RUM 



RUM 



in Jamaica as three to four. Thus a plantation, fuch as we 

 have above delcribcd, is fuppofed to fupply annually 150 

 puncheons of rum of 1 10 gallons each, or 82 gallons of 

 Jamaica proof to each hoglhead of fugar ; and this quantity 

 is fometimes fairly made from canes planted in rich and moill 

 lands ; but on a general ellimate, Mr. Edwards thinks this 

 to be too great an allowance ; and that 200 gallons of rem 

 to three hogfheads of fugar, which is in the proportion of 

 about two-thirds rum to the crop of fug£i", is nearer the 

 truth. The following itattment warrants the above conclufion. 

 The general fupply of fcummings to the liquor-houfe is fcven 

 gallons out of every 103 gallons of cane-liquor. Suppofing, 

 therefore, that 2000 gallons of cane-juice are required for each 

 hoglhead of fugar of i6cwt., the fcummings, on a planta- 

 tion making 200 hogfheads per annum, will be 28,000 gal- 

 lonS, equal to 4666 gallons of melaffes. 



Add the melafles from the cur-") 



ing-houfe, which, if the lugar | 



is of a good quality, will lei- ^12,000 



dom exceed 60 gallons per | 



hoglhead J 



Total of fweets 



1 6,666 gallons. 



This quantity, di (tilled at or after the rate of 12 per cent. 

 fweets in the fermenting ciitern, will give 34,720 gallons of 

 low-wines, which ought to produce 14,412 gallons of good 

 proof rum, or 131 puncheons of 1 10 gallons each. When 

 a greater proportion than this is made, either the fugar dif- 

 charges an unufual quantity of melafles, or the boiling-houfe 

 is defrauded of the cane-liquor by improper fcumming ; 

 which latter circumftance frequently happens. 



It is the practice of late, we are told, with many planters, 

 to raife the proof of rum : thus gaining in ftrength of fpirit 

 what is loft in quantity : and fome managers make it a rule 

 to return the fcummings to the clarifiers, inftead of lending 

 them to the ftill-houfe. This laft-.nentiouedpra&ice reduces 

 the crop of rum more than one-third ; but is fuppofed to 

 yield in fugar more than is loft in rum : and if the price of 

 fugar is very high, and that of rum very low, it may be 

 prudent to adopt this method. 



For the duty, &c. on rum, fee Foreign SPIRITS. 



Rum, in Geography, a town of Tonquin, on the coaft. 

 N. lat. I9°35'- E. long. 105° 18'. — Alfo, a river of Ame- 

 rica, which runs into the Millilipoi, N. lat. 45 . W. long. 



93° 48'- 



Rum, one of the Hebrides, or Weftern iflands of Scot- 

 land, is iituated to the weftward of the ifle of Skye, and is 

 comprifed, politically, in the parifh of Small-Ides, and in 

 the county of Argyle. It derived its name from the Gaelic, 

 Rhum, fignifying extent, in allufion to its being the largeft 

 ifland in the parilh to which it belongs. It is computed to 

 meafure eight miles in length, and nearly the fame in breadth ; 

