Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - V. Gibraltar
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
88 DAYS IN THE SUN
dusty surface, which displays, before it closes again, a
bit of sea-bottom lying many feet below; yellow sand,
violet slag, polyp-like rock formations.
This gray inlet, open only to the south, is a fine
natural harbor. We glide into a forest of masts and
steamer chimneys; the air resounds with the flapping
of the flags of all nations; thick-bellied sloops sway
lazily on the flood as they disgorge their black cargoes.
Immense iron giants come rushing in, swallow four or
five ordinary shiploads of black fuel in as many hours,
and strike off again for the Orient or America. Coal
and coal and coal again, everywhere! ‘The air rings
with iron and steel, anchors being thrown out or
heaved, steam windlasses rattling away at the job.
The huge cranes of the scows sing like great black
swans at ship’s side, cautiously burying their heads of
steel in cargo and rising again in long gliding curves;
out beyond, above the scow, they open their steel beaks
and drop mouthfuls of coal—big as carloads, again and
again the cranes repeat! Short whistles alternate with
long drawn roars; a packet steamer is sounding its
siren—three sharp vulture-like croaks which make you
start in terror, while they continue ‘to reverberate
gloomily from coast to coast. A word of command
may be heard in English, the start of a Norwegian
chanty; naked negroes flash their grins over the rail-
ings like lightning in a summer night, and revel fa-
miliarly in the black coal, like creatures who have at
last grasped rapturously their Providential purpose.
Gibraltar is a fortress—the English declare it is the
one impregnable fortress in all the world. Their con-
fidence does not prevent them, however, from requir-
ing you to surrender your penknife when you set foot
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
