122 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



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 endurance, 

 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 after- 

 noon 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 moun- 

 tains, 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 consid- 

 erable, 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 

 seemed eroded in a remarkable manner. It has its floods, 

 which excavate these valleys and ravines, and leave those 

 singular ridges behind. Toward evening I climbed the 

 mainmast, and, standing on the cross-trees, saw the sun set 

 amid a blaze of fiery clouds. The wind was strong and 

 bitterly cold, and I was glad to slide back to the deck along 

 a rope, which stretched from the mast-head to the ship's 

 side. That night we cast anchor beside the mole of Gib- 

 raltar. 



On the morning of the 27th, in company with two 

 friends, I drove to the Spanish lines, with the view of 

 seeing the rock from that side. It is an exceedingly noble 

 mass. The Peninsular and Oriental mail-boat had been 

 signaled and had come. Heavy duties called me home- 

 ward, and by transferring myself from the Urgent to 

 the mail-steamer I should gain three days. I hired a boat, 

 rowed to the steamer, learned that she was to start at one, 

 and returned with all speed to the Urgent. Making 

 known to Captain Henderson my wish to get away, he ex- 

 pressed doubts as to the possibility of reaching the mail- 

 steamer in time. With his accustomed kindness, he how- 



