(To be read before a Map of the Eastern Hemisphere)EMBARKING at Southampton in one of the splendid steamers of the Peninsular and Oriental Company, we soon pass the Isle of Wight, and make for the open sea. The second day brings us in contact with the rough waters of the Bay of Biscay. The Spanish coast is probably sighted off Cape Finisterre; and here the Englishman begins to recall with patriotic pride the many triumphs achieved by his countrymen on the Peninsula and in the surrounding waters. Here, in 1805, Sir Robert Calder inflicted a partial defeat on Villeneuve, the French admiral; who, a few months later, was completely overthrown at Tra falgar. Coruna is not far off, where Moore so gallantly held the French at bay till he completed his plans for embarkation.
At the south-western angle of Portugal we are off Cape St. Vincent-a lone, romantic promontory, with some fractured rocks at its base standing out into the ocean, and having on its summit a fine light-house with a brilliant light revolving every two or three minutes. The cape was the scene of two great victories gained by the English fleet over that of Spain; in connection with the second of which it gave his title to one of England"s foremost sailors. There the Spaniards were defeated by Sir George Rodney in 1780, and still more signally by Sir John Jervis (afterwards Earl St. Vincent) in 1793. It was on the latter occasion that Nelson, then bearing the rank of commodore, took one of the Spanish ships, the San Nicolas , by entering through its cabin windows! Seeing this, the captain of the San Josef discharged a volley on the captors. Nelson thereupon closed with the San Josef and boarded her from the deck of the San Nicolas .
Ere long we discern the promontory of Trafalgar stretching into the Atlantic-a spot hallowed by what, in the estimation of Englishmen, is certainly the most of all the events which have made this corner of Europe famous in ancient and in modem story.
On the south, the lonely headland of Cape Spartel rises from the African coast above the Atlantic waters; and to the east of it may be seen the white buildings of Tangier, a city of Phoenician origin, and of note in the times of the Romans. Seized in 1457 by the Portuguese, Tangier was by them ceded to England in 1662, along with Bombay, as part of the dower of Catherine of Braganza, when she became queen of Charles II. It proved so useless and so expensive a possession, however, owing to the constant attacks of the Moons, that it was very soon abandoned to them, and they at once set about repairing the costly works which the English had dismantled at their departure. In this region, according to ancient fable, the Hesperides-daughters of the evening star-had their famousgardens, whose golden apples Hercules ruthlessly carried off.
We are now fairly within the renowned strait which was regarded by the ancients with so much awe as the remote boundary of their world, beyond which all was mystery and fable. On our left are the green hills of Spain, swelling into lofty mountains not far from the shore, with here and there a white village or a picturesque watch-tower. By-and-by we get a glimpse of the mouldering and forlorn ramparts of Tarifa, the most thoroughly Moorish town in Spain, and the②most southern in Europe. From this point the Vandalsweredriven across to Africa by the Goths in 417 A. D. At this point Tarif,③ a great Moorish general, after whom Tarifa is named, landed with his army in 711, when he came to conquer the Goths and establish the Moorish kingdom in Spain. Here, finally, Alfonzo XI. overthrew the Moors in a decisive action in 1340. Tarifa is a quaint old town, with its island fortress andlighthouse-fitting memento of the fierce struggles in whichthe inhabitants of the opposing shores engaged.
In a few hours we reach the grand fortress of Gibraltar, which keeps stern watch at the gates of the Mediterranean, and forms with the Rock of Ceuta, on the African side, the famous "Pillars of Hercules." Nothing could well be more imposing than the view of Gibraltar from the bay on its western side. Ranges of batteries rising from the shore, tier above tier, extend along its entire sea-front. At the northern extremity is the town. Every nook in the crags bristles with artillery. White barracks and gay villas, embowered in gardens and groves, occupy the midway ascent. Above all towers in rugged grandeur the summit of the Rock itself.
No less striking is the contrast which presents itself when we have doubled Europa Point, and look back to the eastern side of the Rock from the bosom of the Mediterranean. The scene which we have quitted was one of busy excitement and varied life. Now one long unbroken precipice, 1400 feet in height, towers above us. There are few signs of vegetation, and none of human habitation, save only the little village of white houses in Catalan Bay, which crouches at the foot of the Rock, as if in constant dread of being crushed by the overhanging masses.
Off Cape do Gata, the south-eastern headland of Spain- infamous to the mariner for the squalls that come suddenly down from its lofty crest-we get our last glimpse of the Peninsula, and of its brown, stern, and rugged mountains. As we skirt the African coast we discover the whereabouts of Algiers, now a French colony; then of Tunis, near which is the site of ancient Carthage, so long the rival of Rome for the supremacy of the world.
Our next stoppage is at Valetta, the port and capital of Malta, where the Knights of St. John triumphed so heroically over the infidel Turk in the sixteenth century. This, likeGibraltar, is now a British possession-one of the ocean towers which emphatically mark England"s empire of the seas.
