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surrounded by light cloisters of white marble, and in its centre a fountain of crocodiles, carved in the same material." [D'Israeli.]

eyes, to see through. This piece of dress, together with the brown arms and ragged drapery of the Egyptian women, gives them somewhat of a hideous Population.] The population of C. is composed of a appearance in the eyes of a European. The people great many different races. The most numerous are the of condition, particularly those in any office, are reArabs, who constitute the body of the people. The markably gorgeous in their dress, and affect a good other races are the Copts, who are Christians and deal the Turkish costume. The women of C. are upon the original people of the country, Albanians, Ma- the whole well formed, though not tall. Those of the melukes, Turks, Jews, Syrians, Armenians, and Greek upper ranks sometimes rival in point of complexion and Roman Catholic Christians. Besides these, there our European ladies; and this quality, in conjuncare Persians, Indians, Moggrebins or Western Afri- tion with fatness, constitutes the perfection of Egypcans, Abyssinians, Nubians, and individuals of al- tian beauty. They marry at the age of 14 or 15; most every nation under the sun, together with mul- and at 20 are already past their prime. The Coptic titudes of Negro slaves. To many of these races women are remarkable for their interesting features, distinct quarters of the city are assigned, particularly black eyes, and genteel form. "The female Greeks to the Jews, Moggrebins, and Europeans. "The born in Egypt," says Lord Valentia in his descrippop. of C. is the most striking feature of the place; tion of Cairo, "are pretty fair, and well made, when for it has preserved its oriental aspect both in men young; but childbirth destroys their figures by reand things, free from those innovations which, in the laxation, and their bosoms become large and flaccid. Turkish dominions, have introduced the prose of Eu- Their head-dress is Asiatic, and richly adorned with ropean civilization into the wild and picturesque gold, pearls, and diamonds: their robes are of the poetry of eastern barbarism. None of the Frank same style, and consist of satins and velvets, faced mixture which neutralizes the nationality of Stam- or lined with fur. Unfortunately in the same proboul is here to be seen-none of the hybrid Nizam portion in which the outside is adorned, the inside is uniform adopted by the modern Turk! Here the neglected." The female love of finery is here so turban flourishes in its pristine volume and integrity excessive, that, according to Niebuhr, the ladies re-the flowing Caireen robes of silk, or the elegant tire several times from the same company, to appear Memlook dress of cloth richly braided, imparts a again in a new dress still more splendid than the certain grace and grandeur to their wearers; the former. One of the greatest sources of recreation dark face of the Copt looks more sombre surmounted in C. is the Nile, on which hundreds of elegant barks, by his black turban; the wild eyes of the Mecca Arab with their long sail-yards and fantastic sails, are flash brightly beneath the voluminous folds of snowy seen flying with great velocity in all directions. They muslin that wreaths his handsome head; the Mo- are ingeniously carved and painted; and, being fitted grabbyn moves majestically along, wrapped in his up with fine cabins, carpeted over, afford a delightwhite burnoos; and the Egyptian lady, mounted ful shelter from the heat. Pedestrian parties are upon her high ass,' preceded by a black eunuch, and also seen frequently promenading along the banks, enveloped from head to foot in a vast wrapping mantle which are here adorned with a profusion of orangeof black silk, which leaves nothing visible but her dark trees, the citron, and the pomegranate, planted withelongated eyes peering forth from a white face-veil, out order, and growing high and tufted; these, togelooks like nothing one has ever before seen in Paynim ther with the palm and the sycamore, towering land or Christendom." [Mrs. Romer.] The amount of above the rest in all the magnificence of their dark this mixed and motley population it is impossible to green foliage, afford an agreeable retreat from the ascertain, as the Mahommedans neither keep registers dust and noise of the city, and from the fierce effulnor permit a numeration of the people. Some have gence of an almost vertical sun. Rope-dancers, stated it so high as 700,000, asserting that in one conjurers, fire-eaters, and tumblers of surprising agiseason 300,000 have been swept off by the plague;lity, serve to amuse the populace. Fire-works are while others reduce it to 250,000 souls. Niebuhr justly contends that the immense circuit of the town is no criterion of its population, containing as it does so many vacant spaces in canals, gardens, reservoirs, mosques, and public edifices, not to mention the lowness of the houses, which are, in general, but one story high; so that the pop. cannot by any means be supposed equal to that of a European city of the same extent. Browne, however, thinks it cannot be less than 300,000. Langles estimated it, in 1810, at 262,700. Lane, in 1835, at 240.000. Sir J. Wilkinson, in 1832, at only 200,000. Of this latter number only about 5,000 were Turks: 60,000 were Copts; 8,500 Franks and Jews; 4,500 Roman Catholic Copts, Greeks, and Armenians; 4,000 Jews; and 121,000 Egyptian Moslems. The dress of the common people is simple, and adapted to the climate. The men wear a shirt of coarse calico which hangs down to the knees; above this they have another, larger and longer, of a blue, or rather black colour; and the addition of a broad leathern girdle completes the body dress. Their legs are bare, their feet sometimes protected by coarse shoes of untanned leather, while their heads are covered with a red cap wound round with a piece of calico. The women are dressed much in the same style, but without the girdle and shoes; the most remarkable difference consisting in an ugly thick veil, which entirely covers the face and breast, with two holes in it, opposite the

