N O R T H. 
158 
up; they are principally thofe of Conftantine, Alledus, 
and Caraufius. Vaft quantities of fragments of pottery 
are fcattered about in all directions, broken, no doubt, 
by the labourers. Part of the handle of an amphora is 
fhown to viiitors as the arm of a ftatue. It is probable 
that this place was the refidence of fome perfon of con- 
fequence, from the number and fize of the rooms, baths, 
&c. An engraving has been publifhed of the plan of this 
curious difcovery, of which the outline and full expla¬ 
nations are given in the Monthly Mao-, for Aug. 1818. 
NORTH-LINED LA'KE, a'large lake of North Ame¬ 
rica. Lat. 60. 40. N. Ion. 98 30. W. 
NORTH ME'ALS, a townfhipof Lancafhire, with 2096 
inhabitants: fix miles north of Ormfkirk. 
NORTH MIM'S, a village in Hertfordfhire, two miles 
fouth from Hatfield. 
In this neighbourhood was the feat of fir Jofeph Jekyll, 
mailer of the rolls in right of his lady, heirefs to her bro¬ 
ther the great lord Somers. The body of that nobleman 
is interred in the chancel of the church, without any in- 
fcription on his monument, in allulion, as one would fup- 
pofe, to his motto, Pvodefje quam confpici. It was the 
falhion, five or fix hundred years ago, to raife ponderous 
monuments without any infcriptions, it being then 
thought, that it could at no time hereafter be neceffary 
to tell the name of fo illuftrious a perfonage; and to this 
idle fancy we owe our ignorance of the names of many of 
the filent inhabitants of fumptuous tombs. Here is Mims 
Place, the fine feat of the duke of Leeds. 
Gobions, in the parifh of North Mims, took its name 
from the family of the Gobions, its ancient lords. It was 
aftemards the feat of lady More, mother-in-law of that 
illuftrious charaderfirThomas More; on whofe execution 
it was wrefted from her by the tyrant Henry, notwith- 
ftanding it was her jointure from her firft hufband. This 
venerable manfion, once famous for its fine gardens in 
the ancient tafte, became the property of John Hunter, 
efq. an Eaft-India diredor, who here devoted his prin¬ 
cipal attention to tillage and grazing : his teams and 
ploughs were drawn by oxen, which is a great fingularity 
in this county. It is now in the pofleflion of Henry 
Browne, efq. 
Brockett Hall, the feat of vifcount Melbourne, is three 
miles diftant. The manfion, begun by the late fir Mat¬ 
thew Lamb, bart. was completed by his fon fir Penifton 
(now lord Melbourne), who made great improvements 
in the park, and rendered it one of the moft elegantly- 
pifturefque in the kingdom. Mr.Paine was the architeCI, 
who likewife executed the beautiful bridge over the fpa- 
cious (heet of water that enriches the enchanting fcenery. 
In this feat are many paintings by the firft mafters, par¬ 
ticularly a fine pidlure by Teniers, and fir Jolhua Rey¬ 
nold’s excellent painting of the Prince of Wales and his 
Horfe. Wilkes's Britijh Directory , vol. iii. 
NORTH MO'ULTON, town of Devonfhire, on the 
river Moul, and about two miles to the north of South 
Moulton, of whofe hundred it is a member, and anciently 
gave name to it, as the latter does now. It has two fairs, 
Tuelday after May n and November 12. 
Between this place and Barnftaple, three miles from 
South Moulton, is Caftle-hill, a moft noble and beautiful 
feat, belonging to lord Fortefcue. This houfeis built under 
a rock, on the declivity of a hill, over and around which 
are groves of fine trees; and on the top of the hill is a 
caftle, commanding an extenfive profped. The ground 
before the houfe is laid out in the moft beautiful order. 
