ATOURFROMGIBRALTARTOCONSTANTINOPLE.
LETTER I.TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
LETTER I.TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
LETTER I.
TO CAPTAIN SMITH.
Carthagena, August 14th.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
In compliance with your request, II have kept a regular Journal of myVoyage, which I now inclose you:
In compliance with your request, II have kept a regular Journal of myVoyage, which I now inclose you:
In compliance with your request, II have kept a regular Journal of myVoyage, which I now inclose you:
In compliance with your request, I
I have kept a regular Journal of my
Voyage, which I now inclose you:
Tuesday, August 7th, Noon.
Tuesday, August 7th, Noon.
Tuesday, August 7th, Noon.
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 beautifulCava. 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 theywere 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 graduallydeclined 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 Philipthe 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.
August 10th, Noon.
We have been, all this morning, in sight of Almeria. The more, for two orthree leagues on each side, is almost flat, with a very fine beach; but the town itself displays all the variety of hill, dale and water. It stands on a river, whose banks seem in high cultivation, and are over-hung by prodigious mountains; whilst the low ground, particularly to the east, rises in a gradual slope, covered with groves and avenues of olive, and cork-trees, interspersed with vines and green canes. This beautiful spot forms a kind of amphitheatre, enclosed by the Grenadines, whose rugged summits appear almost inaccessible.
On a steep ascent, at the West end of the town, stands a large Moorish castle, in very good repair. At present it is only respectable for its antiquity; but, in 1147, it made a most vigorous defence against Conrad the Third, assisted by the French, Genoese, and Pisans; and, after a glorious resistance, it was taken by assault, and all the Moors most inhumanly put todeath. Vast riches were found in the place, particularly the famous Agate ship, which is still shewn by the Genoese, as one of the most valuable curiosities in Genoa. The castle of Almeria is an exact copy of that at Gibraltar, and, like it, is commanded by an height immediately above it.
Dusk. Early in the afternoon, a breeze sprang up, and we are now off Cape de Gatt, about six leagues from Almeria, and fifty-two from Gibraltar. On the point, the Spaniards have a small barbette battery. The land, for some miles on each side, is almost perpendicular; but, although we are near a league from the shore, we have soundings in sixteen fathoms. The easterly wind continuing, we have just tacked, and are standing to the South.
August 11th.
In the morning, we made Abido, an island of rocks, on the Barbary shore,Lat. 35° 44′, Long. 51′ W.and, in the afternoon, passed between the island and the main, which no British ship, I believe, ever did before. The passage is barely three leagues wide; but the shallowest water, three quarters of a mile from the rocks, was thirty-seven fathoms. The wind being contrary, we were several hours in working through.
August 12th.
During last night, we crossed from the African to the Spanish shore, where the wind has left us in a calm.
August 13th, Mid-day.
We are now in sight of Almazaron, a scattered village, at the bottom of a small bay, well flanked by some little works on the cliffs on each side. At 4 P. M. tacked in fifteen fathoms water, one mile off Cape Tignose. On the west side of this point, there is good anchorage, well sheltered from the east wind. The Spaniardshave a white tower on the point, on which they have mounted two or three small guns; and, indeed, we have scarce seen a spot on the coast of Spain, that a boat could land on, but what is defended by a tower or a little battery. Slight as these works appear, they not only check the smugglers, but have frequently been of service in protecting the coasters from the depredations of the Barbary corsairs; while they also communicate intelligence, by signals, from one extremity of the kingdom to the other, in very few hours.
Tuesday, August 14th.
The wind blowing hard from the East, with a heavy swell, we have anchored off the mouth of Carthagena harbour.
Notwithstanding the adverse winds, nothing could be more pleasant than our voyage. We have crossed the Mediterraneanseveral times, but have never been more than twelve hours out of sight of land; and the weather, till last night, was so moderate, that not a soul has been sea sick.
The Spaniards have been remarkably civil. They have made a thousand apologies for putting us under quarantine, and have promised to send us every thing we may want. Carthagena is inLat. 37° 42′, Long. 58′ W.two hundred and fifty miles from Gibraltar. It was built by Asdrubal, from whose country it took its name. I will be more particular in my next letter.