ALB 



A L B 



foldicrs were nttacJied to him, niid that lie was exceedingly 

 beloved by the fciiate, and applauded for his jullice and 

 humanity. He feems, however, to have been a brave war- 

 rior, who had the art of making himfclf beloved ; but who 

 had not cunning enough to guard againll the artifices of 

 bis enemy, and this was the caufc of his ruin. Crevier, 

 Hift. of the Emperors, vol. viii. p. 63 — 96. Anc. Un. 

 Hill. vol. xiii. p. 374 — 393. 



Alkinus, a, Pojlhiim'au, the colleague of Lieinius I,u- 

 Ciillus in the eoni'ulrtiip, in the year before Chrill 151, wrote 

 a Hifiury of the Affairs of Rome, in the Greek language. 

 He is mentioned by Cicero in his Brutus (Optr. tom. i. p. 

 399. Ld. Ohvet.) as a man of learning and eloquence. Upon 

 his making an apology, and intreating pardon for t!ie impro- 

 prieties of expreCTion that occurred in a work written in a 

 language fo dilferent from that of his own countr)', Cato 

 facctioufly aflced, " Why did you chufe rather to folicit 

 pardon for a fault than not to have committed it V His 

 conduct however in this refpefl needed no apology, as the 

 Greek language was known to almoll all nations, whiHl the 

 latter was almoll wholly confined to the Roman territory, 

 and therefore his hiftory would be more extenfively read. 

 See Cicero per Archia, Opcr. tom. v. p. 405. 



ALlUOECE,or Alebece, in Ancient Geography, called 

 alfo Reji ylpoUhmre.;, from their worfliip of Apollo, and 

 Civitas Rejeitftmn, was a Roman colony of Gallia Narbonenfis. 

 It is now Rie'z, or RiEt;x, in Provence. 



ALBION, a name formerly given to the ifland of Britain, 

 comprehending England, Scotland and Wales, by way of 

 contradiftinftion from Hibernia, and the other Britifli iflands. 

 Thus Agathemerus, (lib. xi. c. 4.) fpeaking of the Britiih 

 iflands, fays,they are many in number ; but the moll confider- 

 able are Hibernia and Albion; and Ptolemy (lib.ii. c.3.) calls 

 Albion a Britiib ifland. Phny alfo (H. N. lib. iv. c. 16. 

 tom. i. p. 2 22. )obferves, that the ifland of Britain, fo much ce- 

 lebrated by the Greek and Latin writers, was formerly called 

 Albion ; the name of Britain being common to all the iflands 

 round it. The etymology of the name is uncertain. Some 

 derive it from the Greek aX^w, alphon, fignitying white, in 

 reference to the chalky cliffs on our coafts ; others pretend 

 that its name was borrowed from a giant, the fon of Nep- 

 tune, mentioned by feveral ancient writers. Some of our 

 etymologifts have recourfe to the Hebrew tongue, and fome 

 to the l-'hoenician ; alhin in the former fignitying ivhite, and 

 alp or alpin, in the latter, denoting /'(f/^ and high mountain, the 

 land appearing fo as yo>i approach it from the continent. 

 The derivation from the Greek or Hebrew word lignifying 

 luh'ite, feems to be countenanced by the Britiih poets, who 

 call Britain Inis Wen, i. e. the White Ifland. Selden's notes 

 on Polyalbion, p. 20. 



Albion,- New, in Geography, the name given by Sir 

 Francis Drake to California, and part of the north-weft 

 coafl of America, when he took pofleflion of it in 1578. 

 Captain Cook difcovered the coall of New Albion, March 

 7, 177H, and landed in a place fituate in N. lat. 44" 33'. E. 

 long. 235" 20'. He deferibes the land as abounding with 

 mountains, the fummits of which were covered with fnow ; 

 but the vallies that lay between them and the fea-coalls, 

 high as well as low, produced a great number of trees, 

 ■which appeared hke a large forell. The inhabitants at firtl 

 feemed to prefer iron to every other article of commerce ; 

 but they afterwards fliewcd fuch a predileftion for brafs, that 

 fcarcely a fragment of it was lelt in the fliips except that 

 which belonged to the necefiai-y inftruments. They were 

 alfo obferved to be much more tenacious of their property 

 than thofe of the other lavage nations which the voyagers 

 Lad met with, fo that they would not part with wood, water, 



Vol. I. 



