WHAT IS WORTH KNOWING ABOUT GIBRALTAR
Louis was willing to pay for the use of the Salihé; but the customs
officers on the other side of the bay had some suspicions in regard to
her, and the commander would not permit him to pay anything; besides,
the little steamer was wanted to convey the witnesses to Algeciras.
Chickworth received the report that Gray and his associates had
actually captured the boat with consternation. He was invited to go
over with the witnesses in the afternoon; but he declined to do so. The
captain thought it more than probable that he had been concerned in
contraband operation with Gray.
Chickworth departed with something worse than a flea in his ear, and
the commander and Louis went down to breakfast. The moonlight excursion
and the conflict with the outlaws were the subjects of conversation
at the table. Louis took a great deal of pains to set forth that
Sir Scott, as he called him in retaliation for the application of
the title to himself, was the hero of the occasion. The process of
lassoing the stout smuggler excited a great deal of interest, and was
unanimously regarded as a brilliant operation, both in its conception
and execution.
"I am confident that we should have been utterly defeated if Sir Scott
had not solved the difficult problem of how to overcome Gray," said
Louis with enthusiasm.
"His achievement with the hand-saw was not altogether lacking in
brilliancy," added Dr. Hawkes.
"That was not original, like the lasso," replied Louis.
"It was original in its application to this particular case, and he is
entitled to none the less credit," suggested Uncle Moses.
"I wish to do something for Sir Scott in response to the high
commendation of Captain Belgrave," said the commander.
Uncle Moses threw himself back in his chair, and shook his two hundred
and twenty-six and a half of avoirdupois with laughter when he heard
his ward dubbed as a captain. His mother laughed too, and so did most
of the party.
"Has my son become the commander of the Guardian-Mother?" asked Mrs.
Belgrave.
"He has not formally taken the command of her; but as the owner of the
steamer, he has an undoubted right to do so when he pleases," replied
Captain Ringgold. "I wish to do something for Sir Scott: what shall it
be, Louis?"
"Call him Captain Scott, and never again call me Captain Belgrave,"
replied Louis.
"You were in command of the Salihé, Sir Scott says, and I have no
command to give him, so it is hardly proper to call him captain. What
can I do for him?"
"He is now a diligent student, and behaves himself like a gentleman
on all occasions; and I think he can be promoted to the cabin very
properly, so that the big four may be all together here," suggested
Louis.
"I must put that to vote, for all may not approve of this addition to
the cabin party," replied Captain Ringgold, asking those in favor to
manifest it by raising the right hand.
All the hands came up very promptly, and Scott was formally admitted to
the family circle. Sparks was sent to procure his attendance; and when
he appeared, the commander made a speech at him, commending him for his
gallantry in the action of the previous evening, and informing him that
henceforth he was to occupy stateroom No. 14, and the corresponding
place opposite Morris Woolridge at the table.
Scott blushed, as he had recently learned to do, and made a little
speech in reply, expressive of his thanks for the "distinguished honor"
conferred upon him. It was discovered then that he could manage his
tongue as well as his hands with the lasso, and he was vigorously
applauded when he took his place at the table. After the party rose,
Sparks showed him to his stateroom, and he was delighted with the
elegant apartment.
Louis gave him a seat with the cabin party under the awning of the
promenade deck aft, where they assembled at the request of the
commander. Scott now felt that he was the equal of the other fellows,
and this had been the only thing which touched his pride, of which he
had his full share. He was relieved from duty as a quartermaster, for
he had had little or nothing to do in this capacity, unless Bangs or
Twist happened to be sick, which was a very rare thing.
Captain Ringgold soon joined the party with a paper in his hand; and
Dr. Hawkes initiated a round of applause as he seated himself, for the
paper indicated that he was about to give what the surgeon called a
lecture, but which the captain insisted was only a talk.
"I suppose you know all about Gibraltar, or Gib as many English people
abbreviate it, ladies and gentlemen," the commander began.
"I know next to nothing about it, Captain Ringgold," added Mrs.
Belgrave.
Half a dozen others said substantially the same thing.
"You can see this rocky promontory for yourselves," continued the
captain. "It is about three miles long by three-quarters of a mile wide
on the average; but it does not form the southern extremity of Spain,
as some of the books have it, for Tarifa holds that position. As you
noticed yesterday when we came into the bay, it looks like a detached
rock; but it is connected with the mainland by a low isthmus, the
portion of which nearest to the town is called 'The Neutral Ground,'
and is, as its name implies, common to both Spanish and English.
"The rock is honeycombed with tunnels and casemates, and the galleries
contain no end of guns of all calibre. You will see as many of these as
you desire, for a permit can be obtained for the purpose, and I shall
not attempt to describe it. The fortress has the reputation of being
the strongest in the world; but of late years no nation has meddled
with it, and its strength has not been tested with modern implements of
war. Not a few Englishmen doubt whether it is as important a possession
to their country as it is commonly represented to be.
"It can hardly be said to command the strait, which is about eight
miles wide in the narrowest place, and Farragut or Porter would have
made nothing of passing through. But the fortress may be reasonably
regarded as impregnable, though it costs about a million and a half of
dollars a year to pay its expenses.
