DEPARTURE FOR CADIZ--ROAD ROUND THE BAY OF
GIBRALTAR--ALGECIRAS--SANDY BAY--GUALMESI--TARIFA--ITS
FOUNDATION--ERROR OF MARIANA IN SUPPOSING IT TO BE CARTEIA--BATTLE
OF EL SALADO--MISTAKE OF LA MARTINIERE CONCERNING IT--ITINERARY OF
ANTONINUS FROM CARTEIA TO GADES VERIFIED--CONTINUATION OF
JOURNEY--VENTAS OF TAVILLA AND RETIN--VEJER--CONIL--SPANISH METHOD
OF EXTRACTING GOOD FROM EVIL--TUNNY FISHERY--BARROSA--FIELD OF
BATTLE--CHICLANA--ROAD TO CADIZ--PUENTE ZUAZO--SAN FERNANDO--TEMPLE
OF HERCULES--CASTLE OF SANTI PETRI--ITS IMPORTANCE TO CADIZ.
Hoping that the taste of my readers, like my own, leads them to prefer
the motion of a horse to that of a ship, the chance of being robbed to
that of being sea-sick, and the savoury smell of an _olla_ to the greasy
odour of a steam engine, I purpose in my next excursion to conduct them
to Cadiz by the rude pathway practised along the rocky shore of the
Straits of Gibraltar, and thence, "_inter æstuaria Bætis_," to Seville,
instead of proceeding to those places by the more rapid and now
generally adopted means of fire and water. From the last named "fair
city" we will return homewards by another passage through the mountains
of Ronda.
To authorise _me_--a mere scribbler of notes and journals--to assume the
plural _we_, that gives a Delphic importance to one's opinions (but
under whose shelter I gladly seek to avoid the charge of egotism), I
must state that a friend bore me company on this occasion; our two
servants, with well stuffed saddle-bags and _alforjas_, "bringing up the
rear."
Proceeding along the margin of the bay of Gibraltar, leaving
successively behind us the ruins of Fort St. Philip, which a few years
since gave security to the right flank of the lines drawn across the
Isthmus in front of the British fortress; the crumbling tower of
_Cartagena_, or _Recadillo_, which, during the seven centuries of Moslem
sway, served as an _atalaya_, or beacon, to convey intelligence along
the coast between Algeciras and Malaga; and, lastly, the scattered
fragments of the yet more ancient city of Carteia, we arrive at the
river Guadaranque.
The stream is so deep as to render a ferry-boat necessary. That in use
is of a most uncouth kind, and so low waisted that "Almanzor," who was
ever prone to gad amongst the Spanish lady Rosinantes, could not be
deterred from showing his gallantry to some that were collected on the
opposite side of the river, by leaping "clean out" of the boat before it
was half way over. Fortunately, we had passed the deepest part of the
stream, so that I escaped with a foot-bath only.
The road keeps close to the shore for about a mile and a half, when it
reaches the river Palmones, which is crossed by a similarly
ill-contrived ferry. From hence to Algeciras is three miles, the first
along the sea-beach, the remainder by a carriage-road, conducted some
little distance inland to avoid the various rugged promontories which
now begin to indent the coast, and to dash back in angry foam the
hitherto gently received caresses of the flowing tide.
The total distance from Gibraltar to Algeciras, following the sea-shore,
is nine English miles; but straight across the bay it is barely five.
Algeciras, supposed to be the Tingentera of the ancients, and by some
the Julia Traducta of the Romans, received its present name from the
Moors--_Al chazira_, the island. In the days of the Moslem domination,
it became a place of great strength and importance; and when the power
of the Moors of Spain began to wane, was one of the towns ceded to the
Emperor of Fez, to form a kingdom for his son, Abou Melic, in the hope
of presenting a barrier that would check the alarming progress of the
Christian arms. From that time it became a constant object of
contention, and endured many sieges. The most memorable was in 1342-4,
during which cannon were first brought into use by its defenders. It,
nevertheless, fell to the irresistible Alfonso XI., after a siege of
twenty months.
At that period, the town stood on the right bank of the little river
Miel (instead of on the left, as at present), where traces of its walls
are yet to be seen; but its fortifications having shortly afterwards
been razed to the ground by the Moors, the place fell to decay, and the
present town was built so late as in 1760. It is unprotected by walls,
but is sheltered from attack on the sea-side by a rocky little island,
distant 800 yards from the shore. This island is crowned with batteries
of heavy ordnance, and has, on more occasions than one, been found an
"ugly customer" to deal with. The anchorage is to the north of the
island, and directly in front of the town.
