It was upon Algesiras that an attempt had been meditated by a small body of refugees, and others,—chiefly from Ceuta,—collected at Gibraltar; it was fortunate for them that the intention was discovered, because any descent upon Algesiras could only have been followed by their destruction. There was not the slightest truth in any of the reports which were current in other countries, respecting risings in different parts of the southern provinces. No attempt was made to disturb the government in any part of Andalusia, nor with the exception of the scheme I have just noticed, is it believed that any was meditated.
I left Algesiras before noon, and rode within water mark round the bay towards Gibraltar. Across the bay, it is not a league from Algesiras to Gibraltar, but round by the tongue of land, it is between two and three leagues; no one however can regret the distance, for the views on every side are magnificent; and the sands, when the tide is a little back, are spacious and dry. After crossing two wide creeks by ferries, I found myself on English, rather than on Spanish ground; for though still within the Spanish lines, I met numerous parties of English officers and ladies on horseback; and having passed the Spanish sentinels, and the neutral ground, which is but very limited, I was in the British dominions.
CHAPTER XVI.
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GIBRALTAR. MALAGA.
Picture of the Street Population of Gibraltar; the Construction of Houses favourable to Epidemic; Scenery, union of Nature and Art; the Agremens of Gibraltar as a Military Station; high Prices in Gibraltar; the Alameda; the Excavations; Walk to the Summit; the Monkeys; Magnificent View; Sunday in Gibraltar; Trade; the Epidemic; Extortion at the Passport Office; Voyage to Malaga; View of the City from the Sea; a strange Usage; Pictures of Idleness; facility of Living in Malaga; Bad Character of the Population; an Anecdote; Public Edifices; Society; Morals; Italian Opera; curious Scenes; a perilous Situation; the Wines of Malaga; Produce, and Export of Wines; Malaga Sherry; Export of Fruits; the Raisins of Malaga; Trade with England; Excursions in the Neighbourhood; Water-Coolers; Prices of Provisions.
To some, it may almost appear waste of words, to speak of Gibraltar,—Gibraltar, a British possession that every body has heard of, and where there are always five or six British regiments; and yet, if I be at all entitled to judge of others, by my own ignorance of Gibraltar before I visited it, I suspect the rock of Gibraltar is but very imperfectly known to those who have never passed the Streights.
When I threw open the window of the hotel, and looked out upon the street, it seemed as if I had been suddenly transported to England. I saw English houses, English names upon the corners of the streets, English names over the shops, English faces, English dresses. But a more narrow inspection of the population, destroys the illusion; for it is of so motley a character, that if we can suppose one to be carried to Gibraltar, without having been informed of his destination, he would be utterly at a loss to imagine in what corner of the world he had been set down. That gentleman sauntering down the street in a surtout and black neckcloth, is an Englishman; his countenance and his dress, alike decide his country: the two ladies who follow, are Spanish; the light step, and graceful gait, would be sufficient to determine this; but the mantilla and the fan, put it beyond doubt: those two on horseback, are a British officer and an English lady; the horse and the scarlet uniform fix the character of the one,—and as for the other, the bright sunny face, and auburn ringlets, are sufficient, without the evidence of the riding habit. The three women crossing the street, are neither English nor Spanish; their scarlet cloaks, trimmed with black velvet, distinguish them as Gibraltar women; or they might be Genoese. These men with turbans, ample trowsers, and crimson girdles, standing in a group under the piazzas, are Moors, the former masters of Spain: and these with bare legs, and sandals, and black caps and beards, sitting in the streets, are Barbary Jews, the common porters of Gibraltar: and that, is an English trading captain, easily known any where: and who can mistake the British tar, with his jacket and trowsers, and rolling walk, and bluff countenance—or the Spanish muleteer, the Andalusian, with his dark eye, and bizarre dress—or the kilted soldier, his sinewy limbs, and rough face, bearing the complexion of Scotch winds, and Highland hills? All this is seen in less than two minutes from the window of Griffith’s hotel.
Nothing can be worse judged than the manner in which the town of Gibraltar is built; the houses are constructed for the latitude of England in place of the latitude of Africa. It is not to be wondered at, that when epidemics find their way to Gibraltar, their progress should be irresistible; for not one demand of a hot climate has been complied with: here are no patios, and fountains, and open galleries, admitting a free circulation of air, as in Seville; all is closely boxed up, as if for the climate of England; closed doors, narrow passages, and narrow stairs, keep out the fresh, and keep in the foul air. In place of the floors being of brick, or Valencia tiles, they are of wood; the rooms are small; the windows, not folding, lightly closed, and opening upon airy balconies, but constructed upon the most approved air-excluding plan; and the bedrooms carpeted, and the beds curtained. The effects of all this may easily be imagined,—the spread of disease is powerfully assisted by filthiness, and by impure and stagnant air; and, accordingly, no where in Europe have the ravages of the plague been so fearful as in Gibraltar. The streets and houses are incapable of alteration; and therefore the only remedy would be, gradually to pull down the houses, and to replace them with others better fitted to the climate.
