just a rapid and cursory glance at a
few of the leading events connected with the past of the places we
visit.

Gibraltar is of Moorish origin, having been named after the famous
Saracen chieftain, Tarik, who made this rock the starting point of his
conquests in Spain. Hence it was called Gib-el-Tarik--the hill of
Tarik--further Europeanized into the modern Gibraltar. This magnificent
natural fortress rises perpendicularly to a height of 1300 feet from the
purple waves of the Mediterranean. It and the peak Abyla, on the
opposite (African) coast, were styled by the Greeks, in their poetical
language, "the pillars of Hercules;" whilst the strait between is said
to have been executed by the same man of muscle, to wile away the tedium
of an idle hour.

The remnants of this now almost-forgotten race--the Saracen--are still
to be found on the northern seaboard of Africa, in the kingdom called
Morocco, where they strive to eke out a scant existence from the arid
plains of that parched and burning clime.

The events I have recorded above happened hundreds of years ago. Let us
leap the gulf of time, and see if there be anything else worthy of note
or interest as bearing upon Gibraltar. I think there is--much that is
interesting to Englishmen. In 1704, Sir George Rooke and Admiral Byng
had made several attempts to engage the French fleet, but had signally
failed. Deeming it undesirable to return to Plymouth in this inglorious
manner, the two leaders determined to win laurels for themselves and
fleet somehow and somewhere--it mattered not where, and they decided on
making a bold attempt on Gibraltar.

It was during this memorable attack that the signal gallantry of the
Royal Marines displayed itself in so brilliant and wonderful a
manner--gallantry which has shed such lustre on the annals of naval
warfare, and gained for them a name and a place second to none in the
British army.

In 1713, on peace being proclaimed, the fortress was ceded to England in
perpetuity; but the Spaniards had no intention of abiding by a treaty
wrung from them at such a cost. The result was that several subsequent
attempts were made to regain the place. At length, in the years 1789-93,
occurred that memorable siege--the greatest, perhaps, on record--when a
mere handful of British soldiers, under General Elliott, successfully
withstood a siege of three years' duration, which settled at once and,
let us hope, for ever the question as to who were henc