GENERAL VIEWS. 



Ill 



does not merit the beautiful name it bears (signify- 

 ing Health) ; for, although the temperature of the 

 air is lower than in the city, the streets might have 

 been wider, and better laid out. 



The Spanish engineer corps has been for the last 

 thirty years making w r ar upon the inhabitants of the 

 suburbs, complaining to the government that the 

 houses are too near the fortifications, and that an 

 enemy might hold possession of them with impunity. 

 But no one has sufficient firmness to raze the 

 suburbs and eject the inhabitants, of which there 

 are 28,000 in that of Salud alone. This ward has 

 increased largely since the great fire of 1802, for 

 although sheds only were at first erected, these have 

 since been replaced by houses. 



The inhabitants of the suburbs have laid many 

 plans before the court by which they might be 

 included within the line of the fortifications of the 

 city, and thus obtain a confirmation of their titles to 

 the land which they have hitherto held only by 

 tacit consent. 



Some propose that a wide moat shall be cut from 

 the Chaves bridge, near the shambles, to the San 

 Lazaro shore. The distance is about 2550 yards, 

 and the harbor now terminates at the bridge of 

 Chaves, between the navy-yard and the castle of 

 Atares, in a natural brook, the banks of which are 



