68? 



E N G L A N D. 



BiMhrirr the by of Cardigan. The en co brokeshirc 



"" "Y""^ is hi general hilly, with steep or perpendicular Hill's : 

 its north-easter mouth of the Tivy. 



The first remarkable place is Aberkikor H.iy, formed by 

 Kemiuies Head on tlie north, and Pcndrowy Head on 

 >uth ; nev port Hay ; and aftiT that 



Fishgard K.u : hence the coast tending to the south- 

 west winds round Striimbli- Hc.id. tn tli.-it of St Da- 

 otF which Ids Ham-ey i-linil, together with a 

 group of n>ck> called the BUhop and his Clerks ; these 

 are frequented, in tin- hrce.ling season, by vnst numbers 

 of sea fowl, many of which are unknown in every other 

 part of the island. The large bay of St Bride's suc- 

 ceeds; and beyond some islands which lie on its south- 

 Mili'urd ern s 'd e . is the entrance to the celebrated Milford Ha- 

 IUvn. ven ; this is an inlet of the sea, indenting deeply the 

 southern coast of Pembrokeshire, and occupying a 

 large space of that county, with its great basin, and 

 the different creeks into which it branches of!'. It is led 

 ]>\ -time inconsiderable streams from the interior of the 

 country, few- of which are dignified with any certain ap- 

 pellation, though most of them from small rivulets be- 

 extriisivce.-tmrie'i, when they unite with the main 

 basin. Near Pembroke Castle, Milford Haven ex- 

 pands, inclining chiefly to the west, but near its mouth, 

 turning abruptly southward ; and when viewed from 

 within, appearing perfectly land-locked : the ports of 

 Hubber#ton, Haiken, and Milford, occupy one of the 

 many bays near the centre of this great sheet of water. 

 The view of Milford Haven would be much more pic- 

 turesque, if it were not for a deficiency of wood : it 

 also loses much of its effect from the want of grandeur 

 in the surrounding hills. 



Beyond Milford Haven, the coast of South Wales 

 continues rocky : it is also full of caves and remarka- 

 ble apertures, to the entrance of the bay of Caermnrthen. 

 The northern horn of this bay is formed by the rock 

 on which Tenby is situated ; the opposite horn, by the 

 point of Penryhn f I wye, the extremity of that singu- 

 lar peninsula in Glamorganshire, that is called (lower. 

 On the other side of this peninsula lies the bay of Ox- 

 Ba _ ^ wich, and still lower the bay of Swansea expands itself. 

 Swansea. The greatest part of the sea coast of Glamorganshire 

 swells into a semicircular sweep, but the western extre- 

 mity is formed into a narrow beak, between the open 

 channel, on the one hand, and an arm of the sea, which 

 runs round to the Caermarthenshire coast, on the other. 

 Beyond the bay of Swansea, die shore presents the cas- 

 tles of Dunraven, St Donats, and Fiemnuni ; the bay 

 of Glamorgan next succeeds ; and from its shore, the 

 Bristol Channel being here much contracted, the 

 heights of the opposite coasts of Devonshire and So- 

 mersetshire, between Ilfracombe and Minehead, appear 

 finely elevated : the sea, which separates England and 

 Wales, contains in this place the two small islands of 

 the Steep and the Flat Holmes, which however are 

 much nearer to the Welsh than the English coast. 

 U-, gf The shore of Monmouthshire inclines chiefly to the 



Monmouth. south, verging at last towards the east : the first part of 

 thire. it is marhsy and low, but as we approach the Wye, it 



becomes rocky and lofty. 



