Travels Through North America, v. 1-2

rtsmouth.-Plymouth.

join the corvette. On the 1st of May I went in the boat, accompanied by Captain Ryk and Lieutenant Lejeune, to Portsmouth. The sea ran very high, and the eight oarsmen made very little way against the swell. As we entered the

me, I spent the time in reading, writing, paying and receiving visits, and in strolling abou

hteen guns; sixty-five dismantled, with four thousand one hundred and forty-three guns, and eighteen building, whi

g match between two boys, which was conducted as a regular combat. As soon as one boy was down, his antagonist ceased to strike, and his second helped him up. One, however, did strike a blow while the other was down, whereupon several of the bystanders rushed upon the offender, held him fast, and gave him s

who is very generally esteemed, suffered considerably during the last Portuguese counter-revolution, and was kept prisoner for several days. During his stay at this place he has constantly had two honorary sentries, and an hour before his departure,

uced, and the officers are old in their grades. The officers also are mostly persons without influence, and enter the royal marines because unable to purchase rank in the army. The barracks for the soldiers did not altogether ple

right, who did the honours in a very friendly manner. I cannot sufficiently admire the neatness observed in this ship. They have an excellent mode of taking care of the rings, bolts, weapons, and other iron, brass, and copper utensils, on board of English ships of war. The forepart of the gun-deck is an extraordinary apartment, the iron implements are varnished, and the others polished

The injured planks had been removed, and at present she is entirely sound. The Nelson, Ganges, and all the recently built ships of the line have round sterns. All of them have the wood work necessary for their equipment, as for gun-carriages, &c. on board. In order to preserve this and the deck from the influence of the weather, a large roof is built over them. From the Nelson we went on board the r

y to the left, and our course was between the land and the Isle of Wight. Cowes with its beautiful gardens presented an agreeable sight, about a mile to the westward of which stands a castle called Egypt. It began to grow dark. We saw on the right hand the extremely bright lights of Hurst-castle, and on the left the light-house of the Needles, on the western extremity of the Isle of Wight, which I visited two years ago. The white rocks of the Needles were visible in the dark, and from the effects of frequent storms have an entirely peculiar appearance. As we passed this dangerous place, the win

eft of the breakwater, a dam intended to protect Plymouth road from the south-west storms, begun thirteen years ago, but not yet completed: we were gratified with the view of Mount Edgecumbe Park and Drake's Island, on which is a small for

an extraordinary degree of interest. He has served England for fifty-six years, and during the last war commanded for five years in the Eastern Ocean. His a

iron; a small opening allows air and light to enter, though very sparingly. The prisoners can walk daily for exercise in a corridor, twelve paces in length, by three in breadth: they have a miserable existence. We left this granite and marble abode of sorrow with very unpleasant impressions. Scarcely had we left it, when our eyes fell upon a monument, building upon a rock, which is to be a column one hundred and one feet high, commemorating the change of the name of the town, from Plymouth Dock to Devonport. This work did not dispel the disagreeable feeling caused by the prison. Not far distant from this monument stands a Gothic church,

and sixty-six guns; sixty-five in ordinary, with three thousand five hundred and twenty guns, and twenty-two bui

like lime-stone, which is so common here. A new magazine is rendered entirely fire-proof by this stone and iron; the different store-rooms being separated by iron doors, so that in case of fire it can be insulated. The rope-walk is a building two stories high, with walks two hundred yards long. All the ships, as in other English docks, are built under roofs, which are sometimes covered with slate, though mostly with copper. To my surprise, the water is pumped out of the dry docks by a horse-mill

ard the flag ship Britannia, and were received in a very friendly manner by Captain Pipon, who showed us the ship throughout: every thing was as admirable as in the shi

town the scene changes, the streets are all narrow and precipitous, badly paved, and without side-walks; the houses are badly built, and angular, and the sun cannot shine into the streets. The harbour that is forming at Catwater appears to be visited, and the bay presents a noble prospect. We passed by a road cut in the rock to the citadel, to visit the vice-governor, Major General Sir John Cameron; but he was sick. We wal

