HIGH PRICE OF FISH IN LONDON.
It is on record that on January 4, 1809, there being only four cod-fish in Billingsgate, a fishmonger gave fourteen guineas for them, and salmon soon after was sold at a guinea a pound!
THE GREAT AQUEDUCT OF PONT DU GARD.
The remains of Roman aqueducts, of great extent and massiveness, occur in various parts of Europe, over which the Roman dominion once extended. Among these, the most celebrated are the Pont du Gard, near Nismes, in the Department du Gard, in the south of France; the aqueduct over the Moselle, near Metz; and the aqueduct of Segovia, in Old Castile. The Pont du Gard (of which we here give an engraving) was designed to convey the waters of the fountain of Aure to the town of Nismes, the ancient Nemausus. This aqueduct crosses the beautiful valley, and the stream of the river Gardon, uniting two steep hills, by which the valley is bounded at this place. It consists of two tiers of large arches, the lower of which are eighty feet in span, and a third tier of small arches, which support the trunk of the aqueduct. The channel for the water is above four feet wide, and five deep, and is lined with cement three inches thick, and covered with a thin coating of red clay. The whole work, with the exception of the above-mentioned channel for the water, is built without mortar or any other cement; and its elevation above the bed of the river Gardon, is not less than a hundred and fifty feet. The extremities of this splendid structure are in a dilapidated condition, but the remainder is in a very good state of preservation.
EXTRAORDINARY SITUATION FOR A TREE.
The Lower and Middle Lakes at Killarney are separated by a peninsula, upon which stands the ruin of the Abbey of Muckross, which was founded in 1440, and re-edified in 1602. The ruin, which consists of parts of the convent and church, is not remarkable either for extent, or for beauty of workmanship, but its preservation, seclusion, beauty of situation, and accompanying venerable trees, render it one of the most interesting abbey remains in Ireland. The entire length of the church is about 100 feet, its breadth 24. The cloister, which consists of twenty-two arches, ten of them semicircular, and twelve pointed, is the best preserved portion of the abbey. In the centre grows a magnificent yew-tree, as represented in our engraving, which covers as a roof the whole area; its circumference is thirteen feet, and its height in proportion. It is more than probable that the tree is coeval with the abbey, and that it was planted by the hands of the monks who first inhabited the building. It is believed by the common people that any person daring to pluck a branch, or in any way attempting to injure this tree, will not be alive on that day twelvemonth.