Page:A tour through the northern counties of England, and the borders of Scotland - Volume I.djvu/202

 lively idea of the operations of a hive of bees in the busy hours of spring, as described by Virgil:

All is animated industry; iron-works and coal-pits on each side the road, and thickly peopled villages all around. This scene continued to Rotherham, a town situated at the point where the river Rother falls into the Don; and contains (according to the last returns made in consequence of Mr. Abbot's Bill) 1448 males, and 1622 females. It has a great market for fat cattle and sheep, held there every fortnight; from which the populous country of Manchester and its neighbourhood derive a considerable part of their supplies. The soil about Rotherham is of different sorts; partly being what is termed by the farmers red-land, (which is a light earth mixed with the sand of the red freestone of the country) and partly land of a stronger and heavier quality; most of it well adapted for the growth of corn, and in a high state of cultivation. The under strata, after passing through the stone, abound with iron and coal. Of the