sometimes displayed on public occasions. The principal games are Polish drafts and chess.

Climate and Diseases.] Though the diseases of C. are common to all Egypt, they are perhaps aggravated by local circumstances. The mean annual heat is 72° 5' [Nouet], and is not a little increased by the vicinity of Mount Mokattam, which powerfully reflects the rays of the sun. This circumstance, together with the white glittering sand which everywhere covers the soil, produces affections of the eyes often terminating in blindness; and ophthalmic affections are so common that, according to Wilkinson, one out of every 6 among the inhabitants of C. is either blind, or has some complaint in the eyes; and yet, says D'Israeli, "the ever-living breeze on the great river, and the excellent irrigation of the earth, produce a freshness in the sky and soil, which are missed in other Levantine regions, where there is more variety of the seasons." It is said that the temp. of C. is generally about 10° higher than that of Alexandria. Heavy rain very rarely falls at C.; only four or five sharp showers occur in the year, and these generally in winter or in spring. The NW wind is the most prevalent. From the vernal equinox to the summer solstice, hot winds from the S and SE are frequent; the most unhealthy season is the latter part of April and the whole of May, when the Khamasin winds blow. The mean temp. of the afternoon in January is about 60°; in February, 66°; in July it reaches 98°;

that of December is 68° [Lane].-The other prevalent diseases are, a cutaneous eruption, proceeding, it is supposed, from the use of brackish water, but not much affecting the health; a virulent smallpox, malignant fevers, hydrocele, and venereal disorders. But of all the calamities and diseases to which C. is subject, the plague is undoubtedly the most terrible. It is not yet ascertained whether this scourge of the East originates in the filth of Cairo, or is imported from Constantinople. It generally rages in Egypt once in every four or five years, and continues only during the winter-season, when it has been known to sweep off 1,500 souls a-day from the population of C. alone. It is remarkable enough that the Europeans, who reside on the very banks of the canal, are less subject to it than the natives. Their cleanliness, however, and the precautions which they adopt, may account for this circumstance; for no sooner does the plague appear, than they shut themselves up in their houses, often for several months, fumigating or washing the articles conveyed to them from without, and carefully avoiding the contact and near approach of persons exposed to the infection. It would appear that the pestilential atmosphere possesses a considerable specific gravity, as it is not found to ascend so high as the tops of the houses; where the Europeans freely appear, and survey in security the havoc of death in the streets.

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Mekemmeh, or Cadi's court, in which civil causes relating to property are tried, the proceedings are more dilatory, and the judges are, it is alleged, gene rally open to corruption.

