Port of Spain

“ There is a complete system of main and local roads constructed or under construction; there are about 90 m. of railways, and practically all the towns of any size can be reached from Port of Spain by rail. Steamers ply daily between Port of Spain and the islands at the northern entrance to the Gulf of Paria and between San Fernando (the southern terminus of the railway) and the south-western ports of the island, while two steamers of the Royal Mail Company under contract connect Port of Spain with the other parts of Trinidad and Tobago. ”

“ Spain, after having been conquered by a mixed multitude of Orientals, had by the eleventh century reached a position in manufactures, commerce, and science, superior to that of any country of the West, its port of Barcelona [652] being the principal centre of the intercourse with the eastern countries bordering upon the Mediterranean. Relieved too, except in its south-eastern provinces, towards the close of the ninth century from the yoke of the Saracens, her people had slowly but surely increased in influence and power. ”

“ Sail-boats, their sails limply aslack as they await the signal to come and carry off the steamer’s cargo, give the scene a half-Oriental aspect that recalls the southern coast of China.
There is little, indeed, to excite the senses as the crowded launch plows for half an hour toward the uninviting shore. Seen from the harbor, Port of Spain, with its long straight line of wharves and warehouses, looks dismal in the extreme, especially to those who have left beautiful St. ”

“ Our navigation is free with the kingdom of Spain, foreign goods being received there in our ships on the same conditions as if carried in their own, or in the vessels of the country of which such goods are the manufacture or produce.
Spain and Portugal refuse to those parts of America which they govern, all direct intercourse with any people but themselves. The commodities in mutual demand between them and their neighbors, must be carried to be exchanged in some port of the dominant country, and the transportation between that and the subject state must be in a domestic bottom. ”

“ The manufactures and commerce of this part of Spain continued to flourish from this time till the union of the crowns of Castile and Arragon, which event depressed the latter kingdom. In 1380, a Catalan ship was wrecked on the coast of Somersetshire, on her voyage from Genoa to Sluys, the port of Bruges: her cargo consisted of green ginger, cured ginger, raisins, sulphur, writing paper, white sugar, prunes, cinnamon, &c. In 1401, a bank of exchange and deposit was established at Barcelona: the accommodation it afforded was extended to foreign as well as native merchants. ”

“ Commerce and Industries.—The port of Seville, in 37° 10' N. and 6° 10' W. has always been one of the chief outlets of the wealth of Spain. It is the terminus of three railways to Madrid, and of other lines to Cadiz, Almorchon, Ciudad Real, Huelva, Badajoz and Lisbon. Three of these lines have branches down to the water-side of the quays. The quay on the left bank, 4500 ft. long, is provided with powerful cranes, and sheds for merchandise. ”

“ Jean de Luz, [55] which is the first port of New Spain, where the galleons of the king of Spain go every year to be laden with gold, silver, precious stones, and cochineal, to take to Spain.
The said port of St. Jean de Luz is fully four hundred leagues from Porto-rico. On the island, there is a very good fortress, as well by its situation, as by its good ramparts, well furnished with all that is necessary; and there are two hundred soldiers in the garrison, which are enough for the place. ”

“ Boats full of passengers are incessantly crossing from daybreak till sunset. This passage is not, however, without danger in case of a strong wind from the east, in summer, or of rough weather, in winter. At the mouth of the Guadalete, a river that runs into the bay of Cadiz, by Port St. Mary’s, there are extensive banks of shifting sands, which every year prove fatal to many. The passage-boats are often excessively crowded with people of all descriptions. The Spaniards, however, are not so shy of strangers as I have generally found your countrymen. ”

“ We have before remarked on the Frith or Fiord-like character of the western coast of Galicia, a conformation which gives it by far the finest harbours of the whole Spanish coast. Thus, in the province of Corunna there are the harbour and city (33,000 inhabitants) of the same name, so well known by our forefathers under the title of "the Groyne," and the scene of many a gallant fight both by land and sea from the days of Queen Elizabeth to the fall of Sir J. Moore, but now the chief port of the cattle-trade with England. Its port is frequented by about 130,000 tons of British shipping annually ”

