NAVIGATOR, the Estate was purchased. Sir FRANCIS DRAKE, who was born Anno 1545, was the First ENGLISHMAN, that circumnavigated the GLOBE. He set sail on the Thirteenth of December, 1577, and arrived in ENGLAND, on the Third of November, 1580, having performed his Voyage, in little more than Two Years and ten Months. Shortly after his Arrival, Queen ELIZABETH dined aboard his Ship at DEPTFORD, conferred on him the Order of KNIGHTHOOD, and directed, that the VESSEL in which He had endured so many Difficulties, and obtained for his COUNTRY, such immortal Honour, should be kept as a Monument of HIS OWN, and BRITAIN'S GLORY. This Ship was preserved at DEPTFORD for many Years, but at length decaying, she was broke up, and a curious Chair, made out of the Planks, was presented to the University of OXFORD.

The PLAISE of the Devonshire Rivers are particularly delicious; more so, perhaps, than those of any other Part of the World, at TIEGNMOUTH, where the Fish Market is excellent, there is a Regulation, not observed, probably, but worthy Imitation in all other Places, that the Inhabitants have the Privilege of supplying themselves, before any can be sold to the Dealers.

The OPAH, or King Fish, is sometimes, though rarely caught, the Description of one taken at Brixham, Anno 1772, is, that the Weight, was One Hundred and forty Pounds, its Length, four Feet and a half; Breadth, two feet and a quarter; and greatest Thickness, only four Inches. The general Colour, was a vivid transparent Scarlet Varnish, over burnished Gold, bespangled with oval silver Spots, of various Sizes: the Breast was a hard Bone, resembling the Keel of a Ship; the Flesh looked and tasted, like Beef.

There are two Articles in this CoUNTY, namely the Fossil Bacon, and the EDYSTONE Light-house, which although not immediately relating, to its Fish or Rivers, merit Notice, as most singular Productions of NATURE and of ART. The First was discovered on a rising Ground, belonging to Chapel Farm, near TIVERTON, the Property of Mr. BROOKS. It was formerly a Monastery, belonging to the AUGUSTIN Friars, at the Dissolution of the Religious Houses, it fell into the Hands of the CRUWYS, from whom, by various Alienations, it came to the present Possessor. In order to convert a very fine Spring into a Reservoir, for watering the Meadows below, and also for the Use of the Cattle, Mr. B. began to sink an extensive Pond. The Workmen sunk about Ten feet, the Strata appearing in a natural State, when they came to a spungy Matter, appearing to be a Cuticle of a brown Hue; they soon found bits of Bones, and Lumps of solid Fat, of the same Colour: Astonished at this, one of them ran for their Master, who sent to Mr. SHARLAND, a Farrier of great Experience; by his Advice, it was resolved to work cautiously round the Carcase; and at last the complete Body of a HoG, was dug out, reduced to the Colour and Substance of an EGYPTIAN MUMMY; the Flesh was six Inches thick, and the Hair upon the Skin, very long and elastic. As the Workmen proceeded, a considerable Number of HoGs, of various Sizes, were found in different Positions, in some Places, two or three together; in others singly, at a short Distance. Upon the Bodies being exposed to the Air, they did not reduce to Powder, as is usually the Case with the ANIMAL Economy, after lying two or three Centuries divested of Air: probably this might be occasioned, by the Mucilage of the Bacon. This PIGGERY continued to the Depth of Twelve feet, when the Workmen stopped for the Season, and the Pond was filled with Water. The Oldest Men in the Neighbourhood had never heard that the

Ground had even been broken; and, indeed, the several Strata being intire, renders it impossible to conjecture, from what Cause, this extraordinary Phenomenon can be accounted for. The Family of CRUWYS, have a Journal of remarkable Events, which happened in the Parish for Three Centuries; and no Memorial appears of any Disorder, which could occasion such a Number of SwINE to be buried, in such a Situation.

The LIGHTHOUSE, built upon the EDYSTONE ROCKS, is the Work of ART, alluded to, which will be described, and also the two-fold Destruction, the Edifice has sustained, by FIRE and TEM

PEST.

