Orcades, beyond which, ftill

further north, you will fee another cluster of iflands, the greatest of which is Shetland.

Turning now to the weft, you fee oppofite to the western shore of Scotland, another tract of iflands, called the Hebrides, or Western Islands, the chief of which is Lewis, the two Uifts, Sky, Mull, Jura, &c. containing collectively about 50,000 inhabitants, many of whom are hardy feamen. On the coafts is a most valuable herring fishery.

We will now turn ourselves fouthward, and on the weft of England, you may fee two islands, one the Isle of Man, which was long an hereditary royalty, giving the title and ftate of King to the Earls of Salisbury and Derby, and the Dukes of Athol, till purchafed by the King of England in 1765; and the other, Anglefea, that is, English Seat, near Wales.

Further on, beyond thefe, ftill fouthward, over against the Land's End, lie a cluster of dangerous rocks, called the Scilly Islands, famous for their tin mines.

A great way from these eastward, far beyond the Lizard Point, on the fouth of England, you may fee the Ifle of Wight; far below which, ftill fouthward, near the French coaft, lie the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. Leaving the Channel, on the coaft of France, is

another tract of fmall islands, the chief of which the French call Belle-Ifle.

The Azores, oppofite to, and belonging to Portugal, are generally reckoned among the African iflands; but the ifland Cadiz, not far from the Straits of Gibraltar, is in Europe.

As foon as you have paffed through the Straits of Gibraltar, you will find the island. Yvica, about thirty miles long, and twentyfour broad; a mountainous country, the chief produce is falt, of which large quantities are exported; and a little farther is Majorca, about fixty miles long, and forty-five broad. The country is mountainous, but produces corn, oil, and fruit. This was the chief of those iflands called by the ancients Baleares, famous for flingers. Minorca, abounding with barren hills, is famous for the fine harbour of Port Mahon. It is about thirty miles long, and twelve broad.

After thefe, further eaft, lies Sardinia, from whence the Duke of Savoy takes the title of king, although its annual revenues do not exceed 5000l. Its capital city is Cagliari. The present king is Victor Emanuel, who fucceeded to the throne in the year 1802. The inhabitants are Papifts. It is one hundred and forty miles in length, and fixty miles in breadth, and is prettily diverfified with

very

hills and vallies. Higher above is Corfica, a mountainous island, one hundred and ten miles in length, and fifty in breadth, formerly belonging to the Genocfe, who, not being able to keep the natives in awe, permitted the French to make a conqueft of the whole ifland in 1770. It has fince undergone other revolutions, and is now under the dominion of Bonaparte. In future ages this ifland will be chiefly celebrated for having given birth to this man, whose talents and good fortune have rendered him one of the most conspicuous monarchs that ever lived.

A little further, just below the toe of Italy, extends the fertile ifland of Sicily, about one hundred and feventy miles in length, and one hundred in breadth. Near the middle of this island stands the burning mountain Ætna, feigned by the poets to be Vulcan's blackfmith's fhop, where he and his journeymen, the Cyclops, are faid to make the thunderbolts and armour for the gods.

In the midft, between Sicily and Italy, runs a very narrow and turbulent fea, bellowing among the rocks, called the Straits of Meffina, dangerous for failors. The poets feign that Sicily, being once joined to the main land of Italy, was cut off into that shape by Nep

tune's trident; but it is probable that it was done by an earthquake.

From hence, under Sicily, you fee the ifland Melita, or Malta, once belonging to a famous order of knights, called the knights of St. John, governed by a grand master; here St. Paul was fhipwrecked. The ifland was fuppofed impregnable by art and nature. It was taken, however, by the French in 1797, and the order abolished: but has fince been taken by the English."

Turning up towards the coaft of Turkey, we arrive at the small island of Corfu, anciently called Phoacia, and once the regal feat of king Alcinous, who kindly received Ulyffes after his fhipwreck.

After this lies the populous ifland Cephalonia; and a good way further on, you fee Zante, famous for its currants; and Cerigo, and Cytherea, celebrated for having been fuppofed the favourite refidence of Venus.

On the fall of Venice, several of the islands in the Levant, viz. Corfu, Zante, Cephalonia, St. Maure, Cerigo, &c. fell into the hands of the French, to whom they were ceded by the treaties of Campo Formio and Luneville.

Paffing on towards the eaft, you will meet with the once celebrated Crete, now Candia, a large, pleafant, and fertile inland, in which