| Before I approached the Black-rock, which lies to the south of the city, the bay of Dublin superbly opened to the view: it was a vast expanse of water, blue and placid as a mirror, rippling only as its flow increased upon shores; and, at a distance, melting into the cloudless sky which it reflected. The sails of vessels, faintly discernible, alone directed the eye to the tender line of its horizon. In front, the hill of Howth reappeared in all its majesty, the craggy sides of which the softening hand of distance seemed to have covered, as it were, with a russet robe; whilst, at the end of a long white line, projecting far into the sea, the Light-house rose, and resembled a figure of white marble rising out of the ocean: a more beautiful scene the eye never reposed upon. At low water, the sands along the Black-rock, which are very compact, afford a sea-side ride for several miles. Upon the sides of this coast is a long chain of equidistant martello towers, which, if they have been constructed to embellish the exquisite scenery by which they are surrounded, the object of building them has been successful; and the liberality of the late administration cannot be too much commended for having raised so many decorations of picturesque beauty at the // cost of several thousands of pounds, to gratify the eyes of the passengers of every packet sailing in and out of the bay, at a period when the prosperity of the country is so forcibly illustrated by the trifling amount of its debt. I believe it would require the inflamed imagination of the hero of Cervantes, to discover one possible military advantage which they possess, placed as they are at such a distance, on account of the shallowness of the bay, from the possibility of annoying a hostile vessel. [pp. 112-113] |
