A. D. 1790. 



21 



3 



bufinefs with great fuccefs. Mr. Edwards, from whom I borrow this 

 information, faw iugar refined by him with no other material than the 

 juice of Umes and Seville oranges, (which grow wild, and coft only the 

 trouble of the negro children to gather them) which for tranfparency 

 and elegance furpafled the fineft triple-refined fugar of the London re- 

 finers. \_Hifi. of the Weji-Indies, V. ii, p. 474.] 



A veflel arrived at Leith with a cargo of marble from the Wefiern 

 iflands of Scotland, where it is very plentiful. It proved fo beautiful, 

 that there can be henceforth no neceility for importing marble from 

 Italy, or any other foreign country *. Many other valuable minerals 

 were alfo difcovered by Mr. Rafpe, a gentleman of great eminence in 

 mineralogy, in thofe fequeftered iflands, which have during feveral cent- 

 uries, been fo much negledled and unknown. 



Mines of copper and iron were begun this year to be worked in Shet- 

 land, which were faid to be very produdive. 



The fiihery of pilchards on the coail of Cornwall was uncommonly 

 abundant this year. The little town of Mevaglfley cured 10,000 hogf- 

 heads, which would have been a fund of wealth to the inhabitants, if 

 the high price of fait, whereof fix bufhels are required to every hogf- 

 head did not carry off the greatefl: part of the proceeds. 



The following is an account of the vefi^els belonging to the Britifli do- 

 minions, with their regiftered tunnage and ufual number of men, on the 

 30'" of September 1790. 



England 



Scotland 



Ireland 



Colonies 



Guernsey, Jersey, &c 



Mann 



Total 



There were built and regiftered in the leverai ports of the Britifh em- 

 pire, in the courfe of this year, "tlb vessels measuring 68,695 tuns. 



The net revenue of the customs, including the West-India four-and-a-half-per- 

 cent duty, paid into the exchecjuer in the course of the year, was 

 from the custom-house in London - - ^3,732,822 18 10 



from the custom-house in Edinburgh - - 50,000 O O 



Total net revenue of the customs of Great Britain ^3,782,822 18 10 



There were coined at the mint, in the course of this year, 



,^2,660,521 10 



1 Vessels. 1 Tuns. 



10,053 



2,007 



1,136 



1,578 



168 



73 



15,015 



1,134,531 



152,584 



6S,483 



90,599 



12,473 



2,153 



1,400,82:. 



Men. 



83,325 



13,041 



6,738 



8,106 



1,070 



^276 



112,556 



56,940 pounds of gold, value 

 and no silver. 



* We learn from Mr. Frafer, the minlller of Kil- 

 malie in Invernefa-fhire, that a great part of Ben 

 Nevis confifts of very beautiful marble. \_StatiJl- 

 ical account of Scotlanil, V. m\\, p. 419.] Ben Nev- 

 is, believed to be the highell mountain in Great 

 Britain, is clofe to a navigable arm of the fea. 

 When the Crinan canal is completed, it will be very 

 eafy to tranfport the marble, ready cut in pro- 

 ptr convenient pieces, at a moderate cxpenfe to 

 Glafgovv ; and, by the help of the great canal, 

 alfo to EJIiiburgh, and even to London, where it 



miu-ht be afFordtd cheap enough, as marble and 

 lime-llone are now exempted from the duties laid 

 on ftone carried coalhvays, to induce thofe vvl_u> 

 bm'ld on their own ground, or on perpetual leafe- 

 holds, to erei5l houfes of foliJ marble and good lime 

 with roofs of the bed ilate. As London in its prc- 

 fent (late will be all rebuilt in the courfe of a few 

 years, the patriot, if any fuch fliall everarife, who 

 (hall aceomplilh fo noble a change, may, if he lives to 

 old age, repeat tl.e fair.ous faying of Augullus, that 

 he found a city of bricks, and !sft a city of marble. 



