8 ABANDONED BY THE ENGLISH. ch. i. 



language and manners, and the Grovernor and the garrison 

 were no better than the rest. After accomplishing one 

 useful work by constructing a mole that converted the 

 roadstead into a secure harbour, they were disappointed 

 in their expectation of an extensive trade with the in- 

 terior, and, what was more galling, were worsted in every 

 encounter with the Moors, till, in 1685, the Grovemment 

 in London decided to abandon Tangier. When this be- 

 came known at Lisbon, the Portuguese strongly urged the 

 impolicy of abandoning such a position to pirates, and 

 requested that it should be restored to them on condition 

 that the English should have free use of the port. With 

 characteristic meanness and imbecility the Duke of York 

 - — soon afterwards James II. — opposed the gift, and urged 

 that the honour of England required that the place 

 should be dismantled, and be left for occupation to who- 

 ever could hold it. His advice prevailed ; and, on the 

 retirement of the English force, the mole was effectually 

 blown up, destroying the only good harbour for shipping 

 on the seaboard of Marocco — a distance of fully nine 

 hundred miles. 



Nature, however, has made Tangier the port of North 

 Marocco, and, in spite of human perversity, it is a place of 

 some importance. Eeady access to the fertile provinces 

 lying between the Straits of Gribraltar and Fez has made 

 it the centre of a considerable trade in hides and grain, 

 which go to France and England, to say nothing of cattle 

 and other supplies for the garrison of Gibraltar. Its 

 nearness to Europe has made it the residence of the 

 representatives of the principal civilised Powers, and its 

 admirable climate has attracted invalids from Gibraltar 

 and elsewhere, in spite of such drawbacks as dirt, bad 

 smells, and the utter absence of roads. 



On our arrival, we were most kindly received by Sir 

 John Drummond Hay, to whose intimate knowledge of 

 the country and justly acquired influence with the Moorish 

 Court we are largely indebted for whatever success at- 



