[From Oswald's Guide,1831]

GEOGRAPHY SITUATION.-FACE OF THE COUNTRY.

BY a reference to any map of Great Britain, the position of the Isle of Man will be better understood than by any description.* In the middle of the Irish Sea, it appears a place of central resort to those inhabitants of the neighbouring shores, who are partial to their native element-the ocean. It is about thirty miles in length, and above eleven in breadth in its widest part, lying in a north-easterly direction, between 54° and 54° 30' of north latitude, and in the 5th degree of west longitude from. London, and diminishes almost to a point at both extremities. Its superficas has been calculated to contain upwards of 130,000 square acres, more than two-thirds of which are under cultivation. The greatest part of the sea boundary is formed by precipitous cliff's, deeply and numerously indented with bays and low estuaries of rivulets. From this high shore, the arable and thickly inhabited country undulates several miles in hill, and dale, and ravine, to the base of the chain of mountains that bisects the country longitudinally near the middle of the Island. From the mountains arise numerous rivulets that fall by short courses eastward and westward through the deep ravines, and narrow withdrawing glens to the sea, watering and adorning a fertile and picturesque, but thinly wooded country.

* See Whittle and Laurie's Chart of St. George's Channel, published in 1830, by Blackford and Co., dedicated to the Elder Brethren of the Trinity House.

The mountains range from Brada-head on the west, to Maughold-head on the eastern shore, over about two-thirds of the length of the Island, dividing it obliquely into two inequal portions, denominated the southern and northern districts.

South-westwards, from Brada and the narrow neck of low land at its base, and opposite to Port Erin bay, the Island does not much exceed a mile in width, and extends in high ground about a mile and a half to the tremendous precipices of Spanish-head, where it terminates. Beyond lies the Calf of Man, divided from the main land by a narrow channel. In the middle of this strait stands a low and turfy rock, named the Kitterland, on the south side of which the rapid current of the tide, that has been denomi nated the Race of the Calf, runs. The Calf is an Island of a rounded form, rising high and abrupt from the sea, and containing about 600 superficial acres.

From the northern termination of the mountains, the Island extends rich and champagne, seven miles to the Point of Ayre, about fifteen to twenty yards above the level of the sea, to the inroads of which the clayey beach is continually yielding. The gravel thrown up at the Point of Ayre is, however, in a small degree, extending the Island in that direction. About five miles from the base of the mountains, the plain is intersected from sea to sea, by the low sand hills called Ballachirm : there are also some eminences of the same kind on the western coast. Excepting at the headlands, that is to say, in all the bays and low grounds, the boundaries of the Island terminate in a shelving shore of sand and pebbles, more or less extensive. The lower part of the precipitous walls of headlands are generally submerged at all times in the sea.

Such is the general outline and appearance of the Isle of Man.

NAME.

By Caesar this Island was called Mona; by Ptolemy, Moneda; by Pliny, Monabia; by others, Eubonia; and hence one of the Ebudæ; by the antient Britons, Menaw; by Gildas and Nenuius. Manaw; by the English, Man; by the natives themselves Mannin to this clay; and its antient name, Mona, still occurs frequently in writing and records. This variety of name has led to several attempts to explain its etymology. Some suppose the word to originate from Maune, the original name of St. Patrick, the apostle of the Island. Bishop Wilson thinks it is derived from the Saxon word mang, referring to its situation among the surrounding countries. An etymology quite as likely maybe deduced from the Manks word Monae, still in use, signifying a solitary, rough, uncultivated tract of ground ; or, probably, it took its present name from Mannin, one of its earliest Kings.

MOUNTAINS.

