The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-08-14


he has a passport with a Spanish wise
The difficulty is in getting away again
Before you are allowed to leave you
must provide yourself with a permit
signed by the communicate, or mill
tary governor of the town, and this has
to be applied for before 10 o'clock on
the morning of the day of your pro-
posed departure.
At first sight this regulation seems
entirely ridiculous. But it must BE re-
membered that Ceuta is no ordinary
town. 1t is preside, or convict sta
ton, under military government, as are
many of the other Spanish towns in
Morocco. The civil inhabitants, you
are told, are mostly murdererS> Th1s
is perhaps an exaggeration, but it is
the fact that use of the knife in Spain
is very much more common than the
use of the fist in England. Transporta-
ton across the narrow straits of Glib
raltar is, of course. a cheap and easy
process, as compared with the British
enterprise which used to send its GRIM
inals to the other side of the world. The
escape from Botany Bay back to Eng
land was a very different matter, how
ever, from the passage of straits which
are less than Is miles across. 1t is
from Ceuta is very carefully checked
by the powers that be.
To get to Ceuta from Gibraltar it is
necessary to sleep the previous night
at Algeciras-the bright, white Spanish
town half an hours distance across Gil
braltar's bay. Hence a daily steamer
sails at a. m. for Ceuta, returning at
p. m. The passage in the slow Span
built craft takes rather more than
&c 81
trade between the two towns, but the
passengers were few, mostly soldiers
returning from leave. AS the steamer
approached the African coast the pass
ports of all the civilians, including the
Spanish, were collected by the captain,
and handed by him to a military official
who came off in the first shore boat:
We explained that we were des1rouS OF
returning the same afternoon at
o'clock, and were told that our pass
ports would then be returned to US,
together with the necessary permits
sions to leave. Must we go and call
for them ourselves at the command
ante's?" we asked. This would be IN
necessary, was the reply. The waiter
at the hotel would arrange all that
Sure enough, at the landing place the
waiter was in attendance, and he
promptly seized US two Englishmen as
lis legitimate Derquisite.
Ceuta, like Gibraltar, is built upon a
small peninsula that projects length
ways into the Mediterranean, and in
both cases the highest ground is to-
ward the sea end. But, whereas at Gil
braltar almost the whole of the proJec-
ton is high, precipitous rock, at Ceuta
it is only the extreme end, resembling
somewhat the ball at the top of a nine
pin. that is raised any considerable
height. Even so it is not half the ele
walton of the famous British Rock, and
it's sides, though steep, are not oreci-
Ditous. Nevertheless, its top is occu-
pied by a fortress of considerable area.
Ceuta's extremity toward the main
and is also protected. In this case
he series of forts and batteries, COM
oined with barracks, though by no
means in a dilapidated condition,
seemed as much out of date as are
he early and now discarded fortifica-
ions to be seen in Gibraltar. At this
md of the peninsula the town is shut
IF from the mainland by gates, and
he similarity to Gibraltar is further
increased by the existence of Moor
sh town two miles outside the walls,
corresponding to the Spanish town of
Inca, which lies at a slightly shorter
distance from the gates of our own
ortress. In addition to these main !
orts at either end, Ceuta also possesses !
ertain far less conspicuous batteries, |
apparently of quite modern construc-
ion, placed along the low ridge which |
verhangS the town and connects the |
wo extremities of the narrow PENN
ula on which Ceuta is built. This |
ackbone as it were, lies almost due
asst and west, two or three miles in /
ength.
The inn, near which we had landed, !
toward the western end of the
own, whose main street-if it can so
e called-pointed toward the eastern
ortress on the ball-shaped hill. Hav-
1g proceeded short distance along
his thoroughfare, whose most conspic-
Gus building is an ugly church, bear
1g the date of 171S, we turned up a
teep side street, which soon brought
s in view of the blue Mediterrane .
n the further side. At this point the
eninsula on which Ceuta is built is
luch' less than a mile in width. The
own abounds in barracks. an enor-
lous supply of soldiers being always
ecessary to keep the civil population /
{ convicts in due subsection.
Consequently the suggestion that we
ere being followed at a distance of
0me 40 yards by a couple of soldiers
as set down by each of us as mere
neasy suspicion. In Spain, even in
ISeclraS, no one takes the SISnt6SC
office of an Englishman; here, how
yer, we were Immediately conscious
lat we were being looked at curious
2, but it was possible the inhabitants
this convict town had fewer chances
seeing foreigners than have their
eer neighbors in Spain. After a
lance down at the southern sea, which
Id one that for some distance from
lie shore there was no depth on this
de which would admit a modern bat
eship, we turned again to the left,
nd proceeded along a road upon the !
dge of the peninsula toward the big
rtress on its hill mile or so away
front of us.
We had gone, however, but a few
inbred yards when we were turned =
LEX by sentry, dressed in the sim
e gray cotton uniform of the Spanish ]
opics. There seemed no reason for
opping us, but we were perhaps ap- !
'oaching one of the concealed batter t
5 which 1 have mentioned Never t
eless we asked the sentry why we S
ere turned back. ''Ingleses," he said. I
an all-sufficient answer. So we
ent off to the left, down through the I
wn, until we reached the main street I
ice more, when we again proceeded y
stward toward the principal fort. 1t r
rs now no longer possible to doubt =
at the two soldiers 40 yards behind !,
ID been told off to follow rs 5
The town itself is intensely uninter- I
ting. There are no fine building or
Oorish remains. Though Ceuta be-
me Portuguese possession in 14S5 r
ID was taken over by CASTLE in 1910. 5