mole, urchin, and bat feem to become more rare; the feal is chiefly found off the coafts of Wales.

"In the parks of the great, the roe is now extinct; but fallow deer abound, of great beauty, and the red deer; the latter are known by the terms ftag, hind, young, or calf; while the former are ftyled buck, doe, or fawn; the red kind are more vicious than the ether, and becoming more uncommon.

"The chief of our birds of prey are, the golden eagle, fometimes found on Snowdon; the black eagle has appeared in Derbyshire; the ofprey, or fea eagle, feems extinct in England. The peregrine falcon breeds in Wales; and many kinds of hawks in England. An enumeration of the other birds would be fuperfluous. The nightingale, one of the most celebrated, is not found in North Wales, nor any where to the north, except about Doncafter, where it abounds; nor does it travel fo far welt as Devonshire or Cornwall. This limitation is remarkable, as these birds are found in the fevere climate of Sweden, Our poultry feem to originate from Afia; our peacocks are from India; our pheasants from Colchis; the Guinea fowl (the meleagrides, or Numidian hens of the ancients) are from Africa. Our fmalleft bird is the golden-crested wren, which fports on the highest pine trees; and our largest the bustard, fome of which weigh twenty five pounds, and are found in the open countries of the fouth and east; but this bird feldom appears; and our turkies, originally from America, richly fupply the defect; the largest are reared in Norfolk and Suffolk. One of the moft fingular of water fowl is the long-legged plover; the most useful, the mallard, or wild duck, which is chiefly caught in the fens of Lincolnshire; the numbers fent to the capital almolt exceed credibility.

"The reptiles are the coriaceous tortoife, frogs, toads, feveral kinds of lizards: of our ferpents, the viper alone is venomous; other kinds are, the ringed fnakes, fometimes found four feet in length; and the blind worm, feldom exceeding eleven inches.

"Of fish, the whale feldom appears near the English coafts, no the dolphin; the porpefs, and others of the fame genus, are not common. The basking fhark appears off the fhores of Wales. Nuy merous are our edible fea fifh. Some of the most celebrated are the turbot, doree, foal, cod, plaice, fmelt, mullet, &c. &c. The confumption of herrings and mackarel extends to moft parts of the kingdom; but pilchards are confined to the Cornish coaft. Our chief river fish are, the falmon and the trout, which are brought from the northern parts in prodigious numbers, generally packed in ice; but fometimes the trout are brought alive in veffels provided with a well, or bafon, for that purpofe. It is faid, that not lefs than 30,000 falmon are brought from one river, the Tweed, to London, in the courfe of a feafon. The lamprey, though a fea fifh, is chiefly found in the Severn; it resembles the eel, but has a line of feven apertures near the head. The charr is chiefly found in the lakes of Westmoreland, the fides fprinkled with red fpots. The umber, or greyling, fomewhat refembles the trout. The famlet is the fmalleft of the trout kind, and has erroneously been fuppofed the young of the falmon; in Scotland it is called the parr. Our carps are from Poland, and the

L 2

inferior

inferior fort from Pruffia; the tench and perch are esteemed by fome as dainties of the table.

"The lobfter is found on moft of the rocky coafts, particularly off Scarborough. This cruftaceous fifh has fingular habits; with its blunt claw it maintains its fituation, while that with ferrated pincers divides its food: the claws are reproduced, though not fo large as the first; they change their fhells every year. The craw fish is a small

kind of lobster, which dwells in the clayey banks of rivers. Of shell fish, the pearl mya, a large kind of muffel, was found in the Conway, in Wales, and the Irt, in Cumberland: but it seems now confined to Ireland and Scotland. Pearls arife from the perforation of a kind of worm, and may be produced artificially by boring the fhell, and replacing the mya in the water. The English oyfters maintain their Roman reputation; but they feem to yield in flavour to thofe of more northern countries. The green from Colchester, in Effex, and the juicy white from Milton, in Kent, have the chief reputation.

Our fecond fpecimen fhall be the account of Papua, or New Guinea; which the authot truly reprefents as a moft interesting country, and of which it is to be greatly lamented, that our knowledge is fo imperfect. Heartily do we wish that fome fpirited adventurer, from among our countrymen, might be induced to make its interior the object of his curiofity and research. We can have no fcruple in affirming, that the undertaking would well and amply remunerate the labour.

"PAPUA, OR NEW GUINEA.

