ENGLAND. 



The H um- 

 ber. 



The Med- 



In cliarac- 

 ttr. 



The Ure, and the Swale, which may be regarded as 

 the parents of tin- Oust-, rise near each other in the ro- 

 mantic borders of Westmoreland. The I 're flows at 

 first eastward, and thru inclines to the south to Nippon ; 

 from this place it turns again more to the eastward to 

 Boroughbridge ; and at Aldborough it unites with the 

 Swale. The character of this river, through most of its 

 course, is that of a mountainous stream ; and this cha- 

 racter it particularly displays in its passage through 

 Wensley-aale. The direction of the Swale, at first, is 

 to the south-east; it afterwards turns to the north-east 

 to Richmond, and from this place it pursues nearly its 

 original direction till it joins the Ure. The country 

 through which this river flows is uncommonly romantic, 

 till it reaches the great vale of York. Swale-dale, and 

 the view of the river from the castle at Richmond, are 

 particularly celebrated. 



Those two rivers, after their junction at Aldborough, 

 take the name of the Ouse. From this town, its course 

 is nearly south-east to York, south to Cathwood, where 

 being increased by the junction of the Wharfe, it turns 

 again to the south-east, and pursues that direction, with 

 various windings, till it meets the Trent, and forms the 

 H umber. 



The Humber is a name almost exclusively given to 

 the great estuary that divides Yorkshire from Lincoln- 

 shire, being formed, as we have seen, principally of the 

 Trent, and the Ouse, and of the streams which fall into 

 these two rivers. 



The river Medway rises from four sources ; the first 

 at Crowherst in Surrey, the second at Stewards-mead 

 in Sussex, the third at Gold well, and the fourth at Big- 

 genheath, both in Kent. The first three soon unite 

 their waters, and take a north-east direction to Tun- 

 bridge and Maidstone, at which latter place they are 

 joined by the fourth stream. The tide flows up hither, 

 and the river is navigable for barges and other vessels 

 of the burden of fifty tons. After passing Maidstone, 

 the Medway turns with a long compass by the north to 

 the east, to reach Rochester and Chatham. Between 

 this place and Gillingham, which is about a mile and 

 a half to the north-east of it, some of the largest ships 

 in the royal navy are usually laid up. Afterwards it 

 winds with various curves to the eastward, till it joins 

 the arm of the sea called the Swale, (which divides the 

 isle of Shepey from the main land of Kent, ) and then 

 turning again northward, it enters the Nore near the 

 mouth of the Thames, under the fort of Sheerness. Its 

 whole course is about 40 miles; and that circumstance 

 considered, it is perhaps one of the deepest rivers in 

 Europe. 



During the first part of its course, it is so buried 

 within its banks, that it adds little to the scenery of the 

 country through which it flows; but between Tun- 

 bridge and Maidstone, the valley expands, and the cha- 

 racter of the river is seen in its true light. This cha- 

 racter is still more marked, after it winds round the 

 decayed town ofAylesford, and becoming suddenly a 

 bold and wide stream, flows with considerable rapidity 

 under the arches of the ancient bridge of Rochester. 

 Below the bridge, it takes a broad sweep, and when 

 increased by the tide, exhibits, in connection with the 

 superb buildings and dock of Chatham, and the great 

 ships within its port, a grand and striking spectacle. 

 From Chatham to its mouth, the banks of the Medway 

 are marshy and uninteresting, till its approach to the 

 sea is indicated by the immense number of masts which 

 encompass Sheerness. 



Besides these rivers which we have described, the 



following deserve notice. The Blackwater, which takes Suuutirs. 

 its rise near Saffron Walden, in Kssex, and flowing by 

 Coggleshall and Wetham, falls into the sea at Maldon 

 in the same county. The source of the C'hclmrr is near 

 that of the Blackwater: it winds through the middle of north of 

 Essex, and passing Chelmsford, also discharges it<elf England. 

 into the sea at Maldon. The C'olne rises near Clare, in 

 Suffolk, and after passing Colchester, falls into the sea 

 between Mersey Island and the main-lurid of Essex. 

 The Stour divides this county from Suffolk ; it rises on 

 the southern boundary of the latter county, and falls 

 into the sea at Harwich ; near its mouth it is joined !>. 

 the Orwell, which runs up to Ipswich. Proceeding 

 northward, the next river of conseimencc which v. c 

 meet with, is the Waveney, which forms part of the 

 boundary between Norfolk and Suffolk, and unites w itli 

 the Yare a little above Yarmouth. This river is navi- 

 gable from Bungay. The Yare, which falls into the 

 German Ocean below Yarmouth, is navigable as high 

 as Norwich. But the most important rivers in this 

 part of England, are the Great and Little Ouse ; the 

 former rises on the borders of Northamptonshire and 

 Oxfordshire. Its course, at first, is e;ist, a little inclin- 

 ing to the north through Buckinghamshire; it then 

 bends to the south, with many windings, and reaches 

 Bedford, where it becomes navigable ; it afterwards 

 proceeds through Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire, 

 and the Isle of Ely, to the county of Norfolk ; and in- 

 clining more and more to the north, it falls into tin 

 Wash, beneath the walls of Lyn Regis. In its course, 

 it receives the Nen from Northampton and Peter- 

 borough ; the Cam, from Cambridge ; the lesser Ouse 

 from Norfolk ; and the Mildcnhall from Suffolk ; all of 

 them navigable rivers. The entire course of this river 

 may be 100 miles. The character of this river through 

 the whole of its course, is very tame and uninteresting. 

 In the latter part of its course, it sinks into those great 

 marshes that abound on this part of the eastern coast. 

 The Welland has its source between Lutterworth and 

 Harborough; and after flowing in a north-east and 

 northerly direction, and separating Northamptonshire 

 from Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, and Lincolnshire, it 

 contributes to form the \Vash of Fosdyke. The Wi- 

 tham falls into the sea at the same place, taking its rise 

 north of Stamford, and pursuing a northerly direction 

 by Grantham to Lincoln ; it afterwards changes its 

 course, and flowing first to the east and next to the 

 south, its course is terminated near Boston. As the 

 principal rivers which join the Trent have already been 

 noticed, we shall proceed to the Wear. This river 

 rises to the north of the Tees ; at Bishops Auckland, 

 it changes the south-easterly course which it had hither, 

 to pursued, turns to the north-east, and after nearly 

 surrounding the city of Durham, it flows northward to 

 Chester-le-Street, and then inclines a little to the east 

 to reach Sunderland. 



As the Tweed is rather a Scotch than an English In tl 

 river, we shall proceed to a brief notice of the secondary an< l south. 

 rivers in the west of England. The Eden, the first 

 English river on the south-west border of Scotland, has 

 its source in the moors of Westmoreland ; for a short 

 way its course is to the north-east, after which it in- 

 clines to the north-west till it reaches Crosby, when it 

 turns to the south-west to pass Carlisle : for the remain. 

 der of its course, its direction is again north-west. At 

 its mouth it meets the Eske, and both rivers fall into 

 the Solway Frith, The Ribble rises in the district oi 

 Craven ; it flows in a south-easterly direction, till it has 

 passed Settle, when it turns south-west by Clithero, 



