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half broad, with water from thirteen to three fathoms, 

 and a bar at its entrance : it runs at firft in a fouth-eall and 

 afterwards in an caiterly direftion ; three miles S. oi St. 

 Peter and St. Paul. 



RAKSHA, in Hindoo Mythology, a fpecies of malignant 

 demon, of whom great ufe is made in their epic machinery 

 and popular tales. ' They are of various (hapes and colours, 

 and fuppofed to be animated by tlie fouls of bad men of 

 earlierexiftence, receiving punifhment in thefe forms as enemies 

 to the gods, and obftruftors of their beneficent intentions to- 

 wards mankind. Another clafs of thefe evil genii comprehends 

 thofe called Yakdia. Rakfliafa and Yaklhafa are the plurals, 

 and Raklhni and Yakflini the feminine; for thefe evil doings 

 are not confined to fex. Ravena, the giant king of Lanka, 

 or Ceylon, who oppofed Rama, aided by the gods in the 

 invafion of his kingdom, is fomctimes called the lord of 

 Rakfiiafas. See Ravf.n'A. 



RAKULSKOI, in Geography, a town of Ruffia, in the 

 province of lifting, on the Dwina ; 20 miles N. of Krafno- 



borflf. 



RALEGH, 5/V Walter, in Biography, a. Mbngmihed 

 charafter in the reigns of queen Elizabeth and James L, ^ 

 was fecond fon of a gentleman of an ancient family in De- 

 vonlhire. Few names, fays fir Walter's biographer, Mr. 

 Cayley, vary fo much in the manner of writing it. By 

 fir Robert Naunton and lord Bacon it is written Rawkigh ; 

 in fome old deeds the orthography is Rale or Ralega ; while 

 king James, Hooker, and other refpeftable writers, adopt 

 the mode of fpelling which is ilill common in this country, 

 viz. Raleigh; but the original letters of fir Walter himfelf, 

 wherever the fignature is prcfervcd, have Ralegh, and on that 

 account we choofe to adopt it in this work. Sir Walter, 

 of whom we are tre*ing, was born at a farm called Hayes, 

 in that part of Devonfhire that borders on the fea, in the 

 year 1552. By his mother he was related to thofe famous 

 knights, fir John, fir Humphrey, and fir Adrian Gilbert. 

 After he had received the ufual fchool education, he was 

 fent to Oriel college, Oxford, where he diftinguilhed himfelf 

 by a proficiency in learning far beyond his age ; but the 

 aftive difpofition and martial ardour with which he was en- 

 dowed, foon put an end to his learned career. About the 

 year 1569, he, in company with many young gentlemen of 

 the beft families in the country, went into France, as well to 

 inftruft themfelves in the art of warfare, as to affilt the 

 Proteftants in that kingdom, who were then grievoufly op- 

 prefTed. In this fchool he was employed five or fix years, 

 but by what means he cfcaped the horrible maffacre of 

 Paris, and the provinces, on the famous St. Bartholomew's 

 day, we have no knowledge. He returned to England in 



1575, and it (hould feem he immediately became a refident 

 in the Middle Temple, whence a commendatory poem of 

 his, prefixed to a work of George Gafcoigne's, is dated in 



1576. That he was not a Itudent in the law, at this time, 

 he has himfelf declared, and he Ihortly after pafl'ed into the 

 Netherlands, where he ferved fome time againft the Spaniards. 

 In this, and other tranfaftionsof the fame kind, he followed 

 the fafhion of the times. France and the Netherlands were 

 in thofe days the fchools of Mars ; to which all were obliged 

 to refort who meant to purfue the fortune of arms. Many 

 young men returned to their native country ruined in their 

 fortunes, their conftitution, and morals; but Ralegh had 

 made a good ufe of his time, gained a large ftock of ufeful 

 knowledge, and was fo completely polifiied in his manner of 

 addrefs, that he was now coiifidered as one of the beft bred 

 and moft accomplifhed gentlemen in England. 



