^SmMs^'m^^-^^ ,»»»» ■1 c li ^ ^"1 1 111 mm p Wm^ i gy f ' ^^ grgft y^yi/z? /7^s \^ /N, LV^ 6^^ ->*^^ V '\ =■ WMMMMW^^ ■.:'«<«««^-^^ >■••'■'/• •'■■'■ •■■ '' ^ r^^^r^ 1^ 1/ ^ X 7 jNiVERS>-rf OF G-3S 121^ C/l-corLclcuLc/ V II- 11 GIBRALTAR AND ITS SIEGES. GIBRALTAR AND ITS SIEGES. ^£0i:ription of its Natural ^Rcature©. ■■ Where Gibraltar's cannoned steep O'erfrowns the wave."— MATTHEW Aknolu. LONDON: THOMAS NELSON AND SONS. EDINBURGH AND NEW YORK. 1879. ^onitntB, PART I. NAVAL AND MILITARY ANNALS: — r. SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR IN 1704. ... II. AN INTERVAL, III. THE GREAT SIEGE, IV. THE FLOATING BATTERIES, V. THE RELIEF, ... PART II. GIBRALTAR AS IT WAS AND IS : — I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION, . . 11. EARLY HISTORY OF THE ROCK, .. 116 li2 ^ist of 2l:lhi5triitions. GIBRALTAR FROM THE NORTH-WEST, ROCK OF GIBRALTAR FROM THE NEUTRAL GROUND, VIEW FROM THE SIGNAL-STATION, THE LANDING-PLACE, AND REMAINS OF MOORISH CASTLE, EUROPA POINT, MAP OF GIBRALTAR AT THE TIME OF THE GREAT SIEGE, LARBOARD AND STARBOARD SIDES OF A SPANISH BATTERIN( THE GRAND ATTACK UPON GIBRALTAR, SEPTEMBER 13, 17S2, THE king's BASTION, AND OLD MOORISH CASTLE, .. THE ROCK AND BAY OF GIBRALTAR (MODERN MAP), THE SIGNAL-STATION, THE MARKET-PLACE, THE ALAMEDA, A MOTLEY GROUP IN THE MAIN STREET, O'HARA'S TOWER ON THE SUGAR-LOAF, CATALAN BAY FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN BATTERY, martin's CAVE, ST. GEOKGe'S HALL, s'TISPlECE 12 30 32 38 72 SO 86 96 110 lis 120 122 126 130 132 136 140 THE ROOK OF GIBRALTAR. PART I. CHAPTER I. SIEGE OF GIBRALTAR IN 1704. Haaft ig «i HE year 1704 was the year of Blenheim, that wonderful victory of Marlborough's which dissipated Lewis the Fourteenth's dreams of universal empire. As stars are extin- guished in the light of dawn, so in the lustre of this great triumph England's minor successes by sea and land were forgotten. And to this day, while most men remember when Blenheim was won, few are mindful of the year in which Gibraltar was taken. Yet it may well be doubted whether the latter, though the less famous, was not, so far as British interests are concerned, the more important success. It is 10 A SPANISH EXPEDITION. difficult, perhaps, to determine any direct advantage which England gained by the battle of Blenheim ; but by the possession of Gibraltar she secured the command of the Mediterranean and of the highway to India. Gibraltar was captured in the same year in which the battle of Blenheim was won. While the Duke of Marlborough was leading his troops to the Rhine, the Archduke Charles, who had assumed the title of King of Spain, had landed at Lisbon, with the view of taking the command of an army collected on the western frontier of the kingdom to which he laid claim. This army was composed of contingents furnished by England, the Netherlands, and Portugal ; but it was prevented from making any progress by the military genius of the Duke of Berwick, natural son of James II., who was at the head of the Spanish forces. At the opposite ex- tremity of the Peninsula, an effort was made to provoke a rising of the Catalans on behalf of King Charles. For this purpose, a division of five or six thousand men was placed under the command of the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, who embarked at Lisbon in May, in an English fleet of which Sir George Rooke was the admiral. ARRIVAL IN GIBRALTAR BAY. 11 The expedition landed at Barcelona, but found the people indisposed to welcome or support it. It was, therefore, re-embarked ; and Rooke, sailing down the Mediterranean, passed through the Strait, and effected a junction with the fleet under Sir Cloudesley Shovel. The two admirals were unwilling that so powerful a force should return to England without accomplishing something ; and a council of war was held on the l7th of July, at which several schemes were proposed and discussed — among others, an attack upon Cadiz. This, however, was deemed imprudent with so small a body of troops ; and at length it was decided to strike a swift and vigorous blow at Gibraltar. The strength of the fortress was well known ; but it was equally well known that the garrison was weak, and that the Spaniards relied too confidently on the assistance supplied by Nature. On the 21st of July, the fleet crossed from Tetuan, and anchored in Gibraltar Bay. The marines, English and Dutch, numbering one thousand eight hundred, were then landed, under the orders of the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, to the northward, on the isthmus, now called the Neutral Ground, which connects the Rock with the mainland. By this movement, the garrison was prevented from obtain- 12 ATTACK ON THE FORTRESS. ing provisions or reinforcements from the interior. A summons was sent to the governor to surrender the stronghold for the service of Charles III., King of Spain ; but the governor replied that he and his veterans were true and loyal subjects of their natural lord, Philip V., and would sacrifice their lives in defence of the place. Sir George Eooke immediately ofave directions for the attack to commence : and Rear-Admiral Byng, with one 80-gun and fourteen 70-gun ships, together with Rear-Admiral Vander- dussen, and six Dutch men-of-war, and some vessels, under Captain Hicks, destined for the attack of the South Mole, took up their positions before daylight on the 23 rd. A heavy cannonade was now hurled against the fortifications. In five or six hours no fewer than fifteen thousand shot were expended ; and the enemy, though they showed the most admirable intrepidity, were driven from their guns. Captain Whitaker, with the armed boats, was then ordered to carry the Mole head ; a position from which the town would be at the mercy of the attacking force. The landing was eflfected with the utmost alacrity ; but Captain Hicks and Jumper, who lay next the mole, got ahead with their pinnaces, and dashed headlong (619) ITS SURRENDER. 13 against the works. The Spaniards had prepared for the assault, and before abandoning their post sprung a mine, which blew up the fortifications, killed two lieutenants and forty men, and wounded sixty. The survivors, however, would not surrender the ground so hardly gained ; and Captain Whitaker coming up, they warilj'- pushed forward, and carried a small redoubt half-way between the Mole and the town. A second summons being addressed to the governor, the Marquis de Salines, the garrison capitulated; and thus, on the 24th, this famous fortress fell into the hands of the assailants. The attack was exceedingly brilliant, and the seamen fought with equal cheerfulness and resolution. It is a proof of the strength of the fortifications, which mounted one hundred guns, that though the garrison consisted of only one hundred and fifty men, the loss of the attacking force was severe. Two lieutenants, one master, and fifty-seven men were killed ; one captain, seven lieutenants, a boat- swain, and two hundred and sixteen men wounded. The marquis was allowed to march out with all the honours