and the two preceding days, form ed fo violent a torrent, that all the earth in the territory of the rock of Montepiano, fituated bebetween the towns of Chieti and Lanciano, at three leagues from Pescara, belonging to the family of Colonna at Rome, was carried away by it, leaving the buildings to tumble into an abyfs two miles in length, and half a mile in breadth. The inhabitants, to the number of two thousand, escaped towards the fields, but the fummit of the mountain of Mountepiano, being of earth, fell upon them, and be came level with the very ground beneath it, infomuch that there is no difcovering at prefent the place where it ftood. Five religious were immediately fent from Chieti to give abfolution to the dying, who cryed out amidst the ruins in a moft pitiable manner, fome of them caught faft in the earth up to the waift, and others up to the neck. The bells rolling down with the ruins rang, from time to time, of themfelves, but with a doleful found. On the 23d the ground gave the inhabitants fufficient warning of what was to be expected, by opening in feveral places, but they unhappily took not the alarm. A river, two miles from this place, was fo long ftopped in its courfe by the earth, trees, and dead bodies carried down by the torrent, that its water became green, fo as to threaten an infection, if not fpeedily given a free iffue. Terror fpread throughout all the environs, efpecially as the canton named Serra met nearly the fame fate.

waggons and carts, with nine-inch wheels, pafling through any turnpike gate or bar, after this day, are to pay full toll, unless they are so conftructed as to roll a furface of fixteen inches, and in that' cafe only half toll; and all narrow wheels are to pay one half toll more than the nine-inch wheels,. except carts and carriages drawn by one horfe and two oxen, and no more; or with two horfes or four oxen, and no more, having fixinch wheels. And no perfon, by virtue of any act of parliament, is to have, claim, or take the benefit or advantage of any exemption from tolls, unless the fellies of the wheels are nine inches broad.

2 th.

between two and three o'clock in the afternoon, a terrible form of thunder and lightning happened at St. Mary Cray in Kent, by which a boy was killed, and four other boys ftruck fenfelefs on the ground, one of them with a very long and deep wound on the infide of his right thigh. But what is extremely remarkable, thofe boys, when come to themfelves, were not confcious of what had happened to them, but faid they had been afleep.

Two mowers near Wells, in Somerfetfhire, cut down four acres of grafs in an hour and seventeen minutes, for a wager of zol. which they won by performing it only one minute within the time; two to one was laid against them.

28th.

The workmen employed in paving the Strand, upon digging up the pofts in the footpath near St. Clement's church, difcovered a large leaden pipe, weighing, it is faid, 112lb. per yard, and reaching quite to Tem[11]4

ple

ple bar. It appears, from Stow's, and other hiftories of London, that this was part of one of the mains conveying water from Bayswater into the city, and laid down in 1336. The continuation of this pipe, from Temple bar, through Fleet-ftreet, was dug up about 20

years ago.

Was determined a wager between two noblemen, for 1000.guineas, that a boat should go 25 miles in an hour. For this purpofe, a large circular trench of 100 feet diameter, and nine feet wide, was dug in a field behind Jenny's Whini, near Chelfea-bridge; and in the centre of the land furrounded by this trench was fixed a poft, with a radius extending to the middle of the canal, fo that the boat being tied to the moveable end of the radius might be moved, with great velocity, by a very flow motion in a horfe faftened to fome point of the radius between the boat and the centre. The wager was, however, loft, by part of the tackling giving way, though the trial had fucceeded perfectly well the day before. A tender from the Shet30th. land herring fishery arrived in the river Maes, with 52 barrels of herrings, moft of which fold from 231. to 121. the barrel. The common price is 40s.

The tide in the river Thames was fo remarkably low, that the ferry from Somerfet-ftairs to Cuper's bridge could not work, the fand banks being entirely bare. Is not the increafe of thofe fandbanks, fo hurtful to the navigation of the Thames, owing to the ftoppage of the water, by the numerous and broad piers of London

bridge. If fo, how unwife muft it be to increase that obftacle by the water works?

Some days ago, a fhock of an earthquake was felt at Tiano and Migniano, in the Terre di Lavoro, between thirty and forty miles diftant from Naples. At Migniano it was fo violent, as to drive out the inhabitants; three houfes were thrown down, and two churches much damaged.

'We think it our duty to acquaint the public, that the governors of, and fubfcribers to, the Welch charity-fchool in Clerkenwell Green, have juft publithed, for the benefit of that laudable inftitution, the third part of their British Zoology, though compofed by themselves, or at their own expence; a work deferving, if poffible, as much encouragement, on account of the mafterly manner in which it is executed, as the exalted purpofe to which the profits of it are to be applied. How happy would it be, if more gentlemen spent their leifure hours in the fame manner? The letter-prefs, and feveral plates of the 4th part, are, we are affured, already executed, and the remainder of the work will be delivered with all expedition. This feems to be a proper place for mentioning, that there are fome focieties of ladies in Dublin, who meet alternately at each other's houfes; and, at the fame time they are spending their time in agreeable converfation, contribute to the relief of the poor by employing their needle in the fervice of them, particularly the children in the foundling hofpital.

The prizes of fifteen guineas

each

theremonftrance, which they were preparing to lay before him."

