Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1911-02-24

we sailed for Gibraltar and ar
rived there at $50 aa. m. NINETY
miles from Cadiz) on time.
Feb. 18th, 1910. Gibraltar is
Before us, it looks like great
lion crouching in greatness for a
spring, the sky is celestial blue,
the air is balmy, and with Spain S
rugged coast ON one side ana
the low lying hills Of Africa ON
the other, we feel that we aer
indeed approaching foreign
shores on the bosom of strange
waters. Gibraltar has been an
English Fortress since 1904, when
captured during the war Of the
Spanish succession by Sir George
Rock. Persistent efforts as you
know have been made by the
Spanish and the French to I'M
rest from Aliens this key to the
Mediterranean Sea, and the East,
but tie Union Jack still floats
from the pinnacle of this strong
hold, 1900 feet above the sea, it
Is two miles long and one mile
wide. On one side the sheer
Of the cliff forms an mpergna-
Bile defense and on the other is
a net work of batteries galleries
wide enough for a carriage to
pass are cut in the solid rock
and the black muzzleS of cannon
projecting through them The
summit is crowned by gun hav-
ing a range of seven miles and
an electric connection makes it
possible to aim and fire the gun
from a station below. Geologic
ally the rock is very curious.
The lower strata is gray lime
stone and the upper stripped
with pale blush Shale. Sea-
shells are found fully four humid
red and fifty feet above the
present sea level. There are
many passages and caves, the
most noted one being st. Mich
ael's cave, where the central hall
if fifty feet high and hung with
magnificent stalactites. At the
foot of the great rock lies the
town with a population of about
$4,000, On landing We took a
carriage, after making a bargain
with the driver, we passed along
through a motley crew the streets
were so narrow with its rough
pavement and side walks scarce
wide enough for two people to
walk abreast. On either side were
shops hung with rugs, draperies
and curiOS, until it seemed as if
the entire stock of each was tum-
bling out the doors and windows
Down the center of the thorough
fare logged little dOnkeys bear
ing pannerieS filled with char
coal, fruit and vegetables, their
plump sides belabOred by bare
legged MOOrS and SpaniardS. In
one open doorway one Egyptian
sat making filigree silver Orna.
mentS, in another a Turk sur
rounded by queer bits of pOtters
and brass, presenting quite an
Oriental picture. The public gar.
dens are a perfect jungle Of trees
ShrugS and blOSsOming plants.
TailleSS monkeys came down
from their hauntS on the bare
rocks to rob the fruit trees, but
their number has been greatly
reduced of late years.
Saturday February 18th 1910
We went on board at s O'clock
a. m. on a large tender and sail
ed for Tangier. forty miles south
east of Gibraltar. the most i'm
pOrtant commercial port of Nor
rocco with a population of abOu
10000. The town with its hal
ruined citadel the extensive ba
zaarS and the multicOlOred traf
fic of the market place WHERE
the merchandise brought by tn,
caravans from the interior is of
fered for sale. from an exclu
Siye oriental picture, which hold
the foreigner spell bound. Tn,
city of Tangier. lies on the shore
of a beautiful bay, and lies il
the form of an amphitheatre
The outline of its low whit
houses is broken by the slende.
: minaret Of a MOhammedan Mos
que. Our tender anchored about
a half mile from the shore, tn
boats wOuld take ten of our pas
sengers at a time ashore.
We walked down a ricketet
wharf and passed under the Ba
bal Marsa where two solemn
looking MOOrs cross legged Oh
: the ground kept watch and gard