of war ; and those inhabitants who chose to remain were guaranteed the same rights and privi- leges which they had enjoyed under Charles II. (619) O 14 THE TWO FLEETS. Having appointed the Prince of Darmstadt gov- ernor, and left as many men to garrison the Rock as could be spared from the fleet, Sir George Rooke sailed for Tetuan to take in wood and water. He then went in search of a French fleet which had been equipped at Toulon, and was under the orders of the High-Admiral of France, the Comte de Thoulouse, who had been joined by some Spanish vessels. Rooke came up with the enemy ofl" Malaga on the 13 th of August. The superiority of force lay with the French, who counted fifty line-of- battle ships, carrying 3543 guns and 24,155 men; eight frigates, mounting 149 guns, with 1025 men ; nine fire-ships ; and a couple of transports. Sir George Rooke had under his command forty-one English and twelve Dutch sail of the line, carrying 3700 guns and 23,200 men, with six frigates, and seven fire-ships. The French vessels, however, were better built than the English, and better armed. They included three ships of 104 guns, and four of 92 and 90 guns, all the rest being from 88 to 52 guns. On the other hand, the combined fleet contained only three of 9 6 guns and two of 9 guns, the remainder being from 80 to 50. On Sunday morning, the 13th, the combined fleet AN UNDECIDED BATTLE. 15 being to windward, the centre led by Sir George Rooke, the van by Sir Cloudesley Shovel and Sir John Leake, and the rear by the Dutch vice-admiral Callunbuy, signal was made to bear down upon the enemy ; and upon reaching within half gun-shot, the action began. It was long and hotly contested ; the combatants fought all day ; yet not a ship of the hundred vessels engaged on either side was taken, or burned, or sunk. The French had not at that time acquired that sense of the superiority of the British at sea which was forced upon them by a disastrous series of defeats in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars ; and the British admirals lacked that boldness of attack and contempt of the enemy which Howe, Jervis, and Nelson made a tradition. At all events, the battle, though it lasted all day, had no decisive result ; and both fleets drew off at nightfall, having gained nothing except honour. Sir Cloudesley Shovel describes the fight as " very sharp;" and adds, " There is liardly a ship that must not shift one mast, and some must shift all." The French fleet suflercd even more than the English, and on the ibllowing morning sailed away for Toulon, with a loss in killed and wounded variously estimated at from 2000 to 3000. The loss of the En dish 16 SIEGE BY THE SPANIARDS. was 695 killed, and 1663 wounded ; that of the Dutch, 400 killed and wounded. So far as the " butcher's bill" went, both England and France had equal reason to claim a victory ; and thus, while a Te Dewni was chanted in Notre Dame, thanks- givings were also publicly offered at St. Paul's. The Court of Madrid felt the loss of Gibraltar to be a very serious blow, and, before the autumn was passed, despatched the Marquis of Villadaria, with 8000 men, to attempt its recovery. The Earl of Galway, then in command of the Allied forces in Portugal, sent four regiments, with supplies of pro- visions and ammunition, to the relief of the garrison; and Sir John Leake soon afterwards arrived in the Bay with twenty sail of English and Dutch ships. Meantime, the Spaniards jDrosecuted the siege with much vigour, and harassed the garrison with a constant and heavy fire. Sir John Leake, hearing that the enemy were preparing to attack him with a very powerful fleet, withdrew to Lisbon, in order to refit, and pick up some ships which he had left behind. On the 25th he again put to sea; and on the 27th suddenly made his appearance in the Bay, where he surprised A DARING ENTERPRISE. 1 / three frigates, two English prizes, and some small vessels. He then landed the reinforcements, and six months' supplies of stores, together with a body of five hundred sailors to assist in repairing the breaches made by the hostile guns. His arrival is described as very opportune, for the Spanish general had fixed on that same night for an attack by sea and land at five several points. Baffled in this design, and conceiving that the garrison would be less on their guard while the English fleet rode in the Bay, the marquis conceived the idea of attempting a coiip-de-main. On the 3 1st of October five hundred picked volunteers pledged themselves on the Holy Sacrament to capture the fortress or perish. A goatherd led this daring little band to the south side of the Rock, by the so-called Pass of Locust-trees ; and under cover of the dark- ness they contrived to climb to St. Michael's Cave, where they spent the night. On the following night they boldly scaled Charles the Fifth's Wall, and surprised and slew the guard stationed at the Signal-House and at Middle Hill. They then pro- ceeded to lower their ropes and ladders, and in this way drew up several hundreds of their supports. So far they had been favoured by fortune. But the 18 A SECOND ATTACK. English sentinels discovering them, now gave the alarm. All was instant activity and alacrity. A strong detachment of grenadiers immediately marched up from the town ; and plied their bayonets so lustily that a hundred of the assailants were killed or hurled headlong over the precipice, while the remainder, with a colonel and thirty officers, sur- rendered themselves prisoners. The Marquis of Villadaria was not disheartened by this failure, and though the garrison was well supplied with stores by the English fleet, while his own army was ill-fed and ill-clothed, he kept up a continual fire. Having received considerable re- inforcements, he resolved to storm a breach which had been effected at two points of the fortifications. One of these, on the hill, was occupied at night by a captain, three subalterns, and ninety men ; but at daybreak the captain, two of the subalterns, and sixty men were accustomed to retire. The other breach, in the Round Tower, was defended by one hundred and eighty men, under a lieutenant alone. Through de- serters from the garrison the marquis had ascertained these dispositions, and planned his attack accordingly. The forlorn hope detailed for the upper breach scaled the Rock at night, and sheltered themselves in its THE SPANIARDS REPULSED. 