Read Ebook: Gibraltar and Its Sieges with a Description of Its Natural Features. by Stephens Frederic George

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In the hill are numerous caves and hollows, some natural, and some improved by the hand of man. Of the former the most considerable appears to be St. Michael's Cave, which lies on the south side, about eleven hundred feet above the sea-level. The remains of a strong wall are visible near this entrance, which is only five feet wide. On entering, the stranger finds himself in a considerable cavity, about two hundred feet in length, and ninety feet in breadth; and the light of his torch, if he penetrate into the interior, reveals the mouths of several other caves. From the roof depend stalactites of great size and curious shape, giving to the whole that character of Gothic architecture which is noticeable in all stalactitic grottoes. There are also numerous stalagmites, which in some cases almost join the calcareous droppings from the roof, and appear to form supporting pillars.

Mr. Bartlett describes in some detail a visit which he paid to this remarkable cave. Accompanied by a guide with blue lights, he descended the slippery pathway between lofty pillars of stalactite, to find himself in a darkness visible, and in a silence so deep and still that the droppings of the water which filters through the roof above could be distinctly

heard as they fell at intervals on the rock beneath. The guide lighted a heap of brushwood, the blaze of which disclosed to view a lofty vault-shaped dome, supported as it were on columns of milk-white stalactite, not unlike the trunks of palm-trees, and a variety of fantastic foliage, some stretching down to the very floor of the cavern, others resting midway on rocky ledges and congealed calcareous masses, springing from the floor, "like the vestibule of some palace of the genii." At a given signal the blue lights were kindled, and the entire scene, which before had been but partially illuminated, flashed into sudden splendour; hundreds of stalactites shone with a mysterious gleam; the lofty columns, fantastically wrought, seemed suddenly converted into silver, as if by the wand of some magician. This revelation of the wonders of the cavern was but transient; for the lights speedily burning down, Mr. Bartlett was forced to retire before he became involved in dangerous darkness. And this was the more necessary, in order to avoid a certain deep gloomy fissure, which forms the pathway into the unknown depths below. "While our eyes were endeavouring," says a traveller, "to penetrate a little further into its mysteries, I suddenly flung my torch into it. The effect was beautiful: the torch blazed brightly as it fell, making for itself a sort of halo of glittering gems, as it lighted the walls of the gulf momentarily but beautiful. We tried this with all the torches it was safe to spare, for we were far from daylight, and then tossed fragments of rock and crystals, which echoed far in the depths, and fell we knew not where. It is supposed that the whole Rock is galleried in this way. Explorations have been attempted, and two soldiers once undertook to descend this very gulf. One only returned, however; his comrade had disappeared for ever."

An ominous and gloomy character attaches to this chasm, and it has been supposed that more than one poor fellow has here met with foul play,--having been enticed by assassins on various pretences into the cave, and, after having been plundered, flung into this horrible gulf, as a place that tells no tales.

Not long before Mr. Bartlett's visit, a gentleman who was desirous of investigating into the penetralia of the cave, caused himself to be let down by ropes, bearing a light in his hand; but what was his horror, on his foot meeting with some resistance, to find that he was treading on a dead body, while his torch at the same time disclosed to him the livid features of a murdered man! Another gentleman of Mr. Bartlett's acquaintance explored the windings of the cave for a distance of four hundred feet. The actual extent of the subterranean passages has never been ascertained, and exaggeration and popular fancy find in it a fertile subject; the vulgar believing that it is the mouth of a communication beneath the Strait with Mount Abyla, and that by this sub-oceanic passage the apes upon the Rock found their way from Africa. The Moors, it is said, had a complete knowledge of the interior of the cave; and a fancy has sometimes prevailed that through these subterranean windings an enemy might obtain admission into the fortress!

In different parts of the hill may be found several other caves of the same description. One of these, called Pocoroca, was fitted up, at the beginning of the Great Siege, for the governor; but was afterwards converted into a powder-magazine, which proved greatly convenient for the batteries on the height.

