--_Reports of U.S. Consuls._
* * * * *
GIBRALTAR.
The point or rock known as Gibraltar is a promontory two and one-half
miles long and from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile wide. It
rises abruptly from the sandy shore to a height at its highest point
of 1,408 ft. It is composed of gray limestone, honeycombed with caves
and subterranean passages, some of which contain most beautiful
stalactites in the form of massive pillars.
Gibraltar is emphatically a fortress, and in some respects its
fortifications are unique. On the eastern side the rock needs no
defense beyond its own precipitous cliffs, and in all other directions
it has been rendered practically impregnable. Besides a sea wall
extending at intervals round the western base of the rock, and
strengthened by curtains and bastions and three formidable forts,
there are batteries in all available positions from the sea wall up to
the summit, 1,350 feet above the sea, and a remarkable series of
galleries has been hewn out of the solid face of the rock toward the
north and northwest. These galleries have an aggregate length of
between two and three miles, and their breadth is sufficient to let a
carriage pass. Portholes are cut at intervals of twelve yards, so
contrived that the gunners are safe from the shot of any possible
assailants.
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