The streets of Algeciras are wide and regularly built, remarkably well
paved, and lined with good houses; but it is a sun-burnt place, without
a tree to shelter, or a drain to purify it. Being the port of
communication between Spain and her _presidario_, Ceuta, as well as the
military seat of government of the _Campo de Gibraltar_, it is a place
of some bustle, and carries on a thriving trade, by means of _felucas_
and other small craft, with the British fortress. The population may be
reckoned at 8,000 souls, exclusive of a garrison of from twelve to
fifteen hundred men.
The Spaniards call the rock of Gibraltar _el cuerpo muerto_,[18] from
its resemblance to a corpse; and, viewed from Algeciras, it certainly
does look something like a human figure laid upon its back, the
northernmost pinnacle forming the head, the swelling ridge between that
and the signal tower, the chest and belly, and the point occupied by
O'Hara's tower the bend of the knees.
The direct road from Algeciras to Cadiz crosses the most elevated pass
in the wooded mountains that rise at the back of the town, and, from its
excessive asperity, is called "_The Trocha_," the word itself signifying
a _bad_ mountain road. The distance by this route is sixty-two miles; by
Tarifa it is about a league more, and this latter road is not much
better than the other, though over a far lower tract of country.
On quitting the town, the road, having crossed the river Miel, and
passed over the site of "Old Algeciras," situated on its right bank,
edges away from the coast, and, in about a mile, reaches a hill, whence
an old tower is seen standing on a rocky promontory; which, jutting some
considerable distance into the sea, forms the northern boundary of a
deep and well sheltered bay. The Spanish name for this bight is _La
Ensenada de Getares_; but by us, on account of the high beach of white
sand that edges it, it is called "Sandy bay." It strikes me this must be
the _Portus albus_ of Antoninus's Itinerary, since its distance from
Carteia corresponds exactly with that therein specified, and renders the
rest of the route to Gades _intelligible_, which, otherwise, it
certainly is not. But more of this hereafter.
Within two miles of Algeciras the road crosses two mountain torrents,
the latter of which, called _El Rio Picaro_[19] (I presume from its
occasional _treacherous_ rise), discharges itself into the bay of
Getares. Thenceforth, the track becomes more rugged, and ascends towards
a pass, (_El puerto del Cabrito_) which connects the _Sierra Santa Ana_
on the right with a range of hills that, rising to the south, and
closing the view in that direction, shoots its gnarled roots into the
Straits of Gibraltar.
The views from the pass are very fine--that to the eastward, looking
over the lake-like Mediterranean and towards the snowy sierras of
Granada; the other, down upon the rough features of the Spanish shore,
and towards the yet more rugged mountains of Africa; the still distant
Atlantic stretching away to the left. The former view is shut out
immediately on crossing the ridge: but the other, undergoing pleasing
varieties as one proceeds, continues very fine all the way to Tarifa.
The road is now very bad, being conducted across the numerous rough
ramifications of the mountains on the right hand, midway between their
summits and the sea. At about seven miles from Algeciras it reaches the
secluded valley of Gualmesi, or Guadalmesi, celebrated for the
crystaline clearness of its springs, and the high flavour of its
oranges; and, crossing the stream, whence the romantic dell takes its
name, directs itself towards the sea-shore, continuing along it the rest
of the way to Tarifa; which place is distant twelve miles from
Algeciras.
The stratification of the rocks along this coast is very remarkable: the
flat shelving ledges that border it running so regularly in parallel
lines, nearly east and west, as to have all the appearance of artificial
moles for sheltering vessels. It is on the contrary, however, an
extremely dangerous shore to approach.
The old Moorish battlements of Tarifa abut against the rocky cliff that
bounds the coast; stretching thence to the westward, along, but about 50
yards from, the sea. It is not necessary, therefore, to enter the
fortress; indeed, one makes a considerable détour in doing so; but
curiosity will naturally lead all Englishmen--who have the
opportunity--to visit the walls so gallantly defended by a handful of
their countrymen during the late war; and those who cannot do so may not
object to read a somewhat minute description of them.
The town closes the mouth of a valley, bound by two long but slightly
marked moles, protruded from a mountain range some miles distant to the
north; the easternmost of which terminates abruptly along the sea-shore.