The fossils discovered in various parts of the Rock rank among its curiosities; but the visitor takes more interest in the apes which have colonized it. They breed in places inaccessible to man, and climb up and down the craggy precipices with wonderful celerity. The supposition is that they came from Barbary with the Saracens, as a similar species inhabit Mons Abyla, or, as it is popularly called, Apes' Hill. In former days red-legged partridges, woodcock, teal, and wild rabbits frequented the Rock, but these have almost wholly disappeared before the rifles of our English sportsmen.

Drinkwater records that eagles and vultures annually visited Gibraltar on their way into the Spanish interior; and that the former bred among the precipices, and, with the hawk, might often be seen wheeling above its summit. The green lizard is still numerous; and scorpions and other reptiles haunt the neighbourhood of the fissures and the crevices of the Rock. The climate on the whole is genial. Winter loses all its severity; and the summer-heats are tempered by refreshing breezes from the sea. The worst inconvenience is the recurrence in December and January of violent thunderstorms, with gales, and heavy rains, almost tropical in their fury. Yet there is so little soil on the Rock, that the climatic advantages do not produce any abundant vegetable-growth. When the rains set in, wild grasses shoot up in the chinks and fissures; but as soon as the sun reasserts its power, these disappear, and the eye rests only on bare, sombre, and sterile rock. The western slopes, however, present an agreeable contrast to the barrenness which everywhere else is dominant. There the vegetation, though dwarfed, is dense; palmettos flourish, and lavender, and Spanish broom, while the rugged rock absolutely blooms with roses, periwinkles, and asphodels.

The view from the summit is perhaps sufficient to compensate for any deficiency of beauty in the Rock itself. The spectator stands there on the boundary, as it were, of the Old World, on the confines of two great continents. At his feet the low and narrow tongue of land, called Europa Point, stretches far into the sea, covered with bastions and casemates, intermingled with villas and gardens. To the west extends the undulating line of the Strait, with its waters of an intense blue, and beyond rises the rocky coast of Tarifa, while the mighty sweep of the Atlantic Ocean is lost in the western vapours. On the right, the Mediterranean, of a pale azure, relieved by flashes and gleams of silver, beats in pearly foam against the very foot of the Rock; opposite frown the dusky cliffs of Africa, with the white houses and dismantled fortifications of Ceuta, visible at the bottom of a vast bay, and the Mount Abyla of the ancients, that other "Pillar of Hercules," looking as if, in truth, a demigod had torn it from the Rock of Gibraltar, and planted the two huge fragments as gigantic landmarks at the extremity of the universe.

Bring your gaze back to nearer points, and on the right you see the graceful rounded outline of the sheltered Bay, associated with the names of Rodney, and Howe, and Nelson, and Collingwood, whose "tall ships" have so often rested upon its waters. Gibraltar stands on the one side, its harbour thronged with masts; on the other, the small town of Algesiras lies on the slope of the hills, and bathes its feet in the warm, bright waves. In the curve shelters the village of San Roque, the first the traveller meets with on entering Spain; nearer still, and in the rear, we see the thin sandy isthmus which links Gibraltar to the mainland. The division between English and Spanish territory is marked by a

row of towers, and we can distinguish close at hand the tents of a small camp always occupied by a few regiments. Finally, the background of the picture, beyond San Roque, is filled in with the green mountains of Ronda; and towering above and behind these, the rose-tinted peaks of the Sierra Benneja, and the snowy summits of the Alpuxarras. It is difficult to conceive a grander spectacle.

We have thus endeavoured to furnish the reader with a general view of the Rock, and town, and fortifications of Gibraltar at the time that General Elliot assumed the governorship.

