raltar. This important fortress, from its natural advantages, seemed to bid defiance to all the attacks of an enemy: it was, however, known to be very weakly garrisoned, and the surprise which such an unexpected assault would spread, might powerfully operate to its success. The harbour is formed by a mole which the Spaniards had fortified and planted with guns. It is accessible only on the land-side by a narrow passage between the rocks and the sea, which was walled and fortified. It had but two gates on that side, and as many towards the sea. Across this isthmus the Spaniards had drawn a fortified line.

On the 21st day of July, the fleet entered the bay of Gibraltar, and the marines, both English and Dutch, amounting to 1,800 men, were landed on the isthmus, under the command of the Prince of Hesse; thereby all communication between the town and the continent was cut off. A message was sent to the governor, summoning him to surrender the place to Charles III.: he answered, that he had sworn allegiance to Philip, and that he would defend the place for him. Hereupon Admiral Byng, and the Dutch Admiral, Vander Dussen, were directed with their ships to cannonade the town, and Captain Hicks was appointed to act against the south mole. A French privateer, of twelve guns, lay under the old mole, which Captain Whitaker was commissioned to destroy; this he effected on the 22nd. The same day, at the first dawn of light, the signal was given for cannonading the town, which was performed with such vigour, that 15,000 shot were spent in five hours; the admiral, perceiving that the enemy were thereby driven from their fortifications at the south mole-head, gave orders to Captain Whitaker to arm all the boats and assault that quarter. Immediately the Captains Hicks and Jumper, who were nearest the mole, manned their pinnaces, and entered the fortifications sword in hand. The Spaniards, to check this ardour, sprung a mine, by which two lieutenants and forty men were killed, and about sixty wounded; notwithstanding this, the two captains took possession of the

great platform, till they were sustained by Captain Whitaker, and a body of seamen under his command, who took by storm a redoubt between the mole and the town. On this the admiral again summoned the governor to surrender, who, finding the bravery of the assailants to be irresistible, capitulated on the 24th. The same day the Prince of Hesse marched into the town. Besides the natural strength of the place, the town was defended by one hundred guns mounted, and was also well supplied with ammunition.

HOW THE ENGLISH HELD GIBRALTAR.

Several unsuccessful attempts were made from time to time, especially in 1726 and 1760, on the part of the Spaniards, to recover their lost possession; but all the efforts made to regain this important fortress became insignificant when compared to the siege it sustained during the great war, set in motion by the struggle for American independence.

On the 16th June, 1779, the Spanish ambassador signified the intentions of his court to attempt its recovery; and on the 21st of the same month all communication between Gibraltar and the surrounding country was cut off by orders from the government at Madrid. It was the middle of the following month, however, before the Spaniards began to blockade the fort. Fortunately, in the early part of this year, General Elliot, who had been recently appointed governor, had arrived in the fort, and brought to the crisis that was approaching the aid of his great military science and talents. Another fortunate circumstance was, that a supply of provisions had arrived in the preceding April. Had it not been for this, the garrison might have suffered from the sudden stoppage of their accustomed intercourse both with Spain and with Africa. The first firing which took place was on the 12th of September, when a cannonade was opened from the fort, which destroyed the works that the besiegers had spent many of the preceding

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weeks in erecting. The blockade, notwithstanding, became every day closer; and the occasional boats, which had for some time stolen in from the African coast and other places, at length found it impossible to continue their attempts. By the end of October provisions had become extremely dear; about the same time, too, the small-pox broke out among the Jewish inhabitants of the town, and every precaution was used to prevent the spread of the disease. In November, the governor, in order to try on how little food life and strength could be sustained, restricted himself for eight days to four ounces of rice per diem. Thistles, dandelions, wild leeks, &c., began to be eaten by the people of the town, and meat was sold from half-a-crown to four shillings the pound.