The individual appearance of the Manks mountains is tame and rounded, and their altitude is low ; but the outline of the whole is fine in perspective. The principal amongst them is Snafield, situated in the northern part of the chain before described, which, by trigonometrical measurement, is 2,004 feet above the level of the sea. The conical mass of north Barroole, which is 200 feet lower than Snafield, stands on the north-east, and many other lower mountains lie towards the west and north, which from sea to sea, all terminate abruptly, or in rounded defiles on the alluvial plain of the northern district just mentioned. From this broad mountainous group the chain is continued westwards and southwards, obliquely across the Island, nearly in the same line, by Peny-pot, Greeba, south Barroole, and their dependant branches, to Brada-head, where it terminates in tremendous precipices that overhang the sea. It diminishes in width and altitude as it approaches its southern termination, and. is divided about its middle, and nearly in a line between the towns of Douglas and Peel, by a narrow defile, bounded on the north-east by the rocks of Greeba, and on the south-west by those of Archolachan. The mountains are the Crown's waste; they are covered with heath and wet pasturage-are strongly and closely, though rudely fenced from the cultivated lands, and stocked as a common, by the landed proprietors, with numerous flocks of sheep from all parts of the Island. They also contain vast quantities of excellent turf, which annually supplies the country people with fuel, in which bog timber, of considerable size, sometimes occurs.

RIVERS.

No country is better watered : the, springs, and, consequently, the rivulets are numerous, and the water excellent. Every little ravine has its stream; but the waterfall being rapid, and the ocean near at hand, the rivers are short in their courses, and as variable in magnitude as the falls of rain which supply them.

Sulby river is the largest: it is gathered on the northern aspect of Snafield and the mountains adjoining, and entering the alluvial plain of the north by the glen of Sulby, takes an easterly course along the base of the mountains, and after running about nine miles, discharges itself into the sea at Ramsey, its estuary forming the harbour of that town. Douglas river also runs towards the east. Its two principal branches, the Dhoo and the Glas, or the black and the grey, come from the mountains of Marown and Braddan, and forming a junction about a mile above Douglas, run into the sea at that place. Peel river, antiently called the Neb, on the west of the Island, from the mountains of Michael and of Patrick, takes a rapid course to its mouth ; and that of Castletown may be noticed as rising in south Barroole, and, after a southerly course, joining the sea in Castletown bay. Besides these, there is Santon rivulet, and Laxey rivulet on the eastern shore, and many others of smaller size. They are all good trout fishing streams; and before the salmon trout were so much destroyed by angling, that fish was caught in sufficient quantities to form an article of exportation. In the Dhoo, a muscle containing large pearls, was formerly found; it still contains a fish of that kind, thinly scattered, but no pearls have been lately discovered.

TIDES.

These arrive in opposite directions. That which washes the greatest part of the eastern shore, flows northward, through St. George's channel; that on the west, pours in southward, from the Atlantic ocean, through the North channel. In this manner the Irish sea is filled, and the two tides meet at different points on the coast of the Island. That from the north, rounding the Point of Ayre, and occupying the Solway Frith, meets that from the south in an oblique manner off Maughold-head and the Cumberland coast ; and a similar occurrence takes place on the west, between the Manks land and the coast of Ireland. The meeting of these two great bodies of water produces, in many places, a short and eddying sea; and their effects in wearing sinuosities and caverns in the iron bound shore, constitute some of the natural curiosities of the country. The race of the Calf runs westward, through its narrow passage, with a velocity that renders it extremely dangerous, excepting for a short time whilst it is quiescent during high water. Small vessels can pass also at slow water, but a passage ought never to be attempted but in cases of great necessity. At some other parts of the coast, especially at the points of Langness and Scarlett, the tide is very rapid. Except these and the Chickens, and the rocks close in shore, no other dangers beset the Manks coast. In all the bays the anchorage is good, and if a position too close in shore is not taken up, there is no danger of being embayed. A good lookout with a good offing, is the maxim of every expert seaman, even on coasts less rocky than those of this Island ; and if it is attended to, with the assistance of the Lights on the Calf and the Point of Ayre,* the navigation is perfectly safe.