“ That article provided that 'any Spanish merchant vessel which, prior to April 21, 1898, shall have sailed from any foreign port, bound for any port or place in the United States, shall be permitted to enter such port or place, and to discharge her cargo, and afterwards forthwith to depart without molestation.'
The Pedro remained in the harbor of Havana from the 17th until the 22d of April. We think it must be assumed that she was advised of the strained relations between the United States and Spain, and the imminency of hostilities. ”

“ The squadron remained at anchor in the port of Alicante four days; and, when the students of the first party had told their story, the trip to Elche was the most popular excursion since they left Italy.
“Which is the best port on the east coast of Spain, doctor?” asked the principal, as they sat on the deck of the Prince while the third party had gone to Elche.
“I shall answer you as the admiral did Philip II.,—Carthagena,” replied the doctor.
“I find that the students are tired of sight-seeing, [318] and the lessons have been much neglected of late,” continued the principal. ”

“ But the Spaniards having now laid aside all Thoughts and Hopes of returning to attack the English; and perceiving their main Safety lay in their Flight, they made no Stop at any Port whatever. [118] About twenty five Ships now remain’d with the Duke of Medina, and forty with Recalde; [119] these, with the rest of the Fleet, sail’d about Cathness for the Coast of Ireland, and pass’d between the Orcades and Fair-Isle, to the sixty first Degree of North Latitude; [120] an unaccustom’d Place for the young Gallants of Spain, that had never felt Storms on the Sea, or cold Weather in August. ”

“ There are few Spaniards, they say, except office-holders, who will work; the greater part of the workmen are foreigners, who have made a new Spain, to the great detriment of the old kingdoms. This explains why Spain is only a port through which the precious metals pass; the Spaniards consume only foreign merchandise imported by foreign merchants; among the contractors there is not a single Castilian, and there are more pieces of eight in China than in Spain. ”

“ The ship’s company of the American Prince will return to Barcelona in their own vessel, which will wait for them at Lisbon. When all hands are on board again, the squadron will sail along the coast, visiting Valencia, Alicante, Carthagena, Malaga, Gibraltar, and Cadiz; and another interior trip will be made to Granada, Cordova, and Seville. This plan will enable you to see about the whole of Spain. Then we shall have visited nearly every country in Europe. To-day will be used in coaling the steamer, and you will go on shore as soon as you are ready. ”

“ As usual in all these southern ports, the water is too shallow for large vessels to approach the dock and steamers have to anchor a mile from shore. While waiting the coming of health or customs officials, these lordly gentlemen who are never given to undignified haste, you have ample time to admire the prospect, and if the truth must be told, you will do well to turn about without going ashore, if you wish to retain the first delightful impressions—for this old city of Spain's patron saint is one of the many to which distance lends enchantment. ”

“ And just beneath, on the opposite side of the hill from these traces of the vanished colonial empire of Spain, the long mole that is to shield the mouth of the Canal is rising, and the steamships lying along the wharves, and cars standing beside them on the railway tracks, presage a commerce vaster than ever was seen in the great days of Spain, for they speak of the passage of men from all the nations along the new waterway through these forests and out over this sea to the ends of the earth. ”

“ Casual and isolated traders visited the northern ports of Spain, more especially during the period of the English expedition to the north-east corner of that country in 1512, but internal communication in the Peninsula was so bad that the products of the south were only accessible to ships reaching the ports of Andalusia. Accordingly, the majority of English merchantmen sailed to Cadiz, to San Lucar at the mouth of the Guadalquivir, and to Seville higher up the same river. ”

“ To their surprise and annoyance, when the overladen boat groaned and puffed its way out of the harbour, its prow was turned, not towards Spain, but towards Toulon and Italy. This strange circumstance was soon explained by one of those extraordinary laws peculiar to Spanish legislators, intended, we presume, to encourage the shipping interest of Spain, but which, to any but its framers, certainly appears wonderfully ill adapted to the end proposed. ”

