The north face of the Rock overlooks the sandy isthmus of the Neutral Ground; but at the north-west angle a line of fortifications separates it from the shore. To the south a rapid slope extends from Sugar-loaf Point to the oval-shaped platform of Windmill Hill, below which the steep crags of Europa extend into the sea. At the north-west corner of the Rock the town is defended by the formidable Lower Lines; and thence a continuous series of defensive works stretches along the western front, and round the southern side of the Rock, until terminated by precipitous and inaccessible heights. This grand range of batteries, bastions, and ravelins is now armed with upwards of one thousand guns. To the west lies the Bay, which measures nearly eight miles and a half in length, and upwards of five in breadth; its circuit being between thirty and forty miles. On its western curve, facing the town of Gibraltar, is situated the Spanish town of Algesiras. It boldly indents the shore on the north of the famous Strait, which extends, we may add, from Cape Spartel to Ceuta, on the African coast, and Cape Trafalgar to Europa Point, on the Spanish side. Its length is about thirty-six miles, its average breadth from fifteen to twenty. * * * * * The voyager, as his ship passes under the Rock, comes to regard it as one immense mass of fortifications, which Nature seems specially to have [Illustration: THE MARKET-PLACE. _Page 121._ ] constructed for the reception of artillery. Batteries frown on its precipitous sides; batteries crown its rugged summit; batteries line the water’s edge; and batteries project audaciously even into the very sea. Such is the Old Mole, or “Devil’s Tongue,” which played so famous a part in the celebrated siege, and received from the Spaniards its expressive though certainly too emphatic appellation. Half-way up the slope may be seen the walls of the old Moorish castle. To the right, the irregular buildings of the town, “of all imaginable shapes and colours,” are clustered in picturesque variety at the foot of the precipices. To complete the picture, the Bay is studded with numerous craft, from the stately man-of-war and the great India-bound steamer, to the smart-looking felucca which spreads its lateen-sails to the Mediterranean breeze.