Mr. B. Then, Addressing Himself To The Latter, Made Some
Observations On The Impropriety Of Using The Word Greek To
A
British sailor; not forgetting, at the same time, to speak of the
absolute necessity of obedience and discipline on
Board every ship.
His words produced such an effect, that in a very little time the
sailor held out his hand towards his captain, and expressed his
willingness to go on board with him and perform his duty, adding,
that the captain, upon the whole, was the best man in the world.
So they departed mutually pleased; the consul making both of them
promise to attend divine service at his house on the following day.
Sunday morning came, and I was on board the steamer by six o'clock.
As I ascended the side, the harsh sound of the Catalan dialect
assailed my ears. In fact, the vessel was Catalan built, and the
captain and crew were of that nation; the greater part of the
passengers already on board, or who subsequently arrived, appeared
to be Catalans, and seemed to vie with each other in producing
disagreeable sounds. A burly merchant, however, with a red face,
peaked chin, sharp eyes, and hooked nose, clearly bore off the
palm; he conversed with astonishing eagerness on seemingly the most
indifferent subjects, or rather on no subject at all; his voice
would have sounded exactly like a coffee-mill but for a vile nasal
twang: he poured forth his Catalan incessantly till we arrived at
Gibraltar. Such people are never sea-sick, though they frequently
produce or aggravate the malady in others. We did not get under
way until past eight o'clock, for we waited for the Governor of
Algeciras, and started instantly on his coming on board. He was a
tall, thin, rigid figure of about seventy, with a long, grave,
wrinkled countenance; in a word, the very image of an old Spanish
grandee. We stood out of the bay, rounding the lofty lighthouse,
which stands on a ledge of rocks, and then bent our course to the
south, in the direction of the straits. It was a glorious morning,
a blue sunny sky and blue sunny ocean; or, rather, as my friend
Oehlenschlaeger has observed on a similar occasion, there appeared
two skies and two suns, one above and one below.
Our progress was rather slow, notwithstanding the fineness of the
weather, probably owing to the tide being against us. In about two
hours we passed the Castle of Santa Petra, and at noon were in
sight of Trafalgar. The wind now freshened and was dead ahead; on
which account we hugged closely to the coast, in order to avoid as
much as possible the strong heavy sea which was pouring down from
the Straits. We passed within a very short distance of the Cape, a
bold bluff foreland, but not of any considerable height.
It is impossible for an Englishman to pass by this place - the scene
of the most celebrated naval action on record - without emotion.
Here it was that the united navies of France and Spain were
annihilated by a far inferior force; but that force was British,
and was directed by one of the most remarkable men of the age, and
perhaps the greatest hero of any time. Huge fragments of wreck
still frequently emerge from the watery gulf whose billows chafe
the rocky sides of Trafalgar: they are relies of the enormous
ships which were burnt and sunk on that terrible day, when the
heroic champion of Britain concluded his work and died. I never
heard but one individual venture to say a word in disparagement of
Nelson's glory: it was a pert American, who observed, that the
British admiral was much overrated. "Can that individual be
overrated," replied a stranger, "whose every thought was bent on
his country's honour, who scarcely ever fought without leaving a
piece of his body in the fray, and who, not to speak of minor
triumphs, was victorious in two such actions as Aboukir and
Trafalgar?"
We were now soon in sight of the Moorish coast, Cape Spartel
appearing dimly through mist and vapour on our right. A regular
Levanter had now come on, and the vessel pitched and tossed to a
very considerable degree. Most of the passengers were sea-sick;
the governor, however, and myself held out manfully: we sat on a
bench together, and entered into conversation respecting the Moors
and their country. Torquemada himself could not have spoken of
both with more abhorrence. He informed me that he had been
frequently in several of the principal Moorish towns of the coast,
which he described as heaps of ruins: the Moors themselves he
called Caffres and wild beasts. He observed that he had never been
even at Tangier, where the people were most civilised, without
experiencing some insult, so great was the abhorrence of the Moors
to anything in the shape of a Christian. He added, however, that
they treated the English with comparative civility, and that they
had a saying among them to the effect that Englishman and Mahometan
were one and the same; he then looked particularly grave for a
moment, and, crossing himself, was silent. I guessed what was
passing in his mind:
"From heretic boors,
And Turkish Moors,
Star of the sea,
Gentle Marie,
Deliver me!"
At about three we were passing Tarifa, so frequently mentioned in
the history of the Moors and Christians. Who has not heard of
Alonzo Guzman the faithful, who allowed his only son to be
crucified before the walls of the town rather than submit to the
ignominy of delivering up the keys to the Moorish monarch, who,
with a host which is said to have amounted to nearly half a million
of men, had landed on the shores of Andalusia, and threatened to
bring all Spain once more beneath the Moslem yoke? Certainly if
there be a land and a spot where the name of that good patriot is
not sometimes mentioned and sung, that land, that spot is modern
Spain and modern Tarifa.
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