In 1777 the position of Great Britain was one of apparent peril, and her enemies were not without grounds for their belief that her power had received a mortal blow. Her North American colonies had seceded, and all her attempts to reduce them to obedience had failed, while her military prestige had been obscured by the surrender of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga. France had espoused the cause of the American States, whose ambassador had been received at Versailles with special distinction. The circumstances of the time seemed favourable to Spain to attempt a recovery of her coveted fortress; and in June she issued a declaration of war. But instead of being cowed by this demonstration on the part of another enemy, the public spirit of England was roused to a fever of patriotism. The fleets of Spain and France rode in the Channel with as mighty a display as when Drake and his compeers launched their frigates against the Invincible Armada. To their sixty-six sail of the line, the British admiral, Sir Charles Hardy, could oppose only thirty-eight; but with them he succeeded in preventing the enemy from landing an invading army. The chief attack of Spain, however, was directed against Gibraltar, and she cared little to expend her resources in any other direction.

At the outbreak of hostilities, General Elliot, the veteran governor of the Rock, found himself at the head of a garrison 5382 strong. He had 428 artillerymen and 106 engineers; and as soon as he had been apprised of the possibility of war, had privately made preparations for defence. On the 21st of June, by order of the Spanish Court, communication between Spain and Gibraltar was closed; and efforts were made to arrange for constant supplies of provisions from Barbary. Admiral Duff, at the same time, brought his ships--a 60-gun man-of-war, three frigates, and a sloop--alongside the New Mole; the barriers were everywhere shut; and at all exposed points the guards were strengthened. Meanwhile, the enemy made no overt movement against the fortress; but it was observed that in various places they were collecting deposits of earth and other materials, and mounting new guns along their line of entrenchments. And in the course of July they assembled a powerful fleet in the Strait; while the camp was constantly being reinforced with additional regiments of cavalry and infantry.

On the 12th of September some of the British batteries opened fire on the enemy, with the view of interrupting the workmen engaged in enlarging and pushing forward their fortifications; and for several days the firing was kept up, though with no particular vigour. In November the garrison began to experience the effects of scarcity, and provisions fetched the most extravagant prices. Mutton was 3s. and 3s. 6d. per lb.; veal, 4s.; pork, 2s. and 2s. 6d.; a pig's head fetched 19s., and ducks from 14s. to 18s. a couple; while a goose was prized at a guinea. Fish was not less dear, and vegetables were scarcely attainable "for love or money;" but bread, the staff of life, was the article most wanted. It was about this period, says Drinkwater, that the governor made trial what quantity of rice would suffice a single person for twenty-four hours, and for eight days he actually lived on four ounces of rice a day. General Elliot, however, was always remarkable for his abstemiousness of living, his general fare being vegetables, simple puddings, and water. He was not the less a robust and healthy man, capable of much hard work and exercise; but the scanty diet just mentioned would certainly not suffice for a man working hard in a climate where the heat makes exhausting demands on the human frame.

The privateer brought neither news nor supplies, and, indeed, was sadly in want of provisions. Yet the incident cheered the garrison greatly, for it showed that the Bay was still open to ships from England, if managed as skilfully and boldly as Captain Fagg's cutter.

We pass on to January 1780. On the 8th a Neapolitan vessel was wind-driven within range of the British guns, and compelled to surrender. She proved to be an argosy of great price, having on board about six thousand bushels of barley, than which nothing could have been more acceptable to the garrison. The inhabitants had for some time been put upon a daily ration of bread, which was delivered by the bakers under the protection of sentries with fixed bayonets. Yet even this precaution did not prevent a scene of excitement daily; and in the struggling, pushing, heated crowd it was necessarily the strongest who gained the advantage,--forcing their way to the front, and frequently carrying off the portions that should have gone to feeble women and helpless children. Nor were the inhabitants the only sufferers. Many officers and soldiers had to support their families on the scanty dole allowed by the victualling-office; and a private, with his wife and three children, must have been starved, but for the assistance generously rendered by his comrades. It is recorded that one woman actually perished of hunger; others were reduced to such a condition of feebleness that it was with difficulty they were saved; and numbers eked out a wretched existence on wild leeks, thistles, dandelions, and the like.