The walls extend partly up both these hills; but not far enough to save
the town from being looked into, and completely commanded, within a very
short distance. Their general lines form a quadrangular figure, about
600 yards square; but a kind of horn work projects from the N.E. angle,
furnishing the only good flanking fire that the fortress can boast of
along its north front. Every where else the walls, which are only four
feet and a half thick, are flanked by square towers, themselves hardly
solid enough to bear the _weight_ of artillery, much less its blows.
At the S.W. angle, but within the enceinte of the fortress, and looking
seawards, there is a small castle, or citadel, the _alcazar_ of its
Moorish governors; and immediately under its machicoulated battlements
is one of the three gateways of the town. The two others are towards the
centre of its western and northern fronts.
In the attack of 1811, the French made their approaches against the
north front of the town, and effected a breach towards its centre, in
the very lowest part of the bed of the valley; thus most completely
"taking the bull by the horns;" (and Tarifa bulls are not to be trifled
with--as every Spanish _picador_ knows,) since the approach to it was
swept by the fire of the projecting _horn_-work I have before mentioned.
When the breach was repaired, a marble tablet was inserted in the wall,
bearing a modest inscription in Latin, which states that "this part of
the wall, destroyed by the besieging French, was re-built by the British
defenders in November, 1813."
When the French again attacked the fortress, in 1823, profiting by past
experience, they established their breaching batteries in a large
convent, distant about 200 yards from the walls on the west front of the
town; and, favouring their assault by a feigned attack on the gate in
its south wall, they carried the place with scarcely any loss.
The streets of Tarifa are narrow, dark, and crooked; and, excepting that
they are clean, are in every respect Moorish. The inhabitants are rude
in speech and manners, and amount to about 8000.
From the S.E. salient angle of the town, a sandy isthmus juts about a
thousand yards into the sea, and is connected by a narrow artificial
causeway with a rocky peninsula, or island, as it is more generally
termed, that stretches yet 700 or 800 yards further into the Straits of
Gibraltar. This is the most southerly point of Europe, being in latitude
30° 0' 56", which is nearly six miles to the south of Europa Point.
The island is of a circular form, and towards the sea is merely defended
by three open batteries, armed _en barbette_; but to the land side, it
presents a bastioned front, that sweeps the causeway with a most
formidable fire. A lighthouse stands at the extreme point of the island,
which also contains a casemated barrack for troops, and some remarkable
old tanks, perhaps of a date much prior to the arrival of the Saracens.
The foundation of the town of Tarifa is usually ascribed to Tarik Aben
Zaide, the first Mohammedan invader of Spain; who probably, previous to
crossing the Straits, had marked the island as offering a favourable
landing-place, as well as a secure depôt for his stores, and a safe
refuge in the event of a repulse. Mariana, however, imagined, that
Tartessus, or Carteia--which he considered the same place--stood upon
this spot; and, under this persuasion, he speaks of the admiral of the
Pompeian faction retiring there, after his action with Cæsar's fleet,
and drawing a chain across the mouth of the port to protect his
vessels; a circumstance which alone proves that Carteia was not Tarifa;
since it must be evident to any one who has examined the coast
attentively, that no port could possibly have existed there, which could
have afforded shelter to a large fleet, and been closed by drawing a
chain across its mouth.
Others, again, suppose Tarifa to occupy the site of Mellaria. But I
rather incline to the opinion of those who consider it doubtful whether
_any_ Roman town stood upon the spot; an opinion for which I think I
shall hereafter be able to assign sufficient reason.
As Tarifa was the field wherein the Mohammedan invaders of Spain
obtained their first success, so, six centuries after, did it become the
scene of one of their most humiliating defeats; the battle of the
_Salado_, gained A.D. 1340, by Alphonso XI., of Castile, having
inflicted a blow upon them, from the effects of which they never
recovered. Four crowned heads were engaged in that sanguinary
conflict--the King of Portugal, as the ally of the Castillian hero;
Jusuf, King of Granada; and Abu Jacoob, Emperor of Morocco. The
last-named, according to the Spanish historians, had crossed over from
Africa, with an army of nearly half a million of men, to avenge the
death of his son, Abou Melic; killed the preceding year at the battle of
Arcos.
The little river, which gave its name to that important battle gained by
the Christian army on its banks, winds through a plain to the westward
of Tarifa, crossing the road to Cadiz, at about two miles from the
town.[20] The valley is about three miles across, and extends a
considerable distance inland. It is watered by several mountain streams
that fall into the Salado. That rivulet is the last which is met with,
and is crossed by a long wooden bridge on five stone piers.
