the fascines, powder-saucisses, gabions, panniers,
pickaxes, etc., will be sent forward in order that they may cover
themselves as the disembarkation proceeds, keeping up at the same time a
lively fire along with the rest of the army. Detached parties will scour
with promptitude the Campo Huevo in order to intercept the advanced
guard and to cut off the retreat of the enemy to the mountain; which
dispositions being well concerted, the enemy will be reduced to the
extremity of either surrendering or being destroyed.

"The squadron of Senor Cordova will cover the mouth of the Straits, and
the French will place itself as much within as circumstances may
require; two hundred _muheletes_ and two hundred artillerymen more have
been asked for from the camp, those that are present being required for
the intrenchment. These have been sent for from their respective corps."

The fame of the siege of Gibraltar had ere this spread to the remotest
corners of Europe. The Count d'Artois, brother to the King of France,
and the Duc de Bourbon arrived in the camp in August, impatient to
witness the fall of the invincible fortress, and they were followed by
crowds of the nobility of Spain, eager to join in an enterprise which it
was anticipated would result in a victory most glorious to their arms.

General Eliot regarded the progress of the tremendous armaments without
despondency. He prepared for the coming storm, and made every effort to
meet it manfully and with success. An experiment which had lately been
tried with red-hot shot produced such effects that he founded his hopes
of destroying the enemy's battering-ships almost solely upon that
expedient, and great numbers of furnaces for heating the shot were
immediately prepared and placed in convenient positions within the
principal batteries. The defences too were thoroughly repaired, the Land
Port was more carefully protected, and unserviceable guns were laid
across the tops of the embrasures in many of the works, as a protection
to the artillerymen when under fire.

The arrival of the Count d'Artois in the camp gave rise to an
interchange of courtesies between the governor and the Duc de Crillon,
and though the two chiefs were on the eve of a great struggle for the
mastery, letters couched in the most affable and peaceful terms passed
between them. The Count having brought with him a packet of letters for
some officers of the garrison, the Duc de Crillon took advantage of the
opp