Necessity is the mother of invention, and hunger sharpens the wits of needy men. Some Hanoverian soldiers, in their distress, were stimulated to devise a new process of chicken-hatching. The eggs were placed, with some such warm substance as cotton or wool, in a tin case capable of being heated by a lamp or hot water; and a proper temperature being maintained, they were hatched about as quickly as if a hen had sat upon them. A capon was then trained to rear the little ones; and, to prepare him for this unusual duty, his breast and belly were stripped bare of feathers, and he was cruelly flagellated with a bunch of nettles. When placed upon the brood, they afforded so much warmth and comfort to his poor smarting body, that he addressed himself to the task of rearing them with considerable satisfaction.

On the 10th a soldier of the 58th Regiment was executed for stealing,--a sharp but necessary example.

On the 12th the monotony of the siege was interrupted by a discharge of ten shot from one of the Spanish forts. They did some slight damage to houses, and wounded a woman; but their principal effect was to scare the inhabitants, who, fearing that a bombardment was about to commence, packed up their valuables, and made preparations for concealing themselves in all kinds of places. On the cessation of the firing, however, they regained courage.

On the 15th, wistful eyes looking out to seaward were rejoiced by the appearance of a brig carrying the British flag, which, regardless of the enemy's batteries, stood right into the Bay, and brought the glad intelligence that she was the forerunner of a large convoy which had sailed from England in December with ample supplies for the blockaded garrison. After the first emotions of surprise and pleasure had subsided, fresh apprehensions seized the wavering minds of the besieged. They concluded that the enemy could not fail to have obtained information of the approaching relief, and that they would be prepared to intercept it. The event proved, however, that the Spaniards had received no certain intelligence, and, concluding that the convoy would be escorted only by a small squadron, had despatched eleven men-of-war to make short work of it. But these were attacked by Admiral Sir George Rodney with a powerful fleet of twenty-one sail of the line, and driven into headlong flight. The British admiral also fell in with fifteen Spanish merchantmen, escorted by six ships of war, all of which he captured; and before the end of the month, with his prizes and transports, he dropped anchor in the Bay.

For a time the garrison and inhabitants of Gibraltar enjoyed both peace and plenty. The Spanish forces seemed to have abandoned their task; and a constant interchange of courtesies was maintained between their leaders and the British officers. On the 13th of February Sir George Rodney's fleet got under weigh, leaving behind two men-of-war and a couple of frigates, and sailed for England; and immediately afterwards the Spaniards renewed the blockade. About the middle of March, General Elliot found it necessary once more to regulate the issue of provisions, and gave directions that the garrison should be victualled monthly in the following proportion:--For a soldier, each first and third week, 1 lb. of pork, 2 1/2 lbs. of salt cod , 2 pints of pease, 1 lb. of flour, 1/4 lb. of raisins, 1 lb. of rice, 5 oz. of butter, 1 1/2 pint of oatmeal. Second and fourth week, 1 1/2 lb. of beef, 2 lbs. of fish, 2 pints of pease, 1 lb. of rice, 5 oz. of butter, 1 1/2 lb. of wheat, and 1 lb. of raisins. This, it must be owned, was but meagre fare.

The blockade increasing in severity, both the garrison and inhabitants felt the pressure of want, and provisions were once more selling at almost fabulous prices. Such vessels as escaped the enemy's cruisers were chiefly loaded with "luxuries" rather than "substantials;" but a cargo of fruit which arrived in October proved of inestimable value in checking the ravages of scurvy, a disease that at one time threatened to prove much more destructive to the garrison than the enemy's fire.

In March 1781 the want of bread was severely experienced, many families having received none for several days, and biscuit-crumbs selling for tenpence and one shilling per pound. Fresh meat and fish were equally scarce and equally dear. The dietary of the garrison was reduced to the barest necessaries; and the distress which the women and children must have undergone may be inferred from the nature of the weekly allowance to each soldier, which was--5 1/4 lbs. of bread, 13 oz. of salt beef and 18 oz. of pork , 2 1/2 oz. of rancid butter, 12 oz. of raisins, half a pint of pease, a pint of Spanish beans, a pint of wheat , 4 oz. of rice, and quarter of a pint of oil.

