n the rigging, and strained his eyes to catch the
earliest glimpse of Europe. But Africa came first, in the shape of the
Tangier Light; nor was it till 4 A.M. that the haze lifted, and a huge
dark mass was seen looming on the port bow, the sight of which made the
boy's heart leap, for it was the Rock of Gibraltar.

[Illustration: THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.]

As the dawn brightened, all the grand features of the scene came forth
in their full splendor. The long purple range of the African mountains,
ending in the bold headland of Ceuta, far away to the southeast; the
wide blue sweep of the bay, with the dainty little white town of
Algeciras planted on it, like an ivory carving; the flat sandy neck of
"neutral ground" between the Rock and the mainland, with all its
countless memories of war, from the old-world battles of Spaniard and
Saracen to the day when the combined fleets of France and Spain swept it
with the fire of 1800 cannon; the bristling masts of the harbor; the
long gray curve of Europa Point; the mighty fortress itself, with the
narrow eyes of levelled cannon peering watchfully through the terraced
rocks that loomed against the bright morning sky like a thunder-cloud;
the blue Spanish hills, wave beyond wave, melting at last into the warm,
dreamy horizon; and right in front the white houses of Gibraltar,
huddled together along the base of the cliff, as if (to quote old
Herrick) "they'd been playin' snow-sled, and all slid down in a
heap"--all were there.[1]

[Illustration: A GIBRALTAR FRUIT BOAT.]

To get into Gibraltar Harbor is no easy matter; but the _Arizona_,
following in the wake of an English mail-steamer, reached her berth at
last, and had barely cast anchor when she was surrounded by a perfect
fleet of "shore-boats" freighted with oranges, figs, bananas,
cocoa-nuts, monkeys,[2] parrots, and everything else that any sailor
could be expected to buy.

The screams of the parrots, the chattering of the monkeys, the bumping
of the boats against each other, the clatter of the oars, the angry
outcries of the boatmen, in Spanish and broken English, whenever a
monkey or a parrot fell overboard, or a fruit basket got upset, made a
deafening uproar. An English man-of-war, anchored close by, was
similarly beset; and a mischievous sailor had just lassoed a monkey out
of the nearest boat, against which outrage both Jocko and his master
were protesting with all the power of their lungs. Frank lost no time in
buyin