descents, it reaches the willow covered meadows near Stowmarket. After passing After passing through the town, it unites with another stream from Rattlesden, becomes much broader and deeper, and flows to Ipswich, by a winding course of 14 miles, through a loose, deep, boggy soil, and fertile country. In the 12th and 13th centuries it was unquestionably navigable, for vessels of burthen, from Ipswich to Rattlesden Bridge, and much of the stone used in the erection of the Abbey at Bury was conveyed up this river to Rattlesden. The navigation appears to have been neglected after serving the purpose of the monks at Bury, and, excepting the use of it for the conveyance by boats of some church bells from Ipswich, in the 17th century, there is no account of its having been used by the inhabitants of Stowmarket; and when, in 1793, the river was made navigable for barges, the cost amounted to nearly £27,000. The rise of water by lockage is 93 feet, the ground rising gradually, and imperceptibly to the eye, as you proceed from Ipswich to Stow; and the latter town is 120 feet above the level of the former. Prior to 1790, the river, unaided by the hand of art, was left to enjoy its own repose, in its natural and most numerous windings through its oozy bed. At that time it presented a scene of quiet beauty, partaking of the gentle features of the richly wooded park, or verdant farm, meandering along amid the quivering shades of its poplars and its willows, until it yielded its existence into the arms of the Orwell. It formerly ran through Bosmere, a large piece of water, 70 feet deep, belonging to Sir William Middleton, Bart. ; but, instead of going through the mere, it is now a cut alongside. The deepest part of the river is a hole near Baylham, 18 feet deep. Roach, perch, carp, tench, bream, gudgeon, and pike abound between Bosmere mere and Ipswich, but not between there and Stowmarket.

Below the wet dock, Ipswich, the river Gipping joins

the Orwell, which expands into a broad estuary, in which the tide rises about 14 feet. When viewed at full tide this may be pronounced one of the finest salt water rivers in England.

"Orwell, delightful stream, whose waters flow,

Fringed with luxuriant beauty, to the main! On each side, the border teems with all that give beauty and variety to a landscape. The banks are bold, and parks well stocked with deer extend to the water's edge. In the passage from Ipswich, the view at high water is really enchanting. When we reach the estuary about two miles below the town, the banks of the river are exceedingly picturesque; the rising land is clothed with noble avenues of trees and a rich luxuriancy of wood, adorned with fine mansions, farm houses, and village churches peeping into view; and the river itself, to all appearance land locked on every side, assumes the features of a large lake. The view is terminated in front by the main ocean, with a beautiful prospect of Harwich, and the Essex coast on the right. On the return to Ipswich, the scene closes with a view of the town, which appears in the form of a half moon.

The Deben rises about a mile north of the town of Debenham, to which place tradition asserts it was navigable in the Saxon era; but it does not now become navigable until just before it reaches Woodbridge by a winding course of nearly 20 miles. There it expands into a broad channel nearly half a mile in width, navigable for vessels of 120 tons burthen, and affording the means for a considerable trade to the town of Woodbridge. The course of the river is thence direct to the sea, which it reaches in about ten miles southward, near Bawdsey.

The Alde is a small stream which rises near Brundish, about five miles from Framlingham. It winds through a rich agricultural district, passing through

Aldringham, Dennington, and Rendham. At Snape Bridge, after having received Langford Brook, it meets the tidal waters, and swells into a wide river, running east nearly to Aldborough, where, having approached within two hundred yards of the ocean, it suddenly takes a southerly direction, and runs parallel with the coast for nine miles, being merely separated from the sea by a narrow peninsula of pebbles. In its passage from Aldborough to the sea it passes the town and castle of Orford, receives the tributary waters of the Butley, alongside which a body of Augustine Monks once dwelt, and falls into Hollesley Bay. The poet Crabbe loved the soft flowing Alde; yet its banks, unlike most inland streams, display trifling culture, and but little loveliness on which the eye can rest with either satisfaction or pleasure.

