STAMBOUL ARE CONSIDERED A HUSKY TRIO,
EVEN IN THIS CITY OF STRONG MEN. IF THESE KEGS ARE FILLED WITH SOUR
MASH THEY'RE A MENACE TO THE WHISKEY TRUST AND OUGHT TO BE TAXED
ACCORDINGLY]

We went to bed early, for we had to rise long before daylight and take
the train for Gibraltar, where the _King of Cork_ lay waiting for us,
for she had steamed from Cadiz to "The Rock" after we left her; and
although we had enjoyed every minute of the trip, we were glad to get
back to the only home we had, on the water.

We had made quite a circuit through Spain, and it had been a most
interesting journey. We had thought of Spain as a land of dust, sand
and rocky mountains, but instead of that we found broad, fertile
plains, well cultivated and with every sign of prosperity. Above all
other things the feature of the country is the thousands of well kept
olive orchards; then there are sugar-cane, and grapes and other fruit,
in abundance. Some of the buildings on the ranches are very fine and
imposing, reminding the visitor of English estates. We were fortunate
in passing through the cork producing district, and saw the whole
process of barking the trees, cutting the bark in oblong squares and
stacking it up like lumber in a large yard. The trees grow their bark
again after it is stripped off and from time to time it is again cut as
before. At the first sight the "Corks" got of this industry, they
showed their interested appreciation by taking a thousand and one
snap-shots before the train left the station.

Most intelligent Spaniards will tell you that they were angry when we
took Cuba and the Philippines from them, but now they regard it as a
blessing in disguise, as they had no business with expensive colonies,
are better off at the present time than they have been for decades, and
hope for a new era of prosperity. The largest blot on the country is
the cruel bull fighting, but their English Queen has set her face
against it and it is distinctly on the wane.

ALGERIA

When we had finished up the stereotyped sights of Gibraltar and had
thrown overboard a New Jersey insurance agent for criminally mentioning
"Dryden's Hole," that bewhiskered "chestnut," in connection with the
time-honored "Rock," we steamed across the Mediterranean to Algiers,
some four hundred and ten miles away. Algeria has a water front of six
hundred miles, and extends back two hundred and fifty from the shore.
It was conquered by the Romans in 46 B.C.