What a view...

‘From the top of Portsmouth-hill, where we soon arrived we had a view grander in its kind than perhaps any part of the globe can exhibit. Beneath our feet lay a large extent of marshy ground, which covered with water where the tides flow high, and ordered with innumerable islands and peninsulas. About a mile from the eye, this marsh is joined by the island of Portsea, distinguished by its peculiar fertility and the luxuriance of its woods among which the Town of Portsmouth appears to rise at the distance of five miles.’ Rev William Gilpin, 1774