Catwater, which may be deemed the mouth of the river Plym. The entrance to the Catwater is defended by Mount Batten, on the south-east, and by Plymouth Citadel, on the north-west. Having crossed the Catwater, we enter a sort of creek or basin called Sutton Pool. Round this pool the town of Plymouth is built, and the pool may be deemed the trading port for Plymouth. We are now at the north part of Plymouth Sound; and, proceeding westward from Sutton Pool, a distance of a mile brings us to Mill Bay, another indentation of the Sound; and the whole shore from Sutton Pool to Mill Bay is occupied by a fine open parade called the Hoe. Mill Bay is separated from another arm of the sea, called Stonehouse Creek, by a long narrow neck of land, ending in a point of land called Devil's Point. A narrow strait, called Crimble or Cremil Passage, separates Devil's Point from Mount Edgecumbe, which brings us to the western side of Plymouth Sound. Mount Edgecumbe is a hill, with a private mansion on its brow, and is deemed one of the most lovely spots in England. At about an equal distance from the Hoe, Devil's Point, and Mount Edgecumbe, is a little island in the midst of the Sound, called Drake's Island. Passing from Mount Edgecumbe towards the south-west, we arrive at Cawsand Bay; and having crossed this, we gain Penlee Point at the western extremity of Plymouth Sound. We have thus skirted Plymouth Sound from the Mewstone to Penlee Point, a distance of about ten or twelve miles, without reckoning the indentations, creeks, &c. We have said that at the north-west corner of the Sound a strait, called Crimble Passage, separates Devil's Point from Mount Edgecumbe. This strait is the entrance to the Hamoaze, one of the finest royal harbours in England. On entering the Hamoaze the towns of Stonehouse, Devonport, and Stoke Damerel are seen on the right. Stonehouse occupies the neck of land which separates Mill Bay from Stonehouse Creek. Devonport is to the north-west of Stonehouse Creek, and occupies the most conspicuous part of the Hamoaze; and Stoke Damerel is situated to the north-east of Devonport. From a little village, forming a northern suburb of Devonport, and called Morice Town, is a ferry across a narrow part of the Hamoaze to Torpoint, on the Cornish side; and a succession of creeks lead round, in a tortuous line, from Torpoint to Mount Edgecumbe, the point from whence we started. We have now skirted Plymouth Sound and the Hamoaze, and noticed the relative positions of Plymouth and Devonport, both with regard to each other and to the surrounding objects. This will prepare us for a slight sketch of the rise and history of the two towns. Plymouth was anciently called Sutton (i.e. south town), but it appears to have been known by the name of Plymouth as long back as 1383. It is described by Leland as having been, in the reign of Henry the Second, a "mere thing as an inhabitation for fischars;" but by the year 1254, it had become of so much importance that a market was established here. The important position of Plymouth occasioned it to be often attacked by the French; and we read that it was assaulted five several times during the fourteenth century. The inhabitants, therefore, in the early part of the following century, petitioned for the means of defending their town from danger; they described Plymouth as a great port for the harbour of vessels. After waiting thirty years they obtained certain privileges, among which was the grant of a toll on all merchandize, to enable them to build walls and towers and other defences for the town. Leland visited Plymouth in the reign of Henry the Eighth, and from him we learn that "the mouth of the gulph where the shippes of Plymouth lyith is waullid on eche side, and chained over in tyme of necessitie; on the south-west side of the mouth is a block-house, and on a rocky hill hard-by it is a strong castle quadrate, having on each corner a great round tower. It seemeth to be no very old peace of worke." Before this period Plymouth had become of note, both as a town and as a port. It returned members to Parliament in the reign of Edward the First. Hawkins, Drake, and Gilbert, three celebrated navigators, were at different times among the members returned for Plymouth. The town received an act of incorporation in 1439; and even sixty years before this, the population is supposed to have amounted to | 10,000. Considered as a port, Plymouth was often a startingpoint for many naval expeditions. Edward the Black Prince sailed from thence, in 1355, on the successful expedition which terminated in the victory of Poictiers; and on his return, he landed at Plymouth, with the French king and the Dauphin as his prisoners. The Earls of Warwick, Clarence, Pembroke, and Oxford landed here with a force, during the