After Five or Six Days Stay at Aix, I fet out for MARSEILLES: This is an Epifcopal City of Provence, which by being fituate on the Mediterranean is one of the moft confiderable Cities in France for Commerce, and engroffes almost the whole Trade of the Levant. 'Tis divided into the upper and lower Towns: The former is the Old Marfeilles, the Houfes of which are very dark, and the Streets narrow and very irregular.. In this Part ftands the Cathedral of our Lady la Major.

The Lower Town is very fine, the Streets broad, moft of 'em ftrait, and the Houses very magnificent, efpecially thofe by the Side of the Courfe, which is one of the finest in the World : 'Tis very much like that at Aix. This Part of Marfeilles owes its Embellishment and Aggrandizement to Lewis XIV. who caus'd Works to be erected there worthy of fo great a Prince. Marseilles has a noble Harbour, it being a large Bafon, almost encompass'd with Houfes, and defended by Two Caftles, of which that on the Right Hand is very high, and commands a great way at Sea: That on the Left contains the Arfenal, which is one of the finest that I have feen, and every thing in it is fo regularly difpos'd, that it forms a charming View.

The Harbour of Marseilles is the Station for the King's Galleys, on board of which there's a great Number of Slaves, who do almoft all the hard Work; they load and unload the Ships: Some of 'em are allow'd to walk about the Town and to trade, but are oblig'd to pay fomething to the Man that accompanies them, and to lie aboard at Night. Others, who are charg'd with enormous Crimes, are faften'd Two, Three and Four together to great Chains, which does not

hinder

hinder them however from working for their Livelihood. The great Trade of Marseilles and the Wealth of its Inhabitants give this City an Air of Opulence, which is feldom to be found elfewhere There is hardly a Place where one meets with better Chear, and where 'tis easier to be accommodated with every thing that a Gentleman can defire 'to pafs his Time agreeably. Comedies, Concerts, Gaming, Taking the Air, in fhort, Pleafures of all Sorts make this a most charming Place to live in, even for People that are ever fo oppofite to one another in Characters and Temper.

The Suburbs of Marfeilles are magnificent: They contain above 20,000 little Houfes, call'd by the Country-people Bastides, and all encompafs'd with very fine Vineyards and Gardens, which render thefe Habitations very charming in the fine Weather. 'Twas to thefe Houfes that moft of the Inhabitants retir'd during the laft Plague with which Provence was afflicted, and which held fo long as to carry off a great Part of the Citizens. This Defolation would have been much greater, and would perhaps have penetrated into the Heart of France, had it not been for the great Care taken by the Regent, that no Correfpondence fhould be kept with the People of Marfeilles.

Provence in general is a fine Country, and a very pleasant Place to live in at all times, but especially in the Winter. At that time too the Sky is clearest, and there are then fome Days, which naturally ought rather to be plac'd to the Account of Summer. I remember I was walking on the Harbour of Marseilles one Day in this Seafon at 2 or 3 o'Clock in the Afternoon, and that I was forc'd to withdraw, the Weather was

fo hot. Yet I obferv'd that not many Days after a Wind arose, (that the People of the Country call Mistral) which was extremely cold, and the more difagreeable to me, because 'tis not easy to get warm in this Country, here being no Wood but fome Roots or Branches of Olivetrees, which do not make a very good Fire. Besides, most of the Rooms, especially in the Inns, are without Chimneys, fo that one is oblig'd to make Ufe of a Pan of Coals, which is very inconvenient, to fuch especially as are not us'd to this Method of warming themselves.

After having for a few Days faunter'd in and about Marfeilles, I thought it proper to inquire what Ship was bound to Sicily; but with all my Inquiry, I could not find out any, and was under a Neceffity of going either to Genoa or Leghorn. I was affur'd that 'twas but a little way, and that I fhould be there in a very few Days, fo that I agreed for my Passage with a Merchant that was bound to Leghorn. The contrary Wind kept us a Fortnight in the Harbour, and then we fail'd; but were forc'd to put into La Cienta, a little Town and Port of Provence. There I ftay'd Three Days for a fair Wind, to proceed in my Voyage, and at last finding 'twas to no Purpose, I refolv'd to leave my Trunks and Servants aboard the Ship, and to go by Land.

The first Day I went and lay at TOULON a City of Provence, and one of the best Harbours in Europe. In this Harbour lie the King's Ships, and here is the great Arfenal of the Admiralty of France, where Lewis XIV. caus'd Works to be made worthy of fo great a Monarch. The Road of Toulon is as confiderable as

the

the Harbour, and Ships ride there perfectly fafe. They fay, 'tis large enough to contain all the Ships in the Mediterranean. The City of itself is but fmall, and were it not for the Sea Officers, 'twould be a melancholy Place to live in. These Gentlemen have caus'd a Houfe to be erected here, which ferves for their Affemblies, it being compos'd of feveral Rooms very well adorn'd. Here are the Pictures of the Count de Tholoufe great Admiral, the Marfhals de Teffe and de Etrees, and feveral Generals and naval Officers; together with noble Sea-Charts. Here one is always fure to find Company enough, and that which is felect. At Night they meet in these Rooms, where is all manner of Play: The SeaOfficers make the Entertainments, in which they acquit themselves with all poffible Grace and Politenefs; and a Foreigner is always fo heartily welcome there, that they strive who shall treat him with most Civility.

You know, Madame, that the Allies attempted to make themselves Masters of Toulon, during the last War. The Duke of Savoy came first before the Place, but was foon oblig'd to raise the Siege, for Want of being fupported by the English Fleet, which was kept back by contrary Winds. Others impute the Raising of this Siege to the Menaces of Charles XII. of Sweden, who was at that time in Saxony, to declare for France, if the Duke of Savoy's Army stay'd any longer before Toulon. Be this as it will, the Duke's Forces retir'd, after having loft fome of their principal Officers, among others the brave Prince of Saxe-Gotha, Brother to the Reigning Duke, who was kill'd as he went to take a View of the Place,

From

From Toulon I went to FREJUS, a Town upon the Sea; 'tis very ancient, and the Citizens pretend that most of its old Monuments were built by the Romans: Such are the Ruins of a Caufey, that reach'd as far as Arles, near the Mouth of the Rhone, and the Remains of an ancient Circus, which feems to have been a very fpacious one. 'Tis faid that a great Aqueduct in the Neighbourhood brought as much Water to it from the Distance of 10 Leagues, as was fufficient to fupport a Naval Combat within the Circumference of this Circus. Going out of Frejus there's a long Mole or Caufey cut by feveral finall Canals, over which there are Bridges, faid to have been made by the Romans.

As I purfued my Journey, I pafs'd near ANTIBES, a ftrong Place on the Sea-Shore, which was heretofore the See of a Bishop, till it was tranflated to Graffe in Upper Provence. From thence I crofs'd the Var, which River feparates France from the Dominions of the King of Sardinia; and the Fourth Day after my Departure I arriv'd at Nice.

NICE was formerly very well fortify'd, and its Caftle efpecially was reckon'd impregnable; for it bravely held out against the Army of Francis I. and that of Barbaroffa the Turk in 1543. But Lewis XIV. had better Succefs, for he made himself Mafter both of the City and of the Caftle, which he caus'd to be intirely demo. lifh'd; and having alfo caus'd the other Fortifications of the Town to be deftroy'd, he restor'd it in this Condition to its Sovereign. At Nice we begin to fee Orange-trees in fuch Abundance, that they grow in the open Fields like other com

mon