his village has acquired its name from the quality of the fine fountain that runs through it. The inn is tolerable; there are a few Sardinian cavalry quartered here A female, who belonged to the troop, particularly attracted my attention; the was drefied in the regimental uniform, a man's coat of blue cloth, faced with fcarlet, and filver buttons; the fkirts very long; a petticoat, but toned before and behind, of the fame materials; a fmall hoop under it. On her head, a brown peruke, I think it is called a Ramilie, with a queue reaching down almost to her heels. In person, extremely tall; her face long and pale, her nofe aquiline, and to crown the whok, an exceeding fierce cocked laced hat. M-gone to fee the remains of the village of Randan, which was detroyed a few years fince in a wonderful manner; the Cae of the parith is gone with him, if the account he brings me proves in any degree curious, I hall certainly retail it to you.

"M is returned, and I fhrewdly fufpect by his accounts, that neither Richard nor Lalande ever gave themfelves the trouble to explore in perfon the devaftation that a falling mountain caufed, by its defcent on the village of Randan an event which happened on the 12th of June 1750. Continued heavy rains for feveral days, fucceeded by a warm fun-fhine, diffolving the vaft heaps of fnow which lay on the mountains contiguous to the village, caufed fuch n inundation, as brought down on a fudden vaft fragments of the foil and prodigious rocks, in fuch an abundance as entirely to cover up. the village, which confifted of thirty-lix houfes, the cbateau, gardens, and tables of the Seigneur, and the parish church; excepting about 16 feet of its feeple, which fill appears above the furface. The windows of the beltry .are above eleven feet from the ground; not even with it, as Lalande atlerts *; nor is there any poffibility of entering their without a ladder. The peafants have cleared about feven feet of the arch of the vault of this church but it was too difficult an undertaking to continue. The fpace covered over is about 25 acres, including the village and adjoining fields The ground is railed above its former level 36 feet in the highest part, floping down to the river. Old trees are buried up to their heads, five or fix feet of their topmost branches only appearing above the ground. Stupendous rocks lie diapered on all fides; fome meafure from eleven to thirteen feet one way, by feven to eleven the other: this unequal fuperficies''s covered over between the rocks with brush-wood, the fibres or feeds or which have come down in the fragments of the mountain. The torrent of melted fnow which forced its way down, formed two cataracts, overturning in its courfe houfes, trees, and rocks; the channels they have left are 16 feet deep and 3 broad As Lalande and Richard have faid very little about the catastrophe which betel this village and its environs in one day, I thought it worth while to defcribe its prefent itation.

Having nothing more curious to add, I conclude, &c. YOL. III.

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Vol. 1ft, page 3.

LETTER

LETTER VII. Sept. 30, 1770, at Night.

"Here, at St. Michael, another deferted chateau, are we to pals the night; but the accommodations are fo wretched, that they have banished fleep from my eyes: the hardnefs and dirt of the bed does not invite me to rest. One would think old Keyfler had been doating, when he fays, "there is very good accommodation in a fpacious inn at St. Michael," &c. Spacious it is indeed, but naked walls, and ill-paved floors; a few broken chairs, and straw beds; thofe without curtains being better in fonte refpects, by being lefs fordid; a larder affording no other provifion than stinking oil; four, and almost black bread; and trout marinated after they tunk. But what charmed poor Keyfler, was certain moral fentences wrote over the doors; who inveighs with great ill-humour against the fallies of fancy, commonly wrote by young people upon window-panes. It had been a difficult matter to have found any here to have wrote upon.-Our hoftefs made us fome reproaches for chufing to fup in our own room (although it was more for her intereft, as we pay confiderably dearer,) intimating it would be better if we would eat at table d'hôte; for there was a great deal of company. You cannot imagine how much all our hofts have worried us to eat at their table; but I need not tell you, we had rather eat a cruft of bread in the ftable with the horses, than fit down with all forts of people that one does not know: they may be "the best fort of people in the world." However, the last words of the hoftefs made me curious to know who the company might be it confifted of a Seigneur of Milan, an Abbé of Florence, a finger from Venice, three Lyons traders, and a woman, wife to one of them.

