The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-13 00:00:00

SPAIN AND MOROCCO.

A letter from off Ceuta, dated Nov. 29, says :
After rather more than the usual amount of trouble

and delay, occasioned by quarantine regulations,
shipment of horses, slowness of transports, &c.,
the coast of Africa is at last in sight—within short

rifle range, indeed, of the execrably dirty French
steamer which has brought us hither from the

Bay of Cadiz. The Spanish Government is paying
large sums for transport, and it ought to be
better served. The filth and disorder of some of
the boats that are now conveying troops, horses,

and stores to Ceuta are not to be surpassed, and
many an officer finds on arrival that his campaign-

ing requisites are half spoilt before the campaign
has commenced. Such mishaps and annoyances,
however, are forgotten at the glad sight of land,
and truly a" land of promise" as far as nature and
climate go. Just opposite the double peak of " old
Gib," a hill (of circular form, as far as we can judge

from the side presented to us) juts out into the sea,
crowned by buildings and fortifications. Westward
from it lies the town on a slope down to the shore.

The slope continues when the houses cease—a chain
of low mounds, then a dip of green level, the inland
side of which is traversed by some ancient Moorish
works—a wall partly turretted, with towers or
small forts at intervals along it. Beyond these de-
fences of the olden time the ground rises in succes-

sire ridges, more important than those already
spoken of, and on the first of these is an encamp-

ment, tents, smoke, and men. I give you merely a

rough sketch of what I see from the ship's deck,

and may have, after closer inspection, to correct va-
rious things in this pen and ink photograph. The
ridges, which are of a brown green, and thickly
wooded, increase in importance until they termi-

nate in a range of mountains—high gray peaks,
rough and craggy, not unlike those which, in the
north of Spain, spring from among the wood-
clothed hills and green orchards of Guipuzcoa and

Biscay. Marshal O'Donnell, who left Cadiz on Sa-
turday night. and must have been here two days,

might fancy himself transported more than 20 years

back, to the titne of a much earlier campaign, when

Spaniards were arrayed against Spaniards instead
of against their more natural foe, the Moor; lie
left Cadiz, as you will before now be aware, sooner
than was expected, in consequence, it is supposed,

of the news of a combat that had taken place on the
25th inst., and which seems to have been, of more
importance than two previous skirmishes. My in-
formation on the subject is too vague and imperfect
to be worth giving, but perhaps before I close this
hasty letter I may be able to add some details.

What has occurred since then, whether the Com

mander•in-Chief has inaugurated his arrival by
striking a blow at the enemy, we have yet to learn.
To-day there seems to be little going on ; bodies of
troops are discernible in one or two positions, and we
have seen two or three shells burst in the air ; but
the grey haze that floats over the hill sides, and
which some eager spirits on board declare to be the
smoke of musketry, proceeds, I suspect, simply from
the open-air kitchens of the soldiery. The scene is
one of summer. The recent abundant rains have
given renewed verdure to the plains and lower hills,
the foliage of the forests is abundant, the sky above
is brighter and clearer than in July in England or
France, and the sun is oppressively hot.
CEUTA, Nov. 30, NooN.
Before going up to camp I wish to send off this
letter, although a very short one. It will serve,
however, to inform you of my arrival here. Nothing
has occurred in the way of fighting since the affair

of the '2sth, which is the only fight of the least im-
portance that has as yet taken place. The Moors
made a bold attempt to capture a redoubt the
Spaniards have erected. They were beaten back
with heavy loss. Of the Spanish loss I have as yet
no authentic account, nor of the circumstances of
the action. There is some cholera in the camp, but
the doctors say it is not to an alarming extent, nor
very virulent. In the town there is none. General
Ga-cia, chief of O'Donnell's staff, has gone towards
Tetuan this morning in a steamer, to reconnoitre the

coast. We hear that 'the French have knocked dowi
the fort that defends the sea approach to Tetuan.
am writing under very unfavourable circumstances
I hope soon to send off a more satisfactory despatch.
, CAMP IN FRONT OF CEUTA, DEC. 1.
Ceuta Bay is not very safe anchorage or easy
landing when certain winds blow, and when we
arrived in it a little before nowt on the 29th we con-
gratulated ourselves on the calmness of the sea, and
on the five hours of daylight that remained for the
landing of 80 horses we had on board. The time
was ample, 'hut delays arose ; horseboats came but
slowly and one at a time, and the work was not
half done when night closed in. Several vessels
containing horses, mules, and cattle for rations
arrived in the course of the day, and the work of
lauding continued the Whole night. At least, I
was an eyewitness of its doing so until two o'clock
in the morning. The scene after dark at the land-
ing-place was one of strange aspect and no little
confusion. The innermost recess of the poor har-
bour of Ceuta is a miniature creek, running a short
distance inland, and formed on one side by a high
quay, and on the other by buildings that rise al-
most out of the water. The creek continues (a dry
gully) for some distance above highwater-mark,
passing under a broad arch of brickwork, and slop-
ing upwards until the ground rises to a level with
the quay. It is narrowed by a number of large
boats, hauled up on either side ; beneath the arch
are heaps of old. cordage and rusty chain cables ;
the mud at the water's edge combines with lurking
defilements and abominations to produce the pleas-
ing variety of odours that impregnate the surround-
ing atmosphere. It was here that the square, heavy
horseboats came, dancing, to the no small dis-
quietude of their living freights, over the heavy
swell that rolled into the bay with the rising tide
after eight in the evening. The boats were hauled
into the creek, and as near to land as they could
come ; once aground, a bridge was thrown out from
them, down which the cattle came. There were
then still a good many yards of water to traverse,
into which some of the animals made great diffi-
culty about stepping, while others took it so clum-
sily that they fell and got completely drenched.
Most of them were mounted to come ashore, but
some were merely driven into the water, and wan-
dered out of their course and almost out of their
depth. A number of half-naked men waded
about , catching and directing them ; on shore,
when the horses landed, many of them found
no one in readiness to claim them, and re-
mained encumbering the narrow space until some
officer ordered them off. In the boats, soldiers and
grooms shouted and swore ; on land impatient pro-
prietors clamoured for greater speed. If you ima-
gine all this passing on a dark night by the dim
light of two or three lanterns, you will compose a
picture that was not altogether pleasing to those
who figured in it. Early in the night a cargo of
commissariat cattle was landed, and six or seven
poor beasts, seemingly sick and weak from confine-
ment on board, fell into the water, close to its edge,
and rose no more. They lay there, half embedded
in mud, objects of terror to the horses that passed
them, occasionally convulsively struggling and gasp-
ing, until the flowing tide ended their miseries.
An incident characteristic of Spain diversified, and
for a time enlivened, the wearisome Oils of the
nights Two bulls got loose when landed, took up
their station in the dry part of the creek, and would
not be captured or listen to any terms of capitula-
tion. For the better part of an hour they were
completely masters of the situation. The horses
could not be brought up because Coro, with lowered
horns and menacing front,. barred the way. The
bystanders were of course delighted. While two or
three bold fellows made attempts, long fruitless, to
fetter the bulls, the crowd filled the boats that lay
upon the quay, looking down upon the same as
from the kndidos of a bull-ring, and shouting and
applauding as the two wild animals dashed at their
1 antagonists and compelled them to ,a speedy retreat.
At last the beasts were secured, and the landing