19 hollows until the captain withdrew in the morning. They then pushed forwards, and, with a discharge of grenades, cleared the works of the subaltern and his small party. Simultaneously the Round Tower was surrounded by three hundred men, and Lieutenant- Colonel Bain, after a gallant defence, was forced to seek shelter in the covered way. But, as before, just when the Spaniards thought success within their grasp, they were doomed to discomfiture. The garrison had taken the alarm ; drum and bugle sum- moned the regiments to their different quarters ; and a body of five hundred men flung themselves on the enemy with such determined valour that they were forced to yield. The tower was retaken, and the Rock cleared of Spanish soldiers. The Governments of Spain and France did not yet abandon all hope of recovering Gibraltar. The Mar- quis of Villadaria having failed, was superseded by a veteran French general, the Marshal Tess^ ; and a powerful fleet, under Admiral Pointis, was ordered to blockade the port. The besieging army was reinforced ; the entrenchments were repaired and mounted with new and heavier guns. The English Ministry, apprised of these measures, strengthened Sir John Leake with some additional ships ; and the 20 CESSION OF GIBRALTAR. gallant admiral, sailing from Lisbon on the 6th of March, came up with M. Pointis on the 10th, and cut off five of the French ships — three of which were taken, while the others were driven ashore and burned. He then stood into the Bay and landed supplies for the use of the garrison. Despairing of success in any direct attack, the marshal withdrew his troops from their old positions, and entrenched himself across the isthmus, so as to prevent the English from making any forays into the interior. No further attempt was made upon a fortress which, in the hands of English soldiers, had proved impregnable ; and by the Treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, Gibraltar was formally ceded to England. CHAPTER II. AN INTERVAL. E read of no further attempt upon Gibraltar until 1720. At that time the Spanish fortress of Ceuta, on the African coast, was beleaguered by the Moors ; and with the pro- fessed intention of relieving it, a large armament was collected in Gibraltar Bay, under the Marquis de Leda. The British Government, however, re- ceived information that the real object of the expedi- tion was the surprise of Gibraltar ; and accordingly ordered the governor of Minorca to embark imme- diately with a portion of his troops and reinforce its garrison. On his arrival, he found that this important post was defended by three battalions only ; that the stores contained provisions for scarcely fourteen days ; and this with a strong Spanish fleet in the Bay. He took such active measures, however, that 22 HOSTILE DEMONSTRATIONS. the Marquis de Leda was obliged to abandon all hopes of carrying the Rock, and to sail for Ceuta. Towards the end of 1726 the Spaniards assembled an army near Algesiras, which, in the following January, they moved to the plain below San Roque. Soon after this camp was formed, the Count de Los Torres, the Spanish commander, advanced within reach of the garrison. Brigadier Kane then de- spatched a message, desiring the count to retire from the range of his guns, or he would do his utmost to force him. The count replied that, as the garrison could command no more than they had power to maintain, he should obey His Catholic Majesty's orders, and push forward as far as he was able. The English general was forced to bear with this insolence, because war had not yet been formally declared between England and Spain. The situation was altered, however, when in February the Spaniards began to erect batteries on the Neutral Ground. It was felt that this move- ment was an open declaration of hostile intentions, and the English guns began to fire on the Spanish workmen. Information having been received that the enemy were constructing a mine, our engineers succeeded in discovering the spot, and baffling their AN INTENDED ALARM. 23 operations. On the morning of the 22nd a sharp fire was opened on the garrison, and new batteries were run up which commanded the Old Mole and the town. The besieged, however, relaxed nothing in their efforts, and maintained the defence with persistent vigour, though their ordnance, being old, were constantly bursting, and inflicting almost as much injury on our own gunners as on the enemy. The English admirals, on the 2nd of April, re- solved on bombarding Algesiras, whence the Span- iards received their supplies of ammunition ; but the ships being becalmed, were compelled to drop anchor ; after which, says Drinkwater, the navy never gave themselves any further concern about annoying them in that quarter. On the 16 th, two sergeants, with ten men each, were ordered to push along under the Rock, and alarm the enemy in the trenches ; the governor intending, when they were sufficiently' aroused, to rake them with discharges of grape. The sergeants did their duty, and the enemy instantly beat to arms; but the bombardier charged with the duty of signalling to the batteries fired too soon, and the Spaniards, discovering the manoeuvre, quickly retired under cover. Shortly afterwards news arrived of the con- 24 HALF A CENTURY. elusion of peace, and the Spanish accordingly dis- mantled their works and retreated to their different quarters. The Rock now continued in the possession of the English for many years, without any attempt being made to disturb them ; and we may pass over half a century in silence, taking up our record again in 1776, when the Right Hon. General George Augustus Elliot was appointed Governor. His name will long be remembered in connection with the famous siege of 1779. CHAPTER III. THE GREAT SIEGE, |EFORE entering on a description of the Great Sieo:e, which stands foremost among the brilliant episodes of our military his- tory, it will be necessary for the reader's under- standing of its details to put before him a view of the Rock and its defences as they then existed. In doing so we must necessarily avail ourselves of the close and careful account furnished by Captain Drinkwater, who ^vrote from personal knowledge, and shared in the various experiences of the siege. We shall, however, as far as possible, spare our readers the infliction of purely technical language. The Rock of Gibraltar forms a kind of promontory rising seaward to a height of 1300 feet, and con- nected with the mainland by a low sandy isthmus. The landward face varies considerably in elevation. 26 THE FORTIFICATIONS DESCRIBED. The breadth of the isthmus at the foot of the Rock is about 2700 feet, but towards the country it broadens rapidly. Across this neck of land, which, with the Rock and the Algesiras coast, forms the Bay, the Spaniards, before the Great Siege, had erected a line of fortifications, 1700 yards in length, and distant about a mile from the nearest posts of the garrison. At each extremity a fort of twenty- four guns was erected ; one christened St. Barbara, and the other St. Philip. Their cross-fire com- pletely commanded the so-called Neutral Ground, a narrow belt or strip between English Gibraltar and the Spanish mainland. The Rock, we must add, is divided into two unequal parts by a ridge extending from north to south. The western section is a gradual slope, broken up with precipices ; but the eastern, which looks out upon the blue Mediteiranean, and the northern, facing the Spanish batteries, are both very steep, and, in fact, inaccessible. At the foot of the north-west slope, and sur- rounded by irregular fortifications, lies the town, which communicates with the isthmus by a long, narrow causeway, strongly bristling with defensive works. These, and the causeway itself, are over- "the devil's TONGUE." 