The first firing from the besiegers took place on the 12th of January, 1780. By the end of March the first supply of provisions arrived, brought in by the gallant Admiral Rodney, who had not only cut his way to the assistance of his distressed countrymen through all the opposition of the enemy, but had captured six of their men-of-war, including a sixty-four gun ship, with the admiral on board, together with seventeen merchant-men. William IV., then known as Prince William Henry, was serving on board one of Sir George Rodney's ships as a midshipman, and often visited the garrison while the fleet remained in the bay. Captain Drinkwater relates that, on seeing a prince of the blood thus serving as a warrantofficer, the captive Spanish admiral exclaimed that Great Britain well deserved the empire of the seas, when even her king's sons were found thus holding the humblest situations on board her ships.

For many months after this things continued nearly in the same state. The garrison and townspeople were again and again reduced to the greatest privations by scarcity of provisions, before supplies arrived. In the spring of 1781, the besiegers at last opened the batteries, and continued firing upon the town till they had completely destroyed it. On the 27th of April, however, a most gallant exploit was performed

by a party from the garrison, who, making a sortie from their fortifications, succeeded in setting fire to, and reducing to ashes, all the erections of the enemy, although distant not less than three-quarters of a mile. This, however, brought only a temporary relief. The firing soon after recommenced, and, for more than a year, continued incessantly; but in the course of this year a desperate effort was made by the Spaniards to bring the siege to a termination.

Hitherto their efforts had been in vain; the rock was as immoveable as the earth upon which it stood. A reinforcement of 12,000 men was procured from France; the Duke de Crillon was nominated commander-in-chief, and D'Arcon, a French engineer of great reputation, was entrusted with the plan of attack. A project was devised by this officer to construct numerous floating batteries on such a model as should ensure them against being either sunk or fired. For this object, keels and bottoms of vast solidity were formed, and their sides defended by ramparts composed of wood and cork, long immersed in water, with layers of wet sand between; a strong rope-work netting, covered with wet hides, constituting the roof. These batteries, ten in number, were mounted with heavy brass cannon. In other respects the preparations were stupendous; and, so certain were the assailants of success, that the French king's brother and cousin, the Count d'Artois and the Duke de Bourbon, with numerous other volunteers of elevated rank, repaired to the Spanish camp for the purpose of beholding the reduction of this long-celebrated fortress.

On the 12th of September the combined fleets of France and Spain arrived in the bay. Next morning they were drawn up around the south and west sides of the promontory— a most formidable armament, consisting of forty-seven sail of the line, seven of which were three-deckers, together with ten battering ships, the strongest that had ever been built, and many frigates and smaller vessels. On land there lay an army of 40,000 men, with batteries on which were mounted 200 pieces of heavy ordnance. On the other side the garrison

now consisted of about 7,000 effective men. The ships were permitted to take their stations without molestation; but about a quarter before ten o'clock, as soon as the first of them dropped anchor, the citadel began to pour upon them its hitherto reserved artillery. Now commenced a scene of terrible sublimity. Four hundred pieces of the heaviest ordnance thundered without intermission, and filled the air with smoke and flame. For several hours the attack and defence were so well supported as scarcely to admit any appearance of superiority in the cannonade on either side. The wonderful construction of the ships seemed to bid defiance to the powers of the heaviest ordnance; but the governor, having adopted the suggestion of General Boyd, and returned the fire of the besiegers with a heavy discharge of red-hot balls, a most tremendous effect was produced, and the face of things began immediately to change. The smoke, which had been observed to issue from the upper part of the flag-ship, appeared to prevail, notwithstanding the constant application of water; and the admiral's second ship was perceived to be in the same condition. Confusion was now apparent on board several of the vessels, and by the evening their cannonade was considerably abated. About seven or eight o'clock it almost entirely ceased, excepting from one or two ships to the northward, which, from their distance, had suffered very little injury.

In the end, the attack concluded in the complete annihilation of the assailing squadron. All the larger ships were beaten to pieces or burnt. As night approached, groans and signals of distress from those on board the shattered navy supplied the place of the now slackened fire. Many of the wretched men were struggling for life in the water; and the victors themselves at last put out to their assistance, and picked numbers of them up. The loss of the enemy was supposed to amount to about 2,000, including prisoners. Of the English there were only 16 killed, and 68 wounded. The rock was a much better defence than even those strong-built menof-war. The assailants had had three hundred pieces of