* For a particular description and position of these Lights, see the Manks Almanack.

MINES AND MINERALS.

The Geological structure of the Island is simple, with exceptions of limited extent. The great mass of it consists of grey wacke and clay slate, fissile to the north-east, with an inclination towards the high grounds, and which, for the most part, as it ascends the mountains, becomes more and more schistose ; at south Barroole, it furnishes slates fit for covering houses, where some excellent veins are found ; and at Dalby, the working of slate quarries is likely to become an object of much importance. At Slieanny-glaugh, near Foxdale, south Barroole, and at Doon, on the Laxey road, granite appears at the surface. At Peel bay there is a rock of red sand stone ; at Rockmount, about a mile north from St. John's Chapel, a formation of hornblende rock occurs; at Oatland, in Santon parish, and also on the contiguous farm of Ballashamrock, a green stone formation appears at the surface, The shore north of Port Greenock, is occupied by a grey wacke sand stone.; on the east shore of Castletown bay, a red sand stone conglomerate is superimposed on the grey wacke slate ; and the country about Castletown consists of limestone of excellent quality, where there is also a deposit of black limestone of sufficient fineness of grain to be worked as marble. All these rocks are covered with an alluvial crust of soil, of various degrees of thickness, through which, excepting in the sea cliffs and at Greeks-rock, and a few points of very limited extent, they never penetrate so as to give the land a rocky aspect. In the limestone district, coal has been bored for with some appearances of success. In this district there is marl, which mineral exists very abundantly in the alluvial flat of the north, where it is of two kinds, shell marl and common marl, also vast quantities of turf and bog timber occur in the curragh of the north.

Copper ore is found at Brada, and there are three lead mines in the mountains, one at Brada, at Foxdale, and at Laxey . and indications of metal occur at Glenmoije, and in the parish of Maughold. In the ore at Laxey, a proportion of silver and zinc exists, sufficient to render them an object worthy of separation from the lead.* The lead mines at Foxdale, Brada, and Laxey, are at present worked. Several thousand pounds worth of ore are being now raised monthly at Foxdale ; and from a new mine at Laxey, the works are producing good returns.

* On this subject, consult Dr. BERGER'S Survey, Dr.MacCULLOCH's Western islands, and Dr. OSWALD on Stratification of Minerals.

NATURAL CURIOSITIES.

These will be pointed out in the different tours through the Island. But under this head may be noticed the subterranean forests of bog timber found in the turbaries, generally reclining in a north-easterly direction ; the petrifactions found in the limestone district, and various other specimens of minerals ; the salt spring near Poolvash ; the chasms in Kirk Christ Rushen. A chalybeate water occurs in the glen at Bishop's Court. St. Catherine's well, Port Erin, is mentioned by Feltham, as possessing medicinal properties ; and, on the same authority, Ballatrollag spring near Ballasalla, may be named, and a mineral well in the mountains (the lead district) of Kirk Christ Rushen, in which ducks cannot live.-There are some saline and chalybeate springs in the country, but which have not been tried in a medical way.

The bones of the gigantic Elk, now extinct, the Cervus Alces of Linnaeus, are frequently found in the pits of shell marl at Ballaugh. One of the largest heads ever found, and now in the British Museum, measures from the tip of the highest antler to that of the other, 8 feet 6 inches ; largest horn, 5 feet 8 inches long, and at its broadest palmative part, 14 D inches. A skeleton of this animal, nearly complete, was found in 1319, fifteen feet below the surface, and ingeniously put up by Mr. Kewish, (of which the foregoing cut is a representation). Distance between the tip of the horns, 8 feet ; length of horn, 5 feet to inches; from the ground to the tip of the horns, 13 feet. It was presented to the University of Edinburgh by the late Duke of Atholl, and is now in the Museum there.

CLIMATE.