27 looked by the guns mounted in the King's, Queen's, and Prince's lines ; rampaits excavated out of the solid rock, and practicable only to birds of prej''. At different heights, up to the very crest, batteries are planted so as to present to an enemy a peculiarly grim and forbidding aspect. The Old Mole, to the west of the Grand Battery, joined with the above lines to pour a tremendous cross-fire on the cause- way and Neutral Ground. So great an annoyance did this battery prove to the besiegers, that, by way of distinction, they named it the Devil's Tongue ; and the entrance into the garrison, with its batteries here, there, and everywhere, and its cannons and mortars on the causeway and Old Mole, suggested to them the picturesque title of the Mouth of Fire. All along the sea-line were stout bastions, joined by curtains, which were mounted with great guns and howitzers, and supplied with casemates for 1000 men. These sufficiently defended the town ; which was protected also by a rocky shoal, stretching along the front far into the Bay, and preventing the approach of largo ships. From the south bastion a curtain stretched up the base of the hill, and terminated the fortifications of the town at an inaccessible precipice. Here was placed the South-port gate, with a dry 28 THE SIGNAL-HOUSE. ditch in front of it, a covered way, and glacis. Above this gate, on the rugged slope of the hill, and connected with the curtain, was a large bastion, pointing its guns at the Bay. Further up, an ancient Moorish wall ran along to the ridge of the rock, in the front of which a curtain, with loop-holes and redans, built in the reign and christened by the name of Charles V., extended to the summit. Between these two walls, the Moorish and the Emperor's, stood the Signal-House, whence, on a clear bright day, the guard could command an unimpeded view of the Mediter- ranean, and discern even the shining waters of the Atlantic over the Spanish mountains. " Signals," says Drink water, " formerly were made at this post on the appearance of topsail vessels from east and weut, but soon after the commencement of the late war we discovered that the Spanish cruisers were more frequently informed of the approach of our friends by our signals than by their own. The sig- nals were therefore discontinued during the siege, but resumed after the general peace of 1783." Following a line of ramparts along the beach, the visitor, at the time we are speaking of, came to the New Mole, with its 26-gun battery, and thence pro- ceeded to the well-known quay of the Ragged Staff, BATTERIES AND BATTERIES. 29 usually employed for the landing of stores for the garrison. Ships of the line could lie along the Mole^ such was the depth of water ; and at the Mole head was stationed a circular battery for heavy cannon. The Rock is not easily accessible from the New Mole fort to the north end of Rosia Bay, but it was defended, like every other point, by batteries and ramparts. From the south end of Rosia Bay the cliff rose gradually to Buena Vista — so called on account of its beautiful view of the Spanish and African coasts, bathed in a glow of colour. Several guns were mounted there, and the hill towards Europa Point bore some defensive works. Thence the Rock sweeps down by the Devil's Bowling-Green — so named, on the lueus d non lucendo principle,* from its rugged surface — to Little Bay, where a battery stood sur- rounded by frowning precipices ; and onward stretched the line of works and batteries to Europa Point, the southern extremity of the garrison, though not the southern extremity of the European continent. From this point frown precipitous cliffs of the gloomiest aspect to Europa Advance, where * A r.inge of granite mountains in Argyllsliire is similarly named the "Duke of Argyll's Bowling-Green." 30 ABOUT THE TOWN. the fortifications were terminated by some few batteries. Whether the young reader can or cannot follow in every particular the foregoing description, he will at least derive from it the idea of a not insuflBcient system of defensive works, which did credit to the abilit}'- of the engineer-officers of the time. Every point of vantage had its battery or bastion. The natural advantages of the position were carefully utilised, and the approaches were commanded by heavy guns, which could pour on an advancing enemy a withering fire. In all, the fortifications were ai'med with six hundred and sixty-three pieces of artillery. The town of Gibraltar, says Drinkwater, is built on' a bed of red sand. The houses were composed of different materials, principally of a solid well- tempered cement called tapia ; but some of the rock- stone, plastered, and blue- washed on the outside, so as to moderate the fiery ra3^s of the sun. These were generally covered with tiles, but the flat terraced roofs remained in the Spanish houses, and, in many, the mirandas or towers, whence the inmates, with- out removiniif from home, could luxuriate in a bright and ample prospect of the Bay and neighbouring coasts. MOORISH EDIFICES. 31 Most conspicuous among the buildings was the old Moorish castle, which recalled to the spectator the palmy days of Saracenic supremacy in Spain. It was situated on the north-west side of the hill, and originally consisted of a triple wall, the outer- most of which rose sheer from the water's edge. The lower portions, however, had been destroyed before the siege, and on their ruins was planted the Grand Battery. The walls formed an oblong, ascend- ing the hill, with the principal towei-, or governor's residence, at the upper angle. The remains of a mosque were still visible ; as also those of a Saracenic court, and a tank or reservoir for water. Ruins of Moorish edifices were discernible also on Windmill Hill, and at Europa. Those on the hill were in a condition which rendered it impossible to determine their original character ; at Europa they have been converted by the Spaniards into a chapel, dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Fragments of Moorish walls run along the water's edge ; and near Europa Advance is a Moorish bath, which our English soldiers named the Nuns' Well. It is sunk eight feet deep in the rock, and measures seventy-two feet by forty-two feet. Over it is an arcaded canopy, supported by graceful Saracenic columns. 32 ST. Michael's cave. 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, vrhich 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 stalac- titic grottoes. There are also numerous stalagmites, which in some cases almost join the calcareous drop- pings 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 A BRILLIANT DISPLAY. 33 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 stal- actite, not unlike the trunks of palm-trees, and a variety of fantastic foliage, some stretching down tt) 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, fan- tastically 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 Assure, 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. 