near to and passed Cape St. Vincent. The cape and the whole of the coast is bold and grand, presenting a lofty cliff to the sea, and shows an interesting geological section, indicating great disturbances of the strata.

It was off this cape, on the 14th of February, 1797, that Admiral Sir John Jervis, in command of the Mediterranean Fleet, fought and defeated the armament of Spain, which consisted of nearly double the number of ships, and more than double the number of guns and weight of metal than were in the Mediterranean Fleet; this battle was called after the name of this celebrated cape; and for this victory, achieved against such odds, the British Admiral was raised to the peerage, under the title of St. Vincent.*

As we rounded the cape, the national flag of Portugal was hoisted by way of salute from a building on its summit, near its extreme point, said to be a monastery. The coast of Portugal here trends to the eastward, until it joins that of Spain, which again takes a southerly direction to Cape Trafalgar. Upon passing this cape we entered the straits of Gibraltar. This celebrated channel is generally reckoned to commence here, and to terminate at Europa Point, on the coast of

* The name of Nelson should never be forgotten in any mention of this victory.

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Spain, about twelve leagues to the eastward, on the European side of the straits, and to extend from Cape Spartal to Ceuta Point on the African coast. The width between Gibraltar and Ceuta is about five leagues, but at its western entrance it is about eight leagues, and diminishes towards the middle, opposite Tolima, a town on the Spanish coast, where it is only about nine miles in breadth. Trafalgar will ever remain a celebrated name in the annals of naval warfare, for off this cape, on the 21st of October, 1805, Lord Nelson, with the British Fleet of twenty-seven sail-of-the-line, gained a splendid victory over the combined fleets of France and Spain, consisting of thirtythree sail; and, unfortunately, lost his life.

It was early in the morning of the 26th of On our left July, that we entered the straits. lay, on the margin of the sea, the Spanish town of Tarifa, beyond which appeared the mountains of Granada; and obliquely, on our right, were the Before us the Pillars of mountains in Morocco. on the Hercules rose to our view, the one European side is the far-famed rock of Gibraltar, the other pillar, on the African side, is named Mons Abyla. We entered the fine bay formed by the promontory of Gibraltar on the east, and the shore of Spain on the west and north; here and there appeared a town or fort, and Algeziras, a consider

able town, lay on the west side of the bay opposite our great fortress. This town was of great service to the enemy during the great and long siege of Gibraltar, which commenced in 1779, and did not terminate until peace was made between England, France, and Spain, in 1783 We reached the anchorage off Gibraltar at about half-past ten in the forenoon,* and our Captain was so obliging as to take my wife and self on shore with him; this saved us some annoyance from the importunities of the crowd of boatmen surrounding the ship, whom the Captain designated as the refuse of all the nations and islands in the Mediterranean, who fly here as to a city of refuge, and obtain a living in any way they can.

* The outward passage from Southampton to Gibraltar still takes five to six days for its accomplishment, but on the return home there is less delay.

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CHAPTER III.

GIBRALTAR TO MALTA.

WE landed close to a market-place outside of one of the gates leading to the fortress; here were exposed for sale abundance of fine fruit and vegetables from the opposite coast of Barbary, from whence large supplies are brought, it being a kind of domestic market for the inhabitants of the Rock. In this market-place, either lounging about or amusing themselves in various ways, were a number of singular-looking people dressed in picturesque, but mostly shabby and dirty costumes; they were from all parts of the Mediterranean shores, Moors, Spaniards, Genoese, Maltese, Greeks, and innumerable others; some had brought supplies from Morocco, some were engaged in contraband trade* with Spain; some

* This trade still flourishes as actively as ever, in spite of all efforts to suppress it, and much to the annoyance of the Spanish Government, who still look upon our occupation of the Rock with anger and jealousy. The attempts of the Spanish gun-boats to prevent this traffic, are a frequent cause of disputes between the Spanish and English Governments.

obtained a living as boatmen, others were employed as porters, and many in ways best known to themselves. They appeared to be a doubtful if not suspicious set; but in an isolated place like this, they are more or less necessary to the garrison and the permanent inhabitants.

We passed through the gate into the town, and hired an open carriage to convey us to such interesting spots as our time would permit us to visit, for we were to proceed again upon our journey before the evening. But here we found a difficulty at once, our driver and ourselves could not understand each other's language, and we came to a stand-still in the upper part of the town; after some delay I observed two military gentlemen looking over the ramparts towards the bay; to them I stated my difficulty, and the elder of the two stepped towards the carriage, and after some inquiries as to the length of our stay, said "That our time would not permit our seeing much of interest on the Rock, but he would direct the driver where to take us that we might see as much as possible." This politeness prevented us losing the day entirely. We drove to Europa Point, saw General Fox's very pretty house, also much of the external fortifications and the town. Our kind director had expressed regret that we could not see the caverns; however, our time was