The term _Salado_ is of very common occurrence amongst the names of the
rivers of the south of Spain; though in most cases it is used rather as
a term signifying a _water-course_, than as the name of the rivulet:
thus _El Salado de Moron_ is a stream issuing from the mountains in the
vicinity of the town of Moron; _El Salado de Porcuna_ is a torrent that
washes the walls of Porcuna; and so with the rest. As, however, the word
in Spanish signifies salt, (used adjectively) it has led to many
mistakes, and occasioned much perplexity in determining the course of
the river _Salsus_, mentioned so frequently by Hirtius; but to which, in
point of fact, the word _Salado_ has no reference whatever, being
applied to numerous streams that are perfectly free from salt.
On the other hand, it might naturally be supposed that the word _Salido_
(the past participle of the verb _Salir_, to issue) would have been used
if intended to signify a source or stream issuing from the mountains.
It seems to me, therefore, that the word _Salado_ must be a derivation
from the Arabic _S[=a]l_, a water-course in a valley; which, differing
so little in sound from _Salido_, continued to be used after the
expulsion of the Moors; until at length, its derivation being lost, it
came to be considered as signifying what the word actually means in
Spanish, viz. impregnated with salt.
At the western extremity of the plain, watered by the _Salado de
Tarifa_, a barren Sierra terminates precipitously along the coast,
leaving but a narrow space between its foot and the sea, for the passage
of the road to Cadiz. Under shelter of the eastern side of this Sierra,
standing in the plain, but closing the little Thermopylæ, I think we may
place the Roman town of Mellaría,[21] eighteen miles from Carteia, and
six from Belone Claudia, according to the Itinerary of Antoninus; and
mentioned by Strabo as a place famous for curing fish.
Tarifa, which, as I have said before, is supposed by some authors to be
on the site of Mellaría, is in the first place rather too near Calpe
Carteia to accord with that supposition; and in the next, it is far too
distant from Belon; the site of which is well established by numerous
ruins visible to this day, at a _despoblado_,[22] called Bolonia.
It may be objected, on the other hand, that the position which I suppose
Mellaría to have occupied, is as much too far removed from Carteia, as
Tarifa is too near it: and following the present road, it certainly is
so. But there is no reason to take for granted that the ancient military
way followed this line; on the contrary, as the Romans rather preferred
straight to circuitous roads, we may suppose that, as soon as the nature
of the country admitted of it, they carried their road away from the
coast, to avoid the promontory running into the sea at Tarifa. Now, an
opportunity for them to do this presented itself on arriving at the
valley of Gualmesi, from whence a road might very well have been carried
direct to the spot that I assign for the position of Mellaría; which
road, by saving two miles of the circuitous route by Tarifa, would fix
Mellaría at the prescribed distance from Carteia, and also bring it
(very nearly) within the number of miles from Belon, specified in the
Roman Itinerary, viz. six; whereas, if Mellaría stood where Tarifa now
does, the distance would be nearly _ten_.
The city of Belon appears to have slipped bodily from the side of the
mountain on which it was built (probably the result of an earthquake),
as its ruins may be distinctly seen when the tide is out and the water
calm, stretching some distance into the Atlantic. Vestiges of an
aqueduct may also be traced for nearly a league along the coast, by
means of which the town was supplied with water from a spring that rises
near Cape Palomo, the southernmost point of the same Sierra under which
Belon was situated.
In following out the Itinerary of Antoninus--according to which the
total distance from Calpe to Gades is made seventy-six miles[23]--the
next place mentioned after Belon Claudia is Besippone, distant twelve
miles. This place, it appears to me, must have stood on the coast a
little way beyond the river Barbate; and not at Vejer, (which is several
miles inland) as some have supposed; for the distance from the ruins of
Bolonia to that town far exceeds that specified in the Itinerary.
Vejer (or Beger, as it is indifferently written) may probably be where a
Roman town called Besaro stood, of which Besippo was the port; the
latter only having been noticed in the Itinerary from it being situated
on the direct military route from Carteia to Gades; the former by
Pliny,[24] as being a place of importance within the _Conventus
Gaditani_.
From Besippone to Mergablo--the next station of the Itinerary--is six
miles; and at that distance from the spot where I suppose the first of
those places to have stood, there is a very ancient tower on the sea
side, (to the westward of Cape Trafalgar) from which an old, apparently
Roman, paved road, now serving no purpose whatever, leads for several
miles into the country. From this tower to Cadiz--crossing the Santi
Petri river _at its mouth_--the distance exceeds but little twenty-four
miles; the number given in the Itinerary.