Like all insular climates, that of this Island varies often from dry to wet, and may be denominated moist ; but only a small portion of days occurs in which some hours of exercise in the open air may not. be comfortably taken. Fogs are not particularly prevalent, unless sea fogs, of a partial and transitory nature, are taken into account. In the generality of winters, the thermometer ranges, for the most part, between forty and fifty degrees, and seldom descends to the freezing point, or if it does so, the frost does not continue longer than a few days, and is always much checked by winds from the sea. Summer heat is also moderated by the sea-breeze, and in the shade, is found generally between sixty and seventy degrees. It is by no means uncommon for the night to be warmer than the day. Hence, the winters are mild and open, and the temperature at all seasons, in a very considerable proportion, is softer and more equable than in the neighbouring kingdoms. It is, therefore, well suited for those conditions of health and constitution that are benefited by such circumstances. Though the climate may be denominated moist, the atmosphere never stagnates. The nature of the soil is such, that it requires frequent supplies of rain. The open state of the weather throughout the winter, clothes the fields with the verdure of spring. The cattle are turned out during the day, throughout most winters, and in summer the crops are seldom or ever later than in Cumberland and Westmorland, sometimes considerably earlier. The effects of the high winds that occasionally prevail, appear to be modified by the saline impregnation they carry along with them from the ocean. Those who are possessed of acute sensibility, complain of the winds, at all times, being cold, though they are not so in reality, nor is this a general complaint. Rheumatism and inflammatory attacks, and cases that partake of a spasmodic character, are certainly the diseases from which the inhabitants suffer most. There are no endemic diseases, and at no point, excepting the curragh marshes in the north, is the surface of the country of a nature to emit noxious miasma.

The myrtle, the arbutus, the fuchsia, the verbina, the buddlea, the hydrangea, and other exotics, flourish throughout the year, and acquire a large size in well sheltered shrubberies. Even biennial mignionette has been known to live throughout the winter in the open garden, and to blow in April. The lovers of botany and horticulture may, therefore, at a small expense, expect interesting results from the cultivation of plants in the open air.' There is no singularity in the plants indigenous to the Island. A Brassica, called the sysimbrium monensis, is the only plant yet discovered peculiar to the Island.

Some years are, of course, much milder than others. The following table of the weather for 1830, and subjoined general average for seven years, kept at Villa Marina, near Douglas, may be taken as an accurate report of the state of Farenheit's thermometer, situated on a northern exposure, always out.

+ The following were In blow In January, 1831, in Castle Mona
Nasturtium Oficinale Dwarf St. John's Wort Upright St. John's Wort Heartsease Pansey White Violet
Primrose, double . Ditto Hose upon Hose Polyanthus
Pink
Carnations, clove tree, and pickati Anemone
Hellebore, Christmas Rose Purple Coronella Rosemary
Moon Trefoil Cineraria Yellow Everlasting Ivy
Lauristinus, two sorts Arbutus, two sorts, in berry Myrtle, three sorts Hydrangea
Spanish Broom Gum cistus Geranium Sauguineum Pyrethrum, or Featherfew Roses of sorts, five Antirrhinum, purple
Mallow, large flowering and purple flowering
Lavender Cotton Snap Dragon
Ten weeks' stock, several sorts Mignionette
Hollyhock Rile
Tangy Pea Wall-flower
1 Broad leaved Periwinkle Marigold
Chrysanthemum, three yellow, one pink, and others
Lupine, yellow, pink, and blue Hepatica
Great Daisy Verbinum
Calla (Ethiopelf Arum Camelia, of sorts Acacia Armata Primrose, double white Magnolia
Pyrus Japonica Fuschia
Whin, or Farze, or Gorze And several others

…

There are four towns ; Castletown, the capital of the Island, Douglas, Peel, and Ramsey, besides several villages, which will be particularly noticed under the head Topography.

