Addison, Joseph: Remarks on several parts of Italy: &c. in the years 1701, 1702, 1703 (London: Tonson, 1718)

Aving often heard Venice re-
( presented as one of the moll
■ defensible Cities in the
World, I took Care to in-
form my self of the Particu-

lars in which its Strength consists. And
these I find are chiessy owing to its ad-
vantagious Situation; for it has neither
Rocks nor Fortifications near it, and yet
is, perhaps, the most impregnable Town
in Europe. It Hands at least Four Miles
from any part of the 'Terra Firma^ nor are
the Shallows that lye about it, ever
frozen hard enough to bring over an Ar-
my from the Land-side. The constant
Flux and Ressux of the Sea, or the na-
tural Mildness of the Climate, hindering
the Ice from gathering to any Thick-
ness; which is an Advantage the Hol-
landers want, when they have laid all
their Country under Water. On the
Side that is exposed to the Adriatic, the
Entrance is so difficult to hit, that they
have marked it out with several Stakes
driven into the Ground, which they

would