“ The place at which our forces may be and the intentions of the Spaniards must decide which will be the best starting-point. I ordered the Chief to immediately commence cruising with our Fleet between Port St Catherine's and the River Plate, in order to impede, as much as possible, the Spaniards at the island from communicating with the other ports which they hold on the banks of that river. ”

“ I am speaking now of fine days; but there are days when the sky is cloudy and the wind blows, and the waters in the Bay of Cadiz below surge up sullen and yeasty, and there are days when the rain comes down quick, thick, and heavy as from a waterspout, and the streets are turned for the moment into rivulets. But the effects of the rain do not last long; Spain is what washerwomen would call a good drying country. Beyond its neatness and tidiness, Puerto has other features to recommend it to the traveller. ”

“ It is navigable to Cordova, and large vessels go up to Seville. The Ebro is the only large river that flows into the Mediterranean. It is three hundred and forty miles long, and is navigable for boats about half this distance. Great efforts have been made to improve the navigation of some of these rivers, especially the largest of them. There are no lakes of any consequence in Spain, the largest being a mere lagoon on the seashore near Valencia.
“Spain has a population of sixteen millions, which places it as the tenth in rank among the nations of Europe. ”

“ The Castle of Tarifa is still kept up, and makes a picturesque object on the Spanish coast, but no corsair watches the approach of the distant sail, and no gun checks her speed; every ship—English, French, or Spanish—passes unmolested on her way between these peaceful shores. Instead of the mutual hatred which once existed between the two sides of the Straits, they are in friendly intercourse, and to-day, under these smiling skies, Spain looks love to Barbary, and Barbary to Spain. ”

“ It is hardly necessary to enlarge upon the regulations of Spain's foreign commerce; for it will be enough to repeat the phrase that in her eyes the great ocean from east to west was a Spanish lake, sacred to the ships of the king's subjects alone. With such a simple code of navigation coming in aid of the other causes which impoverished the land, it may be believed that the maritime traffic of the country would dwindle into the same exiguous proportions which characterised her general industry. ”

“ The admiral's ship, which had kept in the open sea, reached the Spanish coast about the close of September.
Even after reaching harbor in Spain troubles pursued them, two of the galleons taking fire and burning to ashes. Of the delicately reared noble volunteers, great numbers had died from the hardships of the voyage, and many more died from diseases contracted at sea. The total loss is not known; some say that thirty-two, some that more than eighty, ships were lost, while the loss of life is estimated at from ten thousand to fifteen thousand. Spain felt the calamity severely. ”

“ FRENCH PRIVATEERS.
“At half past four P. M., got under way, and beat out of the harbor of Cadiz, in company with three other American vessels, which sailed under the protection of the Astræa.” They were destined for Alicante, and consequently their course lay through the Straits of Gibraltar, up along the south-eastern coast of Spain. On the afternoon of the 14th, they fell in again with the English fleet, which, [68] with those under their convoy, consisted of forty-five vessels. ”

“ Bilbao, with its five railway stations, its {179}electric tramways, and its population of sixty-six thousand, has become the first and most important shipping outlet of Spain. Nor have the southern ports of Huelva and Seville been much behind it in their rapid progress; while on the Mediterranean coast are Malaga, Almería, Aguilas, Cartagena, Valencia, and Tarragona—all vying with the older, and once singular, centre of commercial and industrial activity, Barcelona. ”

“ The canal is the notion of the young king of Spain, and the work on it goes forward night and day. The electric lights were shedding their blinding glare on the deafening clatter of the excavating machinery, and it was an unworthy relief to escape from the intense modernity of the scene to that medieval retreat nearer the city where the aficionados night-long watch the bulls coming up from their pastures for the fight or the feast, whichever you choose to call it, of the morrow. ”