SUSSEX, a county of England, deriving its name from its situation in respect of the other Saxons, and called Sussex, i.e. the country of the South Saxons, has Hampshire on the west, the British channel on the south, Surrey on the north, and Kent on the east. Its length is 65 miles, its breadth 30, and its circumfer-

ence 170. It is divided into 6 rapes, and these into 65 hundreds, in which are 342 parishes, of which 123 Camden's are vicarages, one city, 16 market towns, 1,140,000 Britannia,

acres, and in 1841 it contained 190,833 inhabitants. It vol. i. p.

has few good ports, though it lies along the channel for 65 miles, the coast being encumbered in many places with rocks; and where it is more open, such quantities of sand are thrown upon it by the south-west winds, and the harbours so choked up, that they will not admit vessels of any great draught or burden. The county is well watered by the rivers Arun, Adur, Ouse, Rother, Lavant, Cuckmere, Ashburn, and Afton, by which it is well supplied with fish, as well as from the sea. Hence different places of the county are famed for different sorts of fish, as the Arun for mullets, which enter it from the sea in summer in shoals, and by feeding upon a particular kind of herb become extremely deli-

cious: Chichester for lobsters, Sealey for cockles, Amberly for trout, Pulborough for eels, Rye for herrings, and Sussex, and the county in general for carp. It is remarkable, Sutherland, that all the rivers above mentioned rise and fall into the sea, within the county.

The air, as well as the soil, is various in different parts of the county. Upon the coast the air is aguish, upon the hills and downs pleasant and wholesome; but somewhat moist and foggy in the valleys, the soil being deep and rich, and the vegetation in summer very vigorous. The downs in some places are very fertile in corn and grass; in others they feed great flocks of sheep, whose flesh and wool are very fine; but of the latter no inconsiderable quantity is clandestinely exported to France. In the Weald and the valleys the roads are very deep, especially in winter. In the north quarter are many woods, and some forests in other places; whence the king's yards are supplied with the largest and best timber in England, beside what is made into charcoal and consumed in the iron-works; for on the east side is plenty of iron ore, with furnaces, forges, and mills for manufacturing it. Those delicious birds called wheat-cars are bred in this shire; they are not bigger than a lark, but very fat. That part now called the Wild or Weald of Sussex, was anciently a mere desert for hogs and deer, of great extent, taking in a part of Kent and Surrey; and was called Anderida Silva, Coid Andred, and Andradswald, from Anderida an adjoining city. This county is in the home circuit and diocese of Chichester, giving the title of earl to the family of Yelverton, and sends 28 members to parliament, viz. two for the county, two for the city of Chichester, and two for each of the following towns, Horsham, Lewes, Bramber, East-Grintstead, Midhurst, Shoreham, Staining, Arundel, Hastings, Rye, Winchelsea, and Seaford; of which the four last are cinque ports. See SUSSEX, SUPPLEMENT.