"Our road to-day has been worse than any we have yet experienced. From Aiguebelle to St. Jean de Maurienne is one continued afcent and defcent. We have paffed feveral dangerous bridges, compofed of nothing but fir-trees thrown acrofs; very uncertain and weak, the river running under with great rapidity. About three weeks fince, one of thefe bridges failed, as the Lyons diligence was paffing it None of the paffengers perished; but the baggage, to the amount of forty thoutand livres, was loft, and all the horfes drowned, before they could be disentangled from their harnefs. Some of the ftone bridges I think very near as terrifying as thofe of wood; one in particular near St. Jean de Maurienne, which is more like a fharp ridge of a houfe than a bridge and fo narrow, the wall on cach fide being alfo extremely low, that were the horses to take fright, one mult infallibly be overturned into the river.-I forgot to mention, that we dined at la Chambre, a moft wretched place, and a very bad inn: it is about midway be tween Aiguebelle and St. Jean de Maurienne. This latter is a pretty, clean-looking little town. Lalande makes mention of this place, as being the fortrefs by which Hannibal marched into Italy, according to fome writers; but as authors, you know, often differ, others will have it (and this he fays is the common opinion) that he crofled over the mountain St. Bernard. He (Lalande) gives a

3.

long

log quotation from the Memoirs du Marechal de Vielleville, def cribing a kind of mafque given by the inhabitants of this town to Henry the Second of France, in 1548. See tom. i. p. 15.

"Having already attempted to give you an idea of the bridges in Savoy, which, as you fee, are not too much to be depended upon (though the prefent time of the year is efteemed the best and fafelt feafon for this journey,) there is another kind of accident to which those who travel this road are fubject, that of being crushed to death by ponderous rocks, many of which feem fufpended by one corner only, and jutting out, hang over the road, threatening destruction every moment The foil about them is a loose grey fand, and feems ftrongly incorporated with lead ore. Many of thefe rocks have already fallen down into the road, others into the river: thofe which by their fall had quite flopped up the road, have been blown up by the peasants, fo as to leave fufficient room for a carriage to pafs. Several of thefe fallen rocks are nearly cubical, and as large as fmall cottages. A rock, in particular, which appeared to be one entire ftone, that had rolled to one fide, in form and fize refembled a finall parish church The great ftones which have fallen into the river, by ftopping its courfe, have caufed moft rapid cafcades, whofe white foam dafhing from rock to rock, is beautifully contrafted with the greennefs of the stream.

This road is particularly dangerous in the fpring, when the rocks are fubject to fall, from the weight of the fnow that lies upon

them.

"Further on, and nearer to St. Michael, there is a variety in this mountainous profpect that is more than romantic. Some of the mountains are cleft and torn afunder, as if by earthquakes, a dreadful darknefs concealing the inmoft receffes of thele caverns. Down the fides of others, prodigious cataracts have, in their fall, rooted up great fir-trees, and thrown them across each other: fome are actually growing with their heads downwards; great fragments of rocks and tony ground, out of which they grow, having been partly broken off, and twifted round out of their places by the rapid defcent of thefe torrents of melted fnow. Near St. Michael, there are mountains whofe fides adinit of cultivation, the earth being fupported by little low walls, rifing one above the other, till intercepted by the fnow. Vines, and all forts of grain, flourish luxuriantly on the funny fide, The earth is brought up in baskets faftened to the backs of women and children, the mountain being too steep for an afs or mule to afcend.-I could not perceive any petrifactions or foffils along this road, though I kept a careful lookout; and as our carriage went flow, I think I should have difcovered them, had there been any.

"We paffed by a caftle fituated upon the top of a very high rock it is called Miolans, and ferves as a state-pifon. The king of Sardinia fends hither thofe who have cominitted any capital crimes of state. Many years ago there was a dreadful inftrument of death made ufe of here for the prifoners condemned to die, it was called la fupplice des razoirs. A cafcade, which falls near the

Cc z

castle, turned a mill-wheel, which was fet round with razors: the wretch who was to fuffer, being faftened under this wheel, was foon cut into a thoufand pieces.'

We cannot at prefent ipare more room for our account of thefe ingenious and entertaining letters; but fhall retume it in our next number.

