The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-20 00:00:00

TANGIERS.

The following particulars relative to Tangiers will
be read with interest at the present moment :
" The city of Tangiers is very strong by its position
and the number of its batteries, which are well
armed. Its old walls crenellated, and flanked with
round and square towers, are perhaps capable of a
greater resistance than their appearance indicates.
Several bastioned towers have been repaired, and put
into a state of defence within the last few years.
The city itself is of little importance; it is poor, and
has little trade. Tangiers has no interest but from
its being the residence of the European Consuls,
for its population only amounts to from 8,000 to
9,000, and its commerce is inferior to that of some
other ports, notwithstanding its proximity to the
European coast. The houses- of the Consuls
form the only ornament of the town. It is situate
on the declivity of a calcareous mountain, part
of which is not built upon, and presents a naked and
unpleasant coup Wail. The town, like all other places
in Morocco, is surrounded by a wall flanked by round
and square towers ; this wall is enclosed by a ditch,
2,200 metres in extent, but which has no counter-
scarp. It is protected by a Moorish kasbah (fortress)
of imposing appearance, and by a fort of Portuguese
construction, bastioned in the modern style, but half
in ruins. The kasbah is mounted by twelve pieces of
cannon, which command the straits of Gibraltar.
The ditches round the city are filled with trees,
and cultivated as kitchen gardens, the letting of
which belongs to the Governor, and who would
take good care not to sacrifice the revenue
he enjoys from them by putting the ditch
in a proper state of defence. The rampart oppo-
site the sea is remarkable for having two tiers of
embankments with embrasures, mounted by guns.
On the north side the city is defended by steep rocks,
which prevent the approach of a besieging force. The
principal defences have been raised in front of the
landing-place near the marine gate. They consist of
two batteries, mounting sixty pieces of heavy calibre,
and eight mortars, all bearing on the port. The plat-
forms of the batteries are very narrow, the parapets
are of masonry, but only three feet in thickness, and
the embrasures are not far enough apart, which tends
to diminish the strength of the battery. The landing
place is flanked on either side by two batteries. Be-
sides these defences of the port, the bay of Tangiers is
defended by six batteries in masonry, one built on
Cape Malabata, and the other on the ruins of Old Tan-
giers (the Tingis of the Romans). They mount to-
gether forty guns. The two batteries which flank
the roadstead at its two extremities are raised on
small hills about 150 feet above the level of the sea;
the others are at the water's edge. To attack the
place by sea, it would be necessary first to destroy
those batteries, as well as those in front of the port,
but in order to get into the town three inclosures
must be forced, each having a very strong gate lined
with iron. To do this cannon must be landed, or
else a mine or the petard be had recourse to, but
during this operation the assailants would be exposed
to a murderous fire from the garrison, if the inhabi-
tants should be resolved to defend their city.
By land the point of attack would be on the
sands, and the low hills to the south, between
the Fez road and the sea, after effecting a
landing on the beach of Old Tangiers, out of reach
of the sea batteries. Once established on these points,
the plateau on which the market is situated would be
gained. On this plateau there is space enough to
form an entrenched camp, to serve as a point d'appui
for the troops acting against the town. The western
rampart being only of earth, might readily be de-
molished. The last attack against Tangiers was in
1790, when it was bombarded by the Spaniards. The
inhabitants abandoned the place with all their effects,
and peace was soon after concluded. The English
draw their supply of beef, mutton, fruits, and vege-
tables from Tangiers and Tetifan. Tangiers is dis-
tant seventy leagues from Fez and Mequinez, and
one hundred and fifty from Morocco, these being the
three Imperial cities at which the Sultan alternately
resides. From eighteen t ) twenty days is required
to send a dispatch, and get an answer, from Tangiers
to Fez, and from Morocco requires from forty-five to
fifty days."

