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deprecate it, was never yet the offspring of a weakly character. And it is this 

 strength of character which made the Spaniard intolerant when power was 

 his, which also saved him from effete degeneration in the days when wealth 

 was to be had for the asking. 



Spain's immense colonial empire is now a thing of the past, and once again 

 the Spanish people are thrown back upon the unappreciated resources of their 

 native soil, and already on all sides there are not wanting signs of national 

 awakening. The general incongruities of the day, indeed, are good evidence 

 of this ; electric tramways and electric lights in the most squalid of villages 

 and hamlets might otherwise seem altogether out of place. The people of 

 the Peninsula are probably the most heterogeneous in Europe, and long 

 political union does not appear to have brought about anything like social 

 amalgamation, as has been the case in other parts of the world. And as 

 each race has its special temperament so this association of races, which we 

 call Spanish people, will find ample scope for the exercise of individual energies 

 in a land that nature has so well endowed. Under the segis of wise state- 

 manship the future lies with the Spanish yeoman ; in the North of Africa, 

 in Algeria and Tunisia, whither lack of home employment has often driven 

 him, there exists no sturdier workman or better artisan. He is in a position 

 to seize upon the opportunities that are now arising, and therewith will build 

 up a new Spain. 



TUNISIA. 



On the 10th November, 1910, 1 left Marseilles for Tunis, by the St. Augustin, 

 of the Compagnie Transatlantique. The Blue Mediterranean is little more 

 than a narrow land-locked lake ; and yet when the Mistral blows down the 

 Rhone Valley it can make things particularly unpleasant for the rather 

 small vessels that run between the European and African coasts. Our mail- 

 boat was none of the newest or of the best equipped indeed I recollect 

 covering the same distance with her some 20 years ago and the troubled 

 waves gave us no respite until we came within shelter of the beautiful gulf 

 of Tunis. I had always looked forward to seeing the old well-remembered 

 landmarks slowly breaking into view ; but alas, this was not to be, for it was 

 under the veil of night that we approached the African coast ; and beyond 

 the intermittent flashes of passing lighthouses, and later on the twinkling 

 lights of the Carthaginian shore, all was hidden in darkness. 



The town of Tunis is not a natural seaport ; it is situated on the edge of 

 a salt lagoon in communication with the sea, and enlivened at times by the 



