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This miferable woman, who looked fo charming, was fo gay and happy, and was so wonderfully accomplished ten years ago, is now a troublesome, difcontented, capricious, diffipated old cat, that cannot be endured even by her most servile dependants. In town, she is continually chagrined; in the country, fhe dies of the vapours, or must go to Summer races, to Buxton, Harrogate, or fome place of public refort, or take a jaunt to the Cumberland lakes; and, in fhort, must either have recourfe to continual amufement, to opium, or the clofet.

Is there a family in Europe, Sir, that hath not experienced, or that is not at this moment experiencing in fome degree the dreadful truth of my obfervations.

Mothers, it is to you that I ought to address myself. Unfortunately it is too late for you to remedy the miffortunes of your own prepofterous education; but you may, by your influence, remedy them in your daughters. With refpect to yourselves, if diffipation, and the prefent reigning manners of Europe have left any part of yourselves behind, give me leave to recommend to you the mature confideration of the following advice of Dean Swift in the letter above mentioned.

"If you are in company with men of learning, though they happen to difcourfe of arts and sciences, out of your compass, yet you will gather more advantage by liftening to them, than from all the nonfenfe and frippery of your own fex; but if they be men of breeding as well as learning, they will feldom engage in any conversation where you ought not to be a hear er, and in time have your part. If they talk of the laws, manners, and cuftoms of the feveral kingdoms of Europe, of travels into remoter nations, of the state of their own country, or of the great men of Greece or Rome; if they give their judgment upon English and French writers, either in verfe or profe, or of the nature and limits of virtue and vice, it is a fhame for an

English lady not to relish fuch difcourfes, nor to improve by them, and endeavour, by reading and information, to have her share in thofe entertainments, rather than turn afide, as it is the custom, to confult the woman who fits next her about a hat, a bonnet, or a muflin."

Fall, if it be poffible, into the train of fome innocent and useful employment, to fill up all your leifure time, and prevent you from being troublesome to your families, and to fociety, when you grow old, by your cankered tempers, which are the infallible followers of idlenefs.

I am, Mr. Editor, with regard, your conftant reader and well-wisher, SOPHIA *.

SIR,

To the Editor of the Bee.

As chemistry and botany are favourite and fashionable studies at prefent, and many who refide in the country cannot have it in their power to attend the lectures of profeffors at the univerfity, feveral of your readers, as well as myself, of the above description, wishing not to remain entirely in the dark with regard to those branches of science, which you also touch upon at times in the Bee, are defirous, that, if it could be done with any degree of propriety, you would point out a path or plan of ftudy, and fuch books as would enable us ruftics, with a little application on our part, to understand the terms of art, and fomething of the nature of those two branches of knowledge. Your complying with the above request, especially if you think it will be of any advantage to us, will very much oblige, Sir, your's, A COUNTRY READER †.

* I affume this signature to avoid the tirefome length of my former. In my next, I fhall give you a genuine account of the management I have adopted in educating my own daughters, with the result of that experiment.

This fubject shall be treated hereafter.

A Defcription of Norfolk Island, extracted from the Papers refpecting Botany Bay, communicated to Parlia ment, April 8th, 1791.

OUR readers have often heard of Botany Bay, and the great expence of that fettlement. The island that forms the fubject of the prefent article, is in the neighbourhood of that fettlement, and is feveral times mentioned in Governor Phillip's letters, as the most fertile fpot they had yet obferved. In his letter, dated April 11th, 1790, he fays: "The "goodness of the foil of Norfolk Island, and the induftry of thofe em66 ployed there, rendered that ifland a refource, and the only "one that offered, when, from the time that had paffed fince my "letters might be fuppofed to have been received in England, there was reafon to fuppofe fome accident had happened to the store-ships "fent out.

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"I therefore ordered two companies of marines to be ready to embark, with a number of convicts, by the 5th of March, if no ship ar"rived before that time; and a proportion of what provifions and stores "remained in this fettlement, being put on board the Sirius and Sup"ply, fixty-five officers and men, with five women and children from "the detachment and civil department, one hundred and fixteen nale, " and fixty-feven female convicts, with twenty-seven children, em"barked and failed the 6th of March.