By a census taken in 1821, the Island contains 40,081 inhabitants ; twelve thousand of whom dwell in the seaport towns, the greatest proportion inhabiting the villages and hamlets of the interior. The minute division of property, the smallness of the farms, and the number of families supported by each, are the causes of the superior density of the agricultural population. Speaking generally, the Manks people are a large, square made, and hardy race, possessed of sagacious but heavily constituted minds, more addicted to bodily ease and gratification than to active industry; to the executive government, quiet and obedient ; but in civil matters, and internal politics, shrewd, independent, and very jealous of their rights and immunities. The language is a dialect of Celtic, but good English is universally in use, and is making rapid advances in the most retired glens and valleys.

The lower orders will be found in general well clothed, well fed, well behaved, and well looking. they are said to be somewhat overreaching, but this arises as much from a phlegmatic manner, and an excess of caution, as from any premeditated intention to deceive.

There are few paupers except in the towns. In Douglas, especially, there is a proportion fully equal to the population. There are no poor rates, the poor being supported, as in Scotland, by collections at the parochial churches, aided by the interest of various bequests made for the benefit of the poor by individual testators. In Douglas, there are voluntary associations for dispensing soup, and money, and medical assistance, which have been in operation for some years, and have nearly succeeded in suppressing mendacity. The Ladies' Soup Dispensary, the Douglas Medical Dispensary, the Poors' House, the Lying-in Charity, &c. &c.

RELIGION.

The established religion of the country is the Church of England, and is superintended by a clergy well qualified for the execution of their important functions. The stipends of the poorer livings are increased by the Royal bounty and impropriate fund.

The Island is divided into seventeen parishes, three of which are Rectories. The Bishoprick is under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Archbishop of York ; and the patronage of it and the parishes belong to the Crown, with the exception of three livings in the presentation of the Bishop. The Bishop appoints one Archdeacon, and two Vicars'-General. Meetings of the Christians denominated Methodists and Independents, are held in various places. A Presbyterian Chapel in Douglas, is supplied by a Scottish clergyman, appointed by the Presbytery of Edinburgh. There is a Roman Catholic Chapel at Douglas, another at Castletown, and a Chapel called Independent at Douglas.-No where is religious toleration more free or more respected.

EDUCATION.

Literary information is in active progress throughout the country. There are Grammar Schools at the four towns, and Seminaries for young ladies, at which every branch of education is taught ; and every parish has a parish school for teaching the English and Manks languages, writing and arithmetic. In Douglas particularly, the schools are numerous and well attended, and supplied with masters who teach music, drawing, and dancing. Bishop Barrow, who was Bishop of Sodor and Man from 1663 to 1671, bequeathed a fund, (the academic fund) vested in landed property, for the express purpose of educating six students for the Manks Church; and out of the same fund, aided by subscriptions, and the funds at the disposal of the Bishop, a College is now building near Castletown, which is intended to supply the youth of the Island with a Collegiate education. There are also numerous Sunday Schools and Schools of Industry throughout the Island.'

+. On the anniversary of the Coronation of his late most gracious Majesty George the Fourth, July If), 1821, the following Schools attended in Douglas:-Douglas Daily and Sunday School, 291 ; Methodist, 200 ; Independent, 180 ; Infant, 95 ; St. Matthew's, 25 ; St. Matthew's Cottage, 20; Union Mills, 66; Marown, 67; Greeba, 42; St. John's, 90; Oak Hill, 42; Santon, 55; Castletown, Methodist, 79; Spring Bill, 56; Braddan Parish School, 20; Lambfel, 65; Michael, 82; Ballaugh Church, 45; Ditto Methodist, 59; Ramsey Methodist, 64; Ditto Independent, 70; Cornah, 40; Lonan Church, 38; Amagerry, 74; Baldwin, 80; Laxey Gill, 30; Andreas, 31;total 2016,- with about 200 gratuitous teachers.

SUPERSTITION.

