19 
cost the house of Rowlands of Antwerp eight thousand pounds. 
There is at this dock a huge iron kettle, in which ship timber is 
boiled in sea water in order to protect it from the dry rot. About 
two thousand two hundred men are daily employed in this yard, 
and some earn thirty-six shillings a week. 
After a stay of about two hours at the dock-yard, I went in 
company with the admiral to Hamoaze , where the fleets in ser¬ 
vice and dismantled lay at anchor. We went on board the flag 
ship Britannia, and were received in a very friendly manner by 
Captain Pipon, who showed us the ship throughout: every thing 
was as admirable as in the ships at Portsmouth! From the Bri¬ 
tannia, which saluted us with twenty-one guns, we went on 
board the St. Vincent, which in every respect resembled the 
Nelson at Portsmouth. 
On the 6th of May, which was Sunday, and the town conse¬ 
quently very quiet, I went first to visit the marine barracks, and 
thence to Plymouth, which I had not yet seen. It is about a mile 
distant from Stonehouse. The entrance is agreeable, exhibiting 
several new houses, and a large quadrangular building, ornament¬ 
ed with columns, which contains the theatre and Royal Hotel . 
But as soon as one advances a little farther into the town the 
scene changes, the streets are all narrow and precipitous, badly 
paved, and without side-walks; the houses are badly built, and 
angular, and the sun cannot shine into the streets. The har¬ 
bour that is forming at Catwater appears to be visited, and the 
bay presents a noble prospect. We passed by a road cut in the 
rock to the citadel, to visit the vice-governor, Major General Sir 
John Cameron; but he was sick. We walked round the ram¬ 
parts of the citadel, and enjoyed at every point an admira¬ 
ble view, to which the fine weather contributed its full propor¬ 
tion. At noon we walked to Stoke, a village in which the in¬ 
habitants of Plymouth have country seats. At this place it is 
customary, as far as practicable, to bury the dead on Sunday; we 
therefore met funeral processions in most of the streets, which did 
not particularly raise our spirits. 
On Monday I went with Sir James Saumarez in the Britan¬ 
nia’s barge to examine the breakwater. We first visited the stone 
quarries at Catwater , whence the stone for the breakwater is 
procured. The land where this quarry is situated was purchased 
from various proprietors. The rock, which is lime-stone, is 
blasted with gunpowder. Many of the blocks of stone weigh five 
tons and upwards. They are lifted by iron cranes, by which one 
workman is able to raise a ton and a half, and placed upon small 
four wheeled iron cars, which run on rail-roads to the quay where 
the vessels lay which are to convey them to the breakwater. 
These vessels, which are built expressly for this service, can carry 
