VOYAGE TO ALGERIA. 161 



looking after their horses, waiting for a lull to enable 

 them to embark for France. One of their officers was 

 wandering in a very solitary fashion over the fort. We 

 had some conversation with him. He had been at 

 Sedan, had been taken prisoner, but had effected his 

 escape. He shook his head when we spoke of the ter- 

 mination of the war, and predicted its long continuance. 

 There was bitterness in his tone as he spoke of the 

 charges of treason so lightly levelled against French 

 commanders. The green waves raved round the pro- 

 montory on which the fort stands, smiting the rocks, 

 breaking into foam, and jumping, after impact, to a 

 height of a hundred feet and more into the air. As we 

 returned our vehicle broke down through the loss of a 

 wheel. The Admiral went on board, while I remained 

 long watching the agitated sea. The little horses of 

 Oran well merit a passing word. Their speed and en- 

 durance, both of which are heavily drawn upon by their 

 drivers, are extraordinary. 



The wind sinking, we lifted anchor on the 24th. 

 For some hours we went pleasantly along ; but during 

 the afternoon the storm revived, and it blew heavily 

 against us all the night. When we came opposite the 

 Bay of Almeria, on the 25th, the captain turned the 

 ship, and steered into the bay, where, under the shadow 

 of the Sierra Nevada, we passed Christmas night in 

 peace. Next morning ' a rose of dawn ' rested on the 

 snows of the adjacent mountains, while a purple haze 

 was spread over the lower hills. I had no notion that 

 Spain possessed so fine a range of mountains as the 

 Sierra Nevada. The height is considerable, but the 

 form also is such as to get the maximum of grandeur 

 out of the height. We weighed anchor at eight A.M., 

 passing for a time through shoal water, the bottom 

 having been evidently stirred up. The adjacent land 