"This country is one of the moft interefting in Australasia, as partaking of the opulence of the Moluccas, and their fingular varieties of plants and animals. The land of Papua is faid to have been firft dif covered by Saavedra, a Spanish captain, in 1528, who had failed from Mexico, by the command of Cortez, to explore the Spice Inlands from that quarter. It is afferted, that Saavedra impofed the name of New Guinea, as believing that this region was under the fame meridian with the African Guinea; but as it is fcarcely probable that a mariner fhould be fo much deceived, it is more likely that this appellation, which fome fay was only given by Le Maire, near a century after, was merely confidered as fynonymous with another, that of the "Ifles of Gold." Other Spanish navigators enlarged this discovery; and the ftrait between this country and New Holland was explored by Cook; while the learned Prefident de Broffes, and even Bougainville, the French circumnavigator, had doubted whether fuch a paffage exifted. This extenfive ifland is ftill far from being completely inveftigated; on the north, what was formerly conceived to be a strait, is delineated with the foundings in Mr. Arrowsmith's chart of the Pacific, under the name of Machire's inlets: and an oppofite large bay on the E. was alfo conceived to infulate another portion. In the S. E. Dampier's ftrait divides Papua from New Britain; but it is not improbable, that in this direction the Louifiad of Bougainville may be difcovered to be joined, at leaft in part, with Papua, while other parts may confift of detached ifles. It is thought, that the unfortunate La Peroufe was

com

compleating this difcovery, when Fate terminated his labours. Amidft this uncertainty, Papua is conceived to be a vaft island, extending from the Cape, abfurdly ftyled of Good Hope, in the mariner's very confined vocabulary, but more properly White Point, in the N. W. probably to Cape Rodney in the S. E. a length of more than 1200 miles, by a medial breadth of perhaps 300, and thus far fuperior in fize to Borneo, formerly reputed the largeft of iflands.

“On this extensive territory, in a fituation fo highly favoured by nature, and probably enriched with the choiceft productions, there is no European fettlement. The inhabitants of the northern parts are called Papous, whence the name of the country. Their traditions bear witness, that they are brethren of the Moluccans, and the language feems to have no affinity with that of New South Wales, but is probably connected with that of Borneo, on the west, and that of New Britain, and the ifles on the other fide, being part of the wide Malay diffufion. The inhabitants are black, and even faid to have the woolly hair of negroes: but this latt circumftance will probably be discovered, as in New Holland, to proceed from art, and in fome parts it fhould feem, that the inhabitants have the true Malay complexion and features. In the interior is a race called the Haraforas, who live in trees, which they afcend by a knotted pole, drawing it after them to prevent furprise. The appearance of the Papuans and their habitations is grotefque, the latter being built on ftages in the water; in which however, they refemble the Borneans, and other nations in the Afiatic ifles. The women feem the most induftrious in making mats, and pots of clay, which they afterwards burn with dry grafs, or brush wood; nay they will even wield the axe, while the men are indolent, or preparing for the chace of wild hogs.

"The afpect of thefe people is frightful and hideous; the men are ftout in body; their fkin of a fhining black, rough, and often disfigured with marks like those occafioned by the leprofy; their eyes are very large, their noses flat, mouth from ear to ear, their lips amazingly thick, efpecially the upper lip; their hair woolly, either a fhining black or fiery red: M. Sonnerat imagines the laft to be owing to fome powder. It is dressed in a vast brush, fo as to refemble a mop; fome are three feet in circumference, the least two and a half; in this they tick their comb, confifting of four or five diverging teeth, with which they occafionally drefs their frizzled locks, to give them a greater bulk; they fometimes ornament them with feathers of the bird of Paradife; others add to their deformity by boring their nofes, and paffing through them rings, pieces of bone, or fticks; and many, by way of ornament, hang round their necks the tusks of boars. The heads of the women are of lefs fize than thofe of the men, and in their left ear they wear fmall brafs rings. The men go naked, excepting a fmall wrapper round their waifts made of the fibres of the Cocoa. The women ufe a covering, in general, of the coarfe Surat baftas, tucked up behind so as to leave their bodies and thighs exposed to view.

"The religious tenets of the Papuans have been little examined; they make tombs of the rude coral rock, fonetimes with fculptures. The chief commerce is with the Chinese, from whom they purchase

their inftruments and utenfils. Their returns are ambergris, fea flugs, tortoife-fhell, fmall pearls, birds of Paradife, lories, and other birds, which the Papuans dry with great skill. Some flaves are alfo exported, probably captives taken in inteftine wars. Some were offered to Captain Forrest at a low rate, but he had before bought an eminent linguift. Our great navigator, Dampier, whose work befpeaks wonderful intelligence for that period, made feveral difcoveries on the coaft of Papua, and the adjacent ifles. He was particularly ftruck with the proas, which are picturesque and well managed. As this country has been little explored, even recent accounts are very imperfect.

