The soil, in the south-east part of the county, is for the most part a strong fertile clayey loam ; to the west ward of this, and northward, near Sunderland, is a poor unfertile clay, suitable neither for corn nor grass. The vale lands of the Tees, Skeen, and 'Fyne, consist of dry mellow loams, rather strong: the vale lands of the Wear are of a more friable and sandy nature. There are two districts of limestone; the eastern, beginning at Sunderland, and stretching to Alornington, is dry, but not very productive; whereas the soil on the west ern limestone, near Stanhope, Scc. ranks among the best grazing lands in the north of Englund. A variety of soil, very thin, and lying on an impervious yellow clay, is found in many parts of the county, to which, Prone its being apt to throw out the plants of wheat, Scc. when the water which lies on its surface is frozen, the appro priate name of water shaken is provincially given. Peaty soils, incumbent either on yellow clay, or white sand, prevail in !oust parts of the wester!' division of the comity.
The principal rivers which flow into the sea, are the Wear and the Tees ; the Tyne is more generally consi dered as a Northumberland river. The NVear rises in those vast moors which separate Yorkshire from Dur ham, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Northumber land. It runs at first to the south-east ; at Bishop Auk land it turns to the north-east, and after nearly surround ing the city of Durham, it flows northward to Chester le-street, and then inclines a little towards the east, till it falls into the sea at Sunderland. The Tees finds its source in the same wild range of moors which give rise to the Wear, but considerably to the south of that river. Its course is nearly parallel to it : at first it rather in clines to the south-east, but when it reaches below Dar lington, it turns abruptly to the north-east, and falls into the sea below Stockton. Teesdale, through which it flows, presents a long winding stripe of fertile land, surrounded with some of the wildest districts in the kingdom. Below Itokeby, the Tees receives the Greta from Yorkshire. To the northward of the Wear, in the name range of moors, the Darman takes its rise: at first it pursues an easterly direction, but afterwards inclines more to the north as it approaches the Tyne, into which it falls a little above Newcastle. The rivers of Dothan) arc riot of very much advantage to its internal navigation; though: the Tees might be rendered much more so than it is at present. A little below Stockton its navigation is very tedious, and often difficult, by reason of an ex traordinary peninsula ; for though the neck of land be tween the two parts of the river is only 200 yards, yet the course of the river is above 21 miles. As, however, an act of parliament has been obtained to make a cut across the narrowest part of the peninsula, and the work is actually begun, it is to be hoped that this impediment will soon be removed.
In this county there are some very large estates; bur •ste iu i als arc below 10001. a-year. The te mres ate Iit ropy hold, and leasehold ; the ern part ring mostly freehold. A third part of the county -..•pposed to i.e ul t ce lesiastical tenure : they are con idered as t op) holds of inheritance. If the copyholder, I ow er, die %lid, the legal estate vested in him, the •state it ill go t i the heir-at-law, as in the case of no in freehold, except that the widow, instead of her •izr,/s, is entitled to the whole for her life. The church least s are t itht r lor twenty-one years or three lives. Other leases al e for three, five, or seven years, a few tor twel, (6 or fourteen ; and many farms arc let to ten ants at %%ill. The largest farm in the county does not use, ed 1 -) acres. There arc a cousiderable number hum 15.) to tt•0 ; but the greatest part of the county is the ided into farms from 15U to 50 acres. The best gra zing pastures ia the middle and eastern parts of the county let from 21. and 3/. per acre ; in the western, for Os and 5 s. Arable land lets considerably lower. Of the houses of proprietors, Raby Castle, the seat of the Earl of Darlington, is an ancient, magnificent, and noble edifice : and Lund)). Castle, belonging to the Earl of Scar5orough ; Auckland Castle, the episcopal palace of the Bishop of Durham ; and Brancepeth Castle,—are also remarkable structures. Of the other buildings in the county, some of the bridges only deserve particular notice or description: Winch Bridge, over the Tees, is eery singular in its construction; it is a wooden bridge, laid upon iron chains, which arc firmly fixed in the rocks on each side of the river. Front rock to rock the width is about 70 feet. In order to keep the bridge steady, and to prevent its vibrating, chains are also fixed on both sides, at the distance of about a third of the length of the bridge from each end; and the ends of these chains arc fastened to the rocks. Although the iron bridge over the Wear, at Sunderland, has been already described un der the article BnincE, yet a very brief account of it may not improperly be given here. It was built in 1795 and 1796, from a model upon a new construction, of uniting hammered iron %%Mt cast iron. The arch is a segment of a circle, the span of which is 236 feet, and the versed sine 34 feet. The breadth of the passage on the bridge is 32 feet: the height from the river, at low water, 100 feet ; so that vessels may sail under it without striking their masts. It cost in building 27,0001. and the average yearly amount of the tolls is 20301. The weight of cast iron employed in it is 214 tons ; of malleable iron 46 tons: in all, 260 tons.