. The rulers of the Mediterranean. its. But they would probablysave him the trouble of coming so far by doingthat before he left his vessel in the bay. The THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR 19 northern face of the Rock — that end which faces Spain, and which makes the head of the crouching lion — shows two long rows of teeth cut in its surface by con-victs of long ago. You are allowed to walk through these dungeons, and to look down upon the Neutral Ground and the little Span-ish town at the end of its half-mile overthe butts of greatguns. And you willmarvel not so much at the engineering skill of whoever
. The rulers of the Mediterranean. its. But they would probablysave him the trouble of coming so far by doingthat before he left his vessel in the bay. The THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR 19 northern face of the Rock — that end which faces Spain, and which makes the head of the crouching lion — shows two long rows of teeth cut in its surface by con-victs of long ago. You are allowed to walk through these dungeons, and to look down upon the Neutral Ground and the little Span-ish town at the end of its half-mile overthe butts of greatguns. And you willmarvel not so much at the engineering skill of whoever it was whoplanned this defence as at the weariness and thetoil of the criminals who gave up the greater partof their lives to hewing and blasting out thesegreat galleries and gloomy passages, throughwhich your footsteps echo like the report of can-non. Lower down, on the outside of this mask of-rock, are more ramparts, built there by man,from which infantry could sweep the front ofthe enemy were they to approach from the only. AN ENGLISH SENTRY 20 THE RULERS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN point from which a land attack is possible. Theother side of the Rock, that which faces theMediterranean, is unfortified, except by the bigguns on the very summit, for no man could scaleit, and no ball yet made could shatter its further protect the north from a land attackthere is at the base of the Rock and below theramparts a great moat, bridged by an apparentlysolid piece of masonry. This roadway, whichleads to the north gate of the fortress—the onewhich is closed at six each night — is under-mined, and at a word could be blown into peb-bles, turning the moat into a great lake of water,and virtually changing the Rock of Gibraltarinto an island. I never crossed this roadwaywithout wondering whether the sentry under-neath might not be lighting his pipe near thepowder-magazine, and I generally reached theend of it at a gallop. There is still another protection to the NorthFront. It is
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherharper, bookyear189
