ing per annum. 1831 was 10,130.

The population of Londonderry in The city of Armagh, situated in an inland part of the country, is of considerable local importance. It is placed in the midst of a rich and beautiful district, the face of which is singularly varied by detached hills, some of which are more than a thousand feet in height. This character of country stretches from Lough Neagh in the north, to the north-western part of the county of Meath in the south, and is well watered by lakes and streams, and, generally speaking, richly furnished with wood. The city stands on a hill, which is crowned by the old cathedral, around which the town has gradually arisen. Within these few years, several handsome buildings have been erected, with cut stone fronts-the Court-house, the Jail, the Presbyterian Church, Primate Stewart's Free School, founded and liberally endowed by him, and well carried on; the National School, and the Savings' Bank. The Cathedral has been re-edified within these five years, at an expense exceeding £30,000, in the pointed Gothic style, for the most part in very good taste; the organ is a remarkably fine one, and the choir excellent. The roads, in all directions, are admirable; and in the laying out of the new ones, they are carried round instead of over the hills. There is water-carriage from both Belfast and Newry by lake and canal, to within four miles of the city; the streets have flagged footways, and are well lighted with gas. About forty years since, the population was only 1000. It now amounts to 13,000. The Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of all Ireland, resides close to the town, as do also a large number of clergymen attached to the Cathedral, as well as many respectable gentry. Near Armagh stands the Observatory, built and endowed by Primate Robinson, whose munificence greatly contributed to the advance of science and improvement of the whole dio

CONNAUGHT, the smallest of the four provinces, contains but five counties, those of Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Sligo, and Galway. There are in this province large tracts of mountainous and sterile land, especially in the western parts of the counties of Galway and Mayo. The peninsula formed by the western part of the first of these counties is named Connemara, and is famed for its scenery, which somewhat resembles that of Argyllshire. It may be described as a vast tract of mingled bog, lake, rocky moorland, and mountain, bounded and partially penetrated by deep inlets of the sea, resembling the fiords of Norway. The principal lake is Lough Corrib, which is twenty miles long, full of islands, and surrounded by an extensive rocky desert, bearing no small resemblance to those of Arabia. Between this lake and the western extremity of Connemara, there is a range of tall swelling green hills, called the Twelve Pins of Bunabola, and to the north of these is an estuary famed for its wild scenery, named the Killery, many miles in length, and connected with the Atlantic by a passage only thirty feet wide. Connemara contains a small, scattered, and primitive population, unusually full of superstitious and old feudal feelings. Besides Clifden, a modern fishing-village on the west coast, there is scarcely any such seat of population in the district. There are, however, a few homely inns for the accommodation of the numerous tourists who flock thither in summer.

From the high grounds near Westport, is obtained a view of Clew Bay, a magnificent sheet of almost enclosed water, full of islands, and bounded by lofty mountains, among which the most conspicuous are Croagh, Patrick, and Nephin. The islands of Clare and Achill bound the scene towards the west. In some states of the

weather, and particularly when summer sun is calmly descending on Clare, the view of Clew Bay is one of extraordinary beauty. The islands are said by the com mon people to be as numerous as the days in a year, but in reality are only about a hundred. Croagh Patrick is regarded with superstitious feelings by the peasantry, as the spot where their tutelary saint was accustomed to preach.

Amidst the great tracts of wild ground in Connaught, there are a few other spots of an unusually attractive character. The scenery round Lough Allen, out of which the Shannon flows, is extremely pretty, as is also that near Boyle, at the foot of the Curlew Mountains. At Lough Gill, near Sligo, a lake bearing a strong resemblance to the upper lake of Killarney, and the little bay of Ardnaglass, into which falls the cataract of Ballysedare, are scenes of peculiar beauty. Much of the surface of Galway is flat, showing, for twenty miles together, a succession of narrow limestone rocks, like parapet walls of three feet high, placed in parallels to each other, at distances of from three to ten feet; the intermediate spaces, though apparently but a waste of rock and stone, supply the finest sheep pasture in the kingdom.

