There are only two iron guns upon a bastion that fronts
the beach; and here the French had formed a considerable battery
against the English cruisers, in the war of 1744, when the Mareschal
Duke de Belleisle had his headquarters at Nice. This little town,
situated in the bay of Antibes, is almost equidistant from Marseilles,
Turin, and Genoa, the first and last being about thirty leagues from
hence by sea; and the capital of Piedmont at the same distance to the
northward, over the mountains. It lies exactly opposite to Capo di
Ferro, on the coast of Barbary; and, the islands of Sardinia and
Corsica are laid down about two degrees to the eastward, almost exactly
in a line with Genoa. This little town, hardly a mile in circumference,
is said to contain twelve thousand inhabitants. The streets are narrow;
the houses are built of stone, and the windows in general are fitted
with paper instead of glass. This expedient would not answer in a
country subject to rain and storms; but here, where there is very
little of either, the paper lozenges answer tolerably well. The
bourgeois, however, begin to have their houses sashed with glass.
Between the town-wall and the sea, the fishermen haul up their boats
upon the open beach; but on the other side of the rock, where the
castle stood, is the port or harbour of Nice, upon which some money has
been expended. It is a small basin, defended to seaward by a mole of
free-stone, which is much better contrived than executed: for the sea
has already made three breaches in it; and in all probability, in
another winter, the extremity of it will be carried quite away. It
would require the talents of a very skilful architect to lay the
foundation of a good mole, on an open beach like this; exposed to the
swell of the whole Mediterranean, without any island or rock in the
offing, to break the force of the waves. Besides, the shore is bold,
and the bottom foul. There are seventeen feet of water in the basin,
sufficient to float vessels of one hundred and fifty ton; and this is
chiefly supplied by a small stream of very fine water; another great
convenience for shipping. On the side of the mole, there is a constant
guard of soldiers, and a battery of seven cannon, pointing to the sea.
On the other side, there is a curious manufacture for twisting or
reeling silk; a tavern, a coffee-house, and several other buildings,
for the convenience of the sea-faring people. Without the harbour, is a
lazarette,