The New York herald., 1849-06-14
Our Naval Correspondence.

GIBRALTAR BAY, Dec. 26, 1913.
Affairs on the Rock-44ppearance and Strength of
Gabralar-American Politics abroad, SC.
Anything from prison is always read with inte-
rest, and do not why it should be pronounced
presumptuous to write from a quarantine ground
We are strictly confined to vessel without being
permtedo leave her side, under any pretext; and to
zee that we do not violate the injunction we are Of
Tended by the espionage of guardboat, riding by
hawser from our stern. Of course, one cannot take
umbrage at the customary regulations of military
port, even if they somewhat annoying; and al
though our keepers stupid fellows, we can
sometimes get little information from them. We
are not, however, precluded from using our eyes,
and the balmy and temperate air conspires with a
sort of morbid restlessness, to allure to the deck
The rock and bay, walled in by picturesque noun
talns, are open to our view; and with telescopes
we can look into the city, and make out the uni
forms OF the sentries standing motionless at every
corner, or the costumes of people hurrying to and
fro In the streets with busness-llke gait, or
lettering idly on the ramparts. We mark the
flowing garb OF the Moor, the Jew and the Greek,
IN contrast with the sharp angular cut OF a SOL
diers uniform, or an English coat, its lines
looking more stiff and graceless in the distance
than ever Then at early dawn, and at night fall,
the neutral ground teens with Spanish peasants,
bearing produce TO market returning listlessly
to their homes, after the labor of the day At sun
set, the gates are closed, and permission to pass
through them afterwards is obtained with so much
difficulty that the city then pours out its motley
crowds Of strangers, to seek the neghboring places
or repair on board the shipping. No stranger can
pass the night ut Gibraltar without permission and
'hougs the casual vslIer may not solicit It person
ally, his entertainer immediately reports his name
DC, TO the police. There goes mounted mill
taire, and we follow hln with our inquisitve glasses
for mile or two, and like genuine Yankees, won
der what manner OF man he may be, and whether
ho .Df Il
terday, gay cayalcade, with the Calpe hounds
sailed out tor hunt in Spain; to-day there is a
Tegmental parade, with Its usual troop of specta-
tors Steamers from England and the East pass
IN and out with their crowds of passengers, whose
gaze saiutes our own, or as some open boat from
Algeziras sweeps by, we carry on mute courtshp
with the beaming eye of some Moorish or Spanish
maiden, flashing from the folds of the shawl or
mantllla, like cannon from its embrasure. We
have made love at home at great distance,
and under less advantageous circumstances. Then
we are daily visited by our friends who lay off at
short distance, and entertain us with half hours
chat, though they refuse the profered hand and
the invitation to come on board. Misery loves
company, and we would be happy to involve them
In the same catastrophe with ourselves,
Inc appeutes OF ne inner man arc provided WIZ;
the the best OF supplies, We are visited every day
with boats laden with every variety Of marketing
and haberdashery, each accompanied by jealous
agent OF the health office, who takes care that no
one touches the vessel or anything belonging to
Present letter an order, and pair of tongs is
protruded, which seems to elongate intermlnably,
according to circumstances, like an easy con-
science, and when you have committed your pol
luted document into these deputy fingers, IT is
waved IN the breeze, like an enchanters wand
Il did not hear any incarnation uttered,) and is
then consigned with all dispatch to tight casket
from which it does not emerge for naked handling
until all the processes sf fumgation and dislntec-
ton have been exhausted upon 1t. II immediate
examination Is required, the paper Is received from
long toDgs into shorter tongs, by which 1t Is opened,
II folded, with such dexterity that you doubt
whether the instrument is part of the manlpula-
tors fingers or no; and when the paper, after
many disinfectng hourlshes, has been duly ad-
Jused Tor perusa, 1t is held far aloof that you
wonder 1t can be read without a telescope Quaran-
one processes are amusing, if they are vexations.
We iced our curiosity and amuse our imagina-
tons with the same Jejune materials out of which
! am puitding 'oge,ner tins letter, unenlivened by
drink and sleep, and the great event of the day is
dinner, beloved from pole to pole:" when that
is gone, our spirits flag, and our Jokes sink into an
The harbor of Gibraltar presents a desolate an
Tesrance, compared with times past. There are
are at present In the harbor about hundred
san oI every description; 1t was formerly crowded
with oCublr that number In 1872, about 900 saii
anchored in the bay during the year; a greater
part, however, were wind-bOund, waiting To pass
into the Atlantic, or touched for supplies Of water
aud provisions. Of this number, l52 were Ame-
verted "a barren and unproduclive rock, with an
open ard exposed bay aud an Insecure anchorage,
having no peculiar advantages of position beyond
neielbonng pOrls, INTO a city with 10000 Inha-
tltanis and haIbor filled with numerous shipping,
~ worthy Of note; and the causes Of its declining
prosperity illustrate and vindicate the same policy.
Gibraltar was early declared to be free port, in
the largest sense Of that word. When, during the
wars of Europe the English flag was, by the policy
OF Napoleon, excluded from European ports gene
rally, Gibraltar became the secure and free trading
mart OF all nations. The subsequent revolution in
Spain gave additional stimulus. Afterwards,
the excessive and prohibitory duties imposed by
Spain invited smuggling from Gibraltar. into the
southern provinces, on grand scale. These cir
sumstances all consplred to make Gibraltar great
depot for the goods of all nations, and raised city
on the rock like Palmyra in the desert notwlth-
standing its dependence foreign soil for Its daily
food, its desttution Of wharyes, quays, and public
warehouses; its scanty sites for dwellings, and its
dom Of business. As free port, it monopolized
the trade which had been bestowed On neighbor-