The frequent Shipwrecks upon these Rocks, occasioned a Determination of creating some Mode, of warning Mariners of their Danger, and in the Year 1696, notwithstanding the almost insuperable Difficulties, which seemed to impede Success, Mr. HENRY WINSTANLEY, of Littlebury, in ESSEX, engaged to erect a Lighthouse on the Spot, and being furnished with the necessary Powers by the TRINITY HOUSE, under the Authority of a Statute of ELIZABETH, for "Setting up Marks and Signs for the SEA," immediately commenced his Undertaking. This Gentleman (Mr. W.) was the MERLIN of his Day, and had distinguished himself in that Branch of Mechanics, that excites Wonder, and Surprise. He had at his House at Littlebury, these Contrivances.-Being taken into one particular Apartment, and there observing an OLD SLIPPER, carelessly lying in the Middle of the Floor, if, as was natural, it was kicked on one Side, up started a GHOST before you: If you sat down in a certain CHAIR, a couple of ARMS, immediately so clasped you, that it was impracticable to get disengaged, without the Aid of your Attendant:

you

And if you seated yourself in a seeming ARBOUR, by the Side of a CANAL, you was forthwith sent out afloat into the Middle, from whence it was impossible to escape, till the Manager returned to your former Place. Such were the Effects, of the more sportive Efforts of Mr. W.'s Mechanical Science; the Light-house constructed by him, was partly Wood, and partly Stone, and was not completed till after the Expiration of Three Years, and had more the Resemblance of a Chinese Pagoda, than of a Structure intended to resist the impetuous Shock, of overwhelming SEAS; and it was commonly said, that in bad Weather, such was the Height of the Waves, that it was very possible for a Six-oared Boat, to be lifted up upon a Billow, and driven through the open Gallery of the Light-house. The PUBLIC were decidedly of Opinion, that it would be overset by the Weight of the Ocean, the ARCHITECT, was convinced of its Durability. This Building remained till November, 1703, when some Repairs being necessary, Mr. WINSTANLEY went down to PLYMOUTH, to superintend the Workmen. On the Eve of Departure for the Rocks, some Friends intimating the Danger, to which the Light-house was exposed, in such tempestuous Weather, He replied, " He was so well assured of the Strength of the Building, that he only desired to be there, in the greatest Storm, that ever blew under the Face of the Heavens, that he might see what Effect it would have, upon the Structure." Most fatally, his favorite Wish was too amply gratified. While he was there with his Workmen and Light-Keepers, that Storm began, which raged in the Night of the Twenty-sixth of the Month, with a Violence never before experienced in GREAT BRITAIN, the next Morning, at Day-break, the Hurricane increased to a Degree unparalleled; and the Light-house, no longer able to sustain its Fury, was swept into the Bosom of the Deep, with all its Inmates. Mr. PEARCE, an old Seaman, who died in 1780, aged Ninety-six,

was standing on the Barbican Steps at PLYMOUTH, when Mr. WINSTANLEY went off in the EDYSTONE Boat, two Days before the Gale. The Sky was very brassy, and looked as if a Storm was impending, from the South-west Quarter; so that every Person present, intreated him not to go off; yet he persisted, and became the VICTIM of his misplaced Confidence, on the Solidity of the Building.

A Second LIGHT-HOUSE was not commenced, till 1706, after an Agreement made with Captain LOVEL, or LOVET, who engaged Mr. JOHN RUDYERD, then, a Silk Mercer, on Ludgate Hill, as his Engineer, and Architect; and the Event proved his Choice to be correct. He saw and avoided the Errors of the former Building. His principal Aim, appears to have been Use and Simplicity, and to have adopted Ideas, the very Reverse of his Predecessor, for all the unwieldly Ornaments at Top, the open Gallery, projecting Cranes, &c. Mr. RUDYERD laid totally aside. Mr. R.'s Edifice was begun in July, 1706, and sufficiently completed to exhibit a LIGHT, on the Twenty-eighth of July, 1708, the succeeding Year it was entirely finished. The Quantity of Materials expended on the Construction, was 500 Tons of Stone; 1200 Tons of Timber; 80 Tons of Iron ; 500 of Lead; and of Trenails, Screws, and Rack-bolts, Twenty-five Hundred, each. The Height from the lowest part of the Foundation, to the top of the Ball, was Ninety-two Feet. The Anecdote of LEWIS the Fourteenth, who was at War with ENGLAND, during the Proceeding with this Building, does him Honour. " A French Privateer took the Men at work upon the EDYSTONE ROCK, together with their Tools, and carried them to FRANCE; and the Captain expected a Reward for the Atchieveinent. The Transaction reached the Ears of that MONARCH, who directly ordered the CAPTIVES to be released, and the CAPTORS to be put in Confinement; declaring,