a province of Colombia, bounded on the north and east by the Carribean Sea, and on the south by the Orinoco. In the western part, towards the coast, the soil is tolerably fertile. The eastern part is dry and sandy, affording nothing but an inexhaustible mine of marine and mineral salt. On the Orinoco the country is fit only for pasturage; other parts are exceedingly fertile. In the interior is a range of mountains, of which Tumeriquisi, the most elevated, is 5900 feet in height.

or New Cordova, a town of Colombia, and capital of the above province. It is situated near the mouth Cumberland, a county in England, at its north-west extremity, situated between 54° 6' and 55° 7' north latitude, and 2° 13' and 3° 30' west longitude, is bounded on the north by Scotland and the Solway Frith; on the east by Northumberland and Durham; on the south by Westmoreland and Lancashire; and on the west, for about sixty-seven miles, by the Irish Sea. It is, at a medium, about fifty miles long and thirty broad, within a bounding line of 224 miles, and contains 1516 square miles, or 970,240 acres, of which the mountainous district comprises more than a third, the old inclosures about a half, and the lakes and waters 8000 acres; the remainder being either commons capable of improvement, or lands recently inclosed. The principal divisions are called wards, a term synonymous with hundreds in other counties: of these there are five, namely, Cumberland, Eskdale, Leath, Allerdale above Derwent, and Allerdale below Derwent.

The ward of Allerdale above Derwent is in the diocese of Chester, and all the others are in that of Carlisle. The county contains one city, Carlisle; seventeen market-towns, and 112 parishes. Carlisle and Cockermouth are its only boroughs. Cumberland presents every variety of surface. The south-western district is generally mountainous, rugged, and sterile, yet contains several rich though narrow valleys, with many fine lakes, islands, rivers, cascades, and woodlands, which, combined or contrasted in the view with the gigantic rocky masses around them, exhibit many remarkable scenes of grandeur, desolation, and beauty. Skiddaw, Saddleback, Helvellyn, rising to the height of more than 3000 feet, belong to this quarter. The highest part of that immense ridge, termed the British Appenines, which, commencing in Derbyshire, extends in a continued chain into the Lothians, forms the eastern boundary; in which Crossfell, about 3400 feet high, surrounded with other lofty and barren eminences, retains the snow upon its summit nearly three fourths of the year. The northern part of the county, or what has been called the Vale of Carlisle, is in general flat; and a tract of low land, from two to four or five miles in breadth, winds along the western shore. The climate necessarily corresponds with this variety of surface: here, as in the other western counties, rains are frequent and copious, particularly in summer, and often also in autumn. Black peat earth is the most prevalent soil in the mountainous districts, and is found, too, in the moors and commons of the low grounds. About half the cultivated land consists of dry loams, excellently adapted for the growth of turnips, herbage, and all sorts of grain. Fertile clays occupy but a small portion, but clay, wet and sterile, forms the subsoil in many parts.

The principal rivers are the Eden, the Derwent, the Caldew, and the Esk. The Eden has its source in Westmoreland, near the borders of Yorkshire, and, pursuing a north-westerly course in its progress through Cumberland, passes Kirkoswald and Carlisle, and falls into the Solway Frith near Rockcliffe Marsh, where it forms a fine estuary. The vale land on its banks is for the most part very narrow; and in some places the high grounds approach to the water's edge. There are several salmon-fisheries on this river belonging to different proprietors. The Derwent rises among the frightful crags at the head of Borrowdale, in the southern range of mountains, whence it is dashed from rock to rock, till it reaches Derwent Lake, from which it flows onward through Bassenthwaite water, and after being joined by the Cocker near Cockermouth, falls into the sea a little from Workington. The scenery along the whole of its course is singularly varied and interesting. The Caldew issues from the south-east side of Skiddaw, and joins the Eden near Carlisle, after a course of twenty-four miles, in which it gives motion to a number of cotton and corn mills. The vale through which it flows is very beautiful, and its banks are well wooded. The Esk enters Cumberland from Scotland at a place called the Moot, and, flowing in a westerly direction by Longtown, falls into the Solway Frith; the Liddel, another Scottish river, which, in part of its course, separates Cumberland from Scotland, joins the Esk after it has passed into England.

