ECHO OF MELILLA.

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 152, 28 June 1924, Page 7

ECHO OF MELILLA.

FATE OF OFFICERS. fßecelved W."X) a.m.) MADRID, June 27. General Barcnguer li x-Conmiander-in-Chief of the Spanij.h forces, and High Commissioner at Morocco), v. ho wan court-inartialled in connection with the Melilla disaster in M2I, has lurn sen- ' tenced to be removed from the active list and placed on the reserve. General Xavarro similarly charged, was acquitted.—i A. ancl N.Z. (able.) Melilla, wliere the Spanish occupation was hotly contested by the warlike Arabs of the KilT in 102]', is the oldest of Spain's African possessions, having been lirst captured from the Moors in 14!»<i. It iies on the eastern coast of the needle-like promontory of Cape Tree Koreas, and is noted particularly for the size of its large penal settlement for Spanish convicts. The harbour, originally very small, lias been lately extended, and the open roadstead is a good one, sheltered from the westerly gale and giving deep water within a mile of the fortress which crowns the rocky promontory upon which the old settlement was founded. There is a square plateau at the top, and upon it the older portion of Melilla rests against the walls of the fortress. The new town. which is lens than thirty years old. is fair and tidy, and is situated nearer the harbour. There is a covered market, in which Spaniards. Jews, and Moors have their shops. Between the two portions of the community is the tiny Ualtipagb Bay, to the right, and southward a spacious bay opens out upon the Chafarinas Islands. The hinterland is steep and mountainous country, into which Europeans until late years rarely penetrated. Conspicuous" in the gnarled natural backbone which carries Tree Koreas out into the Mediterranean are the spurs of Jebcl Kedana and Monte de Tcssau. A peculiar feature of the topography of the place is provided bj the turning of the marshy River Oro out of the original course. Formerly emptying it;-elf uncdifyinglv into the harbour of Melilla, the river has been diverted around the back of the Mount San Lorenzo, with beneficial results to the health of the town. Melilla is one of the four settlements which Spain has held for over four centuries, the other three being Ceuta (the vis-a-vis of Gibraltar), l'enon de Yelez. and Alhacemes. Its site is said to have been that of Husaddir the terminus of the great Roman military road from Carthage to Mauretania. Melilla came into Spanish hands in the golden era of Ferdinand and Isabella, wtien the Moors had just bidden a final farewell to the Alhambra, and Columbus had returned from his second visit to the New World. Through all the vicissitudes of Spanish history fiince those days, the fortress has stood firm for her upon its base ot solid white rock, thrusting out into the blue of the Mediterranean. It has done so despite the age-long and ill-concealed dislike of the KilT Arabs, who have sought time and again to dislodge the Spaniards from their perch. The Killliidi are valorous liguters, who have, striven hard to maintain their independence. Xlicir guerilla wartarc, conducted usually against an overcrowded garrison, knowing not how to muKc mc most m its .positional advantage, has iruin tune to tune been oi a nioxi lonnidablo character. (Spain, on more tnan one occasion, has nad to rouse herself tv sei-.ou.s measures in order tv pre.-cnc a Uniting upon the precarious, little peninsula. In In! Melilla ssiccessliiliy v. itlistood a Mgoruus Moorish onslaught. In lS'.Kf, a;<iin, a horde of MUlOil trjl.-esmon swept down upon the citadel, and laid siege to it with all the vigcur and lire in r.-i ,i. ous fanaticism. The Spanish general, Margallo, was killed in a sortie at 1 lahead of his troops before Spain became fully aware of tiic extent of I hi: Irmil,l:>. Marshal Campos, the popular idol of the Span.-h Army, with iVIIO'I troops and several ships of war. had eventually to be despatched in order to ipiell the* rising. Terms of indemnification were extracted from the Arabs, together with the surrender of a large number of rilies and p.inmunitinn. This campaign supplied one notable feature. I'nder a Captain Arizd. from Barcelona. General Macias allowed to be formed a remarkable battalion of longterm convicts, who were eager to join in the Melilla lighting in order to secure commutation of their sentence*. They were, selected as men who h:wl • been guilty of violent crime. and were equipped with Mauser rifles and daggers, and set to lighting the natives in their own particular style of warfare. Conforming splendidly to discipline, they made a fine auxiliary body, winning under the name of "The Black Watch" an enviable reputation in the field. An unfortunate incident of the cutting off of the ears of a suspect found in ° tilt" Spanish camp, who turned out after alt to be a friendly spy, terminated in the court-martial and shooting of one of the soldier convicts, and the band was shortly afterwards broken up and returned to chains. There arc old parallels for the revenge alleged to have been taken by the tribesmen upon the body of the Spanish general Sylvestre. whose head ii reported to have been taken around in triumph upon a spear. It is a trait which the Berber Arabs would seen: to have inherited from their Moorish predecessors. Tt is on record that trie Moorish ruler Abdallah. who was raised to the throne, when, in extremis, his race was fighting a losing battle against the Christians, ambushed a party of Caltrava knights and put them (r> the sword. When ho entered Granada he had the heads of the victims dangling ja _, gJiatUf eluiUs -fi. Uβ saddle bow. i