troubles of the York and Lancaster factions. Catherine of Arragon landed here, on her arrival in England. The various exploratory and naval expeditions of Frobisher, Drake, Gilbert, Cumberland, Hawkins, Carlisle, Grenville, and Cavendish, sailed from Plymouth. In the reign of Henry the Eighth the inhabitants complained of the injury done to the harbour by the rubbish brought from the Cornish tin-mines and works. It was stated that at one time ships of 800 tons could enter the harbour at low water'; but that at the time the inhabitants made the complaint, ships of 100 tons could scarcely enter. In consequence of these representations, an act was passed in 1531, imposing heavy penalties on the proprietors of tinworks who neglected to comply with certain orders issued. It appears that this act was not productive of the desired effect; for another act was subsequently passed, to clear the harbour by other means.. The Spanish Armada appeared off Plymouth in 1588, when Don Medina, the Spanish Admiral, in the confidence of conquest, is said to have selected Mount Edgecombe for his future residence. The port of Plymouth equipped seven ships and one fly-boat against this formidable fleet, being a greater number than was furnished by any port except London. During the whole of the civil war Plymouth was in the hands of the Parliament, who retained it even at the time when all the rest of the west of England was in the possession of the royal forces. The town and the surrounding fortifications were commanded by the Earls of Ruthven and Stamford and Sir Alexander Carew. In September, 1643, Colonel Digby and the Royalists commenced a blockade at Plymouth; and a few weeks afterwards Prince Maurice advanced with his whole army, and laid formal siege to the town, taking up his positions at Plympton, Plymstock, Cawsand, and other places in the neighbourhood. Colonel James Wardlaw, the Governor of Plymouth, took possession of Drake's Island and the fort upon it, with the castle and magazine, then under the charge of the mayor, and entrusted them to approved parliamentary officers. All the inhabitants of the town were then required to take a vow and protestation to defend the towns of Plymouth and Stonehouse, the fort and the island, to the uttermost, and this protestation was sent up, and registered in parliament. After several attempts to gain the town, the Royalists were forced to raise the siege and to retire. On the following April hostilities recommenced, and a constant but unsuccessful series of attempts were made on the town by the Royalists. It was attacked by Sir Richard Grenville in April; again by the same officer a few days afterwards; a third time by him in July; by Prince Maurice soon after this; and by the king in person, September the 9th, 1644. The town refused to surrender to the king; and he therefore left it, and commanded Sir Richard Grenville to maintain a strict blockade. From September, 1644, till January, 1646, this blockade was continued, repeated attempts being made in the interim to gain possession of the town. But nothing could induce the townsmen to yield, and on the 10th of January they saw themselves relieved from the blockading army. During all these contests Drake's or St. Nicholas' Island, was always deemed an important part of the fortification of Plymouth. A chapel was early built on it: this was afterwards ordered to be fortified, for we meet, in the proceedings of the Privy Council, 1548, with a letter, the purport of which was to Marvelle of their (ie. the inhabitants of Plymouth) unwillingness to procede in the fortifyinge of St. Michaelle's chappelle to be made a bulwarke, and when they allege the pluckynge down of that chappelle to the foundacion, they were auswered, the same beinge made upp againe with a wall of turfe, should neither be of less efecte or strength, nor yet of such great coste as they intended, and therefore eftsones the lords desired them like good subjectes to goe in hande with that worke accordinglie, as they might thereby be esteemed that they tender the kinges Maties pleasure, and their owne sureties and defence chiefteste. From the time of the Restoration there were no historical events of any importance which need detain us, with respect to Plymouth. We shall therefore here quit this part of the subject; and in our next paper speak of the rise of the dock-yard on the eastern bank of the Hamoaze, and the consequent growth of the now important town of Devonport: we shall then be in a proper condition to understand the numerous Government establishments situated at Plymouth and Devonport. GARDEN HERBS. No. VI. Gerard spells it parsele, parsely, and parsley, and says it is "delightful to the taste, and agreeable to the stomacke." His description of the two species common in our gardens