The description of Amaurot demonstrates further the listing of details calculated to give the impression that the report comes from a man who has been there: The slope of the ground, the width of the river, the effect of the tides on the river, the location of the bridge, and its type of construction all convey an impression of actuality.
A city in which all of the residences are built according to one design may suggest to some modern readers a tiresome uniformity, but where equality of status is insisted upon, this arrangement is inevitable. More does suggest a possible variation in the materials of the facades, which could be of brick, stone, or mortar (stucco). The fact is that entire blocks of houses, even whole neighborhoods, in English cities often present such uniform faces as those described in Utopia.
