206 APPENDIX. 



those Spanish partisans who, during the war of indepen- 

 dence, remained under the shelter of the cannons of 

 Gibraltar, and from thence made sorties against the 

 French. The road is tolerably good to the beach, but 

 there all road ceases, and you must follow moving downs, 

 the sterility of which is only interrupted by the ram- 

 pant stems of the Centaurea sphaerocephala and the 

 thorny tufts of the Cachrys pterochlasna. The lines, or 

 camp of St. Roque, consists of a number of wretched 

 houses, situated at the entrance of the neck of land 

 which joins Gibraltar to the coast, and which is en- 

 closed by a line of towers ; these are occupied by per- 

 sons who are employed in the custom-house or the health- 

 office ; and there every thing entering or leaving the place 

 is submitted to a strict examination. It is a kind of 

 revenge which the Spanish government exercises against 

 the English usurpation of Gibraltar and the contraband 

 goods which leave this town, I was obliged to take out a 

 license, which cost me forty francs, a shameful imposition, 

 because it is only required when travelling overland, and 

 never on leaving Malaga, or any other Spanish port. 



No comparison can be drawn between the appear- 

 ance of the soldiers, almost in rags,* mounting guard on 

 the Spanish lines, and that of the Scotch soldiers, per- 

 fectly equipped, who are seen a few minutes after at the 

 entrance of the English territory. There a commissary 

 demanded my passports, and asked me several questions 

 relative to the motives of my visit to Gibraltar, the time I 

 thought of remaining, the friends I had, and the introduc- 

 tions I might have brought, &c. I was then directed to a 

 second bureau, where I was obliged to wait until I had sent 

 to the town for some one to answer for me. This form 

 would be very inconvenient for those who do not happen 



* The Spanish soldier has lately been better clad. Trans. 



