Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1877-05-24

The scenes in the lovely bay and IN
the narrow ZigZag streets of the little
town are are bustling and full of life.
The bay is dotted with ships and boats
OF many kinds, anchored in the shad-
ow of the rock. On the quays of the
town you recognize the reason of the
saying that Gibraltar is an epitome of
the three continents. Here, besides
English and Scottish soldiers, who are
met on every hand iii the vicinity of
the rock, are to be seen sWarthy and
handsome Moors from opposite Barba-
ry, with their snOw-white turbans,
flowing robes, bare leather colored
legs, and loose slippers down ct the
heel; Jews from over the strait, in
gaudy embroidered costumes, with
broad varicolOred sashes wound about
their waists, and baggy white trow-
sers; Spanish smuggiers, in tight-fit-
ting Iats and breeches, fastened down
the sides with silver buttons; pretty
dark-eyed women of Genoa, arrayed in
scarlet cl0aks and hoods, the latter
trimmed with broad black velvet;
Spanish beauties, with long lashes and
lsnguisbing eyes, wearing their sweep-
ing black lace wells and graceful man.
tillas; Highland soldiers, in plaid ard
tartan; and race of acclimated En-
glish, bronzed and semi-Spanish in
feature, the natives of Gibraltar, upon
whom the Spanish have bestowned the
rather uncOmplimentary epithet of
Rock Scorpions Out into the sea
stretch the various 'moles,' the most
conspicuous being the old and new
'moles, while at the northern end Of the
town rise the towers, battlements, and
crumbling walls of the old Moorish
ca-tle-an imposing relic of the days
of Moslem ascendancy. In the dis
tance, among the hills and groves,
peeps out the ancient little town of
San Roque-a curious place, and well
worthy y visit. Everywhere about as
we'll rs on the rock you are reminded
of the fact that Gibraltar is, first of all,
q fortress. Soldiers and guard, de-
plOying, lOuuging, or on post, present
themselves at every turn; high or on
the cliffs the diminished figures Of
ST ntinels are seen pacing to and fro; in
the pleasure-gardens the most noticea-
BILE persons are the officers, strOlling
and taking their ease; the tattoo OF
drums, the roar of cannon at stated
hours, the opening and closing OF the
great gates that separate the fortress
from the town, all impress one with
the military importance Of the place.
Still more marked appears the militia
ry character of the rock, as you glance
up toward the beetling cliffs, and see,
yawning from innumerable portfolios,
and above lsng ranges of battlements,
and from many an embrasure and tur-
fla snk I'D
trance to the Mediterranean; and as,
curious to behold the marvels of the
fortress In their details, you cross the
draw-bridge, 60 under the lOw-arched
gateways, pass the parade and Ala
media, ascend the irregular streets
which creep in steps up the sides OF the
crags, leave behind the quaint cid
Moorish castle, and at last find your
self literally entering the rock through
an iron gateway. The first glance re-
vesls the-immense lsbors which have
been undertaken to perfect by art the
defenses with which nature has en-
dowed Gibraltar. One sees before him
q series of galleries, tunnels, and exca-
vati0ns, conducting apparently into .
blank of Gmmerian darkness. Here,
far above the beach, are dug long tun-
n lis at the very edge of the. headlong
cliff; and as you pass along them, gui-
ded by the light of torches, you Oh
serve port holes at intervals Of fifteen
or twenty feet, with brass ordnance
peeping out menaciugly from every
one. Ascending constantly, you find
that there is tier after tier Of these tun-
nels. There, If necessity should arise,
the gunners might stand and pour their
deadly fire upon feet or cohort,c per-
fectly shielded by the massive and SOL
i'd rock, which no missile, however de-
structive. could more than feebly in
dent. The Windsor Galleries, which
are excavations wholly within the rock,
form continuous subterranean pas
sage of two thousand feet in length,
twelve feet high, and twelve wide, and
this passage ascends by the same zig
gag course which is seen in the great
roads that wind over the Alps, till it
gives an outlet near the summit
GEORGE M. TOwLE, in Harper's Mag