626 
the-outside of the fort he built a palace, 
and resided in it three years. On the 
invasion by General Matthews, the com- 
mandant of the fort, by way of showing 
an inclination to make an obstinate de- 
fence, burnt the palace; and the whole 
town shared the same fate, during an 
engagement which took place on Tippoo's 
coming up with his army. It is com- 
monly reported by our officers, that Ge- 
neral Matthews was surprized; and in- 
deed, from his infatuated conduct, that 
would appear to have .been the case; 
yet the people here say, that he had 
given them eight days previous notice of 
the probability of a siege, and of con- 
sequence they lost little more than their 
houses, as they had time to remove all 
their valuable effects. The palace was 
rebuilt by Tippoo, elated with the vic- 
tory of which he made so cruel a use. 
But in the short time that has since in- 
tervened, it is now almost a ruin; for it 
is built entirely of mud and timber, and 
on these materials the excessive rains of 
this climate have so strong an effect, 
that, without a very complete repair once 
in three or four vears, no building of this 
kind will stand for any length of time. 
Tippoo also re-established the mint and 
arsenal, and recalled the people; but a 
great many of them did not return, be- 
ing under suspense for the event of the 
siege of Mangalore.” 
An Appendix contains, the report of 
the productions, commerce, and manu- 
factures of the southern districts in Mal- 
leam (Malayalam) framed by the resident 
at Calicut, agreeably to the instructions 
of the commissioners appointed to in- 
spect the countries ceded by Tippoo 
Sultan on the Malabar coast, comprised 
under three heads. 
The work is also accompanied by a 
map, explanatory of the author’s route, 
aud a great number of engravings. 
Among the latter are some beautiiul 
portraits of the Mysore princes, from 
drawings in the possession of the Mar- 
quis Wellesley. 
AGRICULTURE. 
Atnong the more easy and convenient 
vehicles of knowledge upon this subject, 
we place The County Reports, pub- 
lished under the superintendence of the 
Board of Agriculture, several of which 
have appeared within the last half-year. 
' One of the most able and elaborate 
of them occurs in the “ General View of 
the £griculture of the County of Essex, 
in two volumes, by the SrcrErany of 
the Boar; in which many useful obsei- 
Retrospect of Domesite Literature—Agriculture, Ke. 
vations and descriptions will be found 
for the farmers of other districts, where 
improvement has made a slower pro- 
gress. 
The “ General View of Gloucester- 
shore,” by the Rev. Mr. Rupes, is ac- 
companied, among other plates, by a 
map of the soil, and a plan of the Thames 
and Severn Canal Navigation. 
Another of thesé valuable publications 
is the “View of the Agriculture of De- 
von,” by Mr. Vancouver, who surveyed 
Cambridgeshire and Essex some years 
back. ; 
But the latest of all is the “ View of 
Cheshire,” by Mr. Houtanp; which, be- 
side a clear and comprehensive view of 
the statistics and agriculture of the dis- 
trict, contains a curious and circumstan- 
tial detail of the natural history and ma- 
nufacture of salt, no very satisfactory 
account of the present state of which had 
hitherto been published. A general view 
of the soils in the several districts sur- 
veyed is exhibitec in a coloured map 
prefixed, in which blue denotes clay or 
clayey loam; yellow, sand or sandy loam; 
and red, heath, peat, moss, or marsh. 
Among the plates also we have a map of 
the minerals of Cheshire; a section of 
the strata sunk through to the second - 
bed of rock-salt at Witton, near North- 
wich; and a view of the roofing of a 
rock salt-pit. 
NATURAL HISTROY, MINERALOGY, &c. 
The most prominent, as well as the 
most valuable work in this class, has ap- 
peared in the first volume of “A Hostory 
of Mountains, Geographical and Minera-. 
logical,” by Mr. Witson; “ accompanied 
by a Pictaresque View of the principal 
Mountains of the World, in their respec- 
tive Proportions of Height abeve the Level 
of the Sea,” by Mr. R. A. Rrppetn. The 
elevation of mountains has by some been 
deemed a subject of mere curiosity, or 
as one to which it was impossible to give 
the requisite precision. But, in the pree 
sent advanced state of physical science, 
the author observes, it can scarcely be 
necessary to refute so erroneous an idea; 
for the consistency and truth of the va~ 
rious systems which have been framed 
relative to the structure of the earth, the 
composition of the atmosphere, and the 
different phenomena which continue to 
perplex the natural historian, are all hke- 
ly to receive material elucidation, by de- 
lineating on one common scale of. pro- 
portion those majestic and immoveable 
features of nature, which are so singu- 
larly accommodated to thie Per: of 
; res their 
