The American Eclipse Expedition 



597 



veloped during the Spanish-American 

 war. On all ships of the navy there is 

 held by the captain what are called police 

 courts, to investigate and punish for 

 minor infractions of the regulations, that 

 the discipline which is characteristic of 

 the service may be maintained. But the 

 moment war was declared I think on 

 almost every ship in the navy the bad 

 men became good, the lazy zealous, and 

 the careless attentive ; so that practically 

 the police court was put out of business. 

 The desire, therefore, to take part in ob- 

 serving the solar eclipse became an incen- 

 tive to good conduct on the part of the 

 crews of the ships and acted for the bet- 

 terment of the discipline of the command. 

 After a short but pleasant and profit- 

 able voyage, the shores of Spain were 

 sighted from the Minneapolis on the 

 14th of July, and, steaming near Cape 

 Trafalgar, where Nelson not only won 

 a peerage but a tomb in Westminster 

 Abbey as well, we passed the port of 

 Tarifa,the most southern town of Europe 

 and the most thoroughly Moorish in 

 Andalusia. The ancient importation 

 practices of this town gave a name to a 

 principle about which the people of the 

 United States in political parties assem- 

 bled have fought many a campaign. That 

 the party which had as its motto "Tariff 

 for revenue only" would have had the 

 sympathy of the ancient Arabs who con- 

 trolled the destinies of Tarifa is unques- 

 tionable. 



THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR 



Upon entering the Straits of Gibraltar 

 on a bright moonlight night, the Minne- 

 apolis was put in communication with the 

 Dixie at Gibraltar by wireless telegraph, 

 and Captain Merriam assured us of a 

 hearty welcome by our British friends, 

 who hold this celebrated stronghold with 

 a tenacity of purpose that is characteris- 

 tic of the nation. The bay, as you know, 

 is noted for its beauty. The low land on 

 the north and west slopes gradually back 

 to the mountains, with here and there an 

 elevation of moderate height, which 

 covered bv the green fields of Andalusia 



is a typical formation of nearly all the 

 Mediterranean coast of Spain. In one of 

 the pretty niches between the bluffs is 

 located the town of Algeciras, where sat 

 a congress of nations to decide the des- 

 tinies of Morocco. We trust if it has no 

 other result it will break up such acts of 

 brigandage in that country as were re- 

 cently so well described in this hall by one 

 of its victims, Mr Perdicaris. 



On the east of the beautiful bay lies 

 the celebrated Rock of Gibraltar, which is 

 too well known to need description here. 

 You may not all know, however, that at 

 its foot England has built, at an enor- 

 mous cost, a land-locked harbor, which is 

 reached through two narrow entrances, 

 that seems as substantial as the rock itself 

 and as strong as the "sea power" that 

 Mahan has shown is wielded by the 

 owners with the force of a giant. In 

 this harbor there is generally present a 

 fleet of battleships, of nearly equal size to 

 the combined fleets of almost any single 

 nation of the globe, that is at all times 

 ready for action. This fleet is in constant 

 touch with the home office in London, 

 ready to be dispatched, at the touch of a 

 button, to any point where British in- 

 terests may be put in question. While 

 we were accepting from the large con- 

 course of officers here assembled the 

 hospitalities of the port, a portion of the 

 British Atlantic fleet which here makes 

 its headquarters was receiving in our 

 American ports an ovation that has bound 

 still closer the ties of friendship existing 

 between the two nations. 



Entering the beautiful Bay of Gibral- 

 tar in the early morning, the ship makes 

 her bow to the English nation in a twenty- 

 one-gun salute, which reverberates over 

 the waters and partially hides our pretty 

 ship from view. The salute is returned 

 in kind by guns from the wonderful case- 

 mates of the "Mount," as it is called, 

 which wreathes the hills in smoke, adding 

 to the picturesqueness of the scene. Once 

 at anchor, a boat is seen approaching, 

 whose narrow pennant flying at the bow 

 indicates that a commanding officer of 

 one of the ships is about to visit the flag- 



