26 
ed near the Castle of Trematon, as about other English cas¬ 
tles, and public walks, a vast flock of rooks, which roost there, 
making a great filth and noise. The rook is much esteemed, 
and I hear that the people foster them, and have their eggs hatch¬ 
ed under pigeons, as they are thought to destroy vast numbers of 
injurious insects. 
Amid all this friendly, agreeable, and learned society, these 
entertainments and excursions, my impatience became great, and 
augmented from day to day, from hour to hour. My time was 
precious, yet the greater part of it was lost here. I waited with 
increasing anxiety for the arrival of the Pallas, which still did 
not appear. More than once I resolved to leave behind all I had 
on board of the corvette, and go to the United States in a com¬ 
mon packet. In the meanwhile various considerations deferred 
my departure from day to day, until finally on the 30th of May 
the Pallas arrived. 
While waiting for the ship, I derived much pleasure from a 
visit made with Sir John Phillimore to the country seat of 
Colonel Ginnis, formerly of the army. He lives in a beautiful 
park, a charming situation, five miles from Plymouth, not far 
from the left bank of the Tamer , with five lovely and handsome 
daughters. His house is very tastefully arranged, and orna¬ 
mented with paintings by himself. He has a peculiar talent for 
landscape painting, both in oil and water colours. He has thus 
preserved representations of the most beautiful situations visited 
in the course of his numerous journeys. He passed nine years 
in North America, and showed us views of wonders of nature, 
which I hope soon to admire myself. His view of the cataract 
of Niagara, and Falls of Montmorenci, gave me great pleasure. 
Sir John Phillimore also accompanied me to see Mr. Harris , 
a surgeon, who has invented a new lightning conductor for ships. 
He has, for the sake of experiment, had the model of a frigate 
built, which he floats in a tub of water. There is a conductor to 
each mast, from which copper rods, secured close to each other, 
run down the mast to the keel, through which they pass into the 
water. Mr. Harris asserts, that the lightning passes down these 
rods without affecting any thing in the vicinity. To prove this, 
he wound around the mast a paper filled with fine gunpowder, 
through which the lightning was sent without exploding it. To 
prove farther, that the electricity can produce combustion after 
passing through water, he connected the conductor below the 
keel by a copper wire, with the touch-hole of a small cannon, 
which was floated in the tub. When the electricity strikes the 
conductor on the mast, the cannon is instantaneously fired. The. 
cloud is represented by a frame stuffed with cotton, which hangs 
by a silk thread, and is connected with an electrical machine. 
