The Present Population Is Said To
Amount To Eighty Thousand Souls.
It is not without reason that Cadiz has been called a strong town:
the fortifications on the land side, which were partly the work of
the French during the sway of Napoleon, are perfectly admirable,
and seem impregnable:
Towards the sea it is defended as much by
nature as by art, water and sunken rocks being no contemptible
bulwarks. The defences of the town, however, except the landward
ones, afford melancholy proofs of Spanish apathy and neglect, even
when allowance is made for the present peculiarly unhappy
circumstances of the country. Scarcely a gun, except a few
dismounted ones, is to be seen on the fortifications, which are
rapidly falling to decay, so that this insulated stronghold is at
present almost at the mercy of any foreign nation which, upon any
pretence, or none at all, should seek to tear it from the grasp of
its present legitimate possessors, and convert it into a foreign
colony.
A few hours after my arrival, I waited upon Mr. B., the British
consul-general at Cadiz. His house, which is the corner one at the
entrance of the alameda, commands a noble prospect of the bay, and
is very large and magnificent. I had of course long been
acquainted with Mr. B. by reputation; I knew that for several years
he had filled, with advantage to his native country and with honour
to himself, the distinguished and highly responsible situation
which he holds in Spain.
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