226 THE LIFE OF 



accept the firfl employment that offered, and 

 could no more engage myfelf to anfwer their 

 call. 



The town of Tangier lays in a bay at the mouth 

 of the Gut o^ GibraltaTy in lat 35** 43' N. long. 

 5° 18' W. about fourteen leagues W. S. W. 

 from that garrifon. It is fheltered on the north 

 behind that ridge of hills called Cape Spartel., 

 ■which forms the fouthern fide of the entrance 

 into the Gut. The entrance of the bay is com- 

 manded by very high land on both fides, and 

 might, with no great labour, be made extremely 

 fbrong ; at prefent there are no works near it, 

 except a few fmall batteries, and thofe only the 

 fide next the town. The bay is expofed to dif- 

 ferent winds, which, belides the badnefs of the 

 anchorage, render it an unfafe harbour at all 

 times. 



The town does not lay at the bottom of the 

 bay, but on the weftern fide of it ; it is not very 

 conliderable, and is furroundcd by a high wall 

 hardly muiket-proof. The ftreets are all, ex- 

 cept one, fo narrow, that two people can hardly 

 pafs each other; and fo dirty, that no place I 

 have everfeen, except Lifbon, can bear the lead 

 comparifon with them ; the town is no where re- 

 gularly paved ; but in fome places a few ftones 

 are laid, as if dropped there by chance. The 

 houfes are, for the moft part, only one ftory 



high. 



