St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1890-02-15
American Evolution Squadron.

"A
BRITISH OFFICERS.
| GIBRALTAR BAY, Jan. 12-The utmost
courtesy has been extended the officers of
| the American evolution squadron during
| the past week, and they will leave Gibral-
tar with pleasant recollections of the mu-
| nifcence of it's residents and of British
naval officers.
The two British admirals and the COM
manders of the British men of war in port
| have visited every vessel of the squadron,
and have expresse themselves in the
| highest terms Of the vessels eff ective de-
signs and ornaments
Tonight Admiral Walker will give q
dinner on board the Chicsgo.
| Although it is probable that visits to the
galleries of the famous Rock have been
written up time and again, it may not be
out of place, in connection with our visit,
to say something concerning them. Per-
mission is usually obtained at the adju,
tant generals office. but call on Mr.. Paul
Munro Ferguson, of Mark Twain celebrity,
rendered this unnecessary. A not unpleas
ant uphill journey of three quarters of an
hour found it beside the portals of an old
Moorish castle, said to have been erected
| by the veteran Taric Ell Taerto, A. D. I'll
After this we passed through a massive
gateway, dismounted and found ourselves
in roomy tunnel with port holes for the
admittance of daylight and projection of
guns, every fifteen yards or SO. Muzzle-
loading rifles of six and eight inches cali
bre are mounted on wooden carriages, but
have not much scope for elevation or de-
preston; indeed, some can only be fired
point blank, so little space is there in the
port holes. Artificial lights are not re-
quired in the galleries except at night.
| There is always cool breeze blowing
through the galleries. We walked along
for perhaps mile enveloped in the solid
rock, and then emerged into large open
space where the galleries meet. This is
called the hall of s.. George, and here
Nelson, the victorious, was feted by the
officers of the garrison after the battle of
the Nile and not great while before the
fatal day of Trafalgar. The walk through
the galleries, which are one above the
other like the fighting decks of an old
line Of battle ship, is two miles; but we
did not go through the upper galleries,
permission for which was not obtainable,
nor were we permitted to see the powder
magazines. This seemed to us perfectly
absurd, as did also the prohibition of pho
tographing any interesting parts of the rock
or ships-of-wsr. These galleries did not
exist at the time of the famous siege.
they were commenced only when it be-
came absolutely necessary for the garrison
to protect itself by excavation from the
murderous fire which was being poured
in it's midst; then gangs of convicts were
set at work and blasting operations com
menced and boring pushed vigorously
until the present roomy and spacious gal
| nj on I'm 20
the rock was defended against fifty of the
Rod and an army of $4,000 men, by 96
pieces of artillery and garrison of 1000
men. At the present day over 700 guns
are mounted, and it could hold it's own
against the combined fleets of the world;
yet the Spaniards still claim Gibraltar as
theirs. recognizing, however, that it is
temporarily" in the possession of the
English.
| A walk through the Alameda gardens
and around point Europa by the formida-
BILE water batteries is delightful on a fine
day Standing on the extremity of South
ern Europe, with the distant pillar of
Hercules Centa in full view, one cannot
fail to be struck with the grandeur of the
scene. Rising high above US on the high
est pinnacle of the mighty rock is Oharas
Tower and as we pass further toward the
eastward and take our stand upon little
beach with the waters of the Mediterranean
tapping our feet, we feel astonished at
| the intrepidity of the 500 heroes who
| boldly scaled the almost perpendicular
cliff only to be hurled furiously into the
sea. This was when the Spaniards, led
by a mountain shepherd, attempted to
take the rock from the rear.