GAL 
itto 26, 138.11}: ; ditto potatoe land: ditto £7, 7s. 
3 flax per rood £1, 188.5. 2 
- as this. county is, there is not of property 
~ belonging to absentees above £50,000 per annum, 
Perhaps one-third of the whole land is Jet in partner- 
ship leases ; and in some places 
7 
leases are ted for 
three lives, or thirty-one years, to an indefinite number 
of tenants, who are not only joint in occupying the 
ground, but have the benefit of survivership. The. 
average rent is £1, 10s. per green acre, A man of 
‘large property is here termed a sfafesman, but he who: 
has only a few acres is called a paiehman. The Earl 
of Clanricarde, Lord Clancarty, Mr Eyre, and Mr Ross’ 
Mahon, have each estates in this county of about 
£10,000 annum, Christoper D. Baleu, Esq. has: 
£6000, John Burke, Esq. £7000, Lord French 
£3500, Malachy, Doneyland £5000. Mr Martin has’ 
about 70 miles along the coast, and is reckoned the 
most extensive landed proprietor in the three king-: 
b> - doms: 
There is a good deal of fishing on the coast of Gal- 
way ; but the fishermen are destitute of sufficient enter- 
prise. The fish-market of Galway town is excellent, 
being supplied with) turbot, salmon, &c: at a cheap 
rate, Trade is atalow ebb. Galway, though enjoy- 
. ing many local advantages in this respect, has declined 
very much of Jate years. Besides-Galway, there are 
the well sheltered havens of Killkerran, Birturby,. 
Roundstone, and Ballynakill.| The manufactures of. 
the county are not worth oe 
Galway abounds in rivers and lakes, The lake of 
It is twenty: 
Corrib covers above 31,000 acres. 
miles in length, and eleven acres at the broadest 
It resembles Earne. Lough Reagh and Lough. 
Coutra are said to be beautiful pieces of water. Seve- 
ral of the rivers have the peculiarity of being subter- 
raneous in a of their course. These are the Black 
River, the Clare, the Moyne, and the Gustnamakin. 
Almost every river and brook in the neighbourhood of 
Gort has a great number of these stwva/lows.—The prin- 
cipal town in the county is that of Galway, which, in-| 
deed, is the largest in the province of Connaught. It 
is resorted to as a bathing-place in summer ; and a 
place of residence in the winter for those families that 
are fond of society. The houses stand with their ga-: 
bles'to the street, and a door in the end, like that of a 
coach-house. 
Galway sends three members to parliament—two 
from the county and one from the town, There is 
no overbearing territorial influence. The Roman Ca- 
tholic property is very extensive, and always sup- 
ports that interest. The number of freeholders amounts’ 
to 4000. The freeholders within the borough, along 
with the members of the co tion, who are chosen 
at will, elect its representative.—The inhabitants of 
this county are mostly Catholics, the Catholics being 
as forty or fifty to one ; in landed property they are 
about one to: 3 and in personal property as three 
to one. In the’ western parts, there are districts of 
fifty miles in extent, without.a single church or a single 
Protestant. The militia, consisting of 1000 men, were 
all Catholies except the band and petty officers, amount~ 
ing to sixty or seventy. The Catholics are increasing. 
ere are ten Catholics called on the grand jury. 
' This county contains 1546 square miles, 989,950 
acres, 16 baronies, 116 parishes, 28,212 houses, 142,000 
inhabitants, 35 acres to a house, and 18.24 souls to a 
sqtiare mile. See Beaufort’s Memoir.of a Map of Ires 
land. - Wakefield’s Statistical y postin Pacer hl (7) 
wert & 
103 
GAM 
GAMA, Vasco be, the discoverer of: the 
scended of a noble Portuguese family ; and in early life 
distinguished himself as a naval commander in a war 
with the French. In 1497, he was selected by Emma 
nuel, King of Portugal, to command the squadron which, 
had been equipped for the voyage to India. His courage, 
netration, prudence, and enterprising spirit, rendered. 
im, worthy of the important charge, and were signally 
displayed in the course of the expedition. His squadron, 
consisted only of three vessels and a store-ship, all of them. 
of a burden and force very inadequate for such a service. 
On the 8th of July, the shore was covered with the in- 
habitants of Lisbon, and the adventurous band set sail- 
amidst the tears and prayers of their countrymen, and 
friends... It was the 4th day of November before they 
touched land on the western coast of Africa, where, in 
an accidental scuffle with the natives, Gama was wound« 
ed in his foot by a dart. From, this period all his he- 
roism was called forth in contending with the most 
tempestuous seas, and combating the mutinous opposi-< 
tion of his crew, till the 20th of the same month, when 
the storm suddenly ceased, and the Cape of Good Hope 
appeared in view. Having taken in provisions, and 
destroyed their store-sloop, they proceeded to sea on 
the Sth of December, and reached the shores of Mo- 
zambique about the beginning of March, where they 
first experienced the hostile dispositions of the Moors, 
and, Gama narrowly escaped their treacherous ag 3 
upon-his life. After various adventures, in which his 
coolness and intrepidity were equally displayed, he 
came to anchor before the city of Melinda, where he 
found several merchant vessels from India, commanded 
by Christians ; and, having procured a skilful pilot, ar- 
rived at Calicut on the 22d of May 1498. The soye-- 
reign of the country, or Zamorim, at first welcomed the 
strangers with every demonstration of friendship ;. but 
was soon influenced by. the Moors to depart from his. 
promises of alliance... On this occasion, Gama gave a, 
noble proof of the most determined resolution and. he-, 
roie self-devotion to the cause in which he had enga-. 
ged. In order to. complete the object of his voyage, 
an interview with the Zamorim. was absolutely necessa~ 
ry; and, while he boldly committed himself into the 
hands of ‘strangers, with all his experience of their. 
treacherous dispositions, his whole arrangements and. 
commands were directed, not to his own safety, but to 
the success of the expedition, He left the most pe- 
remptory orders with his officers, that if he were detain< 
ed a prisoner, or any attempt made upon his life, they, 
should take no-step to save him; that:they should give 
ear tono message, which might come in his name; that, 
they should enter.into no-negotiation in his behalf ; 
that!they should not risk the loss of a single man, or, 
endanger in any respect the homeward voyage for his 
sake ; but, the moment they perceived his escape to be 
impracticable, they should set sail for Europe, and cars, 
ry to the king of Portugal the tidings of the discevery 
of India, He escaped the snares of the Zamorim, des 
feated the Indian’ fleet, and pursued his homeward 
course, He reached St Jago in ee ; but his brother, 
Paulus de Gama, sinking under the fatigues of the 
voyage, Was unable to proceed. The generous and af- 
fectionate Gama, less,elated. with the triumphs which 
awaited his return, than afflicted by the sickness of his 
brother, sent forward his ship under the command of 
one of his officers, and remained at Tercera, to soothe 
the death-bed, and to elose the eyes of Paulus. _ Having 
fulfilled this melancholy office, he landed at Lisbon on 
passage to Gama. 
the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, was de. “7” 
