these pages may probably fall into the hands of some
who have read no other account, I shall subjoin what few remarks
occurred to me during my stay there.

According to the best accounts I could obtain, the city and
its environs cover a space of eight square miles: it is situated
about half a mile from the sea-shore, and has communication with
it by a canal, which will admit vessels of eight feet draught of
water. The city stands on a flat, which extends forty leagues to
the foot of the nearest mountains. Two large rivers, which are
divided into a number of canals, run through all the principal
streets of the city, and on both sides of the different roads:
these canals are navigable for large boats; they are planted with
trees on each side, which are kept cut in the form of a fan.

The streets are all drawn at right angles, and are in general
wide, with very good pavements; along the sides of which a double
row of trees are planted, which greatly prevents the circulation
of air, and tends very much to increase the natural unhealthiness
of the place. Within the past four years, most of the canals
which contained putrid water have been filled up, and great
attention is now paid to removing dirt and other nuisances.

All the houses are well built; indeed, some of them are
magnificent buildings, and are finished with elegant neatness;
which, added to the great cleanliness observed by the
inhabitants, renders them very agreeable retreats from the
intense heat which is constant here.

No European can do without a carriage, the paint of which, and
his other equipage, denote the rank of the owner; to whom the
necessary respect must be paid by people of an inferior rank; for
a noncompliance with this custom, a fine is levied by the Fiscal.
The town is but indifferently defended, as the fortifications are
irregular and extensive, and the walls (which are painted) are
very low: it is surrounded with a deep and wide canal, but the
best defence of this settlement is its extreme unhealthiness. The
citadel, or castle, stands on the right of the city: in it are
deposited a vast quantity of cannon and other munitions of war:
the governor-general, and the rest of the company's servants,
have apartments in it, and here the governor and council meet
twice a week, to transact public business.

The police of this city is strictly attended to, and is
calculated to preserve great order and regularity; but it is
attended with some morti