OF GIBRALTAR. 3 



of the bay, and nearly two miles from Gibraltar, near 

 the village called " Campo" was found covered in 

 one part with layers of these shells several feet 

 below the present surface, and nearly six feet above 

 the present level of the sea. This fact appears to 

 furnish conclusive evidence that the sea had en- 

 croached upon the land since the destruction of a 

 Roman town or village,* and had again receded; 

 still I hesitate to express any opinion whether this 

 encroachment extended at the same time across the 

 isthmus, leaving those extensive deposits of shells 

 which are now exposed when the sands are shifted 

 by a strong wind. If the isthmus formed the bed of 

 the sea at so recent a period, history does not record 

 the circumstance. 



Gibraltar, the Calpef of the ancients, is a rocky 

 promontory or peninsula, connected with the main- 

 land of Spain by a narrow sandy isthmus. It is 

 situated in 36 9' N. latitude, and 5 21' W. longi- 

 tude, forming, with the exception of TarifFa and Ca- 

 brita, the most southern part of Europe. The extreme 

 length of the rock is four thousand seven hundred 

 yards, or two miles and three-quarters, and its 



* The site of CARTEIA is only about three miles be- 

 yond this newly discovered ruin. 



f Calpe was the European ; and Abyla, the African 

 pillar of Hercules the " ne plus ultra land and sea marks 

 of jealous Phoanician monopoly." The rock bears the 

 name of its Berber conqueror, Gebal Tank, who landed 

 in Gibraltar, according to Gayangos, on the 30th of 



April, 711. 



B 2 