As the convoy drew near, a squadron of fifteen gun-boats advanced from Algesiras, and, assembling in regular array under the batteries at Cabrita Point, opened a smart fire on the nearest ships, supported by the gun and mortar batteries on the land; but they were soon compelled, by an English line-of-battle ship and a couple of frigates, to effect a precipitate retreat.

This second relief of the garrison stung the Spaniards into the adoption of a measure which had little value in a military sense, but inflicted a large amount of suffering on the inhabitants of the town of Gibraltar. The convoy had scarcely anchored, when they bombarded the town and fortifications with sixty-four heavy guns and fifty mortars. The unfortunate inhabitants, who were busily congratulating each other on the arrival of the fleet, exchanged their exultation for sorrow, and fled in the greatest confusion--old and young, men, women, and children--to the southward, abandoning their property to the mercy of the soldiers. Soon after noon the firing ceased, and the inhabitants hastened to secure such valuables as could be easily removed; but those bulkier articles which "the avaricious and hard-hearted hucksters" had concealed in their stores, to retail in small quantities at exorbitant prices, were all destroyed.

About five o'clock the hostile batteries reopened, and their storm of shot and shell was continued uninterruptedly; without interfering, however, with the disembarkation of the supplies. Several soldiers were killed and wounded in their quarters on the 13th. The Spaniards being accustomed to indulge themselves with a siesta in the middle of the day, the garrison and inhabitants enjoyed an interval of peace every noon; otherwise, the roar of the guns and the hiss of the rapid missiles made day and night equally hideous.

On the evening of the 14th, says Drinkwater, the enemy's shells were very profusely distributed; some that did not burst were examined, and on the fuse being drawn it was found that inflammable matter had been mixed with the powder. These combustibles set on fire a wine-house near the Spanish church, and before the conflagration could be extinguished four or five houses were burned to the ground. Detachments of infantry were sent to quench the flames, but the enemy's cannonade became so brisk that great confusion ensued. From this disaster may be dated the irregularities into which, through the combined influence of drink and resentment, many of the soldiers fell. Some died of intoxication on the spot, and others were with difficulty recovered.

"Though riot and violence," continues Drinkwater, "are most contrary to that spirit of regular discipline which should always prevail in military affairs, something may yet be urged in extenuation of the conduct of the troops. The extreme distress to which they had been reduced by the mercenary conduct of the hucksters and liquor-dealers, in hoarding, or rather concealing their stocks, to enhance the price of what was exposed for sale, raised amongst the troops a spirit of revenge. The first and second days they conducted themselves with great propriety; but on the eve of the third day their discipline was over-powered by their inebriation, and from that instant, regardless of punishment or the entreaties of their officers, they were guilty of many and great excesses. The enemy's shells soon forced open the secret recesses of the merchants, and the soldiers instantly availed themselves of the opportunity to seize upon the liquors, which they conveyed to haunts of their own. There, in parties, they barricaded their quarters against all opposers, and, insensible of their danger, regaled themselves with the spoils. Several skirmishes occurred amongst them, which, if not seasonably put a stop to by the interference of officers, might have ended in serious consequences."

Such is life in a beleaguered town! There is something more to be feared than the attacks of external enemies, and that is, the irregularities within; the outbursts of a spirit of military insubordination, and the follies and crimes of the non-combatants,--all adding to the anxiety and increasing the responsibility of the military and civil authorities. At Gibraltar the entire burden rested on the shoulders of General Elliot,--who bore it, however, with inflexible calmness and resolute patience, tempering justice with mercy, but not fearing to strike heavily when it was necessary for the common safety.

It must not be supposed that the English endured the enemy's bombardment in silence. The guns of the Rock were plied at times with equal alacrity and effect; but the prudent general would not allow his men to waste their shot and powder, and they fired only when the enemy were well within range. On the morning of May the 7th, the gun and mortar boats opened upon the town and the New Mole for about an hour. The garrison replied with four hundred rounds, at which the governor was much displeased. "There would be no end," said he, "of expending ammunition, if we fired every time they came, and while they were at so great a distance."

