Cornw. by the Name of the Cornish Chough: they are the fame kind which are found in Switzerland among the Alps, and which Pliny pretended were peculiar to thofe Mountains, and calls the Pyrrhocorax. The Body is black, the Legs, Feet, and Bill, of a Yellow, almoft to a Red. I could not find, that it was affected for any good Quality it had; nor is the Flesh good to eat; for it feeds much on Fish and Carrion: it is counted little better than a Kite; for it is of a ravenous Nature, and is very mischievous; it will fteal and carry away any thing about the House, that is not too heavy for it, tho' not fit for its Food; as Knives, Forks, Spoons, and Linen Cloths, or whatever it can fly away with; fometimes, they fay, it has ftolen Bits of Firebrands, or lighted Candles, and lodged them in the Stacks of Corn, and in the Thatch of Barns and Houses, and fet them on Fire.

I might take up many Sheets in describing the valuable Curiofities of this little Cherfonefe, called The Land's end, in which lies an immenfe Treafure, and many things worth Notice, befides thofe to be found upon the Surface: but I am too near the End of this Letter. If I have Opportunity, I fhall take Notice of fome Part of what I omit here, in my Return by the Northern Shore of the County, as well as give a more particular Defcription of the Ifles of Scilly than I have yet had an Opportunity to give, in the Method or Courfe I pursued.

LET.

LETTER VII.

A more particular DESCRIPTION of the

SCILLY ISLANDS.

UCH an Opportunity as I hoped-for has hap

I

mife; a kind Friend having affifted me in fome of my Obfervations.

The Scilly Iflands, of which the most noted are 27 in Number, lie, as I have faid, at about 30 Miles Diftance from Cornwall, and are thought formerly to have been joined to that Main Land by an Ifthmus, or Neck of Land, in Length of Time washed away by the Sea, in the fame manner as Great Britain is fuppofed antiently to have been joined to France, and indeed there is still a great Refemblance between these Islands and Cornwall, in their Culture, Plants, and other Produce, their Tinnery, Fishery, &c.

Thefe lands were called by the antient Greeks Hefperides and Caffiterides, from their Western Situation, and their abounding with Tin. The Dutch call them Sorlings; and in feveral of the Tower Records, and antient Manufcripts, they are called Sully or Sulley, which is probably a Contraction from infula, as Ifle from Islands.

The Scilly Ifles lie due Weft from the Lizard Point, about 17 Leagues, and nearly Weft by South, from the Southermoft, or old Land's-end next Mount's-bay, ten Leagues; alfo W. S. W. from the middlemoft or weftermoft Lánd's-end above nine Leagues, before the Entrance of the Bristol and British Channels. They are feen from the Land's-end in a clear Day, and at about fix or feven Leagues off Smith's Sound, fandy Ground,

Scilly. and about 60 Fathom Water; alfo from the Northward at 60 Fathom, oufy, fandy Ground as far.

Twenty one or twenty two Leagues W. by N. and W. N. W. from Scilly, is a Bank, on which there is but 50, 51, or 52 Fathom Water, but between this Bank and Scilly 60 Fathoms.

Beheld at a Distance, thefe Iflands appear like fo many high Banks in the Water, as Land usually appears off at Sea. But the Rocks about the Islands, especially those to the Weftward, appear off at Sea like old Caftles and Churches, with the Seas alternativelv flying over them, in white Sheets, or Fleeces of that Element.

The Names, Qualities, &c. of thofe Iflands, with the Quantity of Land, in Acres, contained in each, may be feen by the following Table.

Five larger Iflands, inhabited by about 1400 People.

Ten Eastern Islands stocked with Conies, and fit for

feeding Cattle in Summer.

The Half, 2137

Acres, at least, are tillable and improveable.

N. B. Befides the above, which are moft noted, there may be numbered about a Dozen very fmall Ilands bearing Grafs; and Rocks innumerable above. Water.

St. Mary's is the largest of the Scilly Islands, containing as many Houses and Inhabitants as all the rest. Its greatest Length is about two Miles and a Half, middlemoft Breadth almoft one and a half, and may be reckoned betwixt nine and ten Miles in Circumference.

The Earth, or Soil, is like that of Cornwall; but the Air here is much wholfomer than the Air of that County, being fo brifk and healthful, that Sickness is very feldom known among these Inhabitants.

The Hills are rocky, rifing in fome Places to a great Height, and are enriched with mineral Stores. The Vallies are fertile, and the Fields here, like those in Cornwall, are inclofed with Stone Hedges. Alfo the

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healthy

Scilly. healthy Plains and turfy Downs, in feveral Places of this Ifland, afford their Use and Pleasure. The highest Land yields a Profpect of England in a clear Day, and of Ships going out and returning at the Mouths of the Channels. Here is alfo Morafs-ground, in two Parts of this Ifland, called the Upper and Lower Moors, which fupply the Cattle with Water in dry Seasons. In the upper of which, the farthest from Hugh-town, is a pretty large and deep Lake.

About two Furlongs from Hugh-town, the Capital of St. Mary's, to the Eastward, is a curious fandy Bay, called Pomelin, where the Beach, from the Mark of Flood to the Mark of Ebb, is covered with an exceeding fine writing Sand, and of which Ship-loads may be gathered at Low-water. On Account of its Plenty and Brightnefs, it is fetched by the Inhabitants for fanding their Houfes in Hugh-town, and other Parts of this Ifland; and Prefents of it are made to many Parts of England, as a Curiofity.

The greatest Curiofities obferved in St. Mary's, are the Rocks of Peninnis, and a fubterraneous Paffage near them, whofe Entrance is called Piper's-hale. This Paffage is faid to communicate under Ground with the Ifland of Trefco, as far as the North-weft Cliffs or Banks of it, where another Cavity is feen, that goes by the fame Name with the former.

Going in at the Orifice, at Peninnis Banks in St. Mary's, it is above a Man's Height, and of as much Space in its Breadth; but grows lower and narrower farther in. A little beyond which Entrance appear rocky Bafons, or Reservoirs, continually running over with fresh Water, defcending, as it diftils from the Sides of the rocky Paffage: By the Fall of Water heard, farther in, it is probable there may be rocky Descents in the Paffage: The Drippings from the Sides have worn the Paffage, as far as it can be seen, into very various angular Surfaces.

St.