is so good that we adopt it: "The leaves of garden parsely are of a beautiful greene colour, consisting of many little ones, fastened together. divided most commonly in three parts, and also snipt round about the edges; the stalke is above one cubit high, slender, something chamfered, (channelled,) on the top whereof stand spoked rundles, bringing forth very fine little flowers, and afterwards small seeds, somewhat of a fiery taste: the root is long and white, and good to be eaten. There is another garden parsley, in taste and vertue like unto the precedent: the only difference is, that this plant bringeth forth leaves very admirably crisped or curled like fans of curled feathers, whence it is called Apium crispum sine multi fidum, curl'd parsely. It is sown in beds in gardens; it groweth both in hot and cold places, so that the ground be either by nature moist, or be often-times watered: for it prospereth in moist places, and is delighted with water, and therefore it naturally cometh up near to fountains and springs. Fuchsins writeth that it is found growing of itself in many fenny places in Germany. The leaves are very pleasant in sauces and broths." Parsley has a fusiform root, like that of the radish or carrot, and there is a variety of it, extensively cultivated in Holland, which has large roots, similar to those of the carrot, and which is brought to market in bundles for sale in the same manner as that vegetable. This species is largely used by the Dutch in their favourite dish, "water souche," being boiled with what are called Dutch plaice, or flounders. It is likewise considered to be of great service in dropsies, and many other complaints, and is therefore highly esteemed by the Dutch. The small smooth-leaved parsley, described by It is Gerard, was the first known in this country. now little cultivated; for the better flavour, as well as the more handsome appearance of the curled sort, has caused that species to be generally preferred. There is also another reason for banishing smoothleaved parsley from our gardens, which is its near resemblance to a poisonous weed, called fool's parsley, or lesser hemlock, (Ethusa cynapium,) frequently infesting our gardens and fields. So much do these plants resemble each other, that, were they growing THIS useful and well-known herb has a peculiarity together, they might be made use of indiscriminately, which distinguishes it from all other vegetables, and and produce much mischief. There is certainly a that is, the length of time which its seed requires to slight difference both in the form and colour of the remain in the ground before it shows any sign of leaf, but not sufficient to attract the notice of an unvegetation. It is observed that old seed comes up observant person, neither would the peculiar odour earlier than new; but it generally remains six weeks of the fool's parsley, which differs very much from in the ground before the young plants appear. The that of the true, be discovered when mixed with the seed does not begin to vegetate under forty or some- latter herb. There is no danger of the plants being times even fifty days. confounded when they are in blossom; for any one who has noticed the flowers of both will be readily struck with the singular appendage to the blossom of the fool's parsley, as being altogether different to that of the cultivated sort. Under every partial umbel of blossoms in the fool's parsley hang three long, narrow, sharp-pointed leaflets, commonly termed the beard, which have a very curious appearance, and present a great contrast to the delicate involucrum of the true parsley, which consists of a few short leaflets, as fine as hairs. This plant is biennial, or of two years' continuance, and is very hardy, easily resisting cold and heat. It is said to be a native of Sardinia, and to have been introduced from thence about the middle of the sixteenth century; but this account seems to be disproved by Pliny's description of Sardinia parsley, which he states to be of venomous quality. However this may be, parsley is now so completely naturalized in various parts of England and Scotland as to excite a doubt whether it may not be indigenous to our soil. This plant was not unknown to the Greeks, but is said to have received its distinctive name (petroselinum) from Dioscorides, on account of its supposed medicinal qualities. The Romans esteemed it highly for culinary purposes; for Pliny tells us that it was in great request with all classes of people, who took it in large bunches in their pottage; and that there was not a salad or sauce sent to table without it; and that all persons were pleased to have their meat forced with this herb. Ancient authors tell us, that when fish became sickly in ponds or stews, it was a common practice to throw