These vessels, which are built expressly for this service, can carry eighteen of the heaviest of these blocks; the lighter stones are carried in hired vessels. At the quarry we were received by the secretary of Mr. Whitby, who planned the breakwater, and at present superintends the work. A cave was discovered in the rock containing rhinoceros bones in good preservation, and some time after, another cavern was found containing the bones and teeth of bears. From the mount above the quarry, there is an extensive and exceedingly beautiful prospect. From this place we went to Bovisand-bay, where, under the direction of

inous a condition that we were nearly wrecked upon them. On this account we stood farther off, and went on board of the Thetis frigate to pay a visit to Sir John Phillimore. Sir John, in honour of our presence, displayed all his flags. The marines, with their officers, stood near the mizen-mast, and with the crew marched round the deck; some of the latter were armed with pikes, some with sabres, and others with battle-axes. I was delighted with the perfect orde

very good one, as the spreading of contagious diseases, or of a conflagration, can be so much more easily prevented. Each ward contains sixteen bedsteads, all of iron; the bedsteads for the officers are of wood, and furnished with curtains. There are also beds in the wards for the nurses, which, in all the English marine hospitals, are females, whose attendance is preferred for its greater gentleness to that of male assistants. The sick are brou

floor, so that the patients find it occasionally very troublesome to attend upon worship. A covered colonnade surrounds the quadrangular court-yard

s of baths, but with the greatest convenience. The superintendents, physicians, and officers, have their dwellings in front of the hospital, in a spacious place planted with trees. The commissioner at the head of the institution, is Captain Creyke, a pensioner, eighty years old, who first served at sea in 1759, and accompanied Commodore Wallis in his first voyage round the world. Before we left the hospital we took a glance at his beautifully situated and tastefully arranged house. We then visited

and externally resembles a state prison; we did not examine it internally. We saw the monument of Lady Mount Edgecumbe, who died in 1806, to whom the park is indebted for most of its improvements. It is told of her that she was twice buried; the first time she remained three days in a vault, lying in her coffin, and was aroused by a thief cutting off her finger to steal a ring: she left the grave, took refuge in a neighbouring house, made herself known, and was reconveyed to her castle, where she subsequently lived several years and gave birth to children. Relata refero. On the sea-shore, near the bridge that we passed two days since, Lord Mount Edgecumbe has erected a battery of twenty-one iron six pounders, which he fires upon

sixty years ago, and has a very large apartment in the basement. A very spacious vestibule leads to the library, in which are a number of splendid family portraits and pictures of some once celebrated actresses. The best picture is a portrait of Sir Joshua Reynolds, painted by himself. Four plaster columns resembling verd-antique are excellent imitations. From the library a small apartment opens into the picture gallery. In both rooms are several paintings by Carlo Dolce, Andrea Del Sarto, Teniers, Wouvermans, Ostade, Kuyp, Vandermeulen, &c. I cannot assert that all these are original paintings. In the parlour, ball-room, and dining-hall, there are also numerous pictures. Some of these are attributed to Angelica Kauffman, ot

laces in the vicinity, in company with the Admiral and Sir John

o polite as to inform the proprietor, Mr. Tucker, chief director of the neighbouring mines, whose son is an officer on board the Thetis, of our coming. On landing, we found a carriage sent by Mr. Tucker to meet and convey us to the castle. I obser

built a tasteful house, and, by removing part of the adjacent wall, has obtained a beautiful prospect from his dwelling, comprising a view of most of the Hamoaze with the shipping, Anthony's Park, Devonport, and part of Plymouth Sound. Mr. Tucker holds several important posts in the navy, and during Fox's ministry he was secretary to the admiralty. At the overthrow

y of Fulliford common. The mine is named St. Vincent, in honour of the deceased admiral, who was a great patron of Mr. Tucker. The mine has been but five years in progress, and produces so little that it sinks two hundred pounds per month for the stockholders. The vein of silver, whose presence is judged of certainly by iron-stone, is cut at right angles by a vein of copper. This copper they are breaking through in hopes of greater success. The mine has five shafts; the deepest is rather more than three hundred feet deep, and serves as a workin

hts; lime, one-quarter of an ounce; common salt, two ounces; pounded fluor spar, one-quarter of an ounce. The whole is thrown into a red hot iron crucible, which is placed on a glowing coke fire for five minutes. The crucible is then taken off and the melted mass poured into a ladle, al

on the walls numerous curiosities: ancient weapons, and implements from the South Sea Islands, the tatoed and dried head of a New Zealand chief, with his dress; pieces of worm-eaten ship-timber from the Indian Ocean, with one of the worms in spirits; Indian weapons; an American tomahawk; a human skull, found thirty feet under ground in Cornwall; a marble bullet, with which an English ship was struck in the Dardanelles, in 1807; articles from the field of Waterloo; and a weeping willow leaf from over Napoleon's tomb! Above the clock in this tower, is placed the bell of the Spanish ship Salvador del Mundo, taken and burnt by Lord St. Vincent. The round tower, of which only the outward wall is standing, formerly served for a pr

et 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

e Tamer, with five lovely and handsome daughters. His house is very tastefully arranged, and ornamented 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 beaut

