96 



THE SEA. 



now. And on the 28th of October, 1805, the Victory, in tow of the Neptune, entered the 

 bay, with the body of Nelson on board. The fatal shot had done its work; only eleven 

 days before he had written to General Fox one of his happy, pleasant letters. 



The Rock itself is a compact limestone, a form of grey dense marble varied by beds 

 of red sandstone. It abounds in caves and fissures, and advantage has been taken of 

 these facts to bore galleries, the most celebrated of which are St. Michael's and Martin's, 

 the former 1,100 feet above the sea. Tradition makes it a barren rock; but the botanists 



tell us differently. There are 456 species of indigenous flowering plants, besides many 

 which have been introduced. The advantages of its natural position have been everywhere 

 utilised. It bristles with batteries, many of which can hardly be seen. Captain Sayer 

 tells us that every spot where a gun could be brought to bear on an enemy has one. 

 "Wandering/' says he, "through the geranium -edged paths on the hill-side, or 

 clambering up the rugged cliffs to the eastward, one stumbles unexpectedly upon a gun 

 of the heaviest metal lodged in a secluded nook, with its ammunition, round shot, canister, 

 and case piled around it, ready at any instant. . . . The shrubs and flowers that grow 

 on the cultivated places, and are preserved from injury with so much solicitude, are often 