.M. de Marbœuf, commander of the French troops, now garrifoning thofe places in Corfica, which the Genoefe ftill retain, has had a private conference with Paoli; fince which that chief has ordered his Corficans to treat the French with respect, to permit them the diverfion of hunting in the neighbourhood of the places where they are in garrifon, and on certain days to hold markets for their conveniency. Paoli has caufed the veffels and ftatues of gold and filver in one of the churches to be coined into money, bearing the arms of the island, which, together with the French coin, pales current among the troops of the two nations.

Two violent earthquakes were lately felt in the Eastern Bothnia, part of the kingdom of Sweden; but we do not hear of any confiderable damage being done by them.

On the 31ft ult. a French fquadron of ten fhips, commanded by M. du Chaffaut, arrived in fight of the port of Sallee, and the day following began its operations again ft that place by bombarding the old and new towns, together with the forts, into which, between that and the 14th inft, it threw about 400 bombs, but without any other damage than demolishing part of feven houfes and the roof of a mofque. They then bombarded Larrache, with as little fuccefs. However, the Moorish troops of the garrison, and the environs, under the Bacha Habil, made a feint of retiring in order to impofe upon the French, who finding the fire

of the Moorish cannon to flacken, and seeing none of the Moors appear, fent fixteen boats up the river, and fet fire to a French prize, equipped for cruifing. Upon this the Moors divided into two bodies, and concealed themselves behind their fortifications on both fides of the river. They might have prevented the burning of this prize, but the Bacha thought it better to fuffer the French to continue their expedition. Accord ingly they advanced for fome miles, and fet fire to feveral veffels at anchor, when the Moors fuddenly prefented themselves on both fides of the river. While two hundred among them were employed in extinguishing the flames, the reft fired with fo much brifknefs on the French boats, that they ftruck their flags, and demanded quarter, which was granted them by the Moors, two thousand of whom threw themselves into the river, with theirponiards in their mouths, in order to get to the French boats. The French, upon this, rehoifted their colours, and began to fire upon the fwimmers, in order to prevent their boarding; but the Moors afhore plied them fo warmly on all fides, that they obliged them to frike their flags a fecond time, and demand quarter. Many of the fwimmers by this time got on board their boats, and killed there near a hundred and fifty of the crew; when the Bacha refufed to liften to any further propofitions, yet gave orders to fave the prifoners. On this occafion the French had about five hundred men killed, and loft all their boats; the Moors had but one hundred men killed and wounded.

wounded. Other accounts fay that the French deftroyed Larrache by bombs and bullets, and likewife two corfairs, with the lofs of only 30 officers and 174 men killed and wounded, whereas the Moors loft 2,000 men; and that the French fquadron took a Danish veffel deftined for Sallee, laden with 500lb. of powder, 1500 bullets, 10 pieces of brafs cannon and a quantity of mafts.

On the 12th of April laft, the grand vizir was beheaded at Con-, ftantinople; afterwards his head was expofed three days. The grand fignior feemed inclined to fave him but nothing could fatisfy the divan and populace, but his death; fo enraged were they against him, for not quelling in its infancy a revolt in Georgia, occafioned by the Georgians refufing to yield the ufual tribute of their fineft girls to the feraglio.

By advices from Baffora of the 10th of February laft, the affairs of Perfia have been in a state of perfect tranquillity for thefe two years paft, under the prudent government of Kerim Kan; there have been but two trifling revolts, which he fuppreffed as foon as they broke out. All Perfia is fubject to him, except the Coraffan,which is under the dominion of Ahmet Chah, king of Agvan, who has peaceably enjoyed, upwards of ten years, a most extenfive country in India and Perfia, befides the province of Candahar, his native country. It may with truth be afferted of him, that he is the rich eft king in Afia, for all the treafures of Nadir Chah, ThamasKouli-Kan, and Delhi, have fallen into his hands. Kerim-Kan is at prefent in the neighbourhood

of Baffora, at Bormava, in the Loriftan, with an army which is, faid to confißt of 60,000 men ; and it is pretended that he will go, as, foon as the feafon will permit, to chaftife fome pirates which are cruizing in the Perfian gulph. This prince likewife propoles to fet to rights the affairs of the provinces of Fars and Loristan.

There have been within these eight months fome very waria difputes between the governor and affembly houfe of Jamaica, concerning the privileges of that houfe. The queftion in difpute feems to be, whether the houfe's privileges actually extend, or if they don't, whether the house has a right to extend them, especially by an ex poft facto vote, from the perfons of its members and their fervants, to their coaches, horfes, and other things requifite for their attendance upon the houfe. As this is a matter of too much importance to be left out, and yet the only account we have got of it is too long for this part of our work, we shall give it in our Appendix.

There is advice from Philadelphia, that fome of their back-settlers, fuppofed to be the fame who the year before murdered the innocent Indians, fettled in the heart of that province, fome time ago furprifed, in their way to Fort Pitt, a convoy of eighty horfes loaded with goods, part on his majesty's account, as prefents to the Indians, with whom there is no making or maintaining peace without fuch demonftrations of, friendfhip, and part on the account of the merchants for the Indian trade, killed fome of the horses, and carried off all the goods. A party of the king's troops being called

from