"The highest point on the rock is fourteen hundred and thirty-nine feet
above the water. It is a little odd that this is the only place in
Europe where the monkey in his wild state exists. They may occasionally
be seen in the vicinity of the Signal Tower. Some people, who must be
rather credulous, believe that there is a tunnel under the strait, and
that the monkeys come over from Africa through it. These animals are
something of an institution here, and efforts have been made to protect
them from gunners who sometimes stroll about here. At one time they
were reduced to a very small number; but the last I ever heard about
them, they had increased to about thirty.
"The town of Gibraltar is said to contain about twenty thousand
inhabitants, besides about five thousand troops, which is the usual
garrison of the Rock. They are a mixed set of people, consisting of
English, Spanish, Jews, and Moors. It is not much of a city. The Club
House Hotel used to be the principal one, but I believe there is a more
modern one, called the Royal; but as we shall have no use for any of
them, we need not look into the matter.
"Waterport Street is the chief thoroughfare, and is nearest to the
water. There are only two other streets of any consequence, and all of
those in the place are narrow and crooked. It is a walled town, and the
regulations are very strict, and are carefully enforced. No foreigner
can reside here unless the consul of his country, or a householder in
the city, becomes his surety. A police-magistrate can issue a permit
for ten, fifteen, or twenty days' residence in the city; and a military
man can introduce a friend for thirty days. The gates are opened at
sunrise in the morning, and closed at sunset in the evening; and there
is no getting in or out after they are closed for the night. Two guns
are fired, the first of warning, so that it is not necessary to get
caught on the wrong side if one is reasonably careful.
"The ancients believed the Rock was the end of the world, as they did
in regard to a number of other places. The Pillars of Hercules marked
this western extremity of creation--the Rock was one of them and Apes
Hill, on the opposite side of the strait, was the other.
"The Rock appears in history at a very early date. The navigators from
Phœnicia called it Aluba, which the Greeks twisted into Calpa, which
the professor will tell you is the classic name for it. Hannibal and
other Carthaginian generals must have known about the Rock, for they
made expeditions into Spain. It does not appear that it was ever used
as a fortress until the year of our Lord 711, which is longer ago than
any of us can remember, when Tarik Ibn-zeyad (don't forget the name)
fortified it. He was a Saracenic general on his way to conquer some of
the nations of Europe, and this seemed to be a convenient place for a
base of operations, as it was easy of access from Africa.
"After this chief the Rock was named Gebel-Tarik, or the hill of Tarik,
and this compound word was corrupted into Gibraltar. They say that one
of the towers of the castle he built can still be seen; but I never saw
it, and I will not say anything more about it. For six hundred years it
remained in possession of the Moors, who had obtained a stronghold in
Spain; but it was captured in 1309 by Don Antonio de Guzman.
"Additional works and a dockyard were then constructed, and the Old
Mole, which may still be seen at the north end of the city, was built
at the same time. The Spaniards and Moors continued to hold and lose
it for the next hundred and fifty years. In 1462 the Spaniards captured
it through the treachery of a renegade Moor. Even in the seventeenth
century the holders of the fortress had so strengthened it that it was
regarded as impregnable.
"A united English and Dutch force, in 1704, proved that the fortress
was not as strong as the Spaniards claimed. The fleet first bombarded
it, then a heavy force was landed and an assault made upon the works,
and its capitulation followed; but it was manned by only one hundred
and fifty men, and the fact that this puny force 'knocked out' nearly
double their own number shows that the place was very strong, and that
it was bravely defended.
"From that time to the present Gibraltar has remained in possession of
the English, though Spain and France have made desperate efforts to
dislodge them. It has sustained not less than four sieges, the last of
which was the most tremendous, in 1779, while the American Revolution
was still in progress, and it was continued for four years. The
narrative of it is extremely interesting; but it may be read by those
so disposed in several books in our library, and I will not attempt to
relate it.
"I intended to invite the party to go on shore this afternoon; but
the Sir Knights of the Salihé have to go over to Algeciras to serve
as witnesses against the smugglers they captured last night, and I
desire to go with them. The party can go with us if they desire, for we
shall make use of the Salihé for the purpose, and, as the weather is
pleasant, it will be a nice sail."
Led off by Dr. Hawkes, as usual, the company applauded the commander,
and thanked him for the interesting lecture he had given them.
"I should like to go to Algeciras for one," said Mrs. Belgrave.
"So should I," added Mrs. Woolridge; in fact, all of them wished to go.
"I want to see the steamer in which all the wonderful things were done
last evening," said Mrs. Belgrave.
After lunch the party prepared for the excursion. Felipe was again
directed to take charge of the engine, and Scott was to be the pilot.
The latter studied the chart during all the time he could find before
the departure, and wrote down some points he had forgotten to mention
the evening before. There were no wharves or piers at the town to which
they were going, and the first cutter with her crew was sent over in
tow.
At the appointed hour the steamer started, and landed her passengers on
the other side of the bay. They were very pleasantly received by the
Spanish officials. All the party insisted upon going to the court, for
they desired to see the smugglers.