The Blyth has its source in two streams which rise near Laxfield and Rumburgh. The town of Halesworth is situated upon the stream which proceeds from the last-mentioned source, whilst that which comes from Laxfield falls at Wenhaston into the branch from Rumburgh. The Blyth has several tributary streams, and, though inconsiderable in itself at the present day, was yet, in ancient times, of sufficient importance to give its name to the parish of Blyford, as well as to Blythborough, then the principal town in the hundred, and also to the hundred itselfBlything." By the aid of the Blyth, the "Haven of Dunwich" was, at the time of the Conquest, large and deep. In its course, which is not more than twenty miles, it passes the Danish village of Ubbeston, intersects Heveningham, flows by Walpole, and ultimately falls into the sea at Southwold. It is navigable to small craft from Southwold to Halesworth.

The Lark rises about five miles south of Bury St. Edmunds. It flows past that ancient and charming

RIVERS.

town on its way to Farnham, where it becomes navigable by barges, and goes onward to Mildenhall, and shortly afterwards into Cambridgeshire, and is lost in the Great Ouse. Its entire course is only 18 miles.

It remains for us to notice the border rivers, as the Yare we consider to be a Norfolk river. The Little Ouse rises at Lopham, near the springs which give rise to the Waveney. It flows westward for about 14 miles, in a winding course, along the northern boundary of Suffolk, to Barnham, where it turns suddenly to the north in its course to Thetford and Brandon, and the fens of Lakenheath. From Thetford it becomes navigable, and through a bold and barren country it continues the boundary line between the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk to Sedge Fen, where it is soon lost in the system of the "Great Ouse," which runs to the sea below Lynn.

The most considerable river is the Stour, which rises from three sources-1st, in Suffolk; 2nd, in Essex; 3rd, in Cambridgeshire. These streams unite about eight or nine miles from their respective springs, and the river hence, throughout its entire passage, divides the counties of Suffolk and Essex. Pursuing a winding course, it waters the western parts of the county, passing the towns of Sudbury, Clare, and Nayland. Below the latter place it receives the waters of a stream from Boxford, and a few miles lower those of the Brett, from Hadleigh, and flowing onwards through the charming valley of Dedham, it reaches Manningtree and Mistley, where, like its sister Orwell, it suddenly expands into a noble estuary, which at high water is a mile and half wide. Its course is then eastward in a direct line to Harwich, which it reaches in about 11 miles, where it mingles with the German Ocean, and forms, in conjunction with the Orwell, the splendid harbour belonging to the Port of Harwich. Its entire course is nearly 50 miles, being navigable for sea-borne vessels to

Manningtree, and thence, by the aid of locks, by barges to Sudbury.

The Waveney, which forms more than half of the boundary line between Suffolk and Norfolk, rises from a copious stream near Lopham and Redgrave, and pursuing a tortuous course to the east, flows by Diss, Scole, Harleston, and Bungay. Here, taking a remarkable sweep to the north, it returns in the shape of a horse shoe almost to the spot from which it diverged on reaching the town. From Bungay it becomes navigable to Yarmouth, a distance of 40 miles. From Beccles Bridge it transports sea-borne vessels, of a small class, to the ocean, by Oulton Dike and Lake Lothing, through an artificial cut near Lowestoft. The tides of the Waveney turn northward from Oulton Dike, and proceeding in a winding course, first N.w. and then N.E., they wash the high banks of the Garianonum, and then become lost in the Yare, about four miles before it reaches Yarmouth Bridge. Fritton Decoy, a beautiful lake, about two miles long, discharges its superfluous water into the Waveney just below St. Olave's Bridge. The scenery of this charming decoy is exquisite. Its shores present a variety of beauties of the milder kind, being fringed with groups of the graceful beech tree, mingled with oaks, which sweep the margin of the water with their light and pendulous sprays. A small feeder of the Waveney rises near Mendlesham, and, passing the town of Eye, falls into its channel at Hoxne. The meadows through which the Waveney meanders are among the most fertile in the county. The Waveney produces eels of a delicate flavour, pike, perch, and roach in abundance. Smelts are taken in the season, and occasionally a salmon strays up its waters. The perch of this river are unrivalled for the brilliancy of their colors, and lampreys of large size are not unfrequently taken. The waters in the upper portion are singularly brilliant and transparent. Every weed in its bed may be seen, even