But I return
to speak of the villages and towns in the rest of the county; I
shall come to the city of Norwich by itself.
This throng of villages continues through all the east part of the
country, which is of the greatest extent, and where the manufacture
is chiefly carried on. If any part of it be waste and thin of
inhabitants, it is the west part, drawing a line from about Brand,
or Brandon, south, to Walsinghan, north. This part of the country
indeed is full of open plains, and somewhat sandy and barren, and
feeds great flocks of good sheep; but put it all together, the
county of Norfolk has the most people in the least tract of land of
any county in England, except about London, and Exon, and the West
Riding of Yorkshire, as above.
Add to this, that there is no single county in England, except as
above, that can boast of three towns so populous, so rich, and so
famous for trade and navigation, as in this county. By these three
towns, I mean the city of Norwich, the towns of Yarmouth and Lynn.
Besides that, it has several other seaports of very good trade, as
Wisbech, Wells, Burnham, Clye, etc.
Norwich is the capital of all the county, and the centre of all the
trade and manufactures which I have just mentioned; an ancient,
large, rich, and populous city. If a stranger was only to ride
through or view the city of Norwich for a day, he would have much
more reason to think there was a town without inhabitants, than
there is really to say so of Ipswich; but on the contrary if he was
to view the city, either on a Sabbath-day, or on any public
occasion, he would wonder where all the people could dwell, the
multitude is so great.
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