Landed property is much divided in this county, and the small estates are commonly occupied by their owners. Most of them are held under the lords of manors, by what is called customary tenure, which subjects them to the payment of fines and heriots on alienation, and on the death of the lord or tenant, besides certain annual rents, and the performance of a variety of degrading and vexatious services. According to the authors of the Agricultural Survey, printed in 1794, about two thirds of the county were held by this tenure, in parcels worth from £1.15 to £3.00 of yearly rent. On large estates, also, the farms were in general rather small, few then reaching £200 a year, possessed on verbal contracts or very short leases, and burdened, like the small estates, with payments or services, over and above a money rent; but leases for fourteen or twenty-one years are now not uncommon. The live stock consists of horses of rather a small size; cattle of the long-horned breed, with a few Galloways, to which, of late, the improved short horns have been added by a few great proprietors; and sheep chiefly of the black-faced heath variety. In a mountainous district, at the head of the Duddon and Esk rivers, there is a breed of sheep of a somewhat peculiar character, the ewes and wethers, and many of the rams, being polled, their faces and legs speckled, and the wool finer than that of the heath breed. They belong to the proprietor of the lands, and have been farmed out with them from time immemorial to herds at a yearly rent; and from this circumstance, it is said, have obtained the name of Herdwick. There are a number of small dairies, at which butter and skimmed-milk cheese are made; the produce of each cow in butter is about two firkins of fifty-six pounds; and the quantity sent out of the county was computed, in 1794, to bring upwards of £30,000. All the common species of grain are cultivated, though in many instances with little attention to system, corn crops being often taken for several years in succession. Turnips and clovers do not yet enter into the rotation in many parts of the county. Potatoes are extensively cultivated. That excellent variety of oats called the potato oat is said to have been first discovered in Cumberland in 1788, and whence it has now spread over every part of the united kingdom. Among the farm implements the single-horse cart deserves to be noticed, as being almost exclusively employed, and with great advantage, as it is not only by far the most convenient and economical carriage for the farmer, but is much less injurious to the public roads than the wagons and heavily-loaded carts in other counties. The agriculture of this county has been greatly indebted to Mr. Curwen of Workington, both for the example he has given on his own farms, and for the spirit of inquiry and experiment which has been diffused by means of the Workington Society, of which he was the founder. His yearly meetings at Workington Hall were resorted to by agriculturists from most parts of the kingdom. The conduct of his large dairy near Workington, and the object of it, were alike deserving of commendation.

The principal manufactures of Cumberland are calicoes, corduroys, and other cotton fabrics, established at Dalston, Carlisle, Warwick Bridge, and a few other places. Cotton printing is carried on to some extent in Carlisle; the manufacture of sail-cloth and cordage at Workington and Whitehaven; and checks and coarse linens in several of the market towns. In this, as in other thinly peopled and mountainous districts, domestic manufactures, such as woollen cloth, stockings, &c., supply a great part of the wants of the peasantry. The Seaton iron-works, on the banks of the Derwent, above Workington, a manufactory of coarse earthen-ware near Dearham, and paper mills in various parts of the county, with breweries, and a soap-work at Carlisle, comprise all the other manufacturing establishments of any note in this county.

Cumberland abounds in minerals and fossils, from which a great part of its wealth is drawn. The most valuable are coal, black lead, lead, copper, iron, slate, and limestone.

