DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11789#0034
24
SIGNAL STATION.
by a low sandy isthmus, is in all near three miles
long. The Bock itself is two miles and a half long,
from a half to three-quarters of a mile wide, and
its highest point is 1450 feet above the level of the
sea. The southern extremity of this promontory
is termed Europa Point. On the eastern side, the
Rock is nearly perpendicular, and in some places
overhanging; but on the west there is a steep, but
gradual slope, which may be ascended without diffi-
culty, along the oblique and zigzag paths with
which this side is intersected. Near the base, the
slope is more gentle, terminating at last in a nearly
level tract or narrow plain, 200 or 300 yards wide,
bordering immediately on the sea. On this plain
the town of Gibraltar is situated. It extends from
near the sandy isthmus already mentioned, south-
ward for rather more than half a mile. Near the
southern extremity of the Eock, on the east side, is
the light-house, and on the summit, about equally
distant from either end, is the Signal Station, so
named, because from this place signals are made,
giving notice to those in the town below, of the
vessels passing up and down the Straits, as well as
of the approach of such as are entering the harbor.
Immediately after landing at the wharf (on the
16th of March), we procured, through the kind-
SIGNAL STATION.
by a low sandy isthmus, is in all near three miles
long. The Bock itself is two miles and a half long,
from a half to three-quarters of a mile wide, and
its highest point is 1450 feet above the level of the
sea. The southern extremity of this promontory
is termed Europa Point. On the eastern side, the
Rock is nearly perpendicular, and in some places
overhanging; but on the west there is a steep, but
gradual slope, which may be ascended without diffi-
culty, along the oblique and zigzag paths with
which this side is intersected. Near the base, the
slope is more gentle, terminating at last in a nearly
level tract or narrow plain, 200 or 300 yards wide,
bordering immediately on the sea. On this plain
the town of Gibraltar is situated. It extends from
near the sandy isthmus already mentioned, south-
ward for rather more than half a mile. Near the
southern extremity of the Eock, on the east side, is
the light-house, and on the summit, about equally
distant from either end, is the Signal Station, so
named, because from this place signals are made,
giving notice to those in the town below, of the
vessels passing up and down the Straits, as well as
of the approach of such as are entering the harbor.
Immediately after landing at the wharf (on the
16th of March), we procured, through the kind-