The record-union., 1892-02-13

signal station. Pretty foot and donkey
paths wind TO shaded roadways below.
Over to the east the Rock falls sheer ], 400
feet to the Mediterranean. Away down
there, like line of sea foam and drift
wood east upon thread of shingly shore
between gray precipices, lies little Cata-
Ian. the lonesomest and most picturesque
fishing village in all Europe. 1t is said
some Genoese fishermen were ship
wrecked here, and fastened to the rocks
like things of the sea, a thousand or so
years ago. Sometimes great columns Of
stone, falling from a quarter OF mile
above them, crash through their white
shells OF houses and grind a score Of souls
into the finty shore. The thunders of
siege have no terrors for them. They
cannot be dislodged. And they remain
there, the only things of life on Gibraltar's
Mediterranean shore.
Just opposite the Northern Pinnacle"
on the western shore, the Old Mole or
breakwater extends l,l00 feet into the
| bay. Just one-half the distance from this
TO Europa Point the New Mole has been
pushed into the sea nearly LOCO feet.
Here IS safe anchorage for the entire mer-
chant and battle ships of Great Britain.
At any time several hundred craft OF all
nations may be seen in the Bay of Glib
raltar; while converging or diverging to-
ward and from the narrow strait dividing
IWo continents are ever in view stately
PROFESSIONS of the trade argosies of the
world, some under sails white as sea-
guIls' wings, and some trailing behind
their huge tunnels what from YOUR dizzy
night seem like delicately penciled fronds
OF shadow upon the radiant waters blue.
Down there between the two moles you
can see the flat roofs of the city crouch
ing beneath the crags. At its northern
! end, just abreast OF the Old Mole, and
| we'll up the mountain side, which on the
west is less precipitous than elsewhere,
stands huge Moorish tower, Just $50
years old, built by the first Moorish in
Vaders, and the most ancient, perfectly
preserved relic of Moslem rule in Spain
1t is almost entire in its massive strength,
though honeycombed by innumerable
cannon balls, while its great Tower of
Homage is now apowder magazine, while
modern barracks and officers quarters
With pleasant gardens fill the area within
its ancient walls.
To the south, Africa seems but a step
| across a cleaning pool. To the east,
there is only the vast Mediterranean,
dotted with many strange and curious
craft. To the west, the sight ranges over
beautiful and picturesque harb0r scene,
with every manner of ship that floats,
from the leviathan man-of-war to the
lateen sailed felucca, including q half
dozen American schooners and barks
with their shapely hulls and slender
bay upon the circling Spanish shore.
There is Cabrita Point, darkening grimly
against background of fame where the
setting sun floods the entrance from the
Atlantic. Around to the northwest Alge-
ciras, ghostlike, lifts through the pur-
ping pail. To the north, a score of villas
and villages, pink or white as the light
and shadows changefully play upon
them, show, like the ivory beads OF
rosary, against ranges of aloeS and masses
of Vineyards; the whole with a back
ground Of billowy toothill, dark, then
! blue, then purple, and finally an opaline
misty dream where the peaks of the
Spanish SierraS blend with the far hori-
Zon of the north.
All this is what one can see at Ell Iacho
upon the nights Of Gibraltar; but what
wraiths of history, mythic and real,
crowd from the past upon the wondrous
scene! This spot where you stand. and
towering Apes Hill, across the strait in
Africa, We're the olden Pillars of Hercu-
les. Down beneath you at Europa Point
! is the very spot where the divine bull
rested from his flight with Europa, to
whom the continent owes its name. Just
across the strait, at Ceuta, the traitorous
Count Julian, outlaw from Roderick's
licentious Toledo court, first BETRAYED
Spain to the Moslems. The resultant in
Vasion under command of Tarek Ibn
Leyad, then chief OF the garrison of Tan
gier, gave to the rock the name Gibel-al-
Tarek, mountain Of Tarek, corrupted TO
the Gibraltar of to-day.
Then for 700 years it was a mount of
death and glory for Spaniard and Moor in
their desperate contentious; while the
treasure and lives it has cost since first
the cross of st. George waved above it, in
lIO4, would enrich and people d king
dom. One knows anew with startIing
clearness the history of European and
MOslem struggles in the musings and
memories Of such a spot. But the sunset
gun has belched its flame and thunder
toward the red Atlantic's breast: the
lights twinkle from the Spanish villages
around the bay, and, circling to the noun
tain's base, bring rosy glow to city and
harbor craft beneath. Ycu wend your
way downward to the terraced town past
brlskly moving sentInels crisp with duty
and challenges, leaving the grim noun
tain top behind, melodious with bugle
notes echoing and re-echoing their song
ful mimicry Of war from harborside to
darkened clefts of bleak and serried
nights.
If Gibraltar were not unique and the
most gigantic fortress in the world. il
would still be a spot of rarest interest and
| charm to the traveller. The scenic beau
ties from any portion Of the embattled
mountain are not surpassed in the whole
1000 miles reach of the Mediterranean.
Two continents and three Kingdoms are
here within cannon shot of wherever you
may stand. The rides and drives into
the most Iuxuriant and fruitful portion
OF Southern Spain, all within a DAYS
journey, bring within observation and
enjoyment every feature of high or low
Spanish life which could be studied in
journey from France to Portugal.
And then the Rock and the city of Glib
raltar themselves, contrary to prevalent
nntinnC nonb in fboi,
and wlnsome studies of still and human
life. The botanist can find upon the sides
of this one Rock over 500 distinct species
of vegetable life inofower, shrub, lfchen,
moss and vine. The tiny gardens are
ablaze event in winter with gorgeous color
and bloom. Far up the nights the walled
and winding roadways are bordered with
masses of green and blossom. The
waSherwomen dry their clothes on hedges
Of geranium. The prickly pear and cactus
grow to enormous size. The aloe rears
its central shoots, with lateral branches.
like spears of gigantic asparagus. Huge
oleanders glow above every terraced gar
den wall. The night blooming cereus
grows in splendid luxuriance, resembling
mammoth water-hlies with delicate an
theirs of gold. Everywhere, with leaves
of glossy green, flowers of bridal white
and fruit of gold, the orange tree, hintIng
OF tropical CLINE, bestows its welcome
shade and delicate scents, wanton in the
prodigality with which all nature here
seems to rival historic interestand grand.
surprising scene.
And of the city? 1t has q, 600 souls ex-
elusive of the 5000 to 5000 officers and
men of the garrison. Terrace on terrace
1t threads along the waters edge. 1t is a
mass of archways, stairs, subterranean
thorough1ares, spiral passages, viaducts,
vaultlng footways, narrow vistas broken
by quaintest corners, angles, balconies
and roofs, and altogether the strangest.
most curious and winsome tumble of