h might have been of endless duration; we might have
bombarded the basons in which the men-of-war were deposited, and with
about as much success as Sir Thos. Graham,[91] who, after expending a
mint of money in bombs and powders, in the course of two days contrived
to send about half a dozen shells on board the line of battleships. I
was on board the _Albania_, which had suffered the most. The extent of
her damage was two shells which passed thro' the decks, exploding
without much mischief, and a round-shot which shivered a quarter gallery
and then fell on the ice--indeed, bombarding vessels, which are objects
so comparatively small, is something like attempting to shoot wild ducks
on Radnor Mere by firing over their heads with ball in hopes that in its
descent it may come in contact with the bird's head.

About a dozen Gun Brigs were sunk, all of which we saw with their masts
above the water; a few houses near the Bason were shattered, and about
20 Townsmen killed. The country round Antwerp is quite flat, and
appears, with the exception of 2 or 3 miles round the town, a perfect
wood; fancy such a wood with the Scheldt winding through it, several
roads radiating in lines straight as arrows, with here and there a
steeple breaking the horizontal line, and you may suppose yourself at
the top of the Cathedral. The Town is large, with the river washing the
whole of one side; on the south are the dockyards, with rope walks and
everything in fine style; the destruction of these might have been
practicable, as they are rather beyond the line of immediate
fortifications, but probably they have works for their express
protection, and the advantage gained must have been in proportion to the
stores and vessels building. I counted 16 or 17 ships of the line on the
Stocks, 2 or 3 of 120 Guns. In the Scheldt floated 13 in a state of
apparent equipment; in the basons 9--all of the line--thus completing a
fleet of 39 fine Ships, besides a few frigates and Gun Brigs
innumerable--of these only two were Dutch.

It was curious to see such a fleet, and some of them were actually worn
out, the utmost extent of whose naval career had been an expedition to
Flushing. On descending the Spire, we examined the Carillons, which are
a Gamut of chiming bells of all sizes--the total number for them and
the Church is 82; by a clock work they play every 7 minutes, so that the
neighbourhood of the Cathedral is a scene of perpetual harmony; they can
also b