The great central limestone district of Ireland occupies the southern portion of this province, which, to the eye, forms an exception to the general character of limestone countries, appearing so exceedingly barren, that, in passing over tracts of Galway and Mayo, the traveller almost doubts whether he is not journeying over a great cemetery covered with tombstones, rather than over places where the sheep could find pasture or the peasant plant potatoes. There are, however, some exceptions to this prevailing sterility, for nowhere are finer sheep-walks found than in some parts even of the southern counties of Connaught. The tillage of this province is principally confined to oats and potatoes, as best suited to the shallow mountain bog-soil, which so largely prevails in the western baronies. The extreme moisture of the climate is so inimical to the growth of wheat, that, except in a few parts of Galway, Connaught cannot be said to grow its own bread corn. There is a great export of oats and potatoes from the ports of Galway, Westport, and Sligo. With regard to husbandry, though it certainly is improving, it is yet much inferior to that of the other provinces. The landholders pride themselves on the breed of long-woolled sheep, their great source of wealth; and the celebrated Fair of Ballinasloe, where from 80,000 to 100,000 are usually sold, year after year exhibits an improvement in this branch of rural economy. Horned cattle, and horses, especially hunters, are also bred extensively in Galway. What has been said of Munster applies in a still more aggravated degree to Connaught. The property of an absentee landlord is usually divided into portions ruinously small; and if the proprietors do not quickly interfere, deplorable consequences must result from the subdivision system. The grazing farms are let in large portions, which it is the policy of the farmer not to diminish. Rents vary from £1 to £1, 10s. an acre, except in the vicinity of towns, where they rise to £2 and £3; and wages are from 10d. to Is. a day in summer, and from 8d. to 10d. in winter.

There have been many attempts to introduce the linen manufacture into Connaught, and markets for its sale were established in Sligo, Castlebar, Westport, and Galway; but though it thrives to an extent sufficient to supply the rural population, there is reason to believe that little if any linen is exported from the province. There is, from the ports above mentioned, a pretty large export, of oats, whisky, and potatoes.

The peasantry in Connaught are as poor as poverty can be without amounting to destitution; and, except in the mountain districts, their situation is daily becoming worse-so much so, that poverty, in times of scarcity, which on an average occur about once in seven years,

The statement above mentioned of the imports into Liverpool occasioned considerable surprise at the time it was made, from the greatness of its amount; but it would appear that this branch of trade has since gone on increasing in a most extraordinary degree, as will be seen from the following account of the number and value of live animals brought from Ireland to Liverpool in the year 1837:

84.710 Black Cattle, at £16 each,

£1,365,360

314,851

64.885 1.303,734 1,692.1-9

316 Calves,

225.050 Sheep,

24.669 Lambs,

595,422 Pigs, 3,414 Horses, 319 Mules,

The average value here assigned to the several kinds of animals, is given on the authority of an intelligent gentleman resident at Liverpool, and who is practically acquainted with the trade.

The value in money, of one seemingly unimportant article, eggs, taken in the course of the year to the above two ports from Ireland, amounts to at least £100,000. The progress of this trade affords a curious illustration of the advantage of commercial facilities in stimulating production and equalizing prices. Before the establishment of steam-vessels, the market at Cork was most irregularly supplied with eggs from the surrounding district; at certain seasons they were exceedingly abundant and cheap, but these seasons were sure to be followed by periods of scarcity and high prices, and at times it is said to have been difficult to purchase eggs at any price in the market. At the first opening of the improved channel for conveyance to England, the residents at Cork had to complain of the constant high price of this and other articles of farm-produce; but as a more extensive market was now permanently open to. them, the farmers gave their attention to the rearing and keeping of poultry, and, at the present time, eggs are procurable at all seasons in the market at Cork, not, it is true, at the extremely low rate at which they could formerly be sometimes bought, but still at much less than the average price of the year: a like result has followed the introduction of this great improvement in regard to the supply and cost of various other articles of produce. In the apparently unimportant article feathers, it may be stated, on the respectable authority above quoted, that the yearly importation into England from Ireland reaches the amount of £500,000.

