430 
quality either in flavour or appearance, 
Wheat is brought from all parts of the 
Mediterranean, by Greeks, who come 
here on speculation. The sailors have an 
jnterest in the sale of the cargo; and if 
the market be disadvantageous, the men 
get nothing for the voyage, as they are 
hired for a venture, and their recom- 
pense arises from the profit on the cargo. 
Fish may be had in abundance, but the 
fishermen do not like the restraint they 
ave placed under, of taking out a hi- 
cence; and this has been imposed on 
them in consequence of a vast smaggling 
trade that was carried on with the coast 
of Spain, during the war, Tobacco was 
an article extensively dealt in; the boats 
used to go armed, and the Spaniards 
came to the shore in bodies of two hun- 
dred wen at. a time, to meet the ad- 
wenturers, who were generally paid in 
dollars for their commodities; but Lord 
Collingwood and General Dalrymple put 
gn end to this illicit traffic, and. occa- 
sioned a serious loss to some individuals 
who had stocks of tobacco on-hand, as 
‘well as by the capture of their loaded 
Boats. .The Brazil, or black tobacco, is 
the quality consumed on the Mediter- 
raneair coasts; and the winte, or Vir- 
ginia, in the other parts of Spain, 
Firing is supplied from England; the 
Duke of Newcastle furnishing the troops 
with pit-coal, free of expence, excepting 
the freight; and, as the issues to them are 
Fiberal, and often exceed their wants, the 
surplus is sufficient for the use of the 
inhabitants, who pyrchase this article at 
about twelve or fourteen dollars per 
chaldron, 
Toward the southernend of the rack 
is the dock-yard, where the men of war 
can only be partially repaired, as there 
is no dry dock. 1 could, not avoid re- 
marking, over the entrance, a board with 
a public notice written on it, in English, 
~and an attempted translation into 4 
broken language between Italian and 
Spanish; reflecting, at the least, no gram- 
‘matical credit on the author, whether he 
were a government clerk or not. 
The victualling department is near the 
syard; it is a small building, but a mag- 
nificent one is begun, the cost of which 
ds estimated at fifteen thousand pounds 
sterling. Here are also some extensive 
tanks, excavated in the rock ; they are to 
be filled from the water that accumulates 
in the rainy season; and are calculated 
vo contain a sufficient supply for the navy 
for twelve months, They are divided into 
compartments, and the expence of mak- 
~ 
Journal of a recent Voyage to Cadiz. 
[June l, © 
ing them is calculated to have been not 
less than forty thousand pounds sterling. 
Europa Point, which forms the south 
end of the rock, and has its name from 
being the extreme point of Jand in En- 
rope, is a flat space, covered with rough 
fragments, and inequalities of the rock, 
about six hundred feet in diameter; and 
can scarcely ever be approached by 
boats, owing to the many ¢mall’ project= 
ing rocks which run a considerable dis- 
tance into the sea. 
On the top ofthe rock, near this place, 
General O'Hara, while governor, erected’ 
a signal tower, cailed St. George’s Tower, 
(now O’Hara’s Folly.) It was intended 
to supersede the use of another signal, at 
some distance from it; but a ‘violent 
storm, accompanied by lightning, shat- 
tered and nearly threw down the whole 
fabric, soon after it was built; and it is 
supposed that this effect was produced:in | 
consequence of the stone work being 
fastened by bars of iron, 
It was to Europa Point that the in- 
habitants retired, 1m the:year 1802, while 
the plague raged with such violence, as to 
carry off upwards of seven thousand 
people belonging to the place. The 
want of sufficient and efficacious medical 
assistance wus much felt, and the ap- 
proach of the winter season was the only 
powerful aid that destroyed, the con- 
tagion, It was remarkable that the 
porters, who are natives of Barbary, 
should in general have escaped the fever ; 
they used to attend on the sick and the. 
dead, without contracting the disease, 
At this period, a duck or a fow! cost two 
dollars; and turkeys, ten to fourteen dole 
lars each, 
The rock, fromits great height, affords 
numerous points of observation. The sigs 
~ nal-house, in the centre of the summit, 
commands the Atlantic, beyond the coast 
of Tangiers, so that not a ship can enter 
the straights unobserved. The levelled 
space on which it stands is about: thirty 
feet diameter; and from it a ship of 
the line has a very diminutive appear 
ance. The prospect is altogether de- 
lightful; toward the Mediterranean we 
distinctly see the mountains beyond Ma. 
laga, called the “ Sierra Nieva,” from 
the circumstance of their being always 
covered with snow: they are distant, in 
a straight line, about one hundred and 
twenty miles, The towns, on the seas 
coast, are numerous, and the country 
nround is very picturesque. Itis bounded 
on all sides, as. far as the eye can reach, 
by lofty mountains; the valleys and 
1 piginsy 
