At eight o'clock, yesterday morning, we left Gibraltar, with a contrary wind; and, on the first tack, we passed Ceuta, a place of no great intrinsic value, but an indifferent port. It is situated on a peninsula of Africa, which, with Gibraltar, Spartel and Trafalgar, forms the Straits, and is so strongly fortified by Nature, that, although the Moors have often besieged it, it has withstood all their efforts.
Count Julian was Governor of this place, at the time Roderigo ravished his daughter, the beautiful Cava. The Count, inflamed with rage at the dishonor perpetrated on his family, and distracted at the ruin of his own child, forgot his duty to his country, which no private injuries can excuse, and engaged to put the Moors in possession of Spain, if they would revenge him on his abandoned Monarch.
It is not easy to determine who were the first inhabitants of Spain. We know that it was subdued by the Carthaginians before the Christian æra, and that they were conquered by the Romans; who, in their turn, yielded to the Goths, from whom Roderigo was descended.
At this time, the Saracens (the name the followers of Mahomet assumed) emigrating from Arabia, had overrun the neighbouring parts of Africa, which they have kept possession of ever since. To these people, Count Julian, with great truth, represented Roderic as a Prince universally detested, and whose tyranny promised a general insurrection among the Goths. The Saracen Chief at first doubted the Count's sincerity, but at last sent over a large army, which gained a | A. D. 712| complete victory over Roderigo, who was killed in the action; and the whole country submitted to the Moors.
Divisions arising among the conquerors, the natives, in less than six years, again appeared in arms, and the Saracens gradually declined for near two centuries. Almanzor then arose, and, by his repeated victories, revived the affairs of his countrymen: But, on the death of this great General, the Christians again made head, and reduced the Moors to such straits, that, although Mahomet Ben Joseph, Sovereign of Barbary, came over to their assistance with all his forces, he was entirely defeated. A. D. 1212.
The same dissensions, however, which had ruined the Saracens, now broke out among the Christians, and enabled the former to shelter themselves in Grenada, the only province now remaining to them in Spain. Here they continued till the different monarchies which had been erected on their ruin, were all, except Navarre, united under | A. D. 1492.| Ferdinand and Isabella. Grenadawas then taken; but the Moors were allowed to remain in the country, as subjects, till the reign of Philip the Third, who, in apprehension of an insurrection, banished them entirely | A. D. 1602.| from out of his kingdom. The depopulation which this measure occasioned, is sensibly felt to the present day. Count Julian was himself put to death by the Moors, on a suspicion that he intended to desert their cause. His fate afforded us an ample field for reflection.
We continued our course along the Barbary shore till midnight. We were then obliged to tack, and are now opposite Malaga, twenty leagues from Gibraltar. This, considering that the wind has been constantly easterly, is no bad specimen of our sailing.
On the spot we are passing, Sir George Rooke, soon after he had taken Gibraltar, engaged the Grand Fleet of France, consisting of fifty-two sail of the line. The English and Dutch had as many ships; but the French, being later from port, were much better manned, and in superior | August 13, 1704.| condition. The battle lasted all the day. Both sides suffered a very severe loss in men; but not one vessel was taken or destroyed. Each claimed the victory; but the French Admirals took care not to face us again during the whole of the war.
August 8th and 9th.
Calms and light easterly winds. The sea, for several miles round us, is entirely covered with the spawn of fish. Philosophers have not been able to determine how these animals are engendered: I will therefore pass them over. The Grenada mountains rise to a stupendous height on our left, and, even at this late season, their heads are covered with snow.