"The advantage I expected, by fending away fuch a number of "people, was from the little garden-ground they would leave, and "which would affift those who remained; and the fish which might "be caught in the winter, would go the farther; at the fame time, "those fent to Norfolk Island would have refources in the great abun"dance of vegetables raised there, and in fish and birds, which this "fettlement could not afford them; and it was my intention to have "fent more convicts to this island, if there had not been this neceffity. The provifions fent, with what was on the island, and the wheat "and Indian corn raised there, more than would be neceffary for feed, was calculated to laft full as long as the provifions in this place; and "at Norfolk Ifland, from the richness of the foil, a man may "Support himself with little affiftance from the flore, after the timber is "cleared away."

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By the accounts laid before parliament, it appears, that the expences already incurred by this establishment, preceding the the 9th February 1791, befides contingencies that cannot as yet be ftated, amounts to 374,090 l. 15 s. 8d. The total number of convicts fent out, is 2029.

The description of Norfolk Ifland, is as follows.

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NORFOLK Iland is fituated in the latitude 29° co', and in the longitude of 168° 00' eaft: Its form is nearly an oblong, and contains from twelve to fourteen thoufand acres.

The face of the country is hilly, and fome of the vallies are tolerably large for the fize of the island ; many of the hills are very fteep, and fome few fo very perpendicular, that they cannot be cultivated; but where fuch fituations are, they will do very well for fuel; on the tops of the hills, are fome extenfive flats.

Mount Pitt is the only remarkable high hill in the island, and is about one hundred and fifty fathoms high. The cliffs which furround the ifland, are about forty fathoms high, and perpendicular; the bafis of the illand is a hard firm clay. The whole island is covered with a thick wood, choaked up with underwood.

The island is well fupplied with many ftreams of very fine water; many of which are fufficiently large to turn any number of mills. Thefe fprings are full of very large eels.

From the coaft, to the fummit of mount Pitt, is a continuation of the richest and deepest foil in the world, which varies from a rich black mould to a fat red earth; we have dug down forty feet, and found the fame foil; the air is very wholesome, and the climate may be called a very healthy one; there has been no fickness fince I first landed on the ifland.

There are five kind of trees on the island, which are good timber, viz. the pine, live oak, a yellow wood, a hard black wood, and a wood not unlike the English beech. The pine trees are of a great fize, many of which are from 180 to 220 feet in height, and from 6 to nine feet in diameter. Thofe trees which are from 100 to 180 feet in height are in general found; from the root to the lower branches there is from 80 to 90 feet of found timber, the reft is too hard and knotty for ufe; it fometimes happens, that after cutting off VOL. III.

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twenty feet from the butt, it becomes rotten or shakey; for which reason, no dependence can be put in it fo large masts or yards. The timber of the pine is very useful in buildings, and is plentiful along the coaft; its difperfed fituation in the interior parts of the island is well calculated for erecting fuch buildings as may be neceffary. From what I have seen of this wood, I think it is very durable. Two boats have been built of it, and have answered the purpose fully.

The live oak, yellow wood, black wood, and beech, are all of a close grain, and are a durable wood.

The flax plant of New Zealand grows spontaneously in many parts of the island, but moftly abounds on the fea coaft, where there is a very great quantity of it; the leaves of which the flax is made is, when full grown, fix feet long and fix inches wide; each plant contains feven of thofe leaves; a ftrong woody ftalk rifes from the centre, which bears the flowers ; it feeds annually, and the old leaves are forced out by young ones every year. Every method has been tried to work it; but I much fear, that until a native of New Zealand can be carried to Norfolk Island, that the method of dreffing that valuable commodity will not be known; and could that be obtained, I have no doubt but Norfolk ifland would very foon cloath the inhabitants of New South Wales.

There are a great quantity of pigeons, parrots, hawks, and other smaller birds, which are now in a wild ftate.

The ground is much infefted with different kinds of the grub worm, which are very deftructive to the growth of vegetables; they are moftly troublesome about the fpring. It is to be hoped that when more ground is cleared away, that this evil will ceafe.

There is no quadruped on the island, except the rat, which is much "fmaller than the Norway rat: These vermin were very troublefome when firft we landed, but, at prefent, there are but very few.

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