parsley into the water, which greatly revived them. This herb is also prescribed as an excellent remedy for the rot in sheep, provided they are fed with it twice a week, for two or three hours each time. This specific has been tried in Hampshire and in Buckinghamshire, with some success, and large quantities of the herb have been raised for the purpose at different times. Its culture was recommended and encouraged some years ago by the society for the encouragement of arts. The fondness of hares and rabbits for parsley, however, and the invitation which is held out to them to visit and overrun the farms where this herb is extensively grown, seems to be an obstacle to its general cultivation. In addition to the virtues which this herb is said to possess in curing several of the diseases with which sheep are visited, it also adds to their value, by improving the flavour of the mutton. The medicinal uses of parsley are not many. Like most other herbs, its qualities were either exaggerated by ancient writers, or the more simple way of living in former times rendered these humble remedies more efficacious than we find them to be at present. A decoction of the leaves is said to be a good sudorific; the seeds are commended as carminative and diuretic; the root, as aperient. Tragus states that the seeds, steeped in white-wine, with anise and carraway seeds, and boiled with an equal weight of the roots, are good for the dropsy, the jaundice, and other complaints. The distilled water of parsley partakes of the virtues of the plant, and contains a small portion of essential oil. Parsley is sown early in the spring, and generally in drills round the borders of the kitchen garden. By taking care that only a third part of the crop shall be cut at one time, a succession may be kept up, and the parsley will be the stronger and better for every cutting, and more capable of resisting severe weather, than if allowed to remain from a summer's growth. The better way, however, to get a supply all the year round is to prepare a bed in good clean ground, and sow the parsley in drills, in the usual manner, keeping it cut in succession as it is required, and when severe frost sets in, covering the bed with straw or peas-haulm till after the thaw takes place. By taking this precaution, we may obtain fresh growing parsley at any period of the year, and have our soups flavoured, and our cold meats garnished as usual with this much-admired herb. When the crop of parsley has failed, either from the severity of the weather, or some other cause, it will be convenient to have a resource in the dried form. This herb cannot be dried in the same way as others; but it may be made brittle by being placed in a tinned roasting-screen close to a large fire, when it should be rubbed fine, and put in glass bottles for use. Parsley should be largely used where onions are employed in seasoning, as it helps to qualify both the smell and taste of that strong root. SPREAD OF BRITISH MANUFACTURES. I MAY note a remarkable fact, to show how much we and the Afghans are mutually interested in making the Indus a cheap channel of trade. Syud Keramut Ali, in 1834, got from merchants with whom he was intimate, musters of all the manufactured "Russian goods" imported via Bokhara, and were then selling at the usual good profit in the Cabhul, bazaar. I lately gave a set of these to a gentleman interested in our trade with the East, when he ascertained from an experienced merchant, to whom they were forwarded, that more than two-thirds of them were of Glasgow and Manchester make.-CONOLLY's Journey to the North of India. AURORA. O'ER yon beetling cliffs afar 'Tis the mild and soothing hour When, their downy slumber breaking, (Ere the world resumes its power,) Health and Innocence are waking: gem Yes, when lovely flowrets bending, O er her couch of purple heather, Now, she links them all together: While her light and trembling pinion Where are Guilt, and Pride, and Power, -Guilt has slunk to sleepless bed; REV. T. A. HOLLAND, THE pith of conversation does not consist in exhibiting your own superior knowledge on matters of small importance, but in enlarging, improving, and correcting the information you possess, by the authority of others.-SCOTT. If you do good with pain, says Saint Chrysostom, the pain He mourns the dead who lives as they desire. flies off and the good remains. THE voluptuary confesses that, were it not for the fear of being laughed at, it were worth while, even on the score of pleasure, to be virtuous. If it is dangerous to be convinced, it is dangerous to listen. LONDON: JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY P PRICE SIXPENCE. Sold by all Booksellers and Newsvenders in the Kingdom, . 