Gibraltar were its chief defects, the young officer thought.

There had been futile talk of peace. On August 13th, 1806, Ker wrote to
Murray Bay from Edinburgh: "We expect to hear of Peace between this
country and France. The Earl of Lauderdale has been sent to Paris to
treat. But what sort of peace can we make with Bona Parte?" What sort
indeed? Peace was not to come during Tom Nairne's lifetime. He was
getting ready meanwhile for an enlarged career. At Gibraltar he pressed
his guardian to purchase him a captaincy. Those were the bad old days
when promotion in the army went largely by purchase and Tom had been
Lieutenant for little more than a year when, at a cost of L1,000, Ker
bought for him the desired rank; he attained to this dignity at the age
of nineteen. The purchase strained his resources severely but his family
got some comfort out of the thought that he was advancing. There was an
excellent library at Gibraltar and he had good opportunities for
self-improvement of which he promised to avail himself. But the promise
was hardly realized. At any rate Tom gave a very poor account of his own
doings for, after he had returned to England, he wrote to his mother
(from Chelmsford Barracks on March 19th, 1808) a not very flattering
account of himself at Gibraltar:

Only figure to yourself a rock, about two miles and a half in
length and scarcely the fifth part of that in breadth, and then
most likely you will not be so much astonished at my making the
above comparison [of Gibraltar to a prison], from which you may
wisely suppose that those unfortunate beings who had the misfortune
of being shut up in it led a most inactive and stupid life....
However, to give the Devil his due, I must not omit to observe that
it contained a most excellent Library, by which means officers
might improve themselves greatly and spend their leisure hours to
their credit, provided they were desirous of doing so; particularly
as nothing existed in that place to take off their attention from
study; and I make no doubt but some young men had the sense to
profit by that favourable opportunity. At the same time [I] am
extremely sorry to inform you your promising son did not, in any
shape whatever, and am much concerned to add that he spent a very
idle life whilst there, doing nothing else the live-long day than
riding or lounging; which I presume you will think