session of it; and, in 1782, General Elliot nobly sustained a siege in it against the combined powers of France and Spain, obliging them to raise it with great loss. Cadiz, built by the Phoenicians, and the centre of the Spanish commerce to America and the West Indies. Trafalgar, a promontory near Cadiz, where Admiral Lord Nelson, with 27 ships of the line, defeated the French and Spanish fleet of 33; 19 ships were taken or destroyed, but the gallant Nelson fell by a rifle ball towards the close of the engagement. Lisbon, noted for its sugars and white wines, nearly destroyed by an earthquake in 1755. Oporto, for its red wine, oranges, and lemons. Tavira, has a good harbour. At Ourique, Alphonso, king of Portugal, in 1139, subdued five Moorish kings, an event commemorated in the Portuguese arms. Berne, in Swisserland, a commercial town; here is preserved the armour of William Tell, the deliverer of his country from Austrian oppression. Zurich, the first Swiss town converted to protestantism in 1517. Basle, here Holbein long resided, and Erasmus was interred. Geneva, famed for its trade in watch machinery here the reformer Calvin lived, and here Servetus was burnt in 1553. Coire, capital of the Grisons. Presburg, here the sovereigns of Hungary were antiently crowned. Hermanstadt, a strong city, its church was built by Maria Theresa, queen of Hungary, and mother to the late unfortunate Antoinette, queen of France, beheaded 1793. Constantinople, the present seat of the Turkish, once of the Roman, empire; now famed for its mosques, palaces, and public slave markets. ficent city famed for its bazar. Adrianople, a magni- town of Turkey, and on that account frequently the seat of war. Kaffa, now in Russian Taurida, (the Theodosia of the antients,) has an excellent harbour; the town has been possessed in turn by the Genoese, Venetians, Tahtars, and Turks. Baccheseria, here the Tahtar khans, or chiefs, formerly resided; it is situated in a deep valley. Rome, now capital of the popedom, and once the mistress of the world, celebrated for its monuments of antiquity; the history of this city and people forms a prominent feature in antient and modern annals. Naples, capital of an Italian kingdom; its bay is said to be the finest in Europe. Florence, once the seat of the arts, and famous for its libraries, picture galleries, and works of sculpture: the name of Medici alone would immortalize this city, it may be truly styled classic ground. Venice, once a far-famed commercial republic, since included in Napoleon's kingdom of Italy, and now annexed to the Austrian empire. Leghorn, a trading town of Tuscany, with one of the best roadsteads in the Mediterranean. Turin, one of the most polished towns in Italy. Genoa, the birth-place of Colon, or Columbus, and a republic, till subdued by the French, now annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia. Lucca, also, was recently a republic; it is noted for marble quarries, and excellent oil. Spalatro, famed for the ruins of Dioclesian's palace, and for its deep harbour. Ragusa, a commercial town, trades chiefly with the Turks and Venetians. Segna, the capital of Hungarian Dalmatia. Herzgovina, is the capital of Turkish Dalmatia. Ragusa, of Ragusan Dalmatia; and Spalatro, of Venetian Dalmatia. THE EUROPEAN ISLES, WITH THEIR CHIEF TOWNS, &c. BRITISH, Orkneys. Kirkwall. Shetland. Lerwick. Hebrides (properly Hebudes) or Western Isle of Man. Douglas, Ramsay, Peel, Anglesea. Beaumaris, Holyhead. Isle of Wight. Newport, Cowes. Guernsey. St. Peter's. Alderney. St. Anne's. Sark. Only a village. DANISH, Færoerne or Faroe. Thorshavn. .... Iceland. Reikiaviig, Skalholt, Hola. Bornholm, in the Baltic. Ronne. The islands in the entrance of that sea will be described hereafter. SWEDISH, Oeland and Gottland. Calmar, Wisby. Loffoden Isles, on the west coast of Norway. The Isles of Nova Zemla and Kalguev, in the Arctic Ocean. The Isles of Aland; many others in the Gulf of Finland; with Dago and Oesel in the Baltic Sea. Rugen. Bergen. FRENCH, Ushant, Belle-Isle, Rhe, Oleron, and several smaller isles in the Bay of Biscay. Corsica. Bastia, Porto-Vecchio, Bonifacio, and Ajaccio. SPANISH, Majorca. Palma, Alcudia. Minorca. Mahon, Ciudadella. Iviza and Formentera. Iviza. ITALIAN, &C.... Sardinia. Cagliari, Sassari, Iglesias, Sicily. Palermo, Messina, Catania. Corfu, Paxu, Leucathia, Ithaca, Cefalo- Thirty-nine islands, composing the Archipelago, besides the island Candia. 6.. -RECOLLECTIONS ON SOME OF THE EUROPEAN ISLES. "'Tis granted, and no plainer truth appears, Our most important are our earliest years; Imbibes and copies what she hears and sees.' Cowper. ICELAND is famed for its volcanic mountain (Hekla): the soil is barren, and its mountains in general are topped with perpetual snow. Of the Faroe Isles, 17 are inhabited. They abound in agate and jasper. The Shet-. land Isles, are distinguished by a breed of small but beautiful horses, and a herring-fishery of great produce. The Hebrides, Hebudes, or Western Isles, are noted also for their herring-fishery; St. Colombkill, Iona, or Icolmkill, one of these islands was the burial place of many Irish, Scotch, and Norwegian, monarchs; and Staffa contains a regular and wonderful range of natural pillars, resembling the Giant's Causey in Ireland. On the Orcades, or Orkneys, are many springs of fine water, but little wood; the coast has many good bays. Anglesea, the Mona of the Druids, produces copper in abundance, sulphur, and green marble. Isle of Man; the Duke of Athol sold the sovereignty of this island to the English government, in 1765; it was given to Sir John Stanley, one of his ancestors, by Henry IV. of England; the air is uncommonly salubrious. Isle of Wight, famous for its anchorage for shipping, called St. Helen's; the Needles are sharp ridges of rocks at the west end of this island. Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark, all under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Winchester; William the Conqueror annexed these islands to the British crown, to which they have ever since been attached with unshaken loyalty. Of the Scilly Isles, only five or six are inhabited, and these chiefly by fishermen; here Sir Cloudesley Shovel was wrecked in the reign of Queen Anne, with three men of war; to the west of the isle of Alderney, Prince Henry, son of Henry I. of England, was shipwrecked many centuries after, Sir John Balchen, with the crew of the Victory, experienced a similar calamity in the same place. Iviza is famed for the salt made there; Majorca and Minorca, for their good harbours. Corsica, antiently Cyrnus, was long under the dominion of the Genoese, who, in conjunction with the French, resisted the efforts of Paoli and the native Corsicans in the cause of liberty; these efforts, after a long struggle, |