Bay of Biscay. On the 18th, just after dark, we sighted a light-house on the Spanish coast, which the captain told us was called the Tower of Hercules; he also said that it was just at the entrance of the harbor of Corunna. This famous light-house is visible, in clear weather, from a distance of sixty miles. 2. As the wind from the west threatened a gale, and the sea was already running high, the captain thought it best to enter the safe harbor of Corunna, and there await the abatement of the storm. It was well that we did so; for a furious October gale, which lasted two days, soon set in; and many ships were wrecked on the Spanish coast. 3. We only left the steamer to make short excursions into the town, and the surrounding country. It was at this very harbor, as Prof. Howard tells us, that the great Spanish Armada took in stores, and then sailed direct on its famous expedition against England in the year 1588; and it was on the heights near by that the French were defeated, January 16, 1809, by the English troops under Sir John Moore, who was mortally wounded in the action 4. On board of the steamer we spent almost the whole of two evenings in hearing Prof. Howard describe the important events that had occurred here; but what interested us most were the accounts which he read of the death and burial of Sir John Moore. 5. This is what he read from the historian Alison :-" He was wrapped by his attendants in his military cloak, and laid in a grave hastily formed on the ramparts of Corunna. Not a word was spoken as the melancholy interment by torchlight took place: silently they laid him down in his grave, while the distant cannon of the battle fired the funeral honors to his memory." 6. Then the Professor alluded to that beautiful and wellknown poem which describes the burial,-a poem, of which the poet Byron said, he would think it a greater honor to be the author of that, than of any other equal number of lines ever written! The Professor, handing me a book, requested me to read the poem, which I did, although I knew every word of it by heart. Burial of Sir John Moore. 1. Not a drum was heard', not a funeral note, 2. We buried him darkly, at dead of night, 3. No useless coffin' enclosed his breast, Nor in sheet nor in shroud we wound him; But he lay like a warrior taking his rest, 4. Few and short were the prayers' we said, 5. We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed, And smoothed down his lonely pillow, That the foe' and the stranger' would tread o'er his head, And we' far away on the billow. 6. Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone, But little he'll reck, if they let him sleep on 7. But half of our heavy task was done, When the clock struck the hour for retiring; 8. Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory; Rev. Charles Wolfe. 9. Leaving Corunna on the 21st, we stood far out to sea, for the ocean was still rough, from the effects of the recent storm. Late in the evening of the second day we were off Cape Trafalgar, when Prof. Howard reminded us that we แ Verse 1.-Why may we speak of a "farewell shot"?-V. 2. Why "struggling moonbeams"?-V. 5. Why "lonely pillow"?--V. 6. Why "cold ashes" ?—Why is the dead body spoken of as sleeping? were passing over the waters where, in October, 1805, the British Admiral Nelson gained a great naval victory over the combined fleets of France and Spain, although Nelson himself fell, in the moment of victory. Early the next morning we were off the Straits of Gibraltar. As we approached the opening into the Mediterranean, our eyes, tired of the monotony of the changeless sea, were delighted with the view that met their gaze. 10. On our right were the hills of Africa, with their bases veiled in a blue haze, and their summits swathed in clouds: on our left were the granite-ribbed domes of old Spain; and, as we sailed on through the channel, the Rock of Gibraltar—a lonely and enormous mass of rock-seemed to rise out of the sea before us. 11. While we were gathering on deck, admiring the scene, a finer picture burst upon us, and enchained every eye. It was that of a stately ship passing out of the Mediterranean, with canvas piled on canvas till she was one towering mass of sail, white as the foam which she so gallantly tossed from her bow. She came speeding over the sea like a great bird. 12. All eyes were now upon the beautiful stranger; and, while everybody gazed, she swept superbly by, and flung the stars and stripes to the breeze. Quicker than thought, hats and handkerchiefs flashed in the air, and a rousing cheer went up from our vessel. She was beautiful when we first saw her—she was glorious now! I am sure that many a one on our decks knew then, for the first time, how tame his country's flag is at home, compared with what it is when seen in a foreign land." 13. Having passed entirely through the strait, we came to anchor in the Bay of Gibraltar, on the west side of the worldrenowned fortress of that name. Before us, low down near a "If I recollect aright," said Colonel Hardy when this was read, Freddy has borrowed that pretty description of the beautiful stranger,' from Mark Twain." the water's edge, lay the town of Gibraltar; while, far above it, and rising almost perpendicular from the low land on the north, towered the rocky heights, which are so crowded and crowned with batteries that it is the strongest fortress in the world. Though this is a part of the great Spanish peninsula, yet the fortress belongs to Great Britain. Here I close my fourth letter ;-not mine wholly, for Prof. Howard has aided me much in gathering and arranging the materials. I send you a map of the bay and the fortress of Gibraltar. 14. After the several portions of the foregoing letter had been discussed, as usual, Ida Jones remarked that she wished Freddy had written out, and sent home, some of those Dutch and German stories that were told during the evenings, on the Rhine, in the saloon of the steamer. 15. Upon this Mrs. Raymond said she would tell a Dutch story which she had heard in Holland some years ago,—one |
