It shocked the old
Queen's officer, and outraged his sense of what was due to his own
reputation and experience and the time-honored customs of war. He wanted
to talk about it and think about it, and find out first whether it was
too dangerous. And there was certainly some excuse for his caution.
Cadiz stands on a precipitous rock at the end of a low and narrow neck
of land, some five miles in length, running parallel to the coast.
Within this natural breakwater are enclosed an outer and an inner port;
and so cumbered with shoals and rocks was the entrance from the sea that
no ship could get in without passing under the guns of the town
batteries, while access from the outer to the inner port was only to be
gained by the Puntal passage, half a mile wide.
Opposite Cadiz, on the other side of the outer harbor, was Port St.
Mary, and within the Puntal channel, at the extreme end of the inlet,
stood Port Royal. Both places, however, were so protected by shoals as
to be unapproachable except to the port pilots. It was an ideal scene of
action for galleys to develop their full capabilities. Two had already
appeared to reconnoitre, and how many more there were no one could tell.
Galleys, it must be remembered, were then considered the most formidable
warships afloat, and quite invincible in confined waters or calms.
Pages:
401
402
403
404
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425