Among the incidents which marked the history of the siege within the walls, we may mention that, on one occasion, a Hanoverian and some other ill-disposed fellows were detected in plundering a store. They were given in charge to a sentry; but the Hanoverian attempted to escape. "Halt!" cried the sentry, "or I'll fire!" The marauder continuing his flight, the sentry carried out his threat, and the man fell dead on the spot. A soldier of the 58th was, on another occasion, hung at the door of the store in his robbery of which he had been surprised. On the 9th, an officer lost his leg by a shot. The remarkable feature of this occurrence was, that the wounded man saw the shot coming on its fatal errand, but was so fascinated by it that he could not move out of the way. A shell fell into a house in which fifteen or sixteen persons were huddled together; all escaped except a child, whose mother had been killed by a shell only a few days before. A soldier, rambling about the town, came upon a store of watches and other valuable articles, among the ruins of a house, and hastened to take possession of them. Then arose the puzzling question, What should he do with this treasure-trove? To convey them to his quarters was impossible, as every one was examined on his return from duty. The expedient to which he finally resorted was very curious. He took out the wad of a gun on the King's Bastion, and tying his prize in his pocket-handkerchief, secreted it in the bore of the gun as far as he could reach; afterwards replacing the wad. In the piping times of peace a better repository could hardly have been invented; but it happened that on this same evening, while the marauder lay asleep in his casemate, the hostile gunboats approached, and fire was vigorously opened upon them. One of the first guns discharged was that which contained the soldier's ill-gotten wealth, and all his visions of future greatness were dissipated in a moment!

The incessant bombardment had, of course, a ruinous effect upon the town. Scarcely any of the houses north of the Grand Parade were inhabitable; all of them were deserted. The families of some of the soldiers lingered still in a few near South-port; but even of these only the walls remained standing. The governor and lieutenant-governor, however, maintained their quarters,--men being kept constantly employed in repairing the damage done by shot or shell. But the general aspect of the town was most pitiful; the streets were solitary, and instead of the hum of voices one heard only the whirr of shot and the rush and explosion of shells.

On the 9th of June, the garrison was aroused by the blowing-up of one of the Spanish magazines. The effect was that of a continual roll of fire, like repeated volleys of musketry, which led the besieged to conjecture that the accident had befallen their repository for fixed ammunition and live shells. Their drums immediately beat to arms; and the entire force, numbering thirteen battalions of infantry, besides cavalry, paraded in front of the camp. It was thought that the enemy by this disaster must have suffered severely in men as well as munitions.

The British batteries, though constantly repaired, were much damaged by the incessant fire; and the enemy's shot frequently drove through seven solid feet of sandbag-work. As an additional protection, strong wooden caissons were constructed; filled in compactly with clay, and covered in front and on the top with junk cut in lengths for the purpose. These proved very effectual. The bombardment was not wholly without profit to the besieged; for it directed their attention to the weak points of their fortifications, which were immediately strengthened, until they were rendered virtually impregnable.

An incident occurred on the 27th which is worth recording. During an attack made by the gun and mortar boats, a shell burst within the hospital and killed an artillerist. Some time before, this man, a very gallant fellow, had broken his thigh; his active spirit was ill able to endure the confinement his case rendered necessary, and he tottered abroad in order to enjoy the fresh air in the hospital court. Unfortunately, in one of his lively moods he fell, and was compelled to take to his bed again. He was lying there when a shell from the mortar boats crashed into the ward, and rebounding, lodged upon him. The invalids and convalescents in the same room contrived, by vigorous exertions, to crawl out on hands and knees, while the fuse was burning; but the unfortunate artillerist was kept down by the weight of the shell, which after some seconds exploded, tore off both his legs, and scorched him piteously. Strange to say, he survived the shock, and was sensible up to the moment that death relieved him from his agony. His last words were a regret that he had not died on the batteries, "with his face to the foe," as all true soldiers wish.

