CII'.KAH 



GIBRALTAR 





convex, ami particularly t<> ili- moon, \\li.-n -he i- 

 wit hin a week of the full. GlBBosiTV ( Lat. (/Hi/ni.i, 

 ' lnimphacke.l ') i a 8tat of dim-iute characterised 

 1>\ piotnl.eram-e "I a part of the Ixxly ; chiefly 



applied t<> humpback or other dittortiom depending 



on ilist'iiMU (Rickets, q.v. ) of the spinal column. 



Gibeilh* a Hebrew word signifying a ' hill,' 

 ami giving name to several towns ami place- in 

 ancient I'iilcstine. (ttbeah of Jir/tjitmtit, 4 miles N. 

 ot .leiii-alcin. near I, 'a mail, was the scene of the 

 story of the Levite (Judges, xix.), and was the 

 residence, if not the liirthplaee, i>t' Kin;: Saul. It 

 has leen identified with the modem village of 

 Jeb'a. 



tiibeL See CARP. 



(xitM'on, a city of ancient Palestine, a place of 

 great natural strength, on a hill in a fertile plain 

 among the mountains of Benjamin, 5 miles 

 NNV. of Jerusalem. At the conquest of Canaan 

 by the Israelites under Joshua, it was inhabited by 

 llivites. I'.y a clever stratagem the Gibeonites 

 en-nrt'd the alliance and protection of the invaders, 

 but, their deceit being afterwards found out, they 

 were reduced to a condition of servitude, being 

 made ' hewers of wood and drawers of water unto 

 all the congregation.' -When the five kings of the 

 Amorites besieged CJibeon for having entered into 

 a traitorous compact with the common enemy of 

 all the Canaanites, Joshua hastened to its help, 

 and overthrew the besiegers with great slaughter. 

 It was there that Joshua, in the words quoted from 

 the book of Jashar (Joshua, x. 12), commanded ' the 

 sun to stand still upon Gibeon, and the moon in the 

 valley of Ajalon. ' Gibeon is often mentioned in 

 the Old Testament ; and on its site there still 

 stands a village with an old church. 



Gibraltar ( Span. Gibraltar' ), an isolated mass 

 of rock, in the SW. of Spain, rising to an altitude 

 of 1408 feet, 3 miles in length and f mile in average 

 breadth, is situated at the extremity of a low sandy 

 peninsula, which connects it on the north with 

 Andalusia ; its most southern headland, Point 

 Europa, is in 36 2' 30" N. lat. and 5 15' 12" W. 

 long. Its western side is washed by the Biiy of 

 Gibraltar, called also the Bay of Algeciras ; and at 

 the foot of the rock, on this same side, is the town 

 of Gibraltar, which consists of two parts, the 

 South Town, above the dockyard, and the North 

 Town, which has narrow, mean streets, and is in- 

 habited by a motley agglomeration of English, 

 Genoese, Spaniards, Jews, and Moors. In 1892 

 Algeciras (opposite) was connected with the Spanish 

 railway system. Pop. (1896) 26,184, including gar- 

 rison of 5034. Amongst public buildings, besides 

 barracks, &c., are the governor's residence, called 

 the Convent it former! v belonged to the Francis- 

 cans ; the naval hospital ; the Alameda Gardens, 

 stretching between the North Town and the South 

 Town ; tlie signal station, crowning the central 

 eminence of the rock, 1255 feet high ; the remains 

 of the ancient Moorish castle, founded in the 10th 

 century ; and the lighthouse, on Point Europa, 

 erected in 1841, whose light, 150 feet above the sea, 

 is seen for 20 miles. At the northern base of the 

 rock is the open space called the North Front, 

 extending as far as the British lines ; here are the 

 cemetery, the cricket-ground, the racecourse, &c. 

 Between the British and the Spanish lines is the 

 neutral ground, which is uninhabited. On the 

 west side of the rock, south of the Alamc<la 

 ( hardens, are the naval victualling-yard and the 

 naval dockyard. This latter dates from the 18th 

 century, and is protected on the south by a new 

 mole, a quarter of a mile long. The merchant- 

 vessels that visit the town find good anchorage in 

 the Bay of Gibral*>ar, 8 miles deep by 5 wide. 

 Gibraltar has been a free port since its capture 



by the Hriti-h. Until the introduction of ftteam- 

 vmaelfl it wan one of the chief einiM>riuiM* of the 

 Me.litt-i ram-fin ; and iln trade in Htlll imixitaiit 

 the burden of the vessel* entering and clearing w 

 alMHit f><XH) ships of 8,500,000 tonx (the vnt majo- 

 rity British) in a year. Gibraltar rank* among the 

 most import ant Coaling Station* (q.v.), and har- 

 bour improvement* were sanctioned by the naval 

 bills of 1895 and 1896. The Spaniards complain 

 of 8inu<;gling from Gibraltar. The governor exer- 

 cises all the functions of the legislative and execu- 

 tive ; local affairs are managed by elected com- 

 missioners. Since 1842 Gibraltar ha* been the see 

 of an Anglican bishop. 



' Every spot from which a gun can be brought to 

 bear is occupied by cannon, which oftentimes 

 quaintly peep out of the most secluded mxikt*, 

 among geraniums and flowering plant-, while huge 

 piles of shot and shell, some o? enormous size, are 

 stowed away in convenient places, screened from 

 an enemy's fire, but all ready for use.' The 

 approaches from the north, across the flat i-tlinm- 

 connecting the rock with Spain, and from the 

 sea, the south and south-west sides, are guarded 

 by a great number of very powerful batteries, 



GIBRALTAR 



One English Mile 



mounted with guns of the heaviest calibre, and by 

 fortifications so strong in themselves nnd in their 

 relative bearing on each other, that the rock may 

 fairly be regarded as impregnable so long as a 

 .-ntlicient garrison remains for its defence, and 

 sufficient provision for the maintenance of the 

 troops and any civil inhabitants suffered to n->ii it- 

 there during hostilities. Moreover, a sea-wall, 

 defended by a system of flanking bastions, and 

 strengthened by a breakwater, constructed in 

 1846, extends along the western lase of the rock 

 from the new mole to the old. Towards the north 

 and north-west the defences are aided by a series 

 of fortified galleries, some 2 to 3 miles in length. 

 These consist of an upper and' a lower tier : in the 

 former are two large nails ; one, St George's, i* 

 50 feet long bv :i"> wide. Port-hotel are cut in 

 these galleries for cannon at intervals of 12 yards- 



