long, and a broad arm of the sea was beneath: it was impossible to dismount, and I could only trust to my horse, which, fortunately, was both sure-footed and bold. Shortly after this, a circumstance occurred, which gave rise to strong, and very natural suspicions of the young man who accompanied us: he was, at this time, about twenty yards in advance; and I was surprised by hearing a loud whistle. I immediately pushed forward and seized his arm, and asked why he whistled--but not before he had found time to whistle a second time. He said his mother lived _there_, pointing to a little height close to the sea, upon which something like a house, or a tower, could be discerned. This seemed very like a fiction; I have little doubt that the place he pointed to was a rendezvous of contrabandisters, with whom he was connected, and these are often the worst robbers. What might be the meaning of the signal, I was unable to tell, but I resolved to watch him. I thought this journey was to have no end--there was still no appearance of Tariffa--and, when I supposed we must be close to the gate, the guide stopped at a lone house close to the sea; and, telling us we were yet a league distant from the town, said, I might find accommodation in this house: but this I refused, and insisted upon going on; and at length I was rewarded by the welcome sight of lights; and in a few minutes we were among the straggling houses that lie outside of the town. The gates of the town were shut; and the guard told me, that no one could enter without permission from the governor. Leaving the horses standing, I approached under an escort; and a soldier upon the top of the wall, asked our business. I replied, that an English gentleman, travelling with a regular passport, requested permission to enter the town; but, after waiting a full half-hour, the permission was refused, and I was obliged, in consequence, to go to a most miserable venta beyond the gates. There was, perhaps, some excuse for this strictness. Tariffa is at all times a sort of prison, where convicted persons are kept at large; and the knowledge that there were, at that time, some refugees in Gibraltar, and that an attempt had been all but made upon Algesiras, was sufficient to justify a refusal to do what is at all times a matter of special favour.