[Footnote 7: Forster, the translator of this work, annihilates
the argument for the settlement of the Welsh derived from the
word "penguin" signifying "white head," by the fact of the bird
in question having a _black_, not a _white_ head!]
_Collar of SS._ (Vol. ii., p. 89.).--B. will find a great deal about
these collars in some interesting papers in the Gentleman's Magazine for
1842, vols. xvii. and xviii., conmunicated by Mr. J.G. Nicholls; and in
the Second Series of the Retrospective Review, vol. i. p. 302., and vol.
ii. pp. 156. 514. 518. Allow me to add a Query: Who are the persons now
privileged to wear these collars? and under what circumstances, and at
what dates, was such privilege reduced to its present limitation?
[Greek: Phi.]
_Martello Towers_ (Vol. ii., p. 9.).--A misspelling for _Mortella_
towers. They are named after a tower which commands the entrance to the
harbour of St. Fiorenzo, in Corsica; but they are common along the
coasts of the Mediterranean. They were built along the low parts of the
Sussex and Kent coasts, in consequence of the powerful defence made by
Ensign Le Tellier at the Tower of Mortella, with a garrison of 38 men
only, on 8th February, 1794, against an attack by sea, made by the
_Fortitude_ and _Juno_, part of Lord Hood's fleet, and by land, made by
a detachment of troops under Major-General Dundas. The two ships kept up
a fire for two hours and a half without making any material impression,
and then hauled out of gun-shot, the _Fortitude_ having lost 6 men
killed and 56 wounded, 8 dangerously. The troops were disembarked, and
took possession of a height comnanding the tower; and their battering
was as unsuccessful, till a hot shot fell and set fire to the bass-junk,
with which, to the depth of five feet, the immensely thick parapet wall
was lined. This induced the small garrison, of whom two were mortally
wounded, to surrender. The tower mounted only one 6 and two 18-pounders,
and the carriage of one of the latter had been rendered unserviceable
during the cannonade. (See James' _Naval History_, vol. i. p. 285.) The
towers along the English coast extend from Hythe to Seaford, where the
last tower is numbered 74, at intervals of about a quarter of a mile,
except where the coast is protected by the cliffs. The tower at Seaford
is 32 feet high, with a circumference of 136 feet at the base, and
gradually tapering to 90 feet at the top. The wall is 6 feet thick at
the top next the sea, and 2 feet on the land side. The cost of each
tower was very large,--from 15,000l. to 20,000l. I am not aware of any
blue book on the subject; blue books were not so much in vogue at the
time of their erection, or perhaps a little less would have been spent
in these erections, and a little more pains would have been taken to see
that they were properly built. Some have been undermined by the sea and
washed down already; in others, the facing of brick has crumbled away;
and in all the fancied security which the original tower taught us to
expect would be probably lessened were the English towers subjected to
an attack.