34 A TERRIBLE CHASM. The effect was beautiful : the torch blazed brightly as it fell, makinar for itself a sort of halo of glitter- ing gems, as it lighted the walls of the gulf momen- tarily 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, how- ever ; 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 SUBTERRANEAN PASSAGES. 35 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 subter- ranean windings an enemy might obtain admission into the fortress ! The reader may be reminded that Captain Hamley, in some of the amusing tales which he formerly con- tributed to Blackivood's Magazine, made good use of the Rock and its natural curiosities.* 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. These are reprinted in " Tales from Blackwood." 36 ANIMAL LIFE. 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 Mens Abyla, or, as it is popularly called, Apes' Hill. In former days red-legged part- ridges, 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 recur- rence in December and January of violent thunder- storms, with gales, and heavy rains, almost tropical A GLORIOUS PROSPECT. 37 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 steiile rock. The western slopes, how- ever, 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, peri- winkles, 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 con- fines 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. 38 VIEW OF THE BAY. 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 elifts 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 Alge- siras lies on the slope of the hills, and bathes its feet in the warm, bright wa>'es. 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 be- tween English and Spanish territory is marked by a EUROPA POINT. r.' .• . ■ , ^^ig .>---.. J\I E IJ> I TERR --^ ..r E ^-l .V .V E A PREPARATIONS OF THE ENEMY. 73 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. 74 DAILY INCIDENTS. It may not be uninteresting if we borrow from Captain Drinkwater's pages a record of the opera- tions 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. PhiHp, in Minorca, had surrendered on the 5th of February. The succeed- ing 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. At night they raised a jplace d' amies at the western extremity of their 13-gun battery; these defensive works demonstrating that they were deter- mined to provide as much as possible against another sortie. The following night they repaired the dam- age done by the fire. The carpenters of the navy, on the 4th, laid the keel of one of the new gun- DAILY INCIDENTS. 75 boats. The 6th, six rows of tents, ten in each row, were pitclied in the rear of the second line of the enemy's camp, near the horse-barrack. A large party was also employed in making a road from the beach to the barrack, and others were engaged in landing shells and different ordnance. These, with other appearances, showed that the enemy were in earnest in their prosecution of the siege. 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 sutiered from the storm of fire directed against them. On the 8th, the enemy raised one face of the eastern redoubt several fascines in height. The day following, Lieutenant Cuppage, of the Royal Artillery, was dangerously wounded on the Royal battery, from a splinter of a small shell, which burst immediately after being discharged from the rock gun above and in the rear of the Royal battery ; this was the second accident of the same nature. On the 11th a fri- gate and xebec passed to the west, with six topsail vessels, supposed to be part of the late Minorca garrison. On the night of the 1 3th the enemy tz-aced out a work within the western ijlace d'armes of the 76 A FATAL SHOT. St. Carlos Battery, apparently with an intention of extending the epaulement. The firing on both sides was now considerably increased ; that from the enemy amounted to about five hundred rounds in the twenty-four hours. 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 ofi" 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 1 1 th of April, we find that on A SINGULAR CANNONADE. 77 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 emiuent French engineer ; and that Admiral Don Buenaventura 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 minute- guns 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 ! On the 2Sth of May the enemy sent in a flag of truce. Before the object of it was known, the governor remarked to the officers near him that 78 A COURTEOUS FOE. he supposed the duke had arrived, and had sent to summon the garrison to surrender. His reply, he said, would be brief, "No — no;" and he hoped his oflScers would support him. The summons, however, was not made, and the laconic answer, therefore, was not given. But it is due to the Duke of Crillon to record his courtesy. He wrote to General Elliot to acquaint him with the arrival of the French prince, and in their name to express their high estimation of his courag-e and character. The letter was accompanied by a present of fresh fruits and vegetables, with ice, cfame, and other luxuries for the use of his staff. He knew, said the duke, that the governor lived wholly upon vegetables, and if informed of the description he preferred, he would furnish a daily supply. The governor replied in suitable terms ; but while accepting the Spanish commander's gifts, begged of him to send no more, as he made it a point of honour to share with the meanest of his fellow-soldiers both want and plenty. In planning a combined attack by land and sea upon the Rock, the besiegers felt it was necessar}^ to guard against the destruction of the naval force by the batteries of the fortress before it could get near enough to render any service. But how was the THE FLOATING BATI'EIUES. 79 fire of the English guns to be silenced? It occurred to M. d'Ar(;on that what was wanted was a number of fireproof batteries, Mhich could take up and maintain a position in the Bay, regardless of the cannonade delivered against them by the garrison. In the construction of these floating castles M.d'Ar(;on exhausted all his ingenuity. There were ten of them, each armed with fifteen heavy guns, and their structure was as follows : — On the larboard side they were six or seven feet thick, made of green timber, bolted and cased with cork, iron, and raw hides. Inside they were lined with a bed of wet sand, and in case they should nevertheless take fire, currents of water were poured through them by a system of pumps and channels, so that, should any red-hot shot pierce the vessel and open up any one of the ducts, the water would pour forth instantly and extinguish the flames. As an additional protec- tion, each tower was covered with a slanting bomb- [)roof roof, capable of being raised or lowered at [jleasure, by means of machinery, from which, it was calculated, the balls would glide harmlessly into the sea. In fact, the devices for the protection of the besiegers seem to have been more numerous and more skilful than those for the attack of the besieged. We 80 