This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1815 edition. Excerpt: ... JOURNAL OF A TOUR FROM DOVER TO CALAIS, DUNKIRK, BRUGES, GHENT, ANTWERP, ROTTERDAM, THE HAGUE, LEYDEN, HAARLEM, AMSTERDAM, UTRECHT, BRUSSELS, HANOVER, BERLIN, DRESDEN, AND VIENNA. ON Monday the last day of June 1788, I embarked at Dover, at five in the morning, and in four hours reached Calais. At two my carriages were ready, and I proceeded to Dunkirk. The distance is about twenty English miles, or five French posts. The horses were changed at Gravelines, a fortified town, but destitute of trade, and so deserted, that grass grew in some of the principal streets. Between Calais and Gravelines, the soil is sandy, and the country flat, though exhibiting an intermixture of corn, grass, &c. The roads are miserable. The forlorn appearance of the cottages, which are built with mud, and the general flatness of the country, which was far from being improved by the late heavy rains, rendered my journey very uninteresting. Yet, however dreary this stage, it was far surpassed by that from Gravelines to Dunkirk; the soil being more sandy, and the country less inhabited, and destitute of cultivation. Numbers of poor children, clamouring for la petite charite, and the melancholy notes of frogs, seemed to bespeak the wretched situation both of men and animals. The space of seven hours, which was employed in performing the short journey of twenty-four miles, will sufficiently prove the badness of the roads. I was detained at Dunkirk longer than I wished, by waiting for post-horses, and the ebb tide. My inn, L'Hfitel d'Angleterre, the post-house, was however good; and the delay enabled me to see the few objects, worthy of notice, which the town contains. The fortifications and harbour of Dunkirk, which were constructed, at a great expense, by Louis the...