"You can see this rocky promontory for yourselves," continued the captain. "It is about three miles long by three-quarters of a mile wide on the average; but it does not form the southern extremity of Spain, as some of the books have it, for Tarifa holds that position. As you noticed yesterday when we came into the bay, it looks like a detached rock; but it is connected with the mainland by a low isthmus, the portion of which nearest to the town is called 'The Neutral Ground,' and is, as its name implies, common to both Spanish and English. "The rock is honeycombed with tunnels and casemates, and the galleries contain no end of guns of all calibre. You will see as many of these as you desire, for a permit can be obtained for the purpose, and I shall not attempt to describe it. The fortress has the reputation of being the strongest in the world; but of late years no nation has meddled with it, and its strength has not been tested with modern implements of war. Not a few Englishmen doubt whether it is as important a possession to their country as it is commonly represented to be. "It can hardly be said to command the strait, which is about eight miles wide in the narrowest place, and Farragut or Porter would have made nothing of passing through. But the fortress may be reasonably regarded as impregnable, though it costs about a million and a half of dollars a year to pay its expenses. "The highest point on the rock is fourteen hundred and thirty-nine feet above the water. It is a little odd that this is the only place in Europe where the monkey in his wild state exists. They may occasionally be seen in the vicinity of the Signal Tower. Some people, who must be rather credulous, believe that there is a tunnel under the strait, and that the monkeys come over from Africa through it. These animals are something of an institution here, and efforts have been made to protect them from gunners who sometimes stroll about here. At one time they were reduced to a very small number; but the last I ever heard about them, they had increased to about thirty. "The town of Gibraltar is said to contain about twenty thousand inhabitants, besides about five thousand troops, which is the usual garrison of the Rock. They are a mixed set of people, consisting of English, Spanish, Jews, and Moors. It is not much of a city. The Club House Hotel used to be the principal one, but I believe there is a more modern one, called the Royal; but as we shall have no use for any of them, we need not look into the matter.