KNERGY OF THE DEFENCE. must add that these })onderous floating Latteries were masted and rigged, so as to sail like frigates. It must not be thought that General Elliot had made no provision against the coming storm. He was a man fertile in expedients, and it would appear that his engineer-officers were as able as they were zealous ; so that at all the exposed points new works of great strength were thrown up, and the fortifi- cations were everywhere repaired and put in order. A fleet of gunboats was got ready in the Bay ; a body of Corsicans, under the leadership of a nephew of the celebrated Paoli, had arrived to offer their services ; and some vessels loaded with ammunition had run the blockade, and refilled the magazines of the fortress. The garrison reposed the most absolute confidence in their commander, and after so pro- tracted a siege had come to think of themselves as invincible. Nor was their confidence lessened by the news which reached them of Admiral Rodney's great victory over a French fleet in the West Indies. For some time the governor had looked on very calmly at the new works raised by the Spaniards across the isthmus and along the shore, but as they had been pushed forward to an inconvenient position, he thouoht the moment had come for administering THE HOSTILE ARMADA. 81 a stern rebuke. He therefore opened upon them a cannonade of red-hot shot, which in a few hours involved the greater portion in flames. This contemptuous demonstration so annoyed the Duke of Crillon, that, though his lines were in- complete, he ordered a general bombardment. It began with a volley of about sixty shells from the mortar boats ; then all his artillery, numbering one hundred and seventy pieces of heavy calibre, joined in the feu d'enfer ; while nine line-of-battle ships hurled their broadsides as they sailed along the sea-front. The attack was repeated on the following day, in the hope apparently of terrifying the garrison by revealing the formidable nature of the preparations made for their destruction. While the air echoed with the hurtling missiles, the astonished soldiers saw through the occasional gaps in the smoke-clouds a vast press of sail coming up from the westward ; it proved to be the combined fleets of France and Spain. Such an accumulation of force, by land and sea, could not fail to surprise, though it did not alaru), Elliot and his veterans. The armada, beneath which, to use the expression of an old poet, " the waters groaned," consisted of 47 sail of the line, and 10 battering-ships, regarded (619) 7 82 TKEMENDOUS DISPLAY OF FORCE. as impregnable and invincible, carrying 212 guns, besides frigates, xebecs, bomb-ketches, cutters, gun and mortar boats, and smaller craft for disembarking men. On the land-side the batteries and works were of the most formidable character, mounting 200 pieces of heavy ordnance, and protected by an army of nearly 40,000 men, under the command of a general of experience and ability, and animated by the presence of two princes of the royal blood of France, with other eminent personages, and many of the Spanish grandees. No such naval and military combination had been attempted in Europe since the days of the Armada ; and it was not unnatural that the Spaniards should anticipate from it a decisive triumph. They seem, however, to have put their faith more particularly in the battering-ships ; and so great an enthusiasm was excited, that to hint at their possible failure was considered a mark of treason. General Elliot was in nowise shaken from his usual calmness by this tremendous display of force. His garrison at this time (September 1782) numbered about 7500 men, of whom 400 were in hospital. These he distributed so as to guard most efficiently the points at which the enemy's attack would probably ACTIVITY OF THE GARRISON. 83 be delivered. The fortifications were carefully ex- amined, and additional works erected wherever they could be of service. Though the Spaniards poured on the garrison an incessant storm of shot and shell, the governor, in order to husband his resources, permitted but little firing in return, except when it was necessary to silence or destroy some particular battery. The troops under his command were few in number, it is true, but they were veterans, inured to war, who had been long accustomed to the effects of artillery, and gradually prepared to meet the supreme ordeal that now awaited them. His subordinates were ofiicers of approved courage, intelligence, and discretion ; eminent " for all the accomplishments of their profession," and enjoying the entire confidence of the men under their orders. And the spirits of all were animated by the ease with which former attacks had been defeated, as well as by the success attending some recent experi- ments of firing red-hot shot, which, on this occasion, would enable them, they hoped, " to bring their labours to a period, and relieve them from the tedious cruelty of another vexatious blockade." In critical circumstances, men, the sagest and coolest, are apt to be influenced by trivial incidents. 84 THE SUPPOSED SIGNAL. which they convert into good or evil omens ; and such is especially the case when life and liberty are the stakes for which they are about to contend. As the British soldiers, from the summit of their famous Rock, looked out upon the crowd of masts which gathered in the Bay, it was generally reported among them that their arrival was occasioned by the pressure of a British fleet in hot pursuit. Suddenly a loud cheer was raised, and all exclaimed that the British admiral was certainly in their rear, as a flag for a fleet in sight was waving, they said, from the Signal-post. Hope beamed radiant on every countenance ; but a revulsion succeeded when the signal suddenly disappeared. The guard at the signal-station afterwards informed them that the supposed flag was really an eagle, which, after several evolutions, had perched for a few minutes on the westernmost pole, and then spread its broad wings to the eastward. Though less superstitious, says the historian gravely, than the ancient Romans, many could not help accepting it as a favourable omen ; and the prognostication, happily, was fully justified by the events of the succeeding day. The grand attack took place on the loth of THE GRAND ATTACK. 