Читать книгу A Trip to the Orient - Robert Urie Jacob - Страница 5

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GIBRALTAR.

"Is not this a German vessel?" asked a passenger of the first officer, as they stood conversing near the gymnasium on the upper deck the morning after we left Funchal.

"Most surely it is," he replied, astonished at the question.

"Then," pointing to the red ensign floating at the top of the foremast, "why does the Moltke fly the British colors?"

"The British flag at our foremast indicates that this ship is bound for a port that belongs to Great Britain," explained the mate. "When we sail from Gibraltar the Union Jack will be replaced by the French tri-color to show that we are then on the way to a French port. The emblem on the fore-mast will be changed many times before we return to New York. But there," turning and pointing to the rear, "in its place at the stern is the German standard, the flag of our fatherland. There it will remain throughout the cruise. Above us, too, on the mast nearest the stern, the white pennant bearing the letters H. A. P. A. G., the insignia of the company that owns the Moltke, will constantly fly."

The evening we sailed from Funchal each lady found beside her plate at the dinner table a bunch of violets, a memento from the flower gardens of Madeira; and on St. Valentine's Day each found there a package containing a pretty fan with the compliments of the Captain. At this dinner on the fourteenth of February much merriment prevailed during the dessert course, when favors containing caps and bonnets were distributed. Formality was dropped for the time. Each diner donned his headgear and the comical appearance of the wearers drew forth many pleasantries and much laughter.

THE ILLUSTRATIONS REPRESENT A SOMBER MOUNTAIN.

The Captain, with a huge paper sun-bonnet on his head, rose to make a few remarks.

"Silence! listen to what our old mother has to say!" cried a humorist.

Amid laughter the captain began, but the laughter quickly ceased and his words were listened to with attention.

"Fellow voyagers," said he in conclusion, "you will find on the bulletin board to-night some information and advice relative to your trip to Granada. For the past ten days you have been under my charge and I have looked after your welfare, but to-morrow you leave the vessel for two days. I wish you a pleasant excursion and a safe return to shelter under the care of your 'Old Mother.'"

After the applause had subsided and a response had been made by one of the passengers, the orchestra played as a finale Liebe's "Auf Wiedersehen."

Then we, after securing pencil and paper, hastened to join the crowd around the bulletin board to make notes of the directions for the trip into Spain. The notice read as follows:

"The Moltke will arrive at Gibraltar to-morrow, February fifteenth, before daylight. Breakfast will be served at an early hour and tenders will be alongside the steamer at seven o'clock to take the tourists to the dock. There guides will be in waiting and three hours will be spent in Gibraltar.

"At ten o'clock the tourists will be conveyed in the steam ferry across the bay to the railroad station at Algeciras, from which place the train will start for Granada. During the ferry passage a box containing luncheon to be eaten on the train will be given to each person.

"Dress warmly or take heavy wraps, as it is sometimes cold at Granada at this season of the year.

"Call at the office at the news-stand on main deck for railroad tickets and hotel assignments.

"The excursion party returning will leave Granada at four o'clock Monday afternoon and arrive at the steamer about midnight. The Moltke will then sail for Algiers."

"Let us go to the office at once. The giving out of tickets may require considerable time," said my room-mate.

Others were of the same opinion, it seemed, for many were ahead of us, but there was no delay, each applicant receiving promptly with his railroad ticket a card bearing the name of the hotel in Granada to which he was assigned. The managers of the tour, having arranged in advance for the required number of rooms at the principal hotels, were prepared to make the allotment before leaving the vessel, so avoiding confusion and delay on our arrival at our destination, and securing for us prompt attention at the hotels.

Some of our friends who had already received their envelopes rejoiced to see on their cards "Hotel Washington Irving," a hotel which they knew from description to be beautifully situated on the heights near the Alhambra.

"Hotel Victoria," I read on mine. I was disappointed at first, but on the following day I found that the central location of the "Victoria" gave opportunities to see much of the life of the city that might have been missed had the assignment been to the hotel in the suburbs.

When we awoke the next morning the Moltke was lying quietly at anchor. We hastily dressed and ascended to the deck.

Any one who has seen pictures of the huge rock that guards the entrance to the Mediterranean will recognize Gibraltar at sight if he approaches the rock from the right point of view. The illustrations, however, represent a somber mountain. The picture we saw showed white houses, red roofs, green trees, patches of lawn, groups of shrubbery, and plots of flowers, all contrasting with gray rocks; these with blue sky overhead, and white sails in the foreground gave life and color to the scene.

As we gazed for some time from the vessel's deck at the strong fortress which has been held securely in the grasp of Great Britain for two hundred years, we thought of the many unsuccessful attempts that have been made during those two centuries to wrest it from British control; most noted of all, the long siege by the French and Spanish forces that continued for four years when Napoleon was supreme in France. What might have been the result, if England's grasp on the rock had been broken by Napoleon; or what the outcome, if Napoleon's fleet had been victorious in the conflict on the near-by Trafalgar Bay!

THE ROCK HAD A PEACEFUL LOOK.

The rock had a peaceful look, but we knew that the cactus plants, which grew rank on the slope of the mountain, concealed powerful batteries, and that on the summit of the rock were mounted cannons of the largest calibre, which, if required, could hurl projectiles to the far side of the strait, a distance of twelve miles.

On one of the highest points of the rock stands the Signal Tower. To this tower the officers of the Moltke had signaled the news of our arrival when the steamer entered the harbor, and before we had stirred from our berths, that information had been flashed over the cable to London and New York. On the following morning our friends at home read in the shipping news of their daily paper, the following item:

"Arrived out; Feb. 15, Gibraltar, Moltke, from New York."

As we started ashore on the lighters at the early hour appointed, we realized that we should have to take in a great deal in a very little while. We entered the city of Gibraltar by a tunnel-like entrance through walls of great thickness. The gateway was closely guarded by sentinels, who demanded the passes with which we had been furnished and who told us that these would be good only until sunset, for at the firing of the evening gun each day the gates are closed and the passes then are useless.

WE DESCENDED A LONG LADDER OF FIFTY STEPS.

The markets near the gates, where many kinds of fruits, vegetables, and fish, unlike those seen in our home markets, were offered for sale, first attracted our attention. Here customers carrying oddly shaped baskets were bargaining with Moorish fishermen, Jewish peddlers, and Spanish marketmen. Each dealer, with gesticulations and loud voice, appeared to be asserting the superiority of his own wares. There was a confusion of tongues. Only the pigs tied to stakes squealed, and the chickens in wicker crates crowed, in strains familiar to our ears. The streets through which we proceeded were clean but narrow. The sidewalks were only wide enough for two people to walk side by side. The buildings were constructed of gray limestone similar to that of which the great Rock is composed.

The presence of an army in this stronghold was indicated by the large number of soldiers we met. An officer whom we questioned kindly told us that the garrison consisted of about six thousand men, and that provisions sufficient to feed that number for five years in case of siege were at all times kept in storage. He advised us to visit the "Lower Galleries" of the fortifications on the heights and obtain the view from that point, and then to attend the afternoon band concert in the park. But our limited stay did not permit us to follow his suggestions.

"In some respects," said the Major, "Gibraltar is rather a dull post for the officers stationed here; but we have a large library, billiard and club rooms, courts for tennis, and ground for polo. We have also many dances and riding parties, and occasionally attend the Spanish bull fights which take place in the large bull ring across the bay at Algeciras."