When, some years ago, it was determined to cease keeping any official record of the commercial intercourse between Great Britain and Ireland, an exception was made as regards grain and flour, that trade being of great personal interest to our legislators. The following statement exhibits the quantities of those kinds of

In the absence of all further custom-house records, the following table of the number and tonnage of vessels in which the trading intercourse with Ireland has been carried on during each year of the present century, will afford a pretty correct view of its amount and progress. If we compare the tonnage employed in 1801 with that of 1836, we shall find that they bear the proportion of 257 to 100, showing an increase of 157 per much more rapid during the last ten years in which steam-vessels have been so much brought into use, than the increase from 1801 was no more than 62 per cent., it was in the preceding years of the series. Up to 1826, showing a mean annual increase of 23 per cent.; whereas, in the ten years following 1826, the increase has been 95 per cent., or 94 per cent. annually.

cent. It will further be seen that this increase has been

VOL. II-85

3 L

FROM one cause or another, emigration is a subject of considerable interest to the British public, and for some years has been practised upon a large scale. It is not necessary here to discuss these causes, but it may be allowable to present an account of the various countries chiefly resorted to by British emigrants, such as may be useful to persons contemplating a change of country, and at the same time convey to those who remain some knowledge of the regions to which so many of their friends and fellow-countrymen have removed. In drawing up these accounts, we are animated by an extreme desire to be correct and faithful, so that no one shall be unduly persuaded or dissuaded with respect to so important a step as that of emigration. If, therefore, any error should find its way into our pages, it must be attributed to unfaithfulness in the original reporters, or to our imperfect handling of the subject, and to no other

cause.

There are three regions of the earth to which the attention of emigrants is chiefly directed, namely, Canada and the other British possessions in North America; the United States, which many prefer, and which hold out similar advantages; and the British colonies in Australia, Van Diemen's Land, and New Zealand. At present our attention will be confined to Canada and the other British American possessions.

CANADA.-GENERAL DESCRIPTION.

North America, of which Canada is a part, lies at the distance of 3000 miles west from Great Britain, on the opposite shore of the Atlantic Ocean. This vast continent is much larger than Europe, measuring 4376 miles in length from north to south, and 3000 miles across from east to west. As yet, only a portion of the territory, measuring a few hundred miles back from the coast of the Atlantic, has been sottled by people of European descent. Excepting in a few districts, the remainder of the continent is possessed only by a thin and scattered population of Aborigines. The southern and tropical part of North America is composed of the republics of Guatemala and Mexico; the most tenperate portion (from the 30th parallel of latitude to about the 43d) forins the republic of the United States. The more northerly part, with some islands, is in the possession of Great Britain, and comprehends the provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Cape Breton, St. John's or Prince Edward Island, &c. The ine of division betwixt the British possessions and the United States is either the River St. Lawrence and the lakes from whence it proceeds, or an ideal and mutually arranged boundary. Canada is bounded on the east by the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Labrador; on the north by the territories of Hudson's Bay; on the west by the Pacific Ocean; on the south by Indian countries, parts of the United States, and New Brunswick.. Canada, until a recent period, was divided into two provinces, the Upper and Lower, each of which had its own local governinent; but by a recent act of the Imperial Parliament, the two provinces are united under one general Legislative Council and House of Assembly, two bodies respectively resembling the Houses of Peers and Commous in the mother country, and whose measures require the consent of the governor, as the acts of the home Parliament require that of the sovereign. The affairs of this, as of all other colonies, are subject to an ultimate

control, vested immediately in a colonial minister, but finally in the British legislature. In Lower or Eastern Canada, the greater part of the population is of French descent (this having originally been a French colony): the laws resemble those of France, and the French language is generally spoken. Upper or Western Canada lies to the west and south-west of the lower province. Its inhabitants are of British descent, and a very great number of them are from Scotland, both Lowlands and Highlands. The English law and church are here established; but there is the most perfect liberty of conscience, and as great a security of life and property as even in Scotland or England. Western Canada is divided into districts, counties, ridings, townships, special tracts, and allotments, together with blocks of land reserved for the clergy and the crown, and lands appropriated to the Indians. A district contains one, two, or three counties, and each county contains from four to thirty townships. There are 18 districts, 26 counties, and 6 ridings, comprising together 273 townships. The line of division betwixt Western and Eastern Canada is in one part the Ottawa or Grand River. Nearly all the other lines of division in the provinces are straight; without regard to physical distinction, such as hills and rivers; and this peculiarity is common over the whole of North America. The entire area of Upper Canada has been estimated at 64,000,000 acres. Of this extent of territory, the portion laid out in townships, and open for settlement, amounts to nearly 17,000,000 acres, the size of each township averaging 61,600 acres. Deducting the quantities granted to different classes of settlers, and otherwise disposed of by the crown, there yet remains within the townships, at the disposal of government, about 3,000,000 acres. This tract of country, chiefly bordering the north shore of the River St. Lawrence, and of the Lakes Ontario, Erie, and St. Clair, and of the rivers or straits communicating between these lakes up to Lake Huron, a distance in all little short of 700 miles, and stretching northward from the water to a depth varying from 50 to 80 miles, is composed of a soil which, for productive richness, variety, and applicability to the highest purposes of agriculture, may challenge competition with the choicest tracts of land in the New World.