The uninformed Manx, like almost all islanders, are very superstitious ; and many, even to this day, believe implicitly in fairies, and in the good and ill they exercise towards frail human kind. But this, as well as other beliefs, is not often expressed in a disagreeable, obnoxious manner, although it certainly at times influences the conduct of some it is wearing out with the increase of knowledge.

AGRICULTURE.

It has already been remarked, that the largest proportion of the Island is under cultivation. Although the agriculture is too much of the ancient kind, yet improvement has made good progress within the last thirty years, and many parishes offer an active field of exertion in that respect. The proprietors of small farms are too generally satisfied to rear by the least industry possible, a robust and contented family. Some large ones, cultivated by enterprising natives, or by farmers from England and Scotland, demonstrate the great capabilities of the soil, when properly managed. Indeed it is surprising to see what fine crops are raised by its natural kindness, notwithstanding inadequate labour. On the small farms, and even on large ones in the unimproving districts summer fallow, the most efficient method of ameliorating the soil, is not practised, and manure is so sparingly applied, that the creel is not unfrequently the vehicle that carries it to the field. At present the price of small farms is low, and consequently rents are cheap. The gross rental of the Island has been calculated at £60,000 or £70,000, annually. There is no singularity in the crops grown here. There is, however, in some degree, a singularity in the seed time of the wheat crops ; for, owing to the mildness and open state of the weather in winter, this season, that is the months of December and January, is the time when the most part of the wheat crops are committed to the soil. Their value is, in a great measure, regulated by the Liverpool market, where Manks wheat, of good quality, follows that of best English growth, in the estimation of the purchaser. From the open state of the weather in winter, and moist state of the soil in spring and autumn the finest garden vegetables are reared with facility.

ANIMALS.

The domestic as well as the wild animals of the country, are the same as those of the opposite shores, but they are much smaller than in England, arising, to a certain extent, from the wild and careless manner of feeding and rearing them. The horses though. small, are active and hardy, and often well made; some good draught horses of a large breed are reared, but first rate kinds, both for saddle and harness, are imported. Not that we are incapable of breeding them, for horses of the best description have been reared, and are still reared, by a few gentlemen. The mutton from the mountains is proverbially small and high-flavoured. The wool is coarse, but in the low grounds the breed of sheep is improving in that respect. Goats were formerly numerous, but they are by no means so now. The wealth of the Manx in cattle consists in cows, which they prefer to rearing bullocks.

BIRDS, &c.

The ornithologist will find abundance of scope for his amusement among the numerous kinds of sea fowl that flutter and scream upon every shelving cliff. The oily puffin no longer inhabits the rocks of the Calf; why it has preferred those of Wales and Ireland, must be left to the suppositions of the curious. In former ages the Island was famous for its breed of falcons, and they are still to be found in the most retired and inaccessible precipices. The partridge and land game would be plenty, were it protected property. As it is, woodcock and snipe are sufficiently abundant. The breed of grouse, once inhabitants of the mountains, has been extinguished. Pheasants have been introduced within these few years, and if secure in their retreats, promise to thrive well.* The Calf and other parts are noted for the supply of wild rabbits they afford, and in such numbers that their fur is an object worthy the attention of any one who understands the management of such creatures. It is worthy of remark, that neither the fox nor any quadruped of prey is a native ; nor are reptiles, that are considered noxious, known.-There are abundance of frogs.

* It is believed that this importation has failed.-1831.

FISHES.

The varieties of fish found in the surrounding seas are numerous ; vast shoals of the finest herring make their appearance on the coast in July, and continue till October or November. They first appear on the Peel side, where they continue till September, about which time they come round to the east coast, full of roe. The latter is the spawning ground. The herrings taken on the west coast are much finer fish, larger, fatter, and in good season for the table.

