Page:Africa by Élisée Reclus, Volume 2.djvu/459

 TANOIEB. 876 destroyed by Philip II., und after a deeiwve victor}' in the neighbourhood, Tetuan was again seized by the Spaniards in iHo'J, but after long negotiations finally restored to the Sultan. The neighbouring town of Ceuta, however, has been held by S|)ain for the last three hundred years, although on one occasion, towards the end of the seventeenth and lx>ginning of the following century, besieged or blockaded by the natives for a space of no less than six-and-twenty years. Although a " free i>ort," Ceuta is no longer a great centre of trade, as in Mussulman times ; the Christian stronghold, defended by a triple line of ramparts, and bristling with guns and chrraux defriw^ is carefully avoided by traders from the interior. Hence, from the commercial aspect, the greatest contrast exists between this " African Gibraltiir," and that on the Spanish mainland, both of which otherwise resemble each other in their geological structure, their peninsular form, and their strategical position on either side of the intervening strait. A fort commands the town, but is itself commanded by the heights of the interior, some of which are occupied by Spanish defensive works. Hence, apart from the opposition of English diplomacy, it will never be possible, except at a vast expenditure, to transform Ceuta into a really formidable rival of Gibraltar. Tangier. On the African side of the strait, between Ceuta and Tang'ur, there are no towns, Kasr-es-Serir being now a mere mass of shapeless ruins. All the trade of the surrounding districts has been diverted to the half-European city of Tangier, which is already within the influence of the Atlantic tides, here rising to a height of over eight feet. Tangier, the Tanja of the natives, is the ancient Tinge, that is, the " Lagoon," which is fabled to have sprung from the ground with Antaous. Founded, according to tradition, before the dawn of history. Tinge became, under the Romans, capital of Mauritania Tingitana, answering to the present northern division of Marocco. But at that time it does not appear to have covered a larger surface than at present. The so-called " Old Tangier," whose ruins are seen to the south-east, was a mediaeval Arab town unconnected with the Roman Tinge. Its jwsition, on a semicircular bay at the entrance of the strait, and offering some shelter from the western gales, must at all times have secured for this place a certain degree of commercial importance. The Venetians were here long received as guests, while the Portuguese, wishing to enter as conquerors, were several times repulsed. They at last seized it in 1471, and for two hundred years it remained in Eurojx^an hands, the Spaniards succeeding to the Portuguese, and the English to the Spaniards. Under the British rule no expense was spared in strengthening the fortifications and improving the harbour works. But the incessant attacks of the Moors, the lack of supplies, the difficulty of provisioning the place, at last exhausted the patience of the English, who, in 1084, evacuated Tangier, blowing up the piers in order to destroy the port. Twenty years afterwards they seized Gibraltar, which not only enjoyed the same military advantages, but also presented an insular position more easily defensible.