The races by Arab horses mounted by British officers were very good. Twenty-four horses started, and all came in neck and neck to the winning post; they also rode what is called an omnibus race, two riders on one horse; also the wardrobe race, each rider putting on his braces, waistcoat, and jacket as he rode, before reaching the winning post. The tent pegging and lemon slicing was quite new to us.
The P. and O. boats from Australia, calling at Malta, are the best service, so we took our berths to Gibraltar, a passage of four days. The “Indus” carried about one hundred cabin passengers, principally colonists. We were never out of sight of land the whole distance, first skirting the African Coast off Tunis, then Algiers, Fez, and Morocco, all picturesque and interesting. A lady remarked they had been coasting Africa for a fortnight, at 12½ knots, and yet had three days more to do, which gives a very faint idea of what a Continent we were passing. We passed a whale spouting in these seas. Before nearing Gibraltar the course directed to the Spanish Coast, and during this portion of the voyage we had the boldest coast we had ever seen.
Gibraltar is only a rock of about 1,200 feet, but it is more picturesque than Malta. It is not very unlike the Great Ormes Head from some points of view, but looks bolder. The base of the hill is studded with pretty villas, these are occupied mostly by English Officers and their families. The space for the town is very small; the markets and houses are all within the fortifications. There are about 4,000 Spanish allowed to live here on sufferance, but are liable to be ejected at a moment’s notice.
The principal feature of Gibraltar is its natural fortifications. The Rock is pierced with two tunnels, called the Upper and Lower Gallery. From these tunnels cannon are fixed at all points of defence. A sergeant told us that it would take all the powers of Europe combined to take Gibraltar.
We stayed here two days, and then shipped on the Cunard S.S. “Morocco.” We had a fair passage–about two nights and two-and-a-half days in the Bay of Biscay, with a head wind N.E., doing five knots per hour. I had often wished to see the rollers of the Bay, and I saw them. They were so grand that they took away the appetite I should have had for my dinner. It was on the Thursday morning preceding Good Friday that we rounded Holyhead.
We had not had any English news for a fortnight, because it takes six days to go to Gibraltar and six back. We cleared the Bar and steamed into the Alexandra Dock, after being away for six weeks and three days, and, as my companion had carefully calculated, covered over 5,000 miles.
E. GRIFFITH AND SON, PRINTERS, CAXTON WORKS, BIRKENHEAD.