 and to contain about 22,000 fquare acres. Rum is in 

 general tugged, mountainous, and barren, and more adapted 

 for pafturage than for agriculture. Horfes are reared in this 

 ifland for fale, and though diminutive in fize, are remarkably 

 high mettled and hardy. Here are likewife reared a con- 

 siderable number of fheep, which are the bell fleck with 

 which a mountainous country, like Rum, can be fup plied, 

 The general breed is a fmall white-faced Iheep, which is 

 much prailed, both for the delicate flavour of its fleih, and 

 for the excellence of its wool. This ifland formerly abounded 

 with deer ; but that animal is now totally extirpated, owing 

 to the copfe wood, which ferved as a cover to their fawn, 

 having been deftroyed. Before the ufe of fire-arms, the 

 fntthod adopted by the inhabitants to kill deer was fo An- 



gular as to deferve notice. On each fide of a glen formed 

 by two mountains, ftone dykes were conftru£ted at a confi- 

 derable height up the hills, and extended from thence to the 

 lower part of the valley, always drawing nearer to each other, 

 till they approached within three or four feet. This narrow 

 pafs opened into a circular fpace, inclofed by a wall of fuf- 

 ficient height to reflrain the deer, which were purfued hither 

 and deftroyed. The remains of one of thefe ancient deer-traps 

 are ftill to be traced. Birds of prey are numerous in 

 Rum ; and there are likewife a few groufe, pigeons, ter- 

 magants, and wild ducks, befides thofe birds which frequent 

 the ifland only at flated feafons of the year. The air of 

 Rum, from its proximity to the weftern ocean, is moifl, and 

 the weather extremely rainy. The only harbour here is 

 Loch-Serefort, which penetrates a confiderable way into the 

 iiland, on its eaftern coaft. It is fpacious, its ground good, 

 and its depth of water from five to feven fathoms. Near the 

 head, on the fouth fide of this harbour, a pier has been lately 

 eredted. The general appearance of Rum is, that the land 

 flopes towards the ealt ; but on the weft prefents precipices 

 of a tremendous height. At the bafe of the hill Sgormor 

 are found abundance of agates, of that fpecies called by 

 Cronltedt " Achates chalcedonifans," improperly white 

 cornelians. Here are feveral remarkable tlrata ; fuch a? 

 grey quartz ; a mixture of quartz and bafaltes ; a black 

 ftone fpotted with white, like porphyry, but with the appear- 

 ance of lava ; fine grit or free-ftone ; and the cinereous in- 

 durated bole of Cronftedt. There being no mill in this 

 iiland, the corn is " gradanned," or burnt out of the ear, 

 inftead of being thrafhed. This is performed in two ways : 

 firft by cutting off the ears and drying them in a kiln, and 

 then letting fire to them on the floor, and picking out the 

 grains; and fecondly, by burning the fheaf entire, which is 

 a moll ruinous practice, as it deltroys both thatch and 

 manure. Gradanned corn is conjectured to have been the 

 parched corn of holy writ. 



Rum not being a parifh of itfelf, its population is not 

 flated in the parliamentary returns ; but it is eltimated to 

 contain about 500 inhabitants. The Statiitical Account of 

 Scotland, by fir John Sinclair, bart. 8vo. vol. xvii. 1796. 

 Beauties of Scotland, vol. t. 8vo. 1808. Carlifle's Topo- 

 graphical Dictionary, 4to. 18 1 3. 



Rum Key. See Roxcadouk. 



RUMAHIE. See Romahie. 



RUMB, Rum, or Rkumb, in Navigation. See Rhumb. 



RvMB-Line, or Loxodromia. See RHVMS-Line. 



RUMBLE, in Geography, one of the fmaller Shetland 

 iflands ; two miles S. of Yell. N. lat. 6o°. W. long. 

 O 56'. 



RUMBURG, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of* 

 Leitmeritz, in which are confiderable manufactures of linen ; 

 nine miles N.N.E. of Kamnitz. 



RUME1L, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in the province of 

 Diarbekir ; 30 miles E. of Nifibin. - 



RUMELY, a town of Syria, in the pachalic of Tripoli, 

 on the coaft ; 15 miles S. of Bairut. N. lat. 33° 33'. E. 

 long. 35 28'. - 



RUMEN, the firft ftomach of animals which chew the 

 cud, and which are hence called ruminants. 



The food is tranfmitted into the rumen without any other 

 alteration in the mouth than being a little rolled and wrapped 

 up together. 



For an account of the rumen, fee Anatomy of Mam- 

 malia. 



RUMEX, in Botany, the Dock and Sorrel genus ; named, 

 as it feems, by the Latins thcmfelves, from rumex, a fort of 

 pike, fpear, or halberd, which the fhape of the leaves, in 



various 