A few days later a shell wounded a private of the 73rd; that is, he was knocked down by the wind of it; and the shell, instantly bursting, killed a soldier standing close by, and mangled most terribly the hero of our anecdote. His head was fractured, his left arm broken in two places, one of his legs shattered, the skin and muscles of part of his right hand torn off, the middle finger crushed, and his whole body most severely bruised. In a word, the man was reduced to a bleeding and mutilated mass of flesh, and his recovery seemed hopeless. The surgeons who took charge of him were at a loss to which injury they should first give their attention. That evening, however, he was trepanned; a few days afterwards his leg was amputated. All his wounds and fractures were carefully dressed, and, thanks, it may be supposed, to a wonderfully robust constitution, as well as to the skill of his medical attendants, his cure was completely effected. His name, adds the historian, is Donald Ross; and he long continued to enjoy His Majesty's bounty in the shape of a pension of ninepence a day. "Ninepence a day," however, seems but poor payment for a trepanned skull, an amputated leg, and a shattered right hand!

The enemy, by this time, had completed the construction of an advanced range of batteries, which, in spite of the continual fire of the garrison, assumed a threatening aspect. They rolled a storm of shot and shell upon the British works, doing serious execution; and the strength and energies of the defenders were severely taxed. A battery named St. Carlos was especially annoying, from its position, and the heavy ordnance with which it was mounted. Acting on information which he obtained from two deserters, General Elliot determined on an attempt to destroy it. He formed his plans with the secrecy and deliberation characteristic of the man, and communicated them to no one until the hour fixed for their execution. On the evening of the 26th of November, as the gates were shut after first gun-fire, he assembled on the Redsands, now called the Alameda, a detachment consisting of a couple of regiments, the grenadiers and light infantry from the other regiments, one hundred artillery, and two hundred workmen ,--in all, about 2074 men, with 99 officers, and 147 non-commissioned officers. Each private carried thirty-six rounds of ammunition, and "a good flint in his piece, with another in his pocket." In those days rifled guns, Sniders, and Martini-Henrys had not been dreamed of; and the British musket was a cumbrous weapon, in which the charge was ignited by a spark from a flint.

The batteries were soon prepared for the operation of the fire-fagots, and these being ignited, the flames spread rapidly in every direction. The whole line of works soon presented one vast mass of fire and lurid smoke, which threw its glare over the Rock, was reflected in the waters of the Bay, and revealed every object in the vicinity.

THE FLOATING BATTERIES.

The blow so suddenly and effectually levelled at the Spaniards seems for a time to have paralyzed their energies. But about the beginning of December they recovered themselves to some extent, and the besieged could see a large body of their men busily engaged in making fascines, with a view to the reconstruction of their batteries. It was also ascertained that the allied Governments of France and Spain had determined upon concentrating in front of Gibraltar a force which should render resistance impossible; that several French regiments were to be despatched to the assistance of the besieging army; and the conduct of the operations entrusted to the Duke of Crillon, who had recently gained a high reputation by his conquest of Minorca.

Meantime, General Elliot and his officers maintained their composure. Every precaution was taken against surprise; and the weak points of the fortifications, as indicated by the enemy's fire, were assiduously strengthened.

But before resuming our narrative of the siege, we must pause to record an example of that generous courtesy which sometimes relieves the horrors of war. Among the Spanish officers taken prisoner was one Baron von Helmstadt, an ensign in the Walloon Guards. He was dangerously wounded in the knee, and when the English surgeons informed him that amputation was necessary, he resolutely refused to submit to it. The operation, he said, was seldom successful in Spain; and for himself, he was then engaged to be married to a lady, and would rather risk his life than present himself before his betrothed in a mutilated condition. Apprised of this dangerous effusion of a false sentiment, General Elliot visited the baron, and used every argument to dissuade him from adhering to so rash a determination. His lady-love, said the general, very sensibly, would not esteem him the less for having received an honourable wound in the service of his country. As to the operation being fatal, he could assure him that the contrary was the case; he knew that the English surgeons were almost always successful; and, for his better assurance, he introduced into his chamber several "mutilated convalescents." The governor's generous attention had so great an influence on the baron, that he consented to the operation, which was performed with great skill, and resulted most favourably. As the baron's lady-love would doubtless have considered a lover with one leg better than no lover at all, we are convinced she would often have blessed General Elliot for his chivalrous interposition, but that, unfortunately, the baron afterwards died of some internal disease.

