74 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1894. 



boxes, for which the price was only eight dollars. Matanzas connects 

 with Havana by rail, and a visit to that place is well worth the trip. 



In sailing through the Straits of Gibraltar, where the mountains of 

 Europe seem to rival those of Africa, the most remarkable object that 

 meets your wondering gaze is the Rock itself, rising abruptly from 

 the low sandy isthmus which connects it with the main land of Spain. 

 The Straits are oG miles in length and 13 miles wide in the narrowest 

 part. The current always sets towards the Mediterranean Sea, run- 

 ning at the rate of thi'ee miles, giving one the impression that the vast 

 Atlantic had forced its way through this narrow opening in spite of 

 every obstacle. This remarkable inland sea is said to be salter than 

 the ocean and has no visible outlet. There is supposed to be an under- 

 current flowing into the Atlantic. The evaporation here is known to 

 be very great, owing to the heat from the deserts. Sailing ships must 

 wait for a levant, or easterly wind, before attempting to pass from the 

 eastward. At one time we, in company with 250 sail, were 14 days 

 lying oft' and on back of the Rock before we could enter the Straits. 



Can we ever forget the grand sight as we looked, for the first time 

 by daylight, upon Gibraltar, that almost isolated rock rising to the 

 height of 1,470 feet, three miles in length from north to south, and 

 three-quarters of a mile wide? The view from where we lay at anchor 

 bore a striking resemblance to a huge lion looking towards Spain. I 

 have since seen a magnificent painting of the lion view at Wellesley 

 College. On a nearer approach the resemblance to a lion gradually 

 fades away and a steep perpendicular height is presented to our view. 

 I have seen the rock from different approaches, but its first appearance 

 is the one that will be forever fixed in my memory. The cit}' which 

 lies spread out before us is indeed founded upon a rock. We cannot 

 realize that instruments of death are looking out at us from every 

 available point, so calm and peacefully reposes this monster at the 

 doorway of the Mediterranean. The next morning we were on shore 

 bright and early to take a jaunt on Gibraltar. First, we procured a 

 carriage and drove to the neutral ground between the Rock and Spain, 

 which is a low^ sandy isthmus 1,000 yards wide. I read in the paper, 

 not long ago, of some Spanish women who came onto this neutral 

 ground to sell their goods. The goods were confiscated. The next 

 day the women returned with their friends and demanded the goods, 

 which were refused. They then attacked the place where they were 

 stored, and became so furious that the militia was called out to drive 

 them away. After driving upon the beach we passed through the city 

 and drove to Europa Point, on which the lighthouse is situated. From 