Of Somfr- The coast of Somersetshire receives the Bristol Chan- 

 feuhirc. nel into an extensive bay, which forms a kind of semi- 

 circle; and, if the indented outline of the shore is ta- 

 ken into the account, it will be found to stretch nearly 

 60 miles ; at first it forms a broad plain, bordered by 

 marshes, and it continues chiefly level, till it reaches 

 the bay of Minehead, where the majestic pile of Dun- 

 ter Castle appears proudly elevated. From this the 



coast of Somerset -hire, together with thatof Devo > 

 w hirh -ooii joins it, ma\ be called mountainous, abound- 

 ing in dark dills and rocky hollows. The shore of the 

 latter county extends at tir-t due west, and then turning ;,i,i rc . 

 south, tlii- land i> very ii TC^H' irly indented, so M to 

 form Barnstaple I!ay : it turns again westward, and, 

 afterwards advancing north, forms the bay which i-i 

 called Porlidge Mouth, at the extremity of which lies 

 I lurtland I'oint ; the extent of the w hole is rather more 

 tlian :H> mile.-. 



Soon after we pass Hnrtlmd point, tin- i'".:-t of Corn- <>'<'* 

 wall commences, the land declining to the south-west. waU * 

 The first place we meet with on the ( ornish shore is 

 liccdshaven. A long range of brok. .Is to 



M Ivcs, its inclination being more and more westward 

 from the south. After pa-sin;,' the semicircular bay ot 

 St Ivcs, the coast begins to turn, and after Cape Corn- 

 wall, the Land's Mud, the ni> !y point of the 

 island, makes its appearance. After doubling this point, 

 the Cornish shore advances southward, with SONIC swells 

 to the east, and soon expands into the capacious l> 

 St Michael. The Lixard is the next remarkable object, Tlic I.i- 1 

 a promontory that stretches out farther to the south ***& 

 than any part of the western coast of England, being 

 somewhat below the 50th degree of latitude. The 

 shore next inclines, for a short space, in a north-cast 

 direction, and then turning irregularly towards the 

 south-east, becomes indented as far a< the southern 

 horn of the Raiu's Head, which is opposite to the coa-t 

 of Devonshire. In this part of the Cornish coast, there 

 are several bays and havens, the most remarkable of 

 which is Falmouth Haven ; the estuaries of the Fowey 

 and the Looe follow in succession ; that of the Tamar 

 being the last and most important, where the harbour 

 and Sound of Plymouth are formed between the shores 

 of Cornwall and Devonshire. 



Throughout that part of the Fngli-h Channel, which 

 runs from the entrance of Plymouth Sound to Port-- 

 mouth harbour, the coast principally fronts the south : 

 it is, however, deeply indented w ith various bays, that 

 arc formed by great projecting headlands. The har- Harbour 

 bour of Plymouth is double : the outer harbour, princi- "'' '''>'- 

 pally for merchantmen, lies beneath the Old Town, "' 

 while the noble road, called the Sound of Plymouth, 

 is formed by the confluence of the Plym and the Tamar 

 with the sea. Plymouth Sound opens to the south- 

 east, opposite to the rock on which Eddystone light- 

 house is built. The l-'.ddystone rocks are a congeries of , 

 irregular rocks, situated about 12 miles from the mid- 1(i 

 die of the Sound : they are so much exposed to the 

 heavy swells from the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic 

 Ocean, that the waves frequently break over them with 

 inconceivable fury. In consequence of the many fa- 

 tal accidents that happened to ships, from running 

 against these dreadful rocks, a light-house was erected 

 on one of them in the year 1696: this stood many vio- 

 lent storms ; but in the dreadful storm that happened 

 on the 27th of November, 1 70.", it was blown down, 

 and all within it perished. A second light-house was 

 erected in 1708, and burnt in 1755. The present edi- 

 fice, which was built by Mr Smeaton, and finished in 

 the year 1759, is universally admired, for the mechanism 

 and architecture displayed in its construction, and bids 

 fair to hand his name down to a very lute posterity as 

 an engineer of the first rate talents and experience. 



In proceeding to the east from Plymouth, the first s^fo 

 bay tnat presents itself is Salcolm Haven: this was C u;*t of De- 

 formerly a port of some note : at the head of the basin voiuhir* 

 stands the town of Kingsbridge. Between the Hart 