The distances I have thus laid down agree pretty well throughout with
those marked on the Roman military way; which, it may be supposed, were
not _very exactly_ measured, since the fractions of miles have in every
case been omitted. The only objection which can be urged to my
measurements is, that they make the Roman miles too long. Having,
however, taken the Olympic stadium (in this instance) as my standard, of
which there are but 600 to a degree of the Meridian, or seventy-five
Roman miles; and as my measurements, even with it, are still rather
_short_, the reply is very simple, viz. that the adoption of any
_smaller_ scale would but _increase the error_.
From the spot where I suppose Mellaría to have stood--which is marked by
a little chapel standing on a detached pinnacle of the _Sierra de
Enmedio_, overhanging the sea--the distance to the Rio Baqueros is two
miles; the road keeping along a flat and narrow strip of land, between
the foot of the mountain and the sea.
The coast now trends to the south west, a high wooded mountain,
distinguished by the name of the Sierra de _San Mateo_, stretching some
way into the sea, and forming the steep sandy cape of _Paloma_, a league
on the western side of which are the ruins of Belon.
The road to Cadiz, however, leaves the sea-shore to seek a more level
country, and, inclining slightly to the north, keeping up the _Val de
Baqueros_ for five miles, reaches a pass between the mountains of San
Mateo and Enmedio.
The valley is very wild and beautiful. Laurustinus, arbutus, oleander,
and rhododendron are scattered profusely over the bed of the torrent
that rushes down it; and the bounding mountains are richly clothed with
forest trees.
From the pass an extensive view is obtained of the wide plain of Vejer,
and _laguna de la Janda_ in its centre. Descending for two miles and a
half,--the double-peaked Sierra _de la Plata_ being now on the left
hand, and that of _Fachenas_, studded with water-mills, on the
right--the road reaches the eastern extremity of the above-named plain,
where the direct road from Algeciras to Cadiz falls in, and that of
Medina Sidonia branches off to the right. The Cadiz route here inclines
again to the westward, and, in three miles, reaches the _Venta de
Tavilla_.
From hence two roads present themselves for continuing the journey; one
proceeding along the edge of the plain; the other keeping to the left,
and making a slight détour by the _Sierra de Retin_; and when the plain
is flooded, it is necessary to take this latter route. Let those who
find themselves in this predicament avoid making the solitary hovel,
called the _Venta de Retin_, their resting-place for the night, as I was
once obliged to do; for, unless they are partial to a guard bed, and to
go to it supperless, they will not meet with accommodation and
entertainment to their liking.
We will return, however, to the _Venta de Tabilla_, which is a fraction
of a degree better than that of Retin. From thence the distance to Vejer
is fourteen miles. The first two pass over a gently swelling country,
planted with corn; the next six along the low wooded hills bordering the
_laguna de la Janda_; the remainder over a hilly, and partially wooded
tract, whence the sea is again visible at some miles distance on the
left.
In winter the greater part of the plain of Vejer is covered with water,
there being no outlet for the _Laguna_; which, besides being the
reservoir for all the rain that falls on the surrounding hills, is fed
by several considerable streams.
A project to drain the lake was entertained some years ago; but, like
all other Spanish projects, it failed, after an abortive trial. In its
present state, therefore, the whole surface of the plain is available
only for pasture; and numerous herds are subsisted on it. The gentle
slopes bounding it, being secure from inundation, are planted with corn.
Vejer is situated on the northern extremity of a bare mountain ridge,
that stretches inland from the coast about five miles, and terminates in
a stupendous precipice along the right bank of the river Barbate.
Towards the sea, however, it slopes more gradually, forming the forked
headland, for ever celebrated in history, called Cape Trafalgar.
When arrived within half a mile of the lofty cliff whereon the town
stands, the road enters a narrow gorge, by which the Barbate escapes to
the ocean; this part of its course offering a remarkable contrast to the
rest, which is through an extensive flat.
A stone bridge of three curiously constructed arches, said to be Roman,
gives a passage over the stream; and a venta is situated on the right
bank, immediately under the town; the houses of which may be seen edging
the precipice, at a height of five or six hundred feet above the river.
