Gibraltar, a rocky peninsula near the southern point of Spain. It is situated eastward from the narrowest point of the strait. Its southern point is about fifteen miles from the mainland of Africa. The rock lies between the Mediterranean on the east and a deep inlet or bay on the west, in which shipping finds a fine harbor. The population of the town which nestles by the harbor at the west foot of the crag is 25,000. Gibraltar was wrested from Spain by Great Britain during the war of the Spanish Succession. Its possession was secured to England by the treaty of Utrecht, 1713. Immense sums of money have been spent in converting it into the strongest fortress in the world. The rock itself is about two miles long and three-fourths of a mile in width. The summit is 1,439 feet, a quarter of a mile, above sea level. The northern and the eastern faces are almost perpendicular. The southern shore consists of tremendous precipices; the western shore is not quite so steep, but it has been fortified with batteries of the heaviest guns in the world. The rock consists for the greater part of limestone. There are many natural caves. Not less than three miles of galleries large enough for the passage of carriages have been tunneled. Enormous rock cisterns have been constructed to store up rain water for the use of the garrison. The barracks are provided with stores of provisions and ammunition sufficient to withstand a siege of several years. Gibraltar is not without vegetation. There are small groves, clumps of shrubs, and many little glens in which the almond, olive, orange, lemon, pomegranate, fig, and a profusion of wild flowers grow. The rock shelters rabbits, partridges, pigeons, and woodcocks. If not extinct, there are still a few Barbary apes, the only animal of the sort in Europe, clambering over the cliffs. Millions of dollars have been expended in improving the harbor of Gibraltar. It now has a naval dockyard in which the largest ships may be repaired. Enormous supplies of food and coal are kept here for sale to merchant steamers on their outward and homeward bound voyages. While, of course, Great Britain has no natural right to the ownership of Gibraltar, the government has no idea whatever of relinquishing it. Spain has made several efforts to retake the rock. The last siege, undertaken during our Revolutionary War, lasted for four years. In 1827 Spain offered to buy the fortress back for $10,000,000 but England refused to sell. Quebec has been called the "Gibraltar of America"; Aden, Arabia, the "Gibraltar of the East." See ADEN; QUEBEC.