The English admirals, on the 2nd of April, resolved on bombarding Algesiras, whence the Spaniards received their supplies of ammunition; but the ships being becalmed, were compelled to drop anchor; after which, says Drinkwater, the navy never gave themselves any further concern about annoying them in that quarter. On the 16th, two sergeants, with ten men each, were ordered to push along under the Rock, and alarm the enemy in the trenches; the governor intending, when they were sufficiently aroused, to rake them with discharges of grape. The sergeants did their duty, and the enemy instantly beat to arms; but the bombardier charged with the duty of signalling to the batteries fired too soon, and the Spaniards, discovering the manœuvre, quickly retired under cover. Shortly afterwards news arrived of the conclusion of peace, and the Spanish accordingly dismantled their works and retreated to their different quarters. The Rock now continued in the possession of the English for many years, without any attempt being made to disturb them; and we may pass over half a century in silence, taking up our record again in 1776, when the Right Hon. General George Augustus Elliot was appointed Governor. His name will long be remembered in connection with the famous siege of 1779. CHAPTER III. THE GREAT SIEGE. Before entering on a description of the Great Siege, which stands foremost among the brilliant episodes of our military history, it will be necessary for the reader’s understanding of its details to put before him a view of the Rock and its defences as they then existed. In doing so we must necessarily avail ourselves of the close and careful account furnished by Captain Drinkwater, who wrote from personal knowledge, and shared in the various experiences of the siege. We shall, however, as far as possible, spare our readers the infliction of purely technical language. The Rock of Gibraltar forms a kind of promontory rising seaward to a height of 1300 feet, and connected with the mainland by a low sandy isthmus. The landward face varies considerably in elevation. The breadth of the isthmus at the foot of the Rock is about 2700 feet, but towards the country it broadens rapidly. Across this neck of land, which, with the Rock and the Algesiras coast, forms the Bay, the Spaniards, before the Great Siege, had erected a line of fortifications, 1700 yards in length, and distant about a mile from the nearest posts of the garrison. At each extremity a fort of twenty-four guns was erected; one christened St. Barbara, and the other St. Philip. Their cross-fire completely commanded the so-called Neutral Ground, a narrow belt or strip between English Gibraltar and the Spanish mainland.