On his return in 1578, he found his half-brother, fir 

 Humphrey Gilbert, engaged in a defign of making difco- 



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varies in North America, for which he had obtained a patent, 

 and for the furtherance of which lie had procured the alFiii- 

 ance of many friends. Ralegh was delighted with the de- 

 fign, and embarked in it cordially. This proji-ft proved 

 very unfortunate to the adventurers, but it gave young 

 Ralegh an introdnition to the fea fervice, in which he after- 

 wards fo much diftinguifhed himfelf. From this unlucky 

 adventure, Mr. Ralegh arrived fafe in England in the fpring 

 of the year 1579, and very foon after he appears to have 

 offered his fervices to the queen to go to Ireland, to 

 the inhabitants of which, pope Gregory VIII. and the 

 Spaniards had fent men, money, and other affiftance, to 

 enable them to take arms againft the eftabliftied government. 

 He obtained a captain's commiflion, and (crved in Munfter 

 under the earl of Ormond. In this petty warfare he dif- 

 playcd fo much good conduft, vigour, and courage, that 

 he was afterwards made governor of Cork ; and as a reward 

 for his fervices, he received from the crown the grant of a 

 confiderable eftate in Ireland. A mifunderftanding with 

 the lord-deputy Grey put a ftop to his farther rife in the 

 army ; he returned to England, and was quickly introduced 

 to the queen's notice, and by his own merits attained a large 

 fiiare in her favour. As he was forward to diltinguilh him. 

 felf in all pubhc fervices, fo on the return of the duke of 

 Anjou into the Netherlands, he was one of thofe who ac- 

 companied him out of England, by the exprefs commanJ. 

 of queen Elizabeth, and on his coming to England in 1582, 

 he brought over the prince of Orange's letters to her ma- 

 jefty. Some months after this he refided at court, and was 

 honoured with the favour and protection even of contending 

 llatcfmen, who were proud of fhewiag the true judgment 

 which they had of real merit, by becoming patrons to 

 Ralegh. In 1583 he was concerned in his brother Gilbert'; 

 fecond attempt, and though he did not venture in perfon, 

 yet he built a new fhip, called the bark Ralegh, and fur- 

 niftied it completely for the voyage ; " the unfuccefsful end 

 of which," fays Campbell, " it feenied to predift, by it<. 

 untimely return in lefs than a week to Plymouth, through 

 a contagious dittemper which feized on the /hip's crew." 



While at home Ralegh was not negligent of pufhing his 

 fortune as a courtier. He had a good perfon and addrefs, 

 made an elegant appearance, and put on that a.r of gal- 

 lantry which was fo meritorious in the eyes of Elizabeth. 

 It is laid, that he was once attending the queen in a walk, 

 when file came to a fpot, that by its mire obftrufted her 

 courfe ; he immediately took off his rich cloak, and fpread 

 it on the ground for her to walk on. Pleafed with this at- 

 tention, it is obferved, that the facrifice of a cloak obtained 

 for him many a goodfuit. The enterprifing fpirit of Ralegh 

 was (hewn in the year 1584, in a fcheme whicli he formed 

 of making difcoveries and fettlenients in thofe parts of North 

 America which had not been fubjefted to any European 

 power. His intereft at court, and his ability in ftating and 

 fetting forth his plans to the beft advantage, obtained for 

 him an extenllve patent for executing his purpofe ; and, in 

 confequence, w'ith the help of a fociety of his friends, he 

 fitted out lliips under the command of captains Amadas and 

 Barlow, which failed from Plymouth in that year, and took 

 poffefiion of an illand near the mouth of Albemarle river, 

 in what is now called North Carohna. From the terms of 

 the patent, it appears, that the great objeft of thef" adven- 

 turers, as it was of all others in that reign, was the fearch 

 after mines of the precious metak. Ralegh was not him- 

 felf in this expedition : the (liips returned in the autumn 

 with fome commodities which fold fo well, that the com- 

 pany was encouraged to fit OHt a fleet of feven veflels tor 

 the following year, of which the command was given to fir 



Richard 



