Ki|n 



R I V 



343 



R O A 



Urc, within a hort distance of tho town, there is a 

 handsome stone bridge of seventeen arches. Within a 

 little more than a mile of the town there are five other 

 The population of the parish of l\ip<m in 

 182 1, was 13,09o, and that of the borough and township, 

 4563. See t/te Beauties qf England and Wales, vol. 

 xri. p. 674. 



ItlVKK, is a stream of fresh water flowing into the 

 sea, or into another river, and formed from springs and 

 from the water which falls from the atmosphere, in rain, 

 dew, hail, or snow ; first collected in rills, brooks, and 

 rivulets, 



The following is a list of the principal rivers, in the 

 globe, nearly in the order of their magnitude. 



Amazons or Maragnon, 



Senegal, 



Nile, 



St. Lawrence, 



Hoanlio, 



Kio dc la Plata, 



Jennissee, 



Mississippi, 

 Volga, 

 Oby, 

 .A moor, 

 Oronooko, 

 Ganges, 



Euphrates, 



Danube, 



Don, 



Indus, 



Dnieper, 



Dwina. 



The following table of the relative lengths of Euro- 

 pean rivers ha* been given by Major Kennel. 



A'< (/ v in I'.urope. 



Thames, 1 Danube, 7 



*i Volga, 94 



Rivers in Asia. 

 6* Oby, 



8J| A moor, 

 94 Lena, 



94 Hoanho, (Chins,) 

 Kian Keu of China, 



Indus, probably, 



Kuphrates, 



Ganges, 



Burrumpooter, 



Non Kicn or Ava, 



Jcnnitsee, 



10 



1? 



Hi 



SI 



Nile, 



Rivers in Africa. 



Rivers in America. 

 8 Amazons. 



124 



Mississippi, 8 Amazons. 



The theory of the motion of open canals, and conse- 

 quently of rivers, has already been given at great 

 length, in our article HYDRODYNAMICS; and under PH v- 

 SICAL GEOOHAPHY, the reader will find in great detail 

 all those interesting phenomena respecting rivers which 

 he might have expected under the present head- 





Road* and " NEXT to the genial influence of the seasons, upon 

 Highways, -which the regular supply of our wants, and a great 

 portion of our comforts so much depend, there is per- 

 haps no circumstance more interesting to men in a 

 civilized state than the perfection of the means of in- 

 terior communication." This sentiment, quoted in one 

 of the reports of the committee of the House of Com- 

 mons upon the highways of the kingdom, speaks to 

 the heart and feelings of every one, and marks in a 

 strong point of view, an object, which for the last 

 twenty years, has more especially occupied the British 

 legislature ; so that while the field of battle has been 

 oscillating between the extremes of Hamburgh and 

 Rome, and of Madrid and Moscow, the domestic 

 policy of Britain has in no instance been more strik- 

 ing than in opening the country by the formation 

 o* numerous roads. If we look comparatively to 

 the map,of Europe, the surface of the United Kingdom 

 appears every where intersected with numerous roads, 

 while in other countries they seem to radiate only 

 from their respective capitals. Some years since, the 

 writer of this article made a cursory estimate of the 

 extent of the highways of Great Britain and Ire- 

 land, when it appeared, that, independently of an 

 almost incalculable number of parish and private 

 roads, the highways alone extended to about 25,000 

 miles. Upon a very moderate calculation of the ex- 

 pence of these roads, including bridges and compen- 

 sation for land, we may state it at the rate of jtSOO 

 per mile, which is equal to no less than the ag 

 gregate sum of twenty millions sterling. Now we 

 may fairly ask, to what branch of political economy 

 can we look for more splendid examples of internal re- 

 source ? It has been truly said, that until a country is 

 traversed and laid open by roads, its government must 

 be weak, and its people remain in a state of poverty. 

 Oil a subject of such universal interest as the forma- 

 tion of roads, the mind delights to dwell, while it traces 

 their connexion with the progressive stages of civi- 

 lization in the occupation of the hamlet, the village, 

 and the city. Perhaps we shall best treat the historu 



cal part of our subject by a general reference to roads Had and 

 both at home and abroad. Highway*. 



In speaking of the roads of other countries, we may ^ ^T * J 

 observe that a people who have executed such splendid Road of 

 works as those of Egypt and Persia, must to a certain ^ 

 extent have had a system of roads corresponding to c " 

 their habits, no less perfect than those of later times. 

 The circle of the arts seems to move round, yet 

 doubtless the same portion of mind has existed in 

 every age, though our record or knowledge even of 

 comparatively late periods, has by many perverted 

 chances become extremely imperfect. The territory 

 or jurisdiction of the Greeks and other nations who in 

 early times flourished upon the shores of the Medi- 

 terranean was small ; and although they achieved 

 works of magnitude with a display of taste which still 

 continues to be the subject of our wonder, and will 

 perhaps ever remain to be consulted as our authorities, 

 yet but little is known of their municipal affairs. 



But it is far otherwise with the works of theOfthKc- 

 Romans, whose conquests extended to all parts of mans, 

 the then known world. With that nation it was 

 always a primary object to lay open subdued coun- 

 tries with roads to be applied to its future purposes 

 either for obtaining supplies or securing a retreat. 

 Such was the Aurelian road, which led from the gate 

 of that name to Milan, and from thence across the 

 Alps by various routes, forming the key to Gaul, and 

 all the nations of the north. In Italy alone, the Ro- 

 mans are said to have laid about 14,000 miles of road. 

 Of these the classic antiquary has been able to reckon 

 many of the principal ways which led from Rome bjt 

 the different gates, such as the Appian, Salernian, Fla 

 minian, Oslian, Praencstine, Tiburiine, Triumphal, and 

 others, varying in extent and importance according to 

 the circumstances of the country through which they 

 passed ; and from these again, a vast number of sub- 

 ordinate roads, ramified in every direction. Some re- 

 mains of these splendid \vorks are still to be seen, 

 though the face of the country in the lapse of ages, 

 and the vicissitudes of time, has undergone such. 



