Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1900-01-25
GseA0a. A.1M0A.0..cA0
= Admiral Blake Among the Pirates )
A Page from the History of Tunis.
y BY David Ker. I
&e&3'&e'ANA

TNHERE," said my French COM
panion, pointing southwark over
the smooth, bright WATER as we glided
into the Bay of Tunis under the
splenelor of the African sunrise
there is the place where a battle was
fought which you Englishmen ought
all to know by heart
admiral Blake's attack on Goletta
you mean"?'
"Just so. Yonder where that sand
bank juts out, stood the five forts
that defended the place, and the pi-
rate ships We're moored just behind
them, in that little bay. Not much
sign of all that now, is there?"
Indeed it was not; easy to call up
any thought Of battle amid the uE
troubled stiffness and repose of that
glorious landscape. Far along the
eastern sky the great purple noun
tains stood out in endless range.
crowned with the two-peahed summit
OF the mighty Hamet-El-Lif.
Through the deep, narrow gorgcs
that cleft the huge mountain-wall
every here and there the first rays of
sunrise We're just streaming across
the vast eXpanse of blue. sparkling
sea that stretched away to the north
far as the eye could reach, with a
few tiny white sails dotted over it like
wreaths of foam.
Along the western shore Of the bay
extended a line of low. green hills,
upon the crest of which Il mass of
crumbling' masonry marked the spot
where the ancient citadel of Carthage
had fallen before Scipio and his Ro-
mans.
just at the nearer extremity of the
broad yellow sand-bar that SPAWNED
the whole breadth of the deep blue
bay nestled the dainty little town of
Goletta, and on the opposite hillside
lay, like a drift of snow, the countless
white houses, and crumbling walls,
and tall minarets, and clustering palm
trees of imperial Tunis.
Fut despite the perfect peace of the
spot which once witnessed the finest
battle fought. there since the fall of
Carthage, the memory of that days
work will never die while one man of
Anglo Saxon blood remains to keep
alive the instinct of courage and fair
play, and standing up against the
strong in behalf of the weak.
1t is well worth while for anyone,
shed in general, to look back and see
what WAS done here ON q; certain
fine spring morning, two centuries
ago.
1t is the Sd of April. 1858. and the
whole city Of Tunis is in an uproar
Wild faces, livid with fear or black
with rage. crowd the narrow. wind
ing, gloomy streets, which echo with
the clamoc of countless tongues. the
tramp of feet, the clatter of horse
hoofs and the rumble of artillery
wheels.
Hundreds of swarthy figures. sword
in belt and Matchbox on shoulder,
arc swarning over the decks of the
nine huge war-galleys which lie
moored close under the forts of Co
letta.
In the forts themselves crowds of
men are hard at work running out
heavy guns, piling up cannon-balls,
filling Dowder-chests, or LAYING sand
bags along the ramparts as an adj
ditional shelter; and all eyes are
turned watchfully toward the en-
trance of the bay, and the five great
l!ne-of-battle ships that are gliding
into it, with the black mouths OF
loaded cannon gaping hungrily
through their open ports. and the red
cross OF England-not yet altered
into the union jack-futtered jaunt-
lily at the n,iZZen.
High on the poop of the English flag
ship stands a tall. handsome man, in
he uniform of a British admiral. His
fire face is perfectly calm, but Il close
observer would notice that he wears
the same set, stern look that it wore
when he held Tauntontown years ago,
against the bravest of Charles lis cava-
liers.
In truth hard fight against over
whelming odds is nothing new to Rob-
ert Blake, the worthy forerunner of
Rodney and Nelson: and the cause in
which he is to fight to-day might we'll
nerye any man to Go his best. Wonder,
behind those batteries that frown upon
him from behind the shore. are thou
sands of Christian captives-many of
them Englishmen like himself
chained, ragged, half-starved, bis
tered by the scorching sun, and scanned
with the scars of whip and branching
iron. And now, after years Of hideous
bondage among brutal pirates. which
have made the memory O: home and
friends. and the dope of one day return