ch. i.] Gibraltar. 3 



point the rugged coast-line falls away towards Trafalgar 

 Bay and Gibraltar, a distance of nearly two hundred 

 miles. We were fortunate in seeing the red honey- 

 combed rock at Gibraltar in the morning's sunshine, the 

 pretty little town of St. Roque lying behind across the 

 neutral ground. To the left the cork woods and Alge- 

 siraz. Exactly opposite " Gib," on the African side, is 

 Ceuta, with its lighthouse and fort on the hill, and 

 square flat-topped Moorish houses below ; while Apes* 

 Hill stands up clear and dark against the masses of 

 fleecy white clouds. The straits here are about six miles 

 wide, and it was near this point that the Moors used to 

 cross, Pict and Scot fashion, into Spain in the olden 

 time. Of course, like Mark Twain, we saw the " Queen 

 of Spain's chair " on the hill behind Gibraltar, and a 

 naturalist friend reminds me that the rock here is the 

 only place in Europe where monkeys and scorpions are 

 naturalised. The wag meant " Hock Scorpions " I sup- 

 pose, but the monkeys are there all right enough. B3' 

 the aid of a good glass, we saw patches of cultivated 

 crops on the low coast hills, and whitewashed farm- 

 houses were freely dotted amongst them. Now we were 

 fairly into the blue waters of the Mediterranean, and the 

 coast lines began to recede on either side. Here and 

 there, however, over the coast hills we obtained glimpses 

 of the snow-peaked Sierra Nevada mountains standing 

 out clear and cool against the blue sky. 



It was about the middle of June, and very hot during 

 the day time, but chilly at night. The sea is of the most 

 emphatic blue when you look down into it, but has a 

 purplish glow towards the horizon. The sunsets are 

 occasionally very beautiful, with their tints of crimson, 

 salmon, grey, vermilion, and gold. It is pleasant at sun- 

 rise, after a bracing salt-water bath under the hose-pipe, 



11 2 



