The morning call., 1892-02-14

seeming Of a majestic noun ain of stone
rising sheer out Of the blue Of the sea. As
we approached il 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 alter
nate bars Of ebony shadow and golden
light, and shutting its top altogether from
sight. emphasized the impression OF mys-
ferrous altitude.
Even when one has landpd-the easiest
affair Of its kind in all Europe, as Gibraltar
is a free port, this impression is not dis
PEELED. The white city. pile OF huddled
terraces at the waters edge az the only spot
on all Gibraltar where habitaii0ns could be
packed like nests of birds upon its ragged
sides. is bat a thin line of human resort
upon and above the shore. Wherever the
eye rests is sea beneath and rock above;
not very PERCEPTIONS on the city side, yet
rising on eScarped height on height, until
one feels certain that inaccessible heights
are shut from sight beyUndl
Nv own first impulse. as, | believe, must
be that Of all first visitors here, was TO
mount its utmost crag and study its topog-
raphy with my own eyes, while Teasing
upon the matchless panorama :hus Afforded.
In two hours time, including the dlgnlhed
delay required IN the ISSUANCE OF permit
bv the military secretary in Gunuer'S Lane,
| stood alongside the signal tower, e.
Hacho, from winch, It is said, with pow
erfu glass, the Bay of Biscdy can be seen,
while the valley in which is built the CAPT.
tai of Morocco, the city Of Fee, Is plainly
discerDed.
Impregnahle Gibraltar upon which one
now stands Is the Outjutting pr0montOry OF
a long, narrow strip of land and rock.
forming peninsula on the eastern shore
of the Bay Of Gibraltar, or Algeciras, as
| II is sometimes called. The latter is shaped
E,,re hon 10 -
western shore extremity terminating In
Cabrta Poiut. This bay is perhaps eight
miles long from north 70 south, and i've
miles broad from east TO west The PENN
sula terminating In the rock, slopes grad
ually down from the Spanish mountains
to the Spanish lines, just to the north Of
the ruins Of tile old Spanish Qualifications,
and between this and the Rock Is what Is
know as Neutral Ground, FIAT sandy
reach, a mile and a half in length. Upon
this, close TO the Rock, are the English race
course, the drill ground and the Jewish and
the garrison cemeteries. The narrow strip
connecting Gibraltar with the mainland has
every appearance of having been beneath
| the waves at no remote date, and the En-
| glish have rendered Gibraltar unassailable
| by land force through engineering con-
tTivances by which the entire strip could in
an instant be blown to powder and covered
! by the sea.
At the southern end of this sand-covered
bed Of mines the rock rises almost perpen-
| diculaTy fer over 400 feet Many fancy
| its contour resembles lion cOuchant, with
| its head reared alOft to the north and toward
| Spain. 1t is grand enough without the
| simile; breaking away in lesSening crags to
| the south and again confronting Africa with
! a lesser but none the less iuSurm0untable
| wall Of stone, about whose base the sea
| ceaselessly Toars and lashes, tlinging the
| spume and spray to tremendous heights
NJ 81 NJ il
| three miles from its landwaTd face of rock
to It's seaward front of stone. The average
| width Of the huge mOnOlth is three-quarters
of a mile. The Rock. practically sea-
encireed, is completely grded at its base
with cannon. Cannon protrude from innu-
merable baSti0ns and OutwOrks from base
TO peak. Cannon, hundreds OF them, are
behind pOrt-holes, cut from the solid rock,
in hewn chambers beneath the mountain,
tier on tier and miles in length. Cannon
are upon every crag and precipice upon its
very peaks. 1t is slupend0us mountain
of stone out of whose sides, at every angle
can be poured more awful destruction than
ever issued from the very center Of Htna
| and Vesuvius
Barring the cOmparably few cannon upon
| the heights it is all peaceful enough IN APP
| pearance where YOU stand beside the signal
station. Pretty foot and donkey paths wind
| 10 shaded rOadWays below. over to the east
the Rock falls sheer 400 feet to the Medi-
| terranean. Away down there like line of
| sea foam and drftwOod cast upon q
thread of shingly shore beneath gray
precipices lies little Catalan, the lone
soonest and most picturesque fishing
! village in all Europe. IL Is said some
| GenOese fishermen were shipwrecked here,
! and fastened to the rocks like things of the
sea, a thousand or so years ago. Sometimes
| great columns Of stone falling front quar-
! ter of a mile above them, crash through
their white shells Of houses and grind q
score Of souls into the fiinty shore. The
| thunders of siege have no terrOrs for them.
| They cannot be dislodged. And they re-
| main there the only things Of life on Glib
| raltar's Mediterranean shore.
Just opposite the Northern Pinnacle"
| on the western shore, the Old Mole, or
| breakwateT, extends HOO feet into the bay.
| just one-half the distance from this to
| Europa Point the New Mole has been
| pushed into the sea nearly 1000 feet. Here
| is safe anchorage for the entire merchant
! and battle-ships Of Great Britain. At any
| time several hundred crafts of all nations
| may be seen in the Bay OF Gibraltar; while
| cOnverging or diyerging toward aud from
the narrow strait dividing two continents,
are ever in view stately PROFESSIONS of the
| trade afgosies of the world; some under
| sails white as sea-gullS' wings, and some
trailing behind their huge tunnels whal
from your dizzy height seem like dslicately
| peuclled fr0nds OF shadow upon the radiant
| waters blue.
Down Tiers between the two moles YOU
can see the fiat roofs OF the city erouching