40 Voyage of the Novara. 



Algeziras, formerly a poor fishing-village, has greatly 

 increased in extent and prosperity, through the smuggling 

 trade. This clean and pretty -looking place has a population 

 of 10,000 souls, and makes by contrast an extremely pleasant 

 impression on coming from the dismal and gloomy fortress. 

 Men and things here have quite an Andalusian appearance. 

 The small but neat one-storied houses are mostly painted 

 a bright white, and ornamented with green verandahs ; at 

 almost every window beautiful flowers are exhibited ; and the 

 public promenade, shaded by fine trees, is delightful. The 

 principal square is likewise planted with trees, and the lower 

 stories of its houses are occupied by apothecaries' shops, coffee- 

 rooms, confectioners, and one by a bookseller even. The churches 

 appear in every respect insignificant ; the hospital of San Juan 

 de Dios, however, is an ancient and noble structure, the manage- 

 ment of which is admirable. One of the arrangements here was 

 eminently characteristic of Spain : in the ward for male patients 

 stands at the upper end, by the side of the beds for common 

 patients, a large, broad, elegantly-polished bedstead, which, the 

 porter told us, was intended for " cabaUeros." 



At a short distance from the town is the Amphitheatre 

 Constantia, a large wooden booth, said to hold nearly 9000 

 spectators. It is chiefly used for bull-fights, which always 

 attract a large audience. The aqueduct here, taken with the 

 fine scenery around, forms an exceedingly picturesque object. 



The inhabitants of Gibraltar sometimes make excursions to 

 the peninsula of Ceuta (the Sebta of the Moors), situated on the 