Manufactures and Commerce.] Under the despotism of the pasha it were vain to look for great excellence in arts or manufactures. In the furniture of houses, and decorations of silver and gold, there is much grandeur and barbaric parade; but throughout the whole there reigns a poverty of invention, and a miserably bad taste. The most perfect of the manufactures of C. is that of silk stuffs, which are, however, inferior to the European productions, and much higher priced. Mehemet Ali established cotton-factories in C. under the direction of Europeans. The other manufactures are sugar, of a bad quality, obtained from the canes which in some places cover the banks of the Nile; sal ammoniac, which is much in request; saltpetre, coarse gunpowder, glass lamps, red and yellow leather, and linen cloth of fine Egyptian flax. The gun and pistol barrels, sword blades, hardware, and mercery of the C. bazaars, are generally of foreign manufacture; but the manufactories of arms which now exist in the citadel and city can produce nearly 2,000 muskets per month, at an average cost of 25s. The carabines of the Mamelukes were English, and their swords Persian or Turkish. We might here mention the hatching of eggs by artificial warmth, In favourable seasons, provisions of most kinds a very ancient art, and one at present retained princiare very cheap in C.; but wine, sweet oil, and fuel-pally at C.-The commerce of C. with distant places, which is used only for cookery-being the produce though much decayed within the last three centu of foreign countries, are rather dear. The well-wa- ries, is still very considerable. As the metropolis of ter of Egypt is for the most part brackish, as is also Egypt, the residence of the beys, the lawyers, and that which has stood for some time in the canals and the wealthy, it consumes all the commodities of that reservoirs. On this account, the water drank in the country, or transmits them to the provincial districts; city, except during the inundation, is brought in while, as a centre of circulation, it affords great facileathern bags from the Nile, on the backs of camels. lities from its position. By the Nile, it corresponds Being commonly very muddy, it is poured into large with Upper Egypt and Abyssinia; by the Mediterraearthen jars, previously coated on the inside with a nean, with Europe and the Turkish empire; by the preparation of bitter almonds, and in the space of Red sea, with Arabia and India; and even by the two hours it becomes pure and limpid. Besides deserts it communicates with distant countries by sherbet, which is used chiefly by the richer classes, a means of numerous caravans. Damascus and C. are fermented liquor, pleasant but soon spoiling, is here called "the two gates of Mecca," from the annual obtained from maize, millet, barley, or rice. The muster of pilgrims which takes place at these two Christians distil for themselves, from dates, figs, or cities. Of these prodigious assemblages, the greater currants, a strong liquor known by the name of araki. part are merchants, who avail themselves of this rePolice.] The city is divided into 8 tumns or wards, ligious opportunity to conduct their traffic. Every each under a sheikh tumn, over each 2 of whom is a year a great caravan from Abyssinia arrives in the sheikh subh; and over the whole a nazir eshgali makhru- neighbourhood of C. on the banks of the Lake of the sa, who is always a Turk. These tumns are charged Pilgrims, bringing from 1,000 to 1,200 Negro slaves, with the collection of the ferdah tax, and with the great quantities of elephants' teeth, ostrich feathers, furnishing children for the schools and workpeople gum, gold dust, parrots, and monkeys; and here it for the factories. They are paid by government; remains till joined by another immense assemblage but in every ward there is likewise a sheikh khara, a from western Africa. These pilgrims and merchantssubordinate authority, who is not paid by the state. some of them from the Senegal-proceeding along The kiaya has charge of the police, and is also the the coast of the Mediterranean, and collecting in criminal judge; a colonel under his authority has their way those of Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis, arrive immediate charge of the public order of the city. through the desert at Alexandria, and from thence Notwithstanding the great extent of C., its narrow proceed to the general rendezvous at the Birket-eland winding streets, and its barbarous population. Hadji. This caravan has been known to exceed fewer deeds of violence are committed here than in 3,000 camels, laden with the merchandise of the West, some European cities. For this security several consisting of oils, red caps, for which Tunis is facauses may be assigned. Every calling here has its mous, fine flannel, and many other commodities. sheikh, or chief, who keeps an eye on the members This multitude incorporated with that from Ethiopia, of his own fraternity; by which means a police is and swelled by the crowds of Egypt, sets out for established in every craft, and criminals are easily Mecca under the orders of the sheik bellet of Cairo. detected. The city is, moreover, divided into wards; This high officer has in charge the presents of corn and the streets, having generally no thoroughfare, and money from the Grand Signior, together with and being at night shut up with gates, prevent the the precious covering for the caaba. After a period possibility of escape. These gates are opened by a of one hundred days, this great caravan, to the numporter, who allows none to pass of a suspicious ap-ber, on some occasions, of 100,000 souls, returns in a pearance; and, to insure respect, a guard is within call. But, besides these preventive measures, the execution of justice is here prompt and terrible, though its administrative is generally pure. In the

body to the same place with the choicest productions of the East. These consist principally of coffee, perfumes, gum arabic, and other drugs, the produce of Yemen, the spices of Ceylon, shawls of Cashmire,

may well be doubted whether the working of a railway from C. to Suez would be practicable. The violence of the sand-winds in the desert over which it would pass is well known, and a small accumulation of sand would be sufficient to stop the locomotives; besides a railroad would be easily destroyed by the Arabs, to whom its iron would be an object of great value.-M. le Pere estimated the expense of a canal, of which one branch should run N from Suez to Tineh on the Mediterranean, and another W to C., at 17,000,000 francs; the ground, according to him, presenting great facilities for such a work. Mr. Galloway, on the contrary, contends that a canal from C. or from Bulak to Suez would involve such a complicated system of locks, that the time required for the passage of a boat by it would be equal to that now taken by the caravan transit; while a canal from the Red sea to the Mediterranean would be useless, from the nature of that part of the Mediterranean coast upon which it would open.

