The view of Plymouth is taken from the grounds of Mount Edgecumbe, looking across the lower part of the Sound. About the middle distance is St. Nicholas' Island; beyond which are perceived the ramparts of the citadel. Between the citadel and the point of land to the right, where several small vessels are seen, is the entrance of the creek called the Catwater.

The towns of Plymouth and Devonport—the latter until 1824 having usually been called Plymouth Dock, or briefly, Dock—stand nearly in the same relation to each other as Portsmouth and Portsea, except that they are not contiguous, the distance between them being about a mile and a half. Plymouth is the old borough, and Devonport is the modern town; the latter, indeed, has been entirely built within the last hundred-and-fifty years, since the establishment of the royal dockyard by William III., in 1691. Each town returns two members to Parliament, this privilege having been conferred on Devonport by the Reform Bill; and the municipal government of each is vested in separate authorities. Plymouth and Devonport, with Stonehouse, which lies between them, may be considered as forming one large town, which occupies a parallelogram about two miles and a half in length by one in breadth, and contains, with the suburbs of Morice-town and Stoke, about a hundred thousand inhabitants.

Plymouth harbour, or, as it is generally called, Sutton Pool, is on the land side nearly surrounded by houses, and the entrance to it from the Catwater is protected by two stone piers, about ninety feet apart. Plymouth has a considerable coasting trade with London, Bristol, Hull, Newcastle, and other parts of England, and also carries on a direct trade with the Baltic, the Mediterranean, America, and the West Indies. The principal exports are copper, tin, and lead-ore, manganese, granite, and pilchards. There are about fifty decked fishing-boats belonging to Plymouth, which not only supply its market and that of Devonport with plenty of excellent fish, but also furnish a considerable quantity for Bath, London, and other places. The fish most common in Plymouth market are hake, basse, gurnards, pipers, tub-fish, whiting-pouts, soles, mullets red and grey, and John-Dories. Quin, that he might enjoy the latter fish in perfection, took an express journey from Bath to Plymouth. The export of granite, and other kinds of stone for the purposes of building, is greatly facilitated by a railway, which extends from about the middle of Dartmoor to the quays at Sutton Pool and Catwater. The larger class of merchant-vessels generally anchor in the Catwater; and in time of war it is the usual rendezvous for transports. It is sheltered from south-westerly gales by Mount Battan, and is sufficiently spacious to afford anchorage for six or eight hundred sail of such ships as are usually employed in the merchant service. There are about 320 ships belonging to Plymouth, the tonnage of which, according to the old admeasurement, is about 26,000 tons.

Though the neighbourhood of Plymouth affords so many beautiful and interesting views, the town itself presents but little to excite the admiration of the stranger. It is very irregularly built; and most of the old houses have a very mean appearance, more especially when contrasted with some of recent erection. Several large buildings, within the last twenty or thirty years, have been erected at Plymouth and Devonport, in the pure Grecian style; and the two towns afford ample evidence of the imitative genius of the architects. At the corner of almost every principal street, the stranger is presented with reminiscences of Stuart and Revett's Athens.

Plymouth citadel is situated to the southward of the town, and at the eastern extremity of the rocky elevation called the Hoe. It commands the passage to the Hamoaze, between St. Nicholas' Island and the main-land, as well as the entrance of the Catwater. It was erected on the site of the old fort, in the reign of Charles II., and consists of five bastions, which are further strengthened with ravelins and hornworks. The ramparts are nearly three-quarters of a mile in circuit; and there are platforms for a hundred-and-twenty cannon. The entrance to the citadel is on the north, through an outer and an inner gate. Within the walls are the residence of the lieutenant-governor, officers' houses and barracks for the garrison, with a magazine, chapel, and hospital. In the centre of the green is a bronze statue of George II., the work of an artist named Robert Pitt, and erected, in 1728, at the expense of Louis Dufour, Esq., an officer of the garrison. An excellent panoramic view of Plymouth, Saltram, the Catwater, the Sound, Mount Edgecumbe, and other places, is to be obtained from the ramparts, round which visitors are permitted to walk.