The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1901-09-26

| expense OF mailing only. Address DR..
| K V. Pierce, Buffalo, N. Y.
that they have comparatively no foot
hills or ascending grades, each colossal
height standing alone, a separate cone
OF notified rock, devoid of vegetation
| Above all the rest, one tremendous
| height stands boldly out, like the Abbot
| OF the snow-cOwled friars. 1t is Mons
Abyla, celebrated in classic history as
/ one of the ''Pillars of Hercules" but
now desecrated by the of title Apes
Hill" An old Moorish tradition de-
clares that on this particular mountain
OF Africa were born the first monkeys
that ventured across the Straits. De-
scendants of the same tribe still in
habit the rocky Businesses of Gibraltar
They have the distinction of being the
only wild apes in the whole of Europe,
and are carefully protected by law Di-
rectly opposite Abyla, on the Spanish
side, Calpe the highest point of Gibral-
tar, is the other legendary pillar"
formed by Hercules when on his way to
Gades he tore these rocks asunder to
force passage for himself To the an
clients, you know, these Pillars of Her
cules marked the boundary of the ma
vagable world, all to the westward be-
ing mystery and darkness. Navigators
of the olden days contented themselves
with cruising the Mediterranean, which
in the time Of the tribunes was known
as ''the Roman sea- At rare intervals
some adventurous Columbus slipped
out between the Pillars into the I'M
known "W estern Ocean, and turned
his galley along the coast as far north as
Cornwall, where he traded trinkets for
tin with the halt-savage Britions.
If you came to Gibraltar via the At
lantic, your first glimpse of Spain was
Cape Trafalgar made historic by Lord
Nelson. On the opposite coast, far
away to the right, is Cape Spartel, the
northwestern corner of Africa, where
Barbary wreckers used to put up false
beacons to lure mariners to destruction.
The world is growing better now and
Europe and the United States together
of latest pattern on that rocky point
whose alternate red and yellow glare
has saved many a gallant ship from
Davy Jones locker. The great Bay of
Gibraltar sweeps in horseshoe fashion
from Algebra around the Rock, which
thrusts its embattled walls out into the
sea as if proudly conscious of EDgland's
power. The grim sentinel that guards
the gateway to the Far East bristles
with cannon from top to toe. One of the
greatest marvels of modern engineer
ing are the galleries, as they are call
ed hewn into the solid rock, whose
face is honey -combed with openings for
the mouths of common. These numer-
Gus openings, ranged in zig-zag lines all
over the face of the cliff, look so inno-
cent from below that strangers often
enquire if they are not the nests of sea-
birds, or the lairs of the unprotected
monkeys If you are so lucky as to be
escorted by soldier-guide through
these long winding galleries, you find
that just back of each seward open
ing is tremendous cannon, all ready
for it's work of destruction. You are
permitted to go only about half way to
the top; but that is quite enough for
ones endurance though the galleries
wind on and on, as you may see by
poking your head through easement
for side and upward view of similar
holes that seem to have no end. No
other place i'll the world is so strongly
fortified. One would think that nature
had done enough in that line, but
science has made it absolutely impreg-
nable Ravelin curtain, and rampant
blend and mingle with natures barriers,
Below the tunnels, whose embrasures
belonging to the batteries command
the entire Spanish frontier, are other
Notifications called Flower lines" re-
puted to be the strongest and most
scientific of all. Mystery enshrouds
this place, it's secrets being known only
to few of the highest officials and it's
galleries are never shown to strangers.
In the lower fort are guns so big, each
weighing one hundred tons, that they
have to be manipulated by machinery
run by steam. 1t costs England some
thing over a million dollars year to
maintain this garrison; but it is worth
it! Barracks are scattered all over the
rock, and everywhere the red coats of
the six thousand British soldiers are
aggressively in misunderstanding
about singly, in pairs, in groups, at
guard-mounting, target-practice, COM
panv or battalion drill. as if thew own.