The morning after my arrival in Gibraltar, I walked out, with some curiosity, to see more of a spot of which I had heard so much. After leaving the town, the road led me towards the south-west, gradually mounting the rock, and disclosing novel and entrancing views below, while it conducted me through most charming scenes. I was every where struck with the results of industry, and of art—not supplanting nature, but adding its embellishments where her hand had already traced the outline. Wherever a nook in the rocks was covered with a little soil, it bore evidence of the labour that had been bestowed upon it; upon every little eminence, beautiful cottages, the quarters of the officers, or the country houses of the merchants, were seen surrounded by pretty gardens; and shaded, on one side perhaps by a majestic rock, on the other by orange trees and acacias. On both sides of the road, luxuriant hedges of geranium in flower, captivated more senses than one; and the rocks, too, were covered with its scarlet and lilac blossoms. The road which I pursued looked down upon the Alameda, which I had not then visited, but which looked most captivating from above; I saw it sprinkled with fig trees, with their broad beautiful leaves and fantastic trunks—and acacias, with their little yellow tufts so full of fragrance—and orange trees, speckled thick with the bright fruit, embowered in its green alcove. It was a charming prospect to look down upon the Alameda, and across to the Spanish main, over the calm bay—and up to the gigantic rocks, covered with their natural foliage, and sheltering the pretty villas that nestled under them. In about an hour and a half, I reached the south-west point, after passing numerous ranges of fine barracks; here the rock dips perpendicularly into the sea; and from this point, the long bold line of the African coast is seen stretching away to the west and south. The whole rock of Gibraltar is intersected by roads, broad and smooth, all adapted for horse exercise, and most of them for carriages. In fact, Gibraltar is not the banishment some people suppose; and as military quarters, it possesses many more agremens than any English provincial town can boast. There is no want of society in Gibraltar, for the military are always sufficiently numerous to form society among themselves; and that fine old gentleman, Sir George Don,[A] is just such a man as ought to be governor of Gibraltar, because he understands hospitality, and brings the inhabitants together. Every body in Gibraltar is bent upon amusement: there are balls and concerts, and private parties, and an excellent library and a reading room, where I saw the English magazines fifteen days after they were published in London. Add to all these agremens, charming rides on the fine sands within the Spanish lines; walks in the Alameda, where there are parades and military music every day; boating in the bay; and excursions to Algesiras, Ceuta, and Tangiers; and news from England by the steam-packet every month,—and it will be admitted that Gibraltar is not a place of military banishment. One drawback Gibraltar indeed possesses,—the expense of living. Almost every article of subsistence is brought from the Spanish main, from Africa, or from England; and every thing is therefore expensive: house-rent, especially, is exorbitantly high; the rent of a moderately sized house, ranging from 200l. to 400l. per annum. It is probable, however, that the withdrawal of business and population from Gibraltar to Cadiz—the result of the latter place having been made a free port—will affect a reduction in the value of property, and in the amount of house-rent. Clothing is an exception to the dearness of every thing in Gibraltar: all goods of foreign manufacture are of course to be bought of the regular trader, in a free port, at the same price as in the country where they are manufactured, with only the addition of freight, and the profit of the dealer; but all such articles find their way by some means into the hands of the Jews; and at the public sales which are held in the market-place almost daily, every thing may be bought far below prime cost.—I saw fine broad cloth sold at a dollar a yard.
The Alameda of Gibraltar is truly a little paradise; and whenever I left the inn, I found myself on the road to this delightful retreat. Along the whole of the north side of Gibraltar, there is a level, or nearly level stripe, between the base of the rock and the sea; this stripe varies in breadth, from a quarter, to perhaps two-thirds of a mile; the east end of it is occupied by the town, and the west end by the Alameda. This delightful promenade is about half a mile long; it is intersected by innumerable walks, and affords, besides its own attractions, ever changing and delightful views of the bay, the rock, the mainland, and the town. The fences are entirely of geranium of every variety; and of a size, such as would be thought worthy of a pilgrimage in England. The spaces between the walks, are thickets of geranium, and of various flowering and odoriferous plants, seen in the English green-house; and fig trees, silver elms, acacias, and orange trees, are thickly scattered over this little paradise. The Alameda of Gibraltar would be beautiful any where—even if surrounded by a desert; but how much more beautiful, bounded on one side by a rock fifteen hundred feet high, and on the other, by a placid bay of the Mediterranean!
But it is the excavations in the rock that are always spoken of as the wonder of Gibraltar. I of course visited these, and found them all, and more than all, that I had expected. The whole interior of the solid rock has been hewn, blasted, and formed into galleries, of immense extent,—wide enough for a carriage,—and leaving, every ten or twelve yards, openings at which cannon are placed, commanding the sea or the land approach to the rock. There are two galleries, one over the other, and the extent of both is between two and three miles. At one point in the highest gallery, a small opening leads to a projecting part of the rock, at the side of the great precipice of fifteen hundred feet, facing the north-east. I found every niche in the rock covered with white narcissus,—and beautiful looked these gentle flowers, standing in little companies, in spots where the hand of man could never reach, nor the foot of the goat ever stray: but I made a capture of one cluster, which nodded upon a little shelf within my reach; they smelt quite as sweet as the garden narcissus; and there were no fewer than eight flowers upon one stalk.