From a terrace before the front, you defcend over a variety 
of dopes, with groves adjoining, to a fine piece of water 
5 n a bottom; from whence the view again rife*, between 
the groves, to the top of a hill, oppofite the front, where 
it is terminated by a handfome triumphal arch. At every 
other point of view from this houfe, fome agreeable 
objefit prefents itfelf. Every ftrudfure within fight af¬ 
fords an agreeable appearance: barns, cots, and out- 
houfes, wear the fame livery, and appear as white as 
fnow; and, while you difcover in one a church, in others 
the furrounding village, the reft are fcattered in happy 
fituations, affording a delightful intermixture with na¬ 
ture, and filling the whole with the lively and agreeable. 
Wilkes's Britijh Directory , vol. iv. 
NORTH MOU'NTAINS, a ridge which branches off 
from the Allegany Mountains, a little to the fouth of 
James River, extending into Maryland as far as the river 
Potomack. 
NORTH POI'NT, a cape of England, on the coaft of 
Durham. Lat. 55. 4. N. Ion. 1. 23. W. 
NORTH POI'NT, a cape on the north coaft of the 
ifland of Morty. Lat. 2. 45. N. Ion. 128. 20. E. 
NORTH PO'LE, one of the points on which the ter¬ 
raqueous globe turns; each of them being 90 degrees 
diftant from the equator, and, in confequeuce of their 
fituation, the inclination of the earth’s axis, and its paral- 
lelifm during the annual motion of our globe round the 
fun, having only one day and one night throughout the 
year. 
It is remarkable, that though the north, in Hebrew, 
Greek, Latin, and French, derives its name from gloom, 
obfcurity, and darknefs, the poles enjoy more light than 
any other part of the world. The ancients believed the 
north to be covered with thick darknefs; Strabo tells us, 
that Homer, by the word £o(po;, which properly fignifies 
obfcurity or darknefs, meant the north; and thus Tibullus, 
fpeakingof the north, fays, Illic et denfatellusabjconditur 
umbra. The Arabians call the northern ocean the dark 
J’ea.; the Latins gave the name of aqnilo to the north 
wind, becaufe aqnilus fignifies black ; and the French 
call it la bij'e, from bis, black, or dark. According to the 
ancients, the Cimmerians lived in darknefs, becaufe they 
were placed near the north. But all this is mere pre¬ 
judice; for there are no places in the world that enjoy 
light longer than the ardic and antardic poles ; and this 
is accounted for by confidering the nature of twilight. 
In the torrid zone, and under the line, night immediately 
follows the fetting of the fun, without any fenfible twi¬ 
light ; whereas the twilight begins and continues in- 
creafing in proportion as places are diftant from the equa¬ 
tor or approach the pole. To this long twilight we muff: 
add the aurora borealis, which appears in the northern 
regions, Greenland, &c. in clear nights, at the beginning 
of the new moon, calling a light equal to that of full 
moon. See Gaffendi, in the Life of Peyrefc, book iii. and 
La Perere’s Account of Greenland. There is alfo long 
moonlight at the poles during winter. See the article 
Astronomy, vol. ii. But, though there is really more 
light in the polar regions than elfewhere, yet, owing to 
the obliquity with which the rays of the fun fall upon 
them, and the great length of the winter-night, the cold 
is fo intenfe} that thofe parts of the globe which lie near 
the poles have never been fully explored, though the 
attempt has been repeatedly made by the moft celebrated 
navigators. Indeed, their attempts have chiefly been con¬ 
fined to the northern regions ; for, with regard to the 
fouth pole, there is not the fame incitement to attempt 
it. The great objed for which navigators have ventured 
themfelves in thefe frozen feas, was to find out a more 
quick and more ready paffage to the Eaft Indies; and 
this has been attempted three feveral ways : one by coaft- 
ing along the northern parts of Europe and Afia, called 
the north-cajl paffage; another by failing round the north¬ 
ern part of the American continent, called the nurth-iveji 
paffage; and the third by failing diredly over the north pole 
itfelf. 
The public attention is now fo particularly drawn 
towards this fubjed, in confequeuce of the partial failure 
of the two expeditions which failed laft year, and the 
hopes that are entertained of the fuccefs of that which is 
now about to fail, that we are anxious to lay before the 
reader the beft information we can colled: upon the feveral 
attempts that have been made up to the prefent time. 
It is not our intention, however, to fpeak of the three 
different 
