The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-09-26
,rBEL-TEREK. THE ROCK OF GLIB
RALTAR.
,be Worlds Greatest Fortress and its Sur
rOundings.

special Correspondence OF The Journal
GIBRALTAR, August Is, 1901. Like
,r-s Malaprop, who thanked the Lord
.fre. a tedious voyage that she was
,,orr safe on terra Gotta, we feel inclin-
al TO pIofoundest thankfulness that our
feet are at last upon Gebel-Terek, the
rors that holds the strongest fortress
sf the world. But alas. In course of
o,l giobe-trotting we are often COM
nrled to abandon long cherished ideas,
some Of which were laboriously drilled
nto us at school and Others picked up
.,tIy along the journey of life. For
Example: In comparing notes ON ship
hald about Gibraltar, it was found
fiat ulIy half the passengers believed
ri, tamous rock to be an island, stu
,-rd Xactly where the Atlantic and
NeltrrTanean meet: while most of the
fatr udlf thought it promontory ex-
-4mfng INTO the sea from the north
r,s; conner of Africa. Your CORE
audtnt. who fancies she has travelled
enough to know some geography, was
a.a.y certain that Gibraltar extends
V-o he straits at the narrowest
pout Hetween Spain and Africa And
10 MS were mistaken. The famous
m.a 5 a continuation of the Spanish
mainland. projecting into the water
n.5 DetWeen the Atlantic and the Med
r-ruean at the, very widest point
Of .. thirty-siX mile passage. The
-u.oWest point is at Tarifa, fifteen
es 20 the westward, where Europe
n Alrlea are only nine miles apart. 1t
MS rom this place, by the way-so
la- urld by Barbary pirates, who de-
laautd heavy toll from every passing
7-sst that our modern word tariff"
WIS derived, as applied to rates of duties
n Xports and imports. In the Spanish
G-Iage the word is yet rendered tarifa,
and the grim old castle from which the
uIa-es enforced their demands may to-
hay he seen in tolerable repair
mother disappointment to travellers
from the Atlantic, is that
uJar is hardly visible on entering
g straits and is not viewed to adyan-
-aEF until the steamer has rounded
u, and entered the bay of Algeciras.
Trr tAere is no mistaking it when once
.H see it. Had you been sailing at
Eld, sound asleep, for month, with
ata what part of the world you were
and suddenly awakened in front of
-at rock, one glance would be suf-
rent to recognize Gibraltar, because
4-g S nothing like it on the globe
tu your preconceived notions of
na.tar, formed from descriptions
-0l and pictures seen, fall far short of
|e -ality; and as you study the stu
IQuS rock it appears to grow and
a This pride of England is often
nared to couchant lion, guarding
be- @ater-way to the Orient. From
-a Joints of view the contour Of the |
i- Of beasts is almost perfect-head |
FL shoulders erect and facing Spain,
e. and body crouching lower and turn |
ward Africa. At other angles of |
it conjures up ideas of a malevo-
+ ~phlnx: and centuries ago, on ac-
.- If some gruesome tradition, the |
ia5 sl peasants christened it Ell Cuer-
lie corpse On three sides
... east and South-the rock towers |
ward fourteen hundred feet, so
tJN perpendicular as to be utterly |
-7 liable by man or beast, while at it's |
es the sea roars and dashes, tlinging
pay to tremendous heights above |
iuua Point. On the western side it |
LFs gently down to the waters edge, |
re Gibraltar city is nestled, with its
Wation of thirty-tWo thousand, or |
eabouts, including the British gar
-0H # six thousand soldiers. The rock |
SELF is perhaps three miles long by a
carter of a mile wide; and way down
toNi the narrow of neck of land |
Acll connects it with Spain is known |
s neutral ground" which none are
united to cross. You may drive to |
from Gibraltar town and get out of |
cur oarriage and walk to the path, well
'n by the Spanish patrol; but the
ldiers who guard it with gun on
9uder will not hesitate about taking
ate If necessary, to prevent the put
DE If an alien foot upon it. We have
card of female visitors so imbued with
-other Ewes curiosity that they have
Tered the guard sums of money for
@e pnvilege OF printing just one dainty
BE or heel on that forbidden path; but
Tough the poor soldiers of Spain are
otonously shabby and ill-fed, l am
iad TO say that the bride is always
'elnly rejected. This flat, sandy, "neu-
Tal space, less than two miles long,
as been rendered unassailable by any
'ndforce, through English engineering
ntrvances. by which, in the twink
og Of an eye, the strip could be blown
powder and scattered in the sea. On
.iAer edge of it, the boundaries of Brit
~ and Spanish dominions are marked
! parallel lines of sentry boxes. In