Richard Ford’s visit to Gibraltar in 1845

“A narrow flat strip of sand called the “neutral ground” separates the Rock from the mainland; hence, seen from a distance, it seems an island, as it undoubtedly once was. The barren, cinder-looking, sunburnt mass is no unfit sample of tawny Spain, while the rope of sand connection is a symbol of the disunion, long the inherent weakness of the unamalgamating component items of Iberia.

Cross however that strip, and all is changed, as by magic, into the order, preparation, organisation, discipline, wealth, honour, and power of the United Kingdom. The N. side of Gibraltar rises bluffly. It bristles with artillery: the dotted port-holes of the batteries, excavated in the rock, are called by the Spaniards “los dientes de la Vieja,” the grinders of this stern old Cerbera. The town is situated on a shelving ledge to the W. As we approach, the defences are multiplied: the causeway is carried over a marsh called “the inundation,” which can be instantaneously laid under water; every bastion is defended by another; a ready-shotted gun stands out from each embrasure, pregnant with death,- a prospect not altogether pleasant to the stranger, who hurries on for fear of an accident. At every turn a well-appointed, well fed sentinel indicates a watchfulness which defies surprise. We pass on through a barrack teeming with soldiers’ wives and children, a perfect rabbit-warren when compared to the conventual celibacy of a Spanish “quartel.””

Image: On the isthmus. Watercolour by L-Colonel Thomas Staunton St. Clair (1826-1832).