85 September. Shortly after nine in the morning, the ten battering-ships took up their several positions in admirable order : the admiral, in a two-decker, dropping anchor about nine hundred yards off the King's Bastion, and the others successively falling into their places to the right and left of the flag-ships ; the most distant being about 1100 or 1200 yards from the garrison. General Elliot reserved his fire until the first ship anchored, and then began a well- directed cannonade. The enemy occupied about ten minutes in their manoeuvres ; after which they returned our fire, and the stress of battle waxed fast and furious. The air was darkened by the clouds of smoke which rose from shore and sea, while the rattle of shot and the whirr of shells seemed to silence the very echoes. Four hundred pieces of the heaviest artillery were discharging their murderous missiles simultaneously, until one might have thought that all the thunders of heaven were let loose. After a few hours' cannonade, our soldiers found that the battering-ships were fully as formidable as they had been represented. " Our heaviest shells," says Drinkwater, " often rebounded from their tops, whilst the 32-pound shot seemed incapable of making 86 A HEAVY FIRE. any visible impression upon their hulls. Frequently we flattered ourselves they were on lire ; but no sooner did any smoke appear, than, with admirable intrepidity, men were observed applying water, from their engines within, to those places whence the smoke issued. These circumstances, with the prodigious cannonade which they maintained, gave us reason to imagine that the attack would not be so soon decided as, from our success against their land- batteries, we had fondly expected. Even the artillery themselves, at this period, had their doubts of the effect of the red-hot shot, which began to be used about twelve, but were not general till between one and two o'clock." The ordnance portable furnaces for heating shot being too few to supply the demands of the artillery when the battle reached its culmina- tion, huge fires of wood were kindled in the corners of the nearest buildings, in which the shot were speedily prepared for use. Our soldiers jocularly termed these supplies "roasted potatoes." At first the enemy's cannon were too much elevated, but about noon they obtained the range, and their firing was powerful, and skilfully directed. The casualties then became numerous, particularly on those batteries north of the King's Bastion, which £ > V > ATTACK AND DEFENCE. 87 were exposed to a cross-fire from the Spanish land- fortifications. Our gunners, liowever, disregarded this attack, and concentrated all their efforts on the battering-ships, the steady opposition which they offered inciting the British to a boundless resent- ment. The fire of the garrison increased, if that were possible, in intensity. Every man served the guns as if he were aiming at some personal enemy. From all quarters rained incessant showers of hot balls, carcasses, and shells of every description ; and as the masts of several of the ships went by the board, and the rigging of all hung in shreds and tatters, the hopes of the garrison began to revive. For some hours, however, it was difficult to say whether the attack or the defence would prevail. The wonderful construction of the floating batteries apparently defied the heaviest ordnance that the garrison could bring to bear upon them. In the afternoon, however, a considerable change was apparent, and the besieged observed with delight that the flag-ship and the admiral's second were on fire, and that on board several of the vessels an evident confusion prevailed. Their cannonade slackened rapidly towards the evening ; and about seven or eischt o'clock it almost ceased. Various 88 FLOATING BATTERIES DESTROYED. signals were thrown up from the suffering ships, and rockets were discharged to inform their friends of their distressed condition. As night came on, says Botta, the flames defied the most anxious efforts of the Spaniards to ex- tinguish them ; and the disorder which reigned on board the burning batteries soon communicated itself to the whole line. To the diminished fire of the enemy the garrison returned a cannonade which seemed actually to increase in rapidity and power. It was maintained throughout the night. At one in the morning the two ships already named were in flames. The others speedily caught fire, either from the effects of the red-hot balls, or, as the Spaniards pretended, because they set them on fire, when they had lost all hope of saving them. The light and glow of this tremendous conflagration illuminated the entire Bay, as well as the sombre Rock, and assisted the British gunners to point their artillery with the utmost precision. The trouble and despair of the enemy now reached a climax. The Spaniards hastened to send off all their boats, which sur- rounded the floating batteries, in order to save their crews ; an operation accomplished with much cool- ness and courage, in spite of the peril attending it. FINAL CATASTROPHE. 89 For not only was it necessary to brave the British fire, but to incur the greatest risk in approaching the burning vessels. Never, perhaps, says a writer, did a more horrible or deplorable spectacle present itself to the eyes of men. The deep darkness that shrouded the distant earth and sea, vividly con- trasted with the columns of flame that rose up- wards from the blazing wrecks ; and the shrieks of the victims were heard even above the roar of the incessant cannonade. Brigadier Curtis, who, with his briorade, was encamped at Europa, finding that the moment had come for bringing into operation his little flotilla of twelve gunboats, each of which carried an 18 or 24-pounder in its bow, drew them up in such a manner as to take the floating batteries in flank. This cross-fire compelled the relieving boats to retire. As morning dawned, Curtis pushed forward, and captured a couple of launches loaded with men. These boats attempted to escape, but surrendered after a shot had killed and wounded several on board. The horror of the scene was now almost too great to witness. The daylight showed a piteous spectacle : in the midst of the flames appeared the unhappy Spaniards, who with loud shrieks implored 90 A GENEROUS PROCEEDING. compassion, or flung themselves into the waves. Some, on the point of drowning, clung with frenzied grasp to the sides of the burning ships, or to any floating spar which came within their reach, while, in. the depth of their despair, they implored the compassion and succour of the victors. Moved by a sight so painful, the English, says Botta, listened to humanity alone, and ceasing their fire, occupied themselves solely with the rescue of their enemies ; a proceeding the more generous on their part, as it exposed them to the most imminent hazard. Curtis, in particular, covered himself with glory, and freely risked his own life to save that of his fellow-creatures. He led his boats up to the burning, smoking hulks, to assist the poor wretches on the point of falling victims to the fire or the waves. Climbing on board the battering-ships, with his own hands he helped down the Spaniards, who loaded him with words of gratitude. While he and his men were thus generously engaged, the flames reached the magazine of one of the battering-ships to the northward, and about five o'clock it blew up, with a crash which seemed to shake the very Rock. A quarter of an hour later, another, in the centre of the line, met with a similar fate. The burning RESCUING THE ENEMY. 