the over-lying rock masses over the hollows left by the dissolving of the rock-salt beneath."

Cumber Mere, a mile and a half long, is the largest of these; it is in a beautiful park in the south of Cheshire. Others are, Mere Mere, Moss Mere, and Broad Mere.

IV.

EAST CHESHIRE.

THE South Lancashire coal-field, upon which Manchester stands, reaches far down into the east of Cheshire, and three or four towns which are nearly in a line with Manchester are engaged in the same two great manufactures, cotton and silk. Macclesfield, built on the side of a hill not far from Alderley Edge, is a great silk-making place; velvets, fringes, fancy braids, neckties, silk buttons, as well as muslins and calico, are made here.

Stockport, which stands on a red rock, just where the Tame and Goyt join to form the Mersey, is another silk and cotton town. Congleton, in a delightful valley, south of Macclesfield, makes cotton, and in Sandbach, a little to the south-west of it, silk is made.

Crewe, a great railway junction, where the engines and carriages of the London and North-Western Railway Company are made, is a rather dull town, with many rows of well-built red-brick houses, one row like another, where the company's work-people live.

Altrincham, quite to the north, is a pleasant and very healthful town, where many of the Manchester

G

"cotton lords" live. Around the town, fruit and vegetables are grown for Manchester; especially carrots, for which Altrincham is rather famous.

The north-east corner of the county is hilly, containing part of Feather-bed Moss, a bit of Yorkshire moorland.

Map Questions.

1. What is the name of the peninsula between the mouths of the Dee and the Mersey? Name the town on the Mersey opposite to Liverpool. The port at the beginning of the estuary.

2. What river valley runs through the middle of Cheshire? Name four or five towns in this valley. Two important towns in the north-east.

3. Name two heights in this flat county, one in the north-east, the other in the south-west.

4. Upon what river does Chester stand? Does the Dee enter any other English county? What battle was fought near the city? Date?

5. How is Cheshire bounded?

SHROPSHIRE.

I.

THE WELSH MARCHES.

SHROPSHIRE, or Salop, is another county on the borders of Wales, or the Welsh Marches. The earthen dyke, raised by Offa of Mercia to keep those troublesome Welsh neighbours out, is still to be seen, running nearly the whole length of the county.

The Normans built many castles, and held them against the borderers. William had given leave to certain of his barons to take and keep for themselves what land they could in this wild border county; wherefore, for more than three hundred years after the Conquest, there were endless slayings and burnings.

Edward I. endeavoured to put an end to these troubles by conquering the country; he had David, the last Prince of Wales, tried at Shrewsbury, where the English king was holding court, and put to death as a traitor.

The Welsh were so sore about this, that to console them Edward gave them his infant son, who being born at Carnarvon was a native of Wales, for their prince; this is why our Queen's eldest son is the Prince of Wales.

Shrewsbury still has the keep of its ancient castle. The Severn, the queen of rivers, flows nearly round the town. This river divides the county into two pretty equal parts. The north part belongs to the Cheshire

plain, and is like it in every way-the same level country, with rich meadows by the river banks; the same broad pastures, with grazing cattle and scattered clumps of trees; the same pretty meres. Ellesmere Mere, which gives its name to the town of Ellesmere, is the largest of those in Salop.

There is more corn grown on the Shropshire than on the Cheshire end of the plain. The Welsh hills make their way into the north-west corner, nearly as far as Oswestry,-named after Oswald, the gentle northern king who was slain here by Penda. The Wrekin in the east, close by the Severn, is a hill which rises all by itself, like Alderley Edge in Cheshire; from the top of it, as many as seventeen of the flat middle counties may be seen on a clear day.

II.

THE HILL COUNTRY.

THE Hill Country is a name that describes South Salop very well, for as many as six ranges of hills cross the county south of the Severn, running towards the southeast. The south-east corner, called Clun Forest, is not a forest at all, but is filled with hills. Wenlock Edge which begins by Much Wenlock is the longest range; and the Clee Hills are about the highest. Between these hill ranges are long, narrow valleys; the town of Church Stretton which consists of one long street is in the valley between the Long Mynd and Caradoc Hills.

This part of the county is very pretty, with hills and vales, woods and corn-fields; and, quite in the