horizon, would be mistaken for a rising mountain range, and then some other deceptive vision would, for a moment, float before us, and quickly pass away. The poet has said,

"Optics keen, it needs, I ween,

To see what is not to be seen."

and excited imaginations gave to many of us this power of second sight.

The first sure and unfailing indication we had of land, however, was the appearance on board of a bird, somewhat larger than a robin, which, ignorant of the "lay of the land," had wandered far out to sea, and came as if to welcome our approach. And surely the dove, when, bearing the leaf of the olive, it returned to the ark, could hardly have been a more joyful messenger. Nor was it anxious to leave us, for, as if conscious of the joy its presence gave us,

"It sat all day on the mast and sails,

An omen right good to view;

For it told of land, and of dark green vales,

And it told the mariners true.

A prophet's promise, - an angel's word,

They were all in the note of that singing bird."

The next morning, the joyful cry of "Land ho!" was heard from aloft, and soon I was on the cross-trees of the mainmast, gazing, with feelings of peculiar excitement, upon the mountains of Portugal. Here then, said I, is Europe, a name which brought to my mind a thousand recollections of history and of romance, that smallest, but by far most powerful, quarter of the globe, whose destiny is identified with that of millions, who, though far removed from her, in distant portions of the earth, still bow to her sceptre of power, or, with childlike veneration, regard her as the home whence their forefathers came. The land before us, too, was one of dark superstition, misrule, and tyranny, and yet of deep, though painful, interest to the mind; for there the Inquisition had, for centuries, swayed her sceptre of iron, paralyzing all that was noble and godlike in the act ings of human intellect; and had bathed her sword in the blood of thousands, whose only crime had been to seek that highest gift of heaven, -"freedom to worship God."

We passed near Cape St. Vincent, with its abrupt, wavebeaten shores rising fifty feet, or more, above the surface of the sea. Near its termination, is a fortress and a convent,

stances, was, to show us that we need never be deterred, by the state of the weather, from uniting in public religious exercises on the Sabbath. Hence, during the whole of our cruise, we met for worship, be the weather what it might, though, at times, the effort required, in order to be heard above the noise of the elements, was such that no one could sustain it long. Still, there was often a high and engrossing interest in these brief exercises, owing to the peculiarly sublime and exciting struggle of the elements around us, and the impressive lesson they taught us, of the weakness of man, as contrasted with the mighty power of God.

Of the numerous new and striking phenomena, which one meets with in first crossing the ocean, I will here notice but one. It was such a refraction of the rays of light, as to give each particle of the wide-spread sea of vapor which floated around us, the hue of burnished gold; as if all the untold treasures of the deep, dissolved by some magic power, had risen in one vast and gorgeous exhalation around us. This golden mist, thus resting on the bosom of the storm-tossed ocean, by no remote analogy, suggested to the mind, that heavenly atmosphere in which the sainted spirit, as it rises from the convulsed and heaving sea of earthly toil and trial, floats away to regions of eternal rest on high. Some waggish wight has rhymed as follows:

"Two things change the monotony
Of an Atlantic trip;

Sometimes, alas! you ship a sea,
And sometimes see a ship."

Of shipping seas we had enough, and once we met with a home-bound packet from England. And oh, what a scrambling there was to finish off half-written letters, and strike out new ones; to scribble a few hasty words, saying to friends at home, that all was well. And when we merely hailed, and rapidly passed each other, without communicating, what sore disappointment and chagrin was there. Some tore their letters into a thousand pieces, while others threw them, whole, upon the waves, almost hoping that the rolling tides, or some passing ship, might bear them safely to a faroff home.

On approaching the shores of Europe, every indication of what might prove to be land was watched with intense anxiety. Sometimes a distant bank of clouds, low in the

CHAPTER II.

GIBRALTAR AND MAHON.

Rock of Gibraltar. - Moorish Castle. Visit to the Town. - Feelings thus excited. Fortifications.- United States Consul. Strife of Tongues. Various Nations. - Jews. Visit a Synagogue. Ascend the Rock. Pleasant Companions. Excavations. Meet a Friend. St. Michael's Cave. Signal House. - O'Hara's Folly.- Reflections.-Exciting Scenes. Sabbath at Sea. Grandeur and Beauty of the Sea. -Evening Scene. Arrive at Mahon. Cholera. Quarantine.-Rev. Mr. Jones. - Harbour of Mahon. - Fortifications.-Georgetown. - Mahon.— Houses. — Education. The Sabbath.-The Catholic Clergy.

THE Rock of Gibraltar is fourteen hundred and seventy feet high, and is composed of gray limestone, divided by perpendicular fissures, filled with calcareous concretions, containing an immense quantity of bones and shells. Many of the former belong to different sorts of deer, none of which are at present found in Europe.