Western Canada is chiefly a flat country, and is for the greater part covered with timber, but possesses a number of chains or ridges of high lands, running in different directions, and separating the sources and channels of innumerable rivers and brooks. The higher and level districts are called Table Lands. The grand feature of the country is, its water-courses. By looking at the map, it will be perceived that there is a series of larg lakes, communicating with each other; these are uncqualled by any inland sheets of water in the world. and are entitled to the appellation of fresh-water seas, for they are not only of great extent, but are liable to be affected by storms like the ocean itself. The uppermost, called Lake Superior, is 381 miles long, and 161 broad; Huron, 218 miles long, and from 60 to 180 broad; Erie, 231 miles long, and about 70 in breadth; Ontario, 171 miles in length, and 60 in breadth. The waters of Lake Erie, on issuing from its lower extremity, form a river of above 30 miles in length, and varying from three miles to a quarter of a mile in breadth, which in its course is precipitated over a precipice t a depth of 165 feet, thus

making the famed cataract or Falls of Niagara. The river is, at the distance of a few miles below, received by Lake Ontario, whence issues the River St. Lawrence, one of the largest streams in the world, and which, after a course of above 2000 miles from its head waters above Lake Superior, falls into the Atlantic. This majestic river, which is 90 miles wide at its mouth, and for some distance inwards, varying from 60 to 24 miles, is navigabie for ships of the line for 400 miles from the ocean. In its upper parts above Montreal, which, next to Quebec, is the chief port for ocean vessels, its navigation is impeded by rapids, or the rushing of the stream down an inclined plane. But these impediments are obviated

by means of canals recently cut; wherefore there is now a continued water communication for vessels from the Atlantic up into the interior, so far as the foot of Lake Superior, where a series of rapids impede the entrance into that lake, and only requiring a short canal of about half a mile to complete the vast chain of inland navigation. The Welland Canal, a magnificent undertaking, connects Lakes Erie and Ontario, and affords a passage for vessels of large size. Lake Erie is also connected by a canal with the Hudson, a river of the United States which also falls into the Atlantic. The River Ottawa is next to the St. Lawrence in point of size, and is tribu tary to it. It falls into the north side of the St. Law rence, near Montreal. The Grand River, formerly known as the Ouse, which falls into Lake Erie near its lower extremity is a very fine and deep stream for some miles from its mouth, and is believed to afford one of the best harbours on the lakes. Kingston, at the foot of Lake Ontario, and this harbour, within the mouth of the Grand River, are the two chief stations for the naval forces of the colony.

The chief towns in Canada are Quebec, Montreal, Three Rivers, Kingston, Cobourg, Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, and London. The city of Quebec, formerly the capital of Lower Canada, stands on the extremity of a precipitous cape, on the north bank of the St. Lawrence, opposite the island of Orleans. The appearance of the town, on coming into view, is particularly striking. The city is divided into a lower and upper town; the lower being of ancient date, and adopted as the seat of commerce, and the upper being the residence of the higher and more affluent classes. There are a number of fine public edifices; among the rest, the old Parliament House of the province, a stately building of hewn stone; the Roman Catholic and Protestant cathedrals; the barracks, hospitals; the Quebec bank and a handsome monumen to Wolfe and Montcalm The institutions are, in many instances, of French character, and the language of the inhabitants is French and English.

Montreal, now the capital of United Canada, is a city of an entirely different appearance. It is agreeably

situated on a beautiful island of the same name in the St. Lawrence, which measures thirty-two miles long by ten and a half broad, and lies at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence. The island of Montreal is nearly level, and is scarcely excelled in fertility. The city stands on the south side of the island, and is reckoned the first in the province in respect of situations, local advantages, and mildness of climate. The houses in the modern parts of the city are well built, and the streets commodious. There are also