Francis the Firft creited La Tour Balaguier, on the fouth-weft. Henry the Fourth,
fiuTiamed the Great, laid tlie foimdation of the uiolcs of the old dock.
The new one fincc formed, having its piers and beautiful quays lb well contrived, and
fo highly finiflicd, is flrongly defended by two bailions, whofe flanked angles projeit into
the fea.
This dock, the entrance into which is fo narrow as to admit but of one fliip to pafs
at a time, is capablc of containing a vail number of tlie largeft fize. It is, donbtlefs, one
of the handlbmeil and bcft conftmiled in Eui-ope; built, as well as the modern part of the
city, and tlie fortifications towarfs land, by Lewis the Fourteenth.
The. order, folidit}% ajid magnificence, mtli which the hai-bour and the adjacent buildings
ai-e executed, cannot be fufBciently admired.
The moft confpicuous of thefe are L'Ecole Militaire, where young people, defigned for
the na\ y, are infinicled in mathematics, navigation, and every other fcience rcquifite to
qualify them for tliat piirpofe.
L'Attelier, or the Worklhop, is remarkably curious. The i
workrooms convey a grand idea of tlieir contents ; and the régulai- mode in which every
branch of bufinefs is conducted, for the ufe of the navy, is highly gratifying.
La Corderie, or Rope Yard, is a handfome building in free ftone ; and lb admirably
conitruéled tliat the men work at all feafons of the ycai\ iheltered from every inclemency
of weather, under three rows of arcades, which occupy the ground floor, and form extenfive
galleries, over which are placed thofe whofe bufinefs it is to prepare every neceflary
article for making cables, ropes, &c. The building is three hundred and fixty toifes, or
Uvo thouland one hundred and fixty French feet m length.
The magazines, arfenals, armouiy, the huge pyramids of cannon balls, and the vail
ranges of llorehouies, in which arc depofited every fpecies of hoftile weapons, as alfo the
different yards, flocks, bakehoufe, 8cc. are all fo many fcparate objet s of particular notice.
The city of Toulon, however, is not extenfive, fince its ]3opulalion before die revolution
did not excecd twenty-eight tlioufand inhabitants.
It is divided into the old and new town. The old quarter is badly built, dark, and
i r r ^ u l a r ; the ilreets narrow, and inhabited chiefly by mecJianics and failors. The modern
part of the city (built, as before obferved, by Lewis the Fourteenth) is handfome; the flreets
airy and fpacious; the houfes well built, and finiihed with tafie. The nobility and people
of fortune rcfide in this part of the town.