s. He is a well-bred,
sensible young man, speaks English, is an excellent performer on the
lute and mandolin, and has a pretty collection of books. In a word, I
hope we shall pass the winter agreeably enough, especially if Mr. M--e
should hold out; but I am afraid he is too far gone in a consumption to
recover. He spent the last winter at Nismes, and consulted F-- at
Montpellier. I was impatient to see the prescription, and found it
almost verbatim the same he had sent to me; although I am persuaded
there is a very essential difference between our disorders. Mr. M--e
has been long afflicted with violent spasms, colliquative sweats,
prostration of appetite, and a disorder in his bowels. He is likewise
jaundiced all over, and I am confident his liver is unsound. He tried
the tortoise soup, which he said in a fortnight stuffed him up with
phlegm. This gentleman has got a smattering of physic, and I am afraid
tampers with his own constitution, by means of Brookes's Practice of
Physic, and some dispensatories, which he is continually poring over. I
beg pardon for this tedious epistle, and am--Very sincerely, dear Sir,
Your affectionate, humble servant.

LETTER XIII

NICE, January 15, 1764.

DEAR SIR,--I am at last settled at Nice, and have leisure to give you
some account of this very remarkable place. The county of Nice extends
about fourscore miles in length, and in some places it is thirty miles
broad. It contains several small towns, and a great number of villages;
all of which, this capital excepted, are situated among mountains, the
most extensive plain of the whole country being this where I now am, in
the neighbourhood of Nice. The length of it does not exceed two miles,
nor is the breadth of it, in any part, above one. It is bounded by the
Mediterranean on the south. From the sea-shore, the maritime Alps begin
with hills of a gentle ascent, rising into mountains that form a sweep
or amphitheatre ending at Montalban, which overhangs the town of Villa
Franca. On the west side of this mountain, and in the eastern extremity
of the amphitheatre, stands the city of Nice, wedged in between a steep
rock and the little river Paglion, which descends from the mountains,
and washing the town-walls on the west side, falls into the sea, after
having filled some canals for the use of the inhabitants. There is a
stone-bridge of three arches over it, by which those who come from
Provence enter the city. The channel of it is v