The other fish on the coast, in the summer or herring season, are mackerel, turbot, skate, and eels. In the other seasons, the fishing banks on the east coast afford a plentiful supply of grey cod, soles, turbot, skate, and flounders; red cod is also caught in the bays. During the winter, whiting, and whiting-pollock or blockings, are taken in great abundance in Douglas bay ; and haddock off Peel bay. Great quantities of the dog-fish or gobbock are also taken. The halibut, conger-eel, gurnet, crabs, and lobsters, oysters, scollops, shrimps, and many others of a more rare and less useful kind, are frequently met with.

TRADE, &c.

The herring fishery has long been considered the staple of the country. The number of boats that pay custom is about 250, from 15 to 30 tons burden. From 20,000 to 30,000 barrels of fish are exported annually, and it has been calculated from 15,000 to 20,000 are kept to stock the country, including fresh fish. In the summer, the fishery employs 2,000 to 3,000 people, it is thought to the detriment of agriculture, because it is the capital of the farmer, and the agricultural labourers that are so employed. But there is evidently a sufficient supply of hands, if properly directed, to meet the demands of both these interests. Except herrings and lobsters, perhaps, few fish are exported. Plans have been suggested, and might be put into practice under good management, for rendering cod fish an article of export, for they abound on the banks along the coast. Vast quantities of flat fish, of all sorts, are caught on the banks off the Island, by the Liverpool trawl-boats, for the English market.

The exportation of corn and cattle of all kinds, to England, is very considerable ; in return for which coals, colonial produce, broad cloths, and calicoes, are imported. Woollen cloths, leather, papers, candles, soap,. and linen, are manufactured in small quantities. The latter, especially, offers an advantageous employment for the surplus population.-The importation of foreign and colonial produce, and licensed goods in general, is, by law, exclusively confined to the port of Douglas.

EXPORTS ENDING 5th JANUARY 1830

145 Horses
695 Black Cattle
98 Sheep
568 Swine
2 Mules
7,902 Quarters of Wheat
4,291 Barley
1,229 Oats
9:} ....Rye
128 Peas and Beans
253 Cwt. of Wheat Flour
8 ........ Barley Meal
551 ........Oat Meal
5 Tons Potatoes
40211 Cwt. Butter
561,000 Eggs
72} Cwt. Pork
10 .. Beef
37 Calf Skins
12g Cwt. Tanned Leather
1,200 Cow and Ox Horns
1 3 Cwt. Hair
52 .... Woollen and W Yarn
39,306 Yards Linen' Cloth Cwt. Linen Yarn
32-4 Tons Copper and Lead Ore
224 .. Black Jack
190 Rabbit Skins 5i Cwt. Feathers
98 .. .. Bacon
158 Tons Limestone
6,479 Reams Paper
804 Tons Paving Stones
2,1 Cwt. Cheese
113 Doz. Sheep $ Lamb Skins
23 Tomb and Hearth Stones
1,600 Apples
7J Tons Hay and Straw Cwt. Hog's Lard
25g.... Tanner's Waste
217 .. .. Rags and old Ropes
3,950 Barrels of Lime

IMPORTS. ENDING 5th JANUARY 1830.

88 Cwt. Bran
5g .... Soap
20 .... Flax and Flax Twine
2,489 Quarters Wheat
986........ Barley
3,238 ........ Oats
22 ........ Peas
228 ........ Beans
85 Tons Wine
10,259 Gallons Brandy
9.577 ........ Geneva
53,538 Gallons Rum
38,332 Pouuds Tobacco
49,818 .... .. ..Black Tea
4,526 ........ Green Tea
7,-118........ Coffee
409 Cwt. Refined Sugar
6,736 cwtMuscovado Sugar
3500 Packs playing cards

Goods, ad calorem, upon average of 3 per cent, produced £2,793.
Ø No Export or Coast Duty.

GOVERNMENT, &c.

