Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1909-11-26

GIBRALTAR. oct. 20, 1909.
Our party reached Gibraltar today,
having come direct from the Madeira ISL
ands. AS the boat approached the strait
that leads to the Mediterranean sea, all
eyes were turned toward the massive
rock which guards the entrance. We re-
called Browning's words:
I'm the dimmest northeast distance,
Dawned Gibraltar, grave and gay"
The rock of Gibraltar projects south into
the sea, forming a promontory. On the
west, is the Atlantic ocean; eastward is
the blue Mediterranean; on the south, the
strait, and on the north is a flat sandy
neck of land connecting with Spain. The
rock is three miles long north and south,
hut not wide, the entire distance around
being about seven miles. The highest
point is 1,4O0 feet above the sea. From
this eminence, the view is one Of the
finest in the world, overlooking Europe,
Asia, the Atlantic and the Mediterranean,
two continents and two seas. Below can
be seen ships from every part of the
world. Unique in it's position and ma
jostic in it's grandeur, Gibraltar COM
mands the admiration of every beholder.
AS our boat entered the harbor and
approached the city of Gibraltar, we
passed a number of foreign steamships
and of British battleships; from the deck
of one of the enormous gunboats some
sharp shooters were firing at red target
floating on the water We watched with
keen interest. First the water would
splash near the target, and then after
few seconds the shot could be heard.
Presently we seemed to be going behind
the target, and almost in the line of the
firing. We began to feel that the Brit
ish were little careless Our forefathers
faced the British in the days of King
George III, but we thought the differ
ences Of that day were passed. None Of
us wanted to fight the British and none
OF us wanted to be fired at. We were
uncomfortable. About that time, the
firing stopped, and we we're made happy.
International hostilities were averted
and peace reigned on the Mediterranean
As the harbor is not deep near the
shore, our party was taken to the land
on small steamboats, or tenders.
The city of Gibraltar has a population
of nearly 10000 people, consisting of Brit
ish soldiers of English people, of Span
iards, Moors, Arabs, Jews, Turks, Portu-
guese, Africans, Maltese and Levantines
Such a cosmopolitan group one rarely
sees this side of Egypt.
The Moors and Arabs form only a small
part of the population, but with their
turbans, their hooded garments, bare legs,
and yellow slippers they attracted i'm
mediate attention. Passing by the Moor
ish market, 1 attempted to take a snap
shot picture of a venerable and pic
turesque old man. Being warned by the
excited comments of some of his COM
panions he threw up his hands in a
threatening manner and thwarted my
plans.
The Spanish were seen in large num-
bers, some of them prosperous and
good looking, but most Of them poor
and degenerate in appearance. the
poorer Spaniards carry most of tn cir
freight on the backs of small donkeys
Hundreds of these donkeys were on
the streets carrying loads Of water and
vegetables and charcoal Talking to a
Spanish guide, 1 asked:
why don't the people haul them
freight on drays or wagons instead
of taking small quantities on the backs
OF donkeys?"