The road to Cadiz, and consequently all others,--it being the most
southerly,--avoids the ascent to Vejer, which is very steep, and so
circuitous as to occupy fully half an hour. But the place is well worth
a visit, if only for the sake of the view from the church steeple, which
is very extensive and beautiful; and taken altogether, it is a much
better town than could be expected, considering its truly out-of-the-way
situation. That it was a Roman station, its position alone sufficiently
proves; but whether it be the Besaro, or Belippo, or even Besippo of
Pliny, seems doubtful.
It occupies a tolerably level space; though bounded on three sides by
precipices, and is consequently still a very defensible post,
notwithstanding its walls are all destroyed. The streets are narrow, but
clean and well paved; and the place contains many good houses, and
several large convents. The inns, however, are such wretched places,
that on one occasion, when I passed a night there, I had to seek a
resting-place in a private house.
The Barbate is navigable for large barges up to the bridge; but the
difficulty of access to the town prevents its carrying on much trade.
The population amounts to about 6,000 souls.
There is a delightful walk down a wooded ravine on the western side of
the town, by which the road to Cadiz and the valley of the Barbate may
be regained quicker than by retracing our footsteps to the Venta. Of
this latter I feel bound to say--after much experience--that there is
not a better halting-place between Cadiz and Gibraltar; albeit, many
stories are told of robberies committed even within its very walls. Let
the traveller take care, therefore, to show his pistols to mine host,
and to lock his bedroom door.
We resumed our journey with the dawn. The road keeps for nearly a mile
along the narrow, flat strip between the bank of the river, and the high
cliff whereon the town is perched. The gorge then terminates, and an
open country permits the roads to the different neighbouring places to
branch off in their respective directions. From hence to Medina Sidonia
is thirteen miles; to Alcalà de los Gazules, twenty; and to
Chiclana--whither we were bound--fifteen;--but, leaving these three
roads on the right, we proceeded by a rather more circuitous route to
the last mentioned place, by Conil and Barrosa.
The distance from Vejer to Conil is nine miles; the country undulated
and uninteresting. Conil is a large fishing town, containing a swarming
population of 8,000 souls. The smell of the houses where the tunny fish
(here taken in great abundance) are cut up and cured, extends inland for
several miles; but the inhabitants consider it very wholesome; and to my
animadversive remarks on the filth and effluvium of the place itself,
answer was made, "_no hay epidemia aqui_;"[25]--quite a sufficient
excuse, according to their ideas, for submitting to live the life of
hogs.
We arrived just as the fishermen had enclosed a shoal of Tunny with
their nets; so, putting up our horses, we waited to see the result of
their labours. The whole process is very interesting. The Tunny can be
discovered when at a very considerable distance from the land; as they
arrive in immense shoals, and cause a ripple on the surface of the
water, like that occasioned by a light puff of wind on a calm day. Men
are, therefore, stationed in the different watch towers along the coast,
to look out for them, and, immediately on perceiving a shoal, they make
signals to the fishermen, indicating the direction, distance, &c. Boats
are forthwith put to sea, and the fish are surrounded with a net of
immense size, but very fine texture, which is gradually hauled towards
the shore.
The tunny, coming in contact with this net, become alarmed, and make off
from it in the only direction left open to them. The boats follow, and
draw the net in, until the space in which the fish are confined is
sufficiently small to allow a second net, of great strength, to
circumscribe the first; which is then withdrawn. The tunny, although
very powerful, (being nearly the size and very much the shape of a
porpoise) have thus far been very quiet, seeking only to escape under
the net; and have hardly been perceptible to the spectators on the
beach. But, on drawing in the new net, and getting into shallow water,
their danger gives them the courage of despair, and furious are their
struggles to escape from their hempen prison.
The scene now becomes very animated. When the draught is heavy--as it
was in this instance--and there is a possibility of the net being
injured, and of the fish escaping if it be drawn at once to land, the
fishermen arm themselves with harpoons, or stakes, having iron hooks at
the end, and rush into the sea whilst the net is yet a considerable
distance from the shore, surrounding it, and shouting with all their
might to frighten the fish into shallow water, when they become
comparatively powerless.
In completing the investment of their prey, some of the fishermen are
obliged even to swim to the outer extremity of the net, where, holding
on by the floats with one hand, they strike, with singular dexterity,
such fish as approach the edge, in the hope of effecting their escape,
with a short harpoon held in the other. The men in the boats, at the
same time, keep up a continual splashing with their oars, to deter the
tunny from attempting to leap over the hempen enclosure; which,
nevertheless, many succeed in doing, amidst volleys of "_Carajos!_"
The fish are thus killed in the water, and then drawn in triumph on
shore. They are allowed to bleed very freely; and the entrails, roes,
livers, and eyes, are immediately cut out, being perquisites of
different authorities.