An Efay on the Water commonly used in Diet at Bath. By W. Falconer, M. D. F. R. S. Small 8vo. 3s. Lowndes.

Dr. Falconer hath here given us the refult of various experiments he made on the dietetic, if we may fo call them, waters at Bath, with remarks on each; from all which he deduces the following general inferences.

"I. The water with which this place is generally fupplied, which is brought from fprings in the neighbourhood, is of a middle kind, containing more foreign matter than the best river or spring waters; but confiderably lefs than the generality of pump waters, and particularly than that of London.

"II. The comparative goodness of the waters is not easy to afcertain, the experiments varying as to this point, and the difference being very fmall. To me they seem to stand in the following. order:

"Water of The Circus refervoir-best..

From the city refervoir and Beacon Hill-nearly alike.

"From Beechen Cliff-very little worfe than the two foregoing*. III. Selenites, and common falt, appeared to be the principal impregnations of the faline kind, The proportions in which thefe differed in the feveral fprings, with refpect to one another, are too minute to be of confequence, and at the fame time difficult to be afcertained with exactnefs. Befides thefe, an oily matter, probably of the nature of foffil oil, is prefent in all thefe waters, which is moft confpicuous in the Beechen Cliff water and that of the city refervoir. Fixable air is undoubtedly contained in all the waters, and in nearly the fame proportion in all, which does not seem to differ much from the proportion ufually found in fpring waters.

IV. No fulphureous impregnation is contained in any of the waters, nor any difference of temperature from fpring water in ge neral, even in fome pump waters that rife in the city, and very near the hot springs.

"V. No lead, or other ingredient particularly injurious to health, appears to be contained in any of the waters.

66

VI. The pump water, or that which is drawn up by pumps from wells in the city, is much more impure than the fpring water which

comes

The purity of the River Water is difficult to afcertain, as it is fo varied by floods, &c.-The Pump Water much the worst of any.

Comes from the furrounding hills, and not fo agreeable to the taste, as it contains a portion of the bitter purging falt.

"VII. The river water, from its flow courfe, and being frequently muddied, is not in general fo pure, and fit for internal ufe, as the fpring waters.

"VIII. We have reason to think, that the health of those who inhabit or refort to this place will be likely to be improved, from what it was formerly, by the introduction of better water for use in

diet."

The Cafe of the late Agent of the Royal Hofpital at Plymouth, Juperfeded in July 1774, in a Letter addreffed to the Right Honourable the Earl of Sandwich, First Lord Commiffioner of the Admiralty. Interfperfed with candid Remarks on, and occafional References to genuine Letters and Papers, put into the Hands of Philip Stevens, Efq; Secretary of the Admiralty, fince October 1768. Wherein are affigned, probable Caufes of the Decay of the Royal Navy. By Yeoman Lott*. 12mo. No price. Printed for the Author in London.

Mr. Lott complains heavily of being oppreffed for doing his duty, and difmiffed from the public fervice, after being employed thirty three years without imputation either of fraud or neglect.This is certainly a hard cafe; but, alas, in this wicked world (the world of public office at least)" to be direct and honeft is not fafe:" and it is a pity Mr. Lott should have fived fo long in fuch a world without knowing that honefly may be fometimes too officious. The moft well-meaning men are frequently obliged to give in to official and profeffional impofitions; fatisfied with doing their duty as far as it is practicable, without effentially hurting themfelves; wifely confidering that it is better to wink at faults, they cannot mend, than to fet up as reformers of others, to their own ruin. Honesty may be the beft policy with the world in general, but when probity is publicly affociated with knavery, it must either retire from the fervice or give way to the practice of the majority. Whatever compliment, therefore, we might be difpofed to pay Mr. Lott, on account of his integrity, we can fay little in favour of his difcretion. Perhaps, if his good friend, Lord Sandwich, fhould try him once again, he may be found more practicable.

Intereft Tables on an Improved Plan. Shewing by Inspection the legal Interest on every Sum from 11. to 1000l. and from 1000l.

to

* Author of an Enquiry into the caufe of the fcarcity of fhip-timber-and of Hints towards an amendment of the Royal Dock-yards.