'TWAS a fair scene wherein they stood, And in the midst an aged Banian grew. For o'er the lawn, irregularly spread, THE BANIAN-TREE. Straight, like a plummet, grew towards the ground, Of gentle motion swung; Others, of younger growth, unmov'd were hung Nor weeds nor briers deform'd the natural floor; So like a temple did it seem, that there A pious heart's first impulse would be prayer.-SOUTHEY. THE Banian-tree, one of the most beautiful productions of the vegetable kingdom, is known botanically by the name of Ficus Indica, or the Indian fig-tree. It is a native of most parts of India, both on the mainland and also on the islands; but it appears to exist in the greatest perfection about the villages in the Circar mountains. The botanical features of the tree are chiefly these:-The leaves are ovate, heart-shaped, three-ribbed, and entire; when young, downy on both sides, but much smoother when aged: they are from five to six inches long, and from three to four broad; and at the top of the leaf-stalk, on the under side, is a broad smooth gland. The fruit of the tree (figs), when ripe, grow in pairs from the axils of the leaves; they are VOL. XVII. downy, and about the size and colour of a middlesized red cherry. The wood of the tree is white, light, porous, and of but little value. But one of the chief characteristics of the baniantree, and one which draws towards it the attention and admiration of most travellers in the East, is the stupendous size which it attains. Roxburgh tells us that he has seen a banian-tree full five hundred yards round the circumference of the branches, and a hundred feet high, the principal trunk being more than twenty-five feet high beneath the branches, and eight or nine feet in diameter. Mr. Hodges, in his Travels in India, says : At the entrance to the town of Banglepoor, I made a drawing of a banian-tree. This is one of those curious productions in nature which cannot fail to excite the attention of the traveller. The branches of this tree, having shoots become the parents of others. These trees in many instances depending from them, and taking root again, produce, and cover such an extent of ground, that hundreds of people may take shelter under one of them from the scorching ravs of the sun. The boughs of the banian-tree grow horizontally from the stem, and extend so far that, in the ordinary process of nature, they would be unable to support themselves. To supply this support, small fibrous shoots fall perpendicularly from them, and take root as soon as they reach the ground, thus propping the parent bough; while the lateral branches continue to throw out new sprouts, from which other fibres drop, until, in the course of years, one tree forms by itself a sort of little forest. The perpendicular stems 517 put forth no shoots, and vary in circumference from a few inches to eight or ten feet. Before they reach the ground they are very flexible and seem to dangle from the parent boughs like short thick thougs. The Author of the Oriental Annual speaks of a banian-tree which he saw under very remarkable circumstances. A piece of sculpture had been originally fixed under the shadow of this tree. Around this the tree had twisted its strong and sinewy arms, lifted it completely from the pedestal, and carried it up in its growth, throwing round it a frame formed by its own picturesque and convoluted branches; thus rendering it a natural curiosity well worth beholding. Another banian-tree which the same writer, in com. pany with Mr. Daniell, met with, had two stems of nearly equal circumference, forming a junction at the root with two large arms branching laterally from them. From these arms numerous strong fib res depended; and there are also horizontal shoots thrown out in all directions, and covering a very large space with thick and verdant foliage. This tree afforded daily shelter to men and cattle, to pilgrims and travellers, who at times congregated in great numbers beneath its branches. It appeared to be in the full vigour of its maturity, as no part of it had begun to decay. Mr. Cordiner has also borne witness to the beauty of the banian-tree, and has, in his account of Ceylon, given many interesting details concerning it. He says that a full-grown leaf of the tree is five inches long, three and a half broad, and has a foot-stalk upwards of one inch in length: they grow alternately on each side of the branches, but not opposite to one another. The substance of the figs which form the fruit consists of a great number of seeds of diminutive size. These figs grow without any stalks, adhering closely, in alternate positions, all around the smaller branches. They afford food for monkeys, and for a variety of the feathered race; but they are not sweet to the taste, and are scarcely ever eaten by the natives. The perpendicular stems, which we have before said drop from the