The flesh is salted, and exported in great quantities to Catalonia,
Valencia, and the northern provinces of the kingdom. A small quantity of
oil is extracted from the bones.
Some years since, the Duke of Medina Sidonia enjoyed the monopoly of the
tunny fishery on this part of the coast, which was calculated to have
given him a yearly profit of £4000 sterling. But, at the time of my
visit, he had been deprived of this privilege, much to the regret of the
inhabitants of Conil; for the nets and salting-houses, being the
property of the duke, had to be hired, and as there were no capitalists
in the place able to embark in so expensive a speculation as the
purchase of others, the "company" that engaged in the fishery was,
necessarily, composed of strangers to Conil, whose only object was to
obtain the greatest possible profit during the short period for which
they held the duke's property on lease. They, consequently, drove the
hardest bargain they could with the poor inhabitants, who, accustomed
all their lives to this employment, could not turn their hands to any
other, and were forced to submit.
I do not mean to defend monopolies in general, but what I have stated
shows, that in the present state of Spain they are almost unavoidable
evils. The inhabitants of Conil, at all events, complained most bitterly
of the change.
The fishery lasts from March to July, and the season of which I write
(then drawing to a close,) was considered a very successful one, 1300
tunny having been taken at Conil, and 1600 at Barrosa. Each fish is
worth ten dollars, or two pounds sterling. The falling off has, however,
been most extraordinary, as in former days we read of 70,000 fish having
been taken annually.
From Conil the road keeps along the coast for twelve miles, to Barrosa,
a spot occupying a distinguished place in the pages of history, but
marked only by an old tower on the coast, and a small building, called a
_vigia_, or watch-house, situated on a knoll that rises slightly above
the general level of the country. This was the great object of
contention on the celebrated 5th March, 1811.
Never, perhaps, were British soldiers placed under greater disadvantages
than on this glorious day, through the incapacity or pusillanimity, or
both, of the Spanish general who commanded in chief. And though far more
important victories have been gained by them, yet the cool bearing and
determined courage that shone forth so conspicuously on this occasion,
by completely removing the erroneous impression under which their
opponents laboured, as to the fitness of Englishmen for soldiers,
produced, perhaps, better effects than might have attended a victory
gained on a larger scale, under _more favourable_ circumstances.
I have met with Spaniards who absolutely shed tears when speaking of
this battle, in which they considered our troops had been so shamefully
abandoned by their countrymen, or rather by the general who led them.
Nor is it surprising that the English character should stand so high as
it does in this part of the Peninsula, when, within the short space of a
day's ride, three such names as Tarifa, Trafalgar, and Barrosa, are
successively brought to recollection.
The walls of the watch-house of Barrosa still bear the marks of mortal
strife, and the hill on which it stands is even yet strewed with the
bleached bones of the horses which fell there; but so slight is the
command the knoll possesses--indeed in so unimportant, pinched-up a
corner of the coast is it situated--that those who are not aware of the
unaccountable events which led to the battle, may well be surprised at
its having been chosen as a military position.
Striking into the pine-forest, which bounds the field of battle to the
west, we arrived in about half an hour at the bridge and mill of
Almanza, and proceeding onwards, in four miles reached Chiclana; first
winding round the base of a conical knoll, surmounted by a chapel
dedicated to _Santa Ana_.
Chiclana is the Highgate of the good citizens of Cadiz, and contains
many "genteel family residences," adapted for summer visiters; but the
place is disgracefully dirty, so that little benefit can be expected
from _change of air_. The gardens in its vicinage offer agreeable
promenades, however; and there is a fine view from the chapel of _Santa
Ana_, whence may be seen
"Fair Cadiz, rising o'er the dark blue sea."
Chiclana contains a population of about 6000 souls, and boasts of
possessing a tolerably good _posada_, whereat _calesas_, and other
vehicles, may be hired to proceed to the neighbouring towns; the roads
to all, even the direct one to Vejer, being open to wheel carriages.
