This Isle, On The Verge Of The Ocean, Contains Some Little Forts And A
Mosque, And Its Marabout Shrines Sparkle In The Sun.
It is a place of
exile for political offenders.
When the French landed, at the
bombardment of Mogador, they released fifty or sixty state prisoners,
some of whom had been Bashaws, or ministers of this and former reigns.
The isle, however, is finely situate off the Atlantic, fanned and swept
by healthy gales, and the prisoners suffer only seclusion from the
Continent. The exiles never attempt to escape, but quietly submit to
their destiny.
In the port, there are only ten or twelve feet of water at ebb tide, so
that large vessels cannot enter, but must lie at anchor a mile and a
half off the Western battery, which extends along the north-western side
of the port. Such vessels do not lie there except in the summer months,
and then with extreme caution, being, as they are, right off in the
Atlantic, on one of its most dangerous coasts. There are some tolerable
batteries, but they cannot long resist a European bombardment, which was
demonstrated by the French.
Colonel Keating says, "As far as parapets, ramparts, embrasures,
cavaliers, batteries, and casemates constitute a fortress, this town is
one; but the walls are flimsy, the cavaliers do not command, the
batteries do not flash, and the casemates are not bomb-proof. The
embrasures are so close that not one in three upon the ramparts could be
worked, if they were mounted, which they are not.
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