364 
high hedges, that it 1s very rare that a 
peep into the next field can be obtained ; 
and the countryin general is fo fmother- 
ed with trees, woods, and tall hedges, 
that all views of any extent are com- 
pletely cut off... The buildings are, 
many of them, thatched, feveral have 
‘wooden walls, cither wholly compoied 
of boards, or of lath and plafter ; others: 
are conftruéted of bricks and tile, parti- 
cularly the late erected ones. The only 
ftones are flints. The theep are moftly of 
the Norfolk breed; the cattle are alfo 
fomew hat fimilar to thofe of that county; 
they are {mall, want horns, and are 
fpeckled with red and white; they are 
faid tobe excellent milchers. The land is 
well cultivated and kept in the neateft: 
p : 
order, as are the wardens, houles, &c. even 
hedges, by the fides'of roads, are lopped 
of their fuperflucus branches and pro- 
perly weeded; in fhort, every thing an- 
nounced my approach to the capital. 
CoicuésTErR ftands upon a-fort of 
hill. which falls at each end 3 it contains 
fixteen parith churches, and about eight 
thoufand inhabitants; is the grear tho- 
youghfare to London from the eaftern 
counties, and carries forward a manufac- 
ture of baize. The manufacture has de- 
clined much of late years, and much more 
fo fince the commencement of the prefent 
war. It was formerly furrounded with 
a wall, the ruins of which are fill vifible, 
but fo much is the prefent town dimi- 
-nifhed from its ancient bounds, that in 
fome places the remains of the walls ex- 
tend one or two hundred yards mto the 
fields. An old caftle is yet almoft en- 
tire. ‘The freets are tclerably wide, and 
remarkably ciean; and many of the 
houfes and fhops, particularly the latter, 
are extremely elegant.’ In {ome ftreets, 
towards the {kirts of the town, I obferv- 
ed grafs growing plentifully among the 
pavement which marks a declining po- 
puletion. Barracks were lately built 
on a good fituation near the town, but 
a fever, brought on fhore by the fol- 
diers, has Jately been very deftruéctive 
there ; it alfo fpread its ravages into the 
adjoining patt of the city, and proved 
equally fatal. I heard fimilar accounts 
along the whole-extent of the coaft, of 
the direful efeéts of that contagion. 
On July 7th, I paffed on from Colchef- 
ter to CHELMSFORD, in Fffex, twenty- 
two miles.—This diftriét refembles the 
jaft which I pafied, but is more garden- 
Jike ; indeed 1c is quite a paradife-—The 
foil is a clayey loam, witha mixture of 
Ainty gravel ; the farmers fowing turnips 
Englifh Tour.—Calchefler, &Sc....Peru. 
general fketch of Peru, without fearin 
* [Nov. 
in broad cat ; fome of them ufe the Nore 
folk wheel plough, and others the com- 
mon foot plough. Several feats appeared 
near the road, which united with the 
luxuriancy of vegetation, and the delight - 
ful fields, rendered this one of the moft 
pleafant parts of my tour. 
[To be continued.) 
— SS TL ea 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
ENER AL IDEA OF PERU. 
[Iranflated from El Mercurio Peruano, @ . 
Peruvian Fournal publifbed at Lima, 
the objelis, Sc. of which are deforibed in’ 
our Magazine for Oltover 1797+] 
HE principal objeé&t of our periodical 
Lis : 
ae 
paper is to convey-a better know-— 
ledge of the couatry we inhabit,—a 
country re{pe€ting which foreign writers 
have publiined fo many fictions and ab= 
furdities.s Among the Spanifh authors 
who have treatéd of Peru, the earlier 
ones either compiled the relations of their 
own adventures,’ or introduced into 
their hiftories and annals what tradition 
had handed down to them.. Of this 
ciafs are Garcilafo. Herrera, Zarate, Gil 
Gonzales, &c. as are alfo all thoie by 
whom they have been followed, if we 
except his excellency Don Ulloa; who, 
in the hiftory of his voyage to South 
America, has treated of the cuftoms, 
manners, and diverfions of the inha- 
bitants. This illuftrious author is the 
firft among the Spanifh writers, who, in 
defcribing thefe countries, has foared to 
the contemplation of man in his moral 
and phyfical relations. 
From fuch loofe materials as the above, 
arid from the flight informations which.a 
few traveilers have picked up ina cur- 
fory way, almoft ail the hiftories, reflec- 
tions, charts, geographical traéts, and 
compendiums, which have been publifh- 
ed refpeéting Peru onthe banks of the 
Seine and of the Thames, have been 
“compiled. The fpirit of fyftem, national 
prejudices, ignorance, and caprice, have 
by turns fo much influenced the greater 
part of thefe produétions, that the Peru 
which they defcribe to us, appears to be 
a country altegether different from the 
one with which we are practically ac- 
guainted. 
The confequence which we deduce 
from this expofition is, that we may 
without prefumption, fet out by giving 
to incur the imputation of plagiarifm; an 
with the certainty of furniihing more 
precife, and, at the fame time, more 
= 
M ¥el 

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