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Travels through France and Italy by Tobias George Smollett
page 86 of 476 (18%)
French name cul-blanc, taken from their colour for they are
actually white towards the tail.

Upon the top of a high rock, which overlooks the harbour, are the
remains of an old fortification, which is indiscriminately
called, Tour d'ordre, and Julius Caesar's fort. The original
tower was a light-house built by Claudius Caesar, denominated
Turris ardens, from the fire burned in it; and this the French
have corrupted into Tour d'ordre; but no vestiges of this Roman
work remain; what we now see, are the ruins of a castle built by
Charlemagne. I know of no other antiquity at Boulogne, except an
old vault in the Upper Town, now used as a magazine, which is
said to be part of an antient temple dedicated to Isis.

On the other side of the harbour, opposite to the Lower Town,
there is a house built, at a considerable expence, by a general
officer, who lost his life in the late war. Never was situation
more inconvenient, unpleasant, and unhealthy. It stands on the
edge of an ugly morass formed by the stagnant water left by the
tide in its retreat: the very walks of the garden are so moist,
that, in the driest weather, no person can make a tour of it,
without danger of the rheumatism. Besides, the house is
altogether inaccessible, except at low water, and even then the
carriage must cross the harbour, the wheels up to the axle-tree
in mud: nay, the tide rushes in so fast, that unless you seize
the time to a minute, you will be in danger of perishing. The
apartments of this house are elegantly fitted up, but very small;
and the garden, notwithstanding its unfavourable situation,
affords a great quantity of good fruit. The ooze, impregnated
with sea salt, produces, on this side of the harbour, an
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