The coafts of Papua are generally lofty; and inland, mountain rifes above mountain, richly clothed with woods. The shores abound with cocoa trees, and the whole country seems to have impreffed every navigator with delight, and well deferves more cultivated and industrious inhabitants. But, by a fingular fatality, many extenfive and beautiful portions of the globe are thinly inhabited by a few favages, while cold and barren provinces are the crouded feats of civilized nations. Could a whole nation be transferred from the north of Europe to Papua, what a change in fituation and sentiments, what an increase of public power!

"The natural hiftory of this country is little known, but the zoology is ftriking and romantic; Papua is the chosen refidence of the fplendid and fingular birds of Paradise, of which ten or twelvé forts are enumerated by Mr. Pennant. They feem to be chiefly caught in the adjacent ifles of Arroo, being fuppofed to breed in Papua, and refide there during the wet monfoon; while during the dry, or weftern, they retire to Arroo, migrating in flocks of thirty or forty, During their flight they cry like ftarlings; but when furprised with a ftrong gale, they croak like ravens, and afcend to the fuperior regions of the air. They alight on the higheft trees, feeming to feed on berries, and, according to fome, on nutmegs and butterflies; and are either fhot with blunt arrows, or caught with bird-lime, or nooses. The bowels, and breaft-bone being extracted, they are dried with smoke and fulphur, fold for nails or bits of iron, and exported to Banda. Papua alfo boasts of elegant parrots and lories; while the crowned or gigantic pigeon, almoft equals a turkey in fize. Captain Forreft, to whom we are indebted for an interefting voyage in these feas, only vifited the harbour of Dory, in the northern part of Papua, fo that our knowledge of this large island remains extremely imperfect. He obferved at a confiderable diftance the mountains of Arfac, of a remarkable height. Near the harbour of Dory he found, in fome little ifles, abundance of nutmeg trees; and, there is room to infer, that the land of Papua is not deftitute of the fame productions, and may perhaps alfo boaft of cloves. Now that the Spice Inlands are restored to the Dutch, by the treaty of 1801, a fettlement in Papua might be come an object of ferious confideration; and by the difcoveries of our able country man, Dampier, we have certainly a claim equal to that of any other nation."

Due attention will appear to have been given to the new divifions of territory, which the recent and melancholy distrac

tions of Europe have introduced, and of which the present difaftrous periods threaten ftill further alterations. The principal objection we have to make, is a want of elegance and perfpicuity of ftyle. Since this larger work was published, an abridginent of it has appeared in a handfome octavo volume, which may very properly be recommended for general

ufe.

ART. VII. The domeftic Encyclopedia; or, a Didionary of Facts, and useful Knowledge, comprehending a concife View of the latest Discoveries, Inventions, and Improvements, chiefly applicable to rural and domeftic Economy, together with Defcriptions of the most Interefting Objects of Nature and Art; the Hiftory of Men and Animals, in a State of Health or Difeafe, and practicable Hints refpecting the Arts and Manufactures, both familiar and commercial, illuf trated with numerous Engravings and Cuts. By A. F. M. Willich, M. D. In Four Volumes. 8vo. 21. 2s. Murray and Highley. 1802.

IN a work of this kind, little novelty is required; it will generally be thought fufficient, that the writer or collector has been careful to make his catalogue of articles fufficiently large, or that he has not omitted any fubjects that come properly under the term or title he has given to his book. For doing this, the editor of the work before us had the aid of former dictionaries, from which he might select and abridge fuch articles as were fuitable to his purpofe; adding occafionally fuch improvements and difcoveries, as had either been made pofterior to the publication of the guides he had taken, or, had been omitted by them. But as the work was intended for domestic ufe, for perfons only moderately inftructed, and for whom general Encyclopedias were too bulky and expenfive, it was incumbent on him to be very clear, and correct, in defcribing the proceffes for manufacturing articles in common ufe, and in explaining numerous terms, which, though of frequent occurrence, are ftill not generally understood. Examining the work by this teft, it will be found, we fear, very defective.

Under the word Bachelor, the author is fufficiently diffuse in fhewing the ill repute in which persons, living in a state of celibacy, were held in Greece and at Rome, but he omits defcribing what a Bachelor of Arts, of Divinity, Law, or Phyfic, in our Univerfities is, or how the degrees are obtained or conferred.

The