ltar from the Mediterranean.

View of Gibraltar from the Mediterranean.

"There is your destination, lad," the captain said. "It is a
strong-looking place, isn't it?"

"It is, indeed, Captain," Bob said, taking the captain's glass from
the top of the skylight, and examining the Rock.

"You see," the captain went on, "the Rock is divided from the
mainland by that low spit of sand. It is only a few hundred yards
wide, and the sea goes round at the back of the Rock, and along the
other side of that spit--though you can't see it from here--so
anything coming to attack it must advance along the spit, under the
fire of the guns.

"There, do you see that building, standing up on the hill above the
town? That is the old Moorish castle, and there are plenty of
modern batteries scattered about near it, though you can't see
them. You see, the Rock rises sheer up from the spit; and it is
only on this side, close to the water's edge, that the place can be
entered.

"The weak side of the place is along this sea face. On the other
side, the Rock rises right out of the water; but on this side, as
you see, it slopes gradually down. There are batteries, all along
by the water's edge; but if the place were attacked by a fleet
strong enough to knock those batteries to pieces, and silence their
guns, a landing could be effected.

"At the southern end you see the rocks are bolder, and there is no
landing there. That is called Europa Point, and there is a battery
there, though you can't make it out, from here."

The scene was a very pretty one, and Bob watched it with the
greatest interest. A frigate, and two men-of-war brigs, were
anchored at some little distance from the Rock; and around them
were some thirty or forty merchantmen, waiting for a change in the
wind to enable them to sail out through the Straits. White-sailed
boats were gliding about among them.

At the head of the bay were villages nestled among trees, while the
country behind was broken and hilly. On the opposite side of the
bay was a town of considerable size, which the captain told him was
Algeciras. It was, he said, a large town at the time of the Moors,
very much larger and more important than Gibraltar. The ground rose
gradually behind it, and was completely covered with foliage,
orchards, and orange groves.

The captain said:

"You see that rock rising at the end of the bay from among the
trees, lads. That is called 'the Queen of Spain's Chair.' It is