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 sil

le on the stocks, and was pleased with her construction. She is intended to carry passengers. On the quarter-deck she has a parlour and two state-rooms, like the captain's quarters in a ship of the line, and below, the rooms are distributed, as in the wardroom of a ship of the line, with this difference, that in a transport ship the chambers are larger and neater than in a ship of war. In each

ring, the same person who in 1824 was arrested in France, on account of a pretended treasonable correspondence, and soon after liberated again, was commissioned to present this sword to the general in a solemn manner. It was on the 2d of June, when a numerous and selected company met at the Royal Hotel of Plymouth, to attend this ceremony. As the general was introduced to the company, Mr. Bowring informed the public of the object of the meeting, and praised the merits of the brave general. He then addressed the general in Spanish, informed him of the decision of the committee, and finally displayed the diploma which accompanied the sword: this was drawn up in Engl

for Falmouth, but bad weather and high head winds detained her

ey limestone, and the roofs are slated. It is not visible from the sea, as a hill intervenes, upon which the citadel stands. On the right side of the bay there is an old castle, called S

chronometer were both kept in hands during this salute. The frigate Astrea, commanded by Captain King, serves as a dep?t for all the packets, which sail hence to all parts of the world lying south and west of England, and are collectively under command of Captain King. The packets were formerly private property; the conveyance of the mail to foreign parts, was consequently not only very irregular, but a wide door was opened for smuggl

l, a large, tastefully-arranged building, though in a very filthy street. We were much annoyed by the fish-market, which was immediately opposite to us; in this we saw very large and fine fish, as well as enormous shrimps, which are here very cheap. We repaired to the Custom House, where I made the necessary arrangements relative to the land

r, built of granite and surrounded by a ditch, which was erected in the reign of Henry VIII. This tower, the original fortress, serves at present as the dwelling of the commander. It may be compared with the French tours modelés. From the pinnacle, a tolerably extensive prospect of the surrounding country may be obtained. The day on which I visited the fortress with several officers from the Pallas, was very favourable, and yet a fog on the hills, descended into the vale between the fortress and the city of Falmouth, so that some time elapsed before we could see the rocky shore of the sea. These fogs are said to appear very frequently, even

ich is three hundred and forty fathoms deep. The pumps are worked by means of steam-engines, the cylinder of one of which is seventy-six inches in diameter. We were told of an engine in the neighbourhood, whose cylinder was one hundred inches in diameter. Nearly eight hundred people work daily in the Dalcoath mines, whose wages are proportioned to the product of their labour. The ridge consists of granite and schist. The metals are copper and tin. The veins of these metals lie close together, frequently cross each other, and are so rich, that in general it yields a third of its weight in pure metal. The stone is broken and washed, and the copper separated from the tin, after which the ore is collected into heaps for sale. The breaking of the stone into small pieces is performed by women, some of whom were very handsome. I remarked also, that the ston

l ships from Wales, and vessels with grain from Ireland, principally visit this port. Cornwall is too hilly to allow the necessary grain to be raised, and the mines occupy so much space, and withdraw so many poo

minence not far from Redruth, we saw some ruins which are said to be the remains of a Druid temple. In the mines I observed a superstitious practice, which I find to prevail also in ships and farm houses; a horse-shoe is nailed over the door to keep off witches. When at Dalcoath, we found ourselves only a mile and a half distant from Bristol Channel, and saw St. Agnes' Beacon, a high mountain in the neighbourhood. We at last arrived at Tehidy Park, belonging to Lord Dunstanville; this is principally a

tone we came to a beautiful valley, where we saw trees again, and by means of a stone bridge we passed over Looe, a small stream, which at a short distance empties into the sea. As far as Marazion the region is agreeable; hilly indeed, but better cultivated. We approached the sea on the left; on the right we had the ridges, among which we discovered some neat farms. As we approached Marazion, which lies on a descent towards the sea, we enjoyed the really fine view of Mountbay and of St. Michael's Mount. In Marazion we stopped at the Star Inn, and immediately took a boat to reach the mountain, which is a short distance from the shore. The rock, which at low water joins the shore, consists of granite, is a mile in circumference at its base, and is two hundred and fifty feet high. At its foot there is a small fishing village of about thirty houses, with a harbour formed by two new piers. By means of very inconvenient steps which are cut out of the rock, we reached an

t my gallant friend, Sir John Phillimore. A steeple rises above the church of the castle, which I, however, did not ascend, being fatigued, and the steps in a neglected state. We rode back to Marazion, which was formerly called Marketzew, and has eleven hundred inhabitants, and passing by Helstone, we arrived about