BRISTOL CHANNEL. 



BRITANNIA. 



150 



floor-cloth, earthenware, refined sugar, starch, soap, British spirits, 

 tin, copper and brass wares, bricks, beer, porter, pipes, tobacco, and 

 hats. Most of these manufactures are carried on within the city or 

 in its immediate neighbourhood. The principal factories are those 

 for glasa, sugar, iron, brass, floor-cloth, and earthenware. There was 

 established about fifteen years back a very large joint-stock cotton 

 factory, under the title of the Great Western Cotton-Works. It 

 consists of an immense range of spuming, weaving, bleaching, and 

 repairing shops. 



The principal bridge is that connecting the centre of the town with 

 the Redcliff side of the Avon ; it is built of stone, and has three 

 arches ; the centre arch is elliptical, with a span of 55 feet, the side 

 arches are semicircular, each 40 feet in span. A swivel-bridge of iron, 

 opened in 1827, in the place of the old drawbridge, crosses the har- 

 bour, connecting the parishes of Clifton and St. Augustine with the 

 city ; and two iron bridges, each with one arch of 100 feet span, cross 

 the new course of the Avon, severally connecting the city with the 

 Bath and Wells and Exeter roads. In 1838 an Act was obtained for 

 constructing St. Philip's Bridge ; and in 1842 a second Act empowered 

 the widening of the bridge. For the suspension-bridge over the 

 Avon, the original Act was obtained in 1831 ; several subsequent Acts 

 have been obtained, permitting the postponement of the works, about 

 30,000/. more than the amount collected and expended being required 

 to complete the undertaking. The Portbury Pier and Railway Com- 

 pany have a clause in their Act, enabling them to complete the bridge 

 in conjunction with their railway ; but the proceedings of the company 

 are wholly suspended. 



The connection of Bristol with other parts of England by means 

 of the broad-gauge railways is efficient. The Great Western line 

 extends through Bath and Reading to London ; the Midland line 

 through Gloucester and Birmingham to the north ; and the Bristol 

 and Exeter line to the south and west. The communication with 

 Wales is partly by steamers, which pass down the Avon and cross the 

 Severn to Chepstow, Newport, Cardiff, &c. ; and partly by means of 

 the Aust Ferry, to which a road of about eight miles leads from 

 Bristol. The joint-station at Bristol is a large structure in the Tudor 

 style. A small branch, about four miles long, leaves the Bristol and 

 Exeter railway at Yatton, about twelve miles from Bristol, and runs 

 to C'levcdon, on the bank of the Severn opposite Cardiff. 



Clifton, MotutelU, <tc. The rocks in the immediate neighbourhood 

 of Bristol are composed of carboniferous limestone, coal-measures, and 

 the newer red-sandstone formation, with the dolomitic conglomerate. 

 In the last formation there have been discovered some saurian remains, 

 which form three new genera. The ranges of mountain limestone at 

 St. Vincent's Rocks are remarkably fine ; the coal-fields extend north 

 and south of the city about twenty -eight miles, but the beds are thin 

 as compared with those of the other coal-districts of England. The 

 rocks at Clifton supply a saline spring ; the temperature of which 

 from the pump is 74 Fahrenheit, and it then evolves free carbonic 

 acid gas. It i > principally celebrated for its beneficial influence in 

 consumptive cases. The Hotwell House is situated beneath the rocks, 

 looking on the river, along the banks of which a carriage road leads 

 from the well round the rocks to Clifton Down ; but a readier means 

 of access to Clifton is furnished by an easy serpentine path, leading 

 up the rocks from behind the Hotwell House. The scenery around 

 Bristol, particularly the Cliftou Hotwells, is very beautiful, and the 

 botanical features of the country are highly interesting. Clifton has 

 long been a favourite residence for wealthy persons. The hotels, 

 crescents, parades, assembly-rooms, libraries, &c., are such as are met 

 with at most watering-places. The portion of the Hotwells district 

 nearest the city is becoming surrounded by commercial and shipping 

 establishments ; but higher up towards Clifton and St. Vincent' a 

 Rocks there are still left some fine walks and rides. There are not 

 many open spots within the limits of Bristol ; but the heights around 

 the city afford numerous pleasant walks, such as more level towns are 

 deficient in. The College Green, Brandon Hill, Tyndall's Park, Gotham, 

 and Clifton, are all open to the inhabitants. On Clifton Down are 

 the Zoological Gardens, opened in 1836, to which a botanic garden is 

 attached. 



BRISTOL CHANNEL. [SEVERN.] 



BRISTOL, r.S. [RHODE ISLAND.] 



BRITAIN, GRKAT. [GREAT BRITAIN.] 



BRITAIN, NEW. [NEW BUITAIN.] 



BRITANNIA, the name by which the Island of Great Britain 

 if mentioned by the Latin writers. We propose in the present 

 article to give a notice of its ancient inhabitants, with a very 

 brief narrative of the Roman conquest and occupation of the 

 country. 



