cool shadows.

As we come to Europa Point we are at the very foot of the Rock, and must
stop to look upward; for above us rises the highest point of Gibraltar,
O'Hara's Tower, which, as it is also nearest to the sea, is the one
that first catches the eye of the mariner sailing up or down the
Mediterranean. Here the old Phoenicians sacrificed to Hercules, as they
were approaching what was to them the end of the habitable globe; and
here, in later ages, a lamp was always hung before the shrine of the
Virgin, and the devout sailor crossed himself and repeated his Ave Maria
as he floated by.

Winding round Europa Point, we found our progress barred by an iron
gateway; but rattling at the gate brought a sentinel, who, seeing
nothing suspicious in our appearance, allowed us to enter the guarded
enclosure. Here in this quiet spot, on a shelf of rock which hangs above
the road, and is itself overhung by the mighty cliff which rises behind
it and above it, is the cottage which is the Governor's summer retreat.
The Convent answers very well for a winter residence; but in summer
Gibraltar is a very hot place, as it has the reflection of the sun both
from the sea in front and the Rock behind; and the Convent, standing on
the shore of the bay, gets the full force of both. But there are cool
retreats both north and south. On the north the townsfolk pour out of
the gates to get under the giant cliff which casts its mighty shadow
across the Neutral Ground. A little farther to the east, they come to
the sands of a beach, which seems so like a watering-place in dear
Old England that they have christened it Margate. So also, turning the
corner at the south end of the Rock, one is sheltered from the heat
in the long summer afternoon. The cottage is without any pretension to
ornament; but as it has a somewhat elevated perch, like a Swiss chalet,
it is a sort of eyrie, in which one can look down upon the sea and catch
every wind that comes from the Mediterranean.

Just now this little eyrie was turned to another purpose--a place of
co