unless the tide is out, from the neighbourhood of Lancaster into Furness. Furness forms a detached part of the county of Lancashire, separated from the rest by Morecambe Bay, and by a narrow strip of the county of Westmoreland. Off the extremity of this peninsula lies the island of Walney, about eight miles in length, and nowhere more than one mile in breadth. It bends in at each extremity towards the mainland, from which it is separated by a narrow channel. It is so low as to have been at times nearly covered by the tide.

On the south-western point of the peninsula of Furness, is the modern town of Barrow-in-Furness, which affords, perhaps, the most remarkable example of the growth of a town that has occurred in England, or, indeed, in Europe. The Duke of Devonshire, the chief owner of the land, said at a banquet held on the opening of the docks in 1867, that "he recollected well when the population of Barrow was not more than 50, certainly under 100." It was, in fact, a little village of three or four small farms, eight or ten cottages, and a couple of public-houses. In 1847 the population is said to have been 325, in 1864 it had increased to 10,608, and in 1868 it had reached 20,000. This rapid increase is owing to the fact that Barrow is the natural outlet for the iron ore in which the district is so rich. Till the construction of the Furness railway access was very troublesome. The only approach was across the sands at low water. Since the railway has been constructed many blast furnaces have been erected, and spacious docks, surpassed by none, unless it be by those of Birkenhead, have been built. Altogether, Barrow-in-Furness is one of the most remarkable and one of the most thriving towns in Lancashire. The harbour, protected by Walney Island, affords at all times a good anchorage, and from it a line of steamers

plies regularly to the Isle of Man, and it is the starting place of the Midland Railway's Belfast steamers.

LESSON XXI.

Barrow-in-Furness to Solway.

WEST of Lancashire, in the middle of the Irish Sea, lies the Isle of Man, about thirty-four miles in length, and from eight to thirteen miles in breadth. The coast is in many places steep and rocky. The island is intersected by a ridge of hills, the highest of which is Snaefell, from the top of which, on a clear day, the coasts of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales can be seen. The principal towns in the island are Castleton, Douglas, Peel, and Ramsey, all of which are situated on the coast. Castleton is the capital. It is the residence of the Governor, and the House of Keys meets here. The most important town, however, is Douglas, which is situated on the south-east coast of the island, on Douglas Bay. This bay, which is in the form of a crescent, is about three miles in extent, and is sheltered from all winds save the south-east. The town has of late been much improved, and is now a favourite watering-place.

For

The language spoken by the natives is a dialect of the Celtic, and is called the Manx language. It is ruled by its own legislature, called the House of Keys, consisting of twenty-four of the principal commoners of the island. many years the island belonged to the Duke of Athole, who exercised regal authority. In 1764 the Duke sold his sovereign rights to the British Government for £70,000.

Returning to the mainland, we find ourselves on the coast of Cumberland, which extends in a long curve to the head of the Solway Firth. The county itself is one of the

most romantic in England, but there are few places of interest on the coast.

The Solway Firth is the name given to that inlet of the Irish Sea which separates in one part England from Scotland. It stretches from a line drawn from St. Bee's Head in Cumberland to Kirkcudbright Bay, forty-one miles north-east to the mouth of the Esk. It is of varying breadth, and a considerable portion of it is occupied by broad sands, dry at low water, and intersected by the channels formed by the streams that flow into the Firth. Solway Firth is noted for the rapid rise of the tide, which sets into it with great force, the flood sometimes advancing with a head four feet high. Sir Walter Scott, in his ballad of “Lochinvar," has the following reference to this peculiarity of the tides in the Solway :

"I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied; Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide."

At Maryport, on the Cumberland side, the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots, landed after her flight from the battle of Langside. She took horse after the battle was lost, and never slackened rein until she reached Dundrennan Abbey in Kirkcudbrightshire. Fearing to fall into the hands of her enemies, she resolved to proceed into England, and throw herself on the protection of Elizabeth. With this view, she crossed the Solway and landed at Maryport.

At the head of the Firth is Solway Moss, where, in 1542, the Scots sustained a disgraceful defeat. James V. of Scotland, a weak king, resolved to make war on England. He raised an army of 10,000 men, which he resolved to place under the command of a court favourite named Oliver Sinclair. The haughty Scots refused to be led by a warrior whom they despised. A violent dispute agitated the whole army, in the midst of which two English leaders, Dacre and

Musgrave, charged them with 300 horse. Taken completely by surprise, the Scots were broken and scattered, with scarcely an attempt at resistance. James was utterly

crushed by the news of this defeat. He died of a broken heart shortly after.

On the 13th of November, 1771, after three days of incessant rain, Solway Moss, which had been separated from the cultivated plain which declines gently from it, through the space of a mile, to the river Esk, by a kind of breastwork formed by digging peat, burst the banks and moved in a liquid mass over the plain, spreading round, filling, and crushing into ruins one house after another, just giving time to the terrified inhabitants to escape. Scarcely anything was saved except their lives; nothing of their furniture, few of their cattle. Some people were even surprised in their beds, and were obliged to flee naked from the ruins. Twenty-eight families had their dwellings and little farms utterly ruined. Upwards of 500 acres were .covered. Every hollow was filled up, and the whole reduced to one level surface. A very ingenious plan was afterwards formed for clearing the ground thus covered. Two large reservoirs were formed on the higher ground and filled with water. When filled, the reservoirs were opened, and the whole force of the water was directed against the moss which had gathered on the lower grounds, which, by this simple plan, was all washed away into the channel of the Esk.

LESSON XXII.

England's Backbone.

If you examine a leaf, you will observe that the fibre by which it is attached to its twig is continued along the whole leaf, and that from this central fibre others branch

off to the right and left at regular intervals. In like manner, if you examine the skeleton of a human being, you will observe that the whole frame-work of the body is built round the backbone. From the backbone, the ribs branch off, as it were, to the right and left. It is the backbone

which supports the whole.

Now, the case is somewhat similar in regard to countries. Countries have a backbone, and it is this backbone which determines largely the make and build, if we may so speak, of any particular country.

Mountain ranges form the backbone of a country; and, if we have a general idea of the lie of the mountains of any country, we can tell at once many things regarding that country-we can tell in a general way in what direction the rivers will run, and knowing the rivers we shall be able to know where the leading towns are. If the land is hilly and steep, we know that the rivers will be rapid; whereas if the land is level, consisting of plains, we know that the rivers will have a slow course. If other things are equal, a stream which has a pretty good fall will be better adapted for driving machinery than a slow and sluggish river; and so, in the absence of steam, you may expect to find mills and other works, which are dependent upon water power, not on the coast, where rivers are generally slow, but pretty far inland, where the river has a good fall, and very often at or near the point where it passes from high ground to a lower level. Now, we shall see that this is true of many parts of England. On the other hand, rivers that flow through level grounds are better adapted for navigation than rapid rivers, and so we shall frequently find very large and important towns situated on such navigable rivers at considerable distances from the sea. London, the largest and most important city in the world, is at a considerable distance from the sea.