accomplish, perform. annihilated, destroyed. anxiety, solicitude. appliance, contrivance. armaments, forces. blockaded, invested. brilliant, splendid. cannonade, sustained fire. capturing, seizing. competent, adequate. continuance, prolongation. contrivances, inventions. convulsively, spasmodically. decisive, final.
defiance, contempt for an enemy.
destination, haven. destruction, devastation. enterprise, exploit. executed, performed. formidable, dangerous. gigantic, stupendous.
imminent, threatening. importance, moment. incapable, unable. incessant, ceaseless. inevitable, unavoidable. intensified, made greater. interrupt, hinder. intrepidity, daring. invincible, invulnerable. ordnance, cannon. precipitated, cast. prodigally, generously. recognized, acknowledged. reinforcements, fresh troops. repulsed, driven back. requisition, operation. resistance, defeat. slackened, declined.
sortie, sally.
tremendous, overwhelming.
unprecedented, unparalleled.
NOTES
① Gibraltar.-Gibraltar is not so much a rocky fortress as a fortified mountain, with a town on one of its spurs. It occupies a remarkable tongue of land in the south of Spain, with which it is connected by a narrow neckof flat and neutral ground. The length of the peninsula from north to south is under three miles; its breadth nowhere exceeds three quarters of a mile. The north front of the rock rises perpendicularly from the neutral ground, and stretches across from sea to sea, with the exception of a narrow passage at the western side.
The mountain is continued in one unbroken ridge down the eastern side of the promontory. On the Mediterranean shore its rocky sides are steep and inaccessible, rising in some parts to1400 feet above the sea-level. On its western side, the mountain shelves down by a series of terraces to the Bay of Gibraltar, a wide and deep inlet at the eastern extremity of the Straits. The town of Gibraltar is situated at the north-western corner of the peninsula, and forms the focus of the extensive system of defensive works, which cover the whole western side of the promontory from shore to summit.
The view of Gibraltar in the text is taken from a point on the northern shore of the bay. The spectator is looking towards the south-east. The precipitous rock on the left is the northern peak of the mountain, overlooking the neutral ground. Its summit (Rock Mortar) is 1350 feet in height. The most distant peak is Sugar-loaf Point (1440 feet); the intermediate one is the Signal Station (1270 feet). The King"s Bastion, which is in the middle of the town, forms the extreme right of the picture.
② The War of the Spanish Succession.-The object of this war was to prevent the unionof the crowns of France and Spain. England therefore supported the claim of Charles, the Archduke of Austria, in opposition to Philip of Anjou.
③ North American Colonies.-Now the United States of America.
④ Case"mates.-The defences of Gibraltar were greatly strengthened soon after this siege-between 1786 and 1789. Where the slope was too steep to admit of external forts, subterranean galleries were excavated in the solid rock. These galleries, which are chiefly on the north and north-west, are several thousand yards in length, and are pierced at intervals of ten paces by large embrasures, through which huge guns point their black muzzles. At the time of the siege the Rock mounted only eighty guns. It is said that now upwards of a thousand of the most powerful guns are placed in battery.
⑤ The King"s Bastion.-The central point in the defences of the town, on the sea level.
There General Elliot stood during the hottest of the enemy"s fire.
⑥ From the isth"mus.-The Spaniards had a formidable line of works on the north side of the isthmus, or neutral ground, which connects Gibraltar with Spain.
⑦ Carcasses, oval bomb-shells filled with combustibles.
QUESTIONS
When and how did Gibraltar fall into the hands of the English? When did the Spaniards make the most determined effort to recover it? How long did the siege last? How often during that time was the garrison succoured? What was done in 1781? When was the final effort made? Who took the command of the besiegers? How many men had he? To what did the combined fleets amount? What was the strength of the garrison in men and in guns? What is the date of the decisive attack? Upon what had the besiegers placed most reliance? What proved the great strength of these ships? How were they at length destroyed? What movement compelled the Spaniards to abandon them? What humane service did Curtis afterwards render? Who brought fresh troops and provisions from England to the garrison? When did the blockade finally terminate?
LESSON 2