The bowels of the earth in this State offer a large recompenfe to the industrious adventurer. Iron ore is found in great plenty in several parts of the State, The iron works on Patuxet river, twelve miles from Providence, are fupplied with ore from a bed four miles. and a half distant, which lies in a valley, through which runs a brook; the brook is turned into a new channel, and the ore pits are cleared of water by a steam engine, conftructed and made at the furnace, by and under the direction of the late Jofeph Brown, Efq. of Providence, which continues a very useful monument of his mechanical genius: at this ore bed are a variety of ores, curious tones, ochres, &c.

At Diamond-Hill, in the county of Providence, which is fo called from its fparkling and fhining appearance, there are a variety of pe culiar stones, more curious than at present they appear to be useful; but not far from this hill, in the township of Cumberland, is a cop per mine, mixed with iron ftrongly impregnated with loadstone, of which fome large pieces have been found in the neighbourhood: no method has yet been difcovered to work it to advantage, or rather, no one has yet been found with fufficient spirit to engage in an une dertaking, which, though it might be attended with difficulty at first, could hardly fail, ultimately, of yielding an ample recompenfe.

An abundance of limestone is found in this State, particularly in the county of Providence, of which large quantities of lime are made and exported. This limestone is of different colours, and is the true marble, of the white, plain, and variegated kinds; įt takęs a fine polish, and works equal to any in America.

There are feveral mineral fprings in this State, to one of which, near Providence, many people refort to bathe and drink the water. The waters of this State are equally productive; in the rivers and bays are plenty of fheeps-head, black-fifh, herring, fhad, lobsters, oyfters, and clams; and around the fhores of Rhode-Ifland, befides thofe already mentioned, are cod, halibut, mackerel, bafs, haddock, &c. to the amount of more than feventy different kinds, fo that in the seasons of fish the markets prefent a continual scene of bustle and hurry. Rhode-Ifland is indeed confidered by travellers as the beft fish market, not only in the United States, but in the world.

CIVIL DIVISIONS, CHIEF TOWNS, &c.

This State is divided into five counties, viz. Newport, Providence, Walhing.

Gg 2

Washington, Bristol and Kent; these are subdivided into thirty townfhips. The principal towns in each are as follow:

NEWPORT.

This town lies in lat. 41° 35′; it was firft fettled by Mr. William Coddington, afterwards governor, and the father of Rhode-Ifland, with feventeen others, in 1639. Its harbour, which is one of the fineft in the world, fpreads weftward before the town; the entrance is eafy and fafe, and a large fleet may anchor in it, and ride in perfect fecurity. It is probable, fhould the United States establish a naval force, that this may, in fome future period, become one of the man of war ports of the American empire. The town lies north and fouth upon a gradual afcent as you proceed from the water, and exhibits a beautiful view from the harbour, and from the neighbouring hills which lie weftward upon the main. West of the town is Goat-Ifland, on which is a fort. Between this ifland and RhodeIfland is the harbour. Front or Water-street is a mile in length.

Newport contains about one thoufand houfes, built chiefly of wood; it has nine houfes for public worship, three for the Baptifts, two for the Congregationalifts, one for Epifcopalians, one for Quakers, one for Moravians, and a fynagogue for the Jews: the other public buildings are a ftate house and an edifice for the public library. The fituation, form and architecture of the ftate houfe, give it a pleafing appearance; it stands fufficiently elevated, and a long wharf and paved parade lead up to it from the harbour.

THE DESTRUCTIVE INFLUENCE OF PAPER MONEY, which has now, however, ceafed to operate, combined with the devastation of a cruel and unjust war, have occafioned a ftagnation of bufinefs which is truly melancholy and diftreffing. This city, far famed for the beauty of its fituation, the falubrity of its climate, and the hofpitality and politenefs of its inhabitants, and which was the place of refort for invalids from a great diftance, now wears the gloomy afpect of decay; thousands of its inhabitants are almost destitute of employment; this circumftance, together with that of there being a great abundance of raw materials in the vicinity, ftrongly mark out this city as a convenient and proper fituation for extenfive manufac tures. Should the gentlemen of fortune refident in the State, or any of those who have emigrated or that may emigrate thither from different parts of Europe, turn their capitals into this channel, they would not only derivé a profit to themselves, but be inftrumental in giving

employ

employment and bread to thousands of now unhappy people, and of reviving the former importance of this beautiful city.

The excellent accommodations and regulations of the numerous packets which belong to this port, and which ply thence to Providence and New-York, ought not to pass unnoticed; they are faid to be fuperior to any thing of the kind in Europe.

PROVIDENCE.

Providence is fituated in lat. 41° 51′ on both fides of Providence river, is thirty-five miles from the fea, and thirty miles N. by W. from Newport; it is the oldest town in the State; Roger Williams and his company were its first fettlers in 1636.

