This building
abuts on the water, and there, in the clear depth, they could see big,
blue sharks laying for the offal that is thrown from the slaughter
house. Even this sight did not intimidate Paul and he began preparations
for the trip.
At first it was his intention, to paddle from Gibraltar to Ceuta, which
is almost on a straight line across; but on account of the currents,
that course was changed and Tarifa, the lowest land in Europe, was
selected as the starting point, from which place he was confident he
would be able to strike the African coast somewhere. Two gentlemen of
Gibraltar agreed to accompany him and the Spanish felucca, San
Augustine, was chartered for their accommodation, manned by a captain
and crew of five sailors.
On Thursday, March 19th, they sailed from Gibraltar. As they neared the
Spanish side, carrying the American flag, a Spanish gunboat put out and
overhauled them, under the impression they were tobacco smugglers. It
was some time before the officials could be made to understand the
object of the voyage; but finally allowed them to proceed. They arrived
off Tarifa at eleven o'clock at night, and lay to for a couple of hours,
when, as the captain of the felucca refused to start across without
clearance papers, they landed and went into the old, Moorish looking
town and woke up one sleepy official after another; but it was not
until seven o'clock in the morning that clearance was procured.
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