Coal is found at different places in the eastern mountains, and also near Brampton in the northern part of the county, but in greatest abundance on the west side of the river Caldew, and thence to Maryport, Workington, and Whitehaven. A number of mines are constantly at work in this district, particularly near Whitehaven and Workington. The principal entrance to the coal-mines at Whitehaven is by an opening at the bottom of a hill, through a long passage hewn in the rock, which, by a steep descent, leads down to the lowest vein of coal. The greater part of this descent is through spacious galleries, intersecting each other; all the coal being dug away, except large pillars, which in deep parts of the mine are three yards high, and twelve yards square at the base. The mines are sunk to the depth of a hundred and thirty fathoms, one of them, the King Pit, a hundred and sixty fathoms, and extended under the sea to places where, above them, the water is of sufficient depth for ships of great burthen. Four engines, when all working together, discharge 1228 gallons of water every minute; another raises 9225 hogsheads every twenty-four hours. The seams all dip to the west about one yard in ten. Mr Spedding, the engineer of these works, observing that the fire-damp was not liable to be ignited by the sparks produced by the collision of flint and steel, many years ago invented a machine, in which, while a steel wheel was turned round with a very rapid motion, flints were applied to it, and, by the abundance of sparks emitted, the miners were enabled to carry on their work, where the flame of a lamp or candle would have occasioned explosions. But this contrivance was found not to be an effectual preservative, and this gentleman himself lost his life by one of those explosions which he had so sedulously attempted to prevent. The well-known safety-lamps, now in general use, have been more successful. About 90,000 chaldrons are said to be raised annually. There are railways from the pits to the quay, over which large flues or hurries are placed, through which the contents of the waggons are speedily discharged into the holds of the ships. The coals are exported to Ireland and the west of Scotland. The coal-pits at Workington are from forty to ninety fathoms deep. The uppermost seam is generally three feet thick, the second four, and the third or lowest that has been hitherto worked from ten to twelve feet.

The famous black-lead mines are situated at the head of Borrowdale, in the south-west range of mountains. The mineral is found in irregular masses, generally imbedded in a blue rock, with a stratum of granite above it; and it is only wrought occasionally, as the demand for it may require. At other times the mines are protected from pilferers by a temporary wall within, and the house of the steward is built over the entrance.

The principal lead-mines are in Aldstone Moor, on the south-east borders of the county. The ore is found in fissures nearly perpendicular, and not unfrequently contains a considerable proportion of silver. The most considerable copper mines are near Caldbeck, at Hesket New Market, in Borrowdale, and at Newlands in the vicinity of Keswick; but they are not now wrought to a great extent. The ore is commonly combined with sulphur, and usually contains both iron and arsenic. In the parish of Egremont, at a place called Crowgarth, is the most singular mine of iron ore supposed to be in Britain. It lies at the depth of twelve fathoms, and the thickness of the band of ore is from twenty-four to twenty-five feet. In 1791 and 1792, the annual exportation from it to the Carron foundry in Scotland, and others, was upwards of 20,000 tons. Very good slate is found in the south-western mountains, and limestone in various parts of the county. Of the latter, when calcined, the exportation to the west of Scotland used to be very considerable. Among the mineral or fossil productions may be mentioned marble, spar of various colours and forms, gypsum, steatites, and porcelain clay or kaolin.

Cumberland contains a number of towns, few of them large or populous. Carlisle, Penrith, Wigton, Maryport, Cockermouth, Workington, Whitehaven, Egremont, and Keswick, are the most considerable. The exports, chiefly from Whitehaven, Maryport, Workington, and Harrington, are coals, lime, butter, bacon, cured cod for the Liverpool market, and salmon and potted char for London. Since the East India trade was thrown open, Whitehaven has been among the first ports to embark in it; and it has long possessed a share of the trade with America.

