CH. I. LIGHTHOUSE AT CAPE SPAETEL. 21 



more than three times the area of Europe, that remains, 

 in spite of all the efforts of modern enterprise, the chief 

 home of all that is strange and mysterious and unknown 

 in the world. It represents, too, the only concession that 

 the Moor has made to the demands of modern civilisa- 

 tion ; for the building has been raised at the cost of the 

 Sultan of Marocco, though the expense of its maintenance 

 is shared between the four Powers, England, France, Italy, 

 and Spain. The representatives of these States at Tangier 

 form a board of management, and each in turn under- 

 takes the actual control and inspection of the building. 

 It was by an especial favour, and on the ground of our 

 scientific pursuits, that we received permission from the 

 Spanish Consul-General, thea Acting Commissioner, with 

 the concurrence of his colleagues, to lodge for the night 

 within the building. It stands on a rocky platform some 

 250 feet above the sea. The massive tower, or pharos, 

 that bears the lantern, is about eighty feet in height, and, 

 with the annexed building, is enclosed by a strong wall, 

 forming an outer court. The interior of the building is 

 singularly picturesque. An inner octagonal court, sur- 

 rounded by pillared arcades, supported on round, slightly 

 stilted arches, with a fountain of cool spring water in the 

 middle, gives access to the rooms, small and bare but 

 perfectly clean, of which three were given for our accommo- 

 dation. Some fowls and eggs supplied by the lighthouse- 

 keeper, eked out by the provisions we had carried from 

 Tangier, produced an excellent supper, and the evening was 

 fully employed till a late hour in arranging and laying out 

 the spoils of our first day's work in Marocco. It was near 

 midnight when, before turning in for the night, each in turn 

 paused in the court to enjoy the exquisite beauty of the 

 scene. The fuU southern moon poured a flood of silver light 

 through the arched spaces, converting the pattering spray- 

 drops of the fountain into pearls and diamonds. The 

 shadows of the slender columns lay like bars of ebony on 

 the white flags ; while, for a roof, the Great Bear, every 



