ppointed; Barcelona was by no means ripe for his purposes, and he
sailed back, ready for any enterprise that might offer itself.

Soon before him towered the rock of Gibraltar, a handsome prize if it
could be captured, and poorly defended, as he knew. The Spaniards,
trusting, as it seems, in the natural strength of the place, which they
deemed impregnable, had left it with a very small supply of artillery and
ammunition, and with almost no garrison. Here was a promising opportunity
for the disappointed admiral and his associate, the prince of Hesse
Darmstadt, who headed the foreign troops. A landing was made, siege lines
were opened, batteries were erected, and a hot bombardment began, to which
the feeble garrison could make but a weak reply. But the most effective
work was done by a body of soldiers, who scrambled up a part of the rock
that no one dreamed could be ascended, and appeared above the works,
filling with terror the hearts of the garrison.

Two days answered for the enterprise. At the end of that time the
governor, Don Diego de Salmas, capitulated, and Gibraltar was taken
possession of in the name of Queen Anne of England, the prince being left
there with a garrison of two thousand men. From that time to this
Gibraltar has remained an outpost of Great Britain, with whose outlying
strongholds the whole world bristles.

The loss of this strong place proved a bitter draught to the pride of
Spain, and strenuous efforts to recapture it were made. In the succeeding
year (1705) it was besieged by a strong force of French and Spanish
troops, but their efforts were wasted, for the feeble court of Madrid left
the army destitute of necessary supplies. By the peace of Utrecht, 1713,
Gibraltar was formally made over to Great Britain, a country famous for
clinging with a death-grip to any place of which she has once taken hold.

Later efforts were made to win the Rock of Tarik for Spain, one in 1756,
but the last and greatest in 1779-82. It is this vigorous effort with
which we are here concerned, the siege being one of the most famous of
recent times.

The Revolutionary War in the United States stirred up all Europe, and
finally brought Great Britain two new foes, the allied kingdoms of France
and Spain. The latter country had never lost its irritation at seeing a
foreign power in possession of a part of its home territory. Efforts were
made to obtain Gibraltar by negotiation, Spain offering her friendly aid
to Great