This beautiful Island is ruled by a Governor and Captain General, under the British crown, or in his absence, by a Lieutenant-Governor, assisted occasionally by his Council, and the two Deemsters, the Judges of the land, all nominated by the Crown.-On affairs of polity and legislation, the House of Keys, consisting of twenty-four of the chief land-holders of the country, who are elected by their own body, as vacancies occur from death or resignation,* are convened by the Governor as the Representatives of the people. These two, the Governor in Council, and the House of Keys, constitute the Legislature, and the laws they enact, having received the approbation of the King, and having been published by proclamation on the Tynwald Hill, according to ancient usage, become statutes of the land.+

The Governor and his Council, assisted by the verdict of a Jury, form a Criminal Court of General Gaol Delivery twice ayear, whose judgments are subjected to Royal confirmation. The House of Keys used to form a part of this Court, but lately they have not been summoned, it having been decided by his Majesty that they are not an integral part of the Court. The Governor is Chancellor of the Courts of Chancery and Exchequer, which, besides their own particular business, hear appeals in civil causes, with the aid of the Council and Deemsters, from the judgment of the Deemsters or Judgesof the land, in their own special Courts. The Keys and Staff of Government are a Court of Appeal only, and give a verdict on cases brought up from the Courts of Common Law, where the Deemsters also preside; or from the Ecclesiastical Courts in certain cases. An appeal from all these lies with the King in Council.

* The names of two gentlemen of landed property, are sent in to the Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, who nominates one of them to fill the vacancy.

+ For the Statutes of the Island, consult JEFFERSON'S's Laws of the Isle of Man.

The other Courts of Justice of the Island, are the Ecclesiastical Courts, and those of the two Deemsters, the Courts of Common Law, and the Courts of the chief Magistrates of the towns. The Baronial Courts are distinct from those of Government, personally to the King as Lord of Man, and are held for regulating sales and transfers of property, and the payment of fines and quitrents of lands, intacks, &c. In ancient times there were Baronies, but excepting the Bishoprick, which is a Barony, all the other Baronies of the Isle, of which there were four or five, are dormant or forgotten.-Each parish is divided into treens, an ancient division similar to a Barony. Each treen contains three or more quarterlands, which are farms or divisions of land, varying in size, from one hundred to upwards of five hundred acres, each paying a quit-rent or fine to the Crown.

The Executive Government is solely vested in the Governor, who appoints Magistrates to preserve the peace of every parish, denominated Captains of Parishes; and to protect that of every town, those called High Bailiff's : the latter are assisted by their Constables; the former by a kind of militia of four men in each parish, and by a troop of parochial yeomanry, both enrolled according to ancient usage.

Besides the above civil divisions of the Island, the country is arranged for judicial purposes into two districts, the. Northern and the Southern, which are respectively placed under the jurisdiction of the two Deemsters or Judges, appointed by the Crown. These again are subdivided into six Sheadings, or small Sheriffdoms, to each of which the Governor annually appoints a Coroner ; an officer that conjoins the duties of a Constable, a Coroner, and many of those of a Sheriff in England, and who, each in his own Sheading, is the active organ of the Deemsters' Courts.

In every sheading an officer called the Lockman, is appointed to assist the Coroner. The Moar of the parish is an officer who keeps the books of the Lord's rents and other parochial fees, and collects them annually; is bound to protect the commons, and take charge of all wrecks. The rents and dues levied on the Abbey lands, are collected by an officer called the Serjeant of the Abbey lands. The Sumner is the parochial officer of the Consistorial Courts, who is nominated by the Sumner-general, and confirmed by the Vicars' General. The Setting Quest is a jury of four landed proprietors in each parish, appointed for life, to determine boundaries, and to levy fines upon all such as omit to keep their boundary fences in sufficient repair. In cases of difficulty, the Setting-Quest are controlled and assisted by a jury of twelve, called the Grand Inquest.

Except the ancient kind of militia above-mentioned, as furnished by each parish, there is no local military establishment in the Island, but there is always a company or two of Veterans, or troops of the line, to assist the executive government.