The earliest inhabitants of Britain, so far as we know, were pro- 

 bably of that great family the main branches of which, distinguished 

 by the designation of Celts, spread themselves so widely over middle 

 andweaterii Europe. The Welsh and Danish traditions indicate a 

 migration from Jutland ; and the name of Cymry, given to the immi- 

 grant people, has been supposed to indicate their probable identity 

 with the Cimmerians (the Ki^t'pioi of Herodotus, and the Cimbri of 

 the Roman historians), who, being expelled by the Scythians from 

 their more ancient seat* north of the Euxine, traversed Europe in a 

 north-westerly direction, and founded new settlements near the Baltic 



and the mouth of the Elbe. These barbarians then reached Britain 

 by the same route which was afterwards traversed by the Saxons and 

 Angles. The Celts crossed over from the neighbouring country of 

 Gaul ; and Welsh traditions speak of two colonies, one from the 

 country since known as Gascony, and another from Armorica. At a 

 later period the Belgae, actuated by martial restlessness or the love of 

 plunder, assailed the south and east coasts of the island and settled 

 there, driving the Celts into the inland country. These Belgae were 

 a branch of the great Teutonic family. 



Before the arrival of Julius Caesar in Britain the island was but 

 imperfectly known to the more civilised nations of the ancient world. 

 The people of Carthage and Massilia (called Massalia by the Greeks) 

 or Marseille, traded for tin with certain islands called by Herodotus 

 Kacr<rtTfpi$( s (Cassiterides), the ' Tin Islands ;' which are supposed by 

 some to have been the British Isles, or at least Cornwall and the Scilly 

 Isles. 



The etymology of the word Britain has been much disputed. One 

 of the most plausible is that which derives it from a Celtic word 

 ' brith,' or ' brit,' (painted, Camden) ; in which name it is supposed 

 there is a reference to the custom of the inhabitants of staining their 

 bodies with a blue colour extracted from woad. Carte says that the 

 name in the most ancient British poets is ' Inis ' (island) ' prydhain.' 

 Whether this form or that of the Roman writers furnishes the best 

 clue to the original form of the native designation is perhaps question- 

 able. The meaning of ' prydhain,' if it be anything more than a cor- 

 rupt form derived from the root ' brit,' does not seem to be known. 

 It would be to little purpose to give other etymologies, or to enter 

 further into a matter in which certainty is so little attainable. 



Caesar is the first writer by whom any authentic particulars respect- 

 ing the island are given. Stimulated probably by the desire of mili- 

 tary renown, and of the glory of first carrying the Roman arms into 

 Britain provoked also, as he tells us, by the aid which had been 

 furnished to his enemies in Gaul, especially to the Veneti (the people 

 of Vannes in Bretagne), and other maritime people of Western Gaul 

 he determined upon the invasion of the island. As a preliminary step 

 he summoned to his camp a number of the merchants who traded to 

 the island (who alone of the Gauls had any acquaintance with it), and 

 to them he addressed his inquiries. Their caution however, or their 

 ignorance, prevented his learning much from them. Failing; in this 

 quarter, one of his officers, C. Volusenus, was sent to reconnoitre ; but 

 he did not venture to leave his ship, and trust himself on shore among 

 the natives. Caesar, no way deterred by this want of information, 

 collected a fleet, and disposed his forces with a view to the descent. 



The description which Caesar gives of Britain in his ' Commentaries' 

 is as follows : 



" The inland part of Britain is inhabited by those who, according 

 to the existing tradition, were the aborigines of the island ; the sea- 

 coast by those who, for the sake of plunder or in order to make war, 

 had crossed over from among the Belgce, and in almost every case 

 retain the names of their native states from which they emigrated to 

 this island, in which they made war and settled, and began to till the 

 land. The population is very great, and the buildings very numerous, 

 closely resembling those of the Gauls : the quantity of cattle is con- 

 siderable. For money they use copper, or rings of iron of a certain 

 weight.* Tin (plumbum album) is produced there in the midland 

 districts; and iron near the sea-coast, but the quantity of this is 

 small ; the copper which they use is imported. There is timber of 

 every kind which is found in Gaul except beech and fir. They deem 

 it unlawful to eat the hare, and the hen, and the goose ; these auimals 

 however they breed for amusement. The country has a more tem- 

 perate climate than Gaul, the cold being less intense. 



" The island is of a triangular form, oue side of the triangle being 

 opposite Gaul. One of the angles of this side, which is in Cantium 

 (Kent), to which nearly all vessels from Gaul come, looks towards the 

 rising sun; the lower + angle looks towards the south. This side 

 extends about 500 miles. The next side looks towards Spain and the 

 setting sun. On this side is Hibernia (Ireland), considered to be about 

 half the size of Britain ; but the passage across is of the same leugth 

 as from Gaul into Britain. Midway in this passage is an island 

 which is called Mona (Man) ; many smaller islands also are thought 

 to lie in the passage, concerning which islands some have written that 

 about the winter solstice they have night for thirty days together. 

 We could not ascertain anything upon this point by inquiry; but 

 we found, by using certain measures of water, that the nights were 

 shorter than on the continent. The length of this side, according to 

 the opinion of the natives, is about 700 miles. The third side fronts the 

 north ; there is no land opposite to this, but one angle of it extends 

 very much in the direction of Germany : this side is thought to be 800 

 miles in length. So that the whole island is 2000 miles in circuit. J 



* The copies here vary very much. We have followed the tent or Oudendorp, 

 as edited by Obcrlin. Lipsice, 1805. 



t This is a literal rendering of Ceosar's expression ' inferior,' the meaning o 

 which it is rather difficult to fix. He elsewhere states that the ' lower pnrl 

 of the island was the more westerly (Lib. iv. c. 28)- infcrlorem partcm mi 

 quED est propius soils occasum. 



t The lloman milo was about twelve-thirteenths of the English mile. ] 

 carcely necessary to observe that Csesar's description of the island is erroneous 

 in several respects. 