This town is divided into two parts by the river, and connected by a bridge, formerly called Weyboffet, from a high hill of that name which flood near the weft end of the bridge, but which is now removed, and its bafe built upon; this bridge which is the only one

of

any confiderable note in this State, is one hundred and fixty feet long and twenty-two feet wide, fupported by two wooden treffels and two stone pillars; its fituation affording a profpect of all veffels leaving and entering the harbour, renders it a pleasant place of refort in the fummer. Ships of almost any fize fail up and down the channel, which is marked out by flakes, erected at points, fhoals, and beds lying in the river, fo that strangers may come up to the town without a pilot. A fhip of 950 tons, for the East-India trade, was lately built in this town, and fitted for fea. In 1764 there were belonging to the county of Providence fifty-four fail of veffels, containing four thousand three hundred and twenty tons. In 1791 they had one hundred and twenty-nine fail, containing eleven thousand nine hundred and forty-two tons, and in 1792 thefe were confiderably increased.

This town fuffered much by the Indian war of 1675, when a number of its inhabitants removed to Rhode-Ifland for fhelter. In the late war the cafe was reverfed; many of the inhabitants of that island removed to Providence.

The public buildings are, an elegant meeting-houfe for the Baptists, eighty feet fquare, with a lofty and beautiful steeple and a large bell, caft at the Furnace Hope in Scituate-a meeting-house for Friends or Quakers, two for Congregationalifts, an epifcopal church, a handfome court-houfe, feventy-feet by forty, in which is depofited a library for the ufe of the inhabitants of the town and country-a work

work-house, a market-house eighty feet long and forty feet wide, and a brick fehool-house, in which four schools are kept. The houses in this town are generally built of wood, though there are some brick buildings which are large and elegant. At a convenient diftance from the town, an hospital for the small-pox and other diseases has been erected. There are two fpermaceti works, a number of distilleries, fugar houses, and other manufactories. Several forts were erected in and near Providence during the late war, but little attention has been given to them fince; in the determination of the American government to put the fea ports, &c. into a proper state of defence, this place has not been forgotten, orders have been given to repair those works necessary for the defence of the town. This town has an extenfive trade with Massachusetts, Connecticut, and part of Vermont; and from its advantageous fituation, promises to be among the largest towns in New-England; it fends four representatives to the General Affembly; the other towns in the county send but two.

BRISTOL.

Bristol is a pleasant thriving town, about fixteen miles north of Newport, on the main; part of the town was destroyed by the British, but it has fince been rebuilt; it has an epifcopal and a congregational church. This town is noted for raifing large quantities of onion and other roots. A number of veffels are owned by the inhabitants, and they carry on a confiderable trade to Africa, the WestIndies, and to different parts of the United States.

WARREN.

Warren is also a flourishing town, has a very lucrative trade with the Weft-Indies and other places, and a confiderable portion of bufiness in ship-building.

LITTLE COMPTON.

Little Compton, called by the Indians Seconnet, is said to be the best cultivated township in the State, and affords a greater supply of provifions for market, fuch as meats of the several kinds, butter, éheefe, vegetables, &c. than any other town of its fize. The inha bitants, who are an industrious and fober people, and in these refpects an example worthy the notice and imitation of their brethren in fome other parts of the State, manufacture linen and tow gloth, flannels,

flannels, &c. of an excellent quality, and in confiderable quantities for fale.

About four miles north-east of Providence lies a fmall village, called Pautucket, a place of fome trade, and famous for lamprey eels. Through this village runs Pautucket river, which empties into Seekhonck river at this place; in this river is a beautiful fall of water; directly over the falls a bridge has lately been built, which is a work of confiderable magnitude and much ingenuity, which divides the Commonwealth of Maffachusetts from the State of RhodeIfland. The fall, in its whole length, is upwards of fifty feet; the water paffes through several chasms in a rock which runs diametrically across the bed of the stream, and serves as a dam to the water. Several mills have also been erected upon thefe falls, and the spouts and channels which have been constructed to conduct the streams to their respective wheels, and the bridge, have taken very much from the beauty and grandeur of the fcene, which would otherwife have been indefcribably romantic.

In the town of Middletown, on Rhode-Ifland, about two miles from Newport, is a place called Purgatory; it joins to the fea on the eaft fide of the ifland; it is a large cavity or opening, in a high bed of rocks, about twelve feet in diameter at top, and about forty feet deep before you reach the water, of which, as it joins the fea, it has always a large depth. The rocks on each fide appear to have been once. united, and were probably feparated by fome convulfion in nature.

POPULATION.

The Number of Inhabitants in this State has been several

According to the cenfus taken in 1790, the numbers ftood as

follows:

NEW