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

continued, but, as I mentioned, it was long Past
midnight before it concluded.
Ceuta, I need not tell you, is crammed from
cellar to garret; the keeper of the poor inn had
smiled hopelessly, like a man much injured and
driven to despair, when we implored accommo-
dation. His house was ours, he said, if we could
find a place to put ourselves in ; for his part he
had given up his own bed, and was about The to repose
among empty bottles on the counter. prospect.
was not inviting, and iwe preferred turning out
and seeking the quarters of some friends who
w,
knew would grant us permission to stretch our
cloaks upon the floor of their already crowded
billet. " Aye Maria Purissima ! La u turned nzedi
from
droned and chanted the serenos as ave
the door of the tavern to which circumstances have
temporarily given the importance and much more.
than the ordinary prosperity o bang hotel. It was
rather a blank look-out, when,ehld, through ths
open pannel of a brown oak door provided with'
strange bolts and fastenings of antique fashion, that
may have been forged by Moorish hands, appearequin,
the honest countenance of the worthy Don Joa
and the somewhat Jewish features of his first-born
daughter. There was light within, and an appea
ance of comfort, and the circumstances were enough s
to make any man a mendicant. lamby no mean
certain that the costume and general'appearance of
an itinerant journalist, who has been threeforweeks fluctuating between frowzy steamboats and
bad inns, were of a nature to inspire confidence as
to the propriety of accepting him as a not a'
mate. It It is probable that the insignia of rank o,
kindhearted staff officer, who all day had shared Jai
toils and cast in his fortune with mine, had a greater
effect ; at any rate, admission was obtainedde, an h
d
beds, and some hot coffee was quietly ma wit
ready kindness, and if it was not quite as good as
is
fabricated on the boulevards of Paris or in the
.
divans of Stamboul, I can answer for its haying
been as acceptable as any that was over brewed,
and that neither its anti-narcotic qualities nor the •
singing and stinging of numerous mosquitOO Were
sufficient to drive away a slumber that was greatlYt
,i'
needed. And I sincerely hope that the ready or
".
kindly hospitality I here record will secure to Seno
Mas (whom I believe to be the Stulz of Ceuta) the,
'
custom of all English travellers who pass this Oaf'
I fear this is rather out of the beat of tourists,
but- •
there is no knowing where English do not or mai:
not go; and, at any rate, it is a grateful duty to
make the recommendation.
Generally speaking the poor people of Ceuta/
which is but a paltry town of some 8,000 souls, see°
most willing to do all in their power towards, the. :
comfort of the crowd of military now within their
gates, or who come in from the camp a cottPle.,
bmileseliav behaved,,.
as lslhpea
Spanish
soldiers,
soldierson theirgene r
apartily sa ar
ep.P ear, a - well,
TheY "9.
well to make the most of what few comforts are ob.'
tamable here, for if 'once we move forward there 18
every prospect of rough work. The weatherloveli '
Nestor- ::.
the day before yesterday, and fine enoughl
day morning, has changed greatly for the
m Wor 0
se:- '''
It has blown a gale all night, with an accPail
better for the variation. The Spaniards have
none the, ;
ment of heavy rain, and the camp looks
their
~
experience to gain in pitching tents and raiiki°g. '
1
themselves comfortable. under difficulties, and
theY'
of course, will pay the usual penalties of the 1111-0-4
ciate. The water that has come down within the i
last few hours will have taught some of them , ,11
propriety of cutting trenches round their tents, an.`, i
paying attention to the firm fixing of their tent-`` ,
. tat
pegs. t n0.',4
The post here goes out, as far as I yet see, a: .... :
fixed hour. Its departure depends the necessit '
thee,l;
of the service as well as on the state of the we _..,(
For the present, therefore, I send off
earliest:.;
fast as I can that they ,may profit by the
opportunity, and it will not be surprising if t - Y.:',,,i's
occasionally reach you two or three together. d te •
Soon after noon yesterday firing was he rd rode
the front, and General O'Donnell and hiss o—. ~tic" ..,
forwards. We were busy here pitching tell's,--00..,.
performing the various labours inseparable 'rite ••,;
installing oneself in camp,but the fusillade incremir:4
my letters. us ;. : ;
ing, I rode out to see what was going on.. 131:.0"g,"44
way I met a good many wounded wen
brought in upon stretchers and in blankets,
fire was merely that of skirmishers; there were u 0,.. ,fr
voice ta
:•
heavy volleys, although occasionally the
the guns upon the redoubt made itself heard abc'hve
the desultory musketry. In the redoubt Were't ,a
commander-in-chief and his staff, scanning the 811_11
rounding country. The white dresses of the goeasi
.if
were to be seen more or less numerous at vari° i
• bau-a
points of the curve along which the show
iii j
butelth_oo:ol
been going on. Ceuta, as the map shoWs u_ ''
situated on a tongue of land, an irregular oblo.ntt:
which juts out into the sea. The neck of the 1t,.0
~.