The lakes and mountains of Cumberland have long attracted the admirers of the wild and beautiful in natural scenery. The lakes, including smaller pieces of water, called tarns, are fifteen in number; the finest are Ullswater, and Derwentwater or Keswick Lake. Ullswater is partly situated in Cumberland and partly in Westmorland; it is about nine miles in length, and from a quarter of a mile to one mile in breadth. Winding round the base of vast rocky mountains, it is seen only in successive portions; the scenery on its margin presenting new and striking objects at every stretch. The rocks in its vicinity are celebrated for reverberating sounds. The report of a cannon rebounds six or seven times, with pauses between, in which the sound of the distant waterfall is for a moment heard. This lake contains fish of various kinds, particularly trout, perch, and eels, and also char and gwyniad, the last in considerable numbers. Derwentwater or Keswick Lake is of an irregular figure, approaching to an oval, about three miles in length and one and a half in breadth. It is seen at one view, expanding within an amphitheatre of mountains, rocky but not vast; broken into many fantastic shapes; opening by narrow valleys the view of rocks which rise immediately beyond, and are again overlooked by others. Masses of wood frequently appear among the cliffs, feathering them to their summits; and a white cottage sometimes peeps from out their skirts, seated on the smooth knoll of a piece of pasture projecting towards the lake. Its bosom is spotted by small islands, of which those called Lord's and St Herbert's are well wooded. The celebrated Fall of Lowdore, on the southern side of the lake, consists of a series of cascades, which rush over an enormous pile of protruding crags, from the height of nearly 200 feet. What is called the floating island of Keswick is said to appear occasionally on the side of the lake opposite to this fall, but only when the water in the Cumberland lake is high; and then scarcely a foot above the surface. No satisfactory explanation has been given of this phenomenon. The size of the island seems, according to different accounts, to vary; and its existence has not been unfrequently denied altogether. The waters of this lake are sometimes agitated in an extraordinary manner, without any apparent cause; and in a perfectly calm day they are seen to swell in high waves, which have a progressive motion from west to east. This is ascribed to what is called bottom wind. The swell sometimes continues for an hour or two only, at others almost a whole day. Gilsland Spa, in the middle of a wild romantic valley, called the Vale of Irthing, about eight miles south-east of Bewcastle, has long been a place of considerable resort; and, independently of the medicinal qualities of its springs, presents attractions to visitors, particularly the painter and geologist, in the variety of its landscape and the disposition of the strata, exposed in the banks of the river in its vicinity.

From the tops of the mountains in Cumberland, the views are alike extensive and varied. The summit of Skiddaw brings under the eye the Irish Sea and the German Ocean; a chaos of dark mountains at a distance, with lakes seen dimly at the feet of the nearest, and a vast expanse of champaign country, bounded by the Irish Channel, and traversed by silvery thread-like streams in every direction. Upon the summits of the Cross-fell ridge there frequently hangs a vast volume of clouds, reaching half way down towards the base of the fells. At some distance from this helm, as it is called, and opposite to it, another cloud, called the helm-bar, is seen in continual agitation, whilst the helm itself remains motionless. When the bar is dispersed, the wind rushes from the helm, often with great fury, and sometimes on both sides of the mountains.

The early history of this county is involved in obscurity. In the tenth century it appears to have been in the possession of the Scots, but whether by a grant from the crown of England or by conquest, has been matter of dispute. It was long made the scene of plunder and bloodshed, by the savage incursions of both kingdoms alternately. At a conference held at York, Henry III., in full satisfaction of the claims of the Scots, agreed to assign lands to them of the yearly value of £200, within the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland, if lands of that value could be found therein, without the limits of the towns where castles were erected. But after this arrangement there still remained a tract between the two kingdoms, called the debatable ground, the resort of the worst characters of both, who continued to disturb the borders down to the union of the two crowns. Of the Druidical antiquities of Cumberland the most remarkable is a circle of stones, about three miles from Kirkoswald, called Long Meg and her Daughters. The Roman wall may still be traced from the neighbourhood of Carlisle, both to the east and west, for some miles; where it enters Northumberland on the east, it is in some places five, and in others eight feet in height. A great many coins, altars, and other vestiges of antiquity, have been discovered at the Roman stations on its line. In the mountainous parts, which have little intercourse with towns, the manners of the people are somewhat peculiar; and in the solitary dales, surrounded by the least accessible mountains, they have perhaps undergone little alteration for centuries.

Cumberland sends nine members to Parliament: four for the county, two for Carlisle, two for Cockermouth, and one for Whitehaven. The following abstract is taken from the returns of 1811 and 1821, and exhibits the general results of that of 1831.

| YEARS | HOUSES | OCCUPATIONS | PERSONS | |-------|--------|-------------|---------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |

See Bailey and Culley's General View of the Agriculture of Cumberland; Hutchinson's History of Cumberland; Houseman's Topographical Description of Cumberland; Gilpin's Observations on the Lakes.