HISTORICAL RECOLLECTIONS OF TANGIERS.
Tangiers is situated near the western entrance to
the Straits of Gibraltar, built at the entrance of a
bay, on the side of a hill overlooking the sea, and
about 14 miles west of Cape Spartel. It has a popu-
lation of 9,000 souls; and, in conjunction with Te-
tuan, supplies Gibraltar, Cadiz, Lisbon, and other
ports on the coast of Spain and Portugal, with fowls,
beef, mutton, and fruit. During the memorable siege
of Gibraltar, 1779-82, Tangiers was of considerable
importance to the English, from whence much valu-
able information respecting the movements of the
French and Spaniards was constantly transmitted.
It may not, however, be generally known that
Tangiers was formerly in the possession of the
English, having been ceded by Portugal in 1662 to
King Charles the Second, on the occasion of his
marriage with Donna Catherina, infanta of Portugal,
as part of her dowry. In the spring of 1680, Tan-
giers was besieged by an army from Morocco, and
Charles recommended the Parliament to take mea-
sures for its preservation. The occupation of Tan-
giers was said to be of importance to the Levant
trade, and it was feared that two millions embarked
in that commerce would be lost. Consequently,
detachments from each of the three troops of Life
Guards; 260 officers and men from the First
Foot Guards; and 130 officers and men from
the Coldstream Guards, under the command of the
Earl of Mulgrave, were dispatched to garrison the
fortress of Tangiers, and on their arrival were styled
" the King's battalion." These were followed by the
Earl of Dumbarton's regiment (now the Ist, or Royal
Regiment), and the Earl of Inchiquin's (now the 2d,
or Queen's Royals). Much fighting took place be-
tween the Moors and the English, with varied suc-
cess, and Tangiers was closely besieged by the bar-
barians. On the 27th September, 1680, a general
sally of the garrison was made on the Moorish lines,
where 15,000 troops were encamped. The action
soon became general, and Dumbarton's renowned
veterans quickly carried the redoubts, although with
immense slaughter ; the Guards and the Queen's
Royals equally suffered, for the returns give an ag-
gregate loss of 11 officers and 100 men killed, and 34
officers and 334 men wounded.
King Charles IL found the maintenance of a suffi-
cient garrison at Tangiers to be too expensive ; and
the nation refusing to grant supplies, the fortifications
and mole were blown up. On the retirement of the
English, the Moors quickly occupied the place,_ and it
has ever since continued in their possession. Whilst
the English were masters of Tangiers, the works on
the land side were considered as almost impregnable.
In April, 1684, the troops returned to England ; and
only 235 effective men of the Guards joined their re-
giments in London.
It is a singular historical fact, that " rifles " were
introduced into the British service in the year 1680,
and were first used by the Life Guards at the siege of
Tangiers. It is also remarkable, that about the same
period the Grenadiers were introduced into the
army, and did good service at this memorable
siege. According to the quaint language of the
day,. "a company was formed of men who each
carried a large pouch filled with hand-grenades. These
men were instructed to ignite the fusees, and to cast
the grenades into forts, trenches, or amidst the ranks
of their enemies, where the explosion was calculated
to produce much execution ;" and the men, deriving
their designation from the combustibles with which
they were armed, were styled " Grenadiers?' Al-
though the hand-grenades have long since been laid
aside, yet one company, which is designated "'The
Grenadier Company," continues to form part of every
battalion in the English service.

- - -
CANTON ITS CONDITION BE
FORE AND SINCE THE LATE WAR.
(From a Correspondent of the Ilong-Kong Register o'
April 22.)
When in May, 1839, after an imprisonment of abou
six weeks, the foreign community found themselves
once more at liberty, they, with few exceptions, left a
place where they found themselves to be completely
at the mercy of arbitrary power, and to a degree that
same feeling of insecurity seems still to prevail, but
a small proportion of the former residents having as
yet chosen to return, and to pitch their tents again on
the scene of their former captivity, although two
years have nearly elapsed since the peace has been
concluded.
But at present how much is that scene itself
changed from what it formerly was ! Of a goodly
row of thirteen hongs, presenting a rather imposing
front to the river, five years back, now only seven re-
main ; three of them, including the splendid hall of
the East India Company, having been destroyed in
December, 1842, by a riotous mob, and the other
three on the opposite, or west end, having shared the
same fate, occasioned by a fire, which at the same time
reduced a great portion of the suburbs of Canton to
ashes, in October last. It is true that some progress
has been made in rebuilding the Spanish and French
bongs destroyed by the last fire • but the Danish has
been converted into Chinese shops, and thus has the
small space formerly allotted to foreign residence been
still more reduced, instead of having been extended,
as we might have had a right to expect, and for
which the accident of the fire might have offered a
fair occasion and pretence.
On the eastern side of the factories nothing has,
however, yet been done, for rebuilding the other three
hongs destroyed by the mob, except clearing the
ground, which at present offers a dreary enough
spectacle. The considerable extent of ground from
which the princely company used for many years to
supply the English market with tea at a hundred per
cent. profit, and where its agents were famed for en-
tertaining themselves and others with unbounded
hospitality, offering nothing now to the eye but heaps
of rubbish, and mounds of bricks pilei up here and
there, ready at hand for the buildings it is now in
contemplation to raise there. The ground has been