grafs, or even the moll trifling article, without a compcn- 

 lation ; and they were fonictimes very unrtafonable in their 

 demands. The place in which the Refolution anchored wa9 

 called by Captain Cook, Si. George's SoumI ; but he after- 

 wards undcrllood that the natives gave it the name of 

 NnoTKA. Its entrance was fituated in the cad corner of 

 Hope bay, in N. lat. 49" 33'. E. long. 233° 12'. The cli- 

 mate feenu d to be much milder than that on the eaftern coall 

 of America, in the fame parallel of latitude ; and the ther- 

 mometer, even in the night, never fell lower than 42°, and 

 in the day-time frequently rofe to 60". The trees of this 

 country are chiefly the Canadian pine, white cyprefs, and 

 fome other kinds of pine. The birds were few, and much 

 harafitd by the natives, w ho ufe their feathers as ornaments 

 for tiieir drefs, and their flefli for food. The people are ac- 

 (juainted with the ufe of metals, having many iron tools ; 

 and two filver fpoons were procured, which were fimilar in 

 their conllruftion to thofe feen in fome Elemilh piftures, and 

 were worn by oneof the natives as an ornament romui his neck. 

 Thefe metals had probably been conveyed to them by the way 

 of Hudlon's bay and Canada, or fome of them might have 

 been introduced horn the nortli-weitern parts of Mexico. 



On the 18th of April, 1792, Captain Vancouver, em- 

 ployed in an expedition for completing the fm-vey of the 

 wellern coall of North America, from the latitude of 30" N. 

 to 60" N., fell in with tlie coafl of Ne\\' Albion in N. lat. 

 39" 27'. E. long. 236" 25'. As he approached the land, 

 the fhore feemed to be perfeftly conipatl, formed, generally 

 fpeaking, by cliffs of a moderate height and nearly perpen- 

 dicular. The inland country, which arofe in a plcafing di- 

 vertity of hills and dales, was completely clothed with ioreft 

 trees of confiderable magnitude, and thofe fpots, which were 

 dellitute di wood, were beautifully green, with a luxuriant 

 herbage, interrupted by llreaks of natural earth. This part 

 of the coaft abounded with whales, moll of which were of 

 the tribe called the Greenland finners. In diredling their 

 courfe along the coall northward, they paflld Cape Men- 

 docino, in lat. 40" 19', long. 235" 53'. This Cape is the 

 highefl on the fea-fliore of this part of New Albion. The 

 mountains behind it are confiderably elevated, and foi-m a 

 high fleep mafs, compofed of various hills that rife abruptly, 

 and are divided by many deep chafms. Dwarf-trees were 

 thinly fcattcred in the chafms and on the ridges of the hills | 

 and the general furface was covered with vegetables of a dull 

 green colour, occafionally interfperfed with perpendicular, 

 llrata of red earth or clay. As they advanced further north, 

 the dillant interior country was compofed of mountains of 

 great elevation, before which were perceived hills and dales, 

 with woodland and clear fpots, as if they were in a ftatc of 

 culti\'ation ; but they could difeern neither houfes, huts, 

 fmoke, nor any other figns of its being inhabited. On the 

 coafl to which they next approached, and which was formed 

 by rocky precipices, the moll projefting part, fituate in lat. 

 41° 8'. long. 236" 5', was called Roely Point. Near this 

 point the colour of the fea changed to a light river-coloured 

 water, which gave reafon for concluding that fome confider- 

 able river or rivers were in the neighbourhood ; but purfuing 

 their courfe they anived again, in oceanic-coloured water, in 

 lat. 41" 36'. long. 235" 58'. The land in this part, formed 

 a confpicuous point, which was denominated Point St. George, 

 in lat. 41° 461', and long. 235° 57^', and a dangerous duller 

 of rocks extending from thence, the Dragon rocks. The point 

 forms a bay, and the north point of it was called St. Geori;e's 

 hay. The inland mountains were much elevated, and clotiied 

 with a variety of trees, chiefly of the pines, and fome 

 fpreading trees of confiderable magnitude were obferved. 

 Proceeding fuitlier along the coaft they caft anchor in lat. 

 3 Y 4^! 



