Gibraltar

Gibraltar (Arabic Jebel al Tarik, Mountain of Tarik), the Calpe of the ancients, is a mountainous peninsula forming the southernmost point of Andalusia, Spain. To the northward is a low-lying isthmus, to the westward is Gibraltar Bay, and to the southward is the Strait of Gibraltar, which at its narrowest point is about 15 miles broad. The Rock of Gibraltar is grey limestone, rising to a height of 1,440 feet, and is inaccessible on the N. and E. On the N.W., upon the bay, lies the town, a place containing, with the garrison, about 25,000 inhabitants. The whole rock above the town is a network of galleries, and there, as elsewhere, there are formidable batteries, which are supposed to render the position impregnable. The town and fortress were founded about 710 by the Moorish chief, Tarik, and taken by the Spaniards in the 14th century. On August 4th, 1704, they were captured by an English expedition under Admiral Sir George Rooke. The place has since been repeatedly besieged, notably in 1779-82, when it was defended by General G. A. Elliot, but, being succoured with opportune supplies by the navy, has always successfully held out. Gibraltar is a garrison, not a, colony, under the Colonial Secretary. It is governed by a general in the army, and usually contains between five and six thousand British troops. There are two piers, one 1,100 feet and the other 700 feet long, and a good anchorage, but no dry-clocks. The chief trade is in wine, spirits, tobacco, sugar, coffee, coal, and provisions, and the port is a free one. The already extensive fortifications have of late been largely added to, and now include rock-cut galleries mounting about 600 guns, the bastioned enceinte of the town, armed principally with 18- and 38-ton guns, and some very strong batteries to the S. of the town. The annual revenue of this important strategic possession is about £60,000.