peninsula is strongly fortified, Passing out then;
e'l
one immediately ascends; on some low ridges ~, ..-•
• ..israPo
camp is pitched. As you continue to move Inv' 1
to ha i
you come to the half-ruined building known 8
alioi4
Serallo, the Spanish orthography of SeOu_..i..-4
Beyond this, which is about the centre of our P..oe", .4-;
wood.. To,
tion, still ascending, over ground rough)
and very steep, you get to the summit uPoll wirojr.
the redoubt is constructed, of bags of earth and v':.
a circular form, with a small exterior ditch. .1u a.
WO -
a very elevated point, and from it one' gets - - -
'4 CO
general view of the country around. Thins'l" for .•t
prised within an amphitheatre of moUnta'" by
ing a great natural wall, more or less broken. .'
nor
barrancas, or ravines, and within which rise min d,
00 f
ridges of hills: One deep valley stretches arm the
nearly parallel for a considerable distance . r
roes
0-..
arc of the mountains, and it was here that
the fighting, which, however, was altooether 11°.t
0 oat
much, yesterday went on. The greatest imP. 4
wind tavi
ment to observation was the violent a
swept over the heights, raising clouds of clus..:niancs
reminding one of the stormy blasts that soniell
seemed to tear up the very ground on the baLesel
plateau of Balaklava. General O'Donnell rereobiluot
till nearly dark examining the country'. Theft 00.
of the skirmish I have not heard stated. •'• ;t
and --
said that the Moors were out in some fereet; -objet
is presumable there was a necessityhfoardonrlol....litsiiiholor.
in engaging in a conflict which
result beyond the killing and wounding In' Jtm, •
fifty men and officers. The superioritydeerfed by:.
Spanish infantry over the Moors is
cons'
s,_
as
elio_toci"y of
those officers I have spoken with to be
factorily established. The advance of a b
n retrelit
the former is the signal for the intraedi-8 roils
batta 1
of their swarthy foes. Yesterday two 0.11
...moo , •
advanced against a mass of Moors, advauw-. 0
' eriOtlabf
posted, but the sight of the bayonets was he woe
and their thrust was not waited for. If t battle
tion could be brought to the arbitrernent I:cif:airy to
in the plain, and with sufficient Spanish c.. 0, sl,bool
make head against the 'Moorish horsein'to
the Ceutans describe as exceedingly li.
, might hoPe
brave, and daring, General O'DonnelL but
here,
to gain a great and decisive victory ; ' ~ deop.
's as el'
among the mountains, the warfare 1 ~,,e or
',ore 0i...-
tory, and the Moors, although they m .0 attack,
twice shown themselves forward enough ' dont
hen they h ve•
have their retreat pretty secure who t
010 -°
themselves in danger, or consider
~T. d übt Gese,
eroos,
sufficiently harassed their enemy. No
° • 0 an'.
rat O'Donnell has settled a plan of obPeettrarotl°o°,,e'ront
it is hoped that it will prove to
along the shore upon the Tetuan. ours
after
.26 hon._ •
As you will easily imagine, within ' frota the
quitting the jetty on which I landed nie bed
steamer, I have still a great deal to eeelYth, sur'
sides correspondence. My observation 19",ut yell
rounding country and positions has bee.n but r 9
fort:o-'3ll
imperfect, and my means of obtag
.;,111, betWeell
are not yet organised. I am fluctua.,--
oue pitleef
camp and town, part of my baggage 111 . ~,d foul
part in another. My mule is not yet
.I'47tefiniero
Cadiz, and the horses that can in ti." ~ foal the
have not yet, for the most part, recove. 00.
ali-
-11 at sixes
eating hold. Things, in short, are still
to
...et into
ssvens, and it will take • cal (lithe ~a
a do; or two l3. tdt to
voyage, especially those which were. in
something like order. Stabling is .
such plashes of rain as fall, it goes , ones
bitberto been
obtain, and with such a wind as is 17illbge:3; to
see horses in the open air that ha` •C re °WEI;
be tbfil.:
min woo-L. , fe--
many difficulties at first, and. mi
~
__cocci
of
greater but for the kind assistanceti;_ei-uo'r t.o. 1
the 51.110;
us,sd to stabling. In tiv:se cases there
.1/,1
same of the Spanish staff, and from u
friends now serving with his army.
. .