broad horizontal arms, are covered with bark having a silvery appearance. They put forth no shoots; and when they first leave the tree they are of a brownish hue, as flexible as hemp, and wave in the air like ropes. After entering the earth they become stationary, and are to be found of various ages about the same tree. As they at first draw their nourishment from the tree, it is probable that they afterwards help to supply sap to the old parent stem. The following description of a tree which Mr. Cordiner saw shows it to have been fully equal to those of which we have before spoken: Round the tree is a circle of low brickwork, ninety feet in diameter. The parent trunk measures twenty-eight feet in circumference, and is of a light-brown colour. The tree has no appearance of decay, but seems flourishing, in the prime of life, in full vigour. Thirty-seven descended stems are firmly rooted in the ground, and a considerable number of small fibres appear like loose ropes waving in the wind. Of the former, some measure only two inches and a half, others eleven feet in circumference; and they have descended from the height of from thirty to fifty feet. Immediately on the fibres reaching the ground, the gardener surrounds them with a hillock of earth, which at once gives them firmness, and assists their growth. The only thing to be regretted in the situation of this tree is that other trees surround it so closely, that it cannot be seen perfectly at one view. Four avenues lead to it in the form of a cross, and there is plenty of room to walk round it in all directions; but when the whole of the tree can be seen, the spectator is too near to make a full drawing of it, or to enjoy completely the magnificence which it exhibits. Lord and Lady William Bentinck, soon after their arrival at Madras in 1803, visited this tree, and were entertained by the Armenian pro- The fig tree, not that kind for fruit renowned, The banian-tree has been sometimes confounded with another species of the fig-tree, the Ficus religiosa. The latter has obtained its name from the religious veneration in which it is held by the Hindoos, on the ground that their God, Vishnu, is fabled to have been born under its branches. The Ficus religiosa, (called by the Hindoos the pippul-tree,) is much cultivated near dwellings, for the sake of the agreeable shade which its wide-spreading branches afford. The leaves are used by the Arabs for tanning leather; and they are preferred by the silk-worm before all other kinds of food, except the mulberry-leaf. DOMESDAY BOOK. DOMESDAY BOOK is perhaps the most remarkable literary work existing in England, whether we regard the date at which it was written, or the nature of its contents. Domesday Book consists of two volumes, which are deposited, among some other records of the Exchequer in the Chapter House at Westminster, and preserved with great care and circumspection. The volumes are of unequal size. The larger one is a folio, containing 382 double pages of vellum, on each of which are two columns fairly written in a small character, but very neat and distinct. The smaller volume is in quarto, and consists of 450 double pages of vellum, with only one column on each page. The hand writing in this volume is larger and stronger than in the other, the descriptions more minute, and the erasures not so numerous: it is likewise in better preservation, and less soiled, probably owing to its having been less the object of curiosity or consultation. Both the volumes are bound up in thick wooden covers, secured with plates of brass. So much for the volumes themselves: now for their contents. Domesday Book was a register, ordered to be prepared by William the Conqueror, of all the possessions in England,-their extent, value, owners' names, &c. The first volume contains a sort of topographical description of thirty-one counties; the other volume contains three more; the northern counties of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham, being only partially described. This description or survey was, for the time when it was made, exceedingly minute and exact. It contains an account of the subdivisions of the counties, under the old names of wapentakes, rapes, laths, hundreds, &c.: an account of cities, towns, villas, boroughs, manors, castles, &c., with the quantity of ground belonging to each manor, designated by the now almost obsolete names of measure, hides, carucates, virgates, half-hides, bovates, ox-gangs, leucæ, quarantenæ, &c :-the value of each manor, 1st, in the time of Edward the Confessor, 2nd, when William gained the throne, 3rd, at the time of making the Domesday survey :what and how much arable land, pasture, meadow and wood land there was; how many men occupied each estate, and of what condition they were, whether |