91 wreck of the latter was hurled in every direction, and involved the British gunboats in serious danger ; one was sunk, but happily the crew were saved. A hole was forced through the bottom of the brigadier's boat, his coxswain killed, the strokesman wounded, and for some time the crew were enveloped in a cloud of smoke. After this incident the brigadier deemed it prudent to retire under cover of the Rock, to avoid the peril arising from further explosions. On his return, however, he approached two more of the ships, and finally landed nine officers, two priests, and three hundred and thirty-four private soldiers and seamen, all Spaniards, — who, with one officer and eleven Frenchmen who had " floated in " the preceding evening, brought up the total number saved to three hundred and fifty-seven. Many of these, who were severely, and some even dreadfully wounded, were immediately removed to the hospital, and attended with the utmost carefulness. Notwithstanding all the heroic efforts of Curtis and his men, on board the burning ships many victims were left to perish. " The scene at this time was as affecting as during the previous hostilities it had been terrible and tremendous. Men crying from amidst the flames for pity and 92 TOTAL DEFEAT OF THE ENEMY. assistance ; others, on board those ships where the fire had made little progress, imploring relief with the most expressive gestures and signs of despair ; whilst several, equally exposed to the dangers of the opposite element, trusted themselves, on vari- ous parts of the wreck, to the chance of paddling ashore." A Spanish felucca, probably with the view of taking on board these unfortunates, approached from the shore ; but the garrison suspecting her of a design to set on fire one of the comparatively uninjured battering -ships, by a brisk cannonade compelled her to retreat. Of the six ships still in flames, three blew up before eleven o'clock ; the other three burned down to the water's edge, the magazines having been wetted by the enemy before they abandoned them. On one of the latter waved the admiral's flag ; it perished with the ship. The besieged hoped to secure the remaining two batteries as trophies of their victory ; but one of them suddenly burst out into flames, and blew up with a tremendous crash ; and as it was found impracticable to preserve the other, it was destroyed in the afternoon. Such was the fate of the " float- ing: castles" which had been constructed with so THE king's bastion. 93 much labour, and from which so differeut a result had been anticipated. It is interesting to remember that during the heat of the struggle General Elliot's post was the King's Bastion ; and it is a curious circumstance, not unworthy of record, that when General Boyd, some years previously, had laid the first stone, with the usual ceremonies, he observed, — " This is the first stone of a work which I name the ' King's Bastion.' May it be as gallantly defended as I know it will be ably executed ; and may I live to see it resist the united efforts of France and Spain." Of the courage, patience, and perseverance dis- played by the garrison during this arduous struggle, as of the skill and energy of the artillerists, it is impossible to speak in terms of too high praise ; and the name of " Gibraltar " is rightly blazoned as a title to honour on the flags of the regiments who served in the famous siege. The enemy's principal objects of attack are recorded to have been the King's Bastion, and the line of fortifications extending to the north of the Orange Bastion. To silence the former important 94 COUNTING THE COST. post, they emploj^ed their largest ships, while the others endeavoured to effect a breach in the curtain extending to Montague's Bastion. Had they suc- ceeded in this attempt, their grenadiers, it is said, were to have stormed the garrison under cover of the combined fleets. The prisoners inveighed against their officers for having described the floating batteries as invulnerable, and promised that ten sail of the line should support them, as well as all the gun and mortar boats. They had been led to believe that the garrison would not be able to discharge many rounds of hot balls ; their astonish- ment, therefore, was very great, when they found them discharged with as much ease and regularity as cold shot. The loss sustained by the Spaniards was never officially made known ; but a moderate estimate puts it at 2000 killed, wounded, and taken prisoners. On the other hand, the casualties of the garrison were very few, and it is surprising that so tremendous a cannonade should have en- tailed so small a loss of life. The number of the killed was sixteen only ; eighteen officers, sergeants, and rank and file were wounded. The damage done to the fortifications was equally inconsiderable, and, by the activity of the artillery, the whole of the sea- EXPENDITURE OF SHOT. 95 line, before night on the 1 4th, was repaired and put in complete order. While the garrison could bring to bear no more than 80 cannon, 7 mortars, and 9 howitzers, the enemy employed no fewer than 828 pieces of heavy ordnance. The English gunners expended upwards of 8300 rounds, more than half of which were hot shot, and 716 barrels of powder. Of the quantity of ammunition wasted by the enemy, we possess no par- ticulars. The following is given by Drinkwater as a correct list of those unfortunate battering-ships which so fatally belied the hopes of their inventors :* — * An Italian officer, who served on board the combined fleet, may here be quoted in reference to the failure of these experiments : — " Our hopes of ultimate success became less sanguine," he says, " when, at two o'clock, the floating battery commanded by the Prince of Nassau (on board of which was also the engineer who had invnted the machinery) began to smoke on the side exposed to the garrison, and it was apprehended she had taken fire. The firing, how- ever, continued till we could perceive the fortifications had sustained some damage ; but at seven o'clock all our hopes vanished. The fire from our floating batteries entirely ceased, and mckets were thrown up as signals of distress. In short, the red-hot balls from tlie garrison had by this time taken .such good efTect, that nothing now was tliouglit of but saving the crews, and the boats of the combined fleet were immediately sent on that service. A little after midnight, the floating battery which had been the first to sliow symptoms of conflagration burst out into flames, upon which tlie fire from tl)e Rock was increased wiih terrific vengeance ; the light produced from the flames was equal to noonday, and gre:illy exposed the boats of the fleet in removing the crews. During the night one or other of these batteries was discovered to be on flre ; they were so close to the walls that the balls pierced into them full three feet, but being made of solid beds of green timber, the holes closed up after the shot, and for want of air they did not immediately produce the efTect. At five A.M. one of them blew up witli a very great explosion, and soon after the whole of them, having been abandoned by their crews, were on fire fore and aft. and many of their gallant fellows were indebted to the exertions of the English for their lives." — Bakrow, "Life of A