to the English consul at Nice, together with
directions how to travel through the South of France. I propose to
begin my journey some time next month, when the weather will be
temperate to the southward; and in the wine countries I shall have the
pleasure of seeing the vintage, which is always a season of festivity
among all ranks of people.

You have been very much mis-informed, by the person who compared
Boulogne to Wapping: he did a manifest injustice to this place which is
a large agreeable town, with broad open streets, excellently paved; and
the houses are of stone, well built and commodious. The number of
inhabitants may amount to sixteen thousand. You know this was generally
supposed to be the portus Itius, and Gessoriacum of the antients:
though it is now believed that the portus Itius, from whence Caesar
sailed to Britain, is a place called Whitsand, about half way between
this place and Calais. Boulogne is the capital of the Boulonnois, a
district extending about twelve leagues, ruled by a governor
independent of the governor of Picardy; of which province, however,
this country forms a part. The present governor is the duc d'Aumout.
The town of Boulogne is the see of a bishop suffragan of Rheims, whose
revenue amounts to about four-and-twenty thousand livres, or one
thousand pounds sterling. It is also the seat of a seneschal's court,
from whence an appeal lies to the parliament of Paris; and thither all
condemned criminals are sent, to have their sentence confirmed or
reversed. Here is likewise a bailiwick, and a court of admiralty. The
military jurisdiction of the city belongs to a commandant appointed by
the king, a sort of sinecure bestowed upon some old officer. His
appointments are very inconsiderable: he resides in the Upper Town, and
his garrison at present consists of a few hundreds of invalids.

Boulogne is divided into the Upper and Lower Towns. The former is a
kind of citadel, about a short mile in circumference, situated on a
rising ground, surrounded by a high wall and rampart, planted with rows
of trees, which form a delightful walk. It commands a fine view of the
country and Lower Town; and in clear weather the coast of England, from
Dover to Folkstone, appears so plain, that one would imagine it was
within four or five leagues of the French shore. The Upper Town was
formerly fortified with outworks, which are now in ruins. Here is a
square, a town-house, the cathedral, and two or three conv