The sterile and rugged aspect of many parts of the county, (especially the road from Launceston to Truro, which presents, excepting the town of Bodmin, almost nothing but extensive and waste moors,) impresses the minds of travellers with a very unfavourable opinion of the county; but the admirers of the picturesque will always be delighted with the beauty of its numerous valleys and more cultivated parts. On the other hand, Cornwall, from its maritime situation, and the numerous mines with which it abounds, possesses many advantages. To an antiquarian it will always be highly interesting, as _few_ other counties contain so many _Druidical and Roman remains_. The mineralogist will always have an endless source for amusement in the great variety of mineral specimens which it presents to his notice. The north and south parts of the county are divided by a ridge of barren and rugged hills, running from east to west, like a distorted back bone. The most remarkable hills are _Brown-Willy_, _Roughton_, and _Henborough_; the first being no less than 1,368 feet above the level of the sea. The most considerable _rivers_ in the county, are the _Tamar_, the _Lynher_, the _Looe_, the _Fowey_, the _Fal_, and the _Camel_ or _Alan_. The _Tamar_ rises in the northern side of the county, in the parish of Moorwinstow, and with little variation, pursues a southerly direction, for nearly 40 miles, when it unites with the _Lynher Creek_, and ultimately forms the spacious harbour of Harmoaze, between Plymouth Dock and Saltash. The banks of this river, which is the most considerable in the West of England, are richly diversified with rocks and woods, and the scenery in many parts of its course is extremely beautiful.[2] The _Lynher_ rises in the parish of Alternon, eight miles north-west of Launceston, and after running a circuitous course of 24 miles, spreads itself into the form of a lake, near St. Germains, (called Lynher Creek) and ultimately unites with the Tamar, about a mile below Saltash. The _Looe_ rises in the parish of St. Cleer, and taking a course of seven or eight miles, meets the tide at Sand Place, becomes navigable, and at the distance of three miles empties itself into the sea, between the towns of East and West Looe. The _Fowey_ rises from a well near Brown-Willy, one of the highest hills in Cornwall, between Lanson and Bodmin. It flows for some miles in a southerly direction, turns suddenly to the west, and pursues a course of some miles, till it meets the tide at Lostwithiel, and ultimately falls into the sea at Fowey. The scenery on the banks of the river from Lostwithiel to Fowey, is remarkably beautiful and picturesque.