ark.

Among the demerits of Nice, I must also mention the water which is used
in the city. It is drawn from wells; and for the most part so hard,
that it curdles with soap. There are many fountains and streams in the
neighbourhood, that afford excellent water, which, at no great charge,
might be conveyed into the town, so as to form conduits in all the
public streets: but the inhabitants are either destitute of public
spirit, or cannot afford the expense. [General Paterson delivered a
Plan to the King of Sardinia for supplying Nice with excellent water
for so small an expence as one livre a house per annum; but the
inhabitants remonstrated against it as an intolerable Imposition.] I
have a draw-well in my porch, and another in my garden, which supply
tolerable water for culinary uses; but what we drink, is fetched from a
well belonging to a convent of Dominicans in this neighbourhood. Our
linnen is washed in the river Paglion; and when that is dry, in the
brook called Limpia, which runs into the harbour.

In mentioning the water of this neighbourhood, I ought not to omit the
baths of Rocabiliare, a small town among the mountains, about five and
twenty miles from Nice. There are three sources, each warmer than the
other; the warmest being nearly equal to the heat of the king's bath at
Bath in Somersetshire, as far as I can judge from information. I have
perused a Latin manuscript, which treats of these baths at Rocabiliare,
written by the duke of Savoy's first physician about sixty years ago.
He talks much of the sulphur and the nitre which they contain; but I
apprehend their efficacy is owing to the same volatile vitriolic
principle, which characterises the waters at Bath. They are attenuating
and deobstruent, consequently of service in disorders arising from a
languid circulation, a viscidity of the juices, a lax fibre, and
obstructed viscera. The road from hence to Rocabiliare is in some parts
very dangerous, lying along the brink of precipices, impassable to any
other carriage but a mule. The town itself affords bad lodging and
accommodation, and little or no society. The waters are at the distance
of a mile and a half from the town: there are no baths nor shelter, nor
any sort of convenience for those that drink them; and the best part of
their efficacy is lost, unless they are drank at the fountain-head. If
these objections were in some measure removed, I would advise
valetudinarians, who come hither for the benef