The town of Gibraltar lies near the northern extremity of the rock. Next south of this, are the parade ground and public garden; and still further south is Point Europa, where many of the officers of the garrison reside, and having more the appearance of an English than of a Spanish town. The western declivity of the rock is mostly covered with loose, broken fragments of limestone, among which herds of goats clamber about, feeding on the numerous wild shrubs and plants which grow there. The eastern side, which descends to the Mediterranean, and the southern end, are mostly precipitous cliffs. The northern extremity is a lofty, perpendicular wall, while the summit of the rock, along its whole extent, is a sharp, waving ridge, higher at each end than in the middle. This outline of the summit has been compared, in form, to a bull; the northern bluff being taken for the towering neck and head, with which, as if in fighting attitude, this giant monster bids defiance to the world.

On the side of the rock, just above the town, is an old Moorish Castle, which, for a thousand years, has withstood the warring of the elements and the shock of arms, and may yet, for centuries to come, look down upon the changing and eventful scenes in the drama of empires lost and won, which

shall be enacted there. To me it had peculiar interest, from the fact of its being, at the time, by far the oldest of the works of man that I had ever seen. What a strange and varied succession of kings and heroes had, in ages past, contended unto death, to gain possession of that ancient tower, or to repel invading foes. And could those battered and time-worn walls disclose the history of the past, what tales of reckless daring, of wild ambition, and of deadly strife might they not unfold.

Before any of us left the, ship, a health officer came alongside in a boat, and having satisfied himself that we had no contagious disease on board, we were admitted to prattique; that is, we were permitted freely to visit the shore. I eagerly seized the opportunity offered, of leaving the ship in the first boat which left, in company with some officers, who were sent to wait on our Consul, Mr. Sprague, and invite him on board.

There are two places for landing. The Water Port, where the shipping business is done, is at the north end of the town. The Ragged Staff, where naval and other military officers land, is just south of the town. There we went on shore; and I need not say, that my feelings were highly excited when I first placed my feet on European ground, and not the less so, from doing it at a place of so much natural and historic interest, as the Rock of Gibraltar. But aside from all romance, those only who have been tossed for weeks upon the ocean, can know the sensation of wild and boyish delight, I had almost said ecstasy, that fills the soul, when the confinement of a ship, and the rolling, and uncertain foothold of the deck, is exchanged for the wide range of the open fields, and the firm tread of the solid earth. With those who are peculiarly sensitive, this excitement has been known to amount to a kind of temporary intoxication, or delirium. The feelings of childhood come strangely over one, and he can scarce restrain himself from running, and skipping, and shouting aloud for joy. Facts like these have an important moral bearing, and should be taken into account by those who are laboring to elevate the moral character of seamen, and to prevent the wild and reckless excesses of which they are guilty, when first set free from the confinement and rigid discipline of a ship. Some channel of innocent and rational enjoyment should be opened, where this excess of feeling

may expend itself, so as to allure them from the low and beastly revels of the brothel and the dram-shop.

As we passed on through the town, we met officers and soldiers at every turn, with all that neatness of dress, and precision of movement, for which the English military are so much noted.

The walls along the water side, and the whole surface of the mountain around, are bristling with cannon, while others, in long, dark rows, are looking out from galleries, which have been blasted from the solid rock, one thousand feet above the level of the sea. We passed through a gate in the massive wall, erected by the Emperor Charles the Fifth, parallel to which is another, of more modern construction, both extending from the water to the summit of the rock. There is much in the general appearance of Gibraltar to remind one of Quebec, though the fortifications and natural scenery are on a much more grand and imposing scale, than in the Canadian city.

Among the crowded and indolent population of southern Europe, it is always easy to obtain guides to go with you wherever you please, and you are lucky indeed, if, when you wish for one, you do not get half a dozen, all of whom expect a reward for their services. To secure employment, they will pretend to know people and places, though entirely ignorant of them, and hence will only mislead you. Thus was it, at first, with us, but at length we reached the Consul's house. It is spacious, and in fine style, and Mr. Sprague and his intelligent and interesting family make all Americans who visit them, entirely at home. He was a native of Boston, and though he has spent most of his life in Europe, yet this seems only to have strengthened his attachment for the land of his birth, and he remarked, that visiting the old world had the same effect on all Americans whom he had met with abroad. By his kind and unaffected politeness, and his generous hospitality, he does much credit to his country, and well sustains, in these respects, the reputation of the good old city of the pilgrims, from which he came.

On sallying forth to inspect the town, every thing seemed new and strange to me indeed. How singular was it to hear even the little children in the street prattling in an unknown tongue. And, oh! what a jargon of confused sounds greeted my ears. A motley tribe of the builders of Babel, each anxious to display, to the utmost, his new-caught dia