A rivulet bathes the north side of the town, dividing it from a large
suburb, and flowing on to the Santi Petri river. The Cadiz road,
crossing this stream by a long wooden bridge, proceeds for three miles
and a half (in company with the routes to _Puerto Santa Maria_, _Puerto
Real_, and _Xeres_,)[26] along a raised causeway, which keeps it above
the saltpans and marshes that render the _Isla de Leon_ so difficult of
approach. Arrived at a wide stream, a ferry-boat affords the means of
passage; and, on gaining the southern bank, the great road from Cadiz to
Madrid (passing through the towns above mentioned) presents itself.
Taking the direction of Cadiz, our passports were immediately demanded
at the entrance of a fortified post, called the _Portazgo_,[27] the
first advanced redoubt of the multiplied defences of the _Isla de Leon_.
From thence the road is conducted, for nearly a mile, through bogs and
saltpans, as before, to the _Puente Zuazo_, a bridge over the river
_Santi Petri_, or _San Pedro_. This, by the way, is rather an arm of the
sea than a river, since it communicates between the bay of Cadiz and the
ocean, and forms the _Isla_ (island) _de Leon_, which otherwise would be
an isthmus. The channel is very wide, deep, and muddy; the bridge has
five arches, and was built by a Doctor _Juan Sanchez de Zuazo_ (whence
its name), on the foundation of one that existed in the days of the
Romans, and is supposed to have served as an aqueduct to supply Cadiz
with water from the _Sierra de Xeres_. It is protected by a double tête
de pont; and has one arch cut, and its parapets pierced with embrasures,
to enable artillery to fire down the stream.
Soon after reaching the right bank of the San Pedro, the long straggling
town of the Isla, or, more properly, _San Fernando_, commences. The main
street is upwards of a mile in length, wide, and rather handsome. The
population of this place is estimated at 30,000 souls; but it varies
considerably, according to the date of the last visitation of yellow
fever.
At the southern extremity of the city a low range of hills begins, which
stretches for a mile and a half towards the sea. The causeway to Cadiz,
however, is directed straight upon the _Torre Gorda_, standing upon the
shore more to the westward, and three miles distant from the town of
_San Fernando_.
Here commences the narrow sandy isthmus that connects the point of land
on which Cadiz is built with the _Isla_. It is five miles long, and in
some places so narrow, that the waves of the Atlantic on one side, and
those of the bay of Cadiz on the other, reach the walls of the causeway.
About half way between the _Torre Gorda_ and Cadiz, the isthmus is cut
across by a fort called the _Cortadura_, beyond which it becomes much
wider.
At five miles to the eastward of the _Torre Gorda_, or Tower of
Hercules, as it is also called, is the mouth of the Santi Petri river,
and four miles only beyond it is the _Vigia de Barrosa_; so that the
distance from thence to Cadiz is almost doubled by making the détour by
Chiclana. It is more than probable, therefore, that the Romans had a
military post, commanding a _flying bridge_, at the mouth of the river;
for, in the Itinerary of Antoninus, the coast-road from _Calpe_ to
_Gades_ was not directed from _Mergablo_ "_ad pontem_," as in the route
laid down from _Gades_ to _Hispalis_ (Seville), but "_ad
Herculem_;"--that is, it may be presumed, to the temple of Hercules,[28]
situated, according to common tradition, on a part of the coast near the
mouth of the Santi Petri river, over which the waves of the Atlantic now
roll unobstructed; and the supposed site of which temple is the same
distance from Cadiz as the bridge of Zuazo, thereby agreeing with the
Roman Itineraries.
At the distance of 1200 yards from the river's mouth a rocky islet rises
from the sea, bearing on its scarped sides the inapproachable little
castle of _Santi Petri_, the bleached walls of which are said to have
been built from the ruins of the famed temple of Hercules.
Contemptible as this isolated fortress appears to be, as well from its
size as from any thing that art has done for it, the fate of Cadiz,
nevertheless, depends in a great measure upon its preservation; since,
from the command the castle possesses of the entrance of the river, an
enemy, who may gain possession of it, is enabled to force the passage of
the stream under its protecting fire, and take in reverse all the
defenses of the _Isla de Leon_. Cadiz would thereby be reduced to its
own resources; and strong as Cadiz is, yet, like all fortresses defended
only by art, it must eventually fall.
The surrender of the castle of _Santi Petri_ to the French, in the siege
of 1823, occasioned the immediate fall of Cadiz, its defenders seeing
that further resistance would be unavailing; whereas, the capture of the
_Trocadero_, about which so much was thought, did little towards the
reduction of the place. Indeed, the _Trocadero_ was in possession of the
enemy during the whole period of the former siege, 1810-12.