History.] Cairo, 'the queen of cities,' and the boast and ornament of the East, was founded, according to Oriental writers, in the 10th cent. of our era, by Moaz, the first Fatimite caliph, who called it El Kahira, or the victorious,' in commemoration of his

and muslins of Surat and other parts of India. The same commodities are also brought by sea from Jedda to Suez. There are, besides, many smaller caravans to and from C., particularly one in October, from the neighbourhood of Mount Sinai. The Arabs dispose of their goods by barter, receiving arms, clothing, and other necessary articles in return. The small caravans from Damascus bring silk, cotton stuffs, and dried fruits. Immense quantities of tobacco, which has become one of the necessaries of life at C., are constantly landing at Damietta by vessels from Latakia, which take in exchange cargoes of rice. The vessels from Constantinople, which also return with grain, bring clothing, wrought silks, furs, and arms, into the port of Alexandria; while those from Venice, Leghorn, and Marseilles, import cloths, cochineal, Lyons stuffs and laces, iron, lead, grocery, together with Venetian sequins and German dollars, which are here imported at a great profit. All these articles are conveyed in lighters, called djerms, to Rosetta, whence they are sent up the Nile to Grand Cairo. A slave-market exists in C. as in all the principal towns of Egypt. Slaves are brought from Abyssinia, Nubia, Kordofan, and Sudan. Notwith-conquest of Egypt. This prince having soon after transferred standing the excessive imposts, and the impolitic exactions of the Mahommedans, the commerce of C. will appear, from the foregoing particulars, to be still considerable. It is said to have amounted in 1783 to between £6,000,000 and £7,000,000 sterling: but the trade of C. has greatly declined before the rising importance of Alexandria. It is now a principal market only for gums and some other secondary articles of traffic. There were in C. in 1838, about 24 Turkish foreign merchants, 15 European, and 16 Greek houses. Money is generally scarce, and 2 per cent. interest per month is often given.-The coins struck at C. are the kirich, of 3 carats fine gold, and 1 carat alloy; and the sadyeh, of 24 carats fine gold, and carat alloy. The former is equal to 9 piastres; the latter, 4. In silver there are piastres, and pieces of 20, 10, and 5 paras. In 1837, the pasha made a large issue of gold pieces of 100 piastres each, equal to about 20s. of English money. They are said to have been of finer gold than the English standard. Foreign coins have a currency equivalent to their standard value. A great advance in the cost of living in C. has taken place within the last 20 years.

his seat of empire from Barbary to Fostat, otherwise called Masrel-Atakeh, the Egyptian capital, made C., in the vicinity, his place of residence, where he had a magnificent palace. After this, if we may believe the same authorities, C., for the space of 200 years, consisted of little more than gardens, barracks for soldiers, and the houses of a few grandees; till in the 13th cent., the victorious Christians, who had invaded Egypt, gave a sudden impulse to its augmentation. Having taken Alexandria, and a number of other places, the crusaders directed their march upon Fostat; but the Saracens had already set their capital on fire, which continued to burn for fifty-four days. The town being thus reduced to ashes, the miserable population sought refuge in C., which from that time became the chief city, and now began to be known by the title Masr, or 'capital, which formerly was applied to Fostat. Europeans, not understanding this circumOld and New Masr. Soon after this event, the famous Saladin, stance thoroughly, speak of an Old and New Cairo, instead of elevated to the throne of the Egyptian sultans, became a great benefactor to the new city; for he not only adorned it with mosques, a university, and other public edifices, but rendered it a place of great strength. He surrounded C. with a wall, 3 leagues in circuit, which is still almost entire; built, or at least strengthened the citadel; and beautified the town with a great number

of gates, one or two of which are the admiration of travellers for C. was one of the richest and most flourishing cities in the world. their simple magnificence. About the beginning of the 15th cent It still preserved some remains of its ancient learning, and was the common storehouse of Europe and Asia, its commerce extending from the pillars of Hercules to the remotest regions of India. The subsequent decay of this city was occasioned by two concurrent causes,-the conquest of Egypt by the Turks, and the discovery of a passage to India by the cape of Good Hope. Among the interesting particulars connected with the history of C., we cannot forbear reminding the reader, that here, in 1801, a British force took a whole army of French prisoners, and sent

CAIRO, a town of Piedmont, the cap. of a mandimento, in the prov. and 13 m. NW of Savona, on the 1. bank of the Bormida, at an alt. of 1,060 ft. above sea-level. Pop. 4,500. It possesses an active com

merce.