The New-Year's Day of 1782, says our historian, was remarkable for an action of gallantry which is worthy of being rescued from oblivion. An officer of artillery at one of the batteries observing a shell whizzing its way towards his post, got behind a traverse for protection. This he had scarcely done before the shell fell into the traverse, and instantly entangled him in the rubbish. A soldier named Martin, seeing his distress, bravely risked his own life to save his officer, and ran to extricate him. His efforts proving useless, he called for assistance; and another soldier joining him, they succeeded in

extricating their officer. Almost at the same moment the shell burst, and levelled the traverse to the ground. For this courageous action, Martin was deservedly rewarded and promoted.

The defenders of the Rock now watched with intense interest the preparations of the enemy, in whose lines the greatest activity was visible. They could note the almost daily arrival of fresh troops, until the whole shore of the Bay, from Carteia to the heights of San Roque, was covered with tents. Thousands of workmen, under cover of night, pushed the approaches nearer and nearer to the beleaguered fortress. Heavy guns bristled from every point of vantage, and hour after hour poured out their fell contents of shot and shell. It was obvious, too, that the huge men-of-war at Algesiras were being equipped as batteries of a new and formidable character. The eagerness of the besiegers was stimulated by the arrival in their camp of two French princes of the blood, the Count of Artois and the Duke of Bourbon; the enemies of Great Britain everywhere turned their attention towards the great fortress which, as they confidently believed, would soon cease to be occupied by her soldiers.

It may not be uninteresting if we borrow from Captain Drinkwater's pages a record of the operations of a few days, with the view of giving the reader some idea of the incidents which characterize the course of a great siege:--

The 1st of March, he says, a flag of truce went to the enemy, in answer to one from them some days before. The Spanish officer who received the packet informed us that Fort St. Philip, in Minorca, had surrendered on the 5th of February. The succeeding day, a "carcass" set fire to the enemy's 13-gun battery, which continued blazing for two hours. On their attempting to extinguish the fire, we plied them so briskly, that several were killed and most of them driven from their work; but their usual gallantry at last prevailed. This is an honourable tribute to an enemy who fought with considerable courage and perseverance.

On the other hand, General Elliot unweariedly engaged the garrison in repairing, and putting in the best order of defence, the upper batteries and other works which had suffered from the storm of fire directed against them.

In the course of the 25th a shot drove through the embrasures of one of the British batteries, took off the legs of two men, one leg of another, and wounded a fourth man in both legs; so that "four men had seven legs taken off and wounded by one shot." The boy who was usually posted on the works where a large party was employed, to inform the men when the enemy were directing their guns towards them, had been chiding them for their disregard of his warnings, and had just turned his head towards the hostile lines, when he observed this shot on its dreadful path, and called to them to beware. Unfortunately, his caution was too late; the shot entered the embrasure, with the fatal result we have described. It is strange that this boy should have been so keen-sighted as to distinguish the enemy's shot almost immediately after it quitted the gun. But another boy in the garrison possessed an equal, if not a superior sharpness of vision.

Passing on to the 11th of April, we find that on that day the garrison obtained information as to the exact nature of the preparations which were being made for conquering their stubborn resistance. They learned that the Duke of Crillon was in command, with twenty thousand French and Spanish troops, in addition to those who had previously formed the besieging force; that the besieging operations were directed by Monsieur d'Ar?on, an eminent French engineer; and that Admiral Don Buonaventura Moreno was prepared to support the attack with ten men-of-war, besides gunboats, mortar boats, floating batteries, and other vessels. Next day the enemy's cannonade was of a peculiar character; from six in the morning until sunset a single gun or mortar was discharged every two or three minutes. Our British soldiers remarked that, as the day was the anniversary of the bombardment, the Spaniards were probably keeping it with prayer and fasting, and the minuteguns were intended to express their sorrow at the expenditure during the past twelvemonth of so many barrels of powder and rounds of cartridges without any result!

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