The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-02-24
VAEENAN'S WANDERlNCS
creeAL,AR AND ROUND ABOUT.

nth hnftkA ia 8
race. a Hostage of CIVILIZATION and
Peace.
,c.o,sebt- 1902 by Edgar l. Wakeman.l
-C.n..tr,p Ian. 2l-l believe that one
".moo,cs. o,ories Of intelligent Amer
o. {" fios ia thc fact that as n people we
--,fve II reasonable and just ideas.
snsceptible OF conversion from
4.o- nreiudice and the mean and lit
.-t~t ~ hatred and envy toward an
,stion because Of any superiority Of
M posscssion it may be great enough
6,arue or enjoy.
~ conviction came 20 me more over
--.l~inoly than ever before as we steamed
~ from the land Of the Moors and took
mr xav across the strait toward the city
..1 rock Of Gibraltar. Upon this north
m pillar OF Hercules the English flag has
o,.tol for ISIS years And ! am glad Of it.
.I,1 that sir George Rookie, in the War Of
SECESSION. was cunning and brave enough
g. taee 10. that iron hearted Elliott, in the
rrir Years Siege, was soldier enough 10
h,l3 il AGAINST the combined efforts of
rrsnce and Spain. and that all the powers
MIatin and Mussulman arms and dlplo
-s-r. with the cowaTdly machinations OF
rnriish traitors at home. have never
srai.ed % hand over this key Of the whole
Lf,ant TO Spanish or other possession or
retrrrcssiOn, because.
Just so long as England holds Gibraltar
fbe trade Of the Mediterranean ana the
Tqstis peacefully open not only TO Eng
i,nd but to every nation Of the earth with
.,.-t enough TO compete for it, and North
treica. whose English speaking and
tsinkinr people now twice outnumber
t..s IF the motherland, in common with
cr.t Britain, in trade, in travel and IN all
th8-e things tending toward the worlds
ai.htenment and progress, will enjoy
tsr5azh England's logged possession OF
Gfb-,ltar 70 common guarantee Of Sc
cur.y and respect
nicer as ~g-ievously as Americans may
with Enriislnen regarding the justice or
,~,insrice OF this or that. Oh these large
nr.so f tremendous import we cannot but
r.maio one and indissoluble. Looking out
~ the history OF the centuries that were,
and from among the possibilities Of the
centuries 60 come, the mighty rock and its
armameltfa fades from sight as a mere stub
bor.lv held possession and menac It's
mrthlc name, the Pillar of Hercules,
me-.es into the Pillar Of Peace. And Glib
ra,fsr i1 the possession of the English
rDsasiug and Christian living race will re-
main Che hostage Of Christian civilization
for al time 10 come.
AU ones pr%econceived notions Of Gibral-
cr fan far short, / think, of conveying its
true grandeur and impressiveness From
whatever direction you approach it-from
che westward over the Atlantic, from the
Mediterranean on the east, from Tangier
IN Africa across the strait, or from the
SDanish sierras TO the north-it has al
WAYS the seeming Of a majestic mountain
Of stone rising sheer out Of the blue OF
the sea As we approached 1t, some
Struggling clouds which had formed
among the peaks of the Spanish sierras,
carried by northern winds, were stretched
in thin folds across its upper heights.
They gave the huge rock alternate bars OF
ebony shadow and golden light, and shut
ting it's top altogether from sight en-
phasized the impression Of a mysterious
eltitude.
Even when one has landed, the easiest
affair Of its kind in all Europe, as Gibral-
tar is a free port, this impression IS not
disnelled The white city a pile of hud-
died terraces 40 the waters edge at the
only spot Oh all Gibraltar where habita-
mons could be patched like nests of birds
upon its ragged sides, IS but a thin line OF
human resort upon and above the shore.
Wherever the eye rests IS sea beneath and
rock above, not very precipitous on the
city side, yet rising IN escarped height on
height. until one feels certain that lnacces-
sble heights are shut from sight beyond.
Nv own first impulse, as | believe must
b. that Of all first visitors here, was 70
mount it's utmost crag and study its topog'
Taphy with my own eyes, while feastlng
upon the matchless panorama tins auord'
ed In two hours time, including the dig
niled delay required in the issuanc OF
permit by the military secretary, IN Gun
ners Lane ! stood alongside the sigma
tower. III HdchO from which, 1t IS SAID
with a powerful glass the Bay Of Biscay
can be seen. while the valley in which Is
built the capital of Morocco, the city O-
be-. is plainly discerned.
I~mpregnable Gibraltar upon which on
low stands is the outjutting p%romontor!
of a long. narrow strip of land and rock
forming a peninsula on the eastern shOrI
of the Bay of Gibraltar, or Algeciras, as !
Is sometimes called. The latter IS SHAPED
ike a horseshoe, open to the south, IT.
western shore extremity terminating II
Cabrita Point. This bay is perhaps eigh
miles long from north 10 south, and bv'
miles broad from east To west. The PENN
slla terminating in the Rock, slopes grad
ually down from the Spanish mountain
u tho Spanish lines, just north Of the
ruins of the old Spanish Notifications
and between this and the Rock is what Is
known as Neutral Ground, a flat sandy
teach a mile and a half in length.
Upon this, close TO the Rock, are the
English -racecourse, the drill ground and
the Jewish and the garrison cemeteries
~Tnenarrow strip connecting Gibraltar with
The mainland has every appearance of hav
,ng been beneath the waves at no remOt'
date. and the English have rendered Glib
naltar u~nassailable by a land force through
engineering c~ontrivances by which the en-
tire rtriD could In an instant be blown u
powder and covered by the sea
Al the southern end of this sand covere,
bdof mines the Rock rises almost perpen
d@cularly for over 1,4Oo feet. Many fame.
Us contour resembles a lion couchant
with It's head reared aloft TO the north an
toward Spain. IL is grand enough with
out the simiie, breaking away IN lessenln
crags TO the south and again con trontin
Africa with A lesser but none the less IL
~surmountable wall Of stone. about who's
ba2e the sea ceaselessly roars and lashe'
alnging thespume and spray to tremendou