a celebrated city of France, in the department of Lower Charente, with a very commodious and safe harbour, which, though it does not admit vessels of any considerable burden, is yet well calculated for trade. "It may be divided (says Mr Wraxal) into three parts; the basin, which is the innermost of these, is only a quarter of a mile in circumference; and at the entrance are two very noble Gothic towers, called the Tour de St Nicholas, and the Tour de la Chaine. They are now in a state of decay, but were anciently designed to protect the town and harbour. Without these towers is the Avant Port, extending more than a league, and bounded by two points of land to the north and south. Beyond all is the road where the largest ships usually anchor, protected from the south-west winds by the islands of Re, Oleron, and Aix." The celebrated mound erected by Richlieu extends from side to side across the whole harbour, nearly an English mile in length, and when the sea retires is still visible. "I walked out upon it (says Mr Wraxal) above 300 feet. Its breadth is at this time more than 150 feet, and it widens continually towards the base. No effort of art or power can possibly impress the mind with so vast and sublime an idea of the genius of Richlieu, as does this bulwark against the sea. While I stood upon it, in the middle of the port, between the waves which rolled on either side, and contemplated its extent and strength, I was almost inclined to suppose this astonishing work to Rochelle, be superior to human power, and the production rather of a deity than of a mortal. A small opening of about 200 feet was left by Pompey Targon, the architect who constructed it, to give entrance to vessels, and shut up by chains fixed across it. A tower was likewise erected at each end, no remains of which are now to be seen. Neither the duke of Buckingham, nor the earl of Lindsey, who were successively sent from England to the aid of the besieged by Charles the First, dared to attack this formidable barrier: they retired, and left Rochelle to its fate. In all probability, a thousand years, aided by storms and all the fury of the sea, will make little or no impression on this mound, which is designed to endure as long as the fame of the cardinal, its author."

Before the revolution, Rochelle was a bishop's see, and contained a college of humanities, an academy, a school for medicine, anatomy, and botany, and a mint. It cannot lay claim to any remote antiquity, being merely a little collection of houses on the shore, inhabited by fishermen, when William IX. last count of Poictou, rendered himself master of it in 1139. From this prince it descended to his only daughter Eleanor, afterwards queen of Henry II. of England; and her charter incorporating the town is still preserved in the registers of the city. In the year 1545, Rochelle was the grand asylum of the Protestants; and the massacre at Paris was soon followed by the siege of Rochelle, which began in November 1572, and was raised in June 1573; but in 1628, after a most obstinate resistance, and a siege of 13 months, it surrendered to the mercy of Louis XIII. At the beginning of the first siege, the number of inhabitants in the city amounted to 72,000; in the second they diminished to 28,000; and they were, when Mr Wraxall was there, between 17 and 18,000, of which scarce 2000 were Huguenots. The houses of this city are fine, and supported with piazzas, under which persons may walk in all weathers; and the streets in general are as straight as a line. There are several handsome churches, and other structures, besides a remarkable pump in the square of Dauphiny, which throws out the water through several pipes. There are no remains of the old fortifications, except on the side of the harbour, where there are bulwarks and strong towers to defend the entrance. The new fortifications are in the manner of Vauban. Before Canada was ceded to England, and New Orleans to Spain, the trade of Rochelle was very lucrative. It revived about the year 1773, and, beside that to the coast of Guinea and the East Indies, the inhabitants carried on a considerable trade in wines, brandy, salt, paper, linen cloth, and serge. It is seated on the ocean, in W. Long. 1. 4. N. Lat. 46. 9.