[B] Some account of this enterprise seems to be a natural digression; and as the fullest account of the rash attempt which led to the abandonment of the enterprise, is to be found in the work of M. Bourgoing, I make no apology for transferring it to these pages. “The court of Spain, weary of the fruitless blockade of Gibraltar, which excited the ridicule of all Europe, and of the besieged themselves, seriously determined to take this fortress by some extraordinary expedient or other, against which its steepness, its formidable artillery, and all the skill of General Elliot should prove unavailing. Plans poured in from all quarters; some bold to extravagance, others so whimsical, that it was scarcely possible to look upon them as serious. Several of this kind I received myself. One of those sent to ministers, formally proposed to throw up, in front of the lines of St. Roch, a prodigious mount, higher than Gibraltar, which would consequently deprive that fortress of its principal means of defence. The author had calculated the quantity of cubic fathoms of earth, the number of hands, and the time that would be required by this enormous undertaking, and proved that it would be less expensive, and less destructive than the prolongation of the siege upon the plan on which it had been begun. “Another proposed to fill the bombs with a substance so strongly mephitic, that on bursting in the fortress, they would either put to flight, or poison the besieged with their exhalations. “The plan of D’Arçon was at length presented, and engaged the more serious attention of the Spanish government.