Projected railway.] The distance from Alexandria to C. in a direct line is about 100 m.; but a communication between the two cities more direct and certain than that which exists by the Mamoudieh canal and the Nile is greatly to be desired. See articles ALEX-them back to their own country laden with the curses of an outNorden. Niebuhr.-SaANDRIA, and CANAL OF ALEXANDRIA. The necessity raged population. - Shaw.-Pococke.of changing boats at Atfieh, the capriciousness of briand.-Lord Valentia.-Bowring.-St. John.-Yates.—Wükinson, vary.-Volney-Bruce.-Browne. - Denon.— Sonnini. — Chateauthe wind and the sudden squalls which frequently-Lane. occur on the Nile, and the strong current of the river itself, especially when under inundation, combine, with the fact of the immense trade and passenger communication between the two cities, to suggest the expediency of a railway between these cities.—A railway has likewise been projected between C., or its lower port of Bulak, and Suez, at the head of the Red sea. The length of the latter would be about 90 m. See article SUEZ. A line of telegraphs has been established between Alexandria and C., which conveys intelligence betwixt the two points in about 40 minutes. The route of 82 m., between C. and Suez, has been partly macadamized, and is divided into 16 stations, at each of which horses can now be changed in from 8 to 10 minutes, whereas formerly this operation usually occupied from 20 to 30 minutes. The whole distance, from the Nile (say from C.) to the Red sea, can now be performed in comfortable vehicles in from 16 to 18 hours, of which about 10 hours are occupied in actual travelling on the road. It

CAIRO, a township of Green co., in the state of New York, U. S., 44 m. SW of Albany. It is generally hilly, but the soil in the valleys watered by the Catskill and its tributaries is fertile. Pop. in 1840, 2,862.-Also a village of Alexandria co., in the state of Illinois, 233 m. SE of Springfield, situated on a low neck of land formed by the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi. It is liable to inundation.

CAIRSTON, a village in the island of Pomona, p. of Stromness. It possesses a harbour in which large vessels that require greater depth of water and more space than the harbour of Stromness affords, usually anchor; but there is a strong tide here, and it lies more open and exposed than Stromness harbour.

CAISTOR, CAISTER, or CASTOR, a parish and

market town of Lincolnshire, 7 m. SE of Glandfordbrigg, and 12 SW of Grimsby. Area 4,470 acres. Pop. in 1841, 1,988. The town is pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, and contains an ancient church, erected from the ruins of Thong castle.

CAISTOR ST. EDMUNDS, a parish of Norfolk, 4 m. S of Norwich, near the Norwich and London railroad. Area 910 acres. Pop. in 1841, 147. CAISTOR-NEXT-YARMOUTH, a parish of Norfolk, 24 m. N of Yarmouth, near the coast and the Norwich railroad. Area 2,920 acres. Pop. in 1841, 909.

CAISTRON, a township in the p. of Rothbury, Northumberland, N of the Coquet river, and 1 m. SW of Flotterton. Pop. in 1841, 54.

tent of the county. The soil along the shore is generally capable of producing good crops. The seacoast, with the exception of the bays of Sandside, Dunnet, Duncansby, and Keiss, is a bold rocky shore, from the Ord to the point of Drumholasten. The general geological formation is a black, bituminous, slaty sandstone.-For three-fourths of the year the wind in Caithness blows from the W or NW; and in the winter, spring, and autumn, there are frequent hard gales from that quarter. There being no mountains or high land on the N side of the county, the inclemency of the weather, in winter and spring, is felt more severely here than in the neighbouring counties of Sutherland and Ross. From the beginning of May to the middle of June CAITHNESS, the most remote and northern the prevailing wind is usually from the NW, with a county on the mainland of Scotland, forming its NE bleak cloudy sky which checks vegetation. From extremity. It is divided from Sutherland, on the the end of June to September the wind is variable SW and W, by a range of mountains and high from SW to SE, and but seldom N. No county moory hills which extend from the Ord of Caithness in Scotland has more frequent and heavy rains to the North sea. It is bounded on the SE and E than Caithness, the county of Argyle, and the by the Moray frith and the German ocean; on the NW parts of Inverness, Ross, and Sutherland exfrom Duncansby-head, in 58° 37′ N lat., and 3° W long, to Holburn-head, by the Pentland frith, dividing it from the S isles of Orkney, and containing the island of Stroma which forms a portion of the shire; and on the W from Holburn-head by the North sea. Its form is an irregular triangle, measuring 35 m. from N to S, and 22 m. from E to W. In Captain Henderson's Agricultural survey of the county, its superficies is estimated at 618 sq. m., or 395,680 acres. Sir John Sinclair in his General View of the Northern Counties estimates the extent of Caithness at 690 sq. m., or 351,210 Scots acres, of which there

