at the confluence of the Onhar and the Duter, which, joining their waters, form a wide and magnificent channel. The fortifications appeared to me to be in a bad state, and I did not fee a single foldier at the gates. The great street which croffes it from one end to the other is full of fhops, and workmen of every kind. This city was formerly called Gerunda; the cathedral church, dedicated to the Virgin, is extremely rich, and contains a statue of folid filver of its patronefs. Girona is the principal place of a confiderable jurisdiction, in which are comprehended the towns of Ampurias and Rofes. It is the refidence alfo of a bishop, whofe diocefe contains three hundred and thirty-nine parishes.

A few leagues from Girona the road croffes the wood of Tiona, which, for the space of two hours, prefents at different distances the most agreeable points of view; but the road is extremely bad, especially after rain, because the surface is a fine and very tenacious clay which adheres

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heres to the wheels of carriages and feet of the mules, rendering their progress very flow and difficult. The only comfort after paffing this road is a folitary

inn, called the Grenota: the traveller has afterwards to crofs marfhes and feveral streams; but a road embellished with tufts of poplars, and fields well cultivated, recompence him for past fatigues. Malgrat, the next village,

ther confiderable; and after about an hour's journey further, we arrive at Acaleilla; and, as we advance into the country, habitations become more frequent. The villages of Tampoul, Canet and Haram, furrounded with trees and gardens, are a few hundred yards from the fea; fishermens barks, and even fome pretty large tartans* are built there. The women in all these villages have a fresh complexion, and are, in general,

A kind of bark ufed in the Mediterranean for fishing and carriage. It has only a main-maft and a mizen; and when a fquare fail is put up, it is called a fail of fortune.

very handsome; and as they only labour at the eafy and quiet employment of lace-making, their beauty is preserved: the men are for the most part fishermen. I have seen but few prospects more agreeable than those upon this coaft. From Canet to Mataro it is edged with little hills, which are continually to be afcended and defcended, so that the road becomes fatiguing; but a view of the fea and a fine country enlivens and amuses the traveller.

Mataro is a small town, industrious and well peopled, and the environs abound in vineyards, which produce wine much famed for its flavour. It likewife contains feveral manufactories, and is confidered as one of the richest and most active towns in Catalonia. The view of the fea continues from Mataro to Barcelona; the fides of the road are ornamented with country houfes which might have been built with more taste, but they enrich and animate the landfcape; the steeples, towers, and ramparts

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parts of Barcelona are seen at a distance, and the road to it is, in general, tole rably good. But before I speak of that city, I think it is necessary to give some account of the province of which it is the capital,

CATALONIA.

CATALONIA is about twenty leagues in length from east to west, and from forty to forty-eight in breadth. This Province has nearly eighty leagues upon the Mediterranean. It derives its name from that of the Goths and Alans united in the word Gothalonia, eafily changed into Catalonia. It is bounded on the north by the Pyrenees, to the eaft and fouth by the Mediterranean, and to the weft by the kingdom of Va lencia and a part of that of Arragon.

The

The principal cities are Barcelona the capital, Tarragona, Girona, Urgel, Vic, Lerida, Tortofa, Rofes, Solfonna, Cervera, Cardona, Palamos, Ampurias, and Puicerda. The provinces is divided into fifteen jurisdictions.

Amongst the rivers by which it is watered, the most confiderable is the Ebro, which runs only through a small part of it, and falls into the fea fix leagues from Tortofa. The others are the Francoli, which is loft in the fea below Tarragona; the Lobregat, the fource of which is in Mount-Pendis, and reaches the fea with the Befos near Barcelona; the Ter, which rifes between Mount-Canigo, and the Col de Nuria, and after running from the north-east to the fouth-weft, turns towards the east and empties its waters into the sea near Toroella, a few leagues from Girona ; and the Fluvia, the mouth of which is below Ampurias. Befides these there are others lefs confide