NORFOLK, a maritime county of England, is bounded on the north and east bv the German Ocean ; on the south by the rivers Wavcny and Little Ouse, which divide it from Suffolk ; on the west by Cam bridgeshire and a small part ot Lincolnshire. From the county of Lincoln it is separated by the river Nen; from that of Cambridge by the Great Ouse—except where it projects across this stream near its mouth, for a shot t space, ancl has no natural boundary. Excluding this little portion, the whole of Norfolk lying eastwatd of the Great Ouse would thus be almost completely sur rounded with water,—since the head of the Waveny, and that of the Little Ouse on the south, are onk nine feet asunder, while the former of those rivers flows into the ocean on the east, the latter into thc Great Ouse on the west. A narrow causeway forms the passage through the marsh which lies between their SOUITCS, near the village of Lopham. The shape of Norfolk is not far from elliptical : the longt st diameter, extending in a westerly direction from Yarmouth to Wisbeach, measures about 60 miles; its shortest diameter extend ing, of course, flom north to south, between Wells and Billingford, measures somewhat less than 40. The su perficial extent is estimated at 2,092 square miles, or 1,338.880 acres. It is divided into 33 hundreds, and farther into 756 parishes; it contains one city, and 29 market-towns, four of which are sea-ports. It lies the diocese of Norwich, and sends twelve members to Parliament.
The aspect,of Norfolk is vet), uninteresting. In ge neral, the surface presents little artificial beauty, and al most a dead uniformity of level. Much even of the cul tivated ground is destitute of ornament ; and large tracts of heath, without a single tree to hide their unvaried bar renness; sandy wastes in one part ; marshes in another; lazy streams, with here and there a shallow reedy lake, give a chat acter of insipidity, or even drew iness, to many districts of the county, particularly in the south-east. The cottages and small farm-houses, too, being in many cases formed of wattle and dab, or of lath and plaster, and covered with thatch, are of a kind with the adjoining. scenery, and tend to aggravate its dulness. This general description is not, however, equally- or at all applicable in every quarter. About Norwich, and northnard, the face of the country is considerably more pleasing. Here the ground is a little broken by moderate elevations ; ancl the prospect is farther enlivened by the more fre quent appearance of hedge-rows, coppices, and planta tions, as well as by a greater proportion of neat brick farm-houses, and elegant mansions of a higher order.
The flat surface of Norfolk naturally terminates in a flat sea coast. The stratum of chalk, which begins in Dorsetshire, and forms so picturesque a shore all round the south of England, reaches through Notfolk also, and ends with it; but this, its northern extremity, seems attenuated or deptessed, and is rarely visible. Here, instead of high rugged cliffs, and deeply indented bays, we find a low unbroken beach, covered with shingles or sand, and frequently with ooze. Nearly all the inlets have been formed by rivers; and the passing sailor reckons his progress, not by the appearance and disappearance of mountains and promontories, but by the succession of church spires, which, owing to the le vcIness of the country, he is enabled to discover at a considerable distance inland. The rock of Hunstanton, at the north-east corner of the county, usually called St. Edmund's Point, (from a vague tradition of King Edmund's having landed there, Wi1C11 he came to take possession of East Anglia,) is the only eminence of note on the whole coast. NVestward of this, as far as Lynn Regis, extend what are called the 111nd ; and southward, after some inconsiderable elevations in the neighnourhood of Cromer and Sheringham, oc.cur the Meals, or Martin: Hills, a series of banks formed by the sand and pebbles on the beach having been tin own into heaps by the violence of the waves, and bound together by the malted roots of various sea-reeds (the .11rando arenaria, iirenaria penloides, Carex arenaria, and others,) winch are lound on mem in great quantities. The Meals reach to Caistcr, within two miles of Yarmouth: they. form a kind of natural sca-clyke, which, like the ar tificial ones of Holland, preserves a valuable portion of the country, from continual inundation. Similar batiks running parallel to the coast, under water, answer a less beneficial purpose. Being discoverable only when the tide is near the lowest, and lying in several cases far oft' the shore, they frequently prove fatal to ships. The most remarkable is Yarmouth bank ; which partly re deems its dangerous qualities by the ample security it imparts to the Roads, a deep channel running between it and the land, wherein a large fleet inay ride safely during very tempestuous weather.