Of late years the command at Gibraltar has usually been given to some officer of rank who has distinguished himself by his services in the field. It has been held by such men as Sir William Gom and Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars; and at the present time (1879) it is in the hands of one of our most distinguished soldiers, Lord Napier of Magdala. As the first of the line of strongholds which guard our highway to India, it still possesses and must always possess a value and a significance; and it is well that such a post should be reserved for a veteran general, who, in case of need, will know how to utilise its capabilities and maintain its reputation for impregnability. PART II. Gibraltar as it Was and Is. CHAPTER I. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. The Atlantic is connected with the Mediterranean, as everybody knows, by a narrow channel of irregular configuration, the Strait of Gibraltar, which flows between the Rock of Gibraltar on the north, and the Rock of Ceuta, backed by the strange mass of Mons Abyla, or Apes’ Hill, on the south. Gibraltar was anciently called Calpe; and Calpe and Abyla were the legendary _Herculis Columnæ_, or “Pillars of Hercules,” which marked the limit of the mythical hero’s conquests, and formed the supposed boundary of the Western world. The fable originated doubtlessly in the fact that the sun, or Hercules, to the navigators of the Mediterranean, [Illustration: THE ROCK OF GIBRALTAR.] [Illustration: THE BAY OF GIBRALTAR.] sets behind these imposing promontories, dipping below “the rim of ocean” as if to disappear for ever! The first Greek author who mentions the famous Pillars is the poet Pindar. He speaks of them as the point to which the renown of his heroes extended, beyond which no mortal, whether wise or foolish, could advance. As thus in his 3rd Olympic:-- “As water’s vital stream all things surpass, As gold’s all-worshipped ore Holds amid fortune’s stores the highest class; So to that distant shore, To where the pillars of Alcides rise, Fame’s utmost boundaries, Theron, pursuing his successful way, Hath deckt with glory’s brightest ray His lineal virtues. Farther to attain, Wise and unwise, with me despair, th’ attempt were vain.”