were

There are no navigable rivers in this county. The principal river is the water of Thurso, which originates from springs in the mountains bounding with Sutherland, and partly from the Latheron hills; passes through lakes and small lochs, and, after traversing a distance of about 30 m., discharges itself into the Pentland frith at Thurso bay. The next river in point of size is the water of Wick, originating from the lochs of Watten, Toftingal, Scarmclate or Stempster. and from various springs in the moors of the p. of Watten, whence it runs E until it falls into the sea in the bay of Wick. The principal lake is the loch of Calder, in Halkirk p. It is 2 m. long, and from a mile to a quarter of a mile broad. Loch More, in the highland part of the same parish, is about 1 m. long, by about half-a-mile broad. All the lakes, rivers, and burns abound with trout and eels. The western part of the county is hilly, and chiefly adapted for the rearing of cattle and sheep; but towards the east it is almost a uniform plain. The Morven, Morbhein, or Berriedale mountains, run along the Latheron coast, to the boundary of the parish of Wick. Another range of high hills stretches from the Morven mountains along the boundary with Sutherland, through the parishes of Reay and Halkirk on the west, to the North sea. The Morven, or Berriedale mountains, are principally occupied in sheep pasture. Morven, Scariben, and the Maiden-Pap mountains, are high and steep; towards their summits-which are from 1,500 to 3,000 ft. above sea-level-there is nothing but bare rock. The other mountains are clothed with heather, ling, and deer-hair. The extent of deep peat-bogs, including peat-moors of every description, is very considerable; amounting to nearly one-half the ex

cepted.

Agriculture employs the greater proportion of the pop. of this county; and mechanics are settled in most districts for making farming-utensils. A considerable number of women and girls are employed in Thurso, plaiting straw for ladies' bonnets. A few of them make up bonnets; but the greater part of the straw-plait is sent to London, whence the prepared straw is imported. The plaiters earn at this employment, from 3s. to 5s. per week. There are two or three rope-works, and some distilleries, in the county. At a remote period malt was exported from Thurso to Norway, and timber, iron, hemp, and flax, imported in return. The principal branch of commerce which now exists in this county, is the herring-fishery along the coast of the parishes of Wick and Latheron, where, from 100,000 to 120,000 barrels of fish are annually cured, and exported to the London, Bristol, Liverpool, Leith, and Irish markets. The fishing commences in July, and seldom lasts above six weeks; the number of boats sometimes amounts to 1,200. The curing is chiefly performed at Wick. A few red herrings are also smoked. A quantity of kelp used to be made from sea-weed along the coast, and sent coastwise to Leith and Newcastle, for the use of the glass-houses, soapmakers, &c.; but this commerce is now extinct. A few sloops, of from 40 to 70 tons burden, sail from the harbours of Thurso and Wick, to Leith, and occasionally to Sunderland, Newcastle, and London; they export fish, kelp, and oats, but more frequently convey mechanics and labourers, in quest of work, to the southern counties. During the prevalence of the severe dearth in 1846, the Times commissioner -as he was called-bore pleasing testimony to the superior industrial habits of the pop. of this co.

The

Shetland, the Orkneys, and Caithness, which is the most northern county of Scotland," he writes, "are peopled by a Danish and Norwegian race. who, after inhabiting the Orkneys, gradually spread over the north-eastern extremity of the mainland. The population is plainly distinguishable at this day by their complexion, and houses, and appearance, as well as by their names and language. people are a stout, fair-haired, ruddy, blue-eyed race. Their houses are invariably square, stone-built, good dwellings, with usually little gardens in front. They do not understand Gaelic; and, though the co. is the very bleakest and most exposed in Scotland, as well as the furthest north, yet it is one of the most cultivated and thriving. There are no hills in it to shelter it, and trees will not grow; the moment trees rise above the shelter of a wall they are blown down