The Spaniards have landed already rails and ties for a short railroad for the transport of heavy war material to the city. They have also commenced a telegraph, probably for communication with Madrid, or to give the Moors an idea of European civilization. It struck me as curious that they should do in Africa what they have been so backward in accomplishing in their own country.
CLV.
Mogadore, Coast of Morocco, February 29, 1860.
My last from Tetuan, informed you of its occupation by the Spaniards and the flight of the Moors, which has created the greatest burst of enthusiasm and national feeling throughout Spain; and if we can judge from the Spanish journals, which are filled with the events and incidents of the war, the praises of the army are being sung in all parts of Spain.
Gen. O’Donnell has been created Duke of Tetuan. Report says the Emperor of Morocco has sued for peace, and the Queen’s counsellors have demanded the permanent possession of Tetuan and twenty millions of dollars in part payment of the expenses of the war. It now remains to be seen if the Emperor will accede to the proposition.
Our steamer received orders to discharge her cargo at Gibraltar, where I took up my quarters at the hotel for a few days. Having visited this strongly fortified key of the straits twice before, and once described it to you, I will only add that no practical changes have taken place. The garrison of six thousand well-equipped and well-disciplined troops is kept up. Only a portion of the English and French fleet, which were sent here when the war broke out, now remain in the bay. The gates of the city, which inclose twenty thousand souls, including troops, are closed at sundown and opened at sunrise. A permit is granted for visitors who are not lodged in the city, which is good till the evening; but a longer sojourn requires application at the police. There the steamers coal which are bound up the Mediterranean, and to England and Portugal. The supplies are drawn from Spain or the coast of Morocco, and vessels from different sources. The natives, by derision, are called Rock Scorpions, and are mostly Jews and Spaniards. The Spanish is commonly spoken, although the schools are in part English. The streets are kept neat and clean. The houses rise one above another, like the sides of an amphitheatre, to a great height, and the ascent requires considerable climbing.
On the summit of the rock, with its frowning batteries and tunnelled galleries, with cannon pointing in all directions, is seen the telegraph; and by it, in the brush and scrubby trees, are monkeys grinning and climbing, the only representatives of the race in Europe, and who would have been extinct long since did not heavy penalties prevent it. On the African side, the mountains are infested with them.
The carnival season was being enjoyed by the masqueraders, but the balls and costumes were rather sorry affairs in comparison with those of Madrid, and other large cities of Spain.
Gibraltar is a free port, and gives employment to merchants and traders, who are celebrated for their sharp and acute transactions. The captains of vessels whom I met, who had put in for repairs or in distress, say they are worse than Key West wreckers. Smuggling and contraband trade with Spain has fallen off, however, with lower duties and the close of civil wars.
The weather was cool for the season. Snow was seen upon the African mountains, and bad reports of cholera came in from Tetuan; large numbers were dying among troops and residents. I had seen sufficient evidence of its existence, and concluded it was safest to be out of the district.