Such is life in a beleaguered town! There is something more to be feared than the attacks of external enemies, and that is, the irregularities within; the outbursts of a spirit of military insubordination, and the follies and crimes of the non-combatants,--all adding to the anxiety and increasing the responsibility of the military and civil authorities. At Gibraltar the entire burden rested on the shoulders of General Elliot,--who bore it, however, with inflexible calmness and resolute patience, tempering justice with mercy, but not fearing to strike heavily when it was necessary for the common safety. * * * * * The bombardment continued briskly, and casualties occurred daily. On the 21st, the besieged counted forty-two rounds in a couple of minutes! The garrison flag-staff was so much damaged that the upper part had to be cut off; but the shot-torn colours were _nailed_ to the stump. From the enemy’s gun and mortar boats on the 23rd, two hundred and sixty shot and forty shells were discharged. The wife of a soldier was killed behind the South Barracks. The relaxation of discipline among the soldiers had become so alarming that, on the 26th, General Elliot issued orders, which were strictly carried out, that any soldier found drunk or asleep on his post, or plundering, should be executed. Everybody’s spirits were raised on the 27th by the arrival of twenty ships with provisions from Minorca; and this encouragement was sorely needed at a time when the garrison was harassed not only by fire but water--the rains falling heavily, and thunderstorms being of frequent occurrence. It was awful to hear the reverberating peal mingling with the roar of cannon, and to see the smoke-clouds of battle pierced by the lurid arrows of the lightning. It must not be supposed that the English endured the enemy’s bombardment in silence. The guns of the Rock were plied at times with equal alacrity and effect; but the prudent general would not allow his men to waste their shot and powder, and they fired only when the enemy were well within range. On the morning of May the 7th, the gun and mortar boats opened upon the town and the New Mole for about an hour. The garrison replied with four hundred rounds, at which the governor was much displeased. “There would be no end,” said he, “of expending ammunition, if we fired every time they came, and while they were at so great a distance.”